Inbound Marketing Blog

Running your business in 2018 requires a bit of understanding of technology. Even the least technical jobs, such as lawn care professionals, are sporting smartphones to check email, talk to staff and connect with clients.

The challenge is that technology can be a bit unnerving for some business owners. It’s not unnerving because it’s technology, per se. It’s unnerving because of the need to understand, yet again, something new.

Social media, blogs, iPhones and Android, search engine optimization, flux capacitors… how do we keep it all straight?

Let me suggest that technology is only a tool. It’s no different than a hammer or drill except it’s a tool that solves a different problem. Until we understand that the technology we use is meant to solve a specific problem, we’ll continue to focus on how hard it is to integrate technology into our business and marketing efforts.

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We are delighted to announce that Tribute Media has advanced from a Gold Tier HubSpot Partner to Platinum Tier.

For years, Tribute Media has been the only HubSpot partner agency in Idaho. Now we have joined the elite rank of Platinum tier with only 29 other partners worldwide!

Being recognized as a Platinum partner is an honor because it means we have proven our dedication to helping HubSpot customers in Idaho and beyond. We also pass along the benefit of our insights into HubSpot’s product roadmap and resources in delivering marketing solutions to our clients.

In the land of digital marketing, we come up with some pretty unique terms. Backlinks, black hat, heatmap, keyword stuffing, schema markup, and slug. These are all jargon, and if you're not in the marketing biz, you probably have no idea what they are referring too.

The age of the Internet has taken the world by storm, which has changed the way consumers act and how they buy. With this change has come a new type of consumer that is more educated and able to do most of their research before they even contact a business to make a decision. It has also brought about a consumer that spends a lot of time online, whether it is for personal or professional reasons. This gives marketers new opportunities to interact with their customers and reach out to different audiences.

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Have you ever thought of the parallels between marketing your business and dating? They are more similar than you might think. Trying to find the right prospects to invest your marketing and sales efforts into can be a lot like finding love. And when you're looking for love (or creating buyer personas for your business), it's just as important to know your deal breakers as it is to know the characteristics you are attracted to. Let's break it down.

They're Just Not That Into You

Think back to your dating days (or, if you're still single, think about the current dating pool). You might have run into this one particular type of guy/girl. They had something that you really liked, but it always came with waaaaay too many red flags. Perhaps you even worked out a kind of checklist for this type:

Unfortunately, gaining followers on social media sites just isn't what it used to be, and the landscape is constantly changing. So how do you win a game that seems so easy to lose? The answer is: strategy, budget, and social media savviness.

One of the most important things to remember about follower building is that there are two types: organic and paid. It used to be MUCH easier to get organic engagement from users, but now we need to work smarter.

Did you know that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations? If someone uses the Check-In function on Facebook when they visit your business, they are telling their friends on social media that they are currently at and enjoying your services or products. This results in free advertising, increased brand awareness, and is essentially an endorsement from that user. That’s why the more check-ins you can garner on social media, the better! 

Tribute Media has been a HubSpot Agency Partner for about three years now. During that time, we've learned a lot. When we started with HubSpot, there were, if I remember correctly, only four certifications from HubSpot Academy. HubSpot has worked very hard to improve their training offerings for their clients and their agency partners.

When we first signed up as an agency partner early in 2015, I knew that the only way we'd be successful was to embrace HubSpot fully. It's paid off in spades for us and for our clients who have done the same. The Inbound Methodology is paramount to that success.

The most important question that I'm hoping to answer is: Is it worth your time to invest in attaining HubSpot Certifications?

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As long as there have been websites on the internet, there have been people surprised that they can't just put up a website and immediately have visitors flock to their URL. 

Building a website is just a first step. Now, you must appease the search engine gods so that your super awesome site can be on page one of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) when users are looking for your product or service.

So how does one go about getting such data?

Google Analytics, of course.

Imagine this scenario: You have spent three to four months planning your new website or redesign, hired the best website development and marketing team around. You and your team have spent countless hours designing the layout with all of the best-practices in mind. Workflows have been carefully thought out and implemented. In short, you have designed your website to effortlessly guide your users through the buyer's journey and convert them into customers and delight them into becoming raving fans.