Maine companies need inbound marketing regardless of size or market segment. You might ask, “Why is inbound marketing so important to my company? I’ve already held successful direct mail campaigns, and radio and TV advertising seem to be going well. Why should I invest in another marketing strategy?

Direct mail, radio and TV are proven strategies for pushing awareness of your product or service into the consumer’s consciousness. At the same time, the typical response from most Maine consumers to a direct mailing is at best 2%. If you don’t already have a relationship with that customer, there’s pushback. Even if you send out an invitation to receive something free, the odds only go up to 3—5%. That’s not a significant increase!

However, if you’re already one of those Maine companies who uses free offers via direct mail as part of your lead generation campaigns, inbound marketing fits your needs perfectly. You’re already using a key concept of inbound marketing—giving something away which helps you capture emails and warm leads.

Inbound marketing works for every type of Maine company seeking new customers. Are you one of those farmers contributing to Maine’s fame as the largest producer of blueberries in the US? Do you own a business serving the visitors to Acadia National Park? As diverse as these businesses might be, no other marketing model will cost less to implement and deliver more for every dollar spent.

roiIf you sit down and evaluate the true costs associated with your current marketing plan, you might be surprised to realize that you’re not getting as positive an ROI as you thought. Let’s compare the costs of a typical direct mail campaign within Maine where you do achieve the average 2% return.

Let’s say you mailed 10,000 pieces within your Maine community, and 200 people (2%) responded. Of those 200 people, only 10 became customers. You spent $15,000 on printing and mailing costs. This means it cost $150.00 to gain each customer.

Now imagine that you had been focusing your advertising dollar on inbound marketing at the same time. You place those 200 initial contacts into a lead nurturing funnel. At the same time, you automate your lead marketing based on what triggers responses from your potential customers. The content you deliver fits the customer’s interests. You close those 10 hot leads from your direct mail campaign quickly. Meanwhile, you keep the remaining 190 customers interacting with you through email. They remain warm leads, many who will become customers as well.

Maine companies also need inbound marketing if they want to expand their reach beyond the local community. Typical inbound strategies such as blogging could lead to you seeing 126% more leads[1] than the non-blogging business down the street. Hubspot reports that 43% of marketers land new business from blogging. They also state that about 70% of their company’s leads come from their old blog entries.[2]

Putting solid SEO practices in place brings strong leads to you. Typical closing rates jump to 14.6[3] for the same dollar expenditure when you use inbound marketing SEO to promote your Maine business products or services.

Are you one of those Maine companies that isn’t using inbound marketing yet? Put it to the test. You’ll discover “that inbound marketing works magic for lead generation.[4] It’s especially effective when you use inbound marketing tools to listen actively to what your customers want. You’ll also find an inbound focus will help you adjust way ahead of your competition when market conditions warn you that change is coming.

 

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[1] http://www.incubationworks.com/does-my-company-need-inbound-marketing/#.VZ1ve_lGw2s

[2] http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/need-inbound-marketing-prospects-in-your-database 

[3] http://www.incubationworks.com/does-my-company-need-inbound-marketing/#.VZ1ve_lGw2s

[4] http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/need-inbound-marketing-prospects-in-your-database

Photo credit: Alan O'Rourke / Foter / CC BY