Inbound Marketing aims to provide value to the consumer, in order to create leads and drive sales. The point is to encourage Content “Pull” by customers, rather than Content “Push” to the customers. Unlike traditional marketing methods, inbound is controlled by the customer, not by the brand: the brand can initiate and offer the content, but the customer will interact with it only when he/she finds the content relevant or interesting. This presentation is examining trends and best practices in Inbound Marketing.

1. Inbound Marketing Trends & Best
Practices
Hamutal Schieber | January, 2015

2. Introduction
• Inbound Marketing aims to provide value to the consumer, in order to create leads and drive
sales. The point is to encourage Content “Pull” by customers, rather than Content “Push” to the
customers.
• Unlike traditional marketing methods, inbound is controlled by the customer, not by the brand: the
brand can initiate and offer the content, but the customer will interact with it only when he/she
finds the content relevant or interesting.
• The main tactic for Inbound Marketing, is content marketing.
• After establishing the identity of the consumer, marketers must answer the following questions, in
order to execute content marketing effectively:
– What content – type, quality, subjects?
– When should it be distributed? How often?
– How should it be distributed?
– Where should it be distributed?
• This presentation aims to answer those questions, by examining trends and best practices
in Inbound Marketing.

3. What Constitutes “Inbound Marketing”
• HubSpot mentions the following types of content, as the main ingredients of Inbound Marketing:
• Within these 5 categories, many content types are included: in fact, content constitutes of anything
the organization creates and publishes, including guides, webinars, case studies, whitepapers,
videos, infographics, blogs etc.
Source: “What is Inbound Marketing?”, HubSpot

4. Market Map
What: Types of Content
• White papers, presentations, case studies
• Blogs, social media content, mobile content, videos, photos
• Content Hub, Entertainment, Curation
How: Content Formats
• Webinars, Infographics, eMails, Podcasts
• Mobile apps
Where: Main Platforms
• Social: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, Slideshare…
• Search engines, ads, dedicated platforms, email
When: Timing Considerations
• Stage in the path to purchase (researching / in store or online / service / aftersale…)
• Stage in the customer life cycle (acquisition / retention / conversion)

5. The Benefits of Inbound Marketing
Why should marketers use inbound marketing?
• Part of the rise in inbound marketing spend, stems from changes
in consumer preferences. In today’s market, consumers have
access to information all the time, and their rate of response to
outbound marketing tactics is falling consistently. So in order to
reach consumers effectively, marketers should consider other
tactics.
• HubSpot claims that inobound leads cost $135 in average,
compared to $346 per lead in outbound marketing. It is also
said to be more effective, generating 54% more leads
compared to outbound marketing. (Source: “What is Inbound
Marketing?”, HubSpot)
• Top KPIs for content management, include website traffic, social
media sharing, sales leads, SEO ranking, customer feedback,
and sales. According to Content Marketing Institute (2014), UK,
North American, and Australian marketers all cite Web traffic as
the metric they use most often to measure content marketing
success.
Graphics: "The CMO Guide to Inbound Marketing”, Marketo Inc

6. Consumer Trends
• According to Forrester Research,
consumers no longer trust brand advertising
or “push” marketing. They prefer self-
selected brand content or “pull” marketing.
• Edelman's Consumer Marketing Study
demonstrates that nearly 90% of global
online consumers, would like brands to
share content online.

7. Consumer Trends
• A Nielsen / Impowered research (2014) shows that social media and user reviews are the
most used sources in the consumer decision process.

8. Consumer Life Cycle Relevancy
• Marketo, Inc suggests that there
are two key rules when it comes to
inbound marketing:
1. Helpful content – ask yourself
“will it help”, rather than “will it
sell”
2. Relevant content – map content
according to the personas and
stage of the buying cycle
A report published in AdMap (October 2013) suggests
the following content for the various stages of the
shopper and consumer life cycle:

9. Consumer Life Cycle Relevancy
• The Nielsen/InPowered study
shows the impact of user
review, branded content or
expert content, across the
purchase process.

10. Content Marketing Tactic Trends
• In the UK, in 2014, social media content had become the leading content marketing tactic, followed by
blogs, articles, e-newsletters, case studies and videos.
• Videos made a significant leap, with 76% of companies reporting to have used this tactic in 2014, compared
with 69% in 2013. Infographics use had also increased, from 45% of companies in 2013, to 57% in 2014.
source: “Content Marketing in the UK: 2013 / 2014 Trends”, Content Marketing Institute

11. Content Marketing Tactic Trends
• ROI by tactic - Captora, 2014
The Airbnb website utilizes a prominent content
strategy. The site serves as a “marketing consultant”
for people wishing to attract more guests.
Other Contents include city guides, guided tours,
promotional videos, stories, etc.

