DIGITAL STRATEGY BLOG

Goal setting is the backbone of effective marketing. Goals help us prove how successful we are, provide focus, and push us to succeed. And while we know how important goals are to measure our success, more than 80% of small business owners do not keep track of their business goals. Perhaps that’s because goal setting can be one of the most difficult things we have to do as marketers. While we all have hopes of what we want to accomplish with our marketing and business, that’s not enough. We also have to make sure that our goals are grounded in reality and can be used as benchmarks for future strategies and plans. This is where SMART marketing goals come into play.

As we look forward to a new academic year, we are all beginning to think about all that the next year could bring. For schools and education organizations, that means improved student recruitment through more effective education marketing. With more competition, an industry that hasn't really had to focus on marketing in the past, and an increase in the number of schools and districts throughout the US, schools are struggling to effectively recruit and retain students. Let's take a look at five ways to improve your student recruitment with effective education marketing in the new year.

Though they are not in the event management business, Mile Marker Club utilizes in-person events as both a stand alone product to deliver premiere wealth education in the alternative investment realm as well as a means to gain new members into their exclusive club. But with a goal of more symposiums in 2020 they needed high engagement and conversion strategies for their existing database of contacts. 

Starting a business has never been easier. File a quick form with the state, register a domain, file with the IRS and you're off and running. 

However, growing a business has never been more difficult. There are new businesses popping up every second and that means competition is greater than ever. In fact, approximately 627,000 new businesses open each year!

See how this inbound marketing investment created a 13.73x return on investment for Johnny's Backyard, and helped them increase sales during a period of market volatility.

Personas take your target demographics deeper and help you understand not only WHO your customer is but also HOW to talk to them. When you understand their motivations you can more easily speak to their needs in yoru marketing materials. You can read more about personas and learn to create them in another blog post: Creating Personas: What Are They and How Do I Develop One.

If you already have a good understanding of what they are and how to create one, now you might be wondering why buyer personas are important and how they can help your business.

HubSpot Academy offers a wealth of information covering all aspects of running a business, from a broad overview of inbound to detailed lessons on data privacy. While I have yet to encounter a HubSpot Academy course that hasn’t taught me at least one new idea or tip, there are a couple courses I’ve taken that offer a wealth of knowledge that I can use day-to-day as a copywriter. One of those is a staple of the HubSpot inbound methodology — Inbound Marketing.

A speaker one sheet is in essence the sales sheet of a speaker. This is also a critical component of creating an inbound magnet for thought leadership. Several aspects need to be considered in order for a speaker one sheet to be in alignment with your brand, your lead generation strategy and also serve as an inbound magnet.

A popular brand building tactic for businesses of all sizes is thought leadership. By sharing your company's knowledge and point of view with the market, you can organically attract a qualified audience (sounds like Inbound Marketing don't you think?) 

One of the more prominent thought leadership tactics is public speaking, which is also a great lead generation tool if set up with inbound marketing in mind. Here are the steps you will need to implement public speaking thought leadership into your company's lead generation strategy. 

Creating effective marketing strategies and campaigns as a technology company can occasionally be difficult. It can be challenging to carve out your own space in the busy technology industry or to market software that’s complex and may require a high level of technological know-how.

To help you build your marketing strategy we gathered ideas from other technology companies who have found success. We spoke with seven marketing professionals at tech companies across the world to get their insight.