A call to action is a short statement – anywhere from a few words to a few lines – that urges and ushers prospects forward along the sales funnel. Sometimes, a call to action is sales-oriented. But other times – and usually all times in a B2B context – the conversion goal isn’t about completing a transaction. Rather, the aim is to have prospects download an ebook, subscribe to a newsletter, schedule a demo or call, and so on.   

There are many pieces of a successful inbound marketing puzzle. And among the biggest – and yet arguably the least understood – is a marketing workflow. 

In order to succeed in the short-term and survive in the long-run, a business must accurately distinguish between MQLs (marketing qualified leads) and SQLs (sales qualified leads).

While running a successful consulting business has its advantages – including but not limited to lucrative financial rewards – the fact is, that it’s not what anyone would call a “passive income stream”. It takes hard work, talent, focus, and plenty of perseverance. 

If you’re using Google AdWords as part of your inbound marketing campaign, or if you’re considering adding it to the mix, then you obviously know that first page advertising is where the action is. However, just HOW important it is to get on page one may shock you.

You already know that marketing research is important. But what you may not fully appreciate is that it’s critical to your survival. As noted by MarketingProfs: “market research is essential to you and your brand’s long-term success. Market research will keep your brand afloat while companies who fail to make research a high priority drown.”

If one of your key marketing goals is to increase organic traffic, then you’re definitely headed in the right direction. As noted by Forbes, even after all these years investing in SEO is a smart strategy because it’s cost effective, your competitors are doing it, and most importantly: it works!

Before looking at what is SMO (a.k.a. social media optimization), let’s take a step back and highlight something that every business needs to know -- especially those that incorrectly believe that social media isn’t a big deal, or that it’s a trend or fad that will fizzle out sooner or later.

As advised by Forbes contributor AJ Agrawal, companies that want to enjoy substantial business growth in 2016 must make inbound marketing a top priority. Argrawal writes:

Whether you provide office relocation services, cosmetic dental solutions, VoIP phone systems or anything else, you need high quality traffic streaming to your website on a regular basis.