HubSpot INBOUND 2016: Themes to Inspire Every Inbound Marketer

On November 8, our small army of Southern California humans headed to the HubSpot INBOUND 2016 conference in Boston. Coats in tow, we braved the brisk Boston cold to glean new inbound marketing insights that would inspire our work. And with entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck kicking off the conference, inspired we were.

After three days of sessions, we left with pages of quick and dirty tips. But tactical advice aside, some broader themes hit home with our team and embodied the spirit of the week. Here's a dose of inspiration from INBOUND 2016 that brands, digital marketers and entrepreneurs can appreciate.

“Create Your Own Best Practices”

This idea emerged from a session on blog CRO led by HubSpot’s Pamela Vaughn but applies to all facets of inbound. As marketers and businesspeople, we scour the web for digital marketing best practices we can implement today. Pamela even walked through simple tests HubSpot ran like adding anchor text CTAs to blogs, which boosted conversion rates by 192%. Proven, repeatable CRO tips from the source — what more could a content marketer ask for?

Quickly into the session, Pamela’s broader message became clear: What works well for a company like HubSpot won’t produce the same results for another agency or brand. Knowing what a specific audience will respond to can only be accomplished through experimentation. As someone who geeks out on digital marketing blogs and resources daily, this inspired me to spend more time testing theories — and potentially failing — to come up with my own tried-and-true best practices. But more on failing later...

Winners Are on YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine. Video content is also a powerful signal to search engines. So why do so few brands invest in video? With no immediate ROI, it’s hard to justify the time, high cost and potential embarrassment. But really, these are just excuses.

The truth is we don’t need extravagant sets, actors or productions to win big on YouTube. People crave raw, honest content that solves a particular pain point. Amy Schmittauer, host of Savvy Sexy Social, is a perfect testament. From her bedroom with just a point-and-shoot camera, she grew her YouTube channel to 53,000+ subscribers. The hardest part (according to Amy) is getting the first shitty video out of the way.

Being on camera is terrifying; no one wants that kind of attention. But if the goal is to sell, we should want that attention. Instead of fearing failure or what others might think, we must listen to our audinece and start sharing real insights on YouTube.

Get More Juice From Existing Content¶

The rise of copywriting platforms like Scripted, Crowd Content, nDash.co and others have opened the content floodgates to make quality writing cheap and accessible for brands. And because content is king, content quantity has become the name of the game. But what about the awesome assets we already have out there?

The idea of leveraging existing content crossed over multiple sessions at INBOUND 2016. It's not a new or ground-breaking idea, but with the "more more more," mindset, it's smart to take a step back and improve upon what's already out there. Tactics like upcycling content can "maximize the mileage" of existing content by optimizing top-performing blogs for a new platform, audience, medium or format. Unlike recycling, upcycled content is native to each platform. For instance, an informative blog post could be transformed into an FAQ and take on an entirely new look. Or a video could be transcribed into a blog to offer the insights in a fresh way.

Tweaking high-traffic, low-conversion blogs (and vice versa) can breathe new life into old content. And republishing these assets as new will also attract more eyes without a huge investment.

Listen to Social Trends — Not Assumptions¶

As marketers, we need to meet customers where they are — or risk falling behind. Kind of a “duh” statement, I know. But it’s one that bears repeating, and here’s why.

Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram have shaken up the way people communicate. But how many brands consistently participate (and don’t just blast out automated messages) in these social channels?

According to Gary, B2B companies tend to do better on social than B2C because they know the name of customer, business and decision-makers. The problem is brands don’t see value in using social platforms like Snapchat for B2B marketing (check out our filter for the INBOUND conference below!) “Business decision-makers aren’t on Snapchat,” they say. But these assumptions are holding marketers and brands back from enormous opportunity — especially while these platforms aren’t inundated with spammy marketing messages and ads are cheap. Social trends reveal how people actually engage and communicate. We should act on those truths, not what’s most convenient.

Being wicked smaht! @almost2albany @mygymphone @INBOUND #inbound16 #HumansOfInbound pic.twitter.com/5Kvht1IbcF
— Human Marketing (@MarketingHumans) November 11, 2016

We Have It Pretty Freaking Great¶

I owe this tidbit to Gary, yet again. I highly recommend watching his 45-minute keynote. (Seriously, you won't regret it!)

"This is not only the golden era of business, but also of life." - Gary Vaynerchuk @ INBOUND 2016

One of Gary’s underlying themes: There is no better time to be an entrepreneur or a digital marketer tasked with growing a business. The economy is strong, new opportunities to connect with our audiences emerge every day and we live in a society where failure is an option — not the end-all-be-all. We should embrace these blessings by taking "practical risks," connecting with real people and not dwelling on forces we cannot control. If we can leave our doubts, denial and fear of change at the door, we have the opportunity to create some pretty awesome stuff.