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Facebook is constantly making changes to the design of the profiles — for businesses and individuals alike. They’ve made a few cool changes in the past few years, including adding call-to-action buttons to business Pages and letting you record company milestones, like product launches and events.

There are a lot of ways Facebook is helping brands build a follower base, increase visibility, improve branding, communicate with and engage fans, and even drive traffic and leads.

To learn more about how to use Facebook for business, download our free guide here. 

So, what can you do to optimize your brand’s presence on Facebook? Check out the infographic below from Cafe Quill for helpful tips on getting the most from your Facebook business Page.

When you think of lead nurturing, do you think of a series of well-timed, relevant emails to a perfectly segmented audience?

Of course you do. And you would be right. In practice, email is the primary channel for lead nurturing. However, supplementary channels such as paid retargeting also serve as an effective way to gently help an engaged prospect along the buyer’s journey.

At HubSpot, we started experimenting with Twitter Ads as a method of lead nurturing … but it didn’t exactly go as planned. In fact, our results actually sucked.

How come? Well, my team’s job is to drive product interest through trials, demos, and inbound marketing assessments. For someone to covert on one of these offerings, they need to complete a 13-field form on a landing page. And given Twitter’s mobile-first nature, it was easy to see why we weren’t successful.

But instead of throwing in the towel and deciding not to use Twitter Ads for the middle of the funnel, we decided to take a different approach. Rather than asking people to fill out a form, we decided to try showing product-related and bottom funnel content to see if we could influence leads down the funnel to become opportunities and eventually, customers.

So we asked ourselves: Can Twitter be an effective channel for influencing the lead-to-customer conversion rate?

The Experiment

In order to answer the question we were asking ourselves, we had to run a lengthy split-group test to determine if Twitter was effective at influencing leads down the funnel. Here is a breakdown of the experiment:

• The Problem: Our retargeting efforts on Twitter were underperforming. (Not familiar with how retargetting works? Brush up on the basics here.)
• The Objective: Figure out if Twitter retargeting influences long-term metrics, such as number of customers.
• The Hypothesis: By targeting existing leads with product awareness and bottom funnel content, we can influence long-term metrics such as the lead to customer rate.
• The Methodology: Create a large list of leads and split them into an experiment group and a control group. Retarget the experiment group with Twitter Ads in conjunction with our regular nurturing channels. The control group is not retargeted on Twitter, but still receive nurturing via our regular channels.

Aware that there are several ways to interpret and measure “influence,” I knew it was important to note what this experiment is and what it isn’t:

• What it is: This experiment is meant to be a macro-level assessment of the effectiveness of a channel by analyzing lead to customer rate between two groups.
• What it isn’t: This experiment isn’t an analysis of exactly which ad, content, or landing page contributed to an opportunity or customer conversion.

Our approach prior to the experiment:

Prior to this experiment, we promoted direct response ads that asked for a free trial, a demo, or an inbound marketing assessment. Here’s an example:

As you can see, we are directly asking for a free trial of our SEO tool and then directing the lead to a landing page with a very long form. Not so great on a mobile-first platform.

Our approach during the experiment:

During the experiment our leads saw both product awareness and bottom funnel content. We’ll define these types of content in detail later, but here are some examples of the content we employed:

Bottom Funnel Content: ROI Calculator

Product Awareness Content: Product Video

The Results

At the end of the experiment we determined that the retargeted group converted into customers 64% better than the control group.

What conclusion did we actually draw from this? It’s not all about form fills. Retargeting leads with bottom funnel and product-related content is an effective way to influence people along the buyer’s journey, especially on a mobile-first platform.

Want to Try It Yourself?

Do you want to see if this works for your business? Here are the steps to set up this experiment for yourself. (Note: Everyone has their own software and systems, so if you begin to feel overwhelmed by these steps due to any technical limitations, just take the overall principles and do the best you can.)

1) Set up your audiences and reporting.

