How Marketing and Online Gambling Has Evolved

Advertising for gambling has changed over the decades. The advent of the Internet has driven many changes in how gaming companies advertise, just as online search engines changed the news and entertainment businesses. Since players have more ways to gamble than ever before, online and offline operators have had to devise new ways to promote their brand.

The best casino operators constant revise how they advertise. Though old methods sometimes are best, the idea in a competitive environment is to build marketing strategies that advertise one’s brand in a variety of ways. Casino marketers who don’t evolve lose their edge over time.

Offline vs Online Gambling Advertisements

Offline gambling companies still use many of the traditional marketing techniques. If you drive on an interstate anywhere near a brick-and-mortar casino in the United States, you’ll see dozens of billboards advertising the local casinos and racetracks.

Land-based casinos market to potential customers directly by signing up players to slots clubs and casino clubs, then sending snail mail and email ads to them for their latest promotions. US gambling laws prevent casino companies from sponsoring sports franchises the way British bookmakers place their ads on English Premier League and La Liga jerseys and stadiums. American sports broadcasts do not have ads for casinos, sportsbooks, or poker sites.

Online Gambling Site Ads

Online gambling sites advertise in a variety of ways not available to land casinos. In certain instances, online casinos can buy advertisement like any other business, but not all online marketing channels are open to operators. Instead, they can build an online presence through Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and YouTube channels.

Social media is a powerful tool to market a gambling sites, though within certain limitations and not always with directs advertisements. Promotional deals with famous poker players, gaming experts, and gambling shows is a still an effective method of getting public attention for one’s brand. Look at any WSOP broadcast to see all the online poker brands being advertised.

Why Internet Marketing Channels Don’t Like Online Gambling

Not every channel is open to online casinos, cardrooms, and sportsbooks. For instance, Google Adwords do not accept gambling operators, so you won’t see Google Adsense ads served on websites. Facebook allows gambling ads, but with numerous stipulations and with prior written permission. An operator has to assure their ads will not be seen by people under the age of 18, cannot promote gambling as a potential revenue source, and can’t post “currency symbols” without the dollar signs being part of a price.

The Global Marketing Alliance found in a 2017 study of 111 online betting sites that Facebook ads were not the best way to market a betting site. Over a three-month study of advertisement activity from December 2015 to March 2016, GMA found the engagement rate was low and getting lower. The GMA’s main reason: the average Facebook user does not want to advertise their gaming activities to friends and family. Another takeaway was that gaming operators don’t know how to engage with social media users.

Other online marketing channels ban gambling advertisements outright. Faced with such restrictions, online gambling sites have brainstormed an endless variety of guerilla marketing tactics. One of the oldest and most successful is affiliate marketing.

How Affiliate Marketing Has Boosted Online Casinos

The Global Marketing Alliance’s study revealed “engagement rate” is an important element of success, with the key word in the phrase being “engagement”. Engagement is whether a visitor can interact with your advertisement page and “take action”. The concept explains the immense success of the best marketing tool online casinos have: the affiliate marketer.

Throughout their history, the best advertisement engine for online casinos has been their affiliate marketing program. Affiliate marketers are third-party advertisers who receive a commission or a percentage for online casino signups. The online gaming site has no role in the way their product is promoted, except giving affiliates access to banner ads, corporate logos, and affiliate signup codes. Sometimes a high-volume affiliate marketer might negotiate a special promotional code for their signups, but it is for the top-end promoters of a gaming website.

Most are not so illustrious. Affiliate marketing includes thousands of different third-party website owners who tout websites, sometimes with helpful information and sometimes not. The best affiliate marketers give reliable, up-to-date reviews of online casinos, their latest promotions, and the games they offer.

How Marketing Has Affected the Casino Business

In a way, lack of access to traditional online and offline marketing techniques has required gaming sites to become more resourceful. By building affiliate marketing networks, online casinos, sportsbooks, and poker site operators have become more self-sufficient and less reliable on search engines for their success. Affiliate marketers are a kind of free advertisement, but one the best online casinos take great care to nurture and maintain.

Online gaming sites’ marketing managers say another factor is a key to success: customer relationship management (CRM). Some marketing managers cross-promote their different brands with dynamic email ads campaigns. Others lean on their call center to upsell existing customers, offering someone who plans to deposit $50 an enticing $100 deposit bonus if they deposit $100 instead.

For premium players and whales, the marketing team practice one-of-a-kind CRM techniques — like flying the $100,000-a-year customer who likes Prada products to a Prada store. The key for these online marketing executives, whether it’s with their customer base or their top affiliates, is learning what they want and then finding a way to give them what they want.

How Offline and Online Casinos Are Similar

Offline and online casinos have certain similarities. Land-based casinos offer comps, cashback, and casino credit to lure both VIP high rollers and mass market players to their doors. Online casinos use versions of the same marketing tactics, including deposit bonuses, reload bonuses, and player rewards to convince players to sign up and make a deposit. Even today, online gaming operators take basic marketing ploys directly from the traditional slots club.

Conversely, a few brick-and-mortar casinos have taken a page from online casinos. Land-based operators have launched free-play online casinos and social gaming sites to promote their brand on the Internet, while also building a player database of potential customers. Though real money online gambling is illegal in Connecticut, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Casino launched free-to-play casino sites to build brand recognition online. There are plenty of other safe and reputable online casinos that US players can try their luck at as well. Gambling regulations constantly change, and thanks to New Jersey becoming the first state to legalize online gambling, others are sure to follow suit!

The post appeared first on TheMarketingblog.

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2018/08/116960/

Big Brands No Longer Get Big Love From UK Consumers

Whilst High Street Names Dominate The League of Loyalty, New Research Shows More than Half of UK Consumers Don’t Hold Any Allegiance to either Clicks or Bricks

 

 

Global brands may have spent billions over recent years putting customer love into the DNA of their advertising strategies, but for the majority of today’s consumers, brand loyalty is firmly a thing of the past.

 

New independent, The Truth Report 2018: The trouble with Real People, conducted by strategic marketing and advertising agency, FKC reveals that the majority of consumers (51%) are unable to identify a favourite brand, whilst the vast majority of us (74%) often feel confused by brand advertising and messaging.

 

The aim of the research was to help all ‘brands’ understand how to communicate better with their target audiences, shedding light on some of the common errors and misunderstandings linked to the changing behaviours of everyday people in an anguished retail world.

 

Of the 2,032 people that FKC spoke to, tour operators (41%), department stores (35%), shopping centres (32%), car brands (34%) and casual dining (33%) were all highlighted as sectors with poor consumer loyalty, often citing infrequent or irrelevant brand messaging as the reason.

 

This trend is evident on the high street, with 2018 being the worst year since the Millennium for store closures in the UK. House of Fraser recently announced 31 stores are at risk of closure after Debenham’s woes last year and the closure of BHS in 2016. Earlier this year, both Toys R Us and Maplin collapsed, while the likes of Prezzo, Byron and Jamie’s Italian all recently announced restaurant closures. And the list goes on.

 

Of the smattering of people who could name a favorite brand – and there were very few – Amazon came top of the loyalty league, followed closely by supermarket chains Tesco and Asda. The Top Ten list of favourite brands was wholly dominated by fashion and supermarket brands – all who have invested millions attempting to leverage offline and digital channels to engage customers, with what appears to be relatively little success.

 

Stephen Fox, Chairman at FKC commented: “Our research has shown that the heady, halcyon days of unquestioning consumer loyalty are long gone. The sea of consumer choice has diluted customer commitment to brands – even to companies like Amazon.

