Phew! It's all over, at least the event is over... the inbound marketing journey is just getting started for many who attended our June 6th summit.
A sunny start to the morning suggested great things were going to happen last Friday and it turned out to be true as many businesses turned out to Newton Aycliffe's Xcel Centre, for Durham's only #InboundMarketingWeek event.
The Thrive Marketing Limited team did have a little case of the old jitters as we hosted our first major event since Au Fait and Echo Graphics collaborated to form our inbound marketing and brand development agency.
Having said that, we now know that we needn't have worried at all..!
The day...
Before the day started there was SO much to consider when it came to finalising plans for our event. Without a doubt, the biggest help was that of our kind sponsors - Business Durham, South Durham Enterprise Agency, Teesside University and DigitalCity - closely followed by our speakers (more about them later) who were all super!
We promoted our event through different channels and it was great to see many sign up, with a clear enthusiasm in our region, for inbound marketing. Our Social Media Execs (and all-round superstars), Briany and Caitlin, got to work pulling together some fun goodie bags for all of our guests (with classic sweeties like Refreshers and Parma Violets - they were enjoyed in our office)!
Soon enough the day rolled around - what a relief to open the curtains to some glorious blue sky and a beautiful summer's day. We set to work preparing our space and a Thrive Marketing Limited check-in desk at the Xcel Centre with the kind help of staff, before long we were meeting and greeting guests as our speakers eagerly awaited their time to shine...
Rachel took charge of proceedings by introducing the concept of inbound marketing and how it can revitalise any company's marketing strategy, as it tosses aside the marketing analogies of yesteryear and offers a fresh approach.
With the crowd giggling at her graduation photo (which we decided against uploading here, in the end), Morgan Stephenson from HT Media offered an insightful presentation filled with examples of how video can really make a inbound strategy thrive (see what we did there).
Closely following Morgan, we had cheeky chappies and brilliant speakers, Nevil Tynemouth and Mike Lever from NRT Ltd. They encouraged us all to get up and stretch and Mike offered a jousting lance and invited members of the crowd to get up and join in his presentation. Not only were they engaging but the advice had murmurs of agreement filling the room.
Finally, we had Chris from CustomerSure, his insightful presentation on customer feedback not only helped us with our sales and engagement strategies, he threw in some fire effects and penguins, "because what's life without a few penguins"?
For those who stayed back, we had a bubbling room of chatter and cake, as our networking session got under way and people delighted in the lovely afternoon.
Feedback...
We've put together a nifty document highlighting the fantastic feedback we've received following our event as well as some pictures taken during our Inbound Marketing Summit...
This is just the beginning...
Without a doubt, the event is not the end of our hard work. In fact, it's just the start. Now you understand the shift in marketing, we want to help you implement it into your business. We don't offer a one-size-fits-all package, that would never be right to do with inbound marketing. However, we do invite you for a coffee (and some sweet treats of varying kinds) to sit down and discuss your businesses needs and challenges, before offering an appropriate offer (whether that's branding, email marketing or content creation etc).
Why not start your inbound marketing journey today with Thrive...?
