Monthly Archives: May 2023

Today, the bar for personalized customer engagement is higher than ever.

As a marketer, you know that customer data is key to delivering personalized experiences that drive growth. A whopping 82% of marketers say having high-quality data on their target audience is important to succeeding in their role – but more than half of them say they’re missing key information.

Data silos are one of the biggest hurdles that prevent businesses from delivering personalized, data-driven experiences to their customers. Only 27% of marketers say their marketing data is fully integrated with their systems and tools, resulting in fragmented and inconsistent outreach.

The good news is: It’s possible to unify your data and make it actionable in one place. One key technology for effective data activation? The cloud data warehouse.

In this blog, we’ll discuss a strategy to get first-party data out of the data warehouse and into your CRM, so you can leverage it for more effective marketing.

Data warehouses allow marketing teams to consolidate data from multiple platforms including advertising channels like Google and Facebook, analytics platforms like Mixpanel and Google Analytics, and CRM systems like HubSpot and Salesforce. Even better, both first-party and third-party customer data can be unified in the warehouse.

The most popular cloud data warehouses include:

• Snowflake Data Cloud
• Databricks (often referred to as a data lakehouse)
• Google BigQuery
• Amazon Redshift
• Azure Synapse

How Data Activation Provides a Single Source of Truth

Unifying all of your customer data points (that you’ve collected through tools like HubSpot, Google Analytics,or Zendesk) into a customer 360 profile enables you to have a holistic understanding of your target audience.

A customer 360 profile refers to having a 360 degree view of your customer’s information and behavior. This might include company data, purchase history, support interactions, and even engagement with your website, app, or social media accounts.

Fortunately, many companies have already employed data teams to consolidate customer 360 data in a central place: the data warehouse.

In the past, the warehouse was limited to technical users who knew SQL. Accessing customer data was a battle between Go-to-Market and IT teams, resulting in reduced agility and low autonomy for business teams.

Enter data activation: a way to bridge the gap between data and marketing.

Data activation platforms like Census provide warehouse-native no-code tools that enable marketers to unlock data directly from the warehouse – all without needing to know SQL.

This makes it easier for marketers to use customer 360 data to personalize recommendations and customize promotions.

Leveraging the same data infrastructure across the organization improves efficiency and team collaboration, because marketers now work with the same source of truth as data and IT teams. You can be confident that your data is fresh and trustworthy because it’s approved and maintained by the data team.

Activating the data warehouse for customer segmentation

Collecting data is useless without action. Let’s talk about how to actually use your customer data to drive more effective engagement.

Customer segmentation is key to reaching the right customers at the right time with the most relevant information.

This way, you can better understand your customers and meet their unique needs at every stage of the customer journey.

For instance, you would want to send different and targeted messages to:

• Users who are on a free trial of your product, versus users on your highest paid plans
• VIP customers who have purchased multiple times, versus visitors who just signed up for your mailing list
• Companies that have 50 user seats versus companies who have 2 user seats

Data activation platforms like the Census Audience Hub help you build dynamic audience segments with your unified customer 360 profiles.

Any user, regardless of technical skill level, can easily create, explore, and manage audiences — then send them to your CRM for targeted outreach.

Success stories from Clockwise and Prolific: Using first-party data for better personalization

Clockwise and Prolific are two companies that activate their first-party data to deliver personalized, cross-channel experiences. Both companies use Census to power HubSpot with relevant, real-time data.

Clockwise

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Clockwise is a SaaS productivity tool that helps busy professionals manage their meeting scheduling and find more time for uninterrupted flow.

They needed a better way to get product usage and engagement data in front of their go-to-market teams. By setting up real-time data syncing, the business operations team was able to:

1. Reduce time to stand up segmentation growth experiments from weeks to hours
2. Enable more personalized onboarding communications with granular user segmentation
3. Provide self-service access to real time product engagement data

Read the case study here.

Prolific

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Prolific simplifies online data collection by connecting researchers with the study participants they need, quickly.

Their newly-minted sales team was eager for data on their customers and prospects. After connecting their data warehouse to HubSpot, their salespeople now have important context for every sales interaction — without ever leaving HubSpot.

Prolific used Census’s data activation platform to:

• Build Customer 360 profiles in HubSpot with complete product behavior data
• Automate sales workflows based on product usage and segmentation data
• Identify purchase intent and personalize messages

Read the case study here.

Key learnings from Clockwise and Prolific: Building a robust and scalable data foundation makes first-party data more valuable and usable. But collecting data is just the beginning. The real value is in activating data to drive business decisions and revenue.

Key Takeaways

Accessing and leveraging customer data is crucial for marketers who want to deliver personalized experiences that drive growth.

By integrating your data warehouse with your CRM, you can unlock new insights and create a central repository of customer data that can be used to power all of your marketing efforts.

Our three key takeaways from this article are:

1. Data Activation is crucial. It connects your data infrastructure to your marketing efforts, making you more data-driven than ever.
2. Real-time segmentation is key to personalization. To target accurately, go for a solution that updates audiences continuously and makes your data available seamlessly.
3. Your martech stack should embrace data. Choose a customer engagement platform that integrates with your tech stack, instead of using siloed tools.

To exceed customer expectations, empower your marketing, engineering, and IT teams to activate a 360° view of customer data.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

Courage and hope reside at the heart of building a business. Hope for a better quality of life, financial stability, and, if we’re lucky, generational wealth for our families.

However, for Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs, spinning an idea into a profitable business requires startup funding that is often difficult to access because of systemic barriers.

As an alternative to venture capital, angel investments, and loans, business grants can help bridge this gap by awarding money that doesn’t require repayment or equity exchange. This post will explore where AAPI entrepreneurs can find business grants, and how to apply for them successfully.

Why are grants helpful for AAPI business owners?

Although the AAPI community owns around 2 million enterprises, including small sole proprietorships, and is the most rapidly growing ethnic group in America, grant opportunities specifically for AAPI businesses are scarce.

Beyond the absence of support for these aspiring business owners, AAPI entrepreneurs are also hesitant to apply for the small number of available funds and grants due to cultural and language barriers. According to a survey conducted by Bank of America, 37% of AAPI business owners don’t feel sufficiently informed on how to apply for capital and 23% don’t know where to apply. The National CAPACD also reports that 58% of AAPI entrepreneurs struggle with federal, state, and local relief programs for small businesses.

There is a clear need for more visible resources and mentorship related to business development and funding opportunities so that a new generation of AAPI-founded companies can make culture-shifting and innovative contributions to society. The first step to picking the right resource for you is understanding how much money you’ll need.

How much does it cost to start a business?

Finances are unique for each person or company and depend on the type of business, the number of employees, and other details. According to Small Business Trends, on average, startup and first-year costs fall between $30,000 and $40,000, although it can cost significantly less for service providers and online businesses. There are several variables to consider when evaluating how much money you’ll need to launch, including:

• One-time and ongoing costs
• Essentials such as equipment, software, and supplies
• Fixed and fluctuating costs such as rent and utilities
• Marketing expenses
• Legal and accounting fees
• Insurance
• Licenses and permits
• Employee salaries and benefits
• Taxes

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has a handy worksheet for calculating startup costs. After determining how much money you’ll need, you can assess your options for funding, whether it’s pulling from your personal accounts, courting investors, applying for a grant, or seeking lending options through banks.

The Difference Between Investors and Grant Programs

This money doesn’t appear like an ancestral blessing with no strings attached. Investors earn a return on their investment through equity and earning dividends in the form of cash or shares of stock, or in some cases, repayment with a pre-decided interest rate.

On the other hand, business grants are non-dilutive, meaning you keep full ownership of your business and don’t have to pay back any money. Many grant programs award the money upfront, while some pay as reimbursements after expense reports are submitted.

Where To Find Business Grants

The main types of grants for entrepreneurs include general business grants, industry-specific grants, grants for women minority-owned businesses, and COVID-19 relief grants. Each grant is unique and differs on who is eligible, the use of the money, and the award amount. Here is a list of grant-making organizations.

• Search and apply for federal funding on Grants.gov, a database with grants from around 26 federal agencies, such as SBA, MBDA, and USDA. The agencies award grants for critical recovery initiatives, innovative research, and other projects for non-profit organizations, for-profit businesses, and other entities. Annually, this site helps award approximately $500 billion across more than 1,000 federal grants.
• Non-profit organizations can offer grants to support small businesses and entrepreneurs.
• Private foundations offer industry-specific grants.
• Local Asian Chambers of Commerce offer grants, funding opportunities, networking, mentorship, and financial literacy resources to Asian American-owned businesses.

10 Grants for AAPI-Owned Businesses

Although the list isn’t long, there are a handful of grants for AAPI entrepreneurs that could be your ticket to accelerate the growth of your business.

1. Gold House

Gold House invests in AAPI entrepreneurs disrupting their industries to give them the capital and tools they need to scale. It offers two grant opportunities: SAFE Gold House Ventures and Gold Futures Challenge.

Gold Futures Challenge gives awards to organizations/projects that support API communities and help them feel seen, heard, empowered, and united. It’s a challenge-based fund and the public votes for winners from a pool of finalists chosen by a selection committee.

• Grant Amount: Prizes range from $25k – $100k
• Eligibility: AAPI-serving organizations registered as 501(c)(3) nonprofit, fiscally-sponsored projects, or government organizations.
• Application Date: Apply by June 15, 2023

SAFE Gold House Ventures invests in AAPI entrepreneurs disrupting their industries. It’s a 12-week startup accelerator with 1:1 advising, masterclasses, and networking opportunities.

• Grant Amount: $150k investment for each winner
• Eligibility: Open to founders of C Corp companies who identify as AAPI. LLCs can apply but are required to convert to a C Corp to receive funding.
• Application Date: Fall 2023 applications open in August

2. USA Funding Applications

USA Funding Applications is an online funding resource that gives you access to 20K applications and grant sources. AAPI entrepreneurs and business owners can apply within the Minorities/Demographic section, and there’s no limit to the number of grants you can apply for.

• Grant Amount: Varies by grant and case-by-case basis.
• Eligibility: See eligibility requirements for your category after signing up.
• Application Dates: Applications accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.

3. Hawai’i Foundher

Hawai’i Foundher is a six-month accelerator program that provides five businesses with grant funding, flexible child and elder care stipends, a workspace on each major Hawaiian island, two core mentors, and access to an advisor network. The program helps Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Asian women and mothers with businesses in the five core markets of Hawaii: food, health and wellness, fashion, tech, and education.

• Grant Amount: Undisclosed
• Eligibility: Must be a for-profit, early-stage business with 50% of founders being women of Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, or Asian descent and based in Hawaii.
• Application Dates: 2023 – 2024 dates to be announced

4. AAPIStrong

National ACE’s AAPISTRONG has a grant page updated annually with available opportunities. At the time of this writing, two grants have deadlines in May, and you can sign up for new grant alerts here.

The National ACE and Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Program Grant will provide $1 million in small business grants in 2023 to help with marketing, equipment, team building, and more.

• Grant Amount: $10,000 each
• Eligibility: Complete any combination of two Small Business Digital Ready Program courses, coaching events, and community events before applying.
• Application Dates: 2024 dates to be announced.

The Greg Hill Foundation and GrubHub Community Fund Grant will provide $1.25 million to small business restaurants. A portion of this fund is dedicated to supporting minority-owned businesses for technology and equipment, marketing services, staff training and wages, and more.

