There may have been a rush to judgment when marketers began putting all their chips into inbound marketing practices.

In B2B marketing, the free ride is over. That’s the unnerving upshot of a report issued earlier this year by Unica. Metrics demonstrating a connection between social network advertising and sales are the rule of the day. And hence, the need to align social network metrics against sales data means that free tools tied to particular programs are falling out of favor. Pressure to measure up internally isn’t the only thing driving B2B marketers. Consumers increasingly have the upper hand, and are making contact, with sellers. Capitalizing on in-bound marketing has become critical.