When was the last time you examined your inbound marketing strategy? Does it include social media and SEO? If you can’t recall, you’re past due. According to Hubspot’s State of Inbound Marketing in 2013 report, social media is gaining importance quickly when it comes to B2B lead generation and inbound marketing. Their survey confirms that the days of traditional outbound marketing are losing ground. Thanks to spam filters, do not call lists and other filtering tools, these methods aren’t nearly as effective as they used to be. In fact, only 22 percent of all leads in 2013 came from outbound marketing, says Hubspot.

Here’s how marketing strategies stack up:

1st – Social Media and SEO tie at 14%

2nd – Email Marketing at 13%

3rd – Trade Shows and Direct Mail tie at 8%

4th – Blogs at 7%

5th – Telemarketing, Traditional Advertising and PPC tie at 6%

Social media and SEO are successful lead generators because they allow consumers to control the way and extent that they engage with businesses. Interacting with your followers through social is a good way to let them get to know you without asking for anything from them.

There are several social media channels out there, so where do you start? Well, it depends on your business and audience really, but these figures should help you out.

Facebook tops all other channels in customer acquisition for 2013.

1st – Facebook at 52%

2nd – LinkedIn and Company blogs tie at 43%

3rd – Twitter at 36%

4th – Google+ at 15%

5th – Pinterest at 9%

Let customers come to you by leveraging an active inbound marketing program. Be prepared when they arrive with logical, quality content and calls to action to convert visitors into customers. To learn more about how you can use inbound marketing to grow your business, contact Jane Cirigliano.