More and more manufacturers are embracing inbound marketing in the 2020s. One reason for this trend is that inbound tactics (which take advantage of digital space) are very easy to monitor and track with quantifiable metrics.
In this piece, we’ll explore how manufacturers can use these advantages to prove the ROI of inbound marketing.
The digital age has transformed the manufacturing sector. Marketing budgets in the industry remain small and focused (compared to consumer-facing businesses), but they’ve also seen a gradual shift over the last decade from trade-shows and boots on the ground to more internet-based efforts that leverage powerful marketing automation platforms.
One of the benefits of a digital approach is that the ROI of inbound marketing is highly trackable. Inbound lead generation and web-based actions are simple to quantify with hard numbers, easy to track over time, and allow you to truly prove the return you’re getting on your investment — unlike many traditional, outbound channels like TV or print advertising, billboards, or direct mail.
Many manufacturers have been able to benefit from these advantages compared to the traditional tactics of yesteryear, like industry networking events and heavily referral-based strategies. In the 2020s, it’s often been said that inbound marketing is the king of ROI. If you’re hoping to prove (or even just to evaluate) the value of inbound within your own manufacturing company, here are a few pointers to get you started.
Inbound vs. Outbound ROI of Marketing for Manufacturing Companies
Door-to-door sales and cold calls are two examples of outbound marketing, where a marketer reaches out directly to potential customers to assess their interest in the product and fit as a sales lead. This requires you to know where to find the most qualified buyers and also how to contact them.
Inbound marketing is the opposite. You create an incentive for the best prospects to come to you, generally by creating easily accessible, informative, and helpful online content that also spreads awareness of your brand and funnels visitors towards your company’s website for more information (or to contact you).
Inbound content may take the form of how-to guides that you share on social media, an active business blog, persuasive case studies and whitepapers hosted for download on landing pages attached to your website, and much more. Social posts and web pages can both be promoted with additional budget to appear higher in social feeds and Google search results, or you can rely on SEO practices such as strong, relevant keywording to earn traffic more organically.
Many outbound efforts take a ton of time, but may also yield little to no leads. Inbound allows you to engage an audience that is already interested in what you have to offer and also gives you hard numbers to help you qualify leads or track conversion rates.
Inbound Metrics Are More Trackable!
One of the major differences between these two styles is the trackability of digital marketing ROI. Since inbound is primarily in a digital space, it’s very easy to track. All sorts of web behaviors — page visits, email opens, link clicks, downloads, time on page, form completions, etcetera — can be automatically monitored and mapped with tools like Google Analytics or your marketing automation platform. This makes the ROI of digital marketing for manufacturing companies much more quantifiable than a blurry tactic like direct mail, TV advertising, or a flurry of overlapping personal conversations at a trade show, where it’s hard to say for sure how many leads converted from the total audience exposed to your message.
One example of a useful, easily trackable metric for inbound marketing is “Cost-Per-Acquisition” or CPA. Here’s the formula:
- Cost-Per-Acquisition: Total marketing spend divided by the number of acquisitions your marketing efforts have generated.
With inbound, you’ll know exactly what it costs to promote a post or invest in each month’s marketing budget, and you’ll be able to see (with digital tools) exactly how many qualified leads resulted from your digital efforts, along with where they came from and which content or CTA ultimately converted them.
Link clicks, by and large, are seen as a vanity metric by professional inbound marketers. Eyeballs on a page won’t mean much if the visitor doesn’t take a meaningful action. It’s a better practice to focus on conversions (for desired actions, such as downloading a whitepaper or filling out a contact form).
Inbound is King. The Proof is in the Data:
The best way to prove the ROI of inbound marketing for manufacturing companies is with current data, across many businesses, with a large sample size...and there’s plenty out there. The HubSpot 2020 State of Inbound Report, for instance, had a lot to say about the payoff of inbound marketing in today’s world. Their study found that:
- Inbound is 4x more likely to be effective than traditional marketing.
- 1 in 3 marketers agrees that traditional marketing tactics are overrated in value.
- Organizations that can calculate the ROI of inbound marketing are 1.6x more likely to devote a larger budget for marketing.
- 59% of marketers say that inbound provides the best leads vs. 17% that say traditional marketing channels give the best results.
