Today as part of HubSpot's Marketing Agency and Consultants Office Hour we had the opportunity to get a sneak preview of HubSpot's new Email and Contacts tools.  So far, from what I've seen the email process seems more intuitive and cleaner than any other email tool I have previously used.  

The new tool will be available to new customers Tuesday (5/22/12), and rolling out to existing clients over the coming months via a migration process.  All customers will be migrating to the new email tool regardless of the product version you subscribe to.

Here are some of the highlights from the presentation:

SPEED IMPROVEMENTS

HubSpot already offers an incredible closed loop marketing system aimed at helping companies get found online. Their software and inbound marketing methodology builds brand awareness, increases online visibility and can turn your website into a valuable lead generation tool.

How to Use Your Blog to Attract Customers [Customer Story]

RIDE Adventures is in the motorcycle touring business, a type of adventure travel that many avid motorcycle enthusiasts don’t even know exists. When we recognized that few potential customers would be searching for “guided motorcycle tours in South America,” it became obvious that we’d have to find another way to draw people to our website. If motorcycle riders weren’t searching for “motorcycle tours,” what were they searching for? Hubspot’s Keywords and Blog Analytics tools made this easy to discover, and we’ve been blogging accordingly ever since.

This is a formal warning to all parents with young children: iPads, smartphones and technology will turn your kids into freaks. They will no longer want to press buttons and will think that all devices function via touchscreen technology.

The following is a guest post from Frank Belzer, a sales development expert and Senior Sales Strategist and VP of Corporate Training at Kurlan and Associates. Frank is a regular contributor to the sales and sales management training curriculum at Kurlan and Associates and is the host of the weekly Internet Radio Show, Sales Talk Live.

If you are in marketing and want to know the best time to send out your weekly eNewsletter, post tweets, status updates or blog posts you may want to register for this upcoming webinar: "The Science of Timing" by Dan Zarella.  The webinar will be held on March 29 and will be based on his research over the past two years. HubSpot tweeted that 14,000 people have already registered!  Check out these upcoming marketing webinars worth checking out:

A few weeks ago we hopped a flight from Milwaukee to Boston for the first HubSpot User Group conference, as well as the Inbound Marketing Summit in Foxboro. We discussed and learned about the latest industry social media/marketing trends, inbound marketing strategies and tons of info about HubSpot software. 

Our flights and hotel rooms have been booked and today four of us at Stream Creative are flying (gotta love AirTran Wi-Fi) to Boston for two inbound marketing events this week.