Inbound Marketing Blog by IMPULSE CREATIVE

How the Streamy Awards Show Digital's Reaching Influence

Chelsey@chooseimpulse.com (Chelsey Fox-Henry) — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 13:00:00 GMT

In the inbound marketing industry, we talk a lot about how your company’s digital presence should be more than just a side thought in your marketing strategy. Even if you already know you need to maintain your Facebook page and Twitter account, you could be leaving out a major player: YouTube. YouTube is much more than a place to kill time or watch your favorite movie clips, it is a key place for your business to have a strong following and maximize the ROI (Return on Investment) of your web presence.

YouTube has over a billion users, almost one-third of all people on the Internet. Every day, people watch hundreds of millions of hours on YouTube and generate billions of views. And as they watch their favorite YouTube sensations, they could be seeing your brand as well. And while YouTube marketing is critical for modern businesses, you don't need to be a marketing genius to figure out how to be successful on YouTube. For further proof, consider the recent Streamy Awards.

The Streamy Awards honor the best in online video and the faces behind it, like the Oscars do for the best Hollywood films of the year. This annual event brings together the biggest names in online video for a night of celebration, and it’s a big deal. The whole event is broadcast on Vh1, a popular cable network. This is more than just a fun fact; the popularity of The Streamy Awards tells you all you need to know about YouTube marketing:

Your Online Presence is No Longer Separate

There was a time, not so long ago, where people’s online activities were totally separate from their “real life.” It is no longer the case. The Streamy Awards weren’t just another video put up on Youtube or just a small thing where the winners weren’t sent a congratulatory e-mail; the awards were broadcast on a major television network. Top recording artists like Future and Hailey Steinfeld performed and after parties were hosted at major LA nightclubs. All of this was done to celebrate people who have never acted in a Hollywood film, sang a song on the radio, or been featured in a TV show.

YouTube Generates Money

Performing artists, a stage in LA, crystal trophies… all of that means one thing: YouTube is making money, both for themselves and those creating videos. In fact, the number of channels earning six figures per year on YouTube is up 50% year over year. Read that statistic again. A lot of the people featured at The Streamy Awards are making big bucks from their videos.

It’s All Inbound Marketing!

How are people making so much money off their YouTube videos? By narrowing down their demographics and creating relevant content for those people. A YouTube channel should be treated exactly like a blog or other inbound marketing campaign. Better, targeted videos mean more subscribers to your channel, and more subscribers mean more profits- either by direct purchases or ad revenue. Include your channel on your email signature, your company’s blog, and your social media pages so everyone knows about it and your views are sure to start rising.

Are you relying on your blog to do all the work? Don’t miss out on a huge amount of potential profit because you aren’t using YouTube to your full advantage. With remarkable videos featuring content of substance targeted at the right viewers, you can enjoy more YouTube subscribers and a greater influence in the digital realm. If you need a few more expert tips, download our free eBook Mastering Social Media for Business.

How to Develop Your Business's Tone of Voice

Chelsey@chooseimpulse.com (Chelsey Fox-Henry) — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 12:30:00 GMT

Recently, the team here at Impulse Creative traveled to Boston for INBOUND15, HubSpot’s yearly conference that focuses on all things inbound marketing. There were numerous qualified and informative speakers, far too many to highlight here. A major overarching theme that struck me during the conference, cemented in by the talented Ann Handley, is the importance of developing your business’s tone of voice. What your brand says about yourself is essential to controlling the conversation of what other says about you as well. So what exactly is a tone of voice? Ann Handley describes it as thus:

Culture x Story x Empathy = Tone of Voice

(Note: If any of these things are zero...it's all zero. That's how multiplication works!)

