The Tale of Two Ecommerce Companies That Turned Down Shark Tank Deals

April 30, 2015 at 04:30PM

 

Choosing what to sell online is one of the most important decisions you’ll make as an entrepreneur. To be successful, you need to pick products that you’re passionate about and find an ecommerce model that resonates with your personality. With that in mind, let’s look to popular TV show Shark Tank to help you get started on the right foot –– because no one embodies passion and personality like the stars of the Tank.

PetPaint’s Shark Tank Advice: Listen, Learn –– Then Sell

It’s tough being thrown into the Tank. Judges on the popular television show, Shark Tank, will hit you with tough questions and there is a lot to learn from the best of the best in the entrepreneurial industry. Sometimes, you need to listen to the words of a seasoned mentor.

“Shark Tank was a good experience for me in that you walk into this room and you exchange a lot of ideas and a lot of questions in a short period of time,” says Abe Geary, founder of PetPaint. “Mark Cuban’s biggest advice on the show was, “Why don’t you go the ecommerce route rather than trying to build the wholesale-retail network? Go straight to the consumer.”

That was in 2013. Since then, Geary has taken his PetPaint idea to the web, like Cuban suggested, increasing his sales 130% year over year. His Shark Tank appearance certainly helped to gain valuable eyeballs on his products. After the show aired, Geary saw a 55,000% spike in traffic.

“The biggest challenge, and the greatest asset, that we have is that it’s a new and exciting product,” Abe replied.

“All the more reason why the web would have worked great for you,” Cuban countered.

To truly utilize the web to grow product awareness, one of Geary’s top priorities was in building a robust PetPaint community. Before Shark Tank, he used the online store as proof of concept, setting up the company for future growth with consumers and retailers. But, PetPaint has continued to build their fanbase with offline events as well. The product is especially popular as a charity fundraiser and with rescue organizations looking for a safe way to help deserving dogs find a forever home.

Since his appearance on Shark Tank, Geary has honed in on another particularly engaged customer segment: dog groomers. By providing professionals with a new way to boost their own revenue, he’s establishing a base of loyal repeat buyers. Their artistic creations, which range from zebras to cartoon characters, are also a great way to show off PetPaint in action.

“My goal for PetPaint is to take it from a novel product to actually creating an industry segment,” he said. “Nobody's heard of paint for dogs in the past, but you're going to think about it in the future. And you'll have a place to buy it, whether it's from my ecommerce site, multiple other online avenues or your nearest pet store. That is my goal for the next five years.”

SoapSox’s Shark Tank Advice: Don’t Go On Until You’re Ready

SoapSox, a successful Kickstarter idea turned company, had a unique journey into the Shark Tank. The company was accepted for the 2013 season, when they already had a deal with Nordstrom but no sales.

“I was terrified to go on national TV and look like an idiot,” says Ray Phillips, founder of SoapSox, a unique and fun washcloth for kids. “So we respectfully declined. The producers urged us to reconsider, ‘Few people get calls back, so really think about it. We’d love to have you back, but we can’t guarantee anything.’ But we knew we weren’t quite ready.”

Over the next six months, SoapSox built a solid customer base and got some serious sales numbers under their belt. The company also received a rejection email from Shark Tank for Season 6, but when Phillips reconnected with the casting director again at a New York trade show, the producer told him to delete the email. SoapSox moved forward with filming on Shark Tank in 2014.

“The people at Shark Tank are amazing,” Phillips said. “The whole experience was so amazing, I can’t even tell you how amazing it was! When you have a platform like Shark Tank, that changes the whole ballgame. We didn’t know we’d air until for month, so we had a Plan A and a Plan B. We went with Plan B. We want to ride the Shark Tank wave as much as we can.”

In the end, however, Phillips turned down all offers from the Sharks. He came into the tank asking for a $2.6 million valuation, offering 10% of the company for $260,000 in capital infusion.

FUBU founder Daymond John started off a round of bidding after all of the other judges opted out. Daymond offered the men a steep $260,000 for 33% of the company, cutting their valuation by more than half. Shortly after Daymond entered his offer, Lori Greiner and Robert Herjavec entered back into the mix, offering $1 Million. Lori and Robert saw the product moving in a different direction, and they said in order to move in that direction, they needed to own the company outright.

Phillips rejected the offers, but has been riding the Shark Tank wave ever since. SoapSox is now available in 51 Nordstroms across the country as well as online.

Shark Tank Tips for Entrepreneurs –– Whether You’re in the Tank or Not

Proprietary is Priority

Your product must be safe from copying. The Sharks are keen to deal with products, processes and technologies that are securely owned, so it’s best to try for a patent. Being proprietary helps prevent any competition from popping up by mimicking your property. You also have the ability to license your property to other businesses, guaranteeing yourself a nice check in the mail for little effort.

Complacency Will Sink You

Did you know sharks will die if they stay still? So will entrepreneurs. According to the Sharks, you must constantly be on top of your game, innovating and improving your business. Whether it be a rise in sales from an amazing press release, a stellar marketing strategy, or a climb in your SEO rank, what goes up must come down. Being able to constantly adapt to changing technology, consumer behaviors and competition is something a successful entrepreneur cannot survive without. Your products can fade into obscurity quickly, so, as un-inspirational as it sounds, it’s best to be planning for the worst –– consistently pushing the limits of your creativity to stand out.

Economies of Scale

An investor isn’t interested in dumping some money on a product with low margins, so it’s best that you reduce the cost to manufacture your product. Being able to produce your product as cheaply and efficiently as possible in large volumes, while retaining its quality, allows you to lower your cost of goods sold (COGS) and improve your returns, overall increasing company revenue.

Passion Alone Just Won’t Cut It

If you aren’t motivated and don’t believe in your product, you’re just treading water. But investors are merciless, and you won’t receive an investment on passion alone, no matter how committed and emotional your pitch is. Numbers speak louder than words, and actions speak louder than promises. Your product’s past sales revenue, market performance, and potential competition are what earn you an investment.

