In 2017, SEOs have been scrambling to keep up with the all of the Google algorithm updates—both confirmed and not. While algorithm updates are common in the organic search world, the fact that we’ve already seen multiple updates regarding content quality paints a very clear picture: if you don’t have good content, you’re falling behind.
This morning, HubSpot released the 2016 edition of their annual State of Inbound Report. The report is chock-full of insightful factoids gathered from over 4,500 respondents in various marketing roles, and does a fantastic job at recapping the latest in the constantly changing landscape of inbound marketing. This year was different though; not all of the trends and developments of 2017 present an optimistic future for certain aspects of marketing. Below, I've shared the 6 most disheartening stats from this year's State of Inbound report:
Access to better data and analytics is reshaping consumer and client expectations for the products and services we buy and the partners with which we work. Thanks to Uber, we now expect on-demand local travel with real-time data and analytics as to ETA’s, routes, and fares. Electronic banking applications have almost eliminated our need for visits to the bank and have created expectations for instant mobile deposits, transfers, and fund growth insights.
Interest surrounding Content Marketing has literally exploded over the past few years, and for good reason. Consumers have gotten smarter. Their attention spans have shortened, and they’ve taught themselves to tune out unwanted marketing messages with DVR, cold call screening, and easily filtering email blasts into their spam folder. In short, Traditional Marketing is a dying medium, and Content Marketing is the new way to engage an audience and grow your business. Below is a screenshot from Google Trends, captured on 3.3.16, demonstrating the increased search volume around the phrase “Content Marketing” over the last ten years. Pretty compelling!
In today’s internet landscape of ad blockers, spam folders, and increasingly short attention spans, it has never been more difficult for sales professionals to deliver the right message to the right audience. Internet users are selective about the information they seek and salespeople and marketers cannot afford to waste time and resources targeting the wrong buyers for their products and services.
It's rare for someone to pull the trigger on a big purchase right away. Savvy customers can sometimes take several months to research and come to a decision. To help build a relationship between them and your brand, continual contact is key. When you grow your email list, you are also adding new leads to the pipeline who will be more willing to buy your wares. Asking for an email address is easier than asking them to spend thousands of dollars on your products. But, there's still some finesse needed to spur sign-ups and dramatically build your list. Today, were going to share our top 4 tips for increasing your number of email signups and inbound leads.
Email marketing is not DEAD. Just often ignored.
204 Billion emails are sent every day worldwide with the average person receiving 126 directly to their inbox*. No wonder it’s nearly impossible to get your email noticed, opened, and further yet clicked on. According to MailChimp* the average open rate for a midsize company (26-50 employees) is 21.08% and the click-through rate is just hovering above 3% at 3.02%.
Are you frustrated because your website isn’t performing the way you think it should? Would you like to know why?
As an #Inbound15 newbie, I had no idea what I was in for. But the conference, that went from September 8-11th this year in Boston, was both exhausting and exhilarating. HubSpot’s annual conference drew in over 14,000 marketers who gathered to network and attend educational sessions in the hopes of furthering their career and inbound marketing knowledge. Keynote speakers ranged from Seth Godin and Brene Brown to Aziz Ansari and Marc Maron. Amy Schumer was the main event at Inbound Rocks and nailed it (of course).