Your company’s tone of voice isn’t about what you say exactly; it’s about the impression you leave on customers. Developed correctly, your tone of voice can be the thing that sets you apart from the big guys, and for a small business- that’s crucial. Let’s dig in a little deeper:

Define What Makes You Unique

What makes you you? Often, this is referred to as a “brand positioning statement” or “mission statement.” Find interesting ways to say boring stuff, like your background and what services you provide. I know what you’re thinking “But we aren't (insert trendy, modern company here)!” Okay, then who are you? Your brand’s voice will attract the right people and repel the wrong people. Repel??? Yes! You want to repel the people who won't be good customers for you. Defining what makes you unique and putting it into a brand positioning statement will do that for you. If you need help getting started, ask yourself these questions:

What’s unique about your company?
What’s special about your products?
What’s special about the way you do business?
What’s your company culture like?
How do your employees social together in a non-work way?
How do you want to be regarded by customers and your community?

Translate Those Words into a Style

By now you should have a couple of keywords or phrases that represent your brand. Develop some detail around these and make them real, concrete, and practical. Flesh out those words with a few sentences or a story. For example, if you said your company is “eco-friendly”, what does that mean on a daily basis and how does that translate into helping your clients?

Create a Style Guide

Write it down and make it official. Start with some of the basic information noted above, and add from there. As your company grows and you, the business owner, are handling less and less of the day-to-day communication, you’ll want your employees to have one tone of voice that includes the same vernacular. Be sure to decide which pronouns to use in official communication, especially on your website. Companies without a style guide can sometimes be all over the map with these, using the first person (“we” and “us”) in one sentence and the third person (“Logan and Sons Painting”) elsewhere. First person tends to be warmer and create a more fun, accessible tone, while third person tends to feel more professional. Pick one based on your brand voice and stick with it. The same goes for your audience: Use either “you” or “customers” consistently.

Your company might not be quirky and fun, like Freaker USA ( Ann’s personal favorite) or Impulse Creative, and that’s Okay. You’re not trying to mimic their brand voice, you trying to find what your own brand voice is and if it clearly reflect what makes you you. If you think you want or need some help during this process, download our free eBook The Beginner’s Guide to Inbound Marketing for more expert tips.

And The Best Client Smart Content Award Goes to… Impulse Creative!

Chelsey@chooseimpulse.com (Chelsey Fox-Henry) — Sat, 19 Sep 2015 16:00:00 GMT

Impulse Creative was honored at the recent INBOUND conference in Boston with a brand new award to bring home, courtesy of HubSpot. The HubSpot Impact Awards are given to Partners who excel for their clients in the areas of design, marketing, and development. And since Impulse Creative strives every day to be remarkable, our results were recognized as being the best in the industry. Way to go, Team Impulse!

Impulse Creative earned the Best Client Smart Content award- the first of it’s kind. Since the concept of Smart Content was introduced by HubSpot last year, Impulse Creative has been the leading the field in making it work for our clients. That’s right, the idea of Smart Content was only introduced last year and our Inbound Marketers are already mastering it! In order for you to be as excited as we are, let’s break down what Smart Content is, and how it can useful for you:

What Smart Content Is

Smart Content is a way to personalize your marketing message depending on who is reading your content. By using Smart Content, Impulse Creative can help you deliver content specifically tailored to a brand-new visitor to your site, or where a prospect is in the buying process if they’ve already given you information about himself. It lets you target content based on anything you know about your contacts, for the ultimate in relationship-driven marketing.

How it Works

Luckily for us, HubSpot makes this very easy to implement. It begins by building out Smart Lists to recognize a person’s is location, their job title, or even where they are in the buyer’s journey. By creating Smart Lists that recognize your different lifecycle stages, you can customize the content that people in each lifecycle stage will see. The Smart Content tool then alters the content displayed within rich-text, HTML, or form modules depending on viewer characteristics.

How it Can be Used

Smart Content is used to make a personal connection to those visiting your website or reading your emails. This can be something like “Welcome back, Logan!” or “Contact us today to find out how much money our new phone service could be saving Westley Industries.” This little piece of personalization token makes a huge impact, to the tune of a 42% increase in performance.