Here’s one of the hard truths about retargeting: list size matters. Since this is list-based retargeting, match-rate is absolutely crucial. Why? Because according to MediaMath, match rates can vary from 70-80% down to as low as 20-30% for some platforms. In other words, in order for list-based retargeting to be effective, you’ll need a fairly large list.

Create your list in whatever CRM or marketing automation platform you use. (HubSpot Marketing customers: You’ll want to start by creating a smartlist and setting whatever criteria you want to target. Learn more about creating lists here.)

2) Create your control and experiment groups.

With any good experiment, you’ll need to have an experiment group to test against your control group for the most accurate results. In this test, the experiment group was retargeted with Twitter Ads and the control group was not.

To get our audience into Twitter, we used list-syncing service called GoChime. GoChime automatically syncs HubSpot lists to Twitter and Facebook to make retargeting your database simple. If you have a list-syncing service like GoChime, then simply sync your experiment group over to Twitter to use as a Twitter Tailored Audience. (GoChime also recently announced increased match rates, so your retargeting will be that much more effective.)

If you do not have this syncing capability, you’ll want to follow the instructions below:

1. Export your list. Export the list you created into Excel. Make sure you have at least one of the properties you need for list-based retargeting on Twitter — email address, phone number, or Twitter handle.
2. Randomize your list. Randomization will ensure that you get the most accurate results possible, while also ensuring that other variables that the list may have automatically sorted by — company size, location, etc. — won’t influence the results of your test. (Check out this article on how to randomize a list in Excel.)
3. Slash your list in half. Open a new Excel sheet. Go back to your original, highlight your data to the halfway point, copy and paste that data into the new Excel sheet. Go back to your original sheet, then delete the portion you copied. You now have you experiment group and control group!
4. Re-upload your two lists. After your groups are created, re-upload them back into HubSpot or whatever software you are using to track success. Be sure to give them clearly defined names in order to differentiate between the experiment group and the control group.

3) Upload your lists into Twitter Tailored Audiences.

In order to do list-based retargeting on Twitter, you need to at least have your audience’s email addresses. You can also upload a list containing phone numbers or Twitter handles, but email is likely to provide a better match-rate.

4) Set up your reporting.

Next, you’ll want to set up your reporting so you can measure the impact of your test. This process will differ depending on which system you’re using, but these are the metrics you should be looking at for your experiment:

• Lead-to-Customer Rate: This is your primary metric and will allow you to see how many leads converted into customers.
• Lead-to-Opportunity Rate: For B2B marketers, this will help you see how many opportunities were influenced from your campaign.

These are the primary metrics for success in the experiment, but do make sure you’re also looking at your Twitter metrics — engagement rate, cost per engagement, etc. — so you can optimize within the platform.

To record your results, check out the simple tables below. (Note: These are example results — not results from our experiment.)

Experiment Group

Control Group

If the sample size (number of leads) of your groups differ, make sure to calculate statistical significance between the two groups. (KISSmetrics has a great A/B significance calculator that will work well for this purpose.)

5) Selecting your content.

Now that we’ve been through the steps on how to set up this experiment, let’s talk about content selection. The type of content we used can be broken down into two categories: product awareness and bottom funnel content.

Product Awareness Content

Product awareness content simply means any type of content that tells the story of your product. The most important thing to remember about product awareness content is that it must be helpful and tell the prospect how your product can help solve their problem.

Product awareness should not be confused with the “awareness” stage content of the buyer’s journey, which is typically more top funnel content like ebooks, templates, checklists, and so on. Instead, product awareness and bottom funnel content actually fall into both the “consideration” and “decision” stages of the buyer’s journey.

Examples of product awareness content:

1. Product Videos. Product videos are an excellent way of getting eyeballs on your product or brand, especially on Twitter. Since Twitter is a mobile-first platform, videos produce strong engagement with their auto-play functionality.
2. Product Blog Posts. Say you work for a company that sells budgeting software to finance departments. You can write a post on tips for preparing for next year’s budget, with the end call-to-action asking for a trial or demo. The aim of the post is to directly shine a light on the problem your product solves and give your prospects answers to the questions they haven’t asked you yet.
3. SlideShares. SlideShares are always a good way to deliver content about your product that’s digestible, valuable, and even a little fun.

