Smartbug On Tap

Most inbound marketing professionals want to make the world a better place. But, no matter how idealistic and well-meaning we are, most of us have lead numbers and sales quotas to hit.  One way inbound marketers generate leads is to gate content. On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer discusses why we gate content (and when we shouldn't).

Welcome to Season Two of SmartBug on Tap. We’re back after a summer hiatus, and on today’s episode Jen Spencer is chatting about mergers and acquisitions—and their impact on Search Engine Optimization.  

On the season finale of SmartBug on Tap, I announced our summer hiatus and share how you can quench your Intelligent Inbound® thirst until we return with Season 2 in September of 2020. I also encourage listeners to expand their podcast library to include voices that are sharing important information about diversity, inclusion, and social justice.  Links Mentioned SmartBug Website Code Switch She+ Geeks Out Pod Save the People

COVID-19 has been devastating, and it has already landed some heavy blows that will leave marks for a long time. By adjusting to these strange times, you can come out ahead on the other side. On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share five coronavirus-focused SaaS marketing strategies.

At SmartBug, we know a thing or two about working remotely. In fact, it’s one of the foundational cornerstones of our company. Over the years, we’ve found the secret recipe that enables us to spend ample time with those we love, while still having fulfilling careers. When working from home is done right, we know that remote workers can be more productive than those in an office. On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share four tips for staying productive while working from home.

It’s official: We’re in a recession. Although it’s not clear how long this pandemic-induced recession will last—or what the economy will look like when it’s over—to be recession-proof and retain your customers, you shouldn’t go dark. You must keep marketing and advertising in order to beat the odds.  On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share how to recession-proof your business.

During these uncertain times, it’s inspiring to see so many businesses opening their virtual doors a bit wider to support healthcare professionals, educators, and families whose lives have been significantly impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.  Generosity has not been limited to those on the front lines. We’re also seeing free and discounted tools and trainings to support marketing, sales, and service professionals. On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share five free and discounted tools to support Intelligent Inbound® during COVID-19. Links Mentioned During the Show Free and Discounted Tools to Support Intelligent Inbound During COVID-19

Sales and marketing are two different departments with the exact same goal, but they’re incredibly different animals with different perspectives and approaches. The solution for better alignment? Sales enablement. Sales enablement is about closing the loop between marketing and sales to ensure that everyone has the intel and content they need to meet customers wherever they are on the buying journey. On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share 6 ways marketing can help sales succeed with sales enablement.

If your business has a website, you’ve probably heard of Google Tag Manager, which is the free software tool that gives you the ability to install different types of tags on your website.  In the past, companies needed a web developer on their team in order to track codes. With hundreds of codes to track, this got a bit complicated to update and maintain. Google Tag Manager came in and solved the problem by storing all tags in one place—the Google Tag Manager account. On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share five benefits of Google Tag Manager.

Video marketing is one of the strongest ways to give a visual introduction or demonstration of your products or services—and it allows you to capture the attention of your buyer personas at the right stage of the Buyer’s Journey.  On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share five best practices to ensure that your company benefits from video marketing.a

Today, ranking on the first page of a Google search is a feat that requires thoughtful keyword research, content development, social strategy, campaign measurement, and on-site optimization.  Not surprisingly, are those unwilling to make the effort or investment in the proper development of their websites. Instead, they prefer shortcuts aimed at knocking down the honest competition and taking those coveted top spots through deceit. In this episode, I share negative SEO tactics to look out for and how to address them. 

Video marketing is one of the strongest ways to give a visual introduction or demonstration of your products or services—and it allows you to capture the attention of your buyer personas at the right stage of the Buyer’s Journey.  On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share five best practices to ensure that your company benefits from video marketing.

If you’re wondering how to reshape your marketing strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, you’ve come to this right place.  In this episode, our guest host Rebecca Clyde, co-founder of Botco.ai, a chat startup that’s disrupting and modernizing marketing automation for enterprise-sized businesses, will discuss how to avoid being tone-deaf when marketing, and how to make it easy for customers to engage with your brand anytime, anywhere, even while they’re at home.  Rebecca chats about: The best approach for marketing during a crisis A key aspect of marketing during the COVID-19 pandemic The economic impact COVID-19 is having on business And more...

Long gone are the days of publishing high volumes of low-quality, wafer-thin content and expecting your search engine rankings to increase. Today, SEO is as much an art as it is a science. It requires content writers and digital marketers to understand search engine ranking factors, prioritize searcher intent, and publish valuable, high-quality content that appeals to users and Google’s algorithm.  On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share five SEO-friendly content writing tips to outrank your competition.

No matter what industry you’re in, inbound marketing’s buyer-driven approach to content creation turns leads into customers by leveraging your company’s expertise and experience. On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share content ideas and examples for every stage of the marketing funnel. 

Should you be using pop-up ads on your page? The answer is more complex than you may think. Despite self-reporting that ads provide a poor user experience, when pop-ups are implemented appropriately, they can be incredibly effective. On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share the history of pop-up ads, if they work, and some do’s and don’ts to follow if you give them a try on your website.

With the growth of mobile phone usage, mobile marketing has been growing by leaps and bounds. More recently, marketers have taken full advantage of its capabilities with geofencing, an incredibly powerful way to harness the power of location based marketing. On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share how you can take your mobile marketing to the next level with geofencing.

Brands are only as successful as the stories they tell. In a world where everyone is inundated with content, video has become a top contender for being visually appealing and effective as a tactic for marketing.  On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share three ways that sales video can help your sales team convert prospects into customers.

Case studies are great pieces of collateral that can have immediate impact on the audience you connect with and can be used in a number of ways throughout the course of your marketing and sales efforts. On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I share four essential elements of a great case study. 

As remote work becomes increasingly popular and more statistics surface about its effectiveness, it’s clear that this style of working could be the wave of the future. However, it’s important for you and your individual company to decide if remote work is the right fit for your organization.  In this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I talk through five ways we’ve seen remote work make employees more productive.