My Blog My Blog

How Webinars Can Help Your Customer Retention Strategy in 2020 [IG]

Webinar
/by
How Webinars Can Help Your Customer Retention Strategy in 2020 When you first think of webinars, you probably think they're a great tactic for the first part of the flywheel — attract. While you'd be right, webinars are also a way to delight and retain customers. In fact, 75% of B2B buyers consumed webinar content last year, which makes it a good idea to include webinars in your marketing mix. But I wonder, how are B2B companies using webinars? Do they focus primarily on lead generation? Or do they realize the potential webinars offer throughout the buyer's journey and after the sale? An answer began to take shape when I read this post. Bethany Cartwright says, "Webinars work across the entire customer journey. From thought-leadership panel discussions to weekly live demos, webinars are a dynamic and effective way to move prospects down the funnel from awareness to closed deal and beyond." Then, working with ClickMeeting, who now publishes an annual State of Webinar Report, I set out to closely examine how B2B marketers can make webinars work up, down, and beyond the sales funnel. In the infographic below, we see that webinars provide a way to connect and engage with customers throughout the buyer's...

7 Tips for Making Dull Blog Topics Interesting, According to Our Blog Team

How to Write a Blog Post
/by
7 Tips for Making Dull Blog Topics Interesting, According to Our Blog Team Sometimes, I'm assigned blog topics that are super exciting. I've written about Twitch, Instagram marketing, exciting company cultures, and team building games. These post topics quickly engage me, and I always find myself empowered to write a highly valuable article for readers. Other times, though, I'm assigned blog topics that aren't as exciting. I've written about highly technical topics, such as Why Website Indexation Is A Must-Have for Marketers and Header Tags: What They Are and How to Use Them. Topics like these aren't as easy to write about, and sometimes I find myself stuck trying to make "duller" blog topics interesting to write and gripping for readers. Even though it can be difficult to make a topic like photo event sizes a blast to write about, I've learned some tricks that can end up making those not-as-fun topics equally as exciting. Below, we'll go over some of my tips, as well as HubSpot's blog team, that help us make blog topics compelling for everyone. How to Make a Blog Topic More Interesting to Read About Have you ever been assigned a topic and didn't know where to start? Alternatively, have you ever procrastinated due to the dread of cranking out an article? I've been there, and so have my colleagues. The blog team at HubSpot likes to experiment with how content is presented. This has led to testing writing methods that inspire us as...

How Digital Minimalism Helps Focus, Attention, and Productivity

Productivity
/by
How Digital Minimalism Helps Focus, Attention, and Productivity How much time do you spend online each day? If we're honest with ourselves, we know it's probably too much. In fact, one recent study found that we spend 6 hours and 42 minutes online every day. Imagine if you could put that time toward accomplishing your goals. That's why we love the digital minimalism movement. Below, let's learn more about digital minimalism, from how to become a digital minimalist to the tools you need to improve focus and productivity. In his 2019 book, "Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World", Cal Newport theorizes that to live a more purposeful life, we need to be intentional with how we spend our time. For example, we all know that the internet can get in the way of other activities. We may spend hours on social media without talking to family members or meeting up with friends. In general, minimalism seeks to simplify your life in some way. Digital minimalism can help you simplify the tech in your life. This may simply mean spending less time on social media or deleting it from your phone altogether. Or you could choose to set specific hours each day for your online activities to free up time for more purpose-driven tasks. Improving Focus and Productivity with Digital Minimalism It's no secret that interruptions impact your concentration. But today, we aren't just dealing with an occasional ringing phone or a cubicle neighbor dropping...

15 of the Best Facebook Ad Examples That Actually Work (And Why)

Advertising Examples
/by
15 of the Best Facebook Ad Examples That Actually Work (And Why) On average, Facebook is home to 3 billion daily active users — from CEOs to students to companies. And while the community is clearly there, connecting with them from a marketing standpoint isn't always easy. For brands, posting on Facebook alone isn't enough anymore, especially for ones just starting out. Sure, you can throw money at your efforts to drive people to your Facebook Page and send them to your website, but that only works if you're smart about it. One way to get the most from your Facebook ad strategy is to create optimized Facebook Ads targeted at the right audience. Optimized ads can help you spend your PPC budget wisely and see a positive return on your investment. Do Facebook Ads Work? What makes Facebook ads really effective is the level of audience targeting, the number of users on the platform, and the level of analytics and insights. These advantages combined with a great strategy is why Facebook ads work for so many types of businesses. As with any type of advertising, it takes iteration and experimentation to see success with Facebook ads. So, what does optimized Facebook advertising actually look like? If you're looking for some great examples, you've come to the right place. In this post, we'll quickly go over the following things about the best Facebook ads. Click a link below to jump to that section of...

