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33 Stats That Paint a Picture of the Future of Marketing

33 Stats That Paint a Picture of the Future of Marketing
The future of our beloved marketing industry is changing fast -- the good news is, we don't even need a crystal ball to see where it's headed! HubSpot CMO Mike Volpe, when sharing his story on how he came to be HubSpot's fifth employee, says the problem he faced as a marketer was finding an integrated marketing software solution that allowed him to see how his various marketing efforts impacted his website and revenue. Little did he know when yearning for this marketing system that it was in the process of being built That was just five years ago, and now our industry is at a place where Mike Volpe's dream has been realized . Social Media and Social Lead Nurturing 1) Failure to respond via social channels can lead to up to a 15% increase in churn rate for existing customers. 2) 37% of brands would like to use social media engagement to create customer-tailored marketing campaigns. 3) 75% of B2B companies do not measure or quantify social media engagement. Mobile Marketing and Apps

Announcing HubSpot 3: The Future of Marketing Software In that time, the world of online marketing has grown increasingly complex. When we started HubSpot, there were four or five tools that most companies used to manage their online marketing. Even then, we thought that was a lot. Today, we talk to some companies who are using twice that amount -- just to communicate with their prospects and customers. So now, there is another opportunity: a chance to help marketers in companies of every size and industry reduce the noise that has made marketing increasingly more fragmented, and get back to the strategy and art that makes marketing people can truly love. Today, I am really happy to introduce you to HubSpot 3. An End to Isolated Tools and Fragmented Marketing Marketers have grown far too accustomed to CSV files. It all starts with the single, centralized marketing database, your most important marketing asset. Learn all about the new: The Right Content to the Right Person at the Right Time An Uncompromised View Into Your Entire Strategy

The Key Components of a User-Friendly Website Navigation The navigation of your website is a key component that directly impacts you from a business and marketing perspective. After all, a navigation is often what stands between the user and the user’s goal. And as a marketer, you should want to make that distance as short as possible. That's why you need to ensure your website navigation offers a positive experience from a usability perspective. What Should a Website Navigation Do? Navigation of information, as discussed in Alan Cooper’s book, About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design, can be accomplished by three key methods: scrolling (panning), linking (jumping), and zooming. Specifically, the navigation should: Enable users to choose from a small selection of pages to visit.Provide clear labels for the pages where navigation tabs take you.Adapt your website to match user needs.Tell people where they currently are and how to get back.Provide a search function. Components of a Navigational System Types of Navigation Systems

10 Companies That Totally Nailed Their Taglines You know what's really difficult? Being succinct. Seriously ... it's ridiculously hard. If you don't believe me, just grab your favorite copywriter and ask. It's especially difficult to express a complex emotional concept in just a couple of words -- which is exactly what a slogan does. While the word "slogan" might make you think of huge brands that paid millions of dollars for an agency to come up with one, slogans are important for -- and accessible to -- businesses of any size and budget. So if you're looking to get a little slogan inspiration of your own, take a look at some of our favorite company slogans from both past and present. Get even more branding tips by downloading our free ebook. Before we get into specific examples, let's quickly go over what a slogan is and what makes one stand out. What is a Slogan? In many ways, they're like mini mission statements. Companies have slogans for the same reason they have logos: advertising. The goal? What Makes a Great Slogan? It's memorable.

The What, Why & How of Infographic Creation [In an Infographic] How meta, right? Truth is, the infographic about infographics isn't exactly a new concept. There's a whole slew of them out there, and quite a few them actually poke fun at these highly shareable visuals. And it's hard to blame 'em. With so many people jumping on the infographic bandwagon, there is certainly no shortage of downright awful infographics floating around the web, all pretty deserving of ridicule. But despite all the flack infographics have gotten, there's still no question about it -- people are drawn to those stimulating, informational visuals, and they can do wonders for your marketing. Have you ever created -- or worked with a designer to create -- an infographic of your own?

