Why You Should Be Your Company’s Next CEO

First came the inventors and founders, fueled by steam and created with cast iron, changing society from agrarian to industrial. Then came electricity, steel, and oil and the rise of the company, followed by the move from analog to digital. Now we’re at the start of the fourth industrial revolution; a revolution that’s being powered by data.  And who’s in control of data? The marketers. We are sitting on the intelligence of a size and nature unparalleled in the commercial world. This is what is powering the revolution, and we’re in charge of it.

Who Runs the World?

Some might suggest that marketing has been secretly running the world for years but, conspiracy theories aside now is the time for marketers to step up and start running the companies we know so well. The fourth industrial revolution is our time. Because, as Klaus Schwab (who coined the term fourth industrial revolution) says, customers are “increasingly at the epicenter of the economy, which is all about how customers are being served.”

Schwab also founded the World Economic Forum, which has created The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to develop policies that deal with, among other things, the impact of AI and machine learning, blockchain, and the Internet of Things. In other words, just another day in the office for the modern marketer. Add to this the fact that our job is to know our customers, and that in this revolution the economy is no longer only about selling things, and it’s increasingly clear that we’re leading from the front. This changes everything.

Leading From Marketing

At one point, you had to be from one of the practical, quantifiable arms of a business to get to manage it. Salespeople rose to the top because their contribution to the business can be clearly measured. Logistics people became CEOs because you can see the benefits of this type of thinking to the future of the business. Financial types got there for, well, obvious reasons. But marketers? Marketers, less so. It used to be tricky to prove marketing’s worth and the generalized perception of marketing that manifests itself in statements such as, “what is marketing, anyway,” “isn’t it a bit like advertising but not on TV,” and “there’s no such thing as bad publicity, so how hard can it be” confirms a lack of understanding. Not anymore.

Marketing as a Measurement Center

We can measure the impact of marketing and, like the economy, marketing isn’t only about getting people to buy things. More than ever, it’s about understanding the customer and the immense complexity of the world they, and we, inhabit and engaging with them to create lasting relationships.

In his new book, Engage to Win, our own fearless leader, Steve Lucas, says the CMO needs a new title: the Chief Engagement Officer. Steve believes both the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and the CMO must carry the title of Chief Engagement Officer as they need to work towards a common set of engagement goals and eat, sleep and breathe engagement with the customer.

CMO for CEO 2019

All of the above is why the CMO is now the natural choice to become the CEO, and the opportunities for the truly fearless marketer are greater than ever. Marketing has become the most rounded of all the commercial professions, the one that works closest to the boundaries of technology and the one that knows the most about the customer. In fact, I’d argue that marketers probably know more about the companies they work for, and their customers, than any other employee. And that doesn’t even touch upon our understanding of the technology that underpins the revolution, technology that is key to the new economy.

To succeed means being bold and, yes, being fearless. The pace of today’s Engagement Economy is dizzying, rapid and elemental, faster than the rise of the steam locomotive or the home computer. Marketers cannot afford to wait for the opportunities to come to them; we must have the confidence to push forward and up. But with our understanding of and access to data, and the breadth of our experience, we are uniquely positioned to guide our organizations—and to give our customers exactly what they want. Be fearless in your ascent. Nothing is stopping you.

Join Us

We’d love to meet you and share our stories of marketers fearlessly pushing upward by capitalizing on the advantages afforded by the engagement economy. Join us at this year’s DMEXCO, one of the most influential gatherings of leading thinkers in the digital economy, and explore how technology, business, and social trends enable marketers to drive strategy and take the lead. We hope to see you there.

The post Why You Should Be Your Company’s Next CEO appeared first on Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership.

from Marketo Marketing Blog https://blog.marketo.com/2018/08/why-you-should-be-your-companys-next-ceo.html

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 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

Incorporating Email Personalization in Your ABM Strategy to Boost Engagement

Today, email is not just about promoting your brand offerings. It is about giving your subscribers and customers a personalized and relevant experience and creating accessible emails to reach out to each and everyone, including people with disabilities.