 

“The research validates that we find it easier to be loyal to brands that we either use or connect with every day, so the big challenge is how can those in the longer-term purchase category like tour operators, and car brands increase loyalty when they are not always on our minds. Key to their success is providing a service and experience that becomes part of everyday lives.

 

“Categories including department stores, shopping centres and casual dining are experiencing huge challenges in loyalty and would do well to evolve their service by looking at challenger brands and the growing community of high street pop-up competitors– who are making huge waves when it comes to consumer engagement.”

 

The research also looked at our decision-making process when making purchases and looked to understand to what extent these decisions are instinctively affected by emotion or logic. For longer term purchases emotion played a greater role at the beginning and the end of the buyer journey, so brands in this area should be thinking about how to tap into this when communicating with customers.

 

Insights from the survey also revealed the key times a consumer is most likely to notice a communication from brands, and when they are more likely to act. The research shows that the best time to communicate with people is at their most relaxed. For over a third (37%) this is at the end of the working day and for around a quarter (29%) just before bedtime, with the morning being the worst time to effectively engage consumers.

 

People are as happy on a Saturday as a Friday, but they are more likely to shop for key items as well as special one-off purchases at the weekend, highlighting the optimum time to be communicating for brands struggling with engagement and loyalty for longer-term purchases.

 

When asked which platforms are most credible when receiving brand messages, terrestrial and broadband TV came top with almost a quarter of the vote (22%).

The post Big Brands No Longer Get Big Love From UK Consumers appeared first on TheMarketingblog.

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2018/08/big-brands-no-longer-get-big-love-from-uk-consumers/

5 ways to increase your website traffic … exclusive

If you are a business person or a marketer, one of the greatest achievement you can have in your website is a constant flow of traffic. When you are getting many views and hits, chances are, you are increasing your customer reach.

The challenge always comes in knowing how to get the traffic you desire, and how to keep the customers in your site. Some of the top five ways to increase your website traffic include:

1. Search Engine Optimization (S.E.O)

Optimizing your content for search engines can help in boosting your organic traffic. The basic way of doing this is including the keyword(s) in the content title, header tags, meta description and body of the article. The key words guide the search engine on what your website is all about.

When users search the engines, they find you. To get it right, focus on long-tail key words that could help the engine filter out your site even better. For instance, if you are selling a variety of mugs, instead of using the key word ‘mugs’ all over your content, why not specify and try :”photo customized mugs” to direct your potential clients to your site. Longer keywords also give you better rankings

2. Pay Per Click (PPC)

This is one of the best ways to promote your business to a large audience who may not be familiar with your activities. For PPC, you choose who to share the content with. If you are using social networks like Facebook, you can choose people based on their location, jobs, or interests. Google allows you to get target audiences based on their browsing activities.

To use it, you place advertisements in the margins of search engine result pages, and the ads lead people to your website. You have to use keywords that describe your business and you only pay when a user clicks on your ads.

3. Buy business leads

To increase traffic to your website, you may consider purchasing a list of business contacts. There are many applications and websites that identify direct phone numbers, email addresses of people who may be interested in your products or services. Depending on the reach of your company, you can even buy global business leads and have a larger number landing to your site.

In order to ensure you are working with a reliable business leads generating company, then it is always worth checking out reviews on established sites, for example a review for Pro2Pro owned by Dr Len Schwartz is available to view online.

4. Email marketing

Once you have an email list of potential clients, you can send messages asking for business or reviews. The emails can also be a tool of informing customers of new products, or reminding them of a brand. This is a traditional method of digital marketing, but it works in improving your business.

Not only will you be getting new clients, but you also be strengthening customer loyalty. It is cheaper compared to traditional mail, and you can also track how many people are coming to your site from the email links.

5. Online advertising

Promoting your website business to get to a wider audience requires you to search for websites and other online platforms that can allow you to showcase either the URL of your site, or a banner that will lead the audiences to your site. You can use online directories, or social media sites that give a platform to set up a page where clients can find your site.

In this digital era where there are billions of businesses in the cyber space waiting to be explored, you should create an edge for yourself. The trick is to understand your audience needs, know where to find them in the online space, and package your site in a way that both of you can find each other easily.

The post 5 ways to increase your website traffic … exclusive appeared first on TheMarketingblog.

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2018/08/5-ways-to-increase-your-website-traffic-exclusive/

IoT Security: Why Experts Are Scared -- And What You Can Do to Protect Yourself

The Internet of Things can enable your smart refrigerator to order a new carton of milk for you, but it can also allow cyber criminals to hack internet-connected baby monitors, compromise smart cars, and even shut down most of the East Coast’s internet access.

IoT devices like Fitbits, pet trackers, and smart TVs all make your life easier and more convenient. But since these devices store your personal data and communicate with a lot of other internet-connected devices, your privacy is more vulnerable than ever before.

The Internet of Things is notorious for having weak security, even though the technology harbors some extremely sensitive information. And cyber criminals are definitely aware of this vulnerability -- IBM reported that criminal IoT compromises have exploded by 600% this year.

But despite the technology’s major security risks, Gartner expects consumers to possess over twice as many IoT devices in 2020 as they do today, increasing the number of world-wide IoT devices from 11 billion to 26 billion.

It’s clear that IoT devices’ convenience and savings prompt consumers to keep buying them, despite their associated risks. But if IoT products are more popular than ever right now, why aren’t vendors scrambling to fix their products’ security issues?

Revenue Trumps Security

The rush to release products in the booming IoT market is similar to the personal computer craze in the mid-90s. Businesses wanted to reap the rewards of selling computers that had their own software and operating systems before they missed out on a massively profitable opportunity.

To quickly develop these new personal computers, release them, and, ultimately, cash in on them, they decided to put their computers’ serious security issues on the back-burner. They could worry about them after they made enough money.

But making security an afterthought placed an enormous amount of risk on these businesses’ customers. Viruses, worms, and spam could easily infect their computers’ software and operating systems, allowing cyber criminals to infiltrate people’s personal computers and steal their data.

In the flourishing IoT market, which is bolstered by a forecasted global market value of $1.7 trillion in 2019, businesses are also scrambling to enter before it’s too late. Unfortunately, though, one of the fastest and cheapest ways for companies to develop and release IoT products is by turning a blind eye to the strength of their devices’ security. Building strong security into IoT products is expensive, could hamper the devices’ speed and abilities, and would slow down their development and release.

IoT vendors can gloss over their devices’ security in various ways, but one of the most fixable problems they have is hard-coding weak usernames and passwords into their products. This means they permanently assign incredibly predictable credentials, like “admin” or “12345” to their customers’ IoT devices. In fact, cyber security researchers at Symantec discovered that over 60% of IoT devices’ passwords last year were “admin” or “12345”. And since consumers can’t change these predictable credentials, hackers can easily guess their devices’ passwords.

Another reason why IoT vendors want to develop and release their products so quickly is that it allows them to collect as much consumer data as possible. Gathering hoards of this precious information will help businesses improve their IoT devices and generate more revenue in the future.

The fate of IoT is worrisome, to say the least, and its wobbly security naturally begs the question: what are the current and future risks of such an insecure technology?

Current and Future IoT Security Threats

For now, the Internet of Things is relatively secure. Hackers can’t exploit the technology to blackmail people or devastate entire organizations because most internet-connected devices are built on different platforms, operating systems, and use different programming languages. Developing malware attacks for every type of IoT device isn’t feasible or worth a cyber criminal’s time.

According to Forrester research, though, as IoT grows in popularity, its security will become weaker.

