Marketing and communication professionals have a very different understanding of inbound marketing than the boss in many cases. They already know what it is, and understand the results it can bring for business in terms of organic, user-oriented growth.

When it comes to explaining inbound marketing efforts, you have to be able to explain the ways in which it contributes to the bottom line and expands business more effectively than other, dated marketing ploys. Web users want exactly what they’re looking for, and they want it now. That is what drives inbound marketing (and in-turn, its ROI), and a sentiment you cannot leave out when pitching inbound strategies internally.

It should be a no-brainer

There are certain preparations to be made that you might not realize or think about at first – beyond jotting down your impressive statistics on how inbound marketing, social media and content can help business grow. Do some research on a variety of CRM platforms as well as what kind of results your boss hopes to see – not just for your marketing efforts but for the business as a whole.
Is your company currently more focused on overall sales growth, launching new services or growing brand recognition? These can complement an inbound marketing strategy can complement in different ways, and learning how can be just the motivation your boss needs to invest in such a strategy.
Once you’ve identified what your boss is looking to achieve, take the time to explain how various elements of inbound marketing can make those goals a reality. Delve a little deeper into what makes inbound “tick” but refrain from getting overly technical. Your boss cares more about conversion rates than the differences between an eBook and a white paper.

Mention pertinent key performance indicators (KPIs)

Don’t be afraid to back yourself with KPIs and other figures related to benchmarks your boss wants to reach. Discuss how inbound marketing, and everything it consists of, affects revenue and the bottom line for your business. Here are a few KPIs you can focus on to sway things in favor of inbound marketing:
Cost per lead: For every new lead you generate, how much of an investment does your company have to make? Inbound marketing leads can cost as much as 61 percent less than outbound leads.
Site traffic to lead ratio (and other audience metrics): How much traffic coming to your current website is marketing-qualified? How many conversions are you generating per visit? This indicator can shed light on your ongoing efforts and highlight how inbound strategies have helped others in your industry find success online.
Organic search traffic: This includes percentages of leads and customers generated from organic search and what keywords bring the most highly qualified traffic to your site. Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the core pillars of inbound, and explaining its power in generating qualified leads for your business could end up tipping the scales in its favor when your boss weighs his or her decision.
Customer acquisition cost (as well as the time it takes to pay back the investment): This is the total sales and marketing cost for your company (everything from project costs and advertising to salaries.) Determine what percentage of this is related to marketing, and how long it takes to pay back. If it’s taking your company over one year to pay back the investment with your current model, you should probably consider how relevant inbound marketing strategies can help boost sales.

Ultimately, a single marketing action is difficult to peg directly to revenue. You can get buy-in from the boss and other leaders when creating a marketing KPI dashboard that will serve as both a method of increasing transparency and showcasing marketing’s worth to your organization. Don’t be so desperate to report results that you start reporting irrelevant metrics or metrics that aren’t even aligned with your department (such as sales figures.)

Convincing the boss that inbound marketing is what drives online business may take a bit of legwork on your part, but as your boss will soon learn: the benefits are not only real, they’re entirely within reach. Remember to focus on how inbound marketing can bring your company revenue streams, expand on old ones and contribute to bottom line growth.

Chrissey Breault is the Director of Marketing & Member Services with the American Association of Private Lenders. This article originally appeared in the May/June 2016 edition of Private Lender.