YouTube Shares Insight Into the Value of Fandom in the App

Some valuable pointers from the YouTube team. 

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Snapchat Adds Fan Celebration Elements for Euro 2024

There's a range of options for Snapchatters to engage with the event.

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Apple’s 30% Fee for Facebook and IG Ads Expands to More Regions

If you're buying Facebook or IG ads on iOS, you're going to be paying more.

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AI Video Tool Rundown: Opus Clip Problems — and Solutions

AI can be a game-changer for your video production, streamlining editing duties and turning around tedious tasks in the blink of an eye. 

These tools are evolving rapidly, with new players coming on the market as others fall away or get swallowed up by the big boys.  

Opus Clip is an AI tool for video creators that can transform long-form videos into short-form social media clips with ease. You can plug your video into their website, wait a few minutes, and voila – it uses AI to select what it calls the most “viral” moments for you to share across your social media channels. 

Many big names, including YouTube creators and podcasters, are ambassadors for Opus Clip, and we at Endless Customers use it for our podcasts too. While many are uplifting the tool as flawless and useful for everyone, there are some limitations to this tool that you should be aware of before you choose it to be a part of your video production.

Today, we’ll dive into these limitations and provide some handy solutions to navigate around them.

Opus Clip: Your AI video solution?

Before we dive into the negatives, we want to set the record straight. We really love Opus Clip. 

As the AI wave has increased these past few years, we’ve tried a number of tools to help us turn a full-length video into short-form content. We liked Opus the best of any of them. There are a number of things to like, especially considering there’s a free version of the tool. (There’s also a Starter level ($9/month) and Pro ($29/month). More info can be found at the Opus pricing page.)

But, it is not without its drawbacks. Considering we’ve used it for hundreds of videos at this point, we’ve got a good idea of what those are. 

Let’s dive in.

Drawback #1: Lack of context in clips

First off, it’s important to remember what Opus Clip does: it takes a longer video and cuts it up into shorter clips. Considering this, it’s no surprise that sometimes this goes awry. 

One of the primary issues with Opus Clip is that it sometimes generates clips that lack context. This can result in clips starting in awkward places or ending abruptly before delivering the full impact. 

Solution: To fix this, you can manually edit the clip. For instance, if the clip begins with, "When sales sees marketing doing that..." and you wonder what "that" is, you can go back in the transcript to find and include the necessary preceding context. 

By adding some more context manually, you create a coherent clip and a better experience for your audience.

Drawback #2: Clunky edits

While Opus Clip’s facial detection and cuts can be impressive, they occasionally appear clunky or unprofessional, leaving you with unusable videos.

Solution: The best way to smooth out these rough cuts is to use a video editing software like Adobe Premiere. Import the clip into Premiere and manually refine the edits for a more polished final product. 

Although Opus Clip offers in-tool editing, we’ve found that it’s often more efficient to handle detailed edits externally.

Drawback #3: Issues with XML exports

Opus Clip allows you to export projects as XML files for further editing in video software like Premiere. However, this feature sometimes malfunctions. There are a lot of files involved in an XML project, and occasionally we have noticed a missing video, audio, or caption file.

Solution: If you encounter issues with the XML export, you can download the video directly from Opus Clip and then import it into your editing software. This method ensures you have a complete video to work with, even if the XML file is compromised.

Drawback #4: Handling graphics in vertical formats

Long-form videos are typically created in a horizontal (or “landscape”) format, but Opus Clip converts them into vertical clips for social media and YouTube Shorts. This conversion can cut off graphics, making the video less effective.

Solution: To address this, avoid using videos with essential graphics that only fit in the horizontal orientation. 

Or, edit the video in a vertical format after exporting from Opus Clip. For example, if a keynote speech includes slides that fill the screen in a horizontal format, you’ll need to reformat these slides for the vertical clip.

Drawback #5: AI-powered B-roll selection

We all know that good B-roll can make any clip look more professional. Opus Clip offers an AI-powered B-roll feature that can splice in footage relevant to the subject matter. 

While this feature is a fantastic addition, it sometimes selects irrelevant footage based on isolated keywords from the transcript, leading to mismatched visuals — and doing more harm than good.

Solution: Instead of relying solely on Opus Clip’s AI for B-roll, use platforms like Pexels.com to find more appropriate clips. You can search for vertically formatted videos that better match your narrative, and then integrate them manually into your video.

Is Opus Clip right for your team?

While Opus Clip is a powerful tool for creating engaging social media content from long-form videos, it’s not without its limitations. 

By understanding these challenges and implementing the solutions we’ve provided above, you can get more use from the tool without getting bogged down by frustrations that could otherwise make you throw it out altogether.