Read more...
via IFTTT

The Social Media Content Calendar Every Marketer Needs [Free Template]

April 30, 2015 at 02:00PM

We have a 9 a.m. meeting? Yikes! Hold on -- let me just click around the internet like a maniac to find something for the morning tweet.
Sound familiar? Scrambling for social content is not a new phenomenon. We have meetings. We run late. Things come up. And it's really hard to get any meaningful amount of work done when you have the next social media update looming over your head every 30, 60, 90 minutes. It all moves so fast that you might periodically feel a case of the vapors coming on, which is why pre-scheduled social media content should be your new best friend.

Want to Get Promoted? Impress Your Boss by Doing These 7 Things

April 30, 2015 at 12:00PM

I once made a really big hiring mistake.
After a series of promising interviews, I took on an intern whose level of professionalism, performance, and overall demeanor quickly took a turn for the worst.
After a discussion with my supervisor, we agreed that it was in the best interest of everyone to not move forward with the internship. However, when we sat her down to talk, she countered our concerns about her performance by saying, "But, but ... I was driving all the way from [insert desolate location here] to get here every day."

Inside Warby Parker: How Vision, Mission & Culture Helped Build a Billion Dollar Business

April 30, 2015 at 11:00AM

Most business school conversations over beers end with a hangover -- Neil Blumenthal’s ended with a billion dollar business.
If you aren’t familiar with Neil’s name, you’re likely familiar with the brand he and his co-founders started: Warby Parker. Because Warby’s brand is ubiquitous thanks to the company’s product and marketing success, many consumers all over the globe think of the company as an overnight success. In reality, the brand is a product of years of blood, sweat, and of course, a few beers.

Hashing Out Hashtags: What They Are & How to Use Them [Infographic]

April 29, 2015 at 06:00PM

What do overalls, Mariah Carey's Christmas album, and hashtags all have in common?

Believe it or not, they are all products of the 90s.

While hashtags didn't rise to popularity (with the help of Twitter) until after 2007, they were actually first used during the late 90s to categorize items into groups on IRC (Internet Relay Chat.)

Since then, you've seen them, you've used them, but it's likely that you're not quite sure why.

You're not alone.

While the concept has been around for a while, the social application of hashtags is still a relatively new concept for marketers transitioning away from traditional marketing methods. And like most new things, hashtagging has left us with a ton of questions.

How many is too many? How long should they be? Where should you use them? And perhaps most importantly, why should you use them?

For answers to all of your burning hashtag questions, check out this infographic from SurePayroll. Not only have they laid out the basics for hashtagging on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, but they also dive into some tips to help you run a successful hashtag campaign.

Read more...
via IFTTT

8 Email Workflow Tips for the College Admissions Process

April 29, 2015 at 05:00PM

One of the key elements of inbound marketing is the use of automated workflows because they allow you to better engage leads through a set of targeted emails, while saving time by automating the process. Workflows can be a helpful addition for any industry, but especially for higher education.

The college admissions process is a perfect use case for automated workflows, as they can be used to move a potential student along the buyer’s journey to an end goal – in this case, to apply to your institution. 

Workflows can be used to help nurture potential students through their buyer’s journey with your institution. They might enter the workflow after their first interaction with your institution and end it with full knowledge and a desire to apply.

The series of emails can help tell your institution’s story while building a relationship with the students, from the initial introduction about your school and the exciting open house event coming up to downloading checklists or the application.

Workflows are also a great way to promote content up front without having to do one-off emails every week. This frees you up to spend more time on strategizing other ways to reach your potential students.

In order to have the most success with workflows, you need to tie them into your overall marketing strategy. Begin by brainstorming what it is you want the workflow to achieve. General awareness? Greater number of applicants? Then, consider the messaging that would best speak to your target audience. Once you have that figured out, plan out how you want the workflows to run and what content each one will contain.

Take these 8 tips into consideration when thinking about setting up an automated workflow for the college admissions process:

1) Use the "Submit a Form" Trigger

Use a workflow for the application correspondence. Instead of having admissions counselors follow-up with each student who has started, but hasn't yet submitted, an application, they could set up a workflow to automate this process. When a student creates an ID or login for the application, they could get enrolled into a workflow that gently reminds them of their application and provides tips and contact information if they need help.

Students who do submit an application would get enrolled into a different workflow that provides information on the next steps, like filling out financial aid and putting down a deposit.

2) Be Timely

Use fixed date workflows in the college admissions process to help with timeliness! Set up workflows around certain dates for things like FAFSA deadlines and ACT or SAT dates.

Make sure to back track and set the trigger date several weeks before the deadline so you can provide helpful tips and reminders beforehand.

3) Consider the Graduation Year

Many high school students begin the college search and application process their junior year, but some do it their sophomore year, while others wait until senior year. Adding a field for "graduation year" to your forms could be the starting point for a standard workflow.

If the student graduates high school in 2016, he or she is most likely a senior and would enter the senior, more specific workflow. If the student graduates in 2018, he or she is probably a sophomore, so they would enter the workflow that has more top of the funnel information.

Either way, be strategic and use the buyer's journey as your guide for email content. Begin with introductory, basic content in the first few emails and segue into more personalized, deeper content for the last few emails.

4) Don't Forget the Parents!

The majority of parents help with the college application process, and many of them want to be just as involved as the student. Creating a workflow for the parents, based on self-selection, will provide them with helpful information alongside what their student may or may not be receiving.

5) College-Specific CTAs

When planning your workflow content, make sure to include a call-to-action (CTA) in every email. Common CTA examples include a link pushing them to your site to learn more, a checklist to download and use for their campus visit or an application to fill out.

These CTAs should drive them take an action with your institution. The information they fill out to receive a checklist or other pieces of content will help you learn more about them and better understand where they are in the buyer’s journey.