You’ve heard it from us, now let’s hear it from HubSpot’s Vice President of Sales, Peter Caputa:

"Impulse Creative integrates inbound into every aspect of their business, marketing, and mission, and the Best Client Smart Content is a true testament to their success. Since day one as a HubSpot Partner, their agency has been creating valuable, seamless interactions for their leads, prospects, and customers. Agencies everywhere can learn from their innovative tactics and impressive growth."

Thanks, Peter! Relationship-driven marketing is the way to build your business like you never thought possible. If you’re interested in how Impulse Creative can put our award-winning Smart Content to work for you, contact us today or download our free eBook The Beginner’s Guide to Inbound Marketing to understand the basics.

6 INBOUND Takeaways Sure to Transform Your Marketing and Your Life

Chelsey@chooseimpulse.com (Chelsey Fox-Henry) — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 20:13:31 GMT

Team Impulse is back from Boston and ready to share our tips on the latest-and-greatest in the marketing industry! But INBOUND wasn’t all inbound marketing talk; there were also comedians (and comediennes!), motivational speakers, best-selling authors, journalists and business leaders. So with that in mind, here are a few major takeaways that will be encouraging and motivating our team for a long time to come:

#1: In the war between quantity vs. quality, as the quantity goes up, the quality goes down. It doesn’t have to be this way if you get the basics right.

This quote is from Ann Handley’s session on Good vs. Good Enough Content. Many writers, bloggers, marketers, and even business owners accept that fact as an unfortunate truth that can not be avoided. But here at Impulse Creative, we don’t think remarkable content has to lose quality, ever. Playing it safe when it comes to website and blog content is a missed opportunity to communicate differently and be seen as creative. That’s why we strive to be bigger, bolder, and braver.

#2: It is more about brains than budget!

This is a fundamental aspect of inbound marketing that can’t be stressed enough. With inbound marketing, you don’t need a large budget to attract new customers, you only need the right tools and methods. Sticking to the aggressive and impersonal advertising tactics of the past will only serve to drive potential customers away, and cost a lot of money while you’re doing it. That’s why the inbound methodology is so perfect for small, locally-owned businesses.

#3: Have audacious goals that seem unrealistic.

This quote, from Todd Rowe, is perfect for anyone, whether you’re in the marketing industry or not. If you are a small business owner, set these audacious goals for yourself and your brand, but also give your employees an environment of freedom so they feel comfortable setting risky goals for themselves as well. Todd Rowe certainly didn’t become Global Managing Director of Google, Global Channel Sales without setting some pretty lofty goals for him, so take his advice to heart.

#4: Social media for businesses isn't "what are we?" it is "what does our brand allow people to say about themselves?”

Too many brands, even large ones, use social media to talk solely about themselves. But that’s not what today’s consumers want. Shama Hyder, who has spent the majority of her career involved in marketing specifically to Millennials, considers social media an “identity-based ecosystem.” In other words, people interact with your brand to show their identity to other followers. What does “liking” or “tweeting” your brand say about who they are?

#5: Be honest about what failure feels like.

This quote comes courtesy from Brene Brown’s keynote speech. In it, she further discusses the specifics of the real shame and vulnerability that comes from failing. While typical failure messages tell you to get up after you fall and never quit, “no one talks about what failure feels like,” says Brown. “It hurts and it will take your breath away.” Pretending it doesn’t matter is not the way to rise after failure. In order to overcome and grow from failure, we need to start being honest about what it feels like- as a business owner, employee, friend, parent, spouse, and citizen.

#6: We are all capable of setting the tone.

Be contagious! Whether you are the owner of the company or the most recent hire, your presence has an impact, so make sure that you are giving off the right kind of energy. Ensure that negative people aren’t bringing you down, but you are impacting them instead. This fantastic session, a Team Impulse favorite, was delivered by Anese Cavanaugh. Her message on the importance of your presence at your agency made us all feel like leaders, and we’re working better together already.

