Our Thoughts on Hubspot’s 2017 State of Inbound Marketing

A few weeks ago, Christmas came early for inbound marketers when Hubspot released its 2017 State of Inbound report. After combing through the wonderfully presented data, here are a few nuggets that grabbed our attention:

• 70% of respondents said their top marketing priority was converting contacts/leads into customers.
• However, they’ve got to overcome their biggest challenge before they can get to their top priority; 63% of respondents said their biggest challenge is generating traffic and leads.
• 46% of folks said that inbound marketing has a higher ROI than outbound methods (only 12% thought outbound marketing had a higher ROI).
• Back to that outbound marketing – 32% said that traditional paid ads (print, outdoor, tv) are the most overrated marketing tactic.
• Video is taking over. 48% of the people polled said the planned on adding YouTube to their content distribution plan in the next year.

So, what does this mean?

As content marketers, we need to develop content and optimize as best we can to ensure we’re helping our clients meet their own KPIs – which likely revolve around contacts, customers or ROI. If you’re not already, make sure you’re plugged into a monthly reporting routine. Depending on what your client’s goals are, your reporting should scale to meet their needs. Really spend a few hours a month taking a look at what you completed, how it worked and think about how you can tweak your strategy as you continue to roll out content.