Yearly Archives: 2023

Over 60% of Amazon sales are made by independent sellers, with most running small to medium-sized businesses. AI for Amazon sellers has the potential to help smaller sellers close the distance between themselves and more prominent brands even more.

But here’s the catch: You must know how to use AI effectively.

For this guide, I share my first-hand experiences as a content manager for a large e-commerce marketplace. I also share insights from Amazon sellers who use AI in multiple business areas.

AI and the Amazon Marketplace

How AI Has Helped Amazon Sellers

Building an AI strategy for Amazon

AI Tools for Amazon Sellers

AI for Amazon Sellers: Levelling the Playing Field

AI and the Amazon Marketplace

In 2021, I was a content manager for a large e-commerce marketplace with over three million customers.

Open AI had yet to open up the floodgates with ChatGPT back then. But let me tell you, AI was already top of mind on the content front. Only a few years later, the potential for AI in e-commerce seems endless.

As we speak, Amazon sellers generate optimized product listings at scale and automate mundane tasks. That’s not to mention use cases like customer service, product research, price optimization, marketing, and inventory management.

Simply put, AI has the potential to help you in all areas of the Amazon Marketplace.

How AI Has Helped Amazon Sellers

I spoke with six Amazon Sellers who are currently using AI in several areas of their business. Here’s what they had to say about how the tech is helping their business succeed.

Better Visibility in Search

“As an Amazon seller, AI has been a game-changer for me,” says Adam Hawke, head of acquisitions at Myrtle Beach Home Buyers.

“[AI] tools help me track market trends, optimize product listings, and adjust pricing strategies dynamically,” Hawke explains. As a result, Hawke’s products have experienced increased visibility in search.

The Takeaway

Market trends show you what people want so you can stock in-demand products. If you stock them already, you can prioritize adding resources to existing products to meet the demand faster.

Market trend data also indicates which of your listings to optimize first and how to optimize them.

When you optimize in-demand products for search, you’ll usually experience better search visibility and product rankings on Amazon.

That makes it easier for the right customers to find the products they need from your store rather than your competitor’s.

Product Text Optimization

“As an experienced Amazon seller, I have found AI to be an invaluable tool for streamlining and optimizing my business,” says Rahul Paragi, founder of AIWritingHacks.com.

According to Paragi, AI is a game-changer for enhancing Amazon product listings. More specifically, AI services can generate optimized titles, bullets, and descriptions in seconds using machine learning.

Paragi says this saves time and “enables me to convert page views into sales at a higher rate.”

The Takeaway

Optimizing the written word for search and conversions is my wheelhouse. Do I use AI to do this? Not when it comes to the actual writing part, because I LOVE to write.

But what about Amazon sellers with many moving parts to their business? I can see the appeal of using AI writing assistants — so no judgment from me.

That said, I use AI tools to help research product text. Regarding e-commerce, I use AI to help me with keyword research. I also use it to help me find voice of customer (VOC) data.

The keywords help me optimize text by using people‘s words and phrases to find the specific product I’m selling. Meanwhile, the VOC data (typically sourced from existing customer reviews) helps the listing resonate with prospective customers.

Product Image Optimization

“When people run a search on Amazon, they get thousands of results,” says Freddy Linares, director of Neurometrics. “Users pay attention first to the images, but sellers don’t.”

That means Amazon sellers may choose “good but random images.” Instead, Linares recommends using AI to help pick images more likely to sell.

AI image tools use “computer vision to help sellers pick the image with the highest engagement,” explains Linares. Some tools also show “the best visual attention among the [image] alternatives.”

The Takeaway

Product images matter a lot in e-commerce. So much so that it doesn‘t matter how well your product listings rank on Amazon search if your photos aren’t optimized.

That’s because choosing the wrong image or not uploading images can stop customers from buying from you.

Etsy data evidences this point. The marketplace found that 90% of Etsy shoppers rated the quality of product images as the most crucial factor when deciding to buy.

Long story short? Invest time and effort into optimizing product text and images. Your goal should be to get increased attention on the marketplace, then clicks, and ideally, conversions.

Reduced Stockouts

“As an Amazon seller, I’ve integrated AI to optimize my product listings and forecast inventory needs,” says Gil Clark Jr., owner of G.H. Clark Contractors, Inc.

Clark also uses AI-driven tools to analyze customer reviews, refine product descriptions, and predict sales trends.

Like Hawke, Clark has experienced improved search rankings (i.e., better search visibility). Clark also reports reduced stockouts when using AI tools to predict and monitor customer demand.

The Takeaway

You can run your Amazon shop like a well-oiled machine when you always have the needed stock. When they go to purchase, a customer finds the product they want and doesn’t meet any roadblocks (like the product being out of stock).

That means you will guarantee the sale rather than see the customer bouncing to another Amazon seller.

Improved Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

“I use AI extensively as an Amazon seller to enhance multiple facets of my business,” says Ben Seelen, marketing manager for Rugby Bricks. Like Hawke and Clark, Seelen uses AI for price optimization and inventory management.

Ben also uses AI for Amazon in customer service and product research. “I use chatbots to handle basic customer queries, which saves time and enhances user experience,” Seelen explains.

On the product research front, Seelen uses AI tools for keyword research and product trend analysis. After using AI, Seelen has seen improved customer satisfaction rates and loyalty overall.

The Takeaway

Integrating AI into customer service areas can reduce response times, improve aftercare, and create a better purchasing experience.

Then, using AI in product research is a way to find actionable insights about what products customers want and how they’re searching for them.

You can then fill the demand and use search terms that make it easier for customers to find and purchase the products they need.

Product and Competitor Research

“We use AI for product and competitor research for clients selling on Amazon,” says Nat Miletic, owner and CEO of Clio Websites.

AI-powered research tools help Miletic and their team conduct “in-depth analysis of Amazon products.” They can then see insights like “the most searched products, fastest-growing and high-potential products.”

Miletic also looks for overall product competition in their client’s respective niches.

“We use this data to identify and compare the client’s strongest products and ones that need more boost to meet customer demands,” Miletic continues.

Aside from this, Miletic uses AI to extract “product reviews from similar products.” This gives them insights on how to sell products more successfully.

The Takeaway

AI can gather and organize large volumes of data much faster than humans. This makes it a game changer for product and competitor research.

Once you have the data, you can segment it, find key trends, and create a plan to improve your product offering.

But that’s not all. Remember that VOC thing I talked about earlier? Like Nat, you can use AI to extract product reviews and use them as your VOC data.

Competitive Pricing

“I use AI-powered repricing software to ensure my prices remain competitive,” says Rahul Paragi.

“The algorithm adjusts prices based on competitors’ pricing, sales, inventory data, marketplace trends, and custom profit goals,” explains Paragi.

Paragi advises other Amazon sellers, “Don’t be afraid to hand optimization and efficiency tasks off to AI. It’s made my business far more profitable than I could have imagined.”

Gil Clark Jr. mirrors Paragi’s point about using AI to price competitively on Amazon. Repricing tools are “a game-changer, automatically adjusting prices to stay competitive while maximizing profits,” says Clark.

The Takeaway

9 out of 10 shoppers price check on Amazon. Sure, they could be comparing online product prices with in-store prices. But they could also compare your pricing with your Amazon competitor’s to source the best deal.

Savvy Amazon sellers know they must stay competitive in their prices without eroding profit margins. That’s probably why using AI for dynamic pricing was an everyday use case for most, if not all, of the sellers I interviewed for this guide.

Increased Sales

Our interviewees reported increased sales directly from using AI across different areas of their Amazon business.

Pricing strategy, specifically, was a popular area with all Amazon experts, with Seelen citing increased sales due to optimal pricing. This “ensures I stay competitive without eroding profit margins,” says Seelen.

Aside from pricing strategy, Seelen leverages “AI algorithms to better target my PPC ads on Amazon, increasing ROI significantly.”

The Takeaway

Using AI to track and predict market trends and optimize product listings for increased visibility can increase sales. That’s because market trends show you what products are in demand and what your competitors charge.

Then, optimizing the listings for in-demand products helps customers find what they need in search through your store.

Optimal pricing is another area that has helped all our Amazon interviewees experience more sales. Using AI tools within your Amazon marketing and advertising strategy may also increase ROI on ads, which can increase product sales.

Building an AI Strategy for Amazon

Let‘s put what we’ve learned into practice by building an AI product strategy for Amazon. For this exercise, I‘ve chosen the skincare niche, and the specific product I’m strategizing for is a Vitamin C moisturizer. Here‘s where I’d go from there.

1. Competitor Research

I’d start by using AI to gather similar product listings from competitors. When the data is in, I will analyze it, first looking for high-level trends (i.e., what performs well and why.)

I‘d also be looking to find gaps (i.e., what other sellers are doing that I’m not.) But more importantly, I’d be looking for opportunities—aka, what aren’t other sellers doing that I can do? And what can I do better?

I‘d then look for specifics about the top-ranking competitor products via Amazon search. I’d narrow down the top five best-performing product listings.

Then, I’d go beyond AI data analysis and look at them with my own eyes for insights that AI might miss. Doing this also helps me get a general feel for the niche/product landscape.

2. Gathering VOC Data

I’d then use an AI tool to gather the best and worst customer reviews from the top five products. This matters because I want to see what pain points the product solves, what the results are, and where other products fail.

But more specifically, I want to see how customers describe all of this in their own words. I’d also note any key phrases or terms customers use, so I recycle them in my product description.

3. Keyword Research

Now I know what competitors are doing and what customers are saying, it’s time to start keyword research. Some people begin with keyword research, but I prefer to know what real people are saying and doing first.

In my experience, this approach helps you discover some hidden gems your competitors might overlook. It also improves your ability to build resonance with customers.

To start, I‘d use an AI tool to conduct keyword research. That’ll help me optimize my Amazon listing for search. I’d look for a keyword that matches customer search intent, has decent volume, and has low competition.

Let‘s use “vitamin C day cream” as the target term for this exercise. It’s not as specific as “vitamin C moisturizer.” Still, the search intent is similar, and the competition for the keyword is lower.

There are also fewer sponsored results for “vitamin C day cream” vs. “vitamin C moisturizer.” That means less competition for the top search results.

4. Amazon Listing Optimization

As I mentioned, I don’t use AI writing tools because I genuinely love writing. That said, I see the utility of using AI writing tools at scale if you know what you‘re doing. So, for educational purposes, I’ve hopped aboard the AI writing train.

Product Title

At this stage, I‘d use an AI writing tool to help me generate a product listing draft and different title ideas. For the Amazon product title, I’d want to prioritize a mix of my chosen keyword, “vitamin C day cream,” for search visibility.

Plus, I want something that speaks to my customers‘ pain points and desires to increase conversions. And if I had any, I’d also share social proof about my product.

All of that could equate to something like:

“Vitamin C Day Cream & Moisturizer With Hyaluronic Acid & Vitamin E: Get Hydrated, Brighter, Plumper Skin in 4-8 Weeks With This Five-Star Rated Customer Product.”

I’d also aim to keep to around 200 characters as a general rule of thumb. Plus, I’d want the title to be on-brand and not say anything factually inaccurate or misleading.

So, I wouldn‘t add that information if the product hadn’t been rated five stars or customers had yet to experience specific results in a given time frame.

Product Description

I’d include the product description’s target keyword, VOC data, and customer pain points. To see how I‘d do this, head to “Anyword” in the “AI tools for Amazon Sellers” section.

I’d also add a bulleted list of Amazon Product features to give a brief overview of what the product does and how it benefits the customer.

Product Image

Here, I’d use AI to help optimize and test product images. Ideally, I’d have authentic product images, actual before and after photos, and user-generated examples of real customers using the products.

In that case, I’d use an AI tool to help me analyze which ones are likely to perform the best.

If I didn‘t have images, I’d be looking to use an AI tool to help me generate them in line with Amazon’s image specifications.

I may also look at a hybrid approach using real photos alongside an AI mock-up generator to show people using the products in different settings.

5. Making Listing Live and Testing

I wouldn’t be looking for perfection; I’d be looking for good enough. It seems counterintuitive, right? But the sooner I get the listing live, the sooner I can see actual data. That will show me what‘s working and what isn’t.

Ideally, I‘d enlist AI tools to feed me data insights and suggestions. I’d also be looking for a tool to provide different ways to A/B test listings or something that can help me brainstorm solutions.

6. Multi-Channel Marketing Approach

In my experience with e-commerce, winning the sales game takes multiple marketing channels.

Knowing what I know, there‘s no way I’d rely on optimizing my Amazon listing and leaving it at that. I’d look at ways to drive external traffic to my product listing. I’d think of Amazon SEO first (I‘m an organic girl at heart).

But I’d also consider PPC, depending on resources.

Aside from SEO, I‘d have social on my list because you can use the platforms for free in most cases. I’m not the only one thinking that way.

The State of the Amazon Seller report found over 40% of Amazon sellers market on social media. That figure has been rising 15% year on year.

That said, I’d want an AI tool that caters to a multi-channel approach. I’d also like something that feeds me suggestions for social channels based on accurate customer data and SEO suggestions based on keyword research.

7. Admin

In this instance, admin means customer service, pricing, inventory management, and any other task I can reasonably outsource to AI. I‘d also use AI for basic customer service on the back end.

Based on urgency, I’d look at ChatBots to answer frequently asked questions and route tickets to human reps.

Then, I‘d want a tool that automatically reprices my listing within a minimum and maximum range so that they stay competitive. I’d also look for something that forecasts inventory needs to avoid running out of stock.

AI Tools for Amazon Sellers

Now it’s time to take six AI tools for Amazon sellers out for a test drive. Keep reading to learn what the tools do, the price, expert insights, and my experience using each.

RepricerExpress

“One fantastic AI tool recommendation for fellow Amazon sellers is RepricerExpress,” says Hawke. Using the tool to automate price adjustments has saved Adam time and boosted Amazon sales.

Ben Seelen also uses RepricerExpress to adjust real-time prices based on market trends. “This ensures I stay competitive without eroding profit margins,” says Ben.

Price: You can try the product for free for 14 days. Paid plans range from $85 to $1,249 per month.

What we like: RepricerExpress is one of the most comprehensive tools for Amazon repricing. Its real-time insights are ideal for staying competitive and maintaining sales.

You can also set price boundaries — i.e., your minimum (floor) and maximum (ceiling) prices per product — to avoid racing your competitors to the bottom.

Using the Tool

I found registering for a Repricer account easy as they only required a few bits of information. Repricer walks you through the setup process. But if you struggle, different help options are available on the setup screen.

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I love that you have the option to create minimum and maximum prices straight away. You also start in “Safe Mode” from the get-go, so Repricer will only change live prices once you turn “Safe Mode” off.

After completing the setup, you can access competitor information, which is helpful. I also liked how flexible the tool was. You can try various pricing strategies, including pre-made repricing templates.

Helium 10

Like RepricerExpress, Helium 10 was highly recommended by multiple Amazon sellers I interviewed.

Seelen recommends Helium 10 for keyword research and product trend analysis. Miletic uses the tool to get actionable insights like the most searched, fastest-growing, and high-potential products.

You can also use the tool to explore product competition in your specific niche and write and optimize your listings.

Price: You can start a free trial account. Paid plans range from $29 to $229 per month.

What we like: Helium 10’s analytics are impressive. You can track your sales, broader market trends, and keyword rankings. They also offer marketing tools so Amazon sellers can run AI-powered PPC campaigns on autopilot.

That means you can drive traffic from search engines like Google to your Amazon product listings.

Using the Tool

When you first sign up, Helium directs you to a quiz with different options like “Seller,” “Brand,” and “Agency.” It is interactive, and the tool can give you the best dashboard setup based on the data.

I loved how each step of the setup process had an accompanying video. It highlighted the amount of resources available for Helium users straight away.