Other recent HubSpot data has reached similar conclusions regarding inbound results and ROI. For example:
- 41% of CMOs/CEOs say that inbound has shown the positive ROI they wanted in the past year.
- 93% of companies that use inbound have seen improvements in lead generation.
- Inbound leads have been shown to cost 61% less than outbound leads.
Data from the Content Marketing Institute has also shown that inbound channels cost 62% less than traditional channels while each dollar spent on inbound generates 3x as many leads. But why is inbound marketing so broadly effective in the digital era? Well, the data also shows that 93% of business buyers are starting off their purchasing process with a search engine. While manufacturers were once able to get by on referrals and one-on-one conversations with prospects, today’s buyers are turning to the internet to conduct research and find the products they need. This has never been more true than in the months since the onset of COVID-19.
The most recent Thomas Industrial Survey proved that in the wake of the pandemic, North American manufacturers in particular were 21% less likely to invest in trade shows than before the pandemic. At the same time, inbound marketing for manufacturing companies became incredibly popular. Survey respondents increased webinars and virtual events by 20%, search and social media marketing by 14%, and website-based marketing efforts by 12% compared with the time before COVID-19.
Key Factors to Consider Before Calculating Inbound ROI for Manufacturers
Before calculating Inbound ROI for manufacturers, several key factors must be considered to ensure accurate and actionable results. Here are the essential factors to take into account:
Define Clear Goals and Objectives
Establishing specific goals is crucial. Are you aiming to increase lead generation, boost brand awareness, or improve sales conversion rates? Clear goals will help in measuring the success of your inbound marketing efforts and in determining whether your tactics are effectively contributing to business growth.
Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
For inbound marketing, key metrics might include website traffic, lead generation (e.g., form submissions or eBook downloads), conversion rates, and sales from marketing-qualified leads (MQLs). Define which KPIs align best with your business objectives to track progress accurately.
Understand the Sales Cycle Length
Manufacturers often have long sales cycles, and inbound leads might not convert quickly. Understanding how long it takes for a lead to move from awareness to purchase is critical to accurately calculating ROI. It’s important to account for the fact that inbound strategies often require nurturing and multiple touchpoints before conversion.
Track Lead Quality and Conversion
Not all leads are equal, so focusing on the quality of inbound leads is essential. Assess how many leads turn into marketing-qualified leads (MQLs), sales-qualified leads (SQLs), and ultimately customers. Lead quality directly impacts the return on investment, as high-quality leads are more likely to convert and drive sales.
Account for Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
In manufacturing, customer relationships often span years, so it's important to consider not only the initial purchase but also the long-term value of each customer. CLV reflects how much revenue a customer will generate over time, so factoring this into your inbound marketing ROI will give you a more comprehensive view of success.
Evaluate the Cost of Inbound Marketing
Understanding the investment in content creation, SEO, marketing software, paid ads, and personnel is crucial for calculating ROI. All these costs should be accounted for to determine the total investment made into your inbound strategy.
Measure Attribution Effectiveness
Attribution helps determine which inbound marketing efforts are contributing to conversions. Are blog posts, paid ads, social media, or SEO driving the most qualified leads? Knowing the impact of each channel is essential in understanding where to allocate resources for maximum ROI.
Consider Competitive Benchmarks
Assess how your inbound marketing performance compares to industry standards and competitors. This can give you an idea of whether your ROI is competitive or if there are areas for improvement. It’s important to measure not just internal performance, but also how your inbound efforts stack up against others in the manufacturing sector.
When Will I See the ROI of Inbound Marketing?
It’s typical for traditionally proactive marketing efforts, like advertising and outbound cold calls, to yield better results in the short term. You’re able to engage many leads directly and instantly (although a large number may also not be interested).
An inbound presence takes longer to ramp up. However, it’s also a highly scalable long-term marketing strategy that has the potential to yield incredible ROI, especially when guided by a strategic marketing agency. — continuously — once you establish an audience and everything gets into gear. The asynchronous nature of inbound content is one of its biggest advantages. Whereas a salesperson can only call so many people per hour, and scaling up that operation would require more salespeople, inbound content builds up into a library of helpful material that lasts as long as you continue to host it and can be accessed by any number of potential visitors, simultaneously, at any point in the future.
