"Marketing as a Profit Center, Hiring Marketers, and Marketing Books to Read:" The IMPACT Show Ep. 25 [Show Notes]

 You asked and we listened.

In this week's episode of The IMPACT Show, Bob and Nick had a lot to talk about. They covered whether or not Google AMP is the right choice, how to turn your marketing into a profit center, how you can hire a marketer, as well as the 10 marketing books you should read.

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

What Marketer's Be Talkin' Bout

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

IMPACT Elite is a community of passionate marketers looking to help other marketers 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.

1. Dan Moyle’s putting together a list of podcasts that would be great for professional speakers. They can be instructional, inspirational or strategic. If you know of a podcast that would help a professional speaker in their career, please share in IMPACT Elite.
2. Stéphane Bouchez shared a graphic: a growth mindset
3. Brad Gerlach asked: “Anyone willing to provide insight on how they organize their teams to scale. Robb and I have been discussing how to reorganize ourselves to be able to scale for larger clients. We are thinking or role base departments (Content/SEO, Design & Development, etc). Currently, because have a small team, we all do a little of everything and work together, but as our clients grow and we sign bigger sized clients, that isn't viable.”
   • There's like 6 or 7 of us engaging in an awesome conversation, you're welcome to jump in. 

Digital Marketing News

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

Google AMP, is it the Right Choice for You?

• Ross Benes of Digiday shared an article titled: “Outside Magazine increased page views per visit 13 percent after ditching Google AMP”
• “Outside, an independent title for outdoorsy types that are owned by Mariah Media ditched Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages three months ago, and since then, it has seen a 13 percent increase in page views per visit on mobile. Since scrapping Google’s fast-loading mobile page initiative Outside has also seen a slight increase in visitors and ranking in search, which supplies 30 percent of its traffic.”
• “Publishers often speculate that Google favors AMP pages in search, so Outside’s experience is noteworthy because it wasn’t penalized by Google for dropping AMP. A Google spokesperson said publishers’ search rankings are not affected by whether a publisher uses AMP.”
• At IMPACT, we haven’t made the move to AMP yet… doesn’t mean we won’t.
• The fact of the matter is this… AMP is still relatively new, but it will improve.
• Google wants you to stay on their platform.

How a Friend of Ours Became HubSpot's Top Sales Person

1. Sharen Murnaghan, #1 International Sales Achiever at Hubspot, with 174 percent over quota achievement
2. How did she manage to become the number one salesperson at Hubspot in such a short amount of time? Here are the four things she attributes her success to:
   1. Ask yourself what you want to accomplish and why you’re doing it.
   2. Understand what you’re good at and what you still need to master.
   3. Fully immerse yourself in what you’re doing.
      • Connect with people, whether that’s through LInkedIn, following them on Twitter or suggesting coffee dates. And look for ways to go above and beyond. At one point, Murnaghan even set a client’s daughter up with friends in Canada, where the girl was about to attend university. Even on my call with Murnaghan, she offered to take me around Ireland and make a list of off-the-beaten-path activities on my next visit.
      • The best salespeople I have seen are not only thoughtful but proactive with being helpful. Murnaghan definitely possesses this trait.
   4. Ask for help.
3. Article: "How an Extry-Level Employee With Zero Digital Marketing Experience Became HubSpot's Top Salesperson"

Topic 1: Turning Your Marketing into a Profit Center

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.

• What does turning your marketing into a profit center mean?
•  Bob was inspired by Joe Pulizzi especially after reading his books, "Content Inc" and "Killing Marketing".
• It's not just thinking of your business as your core business
• It’s what I call stage 3 of your inbound journey
• We talk about how inbound proves thought leadership for your company
  • It’s like that on steroids
• Creates new opportunities for the business.
  • Joe talks about events, print, and digital revenue sources in the book
• At IMPACT, we’re all in on this
• Nick, tell everyone what your new role will be next year
  
  • Bob’s vision/Fantasy: Where at the crossroads of whether we become a really big agency or morphing into a publishing company.
    • Bob wants IMPACT to help everyboby, especially the underdogs in business that Bob relates to so much.
    • Have IMPACT’s brand be in the same conversations/space at CMI, digital marketer, Social Media Examiner, March, SM Land
  • Monetizing IMPACT’s reach/respect in the industry
    • Unique Roll on the Marketing Team
    • Help launch the media business side of IMPACT: Product guy, marketing guy, sales guy for various value propositions for engaging our audience (IMPACT website, digital properties, IMPACT Live events, and new offerings)
    • Understanding our audience, the value we bring to them and the value they bring to our brand (and perhaps to other brands who are interested in connecting with a similar audience)
    • Help create opportunities for other brands to engage with us and our audience in a more organic, authentic way
    • Generate real value and non-retainer revenue for IMPACT

Topic 2: How to Hire Marketers

• We hire for culture and skills, can't be one or the other, but both.
• Culture
• There needs to be a fit regarding your company's purpose, vision, values
• Are they bought into your purpose?
  
  • At IMPACT, our purpose is to help people and their organizations succeed.
• Have you shown them the vision?
• Values…
• Passion
• Helpfulness
• Dependability
• Those are our core values, and we believe that all inbound marketing agencies should have them. Feel free to copy them.
• Skills needed:
• Leadership Skills: ability to handle stress, ability to make the team better
• Digital: deep skills in a particular area (ie. Facebook Ads, etc.)
• Communication
• Proven track record of success.

Topic 3: 10 Marketing Books to Read

In IMPACT Elite, Michael asked: “Alright, gang... You've got a room full of college seniors who can only read ONE BOOK before starting a career in marketing. What book do you suggest, and why?”

So why don’t we go over the Top 10 Marketing Books we’d recommend, Nick?

1. New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott
   • Great if you’re new to digital marketing
   • Quote from Amazon “Packed with examples, direction and methods to increase the bottom line and get that ROI from marketing you're dreaming of today. This is the marketing instruction manual you're looking for.”

2. Hacking Marketing by Scott Brinker 
   • Required reading at IMPACT
   • Ultimate primer on Agile Marketing

3. Content Inc. by Joe Pulizzi
   • Everything from how to turn your company into a content organization, from start to finish, all the way up to how to turn your marketing into a profit center.
   • Great examples.

4. Value Proposition Design by Alexander Osterwalder
   • We have a great relationship with these guys, they are really smart.  Their book is required reading @ IMPACT
   • MBA-level content, but in an easily digestible format
   • Digital companion - guides, assessments, trainings, printable templates etc.  

5. They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan
   • Introduces the concept of how to turn your customer’s questions into amazing content, including his concept of the ‘Big 5’

6. The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes
   • I think The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes is the ideal primer to the game we're all trying to play here. It's got everything.
   • I strongly endorse it! It was recommended to me by many in the "inbound" biz so I finally read it - TWICE. A great all-in-one field guide to generating revenue (from marketing all the way through the sale) for a biz. The concepts he talks about here are basically what others have called "content" and "Account-based" marketing

7. Hooked by Nir Eyal
   • Must read for SaaS platforms
   • How people get hooked on products or platforms
   • Introduces the hooked cycle Trigger > Action > Reward > Investment

8. Strategy Moves by Jorge Vasconcellos
   • Wildcard choice - recommended to me by Amazon based on past purchases.
   • If you’re a history (particularly a military history) buff, this one is for you

9. Marketing Performance Blueprint by Paul Roetzer
   • The combination of talent, technology, and strategy
   • And how to close the gaps

10. Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull

Next Steps:

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Join Us Next Week! 

We'll be back again next Thursday, Nov 2nd 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.

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