• Grant Amount: Ranges from $5,000 to $25,000
• Eligibility: Must own only one restaurant location with 50 or fewer employees in Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia.
• Application Dates: 2024 dates to be announced

5. Asian Pacific Community Fund

APCF provides alternative funding for Los Angeles County nonprofit organizations serving low-income and underserved Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities. It offers long-term funding opportunities, core operating support, and resources beyond traditional grant-making. APCF has awarded over 260 grants and distributed over $1.6 million in funds.

Firecracker Fund

• Grant Amount: Undisclosed
• Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations with programs that promote healthy lifestyles through nutrition and physical fitness for AAPIs in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
• Application Dates: 2023 dates to be announced

APCF Operating Grant

• Grant Amount: Ranges from $5,000 to $15,000
• Eligibility: Organizations that serve AAPI community members needing the most assistance in Los Angeles County and beyond.
• Application Dates: 2024 dates to be announced

Asian Pacific Community Giving Circle

• Grant Amount: Undisclosed
• Eligibility: Organizations that serve AAPI communities throughout Greater Los Angeles County. The area of focus changes each year and previously included organizations with programs for mental health, youth leadership development, language access, bullying prevention, environmental justice, and financial literacy.
• Application Dates: 2024 dates to be announced

6. Asian Women Giving Circle

AWGC believes funding is a form of activism. Its team has granted $1 million in the past 16 years through 100 grant projects. Annually, they award 8 to 10 grants to help fund projects led by Asian American women artists and community groups in NYC that bring progressive social transformation and raise awareness of critical issues affecting Asian American women, girls, and gender-expansive people.

• Grant Amount: Typically $8,000 each, depending on how much AWGC raises for their annual pot.
• Eligibility: Open to 501(c)(3) organizations and individual artists. Projects must incorporate art, highlight women and gender-expansive people’s leadership, and be applied to a specific project, not ongoing programs or operations.
• Application Dates: 2024 dates to be announced

Tips for Successfully Applying for Business Grants

1. Start early.

Having a small window of time to draft a business plan, gather the necessary paperwork, and fill out a grant application will make it harder to complete. Start the process early to give you enough time to plan, write, and submit the best application possible without any additional stress that comes with feeling rushed and overwhelmed.

2. Do your research.

When preparing to apply for a grant, thoroughly research to understand the organization offering the award. Treat it as though you’re preparing for a job interview and customize your application to show why you’re the best fit to receive their funding. Take your time while reading the grant guidelines and application requirements to ensure you’re addressing all the necessary points and letting your proposal and vision shine.

3. Get help from a grant writer.

You’re capable of completing your grant application, but if financially possible, hiring a professional grant writer with experience crafting award-winning applications can help increase your chances of receiving funding.

4. Apply to more than one grant.

Grants are limited and competitive, but don’t let that discourage you from applying to as many of them as possible. The more applications you submit, the greater your chance of being awarded. Don’t sacrifice quality for quantity; ensure your applications are customized for each organization.

Mistakes to Avoid With Business Grants

1. Falling for a scam.

Be cautious when applying for grants. Scams exist to trick you into paying money or sharing sensitive information. Verify the authenticity of a grant opportunity (they are always free) before applying.

2. Committing fraud.

Misrepresenting how you plan to utilize grant money can result in serious consequences, such as being barred from receiving future funding, civil lawsuits, and criminal prosecution in some cases. When applying, be honest about how your business will spend the money.

3. Forgetting to pay your taxes.

Most business grants are taxable because the money is considered income. Research federal and state tax laws to understand how much of your grant needs to be claimed for your tax return, and work with an accountant to guide you on how to report it. The organization that awards the grant can also clarify some of these details.

Rise to the challenge of launching a business.

Obtaining funding can be intimidating, but now is your chance to turn your ideas into an operating, money-making business. If you aren’t offered money during your first round of grant applications or raising capital, keep trying. If those funding sources aren’t working in your favor yet, consider looking into business loans or crowdfunding. You always have options.

ChatGPT has entered the chat, bringing the resurgence of the conversation around artificial intelligence (AI) and marketing.

It seemed like AI marketing as a concept had stalled, but in 2023 it’s more popular than ever, leaving everyone wondering, “How can marketers use AI?” Today, we’re going to answer that question.

We’ll cover what AI marketing is, how to use it, examples, pros and cons, and marketing strategies that benefit from AI. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

• What is AI marketing?
• How do marketers use AI?
• Examples of AI Marketing
• AI Marketing Pros and Cons
• Marketing Strategies That Use AI

To use AI in marketing, typically, the AI will collect data, learn customer behaviors, and analyze this information to help a business achieve its goals. AI can even reach out to customers who do a specific behavior on your website, like clicking a button or liking social media posts.

There are several AI tools and software marketers can use that will trigger automated responses for your customers. AI marketing is used for data analysis, media buying, content generation, personalization, and more. Now, let’s dive into how marketers use AI.

Pro tip: If you’re a HubSpot user, check out our new AI tools. We have a new content assistant and ChatSpot tools to streamline your day-to-day. Plus, many of our features use AI, including SEO, call recordings, social media, data management, and more.

Get started with HubSpot content assistant.

How do marketers use AI?

AI has been a growing industry and topic of conversation for the better part of a decade. In fact, there was a 27% reported increase in implementing AI or machine learning into companies’ marketing toolkits.

The top three reported uses for AI in marketing were content personalization, predictive analytics for customer insights, and targeting decisions. Below, we’ll dive into some of the use cases for AI in marketing.

When to Use AI Marketing

1. Content Personalization

One of the ways to use AI in marketing is to personalize content. This means AI can change the customer’s experience depending on their online behavior or whether or not they’ve filled out a form for your company.

For example, dynamic content changes depending on the user — their name, occupation, online behavior, etc. AI analyzes a user online and gives them a more personal experience with marketing assets, including web pages, social media posts, and emails.

6Sense is a helpful tool that leverages AI to sift through intent data. You can then understand who in your audience is looking to make a purchase so you can personalize the marketing experience.

2. Data Analytics

Data analytics is one of the main uses of AI in marketing. AI can collect and sift through large amounts of data from several marketing campaigns and summarize the findings.

AI can predict the outcome of marketing campaigns by using historical data, such as consumer engagement metrics, purchases, time-on-page, email opens, and more.

This will help you save time when strategizing and developing marketing assets for your campaigns.

Pro tip: HubSpot Sales Hub has conversational intelligence capabilities to help you understand how your team performs on customer calls through data-driven insights. Learn how to use account-based marketing recommendations powered by AI. 

3. Content Generation

AI can also be used to help generate content. It can help develop captions, social media posts, email subject lines, and even blog copy.

We’ve all seen how AI can write articles when given a certain subject. Still, it’s important to note that most AI-generated content isn’t ready for publishing immediately.

Most marketers today use generative AI to recommend content and generate portions of an article. They then fact-check, edit, and adjust AI’s writing to make it sound more human.

The best way to use AI in content generation is to help get you started. The best, high-quality content is produced by marketers using insights from AI to create content faster.

Pro tip: HubSpot has an AI-powered content assistant that can help you generate blog ideas, create outlines, and write blogs or marketing emails.

4. Media Buying

Another way to use AI in marketing is through media buying. AI technology can predict the most effective ad and media placements to reach a target audience and maximize ROI.

To implement this tactic, use AI software specifically made to help your media buying team. Pattern89 is one example. This AI marketing tool provides recommendations on your ad spend and enables you to target the right audience to increase performance.

Additionally, if you use Google Ads, you’re already encountering the AI that helps with the auction process.

5. Chatbots

One use of AI in marketing that we’ve seen for years is chatbots. Chatbots, created with natural language processing (NLP), can solve quick problems for customers, help nurture leads, answer repeated questions, and more.

A chatbot can personalize the customer journey during the stage when they’re consuming marketing content. This tool can also answer customer questions.

Let’s look at Drift. The company has trained its chatbot to answer questions, even if it’s outside a pre-programmed path. This way, if a person has a question that isn’t loaded into the system, the user will still get an answer.

Pro tip: Looking to better understand how AI-powered chatbots can answer customer questions? HubSpot Academy can help. This course describes the difference between rule-based and AI-powered chatbots.

6. Automated Email Marketing Campaigns

Automated email marketing has also been around for years. But AI tools can help produce more engaging email content and learn about your email list behaviors.

The goal is to have your marketers spend less time researching and brainstorming so they can focus on sending successful campaigns. As AI expands and improves, automated email marketing software becomes even more important to include in your marketing stack.

HubSpot Content Assistant can help you create marketing emails. Write a prompt about what you’d like to promote — from a discount to a webinar to a blog post — and AI can generate a message with the right tone.

7. Forecasting Sales

A great use of AI in marketing is to forecast sales.

Now you might think that has more to do with sales than marketing. However, AI can help marketers understand the predicted outcome of their campaigns and marketing assets.

This insight can help marketers develop better campaigns that actually produce sales and ROI.

8. Improving Customer Experience

Marketing is all about the customer experience, and AI can help marketers deliver the best experience for their visitors to convert them into leads.

AI can help increase customer retention and loyalty, delight customers with personalized content, and improve assets.

9. SEO

One of the most significant advantages AI can bring to SEO is the ability to optimize content for search engines. AI algorithms can analyze website traffic, identify keywords that can help improve search engine rankings, and track competitors’ activity.

Plus, using AI-powered tools, marketers can learn about their audience’s preferences and customize their content to match their interests.

To learn more about how AI can impact your SEO efforts, visit HubSpot Academy. Our Keyword Research for SEO course includes information on how search engines leverage AI to suggest related searches by keywords.

Examples of AI Marketing

At this point, you might be wondering, “Okay, but how does this look in practice?” Let’s review some real-life examples of how big media companies have used AI in their marketing.

1. Netflix

If you’re in marketing, you know you have to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. Netflix uses AI to do this. How?

On a Netflix Tech Blog, the company explains how it uses previous viewing history to determine the artwork for recommended movies or TV shows.

For example, if you’ve watched a lot of one actor’s movies, they might recommend another movie they’re in. But if the artwork doesn’t show off the actor, you may click away. So, when the movie is recommended to this specific viewer, the artwork will showcase that actor.

Or maybe a viewer tends to watch more comedies than romances. When Netflix recommends a movie, they might change the artwork to show off comedic scenes versus romantic moments from the film.

Let’s take a look at how Netflix would recommend the movie Good Will Hunting to someone who watches romance movies versus the artwork they’d use to recommend the movie to someone who watches comedies.

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So, why does Netflix do this? The goal is to increase conversion rates and improve the customer experience on their platform.

2. Spotify

Spotify uses a similar approach to Netflix. The company will use AI to understand a user’s music interests, podcast favorites, purchase history, location, brand interactions, and more.

Then, customized playlists and recommendations are curated for each user.

This type of content personalization has helped major media companies like Spotify become top streaming platforms. But the personalization doesn’t end there.

Spotify will also send automated email marketing messages with personalized recommendations.

The goal? Create automated marketing messages and assets that will convert a user because the message is specific to that customer.

3. Amazon

Two major use cases for AI in marketing are forecasting sales and analyzing data. Amazon uses AI to do just that.

When you go on Amazon, there is a recommended products section that uses predictive analytics to determine if a customer is likely to make a purchase.

This helps the marketing teams at Amazon know what products to place in front of which customers. Plus, they can predict how well a product will sell based on their recommended product campaigns.

This type of AI helps increase conversions, improve customer satisfaction, and measure the overall success and ROI of various marketing campaigns.

AI Marketing Pros and Cons

We’ve covered a lot so far, including what AI marketing looks like in the real world. However, is this something you should implement at your company? Below, we’ll discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of AI marketing.

