Does Inbound Marketing Make Sense for Your Staffing Agency or Recruiting Firm?

I rubbed my eyes and scratched my head. I laser-focused my concentration, but that made me rub my eyes and scratch my head some more. I rumbled around my closet and brought out some ancient tools of the trade – a Texas Instrument TI-30 calculator, a slide rule, a hand-cranked adding machine, an abacus.

Regardless of the poking, prodding and manipulation I did of the data before me, the answer was always the same:

Less than 5% of all respondents to the USSA 2016/17 Marketing and Sales Survey of Staffing and Recruiting Firms are aggressively doing inbound marketing, another 28% say they are doing it modestly, and an astounding 65% say they aren’t doing inbound — or don’t know what it is.

Why This Didn’t Make Sense

You would be rubbing and scratching, too, if you read a few other survey results, like the fact that 67% of respondents said that increasing website traffic is very challenging, or that 71% said that getting found first online is either extremely challenging or challenging, or that 76% say that lead generation is a top three marketing challenge.

You see, all of these critical challenges — voiced by seven out of 10 firms — are addressed with an inbound marketing approach.

It appears that there’s a lot of firms with the same problems and a lot of firms that appear to be ignoring a key solution to the problems. Hmmmm.

But let me get you rubbing your peepers and scratching your melon for a change.

I don’t think that inbound marketing is the right solution for everyone.

A Quick Overview of Inbound Marketing

You’ve probably heard about inbound marketing.

There is a never-ending supply of data, case studies, testimonies, and quantitative research showing inbound marketing successes.

There is an impressive library of whitepapers, articles, infographics, videos and podcasts that are yours for the taking – if you fill out a form, thank you very much.

There are conferences, workshops, webinars, courses and certifications galore.

There’s even a few companies, like HubSpot, that are not only torch bearers for inbound marketing, they also have a ton of free stuff on their site. These crazy folks even give away their software for free!

Here’s my point.

If you’ve been asleep at the wheel and don’t know what inbound marketing is, then that’s on you. The good news is that you’re only a few clicks away from having the type of literacy that your competitors may not even been dreaming about (yet).

PREMIUM CONTENT: Satisfaction with staffing agencies (or lack thereof), and what drives it

Do I Really, Really, Really Need to Do Inbound Marketing?

The answer is really, really, really, YES! … if your firm isn’t getting enough visibility, leads and new business.

If you are awash with qualified leads and making sales like crazy, then there’s no need to invest in inbound marketing. Keeping on doing what you’ve done and in fact, you might want to double down and do it some more.

If you have so much new business that taking on more could cause harm to the firm, don’t do inbound marketing. Please make sure, however, that you throw in a few weeks of vacation from time to time to recharge your batteries.

On the other hand, if you’re not satisfied how your firm’s marketing and sales efforts have been producing, and the “old ways” of getting new business just aren’t working for you as well as they once did, then inbound marketing could be a solution.

Don’t Pick Up That Phone Just Yet

Inbound marketing is hard.

It takes capital — financial and human — to get it launched and maintained.

It takes commitment and faith to stay the course, because inbounding is a marathon, not a sprint.

It involves new strategies, tactics, tools and technologies, and that means new ways of thinking, new demands upon marketers, and new types of out of pocket costs.

It may seem expensive, but inbound marketers (like me) will politely inform you that it’s not about cost, it’s all about return on investment.

I’ve put together this simple checklist that can help you start your exploration of inbound marketing.

Or, if you’re already doing inbounding but aren’t seeing the success you anticipated, the checklist may point out a few problem areas.

Do a little bit more investigation, read a whitepaper or two, visit the HubSpot site, and if you are adventurous, you can even try grading your website – the hub of inbound marketing – here.

Afterward, if you feel a discussion is warranted, please call at the number noted below.

I’m pretty sure that by that time, the meds will have kicked in and I won’t be rubbing or scratching from my perplexity anymore.

MORE: How Staffing Firms Can Make Sense of Digital Marketing for Getting New Accounts

Alan Vitberg

Alan Vitberg
Alan Vitberg is executive director of LeadG2’s professional services team. You can reach him at (585) 750-8258 or via email at alanvitberg (at) csscenter (dot) com. Visit LeadG2’s website for its marketing and sales blog.

Alan Vitberg

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