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What Is a Marketing Manager?

Career Development
October 7, 2020/by
What Is a Marketing Manager? As marketers, we all want to climb the career ladder as quickly as possible. But if you're going to become a marketing manager one day, you first need to learn what the role demands. Moving up in ranks means becoming more involved in the marketing process, and eventually becoming the principal implementor. As a marketing manager, you’d be in charge of a team. Employees will look up to you as you once looked up to your manager. However, accepting this position comes with increased responsibility. It can feel rewarding to watch your strategies come to life, but it’s important to understand what the role entails. Below, we'll go over what a marketing manager is, what a marketing manager does, the management process, and the skills and education you'll need to become one. What does a marketing manager do? Marketing managers have a variety of responsibilities. While there are industry-specific standards, there are common tasks that all marketing managers will do: Conduct market research to understand the public interest and determine the marketability of products and services. Design creative and unique marketing strategies across multiple channels like social media, tv, billboards, and newspaper articles. Create marketing plans detailing outcomes and goals. Create comprehensive budgets and cost estimates. Negotiate with potential clients and partners to prepare sales and advertisement contracts. Handle public relations and troubleshoot internal and external issues as they arise. Marketing managers are also responsible for training their...
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What is Trading Up, and Why It Matters for Marketers

Product Marketing
October 7, 2020/by
What is Trading Up, and Why It Matters for Marketers To understand what the term "trading up" means, let's start with a scenario. You wake up early and jog to the Starbucks on the corner of your street. There, you wait in line to order a pumpkin-spiced latte, as you skim emails on your iPhone. Afterwards, you return home, put on your new Lululemon workout apparel, and hop on your Peloton for an at-home workout. In this scenario, you've "traded up" in a variety of consumer categories: including coffee, technology, clothing, and even workout gear. Why, for instance, did you feel the need to head to Starbucks and pay $6 for a drink, as opposed to making a quick pot of coffee in your Keurig? Alternatively, why not purchase workout apparel from Marshalls or Target? (No judgment on any of these decisions: I've made them, too.) Ultimately, trading up refers to a consumer's tendency to pay more for a higher-quality, more expensive product or service from a brand to which they've formed an emotional attachment, and feel a sense of loyalty. But trading up doesn't just refer to a consumer's behavior in the marketplace at-large: it also refers to a consumer's decision to upgrade their product for a newer model with additional features. As a marketer, it's critical you understand the concept "trading up" to discern how you might evoke brand loyalty in a crowded marketplace — or, how you might market a new version of your product to existing...
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How to Write a Blog Post Outline: A Simple Formula to Follow

How to Write a Blog Post
October 6, 2020/by
How to Write a Blog Post Outline: A Simple Formula to Follow What makes a blog post bad? There are lots of reasons a blog post could be less-than-perfect. Poor formatting. Poor grammar. Poor word choice. Poor shareability.  The most pervasive problem? Poor flow. The post jumps from one idea to the next to the next and then circles around again for a split second to the first idea, then back to the fourth, and so on. Or the post reads like a stream of consciousness -- but it wasn't a stylistic choice.  Luckily, you have a simple solution. Before diving headfirst into writing your post, you can create an outline.  I'm not talking about jotting down a few quick bullet points -- even experienced writers can go astray with just a few talking points. I'm talking a fully fleshed-out outline with enough details that make it virtually impossible for your writing to go off the deep end. And it's pretty easy to do. Below is my method for outlining posts and organizing my thoughts. You may prefer to switch up some of the steps depending on your writing style, but your end goal should always be to get an outline detailed enough that its result is a cohesive, logical piece. Here's one way you can do that.  1. Nail your working title. This is the most important step of this entire process. You want to have a clear understanding of what you're going to write before you start outlining.  My...
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The Beginner’s Guide to Reminder Advertising

Advertising
October 6, 2020/by
The Beginner's Guide to Reminder Advertising When I go to bed every night, I have to set about five alarms for the morning. I'm just the type of person that needs a lot of reminders to wake up on time. In a similar vein, marketers use reminder advertising to stay top-of-mind with potential customers. And it makes sense. In the world of sales, 80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls after a meeting. For marketers, it's no different. Essentially, you have to nurture and continuously remind your audience who you are to convert leads. In fact, companies excelling at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost. Below, let's learn more about reminder advertising and see what it looks like in action. Reminder advertising is a paid method of marketing that targets people in your audience who are in the consideration stage of the buying process. During this stage, users are reviewing their options. They're aware of their problem and the companies that might be able to help them. Now, they're trying to figure out which solution is the right way to go. In this stage, it's important to stay at the forefront of your audience's mind. That's where reminder advertising comes in. Another way to use reminder advertising is if you own a retail or ecommerce store. With a reminder ad, you can inspire customers to buy more products from you. In this case, reminder advertising can help customers remember that they like your...
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7 Tips for Running Engaging Instagram Giveaways (+Tools to Get You Started)

Instagram Marketing
October 5, 2020/by
7 Tips for Running Engaging Instagram Giveaways (+Tools to Get You Started) With 80% of Instagram users following at least one business, it makes sense you want to increase your own visibility and reach on the platform -- but with such immense competition, it can be a difficult task to accomplish. Fortunately, there are a few specific Instagram marketing strategies you can implement that have proven effective. For instance, you might optimize your posting times to ensure maximum engagement, partner with an influencer to spread awareness, or designate a content creator to craft more compelling content. Additionally, to delight your current followers and attract new visitors to your page, you might consider hosting an Instagram giveaway. Simply put, an Instagram giveaway allows you to offer something for free in exchange for an Instagram like, comment, or other pre-determined requirement. For instance, take a look at this giveaway from Fabletics: Image Source There are a few reasons why this giveaway works -- first, Fabletics partnered with Blissworld, which enables both businesses to reach the other brand's audience. Second, Fabletics asked viewers to "tag your bestie" and follow both brands. This doubles the reach they might've had if they'd only asked one follower to comment. When done correctly, giveaways can help you establish your brand on Instagram, cultivate a loyal following, and share your impressive products or services with a larger audience than you could organically. Here, we've created a complete guide on how to run your own giveaway,...
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How to Create an Editorial Calendar in Google Calendar [Free Templates]

