"3 Types of Inbound Marketing Programs" The IMPACT Show Ep. 23 [Show Notes]

Inbound marketing programs are like snowflakes, no two are alike. 

In this week's episode of The IMPACT Show, Bob and Nick discussed Snapchat's Context Cards, HubSpot's new podcast, and our main topic for the week, 3 types of inbound marketing programs.

Just in case you missed us live (or if you want to relive the magic), you’ll find the episode’s show notes below as well as the recording.

Enjoy and make sure to share with your peers! 

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We’re here to help growth leaders overcome common obstacles and create breakthroughs. Have feedback or questions? We’d love to hear it. Comment on this blog or email us at show@impactplus.com

Before we get started... just wanted to say, go Yankees! 

IMPACT Updates

• If you watched last weeks episode, you know that Bob had minor back surgery this week and he's doing well and has been relaxing and laying low.
• One thing Bob's been working on this week is our Facebook Group, IMPACT Elite, and we were able to invite a ton of really great people to the group this week. 
  • Bob has also spent the week reading a couple books, and he's loving Joe Pulizzi's book "Killing Marketing". In case you were wondering, Joe, is also a part of the IMPACT Elite group. 
  • Kyle Bento this week, as many of you know, he's moving into a video marketing position at IMPACT, and he created a great graphic with the new video equipment we're purchasing for IMPACT.
  • Facebook live webinars (no registration required) coming soon, including one on technical SEO with Franco Valentino.
  • If you don't know what IMPACT Elite is, it's not just a Facebook Group but a community where we can have two-way conversations with marketing and sales growth leaders. Search for IMPACT Elite and request to join.
• Stacy Willis, one of our strategists, will be speaking at the San Diego Inbound Marketing Seminar
• 11.09.2017 at 3:00 pm
• Stone Brewery Liberty Station
• Get your tickets here
• Our next Website Throwdown will be on Halloween, October 31st at 2:00 pm eastern. You can look forward to a very special Halloween edition with special guest Justin Rondeau.
• We're going to be announcing a special online workshop for early IMPACT Live VIP ticket holders. Look out for an email in your inbox with the next week or so. 

Digital Marketing News

Where each week, we share one thing from the world of digital marketing that caught their eye and found interesting to share.

Snapchat Context Cards

Yesterday, I was sitting at home recovering, when I received a snap. Since I don't get a lot of snaps, I got really excited. After looking at the notification realised it was just from Snapchat. Now, Wednesday was not a holiday, but rather they were announcing context cards. 

• Here's some information from MarketingLand
• Snapchat rolled out a feature called Context Cards that enables people to access information about a venue tagged in a photo or video posted to the app. For example, a Snap may tag a restaurant, and a person viewing the Snap will be able to swipe up to get its address and directions, see reviews from Foursquare and book a reservation through OpenTable. Or a Snap may be included in a Snapchat-curated Our Story about a local harvest festival, and a person viewing it will be able to swipe up to hail a Lyft ride to check it out in person.
• Snapchat is working with several companies that will provide the information presented in Context Cards. Those companies include Foursquare, Goop, Michelin and TripAdvisor for maps, location information and reviews; Lyft and Uber for ride-hailing options; and Bookatable, OpenTable, and Resy for restaurant reservations.
• Snapchat will automatically attach Context Cards to people’s Snaps that carry a corresponding geo filter naming the venue, and Snapchat will also add Context Cards to Snaps submitted to company-curated Our Stories.
• In IMPACT Elite… spurred up a conversation around Instagram vs. Snapchat.
  • Amanda Martin -  She has moved away from Snapchat since Instagram launched its Stories feature. However, Instagram has been on my bad side since it's started really cutting engagement and showing more and more ads. I think they are really smart to implement new features to stand apart from IG.
  • Kaitlyn Casso Agrees. I have been using Instagram more than Snapchat because of stories but it seems like Snapchat is starting to fire back with their latest features. I'm intrigued to see what else they have up their sleeves! It's encouraging me to use it again for sure.
  • Stephanie Casstevens - My first and only thought when I saw them was I can stop asking people "what restaurant is that!?" That being said - I barely follow any businesses on Snapchat - to me it's just something for my friends and I to use.

