Online
Online marketing tactics were also believed to be effective as noted by 17% of respondents, with a mix of email marketing, content marketing and website SEO and social media.
Email marketing
As one of a direct marketing tactics, email marketing has been successful in generating qualified leads. Some businesses shy away from it, for fear of being labeled as SPAM, but those who still leverage it believe it is valuable. The main cost associated singapore telemarketing database with email marketing is the marketing automation tool. There are some inexpensive tools such as Vision6 or MailChimp that provide basic email marketing functionalities and list management, and there are those that are full scale inbound marketing tools like HubSpot. The monthly cost of these inbound tools can range from AUD $10 to $800.
Website SEO
Google search is perhaps the most used search tool in the world. To be on the first position for your keyword is what every company strives to achieve or maintain. Organic search has been a key source of qualified leads, and that is why many companies invest in SEO experts and consultants. The costs of these vary greatly since there are freelance SEO consultants overseas that charge less than AUD $10 / hour, while there are specialised SEO agencies whose fees are AUD $3000 a month.
Content marketing
An overarching tactic that is also believed to be rising in effectiveness is content marketing. It comprises of the two above and many others including website content, blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, infographics, videos, etc. Case studies and customer testimonials were highlighted as the two most effective content marketing tactics in lead generation. The costs for content marketing overall mainly involve freelance writers / internal marketers costs, freelance designer / design agency costs, and marketing automation which could potentially cost between AUD $1000 – $5000 every month.
Social Media
According to the research by Marketing Profs, social media was perceived to be the least effective lead generation tactic, with only 5% of respondents believing it to be effective. What has been established is that social media is a good channel to maintain brand presence and increase brand exposure. The costs involved with social media tactics are next to nothing since social networks are free. However, you may want to use scheduling tools to be more efficient with your social media posts, and these cost AUD $7 – $18 per month.
Cost comparison
Overall, the costs of inbound and online lead generation tactics are much less than outbound or events, even though it is perceived to deliver better results. It is important to note that no category of tactics will work as absolutes. These depend on your buyers, their needs and their buying behaviour.
The best way to navigate through
the challenges of lead generation is to use a mix of outbound and inbound, perhaps leverage content marketing with a quarterly executive event or a trade show once a year. After all, if you leverage the right inbound and outbound tactics that suit your buyers, the results you receive will outweigh the costs.
To learn more, refer to our whitepaper on measuring marketing ROI.