AI Marketing Advantages

1. Increase your ROI.

As you can see from the examples above, the main goal of using AI in marketing is to increase ROI and build campaigns that are easier to track.

The data analytics and insight AI provides can be leveraged to produce better marketing assets and improve your campaigns in real time.

This will save your marketing team time and money, allowing them to work more efficiently and increase profits.

2. Improve customer relationships.

Another advantage is that using AI in marketing can help improve your relationship with your customers.

The more personalized your recommendations are and the deeper your relationship with your customer is, the more likely they’ll become repeat purchasers. This happens through AI’s ability to personalize marketing assets and content in real time.

Additionally, AI can identify customers at risk of churning and put them in an automated marketing campaign to get them to re-engage with your company.

3. Make better, strategic marketing decisions.

AI is becoming more popular in marketing, culminating in the ability to make better strategic marketing decisions. As your company and marketing team grows, scaling has never been more important (but also, it’s never been more difficult).

AI can make scaling your business easier, using data to analyze, predict, and create marketing assets that sell. See how your team can use artificial intelligence and automation in this course from HubSpot Academy. 

AI Marketing Disadvantages

1. Content quality.

If you’re going to use AI to generate content without having a human edit it, you’re going to see a drop in the quality of your content. The success of AI is reliant on high-quality data that is accurate and timely.

Without a human editor, AI can produce content with factual inaccuracies, bias, or a divergent tone from your brand. Using AI requires human oversight so these types of mistakes don’t happen.

2. Privacy.

As marketing assets have become more personalized through the years, customers are beginning to value privacy more and more. With AI, some of these techniques require using a customer’s cookies and previous internet behavior to predict future purchases.

If your marketing team downloads and uses AI software, you’ll need to be sure you comply with privacy laws, such as GDPR.

3. Evaluating non-quantifiable KPIs.

It might be hard to get buy-in to invest in AI at your company because there are non-quantifiable KPIs at play.

Certain metrics will be easy to track, but others — like improving the customer experience, increasing brand awareness, or improving reputation — will be much harder. That’s why it’s important to have the right measurement tools in place.

Marketing Strategies That Use AI

Many marketing strategies take advantage of AI. Consider whether your team could benefit from some (or all) of these tactics. These strategies include:

• Content marketing. Whether it’s for content generation or personalization, AI can help your team produce more content in less time. Personalization software may be just the thing your brand needs.
• Product marketing. By tracking user behavior, AI can make recommendations for customers and predict purchases. AI can keep your brand top of mind while you engage in other tasks that AI can’t perform.
• Email marketing. AI can help you produce lead-nurturing marketing emails and analyze past email behaviors and performance. It can send automatic emails based on customer behavior and flag outstanding emails and those needing work.
• Advertising. AI can take care of buying media ads, whether it’s display ads, PPC, or paid social, so the content you’ve crafted can make it to your target audience.

Remember: AI should help your team level up their operations. Human input and editing will always be part of the process.

Critical thinking skills should be positioned alongside AI content. to empower your team to engage AI effectively and accurately. Learn best practices for critical thinking and problem-solving in the workplace. 

Harnessing the Power of AI

Marketing teams can scale their operations with AI, and it doesn’t have to break the bank. However, it’s important to keep in mind the limitations of AI, even as the technology continues to get better over time in the changing marketing landscape.

While you might be able to use it to aid several marketing campaigns (and should), it isn’t replacing marketers just yet.

Imagine spending hours creating a Google Sheet to share with your team, only to find that a team member accidentally deleted an important column, row, cell, or, even worse — an entire sheet.

That can be frustrating. However, it’s entirely preventable if you lock cells in Google Sheets.

As it turns out, with just a few clicks of a mouse, you can lock cells and entire sheets in Google Sheets — meaning, you and your team can work on the same sheet without hindering the next person from completing their assigned tasks.

In this post, we’ll go over how to lock and unlock cells in Google Sheets.

Table of Contents

• The Benefits of Locking Cells in Google Sheets
• How to Lock Specific Cells in Google Sheets
• How to Lock Cells and Give Editing Permissions to Select Users
• How to Lock an Entire Sheet
• How to Show a Warning but Allow Editing of a Locked Cell
• How to Unlock Cells

The Benefits of Locking Cells in Google Sheets

Google Sheets allows users to lock cells from editing, which means you can protect your Sheet from any potential accidents, including editing and deletion.

You can also protect important data and calculations, so you can rest easy knowing the formulas in your Sheet are correct and accurate.

The ability to lock cells in Google Sheets comes with a variety of benefits.

Not only can you lock cells from editing, but you can also control which team members can edit your document — right down to the very cells those team members are allowed to manipulate.

This is extremely helpful if multiple team members are working on the same Sheet at once. You can also copy permissions from other sheets, if you have locked cells in other Sheets.

Let’s take a look at the steps to lock cells in Google Sheets.

How to Lock Specific Cells in Google Sheets

Locking specific cells in Google Sheets is a simple task. Here’s how to do it:

1. Right-click on the cell you want to lock.

After opening a new Google Sheet (or a Sheet you have already been working in), right-click on the cell or cells you want to lock.

2. Hover over “View more cell actions.”

This option is listed at the bottom of the dropdown menu.

Depending on where your cells are located in the Sheet, you may need to scroll down until you see it. When you see it, hover over the “View more cell actions” to open up another menu.

3. Select “Protect range.”

The next menu will give you several more cell actions. Look for the action labeled “Protect range.” Choose “Protect range” to begin assigning cells to a locked status.

Alternatively, you can perform the same task by clicking on the Data tab and choosing “Protect sheets and ranges.”

4. Choose “Add a sheet or range” from the side panel.

After clicking “Protect range” from the dropdown menu or “Protect sheets and ranges” from the Data tab, you will notice the open side panel on the right of your screen. Click on “Add a sheet or range.”

5. Choose which cells to lock.

Next, decide which cells to lock from editing. If you click the cell you want to lock, that cell’s information will be referenced in the range section. If you need to lock a range of cells, enter the range into the field.

6. Select “Set permissions.”

Select “Set permissions” to choose who can edit the selected cells. If you’re the only person allowed to edit the cell, make sure you choose “only you.”

You can also copy permissions from other sheets, if you have locked cells in other Sheets.

7. Select “Done.”

Once you’re finished locking cells from editing, click “Done” to save your preferences. Now, those cells are locked from editing until you unlock them and change the settings.

How to Lock Cells and Give Editing Permission to Select Users

If you and your team are working in a Google Sheet, consider giving editing permissions to select users. This will help you assign tasks and better manage your project and keep others from accidentally deleting important work.

To lock cells and give editing permission to select users, follow these steps.

1. Right-click the selected cells.

Choose the cell or cells you would like to restrict. Then, right-click to open up the dropdown menu.

2. Hover “View more cell actions.”

Scroll or look to the bottom of the dropdown menu and hover over “View more cell actions.” This will open another menu on your screen.

3. Select “Protect range.”

To change a cell’s editing status, choose “Protect range.” This action will open a side panel menu.

4. Click “Add a sheet or range” from the side panel.

In the side panel, click “Add a sheet or range.” Clicking this button will allow you to enter which cells or sheets to lock.

5. Choose which cells to lock.

Determine which cells your team member needs to perform their assigned task. Then, enter the range of cells into the box.

6. Select “Set permissions.”

Once you’ve entered the desired cells in the box, you’ll need to set editing restrictions. To restrict access to the range of cells, click “Set permissions.”

7. Choose “Custom.”

From this screen, you have the option to decide who has permission to edit the range of cells. To add a team member or multiple team members, click “Custom.”

8. Assign editors to cells.

Now, you can decide who needs editing access to the range of cells you have specified. Enter the email addresses of your team members to assign them as editors of the cells. This will give them editing access to designated cells within the sheet.

Be sure to click “Done” to save the range editing permissions.

How to Lock an Entire Sheet

There may be times you will need to lock an entire sheet from editing. Thankfully, this is a simple process.

To lock an entire sheet, you can right-click on any cell within the document to open the dropdown menu. You’ll take the same steps to lock an entire sheet as you did with locking just one cell.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Right-click on any cell.

Right-click on any cell in your Google Sheet to open a drop-down menu. To lock an entire sheet, it does not matter which cell you use to do this.

2. Hover over “View more cell actions.”

Choose the “View more cell actions” option at the bottom of the dropdown menu. You do not need to click. Just hover over it to open another menu.

3. Select “Protect range.”

Click “Protect range” to open the permissions side panel. Alternatively, you can reach the “Protected sheets and ranges” side panel by clicking on the Data tab and selecting “Protect sheets and ranges.”

4. Choose “Add a sheet or range” from the side panel.

Click “Add a sheet or range” to begin locking an entire sheet.

5. Click on “Sheet.”

Click on the “Sheet” button to lock an entire sheet. Once you’re in the Sheet tab, select which Sheet you would like to lock.

ou have the option to exclude certain cells from being locked. If you need certain cells open for editing, click the box for “Except certain cells” and specify the range.

6. Select “Set permissions.”

Before you can lock your Sheet, you need to set editing permissions. Select “Set permissions” to choose who can edit the locked Sheet. If you are the only person allowed to edit the sheet, make sure you choose “Only you.”

Once you’ve determined who has editing permissions for your Sheet, either just you or members of your team, be sure to hit “Done” to save the permissions. Now your Sheet is locked and cannot be edited without permission.

How to Show a Warning but Allow Editing of Locked Cells

If you’re working on a document simultaneously with team members and you don’t want your cells to be modified, you can allow users to receive a warning before accepting their edits.

To show a warning, follow these steps:

1. Right-click on the cells you want to lock.

In your Google Sheet, right-click on the cells you want to lock. You can set a warning for an entire Sheet by following this process as well.

2. Hover over “View more cell actions.”

Scroll to the bottom of the menu and hover over “View more cell actions.”

3. Select “Protect range.”

To set an editing warning on certain cells or your Sheet, click “Protect range” to assign cells or a Sheet to a warning status.

4. Choose “Add a sheet or range” from the side panel.

On the right of your screen, you will see an open side panel menu. Click “Add a sheet or range.”

5. Choose which cells or sheet to set an editing warning.

You can set an editing warning for a range of cells or an entire sheet. In the side panel, determine which cells or sheets need a warning and make sure the information referenced in the box matches your desired cells or sheet.

6. Select “Set permissions.”

After you have verified which cells or sheets should have an editing warning, click “Set permissions” to go to the editing preference screen.

7. Choose “Show a warning when editing this range.”

Select “Show a warning when editing this range,” then hit “Done” to save your editing permissions.

If a user tries to make changes in the semi-locked cell or Sheet, they will receive a warning message as a heads-up. Users must either click “Cancel” or “Ok” to make changes or revert to the original document.

How to Unlock Cells

Locking a cell or a Sheet is extremely helpful in maintaining the integrity of your data. But, there will be times when you will need to unlock a cell to update or change the information within it.

Now that you understand how to lock cells, let’s take a look at how to unlock them.

1. Right-click on the cells you want to unlock.

In your Google Sheet, right-click on the cell you need to unlock. This action opens a dropdown menu.

2. Hover over “View more cell actions.”

Look for the “View more cell actions” option in the drop-down menu. This option is located at the bottom of the dropdown menu. When you find it, hover your mouse over the action.

3. Select “Protect range.”

Like locking a cell, you will still need to click on the “Protect range” option. This will open a side panel menu where you can choose to unlock the cell.

4. Click on the locked cell.

In the side panel menu, you will see a list of locked cells within your Sheet. Click on the cell or cell range that you wish to unlock.

5. Click the trashcan icon.

Next, click on the trashcan icon to the side of the description box.