HubSpot's New Podcast

• HubSpot recently released a new blog post titled, "Why We're Starting a New Podcast That Has Nothing to Do With Our Company"
• Why launch another podcast?  Because markets are not saturated, there’s always a niche, always openings, a roof to be raised (as with blogging, online video, live streaming etc)
• Why weird work? “As an industry, we are obsessed with start-ups. We glorify their founders. We even use fancy words like entrepreneur to describe them. And we should. Starting a company is really freaking hard. But all too often these entrepreneurs follow an overplayed formula. Become the Uber for X, the Tinder for Y, etc.  We wanted to talk to people who went completely off-the-beaten path with their business ideas. People who found a profitable niche at the end of their passions. Weird Work is a celebration of those founders who live life outside of the 9-to-5, doing jobs you’ve probably never heard about.”
• Weird Work is the natural extension of our obsession with how people work, and why. Make no mistake, these aren’t hobbies. They’re businesses. While they may seem peculiar, each offers insights about product-development, strategy, and marketing.
• Host:  Sam Balter - a man after my own heart, 30-year-old, held many a weird job, and passionate about the format.  Meghan describes him as “uniquely enthralling”...
• Meghan ends with a very human, and very true CTA: “And yeah, I’m going to do it, I’m going to ask you to give us a review and share the podcast if you like it. Because in a format short on discoverability tools, word-of-mouth really matters to fledgling shows. So, if you help us take off, Sam will help you find some truly original perspectives in a world chock full of knock-off ideas.”

Main Topic: "3 Types of Inbound Marketing Programs"

Every week, we pick one topic and go deep on it, and today’s topic is Advice for Young Leaders.

Before we dig in.. start thinking about how the things we’re talking apply to your company. If you have any challenges or questions that you want us to address, leave a comment or send us an email to show@impactplus.com. We’ll get to as many as we can either at the end of the show or during next week’s episode.

• Who it’s for…
  • People who are still building their marketing team and program, and they haven't implemented a lot of inbound marketing tactics.
• What it looks like…
  • Lots of education
    • If you're going to do inbound marketing, a part of your program needs to be continuous education.
    • Nick gave a talk at INBOUND, and it was about 5 things you wish you knew when starting inbound marketing, and the one thing everyone said was to get certified and educated on digital marketing.
  • Getting people in the right place
    • That doesn't mean getting someone who doesn't know anything about inbound marketing or what they're doing.
    • Hire people who have project management and marketing experience that can help you succeed. 
    • You don't start an inbound marketing program by building out a huge strategy. You need to get right to work, start with a few things that can get you off the ground. 
      • Some of those things include:
        • Blogging (get in the habit of creating content on a schedule)
        • Building out your funnel
  • Get started… build initial assets
  • Get your website is ready for inbound
  • Initial campaign funnel is designed
• Desired outcomes…
  • Leadership is bought in
  • Quick research
  • First few pieces of content built, consistency
  • Funnel is built, nurturing for lead gen
  • Ads are in place, driving people
  • Leads are coming in

• Who it’s for...
  • Someone that has been doing this for a while and needs to identify what is and isn't working for you and your audience.
• What it looks like…
  • Audit - identify leaks
  • Deeper research and persona development
  • Implement fixes… SEO, CRO
  • Creation of playbooks
  • Introduce new campaigns based on learnings
  • Training on how to manage inbound leads
• Desired outcomes…
  • Traction…. Organic results
  • Improved conversion rates
  • Subscribers, loyal audience
  • Social shares, comments, loyalty
  • Inbound sales (significant)

• Who it’s for…
  • Have been doing inbound for a while (3 - 5 years in), known for their content, and inbound is a real revenue channel for them. Despite doing all of that, they're not happy with where they are and want to 3x and 10x their growth.
• What it looks like…
  • Deeper persona research/user testing
  • Lots of hypothesis + testing
  • Growth driven design
  • Advanced workshops
  • Team scaling
  • Rethinking the business model
• Desired outcomes…
  • Increased traffic
  • 3x conversion rates
  • Start to own a category
  • New revenue channels
  • Marketing as a profit center

Next Steps:

We would love your comments! Feel free to send us an email or comment on the Facebook thread. 

If you really liked it, please give us a 5-star review on iTunes. Review offer: We have a special price for the first 10 people to leave us reviews on iTunes (hopefully 5-stars). After you do, send us an email at show@impactplus.com so we know it’s all set.

Join Us Next Week! 

We'll be back again next Thursday, October 17th at 1:00 PM ET. We're taking a poll in IMPACT Elite on what next week's topic should be. So, be sure to vote. The four ideas we have are:

• How to setup messenger bots for your business
• Marketing technology to consider in 2018
• How to turn your marketing into a profit center
• The 3 hardest lessons I've learned growing IMPACT  

Until next time... get out there and make it happen.