Smart marketers know that basic marketing metrics (traffic and engagement) on their own provide a narrow view, and only small piece of the puzzle. While useful for optimizing campaigns, they are not necessarily tied to larger business goals and objectives.

Analytics that matter to organization leaders and boards go beyond the basic number of leads generated per quarter or increases in lead conversions. Leads, opportunities, and customers are easy and obvious numbers to focus on, but more important are the metrics that allow companies to track, project and predict growth. This is particularly true when it comes to SaaS (and IaaS, PaaS, FaaS) companies and others with a subscription-based pricing model.

Chances are, you're already familiar with Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR). This is a number that investors care about, which means it is a number that companies care about, which means it is a number that marketers care about. MRR, however, is just scratching the surface of revenue metrics that matter and must be measured.

Lead scoring is an essential part of growing revenue for marketing and sales teams.

A sophisticated lead scoring model can be the difference between a sales team buried under piles of new leads, unable to distinguish a good lead from a bad one, and a team that is effectively and efficiently prioritizing their efforts - and closing more deals as a result.

Data privacy is quickly becoming a business focus around the world, and it's only the beginning. Technology has reshaped our privacy expectations, and there is increasing backlash, as well as legal and regulatory action, that has been generated in response. This rapidly evolving landscape will fundamentally change how business is transacted online.

Huge data privacy scandals are making headlines, and conglomerates like Facebook and Google are being hit with significant financial penalties under applicable laws. As a result of the shifting legal landscape, consumers' expectations around privacy are once again shifting, too.

The ultimate goal of any marketing campaign is to influence human behavior. That’s why the most successful marketing campaigns incorporate and leverage certain principles of human psychology. 

If you’ve spent any time online over the last two years, you’ve more likely than not encountered chatbots. And if you haven’t, you will soon. Chatbots, often referred to simply as “bots,” are heralded by many as the next must-have-technology for marketing and sales.

Businesses of all shapes and sizes are adopting chatbots rapidly, and there are many powerful applications within any given company. More and more big brands, from Nike to Whole Foods, have already embraced bot technology, and now chatbots are quickly becoming mainstream. Research from Forrester showed that in 2016, just 5% of companies worldwide were using chatbots regularly. Compare that to a recent survey by Oracle, which found that 80% of senior marketing and sales professionals expect to be using chatbots for customer interactions by 2020.

Chatbots are an excellent reminder that the digital revolution is far from over. We’re actually right in the midst of it. As more and more companies join in, marketers need to get a good grasp on how to use this powerful technology for the good of their brand.

So, let’s explore this emerging technology, what it means for marketing teams, and how to leverage it successfully for your brand.

If you've been noticing a diminishing return on your cold calling investment, you're not the only one. Digital technology has massively disrupted the way business communication is conducted, and sales teams are seriously feeling the impact. 

The harsh reality for many sales teams is that in today's modern marketplace, cold calling just isn't sufficient to hit your sales and growth goals.

Pop-Up Forms, formerly known as "Lead Flows," are a great and easy tool inside of the HubSpot growth stack that lets any website add a conversion point (form) to any website page, without any coding knowledge at all.

Pop-up forms are simple three-step forms for gathering customer information that can be set to appear on any page on your website. 

Here's how to use them effectively to generate leads.

When it comes to landing pages, conversion is the name of the game.

Optimizing landing pages for conversion is a great skill that will open up your funnel's floodgates, increasing leads at all stages. No matter what download, opportunity, engagement, webinar, or other asset you're promoting with your landing page, there are several best practices you can follow to skyrocket your conversion rates.

Improving SEO and growing organic traffic is a top priority for many marketing teams. Yet, few teams excel when it comes to creating content that regularly earns favorable attention from search engines.

Creating content that search engines love means following a set of best practices to earn positive attention. Stick to these best practices, and you'll see dramatic uptick in organic website traffic and leads, along with a marked return on your content marketing investment.

The HubSpot growth stack includes tons of useful tools for sales and marketing teams. One of its most powerful and intriguing features is known as the Prospects tool. It's a tool that's been around since the very early days of HubSpot, and it's one of the most interesting features to both new and existing HubSpot customers.

Understanding the potential power of the HubSpot Prospects tool and how to leverage it gives marketing and sales teams a huge competitive edge.