An ever-expanding Internet of Things will need to integrate with the public cloud, which will give hackers access to consumers’ personal data and open the technology up for more malicious attacks. For instance, cyber criminals could hack your smart car while you’re driving and threaten to disable your vehicle in the middle of the road unless you pay them a ransom. They could also hack systems that deliver water and power to your workplace and threaten to destroy it.

It's important to note that major IoT attacks like the example scenarios above aren’t a possibility now. But even though cybercriminals currently can’t orchestrate catastrophic IoT security breaches, they can still exploit your smart devices’ vulnerabilities to access other systems connected to it. For example, if your smart fridge can order groceries from the local supermarket, then your bank information is stored in the fridge’s network. In turn, people who hack your fridge could access your funds.

IoT devices are already commonplace, and soon, almost every business that sells household devices will connect their products to the internet. This way, they can collect as much consumer data as possible.

But if IoT companies think they can gather unprecedented amounts of data from their customers and not make a concerted effort to shield their personal information from malicious cyber criminals, they’ll lose their customers’ trust and business. For the sake of retaining loyalty, revenue, and their own decency, IoT vendors need to start strengthening their devices’ security before hackers ruin the industry’s public perception for good.

How Companies Can Protect their Customers from IoT Security Threats

In 2017, the U.S. Government passed the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act, which sets security standards for IoT devices that vendors can sell to the U.S. Government. The bill requires IoT vendors to ensure that they can patch up any of their devices with new security updates, they won’t hardcode their devices’ passwords, and they won’t sell devices that have any known vulnerabilities.

While the Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act is a huge step forward for strengthening IoT security, it really only protects the Government from IoT security threats. Businesses should prioritize the everyday consumer’s security just as much as the Government’s, but this movement is off to a slow start. IoT vendors like Amazon are currently building IoT security solutions, but their products are all still in the early stages of development.

Some cybersecurity experts suggest forming a partnership between the government and the cyber security and intelligence communities could bolster the technology’s security. Together, they could determine the best set of security protocols for IoT devices and pass these regulations into law.

Hopefully, the government can help protect consumers from IoT security threats soon, but before you bank on them to protect your devices and data from malicious hackers, check out these five ways you can rely on yourself for protection.

How Consumers Can Protect Themselves from IoT Security Threats

1. Choose reputable IoT device vendors.

You might have to pay more for a reputable vendor’s products in the short-term, but their commitment to security will save you money and maintain your peace of mind in the long-term. That said, if you don’t know if you can trust a reputable IoT device’s security, don’t connect it to the internet.

2. Immediately change your devices’ login and password.

Hackers can easily find most IoT devices’ default passwords online. To protect your devices and data, use a password manager like LastPass to generate a random password for each of your IoT devices -- they’re nearly impossible to crack.

3. Always update your devices’ and connected systems’ software to its latest version.

When IoT vendors discover vulnerabilities in their products, they will issue software updates, or patches, to fix them.

4. Separate your home IoT devices from your business IoT devices.

If a cybercriminal hacks your home network, you don’t want them to be able to access even more of your personal data, like information about your work.

5. Limit the number of devices you connect to the internet.

Does every appliance in your home need to be smart? Once you connect a device to the internet, it connects to millions of other computers, allowing cybercriminals to hack your device.

More Security, More Money

Inevitably, companies who sold personal computers in the mid-90s didn’t leave their products plagued with vulnerabilities. They ended up fixing their security issues. And more than 20 years later, business is still booming. If the IoT market wants to live a long, prosperous life like their digital counterpart has, they must follow suit. Because even though shoring up security might cost IoT companies more money now, it’ll help them gain more trust, loyalty, and revenue for the future.

from Marketing https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/internet-of-things-security

The Ultimate Guide to RPFs

Have you been tasked with the job of creating a request for proposal, or an RFP?

Whether you have no idea what that is or haven’t written one in awhile, today’s guide can help.

We’re diving into the specifics of what an RFP actually is, why you might need one, and how to create your very first one today.

To start, you should understand what all these letters even mean.

 

When your company has a new (often large) project, or one that’s more complex and requires a bit of outsourcing, an RFP can help you get the job done right the first time.

The RFP doc becomes a way for you to quickly uncover the strengths and weaknesses of potential vendors in relation to your project without having to spend too much of your time hunting for them yourself.

RFPs can also give you a sneak peek into different strategies you may not have considered since each vendor will include their own unique action plan along with their bid.

And you’ll have this information before you ever have to commit to the vendor.

Keep in mind, this should not be confused with an RFQ.

RFP vs. RFQ

An RFQ, or request for quotation, is slightly different than an RFP since it’s just the quote itself. Here, companies solicit multiple price quotes from various vendors to compare services based on price alone. While an RFP includes a price quote (along with several other specifics), an RFQ does not detail anything other than price.

As opposed to an RFP, an RFQ is a request for quote or quotation.

Here’s how to understand the difference:

While you’re technically receiving a quote in an RFP, you’re also getting information like the action plan, timeline of completion, deliverable schedule, and the list of services provided as well.

But with an RFQ, you’re only receiving the quote itself for the service or products you’re interested in purchasing.

In most cases, simply comparing quotes is not enough to see if a potential vendor is the right fit for your company, which is why an RFP is more appropriate in these situations.

The RFP Process Explained

Before potential bidders can submit their proposals, an RFP must be drafted by the company requesting the work. (P.S. We’ll show you how to do this later in this guide)

This gives potential contractors a better idea of what your company is looking for.

Once your RFP is sent out, contractors or vendors can review it and submit their best bids to compete for the job.

In these proposals, vendors generally include the following items:

• An action plan of how they’re going to solve the issue
• A timeline of what you can expect
• Any necessary background information
• How much they expect the entire project to cost

In certain cases, bidders may come back and say specific components of the RFP need to be adjusted based on their experience in the industry.

At this point, you can either review their feedback and create a new RFP to adjust for the changes, or you can leave the original as is and keep it in mind while considering the other submitted bids.

Once you receive all the proposals, it will be almost effortless to compare each one and determine which vendor is the best fit for your company.

Out of the stack of bidders, you’ll want to narrow this down to a handful of your top three, five, or 10 favorites to consider, depending on how many you receive or are interested in.

From here, you’ll want to spend time vetting potential vendors further to determine who’s really the ideal fit for the job.

Some companies may request one more best and final offer from their top vendors after they’ve started this negotiation process to ensure they’re not only getting the right person or company for the job, but at the right price, too.

While this may sound like an extra step, it’s one that may save you money, time, and headaches down the road.

But this also leads us to a big question: Is all of this really necessary?

Can’t you just spend time reviewing two or three vendors on your own?

As you’ll see next, that route is definitely not in your best interest.

Why Issue a Request for Proposal?

Let’s briefly compare these two scenarios:

• Option #1: Spend time finding the perfect vendor on your own.
• Option #2: Use an RFP to get potential vendors to come to you.

Choose the first route, and you’ll probably use your coworkers, friends, and networking groups to help solicit possible referrals for the job.

Or you might perform a Google search to check out the top vendors in your area.

After you review the website of a possible candidate for the job, you’ll craft the perfect message to reach out and learn if they can even help.

Then, you’ll have to explain the specifics of your project and you may or may not ask them to submit a proposal before deciding to choose them for your project.

It’s not a complicated process, but did we mention you have to repeat it for every promising referral or vendor you come across?

Imagine how long that’s going to take!

Now, what if these potential contractors already knew your project details and they came back with their best plan of action and a formal bid for you to review?

So instead of having to explain your needs each time, you would simply outline it once, and send it out to the masses.

And to save you even more time, it would be up to potential contractors — not you — to reach out.

