Yearly Archives: 2023

As the world constantly changes, it can be hard to stay up to date with ever evolving consumer behaviors, preferences, and trends.

But, as marketers, knowing your buyer persona — and what motivates them — is absolutely vital.

To help both marketers and business professionals alike, we conducted a bi-annual survey of 600+ U.S. adults in May 2022 and January 2023, and did a deep dive into generation-by-generation data to learn:

• What trends they’re following.
• Which online platforms they use.
• How and where they prefer to shop.
• What they think about returning to the office.
• and much, much more.

Here, we’ll explore some of the biggest consumer trends changes between May 2022 and January 2023. 

The 3 Biggest Consumer Trends Changes in the Past 9 Months

First, let’s dive into three of the biggest changes we saw between May 2022 and January 2023. 

1. Engagement with virtual worlds stayed about the same, but consumers are investing less money into virtual items or currencies. 

Despite the waning hype around the metaverse, attitudes haven’t changed much over the past six months. Both May and January’s surveys found only 8% of U.S. adults have ever visited a metaverse.

Public opinion on the metaverse has improved slightly over the past nine months. 36% of consumers now say the metaverse is the future of technology — up 6% since May. And 33% say the metaverse is an extension of reality, up 18% since May. 

However, investments in virtual currencies have seen a decline. In fact, among those who’ve ever visited a metaverse, only 50% reported buying cryptocurrency in January — which is a 35% decrease since May. Additionally, 60% of metaverse visitors reported buying NFTs in January 2023 … 13% lower than May’s respondents. 

The decrease in purchasing virtual currencies might have to do with today’s economic landscape. If people are generally more conservative with their spending, this could trickle into the virtual atmosphere, as well. However, it’s important to take note of the decrease as a potential signifier that virtual currency isn’t as popular as it was in 2022. 

2. Gen X and Boomers are warming up to social media as a product discovery/shopping channel, although TV ads and internet search are still preferred. 

In our January 2023 survey, we found 46% of Gen X and 24% of Boomers have discovered a new product on social media in the past three months — that’s a 10% and 41% increase since May, respectively. 

Additionally, 23% of Gen X (up 28% from May 2022) and 6% of Boomers (up 50% from May 2022) bought a product on social media in the past three months. 

All of which is to say: The group of consumers willing to purchase products and services on social is growing rapidly. Continuing to invest in social media marketing as an opportunity for product discovery is a good ideas we enter 2023. 

3. Companies taking a stance on social issues has grown more influential on consumers’ purchasing decisions since May 2022.

Oftentimes, consumers make purchasing decisions based on what they know of a company’s social or environmental advocacy.

This trend has increased over the past six months. Some of the biggest jumps we saw include: 

• 52% of consumers say they’re more likely to purchase from a company that actively tries to reduce its environmental impact (up 13% since May 2022)
• 39% say they are more likely to buy a product based on the brand’s commitment to diversity/inclusion (up 8% from May 2022)
• 69% say they are more likely to purchase from a company that donates a portion of its profits to charity (up 5% from May 2022)
• 79% of people are more likely to buy from companies that treat employees well
• 48% say a product being made by a small business makes them more likely to purchase (up 9% from May 2022)

All of which is to say: It’s just as important – if not more so — to align your brand with strong values that matter to you, and to communicate those values to your consumers.

I know the power of this first-hand. I often buy Patagonia jackets, even though they’re more expensive than some other coat brands, because I’m proud to support Patagonia’s environmental activism. 

Next, let’s dive into the state of consumer trends in 2023, and how they’ve changed since 2022.

The State of Consumer Trends in 2023 [Top Findings You Need to Know About]

1. More and More, Gen Z Differentiates Themselves From All Other Age Groups

One of the most fascinating things to dig into when looking at survey results were the vast differences between Gen Z and other age groups — including their closest predecessor, Millennials. 

When taking a deeper dive into our generation-by-generation data, we found that Gen Z:

• When it comes to shopping, generations are highly influenced by price, quality, and product reviews. Gen Z especially values brands that have active communities around them.
• TikTok and Instagram are the most used social media apps among Gen Z women, while men spend much more time on YouTube.
• Gen Z is all about YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Not only for social networking and entertainment but also for discovering (and buying) products.

The findings above weren’t the only interesting points to call out. Our lead researcher and analyst, Maxwell Iskiev explores the differences between how all age groups shop and discover products with this follow-up guide:

How Each Generation Shops in 2023 [New Data from Our State of Consumer Trends Report]

2. BeReal saw a 313% increase in usage between May and January. 

We compared usage of social media platforms between May 2022 and January 2023, and were surprised to see that BeReal had the biggest increase in usage (313%), followed by Twitch (29%), and LinkedIn (20%). 

However, it’s important to note that this doesn’t suggest those platforms are used by most consumers. BeReal, for instance, saw a 200% increase from 1% to 3% of consumers — so it’s still a relatively tiny sampling of the full consumer population. 

In terms of which platforms see the most consumer usage, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram still take the lead. 

3. While social media channels are fun and emerging, search is the most valuable tool.

While age groups like millennials and Gen Z are quick to dive into new and emerging channels, especially those in the social media realm, they still turn to online searches, TV, and other utility channels to learn about everything from trends to products.

When asked where and how they discover new products, most consumers — regardless of age group — pointed to web searches.

To learn more about the other top channels consumers discover products or brands on, as well as the content they love to see when they’re there, check out Maxwell Iskiev’s post: The Top Channels Consumers Use to Learn About Products [New Data] or our FREE and downloadable State of Consumer Trends Report PDF.

4. If you don’t have a mobile-friendly strategy — you could fall behind.

It’s no secret that each new generation gets more and more mobile and digitally connected. And, as the years go by, technology, websites, and social media networks are getting more and more mobile.

But, today Gen Z and Millennials aren’t the only ones finding themselves surfing the web on mobile devices. Now, most consumers regularly use mobile devices for everything from search, to social media, to even online shopping.

These findings aren’t surprising to us. In our 2023 Web Strategy Report, web managers we polled described mobile optimization to be an incredibly effective strategy for marketing and site growth. 

5. Some consumers are stepping into Web3, but most don’t even know what it is.

While some consumers, especially those in younger generations like Gen Z and millennials, are ready to throw their whole wallet into the metaverse and cryptocurrency, most are still getting their first taste of the Web3 world.

In fact, 51% of our survey participants from the May 2022 survey say they don’t even understand what Web3 even is yet.

While Web3 experts believe this technology will continue to grow in the coming years, businesses don’t need to pivot their whole strategy to get ahead of it right this second.

However, as the technology gets more prominent and accessible, it’s still helpful to learn about the potential opportunities and risks of the Web3 space. 

That’s why Caroline Forsey interviewed a handful of Web3 experts to learn more about how it could impact how consumers use the world wide web in the future.

Here is a quick, overarching summary of what Web3 could mean for future internet usage from Anna Seacat, VP of Marketing and Web3 Community at Proxy.

While Web3 might be a new concept to many, expect to hear more about it as the technology becomes more accessible to consumers and businesses in the coming years. For more expert predictions around this, hear what our CMO Kipp Bodnar and Kieran Flanagan, our SVP of Marketing, have to say about it in this episode of Marketing Against the Grain.

For more insights, check out these guides:

• How Web3 Technology Will Impact Consumer Trends [Expert Insights]
  
• How Businesses Could Shift in Web 3 [Executive Insights & Podcast]
• Everything Brands Need to Know About the Metaverse

6. Consumers crave video, and effective brands are taking notice.

By now, you know that video has played a powerful role in the lives of consumers. Not only do consumers stream more video than ever, but year-over-year, HubSpot researchers find that most brands consider it to be their most effective type of marketing content. 

But, not just any video will result in a conversion, purchase, or view. While you don’t need a huge budget to woo your audiences, you will need to create content they’ll actually enjoy, keep their attention on, and be persuaded by.

In fact, 69% of our January 2023 respondents say it is more important that a marketing video be authentic and relatable than polished with high-quality video/audio.

This video interview and post from Wistia CEO, Chris Savage goes into great detail on his tips for leveraging video to humanize your brand.

For more on how marketers are benefiting from video in 2023, also check out our 2023 Video Marketing Report.

7. Stores and online retailers aren’t going away, But social commerce is growing.

A few short months ago, it seemed like social commerce features on Facebook and Instagram were just launching and gaining visibility. And although consumers still prefer to shop at stores and on the sites of online retailers they know and trust, some have started to make purchases via their favorite social platforms. 

