“Do you have any questions for me?” We’ve all been on the receiving end of that question in an interview.

Ask the right ones and you’ll make a strong impression. Otherwise, you risk blending in with the other applicants.

Discover some valuable questions that will make hiring managers’ and HR professionals’ ears perk up. Try them at your next interview and see how the conversation shifts in your favor.

• Questions to Ask the Hiring Manager During Job Interviews

• Questions to Ask Human Resources During Job Interviews

Questions to Ask the Hiring Manager During Job Interviews

1. How does this role contribute to larger company goals?

It’s not terribly difficult to find a candidate who can execute in a role. It is, however, terribly difficult to find a candidate who can also understand how it fits into larger goals.

This includes being able to self-manage, prioritize high-value activities, and grow their role in a direction that aligns with the company’s growth.

How It Helps You

This information can be hard to come by if your company isn’t very communicative or transparent, so this is a good chance to get that information to use it to guide your decisions if you land the role.

2. What do the most successful new hires do in their first month here?

This question shows that you’re the type of person who likes to hit the ground running.

It also shows that you recognize patterns of success and want to replicate only the most effective performers.

How It Helps You

Every company has its weird nuances, its own environment, and its own unspoken expectations. This helps you start with a little bit of the insider info so you don’t suffer a case of “if I knew then what I knew now” in six months.

3. What metrics would you use to measure success in this role?

Asking a question like this shows that you’re goal-oriented and aren’t afraid to be held accountable for those goals. You don’t avoid accountability, you welcome it.

How It Helps You

It’s shocking how many people don’t actually know what they want from their employees beyond a vague idea of some work that needs to get done.

Asking this question will force a hiring manager to figure it out – and then can communicate it to you, so you can execute on it.

4. What are some of the challenges or roadblocks I might come up against in this role?

A question like this indicates that you’re already envisioning yourself in the role and thinking through a plan of attack, should you land the gig.

It’s also a sign that you’re well aware that no job comes free of roadblocks. It signals that not only are you not afraid to deal with those challenges, but you’re also prepared for them.

How It Helps You

The response you receive should help you better understand some of the less-than-ideal aspects of the job – bureaucratic processes, internal politics, and so on.

You can use that information to decide if you’re up for the challenge.

5. What is the biggest challenge the team has faced in the past year?

While the interviewer might be trying to paint a pretty perfect picture of what working on the team might look like, asking this question will help you uncover some of the realities the team has been facing recently.

If you end up joining, you’ll inevitably hear about these challenges – and you may have to help solve them, too.

How It Helps You

It really helps to know what challenges you could find yourself or your team up against ahead of time. In some cases, it could affect whether you accept the role.

Learning about these challenges could give you some great insights into the steps the team has taken to overcome these challenges already.

6. Why did you decide to work at this company?

This question gives an interviewer a chance to do two self-serving things: talk about themselves and perform a no-holds-barred sales pitch on the company.

For promising candidates, the sales opportunity is welcomed. And most people love any excuse to talk about themselves.

How It Helps You

This gives you insight into what motivates your future colleague or manager, as well as what the company offers its employees. If those all line up with what you’re looking for in a job, you’ve got yourself a good fit.

7. What keeps you motivated?

If your interviewer has been at the company for a while, understanding why could give you some really interesting insight into the company and its relationship with its employees.

How It Helps You

Depending on the interviewer’s answer, you might learn something about the company’s career training, leadership opportunities, workplace flexibility, internal job opportunities, and more.

You might dig a little deeper by following up with related questions, like, “What do you enjoy most about working here?”

8. Do you host any events with the team outside of work?

Does everyone keep their head down and do their own thing? Or does everyone enjoy each other’s company? This interview question serves as a great way to find out a little bit about the company culture.

Ideally, there’s a good balance of work and life and the company creates opportunities for those to blend.

How It Helps You

Along with learning about company culture, this is a more lighthearted question that might relax a stiffened atmosphere or lead to a conversation about shared interests.

9. What is your company’s customer or client service philosophy?

This is an impressive question because it shows that you can make the connection between how the company thinks about its customers and the end result.

In other words, how the customer is treated on a day-to-day basis, and in turn, how that shows up in the product.

How It Helps You

While you might be able to find a canned response to this question on the company’s website, it’ll be useful – and possibly eye-opening – for you to hear it more candidly from an employee.

10. What are some of the less tangible traits of successful people on this team?

Ever work with people who just get it? That’s who hiring managers are looking for.

This question demonstrates that you understand a job is about more than just going through the motions. Successful people have a specific frame of mind, approach, attitude, work ethic, communication style, and so on – and you want to know what that mix looks like at this company.

How It Helps You

Because these characteristics are often hard to pin down, this question forces a hiring manager to articulate that “it” factor they’re really looking for – even if it wasn’t written in the job description.

11. What behaviors do the most successful members of the team exhibit?

Asking a question like this shows you’re interested in getting a practical example of what success looks like to the manager of the team you’d be joining.

Plus, when you phrase the question in this way, “you leave no room for a hypothetical answer,” says Dave Fernandez, a former recruiting team lead at HubSpot. Instead, you’re pushing the hiring manager to think about their top performer.

How It Helps You

Because this question forces an example, the answer to this question will give you a strong idea of what success actually looks like. That way, you’ll learn what it takes to impress your colleagues and be a star candidate.

12. What behaviors do the people who struggle most on the team exhibit?

Follow up question #9 with this question, and you’ll show the hiring manager that you’re really trying to get a concrete idea of what to do and what not to do as an employee on the specific team you’re applying to join, says Fernandez.

While this question can make a manager uncomfortable, it’s impressive because it shows that you’re not afraid to ask tough questions.

How It Helps You

First, you’ll get an idea of what poor performance looks like, which will help you set expectations for the position.

Second, you’ll learn how the hiring manager handles a tough question like this – which can teach you something about how office politics are handled in general.

13. How do you deliver negative feedback?

If you would be working with the person interviewing you, this is another tough question that can give you some insight into how the team works.

It pushes the hiring manager to think about how they would handle an uneasy situation, while at the same time highlighting your self-awareness.

How It Helps You

Everything gives and receives feedback differently. Does this person tailor their feedback approach depending on whom they’re giving it to? Do they make feedback a two-way street?

Their feedback style – especially when it comes to negative feedback – will help you understand how well you would be able to work with them.

14. Do you have any questions or concerns about my qualifications?

This question shows that you’re not afraid of critical feedback – in fact, you welcome it.

Interviewers tend to make note of red flags to discuss with a colleague following the interview, whether it be something on your resume or something you said

. This question gives them the green light to ask about any of the things that are holding them back from being 100% on board with hiring you.

How It Helps You

You get a chance to address concerns face-to-face without being too confrontational. This could be the difference between an offer and a rejection – or maybe even a higher opening offer.

Before you meet the person you’d be working for, you’ll likely meet a member of HR via a phone screening.

Although this initial phone call is a standard first step for most organizations today, it’s also an opportunity for HR to take notes on you as a candidate and relay those notes to the hiring manager.

Make a good impression on HR – it matters more than you think.

Here are some appropriate questions to ask at this initial stage of the recruitment process so you can put your best foot forward.

1. What do you like most about working here?

This question can be a breath of fresh air to HR reps who primarily answer questions about benefits (which are valuable questions).

Asking an HR employee what they like about the company tells them you care about the company’s culture and that you care about the opinion of someone whom you might not work with directly.

In other words, talking to people like people is always a good idea.

2. How has this position changed over time?

It’s easy to forget that someone might have once held the position you’re applying for – or, more importantly, that the role might have evolved since it came on your radar.

Don’t be afraid to ask HR what this job looked like before you were interested in it. This can include what the responsibilities looked like, how many other people currently hold this position at the company, and even where HR thinks it’s going in the future.

Getting HR’s perspective on the history of your potential role can give you unbiased insight into your department, and let HR know that you’re interested in your future at the company – not just your present.

3. What does this team’s role hierarchy look like? How does this position fit into it?

This is another big-picture question that HR should be equipped and eager to answer for you.

You might not want to bluntly ask “who would I report to?” It can show resistance or insecurity before you ever set foot in the role. But, it’s still something you might want to know.

4. How does the company promote diversity and inclusion?

Every company should always be working toward building a diverse and inclusive work environment. If they don’t, that’s something you should know ahead of time.