We spent last week navigating through the maze of sessions, keynotes, bold talks, and food trucks, trying to soak up every bit of knowledge we could. Through all of it, there is always one consistent theme at INBOUND: inspiration. We were lucky enough to get this inspiration first-hand, and now we can share it with you. To get started implementing the inbound methodology in your own small business, download our free eBook The Beginner’s Guide to Inbound Marketing.

Recently-Announced Google Apps Updates

Chelsey@chooseimpulse.com (Chelsey Fox-Henry) — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMT

Recently at their San Francisco office, Google announced some very exciting changes to their Google Sheets, Docs, and Slides. The new features should make the free office suite better for both casual and professional users. If you use Google Apps for your business, and you should be, this announcement will significantly increase your productivity.

Research Tool

Using the new "Research" tool, users can pull up information from Google’s search engine without leaving Docs. It exists on the desktop today as sort of a Google search sidebar, but it hasn't been available for Android mobile until now. The feature also lets you insert photos directly from Google Images, an especially useful aspect for mobile users since it previously took more than a dozen steps to add an image into a Doc from a phone. In all, Google has made it easier for people to insert content they find on search into documents they're creating instead of jumping back and forth between Docs and search.

Explore Tool

The Sheets spreadsheet tool also received a major update called "Explore," which allows users to quickly analyze their tables and turn them into graphs and charts. It's meant for helping users handle large data sets more efficiently. When you click the "Explore" button, Google automatically analyzes the spreadsheet and builds some charts to help you visualize important parts of your data set. Also, you can selectively highlight certain areas of the spreadsheet and update the chart accordingly. The "Explore" sidebar also runs a quick analysis on the data it's displaying, telling you quick facts about the trends it sees. If you use Sheets to input and track a lot of numbers or formulas, this will definitely make your job easier.

Classroom Tool

Specifically designed for teachers and those in educational settings, Google's "Classroom" tool lets educators manage all the digital materials they submit to their students, and vice versa. In it, there's a new Chrome extension that allows a teacher push a web page right out to everyone in a class, instead of the presenter having to dictate unruly URLs to a classroom full of students. It's a pretty specific feature, designed to make life easier for teachers, but may be found useful in the business meeting setting as well.

Other New Additions

There are many more new features, including a new feature where you can even type with your voice, sure to come in handy for those using Google Docs during a meeting or on the go. They’ve also made it easier for you to tell what was added or deleted in Docs, and who made those changes. Now when you’ve left a document and you come back to it later, you can just click “See new changes” to pick up right where your coworker left off. Users can also choose from a wide variety of reports, portfolios, resumes and other pre-made templates designed to make your work that much better, and your life that much easier. Creating presentations, crafting newsletters and managing your team’s budget is hard enough without having to worry about making everything look good! With the new templates in Docs, Sheets, and Slides, you can focus on your content and know that Google will make your brand look good.

With these new releases, your productivity will be better than ever. And thanks to all that productivity, your business will start to grow in measurable, real steps. Impulse Creative can help you develop those new steps into customers. Whether you're just getting started, or looking to improve the effectiveness of your current campaigns, our free toolkit will help you ensure you're driving the best possible results. Download it today and get started.

The New Way to Market Your Travel Agency

ryan@chooseimpulse.com (Ryan VanDenabeele) — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 15:00:00 GMT

I love inbound marketing just as much as I love traveling to the Caribbean. After all, my Caribbean travel blog is what launched my career into inbound marketing land. Travel agencies and travel agents can harness the same modern online marketing techniques I used to reach passionate Caribbean travelers. It’s all about reaching the right people at the right time with the right content.

Inbound marketing revolves around valuable content, and as a travel agent you have a tremendous amount of content topics right at your finger tips. Use it to draw people to you. Everything from specific restaurants in Spain, river cruises in Germany, the best beaches in the USVI--the content possibilities are endless. Putting all this great content together with an effective social media strategy, offer giveaways, and action inducing emails will bring your travel agency new qualified leads without wasting tons of money on traditional advertising or pay per click campaigns.