Content Planning
October 3, 2020/by
How to Create an Editorial Calendar in Google Calendar One of the most frequent questions we get from aspiring and current inbound marketers is, "How do you manage all of that content?" When we tell them we use an editorial calendar, the next question is often, "Oh, how much does that cost?" Nothing. Because, for the most part, we use Google Calendar. Surprised? There are a lot of great calendar tools out there you can choose from. (In fact, for those of you who are HubSpot customers, there's a marketing calendar built right into HubSpot's software.) But after trying a ton of other solutions, our team found that we really operated the best with just a simple Google Calendar. In fact, this has actually been the longest-running editorial calendar solution our team has ever seen. Here's how we set it up. Follow Along With Free Editorial Calendar Templates Download the Template for Free 1. Download HubSpot's free editorial calendar templates. First thing's first: Download the calendar templates, above (they're free.) By doing this, you'll have three editorial calendar templates on your computer to use at your leisure: one for Google Calendar, one for Excel, and one for Google Sheets. In this blog post, we'll be going over how to import the Excel template into Google Calendar. 2. Customize your template and prepare for import into Google Calendar. By default, the publish dates on the templates you download will be stamped for the year 2016. Feel free to...
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The 11 Best ClickFunnels Alternatives & Competitors in 2020

Website Development
October 1, 2020/by
The 11 Best ClickFunnels Alternatives & Competitors in 2020 The marketing technology landscape is expanding rapidly, and it's becoming cheaper and easier for marketers to run powerful campaigns on their website or other channels. So, if you want to build a powerful inbound marketing engine, what do you need? Well, first off, you need a website. It also helps to have dedicated landing pages, sales pages, splash pages, and lead capture forms. Additionally, you'll want messaging tools like email, push, or SMS to communicate with your leads and prospects. All of these tools are invaluable in helping you build powerful inbound marketing systems and predictable revenue. To help consolidate all of these marketing elements in one place and test new campaigns, there are powerful suites like ClickFunnels that you might try out — but ClickFunnels isn't for everyone. Here, we'll explore 11 alternatives to ClickFunnels that will help you create high-quality campaigns and drive more revenue in 2020 and beyond. But first — what is ClickFunnels? What is ClickFunnels? At its core, ClickFunnels is a company that tries to help you with all of the above. It's a full suite sales and website funnel building tool, primarily predicated on landing pages and basic marketing automation functionality. The magic is that you can set up pretty clever workflows and funnels without the help of developers. This means you can move faster, test new campaigns rapidly, and therefore, drive more revenue. Some of ClickFunnels features include: Landing pages Sales...
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Why Consumers Sign Up for Webinars [New Data]

Webinars
October 1, 2020/by
Why Consumers Sign Up for Webinars In 2020, brands are leveraging virtual events more than ever. And, although some marketers once believed that "webinars were dead,” many are now rethinking that statement as they find themselves scheduling and promoting this exact type of event. Webinars, or online events often modeled like a class or seminar, often include a lesson, slide deck, interactive elements such as polls, and, occasionally, time for audience members to virtually ask questions. Because of their educational format, webinars can offer a number of great perks to brands. First, you can build a sense of credibility by hosting a webinar on a topic your company has expertise in. Second, webinars can enable your fans to interact with you digitally. Lastly, and most importantly, webinar signups can lead to a bigger contact list, more prospects, or purchasing conversions. But webinars aren't always easy to plan and execute. Because webinars require viewers to sign up and remember to tune in, it takes clever marketing to ensure that a large audience actually attends. Additionally, with most brands going virtual in 2020, a number of competitors in your space might very well be planning a similar webinar that your audiences might be more drawn to. Luckily, by researching your target audience, and learning more about what drives attendees to sign up for webinars, you can create and promote an event that effectively pulls in and delights your audiences. So, where do you start? To help you research the...
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How To Do a Poll on Instagram: A Beginner’s Guide

Instagram Marketing
September 30, 2020/by
How To Do a Poll on Instagram: A Beginner's Guide I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but checking Instagram is one of the first things I do in the morning. But, I know I'm not alone. Did you know that Instagram went from one million users in December 2010 to over one billion in 2020? In fact, it's one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. So, you might be wondering, "How can I use this platform?" Well, a great way to engage with your audience is through an Instagram poll. According to HubSpot research, quiz or poll stickers are one of the most popular Instagram Story formats. Polls are a great way to keep in touch with your audience and even conduct market research. In this post, let's learn how to set up a poll on Instagram and discuss how you can use this feature. 1. Open Instagram and swipe left. To get started with Instagram polls, the first thing you need to do is open the app. Then, you'll swipe left. This will take you to the screen where you can post on your Stories. 2. Make sure you're posting to Story (underneath the record button). Once you're here, make sure that you're posting to your Story. Underneath the record button, you'll see whether you're posting a Story, a Reel, or going Live. To post a poll, make sure you're posting to your Story. 3. Take the video or picture you want...
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