Bottom Funnel Content

After you’ve been retargeting your experiment group with product awareness content, you’ll want to move toward “bottom funnel” content. Bottom funnel content is basically anything that you would show in the late stages of the buyer’s journey.

Examples of bottom funnel content:

1. Case Studies. Case studies help the prospect see what their day-to-day life would look like should they decide to adopt your product.
2. ROI Reports/Calculators. If you’re a B2B business, then proving the potential ROI of your product is essential. Helping your prospects calculate the potential ROI of your product is not only helpful, but it makes you look confident in your product, which builds trust with the prospect.
3. Third-Party Reviews. If you have a great product with glowing customer reviews, then why not show that off? Nothing builds trust like social proof, so make sure you leverage third-party reviews if you are able.

After all that information, I will end with this: Measuring influence is hard. As I stated in the beginning, this experiment isn’t meant to help you figure out exactly which ad made prospects turn into sales opportunities and customers. Instead, this experiment is meant to help you take a step back and make an educated assumption of whether or not Twitter Ads (or any other social ad platform, like Facebook) can be used to influence your overall lead-to-customer rate.

Happy experimenting! Let us know what questions you have in the comments section below.

This post originally appeared on HubSpot’s Agency Post. To read more content like this, subscribe to Agency Post.

In 1977, Gary Gilmore faced a firing squad — the punishment he chose after he was convicted of killing two men in Utah. His last words were: “Let’s do it.”

This phrase would end up becoming the basis for arguably the most famous brand slogan of all time.

Wieden+Kennedy’s co-founder Dan Wieden resurrected and transformed the final words of Gilmore, who was also a native of Portland, Oregon, for a pitch for Nike ten years later. The young shop won the account and the slogan “Just do it” went on to inspire generations of aspiring athletes to get up and get motivated. 

The source of inspiration for Nike’s famous slogan is surprising, but it’s not the only interesting backstory to how brand slogans have come about. Learn more about the history behind the most famous brand slogans in this infographic from Stratx.

This post originally appeared on HubSpot’s Sales Blog. To read more content like this, subscribe to Sales.

Voicemail is an essential tool for salespeople. Reaching a prospect on your first call attempt is never a guarantee, so salespeople spend hours practicing and perfecting a compelling voicemail template that will hook buyers’ attention and get them to call back.

But what happens when leaving voicemails just … isn’t an option anymore?

We’re probably years away from a voicemail-less world, but the trendlines are already starting to point away from voicemail.

• Coca-Cola got rid of voicemail for 94% of its employees last year.
• JPMorgan Chase has removed voicemail for a portion of its employees (with Citigroup and Bank of America considering following suit).
• Two-thirds of Americans no longer check voicemail.
• HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan doesn’t even have a phone at his desk.

These findings suggest that, even if voicemails still exist in a number of years, they might no longer be the best or easiest way to reach buyers. While salespeople probably won’t stop leaving voicemails any time soon, it’s not a bad thing to start investing more time in getting really good at other sales techniques.

What do those strategies look like? Here are four skills salespeople should make sure to perfect so that if voicemail does ever become obsolete, they’ll be ready.

What to Do in a World Without Voicemail

1) Write really good emails.

This one’s no surprise. Email is a less interruptive method of reaching a prospect than a voicemail, since they get to decide when and if they respond. But it’s also hard to stand out — prospects get dozens, if not hundreds of emails every day, and there’s no guarantee that yours will get read.

Good sales emails include a catchy subject line, compelling value proposition (i.e. a reason your prospect should respond to your email, not buy your product), and something that provides value to your prospect. And even if you think you’re better in person than through a screen, reflect on what exactly makes your voicemails so compelling — then put it in your emails!

