Spooky season is officially upon us. It’s a fun time for consumers and an even better time for brands that get to be playful with their audience.

Below, you’ll find examples of Halloween marketing campaigns, from ad spots and seasonal products to social media posts and influencer campaigns.

1. Twix

It’s hard to think of Halloween without thinking of chocolate.

Since 2012, Twix has delivered ad campaigns focused on the left and right sides of their chocolate bars.

For Halloween, they continue with the same theme – except this one comes with a twist (or should I say Twix?).

In this commercial, young adults dressed in costumes sit in a circle in front of an Ouija board, a device used to communicate with ghosts, spirits, and other supernatural beings.

As they play, a gust of wind blows through the room, and before they know it, the “spirit” has taken a bite of a Twix bar. Everyone starts screaming and the ending shot reads, “The spirits have decided. Left or right, either is a good decision.”

This is a great example of how a brand can tweak an existing campaign and give it a holiday twist.

2. Disney Parks & TikTok

On TikTok, text-to-speech is a popular feature used by a lot of creators. Voices can range from standard American accents to popular characters and serve to add more depth(or fun) to videos.

To celebrate Halloween, Disney Parks recently announced a collaboration with TikTok, in which three characters from Disney’s theme parks can voice videos on the platform.

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When we say “Meet your audience where they’re at,” this is what we mean. This partnership is a great play for Disney, as they presumably attempt to reel in a younger crowd and garner interest in their parks.

While they could go with flashy ads, this approach is subtle, as it is embedded into a process users are naturally engaging in.

3. Vegan Treats

Wondering just how early you can start marketing your seasonal products? For Halloween, you can start as early as September.

Although Spooky Season doesn’t officially start ‘till October 1st, the start of fall is a great time to start introducing Halloween-themed products and services.

Take Vegan Treats. On September 7, they started sharing product images all relating to Halloween, starting things off with a skull cake.

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The earlier you can start the better. It gives your audience time to review your offers and decide if they want to purchase. If you wait until the week of Halloween to start, it’ll already be too late.

4. Elysian Brewing

During Halloween, you’ll find some of the most unlikely brands pair up. That’s because holidays allow businesses to branch out in a way that feels natural and fluid.

Take this co-branding campaign between Elysian Brewing, USA Network, and Syfy.

To kick off trick-or-treat time, this beer company released a limited batch of beers for Halloween, “A Killer Wit Beer.”

“Just like Chucky is synonymous with Halloween, Elysian’s pumpkin beers have become synonymous with the season. Seeing Chucky’s iconic, freckled face on our cans feels like a match made in… ah… hell,” said Joe Bisacca, co-founder of Elysian Brewing, in a statement.

Collaborations like these can be key for new audience growth and can work well during holidays when strategies and goals are more likely to align.

5. Heinz

Although the concept of a vegetarian vampire during Halloween doesn’t sound very interesting, Heinz found a way to make it work.

Enlisting the help of content creator and TikTok influencer E.J. Marcus, Heinz released a campaign to promote its annual Halloween-themed ketchup, dubbed “tomato blood.”

The multi-channel campaign included an ad spot during AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire,” a partnership with Six Flags to offer branded menu items, and QR-code-scannable billboards.

Where does Marcus come in? He takes on the role of a vampire who’s learned to resist his thirst for humans and instead sustain himself with Heinz’s tomato blood. The ad seems to appeal to Gen-Z, given the ambassador they’ve chosen and the purpose-driven character he embodies.

One takeaway here is that there isn’t only one way to success. If you have the resources for a multi-pronged approach, don’t be afraid to do it. Even unsuccessful campaigns teach you about your audience and what they’re looking for – so it’s always a win for your team.

6. Target

On TikTok, Target leans heavily on user-generated content. They understand that perfect curation – à la Instagram – isn’t the key to success on this app.

So, they partner with influencers and content creators who can share authentic content using Target products. During Halloween, the strategy remains the same.

@target doesn’t matter if it’s 105 degrees, we ride at dawn 🧙‍♀️ @Dalia Elizabeth
♬ Halloween ・ cute horror song – PeriTune

One of their latest posts features creator Dalia Elizabeth who invites viewers to go Halloween shopping with her at Target. Viewers follow along as she walks the aisles and looks through Halloween decorations.

It’s simple but for TikTok, it might be exactly the right approach.

These diverse examples highlight the many ways you can approach the holiday while still staying true to your brand. 

 

There are plenty of perks to getting promoted. Beyond a salary increase, a promotion typically means more influence on your team, more autonomy, and more control over your day-to-day tasks.

But to get promoted, you need to do more than just perform well in your current role. You also need to demonstrate new skills that will help you succeed in the next role.

Whether you’re an individual contributor (IC) or people manager looking to get promoted, you’re in luck. Here, I spoke with Help Scout’s VP of Brand, Kristen Bryant Smith, to learn what she looks for when promoting both ICs and people managers.

In this post, you’ll learn:

• What skills all marketers should focus on when it comes to career growth
• What factors you need to demonstrate to get promoted as an individual contributor
•  What factors you need to demonstrate to get promoted as a people manager

Let’s dive in.

Coming Soon: Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader [Click Here to Add to Google Calendar]

How to Get Promoted as an Individual Contributor or People Manager in 2023 

Skills All Marketers Should Focus on for Career Growth, According to Help Scout’s VP of Brand

To start, I asked Smith about the skills all marketers should develop to stand out in their roles.

I’d expected the standard list — strong communication skills, expertise with analytics, or creativity and problem-solving — but Smith started with something else.

Storytelling.

As she puts it, “I think storytelling happens on many different levels. It happens with the way you tell the story of your company’s product or services. It happens at the brand level, when you’re expressing what your company offers to the world. But it’s also important to be a good storyteller as an individual so that you can express the level of impact you’re making on the team.”

She adds, “Storytelling matters when you’re writing a blog post or creating a campaign, but it also matters when it comes to reporting on the impact of those efforts.”

This makes sense. To get promoted, your manager needs to express to leadership why you’re deserving and prepared for the next role. And, to help your manager do this, you need to be able to tell the story of your own impact on the team, and organization at large.

The stories you tell when it comes to your projects matters. Consider, for instance, the difference between telling your team, “Our marketing campaign generated 300 net-new leads”, versus telling them, “Our marketing campaign successfully generated 300 net-new leads. More leads means more prospective buyers. Our previous campaign back in July only generated 100 new leads. This demonstrates tremendous growth on our team when it comes to how our campaigns impact revenue.”

See the difference? Storytelling helps you showcase your awareness for larger company goals, and puts your projects into the context of business impact.

Beyond storytelling, Smith also told me, “Another skill that matters is being able to connect the dots as a collaborator. It’s easy to focus on the content of what you’re communicating, but you can set yourself apart by being someone who adds contextual knowledge and listens to others across the business.”

She continues, “Being a cross-department translator makes you invaluable, because you’re the one who is opening up the doorways that people can walk through more easily. You’re a guide for everyone else on the team.”

It should be noted, it’s undeniably easier to be a connector at a company that values transparency and enables each employee to have insights into other team’s objectives and processes. But, if it’s possible at your organization, becoming that translator shows leadership that you’re committed to helping your entire organization reach its goals — not just your own.

Next, let’s jump into some factors you should consider if you’re hoping to get promoted in an IC role.

(P.S. Already a Help Scout customer? Click here for 20% off eligible HubSpot products, or sign up for free.) 