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At first glance at the demo dashboard, having everything available (i.e., revenue, profit, orders, refunds, and product rankings) on one screen/dashboard will help overall productivity.

The fact that the tool records your history will make monitoring changes and comparing results easier.

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Overall, Helium 10 is easy to use. I also see the capabilities of the research tools giving sellers a competitive edge when launching new products.

Pixmap

Pixmap was Linares’ tool of choice for AI-optimized Amazon product images. Pixmap is a mobile app available via the Apple App Store and Google Play.

The app helps you test a picture before you use it so you can understand how people see the image before uploading it to Amazon.

Price: You can get three free tests, and then you need to purchase credits.

What we like: Getting fresh eyes on any marketing campaign before it goes to market is essential. That way, you can test the effectiveness and avoid embarrassment before it goes live.

The same applies to your Amazon product images. But it’s not always realistic in practice and can be costly.

That‘s what’s excellent about Pixmap. The tool uses machine learning to give you an idea of how people will react to your images. And it only takes the tool seven seconds to process a photo and share its findings.

Using the Tool

First, I love that this app is for mobile, and it was straightforward to download from the Apple App Store. I found it easy to upload images, and the results came in fast.

Pixmap also makes it quick to understand how the app works by including three starter pictures to browse. That gave me a quick entry point into understanding the different features like “Heatmap,” “Opacity,” and “Focus.”

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SellerApp

Adam recommends SellerApp as his top pick for “valuable insights and keyword optimization suggestions.” Like Helium 10, SellerApp comes with extensive tools for product research.

You can use the tool to find high-potential products with low competition. It‘s ideal if you’re looking to extend your product offering.

Price: You can start a free trial account. Paid plans range from $39 to $49 per month.

What we like: On the free trial, you can do five product and five keyword searches daily. If you’re a smaller Amazon seller, that could be enough to get you started. When it comes to affordability, SellerApp beats other tools.

The tool is also helpful for budget allocation. It helps sellers find products with high conversion so you can optimize them and allocate a budget to bid on Amazon search phrases strategically.

Using the Tool

Like with Helium 10, SellerApp asked me to answer a few questions before getting started. SellerApp also made it clear from the outset that the tool’s goal was to help me scale and provide insights for growth.

Establishing that direct link to what matters to Amazon sellers early on is great for buying into the product.

When it comes to the dashboard, it’s straightforward to navigate. I also see the range of tools being beneficial for Amazon sellers.

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I tested out the keyword research tool and can see why Adam uses this tool for the task. The results are clear to understand, and the range of related keyword suggestions is good.

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Jungle Scout

Jungle Scout is an excellent tool for in-depth product research. You can also access general market trends and specific seasonal shopping (think Halloween and Black Friday) insights.

This tool would be great for beginner sellers looking to find a high-demand product to sell.

Price: Paid plans range from $29 to $84 per month.

What we like: The “Opportunity Finder” helps sellers find low-competition keywords for in-demand products. Then, the tool has other features to take these keyword insights and help you create a product strategy using AI insights.

You also have the option to save ideas so you can monitor and return to them later.

Using the Tool

There wasn‘t a free sign-up for Jungle Scout, so I checked out some YouTube demos and reviews to get an idea of the tool’s capabilities.

After watching this Jungle Scouts video, I see real potential for its Product Database, especially for sellers who don’t know what to sell. The database seems comprehensive but manageable enough that it stays user-friendly.

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Anyword

Anyword is an AI copywriting assistant. It is aimed at marketing professionals rather than Amazon sellers. But it does cater to Amazon product listings specifically.

The tool wasn’t recommended by any of the Amazon sellers I interviewed.

However, I wanted to try a tool specifically for writing because that’s my area of expertise.

Price: You can start a seven-day free trial. Paid plans range from $39 to $249 monthly with custom Enterprise pricing.

What we like: The tool isn’t trying to be a Jack of All Trades. The makers have chosen a specialism and have honed in on that area. Aside from creating listings from scratch, you can analyze and optimize existing text, which is a bonus.

Plus, having the option to train the AI on your brand voice may save a lot of headaches down the road.

Using the Tool

The sign-up process was easy. I had to give the usual details (i.e., email) and answer a few relevant questions. Then, I was on my way to getting started with the tool.

Even though Anyword only deals with one area (writing), it has many features within that area.

So, honestly, the dashboard seemed overwhelming at first.

I wanted to write a product description for this exercise, so I took an educated guess and headed to “Data-Driven Editor.” I found “Product Listings” and chose “Amazon Product Listing.”

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I dove straight in with a prompt. I constructed the prompt to include the product keyword “vitamin C night cream” and VOC phrases I’d picked up from existing customer reviews.

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The tool gives three different product listings, which works well. There aren’t too many listing variations to be overwhelming. But there are enough for you to make an informed choice.

You could also mix and match, taking bits from each listing if you wanted.

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The text was better than I thought it would be. Although, I personally wouldn’t use raw AI-generated text, and I’d recommend that if you do, you at least edit it to differentiate your brand.

It‘s also helpful that Anyword scores how well the listing may do based on existing text. I recommend caution here, though.

At the end of the day, you don’t know how well something will do until you release it into the wild and see actual customer data.

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Two more features caught my eye during the test. You can start with a broad audience. Then, once you generate the text, Anyword will automatically suggest new target audiences for you.

I’m assuming you can then use the audience data to hone the text further or choose a more specific one next time you need a listing for a similar product.

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You can also upload your existing target audiences through various integrations, including HubSpot, Google Ads, and Meta Ads.

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AI for Amazon Sellers: Transform How You Do Business

From optimizing product listings to competitive pricing and customer service, AI can transform how Amazon sellers do business. If you‘re new to this tech, AI’s potential might seem overwhelming.

But, knowing how to use AI as an Amazon seller and which tools to use will help you build a more competitive strategy. Even starting with one area, like product repricing, can save time and help you compete effectively with larger competitors.

In the 1990s, SEO success relied on keywords. In 2023, new SEO challenges have emerged.

While keywords still matter, other considerations such as page authority, loading speed, and regularly-updated content all play a role in maximizing SEO impact.

Here’s a look at eight SEO challenges brands are facing in 2023.

Top 8 SEO Challenges in 2023

1. Staying ahead of algorithm changes.

HubSpot surveyed 400+ web traffic analysts to identify top SEO challenges. The leading challenge — experienced by 50% of marketers — is staying on top of search engine algorithm changes.

This isn’t surprising — in 2020 alone, Google ran more than 500,000 experiments that led to 4,000+ changes to search. For many marketers, staying current with these changes is like hitting a moving target.

So how can you succeed when Google keeps moving the goal post? The key is to respond to these changes strategically.

First, remember that there’s no need to overhaul your entire SEO strategy in response to a minor change. Instead, your time is better spent staying on top of industry news. If a big algorithm change is on the horizon, the SEO industry will talk about it.

If a significant algorithm change does happen, wait for the dust to settle before making any moves. Why? In some cases, Google reverts to a previous version if an update doesn’t go to plan.

If you’ve spent time and effort rebuilding your SEO plan from the ground up, you’ll have to spend more time and money undoing the change.

2. Not ranking higher in search results.

Unlike paid search, SEO takes time to show results — and it’s usually a result of smaller efforts.

There are some “solutions” to fix a low ranking, such as pivoting to technical SEO and content marketing. SEO experts have also identified some factors that play into your ranking, like the E-E-A-T framework. E-E-A-T in SEO stands for “experience,” “expertise,” “authoritativeness,” and “trustworthiness.”

However, even more important is developing a long-term strategy that focuses on a handful of initiatives at a time. Remember, SEO is a long-term game. The work you put in today will pay off down the road.

Consider a recent Google search update that may be prioritizing “AI-generated crap” over human-written text. While this type of update can temporarily depress search engine rankings, changes from Google in response to search results and user feedback will prompt further changes.

3. Focusing too much on keywords.

Keywords matter, but they’re not enough to get your site on page one of Google search. Consider a company that provides mobile car detailing services.

If they spend time and money ranking for terms such as “mobile car detailing,” “car detailing at my home,” and “car cleaning service near me,” they’ll see an initial boost in search rankings.

But this lift will be short-lived if Google crawls their site and discovers that it’s full of outdated, irrelevant content.

The result? Moving up the search ladder requires a mutli-metric focus.

According to recent HubSpot survey data, just 17% of SEO professionals said that SERP rankings for targeted keywords were their top priority.

Leading the pack were sales, leads, and conversion rates (31%), total monthly visitors (30%), and click-through rates (28%).

4. Writing compelling titles and meta descriptions.

According to 400+ web traffic analysts, one of the most effective strategies for improving search ranking is writing compelling titles and meta descriptions. But writing catchy titles is easier said than done.

According to one recent study that analyzed 5 million headlines, emotional titles — either positive or negative — had a higher click-through rate (CTR) than neutral titles. In fact, both positive and negative titles improved CTR by approximately 7%. Additionally, web pages with meta descriptions get almost 6% more clicks than those without.

A word of caution here — while emotionally-charged titles can drive clicks, you run the risk of sounding like clickbait. For example, the same study found that “power words” — or words specifically designed to draw attention — can negatively impact CTR. Power words include terms like crazy, insane, and amazing. Use them sparingly, if at all.

5. Missing the mark on mobile.

Your SEO strategy should absolutely include mobile optimization.

Why? As you might expect, mobile devices account for a large chunk of web traffic — 58% to be exact — making it essential to approach your website with a mobile-first mindset.

In addition, Google now practices mobile-first indexing. This means Google uses the mobile version of your web pages when indexing and ranking pages.

The trend is clear — optimizing for mobile is key for traffic growth, SEO, and great user experience. It’s no surprise that almost 25% of companies invest in mobile as a top SEO tactic.

You don’t need to be a developer or have a large budget to optimize your website for mobile. Check out this helpful guide to learn how small tweaks can improve the mobile experience.

6. Leveraging video in search results.

If you Google “How to tie a knot,” the top search result is a video:

You can see this in action with a simple search of your own. Google a question, and see what comes up.

The first 3-4 results? Videos. It makes sense: Data shows that 75% of people watch short-form videos on their mobile devices, and are 52% more likely to share videos than any other content.

Google plans to surface videos by crawling and indexing them like any other type of content. So how can marketers leverage their video content for search? Here are a few strategies:

• Add video chapters. Chapters section your video by topic, providing a layer of context for viewers. It also makes it easy for Google to understand the content in your video and use different clips in search results.

• Optimize your title, tags, and description. Like web pages, videos also have titles, descriptions, and tags. Optimize these using SEO best practices.

Also, embedding videos into your website and blog posts doesn’t hurt — and can actually improve your bounce rates.

7. Incorporating generative AI.

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have made market waves since their debut in late 2022.

While worries about the full-blown takeover of SERPs by AI-driven content are unfounded, there’s no doubt that artificial intelligence plays a role in the future of search.

Consider that 74% of web analysts now say that content made with AI assistance performs better, and 65% say it ranks higher on SERPs.

The near future may also see generative AI directly integrated with search functions — 68% of professionals say their blog would see more traffic as a result.

What does this mean in practice? That companies need to find a balance between human and AI content. Posts and articles that are entirely generated by AI may provide an immediate search boost, but don’t have the authority to stand the test of time.

Human-created pieces, meanwhile, may not make best use of emerging trends. By using AI to generate topics or provide basic article structures which are then handled by humans, businesses can get the best of both worlds.

8. Optimizing for voice.

50% of the U.S. population now uses voice search daily. It makes sense — with tools such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple HomeKit continually adding new functions and features, voice search isn’t just a way to find information.

Users can add payment methods and purchase items directly from their smart devices. The caveat? Finding what they’re looking for on the first try.

To help navigate the increasing importance of voice, companies need to optimize their content for natural-language queries.

For example, website content should be well-structured, easy to read, and contain high-value keywords. This is because voice searches typically start with a scan of webpages — if smart devices can’t easily parse the information available, they’ll move onto the next result.

By making the site voice-friendly, brands are better positioned to capture this growing search market.

Solving for SEO

In 2023, there’s no single, simple solution for SEO.

That’s because great search engine optimization isn’t just about keywords. Instead, it’s a combination of factors that help create a consistent experience for users, from initial search to first impressions to eventual action.

The result? Solving for SEO is an ongoing effort. In 2023, top priorities include incorporating new search algorithms, effectively incorporating video, and leveraging the power of generative AI.

New years will bring new challenges, but with a solid SEO foundation businesses are better-equipped to navigate the evolving nature of search.

This year, global social media users swelled to a record-breaking 4.9 billion. Statistics like these suggest that social media stocks may be a great investment opportunity — but what are the best social media stocks to invest in?

Social media is big business. One recent report valued the industry at a whopping $231 billion.

It’s also an incredibly complex market, with countless platforms, technologies, and companies all doing their best to stay competitive in this rapidly evolving space.

This article explores how to invest in social media stocks, what social media can tell us about the broader economy, and which are the top social media stocks to watch in 2023.

What are social media stocks?
Should you invest in social media stocks?
What Social Media Stocks Tell Us About the Economy
Social Media Stocks to Watch

What are social media stocks?

Of course, to craft an effective social media investment strategy, it’s important first to understand what a social media stock is.

The social media landscape is constantly evolving, but at a high level, social media refers to any digital technology that enables users to share ideas through virtual networks and communities, whether via text, images, videos, or some combination.

Some of the most widely-used platforms today include TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) — but new platforms emerge constantly, always looking to compete with incumbents and capture new market share.

Because of its massive user base, social media is a major component of many companies’ marketing strategies.

Many firms create their own social media presence on top platforms to promote their brand and engage with existing and prospective customers through comments, reposts, and more.

Clearly, social media is a critical part of the broader tech ecosystem and global economy. As such, it’s hardly a surprise that social media stocks are now crucial to many investment strategies.

Specifically, many investors may look to social media stocks to buy shares in some of the most cutting-edge, rapidly growing companies.

Should you invest in social media stocks?

While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to investing (and never any return guarantee), many experts have suggested that social media stocks can be a solid option for today’s investors.

For example, stock market expert Josh Dylan argues that investing in social media stocks is an “attractive proposition” for two reasons.

“Firstly,” he notes, “social media usage continues to climb, creating a vast and growing market for these platforms.”

Secondly, he continues, “the digital advertising market, a key revenue stream for social media companies, is also on a growth trajectory as businesses increasingly shift marketing dollars from traditional channels to online ones.”

To be sure, social media stocks aren’t without risk.

Dylan points out that the social media sector is “subject to changing user preferences, significant regulatory scrutiny, and intense competition among platforms.”

He says, “As with any investment, potential investors should conduct thorough research and consider the risk factors unique to this dynamic and highly visible sector.”

It’s always important to be aware of the risks associated with any form of investment.

However, according to a recent research report from Market Research Future, the global social media industry is expected to continue to experience “healthy growth” over the next decade.

So, it’s worth considering investing in social media stocks as part of a diversified investment portfolio.

What Social Media Stocks Tell Us About the Economy

In a recent report from the Carnegie Institute, market experts Claudia Biancotti and Paolo Ciocca suggest that social media has become increasingly intertwined with the broader global economy.

As they explain, “Discourse on social media increasingly affects personal financial decisions…the influence of social media on financial markets is here to stay, as younger generations start saving and investing.”

In other words, as social media continues to grow, it’s likely to have more and more influence on the broader stock market.

Especially since the social media industry is particularly relevant to younger generations, this market will likely have an increasingly large effect on the global economy as younger demographics grow and gain buying power.

Indeed, studies have shown that growth in social media may correlate with broader economic growth across sectors and geographies.

One recently published study found that increased social media penetration corresponded to a boost in economic growth across 177 countries worldwide.

