In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, businesses must adapt to changing customer needs and preferences to remain competitive. HubSpot’s Smart CRM, a powerful customer relationship management system, has emerged as a game-changer in helping businesses meet these evolving demands.  In this blog, we will explore the long-term benefits of adopting HubSpot’s Smart CRM and how it prepares businesses to not only survive but thrive in an ever-changing digital environment. What is HubSpot’s Smart CRM? HubSpot’s Smart CRM is not just a customer relationship management platform. It’s an AI ..read more

Account-based marketing (ABM) aligns the efforts of both marketing and sales to target high-value clients. Both departments work together with a singular focus – to meet the needs of high-value accounts. It’s a way to optimize the marketing process and create more value for all stakeholders (prospects included!). So, where does business-to-business (B2B) advertising fit into this strategy? If your goal is only to service a handful of major clients, then it would seem to diminish the function of advertising, especially if you have a small group of accounts you’re trying to impact. The trut ..read more

Roundup highlights B2B partners that support startups across all business functions and empower growth MInneapolis, Minnesota, October 24, 2023 — Inc. Business Media today announced the second annual Power Partner Awards, honoring B2B organizations across the globe that have proven track records supporting entrepreneurs and helping startups grow. The list recognizes 389 firms in marketing and advertising, health and wellness, financial services, legal, logistics, and productivity, as well as other areas of business. All 389 companies received top marks from clients for being instrumental in he ..read more

B2B social media strategy is all about standing out. To distinguish your brand from the myriad others across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, you need content that is not only engaging, but unique and dynamic. The more that other businesses expect a new and enriching experience from each post, the more they’ll come to distinguish you from the rest of what they see, with a measurable, positive impact on your bottom line. Employee advocacy is the unsung hero of social media success. Getting employees engaged produces truly staggering social media marketing outcomes, raising performance by as m ..read more

Podcasting in B2B marketing has exploded in recent years, prompted by runaway hits, breakout stars, and ambitious premises. For the B2B market, the resulting successes have been undeniable. Around 44% of C-suite executives listen to podcasts, and those that are branded received nearly 90% higher awareness and 14% higher purchase intent. We’ll look at the benefits of podcasting, how to create your own, and which podcasts have managed to stand out in a competitive landscape.  What Do I Stand to Earn from a B2B Podcast? A thoughtful, well-researched podcast is undoubtedly more work than ..read more

Introduction to Account-Based Marketing and its Benefits Account-based marketing has developed into an extensive strategy that every company wants to integrate, whether they are large giants in their space or simply hitting the ground running. ABM focuses on fully identifying and engaging your key accounts and giving them a personalized and individual-focused feel.  When you combine the resources of your entire organization and give them the same allure as a “mom and pop” shop, your brand identity and client loyalty will surely skyrocket. If you want to target high-value accounts using th ..read more

Introduction to AI in B2B Sales and Marketing  The most seasoned B2B salespeople have spent years working out the kinks in their processes, finding ways to procure data when most needed, and halting delays before they start. However, even the best of the best still run up against multiple walls if they don’t have the right support. AI in B2B sales and marketing has made significant strides recently, helping marketers and sales teams narrow down leads, segment customer lists into finer detail, and plan campaigns that speak directly to prospects. While this technology is currently bein ..read more

Even in a world of Instagram, LinkedIn, and Slack, email marketing for manufacturers remains a solid choice to reach target customers. In fact, a study by HubSpot found that email marketing can generate an average of 5.8 leads per 1,000 emails sent. It can also help businesses increase their sales by an average of 12%. But if we’ve learned anything after helping hundreds of customers improve their email marketing efforts, it’s this: Progressive marketers have long moved past the spray-and-pray email marketing method. Today, it’s all about being intentional. Strategy and Segmentation are Critic ..read more

In today’s ever-changing digital world, the need for top-notch content is never-ending. From writing catchy ads to brainstorming email hooks or creating trendy socials, marketers have their work cut out for them. However, with the help of AI, our toolbelts are filling up, and we couldn’t be more excited to dive in. That’s why for this month’s Lake One FieldNotes, our newsletter, we decided to walk and walk and solely use AI to write an email.  Why We Used AI to Write an Email Lake One is nothing if not curious. The world of AI has been rapidly advancing, offering a plethora of tools d ..read more

Many of our conversations with manufacturers eventually come around to a central idea: our sales channels are unique, and only a few companies sell like we do. And yet, when you ask them how a dollar arrives on their P&L, most responses have striking similarities: They make a product They sell that product directly or indirectly to a person or company that needs it In our work helping manufacturing companies with their digital marketing, we’ve found that while they have different variables, most companies follow similar patterns. The bad news is that you’re probably not as unique as you ..read more