On the Spot at Hubspot Inbound 2023

One of the most rewarding and invigorating things about working at Identity is the unequivocal support this agency provides for employees who want to continue to learn and grow. Team members regularly have opportunities to attend educational and professional enrichment programs that mold us into more effective and creative PR professionals, and to represent the agency at not-to-be-missed industry events.

For PR and communications professionals, the Hubspot Inbound conference is on the short list of those can’t-miss conferences: an annual gathering that combines “the energy of an incubator and the intel of an accelerator” to present insights from some of the most inventive and inspiring minds from inside and outside the industry. The goal is to share best practices and new ideas, harnessing the very best of “the culture, the innovation, the creativity—and propel[ing] it forward for the collective good.”

Elevating the Ecosystem

Hubspot’s ecosystem of products and services includes tools for customer relationship management (CRM), social media marketing, lead generation, content management, web analytics, SEO, and more. It’s the kind of online marketing that is fundamentally about proactively educating customers, enabling them to make better, quicker, more informed buying decisions.

Hubspot is one of the most important and impactful tools we use at Identity. At least a quarter of our team is Hubspot certified, and Identity is a Gold Tier Partner in the Hubspot Agency Partner Program. We are one of the few PR firms with that designation, which means we can waive the onboarding fee for clients who want to use Hubspot and indicates that we have the demonstrated expertise to onboard and execute campaigns and manage sales processes and reporting for our Hubspot clients.

Think Bigger. Partner Better.

Hubspot Inbound 2023 event was in Boston, and the theme of the week was Think Bigger. Partner Better. I was one of around 12,000 attendees at the event—a significant one in many ways, not least of which because this is the first year that Hubspot had app partners in attendance.

It was a thrill to be part of a community of smart and motivated professionals who were all there with the express purpose of learning and contributing to a broader conversation about innovation in this space. The week covered a wide range of topics, including details about the nature of an evolving Hubspot sales funnel and sophisticated and potentially transformative new AI tools that are coming soon to search and reporting functions.

One of the best parts of the week, however, was hearing directly from industry experts and icons through a long list of speeches and special presentations. We heard talks from senior product managers, from some of the world’s most successful social media influencers and entrepreneurs, and from celebrity guest speakers.

Some highlights included a keynote address from Karen Ng, Hubspot’s SVP of Products and Partnerships and an influential industry innovator and business leader; Yankees star Derek Jeter, who presented The Captain’s Playbook: Strategies for Success; and Reese Witherspoon’s Lessons on Innovation, Leadership and Navigating Change.

Boston & Beyond

On a personal note, this was my first time visiting Boston’s remarkable Seaport neighborhood. I had an amazing time experiencing a spectacular environment that, coincidentally, another Identity client played a pivotal role in developing. My time in Boston was not only personally and professionally rewarding and incredibly educational, it left me inspired and even more excited about the continuing growth of the Hubspot ecosystem. That explosive growth and ongoing surge in popularity is directly connected to the expanding capabilities of the platform. I can’t wait to see what kinds of innovations that app partners bring to the table in the months and years ahead, and to play a part in helping solution partners like Identity use these tools and services to unlock new opportunities for our clients.