Asking this question will tell you which initiatives or programs the company is involved in and what active measures they’re taking toward this mission.

5. What are you most excited about in this company’s future?

Want to inject a little positivity into your phone call with HR? Ask them what has them pumped up right now.

What motivates them to get up in the morning? Put yourself in HR’s shoes: Wouldn’t you love to answer this question, especially if you love the company you work for?

Asking the HR rep what they’re most excited about shows them that you, too, thrive on enthusiasm. It also brings the best out in your interviewer – a good headspace for HR to be in as they hand you off to the hiring manager.

6. What is something the company is still working on getting right?

As a flip-side to the question above, also consider asking HR what they think the company’s greatest challenge is right now.

While other candidates might be skittish around a business’s weaknesses, this question shows HR you’re willing to accept the current negatives and join them in righting the ship.

Note the phrasing of this question, too. By asking HR this question precisely this way, you put focus on the positive and show the company that you have natural optimism (a desired trait in future leaders, just so you know).

7. Is there a dress code I should abide by?

Dress code can be a touchy subject in interviews – you don’t want to reveal that you have deal-breakers so early into a hiring process. But, it is an important aspect of the job for many professionals.

If you want to get an idea of the company’s dress code without suggesting it’s a big deal to you, simply ask HR what you’re expected to wear on your first day. It’s a harmless question that gives you the information you need at the same time.

8. Is there anything about my application that makes you doubt my qualifications right now?

Cap off your phone screening with this confidence play. Asking HR what they’re skeptical about with respect to your application can show them you welcome feedback and you can take criticism. It also helps you better prepare for your next interview.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in Nov. 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Instagram is an incredibly popular social media app for teens — in fact, roughly 41% of U.S. teens use Instagram as of January 2021.

But the app can be a tricky platform for teens since it inherently fosters social comparison. In fact, Meta reports one in three teen girls say Instagram makes their body image worse.

Additionally, teens who are unsatisfied with their lives are more negatively impacted by Instagram.

Fortunately, Instagram’s team aims to change that, in part with a new nudge feature. Let’s dive into what this new feature does, and what it could mean for marketers.

How Instagram’s New Nudge Feature Works

Research has found social media digital nudges can help people become more reflective of their social media usage, potentially decrease their time on the apps, and make their overall experience more pleasant.

One study found 58% of respondents say nudges make their social media experience better by helping them become more mindful of their time on platforms like Instagram.

Instagram’s new nudge feature for teens aims to leverage this powerful research by making it more difficult for teens to dive too deeply into certain potentially unhealthy topics — like teen girls consistently comparing themselves to the same three influencers.

If a teen spends too long on Instagram’s Explore page perusing posts with a particular theme, the platform will display a notification with suggestions for other types of posts. This works in two ways:

• Helps teens discover new topics beyond their current interests
• Encourages teens to pause and assess whether they want to continue looking at the type of content they’re currently seeking out

As Instagram puts it, “This nudge is designed to encourage teens to discover something new and excludes certain topics that may be associated with appearance comparison.”

Instagram has taken other steps to encourage positive teen behavior when it comes to their platform, including the launch of another feature, Take A Break, which is a reminder that pops up after a teen has spent a considerable amount of time on the platform, as well as tips for what they can do instead.

The nudge feature is a positive step in the right direction for reducing the time teens spend perusing unhelpful content, and reminding teens to stay mindful of what they consume on the app.

It’s important to note, the feature works no matter what type of content teens are scrolling. As Instagram spokesperson Liza Crenshaw explained to The Verge, “The notification shows up after scrolling on any topic for a number of consecutive posts. But, what we include in the recommendations of what to switch to excludes content that may be associated with appearance comparison.”

If you’re a content creator or marketer whose target audience includes teens, then this could impact how much time teens spend on your posts — but the more you aim to create healthy, uplifting content for teens, the more likely teens are to mindfully return to your content.

Consider, for instance, @laurajaneillustrations, an Instagram account filled with “content to make you feel GOOD about yourself”, like the one below:

There are plenty of influencers, non-profits, and brands that create inspiring, positive, helpful content, and these are the brands that will be best-suited for these digital nudges. Dosomething.org, for instance, has an Instagram account filled with inspiring content on how young people across the world can make a social impact.

Nike is another brand that focuses on powerful, uplifting messages on Instagram, and regularly showcases a diverse range of athletes on the company’s profile.

Instagram aims to support young creators in this venture by creating an Expert Steering Committee, which will be a panel made up of child psychology and digital literacy experts who will provide evidence-based ways for creators to use language that supports teen’s emotional well-being and self image.

More likely than not, your business won’t be too impacted by this new feature. The nudge feature will focus on reminding teens to look elsewhere when they’ve spent exuberant amounts of time on one type of content. It’s a healthy step towards reducing the time some teens might spend on appearance-based content.

Ultimately, if your brand focuses on creating positive, diverse content for your audience, then you shouldn’t be too affected by the nudge feature.

Video marketers report that it offers the highest ROI of any media format, but those who use it still face challenges with the strategy.

The HubSpot Blog Video Marketing Report surveyed 500+ video marketers and asked them about their top challenges, and we’ve compiled them in this post. Read on to learn what marketers are dealing with and how to overcome them in your strategy.

Top Video Marketing Challenges in 2022

The top five video marketing challenges are:

1. Lack of time to create video content.
2. Difficulty creating an effective video strategy.
3. Inadequate budget to create video content.
4. Difficulty with the video creation process (producing, filming, editing videos).
5. Lack of content ideas.

Let’s go more in-depth into each of these challenges and how you can address them if you also struggle with them.

1. Lack of time to create video content.

Marketers wear many hats and create multiple different types of content on multiple channels, so it makes sense that finding the time to balance everything can be a challenge.

As a result, it’s no surprise that lacking time to create video content is the top reported challenge for video marketers. When it comes to a lack of time, they also note that the most consuming part is pre-production, which involves coming up with ideas, writing a transcript, casting, etc.

One of the best ways to remedy a lack of time to create video content is to have an effective video strategy.

2. Difficulty creating an effective video strategy.

A video strategy can be crucial to success for video marketers. Still, those who already leverage the format say that it is the second most challenging part of video marketing.

If you’re hoping to overcome this challenge, the process for creating a video marketing strategy is similar to all others: identify your target audience, align with relevant stakeholders, create timelines and budgets, choose distribution channels, develop messaging, and decide on how you’ll track success.

Marketers say that some additional factors to consider when creating your strategy are:

• How you’ll effectively promote your video content.
• How you’ll capture attention in the first few seconds.
• How you’ll keep your videos short and concise.

3. Inadequate budget to create video content.

A video marketing budget accounts for everything that goes into the video creation process, from storyboarding to promoting your videos to get a high ROI.

If you’re having trouble coming up with a budget, here is how marketers often break down theirs:

• 24% is dedicated to production,
• 20% is dedicated to pre-production,
• 20% is dedicated to post-production.

4. Difficulty with the video creation process (producing, filming, editing videos).

Our survey found the following tips from marketers when it comes to the video creation process:

• Investing in your own video equipment is worthwhile in the long run, as 62% of marketers who own equipment describe the creation process as “easy.”
• The most popular video editing software is Adobe Premiere Pro.
• 44% of marketers use an iPhone as their primary camera for video content.

Some other ways to make the video creation process run more smoothly are to create a script and prepare your shot list, organize your studio ahead of time to ensure you have everything you need, and prep talent by giving them the script ahead of time.

5. Lack of content ideas.

29% of marketers say that a lack of content ideas is a significant marketing challenge. Here are some high-quality and effective content ideas if you’re struggling with the same issue:

• Content showcasing products or services has the highest ROI, according to marketers who use it.
• Content showcasing your brand’s values is the second most leveraged type of content and the second most effective at generating leads and engagement.
• Trendy content related to cultural moments and news stories gets significant engagement.
• Relatable content is on the rise for the newest investments in 2022.

Consumers like watching videos, so meet them where they already are.

Consumers’ habits clearly show that video is a top-consumed and enjoyed media format. As a result, overcoming the common video marketing challenges will help you meet audience demand, generate engagement, and leave a lasting impression.

Short-form video is dominating the social media landscape — and many marketers want to get a piece of the action. But this leaves one important question: which video-sharing platform is worth your time, effort, and money — YouTube or TikTok?

