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Despite working in marketing for over a decade, I’m still puzzled by the idea of product marketing.

Whether your business offers a service (say, a cleaning company) or a commodity (like a toy manufacturer), you’re marketing a “product,” right?

Heck, in my recent job hunt, I interviewed for several product marketer jobs under the caveat that I hadn’t “done product marketing,” but I’d certainly marketed a product.

But the truth is those positions wouldn’t have worked out. Product marketing is a very specific branch of marketing that requires particular skills and has its own unique benefits.

As job titles like “product marketer” and “product marketing manager” become increasingly popular, you may find yourself asking, “What is product marketing, exactly?” How does it differ from other marketing strategies? And how do you market a product in 2024?

Let’s find out.

Product Marketing vs. Conventional Marketing

Product management and product marketing may seem like buzzwords, but they’re actually specialties dating back to the 1930s, as noted in an 800-word memo written by Procter & Gamble advertiser Neil H. McElroy.

“As obvious as it sounds, product marketing is focused on marketing the PRODUCT,” explains Anthony Pierri, co-founder & partner of FletchPMM, a product marketing firm for early-stage B2B startups. It’s a sub-field of marketing focused on product adoption and demand, whereas “marketing” is more all-encompassing and concerned with buyers as well as communication with competitors, influencers, and the greater public.

I see it as the difference between me, a tenured marketer driving traffic, leads, and sales for a previous employer — and my colleague focused solely on driving demand and sales of the company’s online learning platform.

To get more granular, product marketing is about understanding a specific audience and its pain points, then positioning a product to attract that audience as buyers. It’s a cross-functional field that influences the launch and buildout of a product, as well as its sales and marketing strategy.

Marketing cares about buyers too, but it casts a much wider net.

Pierri details “The broader discipline of marketing has many interests … marketing the brand, marketing the culture, marketing the vision, and a host of other concerns. But at the end of the day, people are shopping for products. And product marketing helps explain how the product itself will solve their pain points.”

Of course, both marketing and product marketing help a company generate revenue, but while the former pulls many levers to make that happen, product marketing only has eyes for the product’s success. (How romantic.)

Product Marketing Goals

Moving right along, product marketing is usually implemented with six goals in mind:

1. To know your audience better than anyone.

A great product marketing strategy helps your target audience see the value of having your product in their lives. That said, one of the primary goals of product marketing is understanding your customer’s needs, wants, and interests and determining how your business can help.

People need to know you “get them,” and that’s product marketing’s job.

2. To effectively target your buyer persona(s).

Once product marketing understands your audience, they need to define your specific buyer persona(s) and refine your marketing tactics accordingly.

This detailed understanding of your target audience and how they interact with your product is what can make product marketing critical to scaling your product and ensuring its longevity, but more on that later.

3. To understand and outdo your competitors.

Bringing a new product to market is like trying to be a thought leader on LinkedIn — crowded. You will have competition, and if you want to rise above it, you have to know what you’re up against.

What are your competitor’s key features and benefits? What ideas haven’t they explored? What does their product offer that yours doesn’t?

Let’s say I take off my writer hat for a minute and magically become a product marketer for HubSpot. Salesforce would be an obvious competitor for me to research. I might identify that HubSpot allows me to nurture leads without manual maintenance, whereas Salesforce is not designed to nurture leads.

This insight should be incorporated into your product marketing strategy to give you an extra edge.

4. To differentiate your product in the market.

Sneakers are a dime a dozen today, so how has Nike managed to rise to the top? Differentiation.

To stand out in your market, you must be loud about your differentiators. You need to offer something unique that forces consumers to pay attention. This might be quality, a fun personality, or something to aspire to (like Nike’s elite athletes).

Product marketers are in charge of finding and drilling into those differentiators.

5. To get marketing, product, and sales teams on the same page.

If you go into a car dealership and one salesperson tells you car A is rated the highest in safety, but then another tells you car B is, you’ll be confused. You probably won’t want to buy your new car from salesperson A or B because you don’t know who or what to believe. Consistency is important.

That’s why, once positioning is nailed down, product marketing must drive the adoption of that positioning to your company’s internal teams.

Marketing, product, and sales teams regularly communicate about your product; they must be aligned on what to say.

This means defining, documenting, and communicating talking points around your product’s:

• Key features and benefits

• Value proposition

• Price point

• Positioning

6. To boost revenue and improve sales.

This may seem obvious, but product marketing is ultimately working to boost revenue and improve sales. All other goals roll up to this.

So, how do these goals translate into specific tasks and responsibilities?

Like many things in business, product marketing responsibilities may vary based on your industry, company, products, company size, and resources.

If you’re working as a product marketer at a startup, for example, you may also find yourself creating content for the broader marketing team due to limited resources and budget. I encountered this a lot with agency clients who came to us with big dreams and small budgets. As they grew, product marketing began to play a separate, equally important role.

When companies reach this point, the goals I mentioned earlier lend themselves to seven common product marketing responsibilities. Let’s run through them:

1. Researching and monitoring your target audience.

As a product marketer, your primary focus is on your target audience and narrowing it down to specific buyer personas.

This means researching them thoroughly and staying apprised of any changes in their behaviors, wants, or needs. These insights are key to addressing your audience’s challenges in your messaging and helping your product team iterate to stay relevant.

Pro tip: Use templates to create buyer personas for your business. A formal document about whom you’re catering to can help align different teams in your business.

2. Ensuring your product meets the needs of your target audience.

If your audience does not want or need your product, no amount of marketing will sell it. As a product marketer, it’s your responsibility to make sure there’s a fit.

Your buyer persona and target audience research will uncover the pain points and challenges your product should solve. If your product doesn’t meet these, buyers will have no reason to make the purchase or choose your product over others.

In product marketing, you must understand “why” your buyer needs your product. If that’s unclear, a larger product-market fit issue may be at play.

3. Determining your product’s positioning in the market.

Are you the most affordable option? The most reliable? The most user-friendly? Think of product positioning as telling your product’s story. As a product marketer, you should craft a story around the value of your product that will resonate with your buyers; a story they’ll want to be a part of.

So, what does this look like?

Good product positioning typically tells an audience three things:

1. What your product brings to the market

2. How it compares to others (aka your competitors)

3. How it should be viewed by customers

One of the most well-known examples of product positioning can be seen in Apple’s iconic “Get a Mac” campaign from the early 2000s.

In this campaign, Apple directly compared its Mac computers to PCs by giving them both real-life human personas.

How did this campaign check all of the boxes above? Well, in each spot, the brand:

1. Highlighted different features and benefits of a Mac

2. Directly compared Mac to PC (its biggest competitor) in those areas

Personified how Apple wanted Macs to be perceived by buyers with human characters — i.e., Mac was young, playful, and casual in a hoodie, while PC was older, serious, and literally “buttoned up” in a suit and tie.

We’ll dive deeper into how you can successfully position your product when we talk strategy in a bit.

4. Creating, managing, and carrying out your product marketing strategy.

Speaking of strategy, a product marketing strategy is what allows you to create, build, and deploy content and campaigns to drive sales. It guides the steps that will lead your buyer personas to engage with your product and eventually make a purchase — and product marketers own it.

5. Enabling sales to attract and close customers for your new product.

Product marketing also maintains a direct relationship with sales.

As a product marketer, you’ll work with sales to identify and attract the right customers and provide sales enablement materials to help close them.

This way, all teams are on the same page with what should be communicated to customers, allowing you to provide a consistent, on-brand experience for anyone who comes in contact with your product.

6. Influencing marketing strategy and product development.

As a product marketer, you’re in the unique position of being able to influence both marketing and product development. In other words, you have an impact on how a product gets marketed to its target audience, but also if existing products get updated or new ones are developed.

You must keep your finger on the pulse of what’s changing with your audience and competitors and how your current products are performing to offer actionable advice on next steps.

7. Keeping your product relevant over time.

A customer is only as good as their lifetime value, and keeping your product relevant is the best way to increase that value and avoid churn.

As needs, expectations, and challenges evolve, it’s your job to keep your product marketing strategy (and the products themselves) relevant to customers.

This is one place where product marketing can shine.

Why is product marketing important?

Product marketing focuses on changes in your audience’s needs and behaviors, and it enables your company to adapt quickly in ways general marketing does not. It can be the difference between staying relevant and becoming obsolete, so it’s critical companies don’t forget it.

Take this real-world example of successful product marketing from German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen.

During the 1950s, Volkswagen introduced a vehicle you may know as the “VW bus.” The microbus was a hit and remained an icon for the car company with its signature look for decades.

Fast forward to 2017 and Volkswagen announced the ID.Buzz — a new VW bus that’s electric, full of modern features, and puts a fresh spin on the classic microbus design. The company’s product marketing was colorful and youthful, complementing the original “hippie” vibe the brand was once known for.

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It also released a TV commercial driving home these sentiments for buyers.

In this spot, Volkswagen cleverly introduces the new vehicle with the beloved 1960s’ Simon & Garfunkel song “The Sound of Silence” playing in the background (hint: electric cars are silent) and ends with a short on-screen message that reads: “Introducing a new era of electric driving.”

The commercial is fun, touches on the vintage origins of the bus, and makes it clear that Volkswagen is entering a new era with an electric, eco-friendly vehicle.

So, the million-dollar question: Did the campaign work?

While not even available in the United States yet, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles reported nearly a 25% increase in sales in 2023, with deliveries of the ID.Buzz quadrupling, according to InsideEVs. I think it’s safe to say that’s a yes.

The campaign didn’t focus on the Volkswagen brand but on the VW bus and the position it holds in the buyer’s mind.

By paying attention to its audience and market, the company evolved a previously successful product and made it new again with clever positioning and a product marketing campaign to match.

This is a prime example of a great product marketing strategy at work. How can you build yours?

Product strategy is nuanced. It requires more than just the paragraphs below, but here are five key steps to get you started.

1. Perfect your product’s buyer personas.

Defining a target audience and perfecting your buyer personas is crucial for a successful product marketing strategy.

Understand your customers, their needs, challenges, and pain points, and you’ll be able to ensure all aspects of your product marketing strategy, campaigns, and assets resonate with your buyer.

2. Clearly define your differentiators and positioning.

What sets your product apart? Why should buyers choose you over your competitors? A successful product marketing strategy needs clearly defined differentiators and a positioning statement.

When done right, this positioning statement answers key questions your customers might have about your product and shares what makes it unique (i.e., why they should buy).

Start by answering questions like:

• Why was this product made?

• Who is this product made for?

• What challenges does this product resolve?

• What makes our product unique?

• Why is our product better than and different from those of our competitors?

• Why are our product’s features ideal for our target audience?

• Why should our customers trust and invest in us and our product?

From there, you‘ll want to compile these responses into a brief, impactful positioning statement. Keep these tips in mind:

• Use action words to excite your customers.

• Ensure the tone of your statement captures the style of your brand.

• Focus on the benefit of your product as a whole (not just one specific feature).

Pro tip: As product marketers, ensure the sales, product, and broader marketing teams are also aware of your product positioning so everyone conveys the same information to prospects and customers. You can also share this information with your support team since they’re speaking with customers who’ve already invested in the product.

3. Set your goals.

What do you want to accomplish? Setting goals for your product will guide your strategy and be a reminder of what your marketing efforts are working towards. Goals will vary depending on your product, the type of company you work for, and your larger marketing goals, but some of the most common include:

• Increasing revenue

• Engaging with customers

• Improving market share

• Gaining customers from competitors

• Boosting brand recognition

Pro tip: Set your targets using the SMART goal format, which means they should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.

Use a free template to help you create and achieve your SMART goals.

4. Price your product.

Product marketing heavily influences your product’s pricing. Typically, this manifests as a choice of competitive versus value-based pricing.

Competitive vs. Value-Based Product Pricing

Competitive pricing means the price of your product is based on similar products your competitors sell and how they compare. Suppose you believe your unique features warrant a significantly higher price than those of your competitors. In that case, with competitive pricing, you might price your product above the average.

On the other hand, value-based pricing quantifies your item’s price based on what a customer gets tangibly or intangibly (think a boost in confidence or elite status). This allows you to be more fluid with your pricing rather than just following the market, industry trends, and what your competitors say.

It also allows you to maximize your profit, although it can be more difficult to educate customers on why your price is so variable. Value-based pricing is ideal for companies selling a product with very few competitors — or one with exceptionally new and unique features.

5. Launch your product.

The product launch is the most important — and exciting — part of any product marketing strategy.

Product marketing focuses on two aspects of a launch: the internal launch (what goes on inside your company during a product launch) and the external launch (what goes on outside your company, with customers and audience members, during a product launch).

Internal Aspects of a Product Launch

During the internal product launch, you should get your marketing, product, and sales teams clear on:

• The product’s benefits

• Any available product demo information

• Sales product training opportunities and details about how it’s used

• What the positioning and messaging look like

• Who your buyer personas and ideal customers are

• What the goals for your product include

• What your product’s features are

• The pricing of your product

• How your product is being launched to customers

This information can be communicated in a number of ways, including:

• Sales enablement kit (ideal for your sales team)

• Presentation (ideal for marketing including product)

• Knowledge base (ideal for your support team)

External Aspects of a Product Launch

The external launch of a product is a totally different beast.

As you know, there are really no rules about marketing your product, so get creative. A product launch may include social media, public/in-store displays, product launch events, blog articles and content, website landing pages, or even a flash mob.

What your product launch entails comes down to your brand, product, and audience. But let’s go into some practical tips on how to market a product that almost any business can adopt.

1. Highlight benefits, not features.

Regardless of the channel or platform, highlight the benefits of your product rather than its features. Unless you offer features your competitors don’t, they’re likely not a differentiator for you.

Furthermore, features (like “customizable attribution models” or “automated email workflows”) can often be technical and hard for buyers to understand. Benefits translate your features into relatable, human value.

When leading with benefits, the examples above become “Know where exactly your leads come from” or “Save time by automating tasks using contact workflows.”

The HubSpot Marketing Hub landing page does a great job here.

It reads: “AI-powered marketing software that helps you generate leads and automate marketing.”

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In this copy, HubSpot explains its features and what users can accomplish with them. With this approach, even if you are totally new to inbound marketing, you’d be able to understand what the product will do for you.

2. Position your product as a solution in your blog content.

A company blog is a powerful place to drive organic traffic and build awareness and demand for a product. Rather than hammering visitors with facts, figures, and sales pitches, write content about a related problem that your product solves.

Take this example from the messaging app Slack.

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In this post, Slack addresses the common audience pain point of wanting to manage their time better and be more productive. It details 10 different tips readers can try while occasionally mentioning the Slack product and its relevant features where appropriate.

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This is a smart and subtle way of introducing the Slack product as a potential solution to the reader’s problems while also delivering real, actionable, educational value.

3. Show your product in action using video

A written blog is great, but a video showing your product in action? That can be even better.

Next to trying your product (which we’ll talk about shortly), watching a video of your product in use is the closest a buyer can get to experiencing it. For this reason, video content can more quickly and effectively convert your audience. So, use this to your advantage.

Create video content for your product that can include:

• General product overview videos

• Tutorials on how to use your product

• Hacks your product can be used for

• Product demonstrations

• Product reviews

• Unboxing videos

Mattress manufacturer Purple has some great product marketing videos on its YouTube channel.

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The channel includes a mix of product demonstrations, how-tos, testimonials, and even manufacturing highlights, letting their target audience get a closer look at what Purple offers.

4. Create a referral or affiliate program

According to Nielsen, 88% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know more than any other channel. Word-of-mouth marketing still reigns supreme over any marketing message or sales pitch you release.

With that in mind, one of the most effective ways to promote your product is creating a customer referral program (or affiliate program). In a referral program, past or happy customers are asked to recommend your product to new people. If they drive a purchase, the referrer is rewarded through commission, discount, or another type of gift.

In this situation, people typically feel more inclined to make a purchase because someone they trust has given your product their vote of confidence. As a business, you get a new customer with very little effort, and the referrer is compensated for their input. It’s a win for all.

Let’s take a look at meal kit company EveryPlate’s referral program. In this example, customers are playfully encouraged to “feed their friends.”

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The page reads, “Give your friends free meals of their choice! In return, you will earn $30 when they place their first order.”

Referral programs like this one are quite popular today and come in many forms. Learn how to build the right one for your product in our article, “How to Create a Strong Referral Program.”

5. Try co-marketing with another brand.

Co-marketing or co-branding with another brand is an excellent way to market your product to an engaged and qualified audience.

You can do something as simple as going live on Instagram or YouTube together or as big as teaming up on an original research campaign or co-hosting a live webinar.