One HubSpot study of over 5,000 customers as well as surveys from 236 professionals found that 93% of companies see increased lead generation from inbound, and over 80% are able to achieve positive results (more leads and more sales) within 7 months.
It’s important to remember that an inbound marketing strategy is about building a foundation that will fuel all future growth.
While it’s not impossible to see results from your inbound marketing strategy within the first month or two, results take time to truly get moving. If you’re growing concerned with your marketing timeline, remember that you’re building something, and building a foundation for all your future successes can’t happen overnight.
The more committed your marketing efforts are to this goal, the faster the results will show up. As Forbes reports, “To truly be successful in inbound marketing, you need to jump straight in. No trial run. No dipping your feet in the water. Fully commit, stay engaged and patient, and you will see positive results.”
How to Measure the ROI of Digital Marketing for Manufacturing Companies
Inbound marketing success should be measured primarily on your ability to attract leads. The simplest metric for showing this form of ROI is by calculating Cost-Per-Lead (CPL). Here’s the formula:
- Inbound Cost-Per-Lead (CPL): Total marketing spend on inbound tactics divided by total new leads from inbound sources (website, blogs, landing pages, contact forms, search engine ads, social post clicks).
How exactly you define a “lead” is up to you. Not all web visitors are leads, but everyone who ultimately calls your company, sends you personal information, signs up for a newsletter, or downloads your content almost certainly is. By tracking CPL data over time, you’ll develop a clear idea of what to expect from a given monetary investment in inbound efforts. In other words, how many leads you can expect to gain from each influx of marketing money.
If you want to get more granular and attach your marketing to concrete revenue gains, it’s possible you’ll want to include additional metrics and KPIs related to ROI. You could consider tracking:
- Inbound Cost-Per-Sale: This is total marketing spend on inbound tactics divided by total sales that came from inbound leads. The result will show you how much budget it takes to earn a sale. Compare this with the average value of each sale to see whether you’re making more money than you’re spending (per sale).
- Inbound Revenue-Per-Lead: Take the total revenue earned from inbound leads (over a given time period), and divide it by the total number of inbound leads (same time period). This shows you exactly how much revenue one inbound lead is worth, on average.
Thomas conducted research on digital inbound marketing for manufacturing companies (and other industrial companies) to establish strong business-to-business benchmarks for 2020. If you’re meeting these thresholds for various inbound metrics, you’re at or above average in the manufacturing space:
- The average pages per session are two pages
- The average session duration is 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds
- The average bounce rate is between 30- 60%
- The average click-through rate to a website page is at 1.5%
- The average conversion rate using a contact us form is 10%
- The average conversion rate using an RFQ form is 20%
- The average conversion rate for an eBook download is 25%
Report Back Regularly to Prove Your Digital Marketing ROI
Decision makers like to see results. As with any new strategy or initiative, it can be hard to get leadership invested in it unless you can show proof that the results were, are, and will continue to be worth the effort.
Urge patience if your digital, inbound marketing efforts Marketing budgets in the industry are just beginning, but keep highly detailed records of your results over time, so that you can provide quantifiable proof of all growth and improvement once the inbound engine revs up to full speed. The high visibility and precision of inbound data arms you with the facts you’ll need to answer questions and relieve all concerns. Once you know for certain that inbound marketing has helped your bottom line, your company will have more confidence investing in continued efforts while reaping the real rewards.
What Are the Challenges of Measuring Manufacturing Marketing ROI?
Here are some key challenges that manufacturers often face when trying to measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts:
Long Sales Cycle
Manufacturers often deal with a lengthy and complex sales cycle, where decision-making involves multiple stakeholders. Leads might not convert immediately, which makes it difficult to measure the immediate impact of marketing activities. The long time between initial engagement and final purchase complicates the calculation of ROI since results may take months or even years to materialize.
Attribution Complexity
Attributing sales or conversions directly to specific marketing efforts can be difficult, especially in multi-channel strategies. Manufacturing companies often use a mix of content marketing, paid ads, SEO, email campaigns, and trade shows, making it challenging to pinpoint which activities had the most influence on a lead's decision to buy.
Multiple Touchpoints
B2B manufacturing sales often involve multiple touchpoints across different platforms and stages. A prospect might first engage with content on social media, then attend a webinar, download a whitepaper, and finally make a purchase after an in-person consultation. Tracking and attributing value to each of these interactions in a comprehensive way can be tricky.