When we asked consumers to select the top three ways they prefer to buy products back in May 2022, a whopping 73% still prefer to shop in-store, while an unsurprising 53% said they like to buy from online retailers.

Flash-forward to our January 2023 survey, and we still found 69% of consumers prefer to purchase a product in-store, followed by 52% who prefer to purchase through an online retailer selling a variety of brands (e.g. Amazon.com).    

Despite how new social commerce is, one-tenth of consumers or 13% like to buy products directly from social media. And, with this trend starting to grow, we’re already seeing some brands thrive on social commerce channels.

Take Pink Tag Boutique for example. The Kentucky-based clothing and accessories business saw immense growth on the Facebook Shops. They attribute $44,448 in incremental sales from the tool, and have seen 66% greater average order value from social commerce buyers compared to those who bought directly from the company site.

For more examples of brands that are already excelling in social commerce, check out this post.

You can also find more shopping trend data in this follow-up report from Caroline Forsey: The Shopping Trends of 2023 & Beyond [State of Consumer Trends Data]

8. Compared to May 2022, consumers now want to return to an office. 

For the last two years, consumers — for the most part — have been stuck working at home. And, while many initially found it to be a tough new transition, a lot of us have learned to love it. 

Back in May 2022, in our initial survey, we found 54% of survey participants would rather quit than return to an office. 

This isn’t the case anymore. As of January 2023, in-office is now the model that most workers prefer. In fact, 36% of full-time employees prefer to be fully in-office, while only 31% want to be fully remote and 33% prefer hybrid.

Additionally, the number of full-time office employees has risen from 40% in May 2022 to 48% in January 2023. 

However, remote/hybrid employees aren’t interested in going back to the office full-time. 48% of them would still consider leaving if they had to come in 5X a week, although they are more open to it than they were back in May. 

Even in times of financial uncertainty, it seems that consumers care more than ever about job flexibility — even in a time when job security is of larger concern. (In fact, 48% of full-time employees are currently concerned about being laid off.)

In the January 2023 report, we found The #1 reason employees plan to stay in their current job is healthy/work-life balance, beating out competitive pay at #2.

After all, countless studies show that it’s not healthy to make your job your entire life.

So, if you’re managing a team or planning an office re-entry strategy, keep your employees’ needs in mind. Below are just a few of the other workplace factors that could keep employees from looking elsewhere. 

For more on this, check out Workforce Trends You Need To Know About in 2023 [New Data].

9. Many consumers consider themselves “creators.”

When looking at our survey results for the question, “Would you consider yourself a creator?”, we found that 30% of 18-24-year-olds and 40% of 25-34-year-olds call themselves content creators.

What’s great for brands here? Your very own audiences might jump at the chance to create content for you, which could in turn help them build online influence.

But, what exactly IS a “creator”? Check out this deep dive by Caroline Forsey to learn more: If Everyone’s a Content Creator, Is Anyone?

10. Consumers care about their privacy. Brands should too.

Throughout the last two years, marketers have been pivoting due to privacy changes like Apple IOS 15’s email privacy rollout and the looming phaseout of third-party cookies. But, they might not want to stop there when it comes to considering consumer privacy.

Across generations, our data found that consumers are more likely to trust, interact with, and purchase products from brands that they trust with their data.

And, while lots of data is certainly helpful for brands when learning about audiences, consumer trust is the best way to earn loyalty.

In fact, in his post about fostering a privacy-first world, HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar gives tips on how marketers can create strategies that feel personalized, but use data in an ethical, trustworthy, and transparent way.

As a marketer, it’s important to identify which data points you really need and don’t need from your consumers and transparently explain how data like cookies or contact information is used when consumers are asked to give it out.

What’s Next for Consumers, According to Trend Analysts

Now that you’ve read through the biggest findings of our Consumer Trends Report, you might also be asking, “What trends and themes could come in the next six months — or beyond?”

To give you a taste of just a few trends to keep on your radar, we reached out to Julia Janks of Trends.co to learn what she and her team of trend analysts will be focusing on. Here are three of the nine trends they’re keeping on their radar.

1. Gifting strategies could catch the eyes of consumers.

Forget loyalty points — gifting is the new customer retention strategy. As remote everything continues to rise, keeping connected to clients and loved ones will be key.

Source: &Open

Gifting powerhouse 1-800-FLOWERS had a record-breaking year in 2020, and venture capital is flowing into startups like &Open ($7.2m last May) and Gracia (~$14m since its 2017 launch).

Companies will also use gifting to target employees, since worker retention is at an all-time low, and the average cost of replacing an employee is about seven months of their salary.

2. Voice search and audio SEO opportunities will grow.

The world of podcasts is growing faster than the entire internet did back in the early 2000s. Spotify alone now hosts 3m+ shows (that’s ~43x the number of titles on Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV+, combined).

3. Consumers will visit pop-up shops — in the metaverse.

Pop-up shops in the metaverse are a thing now. And, brands like Hogan are already testing them out.

We could see the metaverse shopping industry continue to grow with consumer interest, as 30% of consumers HubSpot surveyed think more brands should consider virtual stores.

For the Julia’s full list of trends to watch, check out 9 Things Trends.co Analysts Will be Watching in The Next 6 Months & Beyond — and don’t forget to check out Trends.co for more business news, innovative ideas, and industry trend coverage.

Dive Deeper into Consumer Trends

In the post above, we gave just a few highlights of our State of Consumer Trends Survey, as well as our predictions for what’s to come. To learn more interesting themes, check out these follow-up posts:

• The Top Shopping Trends of 2023 [State of Consumer Trends Data]
• The Top Channels Consumers Use to Learn about Products [New Data]
• How Each Generation Shops in 2023 [State of Consumer Trends Data]
• 9 Things Our Trends Team Will be Following in the Next 6 Months & Beyond
• How Web3 Will Impact the Future of Consumer Trends [Expert Insights]

Want all the data in one place? Click below to download the full findings of the survey in our State of Consumer Trends Report

Consumer Trends Post Authors

Despite their overwhelmingly bad reputation, popups are a useful tool, but high conversion potential is not worth sacrificing user experience. Luckily, with the right WordPress popup plugins, you can leverage the high-conversion potential of popups without driving users away.)

Before diving into the tools, let’s look at the features to determine if a plugin suits your needs.

What to look for in a WordPress Popup Plugin

Popup plugins offer many features — from customization to screen display locations and built-in analytics — but the most important features to watch out for are targeting and trigger options.

Targeting refers to where the popup will appear on your website and who it will be shown to. Popular ways to target users with popups include page-level targeting, geolocation, device, and traffic source.

Triggers are actions that a user needs to take for the popup to appear. Popular trigger options include page entrance, scroll depth, clicks, time on page, and exit intent.

Having a few popup forms on your WordPress website could boost your lead capturing game. A quick Google search shows that there are many tools to choose from. To help you sort through the clutter and find a tool that moves the needle for your team, we’ll take a look at 12 WordPress popup plugins you should consider below.

1. HubSpot WordPress Plugin

HubSpot’s plugin allows you to connect your WordPress website to your HubSpot account for seamless integration. Any changes made to your popups in your HubSpot portal will be automatically reflected on your WordPress website without any extra work on your part.

 

HubSpot’s popup tool is highly intuitive and easy to use. You are first prompted to select the type of popup you want (box, banner, or slide-in) and then taken to the customizer where you can edit the text, add an image and relevant form fields, and even design your own thank-you message at the end.

Every contact you capture is automatically added to your free HubSpot CRM account. You can also target users by simply typing in the URL of the page(s) you want your popup to show up on and choose whether you want it to be triggered by a 50% page scroll, exit intent, or time elapsed. And if users decide to dismiss your popup, you can choose when they will be exposed to it again.

All the features in this tool are free.

What We Like: Other than the obvious reason being that this is our plugin, we love it for all it offers for free. This is an all-in-one plugin that handles everything you need on WordPress. With popups, you can create or manage your pre-existing popups with little to no hassle.

2. OptinMonster

OptinMonster was one of the firsts to popularize the use of popup forms in the marketing space. Its drag-and-drop feature makes it highly easy to use. You can choose from a variety of pre-built templates or create your own popup from scratch. Their Canvas feature allows you to create any type of popup (not just forms!) with the use of custom HTML/CSS and WordPress shortcodes.

Small Success is another unique feature that lets you display different offers to people who have already converted on one of your popups so you won’t annoy your visitors by showing them forms they’ve already signed up for. You gain access to plenty of triggers, such as exit intent, time on page, user inactivity, clicks, as well as many advanced targeting options like new vs returning visitor, cookie, geolocation, device, adblock usage, and more.

