Key Marketing Takeaways: HubSpot HUG Conference

By Tracy DiMarino | Posted October 13, 2010 | 4 Comment(s) | Filed in: Marketing

Last week, some of the PR 20/20 team attended the first HubSpot User Group (HUG) conference in Boston to discuss inbound marketing strategies, HubSpot software updates and industry trends. Here, we were able to meet and share ideas with the HubSpot team, as well as other customers and partners.

Interested in what was discussed? Below, I’ve included three key marketing takeaways from the day.

1) Content Marketing: Quality Over Quantity

In the first panel of the day, Chris Brogan, David Meerman Scott, Ann Handley and Dharmesh Shah spoke about the future of inbound marketing. While the whole panel provided an array of helpful information, our main takeaway came from Ann, who stressed the importance of content quality over other factors such as publishing frequency and speed to market.

With the increasing flood of fast food content, it is more important than ever to focus on creating shareable, helpful and engaging content that is crafted for your buyer personas. Your content should address buyer persona needs and pains, and provide resources to help them reach their goals. If achieving this level of quality means that you publish less often, then so be it. Your audiences will appreciate the extra effort.

(Note: Christopher Penn also touched on this topic recently in his blog post, “The Obligation of the Content Creator.”)

From left to right: Dharmesh Shah, Ann Handley, Chris Brogan and David Meerman Scott.

2) Take Time to Convert the MOFU (Middle of the Funnel)

In an engaging presentation filled with lots of “data porn,” [PDF] HubSpotters Karen Rubin and Jeanne Hopkins discussed the importance of nurturing leads throughout the buying cycle. To prove their point, check out some of the key stats shared during the presentation below:

• Of those surveyed by sales lead expert Mac McIntosh, 23% had bought the product or service they were inquiring about within 6 months, while 67% still intended to purchase, but were not yet ready.
• According to Focus, it is only in the last third of the buying process that prospects actually want to engage with a sales representative.
• According to DemandGen Report, nurtured leads produce — on average — a 20% increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads.
• Companies using lead nurturing have closing rates 300% higher than their competitors that do not stay in touch with qualified leads, according to Forrester Research.

For other helpful lead nurturing tips, download the presentation slides [PDF].

3) Webinars are Easy with the Right Planning

In “Wanna Do a Webinar?” [PDF], Ellie Mirman and Kirsten Knipp of HubSpot provided tips for creating your first webinar, including a Webinar Quick Start Guide Checklist [PDF], outlining related activities and their anticipated timelines.

Coming from seasoned professionals — HubSpot averages 16 webinars per month — the guide is fine tuned with best practices learned from experience, and an all-around great resource for anyone looking to get started. In fact, we originally connected with HubSpot by attending its webinars back in 2007.

Special Thanks

While these are a few of my favorite marketing takeaways, there was plenty more information and resources shared at HUG. Check out Success.HubSpot for the complete archive of presentations.

Also, I’d like to offer a special thanks to HubSpot for hosting, and all the fun and interesting people we met. We had a great time sharing ideas, strategies, laughs and even a couple of drinks. Share your top HUG takeaways in the comments below.

Laurel and Keith from the PR 20/20 team hanging out with some HubSpot customers and partners — from left to right: Sam Coren and Justin Cambria from PullnotPush, and Matt Bertuzzi from The Bridge Group.

Tracy DiMarino is an associate consultant at PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. Follow Tracy on Twitter @TracyDiMarino.

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