There is no doubt there are some interesting and useful tools out there, but these are our 2021 favourites. The silver bullet. Having said that, it is not about the tools.First up is BombBomb which allows you to send video emails which is preferable in a number of ways. Some being that it creates that personal connection as well as allowing emotions to be portrayed in an easier way. It all presents well and wraps up in a presentable manner making the receiver wanting to see what this is all about.https://bombbomb.com/Next up in no particular order is kimp.io. Kimp.io is a very useful tool to have to help with everything from content images to blog banners, info graphics to landing pages.  By using Trello they make communication easy and their turn around time is even more impressive.https://www.kimp.io/Gathercontent.com is another of the team&apos;s favourites. It helps you and your team work on projects together and shows you exactly what stages each phase is at. It makes tracking team work completely transparent.https://gathercontent.com/ When it comes to customer service, you need and want to be on top of every aspect. TimeToReply is exactly the tool to help you. It improves customer management communication by giving them an indication as to how long it takes them to respond to customers. You will find it plugs into all inboxes and as client communication is vital to any business, it is definitely something worth trying.https://timetoreply.com/Asana is another tool to have a look at. Having been created by one of Facebook&apos;s originals, it comes with good credibility. It&apos;s functionality as well as it&apos;s integration is what makes Asana so worth while. You will find very few programs it does not integrate with.https://asana.com/Meetalfred.com or Alfred as it&apos;s referred to in app stores is a very useful LinkedIn Automation tool. Most of us have LinkedIn running in the background and the fact that it has a Mac and Windows app makes it a top performer. Alfred allows you to view profiles, connect with people with or without a connection message as well as allows you to endorse connection&apos;s skills.https://meetalfred.com/Last on our list for today is gong.io. Gong.io is essentially a sales analytics tool. It allows you to track conversations between clients and salesmen/women. You are able to compare different deals with each sales person. It breaks down and analyses the conversation and finds that sweet spot around the length of conversations and which were most successful, as well as how much of the communication is small talk  which plays a vital role when it comes to sales.https://www.gong.io/ 

Smart Marketing - Latest Digital Marketing Tactics and Strategies

Favourite Tools For 2021 - #034

This week the team discuss how different media platforms bring in different amounts of traffic.If you notice one channel is bring in more leads than another, focus on what works best for you then. Remember that algorithms are continuously changing, so just be aware and flexible to be able change strategies if and when it is needed.When you find which channel brings in the biggest percentage of traffic, focus on it, squeeze every drop of juice out of the orange as possible. That opportunity won&apos;t always be there. Things can change in a flash.

What Percentage of Traffic should each Marketing Channel Generate? - #033

Some exciting news which we hadn&apos;t shared on the podcast up until now. Jason&apos;s business, Firing Squad has been acquired!The acquisition happened fairly quickly after a few conversations to agree on the terms.A Facebook post lead to Jason and Drew meeting, remotely of course, and hit it off straight away. Thanks to Entrepreneurs Organization, with who both Jason and Drew are members, the inherent trust and openness made the acquisition pretty easy and took just over a month to happen.

The story of how Jason's business, Firing Squad, was acquired. - #032

This week, The Smart Marketing team talks about how to reach your desired target audience. It&apos;s all good and well having the perfect content, but if it is not reaching the people it needs to, you are not going to achieve your set goals.How much do you know about the people you are providing to? It needs to be enough to know exactly how to reach them, to be visible in their pool of influence. Knowing the smallest detail, whether it is age, location, interests, or favourite websites, will make the biggest difference in your reach.

Are You Reaching Your Customers? Are Your Customers Finding You? - #031

Old school or new school. In this episode, the team discusses which form of marketing is more cost-efficient. Content marketing or traditional marketing?Spending more doesn&apos;t always bring better results. What goals are you wanting to achieve? Which type of marketing will get you the result you are looking for?

Content Marketing VS Traditional Marketing - Which Costs Less? - #030

The Smart Marketing Team are discussing the sixth and final pillar of SEO in our 6 part series - User Experience. In the past 5 episodes the team have discussed Readability, Relevancy, Popularity, Authority, and Trust. All of these add up to your sites User Experience rating. User Experience begins on the search engine page, creating strong meta titles will ensure customers come into your site. The importance of site speed and mobile capabilities are huge, and growing every year! The depth of Use Experience is vast, there are several majorly detailed measurements and tools to increase it, but starting with the 6 pillars of SEO in their simplest form will guarantee you rank and succeed.

