Addressing the Top B2B Marketing Challenge in HubSpot’s 2018 State of Inbound Report

HubSpot’s State of Inbound annual report has quickly become one of the benchmarks that savvy inbound marketers use to ensure their digital strategy is truly aligned with all of the latest trends.

One of the meatiest sections of the 2018 State of Inbound Report is the listing of the top five marketing challenges in each region. Like every aspect of the Report, this was compiled using responses from hundreds of practicing digital marketers – in this case, from all around the world.

Generating traffic and leads was by far the #1 issue identified by marketers across the board.

Let’s review the best response to this and the other challenges disclosed by North American marketers:

Generating Traffic and Leads

Generating traffic is always the number one concern in digital marketing – and inbound has the solution. Develop a complete Web content strategy along with detailed buyer personas, keyword research, and a clear, consistent schedule for posting. Then, take it all a step further by planning to reuse and reformat content as videos, infographics, and more. Amplify it with social media.

Proving the ROI of Our Marketing Activities

Proving ROI requires you to capture and present the right data. That starts by determining what the right metrics are for your enterprise. Then, ensure your data analytics suite is set up to capture that information, which typically requires you to define custom conversions throughout your website. Finally, develop a plan to clearly convey successes to high-level decision-makers.

Securing Enough Budget

Addressing Top B2B Marketing Challenges

Named by 25% of respondents, securing enough budget is a peripheral problem for all kinds of departments throughout a business. Still, it is a secondary dilemma: it is resolved by being able to demonstrate ROI, then opening channels of communication throughout the year to reinforce how marketing spend translates to results. When there is obvious ROI, budget is more likely to increase.

Managing Our Website

Managing a website is easier than ever, but it may require a shift in your thinking. Now is the best time ever to implement a modern Content Management System that will allow every member of your team to participate in developing and maintaining your site without overusing pricey IT resources.

Identifying the Right Technologies for Our Needs

Although named by only 19% of respondents, identifying the right technology is a cornerstone of staying abreast of the latest trends. Your ongoing market research should devote sufficient time to learning about new solutions and you should have thorough RFP and procurement processes.

To make headway on the top five marketing challenges, select the one that’s most pressing and get started today. The sooner you make changes, the sooner those will start to pay dividends and translate into lasting competitive advantages.