The Seven Dangers of B2B Inbound Marketing will help you decide if you have the resources to commit to inbound and will help you steer clear of common pitfalls that companies run into. Even though the inbound waters can be rough, the treasure is immense. In 2014, more than twice as many marketers cited inbound (45%) as their primary source of leads versus outbound (22%). Don’t go sailing without a map. Chart your inbound course with MLT Creative’s Seven Dangers of B2B Inbound Marketing.

1. THE 7 DANGERS OF
B2B
INBOUND MARKETING
B2B MARKETING EBOOK

2. If you have a paralyzing fear
of failure, you may not want
to read any further.
If you seek the B2B marketing treasure of more visits,
more leads, more sales and brand ambassadors then
let's keep going...
Begin with a search of the term "Inbound Marketing Methodology"
and your results will reveal what looks like a simple map. This bright
and colorful chart indicates that the riches are there for any B2B
marketing team that simply follows four easy steps to the land of
unlimited leads and delighted customers.
DANGER!

3. ...but it isn't that easy.
Although the Inbound Marketing Methodology map is accurate,
discovering the rewards of inbound marketing can be a difficult
journey and you will discover failures along the way. We know from
experience that success hasn't come easy for either our agency or
our clients. We also know that perseverance pays off.
Don't be afraid of Inbound Marketing. You aren't alone and others have gone
before you. Not only should you be aware of the dangers so you can avoid them,
you should learn from both the successful and failed adventures of other B2B
marketers that have gone before you. There's an eye-opening FREE report that
you need to read that will help you...
It's the State Of Inbound Marketing Report.
DANGER!

5. 1. LACK OF Commitment
For your inbound marketing program to be successful, it must be
integrated throughout the company and sustainable over the long haul.
According to the State of Inbound Marketing Report: While most marketers say
they do inbound, only 25% of sales teams and 10% of those in customer service
say that they take part in inbound marketing strategies.
Check out this article that shows why it’s important to implement inbound tactics
in customer service and how to achieve results. If inbound isn’t implemented
outside the marketing department, it will be weak at best.

6. 2. NO INBOUND STRATEGY
Your Inbound Marketing journey won't be exactly like anyone else’s.
Start by creating your buyer personas and a plan for creating content
that's most relevant to your personas at the different stages of your
sales funnel. Set realistic goals and continuously test for success and
failures along the way. And never quit learning.
Inbound marketing is not a channel or a technology, it’s a strategy: It’s not enough
to “do” inbound. To see real results, you need to deeply commit to the model and
optimize continually.
Successful inbound execution requires a strategic change in how you focus your
end-to-end marketing practices, such as building and staying true to your core
customer personas and relentlessly tracking your lead generation goals.

7. 3. ALL Hype, no help
It seems so simple but it's so hard to do for marketers locked into
traditional sales messaging. It's time to stop selling your customers
and prospects and start helping them. That's the core principal of
inbound marketing.
Inbound tactics like blogging and SEO help you get found by people who need your
products and services on their time, instead of wasting your time pushing your way
in front of unengaged strangers.
As Jay Baer (Blackbeard Baer) says in his book, Youtility - Why Smart Marketing
is about HELP not HYPE, "Consumers of all types expect to find answers online
and companies that can best provide that information garner trust and sales
and loyalty. Success flows to organizations that inform, not organizations
that promote."

8. 4. No Smarketing
In our many years of B2B marketing experience, the lack of cooperation
between sales and marketing has been one of our biggest challenges. I'm
thankful to see more collaborative engagement across departments now
that the tools exist to set and measure goals that meet the needs of both.
According to the State of Inbound Marketing Report: The wealth of tracking
and analytics central to inbound marketing efforts can significantly bridge
this gap. Successful inbound marketing can follow customers through their
entire lifecycle, from their first site visit, to the point they become a lead,
through the sales handoff, until the final sale.

9. 5. LACK OF INBOUND
ENGINE FUEL
Think of marketing automation, CRM and Inbound Marketing
software as the engine and remarkable content as the fuel.
Nothing matters more to your inbound marketing success than content.
Being unrealistic about your resources to create and deliver this content will
surely sink your inbound marketing program. Your quality and quantity of
content will slip and so will the level of interest and engagement from your
customers and prospects.
There is much written about how to generate content, and one of the experts
we follow, Mark Schaefer, shared some helpful ideas in his article - Five Steps
To Establish a Content-Creating Company Culture.

10. 6. Ineffective INBOUND
Software
For years marketing executives have been hearing about the promise
of marketing automation. By this time, many have invested in what
they believe to be the best technology for automation, customer
relationship management (CRM), inbound marketing and lead
nurturing.
In some cases, these legacy systems have been too complicated to fully implement
and integrate. And the internal resources to do so don't exist.
Many enterprise level marketing departments must still have to struggle with IT
over control of their corporate website without access to a truly useful content
management system.

11. INEffective INBOUND
Software (continued)
Our B2B marketing agency uses Hubspot for it's all-in-one Content Optimization
System (COS) but we work with clients that use other systems such as Pardot,
Marketo, Eloqua etc.
Whatever solution you choose, your team must embrace the need to never quit
learning all of the tools available by putting them to use day in and day out.

12. 7. InSUFFICIENT TIME / MONEY
We believe the debate is over as to whether or not your company
should include inbound marketing in your overall marketing efforts.
The question is: how much should your business invest in inbound
marketing?
If you are fortunate enough to have passive competition, you can start slow and
build your inbound marketing program over time. You will be the pacesetter.
Take a look at some of this year’s inbound stats on the next page and see for
yourself why so many companies are are investing. If you can dodge the dangers,
the treasure is immense.

13. InSUFFICIENT TIME / MONEY
(continued)
1) Around 85% of companies will execute inbound marketing strategies in 2015.
2) For small to midsize companies, the average cost per lead was 3x more
for outbound marketing than inbound marketing.
3) More than twice as many marketers cited inbound (45%)
as their primary source of leads versus outbound (22%).
4) Marketers who have prioritized blogging are 13 times more likely
to enjoy positive ROI.
5) Marketers who measure inbound ROI are 17 times more likely
to see the same or greater ROI as the previous year.

15. ConCLUSION
The Inbound Marketing Methodology map looks great on paper. Who wouldn’t
want more visitors, leads, customers and passionate promoters? But it isn’t for
the faint of heart.
In order to be successful, you must make sure you:
1) Are ready to commit
2) Have a strategy
3) Are ready to help people and not just promote your company
4) Align sales and marketing
5) Have the resources to create enough content
6) Have effective inbound marketing software and know how to use it
7) Have the time and money to invest
Before you begin your journey, make sure you have what it takes to commit to
inbound marketing and steer clear of these common pitfalls. If you find yourself
stuck between a rock and a hard place, know that help is just around the corner.