Inbound Marketing ROI: 35 Stats That Prove It's Worth It

"If you have more money than brains, you should focus on Outbound Marketing. If you have more brains than money, you should focus on Inbound Marketing.” - Guy Kawasaki

The return on investment for inbound marketing is becoming increasingly evident because customers buying habits support it. On top of that, inbound marketing is cost effective compared to traditional marketing methods.

The following stats prove inbound marketing's ROI in relation to:

• Online customer buying habits and preferences  

• Inbound Marketing content creation and production

• Inbound Marketing cost and budget compared to traditional marketing

• Inbound Marketing lead generation

• Best practices (such as marketing automation) that lead to enhanced Inbound Marketing ROI

Online Customer Buying Habits and Preferences Stats

1. 68% of online buyers will spend considerable time reading content published by a brand they are interested in. (The CMA) [Tweet This]

2. B2B customers conduct 12 searches on average before checking a specific brand's website. (Kapost) [Tweet This]

3. 80% of business decision makers favor getting brand information via an article series more than ads. (Content Marketing Institute) [Tweet This]

4. Online buyers go through about 57% of the buying cycle on their own without talking to sales. (Executive Board) [Tweet This]

5. 83% of online tech buyers found their vendor via Google search. (MarketingSherpa) [Tweet This]

6. 77% of online customers prefer permission-based promotions via email. (ExactTarget) [Tweet This]

7. Customers spend 50% of their time online engaging with custom content. (HubSpot) [Tweet This]

8. The average online shoppers attention span is 8 seconds. (B2B Marketing Insider) [Tweet This]

9. A whopping 84% of audiences age 25 to 34 have left a favorite website due to intrusive advertising. (Mashable) [Tweet This]

10. By 2017, video marketing will dominate nearly 70% of consumer website traffic. (Cisco) [Tweet This]

Inbound Content Creation and Production Stats

11. B2B Marketers give the highest priority and dedicate most of their time to 3 main content types: blogs, eBooks, and whitepapers. (Kapost) [Tweet This]

12. B2B Marketers diversify their Inbound Marketing tactics and use 13 of them on average (such as blogs, e-newsletters, social media, etc.) (Content Marketing Institute) [Tweet This]

13. 63% of B2B Marketers believe video marketing is effective for their business. (Top Rank Blog) [Tweet This]

14. Two-thirds of surveyed B2B Marketers believe that content is highly effective across various channels, such as public events, social media, and so forth. (Kapost) [Tweet This]

15. 44% of B2B Marketers have a documented Inbound Marketing strategy. (Content Marketing Institute) [Tweet This]

16. 67% of surveyed B2B companies rated Inbound Marketing as a top three or a very high priority component of their overall marketing strategy for 2015. (Kapost) [Tweet This]

Inbound Marketing Cost and Budget Stats

17. 32% of surveyed brands are planning to cut down on outbound marketing costs and allocate more budget for Inbound Marketing. (Inbound Marketing Agents) [Tweet This]

18. Surveyed B2B companies with 250+ employees allocate 55% of their annual marketing budget for content creation and production (excluding promotional investments.) (Kapost) [Tweet This]

19. Businesses that mainly rely on Inbound Marketing save more than $14 for every newly acquired customer. (State of Inbound Marketing) [Tweet This]

20. By 2016, Marketers are expected to invest a whopping $2.4 billion on email marketing. (Web Strategies Inc.) [Tweet This]

21. Mid-sized businesses save 31% on Inbound Marketing costs compared to paid search. (Eloqua) [Tweet This]

22. The cost of 3 out of 4 Inbound Marketing channels is less than the cost of any outbound marketing channel. (Mashable) [Tweet This]

23. Surveyed Marketers allocate 23% of their overall marketing budgets to outbound marketing and 34% to Inbound Marketing tactics. (Gannett Local) [Tweet This]

24. Inbound leads cost 61% less on average than outbound leads. (HubSpot) [Tweet This]

Inbound Marketing Lead generation Stats

25. The average cost per lead drops 80% after 5 months of consistent Inbound Marketing. (Eloqua) [Tweet This]

26. Inbound Marketing yields 3 times more leads per dollar than traditional methods. (Kapost) [Tweet This]

27. Nurtured leads make 47% greater purchases compared to non-nurtured leads. (The Annuitas Group) [Tweet This]

28. Properly executed Inbound Marketing tactics are 10 times more effective for lead conversion compared to outbound methods. (Gartner) [Tweet This]

29. Inbound Marketing can result in doubling the average website conversion rate from 6% to 12%. (HubSpot) [Tweet This]

30. Companies that automate their lead nurturing cycle see a 10+% increase in revenue within 6 to 9 months. (Gartner) [Tweet This]

31. On average, brands that publish 15 blog posts per month convert 1,200 new leads per month. (HubSpot) [Tweet This]

Inbound Marketing ROI Best Practices Stats

32. Companies that utilize inbound content platforms and offer buyer persona driven content see a 45% increase in the volume of Sales Accepted Leads (SALs). (Kapost) [Tweet This]

33. 44% of brands that use marketing automation software see ROI within 6 months, while 75% see ROI after one year. (Groove Digital Marketing) [Tweet This]

34. Companies that use advanced lead management solutions see a 9.3% higher sales quota rate. (CSO Insights) [Tweet This]

35. Companies who have prioritized business blogging are 13 times more likely to enjoy positive Inbound Marketing ROI. (HubSpot) [Tweet This]

🔍 Related: 5 Key Elements of a Winning Inbound Marketing Strategy