⚡Six Things We Learned at #INBOUND2023 Lightning Round

One reason we have gone to every single HubSpot INBOUND since we began Orange Marketing way back in 2018, is that INBOUND is an efficient way to pick up the most current and best thinking in marketing strategy, tips, and tricks. And 2023 was no exception. Without elaborating, explaining, and teaching, we will dump what we learned and link to speakers and decks so if you are intrigued, you can learn more.

1. SEO

Session: SEO for Revenue: Grow Your Business Not Just Your Just Your Rankings

Speaker: Dale Bertrand, Fire&Spark

1. Forget rankings and organic traffic as SEO metrics. Focus on conversions and sales from organic traffic. What a DUH. Thanks for hitting us over the head, Dale.

2. Over and over again, Dale emphasized “not blog articles.” Instead of a blog SEO strategy, he suggested templatizing pages under website sections. His recipes frequently mentioned:

a. Build page template
b. Write copy
c. Create pages

3. Dale's Recipes - templates to build for SEO purposes - Preso slides for examples

a. Buying guides
b. Q&A’s - content focusing on intent (buyer questions, not customer questions)
c. Niche service pages (environment mental solutions for healthcare)
d. Comparison content (WordPress vs. HubSpot CMS)
e. Listing directories
f. Niche collections (169 MCAT tutors in Boston, MA)
g. Niche calculators
h. Templated article (ummm sounds like a blog to me)

2. Email

Session: New Email Marketing Test Ideas and Pitfalls to Avoid

Speaker: Pierce Ujjainwalla, Knak.com
Speaker:  Jay Schwedelson, Guru Conference

1. Email is far from dead, but more emails equals less attention, and it is harder to break through.
2. Use all available effectively in the inbox: Account profile picture, from name, subject line, more text

3. Single CTA dummies, don't litter your email with multiple CTAs.
4. Harmony between your email and your landing pages is required.
5. Personalization equals telling them who they are in the subject line (industry, function, interest) vs first_name (so 2022 haha).
6. Subject lines that are aspirational get opens: e.g. luxury, CTOs, CMO .
7. “0 and 5 are Sus” in subject lines. Use 7 steps, 32 must-see places, 9 tips.
8. First Person CTAs. Like "Count me in," "Save my spot," "Give me the discount code"
9. He likes multi-page forms vs. long forms (so 2022).
10. LinkedIn Newsletters are excellent forms of email, check into it! Going to! Stet.

Email Tips and Pitfalls to Avoid Inbound Deck

3. SCHOOLED ON MARKETING 

Marketing School Podcast

Speakers: Neil Patel and Eric Siu

Marketing School Podcast - Find it here

This was more or less a chat with audience Q&A. 

1. EVENTS are the next big thing. HAHAHAH HAHAH.
2. Neil likes calculators for building SEO traffic, but cautions it takes time.
3. AI is like "Where’s Waldo content," and it all looks alike. In the short run, people overestimate it, and in the long run, they will underestimate it. Now is the time for unique content. Partner up with someone who has data or research. Create an infographic and get journalists to publish it. Leverage ChatGPT to make template pages at scale. (This was Dale's SEO point, templates at scaled, I think we should listen.)
4. If they were starting a website now, they wouldn’t start with SEO. They would begin with video. YouTube will have the longest staying effect. 
5. A newsletter is something that prints money for you.
6. Personalized email is overkill, don’t go nuts. (Thank you and we never do).
   

4. HubSpot Admins

We love Kyle Jepson from HubSpot Academy and the HubSpot Admin Hug. Kelsey got into the session (thank heavens). All HubSpot Admins - spend the time and read these decks. You are welcome.  

Session tips included:

1. Look through this deck: Things Every HubSpot Admin Needs to Know. Great details within the deck with 120 minutes of demo videos. 
2. Another valuable deck: Kyle’s Property Cheat Sheet - Default Properties Every HubSpot Admin Needs to Know.

5. AI, AI AND MORE AI

Marketing Revolution: How To Win When Everyone Is Using AI

Neil Patel's main stage session on how to stand out when everyone uses the same generative AI tools was timely.

He started by orienting us—just like nearly every session—on how rampant the pick-up on AI is in our industry.

He challenged us:

• How do you avoid the "Where's Waldo" effect when everyone's using the same AI tools? Things start looking the same. How do you stand out? 

And he warned us:

• There is a lot of risk with AI with "facts" being inaccurate and content sounding too similar to what's already online. 
• And AI will create a lot of similar messaging.

So, he led us to think about what will work to stand out. He asked:

• So, what are the alternatives to what everyone else is doing? How do you resonate? 
  • A Different strategy is what HubSpot and NP Media did -- You give away something for free that people are used to paying for. So NOT Freemium, but actual free something of value so you get people into their ecosystem. And then you pitch something bigger.
  • Examples irl:
    • Gillette - free razor handle and initial razors, but pitch later is buying more razors
    • Paychex - free payroll software, but pitch later is health insurance

6. HubSpot’s 2023 Software Announcements

Kelsey covered this in her post #INBOUND2023 - 4 Top Product Announcements. Top of the list is Sales Leads, a new “baby object” or “super task”. However it is described, Leads is a game changer for HubSpot Sales (and not just an SF "me too").  Check out the release notes here, and watch our recorded post-inbound webinar where we show you all the goods live and tell you if you should care. Oh, and everyone talked about AI. All. The. Time. (Ho hum.)