6. Select “Remove.”

A warning screen will pop up asking if you want to remove the protected range. If you are sure you want to unlock the cell, click the “Remove” button.

Once you click the button, your cell is free to be edited by anyone with editing permission for the document.

Locking Cells in Google Sheets

And there you have it! Be sure to take some time to set editing preferences and assign certain cells or sheets to your team.

Once you’ve done that, you and your team can confidently work on the same Google Sheet without worrying someone will accidentally edit or delete important information.

Successful empathetic marketing is about connecting your audience and your brand. That doesn’t mean just throwing ads at your audience. It means creating truly valuable assets — content that serves customers’ needs and addresses their most significant pain points.

This type of content is much easier to create when it’s informed and driven by empathy. When you put yourself in your customers’ shoes, you can more easily acknowledge struggles and think critically about the best solutions.

Below, let’s go over why empathetic marketing is such a powerful strategy for businesses of all types and sizes, tips for infusing more empathy into your marketing, and a few real-life examples of empathetic marketing in practice.

Table of Contents

• The Benefits of Empathetic Marketing
• Tips for Empathetic Marketing
• Empathetic Marketing Examples

​​

The Benefits of Empathetic Marketing

As Dr. Brené Brown notes, “Empathy is feeling with people.”

Showing empathy in your marketing helps build trust between your brand and your customers. And during a time when more consumers are losing confidence in brands, brand trust is a major win if you can achieve it.

A 2022 PwC survey found that only 30% of consumers have a high level of trust in companies.

If you can get on the other side, however, you may be on your way to becoming one of the most trusted brands by consumers.

All it takes is a more insightful perspective on where your customer is coming from, their needs, and how your brand can help them meet their goals.

Tips for Empathetic Marketing

You know you want to infuse more empathy into your marketing, but how exactly can you do that? Here are the best tips to remember if you want to be an empathetic marketer.

Put the customer at the forefront.

Empathetic marketing starts and ends with your customer, so it only makes sense to put their wants and needs at the forefront.

Empathy is about understanding something from another’s perspective by seeing something through their eyes. To empathize with customers, imagine their experience with your brand. Look at your product or service from their viewpoint, and think about each step they may take.

Better yet, you can follow real-life customer journeys to see their actions when shopping on your site or digesting your content.

To truly understand your customers’ experiences with your brand, take time to dive into each step of their journey so you can better understand what they may want or need during each stage.

Be open to feedback.

Operating in a vacuum is easy because that’s how they’ve always been done. But to truly practice empathy in your marketing, you have to bring your customers into the planning aspect so you can hear directly from them.

They can share what they want to see from your brand or what should be changed.

To collect feedback from your audience, go directly to the source. Run a survey or host a focus group to learn exactly what your customers’ challenges are, what they need, and how they view your brand.

These insights can help you better understand how your product or service plays a role in helping your customers navigate their challenges or achieve their goals.

Your customers will tell you if the messaging doesn’t land. Be open to shifting your approach if that’s what it takes for your message to resonate.

Always be listening.

While you should always collect direct feedback from your customers and audience, gathering insights that they don’t personally share with you is essential. People tend to be more honest when they aren’t talking directly to a brand or think the brand won’t see their comments.

Pay attention to the overall sentiment when your brand is mentioned online to see the general feelings towards your company, whether positive or negative.

Tune into your customers’ conversations, the feedback they’re sharing about their experience, and their general sentiment about your brand. You can do this by monitoring social media comments, checking out reviews on your site, or tracking reviews on third-party sites.

Be genuine.

Understanding your audience and their various needs is essential to empathetic marketing. The last thing you want is to break their trust. Being fake or putting on a persona is the quickest way to do that.

Whenever you share content or conduct outreach, be genuine in your approach. Transparency goes a long way in being authentic, so always lead with empathy if you want your content or messaging to resonate.

Provide your customer with the right content.

After all of the listening and empathizing you’ve done, it would be a shame not to put that learning into practice. And yet, some brands continue to share content their audience isn’t interested in. This is the last thing you want to do.

If you want your marketing approach to resonate with your customers, delivering the content you promised them is essential.

After running surveys or focus groups, explore how you can adjust your product, messaging, or communication channels to better meet the needs of your most loyal customers.

Empathetic Marketing Examples

Now that you know what empathetic marketing is and how to incorporate it into your strategy, let’s walk through eight brands that nail empathetic content marketing across various media.

LUSH

With the tagline, “Fresh, handmade cosmetics,” LUSH is a beauty brand that is all about natural products.

As such, we see its radical transparency in the “How It’s Made“ video series, where LUSH goes behind the scenes of some of its most popular products.

Each episode features actual LUSH employees in the “kitchen,” narrating how the products are made. Lush visuals (pun intended) showcase just how natural the ingredients are.

You see mounds of fresh fruits, tea infusions, and salt swirled together to become the product you know and love. It’s equal parts interesting and educational.

Why This Works

LUSH customers want to buy beauty products that are truly natural. They care about using fresh, organic, and ethically sourced ingredients — hence why the videos feature colorful, close-up shots of freshly-squeezed pineapple and jackfruit juices to drive that point home.

Taking customers inside the factory and showing them every part of the process — with a human face — assures them that they can consume these products with peace of mind.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Talent Solutions provides HR professionals the tools they need to improve recruitment, employee engagement, and career development practices within their organization.

LinkedIn Talent creates helpful content on a dedicated blog to supplement these tools. The blog offers tips that address the challenges of the talent industry. LinkedIn also develops reports offering deeper insight into different industry sectors, such as this Workplace Learning Report.

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Why This Works

One effective empathy marketing tactic is education. LinkedIn wants to empower its audience to do work and hire better (and use its product to do so).

This report is just one tool that offers its audience deeper insight into the industry while positioning the brand as a powerful resource.

Through offerings like this, customers learn that they can rely on LinkedIn as a trusted source to guide them in the right direction, and LinkedIn can continue to provide solutions through its product offerings. It’s a win-win all around.

The Home Depot

The Home Depot is a home and garden supply store that caters to all types of builders and DIY-ers — whether you’re a construction worker building a gazebo or a homemaker experimenting with gardening.

In other words, their content must cater to various demographics.

Home Depot is all about DIY, so its marketing focuses on what its supplies can help you do.

This “How to Plant a Wildflower Garden with Seeds” guide teaches consumers to grow their own wildflower garden using seeds, common flower types to plant, and what supplies they need. It even outlines the difficulty level and estimated time to complete the project.

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Why This Works

As one of the most trusted brands by consumers, Home Depot knows its customers rely on the store to supply them with DIY tools and navigate these hands-on projects — with a little encouragement along the way.

This quick guide delivers on these needs and inspires customers to take action.

Extra

We’ve seen just about every twist on gum marketing: sexy encounters, romantic trysts, and more. Extra is pushing past that narrative.

The brand realizes that gum is a seemingly mundane product, but its omnipresence means it’s there for many of life’s little moments.

Hence, the #ChewItBeforeYouDoIt campaign is all about taking a moment to chew a piece of gum before doing, saying, or acting during your daily life. Extra suggests that doing so can be the difference between a good moment and an awkward experience.

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Why This Works

In many ways, gum is a product meant to enhance intimacy, making your breath fresh for more closeness. In our techno-connected world, those everyday moments of intimacy are often overlooked.

This campaign relates to regular moments we’ve all experienced and points out how something as simple as chewing gum can make a difference in your day.

Microsoft

Microsoft offers a range of products from Azure to Microsoft 365. Many of these products are generally used by developers to build their own platforms or tools. To make sure these developers are supported, Microsoft created communities.

These communities help developers connect and learn from one another and are organized into different product categories, such as Microsoft 365 or gaming. People can tailor their experience based on what topics they’re interested in.

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Why This Works

Developers are always seeking tips and tricks for using their go-to tools, and while there are many digital channels from which to learn, going straight to the source is always a great option.

Through interactive communities, Microsoft ensures developers can get the support and training they need to use its tools and even connect with others.

Michael’s

In a world where Pinterest dominates, Michael’s chain of craft stores is making a play to capture its own audience on its own properties. The brand provides craft tutorials and product features on a projects page on its website.

These projects offer step-by-step instructions on creating various crafts for beginners and advanced crafters alike.

Each project on the site also includes links to materials you may need that can be found in Michael’s online store. If you want more help with your craft, Michael’s even offers virtual and in-store classes for select projects.

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Why This Works

Crafting is an exciting hobby, but not without its own frustrations. Providing useful tips and hacks on how to do things better via a free publication helps readers do more of what they love with fewer headaches.

Additionally, fans get to share their enthusiasm through social by using the hashtag #MakeItWithMichaels, helping Michael’s extend its reach to a bigger crafting audience.

JetBlue

JetBlue is a brand known for superb customer service and humor. At this point, we know where it flies and we know its hook, so its marketing needs to extend beyond the services provided.

As such, JetBlue’s content focuses more on the world of flying and the experiences we all have.

JetBlue is a brand known for superb customer service and humor. At this point, we know where it flies and its hook, so its marketing needs to extend beyond the services provided.

As such, JetBlue’s content focuses more on the world of flying and the experiences we all have.

JetBlue addresses every type of customer who may fly on its planes, from families to pets to children. That’s one reason the airline launched JetBlue Jr., an educational video series for kids ages 7–10.

The videos go over all types of aviation topics, from vocabulary to physics, in an entertaining and digestible way for kids to learn.

Why This Works

If you’re a parent, you know how much of an undertaking it can be to fly with children.

Brand marketing isn’t often tailored to children, so it’s refreshing to see JetBlue consider all passengers and empathize with a parent’s desire to keep their kids entertained while traveling.

Girlfriend Collective

Girlfriend Collective is a sustainable clothing brand. While it has a devoted following, it’s always searching for ways to more deeply connect with its audience. The company’s email marketing channel is a fantastic outlet for that.

Girlfriend Collective uses email to share new products or upcoming launches. The brand also generally uses a targeted approach to help customers make purchasing decisions, sending more personalized emails.

One email from the brand was more personal than most and showed deep empathy and understanding for its audience.

Before Mother’s Day, Girlfriend Collective sent this email to customers, allowing them to opt out of receiving Mother’s Day promos.

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Why This Works

Holidays like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day can be emotional for many people for various reasons. Girlfriend Collective gave its audience a choice to opt out of seeing these potentially triggering emails, which not many brands take the opportunity to do.

This move demonstrates that Girlfriend Collective cares about its customers and sees them as humans.

Ready to Try It?

Approach the content you seek to create from a perspective that puts others’ wants, needs, and dreams before your own. That’s the smartest way to grow an audience.

In doing so, you’re showing people that you care about them as humans, first and foremost. People want to work with (B2B) or support (B2C) people that they like and companies that they believe “get” them.

You can always talk about your brand and what you’re peddling once a connection and a relationship are established. But if you do things right, people will be drawn to you, and you won’t ever have to toot your own horn.

Welcome to HubSpot Marketing News! Tap in for campaign deep dives, the latest marketing industry news, and tried-and-true insights from HubSpot’s media team.

In most cases, the pursuit of good vibes isn’t enough to overturn a trademark — but Taco Bell is certainly trying.

The popular fast-food chain set its sights on the term “Taco Tuesday” which it wants to use freely to promote sales happiness among taco lovers. There’s just one problem.

Though the phrase is frequently used in conversation, it’s actually a registered trademark owned by the Wyoming-based chain Taco John’s and has been since 1989.

