Madison Marketing Group Blog

Making an investment in a digital marketing campaign centered around the inbound methodology is a long-term play.

It can be a marketing strategy that works while you're sleeping.

You publish great website content that brings people to your website and converts them to leads, use marketing automation to move them down the sales funnel, and reach prospects and customers via email and social media.

Even better: it's not dependent on a steady stream of advertising dollars.

But it takes time. Google and other search engines give more space on results pages to websites that are already established and authoritative, meaning if you’re just building out your “base” of content, you’re probably not there yet.

You’ve probably heard terms like “inbound marketing,” “content marketing,” and “digital marketing” tossed around but didn’t know precisely what they meant or the methodology behind those strategies.

In this article, we’re going to dig into what inbound marketing is, how it works, and how it differs from traditional or “outbound” marketing.

Calculating the value of online interactions, then coming up with an estimated return on investment (ROI) to inform budgets and forecasts, can be challenging. Fortunately, in today's data-driven, online world, it's never been easier to track ROI for your marketing campaigns, channels, and tactics.

Many aspects of inbound marketing can be tracked by web analytics platforms, which, when configured properly, can provide a wide variety of analytics data: from the number of form submissions you receive to the number of times your blog post was viewed.

By keeping an eye on the right metrics and performing simple calculations, you can get a better idea of how much return you’re getting for your investment in inbound.

We’ll walk you through ROI calculations for one-time and retainer clients and provide some tips for improving your overall inbound ROI.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• How effective is inbound marketing?
• What is a good ROI for inbound marketing?
• What inbound marketing tactics do businesses use?
• Key factors to consider before calculating inbound ROI
• Calculating ROI for one-time clients
• Calculating ROI for retainer clients
• Tips for improving inbound ROI
• Tools for tracking ROI metrics
• Measure your way to inbound success

But first, the elephant in the room . . .

In digital marketing, some things change fast.

Businesses are investing more in digital, and customers are showing a preference toward increasingly digital and personalized experiences, as well as fast service that enables them to engage on their time.

These trends lend themselves perfectly to inbound marketing—inviting marketers to provide content and advertising that is increasingly tailored to individual consumers or accounts.

If you’ve never outsourced your marketing before, or have gotten burned in the past, the world of digital marketing agencies can be challenging to navigate: dramatically different rates, various pricing models, vague offerings, and confusing terms. . .

Here, we’ll try to demystify these areas and give you an idea of 1) how agencies price their services, and 2) rough price estimates for how much you should expect to spend.

Disclaimer! We are a digital marketing agency that loves getting new clients as much as the next business. At the same time, we’ve found that our best clients are businesses that actively need the specific services we provide, so we’ll strive to provide helpful information you can use, whether or not you decide to work with us.

For businesses selling to a local market, reviews are crucial for driving customers to your door and helping you appear higher in search results. 

According to BrightLocal's annual survey:

• 98% of consumers used the internet to find information about local businesses in 2022, up from 90% in 2019
• Google is the most trusted review platform across all industries. In 2022, 87% of people used Google to research local businesses (up from 81% in 2021).
• 98% of people read online reviews for local businesses
• 76% of consumers “regularly” read online reviews when browsing for local businesses, compared to 77% in 2021
• 46% of consumers feel that online business reviews are as trustworthy as personal recommendations from friends or family (down from 49% in 2021).

At the same time, a WhiteSpark survey acknowledged the importance of certain review factors as important local SEO ranking signals, particularly for appearing in results based on your Google Business Profile.

If you know your website needs to perform better organically in search, but don’t have the tools, time, or expertise to make that happen yourself, you’ll likely seek out an SEO service to help.

Consultancies, freelancers, and agencies offer all kinds of services to help you occupy top spots in an important topic and keyword areas. If you’re not sure what exactly these services are, how they work, or whether they’re worth it, then this is the post for you.

Email marketing is alive and well.

• 95% of marketers felt that email marketing efforts were effective in meeting business goals (HubSpot 2022)
• 33% of marketers send weekly emails and 26% send emails multiple times per month. (Databox, via HubSpot 2022)
• According to the Content Marketing Institute, “69% of B2B marketers said they used e-newsletters as a content distribution channel in the last 12 months, and 68% said they used other types of email for this purpose

Email marketing has proven itself to have lasting power as a communication channel that works. But the challenges of email marketing, from dodging spam folders to earning opens and actions, are still plaguing businesses today.

That’s why I compiled this massive list of tips for overcoming these challenges and improving performance.

In the last decade or so, local small businesses have experienced a fundamental shift in the way customers find them.

Print advertising, yellow page listings, and outdoor advertising—while still relevant in some cases—have gone by the wayside.

In their place, we have the most advanced discovery engine ever created: the internet. Savvy local business owners shifted with their customers, prioritizing increasing local search ranking via engine optimization (SEO), conducting internet advertising, and participating in social media.

However, between the pandemic and advances in technology, things have changed again, and will continue to do so whether or not local businesses are prepared.

Ending a relationship with an agency can be disruptive and emotionally draining, and if you’re not careful, could land you in an unfavorable position. Fortunately, there are measures you can take to protect your business, end things gracefully, and stay on the high road.