What is IMU?
Inbound Marketing University (IMU) is an ongoing, free marketing retraining program to help professionals gain a competitive edge during the declining job market. Run by HubSpot, IMU offers registrants an online curriculum of webinars on a variety of Internet marketing topics such as search engine optimization, social media marketing, blogging, lead nurturing, email marketing, etc. The program is taught by a faculty of volunteer marketing experts.
IMU is hosted on InboundMarketing.com, an online community hosted by HubSpot for anyone interested in inbound marketing. Registrants sign up for a series of live webinars. At their conclusion, registrants take a certification exam to in order to become Inbound Marketing Certified Professionals. The first IMU included 11 instructional webinars, and the second IMU (IMU2) included all archived webinars from the first IMU plus two new live webinars. Certified registrants receive a certificate and a badge to display on their website/blog.
All past IMU courses are available for download at any time at http://inboundmarketing.com/university/classes. The next IMU will launch in October 2009.
What were the results?
The goals of IMU were threefold:
- Generate leads for the HubSpot product
- Energize HubSpot fans and customers to spread word of mouth buzz and become brand evangelists
- Showcase HubSpot's expertise in Internet and inbound marketing
The results of IMU and IMU2 indicate its success: The programs attracted over 6,000 registrants and generated almost 800 Inbound Marketing Certified Professionals from its 1,100 exam-takers.
The program has generated a high number of leads per its opt-in email form and IMU attendees (which are comprised of registrants from numerous countries and locations) have become reliable brand evangelists for HubSpot, creating their own LinkedIn group and spreading the word about HubSpot and their love for IMU on Twitter and via their social networks. IMU attendees have also become inbound marketing advocates, passing along information about its benefits to their companies, which are prospective HubSpot customers. As a result of the IMU program, HubSpot continues to reinforce its status as the go-to resource for Internet marketing how-to.
IMU Stats
IMU1
- 4,680 registrants
- 850 test takers
- 550 certified (65% passed the exam)
- 13,000 donated live class hours
IMU2
- 1,650 registrants
- 320 test takers
- 240 certified (75% passed the exam)
- 1,000 donated live class hours (From the 2 additional new classes)
Total (between both 1 and 2)
- 6330 registrants
- 1,170 test takers
- 790 certified (68% passed the exam)
- 14,000 donated live class hours
IMU Testimonials
"Through IMU I have met some amazing people, some of which I am now collaborating with on a large project. We are spread across the U.S. with a myriad of talents, all brought together through IMU."
- Lisa Jantzen Alvey, Social Media Manager at Fresno Pacific University
"I am so proud of attending IMU and receiving my certification. I've noticed that once people learn that you have an IMU certification, interest level from potential employers really picks up."
- Jennifer Davis, job seeker
See what people are saying about IMU on Twitter.
Visit the IMU website at http://www.inboundmarketing.com/university for course info/downloads, professor roster, student tools, badges, partners, bulletin board and certification information.