Back in 2005, HubSpot founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah identified a significant trend in B2B buyer behaviour. A few years later, in their book entitled “Inbound Marketing”, they laid out the fundamentals of this marketing strategy, which has continued to shape how the majority of B2B companies structure their marketing to this day.
Nowadays, most B2B buyers conduct their own research – initially without any personal contact with a supplier. Parts of or even the entire B2B buying process take place online, which is why the targeted use of content marketing is paramount. After all, content tailored precisely to the buyer’s journey serves as a touchpoint with customers and leads prospects step by step along the marketing funnel.
However, one mistake many businesses make is generating expensive content without measuring whether it actually achieves the desired results. Not every company will use the same inbound marketing measures. Moreover, content formats need to be used in a targeted manner and in coordination with the overarching marketing strategy. Only those who know what they want to achieve will select the right inbound measures. And only those who measure these activities using the right metrics will know whether their actions have been successful or not.