While YouTube is the more mature platform, it’s hard to ignore the buzz around TikTok. In order to make the right decision, it’s essential to understand their unique audiences, marketing opportunities, and algorithms.

Let’s take a closer look at the key differences between YouTube and TikTok — and how to choose the right platform for your business.

YouTube vs. TikTok: A Head-to-Head Comparison

1. Demographics.

YouTube

With a global user base of more than 2 billion people, it’s safe to assume that your target audience is on YouTube. Let’s take a closer look at its user base.

YouTube holds sway with both men and women, almost in equal measure. Male users account for 53% of its population, while female users account for 46%.

The platform is also popular across different age groups. Outside of China, 77% of Gen Z, 75% of millennials, and 44% of Baby Boomers visit YouTube daily. Specifically, the 18-25 year age group commands the largest visitor base.

YouTube attracts a global audience, with more than 95% of the internet population using it. That said, India accounts for the largest audience size, followed by the United States and Indonesia.

TikTok

TikTok is known as the platform for Gen-Z — and the stats confirm it. Over half of Gen-Z consumers are on TikTok, and 46% of 13-19-year-olds say they use the platform daily.

However, TikTok is also picking up steam with other age groups. In 2021, 36% of TikTok users were between 35 and 54 years old, a 10% increase from the year before.

Unlike Youtube, TikTok’s user base skews primarily female (57% worldwide). That figure jumps to 61% for TikTok users in the US. While TikTok’s user base is increasingly diverse, there’s no denying its popularity among younger female audiences.

TikTok is a global platform available in 154 countries worldwide and in 75 different languages. The United States accounts for the largest user base (120 million users), followed by Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia.

2. Popularity.

There’s no real competition here (yet). YouTube commands an audience of over two billion monthly users — almost half of the entire internet-using population. It’s no surprise that one in five social media marketers plans to invest the most in YouTube this year, according to a recent HubSpot Blog’s report.

However, TikTok is a relatively new platform with stellar growth year-over-year. TikTok was the most downloaded app in 2019 and 2020, racking up over three billion downloads so far. It also boasts 1.2 billion monthly users, which experts predict will reach 1.5 billion by the end of 2022 — keeping YouTube on its toes.

Additionally, while TikTok doesn’t bring in the same monthly users, it certainly wins at engagement. In fact, TikTok is the most engaging of all social media apps, with an average user session of 10.85 minutes. As a result, 52% of marketers who use TikTok plan to increase their investment in 2022.

3. Content Format and Length

YouTube

Unlike other social media platforms, YouTube has become the unofficial home for long-form content. For instance, you’ve likely stumbled upon a 30-minute workout video or even a 2-hour podcast on YouTube.

However, it’s impossible to deny the popularity of short-form video content. In fact, 31% of marketers are currently leveraging short-form video, and 29% plan to leverage it for the first time this year.

In response, YouTube launched Shorts — enabling users to create 15-second videos with musical overlays. This also allows video marketers to play with different content types on the same platform.

TikTok

To put it plainly, TikTok is a short-form powerhouse. In fact, the app has become synonymous with fun, “snackable” content that attracts Gen-Z and millennial audiences.

Why does this matter? Short-form video is the most popular and effective social media format in 2022. So much so that 50% of social media marketers plan to leverage short-form video for the first time this year, and 95% of those who already use it will increase or maintain their investment.

Initially, TikTok videos could only be 15-seconds long. However, the app has extended the limit to 60 seconds. For marketers, this means more wiggle room to play around with video concepts. However, this only applies to videos recorded natively on the app.

4. Ad Formats

YouTube

YouTube ads are powered by Google. You have several ad formats to choose from, including:

• Discover ads — ads that appear on the YouTube homepage or search results pages.
• TrueView ads — also known as skippable ads, these are ads that play before a video.
• Non-skippable ads — ads that appear before, in the middle, or after a video.
• Bumper ads — 6-second ads that play before a video.
• Overlay ads — banner ads that appear at the bottom of a video.

YouTube offers a lot of flexibility for marketers to experiment with different ad formats. For example, you can opt for a quick, 6-second ad at the beginning of a video or a 30-second non-skippable ad in the middle of a video.

TikTok

Despite its “newness,” TikTok has become a viable option for brands willing to get creative with their digital marketing. So much so, it launched TikTok for Business in 2021, allowing marketers to create and manage ad campaigns on the platform.

Additionally, there are different ways to advertise on the platform, including:

• TopView — ads that appear at the top of their feed immediately after opening the app.
• In-Feed Ads — ads that appear on a user’s discovery page.
• Branded Hashtags — a hashtag that businesses promote in hopes of inspiring TikTokers to create content around it.
• Brand Takeovers — an ad format that can include TopView, In-Feed, and Branded Hashtags all at once. They can also be videos, gifs, or still images.

As we’ll discuss later, each ad format on TikTok has a different price tag — so even if you have a smaller budget, you can play your cards right with a solid strategy.

5. Ad Costs

YouTube

YouTube follows a cost-per-view pricing model. Each view can cost between $0.10 and $0.30, depending on your industry and target keywords. You only pay when a user takes action — such as watching the entirety of your ad or clicking on a call-to-action.

You can spend as little or as much as you want. However, most businesses invest $10 or more a day to run an advertising campaign on YouTube. If you set a daily budget, Google will only charge you up until that amount, making YouTube ads a relatively safe investment.

TikTok

If you decide to advertise on TikTok, you can select a daily or lifetime budget that can be adjusted at any point during your campaign. However, at the campaign level, you must have a minimum daily and total budget of $50. For an ad group level, your budget must exceed $20 daily.

It’s also important to note that TikTok doesn’t use cost-per-click as a metric. Instead, it uses cost-per-mille (CPM), which means cost per 1000 views. TikTok ads start at $10 per CPM, so it’s possible to make an impact at a relatively low cost.

Which platform is right for your business?

One final question remains — which platform is better for my business? Ultimately, the answer hinges on several factors.

First, who is your target audience? As you can see, both YouTube and TikTok boast diverse audiences, but TikTok commands a younger, predominantly female audience. YouTube, on the other hand, is popular across multiple age groups. To state the obvious, you should prioritize the platform that will reach your audience.

Second, what type of content do you want to make? Does it lend itself more to lighthearted, snappy videos or longer, more in-depth ones? Is 15 seconds long enough to convey your message, or do you need more time?

Lastly, it’s important to consider your budget. YouTube offers more flexibility in choosing a daily budget. And, since it follows a cost-per-view pricing model, you only pay when a user takes action. To run a campaign on TikTok, you must commit to a daily budget of $50, which quickly adds up.

With these questions in mind, you have a better idea of which platform is right for your business. But remember, marketing is all about experimentation. You don’t need to commit to one platform right away — in fact, it may be useful to run side experiments on both to see what results you get.

Creating a TikTok is half the battle — now you need the right people to watch it. But with over 1 billion monthly users on the platform, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd.

Enter your secret weapon — the hashtag. While many marketers approach hashtags as an after-thought, they’re a powerhouse for engagement, visibility, and discoverability. Even if you aren’t running a full-scale hashtag campaign, they should be a part of your overall TikTok strategy.

Here, we’ll explore the benefits of using TikTok hashtags, discuss best practices for using them, and uncover what types of hashtags are most popular on the platform.

What are TikTok hashtags?

Like Instagram and Twitter, TikTok uses hashtags to group content around a particular topic, making it easy for people to find videos that interest them.

The hashtag “formula” includes a hash sign (#), followed by a topic (e.g., crafts, travel, fashion, sports, etc.). The best hashtags tend to be relatively short, concise, and easy to remember.

Brands can use hashtags to build brand awareness, increase social engagement, and drive conversions. To go a step further, they can also sponsor a hashtag — known as a branded hashtag — to encourage TikTokers to create content around it. The most popular branded hashtags have amassed millions of views and thousands of response videos.

Next, let’s dive deeper into the importance of TikTok hashtags — and cover best practices for using them.

Why are TikTok hashtags so important?

Hashtags have the power to expand your reach beyond your current audience. Let’s dive deeper into their benefits:

1. Provide context.

For one, hashtags provide a layer of context for your TikTok videos. For instance, if you upload a video of you playing a video game, you could include the hashtag #gaming. Then, the TikTok algorithm decides who would be most interested in seeing your video on their feed.