6) Consider Additional Email Blasts

Don’t overload your potential students with multiple emails per week. That’s the quickest way for them to tune out everything you send. Instead, make a schedule that includes both workflow emails and one-off emails.

Set the workflow delays to work alongside the other email blasts, making sure both schedules are coordinated before you hit send.

7) Segment Your Lists

Set up multiple smart lists for different buyer personas, or potential student groups. An example of this could be students identifying which major or department they are interested in, and subsequently being pulled into the corresponding smart list.

Then, you could build workflows around each major or department, and place each list of students into the appropriate workflow.

8) Use Multiple Workflows Together

In some cases, it can be beneficial to use two workflows in conjunction with each other. Let's say you have a general workflow that provides top of the funnel information to students about your institution.

Once a student takes an action, they can get taken out of that workflow and pushed into an additional workflow that is more middle or bottom of the funnel. This can be done by creating a smart list that would be used as the goal list in the first workflow and the starting list of the second workflow.

Utilizing automated email workflows for the college admissions process is a no-brainer. It is a simple way to have consistent contact with potential students while moving them closer to your end goal. Additionally, workflows can work alongside blog posts, social posts and additional inbound marketing activities to achieve the greatest outcome for your institution. Download our white paper to learn more about using inbound marketing for the college admissions process.

Read more...
via IFTTT

How to Tweet on Twitter: 12 Templates to Get You Started

April 29, 2015 at 02:00PM

Not sure what to tweet to get your followers to engage with you? Whether you're just getting started with Twitter or you've been using it for a while, but feel like you're in a rut, it can be hard to come up with new ideas for what to publish.

Sometimes, it can help to follow some tried-and-true tropes. Here are several Twitter "formulas" you can follow. Just make the following changes to each one:

• Fill in the "blanks" where the [BRACKETS] are.
• Edit the #hashtag with the actual hashtag you'd like to use (e.g. #marketingtips). Hashtags make it easy for people to find your tweets when they're tracking that hashtag, so you can find more relevant followers.
• Replace @TwitterHandle with a person's real Twitter handle (e.g. @HubSpot).

Note: Each audience is different, so you may find that some of these formulas work better than others to grow your following.

(And to learn how to tweet to grow your Twitter following, download our free guide here.)

How Do You Tweet? Here Are 12 Templates You Can Customize

1) The Basic Shared Content Tweet

[ARTICLE TITLE]: http://ift.tt/1rf7FGW by @TwitterHandle

This go-to tweet style is the easiest to execute, but many times, people forget to include a relevant hashtag and the author's Twitter handle. The hashtag could get your tweet more exposure to people following that hashtag. And always credit your information source (the author or the site you got the post from) on social media. It'll show appreciation to the original content creator -- and they might return the favor by sharing some of your content with their followers.

Example: 12 Tweet Formulas to Get You Started on Twitter: http://hub.am/Sgsvt5 #twittertips by @HubSpot

2) The Shared Content Tweet With Commentary

[YOUR OPINION] > [ARTICLE TITLE]: http://ift.tt/1rf7FGW by @TwitterHandle

[ARTICLE TITLE]: http://ift.tt/1rf7FGW by @TwitterHandle > [YOUR OPINION]

Like the basic shared content tweet, this tweet includes the article title (or a shortened version), a relevant hashtag, and the author's Twitter handle. But in addition, you'll add your opinion -- whether it's a quick "+1" or something a little more in-depth. Something personal like that might increase engagement rate with your tweet.

Example: Bookmarking this. > 12 Tweet Formulas to Get You Started on Twitter: http://hub.am/Sgsvt5 #twittertips by @HubSpot

3) The Retweet With Commentary

Typically, when you want to retweet someone's tweet, you'll simply click the retweet button and share the content with your followers. But if you want to know how to retweet with a little flavor, we're going to show you. There are two ways to add commentary to a retweet: using the "retweet with comment" feature or composing a new tweet and publishing it manually.

a) Using the "retweet with comment" feature.

[YOUR OPINION] #hashtag

[EMBEDDED ORIGINAL TWEET]

The "retweet with comment" feature allows you to embed an original tweet within your own message, and then comment on it in up to 116 characters. To do this, click the retweet icon at the bottom of the tweet. In the window that appears, add your comment to the "Add a Comment" section (and include a hashtag, if you so desire).

Example:

(For more details on how this feature works, read this blog post.)

b) Manually retweeting with commentary.

[YOUR OPINION] #hashtag - RT @TwitterHandle [ARTICLE TITLE] - http://url.com 

To retweet with commentary in this way, simply copy and paste the person's tweet into a brand new tweet, preface the tweet with RT @TwitterHandle, and add commentary to the beginning. If you modify their tweet at all (e.g. to make the tweet a bit shorter, allowing more room for your comment), use MT -- which stands for "modified tweet" -- instead of RT.

Example: #7 is important but often forgotten. - RT @mvolpe "10 Things Great Marketers Do Every Day" http://hub.am/1m6RPK4 by @kellykranz

4) The .@TwitterHandle Tweet

.@TwitterHandle [REST OF TWEET]

If you put someone's Twitter handle at the very beginning of your tweet, Twitter assumes you're @replying to that person -- so they omit that tweet from showing up on your Twitter followers' feeds. While this is usually a good thing (otherwise, your feed might get taken over by @reply tweets), there may be times when you want your followers to see that tweet on their feeds. To do that, simply add a period right before their Twitter handle.

Example: .@HubSpot redesigned their blog! Check it out here: http://blog.hubspot.com #webredesign

5) The Problem/Solution Tweet

Don't let your [ASSET] [NEGATIVE RESULT]. Find out how to [GOAL] here: http://ift.tt/1rf7FGW

Fear is a powerful motivator. Nobody wants to suck, or fail, or flounder, or fall short, or whatever [negative result] you use. And if they do, they want to learn how to remedy the situation, fast -- that's where you can help them. Also, if there's a relevant hashtag you can use here, don't forget to include it!

