The Internet vs. Facebook in 10 Years, and Other Marketing Stories of the Week

Feel that chilly breeze? It's a'coming. That's right, my friends -- it's September. Soon we'll be trading our sundresses for sweaters and our iced teas for hot mulled cider. But there's no need to be sad about summer's passing. Just think of how beautiful the autumn leaves will look and how cleansing a fresh new season will be. (And, if you didn't hear me before, there's the hot mulled cider ... and pumpkin lattes!) As the seasons change, so do the headlines in marketing, so let's check out the top five stories of the week!

The Internet vs. Facebook in 10 Years [Infographic], From Brian Solis

The latest from Brian Solis' blog is a story you can't miss, about where we are now as a digital society. The progress we've made in the past ten years is extraordinary, and it encompasses a faster evolution of technology than the human race has ever previously experienced. But as fast as the internet has grown, Facebook has grown even faster -- and at a rate that's truly astonishing. In the article, Solis drops mind-blowing statistical bombs like "In 2011, Facebook was the size of the internet in 2004," and "Facebook users represent 12% of the world's population." Eager to learn more? Check out the full story here.

State of the Industry: Marketing Companies in the Inc. 500, From Marketing Pilgrim

The folks at Marketing Pilgrim took a look at the 57 companies that comprise the advertising and marketing sector of this year's Inc. 500 list. The article uncovered some interesting insights about the companies that made the list, which included companies championing everything from infographic creation to search engine optimization to interactive advertising. A fact we found particularly interesting? No company in the top 15 (or top 97 of the entire list!) offers offline services as a main product. Ready to keep reading? Check out the full story here.

A 5-Step Plan to Improve Every Blog Article You Write, From Copyblogger

Here at HubSpot, we take blogging very seriously and hold ourselves to pretty high standards. The folks at Copyblogger took some thoughts right out of our heads with their article on improving blog posts. All the tips they offer are excellent, but our two favorites? "Give extra value with examples and/or exercises" and "include a call-to-action at the end of each post." Examples are key to making your articles accessible and relatable for all of your readers  -- you can never be too thorough! And, of course, you know how much your inbound marketing relies on calls-to-action! Want to learn from the rest of Copyblogger's tips? Check out the full story here.

Pinterest for Marketers: The Part You're Not Understanding, From PR-Squared

SHIFT Communications employee Dave Levy posted this piece on Todd Defren's blog, PR-Squared this week. "Let’s talk about marketers, people who use Pinterest, and how they all play together in the social media world. And, let’s use charts and numbers! Wait, come back." We weren't going anywhere, Dave -- that sounds awesome. And it is. There are some seriously fascinating charts in there, and some pretty in-depth analysis about Pinterest's applicability to Facebook traffic. The end game presented in the article is that marketers should be using Pinterest to post content that can ultimately find its way to Facebook and influence users on both social networks. Ready to dive deeper into the charts and numbers? Check out the full story here.

Announcing HubSpot 3: The Future of Marketing Software

For our final story of the week, we're pleased to feature HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan's article on the HubSpot blog, which went live during his INBOUND 2012 keynote about HubSpot 3. It's true: HubSpot has launched a set of powerful new and integrated marketing tools, which we believe will change marketing software forever. The articles highlights all of the new features customers will find in HubSpot 3, including social contacts, smart lists and segmentation, and more. Want to learn more? Check out the full story here.

Oh, and if you want to talk to someone about HubSpot 3, we'd love to hear from you.

What inbound marketing stories did you particularly enjoy this week? Share them in the comments!

Photo credit: Zest-pk