So how exactly can inbound marketing turn your travel agency into a top performer and have you booking more client trips? Follow the steps below and you’ll have more and more clients thanking you for all the magical memories.

Step 1 - Define your marketing goals

This seems obvious, but it is amazing how overlooked this step is. Destinations and travel businesses need to identify quantifiable goals that are realistic and that have deadlines. This is how you’re going to measure the success of your inbound campaign.

How much more traffic do you want funneled to your website?
How many new leads a month would you like?
How many leads does it take to gain a customer?

Figure out how much traffic the average blog post brings in and that will give you the number of blog posts you’ll need to write. Find out how much traffic equals a lead and that will give you a target for the amount of blog content you’ll need to create. It all comes down to sales numbers and the goals you set.

Step 2 - Develop a travel inbound marketing plan

With goals set, the next step is to develop a plan that identifies your target traveler, the content they will find valuable, the keywords they will search, and the way they will be nurture and convert customers. Lay out a calendar that focuses your efforts around a schedule of tasks so that each employee is responsible. Determine if your goals can a be accomplished by your in-house team or if will you need to outsource.

Step 3 - Drive more visitors to your website

By creating remarkable content that answers questions that travelers are asking and promoting it through social media and email, you’ll be able to increase the number visitors to your site. Think of your website visitors as the top of your sales funnel. What questions are they typing into search engines like Google? Create content that answers those questions. Do this consistently and your website will become a travel destination hub of valuable information. Who are these people going to book from, the agency that helped answer questions, or the agency that didn’t?

Step 4 - Convert website visitors to leads

This is the most important part of inbound marketing. It’s not enough to get more visitors to your agency's website; you need to convert those potential travelers into leads. Anyone who has exhibited at a travel trade show knows that it doesn’t matter how many brochures you hand out; it’s how many real leads and customers you end up with. The same is true for your website. It’s great that visitors find your site, but what are you offering that will motivate them to give you their email address or phone number? Don’t expect a simple contact form to do the trick. You need to give something away.

The law of reciprocity means that to get something you need to give something in return. This law is a core component of inbound marketing. You’ll need to develop free ebooks that give people a more in-depth look at a destination, or perhaps dining coupons at select restaurants. People will gladly give their name and email for valuable offers, turning them into a lead and positioning your agency as a thought leader.

Step 5 - Nurture leads and convert to travelers

Once you convert a website visitor to a lead (by getting their name, email address, travel destination), the sales process kicks in. If you’re a travel agency or agent, this is pretty straightforward. Provide content around more targeted context. Know everything you can about your leads and give them the information they need while explaining why they should trust their vacation experience to you.

Step 6 - Measure everything

The beauty of travel inbound marketing is that you can measure everything. You can track what blog entry or social media post created a lead and converted it to a traveler. Keep doing what works and change what doesn’t.

So if you are a travel agent or destination marketer reading this blog entry, congratulations! You just discovered the secret sauce of travel inbound marketing. Now it’s time to create a website that is designed to specifically funnel visitors in and convert them into leads. Turn your knowledge of destinations into a tool to get found and grow your agency.

If you need help or would like to learn more, please contact us for a free travel inbound marketing assessment or a website that is specifically designed to generate more travel leads and increase your sales.

6 HubSpot Updates That Will Make Marketing Teams Rejoice

remington@chooseimpulse.com (Remington Begg) — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 14:04:03 GMT

September 9th was a day that many Apple fanatics have been waiting for. But for Inbound Marketers all eyes were on the #inbound15 HubSpot Keynote hosted by Dharmesh Shah & Brian Halligan, Co-Founders of HubSpot.

There was a lot of talk of a variety of things that we hold dear at Impulse Creative. One that's near and dear to my heart is "be human". There was a great slide during the keynote that Dharmesh shared that was a play on the Golden Rule.

