Buying Hubspot Doesn’t Solve The Problem

It’s not about software. It’s about building assets that are strategic. That is where we come in.

You may have heard much about software out there for marketing automation or inbound marketing. We are often asked about the differences between our services and the software and companies that provide software. We wanted to help our clients understand the differences simply:

1. Software is a separate expense. Buying software like an Eloqua or Hubspot costs anywhere from $15K to $50K annually. These companies are focused on selling you software. You still have to come up with the ideas, strategies, campaigns, programming, design and content. The software is an added cost. When you work with AscendWorks, we bring all the necessary software and systems. Buying additional software is expensive and the savings can be used instead on building your assets. Save the expense and invest in services to get you the output.
2. Software is not an asset. The goal of inbound marketing is to create assets that live and serve to create visitors and leads that want to engage your sales process. Software is an enabler, but in and of itself, Hubspot still has to be programmed and filled with content. Lots of content is required. The content is the asset. It is what gets found and converts strangers into friends.
3. The software is not your platform. The software you use is the software vendor’s platform. If you create campaigns, logic and abundant content, it is sitting on their platform, not yours. We are mindful of building assets that sit on your domain on your platform that you own. Leasing someone else’s space compromises the work put forth and makes it part of the software vendors’ assets.
4. You have to hire a team. Try hiring a graphic designer, copywriter, project manager, editor, web programmer, SEO expert and social media guru. The payroll expense annually is several hundreds of thousands of dollars. The cost is much larger than partnering with us at AscendWorks to continually build your content assets.
5. You have to manage everything. Making sure your content gets produced and working within your integrated systems consumes management time. There has to be focus and leadership on a continual, rigorous basis. Software is merely a way to create content and systems. However, there has to be a management of the creation, publication and strategy ongoing.
6. You have to have strategies. So you bought some software. What are your ideas that will work? That is what we do. We bring strategic marketing and implement it. Software is only a starting cost. It is not going to solve the problem of driving revenue on its own. Our clients hire us to provide the strategies to drive revenue.

The largest difference between focusing on what software to buy and hiring AscendWorks comes down to cost. It will cost you much more, plain and simple. The costs are not only for the additional software, but it is also for the payroll and systems to support the inbound marketing you will be working.

The real output should be building your own assets. Every dollar should be about having a real page, form, resource, or content asset that lives forever, can be found and converts leads. It works for you 24/7. Try to stop paying for your Eloqua or Hubspot license and see what happens. On the other hand, if you decide to forego any further services with AscendWorks, you have assets that are yours that you can move on with and that you own. Nothing is disrupted.

Getting mired in the software and building on someone else’s platform is not our focus. We produce assets that last and convert your investments into tangible assets.