No matter what the size, your product should be a natural match for the other company’s customers. Ideally, this means your products can be used in conjunction.

Here’s a great example of co-marketing from the social media app Pinterest and the clothing brand Levi’s.

In this campaign, Levi Strauss & Co. joins forces with Pinterest for “Styled by Levi’s” — what they describe as a “personalized styling experience” or tailored style insights from Levi’s through pins on a Pinterest board.

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As Sophia Barron, Director of Product & Channel Marketing at Owl Labs, explains, “People often turn to Pinterest for fashion inspiration, making a co-branding partnership with Levi‘s a natural partnership … Pinterest offers Levi’s a leading social platform with millions of users interested in visual offerings, and Levi’s meets these needs with digital personalization and visual-focused boards.”

6. Bid on your competitors’ keywords with PPC ads.

Pay-per-click (PPC) is an essential product marketing tactic. While content and social media marketing can help you attract inbound leads, you can get the attention of even more potential customers by buying PPC ads on search engines.

Let’s say you work for HubSpot. (Hey, welcome on board!)

When setting up your PPC campaign, bid on general product keywords (such as “CRM software”), your own branded terms (like Marketing Hub, HubSpot), and your competition’s (e.g., Salesforce).

This way, customers who search for your competitor’s name as they consider a purchase will see your name and product at the same time.

7. Let people try before they buy.

Finding new, effective ways to convey the value of your products isn’t easy. Words, videos, and other passive marketing content can only do so much.

When you allow your audience to try your product before they buy it, they can experience the value firsthand without any risk.

It’s like test-driving a car before signing the lease or trying a sip of wine before buying the bottle.

Allowing your audience to try your product lets them know, without a doubt, how it functions and how they’ll interact with it. This experience can answer many questions and eliminate a lot of the doubt one might have to making a purchase.

Depending on the nature of your product, “trying” your product can look different, but some popular options include:

• Free sample

• Free demo

• Free or limited trial

• Freemium tier/level

At HubSpot, we implement this product marketing tactic with our freemium model. Users can get started with the foundational tools of any of our products without even putting down a credit card.

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8. Collaborate with creators and/or influencers.

As we’ve seen with co-marketing and referral programs, collaboration can be a game changer in your product marketing strategy. It helps expand your reach to new, relevant audiences and capitalizes on your partner’s trust with that audience.

That said, social media creators and influencers are some of the most powerful folks to partner with today.

Similar to a referral program, creator or influencer marketing typically offers your partner some sort of compensation (usually payment or a free product) in exchange for promotion on their social media platform.

This could be doing a product review that features the product in a post or hosting a giveaway for the product.

This is a popular tactic in the beauty industry. Take this collaboration from South Asian makeup influencer Aditya Madirjaru and luxury beauty brand Lancome.

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In this Instagram reel, Madirjaru, a Lancome partner, encourages his 1.4 million followers (including yours truly) to purchase Lancome’s Teint Idôle Ultra Wear Foundation.

He first shows the product on camera and then applies it to demonstrate coverage. Paired with commentary raving about the product, this video is a top-tier example of influencer marketing done right.

9. Encourage user-generated content (UGC) creation on social media.

Considering the video above, having your buyers create content on social media is another smart way to market your product.

The majority of consumers trust other real-life buyers more than they trust brands themselves. So, use this trust to your advantage with a user-generated content campaign.

Encourage your buyers to share their experience with your product by tagging your brand or using a specific hashtag on social media. Doing this will get your product in front of new audiences expanding your reach, building awareness, and acting as social proof of the value your product delivers.

GoPro’s use of user-generated content is admirable.

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On its Instagram profile, the camera and technology company almost exclusively shares content filmed or shot by its subscribers with its products.

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This gives buyers a moment to shine in front of the brand’s over 20 million followers and showcases some of the amazing results their product can produce.

10. Showcase on social proof.

UGC is just one example of how to market your product using social proof.

Social proof in marketing is something that encourages a buyer to take action (read: buy your product) because it shows others have done it successfully or without harm.

Forms of social proof in marketing include user-generated content, as well as:

• Product reviews

• Product ratings

• User Testimonials

• Usage numbers and statistics

• Industry Awards

• Social Media Shares

• Celebrity Endorsements

Using social proof in your product marketing can be as simple as including a celebrity quote about your product on your website. It might also look like including product ratings on a form like community software company Circle does in this pop-up on their website:

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The pop-up urges website visitors to book a demo of the company’s product and includes its impressive ratings from respected sources G2, GooglePlay, and the Apple App Store.

11. Create a product deck or media/press kit.

People outside of your organization won’t always know the best way to talk about your product, even if they want to.

To enable organic promotion of your product, consider putting together a marketing deck, presentation, or press kit that details everything a potential buyer should know about your product and provides assets like logos, photos, and color swatches.

If someone is inclined to feature your product in an article, make a video about it, or even collaborate. They’ll know your exact positioning and audience, among other things.

Learn how to put together your media kit and see examples in our article, “What is a Media Kit — and How to Make One.”

12. Perfect the cross-sell and upsell.

In the HubSpot 2024 State of Sales Report, we found that 91% of sales professionals upsell, and team upselling tactics drive, on average, 21% of company revenue.

That’s nothing to scoff at. Take some time to consider how you can cross-sell or upsell your audience on your products. In other words, how can you encourage sales by pairing or comparing your product with other items in your catalog?

For example, Apple promoting a pair of AirPods when you purchase a new iPhone without a headphone jack, is a cross-sell. Apple promoting the iPhone 15 Max Pro when you are considering buying the iPhone 15 Max is an upsell.

If you have existing successful products, explore how they can work with your new products and incorporate those connections into your product marketing.

As we close, let’s quickly review four more real-life examples of stellar product marketing from reputable brands to drive home what we’ve learned.

1. Apple

Apple is a household name for leading technology products and software. Not only are its products gorgeously well-designed, but they are super useful.

Recognizing this, Apple‘s product marketing doesn’t focus on its many product features but on the user benefits.

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In this feature for the Macbook Pro laptop, Apple doesn’t simply list the impressive features of the laptop, it uses those features to tell consumers who they could be and how much better they could perform if they had it.

Apple weaves a narrative in its product marketing that describes the value it offers and gives buyers something to aspire to. It’s this smart marketing that allows Apple to lean into its value-based pricing.

2. Billie

Billie is a women’s razor brand. In a highly saturated market, Billie arguably doesn’t have anything unique to offer, but the company manages to differentiate itself by doing what few women’s razor brands have done before; actually showing body hair.

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Body hair and shaving can be an uncomfortable discussion topic, so many razor brands lean into portraying a specific lifestyle. But Billie tries something different. It sheds taboos and positions itself as a real hair removal solution, no matter your frequency or background. With this messaging, Billie stands out from its competitors while also helping to remove the stigma around something natural and universal.

3. Pepsi Cola

Pepsi has always positioned itself as a product with youthful energy and excitement. This can be seen consistently through its celebrity endorsement product marketing campaigns.

Pepsi’s customers are mainly aged 13-35 years old with modern and active lifestyles, so it only makes sense that the company would partner with celebrities popular with this demographic ( e.g., Britney Spears in the 2000s and Doja Cat in the 2020s).

This is one tactic that the beverage company has regularly employed over the decades that’s arguably helped it remain a household name and product.

4. Uber

Ride-sharing app Uber was a pioneer in its space. Paying close attention to its target market, the company recognized a flaw in traditional taxi services and presented a new, arguably better, alternative.

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While other competitors like Lyft and Revel have emerged, Uber has stayed relevant and expanded into services like Uber Freight, Uber for Business, and UberEats.

This is a brilliant example of not just product marketing but also product innovation.

Start Marketing Your Products with Confidence

Being a product marketer (or product marketing manager) means you’re a major player in your company’s marketing, sales, and product future.

You create and manage your product’s specific marketing strategy, but you also serve as a liaison between all three departments, ensuring everyone is on the same page with your product, its features, capabilities, and more.

Product marketing is an integral part of a greater marketing strategy and business success. So, take the advice and examples we’ve outlined above and start building a strong foundation for your product marketing today and for years to come.

This post was originally published in February 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

If you write, edit, or manage content for a brand, you likely run into lengthy content discussions over everything from voice to exclamation marks and em dashes. At least, I’ve done my fair share of debates with colleagues over language preferences.

But is it trivial? I don’t think so. After all, there’s a difference between “you shall not pass” and “you shall not pass!” The latter gives me chills — Ian McKellen did a great job — but only if the writer hasn’t doused the webpage with exclamation marks.

In my years of having first-hand contact with content for HubSpot and other brands, I’ve found that each content creator comes with their own preferences. And while you can’t take those away from them, you can tell them what you like to reach common ground so they can represent your brand in their own way.

Now, you can either share your preferences with back-and-forth feedback over their draft, or you can prepare a content style guide that sets them in the right direction from the start.

I prefer the latter (less hand-holding!), so I’m going to share all I’ve learned about content style guides in this blog. As a bonus, I’ve also gathered insights from industry experts to help you make well-rounded decisions.

Table of Contents:

• What is a Content Style Guide?
• Style Guide vs. Brand Guide
• How to Create a Writing Style Guide
• What to Include in Your Style Guide [+ Checklist]
• What Not to Include in Your Style Guide
• How to Get Others to Use Your Style Guide
• Writing Style Guide Examples

What is a Content Style Guide?

A content style guide, also called an editorial style guide, is a document that sets the standard writing, grammar, and punctuation conventions people working for an organization should follow to maintain a consistent tone and style across its entire online presence.

Content style guides get down to the nitty-gritty. Yes, even whether you should capitalize the “a” after a colon.

Why are content style guides important?

While I love discussing language preferences, debating about the same thing over and over feels like solving a Rubik’s Cube with only one color — it’s repetitive and unproductive.

That’s why I recommend creating a content style guide if you’re working with freelance writers and editors (and even for in-house marketers). Specifically, it helps:

• Build a consistent brand voice. While you may want to connect with your audience on a personal level, each writer can have their own interpretation of what that entails. With a content style guide, I can fill the gaps with the exact tone of voice I’m looking for.
• Avoid common errors. HubSpot has always been spelled with a capital “H” and a capital “S” in between. That said, many external contributors used variations like “Hubspot” or “Hub spot” when I edited the HubSpot blog. With a content style guide, you can point out common errors to ensure they don’t go unnoticed.
• Improve collaboration between writers and editors. Having donned both the editor’s hat and the writer’s pen, I know that harsh feedback can be a blow to a writer’s confidence. With a detailed style guide, I’ve been able to address quality problems without pointing fingers.

Both guides play an important role in how potential consumers view, interact, and remember your brand.

Now that we’ve gone over the basics, let’s explore how I’d go about creating a content style guide for your brand.

1. Use a style guide template.

A writing style guide covers a lot of important content — from brand values to formatting guidelines. While you can take a stab at it by starting from scratch, I recommend using a tried-and-tested style guide template to get started.

If you want to get started quickly, consider using HubSpot’s free style guide template. It covers all the basics you need to get the brain juices flowing, and you can later expand upon it as you see fit.

Alternatively, you can check out the writing guide examples I’ve listed below and choose one as your starting point to customize it and make it your own.

2. Review your brand’s mission and values.

I usually find a brand’s mission statement and core values to be of great help whenever I start filling the style guide template. They give me a solid idea of how the brand aims to form connections with its audience.

For instance, if a brand stands for transparency, I believe that its style guide should promote adding accurate and transparent product descriptions instead of overselling or overhyping the products.

If what your brand says and what it practices doesn’t match up, readers can (and they will, trust me) see the disconnect — it’s like watching a TV show with bad lip-syncing.

Take it from Maddy Osman, founder of The Blogsmith, who knows how seriously brands should take conveying values like inclusivity through their content.

“We wanted our content practices to reflect what The Blogsmith stands for, and needed to find a way to get a team with diverse backgrounds on the same page,” says Osman.

To nurture these values, Maddy got the ball rolling by laying down clear-cut guidelines in her style guide.

“I sat down with team members to brainstorm what inclusivity would look like on paper — the things we normally don‘t account for in day-to-day speech. Whether it’s listing alternatives to outdated words like blacklist or manpower or examples of people-first language.”

Sharing brand values isn’t just talking the talk — it’s about walking the walk, and a style guide is a great roadmap to keeping everything in sync.

3. Create buyer personas for your target audience.

Imagine a conversation with a baby boomer and Gen Z-er. The way you communicate with them will likely be different. That’s why I love creating buyer personas to have a better idea of how to approach the target audience.

A buyer persona is a semi-fictional, research-based representation of your target customer. It includes their demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals. If you haven’t created a buyer persona before, I recommend HubSpot’s persona generator to get started.

Amanda Price, content manager at Imagefix, is also totally on board: “Understanding who we’re communicating with is just as important as understanding our brand itself.”

Price adds that with a fleshed-out buyer persona a style guide “stops being about abstract rules and starts being a proper and useful tool to build a real connection with our readers.”

Your editorial guide doesn’t need to go as in-depth into buyer personas as documents created for the sales and marketing teams. Still, I’ve learned that you need to include the following information on each persona at a minimum if you’re working with freelance writers:

• Brief explanation of the target audience.
• Pain points of the target audience.
• How the audience likes to be communicated with.
• The solutions your brand provides for the audience.
• The preferred writing style (formal, conversational, etc.).

With these details in the style guide, I provide ample context for the internal and external contributors to inform the content they’re writing.

4. Define your company’s voice and tone.

Once I determine my target audience, I start working on the tone and voice — which might appear confusing at first since they seem like identical concepts.

Here’s how I differentiate the two based on my experience:

• Voice. The brand voice captures the unique personality, perspective, and style of your brand — it doesn’t change through your content. For instance, Coca-Cola’s brand voice is positive, and Starbucks’ is expressive.
• Tone. The brand tone refers to how you express your voice. For instance, you can be positive and matter-of-fact, as in “you did it,” or positive and enthusiastic, as in “you absolutely crushed it.”

While I never change brand voice, I think tweaking the tone works wonderfully to adapt your message according to the medium. For instance, I prefer a casual tone for social media and a formal tone for technical white papers.

To decide the tone and voice, I find Nielsen Norman Group’s four dimensions of tone of voice incredibly helpful:

• Formal versus casual
• Serious versus funny
• Respectful versus irreverent
• Matter-of-fact versus enthusiastic

Your desired tone can be either at extreme ends or somewhere in between. For instance, I might opt for a casual, serious, respectful, and enthusiastic tone of voice for a SaaS brand.

That should provide a balance of professionalism, excitement, respectfulness, and friendliness, which aligns with most SaaS products.

In contrast, if I’m developing a content style guide for a tech firm, I might opt for a matter-of-fact (instead of enthusiastic) tone to communicate factually.

Still, it’s all up to your exact preferences, so flesh it out as you see fit.

Once you’ve reached a decision, I recommend adding guidelines surrounding the voice and tone to help the content creators better understand what you’re looking for. For instance, you can mention your:

• Preferred perspective. Can writers write in the first person? Or do the writers need to default to a third-person perspective?
• Writing style. Do you want to come across as a friend or a teacher? For the former, I recommend a conversational style with casual phrases. For the latter, you may need a mix of formal style with matter-of-fact language.
• Favorite phrases: To be as clear as possible about my preferred tone and voice, I typically include my favorite phrases in the style guide to help the writers connect the dots and better understand what I’m looking for.

I particularly stress on adding your favorite phrases because it helps clarify the desired tone and voice you want.

5. Decide on a reference style manual.

Save yourself some time and settle most of the formatting and grammar-related discussions once and for all by picking a reference style manual and sticking with it.

It saves you the trouble of doing your own research and coming up with industry-wide conventions for every special use case. You won’t regret it, I promise.

Most modern businesses adopt the Associated Press Stylebook (AP) or the Chicago Manual of Style. While both manuals are beneficial, I find the AP Stylebook a better fit for online media, as most news organizations use it (it’s also easier to memorize, in my opinion).

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Additionally, AP Style suits contemporary brands wanting to come across as friendly. For instance, Bernard Meyer, senior director of communications and creative at Omnisend, shares that he prefers AP Style as it helps Omnisend come across as friendlier and less formal.

Note: I recommend purchasing an online subscription for whichever reference manual you end up going for. In my experience, employees are more likely to reference these tools when provided with an online subscription that contains a search function instead of a paper book through which they have to flip to find their answers.

6. List troublesome words and branded phrases.

To maintain consistency throughout the business, I like having a distinct section in the content style guide that includes specific spellings and capitalizations for frequently used words and phrases.

