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Just Bought a HubSpot Subscription? Time to Outsource the Work

Posted by Fred Scholl on Monday, November 14, 2016

Topics: Inbound Marketing



hubspot-subscription-outsource.pngIf you’ve just bought a subscription to HubSpot, I’d like to be the first one to congratulate you on making a wise investment. Perhaps you’ve been doing some research on the subject, and you’ve heard that HubSpot is the premier software for marketing automation, and you’ve decided to purchase a subscription to see for yourself. Or maybe you’ve already read some of the articles on our blog telling you how great HubSpot is, and how it will transform your marketing efforts. Or perhaps you’ve visited HubSpot’s own website and blog, and you’ve seen the staggering statistics, like over half a million subscribers to their blog, and over a million followers on Facebook, and wanted to see what all the hype is about.

Whatever it was that led you to the decision to invest in HubSpot software, we applaud your decision. Now it’s time for the real fun to begin! Or, the real work. For starters, you’re going to need to make a decision at this point: whether to do the next steps on your own, or to outsource the work. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses do exactly what you just did, buying a HubSpot subscription, but really don’t know what to expect after doing so. I’d like to start by filling you in on a little more of what you may not have yet heard, so that you don’t have unrealistic expectations.

It’s not a magical instant solution. 

You don’t have to spend too much time on our website and blog before you see that here at Rhino, we’re big fans of HubSpot, and of the inbound marketing methodology in general. But that doesn’t mean that simply purchasing the software is going to immediately produce the results that you’re looking for. As a matter of fact, it may take longer than you expected.

I’ve been involved in sales and marketing for decades, and I know as well as anyone else that we can be an impatient bunch. We want to see quick results from our marketing efforts, and get frustrated when we don’t. As a side note, if you’re a sales / marketing person reading this, you’ll also have to factor in the reality that your boss, whether it’s the head of the sales department or the owner of the company, is going to want to see those results as well, and quickly!

Automation does not mean “automatic”. 

I’m not trying to scare you, or make you feel like you won’t see the fruits of your investment in a HubSpot subscription. But I also don’t want you to allow you to be misled by the term “marketing automation”. When we use this expression in this context, we’re referring to the technological sense of “automation”. It means that we use technologies that will streamline the processes, create workflows, and “automate” many of the tasks involved in marketing, so that we can see greater efficiency of operations, and ultimately an increase in revenue (which is what this is all about, right?). What it doesn’t mean, is that you simply purchase the software, set it up, and let it run on its own, automatically producing results like an automated assembly line. If you expect effortless results, you’re going to be disappointed, and likely give up on your HubSpot subscription, if not on inbound marketing in general.

There’s no shortage of work to be done.

Again, I’m not trying to make this sound ominous, or leave you feeling defeated. But I really don’t want you to make the mistake of thinking that HubSpot is the sort of software for which you can just “set it and forget it”. Your HubSpot subscription doesn’t take the place of your marketing efforts, it’s a tool to augment those efforts. And for it to succeed, you’re going to need to put in the additional work, or outsource to someone with the specific experience you need.

You’ll need to create content, as much of the substance of the inbound processes centers around content. And we’re not just talking about filling up web pages with text. For the process to be effective, you’ll need to post content that’s well-crafted, engaging, and focuses on topics that address the pain points of your target audience. You’ll also want optimize that content to ensure that it will be found in the web searches that your potential customers will be performing, which is known as SEO (search engine optimization).

And, like so many other tools and processes, your HubSpot subscription is something that requires constant care and feeding, so to speak. You’ll need to keep your content fresh and updated, of course. While you can automate this process to a certain degree by schedule the posts in HubSpot, it will still require some human intervention to make sure that everything is working as it should be. You’ll need to check up on links in your posts to be certain that they’re working, see that your blog posts and other web pages are formatting properly, and that the scheduled posts went out according to schedule. You’ll also want to monitor the analytics inherent in HubSpot to see what kind of results you’re actually producing.

Consider outsourcing the work to experts. 

If this seems a bit overwhelming, we’re not totally surprised. HubSpot is, as we always say, the best platform from which to coordinate your marketing campaigns. But it’s going to take a lot of work to strategize, plan, coordinate, and execute a successful campaign. You could try to do it on your own, but it’s much more effective to enlist the support of seasoned marketing professionals. Another option which may be tempting is to hire a marketing executive, or even a team, if you have the budget to do so. But that carries with it a host of hidden costs, and doesn’t bring the depth and diversity of experience that you’ll get if you outsource the work to a virtual marketing team like the pros at Rhino.

Give us a call today to explore the possibilities of what we can do to push your marketing efforts to the next level. 

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