My Blog My Blog

10 Common Virtual Meeting Mistakes to Avoid, According to Remote HubSpot Employees

Meetings
March 23, 2021/by
10 Common Virtual Meeting Mistakes to Avoid, According to Remote HubSpot Employees Whether it’s with a single client, a large internal team, or external stakeholders, hosting successful, engaging meetings is an art form. It takes skill to know how to simultaneously capture attention, inform, be interactive, and leave a lasting impression — it’s really not an easy feat. The prospect of holding a meeting may become even more stressful when the session is online. As meetings are new to the virtual world, there is no roadmap to hosting a successful one. However, as nice as it would be, a roadmap is not always the key to success. Sometimes the key can be learning from people who have experience hosting virtual meetings and understanding what they think makes them successful. In this post, we’ll discuss common virtual meeting mistakes and get insight from experienced HubSpotters on how to avoid them. 1. Not acknowledging mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. Although many people know that, an all-too-common moment in virtual meetings is pushing mistakes under the rug and acting like they haven’t happened. Unfortunately, when everyone is looking at their screen, most people notice mistakes, and ignoring them can create a sense of awkwardness. In these moments, it’s important to remember that an increasingly virtual world is new to everyone. We’re all aware that adapting to new processes can be difficult, so of course, there will be unexpected issues. Jon Dick, Senior Vice President of Marketing at HubSpot, agrees, and his advice is relatively...
Read Full Story

The Best Forum Software for Creating an Online Community in 2021

Community Management
March 19, 2021/by
The Best Forum Software for Creating an Online Community in 2021 Forums provide the opportunity to build an online community that allows your audience to connect in a place where they know their interests are shared. This sense of connectedness is more important than ever in a time where more work, communication, and socialization is being done online.  Online communities are particularly beneficial for businesses because they allow customers to interact with each other in a smaller circle than they could via social media, which increases engagement and brand affinity. For instance, let's say one of your customers has a very unique problem with your product or service, and posts about it on your forum. That post is much easier to find than it would be on social media, where millions of users are talking about a million different things. Even better, maybe another forum user has faced that same problem and can answer their question before your service reps even see it. There is an incredible amount of value in reaching and building your community using a forum. Here, we're going to explore the best forum software to get you started. 1. WordPress (With Plugin) Price: Free (plus the cost of hosting) Using a multi-purpose platform like a CMS to power your online community allows you access to many different software options in the form of plugins and applications. For instance, you might use the bbPress plugin to create multisite forums, and maintain them from one...
Read Full Story

Affiliate Marketing for Beginners: What You Need to Know

Affiliate Marketing
March 19, 2021/by
Affiliate Marketing for Beginners: What You Need to Know If you’ve ever came across Tim Ferris's iconic book on how to just work four hours per week, you’ve probably dreamed of sipping a Mojito on a beach while your money worked for you in the background. One of the main ideas he constantly talks about is the concept of passive income. After all, having an income chart like this is the main goal of many online entrepreneurs: For many entrepreneurs looking to build an online business or marketers looking to monetize their web traffic, affiliate marketing is often how they got started with generating income. Affiliate marketing is one of the world’s most popular methods of generating passive income online, and it continues to grow. In fact, affiliate marketing spend is reported to increase to $8.2 billion by 2022 — up from $5.4 billion in 2017. If you’re looking for a complete guide to affiliate marketing, read more to find out how you can promote products as an affiliate to create an additional source of income. There are typically four parties involved in affiliate marketing: Affiliates: The promoters of the product Product creators: The creators of the product Networks: The networks managing the affiliates Consumers: The end users of the product Source You don’t always need a network to become an affiliate, but the other three parties (the affiliates, the product creators, and the consumers) form the core...
Read Full Story

