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20 Marketing Collaboration Tools to Improve Productivity and Teamwork

Collaboration/Teamwork
September 29, 2021/by
20 Marketing Collaboration Tools to Improve Productivity and Teamwork As your business scales, your marketing team will grow and evolve too. While this growth is happening, it's important to maintain reliable avenues for collaboration and communication on your marketing team. Otherwise, your business won't be able to perform at the highest level. The good news is that marketing collaboration software can help with this. In this article, we’ll cover what marketing collaboration software is, why it’s important, and 20 of the best tools currently on the market. Marketing Collaboration Software Marketing collaboration software helps marketing teams maintain easy communication, manage projects and campaigns, prioritize tasks, establish schedules and editorial calendars, promote organization and productivity, and more. Why is marketing collaboration software important? No matter which industry your business is in, what size your team is, whether you’re in-office, remote, or a mix of both, marketing collaboration can help your team improve in a number of areas — all of which impact your bottom line. Some examples include improved and streamlined... Communication Teamwork Productivity Organization Efficiency Task management Scheduling Data sharing Transparency Content creation Marketing Collaboration Features Here are some common features found across many marketing collaboration tools today. Group communication Shared files, documents, calendars, notes, and other assets Task management and time/ progress tracking Document management Campaign management Editorial calendar Content creation capabilities Content, file, and data...
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The Top Business Podcasts You Need to Be Listening To

Podcast Suggestions
September 28, 2021/by
The Top Business Podcasts You Need to Be Listening To Love learning about business and how some of today’s most successful entrepreneurs and companies are operating? Business podcasts serve as a great way to stay informed (and inspired) on the happenings. All you need is your smartphone and a pair of headphones to tune in to everything from one-on-one interviews with today’s top leaders to recaps of the day’s most pressing business news. So whether you’re a seasoned executive looking for something to listen to during your commute or just someone who’s always itching to learn something new, this list of the best business podcasts is for you. From Kai Ryssdals' Marketplace to Tim Ferriss' self-titled collection of wisdom, the following seven business podcasts will teach how to strategize, lead, and grow your business.  12 Best Business Podcasts 1. iDigress Podcast Troy Sandidge, host of iDigress Podcast, has a track record of generating over $100M for various business ventures. He’ll use his experience to expertly guide you through the world of marketing, moving you away from confusion and towards the techniques and tools that will help you forge a path to business success. iDigress is a great fit for all marketers seeking across the board advice, from how to identify a business direction to finding clarity in your messaging.  Episodes are 30 minutes or less, making it a great snackable podcast for on-the-go listening.    2. Radical Candor Radical...
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278 Social Media Holidays for Your 2021 Content Calendar [+Template]

Holiday Marketing
September 25, 2021/by
278 Social Media Holidays for Your 2021 Content Calendar Do you celebrate International Cat Day, Pizza Day, or Talk Like a Pirate Day? There are a plethora of observance days worldwide during which marketers can share content relevant to their industries, get involved in a movement, or simply generate more awareness. But odds are, you probably don't acknowledge these days until you see your favorite brand posting about it. These social media "holidays" are a fun way to connect with new and existing followers who share an affinity for a specific food, fictional character, or pet. While we don't suggest sharing content on social media and then adding an irrelevant holiday hashtag to it, these holidays can be a chance to promote your brand in a relevant way. Not doing so could cause you to miss valuable opportunities where your brand can join the conversations taking place among members of your target audience. To help you plan for trending holidays, we created a list that you can bookmark, as well as a downloadable calendar so you can receive automatic reminders. Downloadable Holiday Calendar To help you keep track of all these unique holidays, here's a Social Media Holiday Google Calendar. Aside from 2021 holidays, we've also set dates on the calendar to repeat annually — either on the exact date they occur or the weekday they occur within the month. Want to finish out your 2021 calendar with some upcoming holiday posts? Tap the + symbol in...
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The Best Free Business Budget Templates

marketing budget
September 25, 2021/by
The Best Free Business Budget Templates Whether you’re a solopreneur or running a massive corporation, you need a business budget to understand where your money is coming from and going. A business budget template can help keep the numbers organized, making it easy for you to track revenue, plan for expenses, and save for future growth. You don’t have to be an accountant to organize your business budget. There are thousands of business budget templates out there to make the process easy. Once you understand what a business budget is and how it can work for you, you can use one of the following free templates to start organizing your finances. The business budget follows a set template, which you can fill in with estimated revenues, plus any recurring or expected business expenses. For example, if you run a digital marketing business, you might know that you typically make about $10,000 for your work creating campaigns, plus an extra $5,000 for your digital courses. You’d list the estimated revenue from all of your business’ revenue streams as incoming money for the business. Then, you have your recurring expenses, which you would list as outgoing money. This could include employee salaries, office expenses, and software and technology costs. How to Create a Business Budget Creating a business budget is a straightforward process, but it can be more complex for larger companies. Here are the basic steps to creating a business budget. 1. Find a Template or Make a Spreadsheet There...
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12 Gantt Chart Examples You’ll Want to Copy