The Factors That Matter to Get Promoted as an Individual Contributor

There are two factors Smith believes are important for getting promoted as an IC:

• Being able to set realistic goals and hit them.
• Being consistent.

First, let’s focus on being able to set realistic goals and hit them.

Smith told me, “I am far more impressed by someone who sets and hits an achievable goal than someone who sets and misses a far-reaching, not-so-attainable goal. If you don’t hit that big goal, you don’t learn as much as you do when you hit and exceed a more reasonable target. You instead are faced with figuring out if your tactics underperformed or if your targets were off. With more realistic numbers you can establish an informed baseline and hold yourself more accountable.”

Of course, setting goals isn’t as easy as it sounds, particularly if you’re launching a new marketing initiative and don’t have historical metrics to refer back to.

Smith recognizes the challenge of setting realistic goals, but believes it’s a muscle that can be developed over time. As she puts it, “Trying to put numbers on everything is hard — especially when big numbers often feel more inspiring. Get comfortable with quantifying things regardless of their size. Seeing those numbers change over time is how you’ll tell the story of your impact.”

Additionally, as an IC you’ll want to show initiative by reflecting and learning from your goals — whether you hit them or not. You want to be someone who raises their hand and says, “I know we hit our goal. But what was it like to get there? What did we learn?”

As Smith puts it, “As an IC, you need to recognize the power and agency you have over even the smaller-scope items without waiting for your manager to tell you.”

And, equally important for IC promotions: Consistency.

Smith says, “When I think about the ICs I’ve promoted, I think about the people who are very reliable. You know if they’re tasked with something that it will get done and they will deliver. You also know they’ll communicate with you if things go awry and provide updates along the way. Consistent communication and on-time delivery are huge factors to consider when promoting at the IC-level.”

How to Coach These Skills in Your IC

Managers can help coach their direct reports and teach them how to refine their goals in ways that feel reasonable.

Encouraging reflection can help when you’re trying to teach your direct report how to set more realistic goals.

For instance, when you sit down with your employee, you might say, “How can we apply the learnings from this project moving forward?” or “I know you didn’t hit your goals for this campaign. If you could do it again, how might you alter your goals to make them more manageable?”

In terms of consistency, positive reinforcement is key. Recognize when your IC is delivering strong results on a consistent basis, so they know it’s being noticed.

And if they’re not consistent, have conversations to uncover why they’re not meeting deadlines. Is there a lack of communication or other process inefficiencies that is leading to these inconsistencies? If not, perhaps your IC needs more training so she can become more efficient at her job and deliver the right materials more frequently.

Next, let’s explore what you need to develop to get promoted on the manager-level.

The Factors That Matter to Get Promoted as a People Manager

Being a good manager requires empathy, strong listening and communication skills, and the ability to provide strong, clear feedback.

But beyond that, there are four factors Smith looks for when considering whether her people managers are excelling in their roles and ready for the next step. These include:

• An ability to navigate ambiguity and translate it effectively.
• Providing role clarity to each of your direct reports.
• Thinking on longer timelines.
• Demonstrating empathy.

One of the biggest factors, in Smith’s opinion, of a strong people manager is someone who can effectively navigate ambiguity and translate it so they’re not passing ambiguity down to their team.

As she puts it, “It’s your job to translate ambiguous information into something that is actionable and helpful. You’re a filter for your team. They need to look to you to get answers — not more questions.”

She adds, “Good managers can come in and hear the loose, longer-term themes from the executive team, and then translate them into strong quarterly plans for their team.”

In her opinion, that’s why hierarchy should exist in the first place: So people can think on different timelines. The executive team needs to look one year or even five years out, but director-level needs to focus on quarter over quarter.

Which leads me to my next point: If hierarchies exist so people can think on different timelines, then it makes sense that people manager growth happens when you can demonstrate you’re officially thinking on a new, longer timeline.

For instance, as a people manager, rather than saying, “I’m working on this project, and it’s going really well,” you could say, “I’m working on this project right now, but I really think we need to start thinking about other similar projects a couple of months from now.”

“Initiative is huge,” Smith told me. “You need to suggest new plans, and tie them back to business outcomes. How can you hear the context of what’s going on across the business — what the sales team is excited about, what’s coming from the product roadmap — and use it to prioritize what you have control over? That’s what sets people apart and starts to move them up the ladder.”

Another critical trait of a people manager who is ready for a promotion? Being able to provide role clarity.

Smith says, “Your direct reports deserve to know how your expectations vary from project to project. How do you ensure they understand how they’re being measured with each project they take on?”

There’s nothing worse than starting a new experiment or project and realizing your manager has no idea how she’ll measure your success. To demonstrate you’re ready for a director-level, you need to show you can pivot with your employees as their roles shift while clearly communicating your expectations of them no matter the context.

And, finally, Smith emphasizes — how you treat people matters. “You need to be able to hear 360-feedback and make sure your actions line up with your company’s values,” She says. “You need to be an empathetic leader and adjust things accordingly if your employee is struggling or dealing with something outside of work. No matter what, I’m never going to promote someone who creates a toxic environment for their team.”

How to Measure These Factors in Your People Managers

While this is all well and good, it can be incredibly difficult to define and measure these factors in your people managers. On a daily basis, how do you know they’re translating ambiguity effectively? And how can you ensure they’re providing role clarity, or being an empathetic leader?

Let’s start with measuring their ability to translate ambiguity. For Smith, it’s simple: How much back-and-forth is required during quarterly planning?

She told me, “If the [back-and-forth] loop of communication to get alignment with your directors is small, then it’s because your director knows how to effectively translate what you’re asking into direct actions for their team.”

In short: If your director can sit in leadership meetings and take those larger-picture goals and distill them into actionable, specific plans for her team — then she’s good at distilling ambiguity. If not, then she might need more coaching or development before she’s ready for a promotion.

Skip-levels and employee feedback surveys are additional opportunities to learn how the managers on your team are performing. Ultimately, these surveys can help you discover whether your managers are leading with clear guidelines and empathy.

Finally, let’s explore what leaders get wrong when they consider promoting both ICs and people managers.

What Leaders Get Wrong When Thinking About Promoting ICs or People Managers

A promotion doesn’t just mean an employee is performing well in their role. It also means they’re ready and able to take on more responsibility beyond their current role.

Smith provides an example for this. She told me recently, her team was defining the difference between a content writer and a content lead. They determined a content writer is a role in which everything the writer creates is planned by someone else. Alternatively, a content lead is someone who starts to plan out additional content that will perform well with the intended audience.

“As a manager, it’s important to understand what an expanded role means. It’s not just, ‘You checked off everything you were supposed to do this quarter … So I guess you’re getting promoted’,” Smith says with a laugh. “It’s more about defining what the next role means.”

Additionally, it’s vital as a leader you understand what your team loses when you promote a senior individual contributor to a people manager. As Smith puts it, “When you’re evaluating the jump [between IC and people manager], you might assume that what the senior IC is doing will remain the same, but it shouldn’t. They shouldn’t be required to write the same amount of posts, for instance, when they become a people manager. So how are you setting expectations around that shift?”

She adds, “People who are really great senior ICs are raising the bar of quality for whatever program they’re owning — but having a great quality bar doesn’t make you a great people manager. So what are we doing as managers to develop out the people management skills?”

Ultimately, getting promoted isn’t something that happens overnight. Ideally, you can leverage these tips — along with having effective career growth conversations with your manager — to begin demonstrating your readiness today.