5 YouTube Description Templates That Have Helped Our Videos Go Viral

Youtube Marketing
March 18, 2021/by
5 YouTube Description Templates That Have Helped Our Videos Go Viral YouTube is the second largest search engine, with over 2 billion users per month -- so it's an undeniably powerful channel for your marketing efforts. However, if you don't use YouTube for your current marketing strategy, you're not alone. In fact, businesses choose Facebook as a channel over YouTube, even for video content. In 2018, the HubSpot Academy team didn't take advantage of YouTube, either. But in the latter half of the year, the team feared the major losses in traffic they could face if they didn't hop on board -- so they implemented a strategy that enabled them to grow YouTube subscribers by 25% in just two months. Because YouTube is a search engine, part of that strategy relied on optimizing the videos to increase the chances of discoverability. One of the most important tactics for optimizing your YouTube channel is writing descriptive YouTube descriptions. YouTube Channel Description A YouTube channel description is similar to the "About" page of a website. In fact, it even appears under the "About" tab of your channel's YouTube page.  The YouTube channel description is meant to convey to potential viewers what your content is about: the topics you cover, the themes you tackle, and why. You'll not only need to convey what you discuss but also what you bring to the discussion and why they should listen to you. The goal here is to turn a one-time viewer into a long-term...
Read Full Story

How to Identify Your Core Marketing Message

Brand Experience
March 18, 2021/by
How to Identify Your Core Marketing Message As a marketer, you know how important it is to have a marketing strategy. You also know how important it is for your strategy to align with your audiences’ needs and interests, and the required approach for each channel you use, whether it’s social media or email. Having a marketing strategy also helps you create the content your audiences want to see and share it where they’re most likely to see it. But, when you have this strategy, how do you figure out what to say in the content you share with them? What you need is a marketing message, and it’s just as important as your overall strategy. You can think of it like this: if you know you want to post about a new product launch on Instagram, how will you prove to your audience that they need to buy this new product? Your marketing message. Essentially, no marketing message means no way to execute your strategy. In this post, we’ll define what a marketing message is, give real-life examples from businesses, and explain how you can create your own. Because of this, you should craft your marketing message with care, specifically for the audiences you’re trying to reach. It should also address their pain points and present your business as a solution. When your message speaks to their needs, you’ll build trust with your audience and inspire customer retention. Every business engaging in marketing needs a marketing message, whether...
Read Full Story

The 10 Best Video Conferencing Tools for Small Businesses

Meetings
March 18, 2021/by
The 10 Best Video Conferencing Tools for Small Businesses Over the past year, marketers got a crash course in remote work. As 2021 approached, many of us had already invested in at-home desks, workout equipment, and other tools meant to make work-from-home a little easier. At the top of that list? Video conferencing software. Video conferencing tools saw a 500% increase in demand in 2020 as a result of the worldwide pandemic. And, as the workforce continues to shift to a more flexible, hybrid model, it's critical your business invests in equipment designed to foster collaboration regardless of an employee's location. But video conferencing software isn't always cheap, and the fancy bells-and-whistles aren't always necessary for small businesses looking for a simple, effective solution. Here, we've compiled 10 of the best video conferencing tools for small businesses, ranging in price and features, to help you find the best fit for your needs. But first — what are the benefits of video conferencing software, and do you need it, anyway? Video Conferencing Benefits Video conferencing offers opportunities for collaboration, productivity, and increased engagement with colleagues, stakeholders, and customers — all without the hassle (and cost) of traveling to an in-person location. I could write a whole blog post about the benefits of video conferencing, but for our purposes, let's focus on four: Video conferencing is a cost-effective opportunity to have face-to-face interactions with colleagues, prospects, stakeholders, or customers. It's more personal and engaging than a phone call, and it's...
Read Full Story

8 Image SEO Best Practices to Make Your Content More Discoverable

SEO
March 17, 2021/by
8 Image SEO Best Practices to Make Your Content More Discoverable To consider the importance of visual search in 2021, let's start with an example. The other day, I Googled "how to conduct a vlookup in Excel". I skimmed a few articles but still felt dissatisfied — I didn't want to read about vlookups, I wanted to see it. Enter: The power of images. Once I clicked on "Images", I found what I needed quickly: I know I'm not alone. In fact, nowadays, half of all Google searches end on the search results page, without the user clicking through to any results. In 2021 and beyond, it's critical marketers begin paying attention to the importance of visual images as a powerful opportunity to reach new audiences on the SERPs. Plus, as HubSpot's Marketing Manager Kristen Baker told me, "After running an image experiment on the HubSpot Blog, I discovered that ranking in Google's image packs increases impressions and clicks to our content." But ... easier said than done, right? Here, let's explore what image SEO is, and the best practices you'll want to follow to make your webpages more discoverable in image search results. Image SEO Best Practices 1. Use relevant, accurate alt text for user accessibility and SEO. As a quick refresher: Alt text is written copy that describes an image. For instance, if you click on Pipcorn's popcorn product and inspect the page, you'll see the alt text describes the product image accurately as "Popcorn Family Pack...
Read Full Story