"Market unto Others as you would have them market unto you."

There were many new features announced, but in regards to marketing here are the ones that you should know about.

1. Hubspot Reporting Add-on

Improving and optimizing your marketing starts with understanding your data. HubSpot's Reporting Add-on brings all the reports you need to analyze your marketing and sales data into one customizable dashboard. A happy home for your data.

There is an additional fee for this feature, but the ease of use and ability to drill down on reporting is going to allow you to track all of the KPI's that will allow you to understand your business. The customizable dashboard allows for you to have your own custom view, and any other staff members can create their own dashboards to manage what matters most for them.

2. SSL for all HubSpot Customers

Last year Google shared that they were going to favor websites that use SSL functionality. This is a great feature that may not seem like much on the front end, but it is a remarkable feat on the backend. Adding that extra "s" to your website url will not only get you trust from google, it will be another signal that you are a legitimate company. HubSpot's allowing this feature to be enabled for free for all customers.

3. The New Website Editor

You want a website that delivers results. That’s a given. But what about a platform that enables you to do more with the content you publish? The HubSpot Website Platform ties your content into a full-funnel marketing system, optimizes it for search, adjusts to mobile, and even allows you to tailor your website to different visitors using an easier-to-use interface.

4. HubSpot Ads Add-on

The Ads Add-on is the easiest way to create, measure and leverage ads for inbound marketing. You can now create ads right inside HubSpot and figure out which ads convert the most leads into customers. Easily build great ads that support your existing campaigns and track ROI down to the keyword.

The biggest challenge in the past was directly connecting a particular ad to a customer, now that is possible all from one dashboard. While this feature also costs additional, it will easily be made up for in your advertising's efficiency.

5. Predictive Lead Scoring

Understanding all of the factors that go into making a contact qualified can be difficult, if not impossible. You need to figure out all of the properties to factor into your score and how much to weigh them by. Predictive lead scoring takes the pressure off of the marketer by providing a lead score based on behavior, demographic, social, email, company, and spam detection data. Predictive Lead Scoring is included at HubSpot Enterprise.

6. The Launch of LeadIn

For businesses not ready to buy a robust marketing platform, HubSpot also introduced LeadIn, a freemium app that allows you to capture leads and get lead intelligence on any website. LeadIn can be implemented on ANY website including Wordpress, Squarespace, and Magento. LeadIn can be integrated with most popular email marketing platforms such as Mailchimp & Constant Contact. Keep track of your sales by integrating with the Free Hubspot CRM too.

While all of these feature additions are great, let's not forget that building out a strategy to use HubSpot as a vehicle to deliver results for your organization is important. Just jumping into the tool will make it so that you may not necessarily get the most out of the product. If you'd like a free demo of the HubSpot software and a consultation on how these new features can help your organization, reach out. We're here to help and would love to connect the dots.

6 Things People Hate About Your Website

remington@chooseimpulse.com (Remington Begg) — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 21:00:00 GMT

When you’re browsing the Internet - whether searching for information or shopping online - what’s the one thing that drives you insane about the websites you visit?

Chances are, it’s anything that makes for an unpleasant user experience.

One of the biggest commandments of inbound marketing is “thou shalt not annoy” (okay, we made that up, but you get the idea). Still, so many websites are full of elements that leave website visitors thinking, “this is so annoying!” From chat pop up windows to slow loading times, there are a ton of things that can leave a sour taste in someone’s mouth.

Wondering what not to do on your website? Let’s take a look at the six most common things that people hate about your website (and how to fix them).

Pop-Ups

Pop-ups are one of the most interruptive marketing methods out there. After all, there are few things worse than going to a website and getting a pop up that says “want a free consultation?” or “let us help you with your website.” You may think that you’re going to turn a website visitor into a customer, but we hate to break it to you: you’re just annoying your audience.

