First Annual Inbound Marketing Award Winners Selected, Showcasing Excellence in Inbound Marketing

Market Wire, September, 2008

News Facts

-- The votes are in for the first annual Inbound Marketing Awards and the winners are BatchBlue Software , Digital Influence Group and Zeer . The winners will be formally recognized at the Inbound Marketing Summit on September 8, 2008 at the Boston Marriot Cambridge Hotel in Kendall Square. http://www.inboundmarketingsummit.com

-- The Inbound Marketing Awards recognize outstanding achievement and innovation in the use of inbound marketing techniques to help market a product, tool or their company. Judges selected the best and brightest campaigns based on their use of inbound marketing, business impact, and creativity.

-- The winning entries all used different inbound marketing techniques to achieve success:

  --  BatchBlue, a software maker for small businesses and entrepreneurs,
      ran a contest on their company website inviting small business owners
      to nominate themselves as a "Small Business Super Hero."
      --  The company promoted the contest online and on their website,
          blog, and social media channels.  Winners were given a Small
          Business Super Hero badge to embed on their webpage that linked
          back to a winner's page on the BatchBlue website.
      --  BatchBlue's Web traffic went up 200 percent and they saw an
          increase in inbound links and account signups.
  --  Digital Influence Group is a next-generation marketing services firm
      that develops social media programs that cultivate the power of
      individual influence.  In conjunction with Fanista, a community for
      entertainment enthusiasts, Digital Influence Group created a Web 2.0
      campaign to raise awareness for the U.S. Campaign for Burma.
      --  Digital Influence Group created 50 short Web videos with
          celebrities describing the situation in Burma and hosted them on
          YouTube and a microsite on their webpage.  They further promoted
          the videos via a Facebook app and other social media channels.
      --  The videos were viewed over 1 million times and featured in over
          200 media articles including a New York Times feature.  The
          microsite had a 6:48 minute average user engagement time -- six
          times the Web average.
  --  Zeer, a grocery product research community, launched a multi-pronged
      campaign including on-page SEO, press release keyword optimization
      and social marketing including blog and community outreach.
      --  Zeer used HubSpot inbound marketing software to research and
          select the best keywords for optimization and optimized their
          110,000+ product pages to attract long tail search traffic.
          They leveraged social media channels including Facebook,
          del.icio.us, twitter, and blogs to reach new audiences and drive
          more traffic.
      --  Search traffic rose 48 percent in a month, page views doubled
          and unique visitors tripled.  Social media and blogs are now
          among their top sources of traffic.

-- The Inbound Marketing Summit is sponsored by HubSpot, CorporateInk, Longbow, Marketwire, Nowspeed Marketing, PR 20/20, Compendium Blogware, and Emma. Notable keynotes include Seth Godin, David Meerman Scott, Chris Brogan and Greg Verdino. The Summit is now sold out, but audiences are invited to sign up for the live Web broadcast .

Links for more information:

Inbound Marketing Awards

Inbound Marketing Summit Sponsors

Inbound Marketing Summit Blog

Quote, attributable to Brian Halligan, CEO and Founder, HubSpot

"With the Inbound Marketing Awards, we wanted to recognize the efforts of companies that have successfully implemented inbound marketing techniques to further their Web presence. BatchBlue, Digital Influence Group and Zeer exemplify leaders in the inbound marketing community and serve as examples of success."

Quote attributable to Michelle Riggen-Ransom, Communications Director, BatchBlue Software

"As a small business software company, we've found inbound marketing techniques to be a great way to build our brand online and help people discover us. The Small Business Super Hero contest was a really fun campaign and we're thrilled to be recognized with an Inbound Marketing Award. There's a lot of Small Business Super Heroes out there -- we definitely share this award with them!"

Quote attributable to Brian Cavoli, VP Agency Marketing, Digital Influence Group

"The Inbound Marketing Awards are the first of its kind -- they recognize companies like us who emphasize the influence of the individual and online community building to generate business results. Receiving this award in its inaugural year is an honor and validates our work."

Quotes attributable to Michael Putnam, CEO, Zeer

"Zeer helps people buy better groceries and inbound marketing is essential to bringing people to our site, growing our brand, and helping people find what they are looking for on search engines," said Michael Putnam, CEO of Zeer. "We are delighted to receive an Inbound Marketing Award. It is a great way to further showcase Zeer, and how we reach our customers."