The RFP route also gives you a sneak peek into each vendor’s real plan of action, not the one they talk you into over the phone or in person.

Since potential candidates have to submit a formal bid, they’ll need to spend time outlining the solution and really working through the problem at hand.

And if they don’t, you have an easy way to weed out vendors and cut through the stack of options fairly quickly.

But, to get to this point, you can’t make this next mistake.

Here’s What Not To Do With an RFP

If you want to find the right vendor, you need your RFP to be specific.

Only asking “yes” or “no” questions won’t get you anywhere.

That’s why you must create specific questions that require thoughtful answers.

Try to use sentences similar to these:

• Can you share an example of how you’ve solved this problem or a similar one for another company? Did you encounter any unforeseen roadblocks? What would you do the same or differently this time?

• With your proposed redesign, how long would it take a non-tech savvy person to complete the new registration form? How much time do you estimate this could save?

With these tips in mind, you’re ready to draft your first RFP.

How to Write an RFP

Here’s the basic structure of an RFP and what to include in yours:

1. Project Overview

Before you go into the specifics of your company, you should give a brief introduction to the project itself so vendors know right away if it’s something worth bidding on.

2. Your Company Background

This shouldn’t be a long history of your company. Rather, it should give contractors a better idea of what your company does and who you serve as a target market.

3. The Goals of Your Project

Clearly identify what you hope to accomplish with this project and what you see as a “win” so everyone is on the same page.

4. Project Scope

The details of the project are essential in an RFP. In the same way you don’t want to use vague questions, a vague project scope won’t help you find the right vendor either.

Spend time really detailing your project scope so there’s no surprises later on.

5. Target Deliverable Schedule

Even if your deadlines aren’t super tight, you should still have a target deliverable schedule in mind. This needs to be included in your RFP so potential vendors can properly gauge if they have the resources and bandwidth to complete the job on time.

6. Possible Roadblocks

Don’t hide your existing or potential issues under the proverbial rug if you want them to disappear. A successful RFP is explicitly clear about any technical issues or possible roadblocks, such as: Are you dealing with custom coding or an outdated platform? Does your team have limited resources?

By explaining these up front, potential vendors will know exactly what they’re getting into.

You’ll also naturally weed out contractors who can’t handle the task due to those constraints.

But you’ll also connect with companies that know how to work around these common issues with skill and finesse.

Remember, it’s far better to find this out now than after you’ve accepted the bid and started work.

7. Budget Constraints

It’s also important to be upfront with your budget too. The more you can eliminate surprises, the better for all parties involved.

8. What You’re Looking For in Potential Vendors

Another way to reduce or eliminate surprises is to explain exactly what you’re looking for in potential contractors.

All you have to do is outline what matters most to your project (i.e., time, solution, budget, etc.) and show how you’ll be evaluating their proposals based on that.

We’ll show you how this is done soon, but before we do, there’s one more thing to add here: an RFP cover letter.

Just like a cover letter for a resume, an RFP cover letter creates a professional image for your brand and sets the tone for prospective vendors. It signals that they should take the proposal and the project seriously.

The good news is there are a number of tools to make creating RFPs easier and less stressful than you’re imagining.

Proposal Software Tools to Help You Manage RFPs

In this article, we outlined 10 tools to help you manage and create professional looking proposals in less time.

For today’s purposes, the following three tools are great places to get started:

1. PandaDoc

To create customized RFPs with your own branding, consider using the proposal software PandaDoc.

Here you can set up your first RFP within minutes and even collaborate with team members using real-time updates within the document itself.

2. Nusii

Similar to other proposal software on the market, Nusii uses a drag and drop editor that makes building RFPs a breeze — especially for beginners.

Thanks to its clean, modern, simple design, it’s also really easy to figure out too.

One of the most helpful features of Nusii is using it for re-working existing RFPs to save you time. Just copy the content from an RFP you like and edit information to fit your new request.

3. Loompio

How do you plan on organizing all the responses to your RFPs?

One standout feature with Loompio is its RFP response library, which gives you instant access to all your answers from previous RFPs. This saves you the hassle of digging around to find what you need in a crowded inbox.

Their magic feature will even help you auto-populate a response if it appears similar to one you’ve already done.

Plus, you can manage your entire RFP process — including sending automated responses — and collaborate with your team all in one place with their intuitive dashboard.

And if proposal tools are out of the budget right now, or if you’d like to try your hand at creating your own first, use this template as a starting point.

RFP Sample Template

To use this template, simply replace or remove anything [IN BRACKETS] and enter your company’s information instead.

You can also remove sections or pieces of information that don’t pertain to your project.

[TODAY’S DATE]

[PROJECT TITLE]

[PROJECT OVERVIEW]

[YOUR COMPANY NAME + BACKGROUND INFORMATION]  

1. Project Goals

The goals of this project include:

i. [INSERT COMPANY GOAL #1]

ii. [INSERT COMPANY GOAL #2]

iii. [INSERT COMPANY GOAL #3]

To reach these goals, [YOUR COMPANY] is now accepting bids in response to this Request for Proposal.

The project details are as follows:

2. Scope of Work

[Include a description of the project and a detailed scope of work here. The description can be in paragraph form, a bulleted list, or a combination of both.]

3. Target Deliverable Schedule

[Add the date when the project must be completed by using the text below.]

The expected project completion date is [ADD DATE]. If this date needs to be adjusted, please include your readjusted proposed date, as well as your reasoning for shifting the schedule. All proposed date changes will be considered.

4. Existing Roadblocks Or Technical Issues

[Here, you’ll want to outline any time, resources, or other constraints that will affect both the proposal and the project.]

At this time, [YOUR COMPANY] currently has [INSERT CURRENT ROADBLOCKS] bidders should be aware of.

5. Budget Constraints

The budget for this project is [ENTER FULL DOLLAR AMOUNT + CURRENCY IF DEALING WITH VENDORS OUTSIDE OF YOUR COUNTRY]

6. Evaluation Metrics

[YOUR COMPANY] will evaluate bidders and proposals based on the following criteria:

• Previous experience/past performance history
• Samples and/or case studies from previous projects
• Projected costs
• Experience and technical expertise
• Responsiveness and answers to questions in the next section

7. Questions Bidders Must Answer To Be Considered

[Create thought-provoking questions related to this project so you can properly assess potential vendors. Consider asking questions that you would in person or over the phone.]

i. [INSERT QUESTION #1]

ii. [INSERT QUESTION #2]

iii. [INSERT QUESTION #3]

8. Submission Requirements

Bidders must adhere to the following guidelines to be considered:

• Only bidders who meet all 5 metrics in the evaluation section should submit a proposal.
• Proposals must be sent in by [INSERT DATE]. Bidders who are interested in submitting a proposal should inform [POC NAME + EMAIL] no later than [INSERT DEADLINE].
• Include samples and references with your proposal.
• Proposals should not be more than [ENTER NUMBER] pages. Failure to comply to this guideline will result in an automatic rejection.
• A proposed schedule must also be included and clearly expressed.

9. Contact Information

For questions or concerns connected to this RFP, we can be reached at:

[POC NAME]

[POC EMAIL]

[POC PHONE]

Over To You

Now that you have a better idea of what an RFP is and how to create your first one, you’re ready to get started.

Sit down with your team to narrow down your project’s specifics, goals, and scope of work. Then determine when the project needs to be completed and your budget before moving on to the drafting phase.

With this intel gathered, you’ll be ready to plug everything into our template.

You can also use this tried-and-tested proposal formula to ensure your RFP is professional and polished too.