You can start with your company name. For instance, It’s HubSpot, not Hubspot or Hub spot.

Besides that, I also note down phrases, slogans, or tag lines associated with the brand. For example, KitKat’s slogan, “Have a break, have a KitKat,” uses a comma in between the phrases, not a period. You can similarly add your brand’s specific phrases with their preferred spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

Moreover, when I was the blog editor at HubSpot, I also compiled a list of “commonly troublesome words” with inconsistent capitalization and spelling to ensure the contributors stayed consistent in their submissions.

Instead of debating how to spell, capitalize, or hyphenate a confusing word, writers could head over to the list and decide on proper usage for:

• Common words: ecommerce vs. e-commerce
  AP Style prefers “e-commerce,” but I lean towards “ecommerce” as it’s getting rather popular, like “email.”
• Job titles: Director of Marketing vs. director of marketing
  AP style recommends using title case if the job title comes before the proper name and lowercase if it comes after it. I do the same.
• Degree titles: Bachelor of Arts vs. bachelor of arts
  AP style recommends using “Bachelor of Arts” in formal usage. That said, I default to using “bachelor’s degree” and “master’s degree” for readability.

Note: If the audience prefers specific English variations (British English or American English), I also recommend adding a list of problematic words like — center vs. centre, color vs. colour, and apartment vs. flat — to ensure your language choice mirrors your target audience.

Additionally, you can also list words and phrases your brand wants to avoid for inclusivity. For example, instead of using “blacklist,” I recommend writers use “blocklist.” Similarly, use gender-neutral words like “first-year students” instead of “freshmen.”

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7. Establish guidelines for graphics.

I know I told you earlier not to get into the nitty-gritty with visual guidelines. This is still true. Your design team or agency should create a separate brand design style guide that addresses more nuanced visual things (can you tell I’m not a designer?).

You should, however, add a little information to your written style guide if your writers are ever responsible for creating visual assets and/or copyediting visual assets created by designers.

Here are some common questions I’ve received over the years from writers and editors (that you should address with your style guide).

• Where can writers source images, and how do they properly attribute them?
• How many images should a writer add per blog post?
• Do we need to add alternative text for images? I love to include it to help people with visual disabilities.
• Can you add screenshots?
• When should images align to the right, to the left, or in the center?
• Should text wrap around images?
• Do you have any recommended image dimensions, file size, and file type for graphics?

All of your image-related guidelines for writers belong in this section. If I’ve access to a paid stock photo website, I prefer mentioning it in this section to ensure it is put to use.

8. Share your formatting recommendations.

Want to know a surefire way to give your editor a mild heart attack? Try submitting a document with formatting that resembles a maze. To protect your editors from getting burned out, I recommend including formatting guidelines for submissions, such as:

• Body text. What’s your preferred font style, size, and color?
• Headers. How many heading and subheading levels can writers go to? I’ve found that it’s better to limit online content to the h4 level.
• Hyperlinks. Do writers need to hyperlink a single word, more than two words, or a specific keyword? Should writers extend the hyperlink to articles (a, an, and the) in front of the target word?
• Lists. Should lists be numbered or bulleted? Do you want periods at the end of the lists?
• Bold, italic, or quotation marks. Do you want to reserve bold or italic for emphasis? Or do you prefer quotation marks?
• Special cases. How do you handle numerals, ranges, and en dashes? Is it acceptable to replace “and” with an ampersand (&)? Do you use acronyms in parentheses when making a first reference?

With consistent formatting, your readers will be able to skim and digest your information more easily.

9. Describe your SEO requirements.

With so much noise surrounding search engines, search engine optimization (SEO) is always a tricky part of the content style guide. That said, since some of the external contributors may be used to keyword spamming, I prefer laying out some of the essential SEO requirements.

You don’t need to go in-depth here. Heck, an in-depth SEO guide can be even longer than your content style guide. Instead, I use this section to answer more or less the common SEO-related questions from content creators.

So, here are my recommendations for the SEO section:

• Keyword usage. Share instructions on how the writers need to incorporate keywords into content, including their placement in titles, body text, and alt text. I recommend explaining how they should handle awkward keywords as well.
• Content structure. Let the writers know how to organize content for search engines. For instance, I like to have descriptive headers for search crawlers and skimming readers.
• Internal and external linking. Describe how writers should incorporate relevant internal and external links in the draft. I also recommend giving them a link-to-word ratio (e.g., one internal link for every 500 words).
• Content length. Mention the recommended length for different types of content. If you’re using an SEO tool for word count recommendation, let the writers know if it’s a strict limit or if they have some leeway.
• Meta titles and descriptions. Explain how the writers can optimize meta titles and meta descriptions to accurately represent the content and improve click-through rate in search engine results pages (SERPs).

In addition to these sections, I also include links to external sources like HubSpot’s guide to SEO to ensure writers can find answers to their questions from reputable sources.

10. Add recommended methods to source reliable data.

Do you know that humans have an attention span of only eight seconds? You might agree because you might have heard this statistic countless times in prominent newspapers, industry blogs, and from friends and family. At least, I have.

Luckily, it’s false. BBC busted this widespread myth in 2017. That said, I still see writers repeating this incorrect information to back up their arguments — which reflects a lot about those arguments.

If you want your brand to come across as honest, transparent, and trustworthy, I recommend including a section in your writing style guide detailing how you want the contributors to source their statistics.

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Based on my experience as a managing blog editor, you should outline the following at a minimum:

• Recommended data sources. Share your preferred industry sources. My personal favorites include eMarketer, Gartner, McKinsey & Company, and PwC.
• Preference for original data. To avoid made-up statistics like the eight-second human attention span and other issues affecting your trust with readers, I ask writers to always find, gauge, and link the original study. In most cases, the original study of a made-up statistic either doesn’t exist or appears unverifiable.
• Usage of recent, current data. If the market landscape in your industry changes rather frequently — as is the case in marketing — I would like to limit the data included to less than two years old. That said, it can vary from industry to industry, so adjust your expectations accordingly if there are no recent developments.

While that helps address most data-sourcing questions, you’ll still get one more question: Can I get relevant statistics and data from competitors?

Personally, I find it acceptable as long as the competitor’s information is reliable and verifiable. That said, it’s up to you to decide.

If you’re worried about search engine optimization (SEO), Osman, who is also ranked among the top 100 content marketers by Semrush, shares that she’s not “against using data from competitors. But you have to be careful from an SEO perspective if the data you’re referring to is a keyword competitor.”

Beyond that, it also depends on your brand’s core values. Meyer prefers to include “helpful data even if the data comes from our competitors” because Omnisend wants to come across as a customer-centric brand.

11. Outline prohibited topics.

While most internal contributors are mindful of sensitive topics, you may need to provide detailed guidance to freelance writers to avoid alienating your readership.

Even if you’re not working with external contributors, I’ve learned that including a list of sensitive topics also helps onboard new team members, so it’s a great addition to a content style guide.

While the sensitive topics might vary from industry to industry, my recommendations for sensitive topics include:

• Religion and politics. I always instructed the writers to steer clear of these two topics entirely.
• Legal considerations. Tell the writers to avoid legal counsel in most cases. Instead, suggest linking relevant legal resources to asking the readers to contact a lawyer.
• Controversial social issues. When talking about sensitive issues, such as immigration, suggest the contributors rely on experts instead of sharing a personal opinion that may evoke strong emotions in readers.

12. Give examples to solidify the writing style guide.

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If you follow all the steps I’ve outlined so far, you’ll be close to completing a detailed content style guide. The only thing remaining is adding examples — some of which you may have added already.

In my experience, adding examples of high-level concepts with do’s and don’ts is one of the best ways to convey what you want. That said, make sure to add specific examples so they help the writers rather than confuse them.

Meyer agrees, “The more specific you can make [your style guide], the better your team will understand how to adopt it effectively.”

Osman also prefers adding examples. According to her, “style preferences make a lot more sense to writers when they see them executed in actuality — much like a case study.”

Here’s how I like to give examples in an editorial style guide:

• Use do’s and don’ts. Add an incorrect example and then mark it up to show how a writer could fix it.
• Include visual examples. For formatting and graphics, I prefer adding visual examples to help the contributors visualize what the brand requires.
• Preferred text. I find that writers are more likely to succeed in nailing down the brand tone and voice if you provide examples of it in practice.

All said and done, I think of a style guide as an evolving document, so you can edit the style guide, flesh out examples, and add nuances over time as a situation calls for it.

What to Include in Your Style Guide [+ Checklist]

To ensure you add the relevant information and elements, here is a quick refresher of what you’ll want to include in your content style guide.

I recommend using the following checklist to help you get going.

What Not to Include in Your Style Guide

While I’ve mentioned all the stuff you should have in your content style guide, there are also topics you should leave out to make it usable on a day-to-day basis. The following are common sections that are fine to leave out of your content style guides.

Content Operation Notes

While I know that content operations are the backbone of your content creation process, they don’t belong in the content style guide.

They don’t add value to the content your writers will create. Instead, content operation notes should be part of your standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Visual Style Recommendations

Your company’s logo, typography, and color palette are extremely important for your brand. However, a content style guide isn’t the place to provide details about them.

Instead of cramming the writing style guide with design elements, logo variations, and preferred typography, use a separate brand and visual style guide to convey the brand identity elements.

Training Materials

It’s easy to lose yourself when fleshing out SEO recommendations, inclusivity practices, or language preferences — trust me, I know. That said, you don’t want the content style guide to be too long. It should be digestible and usable.

So, instead of including training materials in the style guide, prepare additional documents writers can explore for specific guidance. For example, if you want your content creators to use inclusive language, I recommend relying on HubSpot’s inclusive language guide.

How to Get Others to Use Your Style Guide

If you put in all this work to create a comprehensive style guide, it’d be a real bummer if no one used it.

Here’s the truth: Some people just aren‘t going to use it, no matter how easy you make it for them to do so. So, just accept that. But after you’re done grieving, here are a few things I suggest you do to increase the likelihood of adoption:

1. Involve other people in its creation from the get-go.

While freelancers won’t mind specific rules, in-house contributors may have to adjust their existing writing processes to comply with new rules, which may result in an unwillingness to embrace the change.

While some opposition will always be there, I’ve learned that getting a few people together from multiple teams to help create the style guide as a group resolves many of these differences.

2. Make it easy to find and use.

At HubSpot, we’ve made our style guide available on our internal repository. As a result, my colleagues and I can find it, bookmark it, and even access it whenever, wherever. Plus, I can also use Ctrl + F to find what I’m looking for.

3. Keep updating it.

Your style guide is intended to be a living document. As new style questions arise from writers about proper usage, I ask the editors to reach a solution and ensure that it’s reflected in an updated version of the style guide.

Writing Style Guide Examples

If you want to see a writing style guide in action, here are a few examples of writing style guides I have liked from well-known companies like Google, Shopify, and Intuit.

1. Google

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In Google’s style guide, I noticed that Google is very explicit in its principle of creating clear, accurate, and concise text. The company offers clear directives to write simply and directly, address users clearly, and more.

Google’s team also skillfully demonstrates examples of what website owners should or shouldn’t do. For example, instead of saying “buffering,” Google recommended using “preparing video” to avoid technical jargon that a layperson might not understand.

What I liked: I found Google’s style guide to be extremely easy to digest. It followed a pattern of do’s and don’ts, provided examples, and explained the reasoning behind it to get the point across.

2. Intuit

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While exploring Intuit’s style guide, I found a lengthy word list — which seems appropriate since Intuit deals with financial topics. Plus, their guidelines regarding anti-racist language and formatting are on point as well.

Similarly, Intuit’s voice and tone section contains a lot of explanations of their brand’s core values, which might help writers in shaping their content. That said, I’d have loved to see some voice and tone examples illustrating their brand personality.

What I liked: I loved their detailed word list. It provided explicit instructions on handling common financial terms, abbreviations, and acronyms — which are a lot!

3. Shopify

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I found Shopify’s content style guide to be very extensive. It walks the writers through voice and tone, inclusive language, grammar, and other style-related guidelines.

Unlike Intuit, I noticed that Shopify was more clear about its voice and tone requirements — they even included do’s and don’ts with examples to explain how to match Shopify’s tone.

What I liked: Despite covering a range of style preferences, I appreciated that Shopify included an example for each concept.

4. Microsoft

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Like Shopify’s, Microsoft’s content style guide is also extensive, covering everything from proper nouns to bias-free communications. I also liked the examples Microsoft included. That said, Microsoft tried to stay minimalist and didn’t include examples for everything like Shopify.

What I liked: I found Microsoft’s style guide easier to navigate using the sidebar. You can filter the list of entries by title to find stuff faster.

5. Apple

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Unlike other style guides, I was surprised to see Apple’s style guide isn’t extensive — it only contains details specific to Apple’s ecosystem. Besides that, it suggests users follow the Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

What I liked: While many content marketers might not prefer it, I liked Apple’s minimalist approach since a style guide is typically for things where you deviate from a reference manual.

6. Mailchimp

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While I’m generally not a fan of including media-specific guidelines in a style guide, Mailchimp does a great job. Since its style guide isn’t based on a single formal document, it was able to add process guidelines without overwhelming readers.

What I liked: I loved Mailchimp’s word list as it outlines exactly how to handle troublesome words in a minimalist way.

7. Yokel Local

This example comes from HubSpot Partner Yokel Local. I was impressed by its simplicity since it states brand guidelines Yokel Local wants the in-house contributors and freelancers to follow without going into the weeds.

What I liked: While Yokel Local remained minimalist, I loved that it still included examples to help readers.

Polish Your Editorial and Content Style

There you have it — a neat walkthrough of how to create an even neater style guide. While creating a content style guide takes some time, my experiences have taught me that it greatly reduces the inconsistencies in your content and communication.

Plus, with a documented style guide, you have an easier time scaling up your content efforts without lowering content quality (trust me, it makes a huge difference).

But as I said before, a content style guide is a living document, so you’ll have to continually polish it as required to keep it up-to-date. Don’t worry — it’s not as daunting as it sounds. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.

And if you want your content team to look at it more often, remember to get them involved in the updating process. After all, fostering a culture around caring for and respecting the guidelines is just as important as laying them out.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2015 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Beth Goldowitz, who’s been managing nonprofit organizations for the past 20 years, says that when “managed correctly, grants can keep organizations afloat. They’re stable and predictable, a revenue stream that the organization can count on for the duration of a contract.”

But do you know how long it takes to write a single grant application?

Over 30 hours, and considering that grant writers usually get paid between $25 and $100 per hour, depending on their experience, it’s a significant cost. That’s why it’s so important for nonprofits to decide which grants to pick.

Your organization can make it much easier for applicants to assess if they’re the right fit for your project. It all comes down to getting your RFP for grants right, including adding the right sections and asking the right questions.

Before I dive deeper into the subject, let’s answer the question: what is an RFP for grants?

What is an RFP for grants?

The Challenges of Writing an RFP for Grants

The Anatomy of an RFP for Grants

How to Write an RFP for Grants

Best Practices for Writing an RFP for Grants

RFP for Grants Resources

What is an RFP for grants?

An RFP for grants, or Request for Proposals, is a document issued by grantors such as foundations and government agencies encouraging nonprofit organizations to submit proposals for funding.

Essentially, RFPs offer nonprofits an opportunity to secure funding for various initiatives, irrespective of whether they relate to education, healthcare, or environmental causes.

Each RFP is tailored to achieve a specific goal, so submitted proposals must be in line with the objectives outlined in the RFP.

The Challenges of Writing an RFP for Grants

I have spoken to a few people working at nonprofits to find out what challenges they came across, either while creating their own RFPs or preparing RFP proposals. Here are the most common obstacles.

Lack of Sufficient Information About the Procurement Process

The quality of your procurement process will impact the quality of the applications you receive. If you don’t share enough information about it, like the timeline, budget, selection criteria, etc., then two things might happen:

• You will receive applications that aren’t the right fit for the project.
• A lot of applicants who are the right fit won’t take part in the process as they’ll feel discouraged by the lack of clarity.

The more detailed and logical your procurement process is, the higher the chances of receiving high-quality proposals.

RFP Grants Failing to Communicate the Vision Clearly

This is an RFP grant challenge that has come up the most frequently.

Gauri Manglik, CEO and co-founder of Instrumentl, says that “many organizations struggle to articulate what specific issues they are trying to address and how the grant they offer will drive impact.”

What often happens is that RFP grant writers take a scattered approach instead of having a cohesive strategic framework. As a result, it’s hard for founders who give out grants to evaluate the proposal’s purpose and potential.

