Animal Health Marketing: Online Marketing Generating Real Customers

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb 22, 2010 -
The use of online marketing and social media channels such as blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are becoming key tools in generating new leads according to a new survey.  A recent survey, 2010 State of Inbound Marketing, by HubSpot revealed some staggering results and the growth of inbound (online) marketing.

- Average cost per lead for outbound (traditional) marketing was $332.  Outbound marketing includes trade shows, direct mailers, cold calls, etc.  Average cost per lead for inbound marketing (social media sites, blogs, SEO, etc.) was $134.
- Social media sites and blogs are the most cost-effective ways to generate leads out of all marketing activities (trade shows, mailers, telemarketing, etc.).  63% of respondents estimated that these tools were ”below average cost” for lead generation.
- 88% of those surveyed are either maintaining or increasing their inbound marketing budgets in 2010.
- 61% of respondents reported that they publish a company blog compared to 48% a year ago.
- 85% of respondents rated company blogs as useful or better in 2010.

The survey by HubSpot not only reveals that companies are using online marketing tools but they are seeing results (i.e. lower average cost per lead).  In the animal health industry, the use of online marketing tools (social media sites, blogs, SEO, etc.) is growing but is still lacking in other industries.  Traditional forms of marketing still dominate the landscape in our industry.  Unfortunately, traditional marketing techniques – including direct mail, print advertising and trade shows – are becoming less effective.  Buyers are not only finding ways to tune these messages out (do-not-call lists, TIVO, email spam filter, etc.), but more importantly they now have the capability to evaluate the products and services they need on their own.

Let us know which social media tools your company currently utilizes in their marketing efforts by answering our poll at http://cheetahlink.wordpress.com/.  As more data such as the HubSpot survey becomes public knowledge, we expect online marketing to become a key element in marketing campaigns in the animal industry.  There are some companies that are expanding their marketing efforts to include social media tools (Novus International with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, Hallway Feeds with Twitter, Facebook and iPhone application) but the large majority are not.  The opportunity is there for companies in our industry to leap-frog their competition using online marketing tools (social media sites, SEO, ebooks, white papers, etc).  The question is – who will make the commitment to online marketing and establish themself as a clear leader in our industry?  We will find out over the next ten months.

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