Hubspot Inbound Certification

Transcription

1 1 / 7 Hubspot Inbound Certification Introduction: Below is the study notes for the Hubspot Inbound Certification exam. Hubspot offers if for free and this certification is considered to be one of the most credible online marketing certification. Recertification is needed every year as the knowledge for online marketing is ever-changing. Inbound Methodology The inbound methodology consists of 4 knowledge areas: Attract, Convert, Close and Delight. Strangers are converted along the process into customers (even better, the promoters).

2 2 / 7 Attract Optimizing Websites Website optimization is about how to get people to your site and what to do with them once they get there Optimize the website for both human visitors and search engines Human Visitors Create buyer personas - semi-fictional characters created through marketing research that represent the ideal customers Base every marketing decision on the buyer personas, e.g. product, tone and language, call-to-action, landing page design, blog, offer Benefits of creating buyer personas: tailored experience, optimized flow, targeted promotions, alignment of the entire company Search Engines 75% of users never scroll past the first search engine result page Optimizing Websites 1. Know your buyer persona(s) and prioritize them 2. Build website and user experience that speaks to them and search engines Prioritize Buyer Personas some personas are more profitable/low-hanging fruits Great User Experience "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." ~ Maya Angelou Build a world class web experience, tell story, show them you understand and care Clear and easy navigation, simple and trust-worthy design Use consistent language and keywords On-page SEO 1. Page Title 2. URLs 3. Page Headers 4. Content 5. Meta Description The Fundamentals of Blogging Business blog: a collection of articles that provide helpful, valuable, educational and remarkable content to your target audience Company websites with blogs get 55% more website visitors, 70% more lead conversion, 97% more inbound links than those don't Every blog page is indexed by search engines, allowing your site to be found more readily Blogging can establish your company as the market leader and perceived as more trustworthy Blog contents should target buyer personas => help them to solve their problems Writing should focus on your ideal buyers, not search engines Blogging best practices compelling titles - actionable (how-to), keyword, brief and clear, definitive, intriguing one topic per post write relevant, quality and educational content (posted as a thought leader/problem solver) write consistently and frequently - at least weekly

3 3 / 7 optimize for human and search engines - target long-tail keywords, ride on current news topics great image and formatting - at least 600 words, bolded text for highlighting add relevant call-to-action links for lead generation use social media, marketing (newsletter or monthly digest) encourage subscription use analytics to evaluate efficacy of the blog - to see what work and don't Amplifying Your Contents with Social Networks 4x more time is spent on Facebook than Google 1 billion active users on Facebook Attract traffics and convert leads to customers Companies using Twitter have 200% more leads than otherwise 65% B2B companies have acquired customers through LinkedIn B2B: LinkedIn, company blog B2C: Facebook, company blog, Twitter Use Social Media to: build relationship offer customer service extend reach humanize the brand social proof (by number of sharing/votes) increase searchability through organic search Social engagement strategies create the right content for the right people (personas) at the right places learn more about the audience through listening, their participation, survey Go and find the community (e.g. by commenting on industry-related blogs) Twitter: the buzz generator, random updates (not quite popular in Hong Kong) Facebook: the humanizer, top in 126/137 countries LinkedIn: professional, formal connections, industry/business news Google+: for local optimization Best practices: use visual contents, promote own contents 50% of time (the cocktail party rule), include keywords, include links, post frequently and consistently, targeted contents for personas, post a variety of contents, be helpful to the audience, lead generation offers, contests, promotions, breaking news, funny contents, interact => keep engagement Analyze the results and make adjustments Creating Content with a Purpose Content is inbound marketing's DNA 60% of sales cycle is over before a buyer talks to your salesperson Cost per lead is 61% cheaper with inbound marketing Getting attention is most important Content should be solutions rather than product based Content must map to the right lifecycle stage

