After conducting the INBOUND Convention virtually for two years, HubSpot returned to Boston for its first on-site event since the pandemic began. HubSpot went all out with its guest lineup, with talks from Jane Goodall, Viola Davis, and President Barack Obama. However, if you couldn’t attend this year, no biggie; we at INVID will give you the biggest takeaways from the conference.

Community, Community, Community

INBOUND’s main focus throughout the conference was community and the craving audiences have to truly connect with companies and other clients. In a post-pandemic world, there has inevitably been collective digital fatigue where people strive to return to a world where they can connect and interact.

However, this unavoidably means less time online or wandering the web. Users go to the internet with a goal in mind, and as companies, it is our job to provide what they need. This means that companies must go beyond the simple blog or video and instead really strive to deliver fully on what the user needs, especially in an oversaturated webspace.

So, how do we do this? INBOUND has a few ideas!

HubSpot founder, Dharmesh Shah, introduced forums as a great way to create community. Private groups on Facebook are also a great alternative. Shah expressed that the key is moderation and ensuring everyone gets the value they signed up for.

Another idea to evaluate is NTFS! Non-fungible tokens began as a way for artists to take control of their art and its value. However, companies like Disney and Nike have seized the opportunity and started creating NFTs. An NFT is a digital file that can be traded and sold, be it a piece of art, video, or even real estate.

The Power of Email Marketing

Email continues to be one of the most direct methods of reaching our customers. However, we must continuously strive to earn a place in their inbox by providing exceptional content that our users will appreciate.

One of the conference’s highlights was Jay Schwedelson’s talk on Email Marketing, providing insights and tips into what companies find to be effective in their strategies. Here are a few of the takeaways we got from his talk:

• Some resources that boost click-through rates are lists, checklists, guides, and reports.
• Use emojis in your subject line to stand out!
• Use words like «Best Sellers,» «almost gone,» «truth,» «actual,» and «last chance» in your subject line to increase open rates.

LinkedIn needs content

If you have been thinking about investing more resources in Linked In, here is your signal to do so. At INBOUND 2022, Linked In’s need for more content creators was reiterated.  LinkedIn is a fantastic platform for B2B companies to connect directly with their customers and promote their services. At AJ Wilcox’s talk, he detailed some strategies to boost your page from average to excellent. He introduced a formula that will guide you in getting your content to reach your customers.

Conversion Rate = Perceived Value – Points of Friction

The meaning of Perceived Value is self-evident. Did your customer learn something? Did they get early access to a piece of content or product? Did you solve a pain for them?

Your main goal is to increase this perceived value as much as possible to ensure your customer clicks and supports you.  On the contrary, points of friction are things that your audience hates. Do you have too many fields in your contact form? Is your value unclear? Does your offer convey a fear of an aggressive sales follow-up (yikes!)? All of these things will scare away your customer!  So, try as much as possible to increase your perceived value and minimize friction points. With that, you will ensure a content strategy that works!

Companies lack integration

Remember when we mentioned earlier a need for connection with customers? The same thing is happening with companies’ internal procedures!

Companies and organizations lack integration, with departments working in a silo instead of collaborating with each other. Each department has its respective programs, without a central database to facilitate working with other employees. This, in turn, makes collaboration harder and impedes effective work environments.

The answer to this problem is integration, and we at INVID can help you with that! We have the latest technologies to ensure your company has the best tools to work effectively. Want to learn more? Fill out our contact form to receive more information or schedule a non-commitment call with one of our employees.