On May 16, Taco Bell filed a petition with the USPTO requesting the reversal of the trademark, claiming the term is too common and widely used for Taco John’s to maintain the rights to it. Taco Bell claims the goal in this filing is to “liberate” the term for any and all restaurants to use freely.

It’s not the first time “Taco Tuesday” has been involved in trademark controversy.

In 2019 Lebron James attempted to trademark the term but was turned down by the PTO because it was too widely used. Naturally, James released a statement supporting Taco Bell’s efforts to overturn the trademark and is now starring in the company’s latest ad.

Through the company’s statement, the public petition on change.org, and the partnership with James, the liberation of “Taco Tuesday” feels more like a marketing campaign than a legal pursuit.

However, Taco John’s isn’t taking the challenge lying down. The company released a (hilariously petty) statement in response to Taco Bell announcing a new Tuesday special offering two tacos for $2.

In the statement, Taco John’s CEO Jim Creel says, “I’d like to thank our worthy competitors at Taco Bell for reminding everyone that Taco Tuesday® is best celebrated at Taco John’s®.”

We’re anxiously awaiting the USPTO’s response to this taco saga…

Elsewhere in Marketing

The latest marketing news and strategy insights.

Twitter fingers: pew research released new insights into how Twitter user behavior has changed since Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform.

Meta just rolled out a performance-based ad revenue share model to replace its Reels Play bonus program that sunset earlier this year.

…Also in Meta news: the company was just hit with a record $1.3 billion fine for violating E.U. data privacy rules.

Google announced plans to remove inactive Gmail accounts beginning in December 2023.

Telly introduces free TVs that feature a constant stream of ads and track user data.

The latest on AI: the HubSpot Marketing Blog just released the State of Generative AI, featuring new data from over 1300 marketers.

Artificial Intelligence continues solidifying itself as a crucial tool within the marketing industry, especially regarding automation.

In fact, the market for artificial intelligence in marketing is expected to grow to more than $107.5 billion by 2028 — a huge leap from $15.84 billion in 2021.

So, marketers must stay current on the many ways AI marketing automation can and should be used to remain competitive. To keep you in the loop, here’s a breakdown of AI’s role in marketing automation and how marketers can leverage it.

How is AI driving marketing automation?

Why Marketers Should Use AI in Marketing Automation

Ways Use AI in Marketing Automation

Successfully implementing AI Marketing Automation

How is AI driving marketing automation?

At its core, AI uses machine learning to mimic how humans learn and improve accuracy by analyzing large stacks of data. When applied to marketing automation, AI analyzes vast data sets to pinpoint patterns, predict customer behavior, and make immediate decisions.

As a result, AI and machine learning algorithms are helping marketers automate and optimize tasks that would otherwise be tedious, time-consuming, and expensive. So, it’s no surprise that AI marketing automation is here to stay.

In 2020, the global market for marketing automation was $4,438.7 million, and it’s expected to grow to $14,180.6 million by 2030. Moreover, the top 28% of businesses actively use marketing automation and AI tools in their process.

Why Marketers Should Use AI in Marketing Automation

AI-powered marketing automation can streamline marketing processes. This gives marketers the time and space to focus on other aspects of their job — such as brainstorming and strategizing.

AI marketing automation also makes sending personalized content to customers easier, thanks to data and algorithms. Other benefits include cost efficiency and optimization of ROI.

Automating repetitive tasks can save money. For example, using AI chatbots to communicate with customers would eliminate the need for human customer service agents, which can save costs over time.

And companies that implement AI in marketing see an average increase in ROI of up to 30%, according to a study by Accenture.

Ways Use AI in Marketing Automation

Below are some ways marketers can leverage AI to automate their processes.

Personalization

McKinsey’s Next in Personalization Report shows 71% of consumers expect companies to provide personalized interactions. Furthermore, 76% of consumers experience frustration when they don’t receive personalized interactions.

Creating personalized experiences for all of your customers can be tedious, time-consuming, and unrealistic without automation.

AI can automate the process by analyzing customer data and behaviors and using that information to tailor each customer’s experience.

For example, Whole Foods leverages AI to provide customers with personalized messaging.

In 2021, Whole Foods opened several Just Walk Out stores across the U.S. The stores allow customers to pick up their items and leave without stopping at a register.

Instead, the items are charged via AI. The purchase information gathered by the AI is then used to identify patterns and predict future behaviors. This allows the AI to send personalized messages to customers.

So, if a customer purchases frozen vegan dinners, Whole Foods could send promo codes and discounts for other vegan products.

Email Automation

Marketers can send tons of emails to potential leads, but it can take significant time away from more big-picture duties. Your company can quickly send thousands of personalized emails using AI for marketing email automation.

This is especially helpful as your email list grows because who has time to send 200,000 emails multiple times a week?

Furthermore, AI can analyze the performance of your emails in real time, and you can use the data to improve your next set of emails.

Lead Scoring and Nurturing

AI can quickly and efficiently analyze data to determine which leads will likely become customers. With AI, marketers can save time and money on lead scoring while improving their leads’ quality.

AI can also automate the lead nurturing process by effectively guiding leads through the sales funnel until they are ready to purchase, boosting conversion rates.

Predictive Analytics

Part of being a successful marketer is being proactive and anticipating trends. Fortunately, AI is an excellent tool for analyzing and predicting customer behavior and trends thanks to algorithms.

This will allow marketers to adjust their marketing strategies according to predictive data. For example, the data can help a business predict the best time to launch a new product.

Channel Optimization

There are many channels to consider when marketing your brand, product, or service. With Al algorithms, marketers can easily identify which channels are the most effective in reaching their target audience.

This allows marketing to properly allocate time and funds to channels with the best return on investment.

Customer Service and Communication

62% of consumers would prefer to use a customer service bot rather than wait 15 minutes for human agents to speak with them.

Using AI to respond to customers instantly will improve your customer’s experience and satisfaction while saving time and resources.

AI-powered chatbots can answer frequently asked questions, recommend products, and process orders faster than a team could manually.

Successfully implementing AI Marketing Automation

To leverage AI marketing automation, you must identify the best tools and platforms to help you reach your marketing goals. From chatbots to software to AI-powered platforms, there are many applications to choose from.

For example, HubSpot’s content assistant is a suite of free, AI-powered features that uses generative AI to help create and share materials such as written content, outlines, and emails.

We also offer ChatSpot, a conversational CRM bot that marketing professionals can connect to HubSpot to maximize productivity.

The feature uses chat-based commands to interact with your CRM data, so you can accomplish everything you already do in HubSpot faster.

You don’t have to be super tech-savvy to implement AI marketing automation into your business.

All you need is to identify repetitive tasks within your process that could be improved by automation, then find the right tools or software to suit your needs.

Now that you know what AI marketing automation is, you’re ready to find ways to use it.

Email marketing is integral to any marketing strategy because it’s a great way to generate leads and convert audiences.

Whether you’re creating your first strategy or looking to modify your process, AI email marketing tools can help you save time, optimize your strategy, and meet your email goals.

In this piece, we’ll go over how AI email marketing tools work, new data about how marketers currently use AI for email marketing, and a list of tools you can leverage in your role.

Table of Contents

• What is AI email marketing?
• Why should you use AI email marketing?
• How Marketers Are Using AI in Email Marketing [New Research]
• 15 AI Email Marketing Tools

What is AI email marketing?

AI email marketing is a machine-learning powered process that helps marketers create email campaigns that reach the right audiences at the right time with the right messages. 

AI email marketing tools tools use data to help you optimize your email strategy (like your historical performance data), automation to help you save time on repetitive tasks (like triggering an email workflow), and generative AI to help you create email content.

You can do things like:

• Analyze past email performance to identify how to optimize your email strategies, like the best time to send your emails or the subject lines that get the most clicks.
• Compile email analytics so you understand the health of your campaigns.
• Trigger email workflows after people take a specific action.
• Clean up your email lists to improve deliverability.
• Write compelling copy that speaks to your audience
• Personalize email content to specific audience segments

Some tools have one specific function, like a generative AI email tool, while others offer multiple features.

Why should you use AI in email marketing?

The most significant benefit of using AI in email marketing is that it saves time while improving performance. The routine processes you spend time on can happen instantly, and you can launch your optimized campaigns faster.

Most AI email marketing tools are also powered by machine learning, meaning that they use data points (from your business and sometimes your industry) to help you optimize your email strategy. You won’t be left to guess what works best because the AI can look at your past emails, and you can benchmark your performance against competitors to see where you can improve.

If you’re interested in learning more about the impact of AI on marketing, check out this Marketing Against The Grain episode about marketing opportunities that AI unlocks for business.

Click here to listen to the full episode

How Marketers Are Using AI in Email Marketing [New Research]

Our State of Generative AI report surveyed 1,350 U.S. business professionals about how they’re currently using AI.

Right now, 1 in 5 business professionals use AI/automation in their role.

82% of marketers who responded to the survey said that generative AI has impacted how they plan to create content in 2023 and that the top benefits are that it saves time, improves the quality of content, and makes content more personalized.

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In addition, 28% of marketers use generative AI to create emails.

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43% of marketers who already use generative AI in their roles say it’s helpful when creating emails, and 54% say it’s very effective.

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Finally, marketers using generative AI save an average of 3+ hours on each piece of content they make, which helps them spend less time on manual tasks and more time on the most important parts of their role and the aspects of their job they enjoy most.

15 AI Email Marketing Tools

1. HubSpot AI Tools

Price: Free tools; $20/mo (Starter), $890/mo (Professional), $3,600/mo (Enterprise)

Click here to learn more about HubSpot AI tools

HubSpot has multiple email marketing tools and features to leverage to drive clicks and conversions.

AI Features

• Email Marketing Software that helps you easily create email workflows and triggers to reach your target audiences with the right messages at all stages of their journey.
• Inbox automation tool that scans your emails and recommends tasks based on email content and can auto-populate contact properties (like name and phone number) from every first-time email to create a customer profile.
• Content assistant uses generative AI to help you write high-quality email content, and you can ask ChatSpot to quickly write things like professional follow-up emails or thank you notes to a prospect.

2. Mailchimp

Price: Free forever plan; $13/mo (Essentials), $20/month (Standard), $350/mo (Premium)

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Mailchimp’s email automation software helps ecommerce businesses create automated email workflows that reach audiences at the best possible time.

AI Features

• Its Content Optimizer compares your email data to industry benchmarks to give you recommendations for optimizing your campaigns and email content.
• You can choose from different versions of AI-generated content that match your intent and brand tone.
• Its Creative Assistant leverages your brand assets to create unique email designs you can personalize to different contacts.

3. Sendgrid

Price: Free trial; $15/mo (Basic), $60/mo (Advanced)

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Sendgrid helps you create an automated email marketing process with custom workflows and triggers.

AI Features

• Its real-time API scans your email lists and removes junk or undeliverable email addresses to lower your bounce rate and ensure you reach more people.
• Get data-driven insights and recommendations for improvement based on your historical metrics and email performance.
• AI paces your email send and monitors your reputation with ISPs.

4. Phrasee

Price: Contact for pricing

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Phrasee uses AI to help you create effective email campaigns and content to share with your audience.

AI Features

• Its deep learning model and language insights leverage your historical data to tell you what works best with your audience and what inspires clicks for an optimized campaign.
• The Magic Button helps you generate email content (like subject lines or in-email CTAs) that will resonate with your audience.
• It always uses your custom guidelines and messaging to ensure everything you create is on-brand.

5. Drift

Price: $2,500/mo

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Drift offers an AI-powered inbox management tool that helps you clean up your email lists and improve deliverability.

