The HubHeroes Podcast

Hoo boy, do we have a juicy episode for you all this week, because we are talking about one of my absolute favorite parts of HubSpot Marketing Hub — HubSpot campaigns! And to help us out with this meaty topic, we're joined by Justin Givens, the HubSpot Maximizer at Image In a Box! 

What really gets me going about campaigns is how powerful they are, but also how wildly misunderstood they are. 

For example, when I throw out the word "campaign" to you as marketers, where does your brain go? Ad campaigns? Email campaigns? Something else? In the world of HubSpot, we're talking about something a bit different ... although ad and email campaigns are super dope.

HubSpot campaigns allow you to tag a bunch of different related assets (emails, blogs, forms, social media posts, and more), so you can track their collective effectiveness. For example, if you've got an event, you can tag all of your HubSpot assets for that event in HubSpot. If you've got a content series about a particular topic, you can create a campaign around it. 

🔎 Related: HubSpot reporting mindsets, misconceptions, and marvelous disasters (HubHeroes #35)

Now, this all sounds great in theory, but I'll be the first to admit campaigns can seem a little overwhelming at first if you've never used them before. Or, even if you are a HubSpot pro, campaigns come with so many options ... where do you even start?

And that's why we've gathered around this week's virtual campfire to demystify the HubSpot campaigns ... because, if you care about HubSpot reporting or content marketing ROI (which, I'm sure you do!), campaigns are your untapped secret weapon.

What we cover in this episode

• What are HubSpot campaigns really, and how do they work?
• Are HubSpot campaigns really that important, or can you ignore them?
• What are the must-know best practices and tips for creating a new campaign?
• What do most HubSpot users get wrong about using campaigns?
• What are some of the more advanced tactics HubSpot users should be thinking about when building and managing campaigns?
• How does campaign reporting work?
• How can you integrate offline marketing activities (e.g., direct mail) with campaigns?
• What limitations exist with HubSpot campaigns
• What's the difference between HubSpot campaigns and Google Analytics campaign URL builder?

Yes, this is the title, and we're sticking to it. Let's boogie, HubSpotters.

Now, you might be sitting there, scratching your head, thinking to yourself:

"Wait a second — last I checked, it's MAY, and INBOUND isn't until September. Do we really need to be talking about INBOUND this early?"

Yes. Yes, we freakin' do.

You see, right now, thousands of HubSpotters scattered around the world (including us and likely you!) are slowly, but surely, watching all of the exciting announcements roll out about #INBOUND23. For example, just a few days ago, HubSpot shared some really exciting main stage speakers we'll be seeing this year ...

... including Reese Witherspoon, Derek Jeter, Andrew Huberman, and Morgan Debaun.

As a result, we're hearing a lot of chatter and questions roll from the HubHeroes community ...

• How do I convince my boss to send me to INBOUND?
• Is INBOUND worth it to send my employees anymore?
• I don't want to just survive INBOUND, how do I actually make the most of it?
• What are the best places to get coffee or grab a bite to eat?
• Is it true when they say the magic happens in the hallways at INBOUND? What does that even mean?

And that's why we're here, IN MAY, on the mic telling you to throw out all of the INBOUND "Survival Guides" as you look ahead to September.

🔎 Related: Ultimate guide to HubSpot Academy certifications (all roles and levels)

Instead, let's talk about the MOST BOMB-DIGGITY.COM INBOUND23 SUCCESS FRAMEWORK FOR INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS you need to start plotting today, because INBOUND will be here before you know it, and you definitely don't want to miss out!

Someone crazy smart once said, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."

That couldn't be more true in the inbound space, when you're using HubSpot. You see, as all of us are spinning around the HubSpot Flywheel — attracting, engaging, and delighting customers (new and old) along the way — we need to measure how effective our collective marketing, sales, and service efforts are. 

Now, we've talked a bit about measurement before in our content marketing ROI episode. But this week, we want to get more tactical and talk about the tools of reporting at your fingertips in HubSpot — no matter what you're measuring.

