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How to Use Your CRM to Power Your Marketing

CRM Benefits
April 7, 2022/by
How to Use Your CRM to Power Your Marketing It’s easy to picture the customer journey as a well-traveled, east-to-west road trip, following a single highway from awareness to consideration to purchase. In reality, people take a lot of detours. If you want a complete picture of the customer journey, it's essential to connect your marketing efforts with the tool at the center of it all: your company’s trusty CRM. While you may be familiar with a CRM, you probably aren’t using it to its full potential. Here, we'll cover its role in marketing and how it powers great customer experiences. CRMs are traditionally considered a tool for sales teams to track leads, prospects, and customers. With them, reps can see every interaction a contact has had with a brand — everything from calls with a sales rep to website visits. But on the marketing side, marketers rarely use a CRM for anything other than creating email lists, if at all. This is a huge missed opportunity. Think of your CRM as a single source of truth — tracking every customer interaction and painting a clear picture of their journey. Here are the benefits of this: One central hub for data. Any business, regardless of size, needs a central location for storing data. This makes it possible to identify patterns and see what’s working (and what’s not). More audience segmentation. You'd never send the same message to every customer — which is why segmentation is...
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How to Make an Animated GIF in Photoshop [Tutorial]

Visual Content
April 7, 2022/by
How to Make an Animated GIF in Photoshop Animated GIFs are great additions to your marketing. They're easy to consume, provide a new way to capture your viewers' attention, and can have a serious emotional impact. The best part about GIFs is that they aren't too hard to make. If you have access to Photoshop and a few minutes to spare, you can create an animated GIF in no time. In the following tutorial on making animated GIFs, I'm using the Creative Cloud 2015 version of Photoshop, but the steps should be similar in other versions. How to make a GIF Upload your images to Photoshop. Open up the Timeline window. In the Timeline window, click "Create Frame Animation." Create a new layer for each new frame. Open the same menu icon on the right, and choose "Make Frames From Layers." Under each frame, select how long it should appear for before switching to the next frame. At the bottom of the toolbar, select how many times you'd like it to loop. Preview your GIF by pressing the play icon. Save and Export Your GIF. How to Create an Animated GIF in Photoshop If you already know how to create a GIF, skip to the section on how to use GIFs in your marketing materials.  Here's an example of an animated GIF you might...
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How One Instagram Influencer Went From 0 to 45K on Reels (And How You Can, Too)

Instagram Marketing
April 6, 2022/by
How One Instagram Influencer Went From 0 to 45K on Reels (And How You Can, Too) Over the past few years, TikTok has seen explosive growth, and it shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, by the end of 2022, TikTok is predicted to reach 1.5 billion monthly active users. But there's another big player in the game of short-form video — Instagram Reels, which Instagram launched in 2020 to provide a space for Instagram users to post short, 'snackable' content that mirrors what you'd see on TikTok. We've already covered the debate of TikTok versus Instagram Reels, so I won't go into that here. Instead, I spoke with an Instagram influencer and consultant, Kar Brulhart, who has grown her own Instagram account from 0 to 45,000+ viewers and obtained over six figures in less than 10 months using Reels — all organically. Here, we'll cover Brulhart's tips for how brands can leverage Instagram Reels to reach new audiences and acquire new customers. But first — why Instagram Reels over TikTok? The Benefits of Instagram Reels "A lot of brands think they need to be on multiple platforms in order to have a voice and a presence, but it's more important to get very good at one or two platforms, and have a voice and message and community there," Kar Brulhart told me. She adds, "We forget these platforms are about community, and we have to nurture our audiences in order to get results." ...
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5 SEO Trends to Leverage in 2022 [HubSpot Blog Data]

