Top Insights from HubSpot’s 2024 INBOUND Conference
HubSpot’s INBOUND 2024 Conference brought together industry leaders to share invaluable insights and strategies in the ever-evolving world of digital marketing. This year, key sessions focused on refining content strategy and optimizing media buying practices across platforms like LinkedIn and TikTok.
From addressing the rapidly evolving challenges of content visibility to uncovering effective bidding techniques, the discussions offered a wealth of knowledge for marketers looking to enhance their approaches. Here, we’ll dive into the major takeaways that can help digital marketers navigate the complexities of content and media strategies in today’s digital landscape.
When it comes to content strategy – focus on depth, not width
During an INBOUND session run by Meg Prater, Managing Editor of HubSpot Blogs, the team highlighted some recent challenges they’re facing in their own content marketing strategy. For years, the 18,000+ page blog has thrived – driving qualified traffic and leading the conversion engine for HubSpot across a multitude of topics. More recently however, traffic to the HubSpot blog has taken quite a hit. The hypothesis of the internal team: A decrease in visibility across the blog resulting from Google’s recent series of Core & Helpful Content Updates that have consistently de-valued thin, overly optimized, and AI-derived content.
In response, the team has adjusted their strategy – evolving away from loosely-relevant yet highly searched keyword/topic categories in favor of a doubling down on content that speaks directly to their core solutions and the problems they solve.
Since modifying their approach, the results have been strong. The shift back to a user-first approach has restored impressions, traffic and conversions.
Beat platform algorithms
At INBOUND, we attended two sessions focused on media buying best practices for LinkedIn and TikTok.
The first session, led by AJ Wilcox, was titled “Advanced LI Ads for the B2B Marketing Superhero.” Our key takeaway? Manual bidding remains more cost-effective than LinkedIn’s max delivery solution. At Dig & Dig, we use manual CPC for our campaigns, which Wilcox confirmed is the cheapest option 90% of the time. While automation can be beneficial when performance exceeds a 1% CTR, many brands – especially newcomers to LinkedIn Ads – may find that unfeasible. Another important tip is to ensure your audiences are properly segmented and sized. If you’ve struggled to crack the code on LinkedIn ads, you’re not alone; this sentiment was shared by many attendees.
Where manual bidding and segmentation is the recommendation on LinkedIn, TikTok’s advice is to go broad. The session “Strategies to Grow TikTok Audiences Into Your Next Customer” delved into the performative aspect of the platform which often has a branding reputation. TikTok’s native lead gen product is getting updated to make it even more seamless and immersive to build trust amongst audiences, accelerating speed to lead. For lead-gen campaigns, TikTok advises launching broadly and narrowing your audience over time—opposite to LinkedIn’s segmented strategy.
TikTok also recommended bidding automation, however Dig & Dig advises that this should be used with caution. During periods of volatility cost caps should be enabled to ensure brands aren’t overspending when CPMs are at their highest. The strategic nuance required between these two platforms underscores the importance of having seasoned social experts guiding your social strategy.
If you’re looking for expert advice, drop us a line at hello@diganddig.com to schedule a quick 30-minute discovery call to learn how we can accelerate your path to growth.