The main drawback with this plugin is that there is no free version. Plans start at $9/month, but you will need to upgrade to a higher tier for the more advanced features like A/B testing and exit intent.

What We Like: This is the best option for easy customizability. You have drag-and-drop for design, different templates to work off of, or even the ability to design from scratch. You’ll easily be able to with any type of popup you want to make with this plugin.

3. Elementor Popups

Design stunning popups with the popular page builder plugin Elementor and their Popup Builder feature. Elementor Popups uses the same interface as the page builder, allowing you to apply the same widgets and styling options to your popups, like buttons, countdown timers, email opt-in forms, and more. Similarly to many of the other plugins, this one offers a variety of popup forms like fly-ins and full-screen overlays.

With more than 100 beautiful templates to choose from, this popup builder lets you create WordPress specific page targeting options (categories, tags, post formats, etc.) with several triggers to choose from, such as click, time, scroll, inactivity, and exit intent.

This plugin does not come with built-in analytics or A/B split testing. And while the Elementor page builder plugin is free to use, this popup builder is only available when you purchase the pro version, which costs $49 for one website, and up to $199 for unlimited sites.

What We Like: Elementor’s popup plugin is a great choice for premium designers. You won’t need any coding experience to create stunning popups for your users. This is another all-in-one plugin that helps you build

4. Sumo List Builder

Sumo is more than just a popup form builder. On top of growing your email list, this plugin also helps with your social media, link building, and site analytics. The app has a module called List Builder, which allows you to create popups. You can set you popups to show up according to traffic source or different triggers such as clicks, time on page, exit intent and scroll depth.

Though this plugin comes with a free version, only one template is available in the free tier and you’ll need to upgrade to remove the Sumo branding. Premium plans start at $29/month, which puts Sumo on the more expensive side compared to other popup plugins.

What We Like: This plugin is great for building your email list. You have an intuitive integration with email and e-commerce, making this the perfect plugin for anyone looking to grow their business through email marketing.

5. PopUp Domination

PopUp Domination is one of the oldest popup tools out there. However, this hasn’t stopped them from making the right updates to stay competitive on the market. Its visual interface still makes it fairly easy to customize one of the 100+ pre-built templates available.

This plugin lets you show your popup to different users based on time on page, user inactivity, exit intent, clicks, total time on website, and mouse hover. On top of page-level targeting, more advanced targeting options include geolocation, traffic source, and device.

PopUp Domination has a royalty rate pricing structure. Each tier grants you access to all the features: unlimited domains and popups, A/B testing, live chat support, and more. Instead of being charged to have access to more features, you’re charged based on the number of total views your popups get across all of your websites.

If you want to use your popups on many websites that have low traffic, PopUp Domination might be a good solution. However, this may not be the best option for you if you have very few sites with high traffic volumes.

What We Like: This plugin is great for beginners since you will have many resources to help you use the tool and a relatively low price for getting started. Once your website starts getting more subscribers, however, you might want to look toward pivoting toward a more price-friendly option for your popup ads.

6. MailOptin

MailOptin is a fast-growing popup plugin for WordPress. It converts your website visitors into email subscribers using different types of opt-in forms including popups, notification bars, inline or embedded forms, scroll boxes, slide-ins, sidebar forms etc.

It is intuitive and easy to you in part because it uses the WordPress Customizer that you already know and love. It ships with a ton of professionally designed and mobile responsive templates to choose from.

It includes a number of display triggers such as page-level targeting, exit intent, time on site, pageviews, scroll trigger, adblock and referral detection, device targeting, new versus returning visitors etc. And integrates with all major email marketing providers and CRMs including Hubspot.

MailOptin is freemium. You can try out the plugin for free by downloading the lite version on WordPress.org repository or purchase a premium license to unlock more powerful features and top-notch customer support.

What We Like: This popup plugin integrates well with WordPress since you work directly through WordPress customizer. This can be great for people familiar with WordPress and just want something that works.

7. Ninja Popups

Ninja Popups is one of CodeCanyon’s top selling plugins. For $24, you gain access to their drag-and-drop popup builder with over 70 templates and animation effects to choose from.

And if you want more than just forms, Ninja Popups lets you create all kinds of popups, such as video displays and social sharing boxes. Its anti-adblocker technology lets you show your popups even to visitors who use ad blockers. This plugin also offers page-level targeting, and trigger options include scroll depth, time on page, exit intent, and user inactivity.

Although there is no free version, at only $24, Ninja Popups offers some of the most creative freedom for the price.

What We Like: This plugin is effective and enables your creativity. Bypassing adblockers is especially helpful considering 2 in 5 people use adblock today.

8. Icegram

If you’re looking for a more native option, Icegram lets you create popups right from the WordPress dashboard, thought its text-based interface makes it slightly less user friendly than most. Icegram’s trigger options include time on page, exit intent, user inactivity, clicks, and time delay. Targeting options include page, user retargeting, device, and geolocation.

This plugin offers a fair amount of value for free, but to access more functionalities, you will want to upgrade. Premium plans start at $97/year.

What We Like: This plugin is another great choice for working directly through WordPress. If you can get past the text-based interface, this is a good option for those needing a simple popup ad solution.

9. Popup Maker

Popup Maker offers a lot of flexibility in terms of what you can build. In addition to opt-in forms, you can create cookie notices, video lightboxes, notification boxes, etc.

A big draw of this plugin is its WooCommerce integration, which lets you target users based on their shopping cart items, purchase data, and more. However, this plugin’s lack of a visual editor makes it less friendly to use.

You can use Popup Maker for free, but for more functionality, individual extensions can be purchased starting at $87 per year

What We Like: This plugin lets you tailor your website popup ads to your user. You also have a good set of basic options to work off of as mentioned. Popup Maker is another good choice for those who are familiar with WordPress and just want a simple way to add popups to their page. The extra benefit is being able to work off of consumer data.

10. Bloom Email Opt-Ins

Provided to you by the devs at Elegant Themes (authors of the popular Divi theme), Bloom comes with over 100 templates to customize and lets you create a variety of forms on top of popups, including widgets, inline boxes, and optin lockers which you can use for gated content. Along with basic page targeting, this plugin contains unique trigger options — for example, make a popup appear after a user has left a comment on your page or after a user has made a purchase.

Despite its high-quality templates and beautiful dashboard, Bloom lacks a lot of the advanced features other plugins offer like an exit intent trigger option, and it doesn’t have a visual customizer.

Because this plugin comes from Elegant Theme, you can only access it by purchasing an Elegant Theme subscription, which costs $89/year or $249 for lifetime support and updates. This subscription also gives you access to 87 premium themes and 2 other plugins. But if all you’re looking for is a popup plugin, this may not be worth the investment.

What We Like: Bloom Email Opt-ins is a great choice for people who need more than just a popup plugin. You can fully customize your website through this plugin, and that includes popup ads.

11. Popup Builder

Popup Builder lets you insert any type of content into your popups and create custom animation effects. It offers features like automatic closing, user retargeting, and time delay triggers, as well as integrations with email service providers MailChimp and AWeber.

While this plugin can be used for free, just like Popup Maker, you will need to purchase extensions for additional functionality. Individual extension prices vary between $5 and $15, but you can get the full bundle starting at $49/month.

What We Like: Popup builder is a good option for those wanting to make mobile-friendly popup ads. Its intuitive user experience lets you build great looking popups in seconds.

12. Poptin

Poptin is a free popup and form builder specially designed for marketers, website owners, and digital agencies. Its powerful conversion optimization features are effective in boosting email signups, reducing cart abandonment, increasing engagement, and improving your overall sales conversion rate. It has a variety of fully responsive and customizable popup and forms templates that you can utilize without the need for coding.

In a matter of minutes, you can create your lightbox popups, full-screen overlays, gamified popups, countdown popups, slide-ins, bars, widgets, email forms, and more. You can add different elements such as images, videos, icons, countdown timer, coupons, and even custom CSS. The best part is that you can Integrate it with HubSpot CRM and emailing software to experience a seamless lead generation funnel. Poptin also offers a wide range of smart triggers and targeting rules to better convert the most qualified leads and customers.

Poptin’s free plan already includes major tools and features like analytics, A/B testing, exit-intent trigger, unlimited popups, and forms, among others. If you want to get access to more advanced features, you can always upgrade to its paid plans which start at only $25 per month.

What We Like: This plugin gives you a lot of bang for your buck. While other plugins on this list charge you for access to analytics, this tool gives you all of that for free. Poptin is best for marketers looking to add popups and dive into the data behind what makes them effective.

Choose whichever plugin fits your needs the best.

There are endless options when it comes to WordPress popup tools.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to collect user information and convert leads, check out HubSpot’s free form popup WordPress plugin. Installing the plugin will automatically connect your demand capture tools to the free HubSpot CRM so you can easily create follow-up emails for people who have filled out your form, track their activity on your site, and manage your leads all in one place.

 

Remote work. Ad blocking. Email blindness. 

The digital world has changed. For B2B marketers, it likely looks rather odd compared to the world we once knew. 

This is the name of the game, however—and for many of the players, the ground is, again, about to move under your feet.

The B2B Landscape Will Soon Experience a Seismic Shift

Try as we might, the ripple effects of the pandemic are inescapable. COVID changed everything, of course. For digital marketers, the application of our marketing has changed in major ways.

Work-from-home eliminated the simplicity of certain ad targets. Budget reductions forced vendors to act and think lean. Deafening silence from established spray and pray channels, email included, weren’t producing the same yields. 

However, the events and behaviors of the past 36 months have only been an amuse-bouche for the true entree on the horizon.

Enter Sandman

The mere mention of Google can either excite or terrify B2B marketers. They are the keeper of the keys; the Boogeyman; the digital alpha and omega. 

Truly, they hold so many (if not all in certain aspects) of the Internet’s cards.

It’s this knowledge that looms over the industry; and prepared or not, Google will eventually make one of the most significant decisions in its storied history: Deprecate third-party cookies. The company’s current timeline states it’ll be late 2024 before they actually make the move. 

Whenever it does occur, however, it will completely upset the current digital ecosystem. Generations of marketers have learned their trade by leveraging third-party cookies, using this data to reach their audience and prospects. 

How will marketers navigate this? Naturally, you can’t wait until the 11th hour to make decisions. You want to be ahead of the curve long before your competitors even begin to turn. 

In fact, what you want to be is more…intentional.  

Highlighting Why Intent Data Matter

As third-party cookies go by way of the dinosaurs, you’re going to be seeing quite a bit about intent data in the coming years. As such, B2B marketers will need to have something tangible to turn to. 

Intent data is that very thing.

To state it more specifically, buyer-level intent data is that very thing.

Said plainly, buyer-level intent, or buyer intent data, is the measure of an individual prospect’s readiness to make a purchase within a given timeframe. 

This calculation is based on a group of signals shown by a prospect over the course of their digital buying journey.

Intent data matters because it is based on genuine activities. It is not an accumulation of random, often mismatched information, but rather an 

Frankly, intent data, let alone buyer-level intent data, is and will be more impactful and beneficial for B2B marketers than third-party cookies ever were.

Intent Data is Already Making an Impact

Having access to buyer-level intent data means having visibility into the buyer behaviors that truly matter. 

No longer will marketers need to guess what a potential buyer may or may not have been thinking when they visited a homepage of a website. They won’t need to guess as to whether or not a website visitor is actually a legitimate prospect, either!

Instead, intent data will identify, capture, and weighting consumer behaviors 

What Intent Data Eliminates

Leveraging buyer-level intent data provides a number of benefits. For starters, there are a few marketing elements that intent data neutralizes almost instantly.

Guesswork

We’ve mentioned it throughout this piece, but the elimination of guesswork is one of the greatest net positives of intent data. 

Consider all of the time you and your colleagues have spent wondering whether the person reading your blog will ever convert from browser to legitimate prospect. Imagine if you could take that same time instead and begin catering to those folks who’ve actually shown legitimate interest in your solutions simply by studying intent signals. How much more efficient and effective would your process and output be?

In-Actionable Data

Marketers get excited about data. Sales reps…not so much; at least, not in the same way marketing professionals do. 

Sales representatives have a difficult job and aren’t interested in going on scavenger hunts just to see if a lead might be interested. They’re looking for complete data that details who their lead is, what their challenges are, and when they might be looking to make a purchase decision.

Third-party cookie data is often incomplete and often devoid of any context. Buyer-level intent data is context quantified. 

One-Size Fits All Outreach

Speaking of in-actionable data, one of the greatest outcomes of in-actionable data is the one-size fits all approach. Whether it’s via email, display, phone calls, or texts, no one likes being a number in a sea of “everyone.” 

Intent data offers the opportunity to speak directly with the person who wants to hear from 

Sure, there are going to be plenty of times when a blanket statement appeals to and applies to all. But working with intent data offers you the unique opportunity to stop guessing something will be relevant and, instead, know it certainly is.

What Intent Data Enables

On the opposite end of the spectrum, intent data opens the door to a number of advantages.

Prioritization

If someone has their hand up, it means they’re interested. Buyer-level intent data offers tangible evidence of those with their hands raised. 

Intent data gives Marketing and Sales teams the proper understanding of who should be contacted first and whose timeline is most pressing. This saves a considerable amount of time for these professionals and gives the prospect the attention they deserve and need.

Tailored Messaging

You know that feeling you get whenever you receive something that was created just for you? In the B2B marketing world, intent data makes this possible.

By shining a light on precisely what a prospect is in market for, what they’re struggling with, and the types of content they’ve been exploring, B2B pros can craft and deliver true 1:1 experiences for their prospects.

Accelerated Sales Outcomes

When the stars align, Sales can shine. 

Ultimately, this is what it’s all about. As NetLine’s Chief Strategy Officer, David Fortino shared at B2BMX 2023, “If you can deliver the who (via buyer-level intent data, you’re effectively accelerating #sales dialogue.”

What more can you ask for than that?

Intent Data is Changing the B2B Landscape

The pursuit of purer, more-actionable data is never-ending. Intent data, specifically first-party sourced buyer-level intent data, gets us that much closer.  

In closing, intent data matters because the experience of your prospects and customers matter. How you prepare and bolster your team matters. How you source data matters. All of these elements are standard issue when it comes to intent data. 

And it’s for these reasons that we’re so bullish on buyer-level intent data being a staple in the Marketing department for decades to come.  

A brand promise is more than a tagline. It’s a way to show customers what your brand can offer that no one else can.

Like other kinds of promises, brand promises can get complicated. They set high expectations, offer ambitious commitments, and impact relationships.

Let’s talk about what a brand promise is, how to create a brand promise, and see examples from popular B2B and B2C brands. We’ll also share a brand promise template to help you draft your own.

Keep reading or jump ahead to the section you’re looking for:

• What is a brand promise?
• Why Your Brand Promise Is Important
• How to Write a Brand Promise
• Brand Promise Template
• Brand Promise Examples

Your brand promise should be central to your company, something that remains constant as it grows and evolves.

Not every brand promise is explicit. It’s often more of an internal mantra that’s shared with employees, investors, and partners. But when you’ve built a strong brand identity and clear messaging, your brand promise can be assumed by your target audience.

Brand Promise vs. Tagline

There’s often some confusion between a brand promise and a tagline, so let’s break it down.

While it can be just as short as a tagline, a brand promise tells consumers, “Hey, this is what you’ll find every time you interact with our brand.”

So, why have one? Well, a brand promise:

• Helps internal and external stakeholders know what to expect from you.
• Gains consumer trust.
• Serves as the foundation from which you build out how your company operates from a consumer interaction perspective.

A Quick Brand Promise Definition

Brand promises are short statements. They make a commitment to your customer about what your brand will deliver.

It is a promise after all. So when you break it, it can affect your reputation and your revenue.

For instance, let’s say your brand promise is something like “Innovation at every turn,” and your company hasn’t come out with something new and fresh in the last five years. That can deter potential consumers.

Here are the most common types of brand promises:

• Emotional: A promise appealing to emotion.
• Action-based: A promise tied to a specific action.
• Social: A promise based on ethical or social responsibility.

Why Your Brand Promise Is Important

This one message can have a big impact on customer sentiment, brand reputation, and more.

Because a brand promise is like a pinky promise. For the uninitiated, a pinky promise is usually between two people. It holds more weight than a spit shake, legal contract, verbal agreement, and “I swear on my [insert family member]” statements combined. It’s part of our social contract – once it’s been agreed upon, it cannot be broken.

Your brand promise is the scaled, commercial version of a pinky promise, with your brand holding up one finger and your target audience holding up the other.

Except, in this case, breaking it won’t just ruin your reputation, it can impact your revenue. This promise can affect your market valuation, employees, and stakeholders.

Making good on your brand promise can help you grow your brand, build trust with your target audiences, and boost your sales.

But how can you pack all that power into a single message? Let’s talk about how to create your brand promise.

How to Write a Brand Promise

1. Focus on your audience.

Your brand promise outlines your commitment to your audience. So, to figure out what your promise should be, your first step is determining what your audience wants from you.

It goes beyond a specific product or service, it’s more specific to the experience you’re providing.

For instance, Planet Fitness’s brand promise is based on people’s reluctance to join the gym for fear of judgment and embarrassment. The brand, in response, promises to create an environment that encourages people at all fitness levels to go to the gym and feel comfortable working out.

Another goal of your brand promise is to set you apart from your competitors. What makes you unique, is it your customer service, your product, your mission, your values? Use that to offer a promise that’s distinctive.

In Planet Fitness’ case, the brand did something no one else had done: Address the problem with the gym environment, not its users.

As you learn about what your audience wants, keep asking questions. Do you know what their knowledge level is about your industry? Do you have a clear idea of what they need to know to make a purchase?

It’s important to remember that your brand promise isn’t simply a slogan or commitment. It’s the first step in building a community with shared values. The better you understand your audience, the more likely you are to engage them.

If you haven’t already, develop buyer personas and workshop messages that could resonate with each persona.

Featured Resource: Make My Persona

2. Think about your customer touchpoints.

With your brand promise, you’re guaranteeing something to your customers.

Whether your customer is in-store, on social media, or buying online, place yourself in their shoes and envision how you want those interactions to go. Is there a specific feeling involved? What do they have to gain?

For example, say a customer spends a lot of time on your website but hasn’t made a purchase. Do you have an idea about why they’re hesitating? If you were speaking to this customer in person, what would you say to help them move to the next step?

Once you put those feelings into words, you’ll be able to craft a brand promise that reflects the experience you want to promote.

You may also want to draft three or more secondary promises for each touchpoint at this stage. You may use these drafts to get to your main brand promise. This exercise can also help you narrow your focus to different touchpoints and how they can impact customer experience.

Your brand promise should be consistent across every touchpoint. So, the more time you spend looking at it from every angle, the more likely you are to create a powerful brand promise.

Featured Resource: Customer Journey Map Template

3. Keep it simple, unique, and inspiring.

Your brand promise should be clear and to the point, something you can say in one sentence. It won’t necessarily be as fun as a tagline, but it should definitely inspire trust and confidence.

Try to organize your ideas before you start writing. Having a concise idea of what you want to communicate can make writing easier.

Then, be thoughtful about which words you choose. Does your brand promise need complicated words or industry-specific terms? Is your brand promise about selling an offer or explaining your product? Answering these questions can help you find the right vocabulary for your promise.

Next, introduce some play into your writing. Think about your company culture, awakening the senses, and details that can paint a picture for your audience. This process will probably create more text than you’ll need, but it can help you create a promise with an authentic and empathetic voice.

Then you can edit your brand promise into a single succinct statement that is useful, positive, and hopeful.

If you can’t articulate your promise in this way, perhaps you haven’t fully fleshed out your brand’s purpose.

If that’s the case, start by asking yourself these questions:

• What should my customers expect from me?
• What does my company stand for?
• What makes us unique?

What makes a brand promise successful?

Unlike a promise between two friends, a brand promise is a public agreement with a vast audience. You don’t have to offer a brand promise, but if you choose to, it will set expectations for your community.

That’s because saying you’ll do something is easy, but it can be difficult to follow through. And an inability to follow through on your brand promise can have a long-term effect on brand perception.

To get the most out of your brand promise, test it against the benchmarks below.

Your brand promise should be credible.

Your brand promise should be something that your business or product is qualified to offer. Brand promises that offer too much or don’t align with industry expectations can make customers question their authenticity.

An effective brand promise can offer clues about your business like:

• Level of professional experience
• Knowledge of complex issues
• The character of your employees

This statement can also show your commitment to solving a specific problem for your customers.

Your brand promise should be memorable.

It’s not enough to just grab attention with your brand promise. Instead, you want people to remember your promise and connect it to your brand and products long-term.

Memorable brand promises evoke emotion, draw attention, and offer an audience something new. To create strong emotions, think about the emotions that come up when your customers solve a problem with your product or service. Then analyze the strength of these emotions. You can also look at how different situations might evoke different emotions.

This act of seeing from your customer’s perspective can help you create a “sticky” brand promise.

Your brand promise should have business impact.

In promises between friends, both make the promise because both get something out of it.

So, your brand promise should support what matters most to your business. It might convey product excellence, drive sales, or expand brand influence. And as people in your organization make decisions, they should do so with your brand promise in mind.

As you work on your brand promise, think about it from the perspective of every department and team member in your company. This can help your promise to inspire your employees and support the culture of your business too.

Your brand promise should be actionable.

A brand promise is an offer that a business needs to keep. This means that the promise must be something your company can act on.

As you review your brand promise, ask yourself:

• Is your brand promise also a call-to-action?
• What do your customers get in return if they commit to your brand?
• How can your audience engage or get involved with your brand promise?
• What other questions might someone ask after seeing your brand promise?

To be effective, your brand promise needs to be something your stakeholders can act on or see you taking action on, plus why that action is valuable. If your promise is vague or static, you may need to keep working.

Brand Promise Template

There isn’t an exact formula to create your brand promise. But we’ve mentioned that it’s a blend of a few things that make up your company. So here’s a formula you can use to create your promise:

Positioning + Vision + Value Proposition = Your Brand Promise

Write your answers down and start blending these concepts together into one succinct idea.

Crafting your brand promise should be a top priority when developing your identity. Without this core message, you will likely struggle to develop your brand identity and strong messaging to connect with your target audience.

As with everything, expect to have a few iterations. You won’t always have the answer right away.

It may take a few sessions to flesh it out and that’s OK. Because once you have it, it will become ingrained both internally and externally as your company grows.

Brand Promise Examples

Keep in mind that some of these examples of brand promises are assumed and some have been shared by the companies. Use them as inspiration when crafting your own.

• Nike — Inspire every athlete in the world.
• Apple — Think differently.
• Starbucks — To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, one neighborhood at a time.
• Coca-Cola — Refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit, and inspire moments of optimism.
• Anima Iris — Feel empowered and emboldened.
• Telfar — Redefine luxury as accessible and inclusive.
• Tru Colour — Inclusion since inception.
• Noirbnb — Create a safe space for POC to travel and discover new adventures.
• Pur Home Clean — Change the way you think about cleaning.

What’s common across all these promises is that they never refer to a particular offering or numerical goal. Instead, they are statements that encompass the brand’s broader purpose.

Examples of Brand Promises for B2B

Business-to-business brand promises can be difficult to craft. This is because these relationships are often more about efficiency and ROI than meeting emotional needs.

Check out these B2B brand promise examples to spark your imagination.

• HubSpot — Help millions of companies grow better.
• Datadog — See inside any stack, any app, at any scale, anywhere.
• MURAL — Change your how.
• Recurly — Keep a good thing growing.
• Calendly — Easy scheduling ahead.
• Reachdesk — Unlock the power of gifting at scale.
• LogicManager — Manage tomorrow’s surprises today.
• Muck Rack — Smarter PR with powerful, easy-to-use software.
• Gro Intelligence — See the big picture, act on the small details.

Build Your Brand Promise for Lasting Results

Some promises last for a lifetime. To make sure that you’re creating a brand promise for the long haul, give it some time.

Drafting a quick slogan can feel like the best choice when your team is running up against a deadline. But whether you draft your promise as part of larger branding efforts or as an add-on to your latest website redesign, it needs to be just right.

Take a look at the tips, templates, and examples above, and let your creativity run wild. Your brand may already have a strong identity, but how are you committing to your customers? Tell them today, with your brand promise.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in June 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Although often underrated or reduced to a “networking platform,” LinkedIn has the potential to help you drive traffic to your website, increase brand awareness, and boost your revenue. How? Through LinkedIn sponsored updates or ads.

In this comprehensive guide to LinkedIn sponsored updates, we’ll tackle the big questions — what are LinkedIn sponsored updates, how do they work, and how much do they cost?

We’ll also offer a list of sponsored updates best practices to help your brand make the most of this social content solution.

What are LinkedIn sponsored updates?

Also called sponsored content, the official LinkedIn help page says a sponsored update is “a LinkedIn Page update that is sponsored as an advertisement and is delivered to the LinkedIn feed of members beyond those who follow your company.”

LinkedIn sponsored updates are advertisements created by your company or marketing team. These are then served to LinkedIn users who either follow your page or follow pages in similar content space.

Users can find these ads on their native LinkedIn feed. The sponsored updates typically include a combination of relevant text and contextual images or videos. This helps them blend in with similar user content rather than standing out as paid-for advertisements.

When designed and deployed well, LinkedIn sponsored updates can help drive organic interest in your brand from current followers and a wider audience of LinkedIn members.

Worth noting? While these posts are designed to follow the format of familiar user updates, they’re always labeled as “sponsored content” to ensure there is no misleading or confusing users.

What types of sponsored updates are available?

Brands can create four types of direct sponsored updates.

Single Image Ads

Single image ads include one image with text displayed directly in targeted members’ LinkedIn feeds.

Image Source

Carousel Image Ads

Carousel ads contain multiple images in succession that users can scroll through to get a better sense of your products or services.

Image Source

Video Ads

Video ads offer a way to include multimedia marketing with in-feed videos that users can watch on demand.

Image Source

Single Job Ads

If you want to expand your team, you can create single job ads for your targeted audience. They must promote a single job opportunity and be linked to an active LinkedIn post.

Image Source

Document Ads

Use document ads to share relevant content with users in the form of ebooks, whitepapers, testimonials, or case studies.

You can collect lead information before they open or download your document, and you can track user engagement through the number of downloads and how much of your document is read.

Image Source

Event Ads

Event ads allow you to promote events you’re organizing through an ad campaign. You must create the event through LinkedIn first, then turn it into sponsored content to target your desired audience.

Image Source

You can also create what’s known as “direct sponsored content.” These ads won’t display on your LinkedIn Page or Showcase Page before being served as advertisements.

As a result, companies often use them to test several marketing approaches, see which one produces the best results, and use them as the basis for more robust sponsored content updates.

How much do LinkedIn sponsored updates cost?

The short answer is that more resource-intensive ads — such as videos or carousels — will cost more than their single-image counterparts.

The long answer is slightly more complicated.

First, it’s essential to understand that LinkedIn uses a bidding model for sponsored ads.

You select and create your ad type and then specify how much you’re willing to pay — a minimum price exists to ensure advertisers are fairly paid. Still, you’ll never be charged more than your maximum upper limit.

Differing ad providers then bid on the service, and the lowest price wins.

Your target audience and relevance score also determine ad price. For example, if your target audience is in high demand, you’ll be charged more because there’s greater competition to capture user interest.

You can also lower your ad costs by creating relevant ads. The more relevant and content-rich your ad, the less you’ll pay — because there’s a better chance of engaging LinkedIn users.

It’s also worth considering the best cost model for your ad: Cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-impression (CPM). CPC means you only pay when users click on your ad and visit your site, while CPM means you pay for every 1,000 views or “impressions” of your ad.

If your goal is generating brand awareness, opt for CPM. Choose CPC if you have an established audience and want to drive click-throughs and conversions.

LinkedIn Sponsored Updates Best Practices

Want to get the most from your LinkedIn sponsored updates? Keep these best practices in mind.

1. Follow LinkedIn sponsored update specs.

Each type of sponsored content comes with its own specifications.

Single image ads require the following:

• Up to 255 characters for the ad name.
• 150 characters of intro text to avoid truncation.
• URLs with “http://” or “https://”.
• JPG, GIF, or PNG files that are 5 MB or smaller.
• Up to 255 characters for the ad name.
• 150 characters of intro text to avoid truncation.
• URLs with “http://” or “https://”.
• JPG, GIF, or PNG files that are 5 MB or smaller.

Carousel ads require the following:

• A minimum of two cards and a maximum of ten.
• Each card has a maximum file size of 10 MB and dimensions of 6012 x 6012px.
• JPG, PNG, and non-animated GIF files.

Video ads must be:

• Between 3 seconds to 30 minutes long.
• Between 75 KB and 200 MB.
• In MP4 format.
• Less than 30 frames per second (FPS).

Single job ads should be concise, relevant, and clear. They must have:

Document ads require the following formatting:

• A PDF format under 100 MB.
• Accessible fonts and colors are accessible.

When it comes to event ads, be sure to consider the following:

• The ad image will be drawn from the LinkedIn event page with a 4:1 ratio.
• Event names can use up to 255 characters with 600 characters of intro text.
• Use URLs with “http://” or “https://” from LinkedIn events page.

Failure to follow these guidelines may result in ads being rejected. In addition, if ads contain misleading or inappropriate content, LinkedIn may choose to remove the ads or terminate your LinkedIn account.

The service also clarifies that “spam” posts are not permitted. According to their Best Practices for Sponsored Content page, “Businesses that post updates excessively are subject to review by LinkedIn and could risk having their LinkedIn Page deleted.”

2. Don’t overshare.

While targeted, relevant content can help drive user interest, too many ads too quickly can result in over-saturation.

LinkedIn recommends regularly tweaking your content strategy to deliver analysis rather than simply news, including curated content (with credit) from other sources and repurposing older content where applicable.

3. Test, test, test.

As noted above, direct sponsored content is a great way to try out new advertising efforts and see what sticks.

With the social media market continually evolving, it’s worth evaluating ad performance every few weeks to see what’s working, what isn’t, and where specific changes can help.

4. Spend wisely.

Sponsored updates can get expensive as you incorporate new advertisements and use multiple ad types.

Here, it’s worth tracking your ad spend and switching from CPC to CPM models once click-through rates start to rise. If ads lose steam, consider moving back to CPM to generate increased awareness.

5. Find new markets.

While engaging your target market is critical, diversifying ad objectives is also important to expand your overall impact. LinkedIn recommends using tools such as Lead Gen Forms to find better leads, assess ROI, and manage your advertisements at scale.

Start Creating LinkedIn Sponsored Updates

LinkedIn’s sponsored update model offers a streamlined solution to help brands reach their target market, expand brand awareness, and boost ROI.

Best bet? Start with direct sponsored content to see what sticks, then choose the cost model that makes the most sense — CPC or CPM — and adjust as needed to reach the largest LinkedIn audience.

To inspire your audience to be loyal to your brand, you need to have a core message that focuses on your brand’s purpose and shows why your brand is worth following. To do this, you’ll need to craft a brand manifesto that expresses your brand’s values.

A compelling brand manifesto will appeal to your audience’s emotions and show the “why” behind your organization.

But how do you discover the “why” behind your organization? How do you connect with an audience and inspire them to follow you? Here’s what you as a marketer need to know about brand manifestos, how to craft one, and examples of successful brand manifestos.

What is a brand manifesto?

Why a Brand Manifesto is Important to Your Business

10 of the Best Brand Manifesto Examples

How to Write a Brand Manifesto

Start with ‘Why.’

Not only can it build a loyal customer base, but it can also attract top talent to your organization.

Why a Brand Manifesto is Important to Your Business

It’s not always enough to have quality products; consumers also care about a brand’s values. According to a 2022 study commissioned by Google Cloud, 82% of shoppers want a brand’s values to align with their own.

Furthermore, 75% of shoppers said they’ve parted ways with a brand over conflicting values.

A manifesto is an opportunity to assure your target audience that your values align with theirs, thus building trust and customer loyalty.

10 of the Best Brand Manifesto Examples

To give you some inspiration for your own brand manifesto, here are some examples to consider.

1. Poseidon Dive Systems

Image source

Poseidon Dive System’s manifesto appeals to its audience thirst for curiosity, freedom, and adventure.

Essentially, the company’s manifesto gives the impression that its products are designed to help consumers on their journey to explore and deeper understand the ocean.

What We Like: The manifesto uses descriptive language like “beneath the sea” and “incredible creatures” to paint the picture of an underwater world worth exploring.

In doing so, the brand describes an enticing world and tells its audience that it’s products can take them there.

2. Under Armour

Image source

Sportswear company Under Armour’s manifesto speaks to the competitiveness of athletes or anyone on their fitness journey. However, instead of insinuating its audience competes against others, the manifesto explains the brand’s goal is to help consumers compete against themselves.

The idea is to help consumers push their own limits and become the best version of themselves.

What We Like: The manifesto adds context to Under Armour’s simple motto — overachieve.

3. Nespresso

Image source

Nespresso’s manifesto makes its clear the brand believes everyone, regardless of status, should be able to enjoy premium coffee. The manifesto includes all the right words to set the tone for the brand — “premium,” “fancy,” and “luxury.”

However, the brand quickly establishes you don’t need to break out your best suit and tie or be a coffee connoisseur to enjoy its product.

What We Like: The manifesto gives the impression that Nespresso products are luxurious yet affordable and makes Nespresso’s values clear — the company isn’t elitist. It believes everyone should have access to superb coffee.

4. Moleskine

Image source

 

Moleskine’s manifesto captures the beauty and art of writing with phrases like “the solemn, thoughtful, and meditative gesture of the pen gelding across a blank page.”

Whether journaling, note-taking, or outlining — writing is a personal and artistic expression.

Highlighting this in its manifesto shows Moleskine is in tune with its audience.What

What We Like: Moleskine’s manifesto shows brand consistency. The company manufactures paper and writing products, and its manifesto reflects both its products and its consumers values.

5. KIA

Image source

KIA’s manifesto doesn’t include much vivid imagery, but it lays out in plain language the company’s goal. KIA’s purpose is to deliver innovative products that are convenient and respects its consumers most valuable resource — their time.

What We Like: If you’re not one for flowery writing and overly descriptive language, this manifesto shows it’s possible to clarify your values with simple prose.

6. Nike

Image source

Even though Nike endorses some of the biggest names in sports, like LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Serena Williams, it never boasts about how the best athletes in the world use its equipment.

Instead, Nike sticks to what has skyrocketed the brand to the top of the sports equipment industry — emotional resonance.

Nike wants people to understand that success doesn’t mean becoming the greatest of all time. It means you did everything possible to become the best possible version of yourself.

What We Like: Nike’s manifesto perfectly expresses the “why” behind its brand — to empower every athlete, regardless of their talent or ability, to reach their potential and achieve their greatness.

7. Fiat

Image source

Fiat isn’t just selling a sleek, Italian car. It’s selling a lifestyle. In its brand manifesto, you get a glimpse of the life it wants to offer customers — a life they can live with burning passion and thrilling excitement.

However, Fiat doesn’t want its customers to live recklessly. It wants them to treasure the little things in life just as much as the big things.

So the “why” behind Fiat’s brand isn’t really changing its customers’ lifestyle — it’s changing their attitude toward life. And that’s a compelling mission to have.

What We Like: The manifesto appeals to an emotion — love. The words “love” and “passion” are used multiple times throughout its manifesto.

8. The North Face

Image source

Most travel equipment brands focus on how its products can enable you to travel and explore your surroundings, which is engaging on the surface. But, in The North Face’s brand manifesto, it goes another layer deeper by diving into why we explore.

What We Like: By describing how exploring helps us understand ourselves better, The North Face’s purpose is crystal clear — it not only want to help us explore more and help us change for the better, lead more fulfilling lives, and cherish what we have.

9. Apple

Image source

Steve Jobs’ bitter disdain for the status quo compelled him to shatter conventional wisdom whenever he could, driving such a significant wedge between him and his colleagues that they forced him out of the company he founded.

Despite all his controversy, though, Steve Jobs’ ability to think differently fueled Apple’s innovation and transformed it into the most valuable brand in the world.

Steve Jobs’ story is the driving force behind Apple’s purpose. If Apple can inspire people to think differently and challenge the status quo, it can help propel society forward and change the world — just like he did.

What We Like: Apple’s manifesto tells a story of misfits and the hurdles they have to overcome due to their differences. Storytelling is an excellent way to appeal to emotion.

10. Levi’s

Image source

No one wants to coast through life. But, often, we drift away — and we don’t even notice it happening.

To help catch yourself settling in life before it’s too late, Levi’s crafted a brand manifesto overflowing with so much purpose that it could convince Eeoyre from Winnie-the-Pooh to make his mark on the world.

Levi’s manifesto encourages its audience to make the world a better better place and says all they need is their gut instinct and the clothes on their back to make that impact.

What We Like: Levi’s conveys a brand purpose almost anyone would passionately follow for the rest of their lives — don’t ever settle.

1. Identify your organization’s “why.”

Your brand’s purpose drives your entire brand manifesto. Without a clear and convincing purpose, your manifesto will seem like an inauthentic, emotionally manipulative sales pitch.

Your audience wants to know why they should care about you — and your product’s “best-in-class” features have never been a compelling enough reason to support a business.

To uncover your organization’s “why,” ask your founders why they started the company. What problem were they trying to solve? Why did it bug them so much? And why do they want to keep growing the company?

You’ll most likely find your organization’s purpose within those answers.

2. Write in second or third-person to place your audience into your story.

In each of the brand manifestos above, you’ll notice that the copy pulls you in by including the words “we” or “people.” That’s because Nike, Fiat, and The North Face all know audiences primarily cares about how the brands can help them.

Using pronouns like “you,” “we,” and “them” (when referring to a customer base) can engage people on a personal level and place them in the narrative the brands are crafting.

3. Describe how your brand’s purpose will improve people’s lives.

Most people aspire to transcend their current identities and lives. Self-actualization is a universal goal that almost everyone wants to achieve. And the smartest brand marketers understand this about the human condition.

For instance, did you notice how each of the brand manifestos above is a life mantra that can improve your life? Nike — define and meet your greatness. Fiat — enjoy life to the fullest. The North Face — never stop exploring. Apple — think differently and challenge the status quo. Levi’s — don’t ever settle in life.

By describing each brand’s purpose in a genuinely selfless fashion, each company’s brand manifesto can prompt audiences to imagine a future with the brand’s product or service bettering their lives.

Start with ‘Why.’

Your brand’s purpose is one of the most challenging things to pinpoint and communicate. But if you want to craft a compelling brand manifesto that will engage an audience and persuade them to support your brand, you must be able to convey the reason you exist and why anyone should care.

Only then will you be able to build the loyal following that every brand craves.

 

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

Microsoft is keeping generative AI front and center in its search products.

In January, the company extended its partnership with Open AI, the maker of ChatGPT with a multi-year investment believed to be worth $10 billion. The following month, Microsoft launched new AI-powered versions of its Bing search engine and Microsoft Edge web browser.

This week Microsoft announced the launch of Bing Image Creator — an AI-powered tool that allows users to create images at the click of a button (a major upgrade from WordArt).

Users can type a brief image description into the chat window on Bing or upon clicking the Image Creator icon within Microsoft Edge to get custom images generated by OpenAI’s DALL-E.

Image Source

The feature is currently available for Bing and Microsoft Edge preview users.

In addition to image generation, Microsoft is rolling out Visual Stories and Knowledge Cards 2.0 to aid Bing users in their visual searches. With Visual Stories, search results can include AI-generated video and audio clips. The Knowledge Card 2.0 update will include visual search results such as infographics generated by AI.

What does this mean for marketers?

It’s clear that AI has the potential to streamline and automate tasks for marketers. While it’s no replacement for skilled marketers, AI’s ability to automatically generate imagery and written content can be a big time-saver for scaling teams.

Additionally, with companies like Microsoft integrating AI into search engines, it’s worth noting the potential impacts this will have on search-driven content.

With search results generating elements such as charts and graphs, creating content that includes fresh research, data, and insights will be crucial for marketers looking to generate traffic from searches. As search engines continue to get smarter, marketers will be tasked with creating standout content that is distinctly different from competitors.

Elsewhere in Marketing

The latest marketing news and strategy insights.

Snap’s generous monetization program draws attention from creators.

Meta’s paid verification program is now available in the US.  

TikTok ban: understanding the social and political ramifications.

Google opened the waitlist for Bard, its AI-powered chatbot and ChatGPT competitor.

YouTube rolled out its podcast studio to help podcasters distribute their shows on the platform.

Twitter is testing a new verification system that requires a valid government ID.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have been in the spotlight lately as businesses are becoming more familiar with and comfortable using them in business practices.

Although often discussed together, AI and machine learning are two different things and can have two separate applications. Here’s everything you need to know about the difference between artificial intelligence and machine learning and how it relates to your business.

Table of Contents:

• What is artificial intelligence?
• What is machine learning?
• Difference Between Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Capabilities of AI and Machine Learning
• Benefits of AI and Machine Learning

What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is programming computers to complete tasks that usually require human input. A computer system typically mimics human cognitive abilities of learning or problem-solving.

What is machine learning?

Machine learning is when computers sort through data sets (like numbers, photos, text, etc.) to learn about certain things and make predictions. The more data it has, the better and more accurate it gets at identifying distinctions in data.

Machine learning typically needs human input to begin learning, but this is as simple as a human supplying an initial data set.

AI and machine learning are terms used interchangeably, but they shouldn’t be.

All machine learning is artificial intelligence, but not all artificial intelligence is machine learning.

Capabilities of AI and Machine Learning

There are great opportunities for businesses to leverage AI and machine learning; we’ll discuss a few below.

1. Recommendations and Algorithms

Businesses can use AI and machine learning to build algorithms that recommend products or services to users and correctly recommend products a user would like.

A great example is a streaming service’s algorithm that suggests shows and movies based on viewing history and ratings. These recommendations improve over time as the machine has more viewing history to analyze.

2. Image Search

When a machine is fed data in the form of images, it learns key characteristics and distinguishing features. This type of machine learning helps people use devices for visual search, and Google Lens is a great example of this.

Say someone is out in public and sees someone wearing a pair of shoes they like. They can’t identify a brand name, so they take a picture of the shoe using Google Lens. It scans the image for recognizable features and characteristics and searches the internet for a match, eventually driving the searcher to the exact pair of shoes.

3. Sentiment Analysis

AI and machine learning can understand the sentiment behind statements and categorize them as positive, neutral, or negative.

Social listening tools are a popular marketing application of sentiment analysis, and the tools typically analyze online conversations about brands and use keywords to determine if people are positive or negative in their statements.

4. Speech Recognition

Machines can also learn to detect sounds and sound patterns, analyze them, and use the data to bring answers. For example, Shazam can process a sound and tell users the exact song playing, and Siri can surface answers to a user’s spoken question.

Benefits of AI and Machine Learning

Using AI and machine learning can bring a variety of benefits to a brand looking to leverage them:

• Data Analysis: When systems become more efficient in processing data, teams have a useful and accurate source of information that can help drive business decisions.
• Efficiency and Time Management: Machine learning and AI can take over everyday routine tasks and allow teams to focus on pressing issues that a computer can’t handle.
• Fast Solutions: Intelligent machines can come to solutions faster than humans can. For example, a human could generate a list of reputable sources on a topic, but Google Search would do it faster.

All machine learning is AI, but not all AI is not machine learning.

Artificial intelligence is a broad term, but it includes machine learning. If your business is looking into leveraging machine learning, it’s not a question of either or because machine learning can’t exist without AI.

Regardless of the distinctions, one thing is evident; artificial intelligence benefits businesses, and adapting tools into your business strategy can give you a leg up against the competition.

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

A potential TikTok ban is looming in the U.S.

After the app has been banned on government devices and some college campuses, the Biden Administration threatened a nationwide ban if ByteDance, the China-based company that owns TikTok, doesn’t sell its stakes in the platform.

If the app does get banned, it could have major repercussions for marketers who have invested heavily in the platform over the last three years.

Though overall social ad spend is trending downward due to economic uncertainty, TikTok saw a 20% increase in ad spend during the first three quarters of 2022 with some agencies reporting that 25% of their social spend is dedicated to TikTok ads alone.

While many companies are continuing to invest ad dollars in more established platforms, TikTok has untapped potential to reach new audiences that aren’t on other platforms. In January 2023 TikTok reached 850 million global users, though 40% of TikTok users aren’t on Facebook, and 63% aren’t on Twitter.

Some agencies and brands are pulling back their TikTok advertising spend to see how things shake out, while others are continuing to invest to continue getting reach on the platform while they still can.

In the meantime, TikTok is trying to ease the concerns of advertisers to keep the ad dollars rolling in.

It’s worth noting that advertising reach isn’t the only concern marketers have when it comes to a TikTok ban.

The app has been fruitful for organic marketing plays and viral moments, both of which could be limited if marketers are relying solely on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, which limit organic reach to an account’s followers.

Marketing Snippets

The latest marketing news and strategy insights.

LinkedIn just launched its first podcast academy to connect podcast hosts to programming and coaching opportunities.

Most popular types of content: the seven pieces of content your audience really wants to see per new data from the HubSpot Blog.

YouTube just released its 2023 priorities which are centered around supporting creators, leveraging AI, and fostering community.

TikTok recently introduced a third feed dedicated to STEM content.

The FTC is probing major social media platforms for more information on how they handle misleading ads.

AI stats: 20 data points about artificial intelligence marketers need to know in 2023.

The race to create quality, insightful content is only becoming more difficult for marketers. It’s already a challenge to secure a high-ranking article on Google — and it’s even harder when your business is newer or lacks authority on the search engine.

In 2023, many businesses are looking to leverage more tools to increase content output and improve SEO, and AI-generated content is a popular solution.

In this post, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of AI-generated content. But before diving into them, let’s first define what it is.

Artificial intelligence software can pull pre-existing information from search engines and create unique content from people’s search queries on different keywords, phrases, or topics.

Our colleagues in the HubSpot Podcast Network dive into a popular AI tool, Chatgbt, and explain how you optimize it to improve your marketing efforts, click below to give it a listen.

How To Delegate Your Work To ChatGPT (Use These Prompts) with Rob Lennon

While it sounds like the perfect solution for your marketing plan, you should consider its pros and cons before using the software.

Pros and Cons of AI-Generated Content

AI-Generated Content Pros

1. Quick Turnaround

AI provides almost immediate results for speedy content creation, no matter if the subject is simple or complicated.

Human writers — even at their most productive — can take hours to churn out quality blog posts or marketing materials. By contrast, your average AI tool will take under a minute to produce a similar product.

What We Like: Depending on the software you choose or pay for, there’s no cap on the amount of content you can request in a day. This can help marketers fill a backlog of content for an improved content marketing plan or social media content calendar.

2. Cost Effective

AI can make content at a fraction of the cost of a full-time writer or freelancer. Authors are paid hundreds for articles needing expertise and thousands in salary wages. AI subscriptions are usually under $100 for an annual subscription.

What We Like: Work done by a person is a well-worth investment for those looking for well-researched, quality content — but for a small business or startup, AI-generated content provides a great place to start for a relatively small subscription fee.

3. Better SEO

AI-generated content’s SEO-related capabilities are one of the software’s key selling points.

AI pulls from already popular and SEO-optimized content to address your desired topic. This is a major value-add, especially if you don’t know how to write about specific keywords or how to structure your page.

Pro Tip: AI could be a step in the right direction to help you get your blog going and become more familiar with SEO. By plugging in search queries, you can see examples of optimized keyword clusters and formatting that can help you gain visibility.

4. No Writer’s Block

There’s a lot of pressure to develop new ideas, and it becomes even more daunting with a deadline.

Using AI-generated content, writers don’t have to worry about burning out or getting behind as it can generate multiple ideas for you to work from one entry.

What We Like: Even if you’re solely using AI to look up content ideas and not write the entire article, you’ve already won half the battle. For many writers, their biggest hurdle is beginning, and if AI can help you overcome that step, then the rest will be much more manageable.

AI-Generated Content Cons

1. Plagiarism Concerns

AI pulls from multiple sources to create the content users search for, but you wouldn’t know that because it never provides citations.

The legal risk is that an author or artist can sue for blatant plagiarism of their original work if it’s too closely related.

Pro Tip: Reverse image search and fact-check your AI-generated content — you can’t trust all the information you receive as it may be coming from an unaccredited source.

2. Google Devalues AI Content

Google’s helpful content update outlines its mission to “help people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results.”

Amidst the rise of AI writing tools, search engines can recognize AI because it typically lacks human expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

Pro Tip: You don’t need to forego AI in your content creation process altogether. Instead, use it wisely to help build on your own creativity — covering elements like grammar-checking, content ideation, or short-form content.

3. Inconsistent Quality

Those that begin using AI-generated content may receive a different level of quality each time. The amount of available information on topics will vary based on how much relevant content about each subject exists.

That means you won’t have a consistent output of informative content across all the subject matter you’re interested in.

Pro Tip: The more specific you get with AI content search queries, the less likely you will encounter this problem. If you need the results to mimic a particular visual style or reading level, include it in the search for a better chance of getting a more consistent result.

4. Requires Human Vetting

Uploading AI-generated content without proofreading or editing it beforehand isn’t in your best interest. Humans can identify cluttered, inaccurate, or offensive content that AI tech wouldn’t detect due to a lack of awareness.

Pro Tip: If you rely on AI-generated content, use it as a base for an idea instead of the finished product. Use the results you receive to adapt them into something original for that human aspect that Google is searching for.

AI Content Is An Imperfect Solution

Even the world’s best writers may find themselves needing a helping hand here and there. AI-generated content can help fill that need, but it has its drawbacks.

You shouldn’t entirely rely on AI for content — instead, use it to help your business grow in a way that still incorporates your own creativity, too.