As we head toward the end of 2022, it’s time to look back at examples of brands that have successfully “newsjacked” a trend.

In this article, we’ll cover some of the top trending topics of the year and the brands that took them on.

1. Popeyes

In late September, artist Rihanna announced via Instagram that she would be performing at the Superbowl.

The image, which confirmed earlier speculations of the singer’s participation, quickly made its rounds.

Wasting no time, Popeyes then shared its own version of the popular image just one day later.

Popeyes is one of the few brands that executed this newsjacking correctly (and legally). Many brands wanting to jump on this news took a great legal risk.

Instead of following Popeyes lead, which replicated Rihanna’s image with its own product and hand model, many simply Photoshopped their products into the artist’s hands.

This could be considered copyright infringement, as the recreation of the image in this way is considered derivative work and requires explicit authorization from the copyright holder.

Secondly, it can also violate the artist’s right of publicity, as their likeness is used in a manner they have not agreed to.

Is this likely to escalate? Probably not as it serves as additional publicity for the NFL and Rihanna. However, in another case, it could. The legal consequences are simply not worth the temporary boost in reach or engagement.

The key takeaway here is that when newsjacking, it’s still important to review the trend before jumping in to ensure you’re not putting your brand at risk.

2. Lay’s

The reality TV competition show Big Brother isn’t where you’d expect to see Lay’s advertisement. But when one contestant showed a love for Lay’s chips, the brand started shouting out the contest on its Twitter account.

This particular contestant, and subsequent winner Taylor Hale, become one of the most popular faces of the franchise due to the bullying she faced in the house. With many Americans rallying around her to show their support, Lay’s also joined in.

Judging by Lay’s recent Tweets, their posts on Hale earned them over 50x more engagement than they typically get on the platform.

Once Hale was announced as the winner, the brand also contacted her – seemingly for a potential partnership.

This is a great example of how a brand can leverage a seemingly trivial situation and turn it into something special.

3. LEGO

Remember when Wordle has us all agonizing over five-letter words? Well, LEGO capitalized on that buzz and joined in – in LEGO fashion, of course.

Can’t stop imagining #wordle tiles as LEGO bricks. 🟩🟨⬜ pic.twitter.com/GYzQISo6g2

— LEGO (@LEGO_Group)
January 12, 2022

Something like this is so simple yet can be incredibly effective. Because the point of newsjacking isn’t necessarily to get sales, but instead to increase your reach, get engagement, and connect with your audience.

When you think of it this way, it’s much easier to leverage.

4. Norwegian Cruise Line

The conversation around NFTs started gaining steam in January 2021 and peaked one year later in January of this year, according to Google Trends,

Since then, brands have been scrambling to both understand what it is and how they can use NFTs for marketing.

NCL took the leap by leveraging the buzz around NFTs to announce its new cruise line. They released a collection of six NFT art pieces available for auction that depict the new cruise line at sea.

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According to a press release, the winner of the auction will also win a room on one of the ship’s inaugural voyages.

5. K18

BeReal has made a big splash this year as the better, more authentic version of Instagram.

As a quick refresher, the concept behind BeReal is simple: At some point every day, users are prompted to share a picture of themselves in real-time using both front and back cameras.

There are no pre-taken pictures allowed and once you miss the two-minute countdown, that’s it.

The idea is quite interesting and has garnered the attention of many consumers as well as brands.

The thing is, many brands are still unsure how to use the platform. Not K18 though.

Joining brands like Chipotle, E.L.F, and Rare Beauty, K18 is one of the few brands that are exploring this platform.

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Because spontaneity is required, it makes it difficult for brands to add structure to their BeReal strategy. However, K18 has taken this as an opportunity to build community and take users behind the scenes.

The takeaway here is that not every platform will allow the same approach. Having some flexibility will give you more room to explore these trends as they come.

Trends come and go – the key is knowing which ones to join and which ones to skip. However, when done right, they can earn you a stronger community, more engagement, and more reach.

Believe it or not, TikTok users aren’t opposed to ads — they just have high expectations for them. The most successful ones are quirky, creative, and entertaining — almost a reflection of the platform itself.

When brands take the time to understand TikTok, it becomes much easier to develop concepts, jump on trends, leverage effects and audio, and, ultimately, connect with an audience.

So, to help you hit the right note, we’ve compiled a list of the best ads on TikTok to inspire your next campaign.

1. DoorDash

“I want to show you how I was able to afford AirPod Pros in 48 hours starting with nothing.” 

An enticing hook within the first few seconds? Check. However, there’s much more going on here.

First, the message. Notice how DoorDash positions itself as a side gig. It even points out how you can make more money in less time. This message is clearly enticing to its audience of young adults who want the latest gadgets without committing to a full-time job.

Second, the delivery. The ad uses a Gen Z narrator to appeal to a similar demographic. On top of that, he uses a popular effect on TikTok, known as green screen, allowing him to demonstrate how easy it is to sign up for DoorDash. When you combine all these tactics, you get a video that looks and feels authentic to the platform.

To recreate the same magic, focus on conveying a message that speaks to your audience and leverage platform-specific tactics — like effects, music, and audio — to deliver it in an authentic and engaging way.

2. HelloFresh

There’s nothing worse than watching an ad that feels scripted or forced. One way to get around this is by filming a vlog-style video, like this one from HelloFresh:

 

Out of the gate, the narrator grabs your attention by mentioning a common pain point: spending too much at the grocery store. So, she tries a meal kit. We follow along as she unboxes the ingredients, chops up the vegetables, and savors the end result. 

Her final verdict? Surprise, surprise — she’s happy with HelloFresh (“We definitely recommend this! It’s easier, cheaper, and you get to try new delicious meals every week!”). But, more importantly, her recommendation feels personal, almost like an endorsement from a trusty friend. Because we walked in her shoes, sort of speak, the review feels sincere.

3. Crumbl Cookies

This ad is like candy for the eyes. It uses bright colors, upbeat music, and slow-motion shots of ooey-gooey cookies. The icing on the cake (or cookie?) is its use of humor.

The message is simple: you deserve to celebrate the sweet things in life. However, if you didn’t have a victory today, Crumbl Cookies has you covered with a list of unspectacular achievements, such as: “Your team won the big game. Your team tried to win the big game. You didn’t even know there was a big game.”

This is a good reminder for brands to lean into humor, show a personality, and refine their brand voice. Tiktok is quirky by nature, and marketers find success when they’re willing to get creative and silly.

4. Kung Fu Tea

Hashtags play a major role on TikTok. They help users find relevant videos and connect with those who share the same interests. For marketers, they can also boost a post’s visibility and reach.

Kung Fu Tea’s #BobaChallenge is the perfect example of a brand harnessing the power of hashtags. The challenge is simple: try to stab a straw in your boba cup with your eyes closed. Silly? A little, but also highly engaging, simple to execute, and effective at creating genuine reactions. As a result, the #BobaChallenge went viral, racking up thousands of likes and shares.

If you want to run a hashtag challenge, take a page from Kung Fu Tea and keep it simple, inclusive, and, most importantly, fun.

5. Clearly

Here’s another example of a hashtag challenge — with a twist. This one leverages TikTok influencers.

Clearly, an eyewear company, kicked things off with a branded hashtag (#ClearlyTransform) along with a challenge: show us your best look with your favorite pair of glasses. The overall message was to encourage people to feel confident while wearing glasses.