AI Features

• Its Email Bots leverage machine learning to interpret emails and help you reply with engaging, conversational emails that inspire responses.
• AI can qualify a lead as ready for sales and automatically introduce the prospect to the right salesperson for seamless marketing to sales handoff.
• Use different Email Bots for your unique business need, like the follow-up email bot, abandoned chat email bot, and webinar email bot.

6. Get Response

Price: Free forever plan; $19/mo (Email Marketing)

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Use Get Response to design behavior-based email workflows to engage with audiences at key moments with content personalized to their needs.

AI Features

• Share keywords or phrases, email goals, and tone with the GPT-powered email generator that leverages industry data to produce emails most likely to increase your conversions.
• Display different images, text, or AI-driven product recommendations in each email.
• The AI subject line generator helps you test subject lines and learn what stands out in your subscriber’s inboxes.

7. Levity

Price: 30-day free trial; $49/mo (Startup), $139/mo (Business)

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Levity’s software helps you manage your inbox, understand your email health, and save time.

AI Features:

• Build an AI tool unique to your business by uploading your data that it will learn from and use to make human-level decisions.
• Create different AI blocks for every email workflow you want to run (like a workflow for responding to emails).
• Share unique categorization criteria with your AI to automatically sort emails as soon as you receive them.

8. Superhuman

Price: $30/mo (Starter), $45/mo (Growth), enterprise pricing available

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Superhuman is an AI-powered inbox management tool that helps you streamline your processes. Best for teams that use Gmail or Outlook.

AI Features

• Immediately sort incoming emails into a split inbox based on your custom rules so you can sort spam from genuine humans and focus on what needs attention.
• Use its Snippets tool to create pre-built templates for phrases, paragraphs or entire emails that you can quickly add to emails to automate responses.
• Set reminders for email tasks, like following up on unanswered emails or a reminder to respond to a message you snoozed for later.

Most of the tools listed above have multiple AI features, like email writing help to automated inbox sorting. Below we’ll go over AI email marketing tools that only offer generative features.

9. HiveMind

Price: Free forever plan; $18/mo per user (Teams), enterprise pricing available

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HiveMind offers an easy-to-use and time-saving tool for your email marketing. Simply share a brief prompt of what you’re looking for with its Notes AI, and it’ll help you generate a perfect response.

10. ChatGPT

Price: Free research preview; ChatGPT Plus $20/month

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ChatGPT is a generative AI tool that you can use to write your marketing emails, and all you have to do is enter a descriptive prompt into the chat. It’s a conversational tool, so you can ask it to rewrite the email until you’re satisfied.

11. Zapier

Price: Free forever plan; $29.99/mo (Starter), $73.50/mo (Professional), $598.50/mo (Team)

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Zapier runs on Zaps, automated workflows you can customize to your needs. You can create an email-based Zap to generate email copy with an API key from OpenAI. Whenever you receive an email matching your Zaps rules, it’ll prompt GPT-3 to write an appropriate response.

12. Copy.ai

Price: Free forever plan; $49/mo (Pro), enterprise pricing available

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Copy.ai is an email copywriting tool you can use to create high-converting emails. It can write email content for you, suggest subject lines, and help you stay on track with suggestions to improve email quality.

13. Compose.ai

Price: Free

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Compose.ai is powered by GPT-3 and helps you write personalized and on-brand emails. Its autocomplete feature suggests how you can finish what you’re writing, and its suggestions and generations are always tone and brand-relevant because it learns your unique brand voice. It’s an always free Chrome extension, so you can easily use it on your favorite sites.

14. Grammarly

Price: Free forever plan; $12/mo (Premium), $15/mo (Business)

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Grammarly’s machine-learning copy-editing tool recognizes in-text errors and suggests how to fix them. GrammarlyGo extracts the context from short prompts and helps you instantly generate appropriate email replies. Leverage the tools on its website, as a Chrome extension, or within your favorite email client.

15. Jasper

Price: Free trial; $49/mo (Creator), $125/mo (Teams), custom business pricing available

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Jasper Commands helps you create effective marketing emails quickly with machine learning algorithms. Use it to write entire emails or email subject lines, and its outputs always match your business’ unique writing style and tone for brand consistency.

It’s getting difficult for marketers to ignore the popularity and influence of TikTok. Brands on TikTok are reaching younger audiences, increasing brand awareness, and going viral — all by leveraging the power of short-form video.

Of course, it also helps that TikTok has over 1 billion active users and a fantastic engagement rate — far exceeding any other social platform today.

In this post, we’ll discuss why you should leverage TikTok marketing in 2023 and how smaller companies can build a scalable, fun, and creative strategy on the platform. We’ll also cover eleven brands that have gone viral on TikTok.

Table of Contents

What is TikTok Marketing?

Why Brands Should Leverage TikTok Marketing in 2023

27 TikTok Brands That are Winning at Marketing

TikTok Brands With The Most Followers

TikTok Brands With The Highest Engagement

Most Creative Brands on TikTok

TikTok Marketing Tips

What is TikTok Marketing?

Although TikTok might feel like a hub of strange posts, its popularity and video-driven content provide a variety of unique marketing opportunities.

Marketers can leverage TikTok in three main areas:

1. Influencer Marketing

A great way to leverage TikTok is by engaging with the influencer community. Because influencers have a solid understanding of the platform, they can transform stiff brand messages into fun and creative videos.

This type of marketing is particularly effective at opening your content to a new audience and boosting brand awareness.

2. Original Content

Although fans of TikTok love original content, you don’t need to spend hours coming up with the next viral trend. Often, the best performing TikToks are ones that replicate or recreate a current trend.

Start by exploring the app, its trends, and where your brand can join the fun.

3. Paid Ads

TikTok ads are a relatively new addition to the platform. Powered by their own advertising platform, TikTok For Business, brands can run in-feed ads or create branded hashtags and video effects.

Although many of the first brands to join TikTok were large, well-known companies, it can still be helpful for small businesses to look at why brands of all sizes are joining the platform.

Why Brands Should Leverage TikTok Marketing in 2023

Short-form video is dominating the social media landscape — and TikTok is the leading platform for it.

It’s no surprise that more than half of marketers (53%) who use TikTok plan to increase their investment in 2023, which is one of the highest jumps of any platform.

While TikTok is relatively new compared to other social giants like YouTube and Instagram, it’s seeing stellar growth year-over-year. 

TikTok reached 1.6 billion users worldwide by the end of 2022, and it is expected to grow to 1.8 billion by the end of 2023.  

Its viral nature also deserves a shout out. Unlike other social platforms, even accounts with a handful of followers can spark millions of views on a great video.

However, some accounts may experience a decline in views and engagement for their TikTok videos, which could be due to a shadow ban on their account.

If you think TikTok is only for the Gen-Z crowd, think again. While over half of Gen-Z consumers are on TikTok, it’s picking up steam with other age groups.

In 2021, 36% of TikTok users were between 35 and 54 years old, a 10% increase from the year before.

That said, since TikTok is quirky by nature, brands need to get creative to gain their audience’s attention. In other words, a simple ad or sponsored influencer endorsement might not cut it on this fast-paced app.

Let’s look at eleven brands who nail TikTok marketing with creative content that draws attention.

To help you understand why these brands are so successful on TikTok, we categorized them by most followers, most engaging, and most creative. 

TikTok Brands with The Most Followers

The following brands are among those with the most followers and when you learn more about their content, you’ll see why.

1. WWE

With more than 23 million followers, World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) is one of the most followed brands on TikTok. As expected, WWE’s TikTok features mostly highlights from fights.

However, it also shakes things up by posting funny moments between wrestlers and fans. For example, the video below shows Rhea Ripley playfully “scaring” a young fan who couldn’t contain his excitement. 

Followers are also treated to fun, wholesom content of their favorite wrestlers taking part in TikTok trends or sharing their experiences behind the scenes. The video below shows wrestlers reacting to unexpectedly receiving candy. 

What We Like:

WWE’s TiKTok showcases variety. Fans are treated to highlights from matches, behind-the-scenes exclusives, and wrestlers letting the guard down to partake in trends.

Furthermore, the company also has its own unique brand sprinkled in many of its videos. Almost every TikTok featuring highlights includes a voiceover that says “She ___” or “He ___” See the example below. 

2. Overtime

Overtime is a software company providing sports streaming services. The brand has about 24.5 million followers on TikTok and creates original sports content for the platform. 

Its content includes sports commentary, highlights, viral reposts. The viral reposts are part of what makes the account interesting.

While Overtime mainly focuses on sports, the brand doesn’t miss out on opportunities to generate more engagement by featuring content that is entertaining, regardless of the topic. 

For example, the video below features a man showing off a “jumpy” tattoo he named Jerry. 

What We Like: While it may seem odd to include third-party content that isn’t focused on your brand or industry, it can actually generate engagement and boost follower counts if done correctly.

If you decide to boost content from other creators or parties, make sure to get permission and give credit.  

3. ESPN

ESPN has 36 million followers on TikTok and shares a variety of sports related content. 

What We Like: ESPN posts TikTok videos multiple times a day, making it easy for popular videos to get buried in its grid. To combat this, ESPN uses TikTok’s playlist feature and created a playlist of their highest-performing videos. 

Brands should consider using the playlist feature to make its page easier to navigate and to keep popular videos at the top of the grid.

4. The NBA

Unlike its Instagram channel, which focuses purely on basketball games and highlights, the NBA’s TikTok posts show a lighter side of the organization.

For example, they’ll often post videos of players working out to music, dancing on the court, or answering fan questions.

In this video, Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors busts a move from the sidelines after his teammate scores:

And check out this funny montage of Chris Bosh photo-bombing his teammates (including LeBron James) throughout his career:

Making your brand feel more personal can have a great effect on TikTok. For example, if your restaurant’s TikTok account posts funny videos of waiters dancing, viewers might think the restaurant has pleasant and happy staff.

This might make them want to eat there because they can picture themselves having a fun dining experience.

What we like:

While you might expect the NBA to focus more seriously on stats and games, it uses the app to lighten up the branding and make its athletes look more relatable.

While the videos still promote basketball, they also fit with other funny posts on TikTok feeds.

5. Netflix

Netflix’s TikTok has 34 million followers, and it’s easy to see why. The account posts trailers for upcoming projects and the most compelling and hilarious clips from its current series.

What We Like:

Sharing clips of upcoming projects or montages of fans’ favorite moments from a series is a great way for Netflix to generate buzz for its shows and films. However, what really makes the brand stand out on TikTok are its more creative videos.

Take the video below as an example. To promote one its latest rom-coms, A Tourist Guide to Love, Netflix posted a video called “5 Things I Got My Co-Star to do in Vietnam.”

The film was shot in Vietnam, and the video uploaded to TikTok shows its leading man, Scotty Ly, hanging out with co-star Rachel Leigh Cook as the duo tries different activities around the country. 

A takeaway for brands should be to find creative and innovative ways to promote a product or service. Ask yourself, what makes your product special and how can you capitalize on that? 

TikTok Brands with the Highest Engagement

The following brands are excellent at creating TikTok posts that generate engagement. Many of the videos posted by these brands get thousands, even millions, of likes and views. 

6. Fenty Beauty

One of the most popular types of content on TikTok is tutorials. Some brands lend themselves to this more than others, but a great example is Fenty Beauty, which uses TikTok to show makeup tutorials, wear-tests, and product launches.

What we like:

Tutorial-based videos can fit a variety of brands. For example, a clothing store can show how to style certain pieces of clothing. A hardware store can show how to build, restore, or paint something using its tools.

Even a gym can offer a demonstration on how to use different equipment.