Remember, AI is here to help us do our jobs more smoothly and efficiently. In this regard, Opus Clip is very helpful. But AI is a tool that comes with drawbacks. Make sure you’re not blindly handing over tasks that require human creativity and precision.

To learn more about building a healthy culture of AI experimentation at your business, check out our Introduction to AI for Business Leaders and Employees. 

For more tips and tricks, subscribe to our Endless Customers podcast on your favorite platform. 

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Meta Expands Access to Horizon Worlds VR Social Experience

Meta's metaverse vision continues to gradually take shape.

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29 Tips To Improve Your LinkedIn Strategy [Infographic]

Some tips to help improve your LinkedIn approach. 

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TikTok Files Official Motion To Oppose US Sell-off Push

TikTok has outlined its case in opposition to the US government's sell-off bill.

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YouTube Enables Editing of Longer Videos

Now you can edit videos that are over 6 hours long. 

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Next Level Affiliates - Masterclass

The Ultimate HIDDEN SECRET Of Affiliate Marketing Get Ready to Promote the complete affiliate marketing training course. None of the other over-hyped offers you might have got your hands on which only shows few steps. Here your customer gets full package!

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New York Seeks to Ban Algorithmic Feeds for Teens

The push for regulation of social media continues to gain momentum.

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Instagram Adds Music for Carousel Posts With Video

Another music integration from IG. 

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How to Get Your Sales Reps to Use the HubSpot CRM

For those of us who understand how critical proper CRM adoption is, it can be frustrating when we have members on the sales team, especially reps, who either push back or fail to use it properly. 

In some ways, a CRM that's used inconsistently is worse than no CRM at all — as any business leader can attest who's tried to look up pipeline information and found it incomplete.

Companies live and die by their CRM. The bigger the company, the more essential the CRM is for day to day success. 

But you don't need to be a large company to be stymied by poor CRM use.

In fact, most of the companies we work with are small to mid-sized businesses, and we've seen first-hand the steps that absolutely must be followed if you want your sales team to embrace the tools you’re making a substantial investment in.

We’ve helped hundreds of sales teams, both large and small, either switch to the HubSpot CRM or implement a CRM for the first time using HubSpot and Sales Hub. We’ve seen companies succeed and we’ve seen companies fail. 

That puts us in the unique position: to definitively teach the steps you need to follow.

In this article, we’re going to cover:

1. How to train your sales team on the HubSpot CRM and Sales Hub
2. How to hold sales reps accountable for proper CRM management
3. What to do if sales reps continue to fail to use the CRM properly

Let’s get started.

How to train your sales team on the HubSpot CRM and Sales Hub

Before you jump into getting your sales team to use HubSpot, you need to address the question they’re asking that causes most sales associates to resist the process: What’s in it for me? 

Any successful saleperson has the skills that got them to where they are today. They're good at what they do. So, why do they need a new system, a new tool, a new way of doing things? How will this help them be more successful?

You'll need an answer for the 'what's in it for me' question. 

Sure, once your team understands how powerful the HubSpot platform is, they’re far more likely to see the promise. But still, you'll need an answer. 

Here's how we suggest you do. 

Step 1: Explain the why behind the importance of the HubSpot CRM for your business

First thing’s first: If you’re going to get your sales team to use the HubSpot CRM platform, you need to teach them all about what’s in it for them (aka, the why). 

To do this, spend the first onboarding session explaining the ways HubSpot can save them time and help them get more sales by:

• streamlining communication
• centralizing the sales project pipeline and correspondence with qualified leads
• automating and tracking phone calls and emails
• creating custom dashboards to track metrics, data, and sales reports (such as open and won deals by rep, what clients are engaging with your content most, revenue channels and pipeline data, and closing rates)
• providing call summaries to quickly refresh your memory as you prepare for your next meeting. 

That’s a lot of functionality in a single tool — and that’s not everything! 

With so much information at your sales team’s fingertips, they can access what they need without constantly having to ask each other for it, dig through email chains, and update spreadsheets. 

This means more time, more clarity, and more selling.

Step 2: Organize a learning session or workshop

Next, organize a workshop for your team where experts can weigh in on the ways you can use the HubSpot CRM.

This allows your sales team to ask questions and get answers, which can help zero in on your team’s reservations and clear up any other issues that could be standing in the way.

HubSpot Academy's free course on Sales Hub onboarding 

It’s also a great opportunity to stop telling your sales team how much HubSpot helps them and start showing them concrete examples of sales associates who have seen sales success with the tool, which can be far more powerful in motivating your team.

