Is Inbound Right for You?

How much does an inbound program actually cost?

We get asked all the time (BIG surprise!) “How much does an inbound program cost?” The most honest answer is “It depends.” Kind of like if you were building a new facility. Size, materials, technology, functionality, pace of the buildout, all contribute to cost. Same thing with an inbound program.

Like a custom builder, we don’t pull “one size fits all” programs off the shelf and tell clients “Here it is!” Before we can begin to estimate cost, we need to know where you are, where you want to go, what capabilities you can contribute to mitigate outside resources (like us), and how fast you want to achieve your goals.

Here are the topics that we’ll always cover as we scope out a new program:

1. What’s the current state of your existing web assets, including website and social media profiles, and their current performance levels, based on
   trusted sources like Google Analytics?
2. What are your specific business growth goals, and what specific types of customers do you want to achieve growth with?
3. What’s the expected lifetime value of your ideal new customers, and what is their typical buyer journey as they source a new vendor?
4. How much growth do you expect to achieve through your traditional, existing efforts, like trade shows and industry networking efforts?
5. How quickly do you want or need to be at your targeted growth level?
6. What capabilities do you have in-house that can be redeployed to perform valuable inbound marketing and sales activities?
7. What have you budgeted for foundational work (getting your website ready, building a plan, jumpstarting some quality gated content) for the up
   front work, and how much is budgeted to fund ongoing monthly activities?

Typical Foundational & Ongoing Program Costs

To get a client set up for a successful program, it’s not unusual for them to spend $25K–45K across 90–120 days. That includes a fully-integrated inbound plan, internal team and customer interviews, getting all web assets inbound ready, creating the initial editorial and content plan, and creating some starter backlog of blog posts and advanced content. Seems like a fair price to pay for a fast start to positive ROI!

This assumes your website just needs some tidying and simple improvement/modifications. If you need a new site, that’s another discussion.
See Website Development.

Monthly Inbound Marketing & Sales Program

Once we’ve created your custom plan and gotten your foundation well positioned for success, we’ll help you launch your inbound program, at the center of which will be the regular publishing of relevant, helpful posts on your blog.