Comments on: An Overview of Inbound Marketing Automation

By: Eric Goldman

Eric Goldman — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:00:26 +0000

Hi again;
Ryan suggests that link building is very important and indeed it is. In an overview like the one I wrote here, it’s difficult to squeeze everything in, and I guess in hindsight I should perhaps have broken this post into a few separate ones so that I could cover more of the process.
For example, we use a 4 step division of the process, sometimes, to show clients what happens, when, and how. And the 4 steps are:
1) Attract
2) Engage
3) Convert
4) Nurture
And in this attract stage, one focuses on getting “More Leads”, so one does SEO, PPC, Social Media Marketing or SMM, and of course, link building activities.
Then in the Engage stage, one makes sure one’s content does precisely this when people arrive on the site, so that they are impressed enough with your thought-leadership to register and thus convert.
And so on.
Thanks for the reminder, though, Always nice to know people are actually reading one’s words!

By: Ryan Beale

Ryan Beale — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:54:28 +0000

Interesting article. I like the thought put in and process you describe in detail. I’m surprised there was no mention of link building, as building high quality inbound links on a consistent basis is essential to “getting found” online. While understanding keywords, more specifically, search queries is essential to “getting found,” inbound link building should be a big focus if you are serious about getting found online. :)

By: Ryan Malone

Ryan Malone — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:11:08 +0000

Hi Eric, I appreciate the well-thought post. Having implemented marketing automation solutions at several companies, one thing that needs to be mentioned is the process. Like any business process work, companies need to figure out their process first and then apply the automation do it. Hubspot is a great first step for 99% of companies out there, especially with the other functionality outside of marketing automation. Ryan Malone SmartBug Media An inbound marketing agency and Hubspot Partner @RyanMalone

By: Eric Goldman

Eric Goldman — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:17:12 +0000

Hello John;
HubSpot is a good solution set – in fact we are a reseller and partner of HubSpot and provide services to HubSpot users. We also resell Pardot PI.

A part of our service is thus to analyze the client’s needs and recommend the right solution for their requirements.

Before choosing these two vendors, we evaluated 14 similar solutions and put them through an exhaustive series of tests. Pardot won, HubSpot was 2nd and we were delighted a few months ago when Forrester Resaerch rated Pardot as the best value for money in the market of Marketing Automation tools.

If you would like to discuss any of this in more detail, I’d be happy to give you our reasons for making the decision. You can reach me at eric at gossamar dot com.
Hope this helps.

By: John McTigue

John McTigue — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:59:04 +0000

Eric,

Good post. I’m wondering how familiar you are with HubSpot’s inbound marketing software. Does a lot of what you suggest in terms of inbound marketing automation. I’d love to hear your thoughts about HubSpot and any other integrated software solutions you know about.

Best, John