Example: Don't let your blog fall into a rut. Find out how to churn out new blog posts quickly: http://hub.am/1nD3y5M #blogging

6) The Stat or Fact Tweet

Did you know that [STAT]? http://ift.tt/1rf7FGW

Don't just find any old data point here -- find something that will really intrigue your target audience. Once they get this little preview, they could want to read the full story to understand (1) why this data point is true, and (2) what they should do about it. Just be sure your statistic is recent and from a reputable source.

Example: Did you know 6.5% of blog posts are published on the weekends & they get 18% of all social shares? http://hub.am/1otH7QF #blogging

7) The Endorsement Tweet

I loved this article by @TwitterHandle about [TOPIC] - http://url.com #hashtag

Lots of valuable info on [TOPIC] in this article by @TwitterHandle - http://url.com #hashtag

This tweet can take many forms, but instead of tweeting a basic shared content tweet, you're adding your endorsement to the tweet and possibly including info on why you enjoyed the piece.

Example: I loved this article by @lkolo25 about how to not screw up your landing pages - http://hub.am/1p2LQwy #leadgen

8) The Embedded SlideShare Tweet

[PRESENTATION TITLE]: http://ift.tt/1rf7FGW by @TwitterHandle

Did you know you can embed a SlideShare presentation directly into a tweet? That way, your followers can flip through the presentation without ever having to leave Twitter (or the page a tweet is embedded on).

To embed a SlideShare presentation into a tweet, all you have to do is link to the presentation and it will embed automatically. This is also true for documents and videos from SlideShare as well.

Example:

20 Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Pinterest Features You Didn't Know Existed: http://t.co/yLFzTr392P via @HubSpot #socialmediatips

— Lindsay Kolowich (@lkolo25) April 27, 2015

9) The Question Tweet

[QUESTION] #hashtag

[QUESTION] - http://ift.tt/1rf7FGW

Twitter, like all social networks, is a two-way conversion. You should regularly ask your followers questions. These can be tied to an article you've read or could be something a little more random (though still tied to your brand). Not every tweet needs to drive traffic to a website page.

Example: What tool do you use to schedule your social media posts? #socialmedia

10) The Tip or Advice Tweet

[YOUR OWN WORDS OF WISDOM] #hashtag 

[QUESTION] #hashtag 1) [ANSWER #1] 2) [ANSWER #2] 3) [ANSWER #3]

Again, not every tweet needs to drive traffic to a website page -- in fact, tweeting bits of advice that obviously aren't traffic drivers is a great way to build credibility. Tweets like this are retweeted frequently and can get you more engagement and followers, so don't look as a "sacrifice."

Example: Do you pass reshare test? Be valuable on #socialmedia: 1) Provide information 2) Provide analysis 3) Provide assistance 4) Be entertaining.

11) The Inspiring Quote

"[QUOTE]" - @TwitterHandle #quote 

"[QUOTE]" - [NAME OF PERSON NOT ON TWITTER] #quote

Everyone loves a daily dose of inspiration! It's difficult to research quotes and find the perfect one, so inspirational quotes are best shared when you randomly come across them and get inspired yourself. So keep your eyes peeled for great quotes, takeaways, data, etc. Just make sure to give credit where it's due!

Example: "Our time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life." - Steve Jobs #quote

12) The Photo Tweet

[PHOTO CAPTION] #hashtag [ATTACH PHOTO]

There are lots of ways to spice up your tweets with visual content. The simplest of them all is adding a photo to your tweet, using the text part of the tweet as a caption, and sharing that with your followers. This is great for sharing pictures of your office space and employees, or promoting events and webinars. Remember to include any relevant Twitter handles or hashtags.

Example:

Fantastic shot taken by yours truly from the 2014 @HubSpot Inbound Marketing Conference in Boston. #INBOUND14 http://ift.tt/1ds2ouo

— David Roberts (@DavidatJDR) November 17, 2014

Want to share this post? Here are some ready-made tweets:

Click to tweet: 12 Tweet Formulas to Get You Started on Twitter: http://ift.tt/1ds2mTp @HubSpot #TwitterTip

Click to tweet: Check out these fill-in-the-blank tweet formulas: http://ift.tt/1GEUF5O

Click to tweet: Running out of tweet ideas? Here are some fill-in-the-blank formulas - http://ift.tt/1GEUF5O

 

Read more...
via IFTTT

Which Live Streaming App Should You Use? Inside the Best Features of Periscope, Meerkat & More

Live streaming has come a long way in the last decade. Back in 2008, I covered the U.S. Presidential Primary in New Hampshire with a Nokia N95, and streamed in 3G, using Qik. Other options at the time were Flixwagon and Kyte ... ever use one of those?

Luckily, today, we have mobile devices that can record in HD and stream over 4G and/or wifi. The user experience is a lot better for both live streamers and viewers -- which is why live streaming on mobile apps is becoming more and more popular.

Want to live stream videos from your smartphone or tablet? You'll find there are a couple apps to choose from that'll let you share live video easily with your network. The trick is knowing which one best fits your needs.

To help you choose, let's take a look at the best features of four of the most popular new live streaming apps available today.

The Best Features of 4 Live Streaming Apps

1) Periscope (for iOS)

Best feature: The video from your broadcast is available to viewers for 24 hours after it ends.

Ever seen someone tweet a link to their live broadcast, only to click it and find out the broadcast is over and there's nothing there to watch? While that can happen on Meerkat, it won't on Periscope. Why? Because Periscope will save your videos to the app by default, and they'll be available for viewing by your followers for 24 hours. (Even though this is the default, you can delete them manually if you want to.) You also have the option of saving your videos to your phone's camera roll.

There's also a list on the Periscope app of the most recent 15 streams. From that list, you can click on the ones that are archived, watch the video, and see all the chat messages appear as they were made in real time. It's almost like you're watching it live.