Follow these steps and you’ll have an RFP template you can quickly update. Your next project will be a success that much faster. 

from Marketing https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/rfps

The top 5 SEO trends of 2018 .. exclusive to theMarketingblog

Search Engine Optimization might sound simple at first, but anyone who has worked in this field knows that it is a complex art. Algorithms like Google’s are difficult to fully understand on their own without the continual changes reshaping them. Netting a spot in the top search results is no easy feat, by any means.

Search engines are constantly working to improve the quality of their search results for a better user experience. During this process, some ranking factors change while others disappear altogether with new factors to take their place. Whether you’re a blogger, small business owner, or Fortune 500 company, these top SEO trends from 2018 can help you gain the rank you’re looking for.

1. SERP Hits the Scene

The days of organic rankings are long gone, and SERP features now reign supreme. SERP stands for Search Engine Results Pages, or what the engine displays in response to a query. Features like local packs and knowledge panels allow you to better track your rankings.

The ability to monitor how your keywords are performing on their own and against others is vital to your success. The more SERP features you can track, the better.

 

2. Structured Data for HTML

Search engines interpret content through structured data (SD), essentially giving them a vocabulary to use. SD is not a ranking signal itself, but it does allow you enhance your listings through rich snippets and Knowledge Graph panels. Rich snippets can increase your listings by up to 30-percent when used correctly, so structured data should quickly become one of your best friends.

 

3. The Speed Factor

Speed is both a ranking signal and UX factor, with UX currently being used for ranking itself. Since this factor weighs in twice, you want to make sure your pages load in under three seconds to meet Google’s standards. There are various places online to test your speed with several indicating how you can give your pages a boost.

 

4. Comprehensive Content

Google’s algorithm is getting smarter every year. In 2018, it can now detect relevant content based on Latent Semantic Indexing and a few other techniques. After looking at billions of pages, Google determines which terms are used in various contexts to decide if the terms in your article make it a comprehensive one.

To beat the system, so to speak, you’ll need to look at top-competitor pages and see which terms they share. Online tools can help you achieve this tedious task, as can an SEO agency with dedicated specialists.

 

5. Voiced Keywords

SEO optimizers now need to worry about more than just what individuals are typing into search bars. As voice search popularity continues to soar, it is equally important to understand what people are literally asking for. That means adapting to conversational linguistics instead of the normal query.

 

These changes to the SEO industry can make or break the success of your website. Understanding how to track the.m and implement the necessary edits to your content and pages is vital. When combined correctly, however, you can see your pages gain the top spots on the first page of a Google search

The post The top 5 SEO trends of 2018 .. exclusive to theMarketingblog appeared first on TheMarketingblog.

from TheMarketingblog http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/2018/08/the-top-5-seo-trends-of-2018-exclusive-to-themarketingblog/

Building Better Customer Experiences - Whiteboard Friday

Posted by DiTomaso

Are you mindful of your customer's experience after they become a lead? It's easy to fall in the same old rut of newsletters, invoices, and sales emails, but for a truly exceptional customer experience that improves their retention and love for your brand, you need to go above and beyond. In this week's episode of Whiteboard Friday, the ever-insightful Dana DiTomaso shares three big things you can start doing today that will immensely better your customer experience and make earning those leads worthwhile.

Click on the whiteboard image above to open a high-resolution version in a new tab!

Video Transcription

Hi, Moz fans. My name is Dana DiTomaso. I'm the President and partner of Kick Point, and today I'm going to talk to you about building better customer experiences. I know that in marketing a lot of our jobs revolve around getting leads and more leads and why can't we have all of the leads.

The typical customer experience:

But in reality, the other half of our job should be making sure that those leads are taken care of when they become customers. This is especially important if you don't have, say, a customer care department. If you do have a customer care department, really you should be interlocking with what they do, because typically what happens, when you're working with a customer, is that after the sale, they usually get surveys.

- Surveys

"How did we do? Please rate us on a scale of 1 to 10," which is an enormous scale and kind of useless. You're a 4, or you're an 8, or you're a 6. Like what actually differentiates that, and how are people choosing that?

- Invoices

Then invoices, like obviously important because you have to bill people, particularly if you have a big, expensive product or you're a SaaS business. But those invoices are sometimes kind of impersonal, weird, and maybe not great.

- Newsletters

Maybe you have a newsletter. That's awesome. But is the newsletter focused on sales? One of the things that we see a lot is, for example, if somebody clicks a link in the newsletter to get to your website, maybe you've written a blog post, and then they see a great big popup to sign up for our product. Well, you're already a customer, so you shouldn't be seeing that popup anymore.

What we've seen on other sites, like Help Scout actually does a great job of this, is that they have a parameter of newsletter at the end of any URLs they put in their newsletter, and then the popups are suppressed because you're already in the newsletter so you shouldn't see a popup encouraging you to sign up or join the newsletter, which is kind of a crappy experience.

- Sales emails

Then the last thing are sales emails. This is my personal favorite, and this can really be avoided if you go into account-based marketing automation instead of personal-based marketing automation.

We had a situation where I was a customer of the hosting company. It was in my name that we've signed up for all of our clients, and then one of our developers created a new account because she needed to access something. Then immediately the sales emails started, not realizing we're at the same domain. We're already a customer. They probably shouldn't have been doing the hard sale on her. We've had this happen again and again.

So just really make sure that you're not sending your customers or people who work at the same company as your customers sales emails. That's a really cruddy customer experience. It makes it look like you don't know what's going on. It really can destroy trust.

Tips for an improved customer experience

So instead, here are some extra things that you can do. I mean fix some of these things if maybe they're not working well. But here are some other things you can do to really make sure your customers know that you love them and you would like them to keep paying you money forever.

1. Follow them on social media

So the first thing is following them on social. So what I really like to do is use a tool such as FullContact. You can take everyone's email addresses, run them through FullContact, and it will come back to you and say, "Here are the social accounts that this person has." Then you go on Twitter and you follow all of these people for example. Or if you don't want to follow them, you can make a list, a hidden list with all of their social accounts in there.

Then you can see what they share. A tool like Nuzzel, N-U-Z-Z for Americans, zed zed for Canadians, N-U-Z-Z-E-L is a great tool where you can say, "Tell me all the things that the people I follow on social or the things that this particular list of people on social what they share and what they're engaged in." Then you can see what your customers are really interested in, which can give you a good sense of what kinds things should we be talking about.

A company that does this really well is InVision, which is the app that allows you to share prototypes with clients, particularly design prototypes. So they have a blog, and a lot of that blog content is incredibly useful. They're clearly paying attention to their customers and the kinds of things they're sharing based on how they build their blog content. So then find out if you can help and really think about how I can help these customers through the things that they share, through the questions that they're asking.

Then make sure to watch unbranded mentions too. It's not particularly hard to monitor a specific list of people and see if they tweet things like, "I really hate my (insert what you are)right now," for example. Then you can head that off at the pass maybe because you know that this was this customer. "Oh, they just had a bad experience. Let's see what we can do to fix it,"without being like, "Hey, we were watching your every move on Twitter.Here's something we can do to fix it."

Maybe not quite that creepy, but the idea is trying to follow these people and watch for those unbranded mentions so you can head off a potential angry customer or a customer who is about to leave off at the pass. Way cheaper to keep an existing customer than get a new one.

2. Post-sale monitoring

So the next thing is post-sale monitoring. So what I would like you to do is create a fake customer. If you have lots of sales personas, create a fake customer that is each of those personas, and then that customer should get all the emails, invoices, everything else that a regular customer that fits that persona group should get.

