As recent as 10 years ago, marketers wouldn’t have used the terms ‘inbound’ and ‘outbound’ to differentiate marketing strategies and tactics. Marketing all fell under one umbrella, and the idea of separating the two was really just in its infancy in many ways.

Because of the vastness of the internet and its ability to connect people to any kind of information they want at any given moment, it has become important to understand not only the differences between these traditional, outbound methods of advertising and promotion, and the newer—largely digital—inbound strategies, but also how these two types of marketing can work together.

We’ve all had those times where we see someone with a dated hairstyle (the jerry curl or the mullet) and we think “Woah! Hello, 1970’s.” It’s a dated, tired trend that should have been retired a long time ago. Well, this isn’t limited to just hair.

Marketers all across the world have some tired trends they just can’t quite seem to let go. Here is a list of the top cheesy marketing trends, our reactions when we see them, and how to avoid them.

At LeadG2 and The Center for Sales Strategy, our tech stack not only serves to support our sales and marketing efforts, but it also enables our consultants and content teams to super-serve our clients and provide top-notch service and deliver quality results and help them achieve success. Are you utilizing tech to support your marketing, sales, or service efforts at your company? 

We asked our team what marketing and sales technology they use most frequently, and here's the top 10 tools from what was submitted. Yes, there's actually more!

One of the biggest resources that marketing teams have is access to their sales team. That's right! The sales team is a key resource for successful marketing campaigns. 

So, how is the sales team a resources for marketing? Here's how marketing and sales teams should collaborate throughout the marketing campaign process to drive better sales results.

79% of the United States population has a social media profile. I really don’t even need to go further. I could end the post right here with this statistic. If 79% of the population is somewhere, do you want your business to be there? If you answered "yes," then your business, no matter the industry, should use social media. Simply being present and intentionally representing your brand, on a platform which 79% of the population lives, is beneficial. A strategic social media strategy can also play a major role in the success of your inbound marketing strategy.

How your business can successfully use social media is an entirely different conversation. Some industries have really seen obvious success on social media. To name a few: restaurants, retail, real estate, entertainment and fashion. Many of these industries have a visual product, yet all of them still require informative content to be effective. Yes, some industries are more effective than others with social media marketing, but with intentionality, effort, and commitment, any company, in any industry, can benefit from social media marketing.

I hear a lot of people in marketing and business development that tell me that they "blog." But I want to know what they are doing with their blog... are they getting results from their blog or just wasting time to say they "blog" with no proof of success? Do they even know? Or... do they even want to know?

Did you know that businesses that document their strategies receive a 538% greater chance of succeeding in their efforts? No, that wasn't a typo. When everyone in your organization understands how they should be performing, where their weaknesses and strengths are, and why the business is proceeding the way it is, it becomes easier for everyone to work as a cohesive team and to reach business goals... no matter what department you're in. 

A part of creating solid documentation for a strategy is KPIs, or key performance indicators. These data points paint a clear picture of how the organization performs and how they should move forward. They are typically created in associate with a larger goal. For instance, the goal might be $20 million in revenue but the KPIs to track ongoing performance toward that goal might be monthly retention of clients, number of proposals presented each week, size of proposals, or leads generated from a specific marketing campaign. 

In the past, I've written about how a company's employees are one of the most valuable resources when it comes to the marketing efforts, and today I'm sharing a few ways that employees can supplement and support the marketing strategy to help drive better results.

We hear this a LOT. You regularly look at your website. You know how to navigate it. You update it when information changes or needs updating, but is it actually effective? Is your website doing its job? Does it represent your brand? Is it converting? What traffic are you seeing? What ROI are you seeing?

These are questions you should be asking to determine the effectiveness of your website. It’s time to stop thinking of how you see your website and time to start thinking of how your prospects experience your website. 

Marketing analytics can be overwhelming enough without having to translate the different terms included in your marketing reports. Understanding the terminology can be essential to ensuring you understand the results of your marketing efforts.

After looking over your marketing analytics, do you feel like you leave with more questions? You are not alone — our team of consultants are regularly asked to explain the difference between a bounce rate and an exit rate, and explain why the bounce rate matters.