To spread this message even further, Clearly partnered with five high-profile creators including TikTok star Leenda Dong, who completed the challenge and shared it with her 17 million followers.

Clearly understands the importance of user-generated content. It gave participants creative freedom to interpret the challenge in their own way instead of forcing a message or pushing its branding.

Plus, by partnering with TikTok influencers, the challenge generated 241,000+ video submissions, 32.7 million engagements, and 12,000 new followers over six days.

6. CoverGirl

The best ads on TikTok don’t feel like ads. Let me explain.

For context, makeup tutorials are wildly popular on TikTok. In the example below, CoverGirl leans into this category by recreating a makeup tutorial using its new foundation. The video shows a makeup enthusiast applying the foundation and hyping up the results. The audience is getting value by seeing the product “in action” and learning a few tips from the narrator.

At first watch, you think the video is from a regular TikTok user instead of a brand — which is exactly by design. Because it looks natural on the platform, users are less likely to scroll past. In short, it strikes the perfect balance between providing value without being too sales-y.

Back to You

We hope these brands have inspired you to think outside of the box and get creative. It’s helpful to remember that TikTok is a fun, entertaining platform, making it necessary to match that energy in your marketing.

To keep up with TikTok, Instagram is constantly rolling out new features to benefit both brands and creators. It seems like every time I log into Instagram, I’m met with several new tools and features to create, organize, and promote my content.

If you’re like me and need help keeping track of all these changes, here’s a breakdown of 11 new features you should integrate into your 2022 Instagram marketing strategy.

11 New Instagram Features Marketers Should Be Using in 2022

1. Reels Template

According to Instagram, 91% of active Instagram users watch videos on the app weekly — so Reels is a tool marketers should leverage if they aren’t already. If creating Instagram Reels seems daunting, then the app’s new Reels Template feature could be what you need to make more videos faster.

Reels templates are pre-built templates anyone can use to make Reels quicker and more efficiently. To access a template, find an Instagram Reel you want to use as a template. The Reel must have music and at least three clips. Once you find the video you want, follow these steps:

• Step 1: Tap the three dots on the button right of the Reel you want to use.
• Step 2: Tap Use As Template.
• Step 3: Tap Add Media at the bottom and select the photos and video clips you want to use in your Reel. These images will replace the ones in the original Reel.
• Step 4: Click Done or Next, preview your Reel and share when you’re satisfied with the result.

2. Dual Camera

Instagram’s new dual camera feature allows users to record content with their back-facing camera at the same time as their front-facing camera. The image from the back-facing camera will take up most of the screen, while the front-facing image will appear in a small window to the side. The dual feature is only available when recording Reels.

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3. Remix Photos

Since 2021, Instagram users have been able to remix Reels to create their own content, collaborate with creators, or react to a video. Now, the remix feature can be applied to Instagram photos as well. The best way I can describe the remix feature is that it’s similar to TikTok’s “Duet” feature, which allows users to attach their photo or video to someone else’s.

On Instagram, you can attach your video or image to someone else’s Reel or photo and upload it as a Reel. You can also add stickers, polls, and text to further “remix” the content.

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4. Interactive Stickers

Many of the interactive stickers that have been available on Instagram Stories are now available for Reels. Marketers and content creators can use the following stickers in their Reels to engage their audience:

• Poll: Get your followers’ opinions or have them vote on what your next bit of content should be.
• Quiz: Test your audience’s knowledge or use this feature to teach them something new.
• Emoji Slider: Allow viewers to show how your content or a specific topic makes them feel.

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5. Grid Pinning

Have a piece of content you don’t want lost in your grid? You can pin it to the top of your profile using Instagram’s grid pinning feature. To do this, select the Reel or photo you wish to pin. In the top right corner of the post, tap the three dots and “Pin to your profile.” Afterward, your post will appear at the top of your grid.

The pinning feature is excellent for:

• Bringing attention to an ongoing promotion
• Showcasing an event
• Highlighting your most popular content.

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6. Partnership Inbox

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Gone are the days of missed opportunities because of a busy inbox. Now, brands and creators can quickly find and manage their communications in one location — partnership messages.

Partnership messages have their own sub-folder in the Direct Messages tab. These messages skip the request folder and get priority placement — making it easier than ever to find and manage branded content partnerships.

7. Find Creators

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Instagram is officially playing matchmaker with a new suite of tools to help brands and creators connect.

Let’s start on the creator side — users can add brands to a preferred brand list. When a brand searches for creators to partner with, those who have the brand on their list will appear at the top of the search results. This makes it easier for brands to find creators who already show an interest.

Brands can also filter creators by follower count, age, gender, and location — which Instagram believes will help brands “organize shortlists to easily manage multiple campaigns.”

This feature is only available to creator accounts and business accounts.

 

8. Auto-Captions for Reels and Stories

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Instagram’s captions sticker was initially only available for stories, but the app has recently expanded it to Reels. This feature automatically converts what someone says in a video into text so that users can watch without sound.

Now, audiences can engage with your videos — with or without sound. This feature also takes a big step in making Instagram content more accessible.

9. Calendar Tool

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Here’s some exciting news if you have a business profile — Instagram is planning to double the data tracking period within Instagram Insights from 30 to 60 days.

Social media marketers can finally ditch the third-party apps that provide a more extended tracking period. Instead, this information will be readily available within Insights. This is an excellent example of Instagram listening to feedback from users requesting such an upgrade for months.

10. Subscriptions

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Instagram launched Subscriptions just this year – a feature allowing creators to charge a monthly subscription fee for exclusive content and benefits.

With Subscriptions, creators set a monthly subscription price of their choice, and a subscribe button will appear on their profile. They can offer a range of benefits to subscribers — like exclusive livestreams and Stories.

The feature is part of a more significant effort to help creators make a living on its platform – an incentive for creators to stay on it. This feature also enables creators to develop deeper connections with their followers.

This new feature comes after Twitter announced a similar subscription model — Twitter Blue — so it’s safe to say more platforms will likely add subscription-based features to attract creators.

11. Visual Replies on Reels

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Another TikTok-inspired feature to hit Instagram is visual replies, which means users can comment on Reels — with another Reel.

If you create short-form videos on Instagram Reels, you can now make comments, similar to TikTok’s reply function. It’s a highly engaging and interactive way to engage with followers and leads — and vice-versa.

Final Thoughts

Instagram has become one of the world’s most popular social media platforms. However, the platform isn’t just growing – it’s also evolving. And Instagram will continue to evolve as long as apps like TikTok continue to change the game for online video marketing. It only makes sense that your social media marketing strategy also changes to leverage these new features.

As a marketer, you likely deal with data in some form on a regular basis. So, how is data deduplication relevant to you?

With so much critical information saved on our computer systems, we’ve learned to backup data regularly — including our email inboxes, Word documents, photos, and entire folders of old work. It’s typically a ton of data.

Since we usually backup and save our data on auto-pilot, we might not realize just how much has been re-copied and re-saved. Over time, our data storage becomes unnecessarily burdened with redundant copies of data, costing money as data requirements grow and processing time slows down. This is where data deduplication comes in.

Andrew Le, an IT Helpdesk Technician at HubSpot, further explains the importance of data deduplication for a business looking to grow — “[Data deduplication] really improves scaling and efficiency when pulling data from one source. If you have lots of the same data in different spaces, your entire system can be slowed down.”

