[THE LATEST] A New Google Ads Update You'll Love, HubSpot vs. Mailchimp for Email, & Forever 21 Is in Hot Water Over Atkins Bars in Clothing Orders

Here's THE LATEST from the marketing, business, and tech world...

A New Google Ads Update You'll Love, HubSpot vs. Mailchimp for Email, & Forever 21 Is in Hot Water Over Atkins Bars in Clothing Orders ...This Is THE LATEST!  💯 Jump Right into the Good Stuff! Google Ads Is Making It Easier for Advertisers to Capture More Relevant PPC Traffic for Campaigns HubSpot vs. Mailchimp: Which Is Better for Email Marketing? After Adding "Free Samples" of Atkins Diet Bars to Clothing Orders, Forever 21 Is in Some Serious Hot Water 👋 Last chance to join me at IMPACT Live! Use code FRIENDOFLIZ — that's me, I'm Liz! — to take 30% off your ticket price. If you're going to be around the Hartford, Connecticut, area, I would love to have you there as my guest.  As I write this, it's Friday afternoon. To be more precise, it's the final Friday before I head up to the Nutmeg State with the rest of the company to put on the most memorable and exciting IMPACT Live yet. Somehow the past 10 days at IMPACT have been chaotic, stressful, exciting, challenging, inspiring, exhausting, and energizing all at once. In short, it's been an all-hands-on-deck rollercoaster of emotions. But I realized something earlier today, when I picked up the shoes I purchased specifically to wear during my IMPACT Live talk this year... Yes, they're pencil shoes. ✏️ I had finally arrived at my favorite moment. It's a moment I experience, without fail, toward the tail-end of any crazy, company-wide push to make "big stuff happen." All of the stress melts away and I'm left only with pure excitement, like it's Christmas Eve. Right now, my heart is full looking at all our team has accomplished — even when we thought certain things couldn't be done, we banded together and made magic.  Do I still have a scary to-do list that I need to complete before I drive to Connecticut with Kathleen on Sunday at noon? Heck yes. And every time I look at it, I kind of laugh and cry at the same time, because that's where I'm at emotionally right now. But everything will get done. I know it will. And soon I'll be heading up the East Coast in my bright orange Jeep for what will surely be one of the best weeks of the entire year, with my IMPACT family. (I hope I'll get to see some of you there. Just look for me on-stage on Wednesday afternoon. I'll be the girl in the pencil shoes. Or tweet at me at @naptownpint if you want to meet up!) ⚡ Google Ads Makes It Easier to Attract & Convert More Relevant Traffic in Your PPC Campaigns  This is a little bit technical, but hang in there. This is a big deal for any company that uses Google Ads as part of its digital sales and marketing strategy. In the next few weeks, Google Ads will begin expanding its close variants feature to include words that have the same meaning as the targeted keyword. "Uh, what?" Essentially, this change will enable searchers to still receive relevant results even if they enter slightly different (or even misspelled) queries. In this article, IMPACT Digital Beat Reporter Iris Hearn cuts through all of the inaccessible jargon and breaks down this exciting Google Ads update in terms we can all understand. ⭐ RELATED CONTENT: The Definitive Google Ads Getting Started Guide for Digital Marketers (Ungated) Google Releases New "Swipe to Visit" Feature for Mobile Image Search Results 📬 HubSpot vs. Mailchimp for Email Marketing: A Head-to-Head Comparison from a Digital Marketing Expert Email is like the little black dress of the digital sales and marketing world. No matter how many other flashy options come along, it's still relevant, classic, and a (potential) showstopper. However, HubSpot's email marketing features and the Mailchimp platform are both popular compelling options for companies looking to formalize their email marketing campaigns. In this comprehensive overview, IMPACT Account Executive Joe Bachir lays out what questions you should be asking yourself to make the right choice, as well as the pros and cons of both HubSpot and Mailchimp for email marketing. ⭐ RELATED CONTENT: "Images vs. No Images: What Should We Do in Our Marketing Emails & Newsletters?" Why Email Newsletters Are Making a Comeback 👽 Forever 21 Faces Backlash After Including "Free Samples" of Atkins Diet Bars in Clothing Orders Hoo boy, let's unpack this one, shall we? According to Forever 21, they often include free samples of "test products" from other companies, as a cross-promotional strategy. In an apparent "oversight," Atkins bars were included in clothing orders, and customers were not happy. In one case, a customer who ordered plus-sized jeans publicly asked the brand on Twitter, "What are you trying to tell me Forever 21 ... I'm fat, LOSE WEIGHT?" In this article, IMPACT Client Success Manager Genna Lepore reviews exactly happened with this Forever 21 strategy-gone-wrong and what lessons all brands need to learn from this incident.  ⭐ RELATED CONTENT: Digital Marketers & Brands Need to Stop Sleeping on TikTok; It's Making Big Moves Instagram Influencers Worried About Possible Removal of "Likes" 🎧  Our Latest Shows & Podcasts  Average Time to Close Ticket Reports, They Ask, You Answer (Revised & Updated), & New Report Drill-downs (Hubcast) NEW Mindfulness for Nonmeditators (MarketHer) NEW Using Buyer Intent Data to 6X Your Sales Pipeline (Inbound Success)  How to Pack & Prepare for IMPACT Live (The IMPACT Show)  10 Bad Habits of Unsuccessful People (Creator's Block) 📆  Upcoming Digital Sales & Marketing Events IMPACT Live IS THIS TUESDAY! Here's the deal, y'all. IMPACT Live, the definitive event for growth-focused business leaders and digital marketers, is mere days away. And I want you to be there with me. So, this is it. This is your final chance. Use promo code FRIENDOFLIZ to take 30% off your ticket price. There are just a handful of seats left, so if you're near Hartford, Connecticut, don't sleep on this.  Our next Website Throwdown on August 8 at 1 p.m. ET., during which we'll be critiquing your websites live! This is a very special episode, as hosts Stacy Willis and Jessie-Lee Nichols will be coming to you live from IMPACT HQ, following IMPACT Live 2019 — along with the entire IMPACT website team. Don't miss out on the action; reserve your spot today! ❤️ Weekly (Work-Related) Twitter Crushes  Here are my favorites for this week, who are totally worth a follow: If you care about Facebook marketing, you must follow Mari Smith (@MariSmith). Seriously. She's dubbed the "Facebook Queen" for a reason. 👑 Have you heard of Dharmesh Shah (@dharmesh)? He's a co-founder and the CTO of HubSpot. And everything he tweets is hilarious, quotable, or (usually) both. Finally, follow Marcus Sheridan (@TheSalesLion). He's the master of IMPACT Live ceremonies, and the author of They Ask, You Answer. Need I say more? P.S. Even though I'll be at IMPACT Live all next week, THE LATEST will still be landing in your inboxes on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings, with no interruptions. (I love you all too much to abandon you.) Also, watch your inboxes like a hawk for those issues. We'll be making huge announcements next week — and that's all I can tell you right now without getting in trouble. 🙊 Liz Murphy Director, Web & Interactive Content @naptownpint I'm not interested at this time Sent with 💙 by IMPACT  470 James Street, Suite 10, New Haven, CT