Happy Monday everyone!
So my last post was about social media and, because I've been studying a bit about social media marketing in my marketing class (plus I'm just obsessed with social media) I'm sort of posting about it again!
Since I research everything to the enth degree, I've been looking into a bunch of social media & marketing companies, one of which is HubSpot, an inbound marketing software company in Cambridge, MA. I've known about HubSpot for a couple years now and it's actually my dream company. It seems like a super cool company full of smart, passionate, innovative people and I've wanted to intern there since I started college last year. Basically it sounds like they work really, really hard but also have a ton of fun (which is just my style!).
So, as I said, HubSpot sells software to companies that enables them to easily create a marketing campaign using various platforms, such as social media, SEO, emails, calls-to-action, and blogs. Again, all of these types of marketing are part of inbound marketing, which basically seeks to get the attention of customers and to be easily accessible. More traditional forms of advertising, such as direct mail and television ads, are considered outbound marketing.
On HubSpot's site today I found a web series where various HubSpot-ers and guests present on marketing issues and info live every Friday afternoon. The video I found was from September 2012 but the information in it is just cool.
The video talked about a lot of things, but what stood out to me was the bit about the Emmy's, which were hosted by Jimmy Kimmel that year. In the middle of the Emmy's, Jimmy Kimmel asked for a volunteer to come on stage. Tracy Morgan went up and Jimmy Kimmel asked him to lay down on stage and, essentially, play dead. Kimmel then asked everyone to tweet "OMG Tracy Morgan just passed out on stage at the Emmy's. Turn on ABC now." Tracy Morgan laid on staged for several minutes and was then carried off.
In part, Jimmy Kimmel pulled this prank in order to increase ABC's viewership. And it worked! Due to Kimmel's prank, ABC saw a 6% increase in viewers for the Emmy's, which is pretty substantial. I like this story because it shows how big of an impact social media can have, plus it demonstrates how easy it can be to create this impact. Granted, most of us won't be hosting the Emmy's and we don't have the number of followers that Jimmy Kimmel does, but by following influential people and continually tweeting (and updating other social media platforms) with new, funny, and compelling things, you can definitely have some kind of impact.
Check out the prank!
HubSpot's website is full of information about marketing and social media. They have tons of free ebooks, plus an awesome blog that's almost continually updated. It's really a great site for marketing advice, whether you're a company interetsed in their marketing software, or a college student like me who's interested in optimizing marketing techniques for your blog and online magazine.
One last thing! While perusing their website, I saw a video in which HubSpot's Director of Product Management, Christopher O'Donnell, said this - "We are in a position to build a once in a generation kind of company." First of all, this is a great mindset to have! HubSpot believes it is an innovative, new, creative company and focuses on portraying that image. Also, I totally think this quote is true. Never before has social media, blogging, and inbound marketing in general been so popular. This company is growing rapidly because they are smart and creative, but also because their timing is perfect!
As always, email me, send me a Facebook message, or tweet at me with questions!