So, if you're a HubSpot user, and you are in any way responsible for surfacing reporting data — or you're expecting others in your organization to do that for you — for performance, grab your notebooks and listen up. 

This is the HubSpot reporting primer you've been waiting for! 

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE

• What has our relationship with HubSpot's reporting been over the years?
• When we think about the HubSpot reporting ninjas out there in the world, what are the beliefs or mindsets they possess?
• What's the one thing you think most of the HubSpot reporting users may be missing when leveraging those tools?
• What are our favorite HubSpot reporting tools and features?
• What are the most common misconceptions you've seen about HubSpot reporting?
• What reporting actions should listeners take right now if they haven't already?

And that's only the beginning ... 

Ahhhh, social media. We love it, we hate it, we hate to love it, and we love to hate it. Still, it doesn’t matter if you consider it absolutely essential or a necessary evil — or maybe you’re somewhere in between, but the algorithms totally get you down — social media is an essential component of your inbound strategy. 

🔎 Related: 8 mind-blowing social media tools for brands (+ examples)

Social is your gateway to online conversations that can inform your marketing, sales, or service efforts. Social is how you can amplify the content you’re creating. Social is how you can foster and nurture important brand relationships … and that’s only the beginning.

What you also may not realize is how powerful HubSpot is when it comes to what it enables you to do socially — because if you think HubSpot is only limited social media scheduling tool, hoo boy, we are about to blow your freakin’ mind. 

This episode is all about how you need to think about social media strategy today, because a lot has changed, as well as how you can use HubSpot to supercharge your brand’s company presence and content distribution strategy.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE

• What do most folks get wrong when they think about social media’s role in their inbound strategy?
• What should HubSpotters and inbounders be thinking about today when it comes to social media?
• What are the most common misconceptions about the HubSpot social media tool?
• What are our favorite features of the HubSpot social media tool set?
• What are the most powerful ways a company can or should start using HubSpot social media tools?
•  What are our top wishlist items for HubSpot's social media tool suite?

And that's only the beginning ... 

If you're a long-time listener of the HubHeroes podcast, you know we're not only huge fans of HubSpot Academy, we are passionate, committed education advocates. I mean heck, look at my own story — I'm here today, as an agency owner, because of organizations like HubSpot that believe in selflessly educating others. 

However, while folks those at HubSpot can provide you with all of the resources you ever need to level-up your career and your life, it's up to you to grab those opportunities for learning with both hands. 

And one incredible opportunity is coming your way in just a few short weeks:

HubSpot's World Certification Week! 

For one week, HubSpot is encouraging inbounders of all roles and experience levels to dive into HubSpot Academy and earn their certifications — and for every certification you earn, they will donate $5 to an education-focused charity, which is just amazing. 

🔎 Related: 

• What is HubSpot Academy? (HubHeroes podcast)
• Ultimate guide to HubSpot Academy certifications (all roles/levels)

Is World Certification Week worth your time? Absolutely. Which is why we're dedicating an entire episode to what it is, what it isn't, and how you can get the most out of it.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE

• Is HubSpot just a corporate ploy to bring users to the platform? We keep hearing this question, so we're going to get candid about what we think is a pretty cynical take.
• What do folks really need to know and understand about World Certification Week, and what the goal of it is?
• What's different about World Certification Week this year? What are the new perks, benefits, and features of this global educational experience?
• How do you prepare for World Certification Week? What do good goals vs. unrealistic goals look like?
• What are our goals for World Certification Week? Will there be a bet? Maybe ... 

And that's only the beginning ... 

OK, folks. We’re taking a step back from our usual HubSpot and inbound fare this week to talk about a topic that has had tongues a-waggin’ for the past few months — ChatGPT and the future of our lives with artificial intelligence now becoming rapidly more prevalent.