The email address is an asset that needs to be used thoughtfully. Gone are the days of batch-and-blast emailing; email marketing is about delivering value to the subscriber.

While email personalization is about sending the most relevant emails to your subscribers at the most suitable time, account-based marketing (ABM) focuses on targeting the most relevant audience to market your brand. Email is one of the most powerful marketing channels, and by combining personalized emails with ABM strategy, you will be able to boost engagement and get the desired results.

In this blog, we’ll take you through the ways to build a successful ABM strategy by incorporating personalization into your email campaigns and its benefits.

Why Should You Use ABM for Your Email Campaigns?

ABM focuses on creating and executing highly-targeted and customized campaigns to address the needs of each individual set of accounts and their decision makers. Email marketing, when aligned with ABM, can help garner better results. Using ABM in your email campaigns will help you to understand each target account’s priorities and needs, and add value to their business.

Here are the benefits of implementing an ABM strategy in your email campaigns:

Targeted Approach

ABM targets specific groups of accounts that share similar business needs, challenges, and firm demographics. Therefore, instead of marketing to a large group of people, it markets to a specific list of prospects. This helps in determining whom to address while creating email campaigns for a particular B2B business.

Relevant and Appealing Emails

Since the target group is fixed, marketers can create relevant content that appeals to each of them. This helps in creating specific and appealing emails that have higher chances of engagement than generic emails. Personalized and targeted email campaigns improve click-through rates and conversions of your email marketing campaigns.

Easy Tracking of Metrics

Since ABM campaigns help to send relevant content that focuses on the quality rather than quantity, there is less data that needs to be tracked. It is therefore much easier to measure metrics and performance for ABM campaigns as compared to regular campaigns.

Improved ROI

ABM targets the biggest and most superior groups of accounts with personalized content that is most likely to drive conversions. It is, therefore, the most popular campaign that delivers the highest return on investment for any B2B business.

Aligned Sales and Marketing

ABM involves an equal contribution from both marketing and sales. It includes targeting specific accounts, engaging them, and generating revenue from them. For this, the marketing team needs to work closely with the sales team to make the campaign successful.

Steps to Build Personalized Emails for a Successful ABM Campaign

Your marketing automation platform can help you in creating and executing your personalized email campaigns.

Here are the steps to build a successful ABM campaign with personalized emails:

Step #1: Identify Your Target Accounts

The first and most fundamental step to create an ABM strategy is to identify the target accounts, determine their relevance and importance, and link them to your organizational goals. You should have a clear idea of what type of customers you need for your business. Build a list out of your most relevant target accounts and study the anatomy of each of them. Find out the key decision makers in the organization and build a strategy to approach them.

Step #2: Collect All Necessary Data

The more data you have of your customers/target accounts, the more efficiently you will be able to personalize messages. Collect data such as their business needs, interests, their role in the organization, the type of products or services they are looking for, and other personal information to deploy personalization in the emails that you send them.

Step #3: Segment the List

Once you have identified your target accounts, it is time to segment them into various groups to send specific messages. Segmentation is a vital part to create personalized and targeted campaigns. Segment the accounts based on their role, gender, business needs, and interests. This will help you in crafting only relevant content and targeting them to the right audience.

After putting efforts to identify relevant prospects, the last thing you want is to provide them with the same email experience as everyone else on your list. Creating personalized emails will provide your target accounts a unique experience, engaging and converting them into leads and customers.

Step #4: Create Personalized Content for Specific Target Accounts

To craft personalized content for your emails, you need to determine the key pain points of your target accounts and address their problems and demands. Send newsletters, blog posts, infographics, whitepapers, or any other form of content that will help your prospects in addressing their specific business challenges and needs. Track their behavior on your website and send automated emails based on their actions.

