The Business Case for Building an Audience for Your Brand
In the marketing automation space, there’s an interesting case study that puts into perspective the age-old dispute between marketers who prioritize reach and those who prioritize resonance.
Two of the biggest players in the lower and middle tiers of the marketing automation industry, HubSpot and Mailchimp, have been competing to win over as many small to medium-sized businesses as possible. HubSpot currently boasts four times as many social media followers and attracts almost double the amount of organic traffic than Mailchimp does, so one might assume HubSpot also generates more revenue and profit.
The reality, however, is that Mailchimp has overtaken HubSpot in both financial categories. In 2018, HubSpot saw $513 million in revenue while Mailchimp earned $600 million. Moreover, while HubSpot has yet to turn a profit, Mailchimp has been profitable for its entire existence. Now, that’s not to dismiss HubSpot’s huge success in any way — it just brings up an interesting question. Do more views and more leads actually result in more revenue? Not necessarily.