SEO
April 5, 2022/by
5 SEO Trends to Leverage in 2022 Keeping track of SEO trends is like hitting a moving target. From algorithm updates to evolving innovation — it can feel like the goal post is always moving. And while the goal of SEO remains the same — to boost your presence in relevant search results — the tactics for getting there look different from year to year. Here, we'll cover the top SEO challenges facing marketers in 2022 and the five biggest trends to watch this year. SEO Challenges in 2022 A HubSpot Blogs survey identified the top three challenges of SEO marketing: 1. Algorithm changes. The number one challenge for marketers is keeping up with algorithm changes. This doesn't surprise me — in 2020 alone, Google ran more than 500,00 experiments that led to 4,000+ changes to search. If you're like most marketers, this stat can feel pretty overwhelming. After all, how can you succeed when Google keeps rerouting the path to success? The key is to respond to these changes strategically. For one, this means staying on top of industry news. If there's a significant algorithm change, the SEO industry will likely comment on it. The second strategy may sound counterintuitive — which is to wait until the dust has settled after an update. Why? In some cases, Google discovers a change has not panned out as expected and they revert back. 2. Not ranking. SEO...
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5 Instagram Challenges Marketers are Facing, According to Research

Instagram Marketing
April 5, 2022/by
5 Instagram Challenges Marketers are Facing, According to Research Instagram likes to keep marketers on their toes. Just this past year, we've seen a speedy roll out of new features, an expansion into video, and a plethora of new shopping options. But it's not only the platform that's evolving — the audience is too. Now it's up to marketers to evolve their Instagram strategy to better align with audience preferences, behaviors, and habits in 2022. Here, we'll cover five main challenges marketers are facing on Instagram and the best strategies to solve them. 5 Instagram Challenges Marketers Face 1. Knowing which hashtags to use – and how many. From the platform that gave us #ThrowbackThursday and #WednesdayWisdom, it's no surprise that hashtags play a huge role on Instagram. But they can also be difficult to crack — how many should you use? Should you stick with the popular hashtags or target more niche ones? HubSpot and Mention's 2022 Instagram Engagement Report answers some of these questions. For one, while it may sound counterintuitive to avoid popular hashtags (like #travel or #photography), it's better to lean into niche communities. The reason? Even though niche hashtags have fewer posts, they typically have a more dedicated community following them. In fact, the report found that hashtags targeting specific interests and communities — like geographic locations and TV shows — garnered the most engagement. When it comes to the number of hashtags you include your post, one thing is clear — the...
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What is Web 3 & What Could It Mean for the Future of Marketing?

Uncategorized
April 5, 2022/by
What is Web 3 & What Could It Mean for the Future of Marketing? As we continue to progress into the digital age, a new era of the internet is emerging: web3. Much of what is (and can be) is up in the air but one question we can try to answer now is what it means for marketers. Let's break down what web3 is, when it will launch and how it could impact marketers in the short- and long-term. To understand what it is, let’s take a trip down memory lane. In the late ‘90s, the world was introduced to the first version of the internet. It wasn’t nearly as complex as it is today, with just basic fonts, gray buttons and blue hyperlinks. Very reminiscent of how a website would load today stripped to HTML. Then, it evolved to Web 2 around 2005, a phase in which consumers could consume content like never before on blogs, and later, social media. However, as the internet evolved, so did the methods businesses leveraged to market to consumers online. This has led to growing privacy concerns among consumers who are struggling to trust their data in the hands of brands. Although the FTC has created some guardrails surrounding data privacy, there’s still a lot that leaves consumers wary. Just look at the evolution of Amazon. What was once an online bookstore has now transformed into a tech conglomerate with its hands in ecommerce, digital streaming, cloud computing, and artificial...
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How To Calculate CAGR in Excel

Excel
April 2, 2022/by
How To Calculate CAGR in Excel Compound Annual Growth Rate, CAGR, is your rate of return for an investment over a specific period. Calculating CAGR by hand is a rather involved process, so below we’ll go over how you can quickly calculate CAGR in Excel. CAGR Excel Formula The formula for calculating CAGR in Excel is: =(End Value/Beginning Value) ^ (1/Number of Years) - 1 The equation uses three different values: End value, which is the amount of money you’ll have after the period has passed. Beginning value, which is the amount of money you began with. Number of years, which is the total number of years that have passed. Below we’ll go over an example of how to calculate CAGR for a five years time frame in Excel using the sample data set shown below: 1. Identify the numbers you’ll use in your equation. Using the sample data set above, The end value is 2143 (in cell B6). The beginning value is 1000 (in cell B2). The number of years is 5 (in cell A6). 2. Input your values into the formula.  Excel offers many shortcuts, so you can simply input the cell numbers that contain each of your values into the equation. Using the sample data set above, the equation would be =(B6/B2) ^ (1/A6) - 1 This is what it looks like in my Excel sheet: Note that the equation changes color to correspond with the...
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How to Write A Statement of Qualifications