You can also utilize HubSpot Academy's free courses to help your team see what's possible. 

Step 3: Get everyone’s commitment

After educating your sales team on all the ways HubSpot can help them sell even better, get your team to commit to learning and using HubSpot tools. 

Explain that they don’t need to know everything at once. The quickest way for the initiative to fail is if you expect it to happen overnight.

You can get a Starter account for $20 per user per month. Or even start with the free to learn the ropes. You can add functionality as they learn (this way you’re not bombarding them with a lot of information at once). Build a roadmap and make it clear that by a certain date they will be fully adapted, and how they’re going to get there.

You can do this by picking one area to focus on at a time (such as leaving notes, then adding deals), but at the end of the day, they need to commit to the program and understand it isn’t an option — while also knowing they'll have plenty of time to do it.

How to hold sales reps accountable for proper CRM management

If you want to hold sales reps accountable for using the HubSpot CRM properly, designate one person to be in charge of the process. Having someone who is familiar with HubSpot be accountable for getting everyone else up and running will help the transition go more smoothly.

This could be a sales manager or an outside expert.

Have this person provide your team with support in the starting phases, as well as ongoing, so any issues that might hinder the process can be addressed. 

Be sure to also reward your team members for modeling great behavior, and provide lots of incentives for reaching milestones (prizes, celebrations, etc.).

What to do if sales reps continue to fail at using the CRM properly

If your sales reps still aren’t willing to use the HubSpot CRM after taking these measures, the reality is you need to let them go. 

CRM tools such as HubSpot are powerful in their ability to help your sales teams, but they’re also a significant investment. When your sales reps don’t want to use them, for whatever reasons they might have, they're showing they're not willing to be part of your future.

You want to cultivate a sales team that understands that using CRM software is a win for the whole organization. Resistance hurts the entire team.

Get your sales team on the right track

A tool is only good if it gets used. A CRM can powerfully improve your sales performance, but only if the team is on board. 

What we've gone through above are the steps we lead our own clients through, and we believe they can help you overcome obstacles.

But know, too, that there is so much more to selling than having the right CRM.

You also need a great sales process, pitch-perfect sales enablement content, a culture of feedback and roleplaying. 

To learn more about how we help businesses improve they way they sell, talk to one of our coaches so you can start building a sales team for the future.

Author: jbecker@impactbnd.com (John Becker)

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X Is Losing Ground as a News Source per Report

Despite Elon Musk’s efforts to make X a more trusted news source, consumers are still wary.

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Why Accountability and Discipline are a Game Changer for Business Growth [Endless Customers Podcast S.1. Ep. 41]

"Accountability and discipline are fundamental for any business seeking long-term success," says Brian Casey, a Head Coach at IMPACT.

Brian emphasizes, "Expecting instant results from sales and marketing efforts can be unrealistic. While some strategies offer quick wins, building a solid foundation for long-term success requires time and persistence."

To bridge the gap between quick wins and long-term strategies, Brian suggests starting with simplicity by doing things like creating videos for the sales process on your smartphone. "Creating videos and articles, even with a low barrier to entry, can significantly impact your sales process by educating prospects and addressing their concerns early on," he explains.

After starting with simplicity, you can then move to more strategic planning. One practical approach that Brian advocates is operating in 90-day cycles. "Every 90 days, review your progress, successes, and areas for improvement. This helps maintain focus and accountability, ensuring that your efforts align with long-term goals," he says.

Brian shares success stories, including a company that achieved record-breaking results after launching a new website and consistently producing content. He also highlights the importance of having a coach to hold you accountable, as well as candid conversations and being open to feedback to foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Connect with Brian Casey

Brian uses his background in sales & inbound marketing strategy to coach clients on creating content that impacts sales and helps businesses reach their ideal buyers. His experience in working with clients spans across all types of businesses in unique markets.

Check out Brian’s IMPACT Bio
Connect with Brian on LinkedIn

Keep Learning

• Watch: The Story of ‘They Ask, You Answer’

• Read: When You’re Spending on Marketing, Here’s What You’re Buying

• Watch: Don’t be Held Hostage by an Agency

Author: awinter@impactbnd.com (Alex Winter)

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X Launches Advanced Analytics for Premium Subscribers

Users can only access analytics if they pay, slipping another element behind a paywall and building on X’s subscription push.

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Threads Adds Live MLB Scores To Encourage Sports Engagement

Users can now track the latest discussion points as they come up, which could be a big winner for the app.

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LinkedIn Adds New Elements to Its Newsletter Creation Platform

LinkedIn says newsletters have seen significant growth over the past year.