Conversely, analysts have reported that when one social media stock falls, it can have substantial ripple effects on other firms’ stock prices.

For example, when shares of the popular image-sharing platform Snapchat dropped substantially in 2022, Piper Sandler analyst Tom Champion suggested that the drop was reflective of broader trends, arguing that “at this point, our sense is this is more macro and industry-driven versus Snap specific.”

Clearly, social media stocks can tell us a lot about the state of the broader economy. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, more than 80% of Americans aged 18-49 use at least one social media site.

These platforms have become a massive part of the global economy, so it’s only natural that social media stocks have become closely connected to more significant economic trends.

Social Media Stocks to Watch

In light of the importance of social media stocks in the broader investment landscape, which are the top stocks to watch in 2023?

Below, we’ve listed some of the top social media stocks based on past performance, current metrics, and projected short- and long-term growth.

Alphabet, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

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What They Do

Alphabet, Inc. is Google’s parent company, which operates several social media platforms such as Google Meet, Blogger, and YouTube.

Alphabet also ran Facebook competitor Google+, but this platform was shut down in 2019. Today, YouTube alone boasts more than two billion active users and more than half of global internet users access the site at least once a month.

Why They’re Worth Watching

Google has long been one of the major players driving growth in the tech sector. Today, analysts are particularly optimistic about Alphabet’s prospects for a few key reasons:

First, Google’s ad revenue has remained strong in recent months despite fluctuations and market disruptions.

In addition, while Google’s investment in AI may be somewhat overshadowed by Microsoft-owned OpenAI’s recent successes with ChatGPT, analysts have largely argued that Alphabet remains well-positioned to leverage new AI technology.

Finally, Stifel analyst Mark Kelley has argued that YouTube’s core product and YouTubeTV likely represent substantial opportunities, contributing to his “buy” rating for Alphabet in March of this year.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

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What They Do

Meta is behind the leading social media apps Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. This family of apps represents a huge global revenue base, with a market share of more than 16% in Q2 2023.

Beyond its well-known platforms for sharing posts and sending direct messages, Meta has made substantial inroads into cutting-edge technologies such as Virtual Reality and wearable devices.

Why They’re Worth Watching

In its most recent annual investor letter, investment management firm Davis Advisers expressed confidence that while Meta has hit some stumbling blocks,

David Advisers says its “growing user base, as well as the continued growth in the amount of time users are spending on these platforms, is a far more important indicator of Meta’s relevance and value.”

In particular, Davis Advisers pointed to Meta’s ad revenue per user being up more than 30% since 2019, as well as its three billion active users (which represents one of the largest user bases of any company in history), as indications of its enduring success.

Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH)

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What They Do

Match Group focuses on a specific niche within the social media space: online dating. Best known for its popular apps Hinge, OkCupid, and Tinder, Match has grown steadily (and produced double-digit revenue growth) for years.

In addition, unlike most other social media firms, Match derives most of its revenue from user subscriptions rather than ads.

This makes it an excellent option to consider if you’re looking to diversify your investments across different social media business models.

Why They’re Worth Watching

In 2023, Match expects to achieve year-over-year growth of up to 10% overall and direct revenue from its market leader, Tinder. In addition, Hinge is projected to generate $400 million in direct revenue in 2023.

The company also made headlines for its $1.725 billion acquisition of Korean social and video platform Hyperconnect, indicating its appetite for growth and expansion into new markets.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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What They Do

While Microsoft might not be the first company that comes to mind when you think about social media, Microsoft Corporation is, in fact, a major player in this space.

LinkedIn, Microsoft Teams, and Skype all fall under its purview.

LinkedIn has over 930 million members in more than 200 countries worldwide, while Skype and Teams account for more than 40% of the global market share for video call platforms.

In addition, Microsoft also owns Yammer and Flipgrid, which offer enterprise social networking and educational video-sharing services, respectively.

Why They’re Worth Watching

According to analysts from Morgan Stanley, Microsoft has “favorable fundamentals” and is “increasingly well positioned” in 2023.

Moreover, the most recent CIO survey revealed “several forward-looking indicators that indicate Microsoft’s strong relative position,” which suggests that Microsoft may continue to be a strong player in the global social media market.

Tencent Holdings Limited (OTC:TCEHY)

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What They Do

Any top social media companies analysis would be incomplete without mentioning Chinese tech giant Tencent.

Tencent is the parent company of well-known apps like QQ, Weibo, and WeChat, and its consumer businesses extend beyond instant messaging and social networking to various online gaming, video streaming, music sharing, and other services.

While its market penetration remains limited outside Asia, it was the world’s tenth most valuable company by market value in February 2022, and it was the first Asian technology company to cross the $500 billion valuation mark.

Why They’re Worth Watching

Especially if you’re looking to broaden your portfolio beyond U.S.-based companies, Tencent is one of the best social media stocks to consider.

Indeed, as global investment bank, brokerage, and advisory firm Loop Capital explained in a recent research note, Tencent’s “core gaming and payments engines show promising signs for valuation, as well as a positive outlook for advertising revenue growth.”

The research note argues that this stock is expected to continue performing well thanks to positive macroeconomic trends and expected revenue growth across Tencent’s core segments.

What You Need to Know

Importantly, this article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as personal financial advice, and risks are always associated with any investment or financial decision.

However, if you want to learn more about the best social media stocks to invest in, the data-driven, expert-approved tips outlined above may be a helpful starting point.

From Alphabet’s YouTube to Meta’s Facebook to Tencent’s WeChat and countless others, the social media industry is booming around the world.

As such, social media stocks can tell us a lot about the broader state of the economy, and they can represent a substantial investment opportunity for anyone looking to buy shares in a high-growth, rapidly evolving industry.

Increased open rates, click-throughs, and sales: If you want these results, running an email marketing audit can help you get there. That’s why I’ve teamed up with six email marketing experts to help you create an audit of your own.

Together, we cover:

What is an email marketing audit?

The Benefits of Email Marketing Audits

The Anatomy of an Email Marketing Audit

How to Conduct an Email Marketing Audit

Tips for Conducting an Email Marketing Audit

What is an email marketing audit?

An email marketing audit means checking in with your email strategy, campaigns, and overall account health. Like a general marketing audit, the main goal is to see what‘s working and what isn’t.

But you can also find any untapped opportunities for improvement.

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That said, only some audits will cover every element that‘s involved with email marketing in its entirety. You might run an audit to check technical issues like deliverability, workflow automation, and accessibility, for example.

You may also audit a specific campaign’s performance to see whether it’s meeting its goals.

The Benefits of Email Marketing Audits

I interviewed six email marketing experts to find out how an audit has helped them and their lists. Here’s what they had to say about why email marketing audits matter.

Better Open Rates, Click-Through Rates, and Sales

“I was tasked to improve the open rates (OPR) and click-thru rates (CTR) of the emails my client was sending to their target audience,” says Gabriel Gan, head of editorial for In Real Life Malaysia.

The email list Fan worked with had around 250,000 active users.

“Using email audit best practices, my team and I were able to pinpoint areas of improvement and increase our client’s OPR and CTR from 10-15% to 27-35%,” Gan continues.

Aside from OPR and CTR, sales improved, too. Gan recalls “an increase of 7% in sales during Black Friday, compared to the previous year (100% to 107%).”

Finding What Resonates With Your Audience

“An email audit is like a health check. It’s an opportunity to see what’s working and what isn’t,” says Senior Content Strategist Lia Parisyan. One area an audit can help you understand more clearly is what resonates with your audience.

“At one company, we wanted to test if questions in the subject line converted better than statements,” explains Parisyan. “We tested out this observation and found some segments preferred numbers and questions in subject lines while others were swayed less by numbers and more by ‘how to’ statements in subject lines.”

Gan cites a similar experience regarding audience resonance: “When I first started doing email marketing, the emails they [the company] were sending out had a distinctly ‘direct sell’ approach in the copy.”

Gan explains that traditionally, this approach is the best way to get prospects. But “it wasn’t great at scaling to an international, cross-generational audience (20s to 40s) with a wide range of tastes and needs,” Gan says.

An audit helped Gan and the team discover this and create more resonance.

Improved Engagement and Deliverability

“Email audits have been invaluable for our logistic company’s email marketing,” says Onur Kutlubay, CEO at YouParcel. Kutlubay explains how audits looking at “email lists, content quality, segmentation, and delivery practices” have helped YouParcel evaluate its email marketing campaigns.

Kutlubay cites “a 20% increase in open rates and a 15% rise in click-through rates” after refining email targeting and content based on the audit findings.

Parisyan also highlights that “an email audit can help you identify and resolve deliverability issues.” Long story short?

Fixing these issues makes sure your messages get to the right inboxes, which can improve deliverability and engagement overall.

Seeing the Big Picture and Refocusing Goals

“It’s so easy to lose track of [what’s working and what’s not] when you’re focused on the small details of everyday work — and let’s be honest, email marketing requires a lot of attention to detail,” says Anna Czechowska, email marketing specialist at Uscreen.

According to Czechowska, an email audit shows you the flaws of your campaigns and areas where you can improve while highlighting the wins.

“You may be surprised looking at what worked and what didn’t,” says Czechowska. Still, having the data from your audit will help you to “see the big picture and refocus on the right goals.”

Improving Email List Health

“Email audits are key to understanding the health of our client’s accounts,” says Yair Barojas, marketing strategist at Mindgruve.

Barojas explains that email audits help them to “determine the structures, methodology, and implementation that are currently in place.”

From there, they can find any areas of opportunity to improve the overall account and list health.

Barojas mentions “segmentation, list development, data mapping improvements, tracking implementations, and automation, to connectivity between systems” as areas they check to find these opportunities.

Prioritizing and Nurturing Relationships

“Email audits have been a huge help for Travel-Lingual,” says James Smith, founder of Travel-Lingual. “They’re like a check-up on your email list, ensuring you’re sending out your top-notch content to those who care about it.”

Smith also emphasizes the importance of focusing on quality rather than quantity and that removing inactive members helps them do this. “Email audits have helped us cut down on all the junk and focus on the people who enjoy our travel content,” closes Smith.

The Anatomy of an Email Marketing Audit

The specific parts of your email marketing audit all depend on your end goal. That said, you may find yourself addressing all or some of the following areas:

Performance Metrics

For any audit, it makes sense to get a summary of where you‘re at right now. That gives you a benchmark to see whether your follow-up actions based on the audit do or don’t work.

Reporting on email performance metrics like open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and ROI will give you a basic comparison. You can then compare how your email campaigns perform before and after the audit.

List Health Analysis

You evaluate the quality and cleanliness of your email subscriber list. Reports usually include list size, quality, segmentation, and any issues related to bounce rates and unsubscribes.

Content and Design Review

You analyze the email copy and design for quality, relevance, engagement, and consistency with the brand. You’ll also want to double-check that emails are mobile-friendly, accessible, and responsive.

If you lack design experience or technical chops, HubSpot’s Drag and Drop Email Builder can help you create visually appealing emails.

Deliverability and Compliance Assessment

You‘ll typically review email deliverability issues/challenges, spam complaints, and sender reputation as a minimum. You’ll also want to audit compliance with email marketing laws and regulations.

Automation and Workflow Evaluation

You‘ll want to analyze any automated email workflows in line with your segmentation strategy. If automation isn’t in place, you can report on actions to take to improve efficiency with automation.

You can also find opportunities to streamline the existing workflow.

Whether you audit one or all of these areas, you‘ll need to create recommendations and an action plan. You can then optimize what’s working in your email marketing strategy and fix what isn’t.

[Video: How to Master Email Marketing (2023)]

How to Conduct an Email Marketing Audit

I asked experts Parisyan, Barojas, Czechowska, and Gan how they run email marketing audits. Together, we crafted this nine-step process for running an email marketing audit.

You can apply these steps to an entire email audit or a specific element you focus on.

I’ve also factored in tips about running audits in-house or as an external resource.

1. Define your scope and set goals.

“The most important thing is defining scope. What is the purpose of the email audit? Is it compliance? Security? Improving conversions?’ Parisyan says.

“It can be more than one thing, but the more precise you are with your scope, the less likely you will lose focus or draw the audit out,” says Parisyan.

At this stage, Parisyan recommends choosing the most impactful email area to audit. “You can do smaller audits. Choose one variable. Improve, test, and tackle the next variable instead of boiling the ocean,” Parisyan explains.

From my experience with content audits, I suggest making sure that your email marketing goals and objectives complement the broader business strategy.

That way, you’re focusing your activity on areas that help to achieve the more general company goals.

I suggest requesting everything you need to get the job done sooner rather than later, too. If you get things like permissions and documentation early, you can avoid delays caused by chasing these down.

That stands if you‘re in-house, but it’s vital if you‘re an external resource because you’ll have fewer contact points with decision-makers.

Expert Tip

“If we can not access the client’s email system, we interview key stakeholders to understand how it works and where they need improvement and help,” says Barojas.

Barojas, who works agency-side, also recommends getting examples of “emails and any workflow paperwork” at this stage.

2. Build your audit team.

“Next, who’s going to be on your audit team? If you’re solving for security, Do you need to involve legal? Cybersecurity?” says Parisyan.

After you’ve finalized your team, Parisyan recommends assigning roles and responsibilities and using project management tools.

Expert Tip:

PM tools can help you plan the email marketing audit timeline, assign tasks, and oversee progress from start to finish. Either way, project management tools are a great way to avoid having multiple spreadsheets everywhere.

And as anyone in marketing knows, spreadsheets can get messy fast.

3. Choose your audit tools.

“There are lots of [tool] options. You may already be using one,” says Parisyan. “However, I wouldn‘t recommend switching tools during an audit if you haven’t vetted them. I would consider that a separate activity.”

Parisyan also explains that third-party solutions are often neglected during audits. So, document these, as they may affect security and compliance.

To stay aligned with your core objective, Parisyan also recommends identifying “the tools you’re using, how, and to what purpose.”

Expert Tip

If you still need to get a tool in place, consider looking for one with an email marketing audit template or checklist built in.

You could also look for a tool that helps you track your audit process, although you can use a project management tool for that, too.

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For context, I don’t think everything in content marketing needs a template. Content templates are how writing gets stale and predictable, for example. However, templates are necessary when it comes to processes.

Having an in-house framework or agency SOP to follow will save you time and help you improve with each audit iteration. It also gives you a visual guide to follow as you work through the nitty-gritty of your email marketing audit.

4. Data collection and legal review.

“You’ll want to make sure everything you’re gathering complies with privacy regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA (in healthcare),” warns Parisyan.

While it‘s easy to overlook this step, it’s critical to make sure you’re in line with email marketing laws in specific locations and industries.

Expert Tip

Aside from GDPR (Europe), CAN-SPAM (United States) is another law you may need to comply with, depending on your list. If you‘re within the U.S., you should also comply with state-by-state policies.

Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) is an example of one of these.

5. List the areas you want to audit.

At this stage, you want to list the areas most relevant to your goal and then audit those. If you’re doing a full audit, Barojas recommends covering the following areas:

• Account structure.
• Audiences.
• Campaigns and content.
• System connectivity.
• Testing and optimizations.
• Tracking.

You could also focus on a smaller area, like increasing your conversion rate for a specific email campaign. The conversion action could be clicking the call to action button. The relevant audit areas could be content and design.

In that case, you’d want to audit the subject lines, design elements, copy, and calls to action at a minimum.

Expert Tip

Gan mentions auditing email content as it relates to the broader customer journey, which is: “Open email inbox > open email > scroll down to the bottom of the page > click the CTA button,” says Gan.

Gan maps out the more specific customer journey and touchpoints like this: “(begin customer journey) Email subject line > preview text > email header image > headline > introductory text > product image > product description > cta button (end customer journey).”