2. Discoverability and engagement.

Hashtags categorize videos under certain topics — like #gaming — so users can easily find content they’re interested in. As a result, your content has more chances to be discovered, even if someone doesn’t follow your brand.

With more eyes on your content, you have a higher chance of engagement. After all, users can only “like” and comment on videos that appear in front of them. So, more reach typically translates to higher engagement.

3. Building community.

Hashtags are a great tool for building community. For instance, branded hashtags are an effective way to encourage users to engage with your brand and create videos around a sponsored hashtag.

For example, when Nissan Australia wanted to promote its new sports car, the JUKE, they turned to TikTok. They created a branded hashtag — #improvisewithJUKE — and challenged users to make their own car commercial voiceover, with the winner receiving a feature in a future JUKE commercial.

The results? 129.4 million video views globally and over 34,000 video submissions, leading to a 92% lift in brand awareness for the JUKE.

How to Use Hashtags on TikTok

Hashtags on TikTok work just like they do on Instagram and other social platforms. When you upload a video, you have the option to write a caption — and this is where you want to include your hashtags. While this sounds simple, here are a few best practices to keep in mind:

1. Find the best hashtags for your content.

It’s essential to research hashtags relevant to your brand, your industry, and your audience. One way to do this is by checking out your competition because there’s likely an audience overlap. Observe what hashtags they use and note which ones get the most views and engagement.

You can also find inspiration on the app’s Discover page. Here, you can browse through trending hashtags and sounds. Discover also showcases popular videos that use these hashtags to help you find inspiration.

2. Combine niche hashtags with popular ones.

This might sound counterintuitive, but only targeting popular hashtags can be ineffective. While they have a larger audience, they’re also highly competitive. Instead, it’s better to have a mixture of both niche and popular hashtags.

Niche hashtags have fewer people searching for them, but those who do are highly engaged and interested. For instance, #food is a popular TikTok hashtag with millions of impressions, but #cakedecorating is more niche with a fraction of the audience. By incorporating both, you tap into two different audiences.

3. Stay mindful of the character limit.

TikTok limits captions to 300 characters. While you could squeeze as many hashtags as possible into your caption, a long string of hashtags can confuse your audience — and this does a poor job of explaining your video. Instead, experts suggest 3 to 5 hashtags as the optimal number.

Popular TikTok Hashtags

According to a recent Statista report, TikTok sees the most hashtag views from entertainment content (535 billion views, to be exact). This aligns with another study by HubSpot that reports funny and entertaining content has the highest engagement and ROI than any other content type.

The second most popular category on TikTok is dance with 181 billion hashtag views, followed by pranks, fitness and sports content, home renovations, and beauty and skincare.

To find the most popular hashtags in real-time, visit the Trend Discovery page on TikTok. Here, you will find a comprehensive list of trending hashtags, songs, and creators.

Back to You

Once you create a TikTok video, your work isn’t over. Now you need to position your content in front of your audience. One of the best ways to do this is with hashtags. Start with the tips in this article and always keep an eye out for hashtags that relate to your brand or audience.

Language has the ability to build relationships and forge connections, but it’s equally liable for creating barriers and impacting someone’s sense of belonging. 

Using inclusive language, and having workplace conversations devoid of exclusive language, means employees are more likely to feel like they belong and can be their authentic selves at work. 

Here we’ll explore what inclusive language is and provide examples to ensure you create an inclusive workplace and inclusive marketing material and 2022 and beyond. 

 

To explore how you might promote inclusive language at your organization, I spoke with some experts at HubSpot who have first-hand knowledge of incorporating inclusive language into their processes, products, and overall team culture.

For instance, Hannah Fleishman, who led the charge on updating HubSpot’s Careers website to be more inclusive, told me, “Language has a big impact on our sense of belonging in the workplace. The challenge is, language is nuanced. The changes we should consider making to how we talk and write are often subtle.”

Melissa Obleada, an Associate User Experience Researcher at HubSpot, echoes this thought, mentioning, “Many of us don’t realize that our language has additional meaning hidden between the lines. Certain words can imply a certain age, gender, educational background, social class, and so much more. We see this a lot in the ways many folks write job descriptions.”

Consider, for instance, the last time you were in a meeting and a leader said, “Okay, guys, let’s get started” — do you think that automatically made female colleagues feel a little less-welcomed than their male peers? Would it have been better if he’d said “ya’ll” or “everyone”?

Alternatively, imagine you’re hiring a new person on your team and your boss tells you, “We’re looking for a good culture fit.” You know most people on your team are extraverted — does that make you unfairly biased during interviews as you seek out a “good culture fit” by looking for candidates that mirror your colleagues’ personality type?

Beth Dunn, Marketing Fellow at HubSpot, wrote a Medium piece on the topic of instilling a human voice in product content, and said, “Try not to present the privileged, tech-savvy, wealthy, able-bodied, white, cisgendered, anglo-centric male experience as ‘standard’ and everything else as ‘other’ or ‘diverse.’ Seek ways to place the ‘other’ in the center of things instead.”

Additionally, Dunn told me, “What’s great is that the English language is such a flexible, expressive language, so there are all sorts of ways to say what you need to say without indicating anything that might be exclusive. It just takes a little imagination, empathy, and practice, that’s all.”

Take job descriptions as an example — you might’ve heard by now that women only apply for jobs when they feel they’ve met 100% of the requirements, while men will apply when they feel they’ve met 60% of them.

Fleishman suggests, “Try to avoid writing job descriptions with unattainable requirements. Using more inclusive language can be like building a new muscle; you need to get in the habit of recognizing nuances and asking yourself if what you’re saying, or writing, is accessible for everyone.”

Obleada adds that it’s not just job descriptions that you should edit for inclusivity — it’s all communication, whether through email, Slack, text, Facebook, or in-person: “When it comes to implementing inclusive language, it takes practice to shift your typical ways of speaking and writing.”

To monitor whether your communication is exclusive to certain groups, you’ll want to look at resources and tools online. For instance, Textio is an augmented writing tool that identifies whether you’re using gendered language in your writing or words with a strong feminine or masculine association. This can be undeniably helpful for both job descriptions and even emails to colleagues.

Additionally, you might consider taking a look at the Conscious Style Guide, a resource on conscious language that breaks down exclusive language into categories, including age and disability.

Finally, to identify your own implicit biases, try taking a Hidden Bias Test, like this one created by Psychologists at Harvard, the University of Virginia, and the University of Washington, to uncover how your biases might be inhibiting you from expressing yourself more inclusively.

If this all sounds like a lot of work to you, it’s important to note — this isn’t just about creating a more inclusive environment at work. It’s also critical for your company’s bottom line, particularly if you work for a global company or plan to expand your offerings to other regions in the future.

Obleada explains it like this: “For some, writing and speaking inclusively may feel like a restrictive set of rules, hindering instead of helping us. In reality, it’s just the opposite.”

“Inclusive language opens up and amplifies your message to more people, making your blog post, job description, or website copy more accessible than before.”

Next, let’s explore some inclusive language examples in-practice.

1. Avoid company or team acronyms.

Fleishman told me, “Acronyms have become part of most companies’ vocabulary, but they can be alienating for new employees, candidates, or global teams.”

I personally remember how frustrated I felt when I first joined my team at HubSpot and everyone kept saying “TL;DR” in meetings. I was too embarrassed to ask what it meant. I finally Googled the term, but in the interim, the acronym made me feel separate from the larger group.

While this is a small and innocent example, there might be bigger acronyms you use every day within your team that continue to alienate new members or employees from other teams. And if your company does choose to use specific acronyms (like, in HubSpot’s case, H.E.A.R.T.), make sure you explain what it means during the employee onboarding process.

2. Use plain language in your writing rather than expressions or jargon.

Many of us use colloquial expressions every day. For instance, I often say, “It’s just a ballpark figure” or “it should be a piece of cake,” without pausing to consider whether the listener knows or has heard the term before.

Of course, this can be confusing to other parts of the world that aren’t familiar with such expressions. If your company has global offices or works with customers from across the globe, expressions that are common to you can pose a major deterrent to clear communication. 