Here's a screenshot of The Tonight Show's Jimmy Fallon using Periscope to live stream his monologue rehearsal:

Want to learn more about using Periscope? Read this blog post for more tips and tricks.

2) Meerkat (for iOS)

Best feature: Your viewers can text chat with you during your live broadcast.

Chat is a fun way to connect with your followers, and Meerkat takes full advantage. When you live stream on Meerkat, a chat stream appears and scrolls upward from the bottom of your mobile device. This is fun for viewers to interact with one another and with the broadcaster, if he or she is watching the chat. The video experience is powerful already, but the added chat feature can lead to developing stronger relationships with your followers.

Want to see what it looks like? Check out the screenshot below, and find my chat message to Brian Stelter of CNN near the bottom:

The user interface is really nice: New messages coming in stay at the bottom of the screen so they don't cover too much of the video. You can also scroll backward to read any messages you missed. Finally, if the viewer has selected this option in the settings, then his or her chat messages are posted to Twitter as @reply messages so you can continue the conversation on Twitter. Very powerful connecting stuff here!

Another great feature: Katch Kats for Meerkat lets broadcasters record and post their live streams to YouTube.

Whereas Periscope automatically records your live stream and gives broadcasters the option of saving it to their camera rolls, Meerkat doesn't automatically record it. However, if you use the #katch hashtag in your broadcast title or comment with #katch during your stream, then your video will automatically save to YouTube.

Viewers might request you to do this by using #katch in the comments, but the broadcaster him or herself must use the #katch hashtag in order for the video to be saved. When the broadcaster uses the hashtag, Katch Kats automatically creates a YouTube video and notifies followers by posting a link in the comments.

3) Hang w/ (for iOS and Android)

Best feature: You can host your live stream on a web page and send followers there.

Using Hang w/'s simple web widget, you can point people to your own web page to drive traffic to your website. In addition, Hang w/ lets you own your own user page where followers can watch your live streams. The app will point viewers to this page and they can watch it there. This makes it easy to promote a live stream ahead of time.

Check out the example below of Jared Leto's page:

4) Stringwire (for iOS and Android)

Best feature: You can set up your own channel, invite others to stream live to it, and manage which live stream is broadcast.

You can also hook up your Stringwire account to YouTube and live stream there. These are pretty advanced features that'll be fun to experiment with.

What's a great use case here? Stringwire is a good platform to use if you want to get your video seen on broadcast or cable news, as it allows you to direct a multiple-camera broadcast and stream live to your Stringwire account or to YouTube. As a long time video producer, I felt comfortable shooting in landscape mode with Stringwire.

Just look at the types of videos Stringwire features:

NBC and other news outlets will be looking at Stringwire for videos to share on air, so in this case, shooting videos in the landscape orientation is the best choice. And keep in mind that when you share on Stringwire, other people could potentially make money off your videos.

Which One is Best?

All of these apps are viable options depending on your needs. The best way to figure out which of these apps is right for you is by figuring out where your audience is by trying them yourself and gauging their performance. Currently, I've got them all. They're being updated regularly, so you'll see bug fixes and new features added. Sometimes an app might have trouble connecting, so you can move on to the next one.

The ability to stream video and chat with viewers in real time is powerful. Go out there, try it, and have some fun. (Then, share your experiences with us in the comments!)

 

from HubSpot Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1JRMZO8
via IFTTT

The Finance Marketer's Guide to Inbound Marketing [Free Ebook]

The finance industry is just one of those industries that's REALLY difficult to work in as a marketer. You can't be creative nor imaginative. Your hands are always tied. There's simply no place for inbound marketing. ... Right?

Wrong, wrong, WRONG!

If ongoing research is anything to go by, finance is one industry that’s seeing an increasing level of demand for engagement over the internet. From formal customer service to helping people research specific services or just providing some useful and relevant advice.

And sure, marketing within the finance industry can be challenging. In many cases, it's highly regulated and sales can be very complex. But nothing is impossible. With some of creativity, company support, and the bandwidth and permissions to be a little bit gutsy, you can make some serious advances -- and the challenge should be embraced as a priority.

To help finance marketers overcome these marketing challenges, we’ve put together an ebook tailored specifically to marketers in the finance industry. It covers everything you need to get started with inbound marketing -- including blogging, downloadable content, email, social media, and calls-to-action. It also includes a ton of detailed case studies from all types of organizations within the finance industry.

Download your free copy of The Little Book of Inbound for Finance Marketers here.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• Why blogging is essential for the growth if your business online. One company increased its lead flow by 80%, driven primarily by its blog.
• How downloadable content can supercharge your lead flow. One company developed an online course that's had over 10,000 sign-ups in two years.
• How social media can build your reach online. One company is increasing its social following by around 300 followers per month.
• How email marketing can be used for more than just operational notifications. One company is achieving consistent lead nurture email open rates of around 75%.
• How CTAs can bring your lead gen to the next level. One company increased its lead flow by 196% in 6 months by testing different CTAs.

Inbound marketing holds a lot of potential for finance marketers in all types of companies, from insurance to banking to investments. Learn how by reading the full ebook here, and take note of all the helpful advice from the finance marketers presented in the case studies.

 Click to Tweet: 

"The Little Book of Inbound for Finance Marketers: http://hubs.ly/y0KWsG0 via @HubSpot"

from HubSpot Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1HQqtq2
via IFTTT

12 Pinnable Pinterest Pins That Teach You How to Use Pinterest

I’m learning to cook, design tattoos, and budget better than ever – and it’s all thanks to Pinterest. Why? Pinterest’s brilliant user experience makes it so simple to browse through photos and bookmark products, gift ideas, or articles (and much more) that you want to come back to later.

Pinterest was first unveiled in 2010, with its very first “pin” being a photo of a paper cut-out of a couple kissing on a bicycle, pinned by Pinterest co-founder, Ben Silberman.