Gan explains that at each stage of this journey, the customer could click away, get distracted, or lose interest. So, to increase conversions, you should aim to “retain attention all the way till they click the CTA button.”

6. Assess impact using email marketing metrics.

Now you know your goals and which areas you’d like to audit, you need to assess them using relevant email performance metrics. This will give you a benchmark so you a) know how to move forward and b) have pre and post-audit comparison data.

Some common email metrics include click-through rate, open rate, bounce rate, and list growth rate. But let‘s stick with our example goal of having more list members click the call to action button on an email campaign.

The metric in that instance is conversion rate. Here’s how you can measure it.

“To calculate the conversion rate, I divide the number of people who completed the desired action by the number of emails delivered and multiply the answer by 100,” says staff writer for HubSpot’s marketing blog Erica Santiago.

So the formula would look like this:

Expert Tip

“To measure the conversion rate of your emails, you’ll need to integrate your email platform and web analytics,” says Santiago. “You can do this by creating unique tracking URLs for your email links that identify the source of the click as coming from a specific email campaign.”

7. A/B testing and optimization.

“When doing your audit, the first step is identifying the areas which you must look into. The second step is to test,” Gan says. Gan recommends following two main rules for your A/B testing:

1. Set email A as the incumbent. Set email B as the contender.
2. Only change one variable at a time.

“For example, in email B, when testing open rates, only tweak the subject line and not the preview,” says Gan.

That’s because “If you have more than one variable that has been changed from the old email, it’s almost impossible to determine which new addition you made has contributed to the improvement in OPR/CTR.”

Expert Tip

Aside from A/B testing campaigns, you can dive into the email campaigns yourself.

“I test emails on different devices and in different email clients. I try to really get into subscribers’ shoes, e.g., by joining our email sequence,” says Czechowska.

She explains that this helps to get a first-hand perspective of the “actual experience for our email audience.”

8. Create an action plan and get approval.

Now, you need to put all of your email marketing audit findings into a clear and logical action plan. In my experience of running audits, I recommend outlining an action plan in sprints.

If you don’t do this, the data can be visually overwhelming, which makes it hard to know where to start.

I’d also say to frontload the actions that will have the most impact on your goals. That will increase stakeholder and team buy-in.

Once you have a clear plan of action, you may need to present it to stakeholders, decision-makers, and/or senior team members to get approval.

Expert Tip

“To get stakeholders to take action on your recommendations, format your analysis for your audience,” says Parisyan.

For example, executives are busy.

So, “A short slide deck with critical stats and findings may work best. Or you can call a meeting to discuss your findings and recommendations if that’s what stakeholders prefer.”

In short, Parisyan recommends knowing your audience so that your recommendations get implemented. That’s because doing the audit is not enough. Convincing stakeholders to take action “demands equal focus and championing.”

9. Implement an action plan and analyze the results.

When decision-makers have approved your action plan, it’s time to implement the findings from your email marketing audit. You can then analyze the results of your audit recommendations.

You should consider revisiting Gan’s A/B testing advice and rules here — only changing one variable at once and continuing to test and improve in iterations.

But implementation and analysis don’t mean the work is over. You also want to create a system for ongoing monitoring and reporting to track progress and make adjustments.

Expert Tip

“Once changes are signed off, march forward, monitor what’s happening, and keep documenting,” says Parisyan. “Having a record will enable you to conduct more vigorous audits in the future and avoid testing the same hypothesis again.”

Tips for Conducting an Email Marketing Audit

Want to run a successful email marketing audit? Here’s what the email marketing experts I interviewed suggest.

Break it down into manageable chunks.

“The number of things to review may be overwhelming at first, but breaking it down into smaller steps will help,” says Czechowska.

Czechowska suggests first defining your goals to help you break things down. “You may want to focus on some areas more than others — e.g., deliverability or list segmentation strategy,” she explains.

Within that, there could be “a specific problem that requires your attention, such as high bounce rate or low engagement.”

Remember, it’s not a solo job.

“Even if you’re at a small company, involve others. Beyond building collaboration and tapping into other people’s skills, involving others helps you catch things you might miss,” says Parisyan.

“If you have photos in your emails or graphics, maybe consult your designer. See if they have any recommendations,” Parisyan continues.

You can also connect your sales and customer service teams to “see how the language tone and length of your content compares with their messaging.”

Marketing Strategist Yair Barojas agrees.

“Lean on additional team members who may have experience with other areas you need to encounter during the audit, such as developers or analytics,” says Barojas.

Try an expectation test for your messaging.

“This is not as common, but you can try an expectation test,” says Parisyan. The test involves showing someone an email headline and asking them what they think the email will be about.

To eliminate confirmation bias, Parisyan suggests that you don’t show participants the email copy. You can then learn how people really feel about the headline without them knowing what the email copy is about.

Parisyan also recommends interviewing customers “in ‘the green'” and to “think about integrating them into a beta testing campaign” as another way to test and tailor your messaging.

Account for differences in strategies and campaigns.

“Each company handles documentation and email strategy differently, so don’t shy away from reaching out to the client with questions,” says Barojas. He also explains that every audit is unique, too.

So, “being flexible is as important as being timely.”

Czechowska also references campaign differences.

“Don’t measure every email against the same standards,” says Czechowska. “Think about what you consider a success for each of your campaigns — it’ll be different for your weekly newsletter, and e.g., an abandoned cart sequence.”

Use quantitative data and qualitative feedback.

“For an effective email audit, my tip is to consider quantitative data (open and click-through rates) and qualitative feedback (customer responses),” says CEO Onur Kutlubay.

Through this “holistic approach,” Kutlubay’s company has been able to tailor emails “for better engagement, leading to increased ROI and more satisfied customers.”

Kutlubay reports an increase in open rates and click-through rates, specifically. But that’s not all.

“This combination of qualitative and quantitative improvements generated a 25% growth in email-driven revenue, demonstrating that investing in email audits can lead to substantial gains,” says Kutlubay.

Remove inactive subscribers.

Founder James Smith recommends taking a data-driven approach to your strategy, including looking for “any inactive members” of your email list.

“First, get rid of the inactive people on your list. Then, tailor your content to what your audience likes,” says Smith.

Doing that will help you focus on delivering quality content to the people who are the most engaged so you can nurture those relationships.

Kutlubay also focuses on list health during email audits. In terms of the impact, Kutlubay’s bounce rate was reduced by 10% after a “careful list cleanup.”

A/B test often.

“There’s a perception that once you set up your email list and create a template for your emails, you can ‘set it and forget it,'” says Head of Editorial Gabriel Gan.

“But now, with the power of A/B testing, with just a few rounds of testing your headlines, visuals, copy, offer, call to action, etc., you can find out what your audience loves, do more of it, and improve your conversion rates twofold or threefold,” Gan says.

Gan recommends testing often, noting down your findings, and improving on each email iteration until you find out what works and what doesn’t.

Find outside-of-the-box solutions.

“The conventional method is to send your email at the busiest times of the day (when people are most likely to check their emails),” says Gan. “But if that’s what everybody else is doing, your email will likely get lost in the shuffle, so you have to think in terms of your customer’s mindsets as well.”

Gan explains that for retail products, “evening time just before dinner or just before bedtime is likely the right time.” But for productivity hacks or daily news, “updates are likely better early in the day before work.”

You can apply this non-conventional thinking in your audit recommendations.

Email Marketing Audit: Do More of What Works

Running an email marketing audit can provide invaluable insights into your campaigns and email accounts in general.

You’ll have everything necessary to create a clear action plan aligning your email marketing activity with broader business goals.

Whether analyzing a specific area like list health or running a full audit, following a tested framework cuts out the guesswork. Start doing more of what‘s working and less of what isn’t with our expert-led email marketing audit process.

Adoption of any new technology can take time, and this is especially true when the technology is complex. The rapid explosion of artificial intelligence tools has already changed how most marketing teams operate — but there are still some factors that are holding marketers back from fully embracing AI.

In our 2023 State of AI Report, we dove deep to understand how marketers are already using AI, and what barriers are causing hesitation for marketers who have been reticent to adopt this advanced technology.

We’ll review statistics and predictions for the future of AI in the marketing sector.

AI Use Today: By the Numbers

Across all industries, the AI revolution is set to continue expanding and growing, with experts predicting that nearly 100% of all organizations will use AI to some degree by the year 2025 — less than two years away.

Meanwhile, the market impact of AI software is, according to some predictions, on track to reach between $13 and $150 trillion by the same year.

That’s a staggering figure that reveals just how pervasive AI technology will soon become. With far-reaching impacts across every industry, one of the key sectors affected by AI is the field of marketing.

According to our recent survey data, 68% of leaders in the marketing field predict that their business will experience astounding levels of growth once AI and automation tools are completely integrated into their operations.

Over half of marketing leaders (62% of those surveyed), confirm that their company has already invested in AI.

The majority of these cases involve AI tools for marketing employees to use, with 72% of these company leaders reporting that AI makes their employees more efficient and productive, and 71% of these marketing leaders reporting positive returns on their investment in AI tools and technology.

How Marketers are Already Using AI

Since the majority of marketing agencies already rely on AI and automation to varying degrees, let’s investigate the top ways marketers today use artificial intelligence tools and technology.

Content Creation

Of the marketing companies surveyed, 48% report using AI for content creation. This makes content creation one of the most popular AI use cases right now.

Over half of marketers use AI to generate new written content, making small edits by hand before publishing it.

This can include blog articles and website content, but also social media copy, landing page CTAs, or even product descriptions.

Marketers who use AI tools to craft new content can save an average of three hours per piece of content—three hours that can instead be applied to researching, outreach, strategy planning, and creative brainstorming.

AI content creation tools like HubSpot’s content assistant, ChatSpot, or OpenAI’s ChatGPT can respond to prompts, almost instantaneously generating new images and/or written content to answer the marketer’s specific needs, honing results to create the right tone and messaging.

Data Analysis and Reporting

From assessing competitors in the same industry to identifying and analyzing niche target audiences, AI tools provide invaluable data analysis support for marketers, 45% of whom use AI tools for data analysis and reporting.

Since AI has the capacity to process monumental amounts of data extremely quickly, it can identify patterns of customer behavior and analyze trends across the marketplace.

Conducting Research

Research can take time, and results are not always easy to acquire. This might be why 45% of marketing professionals utilize AI for research purposes.

AI can sort through the irrelevant results to provide answers to very specific inquiries, thus saving immense amounts of time.

AI tools can also sort responses into categories, emphasizing results that provide the most insight on different facets of a complex issue. This ability can amplify the research process, providing much more in-depth coverage for employees. But AI-powered research extends beyond simply market research.

In addition to utilizing market research capabilities from AI, 32% of marketing employees use AI to learn and develop skills. In fact, AI may be revolutionizing the field of education, prompting students of all ages to engage in a more personalized and responsive form of skills acquisition.

AI can provide customized feedback and help employees track their learning journeys with progress charts and analyses, providing concrete interactive examples to help employees learn skills better and faster.

Why Some Marketers Haven’t Invested in AI Yet

A recent Gartner study showed that 63% of leaders in marketing had either already invested in AI or were planning to do so within the next 24 months. So that leaves just 37% of marketers who have not yet invested in AI.

With so many powerful capabilities for improving communications and increasing efficiency, why have these marketers chosen not to adopt AI tools yet?

According to the same study, the main causes for hesitancy have to do with uncertainty about the accuracy of the results that AI tools provide, potential intrinsic biases exhibited by AI software, and relying too heavily on AI technology.

Even our own survey supports this position, with a whopping 76% of respondents saying that we should use AI/automation in marketing, but not to a point where we’re dependent on it.

Although skepticism is always warranted during the early stages of a new product or service, it’s worth taking a closer look at each of these three reasons why marketers haven’t adopted AI.

1. They fear faulty results and inaccurate information.

The main cause for concern that marketers identify when it comes to AI is that they fear AI tools may come up with inaccurate information.

his concern about accuracy is reasonably well-founded- our data shows that nearly 50% of marketers who already use generative AI tools report having received results from AI tools that have contained information the marketers knew to be inaccurate.

Our further research has shown that only 27% of marketers who are already using AI feel extremely confident that they would be able to identify faulty results produced by AI tools.

Since AI technologies are still evolving, there is a reasonable chance that some of the results AI tools produce will be variable, and developers are working to tighten these outcomes.

2. They worry about the inherent bias of AI tools.

Some of the most attention-grabbing news headlines surrounding early results from the public release of AI tools highlighted the troubling biases these AI tools displayed.

Machine learning or AI bias comes about as a result of the biases that its developers may have, whether they are conscious of them or not.

Since AI developers and engineers are programming the algorithms that power AI tools, they are essentially teaching AI machines what to look for and how to identify different types of data.

When that developer has a bias they are not aware of, the AI may become infused with that slant, assumption, or even prejudice.

A study by the United States Department of Commerce, for example, revealed that facial recognition tools in AI frequently misidentify people of color, which can lead to wrongful arrests and further consequences. And new AI tools, like automated headshot generators, are still riddled with bias.

3. Marketers are concerned about becoming AI-dependent.

Some marketing professionals cite concerns over becoming too reliant on AI and automation tools.

The fear is that the more we come to rely on AI skills for content creation, strategy planning, research, and more, the less capable we will become at completing those tasks ourselves.

Luckily, AI does not fully substitute for the creativity and capability of a human employee. Instead, AI offers tools and abilities to help make routine tasks and content creation more efficient and productive.

Like the ultimate administrative and research assistant, it frees up time for marketers to focus on honing their irreplaceable skills.

Getting Started with AI

If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon, or are still unsure how your content can benefit from these innovations, try these approaches to using generative AI:

• Turn to AI for keyword suggestions and demographics analysis, honing the profiles of your target audiences for marketing campaigns.
• Use AI to create or repurpose content, with tools such as HubSpot’s Campaign Assistant and Paragraph Rewriter.
• Allow AI to help identify competitors in the field and provide actionable insights on how to surpass them.
• Let AI find content gaps and faults in your existing content.

These are some simple (and helpful) ways to incorporate AI into your workflow if you’re interested but hesitant to take the plunge.

Every year has built-in opportunities to boost sales, increase brand recognition, and bolster customer relationships. Seasonal marketing is the key to aligning your outreach with special times of the year, like holidays and events, to capitalize on increased consumer enthusiasm.

A well-executed seasonal marketing campaign will increase sales and strengthen the emotional connection between your brand and your audience, which is a recipe for dedicated, lifelong customers.

Pulling off a standout seasonal marketing campaign requires hard work, creativity, and a little know-how — but don’t fret, I’m here to help. Read on to learn all about seasonal marketing, check out our step-by-step campaign guide, and get inspired with top-tier seasonal marketing examples.

Table of Contents

• What is seasonal marketing?
• How to Plan a Seasonal Marketing Campaign (in 5 Steps)
• Seasonal Marketing Examples

The holidays are associated with strong emotions such as joy, love, and hope. Businesses can create a more meaningful and memorable connection with their customers by marketing products and services that appeal to these emotions.

Seasonal marketing isn’t just about holidays, though. Special events like the Super Bowl and seasonal opportunities like Back-to-School shopping and Black Friday are further examples of chances to flex the seasonal marketing muscle.

Seasonal marketing aims to drive sales and foster an emotional connection with your target audience. Read on for a step-by-step guide to jumpstart your next seasonal campaign.

Here’s are five key steps for planning your own seasonal marketing campaign.

1. Choose a seasonal opportunity.

Choosing the seasonal opportunity to capitalize on is the first step to a successful campaign.

Major seasonal events like Black Friday are always a safe bet to campaign around. However, you should research your target audience to find seasonal opportunities that resonate with your customers and their values.

Audit existing seasonal campaigns.

Once you have decided on a seasonal event to utilize for a campaign, it’s time to do some homework on similar, successful campaigns — Ahrefs and BuzzSumo are great places to begin your research.