So, you might be wondering, “How does data deduplication actually work?” Let’s dive into it.

How does data deduplication work?

The data deduplication process might seem intimidating, but it’s actually simpler than it sounds. You can use data deduplication software when you backup your computer. Additionally, some marketing automation software, like HubSpot, might have a deduplication feature to keep track of your marketing contacts.

To ensure you’re optimizing your data backup storage, here’s a list of the best data deduplication software you can use to minimize unnecessary data copies.

Data Deduplication Software

1. HubSpot’s Deduplication Feature

Best for: Any business.

If you use HubSpot’s CRM to manage your contacts, you’ll be impressed to find out you can also use HubSpot’s machine learning-powered deduplication feature to keep your contact database clean. HubSpot contacts can be deduplicated by a user token set with a cookie in their web browser or email address — additionally, contacts, companies, deals, and tickets can be deduplicated using a unique object ID.

2. Dedupely

Best for: A dedicated deduplication platform that integrates with your CRM.

Dedupely finds and merges duplicate data automatically, saving you time and headaches and improving trust and alignment across your company.

If your company stores a lot of data, it’s important to begin the data deduplication process. By using software, you can simply automate this process.

3. Barracuda Backup Deduplication

Best for: Users of Barracuda security solutions.

With a 9.1 user rating out of 10 on TrustRadius, Barracuda Backup is a good option, offering a robust, secure, fully-integrated data deduplication solution. Their tool can help your business reduce bandwidth requirements and backup costs. Additionally, Barracuda is a good option if your business needs to protect multiple sites, since its cloud storage technology helps distributed networks stay protected.

4. Avamar

Best for: Remote-work companies and enterprises.

Avamar, a solution from Dell EMC, provides variable-length deduplication, which reduces backup time by only storing unique daily changes while simultaneously maintaining daily backups. Avamar is an efficient, secure option and is particularly useful for virtual environments, remote offices, and enterprise applications.

5. HPE StoreOnce

Best for: Any business.

HPE StoreOnce, a solution from Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, offers disk-based backup, deduplication, and secure long-term data storage. Their deduplication software is equipped for virtual backup machines in small remote offices, and equally capable of handling high-performance dedicated applications for larger businesses. Ultimately, this is an impressive tool to help you keep your data secure and efficient as you scale-up.

6. Exagrid EX Series

Best for: Faster, more efficient backups.

Exagrid implements a highly efficient approach to data deduplication that allows six times the backup performance, and up to 20 times the restore and VM boot performance. With Exagrid, you can backup your data straight onto a disk without inline deduplication processing, enabling a shorter backup window.

7. Insycle

Best for: A full data storage and automation solution.

One of G2’s high-performers and a HubSpot App Partner, Insycle is a complete customer data management solution that makes it simple for companies to manage, automate, and maintain clean customer databases. It drives efficiency, betters reporting, aligns teams, and improves trust in data.

Cut down on excess data with data deduplication.

Don’t get me wrong, data backups are crucial to keep your company’s assets safe. However, if unmoinitored, automatic backups can lead to bloated storage and poor performance from your servers. Luckily, it’s easy to deduplicate excess data with the right tools to keep your software and business running smoothly.

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

Are you feeling anxious about your job search? You’re not alone. The competition for jobs is fierce and the search can be grueling.

In this article, we’ll cover the warning signs that you may be experiencing job search anxiety and the ways to reduce it.

• What is job search anxiety?
• Job Search Anxiety Warning Signs
• How to Deal with Job Search Anxiety

Job Search Anxiety Warning Signs

It’s important to know the difference between the frustration and nerves that happen during any job search and the anxiety that can impact your mental health.

Here are some warning signs that you may be experiencing job search anxiety:

• Difficulty getting out of bed and/or focusing
• Increased irritability
• Disinterest in usual hobbies
• Feelings of helplessness and/or worthlessness
• Cluttered and/or dirty space
• Procrastination

It’s important to note that these feelings can arise for anyone during the job search process. It becomes a more important issue once it persists and impacts your ability to live your daily life, as you used to.

In the next section, we’ll cover ways to reduce your anxiety and regain control over your job search.

How to Deal with Job Search Anxiety

1. Follow a routine.

When you have a full-time (or even part-time) job, you’re expected to stick to a schedule. That can be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., or something else. The point is, you stick to those hours.

When it comes to searching for a new job, treat that as your job. This means working for a set number of hours, taking regular breaks, and clocking out at the end of the day.

The issue many job seekers face during the job hunt is that it bleeds into their everyday lives. Just as it’s important to have work/life balance, it’s key that you follow a routine that allows you to disconnect.

This will ensure you have time to nurture yourself outside of “work” through socializing, hobbies, and more.

2. Fit in small wins in your schedule.

When you’re looking for a job, you’re not just looking. You’re sending emails, researching companies and hiring managers, reaching out to your network, making new connections, and more.

It can be overwhelming and that can translate into anxiety.

As you tackle your tasks throughout the day, fit in some wins that will keep you motivated. This can be related or unrelated to your job search, like:

• Reading a chapter from a new book.
• Connecting with someone in your industry on LinkedIn
• Getting to a new level on Duolingo.

Whatever it is that you can accomplish and brings you joy, fit it into your schedule.

Pro-tip: Schedule it whenever you tend to experience slumps in your day. The boost of energy you’ll get is arguably better than any cup of coffee.

3. Remember that it’s not personal.

Looking for a new job means facing rejection.

Although it’s hard to keep this in mind, there are so many factors and variables – outside of your control – that impact the candidates hiring managers consider for a role. As such, just because you were rejected, doesn’t mean the team didn’t like you.

Catch yourself when you think or say things like “What am I doing wrong?” Instead, take every interaction with companies as an opportunity to learn.

It can also help to remember that every “no” gets you one step closer to your “yes.”

4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

When you find an opportunity that seemingly aligns with what you’re looking for, it’s easy to get excited and start to fantasize about it.

Say you get to the third round of an interview process. You may stop interviewing elsewhere because you have faith that this one will work out. Resist that urge.

As mentioned before, there are countless factors that influence hiring managers’ decisions. Don’t commit to one company unless they’ve committed to you via a job offer.

Operating with flexibility and adaptability will allow you to stay motivated despite the disappointment that can come with job searching.

5. Destress every day.

Once you’ve clocked out for the day, it’s important to participate in activities that will destress your nervous system and re-energize you.

While you may be tempted to go on social media, don’t. Often, we end up distracting ourselves with stimuli from binge-watching Netflix or scrolling on TikTok rather than relaxing.

Here are some better alternatives:

• Go for a walk, run, or bike ride in nature.
• Listen to music or a podcast.
• Color or read a book.
• Catch up with friends and family.
• Meditate.
• Complete a puzzle or sudoku.
• Play board games.

6. Switch up your strategy.

If your current strategy still has you feeling anxious, switch something up.

For example, maybe sitting at home all day isn’t productive for you. Perhaps, you’ll work better at a coffee shop or in a park.

Not getting much traction with your resume? Try hiring a resume writer or having a colleague review it.

It’s common to feel stuck during the job search, which can lead to anxiety. Adapting your strategy can help ease some of this and make you feel empowered during your process.

7. Ask for help.

If you find yourself still struggling and don’t know where to go next, reach out for help.

Job search anxiety is incredibly common and you shouldn’t face it alone. Consider reaching out to a therapist who can help you discover new ways of experiencing this journey.

