Content with Content? : A qualitative study on the implementation, maturity and future of inbound marketing strategies in the Swedish B2B sector

Sammanfattning: Background: There is a knowledge gap in the B2B-businesses adoption of inbound marketing strategies. The B2B sector has a substantial economic impact on the society and their marketing activities need to adapt towards the digital era. In the Swedish market, this has not yet been sufficiently researched up until this point. Purpose: This study serves to provide insight in key issues and problems when B2B businesses incorporate inbound marketing strategies. The maturity in the Swedish B2B market aims to be investigated and implementation problems to be highlighted. This information could aid Swedish B2B businesses in the future by becoming aware of issues beforehand. Also, this can give B2B businesses beneficial insights when the sector is increasingly adopting inbound marketing in the future. Method: In order to achieve in-depth understanding on the subject, a qualitative study with an exploratory design was conducted. By judgemental sampling methods, the research incorporates insights by knowledgeable industry professionals. Empirical findings were conducted through semi-structured interviews in which participants were encouraged to discuss inbound marketing in a B2B context in both detailed and broader terms. Conclusion: This study show that digital marketing is widely adopted in a B2B context, but inbound marketing strategy maturity is difficult to measure on a scale from this type of research. Key issues to implementation are organisational issues within a business, difficulty to determine goals, lack of knowledge in management about digital channels and possibilities, in addition to changing behaviour by B2B sales representatives. The future is looking bright for inbound marketing strategies even after the GDPR takes effect in May 2018, this study has shown.