Why Inbound Marketing? Why in Alaska? Why Now?

There’s been a lot of talk in the last 18 months about the state of Alaska’s economy and what that means for businesses of all sizes in our great state. In particular, 2016 seems to feel direr and, many companies are looking for ways to trim spending and become leaner. This January, the AEDC (Anchorage Economic Development Corporation) presented their findings for 2015 and predictions for 2016. Here are some of their conclusions from the Economic 2016 Forecast-Anchorage.

• “Cost cutting in the oil and gas sector; a thinning book of state-funded capital projects and state operating budget cuts will together result in a net job loss in Anchorage and statewide. Continuing growth in health care and a strong visitor industry will offset some of the local decline, but certainly not all of it. Overall, AEDC forecasts a net loss of 1,600 jobs in Anchorage in 2016, a decline of 1 percent.”
• Employment Loss is consistent and as expected in sectors like oil & gas, business services, construction, financial activities, government, and other misc. sectors.
• Employment gains were registered in areas like health care and leisure & hospitality
• Employment stayed consistent in transportation and the retail trade

While many of the people who have lost their jobs from the oil and gas sectors are finding work elsewhere, we are still seeing the highest decline in population since the 1987-1988 period. That being said, the numbers can’t be compared since we are looking at a mere 0.8% decline this year as opposed to the hugely significant 5% decline of the late 80’s.

The long and short of it is that things will not be entirely comfortable for a while as we find our new equilibrium in a time of lower oil prices and we must find alternative income sources as stated by AlaskasEconomy.org. As businesses look to be leaner, often the first item to get cut is marketing. More often than not it is the companies that choose to cut their marketing too much or altogether that do not survive. Because at this crucial time, there are significant opportunities to increase market share and secure position in a competitive marketplace. That is hard to do when people forget your company exists because there is not budget to get the word out there.

So what is the answer? Inbound marketing comes to the rescue! Now please don’t think I am saying that inbound marketing will solve all of your marketing problems, but it certainly offers some significant benefits for the Alaskan business looking to market smarter not harder (or expensively) during this troubling economic times. Here are a few of the benefits of inbound marketing:

1. Inbound leads cost 61% less on average than outbound leads. (HubSpot)
2. B2B companies that blog at least 1 or 2 times per month generate 70% more leads than the companies who don’t blog. (HubSpot)
3. Inbound Marketing yields three times more leads per dollar than traditional methods. (Kapost)

This is why those of us at Beacon Media + Marketing believe the time is now for the second annual Alaska Inbound Marketing Summit. It is a time to explore new ways of doing what we have always done. Social media and the technology of the digital age afford us some dynamic tools with which to market. Now is the time to embrace them and explore the new opportunities we have in front of us! The following quote is often attributed to Einstein and though used extensively; I believe it applies to us in many ways. We need different results now so we must try new things; what worked then is no longer the best option. So join us this year and discover how inbound marketing will help your business!