The reality is, about 85% of people visiting your website are in the awareness stage, meaning they’re trying to solve a problem or meet a need. As a result, they’re doing research to educate themselves on the best solution to their problem. So, that pop up ad that asks someone to buy from you - unfortunately, it’s not doing you any good. If you want to turn visitors into leads, try creating content that nurtures your audience down the funnel.

Cheesy Stock Photography

You know the photos of three people standing over someone’s desk pointing at a computer screen? Avoid those.

You don’t have to avoid stock photography altogether (we wrote a blog about best practices, and you can read it here [link when blog is live]). But it’s important that you avoid the cheesy stock images that don’t tell your audience anything about what you offer. Instead, use images that tell a story about what you do and what makes you different. Also, don’t be afraid to take your own images of your products, office, and staff. This gives you the opportunity to connect with your audience on an emotional level, and it shows people that you’re human - just like them.

A Non Mobile-Friendly Layout

If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re losing out on website visitors. Having a responsive website isn’t just an option anymore - especially considering 57% of online users won’t recommend companies with poor mobile sites. People access content across all sorts of devices, and it’s essential that your site is optimized for all screens - from a Samsung Galaxy to a 27” Retina iMac. Design your website to be fully responsive, so your visitors can access it regardless of what device they’re using.

Long Forms

It’s no secret that the more information you have about a potential customer, the easier it is to market to them. However, asking someone for their address, maiden name, and age isn’t just unnecessary - it’s invasive.

Whenever you’re creating forms for your contact page or offer pages, think about the value that you’re providing. The more valuable the content, the more information you can ask for. Still, be mindful of what types of personal information you’re asking people to give. As a general rule of thumb, unless you’re providing someone with a bottom of the funnel offer that targets people who are ready to buy, asking for name, email, and maybe company name is more than enough.

Outdated Design

We’ve all been in a situation where we do a search on Google, click on one of the top ranking pages, and land on a website that looks like it was built in 1999.

Today, a person’s first impression of your business is based on your website. If it’s been awhile since you’ve updated your website design, consider hiring a web design agency to help you make your site more modern. Generally, you should redesign your website every few years or when it’s no longer helping you achieve your goals. Don’t forget to refresh your content every year or so to ensure that you’re providing website visitors with the more current and relevant information.

Slow Loading Time

We live in a society of instant gratification, and people have a short attention span when they’re online. Even if you have the best website out there, people will go somewhere else if your website takes too long to load. No one wants to wait 10 seconds for an article to load when they can find similar content on someone else’s site.

Test your website on several different devices to see how long it takes to load. If you notice that it’s taking quite a bit of time, do some digging to find the source of the problem, and do your best to fix it (or hire someone who can).

What website elements drive you nuts? Let us know in the comments!

How Social Media Can Help Your Business Throughout All Four Pillars of Inbound Marketing

Chelsey@chooseimpulse.com (Chelsey Fox-Henry) — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 13:31:00 GMT

The most recent data shows that around 70% of active internet users, or 2 billion people, are currently using some form of social media. That’s a huge amount of potential customers out there, waiting to be reached by you and your brand. Inbound marketing can help you reach them, whether they are just becoming aware of your brand or ready to make a purchase. Let’s break down the four pillars and see where social media fits in:

Attract

The attraction phase is when strangers become visitors. It’s estimated around 85% of people are in this learning stage. Since a large majority of people are at this point at any given time, this is a huge market share waiting to be reached. Include more in your social media sharing than just information about your brand, and new people will find you every day. Tweet about pop culture, share links to informative articles from your blog onto your facebook page, the possibilities are endless!

Convert

Once you have interested visitors, it’s time to convert them using call-to-actions to send them to landing pages. As a savvy social media marketer, you will want to use quality content for your inbound marketing strategy to stay relevant. With proper keyword research and nurturing, you will stay relevant to the right people and they will become customers because they have come to know your brand and your products.

