10 Things I Learned at #Inbound14
We spent four days in Boston immersing ourselves in the HubSpot culture, talking with like-minded marketers, listening to inspiring keynotes, attending information-packed sessions and exchanging ideas with other partners and potential clients.
What a ride.
If you never experienced an industry phenomenon like HubSpot’s Inbound conference, I’d highly suggest you go ahead and book your ticket for next year’s event. You will never go back to being “just a marketer” again. The Inbound experience can transform your thinking and allow you to emerge with a whole new perspective on how marketers market.
1. People do get excited about marketing. It’s not your father’s game anymore. Today’s marketing techniques are a curious blend of old (create a solid campaign plan) and new (develop more content than you thought possible). And it’s addictive. Watching leads come through is a kick.
2. Darmesh Shah is a king. OK, so he’s not really a king. But I totally have a geek-
crush on this guy. I don’t know about you, but I received an email from him on Tuesday and, even though I understand that it was automated, it made me a little giddy.
3. HubSpotters are totally cool. I’ve experienced some fabulous customer service with HubSpot and, I have to say, they are even more awesome in person than they are on the phone. They enjoy what they do. And they make the rest of us happy about it.
4. Event apps CAN work. Especially if you toss in about 10,000 marketing nuts who understand how social media works. The HubSpot Inbound app was always abuzz with photos, news about sessions and hot spots to hit in Boston at night. The app made me feel connected…warm fuzzies!
5. Martha Stewart was hilarious. The Inbound app feed was working overtime during Martha’s keynote with people disparaging the Domestic Diva. But, hey, she created a stir, didn’t she? It’s what we all want to do. And she did it with a snarky-ness that may be unrivaled in today’s branded world. Brilliant.
6. Concrete floors are overrated. My feet were killing me and I think they may have PTSD because they haven’t wanted to wander into a Home Depot since.
7. Music hath charms. Walking into Club Inbound every day made me dance a little (in spite of sore feet). Whoever chose the music for the week deserves kudos. It spread happiness even if my sing-along to “This Girl Is On Fire” did not.
8. Being helpful is cool. We’re not out here marketing to sell to people. We’re out here to provide answers and solutions to challenges our customers are having. Helpful is the new sexy. (I learned that from @DanMoyle who is the King of Helpful.)
9. It’s easy to trend on Twitter with 10,000 marketers on task. Inbound was ROCKING with tweets. At one point while monitoring the feed on HubSpot, I saw 257 tweets come through in FOUR MINUTES. Now, if I can get that kind of traffic for my clients…
10. Content is everyone’s problem. Everyone I talked to at Inbound had the same issues. More content. More relevant content. More rich content. More, more, more. We’re definitely in the content business, folks.
So what?
Why do you care about my experience at Inbound? Because inbound marketing is transforming the way people do business. For the first time in history, the little shop on the corner can compete with the big guys who own the next block. At the same time the big guys on the block can become more relevant to their customers. There’s a war going on for consumer attention…and the one who is the most helpful wins.
This handy checklist will help you get (and keep!) your marketing programs on the right track.