Leadership
April 2, 2022/by
How to Write A Statement of Qualifications Finding a new job can be a nerve-wracking experience. You pour your heart and soul (not to mention your entire work history) into this document and wait by the phone (or your inbox) for the interview requests to come in. Fortunately, there’s a better way to communicate your skills and achievements to a potential employer than the traditional resume and summary. Before you send out resumes for your next career move, learn how a statement of qualifications can help you stand out as a candidate. What is a Statement of Qualifications? A Statement of Qualifications (SoQ) is a shortlist that highlights your most applicable skills and experiences. Your traditional resume, fleshing out each qualification through your relevant work history follows your SoQ. You can think of a Statement of Qualifications in relation to the adage "don’t bury the lead." It comes from the world of journalism and it’s a constant reminder that you should write the most important thing first. Why? Because if you don’t hook the person reviewing your information in the first few sentences, there’s a possibility they won’t read the rest of your resume. Image Source Your job as an applicant is to make sure that you put your most impressive qualifications at the top of your resume so the reader can’t miss them. A well-written Statement of Qualifications will instantly capture the recruiter or hiring manager’s attention and encourage them to read your resume thoroughly and with...
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How to Perfectly Manage a PPC Campaign [Template]

PPC
April 2, 2022/by
How to Perfectly Manage a PPC Campaign In the world of search engine marketing (SEM), more and more marketers are buying into PPC campaigns. Google Ads specifically has increased its revenue from year to year. In 2021, Google advertising revenue accounted for $53.1 billion — 81% of Alphabet's overall sales. Properly investing in PPC can result in nearly guaranteed ad placement in the search engine result pages of their choice. And this placement can help generate leads. If your ads tool is tightly integrated with your CRM, you can even leverage ads data to nurture these leads across their buyer's journey. As you prepare to create a PPC campaign, it's important to get a rundown of what a successful campaign entails and identify management missteps that you'll want to avoid. Building a successful PPC campaign includes a few key steps: Determine your PPC campaign structure. Identify, build, and refine your campaign's landing pages. Create a keyword strategy based on your research. Create ads based on insights from the steps above. Share your campaign plan with stakeholders. The problem is, many marketers have poor PPC campaign management, which ends up costing them way more money than they need to spend and delivering underwhelming lead generation results. Here are a few ways marketers could go wrong with PPC campaign management: Coming up with keywords on the fly without doing prior research. Only building one basic campaign without utilizing...
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Why Your Brand Needs A Strong Visual Identity [+ 5 Examples to Inspire You]

Branding
March 31, 2022/by
Why Your Brand Needs A Strong Visual Identity Take a second to think about one of your favorite brands. A logo, storefront, color, or memorable ad campaign will likely pop into your mind. That's because a brand's visual identity is a powerful tool for telling a company's story, building customer affinity, and increasing revenue. If done effectively, visual identity can communicate a particular feeling or message without words. But a poorly-designed identity can confuse customers with lackluster messaging and disjointed graphics. So it's no surprise that consistent brands are 3.5x more likely to have strong brand visibility than inconsistent brands. Visual identity plays an essential role in branding, so it's important to understand what makes up an identity and how to create one. We'll cover all of that and share examples of successful brands that have developed a strong visual identity. What is a visual identity? A visual identity is the visible representation of a brand, from the logo and colors to the website and design of physical stores. It encompasses everything you can see in connection to a company. Visual identity can be made up of many elements: Graphics Animations, icons, buttons Typography Logo Color palette Imagery Store design Packaging Uniforms Flyers Brochures Billboards Digital and print ads Developing a strong visual identity comes with a number of benefits. It helps create an emotional connection with customers, which leads 57% of...
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