After 15 years working in both sales and marketing, Thierry Calderon was on a mission to bring the inbound methodology to Reunion Island.
“I saw how it was skyrocketing in France, and I thought that this was the perfect moment to bring it here. I founded my own agency, Marketing Management IO, in October 2015.”
Thierry had researched the methodology online and, in a fine example of inbound in action, had discovered HubSpot.
“The content drew me in. I downloaded ebooks, templates – anything I could get my hands on – and I found them fantastic. But I also recognised that this was inbound marketing working in real life.”
He investigated the various marketing automation platforms that were available, including Marketo, Webmecanik, Pardot, LeadSquared and ActiveCampaign, but he determined that the HubSpot software was the best route forward for his new agency.
“HubSpot was easy to use and had everything I needed under the one roof. It was something that I needed to be able to offer my customers as well, so I joined the HubSpot Partner Program. I also wanted the support and training that came with it. Inbound seems simple – it’s like when you see someone play guitar and you think you could just pick it up and play yourself – but I knew that HubSpot could help me institute best practice and get the best out of the platform.”
Educating an Emerging Market
Marketing Management IO started its HubSpot Partnership in 2016, and it immediately transformed its own website into an inbound machine. It has a lively blog as well as resources on the inbound method, such as ebooks and checklists, on Landing Pages. It promotes this content through the Social Inbox and encourages visitors to interact through Calls-to-Action and Forms.
The agency uses the HubSpot growth stack – the combination of the Marketing, CRM and Sales software – which has allowed it to better align its sales and marketing departments.
“The CRM was one of the big selling points for me,” explains Thierry. “I wanted to have a full view on all my contacts and leads from the same platform, and that’s what I have now. Then, with HubSpot Sales Pro, I can accelerate, personalise and automate my follow-ups with prospects.”
Marketing Management IO quickly gained traction in the Reunion marketplace and today its website is “like another salesperson”.
“We just keep creating content that we know will be interesting and educational for our potential customers. Inbound is a new concept here in Reunion, so education is an important part of our offering.”
Although the agency still meets prospects through networking and conferences, its online activities now drive most of its leads. The majority of its customers are smaller branches of bigger parent companies. While they may not be knowledgeable about inbound, once they see what Marketing Management IO can do for them, they are ready to go all-in.
“They want to innovate, and they have the budget for inbound marketing. Then, when they see that we can get them big increases in visitors and leads, they sign up for retainer contracts. That’s great for us an agency because it gives us predictability of revenue and allows us to plan ahead.”