By Helena PowerHouse, Whitney Mitchell Montana’s high-tech industry can benefit greatly from inbound marketing solutions regardless if they are a well-established organization or still seeking Angel funds. Can-Do Ideas, Montana’s premier Hubspot Partner, is featuring a blog series called Big Sky. Big Silicon. Marketing Montana's High-Tech Companies. The series was conceptualized to offer insight into marketing best practices for the tech industry. Series topics will include:

• Digital marketing best practices for technology companies
• How modern marketing solutions launch local brands
• Why tech companies find Montana an attractive alternative to the big city How blogging expands the reach of tech companies and generates qualified leads
• What Montana’s tech companies can gain from using Big Data to move leads through the sales funnel

The emerging technology industry is contributing to the development of service businesses. As a tech company’s need to reach a larger demographic increases, marketing agencies specializing in inbound marketing methods are in higher demand and become a vital supporting entity. Montana’s technology companies adopting inbound marketing solutions find themselves communicating directly with their desired target market, generating qualified leads, effectively nurturing a potential customer through the buyer’s journey, and continuously delighting existing customers which facilitates higher retention rates. Why is inbound marketing important for technology companies? During high school, I participated in a program called Close Up, which brought high school students from across the country to Washington D.C. to participate in a week-long educational tour of the nation’s capital. Despite being a fifth-generation Montana who lived 90 miles from the nearest Wal-Mart, it wasn’t my first trip to the nation’s capital. However, when a fellow attendee earnestly asked me if Montana had the internet yet, it was the first time I came to understand a misconception outsiders tend to have about the Treasure State. Sarcastically, I replied, “What’s that?” Five years later, Oracle Corp. acquired RightNow Technologies, a Bozeman-based CRM Saas organization, for $1.5 billion. Since then, technology companies have continued to thrive in Montana. The Montana High Tech Business Alliance, an initiative based out of Missoula supporting 300+ high-tech company members, estimates there are roughly 540 high-tech and manufacturing companies in the state. Yet, the competition is high and not all will succeed. Don’t be the tech company responding with “What’s that?” when it comes to modern marketing best practices. Montana was founded by trailblazers, so be a trailblazing technology company using the right marketing tools to stay relevant and top of mind with your customers, no matter where they may be located. This blog series will dive into inbound marketing techniques and how Montana's tech companies will benefit from adopting these methods. Don’t miss a post in this series.