Technology has changed the way people buy products and services:

• DVRs let buyers fast forward through commercials

• Caller ID lets buyers send unsolicited phone calls to voicemail, where they are promptly deleted

• The delete button lets buyers quickly purge unsolicited e-mail from their inboxes

92% of prospects never take a meeting based on a cold call or e-mail according to a B2B Sales Effectiveness Study conducted by the University of North Carolina Keenan-Flagler School of Business.

Despite these changes in the buying process, many businesses still rely on outbound marketing techniques like cold calls or unsolicited e-mails to drive their revenue growth.  It shouldn’t be surprising that most of these efforts fail.  Businesses that have recognized the shift in control of the buying process from the seller to the buyer are using inbound marketing techniques to thrive in the new paradigm.

What is inbound marketing?   Businesses that use inbound marketing harness technology to find those buyers that are interested in the products or services that they sell:

•  Businesses that use inbound marketing techniques provide relevant content to prospects through blogs, social media and their websites. They use techniques like Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to allow interested buyers to find their content via search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.

•  Businesses that use inbound marketing use techniques like lead nurturing to progress prospects through the buying cycle by connecting with them at the right time with the right content.  They use techniques like lead scoring to pass qualified leads to sales when appropriate.

•  Businesses that use inbound marketing use techniques liked web analytics to measure the effectiveness of their inbound marketing program.  They use analytics to fine-tune the program to maximize qualified leads.

•  Businesses that use inbound marketing integrate with sales to ensure a seamless experience to the prospect.  They integrate with sales so that they are focusing their efforts on qualified leads.

The good news is that most organizations are still using outbound marketing – those that embrace inbound marketing have the potential to significantly outperform their competitors. Future blog post will explore all of these techniques in greater detail, with useful tips that executives of growing businesses can implement to drive revenue growth.  We look forward to your comments in the meantime.