10 Remarkable Discoveries About Inbound Marketing in Europe [NEW REPORT]

When HubSpot launched our international headquarters in Dublin this January, we wanted to transform the way people do marketing. An important part of that mission is understanding what inbound means to European marketers and their companies. At HubSpot, we have strong opinions on inbound marketing, but we wanted to hear from other marketers in Europe about their experiences with inbound.

Today we're very excited to present our firstEuropean State of Inbound Marketing Report. The report provides 10 amazing insights compiled with the help of the marketing community in Europe. We've also accompanied each insight with lots of information to help you improve your own inbound strategy in 2013 and beyond. But we didn't stop there -- we also used our data to help answer the question:Is Europe really 18 months behind the U.S?

To get you ready for the report, we've put together a SlideShare with 10 highlights and additional comments from some of the top marketing minds in Europe. Below that, I've included some key takeaways from the report that I'm really excited about, and show that inbound marketing is not only gaining traction in Europe, but in some areas, we are actually pushing ahead of the U.S.

The growth of inbound marketing in Europe is identical to the U.S.

58%的公司在欧洲将会执行bound marketing strategies this year, which is the same figure as the U.S., with 42% of companies in Europe also set to increase their spend on inbound. With 35% of marketers citing success with inbound as a reason to increase their marketing budget in 2013, it's clear European companies are set to make inbound a bigger part of their marketing strategy over the coming year.

European marketers are setting the right kinds of goals for their inbound strategy.

European marketers focus their inbound strategy on reaching the right audience and generating both leads & customers for their companies. It's important marketers understand that inbound marketing has a positive impact on metrics across your funnel, not just at the top. (To learn more, read our newinbound marketing methodology). Surprisingly, for all the discussion about the importance of content in Europe, "creating quality content" wasn't a top priority for marketers in Europe.

The majority of European marketers integrate their inbound strategy with larger goals, and at a higher rate than the U.S.

80% of European marketers are integrating their inbound strategy with larger goals. This is a great indication that inbound is past the adoption stage in Europe and isn't being managed in a silo. The equivalent figure in the U.S is 79%.

Inbound marketing delivers on its promises in Europe, generating more leads at a lower cost.

Inbound marketing sources are generating the most leads for European marketers with SEO, social media, and blogging making up the top three. They are also generating those leads at a lower cost with the same three sources performing best at delivering leads at below average cost. With 1 in 5 European marketers saying traditional advertising is less important in 2013, it's clear inbound isn't just part of the marketing mix in Europe -- it's starting to shape the entire marketing strategy.

Europe is going to need lots more inbound marketing talent.

Even with the economic problems in Europe, companies on average are still planning on hiring a further 2.5 marketers for their team in 2013. With the obvious shift toward inbound, marketers in Europe should consider what type of experience they're getting, and the skills they're developing. As inbound marketing grows throughout Europe, more companies are going to be looking for people who can help them build that marketing strategy around inbound.

These are just a few of my own takeaways from the report, and I am really excited to besharing the findings in their entiretywith you. There is so much more in the report, from the top challenges European marketers face, to what marketing sources are performing best at generating leads that convert into actual customers.

We hope you get a lot of valuable information from the report that helps improve your own inbound marketing strategy, and please do share your own personal takeaways in the comments -- we would love to hear them.

For the Love of Marketing,

Kieran Flanagan