Digital Strategy Blog

I know what you are thinking -- public relations, really? Isn't that an old school tactic that is only used for damage control these days? No, my friend, no it is not. 

Inbound marketing and public relations are birds of a feather (and yes they should flock together). Many business people put these in the same marketing category of initiatives they don't understand. However, when you look at the big picture, long-term effects that these two marketing initiatives can have on your business, you'll see how critical they are for business success. 

Whether you are familiar with digital marketing or not, there seem to always be some terms that pop-up that make you go, "huh?" 

Whether you are familiar with inbound marketing or not, there seem to always be some terms that pop-up that make you go, "huh?" 

Whether you have worked with a marketing agency before or not, there will be some terms that pop-up that make you go, "huh?"

If you're in sales, you've likely had a slow period before. A tough month, a brutal quarter, or just an absolutely abysmal year. When I reflect back on my own personal career in sales, I've hit multiple slow times, where I feel like I'm grinding, I'm hitting the phones, I'm prospecting harder than ever, and still not seeing the results I need. Now you feel trapped, right? A bad week turns to two, quickly that bad month hits you and before you know it the end of the quarter is here and you're nowhere close to quota. You sit down with your sales manager, go through the data and it appears you're doing all the right things - you're making all the calls, and sending great emails. Sales is just a numbers game, so keep your head high, hit those phones and let's pray the next quarter is better.

WRONG.

When you think about working with a marketing agency, you're probably expecting to pay them on an hourly or project basis. It's been that way for decades. Why change something that has been working for so long?

Well, has it really been working or is it just what we were all used to?

Times have evolved and we believe that agency pricing should as well. That's why we have adopted our value based pricing point system. 

The first step in understanding why we adopted this model is understanding why we think the old models are broken.

Extremely grateful, that's how I feel every time I think about my transition into the world of inbound marketing. It’s been a long journey; from getting my bachelor’s degree in marketing, to applying that knowledge to what were then my college jobs and internships, to finally getting my foot in the door at a digital marketing agency.

HubSpot is one of the best tools in any marketing or sales team's arsenal, but a tool is really only as good as the person using it. Our CAM (Channel Account Manager) at HubSpot, Jacob (@jacobin617), loves to use the analogy of a helicopter. It goes something like this -

If someone asked you if you wanted a helicopter, what would you say? You'd say heck yeah!

Then they'd drop the helicopter off in your backyard and you'd have no idea what to do with it. Where do you get gas for the helicopter? How do you fly it (hint: that's not how!)? Who does helicopter maintenance? There are so many questions to go along with your cool new toy.

Have you noticed that old school conference calls seem to be a thing of the past, and the video conferences have completely revolutionized the business world?  That's because people like to see other people, they like to see engagement, body language is telling, so the videos help them connect.  Now I know what you're thinking, "Wow Michael, what groundbreaking information that we were already aware of", but let me ask you...why haven't you implemented video into your outbound sales strategy then?

Video emails are the newest sales trend, so to get started I've come up with three points to help guide you in making your first video outreach emails.

Inbound marketing - you've heard a lot of buzz about it, but you may not be quite sure what inbound marketing means for your business. How are you supposed to tackle the inbound marketing challenge? What types of content do you really need for your business? If you're considering boosting your sales through inbound marketing, there are several key things you need to know. 

Today's digital marketing channels are wider than ever. You have the opportunity to reach a wide range of potential customers in a variety of different ways. Your customers are connected. They can find you on social media, check out your emails, and search for you as part of their regular search queries. 

Are you exercising consistency across all of those channels? 

I can't believe it. As of today it has been five years since I started my marketing agency. FIVE YEARS! How did that happen?

It's been one heck of a ride full of ups and downs, great clients and not-so-great ones, and plenty of fantastic decisions along with some shaky ones. As with any business, it's not all sunshine and rainbows, but I wouldn't trade my experiences over the last five years for anything.