Still, writing a good email isn’t easy. You have to invest time into really researching prospects so they’re hooked by highly relevant content from the first sentence. Writing also may not come naturally to some salespeople. For more tips, check out these resources:

• How to Write a Sales Email: The Definitive Guide
• The 14 Worst Sales Email Writing Mistakes
• 16 Creative Email Subject Lines That Restart Stalled Conversations
• 26 Sales Email Subject Lines That Get Prospects to Open, Read, and Respond
• The LinkedIn Skim Guide: How to Research Any Buyer in 15 Minutes or Less

2) Do social selling the right way.

Social selling is much-hyped but also oft-criticized. It’s easy to dismiss the tecnique as so much social noise if salespeople are overly promotional and post irrelevant content. But done right, it’s an incredibly powerful way to meet buyers on their own turf and talk about the issues they care about.

Research the social platforms and online forums your buyers are most likely to be active in, then join them and start participating. The key to successful social selling is to shed your salesperson identity. Instead, act as an advisor and industry expert. Provide helpful advice and link to relevant content. Only talk about your product if you are explicitly asked about it.

If this seems like a foreboding amount of work to you, try starting out by just sourcing your target accounts on social media. Monitor their activity and jump in with advice where you can. Eventually, you’ll be comfortable enough with social selling to make it part of your regular routine.

3) Provide value before a sale.

You might traditionally think of all pre-sale activity as Marketing’s responsibility. And while marketers certainly have a huge role to play in nurturing and educating leads, salespeople have a great opportunity here as well.

Whether it’s social selling (see above), creating original content, speaking at conferences, or running educational webinars, the more valuable you can make yourself to a prospect before they even think about purchasing a product, the more likely they’ll think of you and be willing to take your call when the time comes to make a decision.

4) Leverage your existing network.

Referrals are powerful. Salespeople who can leverage their existing networks for referrals are at an advantage. After all, you have an objective third party backing up their value proposition who your prospect presumably already knows and trusts.

Salespeople leave voicemails and send prospecting emails to get an introduction. But plumbing your networks for referrals completely skips over needing to make that initial connection yourself. For more tips on setting up a referral program, check out Joanne Black’s blog post on the subject.

What do you think will happen to sales if voicemail ever becomes obsolete? Let us know in the comments below.

We’ve all been there – you wake up ready to take on the day and sip your morning coffee while listening to some upbeat jazz music. You’re feeling pretty good. As your day progresses, you hit the afternoon slump – or worse, dare I say it, the morning slump. Regardless of your line of work, this can be debilitating to your creativity, not to mention your mindset and motivation.

First things first: what is creativity, exactly?

Here’s what Merriam-Webster says…

Of course, “creativity” can mean different things to different people. To me, creativity is the process of coming up with new ideas and the ability to think outside the box, but I think it also includes taking something that already exists and adding flair and uniqueness to it. While it can mean different things, it also is found in many situations, from work to your personal life and everywhere in between.

That new way you taught your daughter to tie her shoes? Creative.

The way you defused a sticky situation with a customer? Also creative.

The route you took to maneuver around the traffic jam this morning? You guessed it… creative.

Everyone has the opportunity to be creative, but unfortunately, “desk jobs” are the norm nowadays for many people whose jobs require a daily boost of creativity – from marketers, writers, and bloggers to artists, designers, professors, and architects.

A desk job usually means you’re sitting for extended periods of time throughout the day, unless you’re a lucky standing-desk-user. Some even “work through lunch” to supposedly get more done and leave work earlier at the end of the day. Doing this might seem like a good idea, but the reality is, it actually hinders your creativity – not to mention, it’s unhealthy.

Research has found that exercising on a regular basis, especially walking or some other type of aerobic exercise, can help foster creativity. According to technology consultant, Nilofer Merchant,

“Walking meetings not only liberate the butt, they liberate the creative juices.”

