- INBOUND 2015 had over 14,000 participants from 90 countries and focused on influencer marketing. Speakers emphasized focusing on customers, taking risks, learning from failures, and building long-term relationships. Social data can be used to identify influencers and understand audiences. Content and consistent communication are important for building brands and educating customers throughout the buying process. Partnerships, hiring selectively, and continual product improvements can help companies grow.

1. HubSpot’s INBOUND 2015
Summary and Highlights
Thomas J. Armitage

2. About INBOUND
● 14,000+ participants
and reps from 90
different countries.
● Inbound is a
movement, a new
form of marketing.
● Biggest theme:
influencer marketing.

3. Seth Godin, Author
● Can’t appeal to all.
You’ll always have a
one-star review.
● Have a product or
service that people
want and love.

4. Seth Godin, Author
● Marshmallow test.
● Do something that
may not work and
take risks.
● People do not want
responsibility.

5. Brené Brown, Author
● Failure and shame is
always something we
all try to avoid.
● Instead of “sucking it
up and pushing
through,” get curious
about your emotions.

6. Brené Brown, Author
● Write a “first draft”
after a confrontation.
● Be honest and upfront
with coworkers.
● Get to know ourselves
and our team better.

7. Steve Deckert, Co-Founder of Sweet Tooth
● Outbound just doesn’t
work anymore.
● Even “traditional”
online efforts are
more costly today.

8. Steve Deckert, Co-Founder of Sweet Tooth
● We can’t go chasing
customers anymore.
● Companies need a
retention model with
programs within.

9. Larry Kim, Co-Founder of WordStream
● Organic reach sucks!
● Remember quality
scores on social.
● Smartly apply micro-
budgets.
● Target, target, target.

10. Larry Kim, Co-Founder of WordStream
● For Wordstream, 5%
drives tons of traffic.
● Find the unicorns and
promote, post those
to others.
● Do “super”
remarketing.

11. Mikkel Svane, CEO of Zendesk
● Buy a flower, lasts a
week, plant a garden,
it’s forever.
● Focus on long-term
relationships,
ongoing products or
services.

12. Mikkel Svane, CEO of Zendesk
● You must always
provide a great brand
experience.
● Communicate in the
forms that make
sense to your target.
● Track efforts.

13. John Donnelly, VP of Marketing at Crimson Hexigon
● Social data is still
new to many clients,
impress them with it.
● Go beyond your
basic follower stats.

14. John Donnelly, VP of Marketing at Crimson Hexigon
● Use it to identify
influencers who will
make a difference.
● Explore affinities.

15. Marc Maron, Podcaster
● Podcasts are
continuing to grow in
popularity.
● Be consistent with
similar theme/topic.

16. Marc Maron, Podcaster
● Make available to be
picked up and
embedded by other
media outlets/blogs.
● Interview others and
have them share.

17. Lisa Toner, Relationship Marketing at HubSpot
● When spiders unite,
they can tie up a lion.
● Find suitable partners
to build
campaigns/promote.

18. Lisa Toner, Relationship Marketing at HubSpot
● Make sure you have
goals, same buyer
personas, hold each
other accountable.
● Set a plan in place,
stick to it.

19. Kipp Bodnar, CMO at HubSpot
● 81% of new hires are
a disappointment.
● It’s when you hire
because you are in
need that you make a
bad decision.

20. Kipp Bodnar, CMO at HubSpot
● Only hire when it will
increase the average
of your team. Wait.
● Provide 100 day
plan, train, set goals.

21. Ann Handley, Author
● Writing must be
bigger, bolder, and
braver.
● Tone of voice is so
underrated.
● Stop playing it safe.

22. Ann Handley, Author
● Remove the logo on
your site, would
people know it’s you?
● Needs to be site-
wide, show off brand
personality.
● FIWTSBS

23. Lee Odden, Author
● Content is king(dom),
everything we
communicate to
customers.
● Buying cycle may
take a while, you
need to nurture!

24. Lee Odden, Author
● Categorize content
into themes and by
type.
● Each nugget in a
post is an ingredient.

25. Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, Founders
● Site should be one of
your best marketers.
● Updates being made
to CMS and SSL
ability.

26. Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, Founders
● Other updates:
○ Paid ads management
○ Predictive lead scoring
○ Dashboards
○ LeadIn
○ Sales tool updates