The The impact of Inbound Marketing on converting leads into sales opportunities in a B2B funnel over time

Abstract

This study aimed to prove if the practice of Inbound Marketing, anchored in the Digital Content Marketing strategy and its respective online media campaigns, influenced the stage change from a qualified lead to a sales opportunity in a B2B funnel over time. The data comprised the period between March 2018 and February 2020 and were analyzed using Cox Regression, as it is a suitable method for explaining the influence of independent variables on the occurrence of an event over time. Each conversion type was analyzed as an independent variable, considering top, middle, and bottom of funnel content and owned, earned, and paid media, in addition to imported lead. All variables impacted the analyzed funnel, except for the variables conversion to mid-funnel content and conversion via owned media. There is an expectation that this study will contribute to the understanding of this marketing practice, collaborating both from a theoretical perspective, especially B2B and Digital Marketing, through the results found, and from a managerial perspective, with insights for a correct allocation of marketing resources.