On the season finale of SmartBug on Tap, Hannah Shain shares some useful tips on how to get started with TikTok as a B2B marketer. If you’re thinking TikTok is just for teens and gen z-ers, think again. Brands are growing, recruiting is flourishing, and more leads than ever are being generated from this platform. So if you haven’t started yet - it’s time to jump in! 

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Hannah Shain talks about the different definitions of an SQL (sales qualified lead) and what it means for you and your business. For us, it's a black and white metric detailing the count of sales initial calls also known as discovery calls. What's your definition of an SQL?

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Hannah Shain shares how to dig deeper into understanding buyer personas outside of their traditional 9 to 5 job, and appeal to their entire persona in the 5 to 9 realm. 

This is the last episode in the Countdown to INBOUND series. 

Why? Because INBOUND 2019 is here! 

Thousands of marketers are gathering in Boston this week for three days of sessions, workshops, keynotes, and vendors. Basically, it’s an entire year's worth of marketing education packed into a few impactful days.

On today's episode, two of our team members —  Senior Developer, Mark Ryba, and Team Leader, Richie Knight — are highlighting two more sessions we’re really excited to attend. They’re diving into the details of the session, the key takeaways, and why they’re recommending that you attend, as well. 

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.

On today's episode of SmartBug on Tap I’m talking about how you can maximize your trade show marketing efforts by actually incorporating digital strategies. During an era where nearly every marketing innovation is digital, there is still one traditional mainstay I see in B2B marketing — the trade show.

But live event marketing campaigns, such as trade shows, are expensive endeavors. How much of the money allocated to these events is wasted? How could marketers use cost-effective digital marketing campaigns to improve the overall ROI of these efforts?

That’s what we’re talking about today. I’m going to give you 4 tactical tips to help you reduce budget waste, become more efficient, and successfully transition from scanning a live lead at a trade show to converting that lead into a sales opportunity.

Jen Spencer here. On today’s episode of SmartBug on Tap we’re talking about buyer personas. Specifically, how sales teams can use personas to close more deals.

Here’s a rundown of what we’ll cover. First, we’re going back to the basics, reviewing what a buyer persona is and what it is not. Next, I’ll review the importance of negative personas. Finally, I’ll give you some tips for integrating personas into your sales process. And if using personas is a bit new to you, I’ve got three steps you can take to get started.

Let’s dive in.

While I was working for a SaaS startup, a member of our board once gave some advice for sales and marketing. He said pick one, maybe two bets, and go all-in.

It's not in my nature to go all-in, especially when there’s a lot at stake, but it’s something I'm working on. And this wonderful little thing called data sure does help.

On our latest episode of SmartBug on Tap, we discussed the 3 keys to going all-in with your data.

Check it out.

When most of us think of “call recording,” we think of sales.

But call recordings provide an incredible inside scoop on buyers, one we’d never be able to find through any other type of research.

So, why aren’t marketers using them?

This SmartBug on Tap podcast challenges marketers everywhere to reconsider using call recordings as part of their tool belt. Jen Spencer shares 3 tactics for incorporating sales call recording into your marketing strategy.

We started a podcast about all things marketing. Why?

Well, because everyone has a party trick, even our VP of Marketing and Sales at SmartBug Media.

Here’s her party trick: providing insanely tactical marketing advice.

Each episode, Jen Spencer will share truly tactical solutions around all things marketing, such as lead generation, account engagement, brand loyalty, marketing automation… you get the idea.

This week Jen unfolds her ideas, and gives you a taste of what’s to come.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Hannah Shain shares how to use video marketing to improve your search presence.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Hannah Shain shares how to use video marketing to improve your search presence.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares how to prioritize content reoptimization and generate more revenue from your old blogs and website pages.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares ways to ensure your team members hit their sales goals.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Hannah Shain shares a few things to keep in mind when considering gated versus ungated content.

Links Mentioned

Building Your Website on HubSpot CMS vs. WordPress Live Debate

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares six tips to turn your email newsletter into an effective component of your business’s lead-generation efforts.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Hannah Shain shares what's on her marketing dashboard and what metrics and data we should be digging into on a weekly basis. Data is the lifeblood of your organization. And putting that data into actionable, goal-oriented reporting is critical for us as marketing leaders as we guide the ship, and make decisions on the next investment or game plan. 

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares the top SEO trends that marketers should focus on this year and in the future .

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares how SmartBug® worked with Longview to optimize its Marketo investment, boosting lead generation and qualification, and maximizing its marketing ROI.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares how SmartBug worked with 1st United Credit Union to overcome a reporting challenge with the institution’s third-party software.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares how SmartBug worked with a cosmetic surgery practice to build a new website, improve its premium content, and serve its patients better, and ultimately thrive during a pandemic.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares how SmartBug worked with Southern Nazarene University to maximize HubSpot and increase the number of applications to the College of Professional and Graduate Studies programs.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares results from the first industry report that brings together RevOps, Inbound Marketing & Technology.

Links Mentioned

Where RevOps & Inbound Collide in 2021 Benchmarks Report

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares how sales operations and revenue operations are redefining how businesses think about revenue.

Jen discusses:

1. Purpose and Goals 

2. Organizational Structure

3. Key Areas of Focus

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares some key differences between Marketo and HubSpot.

Jen discusses:

1. Pricing

2. Usability

3. Integration

4. And More!

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares 10 steps to executing a successful CRM migration and all the angles to consider throughout your project.

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Jen Spencer shares recent Marketo updates that will help you solve some of the biggest problems you may be experiencing with Marketo today.

Jen discusses:

1. Next-Generation User Experience

2. Multi-Channel Personalization

3. Landing Pages and Forms

4. Sales Updates

Links Mentioned

Marketo Release Notes

Meet with Us at Adobe Summit 2021

On this episode of SmartBug on Tap, Hannah Shain unpacks some advice on how to land a quick win to enable your sales team with real-time, highly qualified leads. Let's dive in!