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The End of Lazy Marketing
We’ve got some bad news this morning. We know, it’s Monday and you don’t want bad news, but we gotta tell you this: lazy marketing is done. Sorry. It’s #hardtruthmonday (gonna make that catch on), and that means we’re dropping some earth shattering truths on your marketing practices.
Truth #1: inbound marketing doesn’t cut it anymore
The godfather of inbound marketing, Dharmesh Shah, admits that inbound marketing alone isn’t going to cut it anymore. That’s surprising to hear, but it’s true. You can’t just publish content and hope people discover it.
A relevant quote from the godfather, himself: “Inbound marketing is pay to play now. It used to be about content and engagement, but it’s more complicated now. Content marketing has a cover charge.”
At this point, you have two options with your content. Either spend so much time doing content marketing that your competitors get tired and quit, or pay to play.
Hubspot has chosen both, but even they admit that their customer acquisition costs have more than doubled in the past 5 years. That’s because they’re spending a crap-ton on ads and outbound marketing.
Truth #2: Your idea of personas is dead.
People are so different from each other these days that having 3, 4, or even 5 personas is too vague. You need to stop looking at averages and actually talk to your customers. Chances are, they’re way more different than your personas are saying.
Case in point: Trump won the presidential election. No denying that. Wanna know how many personas his team used? Twenty. They had twenty different personas for their voters. As much as we don’t want to admit it, there’s something you can learn there.
This one is seriously good. Skip ahead to 5:40 for the start.
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7 B2B Brands Using Instagram the Way You’re Supposed To
“There are no boring industries—just boring marketers.”
If you’re a B2B brand ignoring Instagram, you’re not doing it right. With new features monthly and 600+ million users, it’s an ever-growing platform with serious potential to drive results. Especially when you consider that half of those users are millennials and 40% of the workforce are those millennials.
You can’t think “Millennials shmilennials…” forever. They’ve got a lot of buying power. And they love to see brands using social media well. It brings faceless brands closer to them, bringing their trust and brand loyalty closer to you.
Maybe you’ve made an Instagram account, but not sure how it can work for your business. Well, we love to spy on our competition, so today’s Read is a perfect little peek at some top-notch B2B brands doing top-notch things. Plus, why it works well for their particular industries .
“The most innovative brands aren’t those that go with the flow—they’re the ones that take a shovel and create their own stream.”
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Happy Huluween Pt. 1
Are we going to keep showing Halloween ads until October 31st? Maybe. But we just couldn’t pass up what Hulu is calling their “Huluween” promotion. (Puns!)
This isn’t any ol’ Halloween-themed tactic. This is a whole experience you enter via the “Hulu Haunted House” — a combination of short-form series, interviews, and more. Let’s just say they’re really riding off the high of their recent success with The Handmaid’s Tale, and they are going all out. They even have a graveyard version of the Yule Log.
Stay tuned for more spooky marketing campaigns. Maybe.
“Can an ad be inbound-y? YES! When done correctly, ads can help leads move through the buyer’s journey.”
Dharmesh Shah