Consider how each piece approached content format, distribution, messaging, and emotion when evaluating previous campaigns.

When validating a campaign, ask yourself the following questions:

• How has this piece used multiple content types and distribution platforms?
• Is the messaging clear, and if so, what is it?
• What emotion does this campaign evoke in the user?

Gather insights via external outreach.

Consider gathering outside opinions from journalists and digital publications in your space.

Seek out platforms that have covered campaigns you admire and ask for feedback on what makes a seasonal campaign compelling from their point of view.

2. Plan for marketing-friendly holidays.

Lucky for us marketers, every year comes packed with advantageous marketing opportunities in the form of holidays.

But what is it about holidays that makes them so great for marketing campaigns?

It’s the built-in positive sentiment.

Holidays are generally positive times that beget warm feelings like joy, nostalgia, and gratitude.

Marketing is all about evoking positive emotions in your audience and aligning your campaigns with marketing-friendly holidays allows you to ride the wave of seasonal good vibes and make customers feel good about buying your product.

According to a 2022 HubSpot survey of 247 marketers, Black Friday and Winter/End-of-Year Holidays were the most popular seasonal marketing events for future campaign planning.

51.4% and 52.6% of respondents indicated plans to build marketing strategies around those holidays.

While Black Friday and Winter holidays evoke different feelings, the marketing strategy of riding those times’ excitement and positive sentiment remains the same.

Of course, there are many other holidays to consider, and choosing the right one depends on your brand values and goals.

3. Establish a schedule.

With seasonal campaigns, timing is of the essence.

Your planning should begin well before your selected seasonal event, and you must create a schedule to execute each campaign step.

Generally, your content should be prepared, built, planned, and ready for press releases at least two months before the big event.

Consider using a marketing calendar to streamline your processes and get your team on the same page.

When creating a schedule for your campaign, don’t forget about your audience. When is the best time to contact them? When will they be most willing to share the content or engage with the campaign?

5. Organize your assets.

Your seasonal marketing campaign should touch all major platforms, including social media, email, blogs, and out-of-home advertisements (if that’s your thing).

A wide-reaching campaign requires meticulously organized assets. You should brief your creative team on the assets needed for each channel and the necessary resolutions and dimensions.

Pro Tip: A practical, up-to-date campaign plan document is essential during this process. It will enable you to better organize the timing and frequency of content releases and keep your messaging consistent by serving as a home for all your campaign assets and communications.

Check out these content marketing planning templates to get started.

5. Report and remain agile.

Remaining agile means prioritizing speed, collaboration, flexibility, and testing.

Reporting and reviewing your campaign’s performance as you go is necessary for maintaining the ability to adjust the campaign as it unfolds.

Where is the majority of traffic coming from? Which pages have the best bounce rate? Which ones are converting the best? These are some examples of metrics that can inform your strategy moving forward.

Don’t be afraid to make alterations to the original plans. If the changes you will make will ultimately improve the campaign’s success, why wouldn’t you make them?

Check out the video below for helpful information on running seasonal marketing campaigns. The video discusses promoting digital products like online courses, but the advice is broadly applicable.

Seasonal Marketing Examples

Back-to-School Shopping

Company: Walmart

Image Source

As much as we wish it weren’t the case, summer comes to an end every year. With summer’s end comes back-to-school shopping season, which can bring about excitement or dread, depending on who you are.

Still, the back-to-school season presents a tangible seasonal marketing opportunity, and Walmart seized it.

What makes it great: Walmart cleverly combines the urgency of back-to-school shopping with an exciting deal. Walmart offered customers last year’s prices on this year’s school supplies, which is an exciting way to frame their low prices, especially for inflation-conscious consumers.

Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to get a jump start on things. Walmart announced their 2023 back-to-school campaign on July 6th (too soon if you’re a student, but just right if you’re a marketer), and planning occurred many months beforehand.

Back-to-school spending is expected to reach record highs of $41.5 billion, up from $36.9 billion last year and the previous high of $37.1 billion in 2021. So, don’t miss out on the opportunity to ride that wave if your products fit the bill.

Winter Holidays

Company: Starbucks

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Starbucks’ holiday cups are almost as ubiquitous as the winter holidays themselves.

Every year, as the colder months approach, Starbucks releases a festive holiday cup to kick off the season. Starbucks has been taking advantage of this seasonal marketing opportunity since 1995, and brand loyalty increases as the tradition cements yearly.

What makes it great: Starbucks gives customers something fun to look forward to every holiday season with fresh, festive design. They have piggybacked off the warm and inviting feelings of the holiday season so consistently and effectively that their seasonal marketing campaign has become a mainstay of the holidays.

Pro Tip: Consistency is key. If you can devise a seasonal marketing campaign that you can execute every year (while still keeping things fresh), your customers will look forward to it and open their wallets accordingly.

Summer Fun

Company: Target

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Target appeals to summer fun in their #TargetDrop seasonal marketing campaign.

Tik-Tok creator Hungry-Fam surprises his family with a pool party featuring Target’s summertime products like ice pops, swimsuits, and pool toys, all peddled from a rolling ice cream-themed mystery box.

Target’s campaign evokes the seasonal excitement of summer from a wholesome, family-friendly angle.

What We Like: Target takes advantage of a growing influencer marketing industry (up to $21.1B from $16.4B in 2022) and carves out a broad seasonal niche that doesn’t rely on a specific holiday.

Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to think big picture when crafting a seasonal campaign. It doesn’t always need to be a specific holiday you highlight in advertising. A broader seasonal campaign can resonate with a more significant number of people.

Spring Cleaning

Company: OXO

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As winter fades into spring, a feeling of freshness washes over us, and the urge to tidy our spaces resurfaces.

OXO supports that sentiment with helpful content to motivate peoples’ Spring Cleaning journeys. OXO’s contribution to this list shows how to approach seasonality from a content marketing perspective meant to delight and inform.

What We Like: OXO’s Spring Cleaning content perfectly matches seasonal opportunity and brand values.

Pro Tip: Formatting your written content as a list (when appropriate) makes it easier for readers to skim, increasing page views.

Halloween

 

Company: Reese’s

Image Source

Reese’s set out to cement their position as a top-tier Halloween candy with their Candy Converter vending machine.

Reese’s seasonal marketing pop-up installation was a vending machine that let people exchange unwanted Halloween candy (like store-brand lollipops and Almond Joys) for their coveted peanut butter cups.

What Makes It Great: Reese’s Candy Converter was a creative, attention-grabbing stunt that bolstered positive brand sentiment with seasonal excitement. Running a seasonal marketing campaign around Halloween was a no-brainer for a candy brand, and the exciting pop-up stunt garnered significant press.

Pro Tip: Physical pop-up installations can be a great way to get eyes on your brand and garner press. However, pulling off can be difficult and costly and requires a high degree of creativity.

‘Tis the Season for Marketing

Use the power of seasonal marketing to your advantage. With the right recipe of relevancy, creativity, and timing, you can capitalize on big events — and ultimately, boost sales.

Intent data is a collection of behavioral data points that help identify prospects at the account- or buyer-level with a high propensity to convert based on their level of interest in a product or service.

Buyer-level intent data, specifically, is sourced from dozens of intent signals that are gathered from multiple touch points throughout the customer journey, from the content prospects consume to the conferences they attend.

This data enables sales teams to focus marketing spend on prospects who are actively ready to buy.

To properly leverage intent data and efficiently drive more business, here’s what you need to know.

How to leverage intent data in 8 steps

Gone are the days when banner ads on a popular review website could funnel hundreds of leads to your business. On the contrary, today’s buyers are so inundated with paid advertisements and email blasts that they’ve turned a blind eye. 

Today, it takes a real-time, insider view into what prospects are truly interested in to properly drive leads. Fortunately, intent data has become a mainstay among business analytics to do just that. 

Follow these eight steps to gather, analyze, and apply buyer intent data that accelerates your sales cycle.  

1. Identify data sources

As with most business analytics that power a marketing campaign or sales pipeline, intent data can stem from multiple sources, including first-party, second-party, and third-party intent data. 

• First-party intent data refers to information directly gathered from potential buyers, such as the data users input into subscription sign-up forms and questionnaires. First-party data like behavior and interest data can also be derived from a customer relationship management (CRM) system.
• Second-party intent data refers to first-party data that’s been sold by the entity that collected it. Second-party data typically consists of various first-party actions taken through the original entity, such as inputted user email addresses and phone numbers gleaned through business partnerships.
• Third-party intent data refers to data points that have been collected from various outside sources and stitched together by a separate entity, such as a data broker or marketplace. Third-party data is reflective of previous activity, search queries, and content consumption across multiple sources.

Potential data sources for buyer intent signals may include but are not limited to:

• Filling out a sign-up form 
• Webinars, workshops, and masterclasses 
• Educational blog posts and buying guides
• Vendor product, features, and pricing pages
• Popular review websites, such as G2 or Capterra 
• Engagement with paid advertisements
• Attending industry- or product-specific conferences or events

2. Collect data

As you can see, intent data is gathered from numerous sources, some of which an organization may own and others of which an organization can pay to access. The majority of intent data is defined through cookies, IP addresses, and other means of identifying web users with unique credentials.

On their own, the various data sets that form buyer intent data can make little sense—after all, what does it matter if one employee in a company of hundreds performed a bit of casual research? 

However, when you collect these data points across an entire company, the purpose of buyer-level intent data quickly becomes more clear. When multiple employees in one company are all conducting similar queries, there’s a greater chance the organization is actively willing to make a purchase.

So, it’s vital to not only identify the various sources of intent data but also implement the necessary processes to collect and analyze it. Methods to gather user behavioral and interest data include: 

• Website analytics tools like Hotjar, Crazy Egg, Google Analytics, and Matomo
• Social listening tools like Mention, BuzzSumo, Sprout Social, and Hootsuite 
• Customer relationship management (CRM) systems like HubSpot, Salesforce, ActiveCampaign, and monday.com
• Buyer-level intent platforms, like NetLine’s INTENTIVE

3. Analyze and segment data

Of course, insights alone cannot power an effective sales pipeline or marketing campaign. Once you’ve gathered an assortment of buyer-level intent data, it’s time to analyze and segment those metrics into something more actionable. 

It’s wise to begin with your ideal customer profile (ICP). As the name might suggest, an ICP goes beyond basic demographics to thoroughly define the attributes of accounts that are anticipated to become valuable customers. For instance, most B2B ICPs include firmographic attributes, like the size, geographic area, and industry of an organization.

This data is used to segment prospects into meaningful categories. More importantly, it also enables sales and marketing teams to identify prospects who are most likely to convert in-market rather than through marketing campaigns and cold outreach, which simplifies the current sales pipeline.

Techniques to transform intent data into actionable insights range often include: 

• Defining your ICP’s particular goals, challenges, and pain points 
• Identifying roadblocks in the customer journey based on bounce rates during user sessions 
• Learning the types of content that drive conversions

From here, you can further segment your prospects based on their stage in the sales funnel. Leads in the early stages of their customer journey will land at the top of the funnel, whereas those who are both problem and solution-aware can be fast-tracked to the bottom of the funnel. 

4. Personalize your marketing efforts based on data intent

Having numerous prospects in your sales funnel doesn’t mean that they’re all at the same stage of their customer journey. This is why both the sales funnel and the customer journey are broken into multiple stages—they require targeted messaging at each point. 

Fortunately, intent data allows for personalized marketing efforts that are adapted to each stage.

For instance, when leads reach the bottom of the funnel, intent data can highlight more specific needs that encourage them to convert. This data can be used for personalized sales outreach, such as product demos that have been tailored to a prospect’s specific pain point or challenge. 

5. Split-test your messaging

Now that you’ve personalized your marketing efforts, you can fine-tune your sales approach by split-testing your messaging. Split-testing, also referred to as A/B testing, is the process of comparing two versions of a marketing message to determine which performs better. 

Split-testing is an integral component of any sales and marketing campaign, but it’s especially beneficial for teams leveraging intent data to enhance conversions. It stacks the original message (known as the control) against a variant with one difference to gauge the change in performance. 

One way to employ split-testing with your intent data is to test different headlines on landing pages, like “Best Accounting Software for Small Businesses” versus “Accounting Software to Scale Small Businesses,” based on the consumption behaviors from prospects who’ve registered for Webinars comparing software solutions.

6. Retargeting

Buyer intent data and behavioral retargeting go hand-in-hand. Behavioral retargeting utilizes the previous online activity of a prospect who has interacted with your marketing efforts, but has not yet converted, to inform hyper-specific marketing messages that ultimately encourage a conversion.

You can retarget based on first-party data that you already have (like their email address and name) as well as third-party data (like retargeting pixels). 

With robust intent data, specifically buyer-level intent data, sales and marketing teams can construct personalized marketing messages for users who have expressed interest in a particular product or service. Data points like user budget, previously considered contenders, and investment timeline can enable smarter product positioning.   

7. Measure your results from data intent campaigns

Intent data reveals the topics your prospects are searching for, the touchpoints they access to learn more about your brand, and how inclined they are to purchase from you. With so much data to analyze and assess, it’s vital to measure the results of your data intent campaigns. 

To understand how intent data moves the needle for your sales and marketing efforts, establish benchmarks for your current performance. By establishing benchmarks now, you can easily identify how— and when— your data intent campaigns improve performance and drive more business. 

First, implement benchmarks for the leads captured and nurtured without intent data. Then, begin documenting the results of your data intent campaign. You should be able to compare the performance of your sales cycle throughout the campaign duration through metrics like: 

• Prospects to marketing qualified leads (MQLs)— How many prospects turn into MQLs? 
• MQLs to sales qualified leads (SQLs)— How quickly do nurtured leads convert into SQLs?

8. Iterate

In the simplest sense, iteration means repeating the data intent campaign process to generate a sequence of outcomes. 

So, while your initial benchmarks are crucial to gauge general performance, they’re not the end-all, be-all of campaign metrics. On the contrary, you’ll want to compare the first iteration of prospects to MQLs or MQLs to SALs with the second iteration to properly determine your progress over time.

Why you need to prioritize leveraging intent data

Intent data is an actionable indicator of interest. Intent not only describes how willing a prospect may be to convert but also the specific touchpoints they have along their customer journey that can help to guarantee a conversion. 

Leveraging intent data enables you to reach the right customer at the right time with the right message. Here are five specific benefits:

Identify problem-specific solutions

Numerous aspects of buyer intent data, such as common search queries and other behavioral patterns, indicate a specific problem that requires a solution. 

This data helps sales and marketing teams craft need-specific messages that cater to prospects’ and customers’ needs. Plus, this intent data can be applied to retention efforts to better cater to specific consumer pain points. 

Accelerate qualified prospects in your sales pipeline 

In the simplest sense, intent data helps sales and marketing teams to identify the lowest-hanging fruit in terms of qualified leads. 

Leads who demonstrate clear interest in a brand, product, or service, based on online activity can be segmented for bottom-of-funnel targeting, like through dedicated product demos. Intent data helps to build a pipeline of qualified leads faster with the assurance they’re a good fit.

Streamline the sales process 

A major benefit of accelerating your pipeline of qualified leads is streamlining your overall sales process. 

While top-of-funnel campaigns are integral to brand awareness and introducing your products and services to a new audience, leaner and more targeted middle and bottom-of-funnel campaigns dedicate your team’s attention to good-fit prospects that save both time and resources.

Create more relevant content

Buyer intent data like the frequency of site visits and types of content consumed reveal what’s most important to your audience. By prioritizing this information, you can create more relevant content that positions your brand ahead of competitors. 

Take comparison pages, for example. Intent data can identify the competitors that prospects also consider, so you can utilize competitive take-out messaging to highlight your brand’s key differentiators—such as more robust features, accessible price points, and user experience. 