Here’s How Email Personalization Is Set up in Marketo

Marketo allows you to use data tokens to personalize newsletters by including the subscriber’s name in the subject line or the body of the email, as well as use images or graphics more relevant to your industry or business. Below you’ll find a step-by-step guide to creating a personalized email using Marketo.
 1) Create a New Program

To do so, log in to Marketo’s Marketing Programs and click on New Program.

You will see the control panel with four areas of action: Audience, Email, Schedule, and Approval.

 2)  Define Your Target Audience

For this, you have two options in the Audience tile: either import a new list or edit a smart list to create the target audience.

For example, we choose from the smart list by clicking on Edit Smart List, which opens the following tab.
Next, from the list on the right pane, add filters by drag-and-drop and set the condition. Here we have set filters for State and Job Title.

You can add as many categories and filters as you need to target.

In the Audience tile, you will be able to see the number of people to whom the email will be sent and the number of people who have unsubscribed or been blacklisted.

 3) Create an Email

By clicking on the New Email option in the Email tile, you’ll be able to choose from the different options of templates in the template picker window.

 4) Add Personalization Tags

Once your template is ready, insert token tags to personalize. To do this, click on the insert token button for the From Name, Subject Line, and Email Content.

5) Set the Token Name and Default Value for Each

For example, for personalizing the subject line, set the token name as and the default value as Hello Friend! In case the token value is not available, it will fetch the default value and display it.

6) Personalize with Dynamic Content

For this, click on the desired section in the email content and select Make Dynamic in the Settings option.

Now, select the segments for which you want to show dynamic content and save the selection. You can add different segments for different content sections.

7) Save and Schedule 

Next, you’ll need to save and schedule the email by selecting the send date and time at the Schedule tile. That’s it! You can activate a triggered campaign using a smart campaign and track the performance of your email. The goal of your emails is to present your business as the most suitable solution by sending them resources they are looking for. By sending personalized content to them, you will draw them to use your business’ services and products.

Step #5: Promote the Content on the Right Channels

Once you have created the right content, it is time to channelize and send it efficiently. Choose the right medium to send your message. All businesses are not active on all mediums. For example, social media and traditional advertising might not be suitable channels for the CEO of a company; an email would be the right medium to communicate with them. The distribution time is also an important factor to consider. You need to figure out what channels and time are best suited to get the desired results out of your ABM campaign.

Step #6: Analyze Data and Metrics

Analyzing the performance of your campaign is as important as running it. By studying the metrics, you will get insights into which content worked in engaging your target accounts and which one needs tweaking. As you begin to learn what content engages your target group, you will be able to refine your content to get better results. The data will help you in making the desired changes and guide you in improving the overall success of the campaign.

Benefits of Combining ABM and Email Personalization

Creating relevant and personalized content that addresses the specific needs and challenges of your target accounts is the most vital tactic of an ABM campaign. More so, combining personalization with ABM in emails yields the following benefits:

Deliver a Personalized Experience

When your business goals and target accounts are predetermined, it is easier to strike the right chord. By tracking the behavior and interest of the decision makers at each of your target accounts, you will be able to provide them a personalized experience. This will increase the chances of turning them into customers.

Accelerate the Buyer’s Journey

Personalized, contextual, and relevant email content increases the chances of conversion. When your target accounts receive content that speaks directly to them and addresses their challenges, they are more likely to use your products and services. When they receive suitable solutions for their problems, they will advance faster in the buyer’s journey.

Get Insights into Individual Customer Data

When you have a limited and more targeted set of people to address, the tracking is more accurate. You will be able to have a detailed analysis of your email campaign and insights into each individual customer/prospect’s data. This will help you in further making changes and optimizing your campaign strategy or content.

Wrapping Up

ABM is a powerful marketing method which when combined with email personalization will yield you great success in your business. Use this deadly combination in your email campaigns to stay focused on the right business goals and get maximum conversions.

The post Incorporating Email Personalization in Your ABM Strategy to Boost Engagement appeared first on Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership.

from Marketo Marketing Blog https://blog.marketo.com/2018/08/incorporating-email-personalization-in-your-abm-strategy-to-boost-engagement.html