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8 Steps to Launching an Online Learning Academy Your Customers Will Love

Content Marketing Strategy
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8 Steps to Launching an Online Learning Academy Your Customers Will Love 73% of people say customer experience impacts their purchasing decisions. Which means, nowadays, companies are looking for fresh ways to keep their customers happy. Many companies are doing this by launching customer education programs and online learning academies that give their customers access to resources, blog posts, webinars, knowledge centers, and certification courses that help them learn about their product, troubleshoot problems, and ultimately realize product value. The HubSpot Academy is an excellent example of this. Launched in 2012 as a way to help its customers learn and apply new marketing skills to grow their business, The HubSpot Academy has evolved into the go-to destination for hundreds of thousands of people looking to improve their skills related to inbound marketing, sales, and customer service/support.   Among other things, a strong learning academy can help you provide helpful resources to your customers, increase customer retention, engage with new prospects, and build domain authority.  From the outside looking in, creating an online learning academy on this scale may seem intimidating, if not impossible. But launching one isn't as out of reach as you might think. Let’s walk through the necessary steps to launch an online learning academy your customers will love. How to Launch a Successful Online Academy in 8 Steps 1. Set a specific goal. When you're starting your online-learning journey, it can be easy to get lost in the possibilities. For instance, maybe you want to help your Customer Success...

What Are Agile Metrics?

Marketing Metrics
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What Are Agile Metrics? Agile marketing focuses on creating high-value deliverables by working in short bursts to achieve goals. An agile marketing process is also constantly iterated to ensure productivity and efficiency. Measuring the success of an agile marketing process is critical as it helps monitor processes and ensures everything is on track — this is where agile metrics come in. In this post, we’ll discuss: What are agile metrics? Importance of Agile Metrics Types of Agile Metrics Key Agile Metrics What are agile metrics? Agile metrics is a tool that helps marketing teams measure the progress and productivity of marketing activities, stay on track, and address roadblocks. Agile metrics are most effective when tailored to the specific needs of individual projects. You can use agile metrics at both the team level and individual level. At the team level, they help assess the overall health of marketing activities and identify potential bottlenecks. At the individual level, they can help identify areas of improvement for each team member based on their progress. Importance of Agile Metrics Agile metrics are important because they help track progress and identify areas for improvement. Agile metrics also: Increase productivity by providing visuals of project timelines so stakeholders can understand what comes next. Build accountability and transparency between stakeholders because everyone knows what’s expected of them and their teams. Improve communication between team members because agile metrics give specific insight into project progress...

Offline Marketing: Should You Leverage It in a Post-Pandemic World?

Marketing Strategy
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Offline Marketing: Should You Leverage It in a Post-Pandemic World? Since the start of the pandemic, marketing strategies have relied heavily on online tactics —leveraging tools like social media, email, and digital ads. But what about marketing outside of the digital space, otherwise known as offline marketing? Is there still value in marketing via billboards, print ads, and broadcast commercials? In a post-pandemic world, whenever that may be, there's a chance offline marketing could make a comeback. Here's what marketers need to know about offline marketing and how it can be leveraged. What is offline marketing? 5 Offline Marketing Strategies You Should Use Business Cards Community Engagement Event Hosting Press Releases Free Workshops   So why should your company still incorporate offline marketing into its strategy, especially in the digital age? One reason is that it's tangible and allows marketers to physically reach their target audience in a way that online marketing can't. You can hand out flyers, put up posters, and send direct mail to people's homes. Sometimes, physical items relating to your brand can leave a more lasting impression. For example, the local Papa John's in my neighborhood has a deal with my apartment complex. Whenever a new tenant moves in, they get a Papa John's magnet and menu inside their welcome gift bag. Both the magnet and menu have the local restaurant's number and hours. I didn't know of any other pizza places...

How to Write a Video Script [Template + Video]

Video Marketing
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How to Write a Video Script Videos tell a story. Whether you're writing an original video script or using a video script template, your script is essential to that story. And videos are powerful selling tools. 92% of marketers say that video is central to their marketing strategy. But creating videos can be intimidating. It's complicated whether you're a writer, marketer, or movie producer. There are many steps to planning, editing, and producing videos and each step is important. Writing an effective video script can mean the difference between video success and failure. This post will show you how to write an effective script for your videos. Are you ready to get started? Even the most basic video will be better with a video script. Creating a video is complex. Most video projects include: Lighting Sound Sets Cast and crew Equipment Each of these elements can be tricky to execute, and when they combine, it's easy for mistakes to happen. But your script will include details that make the process run smoothly. A video script is vital to help your team prepare for and organize the video-making process. Plus you and your team will be more confident and produce a better video with a comprehensive script. 1. Choose your target audience. Any marketing project is better with the right buyer persona. This is especially true with video. Because videos often take more time and investment than an online ad or...

How to Create an HTML Form That Sends You an Email

web forms
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How to Create an HTML Form That Sends You an Email Have you ever set up a form on your site, only to forget to check the entries that were submitted? Creating an HTML form that sends an email after submission is one of the simplest and most effective ways of resolving this issue. Here, we're going to walk you through how to create a form that sends an email to you, as well as the customer, to ensure the form was received. Ideally, browsers would allow you to route form submissions directly to an email address. However, the reason they don't is that emailing directly from an HTML web form would reveal the visitor's email address, making the user vulnerable to malicious activities, such as phishing. Adding a mailto: address to the form can be a potential way to circumvent this challenge. This option activates the default mail client on the user's computer, prompting them to send the form over email. The web browser sends a request to the email service provider, not to the specified address. There are a few problems with the mailto: option. For example, it isn't 100% compatible with all browsers, it isn't very user-friendly, and it's impossible to control the formatting of the data when the form is sent by the browser. Beyond that, a warning message will pop up when the user goes to submit the form, letting them know that the information they're about to send will not be encrypted...