4 4 / 7 Convert The half-life of social media link is 3 hours 10:4:1 Rule 10 links to 3rd party articles 4 links to company blog 1 link to landing page Content quality is the most important factor for increasing landing page conversion rate conduct content surveys, build clear conversion paths (social sharing => blog post => landing page) social proof (e.g. likes, testimonials, social sharing/comments) + strong ties (through frequent posts/interaction) = social connection Anatomy of a Landing Page 98% of visitors never return to your site after first visit A landing page is a page specifically designed to convert visitors to leads (collect info and call back just like a sales rep) All leads are not the same - focus on the qualified leads Qualified leads are the people who have shown interests and ability to make a purchase decision within a reasonable period The buying process 1. Perform Research - how to deal with a problem, 71-89% begins searching online, looks for free guides and checklists 2. Establish Buying Criteria (11-29%) - what a good solution constitute, looks for case studies and product catalogues 3. Evaluate Vendors (0-18%) - which one is best, looks for free trials, demos, quotes 80% Perform Research -> 16% Establish Buying Criteria -> 4% Evaluate Vendors Tailor the landing page copy/design to the need of buyer personas The more landing pages, the better => 55% increase in leads when landing pages increase from 10 to 15 Landing Page infrastructure: buyer personas, buying process, offer, call-to-action, thank you page Call-to-action is a button/image/link placed on pages with the purpose of driving visitors to the landing page Framework of a landing page Clear, concise, compelling headlines Explanation (in bullet points) of the value of the offer to the buyer persona or a video A relevant image

5 5 / 7 Relevant testimonials, industry awards and recognition Form to collect lead info Social media sharing icons No navigation and other links Successful landing pages have a submission rate of ~10% (perform research 20-80%, establish buying criteria 10-50%, evaluate vendors 5-15%) Perfecting the Conversion Process Call-to-action -> Landing Page (Form) -> Thank you page Focus on attracting the right visitors (the buyer personas) and the right leads, the volume is irrelevant Call-to-action guides visitors through the marketing process: top-of-the-funnel -> middle-of-thefunnel Call-to-action best practices (need A/B testing for proving/optimization) copy: make it action-oriented (?) keywords consistent with landing page attention-grabbing design/look relevant to the contents of the page test for: design, copy, placement, position, offer, everything! Use call-to-action at every page of the website/blog Thank you page best practices deliver the offer (promptly and as promised, no less) provide direction and next steps (move leads further down the sales funnel) send a follow up / follow up in person social networking options (share/follow) test for: share buttons, follow up CTAs, layout, copy, offer delivery Sending The Right to the Right Person marketing is the most profitable channel, with average ROI of $40.56 per $1 spent Use to: build and nurture relationships, build customer loyalty build brand awareness and trust lead generation and drive sales boost social interaction educate or upsell response from campaigns should be tracked for refinement tailor the messages to buyer personas by segmenting the contact database classify contact as at 'top', 'middle' or 'bottom' of the buying cycle geographic segmentation industry segmentation job title/role content segmentation contact lists decay at ~25% per year to create world-class s identify a specific goal segment the contact list

6 6 / 7 Delight personalize whenever possible use identical from name and address for every campaign use actionable language clear, brief ( sales and sales -> marketing, make sure the contact info are updated, integrated CRM implement a service level agreement SLA - what each team will commit to support the other, e.g. number and quality of leads by marketing, number of /call attempt to engage the leads by sales maintain open communication - weekly/monthly smarketing meeting, campaign and product communication rely on data - use dashboards/reports for showing tracking lead generation and sales results Cultivating Happy Customers Why delight customers? it's everyone's job to delight customers happy customers are advocates (loyal customers are 10X more worth than the first purchase) 48% of unhappy customers tell 10 friends about the experience the customers' perception of the company is formed by every interaction customers are loyal to what the business stands for than the business itself (64% of customers cited shared values as the primary reason for a strong brand relationship) customers value Quality Price Results Convenience everyone in the business should be able to identify a customer with a buyer persona formulate your interaction strategy (e.g. tone and body language) to suit that particular type of persona solve their problems provide recommendations be enthusiastic & fun 3 Pillars of Customer Delights Product: good is better than bad, good enough is enough Communication: personal is better than impersonal Education: teaching is better than neglecting develop principles that your employees live by: world-class customer service smarketing alignment branding design consistency executing with excellence customers are the top pripority 8 customer delight guidelines: 1. delight employees: delight employees & they will delight customers, with good benefits, open management, social events

7 Powered by TCPDF ( educate employees: train employees for great customer service 3. empower employees: employees are the face of the organization, under promise over deliver 4. listen to customers: active listening, show empathy, proactive on social media 5. ask customers: heed verbal and non-verbal communication 6. help customers: solve their problems and exceed their expectations, education for customers, provide solutions with fewer than 3 options, what they feel is most important 7. follow-up with customers: define steps for follow-up, be personalized, use reciprocity, 8. take action: measure and track everything, customer satisfaction is most important, net promoter score (NPS) Trust is the core of delight every small interaction with the customer forms the whole impression / 7