Technical and Marketing Communication: Content for a Convergent World

It’s been a busy few weeks for me. The first week of June, I participated in MarketingProfs’ excellent B2B Forum, which I chronicled in some detail here, through a series of posts on SEO, developing online communities, measuring the ROI of social media efforts, and mobile marketing.

The very next week, I started taking online courses in the free Inbound Marketing University, sponsored by the following partners: Constant Contact, HubSpot, InTouch, MarketingExperiments, MarketingProfs, ON24, New Marketing Labs, SEOmoz and SVAMA.

June 15 to 19 was another information-packed, “growing” time for me, attending Inbound Marketing University’s ten webinar classes and one review session, on inbound marketing principles and best practices, including blogging, social media, lead conversion, lead nurturing, and closed-loop analysis. The webinar classes focused on the three parts of the inbound marketing process, including how to get found, how to convert leads, and how to analyze site traffic. Here were my Inbound Marketing instructors:

• Chris Brogan (New Marketing Labs)
• Brian Carroll (InTouch)
• Mack Collier (MarketingProfs)
• Rand Fishkin (SEOmoz)
• Eric Groves (Constant Contact)
• Ann Handley (MarketingProfs)
• Jeanne Hopkins (MarketingExperiments)
• Lee Odden (Top Rank Online Marketing)
• David Meerman Scott (New Rules of Marketing & PR)
• Marshall Sponder (Monster.com)
• Elyse Tager (Silicon Valley AMA)
• Mike Volpe (HubSpot)

In addition to the free online webinars, the program also offers a comprehensive Student Tool Kit, including live class Q&A (HubSpot’s Rebecca Corliss is a natural facilitator and special shoutout to her, for thinking of the Inbound Marketing University concept and for coordinating the certification process), study groups, make-up classes, and a study guide. (By the way, make sure to check out these excellent resources on inbound marketing, available through HubSpot Inbound Marketing’s Presentations on SlideShare and the Inbound Marketing Wiki. HubSpot has also set up a related LinkedIn Group: Inbound Marketers – For Marketing Professionals.) 

An Inbound Marketing Certification exam is still available, until June 30, for anyone who completes IMU and passes the exam.

(Update: I passed the challenging Inbound Marketing exam, with a grade of 92%. Here is my Inbound Marketing Professional Certification credential, available on the Inbound Marketing University site: http://www.inboundmarketing.com/user/2647. HubSpot has also set up a LinkedIn group for Inbound Marketing University Alumni. From the #IMU Twitter-feed: 5000 students participated in Inbound Marketing University classes, 1000 took the exam, and 500 passed.  According to HubSpot’s Rebecca Corliss, the average grade on the certification exam was a 76%. An Inbound Marketing University re-launch and re-take exam is planned for August 2009. Happy studying.:-)) 

On my end, I’m very grateful for the timely service HubSpot is providing to the marketing profession, and to the many job-seekers in transition right now. I learned so much from the webinars, and the certification option can only enhance your professional credentials. If you don’t pursue the certification, the recorded webinars and presentation slides are useful in their own right, providing a broad framework for understanding and implementing inbound marketing, from getting found (creating, optimizing, and promoting content), to converting leads to sales, and to analyzing places for improvement in the process. I highly recommend Inbound Marketing University.

And what a brilliant inbound marketing strategy! I don’t think I truly understood how much the marketer’s role has evolved from broadcasting and pitching, to informing and educating its potential customers, until this series of webinar courses. Inbound Marketing University represents inbound marketing, and education, at its best.

Related Links

• Inbound Marketing University: Stats of Note
• Inbound Marketing University: Getting Found (GF101, GF102, and GF 201) 
• Inbound Marketing University: Getting Found (GF202, GF301, and GF401)
• Inbound Marketing University: Converting Leads (CV101, CV201, and CV301)
• Inbound Marketing University: Analyzing Site Traffic (AZ401)