Inbound Marketing Blog

‘If the statistics are boring, then you’ve got the wrong numbers.’ Edward Tufte

Many people in the marketing industry describe data as ‘the new oil’, a commodity that will keep the wheels of big business turning in a new, online world. In many ways they’re right. Big Data reveals more about customer habits and behaviours than ever before, equipping marketers with unprecedented amounts of information to tailor campaigns and speak to people on their terms. But as we try and swim in the Big Data tsunami, are we tracking and analysing the right kind of information? Last week we talked about the tools you can use to measure your data. This week we’ll explore the kinds of data you should be measuring in the first place.

I read a sobering statistic this week. It initially shocked me, but as the surprise subsided it was replaced by a gentle acknowledgement that it’s a sign of the times:  

What if I told you that successful Sales Enablement came down to just one thing? One tiny, two-syllable word that can reshape the whole way your business engages with new and existing customers?

Last week we introduced the idea of Sales Enablement. While a relatively new and evolving concept, Sales Enablement is closely linked to Inbound Marketing, with an important distinction. As we know, Inbound Marketing uses great content to generate high quality leads. Sales Enablement is the next step in the process, designed to close the leads your brilliant content has worked so hard to create. To use a dessert analogy, if Inbound Marketing were the bowl of ice-cream, Sales Enablement is the sprinkles on top.

There was a time when the sales process was clear-cut. Tools and tactics were largely commonplace, and everyone knew the rules. Then everything moved online, and sales has been in a state of flux ever since.

I was recently conducting a series of interviews for a new client, speaking with their customers and resellers to help prepare an Inbound Marketing Strategy. 

In a famous study conducted over the course of 20 years, political science writer and professor Philip E. Tetlock discovered that when it comes to intuition, the results are about as accurate as flipping a coin.

So you’ve signed up to HubSpot.Welcome to the exciting world of Inbound Marketing! 

In case you missed last week’s blog, we introduced the emerging concept of Inbound Sales. It’s a proven methodology for developing a sales process that matches how people buy. This methodology has been built on the premise that the modern buyer is no longer reliant on salespeople to get all the information they need to make a purchase.