Then take a look at those accounts. Are you awesome, or are you super annoying? Do you hear nothing for a year, except for invoices, and then, "Hey, do you want to renew?" How is that conversation going between you and that customer? So really try to pay attention to that. It depends on your organization if you want to tell people that this is what's happening, but you really want to make sure that that customer isn't receiving preferential treatment.

So you want to make sure that it's kind of not obvious to people that this is the fake customer so they're like, "Oh, well, we're going to be extra nice to the fake customer." They should be getting exactly the same stuff that any of your other customers get. This is extremely useful for you.

3. Better content

Then the third thing is better content. I think, in general, any organization should reward content differently than we do currently.

Right now, we have a huge focus on new content, new content, new content all the time, when in reality, some of your best-performing posts might be old content and maybe you should go back and update them. So what we like to tell people about is the Microsoft model of rewarding. They've used this to reward their employees, and part of it isn't just new stuff. It's old stuff too. So the way that it works is 33% is what they personally have produced.

So this would be new content, for example. Then 33% is what they've shared. So think about for example on Slack if somebody shares something really useful, that's great. They would be rewarded for that. But think about, for example, what you can share with your customers and how that can be rewarding, even if you didn't write it, or you can create a roundup, or you can put it in your newsletter.

Like what can you do to bring value to those customers? Then the last 33% is what they shared that others produced. So is there a way that you can amplify other voices in your organization and make sure that that content is getting out there? Certainly in marketing, and especially if you're in a large organization, maybe you're really siloed, maybe you're an SEO and you don't even talk to the paid people, there's cool stuff happening across the entire organization.

A lot of what you can bring is taking that stuff that others have produced, maybe you need to turn it into something that is easy to share on social media, or you need to turn it into a blog post or a video, like Whiteboard Friday, whatever is going to work for you, and think about how you can amplify that and get it out to your customers, because it isn't just marketing messages that customers should be seeing.

They should be seeing all kinds of messages across your organization, because when a customer gives you money, it isn't just because your marketing message was great. It's because they believe in the thing that you are giving them. So by reinforcing that belief through the types of content that you create, that you share, that you find that other people share, that you shared out to your customers, a lot of sharing, you can certainly improve that relationship with your customers and really turn just your average, run-of-the-mill customer into an actual raving fan, because not only will they stay longer, it's so much cheaper to keep an existing customer than get a new one, but they'll refer people to you, which is also a lot easier than buying a lot of ads or spending a ton of money and effort on SEO.

Thanks!

Video transcription by Speechpad.com

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from The Moz Blog http://tracking.feedpress.it/link/9375/10194625

The 27 Best Websites for Wasting Time on the Internet in 2018

There's a lot of content out there about productivity -- everything from hacks to shortcuts to tips and tricks for how to get more done in less time.

It's all about the sprint, the checking things off the list, and the downloading of software that'll block out any and all distractions.

But what about those times when you just want to surf the internet aimlessly? No one can be hyper-productive all the time, and studies have shown that taking deliberate breaks after periods of work is actually better for your productivity.

The question is, how do you spend those breaks? You could check your email, but that still counts as working. You could check Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, but there's something so mundane about haphazardly scrolling through your peripheral friends' photos.

We have a few better ideas. Here's a shortlist of the most wonderfully entertaining places to waste time on the internet outside of email and social media. Get ready to bookmark your favorites.

Best Websites on the Internet

1. WaitButWhy
2. The Oatmeal
3. Supercook
4. OCEARCH Shark Tracker
5. Apartment Therapy
6. A Soft Murmur
7. LEGO Videos
8. Gravity Points
9. Pottermore
10. xkcd
11. BuzzFeed "Comments" Sections
12. The Toast
13. The Onion
14. Cracked
15. Mental Floss
16. HowStuffWorks
17. Lifehacker
18. Mix
19. Space.com
20. Imgur
21. Animal Planet Kitten and Puppy Cams
22. Zillow
23. Google Maps Street View
24. Wikipedia
25. Giphy
26. Wayback Machine
27. The Oregon Trail

Cool Websites

1. WaitButWhy

WaitButWhy is one of my favorite places to spend time on the internet. Every week or so, a guy named Tim Urban churns out one, really long, really awesome article. (Seriously, they're canonical. You can kill a lot of time reading just one of them.)

His articles are always fascinating, in-depth, and really well written. His writing style is the perfect mix of informative and humorous -- making topics like the Fermi Paradox (the what?) approachable for someone like me who'd never heard of it before in my entire life. He writes about relationships, religion, outer space ... pretty much everything.

My favorite posts of his include "Everything You Don't Know About Tipping," "The Great Perils of Social Interaction," and "Your Life in Weeks" (which has some awesome graphics in it, by the way). He even wrote a great post on why procrastinators procrastinate, which anyone reading this article might want to check out.

2. The Oatmeal

The Oatmeal is another one of my absolute favorite places to spend time online. It's a huge library of awesome content -- some comprised entirely of graphics. Even if you've read everything already, it's the kind of stuff you can read over and over again.

Some of my favorite posts include:

• Why Working From Home is Both Awesome and Horrible.
• How the Male Angler Fish Got Completely Screwed (I think I legitimately cried laughing when I first read that one).
• Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling.
• You're Not Going to Believe What I'm About to Tell You.

3. Supercook

If you want to surf the internet in a semi-productive way -- but not so productive that you actually have to leave the house -- then check out Supercook.

Here's how it works: You tell it which ingredients you have in stock in your home, and it'll give you a big list of recipes you can make using just those ingredients. It's a fun way to stay thrifty, clean out the fridge, and make sure food doesn't go to waste.

4. OCEARCH Shark Tracker

Tracking sharks as they swim around the ocean may not be the most conventional way to waste time on the internet ... but it might be the coolest.

The Track Sharker tool by Marine Research Group OCEARCH lets you track tagged sharks -- who all have names, by the way -- as they travel all over the world. You can even zoom in on a specific location to see which sharks are hanging out there and where they've been swimming and traveling for the past year. Go, Hilton, go!

5. Apartment Therapy

If you're even a little bit of a fan of home decor or DIY projects, this is a website you might find yourself spending hours and hours on. There's a ton of awesome visual and written content on here. My favorites include their "before and after" series, their "small spaces" series, and the tours of people's actual apartments and homes.

Plus, they have a whole lot of helpful articles giving tips on everything from how to redo your stairs to ideas for using that awkward space above your fridge. There's no shortage of useful and fun information on here, making it prime for endless browsing.

One of our own was recently featured on ApartmentTherapy too -- check out INBOUND Elijah's adorable spot here.

6. A Soft Murmur

When taking a break from your usual work grind, set yourself up for true focus with A Soft Murmur. This website is your customizable white-noise machine. Its dashboard, available as an app for both iOS and Android, gives you slidable volume bars for five different nature sounds: rain, thunder, waves, wind, and fire.

This website allows you to independently adjust the volume of each of its five sound effects, creating an outdoor ambience that resembles your favorite soothing activity. Turn on "Waves" and "Fire" for the sound of a beach bonfire. Turn on "Rain" and "Thunder" for the sound of a distant storm outside your house.

7. LEGO Videos

You might've seen the recent (and awesome) LEGO Movie, but did you know LEGO's involvement in on-screen entertainment began much earlier than that? Believe it or not, LEGO has been creating hours of video content long before we saw them in theatres, and all of these videos are sorted by theme and story on its website.

For every pop-culture phenomenon to ever steal our attention, there's a LEGO video series version ready to steal our hearts. Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Scooby Doo, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter ... the list goes on. Tune into LEGO's video channel and enjoy.