After some early failures, Pinterest caught on and quickly attracted a niche audience, and it didn’t take long for it to join other social networks like Facebook and Twitter at the top.

Now with over 70 million users, Pinterest has become a powerhouse in the digital world. And it’s not surprising that it has become a marketing powerhouse as well.

Whether you’re a restaurant owner, clothing designer, marketing company, or graphic artist, Pinterest is an incredible place to market your business.

So, where do you begin? How do you create a marketing strategy for Pinterest? These 12 appropriately pinnable tips and tricks will show you how you can incorporate Pinterest into your company’s marketing plan.

1) Learn the Basics 

If you’re completely new to Pinterest, this pin has a solid overview of how to use Pinterest for business – and in a handy, easy-to-read, shareable SlideShare, no less!

Being a tad skeptical on using Pinterest as a marketing tool is understandable; with a surplus of inspiration and DIY craft pins, it can seemingly “cloud” the marketing efforts of businesses.

However, if you learn the basics you just might be able to see the benefits of Pinterest marketing a little clearer. It’s nearly impossible to ignore the success of Pinterest with stats such as these:

• Over 80% of the content on Pinterest is repinned
• 2 in 5 customers have purchased an item after pinning, repinning, or liking it on Pinterest

2) Create a Pinterest Marketing Strategy

You create marketing plans for your Facebook, Twitter, and other social media accounts, right? Well, Pinterest is no different.

Figuring out where to start tends to be the hardest part. Not only do you need to know your goals for social media marketing, and who your target market is, there is a lengthy list of factors that play into creating a successful Pinterest strategy.

Thankfully, Viraltag's blog offers this step-by-step list to help you get started.

3) Have a Way to Measure Your Pinterest Performance

Once you’ve brainstormed some content ideas and shared them on Pinterest, you need a way to measure your posts’ success.

As with all of your social media profiles, using analytics is invaluable. Tracking which pins do well and which don’t is vital information you can use to keep bettering your strategy and approach to Pinterest.

Google Analytics is a commonly used tool used to measure website performance, but if you’re not sure how to use it to gauge your Pinterest success, don’t fret! This pin lists four ways you can measure Pinterest using Google Analytics.

However, if you’d rather not use a third-party, Pinterest has designed Pinterest Analytics, and you can access it right from your Pinterest account. 

4) Determine What Pins You Should be Pinning (to Get the Most Engagement)

Once you know how to pin, you need to determine what to pin.

No matter your audience, this cheat sheet contains 22 tips that can help you determine how to design your pins, or choose which images to repin or like – these numbers don’t lie.

Nevertheless, it is still critical to know your target audience. You can’t just make an infographic on any topic or include 20 hashtags in your caption and see your pin go viral.

Understanding your audience and tweaking your pins to reflect their wants and needs will be a helping hand in amplifying your pins’ success. If you’re looking to increase your engagement, create boards and find pins that are related to what your audience is pinning – and when they’re pinning it.

(Attention: This is the most important takeaway from this post!)  Pin content that is related to your business or industry.

That being said, don’t sell yourself on every pin – share helpful or relevant information on some of your pins and boards, as well. It’s okay to be a clothing company but have a board of recipes or your favorite restaurants – it lets your audience know you want to engage with them as people, not just market to them as customers.

For example, at Mainstreethost we try to incorporate a variety of different boards on our Pinterest, but also keep our profile professional and industry-related.  It’s all about finding that happy medium between your business’ marketing goals and providing relevant and enjoyable content that relates to your audience outside of the realm of your products and services.

5) Make Your Pins Pretty

As a designer (and a perfectionist), I probably take more care than is necessary on what my pins look like.

But, even if you’re not a designer, you should care what your pins look like. From photos to vector imagery, your designs should be pleasing to the eye so they stand out in the sea of images on your audience’s page.

Here’s an example of how to take your pin to the next level: 

If you don’t have a designer in-house or on hand, there are plenty of tools out there you can utilize. My co-worker’s favorite is Canva, which (unsurprisingly) is on this list pinned by Tailwind. 

6) BUT, Don't Just Pin Pretty Pictures 

In case you missed the importance of it in the preceding pins, pin content that is related to your audience and your industry.

Yes, you can have a board full of delicious recipes, but be sure most of the content you pin or repin is related to your business. Take care when you are deciding what to pin or repin – don’t just pick a random stock photo and a one-sentence caption, or repin an image without changing the caption.

This infographic features several ways to optimize your pins to increase likelihood of engagement. 

7) Optimize Your Pinterest Profile

Now that you know how to optimize your pins, you can focus on your profile.

This detailed checklist shows you exactly what your boards, pins, and profile need to have to best optimize your Pinterest account.

This list includes links to profiles that set an example of what top brands do to create a successful Pinterest presence – it wouldn’t be a bad idea to follow them, either.

8) Use Pinterest to Connect With Your Audience

One of the main purposes of a social media strategy is to connect and engage with your audience.

Commenting on pins and repinning or liking what your audience pins will help you increase your engagement.

However, there are also group boards that you can utilize on Pinterest. You can create and maintain a group board and/or join others that were created by your audience.

Either way, group boards are a great opportunity to better understand what your audience wants to see on Pinterest, and maybe even an opportunity for you to get feedback and ideas straight from your customers.

9) You Can Now Promote Pins

Many users are calling Pinterest a “sellout,” since they have opened up their platform to more advertisements.

For businesses, however, this is certainly a positive addition. If you know what keywords your target audience is searching for, and you want to ensure you reach them with your pin, paying to promote your pin just might be worth it.

Once a pin is published, you can promote it as soon as it hits your board; but be careful! There are rules to advertising on Pinterest that you’ll want to remember. 

10) Avoid the Pinterest "Sins"

This couldn’t be a successful post on pins that teach you how to use Pinterest without teaching you what not to do.

