Every year, the INBOUND event is like an annual carnival for like-minded people to gather together in Boston to learn and get inspired. This was Virtue Media’s 3rd INBOUND event and there were many learnings and inspirations for us.
Similar to each year of INBOUND, there are highlighted speeches from Hubspot co-founders Brian and Dharmesh. They shared about Hubspot's new direction, their technologies, company culture, and business. There were numerous breakout sections on more specific digital marketing topics, practically sharing best practices. Last but not least, there were also spotlight sections inviting thought leaders in their own domains to share their thoughts and experiences in a broader scope not just limited to marketing.
Here are our team's takeaways from INBOUND 2019 which we hope also inspires you.
Fiona Wang, Head of Growth Marketing
"My biggest takeaway of INBOUND 2019 was from Brian Halligan, co-founder of Hubspot. Brian introduced the concept of ‘experience disruptor’ and referred to it as the indispensable key to long-term business success.
When talking about the “disruptor”, the expressions we usually think about are new technologies or innovative products. Brian introduced “experience disruptor” to challenge businesses to have a “disruptor mindset”. In this age when things change at lightning speed, businesses must have a ‘disruptor mindset’ - to continuously challenge the status quo and disrupt their own business to stay ahead of the competition. Only with the ‘disrupting’ mindset, can a company identify opportunities to enhance its own value proposition to its customers.
When talking about the “disruptor”, the expressions we usually think about are new technologies or innovative products. Brian introduced “experience disruptor” to challenge businesses to have a “disruptor mindset”. In this age when things change at lightning speed, businesses must have a ‘disruptor mindset’ - to continuously challenge the status quo and disrupt their own business to stay ahead of the competition. Only with the ‘disrupting’ mindset, can a company identify opportunities to enhance its own value proposition to its customers.
I have seen many different Chinese companies struggling to scale up when they have already achieved early-stage success. Their over-reliance on current successful technologies or business models eventually become their legacy, and sometimes obstacle in their future development. Being able to jump out of your comfort zone and to create “disruption” is an absolute game-changer. "
Amanda Wu, CEO & Co-founder
"One of my favorite breakout sections was the topic “value of thought leadership”, shared by Ty Heath, Global Lead of the B2B Institute from Linkedin.
We all know the importance of authenticity in marketing. However, it’s not easy to create high-quality thought leadership content. It takes time and effort to continuously ‘invest’ in ourselves, both the depth and breadth of knowledge and experience before we can effectively nurture our audience.
This inspires me to remind myself as well as my team, to be humble and keep learning because that is the only way we can be thought leaders and eventually help our clients. No matter if you are a business owner or a marketer, you need to be sensitive, curious and passionate about what you are doing. Sharing the things that matter to you, being real and letting your true self be seen are the keys to becoming a thought leader. "
Cherry Xu, Managing Director & Co-founder
"One of the most inspiring talks from INBOUND was by Sal Khan, the founder of the Khan Academy, a nonprofit organization with a mission to make world-class education accessible (basically free) for anyone, anywhere.
With degrees from MIT and Harvard, Sal Khan quit his job to pursue his endeavor - saving until the first big hearty donation from Microsoft and Google. Now it is a successful global organization with a great reputation. There are countless touching stories from students from developing countries who have benefitted from the Khan Academy and eventually changed their lives. It is a business using internet technologies to remove friction in education.
We started Virtue Media almost 2 years ago. One of our missions is to use digital marketing to enable businesses who have great products and services to be seen and heard. We are thrilled to see our clients succeeding. Moving forward, it is time for Virtue Media to start thinking about scaling up, but we will never forget the virtues that we set out from the beginning.
“For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself” — Viktor Frankl
Success is just the side effect. Do things for a reason, try your best to do it well and make yourselves proud."
Stay with us. We shall continue to share more trends, technologies and marketing best practices on our blog, Facebook and Linkedin channels.