8. Gravity Points

Gravity Points is a digital "pen" created by Akimitsu Hamamuro, and it is quite mesmerizing. The website simulates the effect of gravity by allowing you to plot small gravity centers across your screen. Then, even smaller floating objects will flock to these gravity centers and orbit them.

The more gravity centers you plot, the more these forces will start to compete, making your screen all the more chaotic. And yes, your gravity points can absorb one another to create a black hole. It's outer space right there on your computer screen.

9. Pottermore

As a marketer, you might dive so deep into branding your business, you have no time to brand yourself. Even if you're not a massive Harry Potter fan, Pottermore can scratch that itch for you.

Pottermore is widely recognized as the official website for finding your Patronus, your wand type, the Hogwarts House you belong to (of course), and much more. The quizzes you take to earn these identities are just obscure enough to hold your excitement for the result, and might even encourage you to read (or reread) the famous Harry Potter books -- something you should definitely do to balance out your time-wasting website sessions.

Funny Websites

10. xkcd

If you're into nerdy humor even the littlest, tiniest bit, there's a lot to love about xkcd. Each post features a short, stick-figure comic strip on humor about technology, science, mathematics, and relationships. The guy behind it is Randall Munroe, who worked on robots at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia before starting this blog.

Below is an example of one of his comic strips. (He always includes a joke in the comic strip image's alt text, so if you look at the strips on the xkcd website, be sure to hover your mouse over the image to catch those jokes.)

Source: xkcd

11. BuzzFeed "Comments" Sections

You already know BuzzFeed is a great place to waste time on the internet, but we're looking beyond the actual article here. Scroll down to the "comments" section of pretty much any article for a hilarious showcase of the crazy (I mean crazy) stuff people are saying. I find it especially entertaining to read the comments on benign topics that shouldn't make people so irate, but do anyway.

12. The Toast

If you're into great (and hilarious) fiction writing, then you'll definitely want to bookmark this site. Every day, writers Nicole Cliffe and Mallory Ortberg publish a post on "everything from literary characters that never were to female pickpockets of Gold Rush-era San Francisco," reads their About page.

To get an idea of whether it's up your alley, start with their post, "A Day in the Life of Seth MacFarlane, Human Male (Definitely Not a Swarm of Hyper-Alert Bees and a Metal Jaw.)" It's just so good.

13. The Onion

If you haven't spent some quality time reading the online satirical newspaper The Onion, then you're seriously missing out on a good laugh. (And you've kind of been living under a rock.) But seriously, I sometimes forget how consistently hysterical the articles are.

The publication started in 1988 and they've managed to successfully maintain a high standard for humor and writing ever since. Their headlines are laugh-out-loud funny in and of themselves -- from "Free-Thinking Cat Sh**s Outside the Box" to "Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race of Skeleton People" to "Buyer Of $450 Million Da Vinci Painting Sort Of Assumed It Would Come With Frame."

Of course, their headlines being hilarious makes sense, seeing as the headline is where each story begins. This awesome episode of NPR's This American Life gives you a really cool peek into The Onion's editorial process.

(Bonus: ClickHole, their sister website that makes fun of Upworthy-style viral content on the internet, is another great place to waste some time.)

14. Cracked

Similar to The Onion, Cracked is a pseudo magazine for your everyday life -- and yes, it will crack you up. But while The Onion gives you a satirical take on a real news trend, Cracked makes snarky pop-culture observations that are ironic or just ridiculous by design. Sometimes the writers will say the one thing everyone's thinking, but is afraid to say out loud. That's Cracked for you.

You might just be passing time on this online magazine, but with respect to some of its most popular articles and pictures, it's time well spent. Here are a few ridiculous think pieces from Cracked to whet your appetite:

• The Actual Answers to 6 Famously Unsolved Movie/TV Mysteries
• 7 Hilarious Ways Reality Would Ruin Famous Movie Scenes
• 5 Random Questions You Didn't Know You Wanted Answered
• 6 Underrated (and Selfish) Benefits of Parenthood

Websites for News & Information

15. Mental Floss

Mental Floss is a super addicting online magazine with articles covering a really wide range of topics. Their articles are really well written, really well researched, and usually on topics that don't get a lot of airtime.

For example, in their "Big Questions" section, they tackle weirdly intriguing questions like why shells sound like the ocean and why yawns are contagious. Readers can even submit their own big questions.

16. HowStuffWorks

This website is dedicated entirely to -- you guessed it -- how things work. And by "things," they mean everything: from airbags to regenerative medicine to velocipede carousels. They've covered so much on this website, it'll be hard to run out of things to read about.

Plus, they have a whole bunch of really cool podcasts that have branched off the main site over the years and are worth checking out. My favorites are "Stuff You Should Know," "BrainStuff," and "Stuff Mom Never Told You."

17. Lifehacker

Lifehacker is a hub of productivity tips, tricks, and downloads. It's basically an archive of all the information it would be incredibly useful to know, but nobody ever really teaches you. Aside from productivity, they also cover topics such as money-saving tips, clever uses for household items, and so on.

For example, did you know you can buy alcoholic beverages at Costco without a membership? Or that you can peel a mango in under 10 seconds? Or that there are four lengths of naps that'll benefit you in different, very specific ways? Along with the fun articles, they have some pretty awesome, in-depth articles, like this one on how to plant ideas in someone's mind, as well as helpful listicles like the top ten obscure Google Search tricks.

There's so much content on there that it can be hard to find posts on specific topics. Use the Lifehacker Index for an introduction to their top-performing posts and tips on how to find posts on any topic on the website.

18. Mix

Sometimes you want to surf the internet, but don't want to do all the paddling. For that, there's Mix.

You might know the above website by its former name, StumbleUpon, a site (and an add-on to your internet browser) that allowed you to select topics that interested you and then served you various news and information that fit those interests. Today, it's called Mix, and it puts a new spin on StumbleUpon's popular content randomizer.

Mix lets you set your reader profile and then share the articles, photos, and videos you discover from your own personal "mix." It's a convenient way to entertain yourself and learn new things by simply telling the web to surprise you.

19. Space.com

As long as your head is in the clouds, raise it above Earth's horizon and head on over to Space.com. This website reports on astronomy news and trends through friendly, easy-to-digest content that, sometimes, just serves to quench your thirst for a cool nebulous shot of our solar system. Who knows? Maybe you'll tap your inner space enthusiast.

Whether you want to see an object burn up in our atmosphere or get real into the weeds of how a black hole forms, Space.com has something for everyone. Get your fix today with this amazing picture of a green aurora seen from the International Space Station, part of Space.com's "Image of the Day" series.

Websites for When You're Bored

20. Imgur

Imgur collects the most viral images of the week and collects them all in one place for your mindless scrolling and enjoyment. What I like about Imgur is it's usually more timely than Twitter or Instagram -- more popular sharing networks where funny pictures and memes might appear a week or two later. Use Imgur to waste time and introduce your friends to the funniest stuff on the internet first.wx1

21. Animal Planet Kitten and Puppy Cams

Puppies and kittens. What could be better? I have this website bookmarked for whenever I need a pick-me-up. You can check out a live stream from animal shelters in the U.S. to see some of the adoptable cuties in action.

22. Zillow

It's fun to check out real estate in areas you might want to live -- and it's just as fun to check it out in places you'll probably never live, but would love to in a dream world. Go ahead and explore what's out there. You can set up saved searches (some more realistic than others) to relive your discoveries later.

23. Google Maps Street View

In the same vein as Zillow, it's wildly entertaining to go to Google Maps and zoom in on the street view in random places around the world. It's so strange and thrilling to see what life was like at a random moment in time, on a random street somewhere you may never visit in your lifetime.

