80% of decision makers who made a technology purchase believe that they found the vendor — as opposed to the vendor targeting them. (Source: MarketingSherpa’s Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007-08.)

inbound-marketing-80

I wouldn’t think of buying an airplane ticket or car without researching online, and these behaviors are true for purchases across all industries.

As a result, interruption-based techniques where the marketer searches for customers no longer work. What DOES work are inbound marketing strategies that smooth the process of customers finding you. Since the buyer controls their buying process, the marketer’s job is to synchronize the company’s marketing (and to some extent sales) activities to the buyer’s process.

This includes:

  • Search marketing so prospects find you when they search
  • Content marketing and PR – so your brand appears wherever prospects are reading
  • Brand awareness efforts so buyers are aware of you when they make their short lists
  • Client satisfaction to encourage referrals and word of mouth

Read my original post on this topic, 80% of Your New Customers Think They Found You.

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