Some of the best perspectives on HubSpot's product come from those who use it every day. In this new interview series, we profile HubSpot partners and customers, and ask their thoughts on what our product team should keep in mind while solving for them, and where the future of the industry lies.
In this installment, we chat with Stratagon's Ryan Burkett (left) and Alex Moore.
You're both senior partners at Stratagon, an integrated marketing firm based out of Charlotte and High Point, NC. What's the most interesting challenge you're working on right now?
Finding a balance between a systematic approach to service delivery and providing custom solutions to meet individual client needs, all while not sacrificing the ability to scale. Further, in a knowledge capital service business, where the ability to deliver bespoke, right-sized solutions is a differentiator, the challenge of scaling becomes that much more intense.
What keeps you a HubSpot partner?
The HubSpot platform has continued to grow, itself, following the same model that drew us to the platform, that being an emphasis on people, process, and technology. a) The technology in platform, and its trajectory toward being a true full-service growth engine is real, b) the processes in place, including the service and training avenues for customers, are unique and effective, and c) the people at HubSpot are a key differentiator to its customers' success.
In your opinion, what's the most important thing for HubSpot's product team to keep in mind when solving for customers today?
As the platform continues to grow and expand on up-market opportunities and functionality to support those opportunities, do not lose focus on usability nor fail to make the investment in access to H/S resources that are able to provide assistance on both intermediate but also very complex challenges and questions.
What's your favorite feature within the HubSpot product?
Tough to respond... features that we discussed in choosing one included the overall automation engine, the feature set in the CRM, and even multivariate testing, but we landed on the integration suite as our favorite differentiator. Both the library of integrations available, and the ease of integration with platforms is a favorite for a martech professional.
What's one prediction you have about the future of marketing?
She who has the most data wins, but it's not just about having it. Being able to effectively gather, manage, and maximize the strategic use of first party data becomes critical in a future where third party data is under scrutiny and the channels and mechanisms for access and utilization of third party data will likely decrease in options and in usage.