Improve the timing of marketing messages

Beyond content relevance, intent data can also help marketing and sales teams improve the timing of marketing messages. 

As mentioned, just because prospects are in your sales funnel, doesn’t mean that they’re all at the same stage of their customer journey. Intent data provides insights into where prospects are in the customer journey to offer a free trial, demo, or other incentive at the right time. 

Remember: As a general rule of thumb, NetLine research has shown that unless a user has explicitly requested to hear from you, it’s best to give your prospects 48 hours before reaching out so they can actually consume the content they’ve requested. Nothing worse than spoiling a strong intent signal because you were overeager. 

10 tips to leverage intent data the right way

As you sift through the numerous behavioral data points, consider these tips to leverage intent data correctly. 

1. Set clear objectives

Because the types of data you can collect through intent data campaigns are so robust, it’s crucial to set clear objectives for your marketing and sales initiatives. It’s often helpful to return to the classic SMART goals here—goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. 

For instance, you might want to improve the number of SQLs generated from MQLs by 10% in 4 months.

2. Identify relevant intent signals

Intent signals are the indicators that identify the prospects who are actively researching your brand—they do not pertain to the people who simply land on your website. 

Remember that intent signals should refer to users who demonstrate interest in your product or service. Traffic to generic blog posts, such as, “Top Accounting Tips,” should not be considered a relevant sign of purchase intent. 

3. Segment your audience and create tailored messages

You’ll find numerous types of prospects in the sales funnel. Some have just begun researching a newfound problem and stumbled on a helpful piece of content you published. Others have been knee-deep in the consideration phase for weeks, researching potential solutions. Segment your audience based on their current stage in the sales funnel to create hyper-tailored messages. 

4. Create content personalization strategies

Aside from a prospect’s stage in the sales funnel, intent data can reveal several other data points that can be used to create content personalization strategies.

• Have a few prospects who are actively comparing your brand to another? Create competitor comparison pages. 
• Have another group that’s unsure of the size of the solution they need? Create an informative webinar as a lead magnet.

5. Leverage automation

Being that intent data is spread across first, second, and third-party sources, it’s smart to leverage automation to streamline the process. 

Take retargeting, for instance. The ability to sync your retargeting campaigns with your CRM tool via automation helps automatically populate buyer profiles with the latest online behavior in real time. 

6. Comply with GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation, most commonly referred to as the GDPR, is a European Union (EU) law that governs how organizations can use, process, and store personal data, including personally identifiable information (PII) like email addresses. To comply with GDPR, you must:

• Have a readily accessible privacy policy on your website
• Verify the ages of all users who opt-in to data processing
• Be transparent about how data is collected and processed
• Evaluate the sensitivity of data through a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA
• Create a comprehensive record of how you will maintain compliance

A handy set of compliance checklists can be found in 4 Checklists Your Brand Needs to Understand Data Compliance.

7. Comply with HIPAA

HIPAA, short for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is another regulatory compliance standard that involves consumer PII as well as patient health information (PHI). 

In the US, HIPAA implemented a set of standards to protect sensitive PII and PHI, including: 

• Create privacy and security policies for your organization
• Designate a Privacy Compliance Officer to oversee policy creation 
• Implement an information access management system
• Obtain “satisfactory assurances” from business associates who handle consumer data
• Conduct risk assessments and adopt audit logs 

8. Respect people’s privacy

While it might sound like an advantage to track prospects across the internet, most people aren’t too fond of the idea of a business monitoring their online behavior—especially for marketing purposes. As you experiment with intent data, remember to remain mindful of consumer privacy. 

NetLine’s INTENTIVE, for example, never discloses PII and never will. INTENTIVE’s delivers buyer-level intent insights from B2B buyers without sharing any of their personal details.

9. Track your results

Remember the benchmarks you established above? Those metrics will be useless without another batch of data to compare them to—and you’ll never be able to gauge headway on your objectives without results. So, it’s critical to track the results of your intent data campaigns over time. 

10. Iterate based on what you discover

Like any marketing or sales initiative, your intent data campaigns will require improvements over time. The more you gather important metrics and other key performance indicators (KPIs), the more you can identify methods to refine and enhance your intent data campaigns to drive business.

How NetLine can help you to understand and leverage intent data

NetLine INTENTIVE is the first and only B2B buyer-level intent platform designed to provide real-time first-party data insights that you can use to accelerate sales conversations. 

Get real-time data, insights, and notifications about your buyers that you can use to fuel your sales and marketing campaigns. Schedule a demo today.

PPC landing pages are the newest incarnation of an age-old sales problem: How do you keep warm bodies in their seats long enough to hear your message?

In the digital age, the key is to craft effective PPC landing pages that entice customers to stay, read, and follow the path you’ve carved — a customer journey from curiosity to conversion.

Stick with us as I explain and explore PPC landing pages and the elements that make them work. I’ll then share some great PPC landing pages, examples, and tools you can use to plan, execute, and analyze your PPC campaigns.

Table of Contents

• What is a PPC landing page?
• 5 Elements of a Great PPC Landing Page
• PPC Landing Page Examples
• Tools to Analyze PPC Pages

5 Elements of a Great PPC Landing Page

While there’s so much more to know about landing pages in general, there are five must-have elements in any great PPC landing page, specifically.

Each of these critical elements has an important job to do, and they build on each other to convince the customer to act.

1. Include strong and relevant visuals to grab their attention.

Eyes lead, so you’ll need strong visuals that are directly relevant to:

• Whatever you are selling.
• The wording of the ad you created that led your customer to the landing page.
• Ideally, the wording of your call to action (CTA) as well.

When your audience arrives at your PPC landing page, they should see thematic echoes of the ad they clicked. Strong and relevant images give them confidence that they are in the right place and weren’t swindled into clicking some wayward, spammy link.

Place your hero image near the top of your landing page so it draws attention immediately. If you can, tie the images you choose to your CTA messaging as well.

It’s an added layer of complexity, but when done well it creates a sense of cohesiveness. That way, it feels like every single detail leads to the CTA and contributes to the momentum you are building.

2. Use both a headline and a subheader.

Visitors are soaking in your visuals as they engage your first line of content, so your headline is important and should accomplish the following:

• The headline and hero image must be relevant to one another.
• The words and/or numbers you use in the headline should echo the wording and/or numbers from your advertisement, tying the ad to the landing page in order to start building trust.
• Your headline should include your top keyword, if possible, and work together with the subheadline and visual imagery to establish the style of content to come.

The subheader has three important jobs:

• Transitions content from ad language to CTA language.
• Contains important keywords that may not fit into your headline.
• Establishes the journey of the eyes, leading them downward to the next piece of content.

3. Sell it strategically and with your whole heart.

Your visitor has now transitioned and is ready for more information. Your details should be clear, specific, and really celebrate your product or service.

Organize the valuable aspects of your product into easily digestible chunks that lead from one to the next down the page.

Remember that no matter what you are promoting, it’s about meeting the customers’ needs or giving them a desired experience.

Let them step into the shoes you’re selling, so to speak, by couching the advantages you are offering into contexts your target personas will understand and naturally experience in their lives.

As you wrap up an informational section, write from the perspective of a thoroughly convinced and excited expert. This will lead into the next critical accelerant for your momentum: harnessing the customer perspective.

4. Provide social proof for outside confirmation.

This is the part of your stage show where you’ve done the main ‘song and dance’ and you now tell your audience, “Don’t just take my word for it! Let’s hear from these satisfied customers.”

Inviting feedback from your customers is part of a larger strategy that helps you improve your products, reputation, and marketing strategies.

This is one of the reasons why we collect written reviews, perform surveys, take ratings, etc. You get to use that information to provide social proof of your product’s value and your brand’s trustworthiness.

Testimonials from previous clients are the gold standard, and while written ones are the easiest to get, it’s worth the time and effort to get video testimonials, too.

If you have a lot of good ones to choose from, only put a few of your very best. More than a handful becomes overwhelming, and you can always provide a link to more testimonials to follow if visitors want to see more of them.

5. Create one CTA and repeat it like a mantra.

You want your CTA to be the heartbeat of your page. Your customer only needs to make one decision, and you need to draw their attention to that.

Reduce friction wherever you can so your visitors can ride the wave of your momentum and have good reason to slam that CTA button.

You want to keep your visitor laser focused on that one thing they need to do next. It’s that one ask you are making of them, even if you word it a little differently to entice more than one target persona.

Many landing pages even include a small CTA near the top for those who are already convinced and don’t want to spend a bunch of time on the landing page.

Why? Because customers differ, and that’s okay.

PPC Landing Page Examples

I tracked down some solid examples that make use of all five elements and pointed out where they’ve done an exceptional job.

Corpo Kinetic

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This landing page is a great example of choosing one CTA and letting it be the heartbeat of the page.

What I like about this: Corpo Kinetic uses the same black button over and over, and it stands out on the light background. It’s worded a little differently each time to entice more than one persona, but that button is the beat of the page.

We also see the words Schedule, Start, Join, Learn — and all roads lead to the Booking page, because that is the one action they want to call their customers to.

MTE

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The headline and subheadings taken to the next level.

MTE’s PPC landing page guides the eyes down to the CTA button like reading a book from the top left to the bottom right.

What I like about this: This approach takes advantage of how our eyes were originally trained in childhood when reading. Clever. What else is clever? It creates, in essence, two instances of headline and subheader to get more of their keywords in without looking cluttered.

BestReviews.com

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It is hard to articulate how little time and money most parents have, and how refreshing it is to have a landing page take you to the exact information you searched for with no preamble to scroll through.

This landing page is not fancy, but really nailed the visual elements that resonate with their target audience.

What I like about this: The strong visual is front and center, clearly showing what they’ve determined to be the best thermos overall and then the best budget thermos. Then they put a CTA button under each one to check the price and buy it. Boom — done — every busy parent’s dream internet shopping experience.

LeadPages

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Leadpages does a great overall job with this PPC landing page. The initial ad focuses on conversion, ease, and trying it for free. The landing page subheader hits all three ideas as well to let the visitor know they’re in the right place.

What I like about this: The headline uses an important keyword for them: lead generation. The Try it Free CTA starts in the initial advertisement and continues down the page like a heartbeat to each button.

They include social proof and have eye-grabbing styled images throughout. A landing page creator that practices what it sells — nice work.

Canine Sport Sack

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These people know that good-looking dogs can sell just about anything. Canine Sport Sack’s website has clear and colorful visual assets that catch your eye and guide you to an incredibly informative video of how to size the carrier.

What I like about this: It’s clear they start you here because down below they have their products broken down by size. Their sporty orange buttons change color with roll-over, and I’m still thinking about the adorable footer. Sold.

Generation Genius

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This landing page is a great example in many ways, but in particular of everything outlined in Element 3 (sell strategically and with your whole heart).

They provide photos and videos that let you step into the experiences they are selling before ordering. Valuable aspects of the product are organized in easily digestible chunks that lead from one to the next down the page.

What I like about this: They are really celebrating their product and selling it with their whole heart. Dr. Jeff gives his input as a thoroughly convinced and excited expert, then it rolls right into social proof. Absolutely nailed it.

Havenly

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This PPC landing page does a good job of echoing the ad with the the ideas of Get Matched and Get Started, which end up being the heartbeat of buttons down the page. Even the button that doesn’t match — Find Your Style — echoes the advertisement’s Based on Your Style to let you know you’re in the right place.

What I like about this: They matched the images in the top slider not just to the service but also chose images that coordinate in both color and cleanliness to the style and content of the page to come.

They also opted to put linked keywords at the bottom of the ad that could scoop up interior design adjacent traffic because they offer related content like Living Room Inspiration.

Rocket Expansion

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It’s pretty great how Rocket Expansion chose their CTA to sound more literary than normal. What a fun way to entice the persona of authors who want a website. The CTA buttons stand out nicely and repeat Enquire Now all the way down the page.

What I like about this: They start with relevant hero imagery in a background video, demonstrating a service they actually offer. Social proof is there, and examples of their work for both web and mobile look strong and enticing.

Klaviyo

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Klaviyo put together an on-trend, minimalist landing page that hits the marks. Clearly a good landing page, yet not the norm — that’s kind of their thing.

One of Klaviyo’s big strategies is actively using social media, which is not that typical of B2B. The phone-shaped images they’ve chosen reflect that and act as an indicator of their style and content to come.

What I like about this: They’ve chosen two CTAs to repeat like a heartbeat together, which isn’t typical, but they both lead to sign ups.

It’s not that different from how Corpo Kinetics’ buttons function, it’s just a different configuration. It makes you wonder what their analytics look like, and if they’re learning anything from it.

Colored Organics

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This is a more simplistic PPC landing page than many others on the list, but that’s definitely part of its charm. There’s a surprisingly large selection of baby products tucked behind its Shop CTAs.

What I like about this: Instead of using bold colors and videos to catch your eye at the top, Colored Organics knows that their target audience is going to be enthralled by a smiling baby in a clean space with a cute jumper that visitors will assume is organic, safe, and healthy.

Banana Republic

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Banana Republic and White House Black Market below deserve kudos for their PPC landing pages. If you’ve ever clicked on retail clothing or department store ads, you can typically expect to be inundated with words and pictures, items, drop menus, and a million chances to leave where you just landed.

What I like about this: Banana Republic leads to the PPC landing page shown above after an original search for denim jacket. That’s a pretty classy place to land compared to companies you might expect to be competing for denim jacket traffic.

They do have drop menus but they are small and unobtrusive — the eye-catching images remain the stars that entice you to scroll down to see more. There you find clean and clear CTA buttons to sign up, sign in, and join.

White House Black Market

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Like Banana Republic, White House Black Market takes its PPC landing pages seriously and makes it clear what to expect from their style and content to come.

WHBM’s ad lands on an enticingly moody video that makes a hero of the idea of light and dark together.

What I like about this: We hear the heartbeat from the buttons down the page that read Shop New Arrivals, Shop Sweaters, and Shop Icons. They want you to get in there and take a look, but won’t be brash or gaudy about it. They’re elevating it and standing apart from the fray.

Home Chef

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Here’s a good example of hitting the marks while keeping it tight and concise. Home Chef focuses on meals in the ad, in the subheader, and the CTAs.

What I like about this: They’ve chosen punchy, yummy imagery of food that is relevant, flavorful, and health-conscious. Their info sections are small but present and lead you down the page like they should.

Volvo’s Electric Vehicle

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There is some hot PPC ad competition between Toyota, Tesla, Nissan, and Volvo right now on a search for electric vehicles. Toyota wins for selling with their whole heart and invoking a healthier planet.

However, Volvo is selling the heck out of their designs and features on their landing page. Did you see those wheels? They look like wind turbines — what a fun idea.

What I like about this: Volvo’s landing page does a solid job of focusing their style and content on futurism. You see cleanliness, technology, efficiency. Their information sections are cleanly batched down the page. CTA buttons read Build Yours to make it personal, and there’s something pretty special at the bottom.

They actually ask visitors what they think of the landing page. Perhaps they’re getting insights that help them edge out the competitors by simply asking.

Litter Robot by Whisker (Kind of)

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So close, Litter Robot! This one deserved to make the list. Their PPC ad led to a product page that makes sense if you know what the product is already, but isn’t in line with PPC landing page practices.

However, if it linked to something like their homepage instead — pictured above — it’d be knocking best practices out of the park. They could even keep the same PPC ad because it already mentions never scooping again.

What I like about this: It’s beautiful and ticks every box:

• Relevant and eye-catching images including an opening video
• Headline that echoes the PPC ad and an enticing subheader that leads toward the CTA
• They sell with their whole heart, are clearly excited about their product, and sections of information are neatly contained in boxes that lead down the page to…
• Social proof in the forms of videos, readable content, and big-name endorsements
• Obvious CTA buttons down the page — a heartbeat that repeats Shop Now

Tools to Analyze PPC Landing Pages

Once you’ve put in the work to create a PPC landing page, next you’ll want to do some analysis.