Manglik adds that “the most effective RFPs have a sharply defined focus outlining the goals, target population, and theory of change for proposed activities.”

Not Understanding the Legal Implications of the Grant

Grants often come with terms and conditions that must be followed to stay compliant. Failing to do so might result in penalties or even in grants being revoked.

These terms and conditions should be clear and easy to understand to minimize the risk of breaching them.

Jonathan Feniak, general counsel at LLC Attorney, says, “When writing RFP grant proposals, it’s crucial to understand the legal implications of the grant and factor any liabilities into your plan.

If any IP is developed with grant funding, you must specify ownership rights to avoid potential conflicts with donors later.”

Feniak also notes that proposals should clearly outline your expectations, and you must agree on whether the charity or the investor owns its rights.

“Generally, it’s best to consult your legal team throughout the RFP writing process to manage the risks and clearly outline IP ownership,” adds Feniak.

Ensuring clarity and specificity in the language used.

It’s vital to use a language that is not only clear but also specific so it’s easier for potential bidders to understand what’s expected of them. This applies to the requirements, objectives, and expectations of the project.

Kimberly Wall, co-founder of BibleKeeper, says, “The challenge lies in articulating the project’s goals, objectives, and expected outcomes clearly using words that are not really overwhelming the potential applicants with unnecessary details.”

Using the right language will eliminate confusion among nonprofits and make sure that their proposals accurately correspond to the needs of the RFP issuer.

The Anatomy of an RFP for Grants

RFPs for grants come in two forms: concise, short tables, where information is filled out in bullet points, and longer ones, which cover each section in detail.

The former aims to give a high-level overview, while the latter is where applicants take a deep dive into their proposal.

So, there isn’t such a thing as an “ideal” length for an RFP. These types of documents can take up multiple pages and usually function as downloadable PDFs.

If you’re wondering what elements grantors should include, then here’s an RFP structure we recommend at HubSpot.

RFP: [Project Name]

Proposal Due By: [Date]

[Organization Name]

In addition to the name, this section could also feature a short overview of your mission. Don’t include a long history of your organization. Instead, use this space to provide a bit of context on what it does and its target market.

Project Overview

A brief introduction to the project itself to let nonprofits know right away if it’s something worth bidding on — no longer than 1-2 paragraphs.

Project Goals

This section identifies what you hope to accomplish through assigning funds to relevant organizations. Specify what you’ll see as a “win” so everyone is on the same page.

Scope of Work

A description of the project and a scope of work — either detailed, if it’s a long RFP, or bullet points if it’s short.

Current Roadblocks and Barriers to Success

In this section, mention any potential constraints that could either disqualify certain candidates or increase the operational complexity of meeting goals.

Evaluation Metrics and Criteria

Here, you outline how you’re going to choose grantees. There are different approaches — some companies use simple “yes” or “no” evaluations to check if a proposal meets the project objectives.

Other organizations use percentages to score more important criteria higher than others.

Submission Requirements

Exact guidelines bidders must adhere to.

Project Due By

If there is a specific project delivery date, mention it in the RFP. This will help you filter out applicants who can’t guarantee completing it within the required timeline.

Budget

Here, you should include the target budget. Specify if this budget will be distributed among multiple organizations or assigned to a single grantee.

General Conditions of Contract

This could include information like:

• Applicant’s legal status.
• Your stance on subcontracting.
• Indemnification, insurance, and liabilities.

Some templates also suggest asking questions that you expect bidders to answer — these can serve as a way to further check their alignment with your mission.

How to Write an RFP for Grants

So, now that you know what goes into an RFP, let’s learn how to write them. Below, I’ll describe the steps you should take when tackling this paperwork.

In each section, I’ll work through the steps, as I build a mock RFP for sustainability nonprofits.

My sample organization, Earthly Partners, is looking to fund sustainability projects based in the Southwestern United States. Let’s get started.

1. Identify the objectives.

In this step, I want to list all the key information, like goals, timeline, budget, and applicant profile.

As you gather these, you’ll likely come across some informational gaps or considerations that require expert knowledge, like legal considerations and grantor/grantee obligations.

This is an important preliminary stage, which should end with a complete list of information you’ll need to evaluate bidders.

Testing It Out

So, what does my organization, Earthly Partners, want to accomplish? We want to focus on fighting climate change in the South West, particularly through drought relief and community advocacy.

We are able to provide grants of up to $50,000 to each nonprofit.

2. Write an introduction.

Now, I want to provide a bit of information about the organization and the area we focus on. I may also include my organization’s values, current challenges, and the problems we would like to address.

Testing It Out

Here is an example of an intro to Earthly Partners’ RFP. Here, we highlight the mission that we focus on and a little bit about our mock organization’s history.

Earthly Partners is pleased to announce the availability of grant funding to support projects that align with our mission of environmental conservation and advocacy.

Established in 2010, Earthly Partners has been dedicated to promoting eco-friendly practices, water conservation, and community empowerment.

We recognize the importance of fostering innovative solutions and collaborations within our community, and through this grant opportunity, we aim to support projects that demonstrate creativity, sustainability, and significant impact.

We are most interested in projects focused on community advocacy for climate policies and drought relief.

3. Provide a project description.

This section should serve as a high-level overview. Potential applicants will look at it to quickly assess whether they can propose a relevant project within the required timeline and available budget.

Testing It Out

Here’s my project description for my mock sustainability nonprofit:

Grant Purpose: The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to solicit proposals for projects that address environmental conservation, climate change mitigation, or sustainable development.

We seek proposals that offer innovative approaches, foster community engagement, and contribute to the long-term sustainability and resilience of ecosystems and communities.

Grant Details:

• Total Funding Available: $50,000

• Grant Duration: 12 months

• Grant Amount: Grants may range from $2,500 to $10,000

• Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations and community groups operating within the Greater Metropolitan Area are eligible to apply.

• Application Deadline: July 31, 2024.

4. List clear requirements.

Here, I can specify what exactly I need to know about the proposal. That includes asking the applicants for the project description and how it will help fulfill the goals of your grant.

Testing It Out

Continuing with the sustainability grant project from above, this section could look like the following:

Proposal Guidelines:

Applicants are invited to submit proposals that address the following key components.

• Project Description: Provide a detailed description of the proposed project, including its objectives, activities, target population, and anticipated outcomes.

• Project Impact: Clearly articulate the potential impact of the project on the environment or the local community. Describe how the project will contribute to positive change and address identified environmental or social needs.

• Innovation and Creativity: Highlight any innovative approaches or strategies proposed to address the identified environmental or social challenge. We encourage applicants to think creatively and propose solutions that may be outside traditional approaches.

• Sustainability: Demonstrate the project’s sustainability beyond the grant period. Describe plans for ongoing funding, partnerships, and stakeholder engagement to ensure the long-term success of the project.

• Roadblocks to Success: Identify potential challenges or roadblocks that the project may face and describe strategies to overcome them. Consider factors such as regulatory hurdles, community resistance, funding constraints, or technical limitations.

• Budget and Timeline: Provide a detailed budget that outlines how grant funds will be used. Include a project timeline with key milestones and deliverables.

5. Include a submission deadline.

Here, I want to call out the deadline for submissions and explain my preferred way of submitting proposals.

Testing It Out

For Earthly Partners, I want to have proposals by the end of July. I call that out, along with my preferred submission format, below.

Submission Instructions:

Please submit your proposal electronically to [email address] no later than July 31, 2024. Proposals should be submitted in PDF format and include the organization’s name, contact information, and the title of the proposed project in the subject line.

​​​​6. Be clear on the evaluation factors.

It’s important to explain all the elements your organization will pay attention to while evaluating applications.

Applicants who do not meet your criteria will likely withdraw from submitting their proposal if they don’t see they’re a good fit. This, in turn, will help you pre-qualify organizations and shorten the selection process.

Testing It Out

For Earthly Partners, I want to explain how we plan to evaluate applicants and give an overview of next steps. This allows me to explain what projects are likely to receive funding and the timeline for these evaluations.

Evaluation Process:

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Alignment with Earthly Partner’s mission and grant objectives.

• Clarity and feasibility of the project proposal.

• Potential impact and sustainability of the project.

• Innovation and creativity of proposed approaches.

• Budget justification and cost-effectiveness.

Notification:

Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by August 31, 2024. Successful applicants will receive further instructions regarding grant agreements, reporting requirements, and funding disbursement.

7. Proofread and edit the document.

I use the editing process to make sure that all the necessary elements are included in my RFP and that the instructions are easy to follow.

Failing to use easy-to-understand language might result in low-quality submissions. It’s a good idea to ask a few of your colleagues for feedback to ensure you’ve not missed any important details.

Best Practices for Writing an RFP for Grants

Here are a few considerations to take into account while preparing your RFP.

Dedicate time to selecting the right eligibility and application criteria.

This is, arguably, the single most important section of your RFP — perhaps even more important than “budget,” as NGOs will want to quickly assess their eligibility.

Esther Strauss, co-founder of Step by Step Business, agrees:

“Given the diversity of causes we support, from education to environmental conservation, finding a grant that provides the necessary funding and also aligns with our goals can be like searching for a needle in a haystack.”

Strauss says that, whenever applying for a grant herself, she needs to know if her organization can genuinely meet the grantor’s requirements while staying true to the organization’s objectives and values.

The need to get the application “right” can also extend to selecting the right application format or method. “The pressure to get it right is immense, as these grants can significantly impact our ability to serve our community,” she adds.

So, how can you make it easier for applicants to assess if they’re the right fit and avoid application mistakes?

Include clear information like:

• Only bidders who meet at least X out of Y criteria will be considered.
• Proposals must be sent in [FORMAT] by [DEADLINE]. Applications sent in through other channels will not be considered.
• Application needs to include a proposed schedule.
• Proposals must be shorter than [NUMBER] pages. Failure to comply with this guideline will result in an automatic rejection.

For a real-life example, you can also look at this RFP proposal from the U.N., which keeps the requirement descriptions clear and concise.

As you can see, the quality of the proposals and organization fit lies largely in your hands.

Image Source

Simplify negotiations by including key contract terms.

Earlier, I’ve mentioned that many RFP grant writers struggle with translating legal requirements in the RFP.

Wayne Tung of Sendero wrote a great piece on this subject, encouraging RFP publishers to give it the same level of attention as requirements and scope.

“Many people do not include contract term requirements, such as legal and commercial terms, in RFPs. This results in prolonged negotiations,” or even failed grants, he says.

Featuring the main contract terms in the RFP shows respect for both parties — you as the project operator and the organizations seeking funding.

Sometimes, fewer questions are better.

I spent quite some time going through Reddit threads popular among the RFP community, and one of the most interesting points I’ve seen was about question-fit.

One Redditor, roger_the_virus, blatantly says grantors should avoid “useless questions that won’t provide helpful answers. I do my best to make sure we’re not asking for a bunch of information we don’t need and won’t do anything with.”

That said, when it comes to questions, don’t automatically discredit applicants who can’t answer all of them. Offer organizations that have pitched a fitting project and budget the opportunity to ask follow-up questions.

This will prevent them from submitting answers with low informational value, i.e., responses that are vague or unrelated to your query.

Speaking of supplementary questions, this leads to the next point.

Provide clear contact information.

The larger your organization, the less likely it is that there will only be one person responsible for proposal reception and answering questions from applicants.

However, even if it’s an entire office, you should provide contact information with the relevant communication method — either walk-ins between a specific time, like Monday to Friday, email address, or phone number.

Bear in mind that many nonprofits apply to RFPs ongoingly and will only do so if they see that the grantor can help with applicant requests. Here’s an opinion on Reddit from an RFP proposal writer, which garnered multiple upvotes:

“I won’t respond to an RFP unless they commit to giving me their time for detailed discovery and a chance for them to read me the RFP requirements line by line and why they’re important.”

Image Source

Disclose any potential blockers.

Finally, be transparent about any potential roadblocks winning bidders might come across.

When applying for grants, NGOs need to know if they have the means to complete the project and if there are any other issues, like conflict of interest.

For example, say your organization wishes to assign funds to boost literacy rates in remote rural areas. One of the prerequisites could be having established relationships within target communities.

Such an approach will help preselect applicants, particularly those who don’t have the operational capacity to navigate around any potential constraints.

RFP for Grants Resources

Here are three resources that might come in handy while drafting an RFP for grants.

1. Candid’s Foundation Directory

Candid’s Foundation Directory shares essential information to help you make smart and strategic funding requests. These resources and tools give you access to funding opportunities that go beyond RFPs.

It includes a list of foundations, including their profiles, funding priorities, application procedures, and contact information.

RFP writers can go through the proposals that have been published already and use them as inspiration to create their own.

2. Free RFP Templates From HubSpot

HubSpot’s Free RFP templates are a great starter kit and will help you draft your request in no time.

This resource gives you two RFP versions — a shorter one and a longer one. Both documents are fully customizable, allowing you to easily add your company name and logo.

You can download them in PDF or turn them into a Microsoft Word or Google Docs file.

These templates include all the crucial elements of an RFP, such as:

• Company name and background.
• Project goals.
• Expected project timeline.
• Submission requirements.
• Evaluation criteria.
• Potential roadblocks.

Each section comes with a quick explainer to help you get the contents right.

Download HubSpot’s RFP Templates for Free

3. Reddit – RFP Subreddits

Unsurprisingly, Reddit is one of the best places to learn from RFP experts as well as understand the applicant’s perspective.

I especially recommend following the RFP subreddit and navigating into more intricate conversations and topics from there.

While many of the discussions cover not only grants but also commercial projects, the advice is universal.

It also goes without saying that you shouldn’t just lurk around the corner — if there’s a challenge you’ve come across while drafting your RFP, this is the community you should ask for advice.

Getting Your RFP for Grants Right

Writing the RFP is the first — and arguably — most important step in the entire grant process. How so? It’s up to you as the grantor to select the right questions and criteria and explain the purpose of the project.

Remember, the more information you provide potential applicants, the easier it will be for them to assess if they fit the grant objectives. And this, in turn, will lead to a higher quality of proposals.

While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all template for each project, there are certain must-have sections to include. So, refer to this article to get a head start next time you need to create an RFP for grants.

Good luck!

Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.

What keeps you up at night? If one of those things is building an email list, you’re not alone, my friend. I spent years (and lost MANY thousands of dollars) procrastinating my own email list, and I know how to get to the other side. My name is Amy, and I’ve made a career out of helping businesses grow their online presence, especially through email marketing.

To be able to work from anywhere in the world, create my own schedule, and have a career that allows me to do something I love every day would not be possible without the backbone of my business, my email list.

The goal is to nurture your audience and, in time, transform them into loyal fans and customers. Let’s dive a little deeper.

Why You Can’t Afford To Not Have an Email List

Your email list is your direct line of communication to your audience. Social media platforms and algorithms can change overnight, leaving you at their mercy. But your email list? That’s yours.

With your email list, you can reach your people on your terms. You can deliver value, share your offers, and build relationships directly in their inbox. It’s personal, it’s intimate, and it’s a proven way to make money.

Once I focused on growing my email list, my business skyrocketed. I can confidently say an email list enabled me to create the multimillion-dollar business I have today.

I’ve found so much success with email that I created an online course, List Builders Society, to share the same strategies I use and help you accelerate your business growth.

I’ve done a lot of trial and error growing my email list over the years. What I’ve found are three easy list-building strategies you can start using today, starting with something called a lead magnet.

Wait, what’s a lead magnet?

A lead magnet is a free resource or special deal offered to customers in exchange for an email address.

It can be a checklist, video series, quiz, or webinar. A lead magnet is any resource that provides value to your Ideal Customer Avatar (ICA).

Your lead magnet doesn’t have to be big, it’s simply something to give away for free to attract and grow your audience.

You may already be familiar with lead magnets but might not be sure where to start or know how to create one that leaves your audience wanting more. If that’s you, you might find my episode on How to Create a Profit-Driven Lead Magnet to Boost Sales helpful.

3 Tips for Supercharging Your Email List

Now that you’ve had a refresher on what a lead magnet is, let’s talk about how to grow your email list once it’s started. Here are three tried-and-true strategies you can start leveraging right now to grow and monetize your email list:

1. Harness the power of SEO.

The first strategy involves Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a powerful tool you can implement to attract the right audience to your website and facilitate email list growth.

