I just got home from HubSpot Partner Day 2014 at HubSpot’s headquarters in Boston, MA. My head is spinning, my brain is schitzing and my palms are sweaty. I’m excited. I’m amped. And I need to talk about it. I’m jumping out my skin because for the last two days I have been surrounded by brilliance, doggedness, humility and just plain cool. Seriously, the last two days changed my life. I’m not exaggerating, but at the risk of sounding like a lunatic, let me back up and explain.
Our agency, Stratus Interactive, has been a Certified HubSpot Partner for just over two and half years. In 2013, we achieved Gold Partner status. This year, for the first time ever, HubSpot invited all Gold and Platinum Partner agencies to their headquarters. Their goal: to immerse us in the HubSpot vision and culture and give us up close and personal access to each member of their company. My Stratus travel partners were Kymberly Robinson, Jeff Aspenburg and Emmett Hughes. That's us enjoying the Boston Harbor view from the roof of Legal Harborside on Tuesday night during an epic party HubSpot hosted for all their visiting Partners!
HubSpot’s entire leadership team from CEO, Brian Halligan, to CTO, Dharmesh Shah, were at our fingertips, answering raw, unpracticed questions. Their transparency and willingness to divulge juicy advice and information was thrillingly unconventional. But it wasn’t just having access to HubSpot leadership and genius that got me excited. I was surrounded by dozens of the most forward-thinking and successful inbound marketing agencies in the country and they oozed with insight and education about everything from how to create the most valuable content, improving profitability, and driving client success with HubSpot’s COS website. Maybe I’m a nerd (and I won’t lie, I kind of am), but man, I was in my happy place.
Collaborating with agencies that are in the trenches and loving every minute of it was fun. It was uplifting. We gave each other our best ideas. There was no competition, no pride of ownership, just a whole bunch of like-minded people who fully understand that inbound marketing is changing the world one customer at a time. I know this, our CEO Kymberly Robinson knows this, Stratus’ account managers and web developers and designers know this, but I was overcome with a feeling of wow when I truly realized that this isn’t just an idealistic, pie in the sky theory. It’s factual. Inbound marketing is the answer to how businesses can authentically, organically and unintrusively connect with their audience. Inbound marketing isn’t going anywhere. Consumers have changed, the world has changed and trying to attack customers solely with antiquated, traditional marketing tactics is like trying to get drunk drinking tomato juice. It’s not gonna work. Btw, I’m not so quick with the analogies so apologies if that one didn’t quite work. A for effort though Lisa, A for effort.
I guess I didn’t really have an AHA moment at Partner Day. I mean, I already knew that HubSpot is on a rampage to evangelize and solidify the necessity and relevance of inbound marketing. I guess I had more of a stop-me-in-my-tracks-oh-shit-moment this week. Like, whoa, HubSpot is NOT messing around. They won't rest until every business owner, CEO, marketer and salesperson is using inbound marketing to win at lead generation and customer acquisition. And what's better, they are equipping their Partners with technology, tools, research, training, support, psychotherapy (ok that one's a joke) and opportunity so that we can deliver true value and ROI to our clients. It's a win-win. Or is it a win-win-win? Either way, it's awesome. So in case you're wondering, yes, I am drinking the HubSpot Kool-aid (that's me actually drinking it below!). I have been for quite some time. It's delicious. But it's also made from a scientifically proven recipe that is backed by tens of millions of dollars of research and innovation.
I hope my excitement is contagious. I hope you are already uncovering the power and transformation of inbound marketing for your own organization. I hope you will look at HubSpot with eyes and minds wide open. I hope you will not avoid me like the plague after this slightly neurotic blog post. I hope I will see you achieving your business goals in a truly inspired way using inbound marketing. And I really hope HubSpot invites Stratus to another Partner Day really soon (hint, hint!!).