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Marketing Agencies We Admired in 2023

Blog, Free Marketing Software, Inbound Marketing
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Marketing Agencies We Admired in 2023 Born in the digital age, “Inbound Marketing” is nearing its 20th birthday. HubSpot Co-founder Brian Halligan coined the term in 2005 because the internet has forever changed buyers’ journeys. As recently as 2008, influential marketers were using inbound marketing to describe drawing in customers instead of outbound mass marketing. As recently as 2008, influential marketers were using inbound marketing to describe drawing in customers instead of outbound mass marketing.  In his article “Dawn of the Inbound Marketing Agency,” Paul Roetzer explained how wired PR firms, digital PR firms, and Internet PR firms will redefine the industry and give birth to a new category of agency — the inbound marketing agency. While every inbound marketing agency is slightly different, they have one thing in common: a focus on helping businesses attract customers by creating helpful content. So, what do today’s inbound marketing agencies look like? And what work are they doing in the current marketing landscape? Let’s explore! What do inbound marketing agencies do? 16 Top Inbound Marketing Agencies Inbound marketing agencies help businesses position themselves as experts with helpful content that makes it easy for customers to find them. By tailoring content to buyer needs, companies using inbound strategies can harness the power of the know-like-trust factor to generate sales over time. Most inbound strategies fall under three main categories: attract, engage, and delight. So, what strategies do inbound marketing agencies perform? It depends largely on the company and...

Bad Marketing Advice in Action (and What We Can Learn)

Inbound Marketing
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Bad Marketing Advice in Action (and What We Can Learn) Bad marketing advice can make or break a brand. If marketers sidestep well-meaning but counterproductive suggestions, they’re better positioned to capture consumer interest. What happens if they take this marketing advice to heart? Spoiler alert: It’s not great. Here are 11 examples of bad marketing advice in action — and what we can learn from these customer-facing failures. 11 Examples of Marketing Advice Gone Wrong Read on for our list of 11 bad marketing moments, or use the jump links to find your favorite example. The KFC Calendar Clash The Gap Logo Lesson The Pepsi Protest Problem The Burger King Tweet Trainwreck The Dove Double-Take The Bing Brand Debacle The Huggies Hard Sell The EA Criminal Catastrophe The Kenneth Cole Cairo Crash The Heineken Beer Breakdown The Audi Audacity 1. The KFC Calendar Clash On November 9th, 2022, KFC sent a mobile notification to its app users that encouraged them to “treat themselves” some great fried chicken and commemorate Kristallnacht. The problem? This isn’t a fun German holiday — it’s known as the Night of Broken Glass and is associated with a wave of Nazi attacks against Jewish German populations. Whoops. For KFC, the problem stemmed from semi-automated content creation. Put simply, a content creation bot saw that Kristallnacht was listed on the German calendar and assumed it was important. It was —...

16 Best Ways to Increase Content Reach [+Free Content Reach Kit]

Content Marketing, Free Marketing Software, Inbound Marketing
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16 Best Ways to Increase Content Reach Companies often rely on blogs, articles, and social media to engage with their consumers and attract new clientele. However, creating new and exciting content can be a time-consuming process. A great solution to this dilemma is to repurpose existing content. Repurposing content doesn’t have to feel redundant or boring. In fact, with a few great strategies, old content can gain a fresh new perspective and reinforce critical points. This article will go over a few ways that businesses can reinvigorate their old content while increasing their potential reach. Content Reach Examples Here are some great examples of content that reaches, engages, and delights a large audience. 1. State Farm Have you ever heard of “Jake from State Farm”? I'm sure you have. He’s been featured in nationwide State Farm commercials, blog posts, memes, and videos — State Farm hit gold with this idea. The insurance giant's content reach consists of the repurposed use of “Jake” in new and inventive ways. This includes creating intriguing storylines that mix plausible life situations with the use of its insurance policies. Customers can see themselves in the everyday interactions Jake has with his customers. Image Source 2. T-Mobile T-mobile’s Newsroom constantly makes old content new again. The brand's Loyalty Program, T-Mobile Tuesdays, for example, has been around for five years. The content strategy involves images, videos, app links, and articles that strive for engagement through consistency and fun contests, polls, and incentives. The...

5 Ways to Explain Inbound Marketing to Your Family This Thanksgiving

Inbound Marketing
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5 Ways to Explain Inbound Marketing to Your Family This Thanksgiving When Thanksgiving rolls around, there are a few questions that we don't exactly look forward to hearing: "When are you getting married?" "When am I getting grandchildren?" "Have you been moisturizing?" And yet, none of those oh-so-polite questions even come close to the complexity of explaining what, as an inbound marketer, you actually do for a living. It's not that inbound marketing requires a long, drawn-out answer — after all, it can easily be described in 44 words. But explaining it requires some fundamental knowledge of how technology, marketing, and the internet work. You know, the things that your grandparents might not fully grasp in one fell swoop. Good news — all you really need are a few storytelling strategies. We found five ways you can explain inbound marketing to your family. And sure, some of these are useful, and some are just sarcastic. But hey, family is family, right? They'll still love you. 5 Ways to Explain Inbound Marketing to Your Family This Thanksgiving 1. The Food Analogy Source: Giphy In the U.S., Thanksgiving typically consists of a few staples: turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie, to name a few. And while it might sound strange, you can use that knowledge to your advantage by using food preparation as an analogy for different aspects of inbound marketing. To explain lead nurturing, you can use the pumpkin pie. Sending unnurtured leads to sales is like giving an unbaked...