Smartbug On Tap

If you've looked at the agenda for this year's conference, the first thing you probably noticed is that there are literally hundreds of sessions to choose from. Unfortunately, that means it's simply impossible for you to attend all of these amazing sessions. You've got the challenge of choosing and prioritizing how you'll spend your time in Boston.   But we’re here to help. That’s why we started our Countdown to INBOUND series a few weeks ago. We’re giving you the inside scoop on all things INBOUND to help you decide which sessions to attend.    So, with that in mind, two more team members — Benji Bateman, Marketing Consultant and Amber Kemmis, VP of Client Services — came on this week’s episode of SmartBug on Tap to share two more sessions you don't want to miss. 

Last week we kicked off our Countdown to INBOUND series. This series is designed to give you the inside scoop on all things INBOUND. We’re here to help you decide things like which sessions to attend, to help you really get the most out of your time there.   Today we’re introducing you to two more of our team members, Christopher Hutchens, Marketing Consultant, and Nicki Kamau, Marketing Programs Manager. They came on this week’s episode of SmartBug on Tap to talk about the INBOUND session they're most excited about and why they're recommending that you attend as well.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap we kicked off our Countdown to INBOUND series.    INBOUND 2019 is right around the corner, so we’re hoping this series will provide you some inside scoop to the world’s most remarkable business event hosted by HubSpot!    Two of our Senior Marketing Strategists, Jessica Vionas-Singer and Paul Schmidt, came on the show to share the details of the INBOUND session they're most excited about and why they're recommending that you attend, as well. 

On this episode of SmartBug On Tap I’m talking about the importance of internal marketing.    You’re probably thinking, "Seriously? I have a big enough job already marketing to prospects, customers, investors, and job candidates. Do I really need to also market to my fellow team members?"   Well, if you truly want to get your message across, I highly recommend it. In this episode I’m covering why internal marketing is so important and the steps you can take to maximize your internal marketing efforts. 

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I’m talking about how marketers can better prepare their sales team for a campaign launch. And since my role oversees both marketing and sales, this topic is near and dear to me.   As you can imagine, our internal sales and marketing alignment is extremely tight here at SmartBug Media. So, I thought you'd appreciate hearing the way we roll out a marketing campaign and what types of enablement resources we provide our sales team. 

Today’s 24/7 news cycle has created the need for content. But staff writers can't do it all. They need you. That’s where contributed content comes in.  Contributed content is when someone at your company authors an article for publication in a trade publication or mainstream outlet. And, if you follow a few tips, you can pitch your content in a way that increases your chance of being published. That leads to improved brand awareness, increased thought leadership, and a greater exposure for your website. So, on this episode of SmartBug on Tap I’m sharing my top four tips for pitching your content. 

You probably know how important it is to use buyer personas.  But your work doesn’t end there. It's actually really important to consider customer personas, negative personas, and micro personas. Each of these personas can be helpful when it comes to increasing the success of your marketing campaigns.  So, on this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I’m talking through how to use each of these three personas. 

Lead nurture campaigns can seem a bit tricky. After all, there are a lot of elements, like creating great copy or choosing the right frequency, that you need to get right in order to convert leads. But don’t worry — in this episode of SmartBug on Tap I’m sharing my guide to addressing each of those elements to create a great lead nurture campaign.  These are the eight steps you need to follow to create that great campaign — and how to get each of those steps just right. 

If you're already writing SEO-optimized, persona focused content, and if you're publishing that content on a regular basis and creating detailed newsworthy updates that Google's going to love, then the tips I'm going to share with you in this episode of SmartBug on Tap will provide some ideas on where you can go next.  On this show I’m sharing our team’s favorite tips to help you refine your content strategy and grow your organic search. 

We talk to so many marketers who think their website is a “set and forget” project.  But this could not be further from the truth. Your website is like a living, breathing, organism that needs constant tending.  There are four big mistakes companies often make when they set and forget their website. On today’s episode, I’m sharing them with you so you can avoid making them yourself. 

We've all been there. You sit down to write and…nothing. Whether it's a blog post, an e-book, or sometimes even an email, writer's block can affect us all. If you're up against a deadline and just can't get your words down on paper, I have some helpful ideas to get you out of your rut. In this episode of SmartBug on Tap I’m sharing six tips for overcoming writer’s block.

Infographics made their splash in 2013. Six years later, they’re still popular. That’s pretty unusual in the fast-paced, ever-changing market we’re used to today. And while infographics have definitely evolved with advances in marketing technology, the same best practices for successful infographic creation — and the same reasons you’d want to create an infographic — still ring true today.   So, why are infographics still a valuable content marketing tool? On this episode of SmartBug on Tap I’m sharing five reasons why infographics are still a power content marketing tool in 2019.

Inbound marketers today are armed with a serious amount of data. And that data can be used to help a sales team close deals faster. In this episode of SmartBug on Tap I covered the three main ways I like to approach this challenge: segmentation, personalization, and well crafted lead nurturing campaigns. All three of these tactics will give your leads the "I am a special snowflake" feeling and really help build trust.

I expend a great deal of energy simply trying not to react. See, I've learned the hard way that, if I react, when the dust settles, my reaction didn't properly represent my intentions. It's when I've allowed myself to react quickly that I've regretted my choices. Because, as it turns out, I never actually made any conscious choices at all. So, on this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I want to share why it's good to hit the pause button every now and then to reset your intentionality.

Watching a new qualified lead come in is a beautiful thing, because it's a validation of our marketing efforts and our market fit. After all, you can have the best product or service in the world. But if it doesn't solve a real person's problem, good luck selling to anyone. So, with my marketing brain on high alert, the first thing I look for in a lead is its source — what did we do that paved that yellow brick road for this individual to flow directly to us. Was it the webinar we co-produced last week with another organization? The conference we exhibited at? Or any number of educational, provocative blog posts that we wrote and have been shared on LinkedIn and Twitter. My favorite type of lead are those that come from channel partners. Why? Well, that’s what I wanted to talk about on this episode of SmartBug on Tap.

There's one kind of question that frequently comes up when I'm doing webinars or in-person presentations: What kind of content belongs in each stage of the buyer's journey? In this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I’m talking about what kind of content you should use through each stage of the buyer’s journey and how to deliver it from a tactical perspective. This will ultimately help you achieve that goal of creating a new customer.

On today's episode I want to talk about SEO basics. That’s right, we’re talking search engine optimization. I've actually found that a lot of people can get a bit confused about the basics of SEO, so today, I'm sharing 4 beginner tips to help you get you started.  

In this episode of SmartBug on Tap, I’m talking about why and how you can use PR to ramp up your content marketing program. Many organizations make the mistake of thinking that a content marketing program fits into the same bucket as public relations. But the thing is, there's more opportunity out there. That's where PR comes in. With that in mind, I want to share three ways you can use public relations to really get the biggest bang out of your content marketing program.

Marketers typically view e-books as a critical part of their marketing strategy. Yet most marketers don't build or promote the material in ways that really maximize their impact. By not properly promoting their resources, marketers are missing out on potential leads and building influence. In today’s episode of SmartBug On Tap, I’m talking about three common e-book issues and how to fix them.

On today’s episode of SmartBug on Tap, I’m sharing how you can utilize your marketing team to enable sales. Many people assume sales enablement is strictly a job for sales managers. This is wrong! There’s one trick you can use to sell efficiently at a higher velocity rate: your marketing team. Today we’re going to take a step back and look at what sales enablement really is. I’ll also be sharing 3 simple extensions that your marketing team can utilize to ensure a smooth transition for your future customers as they shift from marketing to sales.