There are actually a handful of posts on what mistakes to avoid on Pinterest and how to avoid them.

Save yourself from Pinterest disaster with these quick tips:

• Be sure your pins link to something
• Invest quality time to Pinterest so you’re posting quality content
• Making the first boards on your profile irrelevant to your audience is just as bad as not having any boards at all

If you can avoid making these mistakes on your Pinterest, reaching your marketing goals shouldn’t be too big of a challenge.

11) Remember, You're Not Limited to Just Pinning on Pinterest

Okay, well technically¸ you can only pin images, articles, or links to your Pinterest profile. But that doesn’t mean you’re limited to only searching for content to share on Pinterest on Pinterest. While you’re on one social platform, be cognizant of your other platforms as well.

For example, just as you would share the content you post on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn on your Pinterest, be sure to occasionally share what you pin on your other accounts - which is nearly effortless if you link up your other social media to your Pinterest profile.

You can search through Pinterest, Internet searches, and even other social networks. Anywhere that you have the ability to share, it (usually) gives you the option to share to Pinterest.

Sharing your content on multiple networks will not only increase engagement for your business, but it could help increase engagement to your social networks that don’t do as particularly well as others.

12) Have Unique Ways of Promoting Your Business 

With millions of users pinning daily, the home feed of Pinterest users are continuously changing, and your pins are moving farther and farther down the page.

In order to ensure that your content gets shared, you have to get crafty. Use bright colors, feature your followers, or hold a sweepstakes – there are many ways to promote your business creatively.

Whether it’s a blog post, a new product, or a sale that your business is having, your pin needs to stand out in the crowd of millions of other pins.

If you’re having creative block, this post has a few innovative suggestions you can try out. 

Conclusion

According to Pinterest co-founder and CEO Ben Silbermann, “Pinterest is the place to plan the most important projects in your life.” From tattoo designs to your favorite recipes to wedding ideas, user profiles are overflowing with products, ideas, and projects.

When it comes to marketing your business, capitalize on this aspect of Pinterest. Inspire your audience to use your products and services in their lives, or just inspire them in general.

If you use Pinterest correctly, it could be your products and services that users are pinning – and purchasing.

These 12 pins are a solid foundation for your company’s Pinterest marketing plan. And not only can you read through them now, you can pin them to your boards to always have as a reference when you need a helpful reminder. 

April 28, 2015 at 05:00PM via HubSpot Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1GE6g8e

How Ecommerce Can Capitalize on How Men and Women Use Pinterest

Pinterest has long been recognized as a female-centric social media platform with 80% of its total users identifying as female, but the times are changing. One of the biggest differences we see lately is the ability to narrow search results for males, so search results show men's watches or women's watches, based on your interests. Since users are able to select search results to more closely reflect their interests (whether shopping for themself or someone else), this benefits all users. And, this is just a first step in making Pinterest more appealing to men. With this particular task out the way, Pinterest still has a few more steps to attract and keep male users.

Understanding the differences between how men and women shop is a great place to start.

Shopping Actually Makes Men Happy

It’s a fact that shopping makes 64% of women feel happier. That’s probably why Pinterest was such a success with the female demographic right away. However, we must take into account the fact that 40% of men also say that shopping lifts their mood. With that many men excited about shopping, why would any ecommerce platform or social network make men feel left out?

Men Are More Decisive

One of the biggest differences between male and female Pinterest users is the users’ intent. Men figure out what they want and then buy it, often without regard for the brand or the price. Women spend their time on Pinterest seeking out different options, better prices, cheaper brands, and more creative ways to get what they want.

In other words, Pinterest is a scrapbook and dream board for women. For men, it’s a shopping list. Once Pinterest adds that buy button, men everywhere will likely take over the network to get their shopping done in one simple step. 

Men Love Images

Rich Pins with prices and other information do well with women who want to comparison shop for a while before making a choice. Men, though interested in the price of any object they want to buy, definitely react more to the image itself. It’s just science.

Because they’re more interested in finding exactly what they need, men are also more likely to pay higher prices for name brands. Lists of similar products by various brands probably won’t show up in most men’s Pinterest feeds.

Understanding how men and women use Pinterest gives the platform a chance to appeal to a much wider audience. There are already more than 70 million users, and the numbers grow each day. But understanding what men find valuable in Pinterest doesn’t just help the social network. Ecommerce companies who not only know how men and women like to shop but also know how they use their Pinterest accounts can make advances now before the buy button even gets here. A place to do all their research, comparisons, and shopping in one place seems to be exactly what men really want. If Pinterest can provide that, we have a feeling the platform will take over the world—one man at a time.

April 28, 2015 at 04:30PM via HubSpot Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1bPrvaa

Inside ESPN.com's Brilliant Redesign: Why You're Going to See More Personalized Websites

ESPN recently redesigned their website. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Companies redesign their websites roughly every 18-24 months. (You're probably sick of yours right now, am I right?)

But this particular redesign garnered a ton of attention, earning coverage and analysis in Fast Company, TechCrunch, and VentureBeat, among other publications.

So why did so many other publications want to cover such a common thing like a redesign? Well for starters, ESPN's website gets a ton of traffic. In 2014, ESPN.com attracted 22 million daily users, notably more than CNN.com, BuzzFeed, and other high-volume sites.

But that's not the only thing they did. They made one major strategic shift: ESPN redesigned the website to adapt to the person looking at it.

Building personalization features into the fabric of the new site, ESPN.com will now reflect the interests, location, and device of each fan. For example, when I visited ESPN.com for the first time after the redesign, it took a guess at my favorite sports teams based on my location, then enabled me to tailor my view for future visits. It looked like this (Clearly, I'm a bit of a townie):

Once your preferences are set, the website will prioritize relevant content whenever you visit again. With dynamic delivery of relevant stories, ESPN.com becomes, as the company put it, "a constantly updating river of content" that is tailor-made just for you. 

