By now, inbound marketers, it’s obvious we’ve survived the end of the world. (Fun fact: Ancient Mayans didn’t actually predict December 21, 2012 was the end of the world. According to the Mayan Long Count Calendar, Friday was simply the last day in a Baktun, a cycle that lasts about 400 years.) Disappointed we’re still here? Don’t be! We have a whole week of quality Brand & Capture blogs to catch up on!
See how our bloggers spent their time celebrating the end of this great Baktun.
For the emails that you voluntarily opt-in to, you expect to see an increase during the high season for particular products and services. But when the high season ends up being the same season as the holidays—in which your inbox is already flooded with reminders of all the gifts you need to get people and messages from your mother reminding you to bring a winter coat – marketing emails can often be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Check out five tips to keep your contacts sane during the holidays here.
There's an interesting trend in digital marketing these days. Software companies are competing like crazy for the hearts and minds of marketing professionals across all sizes of companies. They want to make it so easy to perform the most essential tasks that anyone can do it, and, more to the point, any company can afford to emphasize digital marketing over more traditional methods. There is no question that SaaS marketing automation and CRM providers are growing like crazy, but are there limits to the do-it-yourself trend from the buyer's point-of-view? See our thoughts.
To schedule or not to schedule? For business social media managers, that is the question. The jury on social media scheduling is still out among industry experts. Scheduling is A-Okay with Strategix One Consulting CEO Chris Voss, but HARO founder Peter Shankman is anti-scheduling. Here, we share four reasons why we use social media scheduling tools for our clients and personal accounts.
It isn’t much of a debate anymore—quality trumps, and will continue to trump, quantity when it comes to content. The answer to the quality versus quantity debacle is clear now: Create as much quality content as possible. In other words, it is all about finding a balance between content marketing quality and quantity. Discover our list of 11 ways to create good, quality content for marketing here.
HubSpot’s new CTA tool keeps all of your CTAs together for easy management and editing. CTAs that are edited are automatically updated wherever they exist on your website—no need to manually update each page. You can A/B test your CTAs to determine what message, color or graphic generates the greatest response from your site visitors. HubSpot does this for you by creating a test group that randomly displays a different CTA to each website visitor, making A/B testing a snap. (Bonus: You can A/B test CTAs in e-mails, not just on webpages!) Here are a few best practices and ideas for using Smart CTAs to promote your advanced content.
We’ve loved Pinterest ever since its invite-only beta testing phase. Last month, Pinterest introduced its latest development: Pinterest for Business. What’s new with the social network? First and foremost, businesses have new, specific Terms of Service to agree and adhere to—differentiating personal accounts from business accounts. There is even a “Logos, Trademarks and Marketing Guidelines” section that offers an even easier understanding on how to use Pinterest’s identity and assets. See what else is different for businesses here.
Lisa Gulasy is a young public relations professional highly interested in social media brand management, copywriting and grammar. Lisa works as an Associate Consultant at Kuno Creative where she creates content and assists senior consultants. Find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Photo credit: IMP Awards