SEO may seem daunting, and it can seem like it’s under attack in the age of AI, but I assure you, it’s simpler (and still more valuable) than you might think. Here are a few SEO tips:

• Identify Relevant Keywords: Start by identifying keywords related to your lead magnet and industry. These are the words your potential subscribers might be searching for.
• Ubersuggest: Identify relevant keywords by using search tools like Neil Patel’s free Ubersuggest. Input your selected keywords one at a time, and explore the “Keyword Ideas” section to uncover valuable insights.
• Leverage Keyword Data: Focus on the “Volume” metric, which indicates how frequently a keyword is searched. Aim for keywords with higher search volumes, but don’t ignore other valuable data provided by your tool.
• Content Optimization: Armed with your list of high-performing keywords, infuse them into your website, blog posts, show notes, and social media content. This not only attracts more visitors but also aligns your content with your ICA.

2. Mingle with Your ICA

The second strategy is to engage with your ICA in Facebook groups or online forums. Your goal should be to offer them support (and when appropriate, using your lead magnet.) This method can be a goldmine for finding and attracting your dream customers, whether you’re still building your email list or looking to expand. Here are a few of my tips for mingling on Facebook:

• Research Groups: Take the keywords you’ve identified from your SEO research, and use them to discover relevant Facebook groups or forums.
• Evaluate Group Relevance: Before joining a group, delve into its description to ensure it aligns with your business. Also, assess the group’s activity level and ensure recent and up-to-date posts.
• Level of Engagement: Pay attention to the level of engagement within the group. Groups with active participation are more likely to yield results.
• Identify Your ICA: Thoroughly explore group posts and comments to identify members with needs, struggles, or desires that match your ICA. These folks could be your future subscribers.
• Offer Value First: Before pitching your lead magnet, invest time in these groups to answer questions and provide value. Building trust is essential before promoting your resources.

3. Utilize Pop-Ups on Your Website

Finally, add well-designed pop-ups to your website. I know, I know. There are going to be folks who think pop-ups are annoying. But when implemented correctly, they are amazing growth drivers.

Here’s how to use pop-ups on your website:

• Set Up Pop-Ups: Use tools like HubSpot’s Lead Capture CTAs to create non-invasive, user-friendly pop-ups that align with your audience’s behaviors.
• Craft Compelling Pop-Up Content: When designing your pop-up, incorporate enticing language and the keywords you’ve identified through SEO research. Speak directly to your ICA, creating a sense of urgency or curiosity.
• Consider Pop-Up Placement: Decide between corner pop-ups for subtlety or full-page pop-ups for full attention. Full-page pop-ups work well to capture visitors’ full attention, making them highly effective in growing your email list.

Bonus Strategy: Opt-In Link in Your Email Signature

Here’s a simple but highly effective bonus strategy for you: Add an opt-in link for your lead magnet to your email signature. This tiny change can turn every email conversation into a potential email subscriber. Consider how many emails you send daily or weekly — each one becomes an opportunity to grow your list effortlessly.

Faster Growth with Better Email

Once you incorporate these list-building strategies into your marketing strategy, you should see email list growth and easier sales from your well-nurtured list that can change your business and your life.

I can’t tell you how much growing my email list has changed the game for me. And I know it can be the same for you, my friend!

Over the past year, we’ve seen a major shift when it comes to the importance of building social communities. And, as of 2024, 86% of social media marketers say building an active online community is crucial to a successful social strategy.

Active social communities can establish your brand as an industry expert and provide additional value to your consumers. But understanding the importance of online communities and successfully building one are two different things.

That’s why I spoke with six social media marketers and creators who have worked with  Vimeo, HubSpot, The Product Boss, Success Story, and Online Marketing Made Easy to learn tips for building and maintaining effective online communities.

Let’s dive in.

Building Brand Communities [Expert Tips]

1. Make sure your community-building tactics are unique to each platform.

Alexis Nash, Vimeo’s former Social Media Lead, believes that tightly-knit communities should be built across each platform your brand uses — as she puts it, “communities put the ‘social’ in social media!”

However, to effectively build strong communities on each platform, you need to adhere to the best practices of each individual channel.

Nash says amplified user-generated content with TikTok’s Duets feature in 2023. The company posted question stickers on Instagram Stories and reposted answers, sparking reciprocal dialogue.

Furthermore, they reward their most engaged followers by sharing exclusive material through Instagram’s “Close Friends” feature.

Nash explains, “[Adhering to the best practices of each channel] yields a nuanced experience reflecting audiences’ natural behavior on each network.”

Jacqueline and her former co-host Minna of The Product Boss, a top-rated podcast that provides strategies and tips for product entrepreneurs, have cultivated more than 97,600 followers on Instagram alone.

They agree that one of the most critical components of building and maintaining a successful online community is by diversifying your content for each platform to fulfill the needs of that audience.

As they put it:

“We’re really proud to say we’ve built a really strong global community of product bosses around us. We love to show up socially in different ways.

We keep it pretty dynamic, whether it’s LIVE’s, IG stories, Reels, FB Group posts and events, and above all, we encourage them to show up WITH us and often thank them for doing so.

We are generous in our information and conversations, so we make it a fun, relatable, positive community to be a part of.”

Mat Cruz, former Community Management & Growth Specialist for the HubSpot Social Media team, agrees with this sentiment.

“You would never try to grow a plant in an environment that does not suit it,” he says. “Similar to plants, communities grow best when they are nurtured in environments where connection is easy and needs are not only met, but exceeded.”

Take the time to evaluate what types of content perform best on each platform, and what types of conversations happen on each.

Over time, you’ll want to create community-building strategies that are unique for each platform.

Or, if you don’t have the resources to dedicate to each platform, instead identify one platform you’d like to go all in on when it comes to cultivating a strong community.

2. Inspire your community through valuable content.

Amy Porterfield is a consultant for entrepreneurs, as well as the host of Online Marketing Made Easy, a top-ranking business podcast, and author of Two Weeks Notice.

She’s also built a strong, loyal social following — in fact, her Instagram alone has over 433,000 followers.

Porterfield believes the most important component of building a strong online community is good content.

As Porterfield told me, “When building your online community, your goal is always to leave your followers thinking, ‘If this is what they offer for free, I wonder what their paid content is like?’ So don’t be afraid to give your best stuff away for free.”

Porterfield continues, “It’s important to inspire your community to dream big, then consistently offer them irresistible free value to help support them in making progress on their dreams.”

For instance, you might post a video on Facebook and ask your community to weigh in with their own opinions. Alternatively, you might test out polls on Instagram to get your audience engaged in a quick and easy way.

Or, consider how Porterfield offers free Masterclasses to her social followers, like the one posted below:

Without grounding your community in truly valuable, thought-provoking content, it won’t be easy to compel them to stick around.

3. Get to know your community and identify what purpose your online community aims to serve.

A few years ago, I joined a yoga workshop because I wanted to connect with like-minded people who also enjoyed practicing yoga.

In other words: I wanted to find a community centered around my interests.

Similarly, people join online communities to connect with people who share their passions or goals.

So, to effectively cultivate an online community, Cruz recommends marketers take the time to understand their audiences’ interests and the goal(s) of your community.

“You’ll want to ask yourself what purpose your online community aims to serve. Is it to entertain? To educate? To engage in conversation?” Cruz told me.

He explains, “Knowing who and why you’re crafting connections helps you determine the next key decision — where to plant your community’s seeds.”

He used a community of artists as an example. 

He says if you have a community of artists looking to share their work with other creatives, Instagram might be best.

Whether you’re sharing a tutorial via Instagram Reels or your latest collection through a carousel, Instagram’s platform has users primed to expect and engage with such content.

“On the other hand,” he explains, “if you are looking to host events and connect large groups of people, Facebook may be a better place to grow since its tools and features make it easy to create events, form groups, and host conversations.”

It’s up to you to identify the interests of your audience and how those interests might tie back to your business’ products or services. But it’s a vital component of building the right kind of online community for your brand.

Nash agrees that conducting research is an important step to take when building online communities.

She says, “[Vimeo] launched polls and asked questions on social to assess its users’ demographic makeup, needs, and behavior patterns. Use this data to nurture relationships with your existing community and provide value.”

As Nash puts it, “Many teams hyper-fixate on growing their follower numbers, alienating their existing community.”

Take a look at how Vimeo cleverly uses X to ask targeted questions and build a more comprehensive view of its X audience:

4. Provoke thoughtful debate, and be unique.

Scott Clary, host of Success Story podcast, has cultivated more than 85,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, and he encourages marketers to provoke thoughtful discussions with their online communities.

“This means challenging the status quo and encouraging your audience to think differently,” he says. “Give them something to question, something to debate, and something to challenge their existing beliefs.”

He explains they will be more likely to remember you, even if they disagree with you.

“This can also mean giving them a forum to debate important topics around your area of expertise,” he says.

Clary also recommends marketers embrace ​contrarianism because not everyone is going to love what you have to say.

“And that’s okay,” he says. “In fact, it’s healthy. If you try to please everyone, you’ll only end up pleasing no one. Be bold, be unique, and don’t be afraid to turn some people off. Your true fans will be all the more loyal for it.”

It’s important your brand remains empathetic, inclusive, and kind.

However, it’s equally vital for you to provide expertise or a thought leadership perspective to your community, and that might mean creating content that demonstrates your own brand’s stance on industry challenges and best practices.

5. Cultivate a vulnerable, genuine space for people to be themselves.

Finally, it’s vital to practice authenticity in your community. Humans join communities to connect with other humans.

So to cultivate a strong community, it’s your job as the community leader to foster a genuine, open space for people to be their full selves.

As Jacqueline and Minna put it, “You have to show up often, but imperfectly, and most importantly, genuinely — we ask them to stay, we ask them to follow us.”

They explain, “We ask them to interact and lean on each other, as we equip them on how to build their businesses. Asking and inviting them and taking care of their needs helps build a bond in your community.”

They add, “And, above all, be yourself — the right people for your community will gravitate towards you and the wrong people will be repelled, and that’s truly a good thing.”

For instance, take a look at one of The Product Boss’ recent Instagram post about the real struggles behind entrepreneurship. Most importantly, pay attention to the comments, filled with people who feel validated, heard, and understood.

Nash agrees.

As she puts it, “Think about LinkedIn’s evolution from a buttoned-up networking space to a true social platform.”

She says, “Users discuss everything, including mental health, family life, funny interactions they had that morning, and more. As LinkedIn communities let their hair down, brands may benefit from matching that vulnerability.”

She continues, “No matter what community-building tactics you choose, lead with humanity. Social marketers must tap into their empathy to make their audiences feel heard, improve their daily lives, and cultivate lasting relationships.”

Brand Community Examples

Here are some examples to consider when building a brand community. If at the end, you feel ready to carve out your own community, take a look at How to Launch a Successful Online Community: A Step-by-Step Guide.

1. Google invests in Labs. 

At Google, community success comes in the form of collaborative groups, or what Google calls “Labs.”

Each Google Lab brings together approximately 100 thought leaders in specific industries to tackle some of today’s most pressing issues.

What I Love: Google Labs fosters mutual respect and concern among members, which spawns conversations, collaborations, and opportunities that were never possible before.

It’s part of what keeps Google at the top of every “most innovative” company list today.

2. Twitch succeeds with local groups.

Twitch attracts around 2.5 million people per month to watch and livestream digital video broadcasts.

Their approach is built on a two-sided marketplace: they need to attract broadcasters as well as audience members. Local community groups help them succeed.

Twitch has built a worldwide team to support over 40 local, city-based groups, each of which hosts real-life and virtual events that foster genuine friendships and deep relationships between local Twitch members.

However, local groups (and their leaders) must demonstrate how well they can bring members together, first.

These local groups allow Twitch to transform online interactions — which can often feel transactional — into connections that have real meaning.

Members return again and again to the brand, and recruit others to participate, because Twitch is a space where authentic emotional investments happen.

What I Love: Twitch has built a strong brand community that transcends the platform by focusing on the local aspect of community building. 

3. Sephora says “yes” to beauty enthusiasts.

Sephora — one of the largest beauty retailers in the world — has invested in building a makeup enthusiast community that is both accessible on mobile devices and integrated into the shopping experience.

Inside the community, members can discuss a variety of beauty products and methods, regardless of whether they’re related to Sephora products or not.

Within the community, Sephora enables members to follow interesting topics and connect with fellow members, keep up with trends and chat with brands, and score access to exclusive events.

Community members can also gain access to beauty techniques and product information, engage with beauty company founders, and experience an affirming space with others who love the fun, play, and transformation of makeup.

Pro-Tip: When building a brand community think of ways you can bridge the gap between consumers and experts, creating a safe space for your customers to get advice and better insight into your products. 

4. Roblox is its own digital world.

I simply can’t talk about brand communities without mentioning Roblox. If you don’t know, Roblox is an online gaming platform with 70.2 million daily active users as of January 2024. 

The platform allows users to build games, generate virtual worlds, and create avatars to immerse themselves in the digital community.

Even celebrities like Lil Nas X, LeBron James, and Miley Cyrus have joined the Roblox metaverse by hosting special in-game meet-ups and concerts.

Pro-Tip: Roblox has created an entirely immersive experience for users. Think about the way your brand community can be immersive for your consumers.

What can make the community exciting and engaging in a way that will keep them coming back for more?

5. Tumblr maintains rapport with its users. 

HubSpot marketing manager Erica Santiago recently spoke to the Chief Marketing Officer of Tumblr, Matthew Ryan, about how Tumblr has maintained a thriving online community since its inception in 2007. 

“We lean toward two brand tenets,” he explained to Santiago. “The first one is fandom; we’re a great place for fans to really go deep into their particular fandom of choice.”

Ryan said other platforms are places where fans may go to give live reactions to their favorite series, but Tumblr is where fandoms live long after a series wraps.

The reason behind this, according to Ryan, is that is a platform that isn’t heavily driven by algorithms. It’s more of a “blank” platform that allows users to post and interact with whatever they want. 

“Our users have the ability to create or produce their art and their stories around characters and plots they find compelling,” he said. “Fandom is a big source of our creativity and life on the platform.”

This leads to the brand’s second tenet—providing a virtual space for art and artists to thrive. 

“We are a blank platform and one of the only platforms that still allows all media types and has done so since the inception of Tumblr … That gives artists, especially, a ton of freedom,” he said. 

Pro-Tip: Think about your core audience and the unique qualities and interests they bring to the table. Find ways to build community around those qualities and interests. This shows you’re in tune with your consumers and what best serves them.

6. Apple builds a community to support questions and help consumers. 

You might think a brand as massive as Apple wouldn’t have much use for online communities, but the company actually found a simple but unique way to incorporate the concept of community into its marketing.

Apple’s brand community consists of volunteers who are passionate and knowledgeable about the company’s products. They dedicate time out of their day to help customers with any questions or bugs they’re experiencing. 

Apple rewards the volunteers by placing top commenters in an exclusive Apple expert community, lending legitimacy and trust to the volunteers and prompting more customers to seek their help.

Pro-Tip: Consider providing incentives and rewards for community members to be as active and as helpful as they can. These rewards can be access to exclusive features or spaces. 

7. Adobe Support Community

If you’ve ever edited a video with Adobe Premiere, then you know there can be a bit of a learning curve when using Adobe and its products. In fact, there are some college courses dedicated to learning its basics. 

That’s why Adobe has its own support community where creatives can gather online and trade advice on using Adobe products.

What I Like: Adobe understands that while its products are valuable, they can be complicated to newbies, so it fostered a community where its consumers can get the answers they need and grow as creators. 

Ultimately, cultivating a strong online community takes time and effort, but it will pay off in the long run by enabling your brand to create effective, meaningful connections with your audience. 

Welcome to The Creative, a series that gives content creators actionable advice from professionals in the creator economy. Read The Creative to learn how to grow your platform, improve your content, and stay ahead in the ever-shifting creator landscape. 

Artificial intelligence is a bit of a controversial topic in the world of content creation. In an industry that prides itself on creativity and a do-it-yourself approach, many wonder if AI has a place in the creator economy.

As a content creator myself, I’d say the answer is “Yes,” with moderation.

There are many benefits to using AI as a content creator, and many creators are already doing so. If you‘re wondering how AI works for content creators and want to start using the tool yourself, you’ve come to the right blog. Let’s get into it.

Benefits of Using AI for Content Creation

How to Use AI as a Content Creator

How to Use AI for Blog Content

How to Use AI for Video Content

How to Use AI for Your Podcast

Benefits of Using AI for Content Creation

Saves Time and Boosts Efficiency

As I said, there are many benefits to using AI as a content creator. Arguably, the biggest and most obvious benefit is that it saves time.

A while ago, I spoke with content creator and public information officer Bethany Anderson, who uses AI tools like ChatGPT to streamline the writing tasks of her job.

“There was this one week a couple of months ago when I had so many deadlines, so many social media calendars due, so many blogs due, and so many bios due — I was drowning,” she told me.

So, she gave ChatGPT a try and wound up completing days of work in just a few hours.

“We’re talking about days of your life that you get back,” she said. “And, to me, time is valuable. It’s more valuable than money.”

I also experimented with using AI to create a TikTok marketing video and was surprised by the results. From ideation to script writing to execution, the whole process took about 10 minutes when it would have taken me a bit longer without AI.

Podcaster Blaine Blous uses an AI conversion tool he and his colleague, Ramon Berrios, created called Castmagic to transcribe his content and pull important information to be repurposed in other content, such as blog posts and summaries.

“We use it to automate 90% of the legwork in transcribing and mining valuable information from long-form dialogues,” he says. “It saves a bunch of time, keeps our content organized, and lets us turn our content catalog into an evergreen source from which to create content.”

Bethany, Blaine, and I aren’t the only creators who save time using AI.

According to HubSpot’s State of AI report, 95% of professionals using AI say it helps them spend less time on manual tasks, and 88% say it allows them to allot more time to the most important parts of their role.

Helps Ideate

Obviously, the key to being a content creator is to be creative, but even the most creative people need a little guidance from time to time. That’s where AI comes in. I’ve used generative AI tools to generate ideas for blog posts or videos.

I do this by asking the tool to generate headlines based on general topics. For example, when I tried writing a blog post using ChatGPT, I asked the AI tool to generate blog topics pertaining to cats.

ChatGPT responded by generating 15 blog ideas, one of which I ended up using for a draft.

The ideation process was easy and only took a few seconds, so it’s no surprise that 33% of generative AI users rely on AI to produce ideas or inspiration for their content.

Improve Content Quality

As a blogger, I write a lot. I’m pretty sure I’ve written hundreds of posts for HubSpot over the years I’ve been here. And, as much as I have to write, I also have to edit to ensure the content I write is perfect for your reading pleasure.

I use tools like Grammarly, which uses AI to sift through my words and pinpoint any spelling or grammar mistakes to save time. Grammarly also suggests improving my sentence structure to make my content more readable.

Many creators like myself use AI to improve the quality of their content. In fact, that’s what 50% of professionals use AI for.

How to Use AI as a Content Creator

Practice Good Ethics.

Before you incorporate AI into your content creation strategy, you must make a commitment to yourself and your brand to be ethical about how you use AI.

This means being transparent with your audience about using AI and using it as an assistive tool rather than a “get-out-of-creating-free” card.

“It’s important to not fully automate everything away and make sure your content remains human and authentic,” says Bolus.

He explains, “Let AI handle the legwork of information processing and rough drafting to match your tone, style, and format, but make sure to put on the final edits and make the necessary adjustments so the content itself does not lose your authenticity.”

Another way to ensure the ethical use of AI is to fact-check your work. AI can be efficient and time-saving, but it can still be wrong.

If you’re using AI to generate written content or share information, make sure everything is correct, factual, and up to date.

With that all said, let’s get into how you can use AI depending on the type of content you are creating.

How to Use AI for Blog Content

As a blogger, I don‘t really use AI much when writing content. And if you read about the time I tried using AI to write a blog, then you know it’s because I find it tedious, and I’m too used to working without it.

However, my colleague, Caroline Forsey, recently explained how some HubSpot bloggers use AI to create blog content ethically.

Here’s how some of us use it and how you can, too.

Brainstorm Ideas

Sometimes, you’ll know a topic is buzzy enough to pursue for a blog post, but you may not know how to make it work. Fortunately, you can use generative AI to get you started.

“I’ve been reading a lot about how live shopping is going to become the new ‘norm’ in retail, and I knew there could be an interesting angle to write,” Forsey said. “But I couldn’t fully flesh one out.”

So, she used ChatSpot, HubSpot’s AI-powered chatbot, to brainstorm some ideas.

She asked ChatSpot, “Please provide me with seven blog post ideas based on the concept of live shopping becoming the status quo for the retail industry.”

Below is a screenshot of what ChatSpot generated.

“From there, I can workshop by myself or with a colleague to formulate the final topic,” Forsey explains. “But in this case, ChatSpot didn’t just save me time — it also introduced a new perspective and more creative, interesting ideas that I hadn’t previously considered.”

If you find yourself struggling to come up with an angle or topic for a blog post or article, use generative AI tools like ChatSpot as colleagues you can defer to for inspiration.

Pro-Tip: Always conduct your own follow-up research on topics suggested by AI tools to ensure accuracy and avoid any bias.

Outline

When I tried to use ChatGPT to create a blog post, I found that generative AI is an excellent tool for generating outlines that writers can refine into high-quality, engaging blog posts.

For example, I asked ChatGPT to create an outline based on a headline the chatbot suggested to me, “The Economics of Cat Care: How Much Does It Cost to Raise a Cat?”

I instructed ChatGPT to include headings and subheadings, and it generated an outline close to my writing style.

Below is a screenshot of the outline it generated:

So, if you’re a content writer like me, you could save time on outlines by leaving them to ChatGPT. Remember, this outline can serve as the foundation of your content, but you still need to refine it with your research and voice.

Quick meta descriptions and summaries

We’ve all been there are blog writers. You just poured your heart and soul into a blog post and now you need to use that last bit of creative energy to type in a meta description and summary to help with SEO.

You could stare at the blank text box and wonder how you can possibly summarize your greatest work thus far in one punchy sentence, or you could leave that to AI.

AI tools like ChatSpot can suggest meta descriptions and summaries for you in seconds. Take a look at the meta descriptions ChatSpot suggested below for a post about email marketing trends.

Pro-Tip: Consider revising suggestions like these to better suit your writing style and to add a human touch.

How to Use AI for Video Content

Here are a few ways you can use AI for video content.

Captions and Subtitles

Captions and subtitles are crucial for making video content accessible to many people.

Back in college, I interned with PBS, and one of my duties was writing the closed captions for some of the programs airing. It was tedious at the time, but now AI tools can generate captions way quicker than a doe-eyed college intern.

AI tools like Veed.io allow users to upload their videos to be captioned in sections. I tried it out by uploading a blooper from a video I was filming for YouTube. Here is a screenshot of the results.

The video I uploaded is on the right, and the subtitles Veed.io generated are on the left. And I have to admit, the captions are pretty accurate.

So if you create videos and want to save time captioning or subtitling them, look into some AI tools to get the job done.

Pro Tip: Always double-check AI-generated captions to ensure the tool didn’t misinterpret your content and generate incorrect words.

Video Treatments

I spoke to photographer and filmmaker Mateo Toro, a while ago, who uses AI to streamline his video treatment process.

A video treatment is a way to convey a project’s concept or story. Many video treatments involve the use of images and visual media found online or in previous works.

“Video treatments take time. You have to scrub through the video, take screenshots, and edit for the video treatment,” Toro explained.

Toro says the task could easily take an hour or so to complete, so he uses Kive.ai to expedite the process.

“Kive.ai just makes it much easier for me to find the video with a style or tone I’m looking to emulate,” he says.

With Kive.ai, creators can paste the link of a video into the system, and Kive.ai will extract frames from the video as screenshots to import into a board. Toro says the process can save him hours of time.

How to Use AI for Your Podcast

As I mentioned earlier, tools like Castmagic are available to help record, transcribe, and mine out important quotes and information that can be repurposed for other types of content.

“That transcript and context can then be used by AI to draft content that’s crucial to our creative workflow, like show notes, email drafts, summaries, newsletters, blog articles, and any other written asset that depends on understanding the information inside our media files,” says Bolus.

To start using AI in your content creation process, think about parts of the process that are tedious, time-consuming, and could be automated.

Then refer to this blog for some of the tools I mentioned or dabble in other AI tools to see if/how they streamline your workflow.

Just remember to be ethical and transparent about your AI usage, and always apply a human touch by making your own adjustments or conducting additional research.

Good luck!

 

When rumors started swirling about Twitter changing its name to X, I couldn’t believe it at first. But then, in July 2023, as I searched for my favorite blue icon on the phone, I found a black icon instead. It had actually happened!

Elon Musk had indeed decided to rebrand this popular platform, choosing to dismantle something iconic. Something that has existed for 18 years.

Some people say it‘s his ego; others think it’s a marketing move, seeking more attention. Whatever the reason, I was disappointed like many other users.

Twitter had its own vibe, and I expected something big and better with the new name and logo. Some changes did happen, but there weren’t many improvements for regular users.

Curious about the impact, I researched and spoke with marketers to understand how these changes affected them.

Let’s see what I found out.

Big Shifts in the X-sphere (Formerly Twittersphere)

It’s been over seven months since Twitter became X, and yet we still refer to it as Twitter.

We‘ll keep retweeting and never reposting, won’t we?

Breaking that habit is tough, and it’ll take some time for us to fully accept this change. Obviously, the name change was the first and most significant alteration.

So, here are all the changes the platform made in 2023.

Rebranding — New Name, New Logo

In July 2023, Twitter officially became X.

Elon Musk announced the change on his profile, and people went crazy in the comments:

Musk, also known for founding PayPal as X.com in 1999, legally changed Twitter’s domain to x.com.

The rebranding reflects Musk’s ambition to create an “everything app” like WeChat. This type of app combines messaging, social networking, e-commerce, delivery services, and online banking.

Musk explained that the old Twitter name didn’t fit the platform’s expanded capabilities, so the change was necessary.

Analysts and experts shared their views about this with TIME magazine:

• Jasmine Enberg from Insider Intelligence believes Twitter’s brand is closely connected to Musk’s personal brand.
• Allen Adamson from Metaforce criticized the move, calling it an “ego decision” that could lead to quick business decline.
• White from Vanderbilt mentioned the difficulty of building trust with a new name, especially for payments.

But, were these concerns valid or just hot air?

Twitter’s revenue in 2023 was $3.4 billion, marking a 22% decrease from the previous year.

This data suggests that the rebranding move indeed had a negative impact.

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Moreover, Twitter’s financial health took a hit in 2023 due to a nearly 50% decline in advertising revenue and significant debt.

Here is the source confirming the information stated above.

The comments below this post were a mixed bag. Some users backed Elon Musk and were willing to pay more for a subscription because they believed in the platform.

However, others poked fun at him, calling the move poor and unprofessional.

No Login, No Use

June 2023 was a month of the biggest Twitter shifts, so users got another surprise—they couldn’t see tweets or profiles without logging in.

Elon Musk was concerned about how AI companies, such as OpenAI, were using Twitter’s data.

For instance, check this:

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So, he made it tougher for non-logged-in users to get in.

Some believed this move aimed to attract more users for ads, but it faced criticism for making Twitter less user-friendly and disrupting research that relied on Twitter data.

Another reason for this decision is that Twitter’s research from 2015 showed that over 500,000 users were using Twitter without logging in. At the time, there were about 300 million monthly active users.

Now, with even more than 500,000 logged-in users, just imagine how many extra users are browsing without logging in today. We’re likely talking about millions, at least.

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Musk also shut down third-party apps and made it impossible for developers to use Twitter’s tools.

Fortunately, this change was temporary.

Now, X lets people browse without logging in again. However, you’re not able to see any of the replies or additional posts in a thread.

More Words, More Fluff

Just a few months after bumping up the character limit to 10,000 (April 2023), another update arrived in June for Twitter Blue users — they could now post tweets up to 25,000 characters long.

Earlier in the same year, there had been an increase from 280 to 4,000 characters.

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However, each of these changes caused Twitter to crash for many users worldwide.

Reading longer tweets on the website or app was difficult at first, with poor structure and readability issues. However, this problem has improved over time.

My take on this: I have mixed feelings, to be honest. On the one hand, I’m glad that I can finally read the whole text without loading threads.

On the other hand, Twitter no longer has its charm where people have to express thoughts, statements, and information in the most concise way possible. Now, we have a lot of fluff and overly long posts (like on LinkedIn and Facebook). I miss the original allure of Twitter — say more with less.

Global Expansion & New Subscription Plans

In March 2023, Twitter Blue went global, spreading its subscription wings to over 20 European countries (Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Sweden, Latvia, Hungary, Poland, Ireland, Greece, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Bulgaria, Malta, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Austria, Cyprus, and the Netherlands).

Before that, it was US-only.

Priced at $8 a month or 8 euros, it offered perks like the blue checkmark, tweet editing, NFT Profile Pictures, and longer tweets. The coolest new feature was definitely hour-long video posts. Users also got two-factor authentication via SMS, which used to be free for everyone.

Then, in October 2023, X rolled out new subscription options.

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There’s now a $16 per month “Premium+” tier that’s ad-free and a $3 per month “Basic” tier without a verified checkmark or some creator tools. Premium+ enhances reply visibility and grants full access to creator tools. The Basic tier, similar to the $8 Premium one, has fewer ads but lacks the verified checkmark.

But how many users actually want to pay for any of these plans?

Here are the results, according to our recent study:

• 22% considering X Premium.
• 41% staying free users.
• 31% not using X.
• 6% unsure about premium.

X hopes these changes will boost revenue amidst user and advertiser concerns.

News Headlines — Gone and Back Again

In August 2023, X announced removing headlines from news articles.

Yes, Musk had already downgraded posts with external links to keep users on the platform, but removing headlines seemed so random and nonsense.

He said it simply looked better and kept arguing with users who disagreed.

By October, the change was made, and headlines disappeared. Users did not like this change. They found it impractical, confusing, and just plain nonsense. Look at the example below — it’s clear why people didn’t like such a format. A single image with no context just doesn’t cut it.

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Surprisingly, Musk actually took users’ criticism into account this time and brought back the good stuff.

Hence, headlines made their comeback in January 2024. Now, they appear at the bottom of images, not the top.

Verification Chaos

Changes to Twitter’s verification system have stirred up quite a storm, too.

Initially meant to verify notable users and tackle misinformation, the blue checkmark became more of a status symbol over time.

But Musk’s decision to scrap the old system and let anyone with Twitter Blue get verified caused chaos. It blurred trust on the platform and confused users.

Even though X tried to fix it by automatically verifying big accounts, the mess persisted.

Then, on April 20, 2023, X wiped out legacy verified badges from Twitter.

This move, aimed at simplifying verification, sparked jokes and memes among users.

Daily Tweet Limits

On July 1, 2023, Elon Musk changed the rules on X again.

The company limited the number of tweets we can read per day. Verified users used to get 6,000 posts, unverified got 600, and new unverified accounts had 300.

Musk stated that the changes aim to tackle “extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation.“

Those numbers increased the SAME day after people got mad in the comments.

So, at this point, verified accounts can see up to 10,000 tweets, unverified ones get 1,000, and new unverified accounts have 500 to look at.

Monetization — Pay-to-Play

Back in February 2023, Musk announced a plan for X — creators to earn from their posts.

In July, the program launched, but there’s a twist — to cash in, users must subscribe to X Premium (ex Twitter Blue).

The worst catch? Only interactions from other X Premium subscribers count. Many subscribers are right-wing, Musk fans, or meme accounts sharing stolen content.

As a result, initial payouts mainly went to them, setting unrealistic expectations.

Now, feeds are full of their content chasing the dollar, sharing stolen viral content and low-quality posts.

The best thing about this whole monetization mess is the hilarious memes again:

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With lots of talk about the monetization program and inaccuracies on X, Musk made a post in October 2023.

He announced a new rule for creators: If Community Notes corrects a tweet, the user won’t get paid for it. This change aims to prioritize accuracy over sensationalism on the platform.

Will it work?

Who knows, but at least there’s hope for better content on X.

How Marketers Can Still Win on X (+ Data and Expert Tips)

Now, let’s see how marketers manage through these shifts.

I interviewed some of them and put together the best tips on how to win X under Elon Musk.

1. Optimize your post length to keep users on your profile.

When you’re tweeting (I guess I’ll forever use this word), understanding character limits is key. Originally, tweets were 140 characters, but now it’s 280 for standard users.

Most characters count as one, but some count as more — emojis, for instance.

But, if you’re a premium user, you have a chance to write more.

So, what’s the sweet spot? Should you really write a wall of text and the whole article on X? Will this be a top or flop post? Well, it depends. But, according to so many negative comments about this character count increase, people obviously don’t prefer long-form posts on X.

I talked to Andrea Bosoni from Zero to Marketing, and he says that growing on X has become similar to TikTok. You need to get a lot of views, or no one sees your stuff at all.

“What most marketers don’t realize is that one of the most important factors the algorithm rewards right now is how much time users spend on a post. So, longer posts with more than 280 characters can work really well if they’re interesting enough to make people click on the read more button,” Bosoni says.

At the same time, Bosoni continues, “users don’t want to see a wall of text, so if your post is too long, they’ll just bounce back without reading it.”

Bosoni found a sweet spot in the 50-100 word range. “This length tends to get a good number of comments,” Bosoni says.

Here are some of Bosoni’s posts that prove his points:

2. Try live streaming to reach people who prefer another type of content.

Live video on X is another powerful way to engage your audience. Here’s why it’s worth trying:

• 20% of US adults aged 18-34 watch live-stream videos multiple times a day.
• In Q3 2023, live video was the third most-watched online content, with 27% of viewers tuning in.
• Cable companies are losing subscribers, while streaming services are booming, reaching $30.3 billion in 2022.

3. Tweak your DM approach.

X is full of scammers, fake opportunities, and people trying to sell everything under the sun. But if you can grab someone’s attention with the first sentence in a DM, you’ve got a winning ticket.

Thus, Cleartail Marketing found great success with X’s direct messaging feature for personalized outreach. Magee Clegg, the CEO, shares more on the strategy:

“By combining this with detailed keyword research and precise audience segmentation, we managed to increase a technology client’s lead generation by 35%,” Clegg says.

Clegg notes that her team made conversational, non-salesy connections with prospects related to ongoing X chats. They then “used these as soft entry points for relationship-building that led to more informed and warm sales calls,” according to Clegg.

Here’s what I suggest for the best DM outreach on X:

1. Personalize your outreach to increase your chances of getting a response. And no, personalization isn’t just about adding someone’s name at the beginning of the message. Show you’ve read their post and understand their problem and pain points before offering anything. Start with casual conversation.

Hint: I always start conversations with, well … truth. Either I refer to their posts or comments that have evoked certain emotions or curiosity or explain why I want to connect. It works 80% of the time.

2. Don’t be afraid to follow up. It’s easy to miss messages in the DM inbox, so send a follow-up message after 2-3-4 days.

3. Social media users expect fast replies. If you get a reply from someone, make sure to respond promptly to increase the chances of ongoing communication and potential partnership (or whatever your goal may be). Turn on notifications to stay updated on messages.

Also, here are the latest updates you need to know about X’s direct messages:

• You’re limited to sending 500 Direct Messages per day. Once you reach this limit, you’ll have to wait until the next day to send more.
• If you’re messaging accounts that don’t follow you, you may need to verify your phone number.
• Sending the same message or link to multiple accounts can be seen as spam. If reported, you won’t be able to send messages for a short period. Wait at least 30 minutes before trying again.

4. Use advanced search features to monitor emerging trends and topics in your niche and convert commenters into customers

X’s advanced search feature lets you fine-tune your results for specific date ranges, people, and phrases. For instance, you can search for something like “best hiking trails,” “local yoga classes,” or “best SEO course.”

Here, let’s learn how Matthew Montez, Founder of The MBC Group, uses X’s advanced search and Twitter Lists to increase footfall for a coffee shop chain.

MBC tested a campaign for a regional coffee shop chain that focused on engaging with users who tweeted about coffee within a certain radius of their stores. The team used geotags to pinpoint potential customers and employed snappy, personalized replies with incentives to visit their nearest location.

This approach not only increased foot traffic by 15% over a period of three months but also significantly boosted the chain’s Twitter engagement metrics, demonstrating the power of localized and responsive social media tactics.

Here’s how to use advanced search:

1. Log in to X.com and access advanced search.

2. Enter your search query.

3. Click Advanced search or More options > Advanced search on the results page.

4. Refine your search by words, people, places, and dates.

5. Combine fields for better results.

5. Build community and connect on X to create a thriving following.

Just like anywhere else online, you need to build a community on X to survive.

David Miles, CEO at PPC Machine, recommends that marketers engage with their followers and others in their industry by liking and replying to their tweets. Team should recognize and amplify their voices. Beyond that, he recommends hosting chats or AMAs to foster discussion.

“A strong, active community will boost your reach and credibility. Also, amplify influencers’ content, give them a shoutout, or ask them questions to start a conversation. If the relationship develops, explore co-creating content or hosting an event together,” Miles says.

Moreover, Miles recommends joining X communities to connect with like-minded users or creating your own group.

Communities offer a sense of belonging and support and make more people recognize and fall in love with your brand.

X communities update: In October 2023, X adopted a Facebook Group-style member vetting feature to improve its Communities. So, now, you can ask members to answer a question and agree to your group rules before joining.

6. Participate in X Spaces to build communities.

X Spaces is a feature where you can have live audio conversations, connect with others, and share ideas in real time. It’s similar to podcasts, but you don’t have to be a guest to participate actively — simply join, listen, and speak.

If it’s your Space, others can request to speak, and you can approve or decline it.

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X Spaces update: Very soon, X Spaces will have a video feature. Users will be able to turn their cameras on or off during the broadcast.

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Posting Through Uncertainty

We all feel uncertain on the platform now, expecting new surprises (or shocks) every day. It seems that’s Musk’s way of leading X — keeping us on our toes.

But despite all the uncertainty and changes, X still has great potential for both personal and business use. There are plenty of opportunities to stay informed and connect with the right audience.

And that made X the talk of the town.

Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.

If you want to double your sales, you need to double your email list. Your list is a direct line of contact to reach the people who are interested in what you have to offer and an asset that you own and control.

Serving an engaged email list, no matter the size, is a tried and tested game changer for business growth, launching new offers, and ensuring your content is seen by the audience it’s made for! Over a decade ago I stopped solely focusing on the vanity metrics of social media and dove into growing and serving my email list. It’s my #1 profit driver and, therefore, my #1 priority in my business — and it’s time for you to do the same.

Through the years, I have learned a few simple ways that help me keep my list growing consistently without having to put in a ton of time or effort. Serving an email list can be wildly effective without being complicated. Your email list can become a well-oiled machine that serves and sells your offers, doing the heavy lifting for you.

While the following advice is for someone who already has a list they want to grow, if you need to start yours from scratch, I can help you catch way up to speed (like pro-level, but the easy way) in my free one-hour masterclass, “From Zero Subscribers (or Zero Strategy) to an Engaged Email List that Lasts.” Let me show you how to algorithm-proof your business, once and for all.

The growth of your business can’t stay in the hands of a social media platform — I’ve seen too many “my account got hacked and deleted” situations. Start your list and have an open line from your offers to your dream customers at all times.

7 Ways to Grow Your Email List (and Your Revenue) in 2024

If you want to leverage your list to grow your revenue in 2024, it’s time to optimize your email marketing ecosystem step by step. You can turn this into a once-a-year, ‘spring cleaning’ checklist or break it into bite-sized pieces you work on throughout the year. Either way, your results will reflect your effort!

1. Dig into Your Email Analytics

Far too many people like to hit ‘send’ on their emails and let that be their end goal. If you’re afraid of digging into numbers or aren’t sure where to start, you’re not alone! It can be scary to find out what’s truly working — and what isn’t. But knowing your data is the only way you can optimize. Maybe you’ve looked a few times and thought you needed more data to take action — but think of it like this: a ship doesn’t wait until it’s way off the path to course correct, right? Making small movements can help you get to your goal faster and easier!

Find your email marketing provider’s analytics dashboard and let the numbers speak. What emails get the most opens and clicks (i.e. look at time of day, topic of email, subject line, etc.)? What’s your best-performing offer? And what emails tied to that offer were the highest converting?

2. Update Your Main Opt-In Offer

Garnering new email list subscribers is usually done with an offer — your lead magnet, a free offer with high value that introduces, or leads, new people into your business! It’s time to check in with that offer and see if it needs any refreshing. Running your offer for a year or two can be effective, but beyond that, you’re possibly connecting people to outdated information which can sour a lead’s opinion of your business in a flash.

In 2017, I created my first quiz. It was all about finding your own ‘secret sauce’ and with it, I would not only help people discern what sets them apart and give them resources to own their awesome, but I was also collecting valuable insight into my community. At the time, I was pivoting my business from wedding photography to online education so I had a few strategic questions that allowed me to see what percentage of my followers were photographers, where people needed the most help in their businesses, and what type of resources they were looking for.

Since launching it, we’ve updated our results pages to include more up-to-date content and edited a question or two to continue to give us valuable insight that can direct our brand as it is today. We’ve had 111,000 people take the quiz which has grown our email list substantially and connected our audience with answers that guide them to dive into resources that will support their specific ‘secret sauce.’

Dig through your offer’s copy and look for anything that feels untimely or irrelevant. Check for any broken links, and if any are leading to more of your content, make sure it’s the most updated content you have! Review any statistics or research to confirm it’s either the latest info or still relevant.

An important step here is to consider whether your opt-in still reflects your business and brand. Do you still care about the topic and create other adjacent pieces of content that feed into it and lead people to want to learn more from you? If you feel your business has moved beyond this offer, it’s time to scrap it and make a new one.

3. Consider Creating New Opt-Ins

One opt-in to rule them all might work if your business has a very narrow focus, but more than likely, you could be missing out on catching the eyes of new potential customers and subscribers. Think about your current content pillars and paid offers. Are there entry points that would benefit from a free lead-in offer to get people in the door? You might even have massive value waiting in your everyday practices that could be mundane to you but hugely beneficial to others.

When I began charting out a new course on email list building, I knew that beginners would massively benefit from the course but would need an easier entry point. Paid offers can feel like an intimidating jump, so the goal is to lower that barrier. So, we created a free live masterclass to not only give a taste of the course but also deliver results. They can spend one hour learning with me for free and get a major head start in not only learning about an email list but also building one. That live masterclass is a powerful entry point that leads new customers into our paid offer through a valuable, free connecting point with just a few clicks to sign up. Once they’re on our list, I can serve and thoughtfully sell to them way after the live class!

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Walk through your own weekly workflow and business/creative processes. Is there a method or solution you’ve created or fine-tuned? Is there a habit you have now that you wish you would’ve known about when you were just starting? Get inspired to create new offers with what you already know!

4. Refresh Your Pop-Ups and Landing Pages

Your offer can only be as good as your subscriber’s journey to receiving it. It’s easy to think your freebie pages, sign-up forms, and pop-ups on your website are still as good as the day you made them, but your style and discernment change over time. I couldn’t count just how many times I’ve been on someone’s beautiful website only for an offer to pop up that has their old branding on it.

Walk through your customer’s sign-up journey with new eyes. Do your pop-ups reflect your current branding and voice? Does the delivery email feel relevant and fresh (or is there a GIF of a meme that was popular 5 years ago)? Ensure that the process from start to finish is smooth, inspiring, and thoughtful to the person considering giving you their email address and joining your list.

5. Chart More Paths to Your List

Your marketing efforts should be simplified to two main focuses! The first is to grow your email list; this needs to be the main focus of your business. The second is to leverage other channels you are on as an introduction and invite that audience to become list subscribers.

When you simplify your marketing you start to see that social media isn’t the place you should be selling. It’s where you should be providing value and then connecting them to your list! Whenever I record a podcast episode for The Goal Digger Podcast, I try to think of a way to tie in a freebie or invite my audience to get extra value in exchange for their email address. It’s how I guide them to their next logical step and helps me see which topics are most exciting for my listeners.

When the post’s theme is ‘productivity’, I think “What offers or valuable connections do I have that support a next step for my audience?” I could link to a free planning page, a podcast episode, or a blog post! From there, I make sure there are chances for them to engage with that ‘next step’ that leads them to my list (i.e. the podcast episode notes connect them to the freebie, and the blog post has a CTA or link to the freebie, etc.). There are likely opportunities all over your social media channels, website, and other overlooked locations to link up one of your free offers!

Are there spaces on your website where a link to your offer or straight to your email list sign-up form would make sense? Do you have blog posts that generate traffic to your website? Work a list-building freebie into the copy. Make an effort to consistently create social media posts that lead to your offer, especially since new people might not know about it yet! Even places like the links in your bios and your email signature are spots where you want to not just connect people to your website but to your list!

A major oversight for people serving a list is a common mistake for most business owners: running your marketing channels like silos rather than a fully connected ecosystem. Have you ever joined someone’s email list and thought, “Wow, you never mention this kind of stuff on your socials!” I know we want to make sure no one’s bored by our content, but you have to remember that not everyone’s got eyes on every single post or email you share.

6. Rework Your Welcome Sequence

When someone becomes a subscriber by opting into any of your offers, you want to make sure they’re welcomed into your brand and introduced to you and your work thoroughly before you toss other offers their way. You might have one welcome email in place, but knowing that some people skip over those emails because they’re excited about the offer they just signed up for, having a welcome sequence can be powerful.

Do your subscribers know your story? Write up a three-part sequence to share it with them! Want to get to know their needs, interests, industries, or experiences? Drop a survey or a quiz. If they signed up for one offer out of a library of offers you have, this is a great way to thoughtfully introduce them to your solutions. When you’re not sure what to say, share customer testimonials, exclusive access, and behind-the-scenes insight!

7. Get Smart with Your List Segmenting

If you’re not yet segmenting your email list, now’s the time to do so! Segmenting is beneficial for your business and for your readers. You can target your segments with offers that work best for them without any redundancy, which means they’re more likely to take action on those offers! It may seem like a lot of work juggling a highly segmented email list, so start small. A great entry point in segmenting is offering your full list a quiz to take part in (and it doubles as an amazing lead magnet for new people!)

If you’re already segmenting, then work through those segments. Are you able to target those segments the way you intended when you started? Do you need to craft some segment-specific copy to reengage that portion of your list and inspire them to take action on a new offer? Make sure your workflow is worth your time and pouring back into your business goals!

Don’t have an email list yet? Go from Zero to Engaged!

Ready to streamline and power-up your marketing strategy with an email list, but need help starting from scratch? Learn everything you need to know in my free 1-hour masterclass! Get actionable guidance on starting your list from scratch and making it 10x more effective than any of your social media strategies. Build a list of dream clients, grow your sales, and stop having to stress about who is seeing your posts and offers on social media! It’s time to build a list you can launch to.

Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.

We are undeniably in the golden age of audio content.

But what’s even more interesting is that we’re also in the early days of AI-generated audio content.

AI-generated podcasts, AI-transcribed audiobooks, and AI-generated music are now more accessible than ever before. It’s easier than ever to stumble upon AI-generated audio content (maybe without realizing it), and it’s easier than ever to create AI-generated content.

But what does AI-created audio mean for the future of audio content? How will AI continue to change the landscape of podcasts, audiobooks, and other audio content?

I talked about that in my podcast and will be talking about it again in this piece:

There’s no denying that AI has already had an impact on the world. With voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, we’ve become accustomed to interacting with AI through speech without really thinking about it. But as of late, the rise of AI-related audio has taken new heights.

New heights that are influencing the way marketers do their jobs, salespeople execute their efforts, and leaders show up on a day-to-day basis.

In this article, we’re going to be diving into the current best practices of audio AI, what it is, how it’s changing business, and what the future will hold.

Let’s get into it.

From synthesizing human-like voices for podcasts and audiobooks to composing original music pieces without the need for human intervention, audio AI is breaking new ground.

The technology behind audio AI has the capability to understand, process, and respond to natural language inputs, allowing for interactive experiences and transforming passive listening into an engaging dialogue between the user and the technology.

Here’s an example of an audio-based YouTube video that I created with AI audio:

It might not pick up on my Canadian “Abouts,” but it’s pretty close …

I created the audio using ElevenLabs and then let my video team do the rest.

The Power Of Audio Content

Audio content, such as podcasts, has become an invaluable asset for marketers and brands alike.

According to podcast data from IAB, the market for podcast-related revenue in 2024 is expected to surpass more than $4.2 billion:

The podcast market is huge.

Brands are realizing that podcasts as an audio platform allow for a level of intimacy and engagement that is unparalleled, creating a direct line to the listener’s ear and, most crucially, their mind. This direct access grants marketers the power to craft narratives, convey messages, and build brand loyalty in a way that feels personal and genuine.

Podcasts like My First Million, Marketing Against The Grain, Another Bite, and Create Like The Greats are all examples of shows that create value for audiences while providing value to brands.

When Spotify recently published the follower count of some of their top podcasts, the Internet exploded in surprise at the amount of reach that these podcasters have:

Millions of followers.

Millions of listeners.

Millions in revenue.

The power of podcasting and audio cannot continue to be discounted as a fringe marketing opportunity. The opportunity for brands to capitalize on audio-driven marketing is real.

But AI is making things a whole lot more interesting …

The Impact of AI on Audio Content Creation

AI’s role in the creation of scripts and content for podcasts and audiobooks represents nothing short of a revolution in the production of audio content.

Leveraging sophisticated algorithms, artificial intelligence is now capable of analyzing vast databases of language and story structures to generate coherent, engaging narratives that captivate listeners and become podcasts for people to consume.

