Inbound Marketing is Taking Over

By Courtney Lang

Grand Valley’s Advertising Club had the privilege of having John Heritage from HA speak at our last meeting on Inbound Marketing. Additionally, two Laker Alumni (Ben Johnson and Julianna Grucz) who work with John joined us as well. They discussed the steps of Inbound Marketing and using programs such as HubSpot to enhance our overall knowledge.

More about our speakers

• Ben Johnson
  • Inbound Marketing Manager
  • Works with SEO, AdWords, LinkedIn Ads, and goes back and forth with clients
  • Graduated from GVSU
• Julianna Grucz
  • Project Manager
  • Works with customer relations and keeps track of timing on projects
  • Graduated from GVSU and was a member of Advertising Club
• John Heritage
  • Web Designer and Inbound Marketing Agency
  • Worked for Grand Haven’s RE Company in 2005
  • Started an agency during the economic downturn

From left to right: Ben, John & Julianna

What does an Inbound Marketer do?

An Inbound Marketer’s job is to bring customers to their clients without them needing to fight with their competitors for attention. They create content for their clients that captivate their target audiences and keeps them coming back for more. They may use blogs, podcasts, videos, eBooks, newsletters and other creative outlets to promote their clients.

A few of the tasks that an Inbound Marketer does on a daily basis are:

• Write proposals
• Map out HubSpot
• Take Sales Calls
• Check Social Media Accounts
• Design/creative direction
• And MORE

How does Inbound Marketing work?

The ultimate goal of Inbound marketing is to turn strangers into customers as well as promoters for your business.

Here are 5 steps that are involved in the Inbound Marketing process:

• STEP 1: Define who you want as a customer
• STEP 2: Publishing content about problems that your ideal customer may be researching on the internet, and target search results
• STEP 3: Use call-to-action to drive traffic to landing pages with content offers and gated content
• STEP 4: When traffic converts to leads on your website you need to manage those new contacts and nurture them into new opportunities
• STEP 5: Surveys, reviews, emails, and social monitoring

What were some key points each speaker talked about?

Ben emphasized the importance of finding what it is you’re good at, such as SEO or content writing, and excelling at it. A lot of what you will need in your job you will have to learn on your own. The fact is that many aspects in the advertising industry change so quickly that you just have to do your best to keep up with it.

Julianna answered some interview questions by explaining that when interviewing for a job you need to show how passionate you are about it. Not only that, but you should also show your eagerness to learn more about it, so you don’t come across as a know-it-all.

Furthermore, John advocated for everyone to go to HubSpot and get a FREE certification in Inbound Marketing. He explained how having that certification makes you stand out among employers. He discussed several other websites that could be helpful, but HubSpot does a great job at tying all of these skills together to make you proficient in Inbound Marketing.

Even more key advice:

• Make a LinkedIn profile and connect
• Understand employer time/money
• Develop your expertise/niche
• Network. Don’t be shy
• Get HubSpot certified!

Inbound Marketing is taking over the world, and you have the opportunity to learn it now through HubSpot. If John advocates it, you know it is an essential skill to have in this fast-paced industry that you have been just itching to be a part of. John, Ben, and Julianna provided us with some great insight regarding Inbound Marketing and other aspects of the advertising field as a whole. We cannot thank all three of them enough for sharing their valuable knowledge with us.