This year's Inbound conference was nothing short of incredible, with over 11,000 in-person attendees and more than 100,000 joining virtually. The energy was palpable as marketers, strategists, and sales professionals from across the world gathered to learn, network, and grow together.
For our team, Inbound 2024 was an opportunity to meet in person, some for the first time, and to come together around shared goals. From the invaluable networking opportunities to inspiring sessions and keynotes, it was an event packed with insights that will drive our work forward in the coming year.
Highlights from the Team
John’s perspective: AI Generated Content is Evolving Fast!
It was amazing to come together again and meet people in person. The networking opportunities and the ability to learn from one another in real-time added so much value. It also gave our marketing and strategy teams a rare chance to meet face-to-face, with many of us meeting for the first time! It was a great way to strengthen our collaboration.
On the session side, one of the standout topics for me was the advances in AI-generated content. Over the past year, AI has made impressive strides, and there are now significant opportunities to leverage AI to speed up some of our marketing activities without sacrificing quality.
And of course, David Spade’s performance during Inbound After Dark was a highlight of the conference! His comedic timing was on point and provided a great way to wrap up a long day of learning and connecting.
- John Doyle, CEO, Digital Polygon
Ellen’s insight: EEAT Matters More Than Ever!
Inbound 2024 was such an amazing opportunity to meet other marketing professionals from around the world while connecting with the Digital Polygon team face-to-face. This was my first conference and I enjoyed exploring the convention floor, discovering new marketing tools, and deepening my industry knowledge.
One of my favorite sessions discussed how to create valuable, top-performing content in the age of AI. With so many recent advances in AI, it is easier than ever to generate tons of content but far more difficult to stand out. It is crucial to embody EEAT signals (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) by emphasizing the author’s unique voice and first-hand experience.
At the end of the first day, Disney Experiences Chairman, Josh D’Amaro, told the inspiring story of Disney’s growth. It was interesting to learn about the creativity, collaboration, and innovation that went into creating such an iconic theme park.
- Ellen Dubbs, Marketing Specialist, Digital Polygon
Megan’s take: AI’s Role in Amplifying Human Creativity
Inbound 2024 was a truly incredible event that I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to attend. Inbound was by far the largest conference event that I have ever been to, and it was definitely the most rewarding. It was so interesting to be able to learn from and talk to different marketing professionals in different areas and industries. It was really eye-opening to see just how big marketing truly is, how it touches all types of industries, and how many people it impacts.
My favorite part of the event was definitely the small marketing teams meet-up. It was so rewarding to hear from different people in many different industries about their marketing initiatives, strategies, struggles, and accomplishments. I loved being able to connect with people and learn about what others are experiencing in the marketing world and what needs, processes, and strategies were out there.
One key takeaway I really enjoyed was that with all of the growth and expansion in AI, human involvement is still necessary. AI should be leveraged to speed up the process, free up human resources, and streamline marketing efforts. However; human touch is still necessary to provide updated content, data driven representations, visual guides and worksheets, custom tools, templates and checklists, and expert, trustworthy, experience-based content that AI cannot produce or summarize. I am definitely excited to lean into the expanding AI tools to help streamline our marketing efforts so that the team can focus more on strategy and creativity!
I’m excited for the future of our marketing team after everything we’ve learned from this event, and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for Digital Polygon and Inbound 2025!
- Megan Harrison, Product Manager, Digital Polygon
Erica’s reflection: Adapting to the Evolving World of Organic Marketing
My second year attending Inbound was just as exciting and enlightening as the first. The conference offers an incredible opportunity to learn from and connect with fellow marketers.
One important takeaway that stood out to me is that organic is constantly evolving. It is important for marketers to remain agile when it comes to thinking about organic marketing strategies. With Google’s own ever-expanding list of products and services, it has become more challenging to rank organically. In an informative session led by Semrush’s Chief Marketing Officer, Andrew Warden, and Senior Vice President of Enterprise Solutions, Marcus Tober, attendees learned the importance of leaning into user generated content in order to compete effectively for a position on page one of Google’s search results. Reddit is a great platform to leverage, as it is weighted more heavily in Google search results. Despite the challenges that organic marketers face, 80% of CMOs plan to either increase (46%) or maintain (34%) their SEO budgets.
- Erica Perlman, Director of Product Management, Digital Polygon
Key Takeaways
- AI’s Role in Content Creation: The sessions highlighted how AI has transformed content marketing. AI tools are now better than ever at helping teams accelerate content creation, optimize strategy, and free up creative bandwidth. We'll be taking these insights to explore how AI can further enhance our workflows.
- New Marketing Tactics: This year’s conference brought forth new and innovative marketing tactics, many of which focus on personalizing the customer journey and improving conversions. We left with actionable strategies to help our clients stay competitive.
- Sales Strategy for the Digital Era: Many sessions focused on the evolving digital sales landscape. From aligning sales and marketing teams more effectively to understanding how to leverage data and analytics, the future of sales is both exciting and full of opportunities.
Final Thoughts
Inbound 2024 reminded us that in the ever-changing world of marketing and sales, staying ahead of the curve requires not just attending events but absorbing, sharing, and implementing the new strategies we learn. We’re already excited about what’s to come and how we can apply what we’ve learned at this year’s conference to continue helping our clients grow.
Stay tuned for more updates as we put these ideas into action!