Basic HTML Every Internet Marketer Should Know Programmer, developer, webmaster, techie ... none of these words describe me or most of the marketers I meet. But there is one skill I learned in college that has proven invaluable to me as a marketer -- basic HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). I've worked with hundreds of marketers and unfortunately, this is one skill many have yet to master. Basic HTML (and yes, I mean basic -- I'm not suggesting you learn the whole language) can significantly improve your success as an inbound marketer. You'll be more independent, and you won't need to call your webmaster every time you need to make a change on your website. Hyperlinks I hate seeing text-based links in blog posts, social media and forum threads. Note: Just like everything that goes up must come down, every bracket you open must be closed. Headings If you've used Microsoft Word, you're probably familiar with the different styles, each varying in importance. Paragraphs and Spacing Images Lists Now go forth and conquer HTML!

The Ultimate Guide to Using Animated GIFs in Your Marketing Animated GIFs. Think they're just for internet geeks? Think again. The fact is, animated GIFs have dominated the world of online memes for some time now, going viral across social media and blogs many times over. If you're still not sure what the heck we're talking about when we say "animated GIF," it's really just a series of still image frames coded into a single file. Now you know what we're talking about! A Brief Introduction to the Animated GIF The original GIF specification was introduced by CompuServe in 1987. A few years after the evolution of Web 2.0, however, people started realizing that they could use animated GIFs in a lot of different ways and feature them in a lot more places, like blogs and social networks. The Benefits of Animated GIFs for Marketers Alright, so animated GIFs are cute and cool ... but does that mean they can be used in marketing? Animated GIFs are easy to consume. Think of the animated GIF as a hybrid between a still image and a video.

The 10 Commandments for Giving a Perfect Presentation Looking out into a sea of faces while standing on a stage can be one of the most intimidating experiences of your career. It doesn't matter if it's a group of 12 people in a board room or an auditorium filled with thousands of people -- giving the perfect presentation is no easy feat. It's also pretty critical to your success in delivering the message you want to deliver. Last week, 2,800 marketers converged on Boston for INBOUND 2012 (It sold out, so you better get your tickets for next year's event now!) 1) Understand Your Audience's Sacrifice Think about it: if you're speaking to 100 people for an hour, you're consuming 100 hours of time. 2) Be Infotaining Teaching isn't enough. 3) Work the Room Don't stand in one spot on the stage for the whole presentation. 4) Be More Energetic Than Ever Speaking to large audiences requires you to be a more energetic version of yourself. 5) Give the Audience Time to React When you're on a stage, a second or two of silence can seem like forever. Example:

7 Ways to Use Email Marketing to Make More Money After the Initial Sale Congratulations! You closed a sale! Brush off your shoulders -- your work here is done. Whoa, whoa ... not so fast. Who’s to say that customer’s sales cycle is over? So, what do you do to nurture those customers (or shall we call them leads?) 1) Leverage Your Thank You/Confirmation Email After a customer makes a purchase, they have a choice -- one that you can play a part in with savvy email marketing. So in addition to the order details and email opt-in confirmation, include a clear call-to-action in these emails to encourage customers to stay engaged with your company in ways other than via email. Whatever you choose, keep in mind that welcome and confirmation emails should thank the customer for their opt-in or purchase and offer additional ways to add value, not push for a hard sale. 2) Send a Product/Service Feedback Email You’ve made the sale with the customer, but how is their purchase treating them? But beware! 3) Recommend Educational Materials

10 Social Media Risks MOST Companies Are Too Afraid to Take There was a time when just being in social media was a risk for companies. I'm glad we're (mostly) done with those days, but now we're into a new era ... the era of experimentation. Oooh, I like this era! This is when people really start getting creative. And the more risks brands take, the more we learn what works and (unfortunately) what totally backfires. What you'll find in this post are the social media ideas that many brands wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole; except, of course, for some special few who said, "Meh, screw it." 1) Loosening Up Enough to Make a Joke in B2B Marketing Businesspeople don't smile. If you missed the honey badger meme, maybe you'll enjoy a little something from the How I Met Your Mother genre: Or if The Office is more your speed, they've had a little fun with Dwight "Bears, Beets, Battlestar Gallactica" Schrute, too: Point is, everyone likes to laugh. 2) Loosening Up Enough to Make a Joke in Your "Boring" Industry 3) Opening the Feedback Floodgates

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