Difficulty in Tracking Lead Quality
Not all leads are created equal. Manufacturing companies might generate a high volume of leads but struggle to measure their quality accurately. Focusing on the number of leads generated without accounting for their qualification (marketing-qualified leads vs. sales-qualified leads) can result in misleading ROI metrics.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Manufacturers often work with long-term clients, and a customer’s lifetime value (CLV) may be more significant than an initial sale. Calculating CLV is complex, as it involves estimating repeat business, renewals, and long-term contracts. Without a solid understanding of CLV, it's difficult to assess the true ROI of marketing efforts that lead to long-term customer relationships.
Limited Direct Data on Offline Campaigns
Manufacturers often rely on offline marketing tactics such as trade shows, print ads, and networking events. Tracking the ROI of these offline campaigns and linking them to online performance or actual sales can be challenging. Manufacturers may struggle to gather accurate data from these sources, making it harder to quantify their marketing investments.
Complex Customer Journeys
Manufacturing buyers typically go through intricate, multi-stage buyer journeys before making a purchase decision. This includes multiple research phases, comparing options, consultations, and final negotiations. Tracking these intricate steps and connecting them to specific marketing activities can be difficult, especially if the journey spans across various teams and platforms.
Data Integration
Manufacturers may have data spread across various systems—CRM, email marketing platforms, website analytics, and sales tracking tools—which can make consolidating this data into a unified view of ROI difficult. Without proper data integration and tracking tools, it's challenging to get an accurate picture of how marketing investments are impacting business outcomes.
How to Improve Manufacturing Marketing ROI
Improving Manufacturing Marketing ROI involves aligning marketing efforts with clear business objectives, optimizing resources, and using data-driven strategies. First, focus on refining targeting to ensure marketing is aimed at the most profitable segments. Tailor campaigns to ideal customer profiles and use account-based marketing (ABM) for more effective lead generation.
- Refine Targeting: Focus on ideal customer profiles and high-quality leads.
- Align Sales and Marketing: Ensure both teams work towards common goals to improve lead-to-conversion rates.
Next, leveraging data and analytics is crucial. Use marketing automation and CRM tools to track customer touchpoints and evaluate which channels, content, and tactics drive results. This will help optimize resource allocation and improve lead quality.
- Track Touchpoints: Use tools to track interactions and optimize the marketing funnel.
- Use Attribution Models: Assign value to each marketing effort to measure ROI accurately.
Lastly, investing in content marketing that resonates with both the informational and emotional needs of your audience can increase trust and nurture leads over a longer sales cycle, enhancing overall ROI.
- Produce Relevant Content: Create educational content, case studies, and product demos.
- Repurpose Content: Maximize the lifespan and reach of content across channels.
By focusing on these strategies, manufacturers can boost their marketing ROI by targeting the right audience, leveraging data effectively, and providing valuable content.
Tools for Tracking ROI Metrics
Below are the top tools used by manufacturers to track ROI metrics.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics helps track website traffic, user behavior, and conversions, offering clear insights into how marketing efforts drive engagement and sales. It’s ideal for monitoring KPIs such as goal completions, bounce rates, and source attribution.
HubSpot
HubSpot provides a full suite of marketing, sales, and CRM tools that let you track leads, email performance, campaign success, and customer journeys—all in one platform. It’s especially useful for inbound marketing ROI measurement.
SEMrush
SEMrush is a powerful tool for tracking SEO and content marketing performance. It provides detailed analytics on keyword rankings, traffic sources, backlinks, and competitors—helping manufacturers assess the ROI of organic and content-driven efforts.
Databox
Databox pulls data from various sources (like Google Analytics, HubSpot, and social media platforms) and presents it in customizable dashboards. This centralized view helps manufacturers track marketing performance and ROI in real time across multiple channels.
Google Ads
Google Ads allows manufacturers to track the performance and ROI of paid campaigns through metrics like click-through rate, cost-per-click, conversions, and return on ad spend (ROAS). It’s essential for managing and optimizing PPC campaigns.
How Much Does Inbound Marketing Cost for Manufacturers?
The cost of inbound marketing for manufacturers can vary significantly based on the size of the business, the scope of services, and whether efforts are handled in-house or outsourced.