🔎 Related: How to use AI for marketing (exclusive Marketing Smarts conversation)

Are language learning models like ChatGPT and artificial intelligence the best thing ever, or is it going to rock our collective worlds in the worst way possible? It depends on who you ask. Here are some of the predictions and hot takes that have been flying off the presses recently:

• Predicting stocks and public opinion all potentially possible with ChatGPT-like models
• ChatGPT will lower the barrier to entry for cyber crime
• Can ChatGPT predict what will happen with banks?
• Will ChatGPT take all of our jobs? Goldman Sachs predicted 300 million jobs lost

But in this episode, Liz shared this pretty rockstar quote from the Atlantic about the crazy predictions we’re seeing come out — and, more importantly, how at least a meaningful number of them will likely end up being wrong:

“Imagine somebody showing you a picture of a tadpole-like embryo at 10 days, telling you the organism was growing exponentially, and asking you to predict the species. Is it a frog? Is it a dog? A woolly mammoth? A human being? Is it none of those things? Is it a species we’ve never classified before? Is it an alien? You have no way of knowing. All you know is that this thing is larval and it might become anything. To me, that’s generative AI. This thing is larval. And it might become anything.”

And that’s why we’re having this discussion today. 

Because while the future of AI and ChatGPT-like solutions may still be murky, at best, to discern, this is still a conversation we need to be having as business owners, marketers, sales pros or anyone involved in the success and growth of organizations.

Oh, and this week, we've got a very special guest joining us! Jorge Fuentes ... 

Here's what we cover in this episode ...

• What excites us about this conversation about AI, and what has us very concerned?
• What are the good things we've seen so far? (Spoiler alert, we love some of the early adoption and creativity!)
• What are the biggest concerns and potential inbound implications we need to think about? And why did Liz's concern cause her to literally stand up for the first time ever to deliver a rant?
• What are the ethical considerations we need to think about with AI and tools like ChatGPT? 
• What do you, our HubHeroes audience, need to start doing right now?

And that's only the beginning ... 

Hoo boy, buckle up, folks! This is a jam-packed episode, and I don't say that lightly. Yes, the meat of the episode is an in-depth discussion about the woefully under-appreciated HubSpot Apps Marketplace ... ... and I'll get to that in the moment. 

But we started this week's episode with the big news that, after seven incredible years, fellow HubHero Max Cohen has hung up his HubSpot blazer and has started a new adventure as the chief evangelist at Hapily, which helps organizations build native HubSpot apps, rather than being stuck with patch-worked integrations! 

We're so excited for Max, and don't worry! He's not hanging up his HubHeroes cape, podcast listeners.

His new role, however, provided some seriously beautiful context to our conversation of the day — what the heck is the HubSpot Apps Marketplace? We ask this question because, well ... let me ask you all something:

How many of you have ever looked at the HubSpot Apps Marketplace? How many of you are using natively integrated HubSpot apps right now within your portal? I'd wager, not too many of you! That's why we are dedicating a whole episode to the topic, so you can find smart, new ways to level-up your HubSpot investment.

Here's what we cover in this episode ...

• What led to Max's new adventure at Hapily, and what is he most excited about?
• What was the most impactful or surprising lesson Max learned about the industry during his time at HubSpot?
• What was the most impactful or surprising lesson Max learned about himself during his time at HubSpot?
• What is the HubSpot Apps Marketplace really?
• What do most folks completely misunderstand about HubSpot Apps Marketplace?
• What's the difference between a HubSpot app and a HubSpot integration?
• What is the best way to determine what apps you should or shouldn't consider for your organization's HubSpot portal?
• What are some of our favorite HubSpot apps?
• Who is the worst shopping offender? Men? Women? Liz? George? George's family? Liz's husband? 

And that's only the beginning ... 

I think it’s safe to say that, for a lot of our listeners out there, one of their primary focuses for this year is to meet (and hopefully exceed) their sales targets. As a business owner myself with my own revenue targets for 2023, I get it!

However, in our rush to hit those numbers, I think we can miss what great selling actually looks like. Yes, you need the tools HubSpot Sales Hub affords you with pipeline management, playbooks, sequences, and more — plus video tools like Vidyard or Loom to bring video into your sales process. Then there are the documented tactics and strategies you can use to make your sales team (even if it’s a team of one) more effective throughout your sales process. I could go on!