The Who, What, Why, & How of Digital Marketing

Integrated Marketing
March 17, 2021/by
The Who, What, Why, & How of Digital Marketing With how accessible the internet is today, would you believe me if I told you the number of people who go online every day is still increasing? It is. In fact, "constant" internet usage among adults increased by 5% in just the last three years, according to Pew Research. And although we say it a lot, the way people shop and buy really has changed along with it — meaning offline marketing isn't as effective as it used to be. Marketing has always been about connecting with your audience in the right place and at the right time. Today, that means you need to meet them where they are already spending time: on the internet. Enter digital marketing — in other words, any form of marketing that exists online. At HubSpot, we talk a lot about inbound marketing as a really effective way to attract, engage, and delight customers online. But we still get a lot of questions from people all around the world about digital marketing. So, we decided to answer them. Click the links below to jump to each question, or keep reading to see how digital marketing is carries out today. What is digital marketing? Why is digital marketing important? What is the role of digital marketing? Types of Digital Marketing Digital Marketing Examples What does a digital marketer do? Inbound Marketing vs. Digital Marketing: Which is it? ...
Read Full Story

How To Use Hashtags on LinkedIn [Step-by-Step Guide]

LinkedIn Marketing
March 17, 2021/by
How To Use Hashtags on LinkedIn Even though LinkedIn has been around since 2003, the platform didn't allow the use of clickable hashtags until 2016. Social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram have encouraged hashtag use for years as a way for users to connect with their communities. They even offer analytics, allowing content creators and influencers to gauge their impact. Now that LinkedIn has fully embraced the use of hashtags, brands can too. Let's get into the basics of using hashtags on the platform and dive into how to find the top trending ones in your industry. Do hashtags work on LinkedIn? Yes, hashtags do work on LinkedIn. You can add them to your status update, your published article, and your business page to reach an audience beyond your network. You can also browse through hashtag feeds to see what conversations are happening surrounding those topics. How To Use Hashtags on Your LinkedIn Status Update There are a few ways to add hashtags to your status update. As the GIF illustrates, you can add a hashtag by: Typing out the pound sign followed by the word or phrase. As you type out your hashtag, LinkedIn will auto-generate hashtag suggestions based on what's trending and popular. Clicking on the "Add Hashtag" button located on the bottom left of the box. Selecting one of the related hashtags next to the "Add Hashtag" button. Pro-tip: Don't add spaces or symbols in your hashtags,...
Read Full Story

The 20 Best Marketing Articles of All Time, According to HubSpot’s Marketing Team

Marketing Strategy
March 16, 2021/by
The 20 Best Marketing Articles of All Time, According to HubSpot's Marketing Team One of the best ways to tell if a show or movie is worthwhile is if people never get tired of re-watching it. Whether it's the hit television show Friends or the classic movie Forrest Gump, most people never turn down an opportunity to watch Ross pivot his couch or witness Forrest develop into a ping pong celebrity — even if they've already watched it 27 times. Content marketing is in its infancy compared to television and film, but some of the best writers and publications in our industry have already crafted articles that we revere as the Friends or Forrest Gump of the space. To pinpoint some of these articles and share them with you, I asked nine marketers at HubSpot what their favorite marketing article is and why. Check out the ones they read on repeat. To pinpoint some of these articles and share them with you, I asked a few marketers at HubSpot what their favorite marketing article is and why. Check out the ones they read on repeat, plus a few articles that HubSpot’s marketing, content, and blog teams refer to time and again. 1. What Creativity Looks Like in Marketing Today | Harvard Business Review Recommended By: Caroline Forsey, Editor at HubSpot, Marketing Blog Why She Loves It: “It’s tricky to choose a single marketing article as my favorite, but the one that has had a lasting impression on me...
Read Full Story