Start by brainstorming all the ways someone could use your products or services. If you can break a task into steps that last no more than 60 seconds, it may make for a great TikTok video tutorial.

7. Dunkin’

Dunkin’ was one of the first brands to employ influencer marketing on the platform by partnering with TikTok megastar Charli D’Amelio.

Together, they launched new menu items at Dunkin and collaborated on several videos.

After posting content about the partnership, Dunkin saw a 57% spike in app downloads and a 20% sales boost for all cold brew coffees.

However, if you believe you need to partner with a famous TikToker for it to work, think again.

When it comes to influencer marketing, relevance is more important than reach.

Rather than partnering with an influencer based solely on vanity metrics (such as follower count), look for micro-influencers who have a niche audience that aligns with your own.

Research shows that influencers with less than 1,000 followers receive more engagement than their more popular counterparts.

What we like:

This example highlights the power of influencer marketing on TikTok. By partnering with influencers, Dunkin’ benefits from word-of-mouth marketing while building social proof.

8. Chipotle

Since joining TikTok in 2018, Chipotle has set the standard for how brands can grow their brand presence while engaging the TikTok community in a fun and authentic way.

Chipotle opts for a more casual vibe, often posting dance challenges and fan-made content, such as videos of people sharing their favorite Chipotle recipes and hacks.

Chipotle also showcases behind-the-scenes footage from real crew members in real Chipotle kitchens. Check out this “vlog style” video of a former Chipotle employee revisiting her job and interviewing her coworkers:

What we like:

If you need a creative way to spread brand awareness quickly, taking a note from Chipotle and sharing personable behind-the-scenes footage might be a great experiment.

Also, lean into your brand advocates who may be willing to share their experiences on social media.

9. Gymshark

Gymshark is one of the leading fitness brands on TikTok, reaching 2 million followers in only six months.

Gymshark caters to fitness fanatics by posting workout challenges, inspirational health journeys, and relatable fitness humor that makes the gym feel less intimidating.

Here’s one of those relatable fitness videos:

One of the brand’s most notable TikTok campaigns was the 66 Days: Change Your Life challenge, which highlights the fact that it takes 66 days to form a habit.

TikTokers submitted videos of their own workout journey in hopes of winning a Gymshark membership.

The campaign was an overwhelming success, with the hashtag #gymshark66 generating 193 million views.

What we like:

Gymshark leverages the power of challenges. Challenges are one of the biggest trends on TikTok, and innovative brands are using them to fast-track their growth and connect with millions of users on the app.

Consider creating your own challenge or putting a unique spin on an already existing one.

10. The Washington Post

The Washington Post was one of TikTok’s earliest brand adopters. Those who haven’t seen their videos might be anticipating investigative or serious content.

Surprisingly, the newspaper actually uses its account to post comedic skits about the latest breaking news.

These videos fit in perfectly with the platform because they’re funny, timely, and embrace some of TikTok’s weirdest special effects.

Check out this skit about Delta Airlines’ PR department struggling to write a press release about the COVID-19 delta variant:

The Washington Post displays how brands can succeed on TikTok by talking directly to its specific audience — young viewers who want to laugh.

The Post’s comedic approach can also attract young readers who want to follow the news but used to worry that content from a newspaper would be too advanced or out of touch for them.

What we like:

Despite its reputation for “serious journalism,” the Washington Post did not shy away from TikTok.

If your brand is in publishing, academia, or similar industries, testing out a video strategy that shows off your lighter side could be an interesting experiment.

It might make your content and brand feel less intimidating and help you gain attention from newer audiences.

11. San Diego Zoo

Everyone loves a cute animal video. The San Diego Zoo’s TikTok account pleasantly takes advantage of this well-known fact.

The zoo’s strategy is simple: Post videos of cute animals with fun music. And with over 2 million fans, it seems to be working. How could anyone not want to follow them after seeing this video of an adorable red panda?

If that cuteness wasn’t enough, the zoo has also dueted with other animal-friendly accounts, like the Monterey Aquarium:

What we like:

This is a great example of how two similar brands can cross-promote using TikTok features. Because of the zoo’s tagging strategy, this video might be seen by fans of the aquarium and the zoo.

This way, zoo followers might gain more interest in the aquarium and vice versa.

12. Duolingo

TikTok is known for its quirky “unhinged” content, and Duolingo has effectively carved out a space in this landscape.

The brand continues to go viral for its funny, trendy, and often chaotic videos featuring its mascot, Duo the owl. Duo can be seen dancing to popular audio, adding sassy commentary to pop culture news, and jumping on the latest trends.

Duo’s antics have successfully humanized the brand and epitomizes their witty brand voice — which also comes in handy when responding to TikTok comments.

What we like:

Your brand voice shapes every interaction you have online — from the videos you create to how you respond to comments. Duolingo has molded a strong brand voice which it uses to tell memorable and entertaining stories.

13. Crocs

While the love-hate relationship with crocs is very real, it’s all love for the brand on TikTok. Its winning strategy includes original music, brand-specific hashtags (like #CrocTok), and colorful, entertaining content.

That said, Crocs really shines at poking fun of itself and the perceived “ugliness” of their shoes. They lean into this by posting outfit of the day (OOTD) videos and tutorials on how to style their shoes with accessories and a great sense of humor.

What we like:

No one likes a brand that takes itself too seriously. At the end of the day, your buyers are people — not robots with credit cards.

Humility and humor are two ingredients that can humanize your brand, cut through the noise, and build a connection with your audience.

14. Scrub Daddy

Scrub Daddy is a cleaning product company who somehow makes videos about a sponge entertaining. The company has over 3 million followers on TikTok and its videos frequently garner around 10,000 to 150,000 likes on the platform. 

The key to the brand’s success on TikTok is humor and its knack for incorporating its products into different viral TikTok trends.

For example, there is a popular trends on TikTok where users incorporate a dancing John Cena into a background with a caption explaining why he’s dancing.

Scrub Daddy used the trend to share how happy the brand is when someone switches to their product.  

What We Like:

Scrub Daddy keeps a consistent pulse on the latest TikTok trends and challenges, keeping their content relevant and fresh. 

15. Heider Real Estate

Heider Real Estate showcases homes for sale in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia region. The company’s videos get thousands of views and include gorgeous edits the homes interiors and exteriors. 

What We Like:

Heider Real Estate has a distinct style when it comes to its videos. While each home is unique, every video includes catchy, atmospheric music and a variety of wide shots, close ups, and speedy walkthroughs.

The biggest takeaway from this account is that brands should craft a unique style of video editing that is consistent in every post. 

16. Squishmallows

Squishmallows ar brand of plush toys that have become very popular in the last few years. While its TikTok platform only has a little over 300,000 followers, many of its videos have gotten as many as 500,000 likes.

What We Like:

Like Scrub Daddy, Squishmallow finds success by using popular sounds, music, and trends that have traction on the app.  

17. Teen Vogue

Teen Vogue’s TikTok content mostly consists of exclusive interviews and funny moments with stars from popular shows and films. Below is a quirky Teen Vogue interivew featuring the cast of Netflix’s Bridgerton.

What We Like:

While you may not be able to feature celebrities in your content, there is something else Teen Vogue does that you may be able to take inspiration from. 

Teen Vogue often posts content that dives into social issues that are important to its viewers. This is important because TikTok is popular among the younger generation like Gen Z, which is known as the socially conscious generation. 

If possible, you may want to find ways to create content that shows your brand deeply cares about the same issues as its target audience. This will help establish trust and retain interest. 

18. GoPro

GoPro keeps it’s 2.6 million TikTok followers engaged by showing amazing action videos shot with the company’s signature cameras. The videos are short, show shots from creative angles, and are filmed by consumers doing incredible stunts.

What We Like:

GoPro shows their products in use during eye-catching moments such as skydiving, deep sea adventures, and more. If your product or service has a cool or unique feature, create TikToks that showcase that feature.

19. e.l.f.

e.l.f. Cosmetics’ TikTok, called elfyeah, features a mix of tutorials, comedic videos, and celebrity interviews all tied to its products. 

What We Like:

Similar to ESPN, e.l.f. posts a lot of content daily. So, to make its TikTok easier to navigate, the brand sorts their videos into playlists. So if your brand posts a variety of content daily, make things easier for your followers by using TikTok’s playlist feature. 

20. Levi’s

Some of the most popular content on Levi’s TikTok is its educational content. For example, the video below briefly shows how Levi’s jeans are “ripped” for aesthetic purposes. 

What We Like:

Levi’s provides its 1.1. million TiKTok followers insight into its brand via education videos like the one below. Viewers love to learn, and your brand could also benefit from posting education content that relevant to your consumers.

21. Marvel

Marvel’s most popular content on its TikTok is typically behind-the-scenes video of the Marvel office or productions.

What We Like:

Marvel’s TikTok humanizes the brand by showing behind-scenes-footage of Marvel stars, directors, studio, and productions. 

Most Creative Brands on TikTok

22. Planet Money

Planet Money is a podcast by the National Public Radio (NPR) with the tagline — “The economy explained.”

It’s hard to imagine a brand covering such a serious (and complex) topic on a platform that’s synonymous with silly, snackable content. But Planet Money manages to infuse educational videos with an entertaining spin.

From inflation to rent control, no topic is too challenging for Planet Money to chip away at in an innovative and humorous way. Don’t believe me?

Just take a look at this skit explaining how banks make billions from overdraft fees, which starts with a man trying to buy a burrito:

What we like:

If you feel your brand is too “serious” for TikTok, take a note from Planet Money and approach your brand — or your content — from a different angle.

You may find that adding a dash of humor is just what you need to skyrocket on the platform.

23. Taco Bell

Taco Bell finds creative ways to apply trending TikTok sounds and challenges to its brand. It also has a spokesperson who humanizes the brand by making funny skits.

What We Like: Absurd humor does well on TikTok because it appeals ot a younger generation of consumers. If you’re looking to attract younger consumers, take a page from Taco Bell and create content that is absurdly funny.

24. We’re Not Really Strangers 

We’re Not Really Strangers is a TikTok promoting a card game that taps into players’ emotions. It’s TikTok gets creative by posting heartfelt messages and telling TikTok users to tag or sent the content to the purpose it reminds them of. 

What We Like: We’re Not Really Strangers found a creative way to get viewers to share it’s content by posting relatable videos and urging viewers to share or tag someone. 

25. Ryanair

Ryanair is an airline that really leans into comedy on TikTok, starting with its bio — “Catch flights, not feelings.”

Like many TikTok brands on this list, Ryanair’s humor stems from finding hilarious ways to incorporate trending sounds and memes into its content. 

What We Like: 

Ryanair keeps track of TikTok trends and creatively uses them to connect with its audience. If you’re running out of fresh ideas, surf through TikTok and see what sounds or hashtags are trending.  

26. Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is an anime streaming and distribution company, and its TikTok includes clips of popular anime and interviews with famous director and writers.

However, Crunchyroll’s most interesting content takes viewers behind-the-scenes of how popular series are animated. Take a look at the video below showing the animating process of Dr. Stone. 

What We Like:

Crunchyroll gives an inside look into how its followers favorite shows are made. If you have a product or service that is popular among your consumers, create a video showing how it’s done.

27. NASCAR

NASCAR posts highlights from races but viewers seem to really enjoy when the racing franchise makes nods to its followers. For example, the below shows the company knows how the majority of its followers feel about a specific racer. 

What We Like:

NASCAR acknowledges its followers, creating fun inside jokes and content that fosters community. 

TikTok Marketing Tips

While it might be challenging to get your content to go viral like the bigger brands, TikTok could be a great tool for getting in sync with younger audiences.