But much like HubSpot Marketing Hub is only as effective and powerful as the human-centered strategy you build, the same holds true in a way for how you sell.

HubSpot, Vidyard, Loom … they’ve totally got your back when it comes to making your scalable, streamlined sales strategy sing. But it’s the selling soft skills — your ability to sell like a human, more specifically — that will make the difference for you in how well you crush those revenue goals for the year.

Sadly, Liz has abandoned us this week. But in her place, we’ve got my old pal and former Wild Boy Zach Basner, who is now a digital sales and marketing coach at IMPACT, a HubSpot Elite Partner Agency, joining us! Why? Because we’re going to dig deep and talk about why selling like a human is your pathway to profitability, and how to do it well.

Here's what we cover in this episode ...

• What tactics and strategies are no longer effective in selling today?
• What should you be doing more of, from a sales training perspective?
• Why is role-playing such a powerful practice for sales reps, and how are most getting the idea of role-playing wrong for training?
• Why is using video in the sales process so effective, and what can it look like for your sales process?
• What should you want your prospects to say about you after they go through the sales process with you?
• Why do prospects who are outstanding fits fall off the face of the planet when it comes time to make a decision?
• Why is getting feedback as a sales rep so important to your ability to crush your targets, and how can you make sure you're getting the right kind of feedback?

And a heck of a lot more! 

We do our best to plan out every HubHeroes podcast episode in advance, so we can guarantee you always get the most out of HubHeroes every time you listen. However, sometimes the episode we end up recording is not the one we planned — instead it turns out to be the episode our community absolutely needs. 

That's exactly what happened with this episode. 

Yes, we planned to talk about HubSpot Academy — where it came from, how to get the most out of it, and so on. And we did touch upon some of that, as well as how to navigate HubSpot Academy (because it can be a little overwhelming at first!). 

But our conversation ended up taking an unexpectedly sentimental and emotional turn. You see, folks, when we spend so much time thinking about our content and are strategies as purely transactional, we can sometimes forget what impact you can have as an individual or an organization, when you educate to serve.

Hopefully this episode reminds you of that.

And don't forget to mark your calendars for World Certification Week, May 15-19!

Here's what we cover in this episode ...

• What's the difference between HubSpot then and now?
• How did HubSpot Academy come to be?
• How did HubSpot Academy directly change the lives of Devyn and Liz?
• What is George's story with HubSpot Academy?
• How do you drop into HubSpot Academy and make the most out of it without getting confused with so many options?

And a heck of a lot more! 

Alright, HubHeroes, we are back for Email Marketing and HubSpot Part II: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO! In our last episode, we told the epic tale of how email has stood the test of time in our marketing toolbox — it’s outlived Toby Maguire’s Spiderman, low rise jeans, beanie babies, *NSYNC, the entire Harry Potter movie saga, and more. 

🔎 Related: Email marketing strategy dos and don'ts (HubHeroes Podcast)

And there’s no signs of email slowing down – it’s estimated that email marketing efforts will generate $11 billion in revenue this year. I don't know about you all, but I'd certainly love a piece of that pie.

That's why we spent last episode digging deeply into how email has changed, and how business owners and marketing leaders need to be thinking about their strategy in 2023 and beyond. This week, we're talking about the tactics and technology. More specifically, how you make email magic using HubSpot. 

Even you most seasoned users out there need to huddle up for this one, because I guarantee you you’re going to learn a few very key HubSpot tricks that are going to seriously level-up your email game.

Here's what we cover in this episode ...

• What do even the most seasoned HubSpot users not realize is possible with the email tool in the HubSpot Marketing Hub?
• What are the most common mistakes people make with the HubSpot email tool?
• What do great review and preview processes look like for email?
• What are the most commonly underutilized parts of the HubSpot email tool?
• Templates vs. drag and drop in HubSpot ... are you missing out?
• How do you effectively measure the success of an email?
• Why does Devyn hurt Liz so deeply in this episode?
• Are you committing the greatest sending domain sin of all?

And a heck of a lot more!