12. Tactics | Co-Creation | Best Practice
• Marriott Hotels created a co-creation
platform, under the name “Travel
Brilliantly”, in collaboration with
content platforms such as Fast
Company, Mashable and Wired.
• The company invested in high-quality
content by professional writers,
without emphasizing the brand.
• http://travel-brilliantly.marriott.com/

13. Tactics | Magazines | Best Practice
• GE has established a
newsroom approach, based on
a Tumblr-powered magazine
under the name Txchnologist -
http://txchnologist.com/
• The magazine is based on an
entire system, fit to serve any
publisher – editorial resources,
meetings, briefs and schedules,
and mixes original and licensed
content. The magazine contains
content that is valuable and
relevant to the brand’s
audience, reflecting the brand’s
values, such as: renewable
energy, science, transportation,
etc..
Txchnologist stories, while hosted uniquely on the Tumblr platform, are
widely disseminated throughout the media ecosystem, getting picked
up in places like Scientific American, Gizmodo, i09 and Business
Insider.

14. Customization & Personalization
• Marketers should distinguish between B2B content,
and B2C content.
• According to Content Marketing Institute, B2B
content marketing in North America, UK and
Australia, includes more case studies, white papers,
webinars/webcasts, and research reports, than B2C
content marketing; while tactics such as mobile
apps, mobile content and print magazines /
newsletters, are more often used in B2C marketing.
• Companies in different markets rate tactic
effectiveness differently: UK marketers say that
case studies are most effective, while North
American and Australian marketers indicate that in-
person events are the most effective tactic.
“Content Marketing in the UK: 2013 Trends”, Content Marketing
Institute/Direct Marketing Association UK

15. Customization & Personalization
• Customer needs change
across industries, and
marketers need to
customize contents
accordingly. For instance,
in the hospitality industry,
photos of the hotel/ resort
facilities and of the area,
are more desirable to
American travelers than
reviews.
“Content marketing for travel brands” MMGY GLOBAL

16. Customization & Personalization
• Some marketers are building their content
platforms to suit different types of customer
groups. In such cases, they can provide an easy
navigation landing page for the visitor.
• Many marketers ask the visitor to participate in
surveys, in order to tailor the featured
information to better suit customers’ need.

17. Customization & Personalization
• A December 2012 survey by IMN found that 75% of financial services marketers had separate content
strategies in place for each marketing channel, the highest percentage of all industries polled. The key
is to deliver true value to an engaged audience.
• BlackRock, an asset management firm, invests in content
marketing including the following strategic components:
– Target market – sophisticated investors
– Positioning: fun – with humoristic notes.
– Platforms: Linkedin is perceived as the most relevant
platform for the target market for posting and interacting
with consumers.
• According to the company’s Global Director of Social Media,
the company’s social media efforts had delivered $17-18
million worth of earned advertising.

18. Customization & Personalization | Best Practice
• B2B company Autodesk, launched a digital publication called Line//Shape//Space, to empower their
customers and provide a go-to resource.
• Visitors are prompted to register in order to receive a newsletter.

19. Customization & Personalization | Best Practice
• Google Think - www.thinkwithgoogle.com is an online
platform aimed at the company’s important business
segment. The site is a chockfull of helpful information
and case studies, which are usually related to the tools
and services that Google offers to businesses.

20. Branded Content
• State of Content Marketing, Contently, 2014Absolut Vodka creates online content based on
physical experiences, which it co-creates with
artists and musicians.
The brand suggests vodka-based drinks, to enjoy
during such experiences.
http://www.absolut.com/en/Nights/Hub/

21. Branded Content
• Beer brand Dos Equis, has based its output around its current above-the-line ad campaign: "The Most
Interesting Man in the World".
• The brand developed a range of content around the theme, including sponsored events featured on a
micro-site, blogger contests etc.
• the brands keeps playing with platforms, turning now to the hot Oculus Rift, to offer a virtual reality
experience.

22. Branded Content
• LoveThisCity by MasterCard is a collection of the
experiences cities around the world have to offer. You
can later share with friends through social media

23. Distributing Content
• Content distribution on Social Media: CMI and MarketingProfs found that
social network usage saw a jump across the board over 2012, and that
marketers were spreading their efforts across a number of different
channels, with respondents using an average of six social media platforms.
• Facebook was the most popular platform in 2014 in North America.
• A rising tactic is Native Advertising – making the branded story a part of an
editorial, newsfeed, etc. in an organic form.
Apart from using the website, e-mail and
social media to push content, distribution
is also dependent on sharing. Therefore,
marketers turn to influencers for content
distribution (57% of respondents),
according to an eMarketer report.