Flexible Schedules: The Pros, Cons, & Surprising Outcomes

Remote Working, remote-work
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Flexible Schedules: The Pros, Cons, & Surprising Outcomes I'm willing to bet we've all felt stifled by the rigid 9-to-5 work schedule — especially on our productivity both in and out of the office. For many workers, a flexible schedule is the answer. This types of schedule allows you to work when you're most productive and gives you the autonomy you need to create an ideal work-life balance, however that looks to you. Here, we'll cover what a flexible work schedule looks like and explore its pros. cons, and surprising outcomes. It's important to remember that flex hours doesn't equate to less hours. In fact, as you'll read later, employees actually clock in more hours working from home. Further, there is still structure to this type of schedule: employees must work a certain number of hours, or come up with an alternative agreement with their employer regarding office hours versus remote time. There’s plenty of science to suggest flexible work schedules are critical for happier, more productive employees and a more successful company overall. For instance, a recent study by Qualtrics found a whopping 93% of employees feel the way they work has "fundamentally and forever" changed since the pandemic, with the most favorable changes being flexible schedules. According to the same study, 43% of employees feel their work-life balance has increased over the past two years, along with their overall happiness and job satisfaction. Of course, there are pros and cons to flexible schedules, just like there are pros...

Best 12 Finance Podcasts To Get Your Money Right in 2022

How to Podcast
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Best 12 Finance Podcasts To Get Your Money Right in 2022 If you're looking for some great finance podcasts to listen to in 2022, you've come to the right place. In this article, we will share with you a list of the best finance podcasts available. Whether you're just getting started in your financial journey or you're looking for some new tips and tricks, these podcasts will help you out. Best for Learning About The Economy: Planet Money NPR’s Planet Money describes itself as a show where listeners can learn about the economy from a friend – at a bar. While the economy may seem like a boring topic to many, Planet Money makes it interesting by doing deep dives on who it impacts and how – everything from inflation to fast food delivery to crypto and city building. What’s more, the show takes a global approach, tackling all countries and the economic issues they face. Although this isn’t the show to teach you how to manage your 401K, you will learn how a lot about where the economy is and where it’s headed – which is valuable knowledge for long-term investments. Standout episodes: Buy Now, Pay Dearly No Such Thing as a Free Return Of Oligarchs, Oil, and Rubles Best for Beginners: Brown Ambition If you are new to the financial literacy game, you’ve probably heard of The Budgenista. She is a well-known finance educator and author with a large social media following...

How to Start a Podcast on Spotify for Free

How to Podcast
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How to Start a Podcast on Spotify for Free If you're reading this, you've likely found a topic you could talk about for hours — and now you're ready to launch a podcast. The good news: Spotify is becoming a go-to destination for podcasts. In 2021, Spotify listeners spent 78% more time listening to podcasts than the year before. Even better news: it's relatively easy to start a podcast on Spotify — no fancy equipment or advanced skills required. Here, we'll cover everything you need to know about podcasting on Spotify, and how to upload your next episode to the platform. How to Meet Spotify's Podcast Requirements The first step to starting a podcast on Spotify is making sure you meet its podcast requirements. Here's a quick rundown. Your podcast should have: A title along with relevant details (i.e., category and primary language). Cover art in a 1:1 ratio and PNG, JPEG, or TIFF format. The higher the resolution, the better. A high bitrate MP3 format (128 kbps+) or MP4 with AAC-LC. Episodes that do not exceed 12 hours. Once you meet the conditions in this checklist, you're officially ready to upload your podcast to Spotify. Check out the steps below. 1. Create a Spotify account. Unsurprisingly, you'll need a Spotify account to upload your podcast to the platform. If you're new to Spotify, use this form to sign up. 2. Choose a podcast hosting platform. Despite being a hot spot for...

Is the Potential Recession Already Impacting Consumer Spending Habits? [New Data + Takeaways for Marketers]

Marketing Trends
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Is the Potential Recession Already Impacting Consumer Spending Habits? If you've watched the news recently, it seems that the possibility of a recession has captured everyone’s attention. Americans have already seen signs like the inflation of rent, gas prices, groceries, and other necessities that pre-existing wages can’t meet. But, still, some experts say that we could still avert a recession – and if we don't – a recession might not last as long as 2008's. With all these changes and newsbites in mind, business decision-makers might wonder how their potential customers are reacting. And, if their spending habits could be changing in the near future as a result? While we don't know if we'll head into a recession, this post aims to help brands and marketers prepare to continue to meet consumers where they are – even in uncertain times. To give readers insight on how spending behaviors are or could be shifting, we surveyed more than 200 U.S. consumers across all age groups. Before we dive in, we'll briefly explain the concept of a recession: Recessions are a normal part of the business cycle and can be induced by global economic shocks, changes in consumer confidence, and other large-scale economic changes. But this year, in particular, there are a select few factors that have spurred concern about a potential recession, although one still hasn't been declared or confirmed. For more on the cause of recessions and why some are concerned about them happening in the near...