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Nearbound Summit 2023 is a 4-day virtual event covering Nearbound strategies and tactics for every department. Register here.

Redefining what "safe" is 

It’s easy to understand the Nearbound GTM strategy. It’s easy to see the value of surrounding your buyers with the influence of those they trust. 

But it’s also easy to let that little voice come in, the one that says: Is it safe? Has somebody else succeeded at it? Is there a playbook? Has it all been defined perfectly and all of the risks and dangers removed?

The answer is no. But you have to ask yourself one very important follow-up question: 

Is it safe compared to what?

 

Compared to the status quo? Compared to your current outbound and inbound plays? Are those motions really going to make you "safely" hit your numbers this year?

If the answer is no, then maybe safety isn’t an option. Maybe instead of safety, you need a fresh response to the changing market.  

Nearbound is in the early innings, no doubt about it. A lot of people are running plays and getting success, but very little has been documented. It’s all in the process of being written.

But the question is, will you be a part of writing that story by boldly shedding what no longer works, or will you hold back until Nearbound is perfect?

Maybe in today’s world, being "safe" is learning when to take informed risks, and how to take them with the support of your community. 

We’re with you every step of the way.

How to build in an ecosystem

As a new SaaS company, how do you break through the noise and rise above the fold? You use the power of the partner ecosystem, of course.

One of my favorite examples of this lives in the HubSpot ecosystem.

Connor Jeffers, CEO and Founder of Aptitude 8, saw the opportunity in HubSpot’s ecosystem early. So he went all-in and built a services agency that helps companies operationalize the CRM.

Aptitude 8 provided so much value to the HubSpot ecosystem, this year when Jeffers wanted to start a new company, hapily, HubSpot became their primary investor.

This story is a testament to the good things that can come from investing in an ecosystem.

For anyone looking to do something similar, Connor and his team did 3 things right:

• They weren’t afraid of HubSpot
   

When you build in an ecosystem, there’s always the question, what if they build a competing offer internally?! Sure, that happens. That’s why it’s important to know your ecosystem before you go all in.

HubSpot is notoriously partner-friendly. They don’t want to solve every problem. Instead, they’d rather improve their core offering and lean on partners for the rest.

• They put a ton of value into the ecosystem 

To get noticed by a hyperscaler you’ve gotta help them do their job better and easier. Bonus if you can bring it back to the data — if you can prove that when customers use both in conjunction, NPS scores are higher, you’re smooth sailing.

10/10 results, require 10/10 effort.

• They were easy and fun to work with

Make yourself fun & easy to work with. It’s crazy how far something so simple can take you.

For example, check out this image Connor shared on socials — it’s apparent that he’s psyched to be a HubSpot partner. 

If you want to learn more from Connor about building in an ecosystem, register for the Nearbound Summit 2023.

New influencer stats point to "Who" Economy

AdAge recently put out an awesome article with some impressive stats on social media and influencer marketing.

Worldwide, nearly 5 billion people use social media—4.89 billion to be exact—an astounding number that continues to grow, increasing 6.5% year over year from 2022. It’s no surprise that spending in the influencer marketing industry will reach an anticipated $21.1 billion in 2023.

Overwhelmed with noise, people are turning to the voices they already trust.

Check out the full article here.

Stuff you don’t want to miss!

• Join the official Nearbound Summit community brought to you by Partnership Leaders — Partnership leaders’ goal is to connect people interested in learning about partnerships around the world. Join here.

• Oct 4, 2 PM EST — How to Partner with Your Product Team — Join Katharine Moore (Former Chief Business Development and Digital Product Officer at Vivante Health) and Scott Pollack (CEO at Firneo) as they’ll be pulling from her own experience having transitioned from BD to a product leadership role. Register here.

• Oct 11th, 10 AM EST — Women in Alliances Summit — Join the FREE global summit featuring speakers like Jay McBain, Tina Gravel, Christine Bongard, Allison Munro, and more. They’ll touch on AI’s impact on the ecosystem, how partnerships are changing, and tips to boost your career. Register here.

• Oct 12th, 11:30 AM EST — Direct is Dying — Join two CMOs, Isaac Morehouse of Reveal and Pete Rawlinson of Allbound, for a 30-minute discussion diving into the implications of a pivot from direct to partner-led demand generation. Register here.

• November 6-9th — Nearbound Summit 2023 — The future of GTM is Nearbound. Join us for the biggest-ever remote experience in GTM where B2B leaders across departments unite to share how they’re winning with Nearbound strategies and tactics. Register here.

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