A study recently conducted at Stanford found that creative thinking improves while a person is walking and during the short time after they return. Similarly, researchers from another study noted that regular exercise is associated with improved divergent and convergent thinking, two major components of creative thinking.

During this study, a person’s creative output increased 60% when they were walking, as opposed to sitting. Forward-thinking Steve Jobs was famous for his “walking meetings,” a Silicon Valley tradition that Mark Zuckerberg has continued.

So, if it works, why not take advantage of it? In addition to walking meetings, there are exercises you can do at your desk – creatively named “deskercises” – as well as some you can do around the office and lunch time exercise outings you can take, either solo or with a group of your coworkers.

Now, I know what you’re thinking…

“Deskercises will make me look ridiculous!”

or maybe,

“Gross, I’m going to get all sweaty in the middle of my work day.”

Fear not – you don’t have to be dripping in sweat to reap the creative benefits of exercising at work, and there are at least a few deskercises you can do without getting weird looks from your coworkers. Here’s a list of 10 things you can do to stay active while you’re working: 

1) Deskercise: The Swivel

It’s good for your core – as long as you have a swiveling desk chair. Keep your back straight, put your fingertips on the edge of your desk, lift your feet up, and twist your chair from side to side.

2) Deskercise: Make ‘Em Touch

Find yourself hunching over? Sit up straight enough that your shoulder blades meet in the middle of your back (I’ll bet at least half of you sat up straighter as you read that sentence). If you can’t stay sitting like that for very long, change it into a 10-second squeeze exercise. Push your shoulder blades together and hold for 10 seconds, then release and repeat. You’ll have the best posture in the office, guaranteed.

3) Deskercise: The Exercise Ball

Replace your desk chair with an exercise ball – engage your core and improve your balance. Warning: careful how you choose to move on the exercise ball, as they can make some unpleasant noises (and then you will get weird looks from your coworkers).

4) Stand App

So focused on your work that you forget to stand up? Stand will help remind you – the app sends notifications each hour, straight to your desktop. No excuses.

5) Take the Stairs

This one’s pretty simple. If you can, take the stairs. While you’ll get a little bit of cardio in and stretch your legs, you’ll also miss the awkward elevator silence. It’s a win-win.

6) Rise to the Challenge 

Dealing with a pesky printer or scanner that always seems to take forever? While you’re waiting, stand up and do calf raises. Rise up to your tippy toes, hold for a second or two, and lower yourself back down. Repeat until your printing or scanning is done – disclaimer: you might be sore, depending on how bad your printer is.

7) The Friendly Coworker

Do a lap around the office, or go from floor to floor to visit people in other departments. A simple change of scenery and engaging with colleagues who are doing work different enough from yours might spark an idea you can use when you venture back to your desk. Not to mention, you might make new friends!

8) Exercise Outing: Yoga – Don’t Hate, Meditate

Yoga in the park seems to be the new thing, and oftentimes happens around lunch time – Google “yoga in the park” to see if there’s a meet-up in your area. Or, if you’re not an outdoorsy type, stores like lululemon, prAna, and Athleta offer complimentary classes each week!

9) Exercise Outing: Hit the Ground Running

You may want to leave time to shower after this one. I’ve found that going for a lunch time run refuels and reenergizes me, allowing me to focus better throughout the second half of my work day. And by “run,” I really mean jog.

10) Exercise Outing: Opt Outside

Just get out there. Whether your office is near a great outdoor location – a park, lake, beach, mountains, you name it – or it’s in the middle of a bustling city, there’s bound to be something to explore. Walk to the nearby park and have a lunch picnic, adventure around the lake, or walk down a street you’ve never been to before.

So, the next time you find yourself hitting that morning or afternoon slump, get up and move around! You don’t have to run six miles to spark your creativity – you can do something as simple as an inconspicuous deskercise or make your next meeting a walking one. 

What do you do to stay active throughout the day? Do you think it helps your creative process? We’d love to know – share with us in the comments.