Within your own community, reach out to friends and family. While they won’t always understand what you’re going through, they can offer the support you need.

As inbound marketers, we care about creating frictionless experiences for our website visitors that will also generate leads. Most of the time we can do both but in the case of pop-up forms, conflict does emerge.

Over the past few years, pop-up forms have re-emerged as a popular marketing tactic for promoting content, driving blog subscriptions, growing email lists, and fueling lead generation. The question is, do pop-up form work? We’ll cover that and more below.

• What is a pop-up form?
• Pop-Up Triggers
• Do pop-up forms work?
• Tips for Crafting High-Converting Pop-Ups

What is a pop-up form?

A pop-up form is a window that appears while a user browses a website. It can be triggered by a number of actions, including interactions with an element on the page, scrolling, and inactivity.

Pop-ups have become so prevalent that back in 2016, Google weighed in to announce it would start penalizing websites using, what they call, “intrusive interstitials.”

But here’s the thing: not all pop-ups are bad. When executed well, they can be part of a healthy inbound strategy.

However, because of the intrusive and disruptive nature of pop-ups, marketers should be careful of when and how they appear as well as the type of content they present. In other words, context.

When they’re appropriate context mixed in with added value, pop-up forms can enhance website visitors’ experience and boost conversion rates.

Pop-ups come in many shapes and sizes, but here’s a graphic that depicts the most common ones you might see on a web page:

Let’s dive a little deeper into these pop-up formats:

1. Welcome Mats

These are full-screen pop-ups that slide above the page content.

The biggest advantage to using a welcome mat pop-up form is that ig brings the offer front and center. Consider doing this if the offer is highly relevant to your content and important to your strategy.

Otherwise, a welcome mat pop-up may be a little too intrusive, as it may not be what users expect when landing on this page.

2. Overlay Modals

As close to the traditional pop-up as you can get, these are center-screen pop-ups that appear on top of page content.

Unlike the welcome mat, overlays don’t block the rest of the content from being shown, but the user will have to click out of the pop-up to continue what they’re doing. While some users do feel that overlay modals are intrusive, they often have high conversion rates if the offer is compelling.

3. On-Click Pop-Ups

An on-click pop-up is a specific type of overlay modal that pops up with a form when a user clicks a call-to-action or other page element.

They’re perfect for when an in-line form would clutter the page but you want to decrease friction to a particular offer. The UX tends to be easy, which reduces friction on the conversion path.

4. Gamified Coupons

Another type of overlay modal, gamified coupons will let you play a game for a discount or prize of some kind in exchange for the users’ information.

They often come in the form of a prize wheel or scratch-off ticket and are best for fun ecommerce store brands (since the coupon can then be applied at checkout).

5. Top Banners

Also known as sticky bars, these are small banners that manifest as a bar at the very top of the page, asking the user to take action on something.

They are typically a more permanent conversion element than other types of pop-up and are best used for broad offers such as newsletter subscriptions, coupons, or even general announcements.

6. Slide-In Boxes

Slide-ins are small boxes that slide in from the side/bottom of the page, similar to an overlay modal but with less obtrusive behavior.

These are great for presenting offers as the user is scrolling through the content of the page.

Pop-Up Triggers

Among the most popular pop-up triggers are:

• Page entrance: Pop-up appears when the visitor first gets to the page. These can be considered disruptive but can be used effectively with less-intrusive formats such as the top banner.
• Page scroll: Pop-up appears when the visitor scrolls to a certain point on the page. These are great for long-form content when you don’t want to embed CTAs in the content.
• Element interaction: Pop-up appears when the visitor clicks on or hovers over a specific element. These are highly effective since the user took a specific action with the intent to convert.
• Time on page: Pop-up appears when the visitor has been on the page for a specific amount of time.
• Exit intent: Exit intent pop-ups appear when the visitor scrolls towards the top of the page to leave. Consider it a last-ditch effort to capture their attention before they leave.
• Inactivity: Pop-up appears when the user has not taken action on the website in a while.

Now that we know a little more about pop-up forms, let’s get back to the core question: Should marketers be using them? Let’s dig in.

Do pop-up forms work?

I’ll answer this one right off the bat: The answer is yes. Pop-up forms do work, and this is the main reason so many marketers are using them.

In 2019, research conducted by Sumo found that the top performing 10% of pop-up forms convert at a whopping 9.3%.

In 2021, Klaviyo analyzed over 80,000 businesses using its software and found that overlay modal pop-up forms convert at 3.2% and slide-out pop-ups at 2.2%.

To dig into why some pop-up forms perform better than others, we surveyed 100 consumers to learn about their habits.

50% of respondents say what draws them most to a form is a clear indication of what they’ll receive for completing it. I.e. the offer.

The length of the form along with an engaging description will also play an important role in the conversion rate. In fact, 50% of respondents say a pop-up form’s length can cause them to abandon it.

The longer the form, the higher the odds they’ll disengage. 20% say they’ll abandon a form if they feel they’re asked invasive questions.

Although this can vary by form, it’s much easier for users to offer a name and an email than it is to give a phone number and home address.

Knowing which questions to ask is key to how well the pop-up form converts.

Find below additional tips on creating effective pop-up forms.

4 Tips for Crafting High-Converting Pop-Up Forms

1. Offer something relevant and valuable.

The problem with most pop-ups is they get in the way of the visitor’s experience on a website, rather than enhance it.

This is likely because the offer in the pop-up is either not valuable to the visitor or isn’t relevant.

To boost engagement with your pop-up, make sure you follow these steps:

• Understand your persona and what they’re expecting from this page.
• Know which offers will align best with their needs.
• Ensure the offer lines up with the content of the page

For example, if I were writing a blog post on social media, I would offer a free ebook on the same topic – as seen below.

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In this example, the article is all about growing an audience on TikTok as a brand. The pop-up offer aligns perfectly by offering readers a free TikTok growth checklist.

While an offer on social media statistics could work, the conversion rate would likely be much lower as it doesn’t directly target their current needs.

2. Think about the way people engage with your pages.

Another common mistake marketers make with pop-ups is having them appear at the wrong time, which adds to the annoyance factor. ‘

Be strategic about the timing and trigger of your pop-ups. Think about the way that visitors interact with certain types of pages on your site.

For instance, when someone engages with a blog post, they do so by scrolling down the page as they read the content. If you want to catch your visitors while they’re most engaged, then you should customize your pop-up to appear when someone has scrolled halfway down the page.

Similarly, you might find that people who stay on your product or pricing pages for more than 30 seconds are highly engaged because they’re taking the time to read through and consider their options.

In this scenario, you could use a time-based pop-up that appears when a visitor has been on the page for a specific number of seconds.

To better understand exactly how your visitors engage with different pages on your site, try looking into Google Analytics data, such as bounce rate and average time on page.

Better yet, use a tool like HotJar or Crazy Egg to record users on your site to build heat maps of where they click and scroll. This will give you a better sense of how people engage with your content.

In addition, consider the tool you’re using to build your form. A tool like Typeform will help you create branded and customizable forms that match your brand identity and will increase conversions.

3. Use language that’s specific, actionable, and human.

Most pop-up forms have a fairly basic layout. You get a headline, some body copy, and maybe an image. In other words, you don’t have a lot of real estate to work with.