The Sixth Pillar of SEO - User Experience - Part 6 - #029

The team are discussing part 5 of our 6 part SEO series - Trustworthiness! The Smart Marketing team are breaking  down how to run a successful SEO campaign into 6 simple parts, creating a trustworthy domain is a huge part of your SEO strategy. Justin discusses the meaning of a Trustworthy domain, and how to create one in two parts. First finding sites to link to your domain that are truly Trustworthy, such as education or government sites; and second putting your domain through the test of time. A site that has been around for a while is automictically more Trusted than new sites. 

The Fifth Pillar of SEO - Trust - Part 5 - #028

In this episode the team are discussing the fourth pillar of SEO in our six part series - Authority!Our last episode discussed Popularity in link building, and the importance of ranking via your backlinks. The next step is to make sure those links are authoritative, and by association your site becomes trustworthy in Google's rank. Find out who is linking to your site using domain tools, check their ranking and remove those that do not increase your sites authority. Low quality sites can be detrimental  to your ranking. 

The Fourth Pillar of SEO - Authority - Part 4 #027

In this episode the team is discussing Popularity, the third pillar of SEO in our series about the six pillars of SEO. Popularity, Authority and Trust can all be achieved through link building. Justin takes us through what it means to have websites linking to your site, and how to find them using a few key tools such as backlink explorers. This can also help you identify spam and malicious links connected to your site.Surprisingly your popularity is not measured by how many people visit your website, but rather by how many people link to it. Backlinks is one of the key metrics that google uses to rate your SEO.

The Third Pillar of SEO - Popularity - Part 3 #026

The team are discussing the 6 Pillars of SEO, a 6 part series designed to help you master your SEO. Part 1 discussed the accessibility of websites, this week the Smart Marketing team takes us through the topic of relevancy, the second most important pillar of SEO. Justin talks us through keywords, targeted keyword searches and the relevant apps and programs designed to pick up the best suggestions. Make sure your website is ranking for the right words and increase your traffic. 

The Second Pillar of SEO: Relevancy - Part 2 #025

This week the team begin the first of a 6 part series uncovering the most important and fundamental aspects of SEO. Justin and Jason discuss accessibility of websites. Taking you through the various tools and focus areas of website access by search engines. The team provide information on CMS, sitemaps, robots.txt files, crawlability, and site searches. If you&apos;re starting out and have a new website, have a listen to this podcast and understand the fundamentals of search engine crawlers and optimisation.

Web Accessibility - The First & Most Important Step Of SEO #024

This week Jason and Justin take you through the foundation for SEO and organic traffic share. Tried and trust methods for increasing your organic channel through best practice SEO solutions. Technical SEO services can be complicated to get right, so enjoy this session and uncover how we can simplify over 200 ranking factors for search engines into 6 main pillars of SEO success. The team will be sharing more in-depth tactics in the coming weeks to use this opportunity to really learn about the core strategies for search engine optimisations from one of SA's top digital experts.

The Six Pillars of SEO Success #023

This week the team discuss starting a podcast and provide listeners with some valuable insight and tips regarding tools for sharing audio, music programs, and scheduling. The second part of a series which will dive deep into the fundamentals of podcasts, information, networking, and distributing your content to new audiences. Podcasts can form the foundation for blog, website, and social media content. Give it a spin and feel free to comment, rate, and discuss your podcast requirements with us.

Is It Easy To Start a Podcast? Part 2 #022

This week the team discuss starting a podcast and engaging with new audiences across the globe. 600 Million blogs vs 800 thousand podcasts currently worldwide? The answer is a definitive..you&apos;ll have to take a listen! Enjoy the talk this week and discover how podcasts are changing the way people digest information and learn new things. The first part of a series which will dive deep into the fundamentals of podcasts, information, networking, and distributing your content to new audiences. Podcasts can form the foundation for blog, website, and social media content. Give it a spin and feel free to comment, rate, and discuss your podcast requirements with us.

Is it Worth Starting a Podcast? Part 1 #021

This week the team tackle cold e-mail marketing and some of the best practices to engage and interact with potential customers through e-mail. From personalisation, testing, grammar, and overall DO NOTS, let the team guide you on some interesting tips and tactics to apply! Having feedback from potential clients and always remembering to follow-up, hope you enjoy what the team has put together. Good luck for your next e-mail marketing campaign!Hosts:Justin Lester Instagram///LinkedInJason Bagley Instagram///LinkedIn

The Biggest Mistakes People Make When Cold E-Mailing #020

Justin Lester and Jason Bagley bring you regular ACTIONABLE digital marketing tips, tactics and strategies which you can to use to improve your marketing. Whether you are a business owner, seasoned marketing professional or even just starting out, you will be able to advance your knowledge by learning that latest in SEO, paid advertising, email marketing, content marketing, social media, conversion optimisation as well as a wide variety of other aspects of marketing.

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Smart Marketing - Latest Digital Marketing Tactics and Strat...

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