3 Perspectives on Learning the Art of Inbound Marketing

Today’s Task: Write your last blog post for your summer internship at Weidert Group.

Who would have thought this time would come so fast. I guess it’s as the saying goes, “Time flies when you’re inbounding!” (I may have altered that last part a little bit.)

As I reflect on the past 3 months of being an Inbound Marketing Intern here at Weidert Group, a few main experiences stand out that are worthy to share from the perspectives of a current college student, marketer, and young adult. 

The College Student’s Perspective

Internships are the most valuable experience a college student can get. Yes, sitting through college classes are important and necessary to do, don’t get me wrong, but introduced to the actual industry you plan on entering is light years different.

Marketing courses can provide the basic knowledge needed to gain traction in the real world of marketing. However, hypothetical customers and case studies can only help explain so much. It’s not until you get to practice the skills you’ve learned that you are truly up-to-date with the latest and greatest practices leading the industry.

Working at an inbound marketing agency has opened my eyes and helped me realize the education system can be behind the times. Product, price, promotion, and place are all relevant in marketing no matter what approach you are taking, but there is definitely something missing. When starting as an intern, I took the Inbound Marketing Certification Course through HubSpot. After completing the course (and receiving an official certificate of completion), I realized this. The best part is that the course is FREE for anybody to complete. Check it out for yourself and be prepared to learn!

Because of my experience as an intern, I realize the value of a combination of college courses and real experience. The knowledge and experience of others you work with is more than valuable enough all on its own.

The Marketer’s Perspective

Inbound marketing just makes sense. It’s simple – Attract. Convert. Close. Delight. Learning about marketing in these four steps simplifies a very complicated process and is applicable to any type of marketing or sales strategies.

Any company needs to get leads and make sales. It’s the life-blood of a business. Without customers, a business would simply not exist. Whether you are practicing an inbound or outbound approach to your marketing, you should be producing leads. But of what quality are they?

Here’s where I got snagged by inbound marketing – making the buyer’s journey as personal and educational as you can to produce the most qualified lead. Now, this isn’t to say it’s impossible to do with an “outbound” approach. In fact, I believe any marketing efforts you are doing should revolve around keeping in mind the 4 steps to inbound: Attract. Convert. Close. Delight.

The Professional Young Adult’s Perspective

Throughout the past 3 months of reading countless articles about each of the 4 steps of the inbound marketing process and how to be successful at them I have learned so much. Twitter and LinkedIn have become platforms on which to exchange information of techniques, strategies, and ideas with fellow marketers. The surprising part of this is that Twitter can be used as a professional social media platform.

Sharing blog posts you find particularly interesting or industry news updates are great ways to start this new adventure into networking on Twitter. Follow the websites, companies, and/or writers that produced the content and mention them in your posts. This will help start your networking process and provide content to share and read. For example, I found this article titled “6 Signs Your Internship Is Worth Your Time”. I shared the post, mentioned the website it came from and followed and mentioned the author. Here’s the example: