Yearly Archives: 2023

Google uses 200+ ranking factors when determining the search results. How do you ensure that your website gets more visibility and, thus, higher SERP positions?

What is the ultimate metric that can make or break the rankings? Is it the domain authority, content quality, page speed, or mobile readiness?

While many SEOs will argue that authoritativeness is the main factor for higher rankings, surprisingly, it’s not.

Table of Contents

• What Factors Affect SERP Rankings
• The Metric that Matters Most: Trustworthiness
• How to Improve Trustworthiness
• 4 Tips for Improving Your Ranking

What Factors Affect SERP Rankings

SERP is an acronym that stands for “Search Engine Result Pages.” When a user types a query, Google provides a list of websites and other resources, such as videos, documents, and images, that match the user’s search intent.

Based on our recent study, 43% of the surveyed individuals perceive achieving a position within the top 10 as simple, whereas 39% regard it as challenging.

To get your site into the top 10, act on the most important factors that affect the SERP rankings.

Content Relevance

Search engines aim to provide the best results to their users. Thus, the quality of content is non-negotiable. Moreover, after Google’s Panda, Fred, and helpful content algorithm updates, bad content can kill the chances of higher rankings.

Your content needs to answer the search intent and provide practical information, covering all the questions that the user might have.

In practice, it means that your content has to offer an explicit answer to a search query and surface relevant questions. For example, if I had to write an article on “interactive walkthrough examples,” I’d cover critical points people Google about.

1. What is it?
2. How to make it?
3. Dozens of real examples
4. Tools to create those walkthroughs

Why these headings? Because it’s what users ask search engines and the intent of the query. Explore the ‘People Also Ask’ section to create killer content.

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“In competitive industries, most players nail the right keywords and craft compelling copy with spot-on search intent.

But ask yourself: Why should Google prioritize your article over countless others in the SERP? What unique value does your content offer to outrank competitors?

The key lies in the information gap. That missing puzzle piece in the existing narrative. To recognize it, ask your internal experts about missing information in those copies.

At Belkins, we bridge this gap by connecting freelance writers and our in-house experts through interviews and questionnaires.” — Eugene Zatiychuk, SEO at Belkins Agency

Number of Backlinks

While the old days of getting numerous spammy backlinks are gone, the impact of backlinks is still unquestionable.

The joint research performed by Ahrefs and Backlinko found that the 1st result in Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than positions 2-10.

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Google pays attention to authoritativeness. Having more high-quality backlinks from trustworthy websites indicates that your content is so well-crafted that other sources vouch for you.

Domain Authority

Domain authority (DA) is another critical ranking component.

Developed by Moz, it’s a search engine ranking score that indicates your competence on a particular topic and predicts how likely your website is to rank in SERPs.

The score is ranked between 1 and 100. The higher your domain authority, the more likely you’ll rank on Google.

The Backlinko and Ahrefs’ study proves this theory — a website’s overall link authority correlates to higher first-page Google rankings.

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User Experience

Great user experience (UX) is one of the ranking factors.

Easy navigating websites that have clear CTAs and intuitive designs provide a seamless browsing experience and encourage repeat visits. This leads to longer dwell time and lower bounce rates.

Analyzing these metrics, Google knows your site has valuable content, and it prompts the site higher in rankings.

Keep in mind that the industry benchmark for average dwell time is between 2–4 minutes.

Page Speed

Page speed is an essential ranking factor.

Recent research shows the average page speed is 1.65 seconds on the first page of SERP. The same report indicates that 1 in 4 visitors will leave the website if it takes more than 4 seconds to load.

That being said, having a fast website is not a preference but a necessity.

While we’ve discussed the 5 pillars without which your site will never secure high rankings, let’s unveil the most important metric for great SEO performance.

The Metric that Matters Most: Trustworthiness

We surveyed 405 SEO professionals who constantly track their websites and analyze rankings. We also asked them about the most important metrics that are “responsible” for rankings. The result?

To our surprise, 39% of the survey participants consider trustworthiness as the primary determinant for achieving a high Google ranking in 2023.

Let’s discuss this metric in more detail and understand why it matters.

What is trustworthiness in SEO?

Trustworthiness is one of the pillars of Google’s E-E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) framework. By saying “trust,” we consider the extent to which the page is accurate, honest, safe, and reliable.

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The level and extent of trust required vary based on the specific web page’s nature.

For example, e-commerce websites should have a secure payment system, and product reviews should be honest and authentic.

On the other hand, informational pages on clear YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics must be accurate to avoid any potential harm to individuals and the community.

Why does trustworthiness matter?

According to Google’s Quality Rating Guidelines:

“Trust is the most important member of the E-E-A-T family because untrustworthy pages have low E-E-A-T no matter how Experienced, Expert, or Authoritative they may seem. For example, a financial scam is untrustworthy, even if the content creator is a highly experienced and expert scammer who is considered the go-to for running scams!”

Providing information that is accurate, not misleading, or harmful makes you trustworthy, thus increasing the chances of climbing to the top of SERP.

How can you measure trustworthiness?

Trustworthiness is measured by taking into account different factors. It’s an ongoing evaluation and relies on various elements, such as:

• Author information
• Citations
• Backlinks
• Reviews
• Website security
• Content quality
• User engagement and many more

You should analyze these factors collectively and get a better understanding of “Trustworthiness” within the EEAT framework.

How to Improve Trustworthiness

To improve the trustworthiness of your website, you can follow these four actionable strategies:

1. Create original and valuable content.

One of the most effective ways to increase your trustworthiness is to add originality nuggets to your content.

This can be defined as little bits of originality that make a piece of content unique from others and thus worthy of being shared or linked to.

For example, you can add originality by adopting an opposing viewpoint to what anyone else is discussing.

In the example below, the ranking articles in the SERP are all about tips for hiring a marketer. If you look closely at the highlighted part, the title is quite different from what others write. It’s intriguing and encourages readers to click on the link and read the article.

This is an originality nugget.

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By providing well-crafted content, you’ll attract more traffic, backlinks, and shares. These are crystal-clear indicators of trustworthiness and authority.

2. Build your online reputation with user-generated content.

Obtain positive reviews and testimonials from happy customers to increase your online reputation and showcase trustworthiness.

Users trust fellow users, and leveraging social proof builds confidence among customers. However, be sure to gather only genuine feedback and avoid fake reviews by all means.

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3. Display author bio to add credibility.

Clearly display author credentials such as name, bio, experience, and qualifications to establish their expertise and credibility.

This is important not only for SEO purposes but also to help users identify authors as subject matter experts.

You can even list multiple authors to differentiate the expert from the author, as in the example below.

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Listing authors is particularly important in the health and finance fields, often called YMYL (Your Money or Your Life), as even a little misinformation can have serious consequences.

Don’t forget to allow author bio pages to be indexed by Google. This enables users to search for authors, read their other articles, or subscribe to their newsletters if interested. Also, when users know the real people behind the content, it forges trust in the company and the author alike.

For example, if you Google me, you’ll see companies’ pages that feature my articles.

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4. Update and maintain your website regularly.

Google prioritizes up-to-date content. Make sure to regularly update your articles and add new material. Keeping your content fresh demonstrates that you really care about your users and want to provide them with value and quality.

Additionally, outdated and irrelevant content can decrease your trustworthiness and significantly harm your rankings.

Here is your step-by-step strategy to update old content.

1. Prioritize pages that already rank in the #5-10 positions, as it’ll be easier to go from positions #5-10 to #1 than from zero to first.
2. Once you select the pages to update, follow this straightforward process: check old statistics, facts, and quotes and update them. Remove fluff, instead add more paragraphs if the content lacks depth.
3. Use content optimization tools like Clearscope and SurferSEO to identify and add missing relevant keywords, discover weak points, etc.
4. Update examples to make sure you’re up-to-date with current trends in your industry.
5. Add internal links and backlinks to improve authority and give an additional boost to the pages.

“SEO takes 6-12 months (or does it?). It can. But it can also be overnight for some sites. The screenshot is for a client who was sitting on outdated content. Within 24 hours of hitting the update, traffic spiked. Here’s what we did.

We updated the publication date and title, made sure the content was still matching search intent, added content to improve and hit search intent, and added optimized images, and pointed internal links.

Updating the right content is one of my favorite SEO quick wins.” — Bill Gaule, SEO strategist at ContentGrowth.

4 Tips for Improving Your Ranking

“Backlinks make up only 7% of tactics for improving rankings,” said 405 SEO pros in our research. So, here are four better tips to boost your site’s visibility in SERPs.

Tip 1: Optimize your on-page content around your target keywords and LSI keywords.

LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords are words and phrases used by Google to grasp the context and meaning of a piece of content and to improve the relevance of search results. Let’s bring an example.

Consider “Digital marketing” as your target keyword. In this scenario, your LSI keywords would be “Online Advertising,” “Social Media Marketing,” “Search Engine Optimization,” etc.

As LSI keywords are related terms and synonyms that help search engines determine the context of the content more precisely, this signals to Google that your content covers a broad range of topics within the realm of digital marketing.

However, you should place LSI keywords naturally and steer clear of keyword stuffing.

Pro tip: Use SurferSEO’s suggestions to write even thought-leadership content for search engines and humans. The AI-powered tool offers LSI keywords to embed in your article for better rankings.

Tip 2: Optimize images for SEO.

Images are not merely for decoration. They play a crucial role in visualizing your content and engaging your visitors.

Articles with 6-7 images gather the most unique pageviews, backlinks, and shares, according to Semrush research.

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But including images isn’t enough to see the high impact. You have to SEO optimize them. Follow these best practices to do so.

• Compress images to reduce the file size and ensure faster loading. Tools like TinyPNG and CompressJPEG prove effective.
• Give images descriptive names, ideally including the target keyword.
• Add alt text to briefly describe the image if it can’t be displayed.
• Implement lazy loading to reduce initial page load times.
• Host images on your own domain rather than third-party image hosting websites to retain control over image accessibility.

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Tip 3: Leverage visual content to increase dwell time.

Visual content — images, videos, and infographics keep users engaged for longer periods, ultimately increasing the dwell time.

According to the “State of Content Marketing 2023” report by Semrush, 33% of the respondents leverage visuals to boost blog post rankings.

The same study reveals that articles with at least one video generate 70% more organic traffic than those without. Surprisingly, only 8% of all blog posts that were analyzed had a video.

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Furthermore, compelling visuals help users better comprehend your message. They also break up long texts and make the content more readable. This, in turn, encourages users to linger on pages and explore more.

Tip 4: Optimize your website for mobile.

Over 50% of searches on Google originate from mobile devices, with mobile-friendly sites showing up higher in search results.

In this mobile-first era, it’s vital to prepare your website for mobile devices to attract users and increase conversion rates.

However, our recent research found that only 20% of industry professionals consider mobile optimization to be the most effective strategy for improved rankings.

Here’s how you can optimize your website for mobile to achieve higher rankings:

• Implement a responsive design that automatically adjusts your website’s layout and content to fit various screen sizes and devices.
• Simplify the navigation menu with hamburger icons, dropdowns, etc.
• Compress images
• Avoid intrusive pop-ups that hinder user experience
• Ensure that clickable elements are large enough
• Use Google PageSpeed insights to determine areas for improvement and optimize your mobile page speed.

In turn, here is an interesting case study proving the great impact of mobile optimization.

Irina Maltseva, a Growth Lead at Aura, noticed that desktop traffic started regularly dropping while mobile traffic grew, especially in B2C.

Here are three things they implemented to get the most of the mobile traffic:

• Make sure the mobile page speed is as high as possible.
• Since the attention span is lower on mobile than desktop devices, start to create shorter, more actionable articles with zero boring intros.
• Make CTAs more aggressive and place them at the beginning or in the middle. Many long articles are not read from mobile till the very end.

“As an SEO specialist, you must consider mobile as your primary traffic source. Mobile is the future. If you start building a new website page, consider how it will look and convert on mobile. And only after optimizing it for desktop” — Irina Maltseva, Growth Lead at Aura.

Improve trustworthiness to rank higher on search engines.

Trustworthiness is a pivotal factor for high rankings. No matter how great content you provide, how fast your web page loads, or how many backlinks you have, lacking trustworthiness can block your ascent in the SERP.

In video marketing, choosing the right soundtrack can be the difference between a video that grips your audience from start to finish and one that they can barely get halfway through.

Not just any music will do, and knowing where to find the best royalty-free music sites is helpful.

Play a fitting soundtrack or jingle in your video to grab your audience’s attention and evoke the specific emotions and feelings you want them to associate with your brand.

Neglect the musical aspect of your video, and people will think less of your brand.

Fortunately, we found 21 royalty-free music sites that provide high-quality music and can help you make the perfect soundtrack for your next video.

21 Royalty-Free Background Music Websites for Videos

1. PremiumBeat

Owned by Shutterstock, PremiumBeat offers one of the most diverse and sizable collections of royalty-free music online.

With the help of their music industry experts, they’ve curated over 10,000 tracks that you can segment by genre, mood, artists, instruments, beats per minute, and duration.

Their music experts also curate an Editor’s Pick playlist with 857 of PremiumBeat’s best tracks to help you make the best possible soundtrack for your videos.

What we like: Only some videos need a fast-beat song. Sometimes, a slow tempo works just fine. PremiumBeat’s filters make searching for music easy.

Best for: Video creators who know the style of music they want for their project.

Pricing: $64.95 a month

2. Epidemic Sound

By collaborating with some of the most talented musicians in the industry, Epidemic Sound’s tracks are featured on YouTube and Facebook videos that rack up over 20 billion views each month.

Epidemic Sound has curated over 725 albums of royalty-free music, spanning from genres like “Corporate” to “First Snow,” allowing you to create diverse and high-quality soundtracks.

What we like: Epidemic Sound offers a wide range of music and sound effects, making it the perfect one-stop shop for all your projects.

Best for: Creators who wish to monetize their platforms.

Pricing: Personal plans cost $15 a month. Commercial plans cost $49 a month. Enterprise has custom pricing.

3. Artlist

Artlist partners with some of the best Indie artists to create original tracks, helping companies like National Geographic, Microsoft, and Toyota make video soundtracks.

You can filter thousands of tracks by mood, theme, genre, instrument, tempo, and duration. Artlist also curates themed collections of their partner artists’ tracks and spotlights their albums.

What we like: Artlist drops new music monthly, meaning many choices exist.

Best for: YouTube creators who are looking to monetize their platforms.

Pricing: Prices range from $9.99 to $39.99 per month billed annually, plus custom pricing for enterprises.

4. Music Vine

Music Vine collaborates with over 160 independent musicians to produce over 2,500 tracks you can segment by style, mood, energy, vocals, and duration. They also curate collections for particular themes in filmmaking and video production.

You can filter them by vibe, theme, genre, and environment. Additionally, Music Vine dedicates a section of its website to its artists, letting people follow them and explore their music.

What we like: Music Vine classifies its music into three distinct categories: promotional, storytelling, and creative. This time-saving feature is helpful!

Best for: Creators with a budget who are looking for a subscription music service.

Pricing: Pro Lite plans cost $19.99 a month. Pro Standard plans start at $35.99 a month.

5. Soundstripe

Soundstripe partners with over 80 artists to produce songs you can filter by mood, genre, pace, instruments, key, vocals, duration, and beats per minute. They’ve also curated over 50 playlists from genres like action & sport to weddings.

On Soundstripe, you can also create an account, follow artists, build playlists, like songs, and create your playlists. If you need sound effects for your video, Soundstripe offers 29 sound effects categories, from construction to sci-fi.

What we like: Soundstripe is free to sign up and use. However, there are limits. Soundstripe’s subscription plans are affordable and offer extra perks.

Best for: Filmmakers and podcasters looking to add a bit of curated flair to their work.

Pricing: Creator plans cost $9.99 a month, billed annually. Pro plans cost $19.99 a month, billed annually. Enterprise plans have custom pricing.

6. Filmstro

Filmstro offers royalty-free music that spans over 65 different categories, like mood, film & video genre, music genre, and instrumental palette. Plus, it also lets you customize each track by its momentum, depth, and power.

This gives you infinite creative possibilities to choose from when you create your video’s soundtrack.

What we like: Filmstro offers a free, full-access trial of their service. This free trial allows users to learn the platform’s features before upgrading their service.

Best for: Video creators who want more leeway and creative license with their sounds and songs.

Pricing: YouTuber plans cost $8.25 a month, billed annually. Pro plans cost $20.75 a month, billed annually. Pro Plus plans cost $41.50 a month, billed annually.

7. Pond5

Pond5 offers one of the largest royalty-free music libraries in the world. With over 500,000 tracks in 36 genres spanning from Hawaiian to action, you can make music tracks for almost any video project.

What we like: Pond5 knows video creators need more than just sound. We appreciate that they offer other forms of multimedia on their platform.

Best for: Creators who want to pay per item instead of subscribing to a subscription-based plan.

Pricing: Pay per track based on what you purchase.

8. ccMixter

ccMixter has one of the most thorough processes for creating free music from any royalty-free music website.

They collaborate with musicians who upload original samples of their instrumentals, singers who upload original acapella recordings, and producers and DJs who mix the music together to create free tracks for their videos.

With over 120 original tracks for film & video, commercial projects, and video games, ccMixter can help you make a truly creative video soundtrack.

What we like: ccMixter is a collaborative community with various artists contributing to the website. That means you have a variety and plenty of songs and sounds to choose from.

Best for: Creators with a limited budget.

Pricing: There’s a one-time fee for each track or project.

9. Bensound

With over 300 tracks in the genres of acoustic, folk, cinematic, corporate, pop, electronica, urban, groove, jazz, rock, world, and more, Bensound provides plenty of musical options for your video’s soundtrack.

What we like: Bensound offers two pricing structures. Platform users can pay for a monthly subscription to the service or choose to pay per track.

Best for: Creators who want free music (with the credit to the artist) and paid music.

Pricing: Standard plans cost €9.99 a month, billed annually. Extended plans cost €19.99 a month, billed annually. Premium plans cost €39.99 a month, billed annually. You can also pay-per-track.

10. Storyblocks

Storyblocks, in partnership with professional musicians, is a royalty-free website that has thought of it all. Whether you’re looking for happy music, dark music, inspiring music, or anything in between, Storyblocks has it in their library.

Plus, they also offer footage users can add to their projects.

What we like: Storybooks require a monthly subscription to use the service. At just $15 per month, anyone can quickly create an account and add music to their projects.

Best for: With the addition of HD and 4K footage, Storybooks is best for YouTube creators.

Pricing: Starter plans cost $15 a month, billed annually. Unlimited plans cost $30 a month, billed annually. Pro plans cost $35 a month, billed annually. Enterprise plans have custom pricing.

11. Amazon

If Amazon doesn’t have what you’re looking for, do you really need it? Luckily, Amazon is also a great place to search for royalty-free music.

Searching for music is simple. Just type “royalty-free music” in the search bar and browse the over 30,000 search results.

What we like: Most of the royalty-free music available on Amazon can be downloaded as an MP3 file, making it easy to add to your project.

Best for: Creators with access to an Amazon account.

Pricing: Here, you pay per track.

12. YouTube Audio Library

If you’re a YouTube Creator, you can already access lots of music and sounds in the YouTube Studio. Using the filter, you can search for music or sounds depending on the mood you’re going for or the genre you’d like.

What we like: Adding music to a YouTube Short or video is easy with the YouTube audio library. Users can “star” their favorite sounds to save for later use. This is especially helpful if you’re creating a branded intro for your videos.

Best for: YouTube Audio is best for YouTube creators.

Pricing: Creating an account is free, but you need to invest to make a channel.

13. TeknoAxe

If you already know the kind of vibe you’re going for, TeknoAxe is for you. Compared to other royalty-free websites, TeknoAxe seems simplistic.

But don’t let the simple look fool you. TeknoAxe features a variety of royalty-free music in a wide range of genres.

What we like: We appreciate that the music and sounds on TeknoAxe are free to download through Creative Commons. Users are to support the website through donations only.

Best for: Creators with a solid idea of the type of sound they would like to add to their project.

Pricing: Cost depends on your track or project.

14. Audio Jungle

Audio Jungle is one of the best and most cost-efficient websites to search for royalty-free music. The cost of music or sound starts at an affordable one dollar and varies in price, depending on what you’re looking for.

Searching for a whole music bundle? Audio Jungle has you covered!

What we like: We appreciate Audio Jungle bundling sounds into a media or music pack. This makes it helpful for creators who want varied but related sounds for their projects.

Best for: Anyone creating a project that needs to add sound or music.

Pricing: Audio Jungle is pay per track.

15. Purple Planet

Purple Planet, owned and operated by a three-person musical team, boasts a vast collection of royalty-free music from real instruments, such as guitars and percussion instruments.

Purple Planet offers free music (with credit to the creators) and commercial licenses.

What we like: We appreciate Purple Planet creating music and sound with real instruments. Real instruments can create a mood that other music, such as music made by AI, cannot.

Best for: Purple Planet jives with any content creator — those who want a full commercial license and those who are okay with sharing credit.

Pricing: There are free downloads with credit. A standard license costs $8. A broadcast license costs $40.

16. AKM Music

AKM Music is one of the largest royalty-free music producers in the United Kingdom. AKM Music knows that sometimes you need to shop for music based on the mood or feeling you want to give your project.

This is why they’ve categorized their sound collection based on the genre and mood. You’ll save time searching and spend more time creating.

What we like: Purchasing a song from AKM Music is done in a snap. You simply pay for the song and the license one time, and you can use it or play it forever.

Best for: Creators looking for sounds that want to avoid paying for a subscription-based service.

Pricing: With AKM Music, you pay per track.

17. Jamendo

Want to know Jamendo’s biggest flex? Their catalog has over 500,000 songs from over 40,000 artists in over 150 countries. That’s a lot of music and guarantees you’ll find the best musical match for your project.

Not only does Jamendo offer you a wide selection of music, but it also helps artists create commercial licenses to gain monetary recognition for their work.

What we like: Although small, we appreciate that Jamendo continues to play the song you’re listening to, even when flipping through other pages on their website. You’ll never lose your sound by accidentally clicking elsewhere with Jamendo.

Best for: Jamendo is best for creators on a budget and those who don’t mind spending a little money for the perfect sound.

Pricing: Standard licenses cost $19. Large licenses cost $49. Enterprise licenses require a quote.

18. Marmoset

Marmoset’s portfolio of users is impressive — think of creators like Netflix, Apple, and Google. With these big names, you know the quality of royalty-free music on their website is legit.

Marmoset is a full-service music agency that offers music to meet any mood or energy.

What we like: Marmoset’s impressive catalog features music from every genre. There is no shortage of unique sounds to choose from on this website.

Best for: Creators working with a budget for their sound options.

Pricing: Individual plans cost $12 a month, billed annually. Business plans cost $39 a month, billed annually. Enterprise plans have custom pricing.

19. Envato Elements

Envato Elements is a solid choice when choosing a royalty-free music service. For just $16.50 a month, you’ll receive unlimited downloads from their over 15,000 selection of music and sounds.

Envato Elements offers a wide range of music for your project and other types of media, such as graphics and video templates, to elevate your project to the next level.

What we like: Evato Elements is a subscription-based service, and they recognize that you might not always need their services. With that in mind, you can cancel your subscription at any time.

Best for: Creators with a budget to spend on their projects.

Pricing: Starts at $16.50 a month.

20. Free Stock Music

If you don’t want to spend money on sound or music and are happy to share the credit with the creator, consider Free Stock Music. (For the record, you can also purchase a commercial license for the song!)

This music platform classifies sounds by category, mood, and tempo, so you can be sure you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for.

What we like: The simplicity of the website makes it easy to find the right sound you’re looking to use for your project. We appreciate the tempo filter, too.

Best for: YouTube creators without a budget who don’t mind sharing credit.

Pricing: Free and pay-per-track options are available.

21. FoxiMusic

Foximusic has set out to solve the problem of finding royalty-free music. The team behind this music service is a group of musicians with decades of experience — meaning they make their own music in-house.

They’ve also simplified the purchasing process. Instead of signing up for a subscription, you can purchase one song or a music bundle, depending on your needs.

What we like: While subscription services are excellent, they’re not for everyone. The choice to bundle songs makes it easier for creators on a budget.

Best for: Creators who are recording both video and podcasts.

Pricing: You can pay per track or project.

AI Services for Royalty-Free Music

1. AVIA

If you’re more creative and want to compose your sounds or music based solely on emotion, consider using AIVA. AIVA is an AI-based music service that allows you complete control of the sounds you create.

With a pro annual subscription plan, you own the copyrights to the music you make.

What we like: AIVA is a subscription-based platform. Although there are paid versions of the service, you can use the free plan with up to three monthly downloads if you’re on a budget.

Best for: Creators who consider themselves picky and want to create their own music instead of choosing something else.

Pricing: Free plans are available. Standard annual plans cost €11 a month. Pro annual plans cost €33 a month.

2. Soundraw

Nothing is more frustrating than having an epic scene in your video, only for the music to not match the action. Soundraw takes the frustration out of selecting music that perfectly fits your project.

With Soundraw, simply tell the AI-based service what kind of music you want, and it will generate several variations within a few seconds. After that, choose the best song or start over again.

What we like: It can take a lot of work to choose the perfect song for your project. Soundraw removes the frustration by creating multiple variations with a similar sound and feel.

Best for: Creators who know precisely what they want but don’t want to spend hours looking for it.

Pricing: Free plans are available. Creator plans cost $16.99 a month. Artist plans cost $29.99 a month.

3. Soundful

If you can’t find a song that matches your head’s melody, try Soundful. Soundful, an AI-based music generator, allows users the creative space to create their own music and sounds.

Not only do users have complete creative freedom, but with specific pricing plans, users own the copyright licenses to the sounds they create.

What we like: Soundful is a subscription-based service. However, there is a free plan for users who want to learn the program before spending money or for those who need just one or two songs.

Best for: Creators looking for a distinct sound for their project.

Pricing: Free plans are available. Content creator plans cost $59.99 a year. Music Creator Plus plans cost $119.99 annually.

Business jargon has long dominated corporate conversations, complicating straightforward discussions.

My colleague Shannon and I tackled this issue a few years back by creating Business Babble Bingo—a playful yet enlightening game.

This game was our subtle rebellion against the meaningless buzzwords dominating meetings, presentations, and websites.

But despite the time elapsed, the problem of business jargon still muddles communication.

So, this article demystifies a few of the most overused phrases.

We’ll replace them with simpler alternatives to determine if you’re an experienced “thought leader” or new to the business world. Embrace this transformation for a definite “win-win” outcome.

• 65 Examples of Corporate Business Babble — and What to Say Instead
• What We Sound Like When We Babble
• The Human We Could Sound Like

65 Examples of Corporate Business Babble — and What to Say Instead

1. Thought Leader

A recognized authority in a certain subject matter is often called a “thought leader.” However, you could also call them an “expert,” “authority,” or just … their name.

For Example

I just got back from coffee with a thought leader. >> I just got back from coffee with Seth Godin.

2. Opened the Kimono

An incredibly creepy way of saying someone shared information, “opened the kimono,” might be better replaced with such simple phrases as “told,” “shared,” “revealed,” or even just “said.”

For Example

He opened the kimono about his new book. >> He shared some information about his new book.

3. Core Competency

Technically, this expertise offers a competitive advantage, though it‘s often just used to indicate expertise. You could call this, well, “expertise” — or perhaps a “unique skill” or “differentiator” if you’re going for the original definition.

For Example

As you know, unicorns are his core competency. >> He knows a lot about unicorns.

4. Coming Down the Pike

It is another way of saying something‘s going to happen in the future. “Expect X” or “You’ll hear about Y soon” are also perfectly acceptable, boring as they may be.

For Example

There are some new unicorn advancements coming down the pike. >> You’ll hear about some recent unicorn advancements soon.

5. Start a Dialogue

The implication is that you‘ll start an ongoing discussion that’s a two-way street instead of offering a directive with no opportunity for discussion. However, there are simple phrases like “ask,” “talk to,” and “meet” that work just as well.

For Example

My team should start a dialogue with your team. >> Our teams should talk.

6. Utilize

The word every editor changes to “use.” Just say “use.”

For Example

Let‘s utilize all our resources. >> Let’s use all our resources.

7. Leverage

If you‘re in finance or work with heavy objects for a living, you get a pass on this.

People in business, however, tend to use this to mean they’re making use of a good resource, even though “make use of,” “use,” “help,” and “rely on” do the trick quite nicely.

For Example

We have a lot of strengths we can leverage. >> We have a lot of good resources that can help.

8. Whiteboard It

If anyone ever says, “Let’s whiteboard it,” they’re about to hold the meeting hostage with a dry-erase board and a marker.

If, however, they ask people to “brainstorm,” “think through,” “lay out,” or “talk out” an idea, things should be alright.

For Example

We need to whiteboard our presentation‘s agenda. >> Let’s think through our presentation’s agenda.

9. Ideate

You really don’t need to use fancy words to impress. Instead of saying “ideate,” just say “think of” or “come up with ideas.”

For Example

Our teams need to meet for an ideation session. >> Our teams should meet to come up with some ideas.

10. Take It to the Next Level

A generic phrase is used when we aren’t sure what the “next level” actually is. Sometimes, we’re not even sure what “it” is.

Instead, say, “Improve X by 10%” or “Make Y better by changing the copy” —being specific about what you want changed and what exactly constitutes an improvement.

For Example

We should talk to Andrea about how to take this idea to the next level. >> We should talk to Andrea about how to make the homepage a better destination for customers.

11. Learnings

These are the things you learn after you learn something. You could just say, “I learned,” or “The takeaways were.”

For Example

Let’s put our learnings together after the meeting and share with Andrea. >> Let’s tell Andrea what we learned.

12. Best-in-Breed

A phrase that simply means you want to be the best has turned business into the Westminster Dog Show. Consider alternatives like “standout,” “top,” or, simply, “best.”

For Example

She wants to remain a best-in-breed company. >> She wants our company to remain the best in the industry.

13. Shifting Paradigms

Calling something a paradigm shift is not babbly in and of itself. The problem is that it‘s usually used to describe things that aren’t paradigm shifts. So, the phrase has lost all meaning.

Unless something changes the most basic assumptions we base our decisions on, maybe just call it a “big change.”

For Example

Our industry is facing critical paradigm shifts. >> There are some big changes coming in our industry.

14. Boil the Ocean

A cute way of saying you’re taking on too much, this phrase might be better replaced with a straightforward saying like “taking on too much” or “impossible.”

For Example

I think we‘re boiling the ocean in this email. Maybe we should meet in person. >> I think we’re taking on too much for an email. Let’s meet in person.

15. Move the Needle

Just as adorable as ocean boiling, needle moving is all about showing more of those ROIs. However, it might be better to say you’re trying to improve a specific, measurable amount.

For Example

Our team doesn‘t have enough budget to really move the needle on this initiative. >> Our team doesn’t have enough budget to increase conversions by 10%.

16. Out of Pocket

This is a way of saying you’ll be unreachable. Of course, I recommend saying you are “unreachable.” No need to bring your pockets into this.

For Example

I’m out of pocket for the next two weeks. >> I’m unreachable for the next two weeks.

17. Noodle on It

Noodling something can be less creepily described by phrases such as “I’ll think about it” or “Let me think of some more ideas.” (Please don’t use this as an opportunity to bring back “ideate.”)

For Example

Noodle on it while I‘m gone. >> Think about it while I’m gone.

18. Punt

Ah, another office sports analogy. If you “punt” an idea, you might consider just “postponing” or “putting it off.”

For Example

Let‘s punt this until I get back from vacation. >> Let’s talk about this after I get back from vacation.

19. Ping

If you want to “ping” somebody, it means you’re looking to “talk to” them or “contact” them. Maybe via an “IM” or a “call.”

For Example

I’ll ping you when I return. >> I’ll email you when I return.

20. Circle Back

Want to meet about something again at a later date? Talk later? Reconnect? All better options than the babbly “circle back.”

For Example

We should circle back on this once we’ve talked to John. >> We should meet about this again after we talk to John.

21. Synergy

“Synergy” describes a situation where different entities come together to produce a result greater than the sum of their individual efforts. A simpler term might be “collaboration” or “teamwork.”

For Example

Our teams have great synergy. >> Our teams work well together.

22. Verticals

A specialized field or market is often referred to as a “vertical.” However, “industry sector” or simply “field” would work too.

For Example

We‘re exploring new verticals. >> We’re exploring new industry sectors.

23. Buy-In

“Buy-in” is often used to talk about agreement or permission, but you could easily say “approval” or “consensus.”

For Example

We need executive buy-in for this project. >> We need executive approval for this project.

24. Deep Dive

To “deep dive” means to examine something in detail. You could simply say “examine closely” or “analyze.”

For Example

Let’s do a deep dive into these statistics. >> Let’s examine these statistics closely.

25. Touchpoints

“Touchpoints” refer to the interactions between a customer and a brand, but “contact points” or “interactions” work just as well.

For Example

We need to improve our customer touchpoints. >> We need to improve our customer interactions.

26. Growth Hacking

Refers to unconventional strategies to grow a business quickly. You could say “rapid growth strategies.”

For Example

We need some growth hacking to boost sales. >> We need rapid growth strategies to boost sales.

27. Revisit

Refers to returning to a topic or issue for further discussion or analysis. You could say “re-examine” or “return to the subject.” It’s another way of saying “circle back.”

For Example

We’ll revisit this matter next week. >> We’ll re-examine this matter next week.

28. Actionable Insights

Refers to useful data or information. You could simply say “useful data” or “practical insights.”

For Example

The survey gave us actionable insights. >> The survey gave us practical insights.

29. Holistic Approach

A term often used vaguely to suggest that an entire system is being considered. “Comprehensive” or “all-encompassing” could be more apparent.

For Example

We take a holistic approach to marketing. >> We consider all aspects of marketing.

30. Unpack

“Unpack” means to explain something in detail. “Explain” or “analyze” can be used instead.

For Example

We need to unpack these findings. >> We need to explain these findings.

31. Game-Changer

An overused term for a transformative idea or action. “Revolutionary” or “transformative” works too.

For Example

This software is a real game-changer. >> This software is really transformative.

32. Low-Hanging Fruit

Refers to tasks, problems, or opportunities that are easier to solve or achieve than others. “Easiest tasks” or “most accessible opportunities” are clearer ways to describe it.

For Example

Let’s tackle the low-hanging fruit first to show some quick wins. >> Let’s tackle the easiest tasks first to show some quick wins.

33. Secret Sauce

Refers to a unique factor giving an advantage. “Unique advantage” and “special method” are clearer.

For Example

Our secret sauce is our customer service. >> Our unique advantage is our customer service.

34. Pain Points

Problems or challenges are often called “pain points.” “Issues” and “challenges” work, too.

For Example

We‘ve identified the customer’s pain points. >> We’ve identified the customer’s issues.

35. Cutting-Edge

Meant to signify something advanced or innovative. “Innovative” or “advanced” are less clichéd.

For Example

We use cutting-edge technology. >> We use advanced technology.

36. Onboarding

The process of integrating a new employee could be simply called “orientation” or “training.”

For Example

Our onboarding process is thorough. >> Our orientation process is thorough.

37. Win-Win

Means mutually beneficial, which could be stated directly as “mutually beneficial.”

For Example

This deal is a win-win. >> This deal benefits both parties.

38. Granular

Looking at something in detail. “Detailed” or “specific” are simpler alternatives.

For Example

We need a more granular analysis. >> We need a more detailed analysis.

39. In the Weeds

This means getting lost in unnecessary details. “Overcomplicating” might be clearer.

For Example

I think we‘re getting in the weeds. >> I think we’re overcomplicating things.

40. Scalable

Refers to something that can grow in scale. “Expandable” is a simpler term.

For Example

Our platform is scalable. >> Our platform can expand.

Streamline → Make More Efficient. Innovate → Create. Hyperlocal → Local.

41. Customer-Centric

Focusing on the customer could simply be called “customer-focused.”

For Example

We’re a customer-centric organization. >> We focus on our customers.

42. Optics

Refers to how something appears, usually to the public. “Public perception” could replace it.

For Example

The optics of this aren’t good. >> This looks bad to the public.

43. Bandwidth

Your ability to handle tasks could be described as “availability” or “capacity.”

For Example

I don’t have the bandwidth for another project. >> I can’t handle another project.

44. Wheelhouse

An area of expertise or interest. “Specialty” or “strength” are more straightforward.

For Example

This is in my wheelhouse. >> This is my specialty.

45. Double Down

To take a bigger risk, which could be simply said as “take a bigger risk.”

For Example

We’re doubling down on our marketing efforts. >> We’re increasing our marketing efforts.

46. Streamline

To make processes more efficient. This is sometimes just a euphemism for “cutting jobs.”

For Example

We need to streamline operations. >> We need to make operations more efficient.

47. Deliverable

An assignment or task that needs to be done. “Task” or “assignment” work just fine.

For Example

The report is a key deliverable. >> The report is a key task.

48. Innovate

Often used vaguely to mean making something new or different. “Create” or “improve” are alternatives.

For Example

We need to innovate to stay ahead. >> We need to improve to stay ahead.

49. Hyperlocal

Focuses on a very specific geographical area, which could simply be called “local” or “community-focused.”

For Example

We’re adopting a hyperlocal strategy. >> We’re focusing on the local community.

50. Disruptive

Used to describe innovations that significantly change an industry. “Game-changing” or “revolutionary” could replace it.

For Example

Our new product has a disruptive impact on the market. >> Our new product has a game-changing impact on the market.

51. Synergize

To work together harmoniously, which could be replaced with “collaborate” or “coordinate.”

For Example

We need to synergize our efforts for the upcoming project. >> We need to collaborate on our efforts for the upcoming project.

52. Value Proposition

Refers to the unique benefits a product or service offers. “Unique benefits” or “advantages” work too.

For Example

Our value proposition lies in our exceptional customer service. >> The unique benefits we offer are tied to our exceptional customer service.

53. Monetize

To generate revenue from something, which could be phrased as “make money from” or “earn revenue.”

For Example

We’re looking to monetize our online content. >> We’re looking to make money from our online content.

54. Thought Shower

Similar to brainstorming, it could be simply referred to as a “brainstorming session” or “idea session.”

For Example

Let’s schedule a thought shower to come up with fresh ideas. >> Let’s schedule a brainstorming session to come up with fresh ideas.

55. Value-Add

Additional benefits or features, which could be called “extra benefits” or “added features.”

For Example

Our product’s value-add includes extended customer support. >> Our product’s added features include extended customer support.

56. Disintermediation

Removing intermediaries in a process, which could be called “cutting out the middleman.”

For Example

Our platform aims to achieve disintermediation in supply chains. >> Our platform aims to cut out the middleman in supply chains.

57. Pivot

A significant change in strategy or direction. “Change course” or “shift focus” work similarly.

For Example

We need to pivot our marketing approach to target a new audience. >> We need to shift our marketing approach to target a new audience.

58. Future-Proof

To make something resistant to becoming outdated. “Long-lasting” or “resilient to change” work.

For Example

Our software is designed to be future-proof. >> Our software is designed to be resilient to change.

59. Omnichannel

Refers to providing a consistent experience across various channels. “Multi-channel” or “across all channels” work.

For Example

Our omni-channel approach ensures a seamless customer experience. >> Our multi-channel approach ensures a seamless customer experience.

60. Win the Day

To achieve daily goals, could be simply “achieve daily targets.”

For Example

Our team’s focus is to win the day by completing all tasks. >> Our team’s focus is to achieve our daily targets by completing all tasks.

61. Rightsizing

Adjusting resources or staff to an appropriate level. “Optimizing” or “adjusting” could replace it.

For Example

The company is rightsizing its workforce for improved efficiency. >> The company is optimizing its workforce for improved efficiency.

62. Push the Envelope

To exceed limits, which could be simply said as “go beyond.”

For Example

Our innovative designs aim to push the envelope in architecture. >> Our innovative designs aim to go beyond in architecture.

63. Hypergrowth

Rapid and exponential growth, which could be replaced with “rapid expansion” or “explosive growth.”

For Example

The startup experienced hypergrowth in its first year. >> The startup experienced rapid expansion in its first year.

64. Pushback

Refers to resistance or disagreement. “Resistance” or “opposition” are simpler terms.

For Example

We received pushback from the team regarding the new policy. >> We received resistance from the team regarding the new policy.

65. Benchmark

A point of reference for measurement. “Reference point” or “standard” work similarly.

For Example

We need to establish benchmarks for performance evaluation. >> We need to establish reference points for performance evaluation.

What We Sound Like When We Babble

You may think this can sound a little nit-picky, but when you hear babble words repeatedly, this is how it can sound:

I just got back from coffee with a thought leader who was generous enough to open the kimono about his new groundbreaking book.

As you‘re aware, his core competency revolves around unicorn innovation, and he’s hinted that there’s some disruptive potential coming down the pike.

I genuinely believe that our teams should initiate a synergistic dialogue to leverage our collective strengths and optimize for these forthcoming shifts.

It might be constructive to have a face-to-face ideation session where we can whiteboard potential strategies.

To really get the needle moving, perhaps we can co-create a dynamic presentation for the CEO to ensure we maintain our best-in-breed status in this ever-evolving ecosystem.

In any case, I don‘t want to boil the ocean here; I just aim to catalyze action that moves the needle. I’ll be out of pocket for the next fortnight, but please feel free to noodle on this while I‘m away.

We can punt this discussion to a later date, at which point I’ll ping you for a circle-back.

The Human We Could Sound Like

I just had coffee with Sarah, and she gave me an early look at her upcoming book on changes in the world of unicorns. I think both our teams should prepare for these new developments.

We can tackle it with the skills and resources we have, and if we find gaps, we can discuss with our CEO Andrea about what we might need. She’s keen to stay ahead in the unicorn market.

I‘ll be on vacation for the next two weeks, but when I return, I’ll schedule a meeting so we can catch up. Feel free to jot down any ideas or questions for our agenda while I’m gone.

Communicate with Clarity — Not Babble

As you go into your next work conversations, take note of when and how babble may come up. Is there a better, clearer way to say what you want to say?

If you want to strengthen how you communicate, follow these examples, and you’ll be sure that your message is received with clarity.

We have an epic showdown in the thrilling world of social media warfare. It’s X vs. Threads, the battle of short-form social media. In one corner, we have X, the reigning short-form post champion embroiled in drama and controversy.

In the other corner, we have rookie Threads, who’s betting big on user control and wants everyone to play nice. Can X maintain its dominance and keep you scrolling for more?

Will Threads promise a better, safer platform for public conversations?

The X vs. Threads story includes leadership takeovers, a sizable user departure, and a record-shattering launch.

Shaking off the dust of the past, we’re here to answer the most crucial question for you and your brand for the future: Which one should you use?

X vs. Threads: What’s the difference?

What is X?

What is Threads?

Which should you use – X or Threads?

X vs. Threads: What’s the difference?

Twitter (now X) and Facebook (now Meta, which owns Instagram which launched Threads) have a long history of competition. Their new (or rebranded) platforms, Threads and X, are similar in many ways.

Both are text-based social media networks that promote open dialogue. While they may look like copycats, X, and Threads have some key differences.

• Approach. Threads is a platform that prides itself on meaningful, moderated public conversations. On the other hand, X favors free speech with minimal moderation and private conversation through direct messaging.
• Features. X offers premium users many post formats and extended post and video lengths. Threads has a limited number of posts and is missing a few key X features like direct messages and (gasp!) hashtags.
• Ads. Threads are completely ad-free (at least, for now), while X works with advertisers and content creators to monetize the platform. X displays sponsored posts and ads almost everywhere you go in the app.
• Cost. While X was free, it now has a free and paid, premium version with advanced features. While X offers more post formats and longer post and video lengths than Threads, many advantages are hidden behind its paywall.

What are the different user demographics for X and Threads?

Threads users tend to be younger and more educated, though X is growing its Gen Z segment thanks to its new creator features. X users trend toward white male Millennials without a college degree.

However, there’s a spread across economic and political spectrums, making it an exciting place for debate.

What is X?

Image Source

X is a social media platform specializing in short-form text content with photos, links, and videos. Originally named Twitter, the platform facilitates 500 million daily posts (formerly tweets).

The platform is exemplary for sharing live posts or live-streaming videos about breaking news, sporting events, and trending topics.

Users can easily discover new content through hashtags, featured trending topics, and X’s never-ending algorithmic feed.

Advantages of X

Wondering how X can benefit your brand? Here are the pros and cons of X, plus unique features you can leverage.

Large User Base

X boasts 253 million daily active users, giving it a considerable edge over Threads’ 10.3 million. 62% of social media users spend at least one hour per month on X, compared with 21% who spend time on Threads.

In terms of usage growth, it seems to be a mixed bag.

We surveyed X users in August 2023 and found that 28% of users increased their time on Twitter month-over-month while 31% decreased their time spent — and 12% quit the channel altogether.

The platform lost many high-profile users during its leadership and platform changes in 2022 and 2023.

Despite the turmoil, X is still the top social media choice for industries like media and live sports and is gaining traction and users again.

X CEO Linda Yaccarino reported that 1.5 million new users join the platform daily and that Gen Z is its largest and fastest-growing segment.

Content Discovery Tools

Whether you’re following live news or simply topics you care about X’s strength has always been to help users discover content.

You can click on a trending topic or hashtag that interests you or scroll through X’s algorithmic feed designed to serve up relevant content.

You can also create custom feeds through lists and communities or perform advanced searches like filtering a feed by location.

Its most iconic content discovery tool, of course, is hashtags. The hashtag idea originated with a Twitter user in 2007 and became its fulcrum for grouping topics and stories and a social media standard.

Love it or hate it, the hashtag is useful for finding similar content or following breaking stories.

Advertising Opportunities

Want to engage your customers or reach new ones online? X offers a full suite of advertising formats to help brands reach their audience.

You can target people by demographics, location, age, or gender and create a custom campaign based on conversation targeting, event targeting, and more.

Disadvantages of X

Lack of Moderation

X touts itself as a place for freedom of speech. While it does have community rules against hateful conduct, its content moderation is minimal.

The result? Users complain about harassment, cyberbullying, and bots on the platform. Since X revoked the blue check mark and started charging users for verification, users claim that X is a less safe place.

Lack of Trust

Because of the lack of moderation, mistrust of owner Elon Musk, and unpopular changes to the platform, some longtime users and advertisers have left the platform.

We found that 19% of X users say it’s untrustworthy, and 14% say the platform has poor leadership, compared with just 5% of Threads users.

As of August 2023, X’s ad revenue was down 60% from the previous year, suggesting that brands still aren’t confident they can trust X with their marketing dollars.

Pricing Structure

Want a verified profile? That’ll be $8 a month.

X’s new pricing structure took several popular features and hid them behind a paywall.

Premium users can edit posts, create communities, post longer videos, and write posts up to 25,000 characters — much longer than the standard 280-character limit or Threads’ 500-character limit.

31% of X users told us they’re considering an X premium subscription versus 69% who plan to stay on the free plan.

Features Unique to X

X has many features and formats and rolls out new ones each year. Here are five of the best ones for engagement.

X Polls

Want to create quick engagement and take the pulse of your audience on a topic? X Polls lets you post a poll to collect feedback — and automatically displays the results after it ends.

Subscriptions

X is innovating to attract content creators by giving them ways to monetize their content. One of these is Subscriptions, which lets approved users charge a subscription fee for unique content.

As an influencer, building a subscriber list and earning income is very attractive. In 2023, X also rolled out shared ad revenue for content creators — only premium users.

X Communities

For members only: X Communities are a moderated space where approved users can dialogue around shared topics.

While these aren’t private groups, they give exclusivity and the ability to build communities around shared interests or topics. You must be a premium member to start a community.

Live Videos

You can become a mobile broadcaster on X with just your phone and the X app. The live video feature lets you broadcast to X with just one click and saves it as a post once you’re done.

Video is a major growth area for social media; live streaming can give you unique content from live events.

X Spaces

X Spaces is a way to have live audio conversations within the platform. Users have creatively used this for purposes ranging from a live, interactive podcast to a TV or sports watch party.

Anyone can listen, join, and request to speak in a Space. A host moderates, and up to 13 people can talk simultaneously. You can also schedule and record Spaces for later.

What is Threads?

The X vs. Threads story includes leadership takeovers, a user exodus, and a record-shattering launch.

Threads is a text-based social media network launched in 2023 by Instagram. It borrows many features from X in a simplified interface and is designed around user control and meaningful dialogue.

Threads works as an extension to Instagram since users can carry their accounts over and share threads back to their Instagram Lives.

Our survey found that user sentiment is mixed when it comes to Threads. While more than half associate it with positive sentiments — like innovative, engaging, or optimistic — 24% find it boring (ouch!), and 19% don’t trust the platform.

Advantages of Threads

Threads takes the best parts of X and adds its own twist. These are the best features that make Threads stand out:

Minimalist Design

Threads boasts a clean and minimalist interface with user-friendly steps to share, reply to, and repost content. Users enjoy the white background, clean fonts, and absence of ads.

Designed for User Control

Fed up with X’s free-for-all chatter? Take control of the conversation and limit unwanted comments. In Threads, you can control who replies to or mentions you and limit replies to select groups.

You can also add unwanted hidden words to filter out replies with that keyword. If you’ve blocked people on Instagram, those settings carry over.

You can also control your feed by switching from the “For You” algorithm to “Following,” which shows only posts from people you follow.

Strong Moderation System

Also, Threads prides itself on its active content moderation to differentiate itself from X.

Following Instagram’s community guidelines, Threads attempts to flag and remove hate speech, threats, terrorism, some sexual content, and copyright infringements.

Disadvantages of Threads

The tradeoff for Threads’ simple interface and user-control focus? Limited functionality in some cases and limited opportunities for brands to engage.

Limited Formats

Threads has limited formats, lacking live streaming and polls compared to X. While Threads beats out the free version of X in character count and video length, X’s premium offerings give much more flexibility and functions.

These limitations may be hampering user engagement on the platform. 24% of social media users say Threads is boring or unengaging, compared with 11% who say the same about X.

New Tool, Fewer Users, and Fewer Integrations

As a new tool, Threads has a smaller user base and few integrations at this stage.

If you’re used to scheduling and managing your social media accounts all from a social media management platform, it’s a good bet that Threads isn’t supported yet.

It’s also unclear if Threads can hold onto its surge of new users, with reports that its initial app usage dropped by 79% after a month. We surveyed users about how they planned to use Threads in the next three months.

39% of users shared that they planned to use the social media channel more, 13% planned to decrease their use, and 17% planned to quit the channel altogether.

No Direct Messages

You can’t slide into anyone’s DMs on Threads because there aren’t any. That’s right, there is no way to direct-message another user on Threads without it being public.

This controversial choice by Threads was likely an effort to reduce unwanted harassment messages that X DMs are known for, but it makes it challenging to engage one-on-one.

Brands that use social media for customer support also won’t be able to do that in a private setting here.

No Advertising or Business Accounts (Yet)

Some would argue that no advertising is a huge win for the Threads experience and promotes authentic community. However, this hurts brands who need a clear path to reach targeted user groups with their content.

Some brands are testing the waters and making it work.

Features Unique to Threads

While simpler, Threads has a few distinct advantages over X.

Individual Thread Subscriptions

On Threads, you can subscribe to an individual thread for 24 hours, helping you to follow a debate while it lasts — and clear out the clutter the next day.

Live Debate

Perhaps Threads’ most interesting feature is its themed public conversations. This feature allows users to create a debate topic, join others’ debates, and participate in real-time discussions.

Threads moderators moderate these debates to ensure respectful dialogue, and participants vote for debate winners at the end, catapulting to the top of a leaderboard if they’re successful.

Integration with Instagram

In July 2023, Threads broke records by becoming history’s fastest-growing social media platform. In just five days, it amassed 100 million users.

That’s because Instagram created and promoted Threads in-app, giving users quick and painless onboarding.

All Instagram users need to do is to log in with their Instagram credentials, and they’re set up. Their handle, bio, profile picture, and settings transfer from Instagram but can be modified.

While separate platforms, they are connected: you can share Threads you like in an Instagram message or story.

Some hiccups with the linked accounts have users scratching their heads. You can’t currently have more than one Threads account or switch accounts (making it difficult to have a business account).

You also can’t delete your Threads account without deleting your Instagram one. If you deactivate Instagram, your Threads account will also be deactivated.

Which Should You Use — X or Threads?

Now, on to the final showdown: Which one should you use?

X gives users more features and functionality and has a clear path for brands to advertise and engage with audiences. X is also the clear winner for content creators who want to monetize their platform.

You will pay to play, though, as you’ll need X premium to use the best features.

From another perspective, X is oversaturated with established brands and thought leaders. It can be difficult to break in and get traction for your content.

Threads, as a new platform, offers an interesting opportunity to break in, innovate, and start conversations where fewer brands have a presence.

45% of Threads users we surveyed interact daily with brand content, and 21% of those users are hyper-engaged, interacting more than 10x a day.

Compare this with X, where only 34% of users say they interact with brands on a daily basis on the platform, and 7% are hyper-engaged.

Before you decide, consider your audience. What demographic are you trying to reach, and why are they going online? Do they prefer more controlled conversations, or are they bent on content discovery?

Suppose you want to invest in thought leadership and intelligent user dialogue. In that case, Threads is an excellent place to make an impact — and can dovetail with brands with a successful Instagram presence.

Engage Your Audience with Social Media Dialogue

Threads and X will continue to evolve, add exciting features, and continue their rivalry for years. Decide now which features are the most important to you and where your audience can be found.

Then, roll up your sleeves, get started, and gear up for the ride.

In July 2023, Mark Zuckerberg launched Meta’s much-anticipated X competitor: Threads. Meta’s vision for this new social platform was to offer “a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations” that was built on the foundation of Instagram’s existing community, content, and infrastructure.

As explained in Meta’s official announcement, “Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas.” Like Instagram, you can follow friends and creators who share your interests.

Of course, Threads has received its fair share of criticism, from accessibility concerns to accusations of using “dark design” tactics. Nevertheless, Threads hit more than 30 million sign-ups in its first 16 hours alone. It’s continued to gain traction since then, demonstrating the strength of the app’s design.

In this article, we’ll cover the design choices that have helped Threads go (and stay) viral, the areas in which it has fallen short, and what it might take to address these shortcomings.

Table of Contents

• What is Threads?
• Why was Threads created?
• How Thread Leverages Great Design
• Where Threads Falls Short

What is Threads?

To understand the design choices that underpin Threads, it’s important first to clarify what Threads is — and what it isn’t.

At its core, Threads is a standalone app that lets users share short, text-based content of up to 500 characters per post. It also offers many features with which Twitter (now known as “X”) users will likely be familiar, such as liking, quoting, or sharing posts.

Threads is also closely tied to Instagram. While there are options to create custom profiles, by default, Threads simply ports over data from users’ existing Instagram accounts. It also offers seamless integration with Instagram, with capabilities such as sharing Threads posts to your Instagram story or in an Instagram DM.

You can also automatically follow the same accounts on Threads as you already do on Instagram.

However, integration with other platforms remains limited: While Zuckerberg has promised compatibility with an open social networking protocol, it’s not currently possible to engage fully with Threads content without first creating an account.

In addition, Threads is not yet available in the European Union due to “regulatory uncertainty” regarding Meta’s adherence to the EU’s strict privacy and security regulations.

But in spite of these shortcomings, Threads has truly taken the world by storm.

According to Meta, the platform reached more than 100 million sign-ups in its first week, and it has remained consistently popular since then. As such, marketing leaders looking to stay up-to-date on the latest social media trends would be wise to pay attention to this important new platform.

Why was Threads created?

The timing of Threads’ launch was likely quite intentional: Zuckerberg’s announcement regarding this new app came on the heels of mounting dissatisfaction with Elon Musk’s leadership of Twitter.

Observers have suggested that this competitive landscape was likely a significant factor that drove the early success of Threads.

That said, Threads is more than simply a Twitter copycat. While many of the core features of Threads clearly draw inspiration from Twitter (the scrolling user interface, the content feeds, etc.), Zuckerberg’s vision for this new platform is also uniquely integrated with the larger Meta ecosystem.

In addition, Meta has released substantial improvements and additions in the months since Threads’ initial launch. The company promises to continue rolling out new features and capabilities in response to user feedback.

At a high level, Zuckerberg has described his vision for Threads as “an open and friendly public space for conversation.”

The extent to which he is able to realize this vision long-term remains to be seen — but there’s no doubt that the Meta team has already built a successful platform that leverages great design principles to create a strong, engaging user experience.

How Thread Leverages Great Design

There are several elements of the Threads user experience that showcase great design. Below, we explore several of our favorite components of this new platform:

Easy Onboarding

First, Meta developed an onboarding process that makes joining the Threads platform smooth and easy. Instead of having to make and verify a brand new account, you can simply log in with your existing Instagram credentials.

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Then, once you log in, your account is already populated with data from your Instagram profile. From your profile picture to your bio to your existing network, you don’t have to start from scratch. With just a few clicks, your Threads profile is fully set up, and you can get started posting and sharing right away.

What we love: Threads offers a smooth, easy onboarding experience, with key information automatically ported over from your Instagram account.

Integration with Instagram

Threads’ integration with Instagram doesn’t stop with the onboarding process. Design best practices tell us that a smooth, well-integrated user experience is critical to ensure people stay engaged throughout their time on the platform.

That may be why Meta has prioritized offering integrations with key Instagram functionalities such as DMs, followers, and posts.

When Threads was first launched, reviewers criticized its lack of direct messaging support — but just a few months later, Meta released an update that enabled Threads users to share posts directly with their friends using Instagram’s existing DM platform.

With this new integration, you can easily share a thread with a single contact or a group of friends in your Instagram DMs.

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In addition to this DM integration, Threads also enables you to share Threads in an Instagram post or story, offering users even more functionality while driving awareness of the new Threads platform across Instagram.

What we love: Integration with existing Instagram features makes Threads that much more accessible and easy to use.

Finally, the integration of accounts across Threads and Instagram makes it possible to easily port over followers from one platform to the other.

This means that instead of having to reconnect with everyone you know from scratch, you can easily replicate your existing social media network when you get started on Threads.

Feed Customization Options

Another important design element is Threads’ options to customize your feed. Specifically, Threads enables you to tab between a “For You” feed that includes a mix of recommended content and posts from people you follow.

There’s also a “Following” feed, which only includes posts from profiles you follow.

What we love: Threads is designed to let you toggle between a “For You” feed and a “Following” feed, enabling you to customize the content you see.

This kind of customization is important. As with any platform, different users on Threads will have different preferences.

Some may be looking for content that is relevant to their interests but is from creators outside their immediate network, whereas others may only be interested in viewing posts from accounts that they have actively chosen to follow.

With this tab-based user experience, it’s easy to alternate between these two modes and experience the platform in the way that works best for you.

Translation

In addition to fairly standard accessibility features such as screen reader support and AI-generated image descriptions, Threads also offers translation support to enable users to engage with content in multiple languages.

Importantly, this feature has been designed to be functional while remaining as unobtrusive as possible. Threads posts can be automatically translated from the language in which they’re written into the language that the viewer has set their account to.

In addition, if you see a thread in a different language (and your language is available to be translated into), you can just click the translation icon at the bottom right of the post to quickly and easily view the content in your selected language.

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What We Love: This translation feature helps overcome language barriers and makes Threads posts accessible to users around the world — which is particularly important given that the Threads app is now accessible in more than 100 global markets.

Block Words or Profiles

Finally, one of the most critical features to keep any social media platform safe and useful is the ability to block content that you don’t want to see.

On Threads, there are a few key ways that you can filter out irrelevant or undesired content from your feeds.

First, you can specify words and phrases that you want to keep hidden. This means that any replies to your threads that contain these specific worlds will be filtered out.

What We Love: While automated or rules-based content guidelines are a vital baseline for safety and useability, empowering users to make their own decisions about the kinds of posts they do and don’t want to see is a hallmark of great design.

In addition, you can unfollow, block, restrict, or even report a profile.

For content that you’re just not interested in seeing, unfollowing or blocking may make the most sense, whereas for content that might be in violation of Meta’s Community Guidelines, reporting the offending profile can help ensure that other users are also kept safe.

Moreover, any accounts that you’ve blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads, too. You don’t have to worry about seeing content from accounts that you’ve already decided you’re not interested in.

Where Threads Falls Short

Despite these substantial strengths, Threads also falls short in several key ways.

Below, we explore several of these flawed design choices, as well as strategies that could help address these shortcomings and improve going forward.

Accessibility

First and foremost, while Meta has touted its commitment to ensuring accessibility across its social media platforms, critics have commented that several of Threads’ design choices leave something to be desired from an accessibility standpoint.

In fact, accessibility expert Paul Speller conducted an audit of Threads shortly after its launch, and he identified multiple shortcomings related to nearly half of the accessibility criteria he considered in his review.

For example, Speller’s analysis found that Meta’s automated image description generator struggled to accurately capture the intention behind many images, meaning that image content remained inaccessible to users who depend on a screen reader.

The blue tick marks that indicate verified accounts are also not represented with any kind of alt-text, further limiting accessibility for visually impaired users.

Beyond issues related to ensuring compatibility with screen readers, the Threads design has also been criticized for failing to adhere to other best practices, such as the use of high-contrast colors and the availability of transcriptions for audio content.

In light of these challenges, Threads may benefit from conducting a comprehensive audit and ensuring that their user experience takes factors such as screen reader compatibility, audio descriptions and transcriptions, and other accessibility best practices into account.

Excessive Notifications

When designing any sort of digital platform, it’s always tricky to strike the right balance between providing useful, engaging notifications and avoiding annoying the user with endless, unhelpful pings.

Unfortunately, some commenters have argued that Threads has fallen prey to this common challenge, with too many unnecessary notifications enabled by default.

In particular, while other profile settings are copied over from Instagram automatically, Threads has been criticized for forcing users to manually reset notification settings from scratch. That means you may find yourself getting a lot of alerts that you’ve already told Instagram you’re not interested in seeing.

Moreover, by default, Threads sends you a notification every time someone in your network joins Threads.

While this may be useful in some cases, it’s a design choice that at least one observer dubbed a “classic dark pattern,” as it interrupts users and intentionally pushes them to check the app more often than they otherwise would.

To be sure, notifications are an important feature of most social media platforms. But when it comes to optimizing an app design for useability and a positive user experience, it’s vital to avoid overdoing it and drowning the user in excessive, unhelpful alerts.

Data Security

According to Calli Schroeder, senior counsel and global privacy counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Threads gathers “a good amount [of data that] is not necessary for the app to function.”

What exactly is Schroeder referring to? Threads can collect user data such as sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, biometrics, union membership, pregnancy status, employment, religious beliefs, and more. It can also collect data related to users’ health and fitness, location, and web activity.

And, as Schroeder explains, “Health and financial data, precise location, search history, browsing history, and more are not needed for a user to be on the app and are instead used to create a more hyper-personalized and targeted experience on the app or shared with and sold to advertisers.”

These data security concerns are a major part of why Threads isn’t available in the European Union, where regulations bar the collection of this sort of data for advertising purposes.

But beyond limitations in specific markets, the collection of so much personal data is a real cause for concern for users from anywhere around the world.

To ensure a user experience that’s not just legal but also truly safe and secure, it’s important for tech companies like Meta to make conscious design choices that limit unnecessary or unsafe data collection practices.

Visibility into Trending Topics

One of the most well-known features of Threads competitor X is the hashtag: a clickable keyword that enables users to see similar content.

To date, Threads has yet to replicate this key functionality. While you can include a hashtag in the text of a post on Threads, there’s no way to create a functional, clickable hashtag, and there’s also no way to view currently trending hashtags.

This shortcoming has been widely criticized, and yet there’s still no word that Meta intends to add any sort of hashtag functionality to Threads. As a result, there’s no clear way to view Threads posts by topic or gain insight into the topics or keywords that are most popular in real time.

Account Deletion

Finally, one of the most concerning design flaws in Threads is the lack of ability to delete your account without also deleting your Instagram account.

While Meta appears to be aware of the issue, there’s no indication of any forthcoming solution anytime soon.

As a Meta spokesperson recently explained, “To clarify, you can deactivate your Threads account, which hides your Threads profile and content, you can set your profile to private, and you can delete individual Threads posts — all without deleting your Instagram account.”

According to Meta, Threads is powered by Instagram, so right now, it‘s just one account. “We’re looking into a way to delete your Threads account separately,” the spokesperson said.

This means that once you create a Threads account, there’s no way to fully delete the account (and all the data Threads has collected from you) unless you’re also willing to delete your linked Instagram account.

The Future of Threads

The impressive early success of Meta’s Threads speaks to the strong design choices made by the Twitter competitor. From its easy onboarding experience to extensive integrations, customization, and other important features, Threads illustrates the importance of great design to ensure users stay engaged.

That said, Threads isn’t without its fair share of flaws and shortcomings. Critics have pointed to accessibility issues, data security concerns, and other critical limitations, all of which hamper the user experience and may reduce the app’s long-term success.

Ultimately, only time will tell whether Threads becomes yet another flash-in-the-pan social media experiment or manages to truly stay viral.

Whether you’re looking to level up your paid search expertise or earn a certification to boost your industry credibility, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising courses are a great way to learn and to grow your career.

Even if you aren’t a PPC specialist or you’re new to digital marketing, well-rounded marketers should at least know the fundamentals of paid search marketing.

Let’s go over the best online PPC courses every marketer should know about to improve your paid advertising knowledge and gain hands-on experience.

Table of Contents:

• What is a PPC course?
• The 10 Best PPC Courses for Marketers

PPC course content can range from teaching the fundamentals to advanced strategies, and some even offer certifications for additional industry credibility.

The 10 Best PPC Courses for Marketers

Whether you want to boost your PPC knowledge or earn a certification, there are several PPC courses out there for marketers.

Here are 10 of the best PPC courses to add to your continuing education toolkit.

1. Google Ads Certification

If you’re looking for the most comprehensive and credible way to learn PPC, you’ll want to get a Google Ads Certification.

Google processes 8.5 billion searches per day, so it makes sense to get direct insight from the platform as you’re learning how to get in front of those billions of searchers. Plus, many PPC specialist or digital marketing roles require you to have a Google Ads Certification.

Google Ads currently offers several certifications for everything from Search to Display to Video. Each module offers training questions to help you prepare for the certification exam.

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Pricing: Free

Best For: If you’re a beginner marketer or are new to paid advertising, a Google Ads Certification is the most credible and comprehensive resource to learn the ins and outs of running ads on Google.

2. Semrush PPC Fundamentals Course

Semrush is a widely recognized search platform trusted by marketers around the world

In addition to its extensive lineup of SEO and digital management tools, the platform also offers a PPC course for marketers who want to hone their skills as PPC specialists or business owners who are looking to run PPC campaigns on their own.

Taught by PPC expert Joel Bondorowsky, the PPC Fundamentals course from Semrush offers a comprehensive breakdown of the PPC basics. After you’ve learned the essentials, you’ll gain knowledge on creating effective and profitable PPC campaigns.

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If you’re interested in furthering your digital marketing knowledge, Semrush offers a range of courses and certifications in Semrush Academy. Get certified in everything from SEO essentials to GA4 to social media marketing.

Pricing: Free

What we like: The self-paced course is only five hours in total which makes it easy to learn the basics of PPC over the course of a weekend.

3. Microsoft Advertising Certification

Microsoft’s Advertising Learning Lab offers several certifications designed around the Microsoft Ads (Formerly Bing Ads) platform, from native and display ads to shopping ads.

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If you want to hone in on PPC ads for search, consider taking the Search Advertising Learning Path.

The certification course focuses specifically on the Microsoft Ads platform, walking users through ad structure, targeting, and bid adjustments. The course is self-guided and takes about five hours to complete.

After you’ve completed all 21 modules within the learning path, you can take the certification exam and earn your certification badge. If you’re already confident with the platform, you can skip straight to the exam.

Pricing: The courses and exams are free to complete.

Best For: Anyone who plans to or is already active on Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads).

4. Wordstream’s PPC University

PPC University is a free PPC training course from Wordstream, a PPC platform. The course is broken down into individual guides for each level:

• PPC 101: An intro to the fundamentals of PPC and all of the basic terms to know.
• PPC 102: This section will go over identifying target keywords, writing ad copy, and understanding bidding strategies.
• Advanced PPC: Once you have the basics down, level up to learn how to optimize and improve your ads.
• Social Ads 101: This guide goes over the different ways to advertise on social media.

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Pricing: Free

What we like: For anyone who’s looking to learn and grow in the PPC industry, Wordstream offers countless resources in addition to its courses.

5. Meta Blueprint Courses

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, offers a range of free digital marketing courses.

If you’re interested in expanding your PPC skill set to include social media advertising, consider taking one of Meta’s Blueprint Courses.

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Start with the Business Advertising on Facebook course. The free, self-guided course walks you through how to reach your customers through Facebook by creating ads on your business page.

You’ll learn how to determine which ad objective is best for your business goals and how to create a budget using Meta’s ad tools. Meta also offers a full certification if you’re interested in expanding your knowledge on the full platform experience.

Pricing: Free

Best For: Marketers who want to increase their expertise on social ads, specifically for Meta which includes Facebook and Instagram.

6. Amazon Ads Certification

While search engines like Google are usually the first thing that comes to mind when we think about PPC advertising, we can’t forget about Amazon.

If you have an ecommerce business and sell products on Amazon, consider taking one of Amazon’s Ads Certifications.

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Amazon is a massive search engine for online retail, so it makes sense to learn directly from the source how you can get your products to reach more people on the platform.

The certifications Amazon offers cover topics like retail ads strategy, sponsored ads, and campaign optimization.

Pricing: Free

Best For: Marketers and advertisers in the ecommerce industry.

7. Coursera Google Ads Beginner Course

The online learning platform, Coursera, offers several courses around digital marketing topics taught by experts from top universities and major companies.

One of the courses offered by Coursera Project Network is Google Ads for Beginners.

In the course, an instructor walks you through how to set up your first Google ad campaign and concludes with a practice assessment.

If you’re a visual or hands-on learner, this course makes it easy to get experience as you learn by setting up your ad alongside the instructor.

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Pricing: Free to enroll with a 7-day trial. After the trial, Coursera monthly packages start at $49 per month.

What we like: As a course within the Coursera network, this two-hour course is a convenient way to learn more about Google Ads if you’re already actively expanding your knowledge on the platform.

8. University of Colorado Boulder Social Media Advertising Course

Another course on Coursera, this one focuses on social media advertising. As a marketer or advertiser, you may have experience with search ads, but social ads are a separate skill set.

In this Social Media Advertising Course, taught by an instructor from the University of Colorado Boulder, you’ll learn the ins and outs of Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) advertising.

Each module takes about two hours to complete, with the final module diving into custom audiences and retargeting.

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Pricing: Free to enroll with a 7-day trial. After the trial, Coursera monthly packages start at $49 per month.

What we like: The course is taught by a university professor which can provide a different perspective than other digital marketing online courses.

9. The Complete Google Ads Masterclass

If you’re a member of Skillshare, another online learning platform, check out The Complete Google Ads Masterclass.

Taught by two digital marketing experts, this class is an actionable course that teaches you how to set up a Google Ad Words strategy and create effective ads.

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Over 6,400 students have taken the course and the ratings are high, with 74% of students saying the course exceeded their expectations.

Pricing: Skillshare is free to try for one month. After your trial, monthly membership is $32 per month and includes access to thousands of courses.

Best For: This specific and actionable course is best for anyone who wants to focus on Google Ads whether as part of their marketing role or as a consultant or freelancer.

10. Digital Marketing Institute Paid Search Marketing Course

The Digital Marketing Institute is a recognized industry resource for earning certifications and career advancement through upskilling.

The DMI’s Paid Search Marketing (PPC) Course is a self-paced course with four interactive modules that break down PPC fundamentals, keywords and landing page best practices, and reporting and optimization.

The course takes about 10 hours to complete, includes actionable templates, and offers an associate-level certification.

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One of the few paid courses on this list, Digital Marketing Institute’s PPC course isn’t cheap but it could be worth the investment as it comes with a free Digital Marketing Institute Membership.

Pricing: $445

Best For: DMI partners with the American Marketing Association (AMA) which makes it easy to fulfill continuing education requirements or just keep your skills fresh.

Start Learning Today

PPC courses are a great way to learn how to be a PPC specialist or keep your marketing skills fresh.

Whether you want to earn a certification to land a new role or want to expand your knowledge with continuing education, keep these PPC courses in mind as you hone your paid search marketing expertise.

It’s no secret that embracing AI can come with a wide range of benefits for your marketing team — things like task automation, time and cost savings, increased productivity, and more. Despite these evident benefits, there is a lingering reluctance among many marketers to incorporate AI into their strategies.

In our report, The State of AI in Marketing in 2023, we found that only 35% of marketers use AI in their role. So, we wanted to dive into the challenges that marketers face when working with AI and find ways to bridge the gap.

We’ll also highlight expert insight from industry leaders so you can learn how to tackle these challenges and harness the power of AI in marketing.

Table of Contents:

• The 10 Biggest Challenges When Implementing AI
• 12 Tips for Implementing AI

The 10 Biggest Challenges When Implementing AI

Along with the benefits of using AI in marketing outlined in the image below, the challenges of implementing AI in marketing are vast.

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This includes challenges related to the AI systems themselves, processes, team buy-in, and more. We‘re working through the biggest challenges and the data that justifies these day-to-day challenges. You’re not the only one feeling the struggle.

Here are 10 common challenges when it comes to AI in marketing.

1. Hampering Creativity

64% of marketers share a common concern — they believe that generative AI will alter (40%) or hamper (24%) the creativity of those who use it.

Deloitte Insights found that 42% of high-growth companies rely on marketing for their most creative ideas: “While creative ideas can come from any of these sources, the CMO is sometimes best positioned to be the champion of identifying and activating these ideas across the enterprise.”

With Deloitte Insights’ findings in mind, the notion of hampering creativity is a valid concern. We need marketing teams to feel creative. But, can AI and marketing creativity be achieved? We think so.

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In our marketing and AI survey, 36% of marketers agree that Generative AI will boost the creativity of those who use it.

Perhaps the key to overcoming the challenge of hampering creativity is marketers using these tools to get creative juices flowing.

2. Over-Reliance

Over-reliance on AI tools is on almost every marketer’s mind.

The overwhelming majority of those surveyed (88%) agreed that marketers should use generative AI. However, 67% said that marketers should avoid becoming overly reliant on it.

The challenge of becoming too reliant on AI may account for 47% of partially automated customer journeys, according to Ascend2.

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If it does, there’s a case that AI can still automate marketing to some degree. After all, 47% of automated customer service is 100% better than none.

3. Extra Time Commitments

You need an excellent input if you want a sound output from AI. That means you need to know what to ask for based on your goals.

Prompting AI for marketing is yet another thing to add to your swelling to-do list.

Like any new skill, prompting AI needs to be learned and practiced. The good news is that the time taken to prompt and use AI may be a case of short-term pain for long-term gain.

Based on our research, if you can prompt AI to deliver generative content that you’re happy to publish, you could save as much as three hours and ten minutes when working on a single piece of marketing content from start to finish — not bad.

4. Creating Working Processes

A contributing factor to the challenge of time constraints when it comes to implementing AI is creating processes. But, navigating the challenges of AI will be easier with a working process.

If you use AI, you want all team members to work with it similarly. An AI process is required to help eliminate bias and ensure everything is fact-checked, and it naturally provides best practice tips to use AI tools efficiently.

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5. Inaccurate Information

In our state of AI in marketing research, we found that one of the top challenges for marketers implementing AI is pushback regarding inaccurate information.

It’s unsurprising, considering almost half of the marketers surveyed have received incorrect information from generative AI.

No doubt, for conscientious marketers, producing inaccurate information is a valid concern and could cause issues for brand reputation and brand/consumer relations.

6. Poor Quality Content

Similar to the challenge above, poor-quality content is a concern for conscientious marketers. But, there’s an argument that this does not need to be a challenge.

Creating content is the second most common task marketers use generative AI for. 45% of marketers surveyed use AI for content creation, including writing, images, and idea generation.

The top three uses for generative AI in content include:

• Getting ideas/inspiration for marketing content – 22% of marketers
• Summarizing text into key points – 21% of marketers
• Writing copy and creating images for marketing content – 20% of marketers

7. Privacy and Data Analysis

Similarly to the above, there are still wide concerns about privacy and data analysis.

When it comes to data analysis, marketers use AI to analyze customer data and understand user behavior. It brings its own set of challenges.

8. Job Replacement

The worry about job replacement has been around for a while, and it’s understandable.

In 2017, a McKinsey report studied considerations around the workplace in 2030 and how AI might impact it. The report estimated that “between 400 million and 800 million individuals could be displaced by automation and need to find new jobs by 2030.”

The good news is the findings are yet to come to fruition. But the fear is still there. You might find some pushback when implementing AI with your team if they’re worried about job security.

In 2023, the subject of job replacement and AI is much more positive. Mike Maynard, the CEO at Napier, published an article titled Will AI Lead To The End Of Marketing Jobs? in Forbes.

Maynard said, “AI will inevitably replace certain aspects of traditional marketing, but by and large, it will probably be the tedious, mundane tasks, like analytics, that most of us aren’t particularly enthusiastic about anyway.

‘The truth is that although AI can potentially automate certain tasks and improve efficiency, it is unlikely to completely replace marketing teams for the foreseeable future.’

There are reasons to believe that AI is here to solve tasks and will never replace human teams in marketing. Naturally, marketing leaders have the challenge of convincing teams that their jobs are safe.

9. AI Bias

AI bias is a challenge that most marketers should be aware of.

Ultimately, AI will always be biased because humans are biased. Marketing leaders need to have a plan to rise to the challenge of teams inputting bias into a system.

Bias is a serious consideration and challenges for business, and the impact of data bias can be serious. DataRobot’s 2022 survey found that the impact of data bias can result in as much as 62% lost revenue.

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10. Keeping Up with New Trends and Technologies

The field of AI is constantly evolving, and it’s growing fast. Marketers can feel overwhelmed keeping up with the latest trends and technologies.

It’s hard to know what to try, prioritize, and invest your time into. This challenge is particularly overwhelming if you have business heads pushing your team for more.

12 Tips for Implementing AI

Okay, now we know what some of the biggest challenges are, let’s find out how to overcome them in a way that helps you reach your marketing objectives while you reap all the AI benefits you’ve heard so much about.

Here are 12 tips to help you do just that.

1. Enforce AI policies.

Dan Robinson, Head of Marketing and e-Commerce at instantprint, recommends that businesses implement and enforce AI policies to aid smooth AI implementation.

The solutions he‘s integrated into instantprint’s AI implementations include:

“Employees must adhere to the guidelines we‘ve set out. We nurture an environment of trust but also provide our team with the rules and regulations they need to be aware of to use these tools effectively and safely. Our ‘AI Code of Conduct’ is set out by each platform we use, with do’s and don’t for each tool.

“We want to make our AI policy a collaborative space. Those using AI and other models will get to know the platforms in great detail. Making policies a shared effort means that we’re more likely to have rules that will work for our team, developed by our team, with the exception of legal and ethical frameworks as a standard.”

What we like: Robinson doesn‘t deny the importance of AI policies that are legal and ethical but doesn’t stop the team from adding their thoughts. With a collaborative effort to develop policies, you’re more likely to get buy-in from team members.

2. Start with low-risk AI implementations.

Rosella Dello Ioio, Head of Content at Enate, says, “Businesses should be clearly defining the data they can and can’t share with public and private AI models. Consider hiring a Chief AI Officer to take the lead on security and governance within the business.

“Once the rules around these challenges have been clearly established, begin rolling out GenAI in your marketing department by identifying all the people whose job involves creating (writing, designing, and building) and let them find the best AI co-pilot for their tasks.

Creative roles such as Copywriting and Graphic Design are relatively low-risk in terms of sensitive data as opposed to a CRM Manager who wants to use GenAI to analyze customer feedback and complaints.

Test and procure low-risk tools to support these creative individuals in boosting productivity and slashing the time spent on mundane tasks while ensuring governance protocols are adhered to.”

What we like: It’s justified for marketers to be concerned about data and analysis by AI tools, but Dello Ioio has found a solution that allows marketing leaders to start implementing AI in a way that feels manageable and safe.

Sometimes, the first step is the most challenging, and once leaders get rolling with AI, they may be inspired to try more.

Look at HubSpot’s AI content assistant for low-risk AI experimentation. It’s free to demo, and you can write content, create emails, landing pages, and more.

3. Leverage AI alongside your existing tech stack.

Cassey Bowden, Director of Marketing at Promet Source, recommends that marketing leaders consider new AI tools with existing tech and your talented team.

She says, “When used effectively in combination with other tools and skills of our respective teams, the door is wide open for possibilities. I would encourage folks to look at AI as an assistive tool in their digital toolbox.

Those who will see the best results and realize the most benefits of AI, in my opinion, will be those who view this tech through a Venn diagram lens. Leveraging this tech along with your existing tech stack in addition to your skilled team, where these overlap, is where we will find success.”

What we like: Bowden’s tip could help marketing leaders close the gap on challenges that hamper creativity. If AI is used in addition to your skilled team, then there’s everything to gain through collaboration.

Consider taking the best of AI and the best of that all-important human touch and find the areas where they can best support each other.

4. Talk to your team.

Communication is, of course, everything! When it comes to AI, marketing leaders can eliminate a lot of AI challenges with team buy-in and communication.

Jessica Packard, Content Strategy Manager at ClockShark, found that some reassurance allowed her team to see AI for what it is; a marketing tool that can aid their workflow.

Packard says, “Initially, my team of copywriters was apprehensive about how AI could potentially replace their work in the organization.”

She continues, “The fear was understandable, but it was important to reassure them that the AI tools are still underdeveloped and they cannot create copy that successfully engages readers on an emotional level as humans do.

It’s also important to show them how leveraging AI can be beneficial to their work, from brainstorming content ideas to help writing creative titles and meta descriptions.”

Montse Cano, International SEO & Digital Marketing Consultant at Montserrat Cano, shared similar tips for overcoming AI challenges. She follows a set of questions and uses AI in a way that helps teams.

She shares her process, “We identify what needs we have in our team that we could meet by using AI. Is it code generation, text content ideas, or images? Then, assess current resources to test and validate outputs, i.e., do we need any training, hire someone else.”

Johannes Larsson, Founder and CEO at Johannes Larsson, adds to the importance of communication with an onus on regular comms and empowerment.

Larsson says, “We regularly communicate with our team about the benefits of AI and how it can empower them rather than threaten them. We also aim to provide training and resources to help them develop new skills and expand their knowledge in areas where AI is involved.”

What we like: It might seem simple to suggest communication, but it’s easily forgotten when you’re all busy at work. Cano, Packard, and Larsson have recognized the why behind team challenges and recommended how you can solve this challenge through communication, reassurance, and future training.

5. Test AI with your team.

In line with the importance of talking to your team, Kevin Miller, co-founder and CEO of GRO, encourages marketers to improve their workflow efficiency with AI.

He started with a solid goal, improving his team’s efficiency by 400%, and worked with his team to document AI success.

Miller shares his story, “We experimented with ChatGPT earlier this year to improve writing efficiency for long- and short-form content creation.

For our clients, we want to produce the highest-quality work possible to help them grow their domain authority and online traffic, so automation was a natural strategy to pursue that goal. That being said, it’s not a one-stop-shop tool.”

He continues, “Aiming to improve workflow efficiency by 400% by leveraging AI tools, we asked writers to adapt their workflows and give feedback on how well ChatGPT helped improve their writing and deliverability.

Although we did not hit those marks because of many natural obstacles and limitations of the software, we increased workflow efficiency by 200% through content templates and research assistance.

ChatGPT is fantastic for content generation and assessment, but can‘t do the work alone. It is still a part of many of our writers’ workflows to use as they see fit, and I am confident that it will continue to grow in capacity and use.”

What we like: Miller and his team have experimented with ChatGPT and actively found that AI can improve team efficiency. We especially like the level of involvement Miller’s team had in AI experimentation.

With his team reporting back on their AI feedback, we feel Miller was more likely to get buy-in from team members.

6. Get your processes locked down.

Adam Smith, founder of The Content Machine, has mastered AI prompts. His test website was just 30 days old and boasted over 36,000 clicks and over 1 million impressions. All of his content was created using AI.

Image Source

Smith says, “I’m using totally un-edited AI content, straight from ChatGPT. There’s a big misconception that AI content is rubbish or garbage.

However you can create helpful content if you get your ChatGPT processes locked down! You aren’t going to be creating high-quality content with ‘write me a 1,500 word article on x topic’ type prompts.”

According to Smith, there’s more you can do to improve the quality of content, he advises you, “Add unique images, add internal links to other contextually relevant blog posts, add as much schema as possible, and embed related YouTube videos.”

What we like: With a well-thought-out prompting process, Adam Smith has proved that AI content can be helpful, and it can rank. (And it’s even better when the data backs up the claims.)

7. Find the areas where AI is most effective.

Using AI doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing scenario. You can find the opportunities or tasks that AI is most capable of solving; then you can do the rest.

Sara Cooper, Director of Web Strategy at SimPRO, found that her team found AI most beneficial at generating headlines or sections of copy.

Copper says, “One of the biggest challenges has been feeding AI the right directives to get the output we are looking for and learning to not ask for too much from AI upfront.

For example, as the team has started to leverage AI to generate more content across our website, it‘s clear that it’s most effective when supporting the personalization of headlines or sections of copy rather than generating whole landing pages from scratch.”

Jessica Ruane, Senior Content Manager at Beekeeper, echoes Cooper. Ruane says, “A big challenge that surrounds AI is effectively utilizing it in Content Marketing. Companies are definitely using AI to varying degrees during the content creation process.

Some may be fully writing content with the use of AI, while others are utilizing it for research and inspiration. The best way to implement AI in content is — slowly. Focus on the ‘voice’ that you’d like to use, and experiment with rewriting phrases to get started.”

What we like: Ruane and Cooper agree that there’s a place for AI in content writing. Equally, they’re both seeing the role of AI vary based on what marketers find more useful. Consider using AI for different tasks and find what works for you and your team. AI doesn’t have to write everything.

8. Experiment carefully.

Sofia Inga Tyson, SEO Content Editor at Juro, resolves the AI challenge of quality and brand with careful experimentation and full disclosure to key stakeholders.

Tyson says, “There are certainly concerns about the use of AI in content strategies diluting the quality and overall authority of the website.

Businesses are often keen to experiment with AI to scale their content production but content writers are naturally fearful that AI-generated content at scale will have a detrimental impact on the performance of existing, expertly crafted content.

I think it’s really important to manage stakeholder expectations in this regard and ensure that these risks are disclosed to other decision-makers in the business that might be encouraging this approach for aggressive growth.

I also think it’s important to be cautious about AI-generated content because the true impact won’t be felt immediately. It could be months or even years before the content is evaluated negatively based on the quality or use of AI.

Any experiments should be just that – careful, closely monitored and kept at a scale that means it can be reversed if needed. I think this approach will bring a lot of content writers comfort as it demonstrates that you’re approaching the use of AI with caution, not carelessly jeopardizing the online presence you have already.”

What we like: Tyson’s holistic approach to AI covers brand reputation, the team, and stakeholders. She considers the desire to leverage AI with the needs of the team who use it. We love the reassurance for all involved when experimentation is monitored carefully.

9. Monitor quality and accuracy.

Once you’re set up and using AI, you don’t want to neglect the all-important quality check.

Annika Haataja, Head of SEO at Seeker, says, “As you expand your use of AI, don‘t forget to monitor quality and accuracy. We all know that AI can sometimes make mistakes, which may hurt adoption if teams don’t trust the results.

Have people review a sample of AI output to catch errors, and empower them to have faith in their own expertise in the process.”

What we like: Diligence around AI output could decline as teams become comfortable with AI usage. Haataja reminds us to stay mindful of quality and accuracy as AI adoption scales, an important reminder for all of us.

10. Refine your data sources.

Simon Brisk, Director at Click Intelligence Ltd., found AI bias a challenge. Interestingly, they found better data once his team refined the data sources.

He says, “One significant challenge we‘ve faced at Click Intelligence when integrating AI is ensuring data integrity. AI models are only as good as the data they’re trained on. Inaccurate or biased data can lead to misguided marketing decisions.

“For instance, while analyzing user behavior for an e-commerce client, skewed data initially suggested a preference for a specific product line. Only after refining data sources did we realize a more holistic preference trend, thereby recalibrating our marketing strategy.”

What we like: Brisk’s experience with AI bias shows the potential impact and the solution. By recalibrating data sources, Click Intelligence could recalibrate its marketing strategy based on reliable data.

11. Stay competitive.

The world of AI is developing fast. Chris Stott, Director at Seven Marketing, recommends staying ahead of AI developments.

He says, “Staying ahead of the competition is paramount. It’s essential for us to consistently deliver exceptional value. This means rigorously testing all AI software to keep us on the cutting edge and guarantee that we provide top-tier results to our clients.”

What we like: Incorporating AI into your systems can be exciting and empowering. Testing AI from a place of experimentation is a great way to explore AI capabilities with your team. You’ll soon get a feel for what supports you and what you can live without.

12. Overcome data integrity and change management.

Jessica Shee, Senior Tech Editor and Marketing Content Manager at iBoysoft, shares the importance of overcoming data integrity and change management.

She says, “Change management and data integrity are two significant obstacles to implementing AI in marketing. For accurate AI-driven insights and decision-making, it is essential to ensure high-quality, pure data.

Misaligned data can cause inaccurate forecasts and ineffective marketing campaigns. Invest in data cleansing, validation, and data integration tools to address this issue.

Change management is an additional obstacle. Integrating AI can disrupt existing workflows and require team members to acquire new skills. Transparent communication about the benefits of AI and training team members to cultivate acceptance and proficiency are necessary for a smooth implementation.

Working with AI experts, integrating teams in decision-making, and starting with trial projects can help integrate AI while resolving difficulties. A systematic strategy, continual training, and clear communication ensure a smoother transition and optimize AI marketing benefits.”

What we like: Shee recognizes that you don’t have to do everything alone. You can bring in experts and start with trial projects to help support your team through AI implementation challenges.

What’s stopping you from implementing AI?

Consider this: 70% of marketers consider it easy or somewhat easy to measure the success of marketing automation, so give it a go.

In the worst case, you‘ve run an experiment (and isn’t that what marketing is all about?), and in the best case, you’ve got the data to support the success of your AI endeavors. Getting buy-in from your team or stakeholders will be easier when they know AI drives marketing objectives.

Plus, with the top tips from marketing leaders, you’ll start with the best possible insights to make AI and marketing an absolute success.

No one knows the saying change is the only constant in life better than a marketer.

We’ve seen the number of MarTech solutions grow from about 150 to more than 11,000 over the last 20 or so years.

We’ve seen mobile become its own channel… and then as the world became device agnostic, we watched it simply merge with online.

We watched the birth of social (remember MySpace anyone?).

And finally, we leaned in as, a little more than a year ago, OpenAI unleashed generative AI into our world.

When I think about all that we experienced in the last 12 months and what we’re likely to see in the next 12, all I can think is: be ready for more change.

As marketers, we live and breathe customer focus, and in 2024, we will be put to the test. Here, I’m delighted to share some top trends to keep in mind from some truly exceptional marketing experts.

Top Marketing Trends to Watch in 2024, According to Experts

1. Doing more with AI — with empathy.

HubSpot’s State of Marketing report (coming January 2024) found 64% of marketers are already leveraging AI in their roles.

Many marketers have already begun exploring AI’s powers when it comes to content creation, market research, administrative tasks, and even upleveling the user experience with their brands.

My guess? This number will continue to grow in 2024 and beyond.

Sean Downey, Google’s President, Americas and Global Partners, agrees with this sentiment.

As he puts it: “It should come as no surprise that in 2024, the biggest marketing trends will center around the possibilities of AI. Today, marketers are faced with pressing challenges to navigate evolving consumer expectations and consumption habits in today’s media landscape, which is fragmented and shifting dramatically — all while delivering business outcomes more efficiently.”

Downey adds, “The AI opportunity is coming at a time of transformation for everyone, including marketers. In fact, in addition to connecting brands and products to people, more than ever before, marketers need to be growth drivers for their companies.”

At many organizations, marketers will need to lead the charge when it comes to implementing AI into their workflows and demonstrating true impact before AI is adopted throughout the org.

This makes sense — marketing is about experimenting. So new technologies typically start with us.

AI will also shift the advertising landscape. In fact, Downey mentioned nearly 80% of Google’s advertisers already use at least one AI-powered Search Ads product.

And marketers who use Google’s AI-powered video reach campaigns see 3.7X return on ad spend compared to those who don’t.

He says, “The days of guesswork to find your most valuable customers are behind us. This means you can get back to doing what you do best: Marketing.”

Downey continues, “Now here’s where we flip the script. Despite all the exciting things AI can do, it can’t work on its own. It takes people with expertise, creativity, and empathy to harness AI’s potential. It isn’t about the technology itself. It’s about what you, as marketers, will do with it. AI can’t do anything without you — but you can do so much more with AI.”

2. Harnessing generative AI to improve messaging performance.

46% of marketers report that AI tools help them with content creation.

Christy Marble, 3X CMO at Pantheon, Visier, and SAP Concur, says this is a big trend her team is watching.

She told me, “Marketing adoption of generative AI will accelerate as more experiment; learn to use it responsibly; and tell their friends — a transformative opportunity to improve brand and messaging performance. Solid messaging frameworks are essential to brand consistency, and paired with generative AI they’re game-changers.”

Marble provides some tips for making content review meetings obsolete by making it easy for every marketer to create messaging that’s on-brand:

• Use your messaging frameworks as core parameters in AI-enabled content platforms to ensure message differentiation and consistency.
• Empower your teams with messaging rubrics, enabling them to use generative AI for self-review, and continuous improvement.
• Use generative AI not to create more content, but use it to land context — to hone your craft and deliver value to your target audience with the right message, through the right channel, and at the right time in the customer journey.

3. Crafting unique branding with “human intelligence”.

As more marketers begin incorporating AI into their writing processes, we’ll see a rise in low-value, generic content across the internet.

To stand out, it’s critical you continue to create high-quality, human-led content that isn’t simply copied and pasted from a chatbot.

To dig into this trend, I spoke with Holly Bowyer and Julie Neumark, Partners at Media & Marketing Minds.

They told me: “AI is clearly the darling of 2024 trends. Your challenge? Don’t get so seduced by its shimmer that you neglect ‘human intelligence.’ You need to be at the helm in order to maximize the efficiency AI brings by gathering and processing massive amounts of data.”

They add, “Before you start churning out prompts asking for ‘witty, clever, and unique’ messaging ideas, you need to know your audience, competition, and core differentiators. Think of AI as your assistant, capable of expediting the laborious research process and distilling it down into consumable pieces.”

In other words: Prompting an AI chatbot should not be crux of your messaging strategy. It should be used to research, brainstorm, and refine messaging — but each step of the process needs to be human-first.

As Bowyer and Neumark say, “Remember that human beings — including your target audience — can smell inauthenticity from miles away. So, embrace AI … just know that everyone else is, too. Stand out this year by anchoring your brand messaging to your uniquely human voice.”

4. Becoming more purpose-led as Generative AI transforms buyer journeys.

Marketers across the globe have been tasked with drastically shifting their SEO strategies in 2023 and 2024 to prep for generative AI in search.

Creating how-to content won’t be as powerful as it used to be for capturing leads. In 2024, personality-led thought leadership content will be the main type of content that helps brands stand out on the SERPs.

Andrew Wheeler, CEO at Skyword, agrees with this sentiment.

As he puts it, “In 2024, marketers must wake up to the fact that their mass-produced content is becoming obsolete with AI tools emerging as the go-to for buyers seeking instant answers, suggestions, and problem-solving advice.”

He continues, “Savvy marketers will adapt by leaning into purpose-led content that resonates in ways AI can’t. Purpose-led means you have an exact understanding of who your brand helps and why it matters. It means you’re exceptionally dialed into the context in which your audience needs you, what they hope to gain, and how you make their lives better. And it means 100% of your content is focused on fulfilling their functional, emotional, and social needs in that context.”

He adds, “Genuine purpose equals genuine relevance. Especially in a tough economy, brands will have to ditch the distractions and deliver standout content that’s indispensably relevant alongside the influence of AI tools.”

5. Owning the customer experience.

I believe marketing leaders’ scope will expand to (finally, formally) own or influence every aspect of the customer experience flywheel – from the first moments of awareness, through acquisition, and into the product itself.

We will elevate our contributions to customer advocacy to truly influence customer loyalty through brand-consistent experiences throughout the product and the professional services that surround it: onboarding, implementation, and customer support.

In short, Marketing will become responsible for the end-to-end customer experience.

6. Making more decisions with less data.

Over the past few years, we’ve all seen click-through rates continuously drop as social media and search features aim to keep users on-site.

Additionally, privacy laws and cookie policy changes means that many marketers now need to learn how to get by on less data.

For Andy Crestodina, Co-founder and CMO at Orbit Media, this isn’t an issue as much as an opportunity.

He says, “We’re in a low-data era of marketing, so get ready to make more decisions with less decision support. It’s going to be like the old days of advertising. Do the things that have always built awareness and trust. Create videos, publish research reports, get active with PR, collaborate with influencers. You won’t be able to connect all the dots, but strategy and fundamentals still apply. Those will never change.”

7. Preparing for generative AI in search. 

Google’s SGE roll-out in 2024 will cause monumental changes to content marketing and SEO.

SGE will open up new opportunities for your content to be discovered. At the same time, we’ll see major shifts in terms of what content performs best on search engines.

Marketers’ will want to re-think their existing SEO and content creation strategies to lean into more personality-driven content — something AI can’t replicate. 

To dig into this, I spoke with Casey Carey, Chief Market Officer at Quantive. According to Carey, there are four things you can do early in 2024 to prepare:

1. Plan for the potential impact and communicate expectations to stakeholders and executives.
2. Update your strategy to focus on unique and late-stage content such as templates, checklists, buying guides, calculators, etc.
3. Invest more in rich content experiences — primarily video and images — as the top assets will be included to augment the user experience.
4. SGE will outweigh results from high authority sources.

Now is the time to rethink the role of media and 3rd-party sources in your strategy. It‘s critical you consider how you’ll get ahead of this in early 2024.

(Want to know more about how to prepare? Check out Which Types of Content to Lean into Ahead of Google’s SGE — and What to Avoid.)

8. Using an account-based approach for more than just enterprise.

Account-based marketing used to be reserved for enterprise customers.

But Sydney Sloan, CMO at Drata, believes that won’t be the case in 2024.

She says, “Platforms have evolved, making it easy to set up segments of similar accounts or buyers and target your ads and messaging to them. Stop throwing all your budget at PPC; there’s a smarter way!”

She continues, “By segmenting your target customers, you can create campaigns with messaging and offers that truly address their challenges. Work closely with the SDR team to align their warm outbound cadences, leveraging keyword insights to personalize their messages.”

Sloan adds, “I’m thrilled to see that platforms like Google are tightening up limits to prevent spam — this is the new way. In the era of tighter budgets and a drive for efficiency, this is a great method to drive higher-quality opportunities into your funnel!”

9. Leveraging automation & GTM plays.

In 2024, automation and go-to-market (GTM) plays will sweep the marketing world, leaving traditional ABM tactics behind.

Bryan Law, Chief Marketing Officer at ZoomInfo, says this is a big trend his team is watching.

As he puts it, “Repeatable and scalable GTM plays that leverage robust, centralized data for targeting — triggered by real-time intent signals — will increasingly drive integrated campaigns across sales and marketing.”

He adds, “Companies that master this motion will reap the rewards of improved conversions, lower costs, and better efficiency. In fact, Bain & Co. has found that companies who master GTM plays are nearly three times more likely to outpace their competitors.”

Creating a value matrix can help you as you formulate a GTM strategy for 2024 and beyond. Additionally, it’s key you lean into data to support your motion.

Law says, “The scalability and relevance of GTM plays will also be enhanced by the rapid adoption of generative AI tools. High-quality data that combines first- and third-party sources are foundational for success — both for GTM plays themselves, and the GenAI embedded in them.”

Prepare for Changes … But Stay True to Foundational Marketing

What do all these changes mean for marketers?

It means we must stay abreast of the multitude of new strategic frameworks, GTM approaches, and, of course, technologies like generative AI.

But we need to not become so entranced with the shiny new penny that we lose sight of the fundamentals: Like taking the time to deeply understand our customers.

While the ways in which we approach marketing will change in 2024, the foundational aspects of marketing will stay steady.

62% of business leaders across industries have invested in AI to help their employees. Of those, 71% have seen a positive ROI, and 72% report increased employee productivity.

But how does AI stack up when it comes to customer experience specifically?

Keep reading to learn how to leverage AI-driven customer experiences — and why you should.

How AI Impacts the Customer Experience

How You Can Leverage AI to Improve the Customer Experience

8 Tips for Getting Started

How AI Impacts the Customer Experience

Using data-driven insights, we’ll show you how AI can impact the customer experience through support, marketing, sales, and more.

We also share expert insights about potential drawbacks so you can implement AI solutions the right way.

Improved Customer Service

A significant advantage of using AI in customer service is the potential to offer 24/7 assistance. In fact, this is the most significant benefit, according to customer service professionals surveyed for The State of AI Report.

The third most popular use case for AI/automation in service is using chatbots and self-service tools to facilitate this round-the-clock support. Routing requests to reps is the most popular AI use case cited by customer service pros.

Further, 84% of customer service reps say these solutions make it easier to respond to support tickets. Meanwhile, 64% say AI helps make customer interactions more personalized.

The impact: Chatbots provide the support infrastructure to offer 24/7 support, and AI solutions help reps respond to queries faster. That means customers typically experience shorter wait times.

To top it off, they may also receive more tailored responses from service agents.

Overall, this reduces frustration — and thus, friction — across the support journey. And that makes for a smoother customer experience.

Potential Drawback: Risk of Losing High-End Customers

“One of the main downsides of using AI in customer service is potentially losing high-end customers due to a lack of ‘sufficient’ support,” says Cath Brands, Chief Marketing Officer at Flintfox.

“While people today are generally okay with, let’s say, talking to AI chatbots, high-end customers usually expect dedicated, human-run customer service, and they get frustrated when met by AI bots.

“I really think this is a huge downside to using AI in customer service, and I don’t think many businesses can afford to lose their high-end customers due to situations like these,” warns Cath.

Marketing and Sales Journeys

More and more people prefer to research products and services independently online. For B2B sales reps, that means they only have around 5% of a customer’s time during their buying journey.

With fewer “face-to-face” interactions, reps should take any opportunity to influence customer decisions.

It’s also critical to give customers targeted, omnichannel assistance throughout their online marketing and sales journeys. Long story short? AI solutions could be your greatest ally here.

According to 89% of marketing pros surveyed, generative AI generally improves the quality of their content. Then, 84% of bloggers think that AI/automation helps them to better align web content with search intent.

→ Download Now: The State of AI in Marketing [Free Report]

On the sales front, the most popular use case for AI is content creation, closely followed by prospect outreach. Of sales pros, 86% report that using generative AI to craft messages to prospects is effective.

And 72% say it helps them to build rapport with prospects faster.

The impact: Better quality and more targeted content improves user experience. It also gives people everything they need to know to research your product or service independently.

That creates more positive experiences when customers engage with your brand across marketing channels (i.e., your social media or website).

Then, effective outreach messaging can help you influence a prospect’s sales journey. That, coupled with quick customer–company rapport, can help your sales reps make all interactions really count.

Potential Drawback: Hard To Find Relevant Use Cases

“One setback for AI content creation is that bots find it hard to find real-life examples that are actually relevant,” says Will Rice, SEO & Marketing Manager at MeasureMinds.

“Everybody knows that just explaining the theory of something isn’t enough. Showing a practical example of how this has worked in the real world helps users visualize how they can action the point you’re making,” says Will.

For Will, having these actionable real-life examples separates good content from great content. But “AI just can’t do this well. Especially for relatively new problems, where innovation is key.”

Personalized Experiences

Of consumers, 56% are more likely to make another purchase after a personalized shopping experience. And 62% of business leaders report better customer retention because of personalization.

But, creating end-to-end personalized customer experiences doesn’t just increase sales and retention. It also helps smaller brands compete with industry giants.

The crux? Most companies don’t have the foundations to map out the detailed customer picture that makes personalization possible.

However, enlisting AI/automation tools can help you build personalized experiences at scale and across channels.

There are three main ways that AI can help your brand create more personalized customer experiences:

• Advanced customer segmentation. AI-powered algorithms analyze customer data and find distinct segments based on behaviors, preferences, and purchase history.

• Real-time personalization. AI-driven systems process real-time data such as browsing behavior, previous purchases, and location to offer immediate personalization.

• Predictive customer insights. AI analytics forecast customer behavior based on historical data and current trends, enabling brands to anticipate needs and preferences.

Potential Drawback: Falls Short With Creativity

“One key drawback of using AI in customer service is its inability to be creative,” says Tobias Liebsch, Co-founder at Fintalent.io.

“AI systems operate based on predefined rules and algorithms, lacking the flexibility to think outside the box.”

Although AI excels at following set guidelines, it may “struggle to handle complex or nuanced situations that demand creative and spontaneous problem-solving,” Tobias warns.

Because customer issues are often unique and require innovative thinking, AI might lack the creativity for personalized solutions.

Data Analysis

AI tools can gather, analyze, and spot trends in large volumes of data. Access to these data insights means you can spot (and celebrate!) your successes.

It also means you can quickly identify areas for improvement — including how to deliver better customer experiences overall.

The State of AI Report findings show that AI/automation helped professionals analyze data across different departments/jobs.

For example, collecting and analyzing customer feedback is the second most popular use of AI for customer service professionals. Then, data analysis/reporting is a popular use case among sales pros.

The impact: Trends from customer feedback and sales data can give you insights into how to improve customer experiences. Such as implementing a recurring suggestion from a customer survey that improves purchasing experiences.

Or finding common reasons customers cancel subscriptions so you can improve your offering and lower churn.

Potential Drawback: Fewer Interactions With Customers

Merchynt uses AI “for every step of our customer journey,” says founder and CEO Justin Silverman.

AI has improved customer satisfaction through “a near-instant personalized strategy plan based on information we gather during their sign-up process.” But Justin warns the trade-off is fewer human interactions with customers.

As such, Merchynt is “missing valuable opportunities to gather feedback on how we can continue to improve our offerings.”

How You Can Leverage AI to Improve the Customer Experience

From account management to content creation, here are 10 ways your company can leverage AI to improve customer experiences.

Account Management

Good account management makes customers feel valued, leading to better experiences. Better customer experiences increase customer retention and make cross-selling and upselling more feasible.

But account management can be tricky. There are many plates to spin and people to keep happy — especially with a broad client base. AI solutions can help sales, marketing, and service professionals complete tasks faster.

That means they have more time to build better customer–company relationships.

An AI-powered tool like ChatSpot responds to chat-based commands. You can ask it to help you draft follow-up emails to prospects or thank you notes to existing customers.

The tool can also generate reports based on your company’s CRM data and add contacts with notes to HubSpot’s CRM.

Get Started With HubSpot’s ChatSpot

Field Customer Questions 24/7

Hovia uses AI to deliver great experiences to its B2B and B2C segments. The brand also uses the tech to help them account for product outcomes, including specific wallpaper mural requirements.

“Our service desk provider has a first-to-market AI solution that allows us to answer complex queries with very little human input,” says Jack Gibson, Head of Growth.

Through AI, Hovia can accurately answer customer queries at scale — ensuring the best outcomes for both audiences. “While we do answer these on our FAQ pages, it’s reassuring to know that we can field these questions in real-time,” Jack explains.

Route Tickets to Reps

Routing tickets to reps is a popular use case for AI in customer support. You can leave basic tickets, like questions about your services or even customer returns, to chatbots.

(On that latter point, SurveyMonkey found that 59% of customers “would use AI to return a purchase.”)

But if the chatbot can’t handle the request, it can route the ticket to the correct department or rep. AI tools may also suggest a support ticket if a customer wants to chat with a human agent.

Prioritize Tickets and Queries

Not only can AI route tickets to reps, but it can also prioritize the query based on the level of urgency. To do this, AI tools analyze tickets based on sentiment, intent, and language used. Then, reps can handle the most dissatisfied customers first.

Faster query prioritization is one of the biggest pros of AI in customer service. Speedier prioritization can prevent emotionally charged interactions from escalating and maximize each customer interaction.

Both of which help to create better customer experiences.

Content Creation

Generative AI can help you streamline and scale your content creation efforts. And when paired with human expertise, it can give your customers a more tailored marketing/sales journey.

That creates a better customer experience across your sales, marketing, and support channels.

A generative AI tool like Content Assistant makes it easier to write customer emails, including prospecting, marketing, or service ticket responses. It can also help you gather information, generate ideas, and structure blog content.

Get started with HubSpot’s Content Assistant

Remove Language Barriers

The translation capabilities of AI tools can help you remove language barriers with minimal resources. For example, you can use ChatGPT to translate customer service queries and give more tailored support.

You can also use AI to translate articles from your knowledge hub automatically into multiple languages. This will help your website visitors access knowledge in their native language.

Deliver Relevant Messaging to Customer Segments

“AI can analyze customer data to identify distinct segments based on behavior, preferences, and engagement history,” says Matthew Smith, Operations Manager at Ticket Squeeze.

The team at Ticket Squeeze uses this data to “deliver more relevant and engaging messages” to different segments.

For example, they used AI to segment email lists into categories like “Sports Enthusiasts” and “Concert Aficionados.” Now, each segment receives content specific to their interests.

Matthew cites “higher open and click-through rates,” “deepened customer engagement,” and “reduced email fatigue” as benefits of a more personalized approach.

Proactive Problem Solving

AI analytics can help your brand offer proactive solutions before potential issues arise. A proactive solution could be as simple as restocking popular items to provide a seamless buying experience.

You could also use AI analytics to identify demand for future products, services, or improvements.

Personalized Deals and Recommendations

According to SurveyMonkey, 47% of customers are interested in receiving personalized deals from AI. That number rises to 63% within the Gen Z demographic.

Deals and recommendations are ways to create more personalized customer experiences. And as we highlighted earlier, that can help you compete with leading businesses in your industry.

AI-driven systems/algorithms can help you offer personalized product recommendations and discounts before customers express their requirements. The result? Your customers will feel valued.

Plus, you’ll save them time searching for desired products or services, creating more enjoyable buying experiences.

Train Employees

Through sentiment analysis and knowledge base integration, AI can help you train your customer service and sales reps.

Sentiment analysis gives your team insight into the intent or emotions behind customer messages. Then, if AI can access your knowledge base (i.e., blog content or company handbook), it will present relevant training scenarios to your team.

Finally, AI can analyze how your team performs with both sentiment analysis and your knowledge base in mind.

8 Tips for Getting Started

We spoke to eight professionals who are already using AI to improve the customer experience journey. They share their number one tips for those just starting with AI tech.

1. Automate smaller tasks first.

“One crucial tip for beginners is to start small,” says Liam Lucas, CEO of Off Road Genius. Liam, who has actively integrated AI into Off Road Genius’ customer experience journey, started by automating simple tasks.

Liam cites answering frequently asked questions through chatbots as an example of how they started small. That simple automation saved the service team’s time, and the instant responses to customers also improved “their overall experience.”

2. Refine AI content in iterations.

Chris Evans, an SEO Specialist at E2E Studios, uses AI to write emails to non-techy customers. Chris has been using AI to explain a product/service in layperson’s terms and simplify sales emails to make them more user-friendly.

Generative AI content “is only as good as you prime it,” warns Chris. “Out of the box, it will be ‘OK.’ But priming it with what you want and want to achieve, and the desired outcome produces much better results.”

Chris’ number one tip is to refine the content in iterations. “Start with a rough draft, ask ChatGPT to improve it … proofread it, tweak it, and again ask it to improve it based on your recommendations.”

3. Start with basic data analysis.

CEO and Founder of Linions, Kate Adams, has been using AI-driven insights to shape their marketing strategies.

“By employing AI analytics tools, we’ve gained a deep understanding of our customers’ preferences and behaviors,” says Kate.

Kate recommends that beginners start with basic data analysis like monitoring “website traffic, social media interactions, and sales patterns to identify trends.”

Even starting small can yield valuable insights that help you communicate with your audience meaningfully.

4. Front-load data input.

Hovia uses AI to provide accurate information to their customers, which improves the customer experience. To do this, the company uses AI to field queries about its product offering.

“Setting up the tool has been straightforward enough,” says Head of Growth, Jack Gibson.

“We’re able to provide detail on our product offering, material types, manufacturing process, shipping, designs, etc., to ensure that the automated output is as accurate as possible,” he says.

But if you’re considering adding an AI solution to your business, Jack advises “to make sure that you’re feeding as much information into the tool as possible.”

That’s because the more prompts it has, “the more relevant the output will be.” Although it can be slightly time-consuming in the short term, it creates “a better experience for the end user.”

5. Experiment with existing tools.

Pinar Arslan, a Customer Success Agent at Gameplan, has been using an AI tool “to determine which customers to prioritize.”

“We have found that the GPT-4 plugin Advanced Data Analytics by OpenAI is very helpful,” says Pinar. The team uses the plugin to identify customers who are at risk of canceling their subscriptions, which helps with prioritization.

Get Started With HubSpot’s AI Tools

6. Adopt a customer-centric approach.

“AI can be applied to a variety of areas within the customer experience,” says John Pennypacker, VP of Sales and Marketing at Deep Cognition. But, using AI “should always be done with an eye toward the customer.”

John recommends that companies use AI to complement and enhance their brand voice rather than take it over entirely.

“It’s important to ensure that customers don’t feel like they are dealing with an automated system or getting generic responses,” John warns. Instead, “businesses should strive to create a unique experience for each customer.”

7. Use AI to help you develop prompts.

“If you’re struggling to get the results you want, ask the AI to help write the prompt,” says Eric Mistry, Customer Education Operations Manager at Heap.

Eric recommends that you “start by explaining the problem, then ask it to ask you questions to understand the problem criteria, then produce a prompt.” Aside from text production, according to Eric, this approach “is a great way to produce fantastic images in AI tools like Dall-E or Midjourney.”

8. Maintain the human touch.

COO and Head of Marketing at CanXida, Azi Azimi, has used AI in customer experience processes across customer support, sales, and marketing. “Throughout these processes, we made sure to maintain a human touch,” says Azi.

For example, while AI plays a significant role, CanXida always provides opportunities for customers to connect with real people when needed. The CanXida teams also “personalized AI-generated messages to make them feel more human and authentic.”

Azi mentions this “balance between automation and human interaction” as pivotal in creating a positive customer experience.

Leveraging AI for Exceptional Customer Experiences

From browsing to purchasing and aftercare, AI, when implemented thoughtfully, has the potential to positively impact the entire customer experience, from browsing to purchasing and aftercare.

For example, AI tools like chatbots can help you provide 24/7 customer support. That means people can get quick answers to queries regardless of time zones or team availability, creating frictionless support experiences.

AI tech can also help you provide hyper-tailored marketing/sales journeys to new and existing customers. That reduces churn, bolsters your brand’s reputation, and encourages repeat purchases.

You can start with AI-enhanced customer experiences by first automating smaller tasks, front-loading data input, or experimenting with existing tools.

But whichever approach you take, remember to stay customer-centric and maintain the human touch for the best results.

Backlinks continue to be an important ranking factor in 2023 — and it seems it never changes. But what kind of backlinks matter most in SEO?

Editorial links, pillar links, sitewide links? What’s the difference between them? Which are worth the effort?

In this guide, I’ll share 20 different types of backlinks in SEO with examples. Additionally, you’ll read some expert tips and tricks to acquire high-quality links and gain better search visibility.

Table of Contents

• What is an SEO backlink?
• 3 Undeniable Benefits of SEO Backlinks
• 20 Types of SEO Backlinks
• Tips for SEO Backlinks

What is an SEO backlink?

An SEO backlink is a hyperlink from one website to another. They’re also known as inbound, incoming, or external links.

Backlinks are an integral part of search engine ranking algorithms, as Google uses them to determine the credibility, authority, and relevance of the website.

The more backlinks from authoritative sources, the better the chances of higher rankings.

Here’s how a backlink looks on a web page.

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3 Undeniable Benefits of SEO Backlinks

Over 46% of SEO pros spend $5,000-$10,000 monthly on link building, a recent study found. However, according to Ahrefs, a whopping 66.31% of pages have no backlinks. And 90.63% of pages receive no organic search traffic from Google.

See the trend?

But let’s dive deep and see why backlinks matter.

1. Better Search Rankings

Backlinks are known as the “vote of confidence” from Google.

If your website gets high-quality backlinks, Google sees you as a trustworthy source, thus elevating your ratings in the search results.

Ahrefs backs up this assumption with a study revealing the direct correlation between the number of referring domains and keyword rankings.

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Does it mean SEOs have to focus on acquiring an abundance of backlinks? Quite the opposite.

A plethora of low-quality backlinks won’t do in the long run, as Google may consider them spammy. That said, I suggest acquiring high-quality backlinks in fewer quantities rather than playing the numbers game.

But what defines a quality backlink? A high-quality backlink comes from a high domain authority website that is trusted by not only search engines but also people.

Here is a case study from Andrew Holland, Director of SEO at JBH. Look how they managed to improve their rankings with the help of a few links.

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2. Higher Domain Authority

Acquiring backlinks from relevant and reputable websites gradually improves domain authority (DA). This metric, developed by Moz, scores websites from 1 to 100. Higher scores indicate that your website will rank higher on SERPs.

However, SEO folks rely heavily on Ahrefs’ Domain Rating — an altered alternative to Moz’s score. Check your website’s domain rating with this free tool.

Pro tip: Earn backlinks from quality sites with a DR of 40+. Target DR 70+ sites for maximum impact on your rankings.

3. Referral Traffic and Leads

Backlinks are not only about improving your website. In fact, they can bring you referral traffic and prospective customers. This occurs when someone clicks on links in an article and lands on the webpage of the linked website.

Note: In my experience, you never know what media outlet or blog post will convert better and how many leads will come to your website. I’ve seen my guest posts bring hundreds of demo requests while others resulted in a few clicks. So, don’t build links for the sake of referral traffic alone.

Consider it a nice side effect.

20 Types of SEO Backlinks

Learn the nuances of the 20 most fruitful backlink types with examples and how to earn them.

1. Editorial Backlinks

Editorial backlinks are organic links acquired when other websites find your content valuable and link to it. These are the most coveted in SEO as they are earned based on superior, relevant content rather than being paid or requested.

Therefore, editorial backlinks significantly improve SEO performance by signaling to search engines that your content is authoritative and credible. Usually, these links come from highly authoritative websites with a DR of 80+. Such websites include HubSpot, TechCrunch, Forbes, Vogue, news sites, etc.

To earn editorial backlinks, focus on creating authentic content with “originality nuggets.” Examples include thought leadership content, research, case studies, linkable assets, expert round-ups, and experiments.

A simple way to gain editorial links is to use services that connect journalists with experts like HARO and HaB2BW. Pitch your unique point of view backed up by data to get mentioned in industry publications.

These platforms email a source and a journalist with questions and answers every day.

HubSpot recommends: Find out which types of HubSpot’s blog post earn the most editorial backlinks.

2. Guest Post Backlinks

Guest post backlinks are a type of backlink that you acquire by writing and publishing content on other websites, typically within your niche or industry.

Guest posts help improve your website‘s authority and relevance within your industry, offering both SEO value and driving targeted traffic at the same time. Choose reputable websites for guest posting, and ensure your content is well-researched and provides value to the host site’s audience.

Pitch your guest post directly to a media outlet’s content marketer, or look for the guest post submission form like we have at HubSpot.

3. Mend Broken Backlinks

The strategy involves identifying broken links on relevant websites and suggesting your content as a replacement. This way, you’re earning a backlink by providing a solution to the webmaster.

Use tools such as Check My Links or Broken Link Checker to scan relevant websites, find broken links, and then reach out to the site owner with your content as a solution. Brian Dean capitalizes a lot on this strategy to earn top-notch backlinks with one piece of content.

Explore how Brian pitches webmasters.

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Pro tip: Create astonishing content pieces to make webmasters link to them. As with editorial backlinks, content with originality nuggets shows the best results.

4. Dofollow Backlinks

Dofollow backlinks allow search engines to follow them, passing on link equity to the linked page. By default, all links are dofollow and do not require a rel= “dofollow” attribute to be used.

Example:

<a href=“https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/covid-19-benchmark-data” target=“_blank” rel=“noopener”>How COVID-19 Is Impacting Sales and Marketing Performance</a>

When high-quality websites link to your content using “Dofollow” links, it enhances your website’s credibility and improves its position in search engine results. Your domain and page rating also rise.

5. Nofollow Backlinks

Nofollow links contain the nofollow (rel=“nofollow”) attribute and instruct search engines not to follow them (not to pass link equity to the page).

Although they don’t directly impact authority, nofollow backlinks can still drive traffic to your site and contribute to a natural link profile.

Example:

<a rel=“noopener” target=“_blank” href=“http://www.blog.hubspot.com/” rel=“nofollow”> Head to the HubSpot Blog </a>

You might want to use “Nofollow” links when you link to a page you don’t want to endorse, the link is sponsored or is user-generated.

6. Comment and Forum Backlinks

Comment backlinks are links that you acquire by leaving comments under blog posts. Likewise, forum backlinks come from forum threads or your signature.

While they are considered one of the easiest ways to acquire backlinks, they are often associated with low authority and relevance. Search engines are aware of comment spam and, in many cases, treat comment backlinks with caution.

The only reason I mention them is to warn you about the negative impact these links may cause.

Pro tip: Here are four well-known forums you can leverage for backlink building:

• Quora.
• Reddit.
• Stack Overflow.
• BabyCenter.
• TripAdvisor.

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7. Niche Edits Backlinks

Niche edits, also known as curated links or link insertion, are backlinks inserted into existing articles, listicles, or pages on a website, rather than creating new content as you would with guest posts.

The top benefit of niche edits is that you add contextual links to already indexed and high-ranking pages. This means you start getting link juice nearly immediately.

Conversely, when you build links from new content (guest posts, press releases, etc.) you have to wait for the page to be indexed, which takes anywhere from two weeks to months.

“At HubSpot, we’re really trying to take content that’s already out there, improve upon it, and make sure that it’s optimal to support driving referral traffic and signups,” says Autumn Witter, an associate account manager of SEO and link building at HubSpot.

To do so, Witter’s team finds content where HubSpot products are already being mentioned. They then ask webmasters to add more relevant links with more relevant anchors.

8. Press Release Backlinks

These links you obtain by distributing press releases about your business updates or events. If done right, it’s a great tactic to gain brand exposure, as well as give an additional boost to your SEO efforts.

Use them when you want to inform people about a big event that your company is organizing, announce the release of a new product or service, or simply when you want to get attention for your brand.

Choose any natural-looking anchor text. Naked URLs, branded or generic anchors, and CTAs work best.

Keep in mind that most press release links are usually “Nofollow.”

Learn how to carry out an effective press release link building.

9. Social Media Backlinks

Social media backlinks refer to any link from a social media website or page to your site. They can be placed inside a post, in the comments, on user profiles, or be shared directly on the feeds.

While social media links are “Nofollow,” they can indirectly improve SEO by driving traffic and engagement on your site. The latter translates into higher rankings, as it boosts “time on page” and improves user behavior. Both are ranking factors.

Share nice visuals, videos, and thought-provoking posts across your social media channels, and include a link to your web page.

Andy Crestodina virtuously invites its LinkedIn audience to navigate to his company’s blog posts by crafting enticing hooks, sharing diagrams, or video explainers.

10. Directory Backlinks

Directory backlinks come from submitting your website to online directories or business listings, typically with a link to your site. They can enhance local SEO and diversify your backlink profile.

Don’t submit your site to hundreds of directories. Focus on reputable, niche-specific directories that are relevant to your business with an active audience.

Further, ensure your information is consistent across listings, as Google pays attention to this for local businesses. Some of the decent directories include:

• BOTW.
• Spoke.
• Yelp.
• Better Business Bureau.
• Google My Business.

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11. Image Backlinks

An image backlink is an image that is linked (attributed) to a site/page.

Why care about image backlinks? A Semrush study discovered that webpages using images earn 555% more quality backlinks.

Here are the most common types of images that tend to gain backlinks passively:

• Infographics.
• Graphs.
• Product photos.
• Maps.
• Visual examples that support text.

Use Google Reverse Image Search to identify where exactly your image is being used. If someone is using your image and is not crediting you, directly reach out to the webmasters and claim your backlink.

Pro tip: Create original, high-quality images and use descriptive file names and alt tags to enhance their discoverability.

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12. Video Backlinks

The links come from video descriptions, comments, or video credits when your videos are uploaded on platforms like YouTube. Every link from YouTube content is “Nofollow.”

While backlinks on YouTube don’t give you direct SEO link juice, they are still links that can be discovered within YouTube searches and generate traffic. Optimize video titles, descriptions, and tags for relevant keywords to maximize their SEO impact.

13. Paid Backlinks

Paid link building is when a website pays a third-party domain for a dofollow backlink that points back to its domain. According to Authority Hackers, 74.3% of link builders pay for links, with the average amount being $83 for each link.

The numbers are impressive, but keep in mind that buying links is a black-hat SEO tactic. Google sees them as link schemes and a violation of search engines’ policies.

If engaging in sponsored link building, ensure the links are relevant to your niche and come from real websites, not PBNs. Ideally, they come from a commercial blog (some editors may sell links).

14. Edu and Gov Backlinks

Domains with the EDU and GOV suffix are the most trusted extensions for Google, as these areas belong to government and educational institutions.

These backlinks possess more authority and are harder to get than regular backlinks, but they are worth the effort.

What makes this type of backlinks unique is that you can’t buy them. How to acquire? For educational institutions, try creating scholarships, internships for students, and events to grab their attention.

For example, AutoAccident regularly creates college scholarships.

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When it comes to .gov websites, they are super selective. Most often, you have to contact them to partner up on different initiatives.

15. Unlinked Brand Mentions

If a website talks about your brand, a case study, or research but does not link to you, these are unlinked brand mentions. Therefore, they’re great opportunities for link-building.

Use Ahrefs to spot unlinked brand mentions:

1. Navigate to Ahrefs Content Explorer and type in your brand name.
2. Create filters: Published (e.g., Last 30 days), Language, Only live.
3. Click on “Highlight unlinked” and enter your domain name.
4. Analyze link prospects and select those with high domain authority (DR) and topical relevance.

16. Podcast Backlinks

Obtain backlinks by being a guest on a podcast or when your website is mentioned in podcast show notes. It’s a great way to build homepage links, enhance your online presence, and contribute to industry recognition.

Identify relevant websites and podcasts and reach out with personalized messages. Here are some popular podcast platforms:

• Apple Podcasts.
• Stitcher.
• Spotify.
• Google Podcasts.
• Podchaser.
• Podcast Addict.
• Podcorn.

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17. Testimonial Backlinks

Earn links by providing testimonials or reviews for products, services, or businesses. They are a win-win situation both for the business and the reviewer.

For businesses, it’s a valuable form of social proof that adds to their credibility and reputation.

On the other hand, the reviewer will get a link-building opportunity. All you have to do is select products and services that you actually use, pitch them, and then create a testimonial.

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18. Footer links

Footer links are sitewide links placed at the bottom of your website in the footer section. They appear on every page since the footer is static.

Use your footer to place internal links to important pages on your website so visitors can easily find information.

Google frequently checks footer links to make sure that you prioritize the user by providing value rather than for SEO purposes.

Though most of the time, footer links are internal, there are a few times when you might need to link to external sources, like credit a company that designed your site.

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19. Badge Backlinks

Badge backlinks are a unique type of backlink that can be earned when other websites or organizations award you with a digital badge or emblem that links back to your website.

These badges are typically given to recognize achievements, certifications, partnerships, or contributions.

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20. Influencer-Generated Backlinks

Influencers have high authority, they are respected in their industries, and their recommendations are strong.

When they mention or link to your website in their content, Google views these backlinks as a vote of confidence, especially in the era of the E-E-A-T algorithm.

Collaborate with influencers in your niche for round-ups, joint studies, etc. Ask for a product review or recommendation, and run a creative contest on their social media channels or website linking back to you.

5 Tips for SEO Backlinks

Still not sure how to acquire backlinks? This section covers 5 tips for backlinks shared by industry experts.

Tip 1: Focus on quality over quantity.

“A perfect backlink is an elusive goal. While you may strive to acquire backlinks that meet many metrics, your competitors are securing backlinks that intuitively fit their content, giving them an edge,” says Georgi Mamajanyan, CEO at SayNine.

As a result, Mamajanyan recommends focusing on quality over quantity. He also recommends identifying “the minimum metrics that meet your standards.” From there, you can build backlinks accordingly.

“The most critical metric isn‘t DR or DA, nor is it domain traffic; it’s whether the website represents a legitimate business (e.g., SAAS/Agency) or if it’s merely a platform created solely for selling backlinks,” says Mamajanyan.

Tip 2: Prioritize low-hanging fruits for quick wins.

Unlinked brand mentions are low-hanging fruits for both early startups that are just taking off and creating buzz and established companies. Monitor sites that don’t give you credit once per 30 days to strike while the iron is hot.

Securing these links usually comes with a low effort since media outlets already know and recommend your business.

Tip 3: Leverage relationships, not links.

According to Digital Olympus Founder Alex Tachalova, “The future of link building lies in acquiring links strictly through relationships.”

For example, Tachalova says, your team should ask industry players to share their thoughts on the topics you cover. This applies to webinars, podcasts, and virtually any marketing initiative that allows you to feature other companies.

“ Links are recommendations that can only be earned by connecting your brand meaningfully with other companies and individuals who may provide backlinks to your site. To achieve that, run co-marketing campaigns with other companies in your niche,” Tachalova says.

According to Tachalova building relationships with niche professionals unlocks various opportunities.

“Instead of focusing solely on transactions, consider the value you can offer other companies. This not only helps you gain links but also expands your brand’s visibility and puts your product or service in front of their audiences,” he says

Tip 4: Widen your prospecting to indirectly related verticals.

If your services are limited to a city or a target audience, build links from indirectly related platforms.

Say, you have an online shop for vegan skincare cosmetics. Which are your target sites for backlinks? Top of mind, blogs about skincare and vegan products. However, you can also consider building links from environmental projects.

For example, write op-eds on how your company contributes to resolving social or environmental disasters. You can then highlight the cruelty-free, low waste you’re on.

Tip 5: Monitor and disavow low-quality links.

When you grow, some competitors may take extra measures to make sure you fail in rankings by attacking your site with negative SEO. Usually, your site is subjected to link spam from PBNs, link farms, etc.

To maintain a healthy backlink profile, conduct a link-building audit once per month. Also, set up notifications about low-quality links pointing to your website using Linkody — a backlink monitoring tool.

Noticed unnatural links in a big quantity?

Google recommends disavowing all of them to prevent a negative impact on your site’s rankings.

Watch Matt Cuts from Google addressing questions about negative SEO in 2023.

Leverage Different Types of Backlinks to Maximize SEO Efforts

SEO is complex. It’s essential to not only acquire backlinks but also to understand the nuances of each type. Make sure to combine different link-building types with other SEO initiatives to maximize your online visibility.