Last night was the first meet-up of the London Inbound Marketing Group, at the Piano and Pitcher in Holborn. Great bunch of people who ventured from Ipswich, Cambridge, Dublin and just round the corner to chat about blogging, social media and the business of getting found online.
I also enjoyed the personal attention of a rather dishy masseuse. Stictly in the interests of inbound marketing, you understand.
One of several interesting conversations I had was with Noel Shannon, CEO of Silicon Cloud – the company doing a great job of bringing Hubspot’s inbound marketing techniques to Europe. He mentioned that he never used the term ‘outbound marketing’ until he heard of ‘inbound marketing’. Same here. But then, a couple of years ago, neither of us knew that the media and marketing world was about to be turned on its head.
I ventured that in the not-too-distant future we won’t need the word ‘inbound’ because it will simply be the way marketing works. But not yet. Right now, inbound marketing is a term with gathering force. If nothing else, when I work with media companies and charities, mention of inbound marketing is likely to spark a ‘what’s that?’ from people whose eyes would otherwise glaze over at the merest hint of marketing-speak.
More to the point, inbound marketing helps me explain what’s happened to spark a global media revolution and provides a structure for training journalists to become entrepreneurial, trusted figures making a positive difference within the communities they serve.
I’ve said before why I feel every journalist is a secret inbound marketer. But, in many ways, inbound marketing is an even more powerful tool in the hands of non-profit organisations, for whom it’s a way to connect more easily, cheaply and strongly than ever before with their communities and potential donors. For private enterprise, inbound marketing means more, measured, quality conversions.
The principles are exactly the same whether you’re a journalist, charity volunteer or CEO. It’s about connecting with real people; about earning trust by adding value; about giving to get back.
Which brings me back to my unexpected but blissful encounter with Angela, the lass in a Marie Curie T-shirt, who arrived half way through the evening with an offer I couldn’t refuse: A five-minute neck massage, there and then, in the pub, for a donation to Marie Curie cancer care.
No slightly embarassing, impersonal tin-rattling routine for Angela. So one-way. So ‘outbound’. Here was the Marie Curie charity in human form, in conversation with its community, adding value, building trust, giving something to get something. I was left with a smile, a glowing personal connection with Marie Curie cancer care … and a memorable tingle in my upper torso.
Angela bounced in with her equally charming and magic-handed friend Gail, and set about bringing nirvana to over-stressed marketeers while raising money for a great cause. She told me she might do up to 35 massages a night. I gave £5 (hope that wasn’t too mean). You do the sums. Now THAT is a cracking idea.
OK. It wasn’t online. But the thinking is PURE inbound marketing. Get it?
• Thanks to Luke Brynley-Jones and Murray Newlands for starting the group, and especially to Noel and Patrick from Silicon Cloud for sponsoring the evening. The London Inbound Marketing Group aims to meet monthly and new members interested in marketing and social media are welcome. I’m sure this group will go from strength to strength. Join up!
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