This means it’s super important to nail the copy on your pop-up form. In order to do that make sure your copy is specific, actionable, and human:

• Specific: Specify exactly what a visitor is going to get if they click on your pop-up. Don’t tell them it’s a guide; tell them it’s a 10-page guide with actionable tips. Don’t encourage them to join your email list; ask if they want to stay updated on industry news and trends.
• Actionable: Let visitors know exactly what you’d like them to do. Instead of “Click Here,” try “Download our Free Guide,” or better yet, “Get my Free Guide.” Craft a compelling call-to-action that will inspire your visitors to take action.
• Human: Remind visitors that there’s a real person behind the pop-up form. Use colloquial language to make your forms friendly. Instead of “Join our email list,” try “Mind if we email you twice a week?”

4. Don’t ruin the mobile experience.

When building out your pop-up forms, it’s critical that you consider mobile. With most consumers accessing the internet from their smartphones nowadays, that could be a costly oversight.

To ensure a user-friendly mobile experience and avoid being penalized by Google, be sure to exclude your pop-up forms for mobile, or use pop-ups that don’t take up the entire screen of the page on mobile devices.

Most pop-up tools already offer this type of functionality, but if what you’re currently using doesn’t, you may need to find a new solution.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Research has shown that it takes around eight touchpoints to make a sale. This can be daunting for any salesperson as follow-ups take time and effort. This is one of the many reasons that email marketing is such an efficient strategy.

Having the ability to contact your prospects or your current customers in a relatively unintrusive way (especially compared to phone calls), is essential to increasing your sales, customer engagement, and retention. These emails keep you top of mind with customers and improve brand awareness.

While it may seem simple enough to use your regular email system in the beginning when business is small and clients and prospects are few and far between, the thought of sending individual emails to people when you have a large contact list is time-consuming and unnecessary. In order to handle the volume of emails you’ll be sending out, you need to enlist the help of an email service provider (ESP).

Email Service Providers

An email service provider is software that allows you to send email campaigns to a list of subscribers. It is a set of tools for email marketing that stores email addresses and sends emails. However, depending on your needs, ESP companies offer a variety of different functionalities to help you achieve your goals.

Some of these can include:

• Email and marketing automation
• Lead capture forms
• A/B testing for email subject lines and email content
• Website tracking
• Audience Segmentation

While there are a number of options to choose from, you’ll want to research ESPs before committing to one. Look for a program that has:

1. A mobile-friendly design: 85% of users say that smartphones are their primary device for checking email. This means that if you want your customers and prospects to get the most out of your marketing efforts, every email you send must be suitable for mobile.
2. Email templates: Options are great when you are designing your email campaigns. There should be several ready-made templates to choose from and have the option to get design support from a professional when you need something different.
3. Integrations with other systems: Chances are you work in a number of software programs to complete your work. An ESP should integrate with CRM and CMS systems, project management programs, and more.
4. Email series capabilities: These automated programs ensure new subscribers are nurtured and that you can design automated campaigns based on what activities your users engage in.

ESP Companies

When looking for an ESP, remember that price and functionality will differ. Decide what you need out of your email service provider then look for one that best fits your needs. Here is a list of some of the most popular ESPs:

HubSpot Email Hosting Tool

• Price: Free

HubSpot’s free email hosting tool lets you quickly send personalized emails to your contacts that are beautifully designed with an easy drag-and-drop interface.

Mailchimp

• Price: Free up to 2,000 contacts with paid plans starting at $11 per month

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Mailchimp’s free starter version has basic functionality that allows you send custom emails to up to 2,000 contacts. For more advanced options like email and landing page templates or advanced segmentation, you’ll need to upgrade to a more advanced plan.

Constant Contact

• Price: Core plan starts at $9.99 per month; Plus plan starts at $45 per month

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Constant Contact offers email service for small businesses looking to grow their lists. In addition to email functionality, Constant Contact integrates with social media ads for a holistic approach to reaching your audience.

ActiveCampaign

• Price: Lite plan starts at $9 per month; Plus plan starts at $49 per month; Professional plan starts at $149 per month

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ActiveCampaign is an email service provider focused on customer retention. This platform offers features specifically for ecommerce, B2B, and B2C businesses.

Campaign Monitor

• Price: Basic plan starts at $9 per month; Unlimited plan starts at $29 per month; Premier plan starts at $129 per month

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For those looking for extensive template options, Campaign Monitor could be a great platform to start with. This platform’s template builder makes creating custom, on-brand emails quick and easy.

ConvertKit

• Price: Free for up to 300 subscribers with paid plans starting at $9 per month

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ConvertKit is a popular platform for content creators and small business owners. In addition to email service, ConvertKit offers landing pages, integrates with most popular website builders and CRMs, and is fully customizable.

Sendinblue

• Price: Free, with paid plans starting at $25 per month

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Sendinblue’s email marketing tools help make personalized emails easy to make. Users can create unlimited lists and groups for easy segmentation.

Once you’ve determined what functions you need in order to reach your marketing goals, and how many contacts you have or are looking to collect, you can decide on the right ESP for your business.

When it comes to Q4, Halloween isn’t the only spooky thing haunting marketers.

In fact, the most intimidating part of Q4 is the pressure to end the year with great results, while also taking on immense annual planning to start the new year off right.

And, on top of the normal stressors of Q4, businesses are also dealing with concerns about inflation, uncertain economies, and how a potential recession could impact their bottom line.

As you enter an uncertain Q4, it will be helpful to gather all the hard data you need to make decisions, including research on how industries like your own have performed in the past few months. This data not only gives you insights into how you’re performing against the competition today, but it can also help you create actionable strategies that could enable you to transition from one successful year to another.

In this post, we’ll highlight how more than 120,000 businesses are performing when it comes to traffic, leads, conversion rates, and email engagement. With this data in mind, we’ll also highlight which takeaways you should bring with you during Q4 planning.

About this Data: These insights are based on data aggregated from 130,000+ HubSpot customers globally between July 2021 and September 2022. Because the data is aggregated from HubSpot customers’ businesses, please keep in mind that the performance of individual businesses, including HubSpot’s, might differ based on their own markets, customer base, industry, geography, stage and/or other factors.

Q3 Performance Trends from 120,000+ Companies

Overall, Q3 might have been susceptible to seasonality in both B2B and B2C industries with frequent QoQ performance metrics dips. When looking at the overall YoY numbers, it’s also possible that current themes, such as economic uncertainty, could slightly be impacting stats.

However, while some metrics and industries are seeing bigger dips, others are still making strides – hinting that there might not be a major cause for industry-wide concerns.

Below is an interactive infographic that allows you to toggle between overall YoY and MoM trends. Keep reading for a breakdown of how these industries are performing based on each key metric.

Web Traffic and Conversions

Most industries are seeing a web traffic decrease.

In Q3 2022, web traffic was down 7% compared to Q2 2022 and 10% compared to Q3 2021 (sample size = 142,308).

Industries hit the hardest by this slump were Financial Activities – which saw a 14% YoY drop despite only having a 2% QoQ decrease – as well as Professional & Business Services which saw drops of 6% QoQ and 8% YoY. Manufacturing also saw an 8% YoY dip with a 4% QoQ drop, hinting that business-facing companies might be struggling more with seasonality and traffic growth in current times.

While some industries that are more heavily B2C saw drops, they aren’t as comparable to those mentioned above. Additionally, Leisure and Hospitality is likely benefiting from post-COVID reopenings and travel as it saw a small QoQ dip of 3% but a 5% YoY boost in traffic.