Business Tools
September 24, 2021/by
12 Gantt Chart Examples You'll Want to Copy Gantt charts. Love ‘em, hate ‘em, or can’t live without ‘em, they’re a reality of a marketer’s life. But how do you make yours stand out from the rest? I’ve gathered some of the best examples around, along with some free templates to get you started. Dive in below and find your favorite. But first ... The elements within a Gantt chart can be grouped into four categories: resources, milestones, tasks, and dependencies. Resources: Project managers must have insight into what resources are needed for tasks outlined in a Gantt chart, in order for each to be completed on time. Milestones: Along your timeline, there will likely be milestones, both small and large, that must be hit in order to keep your project on track. A milestone for a blog launch might be, “Blog post draft due on 5/30.” Tasks: There are specific things that need to be completed along the way of your project. In our blog post example, a task might be, “Edit blog post.” Dependencies: Tasks on your Gantt chart will be related to each other, for example, the editor won’t be able to complete her task of editing the blog post until the writer has met their milestone and submitted their draft on 5/30. These are dependencies and should be noted in your chart. Benefits of Using a Gantt Chart The main goal of a Gantt chart is to...
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5 Email Unsubscribe Button Ideas That Could Save Subscribers

Conversion Rate Optimization
September 24, 2021/by
5 Email Unsubscribe Button Ideas That Could Save Subscribers Do you ever wish you could unsubscribe from a conversation? As an introvert, I do, quite often. Though unsubscribing from a conversation with another person isn’t always possible (and could potentially be seen as rude), unsubscribing from emails is perfectly acceptable behavior. As a consumer, the unsubscribe button can feel like a gift from the divine when your inbox is overflowing. As a marketer, the unsubscribe button can be standing between you and your email marketing goals if your list undergoes a mass exodus faster than you’re able to bring in new leads. However, the unsubscribe button in your emails doesn't have to be feared. In fact, when leveraged wisely, the unsubscribe button can be a powerful tool that helps you curate an engaged email list of your ideal customers who are ready and willing to hear your message. Let’s break down the ins and outs of the email unsubscribe button, and how to set it up in a way that helps your business. What is an unsubscribe button? An unsubscribe button is a link or button module typically found at the bottom of a marketing email that gives email subscribers the chance to opt-out of future messages with one simple click. Why Have An Unsubscribe Button I know, the idea of subscribers leaving your list may prompt a bit of panic, especially if you have aggressive list-building goals. However, having an unsubscribe button or link can be to your...
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Cloud Integration: 6 Best Cloud Integration Platforms & Tools

iPaaS
September 23, 2021/by
Cloud Integration: 6 Best Cloud Integration Platforms & Tools Cloud-based applications make it possible for marketing teams to connect with customers, conduct critical research, and make data-driven decisions that can help boost ROI. The challenge? With other business departments using their own sets of cloud apps and services, silos quickly emerge. And this departmental disconnect is growing as application volumes increase: Recent survey data found that large businesses use 175 cloud-based apps on average, while smaller companies deploy 73 on average. Cloud integration platforms offer a way to bridge this digital divide by making it possible for IT teams to monitor and manage disparate applications from a single, centralized system. In this post, we’ll cover what cloud integration is and the best tools you can use to break down departmental silos. Cloud Integration: When and How As noted by research firm Gartner, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions market is on track to reach more than $122 billion in 2021, fueled in large part by the demand for agile and flexible applications that let teams work anywhere, anytime. The more applications your business uses everyday, the more complicated your IT environment becomes. As a result, it’s often worth deploying cloud integration platforms as soon as possible — companies can get familiar with key features and functions before application volumes begin to scale up exponentially. Integration itself can be handled in-house by deploying infrastructure and services that support cloud connections, but this approach is time-consuming and costly, even for large...
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