"We're hoping what you will notice is that you are more engaged and immersed than ever, getting exactly what you want, when you want it, wherever you are," wrote ESPN's editors in the redesign launch post. "That's what all of us fans expect."

ESPN was not the first to add personalization to its website, but given its popularity and the sheer volume of impact this approach will have, we expect this may signal a tipping point in website personalization.

Why You'll See More Adaptive Websites

Personalized content on websites began in the ecommerce space with Amazon recommendations, and continues to be prevalent on many other sites today. Shop Direct, one of the largest U.K. retailers, recently launched a fully personalized homepage for its main brand, Very.co.uk. Shop Direct claims that this website will serve 1.2 million different versions of the homepage to its customer base and expects that number to rise to 3.5 million by the end of the year. 3.5 million different web experiences out of one website. 

Spurred in part by early experiences with personalization on ecommerce sites and a natural proclivity for relevant content, consumers in all industries are starting to expect some level of a customized experience. According to Janrain, nearly three-fourths (74%) of online consumers get frustrated with websites when content appears that has nothing to do with their interests.

Where customer demand exists, technology shortly follows. As more websites are plugged into contact and email databases, dynamically producing different views becomes technically much easier. While Amazon and ESPN likely have robust personalization and content delivery engines powering their entire sites, a wide range of companies are using tools to leverage what they know about visitors and personalize their most critical pages or conversion paths.

How to Make Your Own Website Adaptive

Get the Technology

To personalize your website, you'll need a database to automatically store relevant information on each visitor about their on-site behavior. You'll also need a tool to serve up different content based on a set of criteria from that database. (Full disclosure: HubSpot software does this or we wouldn't know so much about the topic. There are also a number of other personalization engines out there you can research, including Monetate for ecommerce and retail.)

Start With Mobile

I know. I know. You want to get to the good stuff like personalizing for brown-haired, knitting fanatics or targeting CEOs who have visited your pricing page. But trust me, before you do anything else, start with mobile. Make sure your website, blog and landing pages can recognize the various devices visitors use to view your content and adapt to give them the best possible view. The reasons for this are manifold.

First, mobile-optimization is now weighed heavily as a search rank criterion on Google. If your site isn't fully optimized for mobile, its ranking could plummet on mobile searches, no matter how good the content.

Second, making sure any person could easily read content and click on your links your links is the very foundation of creating a good user experience. But that good experience needs to adapt as your visitor moves from their static desktop to mobile phone to their tablet on the couch at home. Customer-focused personalization has to be rooted in a responsive, device-agnostic design. As Ryan Spoon, ESPN's SVP of product development told Fast Company, "The last time we did a redesign, there was no concept of a mobile application or fragmentation between iOS and Android. As the world has evolved, we want all our experiences to evolve."

Add in Lifecycle Stages

Think of a brand new, fresh-faced, first-time visitor to your website. Got 'em? Aren't they adorable?

Now think of a long-standing, loyal customer of yours.

How different are their needs from each other? Furthermore, how different are those needs from the needs of someone who has been to your site repeatedly and is seriously considering purchasing your product or service?  

You see what I'm getting at. As an individual's relationship with your company evolves, the content that is interesting to them is going to change too. Media companies, like ESPN, may differ on this slightly, but for my marketing dollar, the most important personalization I can do is to adapt my content to fit the customer lifecycle. By customer lifecycle, I mean all of the stages individuals go through when they're weighing a purchase decision. People begin with needing exploratory information on the field, then progress into more and more specific questions related to your product and company. After someone purchases and becomes a customer, his or her content needs shift again. 

Get Advanced With Interest- and Persona-Based Personalization

The second major personalization feature you should implement is based on what topics are most relevant to certain types of people. This is the strength of a website redesign like ESPN's. In a world of hundreds upon hundreds of sports teams, how do you appeal to everyone?

You can get a sense of what's interesting to each individual viewer by keeping tabs on their viewing history. That's where the contact or subscriber database comes in. By leveraging cookies to store the pages, articles. and other content each viewer consumes in a running profile, you can start to pick up on and leverage trends based on that behavior. If, for example, I only read articles about the New England Revolution and skip articles about the Boston Celtics, you might start to guess that my interests are squarely in the soccer/football arena. By surfacing those articles above the articles on basketball, ESPN would save me the step of having to search for them, making my whole experience on the site more relevant and fulfilling.

Allow Your Visitors to Contribute to Their Own Personalization Settings

Every website visitor brings with them a certain amount of information when they land on a site -- it's kind of like a digital footprint. From the moment someone arrives on your site, your analytics can recognize the device they're using, the channel or site from which they came, and their general location based on the IP address associated with their computer. That IP address is what told ESPN that I was accessing their site from a computer in Massachusetts.

Given that, they then took the educated guess that I would be interested in Massachusetts based sports teams. It was a good starting point because it meant the personalized experience began right away.

But what if I wasn't into Boston sports? What if I liked the Denver Broncos, The English Premier League, or somehow (inexplicably!) the New York Yankees? ESPN was smart to follow up their automatic personalization with filters I could tweak to correct my view. Checking in with your website visitor directly to make sure you've gotten personalization right is a great move to keeping your viewers engaged.

When in doubt, ask -- particularly if personalization is going to have a big change in the visitor's experience of your website. Sales Benchmark Index, an entirely different type of company from ESPN, does this kind of visitor-selected personalization to send visitors down the conversion path that works best for them.

Time will tell if ESPN's website results in better numbers for the media company. The move to create a website that acts more like living, evolving channels than static brochures, however, seems to be a trend that is swiftly finding its way toward the norm. There is still more to discover in this space, including more than a few mistakes I'm sure companies will hit along the way, but a personalization strategy rooted in the desire to create a better experience for visitors holds a lot of promise for marketers and media companies alike.

April 28, 2015 at 02:00PM via HubSpot Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1PRDjHc