24. Distributing Content
• According to eMarketer (2013), Inbound marketing tactics,
including content marketing, search engine optimization and
use of social media marketing, are all critical for businesses
looking to generate leads. Marketing automation is one
technique to make inbound marketing tactics more strategic
and complementary, as well as reduce much of the
guesswork of inbound marketing, but eMarketer found that
few were actually employing marketing automation. Just
16% of B2Cs and 14% of B2Bs reported using marketing
automation extensively to manage their inbound marketing.
• The eMarketer study found that 45% of successful inbound
marketers used marketing automation, vs. only 9% of
unsuccessful inbound marketers.

25. Platforms | Social Media
• Redshift Research polling for Bite in February 2014 found that 71% of UK marketing
decision-makers were creating content marketing materials for social media, well above
second-place white papers, mentioned by 38% of respondents.
The main distribution tactic is viral sharing. In order to
make content share-worthy, it has to offer real value for
the consumer, with “makes you laugh” being the top
reason for sharing content in the UK.

26. Platforms | Social Media
• While search engines are the number one destination for searching information, 55% of
buyers turn to social media for information (source: Adriel Sanchez of SAP, 2014)
• GE utilizes each social media platform, for the type of
content, characteristics, and target, most suitable for
the platform. For example, it uses 6-second platform
Vine, to create the #6SecondScience fair, and uses
Pinterest to create light science-related posts.

27. Platforms | Social Media | Twitter
• Adobe’s CMO.com platform provides tips
for marketers on digital marketing and
content monetization, which are related to
the company’s products.
• Twitter is the most important distribution
platform for the company, with 46,800
followers as of December, 2014.

28. Platforms | Social Media | Linkedin
• Citibank offers women the
Women & Co. platform, as a
financial and educational
resource.
• After 12 years of independent
operations, the platform was
connected to Linkedin in order to
boost engagement.
• Citibank partnered with the B2B
network on the Connect
Professional Women's Network,
an interactive discussion board,
which currently includes over
383,000 members.

29. Platforms | Social Media | Youtube
• Ensurance, an auto
insurance company,
successfully manages a
Youtube page -
www.youtube.com/user/Es
urancem
• The content is based on
videos, aiming to entertain,
with some of the videos
becoming viral.
• This demonstrates how
videos and humor can
create excitements, in
“dull” categories.

30. Platforms | Mobile | Best Practice
• Volkswagen publishes a popular magazine called “Das Auto” which contains brand-related and brand-
adjacent stories.
• The magazine features responsive content – compatible with computer, mobile, and tablet screens,
including apps.

31. Content as Entertainment
• Many brands are targeting younger consumers through long-term entertainment strategy.
Another interesting tactic is gaming as content, as
executed by Toyota Yaris in collaboration with Microsoft.
Red Bull is one of the best-known entertaining brands, combining
online & physical activity. Red Bull’s media house’s goal was to
become independently profitable — with content so good they
could sell it — which made them create content that people
loved. That content helped the mother brand build an unbeatable
reputation and dominate the crowded energy drink market

32. Content Monetization
• In order to monetize content, marketers use a variety of techniques, including: in-content links to
purchase, cross-promotions, etc.
UK retailer Marks & Spencer includes
“shoppable video” on its sites. Synchronized in-
player calls-to-action let viewers view more
information about featured products as they
appear, then click through to the corresponding
e-commerce page. Shared on Facebook, the
video retains all of this functionality.
According to Brightcove (“The New Content
Marketer”), within the first six months, the
company broadcast more than one million
minutes of video with click-through rates as high
as 30 percent. This boosted sales on some
products by as much as 90 percent.
http://www.marksandspencer.com/s/mands-tv

33. Key Take-Away
• Inbound marketing is all about offering high-quality, helpful content, to a specific customer
segment
– Provide actionable, informative content
– Or – be funny
– Provide tools which are relevant to the subject, such as data and calculators, communities, reviews
and personal stories
• Distribute content through the most suitable platform – and tailor content so it fits the platform
you wish to distribute it through
• Offer visitors to sign up to a newsletter
• Give the audience a reason to share the information with friends – and provide an easy way
to do so

34. Thank You
The research was conducted by:
Hamutal Schieber
Schieber Research | Market Research & Competitive Intelligence
www.researchci.com | hamutal@researchci.com
Executive Summary. For the full research - please contact
Carmelon Digital Marketing
http://www.carmelon-digital.com