I recently downloaded the just published “The Marketing Data Box,” and I found the information super useful for decisions related to online marketing. In this, the first of a two-part series, we’ll look at data on inbound marketing and online advertising; in the second, we’ll look at video marketing and mobile advertising.
So, where should you be spending your marketing dollars? Let’s begin by looking at the big picture. When it comes to marketing online, B2B and B2C businesses use:
- Websites: 88%
- Email: 84%
- Social media: 66%
- Paid search: 50%
- Banner ads: 41%
If you are still relying on traditional marketing channels like direct mail and print ads because you think that online marketing is too costly, consider these numbers:
In 2011, the average cost per lead for outbound marketing was $373, while inbound was $143.
The least expensive inbound channels are blogs, social media and SEO, so if you are using those, you are likely spending your time and money well.
The most expensive? Paid search (PPC). (The most expensive source of leads overall, by the way, is trade shows.)
Don’t count out paid search, though, because it is still less expensive than traditional marketing or advertising. If you want to try it, use these numbers to help you decide where to spend your online ad dollars:
Google’s Ad Network reaches 93.1% of Americans online, followed by Yahoo Network Plus with an 85.5% reach, AOL Advertising with 85% and Yahoo Sites with 84.5%. Facebook.com crossed into the top 10 for the first time in January 2011 with a 72.3% reach.
So if you had to choose between advertising on Google and advertising on Facebook, you’ll need to know the demographics of your target market.
According to Gallup, men (42%) are about as likely as women (45%) to have a Facebook page. However, men (63%) are 12.5% more likely than women (56%) to say they visit Google in a given week. Overall, 40% more U.S. adults say they use Google in a typical week (60%) than have a Facebook page (43%).
“The Marketing Data Box” is a quarterly series published by Watershed Publishing’s Data Insights, based on HubSpot’s data and using graphics supplied by MarketingCharts.com.
Image by Flickr user epSos.de (Creative Commons)
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