Industry	QOQ	YOY	Sample size
All	-7%	-10%	142,308
Construction	-4%	-6%	1,379
Education and Health Services	-3%	-7%	3,613
Financial Activities	-2%	-14%	4,032
Leisure and Hospitality	-3%	+5%	1,104
Manufacturing	-4%	-8%	4,410
Professional and Business Services	-6%	-8%	12,872
Technology, Information and Media	-6%	-5%	14,673
Trade, Transportation and Utilities	-8%	-4%	3,404

If you saw drops in web traffic in Q3, you don’t necessarily need to panic. Be sure to compare this with the previous quarter, historical data, or industry-wide as this might just be seasonality or an industry-trend-related theme.

If you believe you’re in the midst of seasonally low traffic or a low-traffic time in your industry, this doesn’t mean you should stop and accept defeat. In fact, seasons with lower web visitors or general industry slowdown could be great for taking on site or traffic optimization projects that you wanted to avoid during times of high traffic or sales. Things you could explore might include:

• Website user experience testing.
• Website maintenance or migrations.
• Larger SEO projects, like historically updating old pages instead of churning new pages.
• Website redesigns or design-oriented tests.

The good news? Web conversions are bouncing back from previous months

Website conversion rates in Q3 2022 were up 2% compared to Q2 2022 and up 8% compared to Q3 2021 (sample size = 122,426).

Unlike the traffic trends above, the most noticeable industry spikes were in

• Professional and Business Services (+20% YoY)
• Financial Activities (+15% YoY)
• Education and Health Services (+13% YoY)

While this is likely due in part to traffic dips, as conversions are calculated based on traffic compared to the number of conversions), it shows that prospects are still interested in learning about products that are in these industries and that those who end up on their sites might be better, more serious leads, than those who visited in times of high traffic.

One of the two industries that saw either a QoQ or YoY loss was Leisure and Hospitality, which saw a 3% drop from quarter to quarter. However, the industry is still bouncing back from previous COVID-impacted years with a 7% increase in conversions YoY, hinting that companies in this space might just be dealing with seasonality and less travel in Q3 as people often focus their vacation time on the Q2 summer months or Q4 holiday travel.

Something seasonal could also be happening in the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities industry, which saw a dip of 5% in Q3, likely due to less demand in the late summer to early fall months, but is still seeing 2% growth annually.

Industry	QOQ	YOY	Sample size
All	+2%	+8%	122,426
Construction	+5%	+1%	1,154
Education and Health Services	+5%	+13%	3,285
Financial Activities	+8%	+15%	3,512
Leisure and Hospitality	-3%	+7%	943
Manufacturing	+6%	+8%	3,887
Professional and Business Services	+1%	+20%	11,328
Technology, Information and Media	+9%	+11%	13,534
Trade, Transportation and Utilities	-5%	+2%	2,947

Although you might be seeing higher web conversions due to lower traffic, this could still be helpful in your long-term strategy as you can potentially determine where your biggest sources of conversions are coming from on your site and optimize for them. This way, when your site traffic heightens, your pages will be primed for lead generation and clicks.

If you’re seeing lower conversion rates, keep in mind that these are quite difficult to keep high all year – for any company. Essentially, most companies, especially B2B or those in more niche industries, will have high points and low points each year.

However, if you feel like conversions are unusually low for your industry, now might be a good time to investigate and ask yourself questions like:

• When did these dips start?
• Is there a logical reason visitors might be less interested in our site or offers? (such as seasonality, the current economy, current trends, etc.)
• Are our offers, deals, or sales enough to persuade customers?
• Did we make a change to a high-converting page that caused problems?
• Is one of our high-converting offers or pages getting “stale” and in need of a refresh?

By answering questions like those above, you can determine what the best course of action is, or at least test out strategies that will give you more information about why the conversion dips might be happening.

Marketing Email

Over the past year or so, more email marketers and email experience experts have encouraged a less is more approach to combat continuing inbox clutter and disengagement from overwhelmed subscribers. And, in the summer months, we saw email marketing benefit from fewer email sends.

However, it seems as though Q3 was not a spectacular time for email marketing.

Despite seeing a 4% YoY and 3% QoQ dip in email sends, the average email marketers still dealt with whopping 17% and 14% YoY drops in opens and open rate respectively.

Metric	QOQ	YOY	Sample size
Email sends	-3%	-4%	138,855
Email opens	-4%	-17%	138,863
Email open rate	-2%	-14%	136,697

Because companies have been sending fewer emails each quarter and still seeing dips in opens and open rates, it might be time for them to think more transformatively about their email scheduling, the value of every email they send, and how they’ll get subscribers to keep opening their messages.  

Inbound Leads

Ultimately, marketers want high traffic, conversion, and email engagement because these things can bring them inbound leads who could very well become customers. So, let’s take a look at how these marketing efforts paid off in Q3.

In Q3 2022, inbound leads were down 2% compared to Q2 2022 and up 2% compared to Q3 2021. Although there wasn’t much major movement overall, a few industries saw some big changes.

While Leisure and Hospitality and Professional & Business Services saw dips quarter over quarter, each saw a 13% increase of YoY leads, hinting that their quarterly drops could’ve been due to seasonality.

One substantial drop happened in the Construction industry, which saw an 8% YoY dip despite only enduring a 1% decrease quarter over quarter. In our previous summer report, we oppositely saw construction see a YoY increase in July. This likely hints that seasonality, as well as potential cost-saving initiatives could be impacting the industry. However, while seasonality is to be expected, we’ll need to watch further to confirm whether or not Q3’s YoY dip could be a result of economic impact, or just fewer people making home or building alterations or improvements than they did during the COVID-19 era.

Industry	QOQ	YOY	Sample size
All	-2%	+2%	128,522
Construction	-1%	-8%	1,323
Education and Health Services	+3%	+4%	3,609
Financial Activities	+6%	+1%	3,838
Leisure and Hospitality	-6%	+13%	1,034
Manufacturing	+1%	No change	4,264
Professional & Business Services	-3%	+13%	12,529
Technology, Information and Media	+2%	+6%	14,524
Trade, Transportation and Utilities	-8%	-3%	3,215

The good news is that this dip shouldn’t alarm everyone, especially during times of financial uncertainty when you might expect lead numbers to dip a lot more.

If you’re seeing a rise, do your best to figure out what’s triggering it and embrace it. For example, if you’re in the travel industry and anticipate a rise in holiday travel, now is a great time to start planning holiday lead-gen or marketing campaigns.

Meanwhile, if you’re in a field like construction, and seeing some more significant slowdowns due to the economy or the approaching winter season, ask yourself, “How can I be there for my prospects or customers – even if I’m not providing the exact same services or pricing I had in the summer months or during the pandemic?”

Takeaways for Marketers and Businesses

While Q3 seemed to feel the weight of seasonality and potentially ongoing economic trends, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you can end Q4 on a positive note.

Even if it’s harder to gain deals, sales, conversions, or leads, you can still spend this time focusing on things like:

• Larger web traffic initiatives, such as SEO or CRO.
• Retention and Customer Experience improvement tactics.
• Catering your email sends and messaging around your subscribers.
• Continuing to ask yourself, “How can I be there for my customer – even as times change?”

Even if you don’t see wildly high ROI or year-over-year growth at the end of Q4, these tactics will set you, your customers, and your audiences up for an excellent and hopeful start to a new year.

To look back on how trends have changed since the summer of 2022, check out this post.