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What a whirlwind it was! Mark, Tabitha, Erin, Aaron and I spent last week in Boston at the annual INBOUND conference by HubSpot. This is a solid four days of inspiration, ideas, new product announcements, networking, food truck lunch selections, and miles and miles of walking. We'd like to share with you some of the biggest takeaways and how you and put them into action for your business. As a quick overview, here are the biggest themes and takeaways:

1. Video, video, video.
2. 1 to 1 messaging for the win.
3. Stop disrupting. Cause less friction.
4. Customer service as part of your sales & marketing team
5. Culture matters.

Marketing has changed a lot in the past two decades. For one thing, there's the internet, and with it came business websites, search engines and social media. 

For another, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and marketing automation have given marketers new tools to do their jobs faster and more effectively. 

It's probably nothing new when you hear that you need to blog. "What's it gonna do for me," you ask? Well... it can mean all the difference in the number of good leads that you bring in through your website. And that should help you increase sales.

We often hear, "Blogging takes time and it uses my resources." This is true. And there's no point in doing something just to do it. It has to produce results, aka: more leads who better match your target audience(s). So, how do you blog to increase leads? 

How Much of Your Marketing Should Be Digital?

Before you decide on a budget, you should consider what you're trying to achieve. Remember: 70% of a purchase decision is made before someone talks to a sales representative. Because of this, a heavy online marketing presence plays a big part in the overall sales process. 

Which of these two terms better describes the impact that customers have on your business: outcomes or drivers?

Sales people and marketers from 20 or 30 years ago would likely say "outcomes" without a second thought. After all, their jobs revolved around moving prospective customers down the sales funnel, until the company finally acquired them as actual customers. And that's a great outcome, right?

Countless members of senior management across companies both large and small, find themselves asking the same question: why do we need to hire a marketing agency when we have dedicated marketing staff?