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Threads Tests Updated Link Preview Display for Instagram Posts

The process displays single image and carousel posts from Instagram as full-size images in Threads, with the creator’s handle overlaid. 

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Likes Are Now Private on X

You no longer need to worry about people looking up your Likes on X.

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The Power of Nostalgia in Social Media Marketing [Infographic]

Nostalgia can drive emotional response and boost brand messaging. 

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Hire Top Tier Talent With HubSearch [Endless Customers S.1. Ep. 39]

About This Episode

HubSpot is an incredibly powerful tool, essential for any business looking to improve their operations and level-up their marketing strategies. However, its complexity means that finding the right talent to manage HubSpot for your business can be challenging.

"Too often, business owners know they need someone great who understands HubSpot but aren't sure beyond that. We help crystallize what they actually need this person to do," says Jason Azocar, CEO of HubSearch.

Jason joined Alex Winter at IMPACT Live to discuss the origins and mission of HubSearch, a company dedicated to matching businesses with HubSpot specialists.

"We're hyper-specialized to the HubSpot ecosystem," Jason explains. "Our clients need marketers, ops professionals, or HubSpot admins who can do sophisticated, complex work in the product." This specialization allows HubSearch to provide businesses with candidates who not only have the necessary certifications but also the experiential knowledge to handle real-world challenges.

Jason emphasizes the importance of deep, situational project work over basic certifications. "Certifications are great, but they don't always mean you've gotten deep into the more sophisticated components," he says. HubSearch looks for candidates who can demonstrate their expertise through detailed examples of their work and problem-solving abilities.

Jason's passion for helping businesses succeed shines through as he discusses the impact of placing the right talent: "We get to help people land their dream jobs and help companies make key hires that unlock the next level for them.”

Connect with Jason Azocar

Jason Azocar is the CEO of HubSearch, a company dedicated to helping businesses find the HubSpot talent they need to thrive.

Connect with Jason on LinkedIn

Download the HubSearch 2024 Salary Guide

Keep Learning

• Watch: New AI Tools: HubSpot Updates That Will Transform Your Business

• Read: HubSpot Vs. WordPress: Which is Better for Your Business Website

• Free assessment: How Does Your Sales & Marketing Measure Up?

• Watch: How a Remodeling Company Tamed its AR Problem with HubSpot

• Check out IMPACT’s HubSpot Mastery Program

Author: awinter@impactbnd.com (Alex Winter)

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X Adds Option To Filter Searches by Verified Accounts Only

You can now filter your search by paying users only. If you want.

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X Is Testing Advanced Account Analytics Features

X is looking to bring back some more advanced analytics elements.

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WhatsApp Channels Is Now up to 500M Users

WhatsApp Channels is a one-to-many broadcast messaging option.

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Sales and Marketing Alignment: How to Shorten Your Sales Cycle

According to a recent study by Marketo, organizations with strong sales and marketing alignment experience roughly 70% higher conversion rates and over 200% more in revenue. But if we know alignment is so important to our bottom line, why do so many of us struggle to get it right?

Maybe you’ve been publishing marketing content but aren’t sure why the sales needle isn’t moving. Or you're in sales, unsure exactly why your marketing team even creates content in the first place.

Don't worry, you're not alone. A lot of the businesses that come to us have these exact same struggles. 

We all know a well-oiled sales and marketing machine can transform our businesses, whether you operate a B2B or B2C — but understanding how to make it work is where most of us get confused.

The following is a straightforward framework we teach our clients, and if you use this strategy too, your sales team will walk away knowing exactly what content your marketing team is producing and how to use it. In return, they’ll experience a dramatically shorter sales cycle and increase sales. 

We promise.

Ready to get started? Here’s what to do.

Focus area #1: See the value of content

The first step toward aligning your sales and marketing teams is creating a content-creation culture in your business. 

You might be thinking: What does this even mean? 

At IMPACT, we believe that “programs” are abandoned just about as fast as the time it takes to set them up. But when we change the culture of our business, it becomes the way we live, breathe, and exist in our organizations. 

Now, we know that culture change can feel daunting, but it's not as hard as it seems. It starts with leadership. If company leaders believe in the power of content to attract, educate, and build trust with your audience, you've got the foundation you need. 

If the leadership team is on board, everyone else can follow suit. If not, there'll be no progress. 

Sales needs to buy in

To build a true culture of content at your business, your teams need to know what’s in it for them — especially your sales team. They need to know the what, why, and how.  The truth is that the right content will make them better salespeople. They will close more deals and they will close them faster. However, salespeople are notoriously resistant to change, so this will take some finesse. 