If you think TikTok might be part of your marketing strategy soon or in the future, now would be a great time to get ahead of your competitors by downloading the app and investigating what similar brands or potential audiences are doing there.

If you’re raring to go on a TikTok strategy, here are a few tips and takeaways that we’ve gained from looking at the brands that have already done well on the app.

• Show a different side of your company. The app is a hub for creativity and humor. Embracing a more personal tone or a behind-the-scenes approach could make your company appear more relatable or trustworthy to potential customers.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment. Unlike platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, there aren’t as many norms, best practices, or rules about what works and what doesn’t. If you think something might be interesting or funny, try it and see if it gets any likes, comments, or shares.
• Engage with your audience. Between challenges, duets, likes, comments, and shares, there are plenty of ways to engage with other TikTok users — even if you don’t know them. Try to come up with videos, challenges, or duets that aim to interact with others. As with other platforms, the more you engage with people, the more your fan base could grow.
• Don’t shy away from marketing your products, but make sure you do it in a creative way. Try your hand at tutorials, demonstrations, and how-to content that showcase the best parts of your products or services.
• Tap into the power of word-of-mouth marketing with influencers. But remember that relevance is more important than reach, so partner with niche micro-influencers who share a similar audience.

For brands, joining TikTok offers an opportunity to reach younger audiences and increase brand awareness in a highly playful environment.

But succeeding on the platform relies on creating exciting content — so prepare to put your creative hat on and experiment with new formats.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in September 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

 

The influencer landscape is incredibly lucrative. In 2022, the influencer market was valued at $16.4 billion and is estimated to hit $21.1 billion in 2023. If you want to step into the influencer market, you’re probably wondering how to become an influencer.

In this article, we’re going to dive into what it takes to become an influencer and the steps you need to take to find success. First, let’s define an influencer.

What is an influencer?

How to Become an Influencer for a Brand

1. Find your niche.

2. Choose your platform.

3. Create a content strategy.

4. Distribute your content.

5. Start a website.

6. Stay updated.

7. Be yourself.

8. Engage with your audience.

9. Network with other influencers.

10. Create a media kit and pitch yourself to brands.

11. Be consistent.

12. Track your progress.

How to Become an Influencer on Social Media

1. Build an online community around your content.

2. Repurpose content as necessary.

3. Always be willing to learn and be open to new platforms.

 

What is an influencer?

An influencer is a person with the ability to influence consumers to purchase a service or product by promoting, recommending, or using them on social media.

For example, Jackie Aina is a beauty and makeup influencer who has collaborated with and promoted brands such as e.l.f. Cosmetics, Too Faced, Milk Makeup, and more.

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How to Become an Influencer for a Brand

If you want to become an influencer who works with brands, here’s what you need to do to reach your goal.

1. Find your niche.

First, figure out what you’re passionate about. Is it fashion, tech, entertainment, health, or something else? From there, carve out a niche within your passion to set yourself apart from other influencers.

For example, if you want to be a fashion influencer, you might decide your niche is thrift store fashion, DIY fashion, or stylish outfits on a budget. If you need help finding your niche, determine who your target audience is first.

To determine your target audience, consider your ideal consumer’s wants, needs, challenges, and goals. Then use that information to create a buyer persona to find the right niche to tap into your target audience or use HubSpot’s Buyer Persona Generation Tool.

2. Choose your platform.

Once you know your target audience, you must choose a platform (or platforms) to reach them. Instagram is one of the most popular platforms for influencers and brands, and it’s easy to see why.

According to our social media trends survey, 72% of marketers listed Instagram among the social media platforms on which they work with influencers and creators.

Furthermore, most marketers surveyed (30%) said Instagram is the platform they get the most significant ROI when working with influencers and creators. However, that doesn’t mean Instagram is the right choice for everyone — mainly if your ideal audience doesn’t spend much time on that platform.

For example, if you’re an influencer whose niche has to do with video games, Twitch might be the better platform. Video game fans often tune into Twitch to watch content creators play their favorite games or to stream their playthroughs.

If your audience is mostly Gen Z, you’ll likely want to consider TikTok as your platform of choice.

You should also research other influencers in your niche to see what platforms they leverage the most. For example, style influencers are primarily on Instagram or Pinterest. Entertainment influencers may mostly be on TikTok or YouTube.

Once you know which platform your audience and fellow influencers frequent the most, you can select the right social media platform to post your content.

3. Create a content strategy.

The format and quality of your content will make or break your chances of successfully building yourself as an influencer. Decide on the format you’ll use when creating your content.

The format should be feasible on the platform you choose to leverage, and it should be a format that allows you to deliver valuable information while showcasing your unique personality.

An effective content strategy will give your audience a proper balance of informative content and personal content. Remember, relatability and authenticity are the reasons people trust influencers.

In fact, 72% of TikTok users find “normal creators” more interesting than celebrities, according to the platform.

To find the perfect balance of content for your strategy, use the 5-3-2 principle. With the 5-3-2 principle, five out of every ten posts would be curated content from a source relevant to your audience.

Three posts should be content you’ve created pertinent to your audience, and two posts would be personal posts about yourself to humanize your online presence.

You’re probably wondering, “How will this help me become an influencer if half of the content I publish is curated?”

For starters, influencers are known for being able to provide valuable content to their audience. That includes sharing content written by others that they believe their followers will find helpful.

Sharing content published by other influencers in your niche will help you slowly get their attention. As a result, it will be much easier to reach out to them and ask them to do the same for you later on.

When it comes to the quality of your content, you should invest in equipment such as mics, cameras, and lighting to give your audience gorgeous content that will keep them coming back for more.

Pro Tip: Smartphones have excellent cameras these days, so you can use your phone to record your content if you’re not ready to invest in an expensive camera. Just make sure to use the front-facing camera for the best image.

4. Distribute your content.

No matter how great your content is, if you’re not getting people to see it and engage with it, it’s not exactly practical.

That said, it’s essential that you carefully plan out when you’ll be publishing and distributing your content on social media.

The best time to post content on social media hugely depends on which social media channel you choose. This infographic provides a detailed breakdown of the best days and times to distribute content for each popular social media network.

It’s just as critical to know how to post your content on social media. While each social media channel has its own rules and guidelines, here are some general best practices that are applicable regardless of which social media channel you use.

5. Start a website.

Whether you leverage YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, or some other social media platform — you should always have your website as an influencer.

Websites are great for SEO because they allow you a space to create evergreen content with keywords that are optimized to get you at the top of SERPs.

You can create content around themes and keywords your audience is searching for, allowing them to flock to your website.

Furthermore, a website is an excellent avenue for consumers to engage directly with and buy products from you. It also allows brands and advertisers to learn more about you and your content and reach out to you for opportunities.

Finally, securing a long-term home base is the most important reason to have a website. Social media platforms change constantly. An app that’s popular today can lose users to tomorrow.

Even worse, a platform can completely shut down, taking all your content with it.

A website that houses your business information, content, links, and points of contact will help you stay relevant and grow as an influencer for years to come.

6. Stay updated.

As an influencer, staying tuned into the latest trends and buzzy topics is essential.

So, follow other creators in your niche on social media, keep an eye out for trending hashtags and challenges, and know what keywords your audience is searching online.

You also need to remember that social media platforms will often change their policies, algorithms, and posting terms — so stay updated to avoid your account becoming irrelevant or, worse, deleted.

Most importantly, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) guidelines and policies, especially if you’re going to be collaborating with brands to promote their products and services on your social media accounts.

7. Be yourself.

Remember, authenticity is key to being a successful influencer. Almost 70% of marketers say “authenticity and transparency” are crucial to successful influencer marketing, according to Econsultancy.

Moreover, 61% of consumers prefer influencers who create authentic, engaging content.

The best way to be authentic is to be yourself. While your content should be quality, you yourself don’t have to be flawless to be an influencer.

If your house cat walks into your shot, or you laugh as a car blasting music drives by as you’re recording — it’s okay!

Don’t be afraid to be silly on camera or show off your sense of humor — consumers love influencers because they’re more relatable and “real” than celebrities or companies.

8. Engage with your audience.

When your followers leave a question or comment on your posts, take the time to acknowledge and respond to them. That can make them feel valued and that you sincerely want to help them. It will also help you develop a relationship with them.

Of course, not all of the comments and questions will be positive. As an influencer, expect that you’ll have your fair share of negative comments and criticisms. Make it a point to keep your cool and address them professionally.

9. Network with other influencers.

Collaborate with other influencers in your niche to expand your audience and grow your network. You can find potential collaborators through social media, online communities, or by attending conventions and vents.

Having business cards to pass to potential collaborators also doesn’t hurt.

10. Create a media kit and pitch yourself to brands.

A media kit is an influencer version of a resume or portfolio. An influencer media kit contains information about your work, successes, audience size, and why brands should work with you.

Every influencer should have a media kit to email to marketing professionals, brand representatives, and agencies to find work.

The kit’s design is just as important as its content because you’ll want a design showcasing your personality because personality is key.

Media kits also make you look more professional. Many people step into influencing and content creation as a hobby. Having a media kit shows companies you are not a hobbyist and are serious about your work.

Your kit should include the following:

• Your photo
• A short bio
• Your social media channels, along with your follower count on each platform
• Engagement rate
• Audience demographics
• Website link
• Information about past work and collaborations

You can design a media kit using Canva or purchase media kit templates from Etsy. You can also download media kit templates from HubSpot by clicking here.

11. Be consistent.

Your followers need to be able to consistently count on you to deliver quality content. If you don’t, they’ll eventually stop following you or at least paying attention to you.

Scheduling your posts using a social automation tool like eClincher or HubSpot’s social publishing tools can help ensure you stay consistent with your posts.

Instead of manually publishing on each of your social media profiles, these tools allow you to create, upload, and schedule posts in batches.

12. Track your progress.

This step is crucial, especially if you’re looking to collaborate with brands for their influencer marketing campaigns, since this is one of the things brands look for in an influencer to partner with.

Most social media channels give you insights and analytics to monitor your progress — things like demographics, reach, and engagement rate that will show how quickly (or slowly) you’re building your audience.

It will also shed light on which content formats get the highest engagement rates so that you can create more.

How to Become an Influencer on Social Media

The steps above are all applicable to becoming a social media influencer. Some additional tips to keep in mind are:

1. Build an online community around your content.

Building trust with your audience is critical to your success as an influencer. One way to build trust is to build a community around your content.

Create a space where your audience can ask questions, engage with your content, and find others who enjoy your work or niche.

Some influencers start communities on Discord, Reddit, or other platforms to speak candidly with their followers. You can also host live Q&As or start your own hashtag for your followers to use to connect.

2. Repurpose content as necessary.

Fresh and interesting content should always be the priority when influencing, but sometimes it helps to repurpose content.

Repurposing content is especially helpful when you’re pressed for time, lacking fresh ideas, or just need to post something to keep on schedule.

You can also repurpose content to give your posts a second life on other platforms. If you have an Instagram Reel that performed well but could use more eyes on it — repost it to TikTok or YouTube Shorts.

For more ways to repurpose content, click here.

3. Always be willing to learn and be open to new platforms.

As I mentioned earlier, social media platforms often fall in and out of favor with audiences, so always be ready to pivot when a platform is losing steam.

Keep an eye out for up-and-coming social channels, and always keep a pulse on where your audience is tuning in.

Ultimately, to be a successful influencers you need to be authentic, organized, flexible, and willing to adjust to evolving trends.

And of course, you need to create quality content that shows brands and your followers that you are serious about your work. Now that you know the steps you need to take, you’re ready to dive into the influencer market.