For instance, in Dunn’s Medium article, she writes, “We also avoid using metaphors (visual and written) that are specific to just one culture or class. So, for instance, we avoid using phrases like ‘knock it out of the park’ or ‘hit a home run,’ even though these phrases are pretty common in North America as they’re just not going to resonate outside of the U.S. Not because people will be offended by a reference to baseball, but because they won’t be as familiar, so the meaning won’t be as clear.”

The graphic below displays examples of colloquial words and phrases and plain language alternatives to ensure everyone understands you.

3. Refer to a theoretical person as “they” instead of “he” or “she.”

As marketers, we’re exceptional storytellers. Sometimes, however, whether you’re talking offhandedly with a colleague or delivering a pitch, you might get caught up in using pronouns that unintentionally support stereotypes.

For instance, let’s say you’re giving a pitch and you say, “We’ve found through analysis that our readers are typically in a VP position or higher, which is why we believe we should lean into LinkedIn as a strategy in 2020. For instance, let’s say our reader needs to deliver a presentation. He might turn to our blog ahead of time, but more likely, he’ll turn to LinkedIn first.”

Your fictitious VP-level reader doesn’t need to be “male” or “female” — why not call them by the non-gendered pronoun “they,” “them,” or “their”? You can still make your point, and you won’t alienate people on your team who feel hurt that you’ve assumed that leaders are likely male.

This also relates to gendered terms that add nouns to the end of them, like salesman. Opting for a more inclusive term could be saying salesperson or sales rep. The image below shows additional examples of gendered terms and alternative phrases to use. 

4. Ensure your company’s designs or images reflect a diverse group of people.

When potential customers take a look at your website, you want them to see people (or figures) that look like them. Simultaneously, you want potential new hires to see themselves reflected.

Otherwise, you’re likely missing out on both potential customers, and future employees for your company.

Image Source

In her Medium post, Dunn writes, “Our product illustrators try to ensure that the people we represent in illustrations are diverse in appearance, and that these different types of people are represented doing many different things (for instance, a person of color doing the talking while others listen, a woman in a wheelchair at an executive desk, etc.).”

As you scale as a company, you want to ensure your marketing materials reflect as many groups of people as possible. Otherwise, you’re unintentionally sending messages to people who don’t see themselves in your content that your brand “isn’t quite right for them.”

5. Be mindful of terms related to race, ethnicity, nationality, and culture. 

Many terms used daily have roots in racism and discrimination, so using them can make people feel unsafe, whether in your marketing materials or day-to-day correspondence with team members. 

Some regularly used terms have roots in racism and discrimination or are taken from celebrations and sacred practices of marginalized communities. Using them in your marketing materials or day-to-day correspondence with team members can make people feel unsafe and unwelcome. 

For example, pow wow is often used informally to describe a meeting or get-together. Using it in such a way disregards pow wows as indigenous cultures’ sacred rituals and social gatherings — ceremonial events that have nothing to do with work. A simple alternative is saying stand-up, meeting, or hang-out. 

The image below displays other examples of words commonly used that are related to ethnicity, race, nationality, and culture that you can easily swap out for more inclusive terms. 

6. When speaking to colleagues about family, use gender-neutral labels for family members.

Obleada told me, “Inclusive language has a real impact on how ‘themselves’ folks feel they can be in a given space. As a queer woman, it makes me cringe when folks ask me about a boyfriend. Intentionally using gender neutral titles — parent, spouse, partner, child, etc. — when speaking about your or others’ families can make a big difference in how comfortable someone may feel.”

Rather than making assumptions, approach conversations with colleagues using gender neutral titles. For instance, it’s better to use “parent” or “guardian” when making conversation with a colleague since “mom” or “dad” excludes family structures such as grandparents as caregivers, same-sex parents, etc.

7. Be mindful of medical conditions and ability terms. 

Common phrases like “turning a blind eye” are ableist and insensitive to people whose lives are impacted by medical conditions.

While likely used innocently, someone who hears such a phrase in the workplace or sees it in your marketing materials may feel unsafe and like you don’t represent them or what they care about. 

It’s best practice not to use such terms unless they’re relevant to your topic of conversation. The image below displays commonly used phrases that can be harmful that you might not have realized before and alternatives to implement.

8. When in doubt, ask individuals which pronouns they prefer (but make it clear they can choose not to identify, as well).

It’s critical to note — there’s no one-size-fits-all “right” and “wrong” when it comes to language. Many people have personal preferences, especially when it comes to identity.

For instance, person-first language (i.e., “people with autism”) was introduced because many feel it’s dehumanizing to put the disability or gender orientation first, as it seems to define the individual.

However, some prefer identity-first language (i.e., “autistic people”) since they accept autism as an inherent part of their identity — identity-first language can even help evoke a sense of pride among individuals.

(For more information on person-first or identity-first, take a look at this article by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.)

Over To You

It’s critical you avoid applying hard-and-fast rules to all individuals, since these preferences are incredibly personal. You might consider asking them what they prefer, or offering up your own preferred pronouns to create a safe space for them to do the same — but only if they feel comfortable doing so. (To learn more about etiquette when it comes to asking pronoun preference, take a look at Gender Neutral Pronouns: What They Are & How to Use Them.)

Ultimately, it’s important to remember none of us will get it “perfect” 100% of the time, but admitting when you’ve made mistakes and consistently working to communicate more inclusively are two major steps towards creating a more unified workforce, and creating deeper connections with your customers.

Remember — inclusive language is about widening your message and allowing it to resonate with as many people as possible, so it’s critical for your business’s bottom-line that you do everything you can to communicate more inclusively every day.

There’s no shortage of advice in the blogosphere on how and where to spend your time on social media. How organizations are actually spending their time online, however, is a different story.

Unlike most marketing campaigns you see looking to get you using a product or service, non-profit social marketing is all about getting you to take action for a cause.

Often, non-profit organizations are tight on resources and don’t always have the ability to produce large, high-visibility campaigns. That’s where social media can help. Let’s dive into the social media platforms that non-profit orgs can leverage today.

How Non-Profits Leverage Social Media

There are three major ways that non-profit organizations can use social media to get the word out on causes that matter.

The first is through social challenges.

Think back to 2014 when the ice bucket challenge went viral. This challenge involved taking a bucket full of ice water and pouring it onto yourself, posting it on social media, donating to the cause, then nominating friends and family to follow suit.

This challenge, designed to raise awareness of ALS or Lou Gherig’s diseases, spread like wildfire through social media and helped the ALS association increase its annual funding by 187%.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Air Force Wrestling (@af_wrestle)

Social challenges are fantastic for two reasons: They usually involve doing something funny which increases their viral potential and they invite people to join in.

Another marketing tactic non-profit organizations use is user-generated content.

Social proof is used in marketing all the time to foster trust between a brand and its target audience. Brands often do this by sharing customer reviews.

Non-profit orgs can also use social proof to drive action.

In 2021, Habitat for Humanity included drawings done by children of Habitat homeowners sharing messages of hope, strength, and resilience.

For non-profits, the best stories come directly from the beneficiaries themselves. Everything from a video to a handwritten message can be used to show how impactful the work is.

TikTok

When it comes to non-profit marketing, TikTok is a great platform to raise awareness. It’s particularly helpful for reaching a younger audience, like Gen Z and Millennials.

According to TikTok, users made close to 75,000 donations on the platform in 2021 for causes ranging from fighting hunger to humanitarian relief efforts.

The social platform arms non-profit organizations with features that help them generate interest in their causes and fundraise.

For instance, in April 2020, TikTok introduced donation stickers that could be added to videos, live streams, and profiles.

They work with a third-party platform called Tiltify to process donations securely. As such, non-profit organizations that want to use this functionality must go through an approval process by Tiltify.

In addition, TikTok has also financially contributed to these organizations, recently donating $7 million to #GivingTuesday initiatives and matching donations when users use branded hashtags.

@siennamae
#duet with @samsmith
♬ original sound – Sam Smith

Meta

Similar to TikTok, the social media platforms under Meta – notably Instagram and Facebook – also offer non-profit friendly features that facilitate donations and promote awareness.

To access these features, organizations must be eligible and sign up for charitable giving tools on Facebook.

Once that’s done, they’ll have access to a series of tools, such as:

• Donation buttons that they can add to their profile and share during live streams.
• Page fundraisers
• Volunteering sign-up forms
• Profile support buttons

You can find a list of tools by Meta here.

