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At a recent speaking event, I posed a question to the audience. I asked, “who here watches TV on their own time, like on Hulu or Netflix, as opposed to watching live TV on cable.”

If you asked me the most common reason why marketing fails, I’d say two things: 1) not knowing the customer well enough, and 2) failing to deliver on what the customer wants.

A few months ago, we embarked on a mission to better understand how users in central Virginia used the internet. To do this, we surveyed users throughout central Virginia, then broke down that information by age, gender, and income.

The right marketing plan requires knowing your audience deeply. Marketing to younger, less affluent males is different than marketing to affluent, older females.

Executing an effective inbound marketing requires three things: 1) patience, 2) commitment, and 3) good decision making. It could take months, or even years, to see a significant payoff from inbound marketing. This is where patience and commitment come into play. Good decision making is less straightforward. It requires a level of expertise to do the right things the right way. It also requires good data to make educated, informed decisions about what to do next. Our Guide To Measuring Inbound Marketing showed you how to measure your inbound marketing efforts across a variety of platforms. Now it's time to go deeper. Most marketing automation platforms provide only a modest level of web analytics. This is adequate for a high-level view of what’s taking place, but it’s not enough for extensive analysis. Google Analytics is considered the gold-standard in free web analytics platforms, and it should be used in conjunction with any inbound marketing campaign. While Google Analytics provides hundreds of different reports and metrics, only a few are essential to the modern day inbound marketer.

The ability to measure digital marketing activity is one of its greatest advantages. Inbound marketing, which leans heavily on digital marketing tactics, has similar advantages. But unlike more traditional digital marketing tactics, which try to convert visitors into customers during their first website visit, inbound marketing is a long term strategy. It involves nurturing visitors weeks, months, or even years before they are ready to make a purchase.

Like the early days of email marketing, the early days of cold calling were incredibly effective. Getting a phone call was a novelty. It was special, not annoying. This led to more telephone conversations and ultimately, more sales. That’s changed quite a bit over time. Marketers and salespeople have over-used the tactic, driving down its effectiveness and annoying prospects in the process.

When was the last time you told someone about the milk you purchased? Probably never. Most people have never shared an experience buying milk, because when you buy milk, you almost always get exactly what you expect.

Are you excited about the prospect of inbound marketing for your business, but afraid you won’t achieve a reasonable ROI?

If you’re like most business owners and marketing managers, you wonder if you’re using the right marketing strategies and tactics. With marketing expenses representing around 8% of total revenue, investing in the wrong strategies is a costly mistake.