I recommend the Palace of Versailles in France, Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal, the Swiss Alps, and the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. (Yes, they have underwater cameras.)

24. Wikipedia

You didn't think I'd write a post on where to waste time on the internet without including Wikipedia, did you? Of course not. You've gotta love spiraling into the proverbial Wikipedia black hole: Look up one thing, and then check out something that's interlinked to it. Before you know it, you'll have charted the entire Russian Revolution. (Read: This is an actual glimpse into my colleague Corey's Sunday morning.)

If you want to get more involved while wasting time online, remember Wikipedia is based on a model of openly editable content -- as in, anyone can edit any unprotected page. So if you're into editing and updating content in your free time, it's yours to edit. (As long as you follow their guidelines.)

25. Giphy

When you need to find the perfect GIF, you can't just stop at the first result you get for "dancing" or "awkward" or "animals being jerks." I could spend (... and have spent) hours on Giphy looking for juuust the right GIF. How long do you think it took Ellie here to come up with all ten of the ones in this post? Totally worth it.

26. Wayback Machine

Feeling nostalgic? Check out what websites have looked like over the years via Internet Archive's famous Wayback Machine. It lets you pick a date and see exactly what any website looked like at that time. (For a real trip, compare how Facebook looked back in the 2000s to today. Remember the wall-to-wall?)

If you just want to take a quick peek, check out this roundup of what nine famous websites used to look like. All the images in that post were taken from the Wayback Machine.

27. The Oregon Trail

Here's a little gift for those of you who made it to the end of this post: Internet Archive -- yes, the same one responsible for the Wayback Machine -- made it possible for people to PLAY THE COMPUTER GAME "OREGON TRAIL" AGAIN. I can practically hear all the Gen X'ers out there screaming with joy.

If "Oregon Trail" isn't your cup of tea, the other games made available by Internet Archive include "Duke Nukem," "Street Fighter," "Burger Blaster," "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," "The Lion King," and "Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer." Check out the full library here.

from Marketing https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/surf-internet-websites

How Building an Offline Community Can Help Your Online Marketing

UCLA scientists found that sixth graders who went five days without using a smartphone or digital screen were better at reading human emotions than those who stayed online. As evident by UCLA's study, offline communication is critical for maintaining relationships.

In business, nearly 100% of people say face-to-face meetings are essential for long-term relationships. However, most business interactions exist primarily online.

Online communities can create meaningful connections that lead to long-term relationships -- but if you only have conversations online, you risk losing that personal touch.

If you want to have more personal interactions with your customers, it might be time to add a human touch to your marketing by turning email flows and comment chains into offline communities.

At Typeform, we host Meetups with industry experts to connect people with similar interests, and to elaborate on topics relevant to our product. If you want to host events for your own customers, you have a ton of options.

To create a more well-rounded marketing strategy, let’s dive into the benefits of offline marketing communities and consider how they can sync up with your online methods.

1. Align your offline community with your company’s mission.

Every successful business has a purpose and something unique to offer. So if you want to create a successful offline community, figure out how you can create an event centered around something that nobody else offers.

If you're not sure where to start, ask your customers. Consider sending out a survey, or reach out to them on social media. Ask them: What do they come to you for? What do they like about you? Why do they choose you over your competitors?

Of course, your product or service won’t appeal to everyone. But to foster a successful offline community, you'll need to bring people together who truly believe in your business and what it stands for.

For instance, Product Hunt recognized that giving its early adopters special status and connecting them with each other was a powerful way to drive growth.

The company began hosting happy hours and offline events to bring together their product users in real life and build a sense of community. By listening to this group of dedicated customers and delivering value, Product Hunt went from 40,000 to 400,000 users in the span of four months.

 

2. Determine a goal for your event.

What do you want to achieve with your offline community? Whatever your goal, it should tie into your brand and your online marketing objectives. It should also be tailored to your business’ target audience.

If you’re hosting events, make sure the events have a clear purpose that’s obvious to attendees.

Clearly outline what your attendees can expect to get from the event -- will you provide networking opportunities, insight from industry experts, or is the event just for fun. Rather than considering what's in it for you, take the time to contemplate what's in it for them.

Whatever incentive you provide, map out how it will bring people closer to your company, and how it’ll encourage them share your company values with friends and coworkers.

Hootsuite’s member-organized workshops are a fantastic example of this. They have a clear educational purpose that offers people a reason to engage with their brand. The events are free, and they bring together people who are passionate about social media.

People can network and get industry insights -- all while learning more about the Hootsuite app.

3. Decide on a location.

Offline communities can reinforce loyalty in places where you’re already popular, or boost brand awareness in more uncharted territory.

Wherever you choose to host your event, make sure you understand the local community.

Take inspiration from local businesses to see which issues they’re promoting. Once people know you care about the same things, you’ll be able to create a grassroots community that is loyal to your brand.

For instance, the Orlando City Soccer Club organized a scavenger hunt on social media by hiding three pairs of tickets across their home city. Then, they linked the real life search to their online communities using Periscope, Twitter, and Instagram to offer clues on how fans could find the tickets.

4. Encourage your customers to organize events.

If your business is running on a tight budget, you might not have the resources to organize an event. So why not encourage your loyal customers to run their own?

If your product or service is good enough, people will want to share the experience, and your following will grow organically -- both online and offline.

There’s no marketing tool more powerful than your own customers.

Take kitchen appliance Instant Pot, for instance. Their product is worshipped by online communities, with fans setting up their own Facebook Groups. This has inspired offline communities who meet to swap recipes, and even Instant Pot cooking classes for students.

5. Avoid a hard sell approach.

You'll want to think of offline communities as another channel that targets the top of the marketing funnel. Instead of centering these communities around selling your product, make it about giving back to the community or offering a unique service -- even better if it’s free.

Creating a face-to-face, human connection is key to getting people invested in your brand. If you offer a positive human interaction that really connects with people offline, then they’re much more likely to want to engage with you online.

Grain Surfboards hosts events that teach people how to shape their own surfboards. The workshops don’t focus on selling, but instead on creating a community of like-minded people who are interested in making their own surfboards.

These events drive sales during the classes themselves, and also serve as a powerful brand awareness tool. After a surf student leaves a class, Grain will be top of mind next time they run out of board wax.

6. Make your offline and online communities talk to each other.

Bringing online and offline communities together works in two ways.

First, you can reward your loyal online community members and customers with exclusive access to your offline events, such as:

• Early registration
• Discounts on ticket prices
• Special members-only events

Additionally, you can provide your offline event attendees with special access to online communities, events, or perks. This will help you build a holistic community.

By forming a deeper relationship with your customers in this way, they’re more likely to respond positively if you ask them to leave a review, share your content, or take a survey.

7. Moving forward: building a community that scales.

A community is a powerful thing. When people feel like you care about them, they care more about your business.

But any community must be able to scale to succeed. Once you’ve put in the hard work to build strong relationships offline, you need to make those people advocates of your brand. You need to empower them to spread the word through their own communities to get your name out there.

HubSpot does this with their global HubSpot User Groups, HUGs. HubSpot users can apply to become HubSpot Agency partners, who lead local user groups. Each meeting is by users and for users, and covers themes related to marketing, sales, or services, with industry experts.

This provides an emotional connection that endures both online and offline.

Connecting like-minded people with groups like these is the foundation of healthy offline communities.

An offline community represents a loyal following of people who are emotionally invested in your product. While an online connection to your company needs a good WiFi signal, emotional connections endure far beyond the limits of a laptop screen. 

from Marketing https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/offline-community-marketing