In addition to providing these tools, Meta has also contributed to many campaigns. Last year, on Giving Tuesday, the company matched up to $8 million in donations made to fundraisers on Facebook.

Image Source

To celebrate Instagram’s 11th anniversary, the social platform also matched fundraisers up to $50,000 from seven top creators on the platform through Giving Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Instagram’s @design (@design)

While TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook currently offer the most advanced features for non-profits, organizations can still leverage other social platforms like Twitter and Clubhouse to drive awareness and action. However, if you’re a new org looking to gain some traction, these are great places to start.

Over the years, we’ve talked at length about the best ways to follow up with leads and how to keep them engaged. 

What we haven’t talked about much, however, is when you should begin our discourse.

Let’s establish what lead nurturing is and why staggering your initial follow-up message is crucial to your success.

What is B2B Lead Nurturing?

B2B lead nurturing is the process of advancing marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) through your marketing funnel, engaging prospects with your business at multiple touchpoints before passing them to your Sales team.

Markempa CEO and Founder Brian Carroll summarized the purpose of B2B lead nurturing quite well in an interview while acting as Marketing Sherpa’s CEO.

“Nurturing is really about addressing (and how we progress) the relationships we’re adding value to with each touch,” Carroll said. “So it’s really this idea of progressing someone from interest to purchase consideration so when they’re ready to engage our Sales team or a channel, that’s what (nurturing) is trying to answer.” 

How to Know When to Follow Up With Your Leads

Asking for something far too early can be a total buzzkill.

Imagine you’re meeting someone for the first time; you’ve barely finished the word, “hello,” or even dropped the handshake when suddenly this, well, stranger, says to you, “Hey, would you help me move?”

“What?” you think to yourself. Did this guy just seriously ask me to help him…move? 

Take a guess what your answer would be. Take a guess as to how quickly you’d be looking for an out in that interaction. “No, thanks, pal. Best of luck to you” would be the nice way of putting it.

This happens every day online; a user requests a piece of content only to be hounded by a company rep asking if we’d like to see a demo of their product. For the overwhelming majority of us, that answer is going to be a resounding no. And it’s not because we’re uninterested—it’s because we don’t yet know if we’re interested.

How the Consumption Gap Informs B2B Lead Nurturing

To know if something is a fit for you, you’d like to spend a bit more time about it, right? Whenever Sales reps reach out immediately upon requesting a piece of content, not only do you run the risk of annoying your prospect, you run the risk of referencing something they know very little about. 

Research from FocusVision states that consumers consume up to 13 pieces of content before coming to a purchase decision. 

This is an aggregate number across a wide selection of industries. While each sales cycle will differ, our first-party consumption data revealed how much content an average user within a given industry requests within a 6-month period. Regardless of much content is requested, each subsequent registration requires more time to digest. 

Requests by Industry Over a 6-Month Period

Industry	6 Weeks	3 Months	6 Months
Government	2	2.4	4
Agriculture	2	2	4.1
Education	2.2	2.5	3.4
Service Industry	1.8	2.9	3.3
Computers and Technology	2.1	2.3	3.1
Construction	1.7	2.6	3.3
Utility/Energy	1.9	2.2	3.2
Non-Profit/Organizations	2.8	2.5	3.5
Corporate Services	1.9	2.2	2.9
Aerospace/Aviation	1.6	2.6	3.4
Telecommunications	1.7	2.2	3
Automotive	1.7	2	2.6
Transportation and Logistics	2.4	2.1	2.5
Media	1.5	2.1	2.9
Manufacturing	5.4	2.6	2.9
Real Estate	1.6	2.2	2.9
Advertising/Marketing	2.2	2.3	2.8
Travel/Hospitality/Entertainment	2	2.3	3.1
Retail and Consumer Goods	2.3	2.1	2.7
Legal	1.5	2.5	2.5
Healthcare/Medical	1.7	2.5	3.3
Insurance	1.6	1.8	2.5
Finance	1.7	1.7	2.3
Biotech and Pharmaceuticals	1.6	1.8	2.7

In each of our annual consumption reports, we’ve shared a stat unique to NetLine called The Consumption Gap. 

The Consumption Gap

The Consumption Gap measures the time between when content is requested and the moment it’s opened for consumption. In 2021, this figure was the largest it had ever been, ballooning 12% YOY from 29.7 hours to 33.3 hours—a 3.6-hour increase.

So what does the Consumption Gap mean for the Sales process? For starters, it means you need to be patient, especially at the beginning. 

Since 2018, B2B professionals have tacked on 6.2 additional hours to their overall consumption time, meaning they’re in absolutely no hurry to read, listen, or watch whatever content they’ve just requested. 

What’s the point, you ask? While requesting gated content is a positive signal, it should not be read as a green light for you to immediately reach out. Click To Tweet

The 48-Hour Rule

While the Consumption Gap sat at 33.3 hours in 2021, this is merely the average amount of time it took for professionals to consume their content. 35% of the Job Levels that we track to produce our Consumption Gap statistics have consumption measures exceeding the average, including the C-Level.  Even Senior VPs, who were the most eager Job Level in 2021, weren’t downloading their requested content until nearly a full day later (21.4 hours). 

Instead of jumping on them immediately, we must give users space. Our recommendation is that, before making first contact with a lead, B2B professionals should wait for roughly 48 hours.

This way, when you do reach out, consumption has most likely occurred. The more time you provide to your prospect, the greater your chances are to be met more warmly (and knowingly) by your lead.

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As new research suggests, B2B professionals should wait for roughly 48 hours before making first contact with a lead. Instead of jumping on leads immediately, we must give prospects space.
Click To Tweet

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Speed Kills

You’ve probably seen the stats, and maybe even accepted as common knowledge now that conversion increases by 9x when responding within five minutes of lead submission. 

This is a flawed approach. It is based on filtered stats pulled from survey data rather than more reliable, honest, unfiltered, first-party behavior. 

The truth is that providing space to your leads at the outset of any relationship is table stakes to modern marketers. This isn’t a debate, the data proves it. 

Of course, if a user comes to your site to request a demo or directly asks to speak with a company representative we encourage you to respond immediately. In this scenario, you’d better grab that phone ASAP to either tap out an email or dial their number.

Getting your lead to move from warm lead to closed-won business, however, will require an ongoing commitment to patience. 

But patience only pays off when it’s part of a larger plan. 

Committing to Lead Nurture

Lead nurturing tangibly benefits the bottom line. 

According to Forrester Research, companies with superior lead nurturing strategies generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost. 

Nurturing leads is essential in B2B Marketing. With so much information to parse through to find the right solution, service, and price point, it’s no wonder that B2B sales cycles last anywhere from one to six months. Combine this with the ~31% of B2B buyers who expect to make a purchase over the next 12 months and it’s clear how much work it takes to convert a lead. 

Unfortunately, B2B Marketers do a lot of talking but not as much walking. 

Marketing Sherpa reports that 65% of marketers have no lead nurturing strategy. Considering that 85% of B2B marketers say that lead generation is their #1 goal, the majority of demand gen teams are only setting themselves up for failure by not committing to a lead nurturing strategy. 

As Brian Carroll shared, lead nurturing is about addressing the pains of a lead over and over to the point where they’re progressing to the point of reaching a purchase decision. While buyers have more control than ever, B2B Marketers still have the power to guide leads through their buying journey.

Establishing the Lead Nurture Baseline

Despite the fact that B2B buyers are doing more and more research independently before ever contacting a vendor, there are still plenty of ways B2B businesses can benefit their prospects. 

Some of the simplest and most impactful ways vendors can bring value is through these three simple rules.

1.  Know Who You’re Talking To

It may seem obvious but, knowing who they are (beyond their name, company, and title) is essential – regardless of how you decide to communicate with your prospects. Without knowing what they’re interested in, how they found you, and the rest of their journey to you, you’ll be doing far too much guessing.

Dip into your CRM and leverage each and every data point at your disposal. Analyze your database and identify audiences and current customers with common traits, such as titles, industries, content registrations, and any other common behaviors. This step will help you refine which content you might offer next or could simply frame how you’ll frame your first email or phone call. Knowing who you’re speaking to and what their motivations are will help you identify information that’s most relevant to them and how they want to consume it.

