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Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.
It should come as no surprise to us marketers that short-form video was the top performing content format in 2024. As video content overtakes text-heavy content formats — whether in the form of live streams, YouTube videos, or Instagram Stories — marketers must include a plan to use in-stream video ads in their strategies.
A Reddit advertising strategy used to be reserved for businesses targeting men. But the tides are turning, and I think it’s time for more brands to consider advertising on Reddit.
As liquor sales stagnated last year for nearly the first time in two decades, one segment of the market actually grew by a whopping 29% YoY: Pickle-flavored spirits.
As a marketer, I’m no stranger to ad managers like Google Ads and Meta Ads. However, I was interested to learn that there’s a third option for ad buying: demand-side platforms (DSP).
If you’re staring at a blank screen (we’ve all been there) trying to figure out how to develop a marketing brief, there are a few questions you can ask yourself to get to the heart of the problems and solutions your campaign will address.
Running content strategy for B2B SaaS companies taught me that a digital marketing strategy for startups can’t just copy enterprise playbooks.
During my time at university, I used flowcharts to map out my research processes so they could be clearly understood and repeated during peer review. Lately, I’ve been using flowchart templates to organize an instructional book on floral design. Today, I’ll be exploring flowcharts as they pertain to the business sector.
From short-form videos to SEO to influencer marketing, today's marketers have more marketing channels to choose from than ever before.
With new AI tools, integrations, and use cases coming out almost daily, I know it can be overwhelming to keep up with how AI is changing business.
Modern marketing is less pushy than yesteryear's — and I love that. It’s less about forcing your message on people and more about helping. However, personality marketing is one strategy that still dances the line between savvy and shady to many, including yours truly.
In addition to running a marketing agency with customers around the globe and a seven-figure local business, today’s master is also a kickboxing champion and MMA fighter — making Jennifer Waters easily the marketer I’d least like to fight.
I was shopping for dog treats recently. My dog has particular tastes, so I turned to Amazon to find what new treats might delight her.
As a marketer who’s familiar with the different marketing tricks brands pull, I’m good at resisting the allure of commercials. That is, until a luxury brand marketing strategy sweeps me off my feet, transforming my casual scroll into an aspirational shopping session (even if I’m just looking through the digital store window).
For most of us, digital forms a significant part of our overall marketing strategies. Consumers and businesses alike are almost always online and on the go, so you want to be able to reach them wherever they are.
Two years after Generative AI took off, one thing is clear: AI will transform the way businesses operate. But for most small and medium businesses, the AI landscape feels overwhelming. They don’t need the hype; they need practical help.
Like many professionals, I face a deluge of sales messages every day. It’s easy to tune out emails, display ads, and LinkedIn messages. But a phone call? Love it or hate it, it captures my attention.
Despite TikTok’s uncertain future and mysterious algorithm, there’s a lot of data about the platform and its users that marketers can use to refine their strategies.
Every time I think I have this whole marketing thing down to a science, something changes in the blink of an eye. And if you‘re a marketer like myself, you’ve probably experienced the same feeling of whiplash as marketing trends continue to shift.
Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.
When I’m reading a blog post or a long web page, one of my favorite things to do is jump to a specific section that I want to read first. This is made possible thanks to anchor links.
As an employee and a freelancer, I’ve seen plenty of brands fall prey to a shiny object syndrome where they want to build a feature they saw a competitor launch or simply thought was a good idea. Then, they build that idea without knowing if their audience needs or wants it — they skip usability testing.
Whether you‘re just starting out with content marketing or you’ve been using the same approach for a while, it never hurts to revisit your content strategy plan and make sure it's innovative and engaging for your prospects and customers.
Let's get right down to it — the key to successful SEO is concentrating on long-tail keywords, which are associated with more qualified traffic that’s more likely to convert.
Here’s a hint as to the identity of today’s master in marketing: When I asked what his pie-in-the-sky marketing dream was, he sighed like Ahab hunting the white whale.
I primarily work with B2B clients, so I’m getting very well-versed in B2B marketing analytics. Every month, I report on the marketing for the prior month, and I turn those marketing analytics into stories and actions. Believe it or not, B2B marketing analytics doesn’t have to be boring.
Nowadays, people are consuming marketing and media in more ways than one, which means that media planning tools are no longer optional for those who want to reach their audiences across a variety of channels.
