HubSpot - YeezyGPT? - Newsletterest

I own one pair of sneakers. This week's master has a collection that includes some of the industry's most sought after grails. A personal fav is the Concepts x New Balance C-Notes, which she secured after leading the go-to market strategy for the 10-year anniversary release.

I want to be her when I grow up.

On tap for today:

How to kill the fear, break the mold, and keep moving
Uber, IKEA, and Poppi are heading to college
A marketing leader tells us the advice she'd give herself if she were first starting out

MEET THE MASTER

Name: Andréa (Dréa) Hudson, head of audience development & distribution for HubSpot Media

Job: Leads an omni-channel distribution strategy for platforms across HubSpot Media, including Podcast, YouTube, and Creators

Claim to fame: Over 10 years of strategic marketing and branding experience for brands such as Google, Live Nation, New Balance, and Concepts

Fun fact: Her Mount Rushmore of marketers includes Ye, Donald Glover, Erykah Badu, and Ronnie Fieg

Lesson 1: Face your AI fears.

Hudson doesn't buy into the idea that it's a tough time to be a marketer.

"This is one of the best times to be a leader in marketing," she says. "We have the opportunity to be pioneers of a craft that has been pretty stagnant for a while, so I would say kill the fear, break the mold, and keep it moving."

Many of us feel it's a challenging time because of AI. Her perspective? Lean into it, and use it to become an all-star marketer — or risk becoming under-qualified.

For Hudson, an hour each day is all about AI: "If you're a marketer today and you aren't playing around with AI tools for at least an hour a day, you're doing yourself a disservice.”

To be completely honest, the only thing I dedicate an hour to every day is TikTok. (I wish that word were “meditation.” But here we are.)

Hudson's done more than just dabble — she's built multiple customized GPTs for all kinds of tasks, including one she calls "Ye's Springboard," named for the artist formerly known as Kanye West. (Open-Ye-I? Too much of a stretch?)

She trained the GPT on articles and videos that reference Yeezy drops, including fashion, music, and products. When prompted, it’s a brainstorm partner that churns out Ye-inspired campaign ideas.

“Block your calendar and learn about the tool that you're most afraid of. There's nothing wrong with testing something out, and the more you work with it, the better off you'll be," Hudson tells me.

Lesson 2: Content is king, but distribution rules.

Let’s be real — how many of us hit "Publish" and sit back, expecting the clicks, comments, and shares to pour in like magic? No extra effort needed, right?

Most of the time, we're greatly disappointed when the only comment is from Aunt Betty, who is so impressed with your “cool job at HubSpit.”

Hudson lives and breathes distribution, so she’s seen firsthand the massive gap between creating content and actually getting it in front of people.

"You've got a lot of marketers who will spend a ton of money on content, but they don't think about distribution," Hudson says. (Guilty.)

"So they're disappointed by the results because they didn't think through how the content would actually reach the people they're trying to reach."

Distribution shouldn't be an afterthought — it’s a strategic, carefully balanced effort. We’re all about instant gratification these days, but building a solid YouTube channel or social media presence? That’s a long game.

Pro tip: Collab with social media and newsletter creators to amplify your content. They’ve already mastered distribution, and their authenticity can give your message a more powerful boost than a brand talking about itself nonstop.

Lesson 3: Rally your community.

Hudson is a wizard at bringing a community-based mentality to her work. I can attest to this firsthand: Zoom calls with Hudson often feel like a cozy catch-up with a friend over a glass of wine — relational, not transactional.

"My team of marketers are jugglers of the art of prioritization. Our goals are to ensure that all of our content finds its way to the largest, most qualified audiences at the right time and in the right place," Hudson says. "But I think my superpower is being calm amongst chaos, and being people-first. If you focus on the people you work with, it just gets easier."

She encourages marketers to extend this community-focused mindset to marketing, as well. For instance, rather than sitting in a conference room floating ideas back-and-forth between colleagues, why not just ask your audience what they like?

Whether it’s through YouTube’s community tab or a podcast comment section on Spotify, there are so many ways to get real-time feedback to see if your marketing is actually hitting the mark.

If you need more inspo for community-focused projects, consider the HubSpot Media 2024 INBOUND experiential activation — spearheaded by Hudson, and including programming in collaboration with the HubSpot Creators team. Hudson leans into the theme of "re-invention" by taking an old-school movie theater and transforming it into a modern Creators Studio.

The studio is complete with a Hustle Hot Takes Confessional Booth and a concessions stand that serves up "crisp content and warm connections" in addition to popcorn and soft drinks.

Attendees will be able to attend over 20 live audio and video sessions with HubSpot Original Creators like Sam Parr and Matt Wolfe. How's that for community?

2024 Gen AI Insights

A HELPFUL RESOURCE

How The Hustle became a HubSpot media powerhouse

Don’t hurt yourself in the head trying to write the playbook for expanding your brand across top channels.

The Hustle already did that… and then some. The result: this gleaming guide on achieving world domination, with a gorgeous foreword written by none other than their knight-in-shiny-armor-of-an-editor, the terrific tyrant, Brad Wolverton.

Just know Brad will be sad if this campaign only produces average results. He put a ton of heart into the intro.

Uh… anyways, learn how to expand your brand by conquering top platforms like YouTube, podcasts, blog posts, newsletters, and more – here’s how we did it ourselves.

Lessons from scaling The Hustle

OPEN TABS

📚 College hangouts: Brands like IKEA, Poppi, and Uber are crashing college campuses. Now, student loans aren’t the only thing following kids to college
🔮 Future-proofing: No crystal balls here, but these SEO wizards at Semrush, SEJ, and HubSpot are predicting the future — one keyword at a time
🛍️ Netflix and... shop?: Netflix and Google are partnering to bring a shoppable integration to the latest Emily in Paris series. As long as they don't try this with Squid Game next, I'm happy

LINGERING QUESTIONS

Last week, Hootsuite's Hassan S. Ali asked, What advice would you give yourself when you were first starting out?

Hudson: I'd give myself the same advice I still give myself: Find the dots, connect the dots, follow the vision. It can be really easy to become overwhelmed by the art of prioritization — but if everything is a priority, nothing is a priority, so focus on the things that make an impact to you, in business and in life.

Oh, and don't shrink to be anything other than who you are. Those who are for you, are for you.

And Hudson's question for our next master in marketing:

What have you learned from the biggest failure in your career so far, and how do you plan to leverage that in the future?

This week's email was brought to you by Caroline Forsey. Editing by Curtis del Principe and Laura M. Browning.

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