2.  Identify Their Pain

We Marketers often think we know far more than we do. Perhaps this is due to the alluring power of CRMs and other fancy tools we have at our disposal. It’s alright, we’re all guilty of this practice. The best way to mitigate this, of course, is by simply asking questions you wouldn’t have information about prior to nurturing your lead:

• What challenges keep you up at night? 
  • How would you prioritize these challenges?
• How are you currently addressing your needs/challenges?
• What resources help you respond to those challenges? 
  • Are you currently attending industry-specific events or consuming other related content?)
• What kind of information/solution would make your life easier?
• What sort of information informs your buying decisions?
• Are there any budget restrictions?

 

Asking about when your prospect might be looking to make an investment certainly doesn’t hurt either, however buyer-level intent data might offer visibility into this information. 

3.  Addressing the Pain Points (Without Selling)

Once you’ve identified a number of the challenges your prospect is facing, it’s time to focus on their specific needs. Naturally, you’re going to want to showcase how your business is able solve their problems more completely. Perhaps the best approach, however, is to merely be as helpful and as thorough as possible.

Being as helpful It could be as simple as isolating a blog post and a video from your library that speaks directly to their most pressing issues. Being thorough could mean providing a list of (honest) pros and cons between your product and the rest of the market. This might feel odd initially but put yourself in their shoes: They’re going to be doing comparison research at some point; why not be the one being as transparent as you can be? 

As the relationship matures and the time comes to make a purchase decision, your lead might just think to themselves, “You know, this company has been terrific throughout this entire process. They’ve given me practical information to help guide our decision making, they have a grasp on what our needs are, and know the space intricately.”

Now the next time your Sales team makes contact, they won’t need to beat around the bush by asking about the weather. Instead, they can conduct a meaningful conversation about the latest piece of content that was sent as part of your lead-nurturing program.

Leveraging First-Party Data in Your B2B Lead Nurturing Program

Nurturing your leads is a fundamental piece of any lead generation program. Interest alone is not enough for you or your Sales team to ask for any kind of conversion. Proper lead nurturing requires patience, commitment to a full scope strategy, and knowing what to do once you’ve generated a lead. 

By embracing the data, you’ll be well on your way to seeing more success in your demand gen campaigns with richer outcomes for everyone involved.

Whether you’re a new or seasoned social media manager, managing a brand’s social presence can be overwhelming. After all, you’re behind every post and every interaction with potential customers so the pressure is on.

One way to ease that and make sure you’re at the top of your game is with a social media checklist. In this article, we’ll cover the daily and monthly tasks every social media manager needs to succeed.

Social Media Tasks

Before we get into the checklist, we’re going to break down the work of a social media manager into four pillars.

• Sharing – You must post on social media regularly to grow and maintain an audience.
• Engaging – Connecting with your audience, via polls, responding to comments and DMs, and reposting user-generated content, is key to building that brand loyalty.
• Monitoring – It’s important to know how your brand is perceived online, so you’ll need to monitor mentions of your brand as well as topics within your industry.
• Reviewing and Optimizing – If you’re not reviewing your performance, how can you improve? This is a necessary part of every social media strategy.

If you don’t share often, you’ll struggle to build an audience. Without an audience, you won’t have much to engage with. This also means that you’ll have little to no data about what works well and nothing to optimize or review.

This is all to say that to have a robust social media presence, you must be strong in all four areas. Now, let’s dive into the daily tasks you’ll need to complete in this role.

Social Media Daily Checklist

On a daily basis, you will be focused on the first three pillars: sharing, engaging, and monitoring.

While there is some reviewing and optimizing that can happen daily, you can better identify patterns when you do so on a monthly basis once you have compiled a good data set.

1. Sharing content.

Your number one priority on social media should be sharing content.

That’s what will allow you to reach your target audience, attract them to your brand, and keep them engaged.

When we surveyed 310 U.S.-based marketers in 2022, we found that most social media marketers post between four to six times a week on social media platforms.

While that is the average, some marketers post more or less depending on the platform. For instance, 29% of marketers surveyed said they post on Facebook every day while 35% said they do the same on Twitter.

However, when asked about Pinterest, most marketers surveyed only post two to three times a week.

Of course, how often you post will depend on a variety of factors including the return on investment.

Something else to consider is that sharing content doesn’t only mean from your brand. It can include user-generated content or content from another non-competitor that would add value to your audience.

2. Responding to comments and DMs.

One of the easiest ways to engage your audience is by responding to their comments.

If you’re struggling to generate comments in the first place, try starting a conversation and asking your audience to join it.

In this post, sunscreen brand KINLÒ asks its audience to share ways they protect their skin.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by KINLÒ (@kinloskin)

In that same vein, you can ask your audience to tag a friend that would enjoy your post.

Another way to engage your audience is by responding to direct messages. Often, consumers will reach out to brands on social media to learn more about the brand, ask specific questions related to shared content, or get help.

It’s important that you review these questions every day to leave a positive impression on your audience. If you take too long to answer, they may lose interest or escalate the issue by complaining to the public.

You can take it one step further by working internally with your customer support team to develop an escalation process once a customer reaches out via social media.

3. Monitor brand mentions and industry-related content.

When you’re growing your business, it’s vital that you know how your brand is being perceived online and what is being said about it.

According to our 2022 social media marketing report, 35% of marketers surveyed track brand mentions and hashtags on social media.

Thankfully with social media, that information is within reach. You can easily set up alerts to be noticed whenever your brand is tagged or mentioned on social media.

You can also routinely do searches on platforms like TikTok where alerts aren’t readily available.

This will allow you to gauge brand sentiment and quickly address concerns from your target audience.

Pro-tip: HubSpot’s social media management software includes a brand monitoring tool that will help you stay on top of all mentions and even track your competitors.

4. Identify trends and buzzy content.

Trends come and go just about every week on social media.

The trick is jumping in as they’re growing in popularity and knowing when they’ve died out.

The best way to find trends is by simply being on social media – social listening. You may start to notice a particular sound being used often or a song being added to every Reel you come across.

Some social platforms will tell you exactly what’s trending, like on TikTok’s “Discover” tab and Twitter’s “Trending” tab.

There are also accounts that are dedicated to finding trends as they happen and explaining their origin. This will help you determine which ones are worth joining and which ones you should stay out of.

As a brand, everything you put out there is a representation of your values. That’s why it’s important that you be extra careful when assessing trends.

See what videos other brands and users are creating with that trend. Are they funny and creative? Are they offensive? Do they align with your brand?

If not, it’s always OK to skip because there’ll be another one coming around the corner.

5. Answer queries on forums.

When we think of social media, we often think of content-sharing apps like TikTok, Twitter, and Twitch.

However, some social apps – think Reddit and Quora – focus instead on conversations and community.

You may be surprised to find how many conversations people may be having about your brand on these websites. In addition to being a great source of information surrounding brand sentiment, you can also learn a lot about your audience’s challenges and pain points.

You can then leverage that information into value-packed posts to attract your audience.

6. Connect with brand evangelists.

Building brand loyalty is no easy feat. So once you’ve accomplished it, you have to invest time to maintain it.

This means connecting with your brand evangelists on a regular basis.

Yes! 😍

— Brandon Blackwood (@BBlackwoodNYC)
April 27, 2022

This can look like commenting on their content and/or sharing it on your platform, giving them access to exclusive content, shouting them out, and inviting them to participate during live streams.

While social media can be filled with parasocial relationships, don’t let that be the case for you and your audience.

Social Media Monthly Checklist

1. Check your analytics.

Data is every brand’s most sacred asset. It holds incredibly valuable insights about your target audience.

On social media, your data will tell you the type of content your audience enjoys, what grabs their attention, and what generates conversions.

It will also help you identify trends. In fact, when we asked social media marketers “How do you predict which social media trends are worth investing in?” The top answer was by analyzing their social media analytics.

So, which metrics are marketers reviewing? Here are the top five, according to our survey:

• Likes and comments (41%)
• Sales (41%)
• Traffic to their website (41%)
• Impressions and views (40%)
• Brand mentions and hashtags (35%)

If you have at least one month’s worth of data, you can start finding out which posts perform the best and dig into the why.

Through your analytics, you can also assess which social platforms are worth investing in. According to our survey, the top three metrics marketers look at to make this decision are:

• Impressions/views
• Sales
• Follower or subscriber count

Whether you’re already succeeding or struggling on social media, reviewing your data will always set you up for a better month ahead.

