Inbound Marketing Insights: Frustrated with Social Media?

Enough with the cute kittens and pictures of what you are eating for lunch!

Grumpy Cat is Frustrated with Social Media

Grumpy Cat is Frustrated with Social Media

In the last installment, we looked at reasons that business owners and marketers are often frustrated with SEO, and the lack of results they see from their efforts.  We concluded that the main problem was that the primary goals associated with SEO alone, were not in line with the overall goals a successful marketing plan will exhibit.  In the same way, many business owners and marketers are frustrated with social media.  They are frustrated with keeping up with it, as well as seeing the apparent lack of results for their effort.  If the solution lies in realigning our social media goals with sound marketing goals, how do we go about doing that?  That is the topic of this post.

Social Media, by itself, is not a marketing strategy.

The wisdom of the day used to sound something like this.  “You need to engage your customers in meaningful conversation through social media channels to build interest in, and loyalty to your brand.”  Countless books and manifestos were written on this subject.  Conversation and engagement were the big buzzwords during the early days of the social media revolution.  But, what exactly does conversation and engagement get you?  The goal of generating this type of buzz about your company int he social media channels is to gain exposure – or in social media terms, reach.  The simplified version of this is if you have 10 friends who are talking about products to at least 10 of their friends, then all of a sudden – you have reached an audience of 100.  This is the viral power of social media, and this is why it is an integral part of a comprehensive inbound marketing plan  What is reach, though, and does this “reach” put any money in your pockets?  Here is where we have to hone our social media strategy into a sound marketing strategy, and here is how we do it. (more…)

Inbound Marketing Insights: Frustrated with SEO?

Inbound Marketing Insights: Frustrated with SEO?
Have you spent thousands of dollars with an SEO Consultant and found yourself wondering where the money went? Or have you spent countless hours following every bit of advice you could find to optimize your own website with nothing to show for it?  The problem most likely isn’t that your SEO consultant stinks, or that you don’t know what you are doing – the real issue here is that we put too much stock into SEO in the first place.

The most common problem businesses face with their own SEO strategy or their SEO consultant’s strategy, is that the goals of SEO are not in line with the overall goals of your business!

Your Goals vs. SEO Goals

Let’s look at this further.  If your SEO consultant comes to you after 6 months of work and proudly shows a report indicating that you have taken the top slots in search engine results for all of your desired keywords, that’s a win right?  Well – it is for the SEO consultant.  In fact, that’s all the SEO consultant is really worried about – your site ranking high in the search results.  In the end, that is the primary goal of SEO – building a rank and placement advantage over your competition.
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Hubspot Pricing – Is It Worth The Cost?

Hubspot Pricing and Return on Investment (ROI)If you have had a chance to read up on the features and benefits of Hubspot, then you know what a game-changer it has been for Inbound Marketing professionals.  Hubspot makes managing your Inbound Marketing campaign simple and effective.  What’s more, the integrated reporting makes showing your results and ROI a piece of cake.  The only part of Hubspot that many see as a downside is that it is Hubspot Pricing.  But as with most products or services that cost money, you can’t just look at the dollar going out – you have to consider the dollars coming back in, AND, the dollars saved as a result of using Hubspot. (more…)

Inbound Marketing on a Dime – Generate More Traffic Today!

So you’ve read articles, watched webinars, maybe even attended a seminar or two about Inbound Marketing. You’re hooked. You’re ready to get started!  The only problem is, you’re not sure you have the budget for a full-on Inbound Marketing campaign.

Inbound Marketing on a Dime

Inbound Marketing doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg!

You have probably heard of Hubspot as well.  Inbound and Hubspot typically go hand in hand, and if you are running a serious inbound campaign, Hubspot is by far the best option and in the end, the most cost effective solution.  As a result, many people have had their excitement about inbound tempered by sticker shock when they see what agencies typically charge for their monthly fees.  We are going to do something though that might fly in the face of what a software partner should do — we’re going to tell you how to attack an inbound marketing campaign WITHOUT Hubspot.

3 Major Components

A good inbound marketing campaign needs a minimum of three major components: (more…)

Hiring a Hubspot Partner – Pros and Cons

Hubspot Partner - Marketing FunnelAt first glance, hiring a Certified Hubspot Partner may seem like an expensive proposition – especially to small businesses and those that work with a tight marketing budget.  However, we are here to show you how to evaluate the cost and determine where it is really IS all that expensive.  You might be surprised at the results!

First of all, how much does it typically cost to hire a Certified Hubspot Partner?  There isn’t a specific answer for this, as the costs vary from partner to partner. However, all partners base their pricing loosly around a) their billing rate and b) how many hours per month they will devote to your campaign.  If you are familiar with Hubspot, then you know that it is a hosted software application that allows you to manage all of your inbound marketing activities in one slick and easy-to-use portal.  Blogging, landing pages, calls to action, forms, email campaigns, contact lists and social media are all components of any good inbound marketing campaign and they can all be managed through the Hubspot Portal! (more…)