Conversational Marketing, Prioritization, and PAX East (The IMPACT Show Ep. 46)

In this week's episode of The IMPACT Show, Nick and I talk about IMPACT's All Hands, conversational marketing, prioritization and passion, PAX East, and more!

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! 

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Have feedback or questions? We’d love to hear it. Comment on this blog or email us at show@impactplus.com

IMPACT Updates

LIVE Update from PAX East

Nick gave us an update live from the largest gaming event in North America! He's there representing IMPACT and rockin' his Website Throwdowns t-shirt. The event is at the same venue at INBOUND! So it may look familiar. He said how great it is to see the industry broken down by sectors. It's also cool to see how the industry is evolving. There are brands with gaming platforms including Ebay, Amazon, Facebook, Twitch and more. He said there's also board games and tabletop games which are going strong if not stronger! He's excited to take pictures and bring back the team some swag! Here are two photos Nick sent over:

Chatbots and Conversational Marketing

Next week, IMPACT's own Kyle Bento is headed up to HubSpot HQ to ask them your questions about conversational marketing and the upcoming HubSpot Conversations launch. There's SO much to cover around how to integrate conversations into our marketing strategy. Kyle asked in Elite: "What questions do you have for the experts at HubSpot?" Share your questions in Elite! 

Speaking of chatbots and conversational marketing...our next webinar is on April 12th with Larry Kim who will be talking about hacks to master chatbot marketing! Save your seat today: 

 All Hands - Wrapping Up Q1

We wrapped up the first quarter with our company all hands. The format was a little different this time as we were at the end of a quarter so we did a quick recap by department of where we ended up and how we did on our Q1 goals. Then we dove into Q2 strategy and plans as well as the goals that have been set for each department. 

Bob Ruffolo shared our 2020 vision so we can see where we're focusing tomorrow as well as years from now. He also shared things we're doing well as an organization as well as things we need to work on. He noted that we're bending but not breaking and are flexible, which is important. He also noted how there's little resistance to change. An appropriate amount of questions are of course fine but we're all open to change. We do need to be aware of our growth and make sure we're growing intentionally and carefully in the right way to be the best IMPACT we can be!

What Marketers Be Talkin' 'Bout

Where we go over what you're saying in IMPACT Elite.

IMPACT Elite is a community of over 2,500 passionate inbounders looking to help other marketers (and sales and customer success people) succeed. We’d love for you to join us! 

Go to impactplus.com/elite or just search the IMPACT Elite Group on Facebook and request to join. Plus, join us LIVE and in person this August at IMPACT Live 2018.

Shout out to Bella Vasta for inviting multiple friends to IMPACT Live and connecting me with people I can't wait to meet...

Elite Member Andrea Funk posted: "AVERAGE TIME ON A PAGE - what are some things to get this up? Right now the average time is 1:43. I have great photos and helpful information and feel like I am doing everything right. Any thoughts?"

There's a great discussion happening on this post about whether time on page is actually a valuable metric, how to find out what metrics you should be focusing on (or not), and how to test them. Check it out and add your thoughts in Elite.

Elite Member Tim Lynch posted in Elite about Gartner offering the first Magic Quadrant for Content Marketing tools. Check out the post in Elite.

This is the first time Gartner has done a Magic Quadrant for content marketing software. They defined the tools as "software solutions for planning, distributing, optimizing and analyzing content that is created for specific marketing purposes, like educating customers about a given technology or promoting a notable case history." Nick noted that the co-author of the Gartner report was Kirsten Newbold-Knipp, a HubSpot alum who Nick worked with at HubSpot.

Are you using these tools? Let us know in Elite!

Elite Member Highlight!

Shout out to Brie Rangel! During our all hands, when it came time for each department to share their Q2 goals, Brie shared her goals in a simple yet easy to digest format. What was most interesting was that the 3 people who went after her all copied her format and did the same thing! Nick noted how sometimes you have to just go first. It may feel like "if this makes sense shouldn't I have seen someone else do this already?" but someone has to be first! It can be easy to look for examples but sometimes you need to just need to take the first step and do what you need to do. Props to Brie! If you'd like to check out the slide you can see it here in Elite.

Inbound in the Trenches

This is where we talk about what we’re doing and what we’ve learned lately right here in the trenches. 

This week I shared how I was struggling to prioritize things when everything is a priority. This is often the case when you start a new job but also can be a constant for some people! It can be hard to balance things when you wear a ton of hats as well. This week, Elite member Cady Lu posted a very similar sentiment. 

She said: "I'm the only SMM person for the company and it's only part of my role here. How can I leverage what I learned into asking my company to make me full-time SMM and to phase out my other duties? [...] I still feel like I barely have enough time to do all of my duties due to having a dual role in the company." Read her entire post and the discussion on it in Elite. 

Kaitlyn Casso replied "I have the same problem Cady! SMM is only 1/10 of what I actually do for marketing in our company and it's so hard taking time out of each day to make sure I am posting."

We had a great chat about this but what it came down to was three things. First, it starts with you. Set realistic expectations with your team. Explain how long it takes you to actually do something well so your team can plan accordingly. Second, require a deadline for everything you do. If someone says "ASAP" or "whenever you can" offer a potential deadline that is realistic and see how they respond. Finally, use data when you can! Wherever you can use data to prove what is doing well and what isn't you can better prioritize your tasks.

Next Steps:

I will be at Small Giants next week in Chicago with Bob Ruffolo and will come with plenty of stories to share during next week's episode.

Don't forget to save your seat for our webinar with Larry Kim on April 12th!  If you’re feeling overwhelmed, behind, etc. when it comes to conversational marketing and chatbots you NEED to be on this webinar. Also, Larry Kim promises he’ll teach us how to build a FB messenger bot in 15 minutes or less. I can spare 15 minutes for that! 

We would love your comments. What did you think of the show? Let us know in Elite. Make sure you never miss a show or update by subscribing at impactplus.com/show. 

Join Us Next Week! 

We'll be back again next week Friday, April 13th at 11:00AM ET. Mark your calendars! 

Until next time...we'll see you in Elite!