2. Set goals.

Once you’ve reviewed your analytics and know what went well and what can be improved, you can set your goals for next month.

For instance, say you notice that last month’s videos outperformed any other content type and generated 2,000 visits to your website. For next month, you can up the number of videos you post and set a visit goal of 3,000.

Whether it’s increasing your reach, generating more engagement, or driving more traffic to your website, setting goals will serve as your north star and allow you to schedule content that aligns with these goals.

3. Schedule next month’s content.

When you’re managing multiple social media accounts, you have to plan your content ahead of time. Otherwise, you risk under planning and not having enough content.

You’ve already set your goals for the month. So now, it’s just a matter of creating content that best aligns with them.

For instance, say you want to increase your reach and last month’s data shows that your most shared content relates to three main topics. You can then center next month’s content on these three topics.

When scheduling content, you should also consult other teams to determine if there are any events, announcements, or campaigns that you will need to share.

The earlier you have your creative assets – images, videos, copy – the easier it will be to create your content calendar.

Pro-tip: We created a social media content calendar template to make planning posts and coordinating campaigns easy.

There you have it – a detailed social media checklist that will have you on top of your game every day.

Creating an effective content workflow is a lot like baking a cake. If you accidentally pour unfinished batter into an unprepared pan, the damage is done. You can’t go back and prep the pan after the fact.

Imagine your cake batter is your content, and the cake pan is its publication. If your content goes straight from the writer to your consumers, you are running a lot of risks. You must first edit and fact-check the content before publication and distribution. Readers become disinterested or upset at careless, incorrect content. And once the information is out there, it is nearly impossible to recover.

Having the right people in place on your content team is not enough. To create quality content every time you post, your company needs to outline its processes in a content workflow.

In this post, we’ll cover the topic of content workflow — what it is, how to manage it, and how you can create one for your business.

Strategists, writers, editors, and managers are people you would have on your content team. Their tasks, seen in a workflow, include planning, writing, editing, publishing, and more; however, each function is not necessary for every content type.

Depending on the content type, your workflow will change. Businesses can publish various content like newsletters, blog posts, and social media posts. The content workflow is different for each asset. For example, compare the publication of a newsletter and a social media post. The most evident difference in this process is that the content types go through different channels. Once you break down the workflows, you will discover that each may require separate people, processes, tools, and resources.

With so many moving pieces necessary for creating a content workflow, managing the process becomes a top priority.

Content Workflow Management

If left untamed, your content workflow can become complicated and confusing for your team. To successfully manage your workflow, start by outlining the processes, people, and tools involved in the content creation process.

Processes

To manage your content workflow, identify the steps needed to create content. They are:

1. Strategizing
2. Planning
3. Creating
4. Reviewing
5. Publishing
6. Analyzing

While this is the basic workflow for content, each step has supplementary processes depending on the content type. You can build these extra steps as you create your content workflow. At this stage, it’s helpful to outline a content strategy.

People

An effective content workflow focuses on the processes needed to publish content, but people are arguably the most vital part. One aspect of managing content workflow is identifying and managing key players. These people are responsible for fulfilling the steps in the content creation process listed above. For example, for strategizing, you’d need a strategist. For reviewing, you’d need an editor.

In conjunction with managing your people and their processes, content workflow management also covers the tools needed to complete the work.

Tools

For your content team to fulfill their roles and work through content creation processes, they need tools. Content has to be created, edited, shared or managed somewhere. Managing your team’s content workflow means managing the tools it needs.

Content management systems, like CMS Hub, are essential for publishing blog posts. Canva and Adobe Photoshop are great tools for design. These are just three of the many tools your company might add to its content tech stack.

As the content marketing industry booms, your business needs to expand to accommodate this growth. This expansion reflects an increase in the people, processes, and tools associated with your content workflow. The more comprehensive your workflow becomes, the more daunting it is to manage; however, integrating content workflow software can solve the problem.

Content Workflow Software

Content workflow software, or a workflow management system, is a program that manages the content creation process through planning, production, and publication. Instead of teams using multiple methods and approaches to monitor the content process, workflow management systems help you create a centralized location for your team to visualize its processes. It promotes the execution of your content strategy in alignment with company goals.

The added benefits of using content workflow software include:

• An increase in productivity
• A reduction in errors
• An improvement in workplace collaboration

Increase In Productivity

Without using a content workflow software tool, team members are left with extra work and time wasted. These issues are removed with content workflow software because it is automated. It eliminates sending email updates because the software sends them for you. Content teams don’t have to guess the timeline of a project because the system manages it for them. Everything happens quickly and efficiently.

Reduction In Errors

Nothing is perfect, and you can’t expect the same from your content workflow. Even so, content workflow software helps reduce errors. It helps your team stay ahead of deadlines. It allows you to identify what processes in the content workflow need adjustment. Content management software gives your company the tools for improving your workflow.

Improvement In Workplace Collaboration

Content management software improves workplace collaboration between team members and the apps and platforms they use. Executing your content strategy requires many different people who use various tools. Workflow management software allows your team to notify and update another member while the software integrates with several content management systems, email providers, messaging services, and social media platforms.

To take advantage of the benefits of using content workflow software, learn more about Marketing Hub and how its marketing automation technology simplifies tasks.

Content Workflow Template

Content workflow software is fundamental in keeping up with your content strategy; however, you need the appropriate steps to build your workflow. Only then can you get the most out of the software. Where do you begin? Here’s how you can create your content workflow.

How to Create a Content Workflow

The people, processes, and tools necessary for executing your content strategy are helpful markers in creating your content workflow. To create a content workflow, you need to:

1. Decide what content to create.
2. Create a breakdown of actionable tasks.
3. Assign roles.
4. Determine the time associated with each task.
5. Document your content workflow.

Decide what content to create.

First, decide “what” you are creating. Is it a social media post? Is it a newsletter? Your company has the choice of creating many content types like infographics, blog posts, video content, and more, and you will need to create a workflow for each.

Create a breakdown of actionable tasks.

Once you are focused on a particular content type, outline the necessary steps needed to get it from strategy to publication. Consider this sample workflow for a blog post. Its process might look like this:

Strategizing > Planning > Creating > Editing > Publishing > Analyzing

While these are broad tasks for creating a blog, this is where it needs to expand. Strategizing typically includes performing content audits, creating buyer personas, and conducting keyword research. Editing might involve implementing SEO techniques or adding images and links.

Every step in the process needs to be accounted for so it can be assigned to the appropriate team member.

Assign roles.

After you have the tasks for your content process, it’s time to decide who does them. This step can help identify if anyone is at capacity in their role and if you need to bring in additional members. Using our blog example above, this is how you might assign roles.

• Strategizing > Content Strategist
• Planning > Content Manager
• Writing > Copywriter
• Editing > Editor
• Publishing > Content Manager
• Analyzing > Content Manager

After assigning responsibility for each task, determine how much time is necessary for completion.

Determine the time needed for each task.

To determine how much time you need for each task, consult your content team. How much time does your writer say it takes them to write a 500-word post? What about a 2500-word post? Use the length of time they give you and build in additional time. It can help your company avoid working with tight timelines or missing deadlines.

After this step, your content workflow might look like:

• Strategizing > Content Strategist (1 day)
• Planning > Content Manager (<1 day)
• Writing > Copywriter (2 days)
• Editing > Editor (1 day)
• Publishing > Content Manager (<1 day)
• Analyzing > Content Manager (Ongoing)

Once you have outlined a process for the tasks, people, and length of time needed for creating your content, your content workflow is complete.

Document your content workflow.

The last step in creating your content workflow is documenting it. Companies typically use standard operating procedures (SOPs) to keep their teams aligned with the process. Marketing Hub, Trello, and Evernote are examples of systems that give teams easy access to documents like SOPs.

Content workflows work, so you don’t have to.

Content creation isn’t simple. There are many elements in publishing content and successfully executing your content strategy. Creating a content workflow helps your team stay on task by increasing productivity, reducing errors, and improving workplace collaboration. The predetermined flow of each process makes it easy, but managing individual tasks becomes increasingly chaotic without content workflow software.

When managing how your content transforms from an idea to publication, content workflows handle the heavy lifting.