Close

You’ve finally reached the point of sale- congratulations! Now is the time for tracking and fine-tuning your social media approach. Are people getting to the conversion stage but not closing? Take the time to find out why. Closing a converted lead can be a long, delicate process, but with patience it can be a rewarding experience for everyone.

Delight

You’ve already closed the deal, but your interactions with your new customer haven’t finished. Create specials moments between you and them and allow them to share it across their personal social media accounts. This is where first-time buyers become evangelists for your brand. Use social media channels and email campaigns to continue to engage with customers, offering content that interests them and exciting offers. Delighting the customer is the best way to upsell them, keep them coming back for more, and persuade them to share their experiences with others.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are great ways for potential customers to make personal connections with your brand. Promoting trust is what makes inbound marketing so powerful, and social media is a fantastic way to do that.

For a business looking to reach millennials, one of the top consumer blocks right now, an effective social media campaign that spreads across multiple platforms is essential. Through all stages of the inbound marketing methodology, social media can be used to move potential clients from one stage to the next, and keep buyers returning to your brand. For more help on crafting your social media platforms using inbound marketing, download our free eBook Mastering Social Media for Business.

Apple.com’s Big Redesign- 3 Things Marketers Need to Know

Chelsey@chooseimpulse.com (Chelsey Fox-Henry) — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 16:00:00 GMT

If you haven’t already heard, there’s big news in the world of Apple. A redesign of Apple.com that went live recently removed the standalone ‘Store’ tab, and the ‘store.apple.com’ domain entirely. This is an enormous change for one of the biggest online retail stores in the world, and a huge nod to the inbound methodology. The buying experience is now woven into the site as a whole, with purchasing buttons and options for products available on every product page. Instead of browsing for information about a product and then having to make the conscious decision to go to the ‘Store’ tab, customers are now faced with a Call-to-Action (CTA) button right on the page. So, why did they do it and what does this mean for you?

It Reflects the Buyer’s Journey

“We redesigned Apple.com knowing that our customers want to explore, research and shop in one place,” said an Apple spokesperson in a statement. They know that making the buying process easier also make it more successful.

The entire buying experience is now handled on a single page. Clicking on a ‘Buy’ button brings users to all of Apple.com’s choices, including purchasing the actual product, extended warranties, and cases. Apple.com is now reflecting what inbound marketers have already been doing: giving relevant information and then leading users to a strong CTA to convert them to customers. Apple.com has essentially made it’s product pages into quality landing pages.

More People Are Using Mobile

While clicking out of your current page, opening a new tab, and finding your desired product on a new page is someone arduous on a desktop- it’s downright annoying on mobile. So much so that Apple was worried that it was effecting conversion rates. That worry isn’t without merit; it’s getting far more frequent for people to purchase big ticket items on their phones and tablets. Forrester Research estimated mobile commerce would hit $114B last year and mobile commerce is growing at around 48% year over year, hitting $8 billion in the second quarter of 2014. It would be crazy not to service that kind of growth with a design more suited to mobile users, for Apple and for you. If your potential customers can transition more seamlessly between researching a product and purchasing one, then they’re more likely to make that conversion. With Apple.com’s new design, it’s all one experience.

Apple.com is at the Forefront of Design

Apple.com is one of the biggest websites on the internet according to traffic rankings, with more than one billion customers from 40 countries visiting the online store every year. Its design is picked over and copied by the most design-savvy web and mobile developers in the world. This redesign means big changes for eCommerce as a whole, since countless developers will now emulate this one-page buying experience onto their own websites.

If you aren’t already incorporating the inbound methodology’s idea of the buying process into your own website, take Apple.com’s change as the latest clue that you should be. A website getting the kind of brand recognition and traffic that most others can only dream of wouldn’t be doing something that wasn’t proven to be effective. If you’re not sure how to get started on your own, don’t worry! Download our free eBook The Beginner’s Guide to Inbound Marketing and let Impulse Creative help.