Internet Marketing Insights from Louis Gudema

Internet Marketing Insights from Louis Gudema

I had the pleasure of hearing Louis Gudema of revenue + associates speak the other week at a Concord Mafia meeting. Here are takeaways from his presentation based on a white paper he wrote called “6 Strategies for Marketing Technology Vendors that will Accelerate Growth”.

Adoption: Only a small percentage of most companies are implementing Internet marketing programs. Louis researched a few hundred companies and found that of the 9 different types of Internet marketing programs only about 2 on average are being utilized by companies that aren't in the software industry. Note the adoption rate for software companies is much higher, 7 of the 9 programs having been adopted. 

Results: Internet Marketing does provide a ROI. Here are some stats on how these programs increase revenue:

• Companies that use marketing automation software (e.g. Marketo, Eloqua and Hubspot) receive a positive return on investment within 12 months.
• SEO continues to provide the highest ROI of all Internet Marketing programs.
• Testing such as A/B testing, can increase conversions by 50 - 100% and sometimes a lot more.
• Automated lead management provides a 10% increase in revenue within 9 months

Economic Growth: Since Internet marketing has proven to increase revenue, it should be seen as a way to provide economic growth. And this type of stimulus is better than other methods such as tax and incentive programs.

Adoption Issues: Companies are not adopting Internet marketing software applications such as Marketo, Hubspot and Eloqua because they are too complicated, expensive and hard to use among other reasons. Note also, ther are over 1,000 companies making Internet Marketing software

Education: People need to be educated to the ‘payoff’ but there is resistance. Companies can realize competitive advantage through data and tools.

Marketing Negatives: Many companies see marketing as an expense rather than a revenue generator. This is in part a failure of the marketing profession that relies on marketing metrics (e.g. increased traffic or ‘hits’), instead of business metrics (increased sales).

Marketing Software Companies are Losing Money: The majority of large Internet marketing software companies such as SalesForce.com, Hubspot, Marketo, Eloqua, Brightcove and Jive all lost money. Constant Contact was the only one listed to eek out a small profit in the Louis’s white paper.

The biggest takeaway I had from this presentation is that Internet marketing will continue to revolutionize sales, marketing and how businesses are structured but it is still early. Most companies aren’t utilizing, don’t know how and probably won’t until a younger generation starts to fill the C level and director positions in companies. 

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