What Is a Browser Cache? [FAQs]

Site Performance
/by
What Is a Browser Cache? So you've just finished redesigning your website. You're excited, it looks great, and you're patting yourself on the back. Before you start parading around this new great design like a kid showing off their new toy, you want to give it a whirl and see how it all looks from a visitor’s perspective. And there lies your first problem: For some reason you can’t comprehend, your web browser is still showing the previous version of your site. What the heck's going on here? This is when your browser cache comes into play. We've all heard this term before... but do we really know what it is? I’m willing to bet the majority of us have thought about our browser cache as some magical place that we have to go to and clear every so often so our site and others render as they should. Show of hands? Yep — that's what I thought. Below, you'll find a simple description detailing the ins and outs of browser cache that should clear up any misconceptions or questions about it you may have. The Basics of Browser Cache A web browser — such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Internet Explorer — is a software application that we use to fetch and see information living on the internet. In other words, a browser looks, finds, and presents to us websites and/or other pieces of information we look for via URLs. A browser’s cache is its appliance...

Brand Logos: The Good, The Bad, and The Most Questionable Designs

Slogans & Taglines
/by
Brand Logos: The Good, The Bad, and The Most Questionable Designs When it comes to your business' branding strategy, establishing your company's logo is one of the most critical tasks. Your logo will be pervasive throughout all of your marketing campaigns, and it's one of the most prominent branding elements that people will think of when someone mentions your company. Mounting research backs up how important a logo can be to your brand. In fact, a 2019 study from the Journal of Marketing Research found that an effectively designed logo can "influence brand evaluations, purchase intentions, and brand performance." Your brand's logo should be memorable, versatile, and consistent, all the while giving your audience a sense of what your brand is all about. Unfortunately, many companies haven't exactly done a great job of keeping those goals in mind when establishing their logo, learning the hard way what it takes to create a positive brand experience through their logo. Not sure what it takes to create a killer brand logo? To give you a better idea, here are 10 companies that have either failed or flourished in the logo department. Memorable Logo Designs KFC's Unique Logo Redesign & Launch In 2006, KFC launched a new logo, changing the Colonel's appearance so he was pictured with a new, red apron. This was a big deal for the company, as its logo hadn't been changed in over a decade. So why did they make the decision to revamp their logo? They...

The Ultimate Guide to Instagram for Business

Instagram Marketing
/by
The Ultimate Guide to Instagram for Business More companies are using Instagram than ever before — there are now over 25 million businesses on Instagram, most of which are small businesses. To capture a new audience and engage with your existing customers, it's critical you consider using Instagram for your business. With over one billion Instagram users, Instagram is one of the most popular social media tools at your disposal.Instagram has proven a worthwhile investment for marketing purposes. You're able to market your products to a more targeted and engaged audience, and it's cheaper than more traditional forms of paid advertising. Plus, it's an undeniably powerful tool to spread brand awareness — in fact, 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business on the platform. But using Instagram for business purposes can seem daunting, particularly if you've only ever used it for personal use. Here, we're going to explore how to leverage the power of Instagram for all your business needs. How to Use Instagram for Business Let's delve into the six strategies you'll need to employ to get the most out of Instagram. 1. Add Value With Your Content First and foremost, Instagram is a visual platform. To attract an audience, it's critical you spend time delivering high-quality, thoughtful content. Instagram has the highest engagement rate, surpassing Facebook and Twitter. To succeed on Instagram, it's essential you create valuable content that attracts an audience and encourages them to engage with your business. Consider how you can delight your...

Deal Pipelines Trending Upward in May’s Second Week [COVID-19 Benchmark Data]

COVID-19 Benchmark Data
/by
Deal Pipelines Trending Upward in May’s Second Week For the last few months, businesses around the world have had to rapidly adapt to the impact of COVID-19. In a time where it seems like things change every day, it can be difficult to gauge whether the challenges your business is facing are widespread. That's why we're publishing week-over-week benchmark data for core business metrics like website traffic, email send and open rates, sales engagements, close rates and more. These core metrics are split by region, company size, and industry cuts so you can explore on your own to see data for companies most similar to your own. You can find the data, and more context on the dataset and sources, here. Because the data is aggregated from our customer base, please keep in mind that individual businesses, including HubSpot's, may differ based on their own markets, customer base, industry, geography, stage, and/or other factors. These insights are refreshed every Thursday morning ET, and will be accompanied by this short writeup. You can find past writeups using this timeline.We hope to establish useful benchmarks to measure your business against, and serve as an early indicator of when short- or long-term adjustments may be needed in your strategy. What We're Seeing Here are the three key takeaways from the most recent week's data: 1. New deal creation is trending positively week-over-week, with some countries and industries trending above global averages. The volume of new deals created globally increased 6% week-over-week....