This document discusses how to create a predictable pipeline of new business leads using inbound marketing strategies rather than traditional outbound methods. It recommends setting goals for leads, traffic, and subscribers. Agencies should focus on creating high-quality content on targeted topics and formats, commit to regular publishing, and use calls-to-action and offers to fuel growth and capture traffic. When combined with some outbound efforts, an inbound marketing approach can help agencies develop qualified leads and opportunities from their own content over time.

1. SEDUCE PROSPECTS
WITHOUT GIVING YOUR
WORK AWAY FOR FREE
How to Create a Predictable Pipeline With
Inbound Marketing
Jami Oetting | Editor, HubSpot’s Agency Post | @jamioetting

2. OUTBOUND METHODS
• Cold Prospecting
• RFPs & Proposals
• Networking & Lunches
• Pitch Presentations
• Mailings

3. AGENDA
• Why inbound makes sense – for
agencies
• A modern understanding of
content marketing
• How to build an inbound program
to drive new business leads

4. Customers complete nearly
60% of a typical purchasing
decision before having a
conversation with a supplier.
Source: HBR

5. Source: RSW/US
THE PROCESS MARKETERS USE WHEN
HIRING A NEW AGENCY

6. 54% of agency selection
decisions are made based
on research from press and
online sources.
Source: Incite

7. Marketers are managing
their own searches for
solutions.

8. MOST VALUABLE SOURCE OF NEW BIZ
Source: RSW/US

9. But what influences these
valuable referrals?

10. Source: Hinge
Research Institute
SOURCES THAT INFLUENCE REFERRALS

11. Content fuels a predictable &
sustainable pipeline of leads.

14. But wait … we tried that.

15. But wait … we tried that.
1. Too hard

16. But wait … we tried that.
1. Too hard
2. Time-consuming

17. But wait … we tried that.
1. Too hard
2. Time-consuming
3. Doesn’t work

18. HOW CONTENT MARKETING
ACTUALLY WORKS: THE DATA

20. “The typical blog post
will generate between
1x and 2x as much traffic
with time.”
- Thomas Tunguz
Read more about this study.

21. 76% of monthly blog views
came from old posts.

22. 92% of monthly blog-sourced
leads came from old posts.
(2 years ago, it was 70%.)
Read more about historical optimization.

23. CONTENT = ANNUITY

24. HOW TO CREATE AN
INBOUND MARKETING PLAN
TO DRIVE NEW BUSINESS

25. SET
GOALS
SET GOALS1

26. RECOMMENDED GOALS
1 Leads
2 Traffic
3 Subscribers

27. Learn how to create a lead waterfall chart.

28. SECONDARY GOALS
1 Social Shares
2 Inbound Links
3 Comments
4 Thought Leadership

29. FIND YOUR NICHE2

30. DEFINE YOUR TOPICS / CATEGORIES
1 What common questions do prospects ask us?
2 What common challenges do clients face?
3 What services do we provide?
4 What do people search for?

35. DMA’S TOPICS/CATEGORIES
• Social
• Events
• Branding
• Sales
• Careers
• Recipes
• Blogging
• Packaging
• Public Relations
• Culture

42. SET
GOALS
RELY ON FORMULAS3

43. Common Post Types/Formats
• How-to
• List
• IG/SlideShare/Video
• Thought Leadership
• Editorial
• Newsjack
• Data
• Roundup
• Promo
• FAQ
• Interview

44. T
O
P
I
C
FORMAT
BLOGGING
HOW-­‐TO
LIST
SLIDESHARE
DATA
ROUNDUP

45. T
O
P
I
C
FORMAT
BLOGGING
HOW-­‐TO
LIST
SLIDESHARE
DATA
ROUNDUP

46. T
O
P
I
C
FORMAT
BLOGGING
HOW-­‐TO
LIST
SLIDESHARE
DATA
ROUNDUP

47. T
O
P
I
C
FORMAT
BLOGGING
HOW-­‐TO
LIST
SLIDESHARE
DATA
ROUNDUP

48. T
O
P
I
C
FORMAT
BLOGGING
HOW-­‐TO
LIST
SLIDESHARE
DATA
ROUNDUP

49. T
O
P
I
C
FORMAT
BLOGGING
HOW-­‐TO
LIST
SLIDESHARE
DATA
ROUNDUP

50. SET
GOALS
FOCUS ON QUALITY4

51. 54M NEW BLOG POSTS ARE
PUBLISHED EACH MONTH

52. FOCUS ON QUALITY
• Create posts that are THE go-to resource on a topic
• Include data and supporting facts
• Focus on the how-to
• Provide examples
• Include interviews with experts

54. Read the study.

55. SET
GOALS
FUEL GROWTH THROUGH
SUBSCRIBERS5

56. 77% of views on Sidekick blog
come from email.

57. 70% of initial traffic to a new post on HubSpot’s
Marketing Blog are from email subscribers.
Learn why you should focus on subscribers.

58. NO REALLY … FOCUS ON SUBSCRIBERS
Read about how we gave Google the middle finger.

59. USE NATIVE SUBSCRIBE CTAS

60. USE NATIVE SUBSCRIBE CTAS

61. SUBSCRIBE-GATE CONTENT

62. TRY A SUBSCRIBER POP-UP*

63. TEST SLIDE-IN CTAS

64. SET
GOALS
CAPTURE TRAFFIC WITH
TARGETED OFFERS6

66. CREATE TARGETED OFFERS

67. BASE OFFERS ON CATEGORIES
New Business
Client Services
Structure
Services
Marketing

68. SPECIFIC TOPIC + GENERAL AUDIENCE

69. GENERAL TOPIC + SPECIFIC AUDIENCE

70. EXAMPLE LEAD GEN CAMPAIGN

71. CREATING A LEAD CAMPAIGN
Set Goals
• Visits
• Leads
• SQLs
• Opportunities
• Customers

79. SET
GOALS
COMMIT TO CONTENT7

80. SET
GOALS
COMMIT TO CONTENT

81. SET
GOALS
COMMIT TO CONTENT
Read about blogging frequency benchmarks.

82. Growth in Traffic
Source: Impact

83. Growth in Leads
Source: Impact

84. HOW WOULD YOUR
NEW BUSINESS PROGRAM
BE DIFFERENT?

85. HOW WOULD YOUR
CONVERSATIONS WITH
PROSPECTS CHANGE?

86. INBOUND
+
OUTBOUND
=

87. Thank You!
Questions?
Follow @jamioetting