From P&G’s “Thank You, Mom” to Dos Equis’s “Most Interesting Man in the World,” marketing campaigns have a way of sticking with us. I find that the best types of marketing campaigns have a long shelf life — sticking in my brain for years, decades even (Sarah McLaughlin’s tear-jerking “Arms of an Angel” ads for the SPCA, anyone?). Why is that? Campaigns make companies memorable.
I’ve been in content marketing since early 2015. With almost a decade of experience, I’ve tested dozens of content planning software, spreadsheets, and calendars over the years.
As a marketer, I’ve learned firsthand that developing a marketing budget is a critical component of any marketing strategy. Unfortunately, figuring out exactly how much your team should spend can be no small challenge.
Landing pages are one of the most important elements of lead generation. But they’re only effective if you know what to put on a landing page to begin with.
When I worked in-house at a SaaS company, marketing felt like an endless challenge. We covered all the basics: paid campaigns, blog content, and email marketing. On paper, it looked like we were doing everything right. But users weren’t converting, and growth stalled.
Recent video marketing statistics show that visual storytelling wins. Video is an increasingly powerful way to communicate your brand story, explain your value proposition, and build relationships with your customers and prospects. I personally like the storytelling, relatability, and brevity of video content.
The words “marketing budget” are enough to stress out every marketing leader. Every dollar has to earn its place. That’s why, when budgeting season rolls around, I stock up on coffee, fire up my spreadsheets, and brace for tough decisions.
Being a marketer in today’s landscape is equal parts exciting and terrifying, am I right? But a marketing audit has never been more crucial. The competition is fierce, and with AI on the horizon, it’s difficult to tell what the future will bring in the next five years or so.
As a marketing consultant, I work on client accounts and ensure their marketing is working (i.e., making money for the business). To gauge marketing success, I particularly like two benchmarks: the cost per lead benchmark (CPL) and the customer acquisition costs benchmark (CAC).
If you’ve seen the award-winning HBO show “Succession,” you know how dramatic and challenging it can be to adequately succession plan for the next generation of business leaders. I’ve personally worked at companies that took succession planning seriously, and those that didn’t, and the difference was stark.
Each week, Laura, Caroline, and I get to sit and chat with some of today’s most innovative marketing masters. We’ve run down the rabbit hole with folks from Spotify, Liquid Death, Oatly, New Balance, Zapier, Hootsuite, the Brooklyn Nets, and even the makers of Chicago’s most beloved tirefire-flavored liquor.
One of my favorite things to do is watch college football. And if you think I’m going to compare optimizing B2B conversion rates to football, you’re absolutely right.
I cringe whenever I look at how many unopened emails live in my work inbox. I’m lucky if I open maybe ten percent of them — including anything promotional.
If, like me, you’ve worked in marketing for a long time, then the four Ps of marketing might seem like a throwback. They are a bit, but I’ve worked in marketing for over a decade now, and some things never change.
As a marketer, I often find myself sitting down at my desk with a calculator to do some basic math. And most of the time, I’m in a kerfuffle with three acronyms: TAM SAM SOM.
At the start of my marketing career, I managed two small email lists — one for my beauty blog and another for a literary magazine — and this experience was my first ample glimpse into growing a business. This email marketing guide stems from those early days, when I quickly discovered why marketers are so passionate about email marketing.
Six years ago, I led a website content overhaul that nearly derailed when the product team and sales department had completely different ideas about our messaging priorities.
I’ve been in content marketing for over a decade, and let me say that it’s never been this hard to rank highly in search.
Lead generation is essential for growing any business, but I can’t stand those telemarketing calls that interrupt dinner. I cringe every time my phone rings mid-meal, and, let’s face it, those calls never seem to connect with real leads because I’m almost never interested in what they’re selling.
If it feels like the “B2B marketing funnel” concept has been around forever, you’re not far off.
Graza. Fishwife. Brightland. These brands represent some of my favorite CPG designs. Marked by bright colors, bold fonts, and creative illustrations, this style of packaging is now moving beyond specialty stores and into big retail aisles.
TikTok is proving to be a major marketing heavyweight as more brands leverage the app to find and delight their audience. If you‘re a brand trying to find your footing on TikTok, you’ve come to the right blogger.
Pop quiz! What do Meow Wolf, Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, Disney Imagineering, and Ringling Bros. have in common? They’ve all sought out today’s guest as a consultant.
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