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Inbound Marketing Does NOT Work

If you sell B-to-B do not count on Inbound Marketing to fill your pipeline with qualified leads. It simply does NOT work. Here’s what does.

Whatever you do, don’t lead your marketing strategy with Inbound Marketing. Let’s cut to the chase, inbound marketing is BS, it’s completely wrong headed, and it’s been pervaded by the likes of HubSpot and marketers for the last five years, and the bottom line it just doesn’t work. If you’re looking at your strategy as Inbound Marketing “to deliver leads, then you contact the leads, then you close the business” you’re going to be working for a really long hard time spending a lot of money and heartache, it’s true. Actually, if you start with inbound, you’re starting at the back end, you’re starting at the wrong end of the process. Here’s why, if you’re selling business-to-business the most important thing about selling is getting that facetime, there’s no inbound marketing tool. If you start with that first, that’s going to get you to that meeting. Trust me, I know, I’ve been there.

Here’s where you start, you start with the Face time. “ah, what a concept”. So, when I look at a budget, when I look at a company selling BtoB, when my team starts putting together a marketing plan for our clients that sell BtoB, you know where we start? We start at FaceTime, we start a conference, and we love the smaller conferences where there may be 300 or 400 people, and you can sponsor and be the big guy on campus, maybe sponsor the breakfast or the breakout, and have a nice little table there, remember to stand in front of the table. But there, while you’re at that conference standing in front of the table, you can connect with people, you can talk to people, you can begin to build their relationships, oh my god, you got face time, that’s what you want!

And then you use all of the social media tools, you use email -because email is social media- you use Instagram or LinkedIn, whatever your chosen social media is for your market, to tether your relationship with that individual that you’ve had Face time with at the conference, and then you’ll get the deal, you’ll get the meeting that will help you close the deal, okay? Don’t rely on inbound marketing because folks, it just doesn’t work. Start with face time. So, when your considering your marketing budget, look at all the possible conferences, all the potential, where can you get in front of an individual for real live conversation? Start there, and you will be incredibly successful in bringing a new business to your company.

Okay, I hoped you enjoyed this video, I hope you enjoyed all the videos, we’re going to have tons of them here on the channel. Please subscribe, please hit the little bell, follow me on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, I’m everywhere. And until next time, have a great business day.


Deb DiGregorio

Camares Founder, Deb Di Gregorio serves as president and practice lead developing marketing programs and working closely with client/owners. She is a member of the NJ Advertising Hall of Fame and is the author of Zebworks: The Agile Marketing Framework and Triumph Over Toothpicks: The Essential Guide to Business in the Digital Age. 

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