SmartMarket Media Blog

Mike Langford, CEO of Tweetworks, was kind enough to invite me to participate as part of a panel discussion about social media for the Metro-West Chamber of Commerce. I was joined on the panel by Mike and two others; Cappy Popp of Thought Labs and Jeff Cutler of JeffCutler.com

The title for the panel discussion was “Linked in – How to Increase Sales” however given all of our diverse backgrounds with using social media in all different ways, it quickly evolved into a broader discussion about how we use and recommend using social media for business.

Jeff had some great recommendations for finding the “pulse” of online conversations going on around your company online and using Google Alerts to find those conversations. Mike had a great analogy of how social media is really no different than going to a Chamber networking mixer. Cappy’s reminder that in social media you need to “give” if you want to “receive” to build a brand following falls right in line with Mike’s analogy too. Networking online using social media is virtually the same (other than the technology) as networking in person. It’s all about building relationships.

I’ve shared Mike Langford’s video recording of the panel discussion. Although the still on the video looks like I am about to break into song…I assure you that doesn’t happen. I wouldn’t torture my blog readers with my horrible singing voice. Enjoy!

I’m usually not a big fan of flash mob dance or singing videos, especially as part of a business branding strategy. I get it – the flash mob is a metaphor for community, blah, blah, blah. Chances are unless I know someone in the video, I’m not watching it to completion but if I just watch a few seconds and then click away on most video sharing sites…it is still counted as a view. So if I get a million “views” how many are actually watching to completion or are engaged in my brand?

Nonetheless, this week’s video is a flash mob and probably one of the few I will ever profile because it is very relevant to the subject. This week’s Buzzworthy Wednesday Video is for the “Hammer Pants Dance” promoting MC Hammer’s reality show “Hammertime” airing on the A&E Network following the life of rapper and dancer MC Hammer and his family. The show takes an unprecedented look behind his larger-than-life personality and his life as a business entrepreneur. Hammer, has over 800,000 followers on Twitter and he leveraged his huge social media presence (along with the shiny gold parachute pants wearing dancers in the video) to get over 1.2 million views in 12 days. It was truly a great strategy from A&E and MC Hammer to take advantage of his social media cache and to create a video like this for his connections to share and tell others about the show.

HubSpot’s free marketing tool, Website Grader, recently graded its 1 millionth website…and its still counting. The number is staggering and reminds me of how HubSpot is becoming the online marketing equivalent of McDonalds with millions and millions served…I mean that in the most flattering sense.

Forget the “Super Size Me” fast food obesity issues…I mean the real roots of how Ray Kroc founded McDonalds. He gave people a simple eating place with popular food, low prices, friendly service and no waiting. His concept completely revolutionized the food service industry.

Website Grader was the Cambridge Massachusetts HubSpot’s first free diagnostic tool, launched in February of 2007.  It measures the inbound marketing effectiveness of a website measuring website traffic, social media, blog, SEO and other marketing tidbits and provides a score (on a scale of zero to 100) based on these factors.  It also provides great advice on how the website can be improved from a marketing perspective and helps people understand how their site is faring against their competition.

The tool was initially created as a way to build buzz and traffic to market their inbound marketing software so when people evaluated their website using Website Grader, they might decide they needed some help. It was a simple and passive way for potential customers to enter their sales cycle.

To build buzz around Website Grader, Dharmesh Shah and his team at HubSpot promoted the free tool on the company blog and utilized social media and the blogosphere to drive traffic to the site. They posted messages in discussion forums, submitted the site to social media Web sites like Delicious, Digg and StumbleUpon, and commented on other applicable blogs with a link suggesting Website Grader as a tool people might like to try.

Today, Website Grader continues to be a valuable tool for HubSpot, potential customers, small to midsized businesses and marketers alike. They have also added other tools to grade people’s Twitter and Facebook engagement as well as tons of free webinars and a free weekly marketing podcast called HubSpot TV that talks about the weekly news regarding online marketing in a fun and informative way.

All of these tools, webinars, podcasts, etc. are all free and all of their efforts are engaging potential leads to check out their product lines. HubSpot has seen the way people are interacting online and is completely revolutionizing the way marketing is done online because of it. Website Grader was the first step on that path. I love to use Website Grader as an example of successful viral marketing when I give seminars and presentations.

So kudos to HubSpot and Website Grader for topping a million websites graded, I hope they are able to grade millions and millions more. Their revolutionary approach to inbound marketing is changing the way businesses are marketing online the same way McDonalds completely changed the entire fast food industry. Is it coincidence that Mike Volpe, the Vice President of Inbound Marketing at HubSpot is obsessed with the McRib? I think not.

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