Without this understanding, content marketing will feel like any other marketing trend. Help them see the light. Provide the educational opportunities that help your team learn what's possible. For instance, we recommend this free course in which author Marcus Sheridan explains how salespeople can use content to close more deals.

Marcus advocates for a They Ask, You Answer approach in which salespeople are educators instead of persuaders.

Once they catch the vision of what’s truly possible, you can all work together toward the rest.

Hire a content manager 

When we say content needs to be a culture within your organization, we don’t mean you need to turn all your employees into world-class actors or writers. What it does mean is that you need their intelligence — these subject-matter experts know the ins and outs of your products and services.

What this also means is you can’t dump content creation on an engineer, salesperson, or anyone else who is working a full-time in your organization. You need to have one person on staff who owns the content production process — start to finish. 

We call this person a content manager, and not only will they ensure content is published regularly without fail, they will also:

• Obsess over creating high-quality content that accurately reflects the true tone and spirit of your brand.
• Interview your company’s subject matter experts and capture their insights (and your company’s unique perspective) and integrate it into your content.
• Work directly with the sales team and help them integrate content into the sales process, allowing them to close more deals faster.
• Monitor your organic search performance and routinely improve ranking and traffic results.
• Update existing content to ensure it remains relevant and effective.
• Oversee the other areas of your sales and marketing initiatives where content is critical (including your website, email, and social media).

This needs to be a full-time job for one person within your organization. They will regularly meet with your sales team, and be the sole person in charge of publishing at least three pieces of content per week (blog articles, podcasts, videos, etc.). 

We’ve seen organizations take shortcuts here, and it never works out. Inevitably your content creation process will be put on the back burner, and you want to keep up the momentum.

Learn more here:

• Content Manager Job Description for Marketing Teams (All Industries)

• A Weekly Onboarding Guide for Your New Content Manager

Focus area #2: Bring your teams together

Once you get buy-in from your team and hire a content manager, you’ll want your sales and marketing teams to meet regularly. Without shared meeting time, they'll never get out of their silos.

They will meet to form a connected vision of how marketing can help sales get the content they need to close more deals faster. 

We tell our clients to form a "revenue team" with members of sales and marketing focusing their efforts together. This is a place for 

• Collaboration

• Information-sharing
• Brainstorming
• Problem-solving

How it works: Instead of working in silos, where marketing creates content they think sales needs, they meet with salespeople to discuss which pieces of content the sales team needs.

It could be a new buyer's guide, a product comparison video, or an article explaining your services. Anything that will help sales close more deals faster.

Focus area #3: Become a trusted source of education

The future of sales and marketing is buyer education.

If your content educates and informs, if will help visitors become leads and leads become customers. 

Implement assignment selling 

Assignment selling is the act of using content during the sales process to address major objections and questions your buyers have.

Assignment selling, when set up and used correctly, will be your sales team’s No. 1 selling tool for shortening the sales cycle and driving up revenue.

The plan is easy to draw up and use, and if you design it the right way for your company, you will see unbelievable results in sales cycles, timelines, and closing rates.

It works — and it will always work — because your prospects will always care about one fundamental thing: learning as much as possible about what they are going to buy. Your prospects have questions, and instead of spending your time addressing them on each call, let the content do the work for you.

Assignment selling: How to

Using content to accelerate prospects through the sales funnel means educating buyers before your sales call. Well-informed prospects are more prepared to buy.

When 'assigning' content to a prospect:

• Include a definitive “why” you’re giving them the assignment. For example, “I’ve attached a guide to read before our meeting that will answer all your questions in advance so we can make the best use of our time together.” 
• Offer a tease about what’s in it for them: “Here are all the options you need to consider before making a purchase.”
• Get confirmation they will complete the assignment: “Will you take the time before the appointment?”

If someone’s not willing to take the time to read your content, they're likely not a very serious buyer, so the process weeds out bad-fit prospects along the way. 

Assignment selling is the best and most efficient solution for shortening the sales cycle and zeroing in on the right potential buyers. To do it right, you need your revenue team to obsess over what content will improve your sales cycle the most. 

Ditch the silos and start selling more

When you commit to aligning your sales and marketing teams, you will see shortened sales cycles, higher closing rates, and improved ROI.

All the tools and examples we shared with you here are from a busienss framework we teach our clients called They Ask, You Answer. The framework has helped hundreds of businesses just like yours gain millions in revenue.

To take the first step at implementing They Ask, You Answer in your business, talk to one of our coaches who can walk you through how to finally take the guesswork out of your sales and marketing. 

With strategic coaching and hands-on training for your marketing and sales teams, we can help you improve your metrics and scale your business with great content.

Author: jbecker@impactbnd.com (John Becker)

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