These days, digital project management tools like Trello and Basecamp are all the rage. They promise project transparency, virtual collaboration, and real-time progress updates. And, for a lot of teams (especially virtual businesses), they’re critical to marketing success. But today, I’d like to defend the good ol’ whiteboard and its value for new-age marketing strategies like inbound marketing. As a wise man once said, “whiteboards are freakin’ amazing…,” and even though that man might have been me, it’s worth considering how investing in what I call “the whiteboard system” might expedite your inbound marketing success. So, in this article, I’ve compiled the 5 situations where whiteboards have proven especially useful (or even critical) for implementing inbound marketing successfully for our team and our clients. Disclaimer: Neither Weidert Group nor this author represent or receive compensation from any whiteboard companies. (But we do indeed prefer Expo.)  1. For Drafting Ideas and Concepts in Team Planning Meetings Whether it’s explaining the inbound marketing methodology, developing new content marketing ideas, or discussing how leads should be generated and managed, whiteboards are incredibly useful for team meetings where you a small group of decision-makers are working together to develop plans for marketing activity. We suggest a big whiteboard, hanging on a wall, where the meeting leader can compile ideas and diagram workflow while others can shout out ideas. Be sure and take a photo of the board to type up later if you don’t have a smart whiteboard. 2. For Posting Your On-going Blogging Calendar  In addition to our digital project management platform, we like having a physical, centralized blogging calendar where everybody can see their upcoming articles, and we can reference on the fly. The centralized blogging calendar is updated weekly, and since it’s a whiteboard, topics can updated and changed as needed. If you want to develop a strong culture of blogging and content creation, then using a physical tool like a whiteboard can help keep content top of mind for busy team members. 3. For Workshopping Updates to Your Website or UX We all know that in inbound marketing, user experience really matters. You need to empathize with your prospective buyers and develop a web presence that solves for their needs. Building web improvements and workshopping them as a team is extremely important, and that’s where a whiteboard can really help. If you have a whiteboard, you can diagram navigation pathways, let multiple hands demonstrate their ideas, and use quick drafts to shape better website wireframes for your designers. Whiteboards bring together non-technical marketers and your development team to have a more complete conversation. 4. Forecasting Your Lead Generation Funnel and Sales Pipeline For sales and marketing alignment, your sales team and marketing team need to have honest conversations about how many leads are needed and how much work it will take to generate them online. Understanding the numbers, doing the math, forecasting conversion rates—all of these things are made easier when both parties are working over a whiteboard. Not Convinced? If you’re still not convinced that you should implement a whiteboard system in your inbound marketing program, then clearly you need to get in touch with a whiteboard enthusiast like me. But before you do, perhaps you should start with getting a better handle on your marketing activities in general. Check out our checklist below. Topics: Execution Written by Jamie Cartwright Jamie manages Weidert Group’s marketing and promotional efforts—100% focused on agency growth and business development. With a background in social research and human behavior, Jamie’s charged with testing and implementing new technologies and marketing tactics. Contact Jamie for all media inquires, co-promotional opportunities, and partnership questions. He also handles new relationships with marketing and sales technology vendors.

via Tumblr http://mymarketingfile.com/post/152337273673