There are a number of tools available to learn how your landing page data stacks up against competitors, A/B test your design, see what’s working and what can be improved, etc.

Here are four I recommend:

1. HubSpot

Pricing: Free

Additional pricing options:

• Starts as low as $20/mo. for CMS Hub Starter
• Free 14 day trial then as low as $360/mo. for CMS Hub Professional
• Free 14 day trial then $1,200/mo. for CMS Hub Enterprise

Features

• Collaborates with Google Ads and Facebook Ads
• Video analytics to understand how visitors interact with video testimonials
• An optimization tab that gives suggestions on how to improve your search engine performance

What I like: All-in-one solutions. HubSpot offers a free CMS and a diverse suite of tools that have been designed to integrate seamlessly. Analytics are available for all products and plans.

2. Google Analytics 4 for Google Ads

Pricing: Free

Features

• Collects both website and app data for analysis
• Uses machine learning to identify and report changes and trends in your data
• Offers direct integrations with several media platforms

Pro Tip: If you have a CMS-hosted website (whether that’s HubSpot, WordPress, Drupal, Shopify, etc.) and are comfortably settled in with your build, you can simply sign up for a free Google Analytics 4 property and connect it via the CMS.

3. Semrush Advertising Research

Pricing

• Pro: $129.95/mo comes with free trial
• Guru: $249.95/mo comes with free trial
• Business: $499.95
• Custom Plans Available: Contact Semrush for details

Features

• Categorizes keywords based on search intent to improve your accuracy
• Shows examples of your competitors’ live ads locally and/or internationally
• Details the emotional triggers used in competitor’s ad copy
• Lists which keywords your competitors are bidding on

Best for: Charts and graphs aficionados. Semrush has a knack for presenting information graphically/visually, enabling users to better understand and act on their analyses.

4. Ahrefs

Pricing: Note: All plans below benefit from 2 months free if paid annually.

• Lite $99/mo.
• Standard $199/mo.
• Advanced $399/mo.
• Enterprise $900/mo.

Features

• New Keyword Clustering function in all plans
• Standard and higher plans include a new portfolio feature that creates an aggregate report to compare your pre-selected targets (domains, subfolders, or URLs)
• Displays broken links and broken backlinks for easier identification and update

Pro Tip: Ahrefs has a lot to offer, and is best used by people who are already familiar with analytics. Meaningfully navigating, interpreting, and making use of the advanced features takes some time, practice, and experience.

Get Started

I’ve covered the what, why, and how — let’s chat about now. Right now you have the foundational information you need to get started.

Create an enticing advertisement that links to a PPC landing page. Create the landing page content using the advice above. Choose and connect a PPC analysis tool to your landing page.

Then, you can iterate the advertisement and/or the PPC landing page and track the results. If your changes work, you’ll see better results. If not, reiterate to find what works best for your product or brand.

In today’s competitive job market, your income and career rely on knowing how to communicate your skills and experiences. To do so, you can choose one of two primary vehicles: a resume or a portfolio.

As a freelance writer and author, a portfolio is my greatest asset (and one I’ve been building since my first article was published at 19). Yet, when job searching over the years, a resume has been required by many positions.

Both a portfolio and resume display a person‘s professional skills and experiences, but what are the differences and unique opportunities that each presents?

Let’s look at the key differences between the two to help you pick the best tool for the job (search) at hand.

Portfolios vs. Resumes

Portfolios — What are they?

Resume — What are they?

Making the Right Choice

Portfolios vs. Resumes

A portfolio and resume help job seekers land work, but they have key differences in visibility, convention, and the review process.

Visibility

A resume is tailored for specific job applications. It’s most commonly updated and used when applying for jobs. Further, resumes should be tailored to each specific job application.

A portfolio, on the other hand, is a collection of a person’s professional skills and abilities available online 24/7. It may be viewed by a broader audience beyond just potential clients. Portfolios aren’t necessarily tailored to a specific job.

Convention

Resumes come with a very clear convention. These documents are one or two pages maximum, with experience listed in reverse chronological order. Resumes display your relevant qualifications while being as concise as possible.

A portfolio can be an interactive, creative, and extensive display of a person’s work. You can crumple up the concise document approach and share in-depth information.

That includes real-life samples, exercising any number of portfolio tactics, and creative ideas.

Review Process

A resume isn‘t only reviewed by potential employers; it’s first uploaded to a resume reader and scanned by artificial intelligence (AI).

As a result, following a strict format is often to your advantage, as it makes the document more scannable.

A portfolio is a collection of work samples that can only be reviewed by a real person. Creativity is your friend, as it’s another way to showcase your skills and abilities.

Portfolios — What are they?

A portfolio is a collection of work samples that demonstrate a person’s skills and experience. Portfolios used to be reserved for creative fields.

However, the modern job market has seen an influx of professional portfolios thanks to the gig economy.

Career culture has shifted away from single-job careers. While there may be a unicorn worker in your office who was hired at your company straight out of school, it’s a rarity.

Not only do workers change jobs regularly, but they also change careers more often.

Author and Harvard Business School faculty member Christina Wallace describes pouring yourself into one single job as “the riskiest move you can make” in her book The Portfolio Life. It’s estimated that 29% of workers have changed careers since graduating college.

This has fueled the need for professional portfolios. These repositories are a way of showing your work that focuses on displaying skills rather than summarizing experience. Careers that operate this way are on the rise.

Nicknamed a portfolio career, this is encouraged by the gig economy, where workers have traded a single full-time salary for contract-based roles. Economic uncertainty, such as pandemics and recessions, fuels this.

A portfolio includes details like the type of work that you do and your experience. This can also include any multimedia that displays your skills and experience, such as:

• Photos.
• Videos.
• Audio files.
• Video testimonials.
• Philosophy statement
• Written endorsements and reviews

Advantages of Portfolios

When does a portfolio outshine a resume? Let‘s look at the major perks of using this tool to display an individual’s qualifications.

You can persuasively display skills.

A resume is a brief description of your experience, while a portfolio is an entire collection of a person‘s skills. It doesn’t require you to take complex projects and boil them down to a brief paragraph.

There’s no need to condense an entire career enough to fit on one or two pages.

A portfolio shows all of your skills, experience, and past success in one simple package.

“In today’s rapidly evolving professional landscape, the lines between portfolios and resumes are becoming increasingly blurred,” shared attorney Ahn Min Hwan.

“A lot of professionals opt for online portfolios or personal websites where they sum up their resumes and also display samples of their work, certifications, and testimonials,” he says.

Visuals show instead of tell.

While portfolios have historically been used by web designers, writers, and others in creative industries, they’ve become more of a norm with the rise of portfolio careers. This used to be the key difference between a portfolio and a resume.

Portfolios are powerful and persuasive, especially when it comes to displaying creative talents.

“As humans, we are emotional decision-makers, and often we act on what we find visually appealing,” shared Gabe Marusca, founder of Digital Finest.

Gabe is an experienced web designer who creates websites and landing pages for coaches and consultants.

“In the creative space, having a visually pleasing portfolio not only makes you stand out against the competitors, but it speaks louder than words,” Gabe says.

You can demonstrate capability.

In a world where more than half of Americans have admitted to lying on their resume, portfolios slice through the noise. They show potential clients and employers the money.

“While the resume tells me the history, a portfolio shows me the capability,” shared Amanda Sexton, the founder of FocusWorks. “A portfolio is crucial if you’re in a field where your work can be visualized, demonstrated, or interacted with—like design, content creation, or web development. It offers tangible proof of your skills and achievements.“

Portfolio Examples

Resumes are limited to just one or two pages and follow a strict format, but a digital portfolio can take almost any form to showcase your skills. Let these examples inspire you to start designing right away.

This portfolio example from Nesha V. Frazier spans multiple web pages and shows various types of writing work.

What we like: This portfolio example shows writing samples broken up by category. It spans multiple pages, which is easily done on a portfolio thanks to the medium’s flexibility.

The next digital portfolio example is from Ralu Enea and showcases her skills as a web designer, highlighting her high volume of positive feedback.

What we like: The screenshots showing happy clients make this portfolio feel incredibly authentic and persuasive.

This final digital portfolio example from Gabe Marusca showcases his web design work.

What we like: This digital portfolio takes huge project samples and makes them viewable at a glance. It presents work in a really digestible format instead of leaving the viewer feeling overwhelmed.

Expert Tips for Portfolios

The most noticeable difference between a portfolio and resume design is that a portfolio can take almost any shape or form. Instead of that feeling overwhelming, let it feel empowering with these expert tips on how to get it right.

Use a tagline.

While a portfolio is a collection of your work, it can (and should) still have a sense of organization and structure. That’s where a tagline can help serve as a brief objective or summary statement.

“An attention-grabbing tagline is a terrific approach to bringing individuality into your portfolio while offering companies a broad view of what you can offer them,” shared Eran Mizrahi, the CEO of Ingredient Brothers.

“Bring some zing to the proceedings by capping them off with an unforgettable statement or slogan.” Ingredient Brothers summarizes its product with a memorable tagline on its website:

Keep your portfolio focused.

A portfolio doesn’t need to be a conclusive career summary.

While you may have work samples spanning many years, projects, and industries, a focused portfolio helps a hiring manager or client feel more excited about the potential than a broad portfolio.

“To create a great portfolio, I recommend showcasing only your best projects that highlight your ideal clients,” shared Gabe Marusca. “Ideally, your portfolio visuals should be in high resolution and focused on grabbing viewer attention.”

Resumes — What are they?

A resume is a document that summarizes your work experience as it applies to a specific job.

Often one or two pages long and accompanied by a cover letter, a resume displays relevant experience in reverse chronological order and is customized for individual job applications.

The concept of a resume hasn‘t changed much in your lifetime; in fact, it’s one of the only parts of the hiring process that hasn’t changed.

A well-crafted resume will display relevant skills in a quick and easy format. Broadly speaking, a resume should include any relevant achievements that demonstrate a person’s qualifications for a job.

Some standard features of a resume include:

• Soft skills.
• Contact details.
• Work experience.
• Relevant skills and life experiences.
• Academic and professional qualifications.
• Related volunteer jobs that you’ve worked.
• A professional summary statement (sometimes called a career summary statement).

Even though resumes themselves haven’t evolved much, the way hiring managers review them has. It’s estimated that resumes are reviewed for less than 10 seconds by a potential employer.

Job seekers can still improve their resume writing and see better results. Here are some of the advantages of using a resume over a portfolio.

Advantages of Resumes

How does a humble one or two-page document stack up against a portfolio? Here are the advantages of using a resume in your job applications.

It’s a universal tool.

While designing a creative portfolio may take days or weeks, a resume is a straightforward and universal tool that doesn‘t need to keep up with the trends (no matter where you’re applying for work).

“Nearly every professional across the globe needs a polished resume or CV when actively searching for work,” shared Amanda Augustine, certified professional career coach, certified professional resume writer, and career expert for ZipJob.

“The moment you decide to start looking for a new job, you instantly become a marketer, and your resume is a key component of your personal marketing toolkit,” Augustine says. “Additionally, your resume often serves as your first point of contact with a prospective employer and will shape that hiring professional’s first impression of your candidacy.”

You’ll create a straightforward snapshot.

While a portfolio has a sense of endlessness to it, a resume is a comforting bite-size look at your professional qualifications.

Arriving at a great resume is far less time-consuming, thanks to its concise and predictable nature. Plus, not being forced to reinvent the wheel saves you a tremendous amount of time.

“A resume really serves as a career snapshot for employers,” shared certified career counselor Brad W. Minton, founder of Mint To Be Career. “If composed well, it provides an overview of your ‘greatest hits’ that are relevant for future target roles so that employers can get a quick indication of your value add.”

Resume Examples

Let’s look at resume examples provided by professional resume writers and career experts. These resumes focus on different roles, fields, and levels of experience.

This first resume example was provided by Andrew Fennell, director of StandOutCV. It’s an example of an entry-level position with a focus on academic achievements:

What we like: The format of this resume leverages color and design while maintaining its readability.

The next resume example was provided by Sylvia Glynn, executive resume writer for Ultmeche. It’s based on the well-known Harvard resume template:

What we like: This no-frills approach to resume design is primed for AI readability while still showcasing all the relevant skills and experiences that hiring managers need to see.

This resume example was provided by Brad W. Minton, certified professional resume writer and founder of Mint To Be Career.

What we like: This resume has a straightforward design that will pass through AI scans, but it still includes some subtle design choices that will show personality to hiring managers.

Is your resume ready to be scanned by AI? Use the free tool Jobscan to see if your resume is helping or hurting you at this phase of the hiring process.

This final resume example was provided by Amanda Augustine, a certified professional career coach, resume writer, and career expert for ZipJob.

What we like: This is a great example of a two-page resume that uses space well by adding columns to break up dense sections. The indentation on this resume also improves readability and makes for smooth and pleasing formatting.

Expert Tips for Resumes

Is a resume right for your job search? Then, it needs to be well-designed, up-to-date, and ready to knock hiring managers’ socks off. Use these tips from expert resume writers to make it happen.

Translate experience, skills, and talent to desired role.

A generic resume that‘s submitted to dozens of companies won’t get the same result as a resume that details your skills and experiences as they directly relate to your desired role.

“A strong resume really boils down to how well you translate what you’ve done into what you can do for the next role,“ shared Brad W. Minton. ”How you do that is by researching the position and company and showcasing how your past experience developed relevant skills for the role you’re seeking now, as well as creating qualitative and quantitative impact.”

[video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oG8lP_T1Q4&ab_channel=HubSpotMarketing]

Design resumes for functionality.

Designers, writers, and other creatives will be tempted to make their resumes unique and memorable, but that flair is best saved for your portfolio. Overly creative designs stuffed onto one or two pages lead to confusion and sacrifice functionality.

“When formatting and structuring your resume, you need to think about its function rather than just making it look nice. It has to be easy for recruiters to read and pick out the info they are looking for,” shared Andrew Fennell, director of StandOutCV.

Fennell recommends that sections be clearly defined with bold heading and white space. The text should be broken up into bullet points, and the color scheme and font need to make the text crystal clear to readers.

“Photos, icons, and other graphic features are nice to have, but focus on the important stuff first,” Fennell says.

Update and include your LinkedIn account.

A portfolio and resume are actually not stand-alone resources, as resumes can include clickable website links to other resources. Hiring managers will often reach for another snapshot of your skills and abilities: your LinkedIn account.

“My top resume tip is simple, but we often see it overlooked as recruiters. Include a clickable link to your LinkedIn profile just below your name on your resume,” shared Mike Basso, founder and CEO of Sales Talent Command.

“Because of its predictable format, many recruiters and hiring managers like to review a candidate’s LinkedIn profile for additional information,” Mike says.

If you need to be convinced of the power of LinkedIn for job seekers, find someone who’s active on the platform and look at the work experience section of their account.

You may see a blurb that says, “LinkedIn helped me get this job,” which you can see on my account for a position with the SEO company forank:

“Your LinkedIn profile can do a great job of differentiating you from other candidates if well-optimized. So, make it easy for those considering you for opportunities to find your impressive LinkedIn profile,” said Mike Basso.

Update your account and then initiate a LinkedIn strategy to help your account be more attractive to potential employers.

Making the right choice

When making the choice between a portfolio and a resume, see if the decision has already been made for you. The first question to ask is, what is the hiring manager or potential client asking to see?

Your portfolio vs resume debate ends if the hiring process is clearly outlined for you already. When the hiring process is less defined, consider how your experience and skills are best demonstrated and weigh these factors.