Below is a breakdown of typical cost ranges across different engagement models:
DIY / Small Business Approach ($1,000–$3,000/month)
For manufacturers handling inbound marketing internally or on a small scale, costs are relatively low but require significant time investment. Expenses may include:
- Marketing software/tools (HubSpot Starter, email platforms)
- Content creation (blog posts, basic SEO, social media)
- Limited paid ads or freelance help
This approach works best for smaller manufacturers with tight budgets and internal resources for content and strategy execution.
Agency Retainer Model ($4,000–$10,000+/month)
Many mid-sized manufacturers partner with marketing agencies on a retainer basis. These agencies typically provide:
- Strategy development and content creation
- SEO optimization and website management
- Lead nurturing, email campaigns, and analytics
This model offers a full-service approach without needing to build an in-house team, making it ideal for manufacturers seeking consistent growth and measurable results.
Enterprise / Fully Managed Inbound ($10,000–$30,000+/month)
For large manufacturers with complex needs or global reach, fully managed inbound programs deliver comprehensive support, including:
- Multi-channel content marketing
- Advanced SEO and paid media strategies
- CRM and automation integration
- Dedicated strategists, designers, and analysts
This high-investment model provides end-to-end execution and data-driven optimization, ideal for manufacturers focused on scalability and ROI at a large scale.
The Bottom Line
The right budget depends on your goals, team capacity, and growth stage. Smaller manufacturers can start lean, while those seeking fast or large-scale results may benefit from partnering with an experienced agency or investing in a robust in-house strategy.
Factors That Affect Inbound Marketing Cost
Several key factors influence the total cost of inbound marketing for manufacturers. Understanding these variables can help businesses better estimate their investment and tailor strategies to their budget and goals:
Content Volume
The number of blog posts, landing pages, emails, or other content pieces produced each month significantly impacts cost. More content typically means higher expenses, especially if outsourced or created by specialists.
Paid Tools & Software
Using platforms like HubSpot, SEO tools (e.g., SEMrush, Ahrefs), and CRMs adds to the monthly cost. Pricing varies based on features, user seats, and the level of automation and integration required.
Team Structure
Inbound marketing costs differ based on whether the strategy is executed in-house or outsourced to an agency or freelancers. In-house teams incur salary and overhead costs, while agencies often operate on retainers but provide broader expertise.
Reporting & Analysis Frequency
More frequent performance tracking, analytics, and campaign adjustments require time and tools, increasing costs. Businesses that prioritize data-driven decision-making may invest more in regular reporting.
Ad Spend (if included)
While inbound focuses on organic strategies, many manufacturers include paid promotion (e.g., Google Ads, sponsored content) to boost visibility. Ad budgets are separate from service fees but can greatly influence total spend.
Cost vs. ROI Consideration
When evaluating cost vs. ROI, it’s important for manufacturers to recognize that inbound marketing typically requires a higher upfront investment compared to traditional outbound tactics like cold calling, direct mail, or trade shows. Creating high-quality content, optimizing for SEO, and setting up automation systems takes time, resources, and often specialized expertise.
However, the long-term ROI of inbound marketing is significantly stronger. Unlike outbound strategies that stop delivering results once the campaign ends, inbound content (such as blog posts, landing pages, and educational videos) continues to attract and convert leads over time.
This compounding effect means that a single well-optimized piece of content can generate traffic and leads for months or even years. Over time, the cost per lead decreases, making inbound a more cost-efficient, scalable, and sustainable strategy for manufacturers seeking consistent growth.
How Market Veep Can Help You?
Market Veep helps manufacturers grow through strategic, data-driven inbound marketing tailored to the complexities of the industrial sector.
By combining expert content creation, SEO, email automation, and lead nurturing, we build campaigns that attract high-quality leads and move them through the sales funnel.
Our team works closely with manufacturers to understand their unique value propositions and develop long-term strategies that drive measurable ROI, while also leveraging tools like HubSpot to streamline processes and improve marketing efficiency.
Contact us today for a free assessment.
Take Your Manufacturing Marketing ROI to the Next Level
Effective and profitable marketing for manufacturers requires expertise and the right strategies. At Market Veep, we provide these services to help manufacturing companies achieve a higher ROI. Ready to learn more about how we can help your business enjoy greater success? Contact us today to go over your current marketing plan.