• What are the other candidates for this position or contract submitting to demonstrate their skills?
• Does your work require in-depth information to be explained, or can it fit on one or two pages?
• How can you prove your success in past roles?
• Do you have visual examples of your work?

As you’re packaging all the proof of your skills, you need to consider whether a portfolio or resume can showcase your skills and experience best.

If work samples and examples of your work would help you stand out to a hiring manager, aim for a portfolio.

Designers, writers, and anyone who works with multimedia will be able to showcase their skills better with a portfolio than a resume.

However, the majority of open work positions will ask for a resume so that it can be scanned using AI and sent through the standard hiring pipeline. Sometimes, there’s a case for both tools to be used.

When to Use Both

When choosing which tool can help demonstrate your professional capabilities, the answer might be both. While they do have their differences, a portfolio and resume can work in tandem instead of being pitted against each other.

When leveraged properly, it works to your benefit.

“In some cases, using both a portfolio and resume can be highly beneficial,” shared Nate Djeric, founder and career counselor at CareerBoost.io.

“For example, if you’re applying for a marketing role that requires both strategic thinking (resume) and creative execution (portfolio), presenting both can give you an edge,” Nate says.

Consider adding a link to a digital portfolio directly on your resume and also using your portfolio as an excuse to follow up with hiring managers and provide additional information.

Getting Started

Creating an effective portfolio or resume is an imperative task when you‘re putting yourself out there to potential employers and clients.

With these examples, best practices, and expert tips, you’re prepared to package your talent and impress every hiring manager.

When you think about search engine optimization (SEO), one major search engine probably comes to mind: Google. But what about Bing SEO?

With more than a billion monthly users, Bing is the second most popular search engine globally.

Moreover, since Microsoft’s acquisition of OpenAI earlier this year, Bing has begun integrating AI technology into its search engine, and its traffic has increased by more than 15%.

With its growing popularity, Bing SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) should be on the radar for marketers crafting their search engine optimization strategy.

In this comprehensive Bing SEO guide, I’ll help you explore why Bing is still relevant for marketers, offer data-driven, expert-approved Bing SEO tips, and give you the tools you’ll need to optimize your online presence for this increasingly popular search engine.

Should you optimize for Bing?

Why Bing SEO Matters

• Substantial User Base
• Less Competition
• AI-Powered Search
• Risk Diversification

Bing vs. Google: Similarities and Differences

Building the Right Foundation for Bing SEO

• Leverage HubSpot’s SEO Marketing Tools

• Sign Up for Bing’s Webmaster Tools

• Submit a Sitemap to Bing

• Invest in Schema Markup

• Claim Your Business on Bing Places

Tips to Improve Your Bing Ranking

1. Prioritize Exact Keyword Matches

2. Don’t Forget About Meta-Tags

3. Invest in Quality Backlinks

4. Build Strong Domain Authority

5. Ensure Mobile Friendliness

6. Cultivate a Social Media Following

7. Incorporate Images — But Don’t Overdo It

8. Craft Quality Content

Maximize Your Online Visibility with Bing

Should you optimize for Bing?

Is it worth optimizing for Bing? That’s only a question that your team can answer. I’d encourage you to look at it this way: If you’re just starting out on your SEO journey, focusing on Google may make sense.

Plus, you may not have the resources to allocate to both search engines. But as you grow, it’s definitely worth optimizing your online content for Bing, too.

While Bing still has a smaller market share than Google, it remains an important piece of the search engine pie, and it can serve as an important channel for your marketing efforts.

To capitalize on this potential, invest in Bing SEO. That means understanding why Bing SEO matters, the ways in which Bing and Google differ, and what it takes to build a solid foundation for Bing SEO and boost your rankings on this platform.

Why Bing SEO Matters

So, why does Bing SEO matter? That’s a great question. Before diving into the specific strategies that drive success on Bing, it’s helpful to explore why Bing SEO matters for today’s marketers.

There are four key factors underlying Bing’s ongoing relevance:

Substantial User Base

Bing might not have the same search volume as Google, but it still boasts a substantial user base. With over a billion monthly users, Bing captures a noteworthy share of the search market.

If you ignore this audience, you risk missing out on potential customers who are actively seeking information, products, or services related to your business.

Investing in Bing SEO will help you tap into a diverse pool of users and increase your online visibility.

Less Competition

Because most SEO efforts are primarily focused on Google, competition for rankings on its results pages can be fierce. Bing, on the other hand, offers a less crowded landscape.

With fewer websites optimizing for Bing, there’s a greater opportunity to achieve higher rankings and gain visibility in search results. This can be particularly advantageous for businesses operating in highly competitive niches.

AI-Powered Search

Thanks to its acquisition of OpenAI, Microsoft has been able to infuse advanced AI technology into Bing’s search engine.

This has enabled Bing to develop enhanced functionalities, smarter recommendations, and an improved user experience, all of which have been contributing to an increase in user engagement and site visits.

In light of these trends, optimizing your online presence for Bing means aligning your strategy with cutting-edge, rapidly growing technology, ultimately setting your organization up for success in the long term.

Risk Diversification

Finally, relying on Google alone for all of your organic search traffic can be risky.

Unexpected changes to the algorithm or shifts in user behavior can suddenly impact your website’s visibility, leaving you with little recourse to recoup the losses.

Diversifying your SEO efforts by including Bing in your strategy can provide a safety net, helping to mitigate this risk and reduce the potential impact of fluctuations in search engine performance.

Bing vs. Google: Similarities and Differences

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Good news! If you’ve already optimized your website content for Google, you’re off to a solid start for Bing as well.

Many SEO techniques are effective on both platforms, as both search engines reward content that’s relevant, trustworthy, and high-quality.

However, there are also several important differences that marketers should keep in mind when optimizing for Bing. First, Bing is generally more open about its search algorithms than Google is.

This means that marketers can, in many cases, make more informed decisions about exactly how to craft Bing-optimized content.

Another key difference: Google explicitly ignores meta keyword tags, but Bing still uses these tags in its search algorithm. Therefore, with Bing, it’s worth continuing to make sure your web pages have useful, accurate keyword tags.

In general, Google looks more for higher-level topic relevance, while on Bing, specific keywords that exactly match the search terms you’re targeting are more likely to be effective in improving your SERP rankings.

Another important difference is the relative weight of social. Google has stated that social media engagement is not a factor in its search rankings, but on Bing, social plays an important role in determining what content will rank.

As such, driving high-quality social media engagement should be part of your Bing SEO strategy.

Below, I’ll dive into how you can leverage these key differences to build an SEO strategy that considers Bing alongside Google.

Building the Right Foundation for Bing SEO

Any Bing SEO guide would be incomplete without an overview of how teams can build a strong foundation for Bing SEO. There are several important steps to consider, and I’ll walk you through them now.

Leverage HubSpot’s SEO Marketing Tools

Whether you’re just getting started with SEO or looking to take your optimization strategy to the next level, you can’t go wrong with HubSpot’s SEO marketing tools.

These tools are an excellent way to build a strong foundation for your SEO efforts.

The HubSpot platform can help you plan out your SEO strategy, optimize your content for search, and measure ROI, ensuring your Bing SEO strategy is data-driven and aligned with your broader marketing goals.

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Sign Up for Bing’s Webmaster Tools

Next, if you’re looking to optimize for Bing specifically, it’s definitely worth signing up for access to Bing’s webmaster tools.

This suite of tools can help you identify the keywords you already rank for on Bing, gain visibility into the backlinks that Bing has indexed for your website, and subscribe to alerts to make sure you stay on top of any changes.

Creating an account with Bing also gives you access to a comprehensive dashboard with key metrics related to site activity and click rates.

You can even run your website through a range of diagnostic tools, including Bing’s SEO Site Analyzer, keyword research tools, and mobile friendliness audit.

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Submit a Sitemap to Bing

In addition, once you’ve signed up for an account with Bing’s webmaster tools, you can submit a sitemap for your website directly to Bing.

Submitting a sitemap will help boost your Bing SEO by improving how the search engine crawls, indexes, and ranks your website.

Before Bing accepts the sitemap, you’ll be asked to verify your website by placing an XML file on your web server, copying a short meta tag into your website, or adding a CNAME record to your DNS.

Once you’ve verified your website, Bing can use your sitemap to better understand the information and content on your website, ultimately enabling the search engine to provide better, more useful results to users.

Invest in Schema Markup

Schema markup is another important way you can help Bing understand your content and thus improve the quality of the results it provides.

In a nutshell, effective schema markup enables search engines to parse website information and interpret what it means.

This ensures that when your business comes up in Bing’s search results, key data points like your company’s location, a blog post’s author, or an event’s time and date, are clearly and prominently displayed.

Claim Your Business on Bing Places

Finally, if your company has a physical location, claiming your business on Bing Places is critical to ensure users are seeing accurate, up-to-date information about your organization.

Remember: Even if you don’t use Bing yourself or haven’t yet proactively invested in Bing SEO, Bing already lists publicly-available information businesses like hours, location, and more.

However, this information isn’t always accurate, so claiming your business on Bing Places helps ensure everything is up-to-date.

Plus, unclaimed businesses are generally listed below those that have been claimed and verified, so if you needed one more reason to take the extra step, that’s it.

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As such, both to boost your rankings and to confirm that the information shown to customers is consistent and correct, it’s worth taking a few minutes to claim your listing.

To do so, simply find your business on Bing and click “Claim Business.”

You’ll be asked to verify that you’re a business owner or authorized representative.

Once verification is complete, you’ll be able to add photos and videos of your products and services, updated hours of operation, services offered, contact methods, and more.

It’s simple.

Tips to Improve Your Bing Ranking

Once you’ve set up a solid foundation for Bing SEO, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty details. Below, I’ve listed eight tips to help you improve your Bing rankings.

1. Prioritize exact keyword matches

This is one of the main differences between Google and Bing SEO strategy. While Google’s algorithm has grown fairly complex, Bing’s still relies heavily on exact matches between search terms and on-page content.

Rather than considering factors like word usage, context, and semantics, Bing is seeking exact keyword matches.

That means that it’s beneficial to include exact keyword matches in the content on your site.

For example, if you want to rank highly for the phrase “marketing automation software” on Bing, don’t just write content about software tools that can help automate marketing.

Instead, make sure to include the exact phrase “marketing automation software” in the H1 or H2 headings in your content.

2. Don’t forget about meta tags

SEO isn’t just about the content that users see — it’s also about behind-the-scenes content that helps search engines understand what your website is all about.

While both Google and Bing consider the content in your meta tags, Bing is particularly interested in exact matches between keywords and meta descriptions.

As such, make sure that your target keywords are reflected not only on the page, but also in the meta tags that Bing will be looking at.

3. Invest in quality backlinks

Another critical factor in Bing’s ranking algorithm is the quality of your backlinks: That is, the websites across the internet that link back to your site. Importantly, this is an area in which quality is much more important than quantity.

Bing is looking to see whether reputable, relevant, well-established websites are linking to your website, as this can serve as an indication that your website is also trustworthy.

In particular, Bing tends to prioritize links from websites with .edu, .org, or .gov domains, since these sites tend to be associated with official, verified institutions.

Bing also tends to give considerable weight to domain age, with backlinks from older websites having a stronger positive effect on website rankings.

Finally, if spammy, low-quality websites are linking to your site, that can substantially harm your rankings.

So if you’re aware of any of these harmful backlinks, consider either reaching out to the webmaster of the website in question and requesting that they remove the link or using Bing’s webmaster tools to formally disavow the backlink.

4. Build strong domain authority

Of course, domain authority doesn’t just apply to your backlinks — Bing also considers several factors related to the authority of your own URL.

Some of these factors may be outside your control, but it’s still important to keep your domain authority in mind when making key SEO decisions.

The main levers you can pull when it comes to Bing’s assessment of your website’s domain authority are age and keywords.

Bing rewards websites that have been around for a long time, so think carefully before creating a brand new website if you already have one.

In addition, Bing’s focus on exact keyword matches applies not just to on-page content and meta tags but to URLs as well. For instance, Bing is more likely to rank pages highly if the URL includes an exact match to the search terms.

5. Ensure mobile friendliness

As Marketing Consultant Anna Crowe explains, “Even though Bing has said there are no plans to introduce mobile-first indexing on its platform, you still want to make sure your site is mobile friendly.”

When determining mobile friendliness, Bing considers factors such as:

• If the content on your pages fits within the narrower screen width of a mobile device
• Whether or not the text is still readable on mobile
• If your links and buttons are still easy to use on a mobile interface.

If you’re not sure whether your webpage is sufficiently mobile responsive, you can use Bing’s mobile friendliness test tool to quickly gain insight into your site’s current status. Then, improve any areas that don’t earn high marks as necessary.

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6. Cultivate a social media following

While Google has largely removed social media engagement from its search algorithm, Bing still places substantial weight on the social following associated with a website’s domain.

To be sure, that does not mean that you should start paying for followers. Shady tactics that help you rapidly gain a large number of fake followers will be easily detected, and Bing penalizes such behavior.

However, making a genuine investment into building a real, loyal social media following can pay off when it comes to your rankings on Bing.

If Bing sees that your web pages are being shared widely on social media, it’s likely to take that as a good sign about the authority and relevance of your content, and improve your SERP rankings accordingly.

7. Incorporate images — but don’t overdo it

Well-placed images with clear, concise alt text can go a long way to boosting your Bing SEO.

Indeed, while Google is known for largely prioritizing text and html, Bing’s algorithm may reward content with more multimedia components, such as images and video clips.

That said, when it comes to media elements, it’s equally important to avoid overdoing it. Drowning your website in a sea of imagery can often backfire, especially if images or videos make it harder to see the key information on your site.

In addition, excessively intrusive advertisements that block your actual content or interfere with the user experience are also likely to harm your search rankings. For example, here’s a web page layout in which the imagery is intrusive, not helpful:

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8. Craft quality content

There are countless tips and tricks that can help boost your position on Bing’s SERPs. But at the end of the day, just as with SEO on any other platform, your success on Bing comes down to your ability to craft quality content.

That means developing web pages that are relevant, informative, and credible, and free of spammy or misleading content.

A focus on quality is especially important as generative AI creates new possibilities for machine-generated content.

Indeed, in a recent survey of more than 400 marketers, we found that more than half were already incorporating generative AI into their SEO and content development workflows.

Clearly, AI tools can add a lot of value — but it’s important to avoid publishing content that reads like it was written by a robot.

After all, if Bing’s algorithm detects content that appears to be solely designed to boost SERP rankings (rather than to add real value to the user), it’s likely to classify that content as malicious and penalize rankings accordingly.

At the same time, as AI tools are increasingly incorporated into search engines, marketers may benefit from rethinking their approach to content.

In the same survey, marketers predicted that if generative AI is integrated into search engines, “How to” and “Question/Answer” type content will perform the best, perhaps because this format is most likely to correspond to the questions users may ask of an AI-assisted search engine.

As AI evolves, so will the type of content Bing deems as high-quality. But as long as marketers ensure that the intent behind their web content remains to help their users (not to trick the algorithms), they’re likely to be rewarded.

Maximize Your Online Visibility with Bing

While there’s no doubt that Google remains the industry leader for search, factoring in Bing is an increasingly important part of an effective SEO strategy in today’s market.

In particular, Bing’s growing user base, reduced competition, and ongoing investment into cutting-edge AI technologies make the platform an important way to diversify your strategy and maximize your online visibility.

Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to SEO.

Especially as new technologies continue to emerge and disrupt industry standards, it’s critical to take a dynamic, agile approach to crafting (and re-crafting) your marketing strategy.

But if you build a strong foundation and follow the Bing SEO tips listed above, you’ll set yourself up for success and maximize your chances of capitalizing on the unique advantages Bing has to offer.