Technologies like ElevenLabs allow brands to configure the perfect computer-generated voice and even translate those voices into different languages. The impact that this type of technology can have on podcast creators is multifaceted.

Here are five major ways audio AI is influencing and impacting the world:

1. Increased Productivity

AI-driven audio tools can streamline the process for so many things.

It can elevate the podcast creation process by significantly reducing the amount of work needed during the post-production stage. It can replace the entire recording process for an audiobook. And it can fix anything said incorrectly during a podcast in a matter of a few clicks.

Common use cases for AI in audio content include fixing volume and tone and removing unnecessary background noise. You can isolate a voice from background music using AI and you can remove barking dogs from an audio clip that you didn’t want to make an appearance.

AI-based voice synthesis also expedites the production of audio content by eliminating the need for extensive recording sessions.

2. Internationalization Of Content

AI is dramatically transforming the landscape of audio content by breaking down the barriers of language and making content universally accessible. With advanced language translation technologies, AI can instantly translate spoken content into multiple languages, enabling podcasts, audiobooks, and other forms of audio media to reach a global audience.

This capability not only enhances the listener’s experience by providing content in their native language but also opens new markets for content creators. By leveraging AI for translation, creators can now produce a single piece of content and distribute it worldwide, significantly increasing their reach and impact. This development in AI technology is pivotal for fostering global connections and understanding through the power of audio content.

In 2023, Spotify introduced their first experiment with AI Translation and the translation hub:

It’s only a matter of time before any podcast in the world can be heard in your own native tongue.

3. Increased Content Velocity

There’s no question that AI offers podcasters the chance to improve the velocity with which they create content. It’s risky because listeners might hate it, but thanks to audio AI, you can upload a podcast script and have the script read in your voice in a matter of seconds.

Sore throat? You can still record.

Feeling under the weather? You can still record.

Forgot your audio equipment at home? You can still record.

The power of AI audio is in the fact that you can create podcast content no matter where you are.

4. Improved Editing Efficiencies

This technology enables the production of a high volume of episodes rapidly, catering to the insatiable demand for fresh content. Furthermore, AI’s ability to analyze listener preferences and trends in real time allows for the creation of highly targeted and relevant content, enhancing listener engagement, and brand loyalty.

In Descript, you have the ability to change actual words within a video using AI.

For example, in the sample below, I say, “Create a report.” But if I intended to say “create a document,” I could edit the text directly in Descript, and their AI engine would change my voice to say “document.”

Seems like magic, right?

I’ve used this technology to edit videos after I stumble over words and remove “umms” from videos where they don’t fit into the flow of the story.

AI-driven audio content creation is not just about doing more with less; it’s about opening new doors for brands to connect with their audience in more meaningful, personalized ways, thus driving their message home more effectively than ever before.

5. Reduced Authenticity For Listeners

Advancements in AI-driven audio content creation introduce a plethora of opportunities for efficiency and scale. But there’s an undeniable trade-off in authenticity for listeners.

Authenticity is the backbone of podcasting and most audio content success, with audiences gravitating toward content that feels genuine, raw, and human. The shift toward AI-generated podcasts raises questions about the future of this deeply human connection.

Listeners develop strong relationships with podcast hosts, often viewing them as trusted friends, peers or advisors. This bond is forged through the subtle nuances of human communication — tone, emotion, hesitation, and laughter — that AI has yet to replicate perfectly.

When content lacks these human elements, there’s a risk that listeners may feel disconnected or less engaged, potentially eroding the trust and loyalty podcasts have traditionally built.

In a world where authenticity is increasingly valued, the challenge for AI in audio content is clear: how to harness the efficiency and scalability of AI without sacrificing the genuine human touch that makes podcasts so compelling. This balance is the new frontier in audio content, requiring a careful blend of technology and humanity.

How AI Is Influencing Your Audio Content

Most people don’t realize that AI has been powering a lot of our lives without us knowing it.

That podcast you happened to stumble upon? AI helped.

That amazing YouTube channel you found? AI helped.

That cool sweater you just bought? AI helped.

That person you’re dating? Yeah. AI helped.

AI is all around us, and we often don’t even realize it. AI powers content recommendations on social media channels daily. AI powers music recommendations and even dating recommendations. For marketers, AI presents an opportunity to improve the ways in which your content is distributed.

Personalized Recommendations

AI algorithms have transformed content recommendations and distribution with increased personalization. Algorithms consider listeners’ previous interactions, preferences, and even time spent on specific types of content. This means they can predict what listeners might enjoy next with astonishing accuracy.

This enhances the user experience by serving more personal content and increases engagement and retention rates. It also opens up new opportunities for listeners to find new voices and stories.

Targeted Advertising

AI’s role in targeted audio advertising marks a significant shift in how brands connect with their intended audiences. It uses advanced algorithms to analyze data and find patterns in listener preferences that human analysis can’t detect.

These insights help advertisers to deliver hyper-targeted personal ads, which amplifies the impact of their ads. AI also improves ad placement in audio content (like podcasts.) It does this by placing ads in the best spots during audio content to keep listeners engaged and help them remember the message.

Analytics and Insights

In this era where content is king, AI’s is distilling vast amounts of listener data into coherent, actionable insights. This is revolutionizing the way we create, distribute, and market audio content.

It’s not just about understanding what listeners want today but predicting what they will crave tomorrow. AI is setting the stage for audio content’s future to be as dynamic and responsive as the technology that shapes it.

AI’s Role in Improving Accessibility

AI is improving accessibility in audio content by providing voices for those who can’t speak. It can also convert written materials into audio for those with visual or reading challenges. This technology is breaking down barriers to communication.

It’s a potent force for inclusivity, demolishing barriers to accessibility that have long marginalized certain listener groups. AI also offers real-time transcription and closed captioning. This makes podcasts accessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, allowing for a broader audience to enjoy audio content.

Ethical Considerations and Challenges

Like any technology, AI in audio content raises ethical concerns about its potential for misuse. Its ability to synthesize hyper-realistic voices creates a risk that people could use it to deceive listeners.

The emergence of deepfake videos and AI scam calls show that this is a challenge that audio content creators and platforms must navigate. Transparency, verification processes, and responsible usage policies are essential in mitigating this risk.

In Tennessee, USA, they passed the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act. This is a first-of-its-kind legislation providing protections to songwriters, performers, and music industry professionals from the misuse of artificial intelligence to recreate their voice without permission.

The potential for misuse of AI in the creation of misleading or fake audio content cannot be ignored. This power to generate synthetic voices and manipulate speech poses significant risks. Imagine an environment flooded with audio clips that are indistinguishable from reality but are entirely fabricated. The implications for misinformation, identity theft, and defamation are profound.

Developing AI responsibly means ensuring that people use this technology to enrich society, not deceive it. This ethos must drive the future of audio AI technology, bridging the gap between innovation and ethical responsibility.

The Future of Audio AI

AI is continuously evolving, and with advancements in natural language processing, it’s only a matter of time before we see AI-generated audio content that is indistinguishable from human-created content.

One potential future for audio AI is the creation of entirely new forms of media, merging traditional storytelling with immersive and interactive experiences. This could open up new opportunities for brands to engage with audiences in unique ways.

Another exciting development is the use of AI to create a truly personal listening experience by automatically adjusting audio content based on the listener’s mood, location, and preferences. This could potentially lead to a more engaging and emotionally resonant experience for listeners.

Voice Synthesis and Modification: The Frontier of Customizable Audio

Voice synthesis and modification is not just advancing; it’s on the brink of revolutionizing how we perceive and interact with audio content.

With cutting-edge AI technologies, we’re witnessing the creation of hyper-realistic, AI-generated voices that are increasingly becoming indistinguishable from human ones. This leap forward is not merely about producing any voice but about customizing voices to suit specific needs and contexts, thereby making narration more accessible and customizable than ever before.

Companies like ElevenLabs, MurfAI and Voices are at the forefront, offering a suite of voice synthesis services that can mimic emotion, tone, and even specific accents. Descript, which uses AI-generated voice cloning to create natural-sounding voices from text, allowing for easier script writing and editing, is another audio AI tool worth watching.

The implications of this technology are vast and varied.

Voice cloning, for instance, allows voice actors and actresses to upload their voices to various audio AI marketplaces and be paid on a usage basis. This can be especially useful for ad creation, as it saves time and resources compared to a human having to go into the studio and actually record.

The rise of artificial intelligence in audio content is here.

AI-generated content and assisted content are providing improved efficiencies and inclusive listening experiences, as well as becoming a threat to the jobs of many. Audio AI presents marketers with a huge opportunity and brands with the ability to do things that were, at one point, nothing more than a dream.

Summed up:

It’s complicated.

On one end, I think it’s great that I can log into an audio AI tool and create an entire podcast episode for Create Like The Greats without saying an actual word. But on the other end … I know that with this type of technology comes the threat of bad actors and bad outcomes. My hope is that humanity will come through and that we’ll all be better off because of this technology.

“So, where do you see yourself five years from now?” Oof, that can be a tricky interview question, especially if you’re unsure of your professional goals.

When I graduated from college and started interviewing in my chosen field, I felt like I needed to plan my entire professional life, complete with one concrete end goal.

To be honest, it was overwhelming. I desperately needed actionable advice to plan steps to reach my professional goals.

In this post, we’ll define professional goals, provide examples, and give you tips so you can plan, meet, and exceed the goals you set for yourself.

What are professional goals?

Professional Goals Examples

Tips for Achieving Professional Goals

Work Towards Your Professional Goals

What Are Professional Goals?

Professional goals are achievements or milestones you hope to achieve in your career. These include personal and professional development, skill development, salary increases, career advancement, and switches.

Professional goals are often personal, but they don’t have to be. You can set professional goals for yourself and your team to help improve your organization and elevate it to the next level.

What makes a good professional goal?

What separates a professional goal from a wish is that professional goals are attainable and achievable when designed with the appropriate framework.

It’s important to point out that you might have one overarching professional goal, like “become professionally bilingual.”

However, under your overarching goal, you might have smaller, more manageable goals with a specific, actionable framework attached to them to help you reach your biggest goal.

The SMART goal framework is the perfect framework to apply to reach your big and small goals. The letters of SMART stand for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-Bound

Let’s examine each letter so that you understand how to structure your goals for maximum achievement.

Specific

When writing your own professional goals, you need to be specific. For example, if you want to become bilingual to position yourself ahead of your competition in the job market, you need to be specific about the language you’ll need to learn.

There are over 2,000 languages worldwide, but only one or two will be relevant to your job market. Take some time to research your field before choosing your second language.

In other words, you need to ensure your smaller goal is specific enough to help you reach your overarching goal.

Measurable

If your goal is measurable, you can easily track your progress. You can make your goals measurable by including a number. For example, if your goal is to learn Spanish, a more measurable goal would be, “Learn five new Spanish vocabulary words.”

The difference between “Learn five new Spanish vocabulary words” and “Learn Spanish” is that you now have something to work on. Making your goals measurable can help break down the task, too.

Attainable

If your goals aren’t attainable, there’s a good chance they’ll fall into the “wishes” category. By adjusting your goals to your ability, you have something to work towards.

Once you reach your initial goal, you can change your objectives for continued improvement.

Attainable goals are helpful because they help you see how far you’ve come from your baseline. Small wins are encouraging and can help you push through to the end.

Relevant

The trick to the SMART goal framework is to keep your objectives relevant. For example, if I wanted to learn Spanish as a global sales rep, I would need to focus on learning vocabulary specific to my job.

While watching Spanish comedians might be a great way to learn new slang, it won’t help me communicate effectively and professionally with my clients.

Before setting your goals, ask yourself, “Will this goal help me reach my desired objective?” If the answer is yes, make sure it’s specific enough, measurable, and attainable. If the answer is no, this might be a goal you set aside and pick back up later.

Time-Bound

Putting a time frame on your goal helps you increase your motivation and stay accountable for your progress. Plus, when your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, and relevant, you can track your progress and better visualize your wins.

If you’re like me and tend to get off track, SMART goals are your best friend.

Writing and implementing SMART goals can help you reach your professional goals much faster because you can break your ultimate objective into actionable steps. Think of them as your plan for success!

Professional Goal Examples

Ready to set a goal for yourself, but you need some examples? Here are FIFTEEN examples of professional goals:

1. Land an internship

If you’re a college student looking for work experience or want to enter a new industry, landing an internship is an excellent goal. Internships are a great way to gain the skills you need to be successful in your industry.

Plus, you’ll gain insider knowledge. You can acknowledge your experience on your resume, giving you a leg up on your competition.

Pro tip: Check with your local labor unions or your university’s Student Success Center for leads on potential internships.

2. Grow Your Network

When I decided to become a freelance writer, I knew I needed to grow my network and connect with others.

Growing your network is a good idea for many reasons, including collaborating with like-minded people and uncovering career opportunities.

Becoming active on social media platforms, like LinkedIn, and attending in-person meetings is a great way to make yourself available and gain new connections.

Pro tip: If you want to grow your network online, commit to regularly posting updates on social media. Social media management tools can help you keep up with your posts and nurture relationships with your followers.

3. Learn a New Skill

Increasing your skill set is a fantastic professional goal. Think about the skills you need to be successful in your work. Are there any skills you need to brush up on?

Or, if you’re looking to change careers or get a promotion, which skills will make your transition easier? Make a list and find ways to gain those skills, like taking a class or attending a seminar.

Pro tip: After making your list of desired skills, use the SMART goals framework to create an actionable learning plan.

4. Start a Podcast

Kaitlin Milliken, Senior Program Manager HubSpot, made starting a podcast one of her professional goals. Podcasting is a great way to gain technical and interviewing skills.

Milliken says, “One of my professional goals was to start a podcast. I was lucky enough to work as a multimedia producer at a startup that was looking to kick one off. I started by listening to other shows for inspiration — Reply All, The Journal, and Post Reports were really big at the time.

Miliken says she spoke with a few folks who had started their own hobby shows to get a sense of what gear was available within her budget.

“After that, I pitched ideas, wrote scripts, and started booking interviews. The big challenge was finding the time,” she says. “I was still reporting stories, making newsletters, and creating videos in my role.”

She explains, “I had to be very intentional about blocking off time on my calendar so I could accomplish this professional goal.”

Pro Tip: If starting a podcast is one of your professional goals, listen to related podcasts for inspiration for your own.

5. Earn a Professional Certificate

Depending on your job, you may need a professional certificate to advance your career. As a teacher, I needed to become licensed to teach my chosen subject. So, I spent a lot of time taking education courses to gain licensure.

If earning a professional certificate is on your list of professional goals, look for classes that offer relevant certifications. Then, commit to signing up for and completing the course.

Pro tip: Many companies offer continuing education courses for their employees. Take advantage of these offerings to advance your career and deepen your knowledge base. HubSpot Academy is also a great resource for learning new skills and receiving certifications.

6. Start a New Business or Company Initiative

Your personal goals can double as a company initiative, too. Not only will you benefit from gaining new skills, but your company benefits from your efforts, too. Caroline Forsey, Principal Marketing Manager at HubSpot, made starting a new company-wide initiative one of her professional goals.

Forsey says, “A professional goal I set for myself was to own the first thought leadership program at HubSpot — I succeeded in doing so by leaning into team and company-wide goals and ensuring my program became indispensable to hitting those goals.”

She explains, “So, for instance, I knew our team-wide goals were to grow organic traffic on the SERPs.”

Rather than leaning into social or email views for my program, Forsey ensured she kept organic views top-of-mind with each piece of content she created for the program.

“I continued to ask myself: Does this have search intent? Is there MSV? Can I make it more SEO-optimized?” she explains. “It’s always tempting to lean into personal interests when creating and working towards a goal, but it’s critical you keep the larger picture top-of-mind if you want it to gain buy-in from stakeholders.”

7. Become a Pro at Time Management

If you’re anything like me, the workday can slip by before you know it. And in times like that, productivity seems to go out the window. Becoming better at time management is an excellent professional goal and a necessary skill for many jobs within any industry.

To improve your time management, you might need to reduce your distractions or use a planner to schedule your workday.

Pro tip: Time blocking is a fantastic way to stay on task. At the start of each day, write down your to-do list and break it into smaller chunks that you can complete in a certain amount of time. Then, commit to completing those tasks during your given timeframe.

8. Increase Your Sales

If you’re in sales, you know how important it is for your company to reach your sales and revenue targets yearly. So, setting “Increase My Sales” as a personal and professional goal is not a bad idea. Take a look at your numbers, then determine where and how you need to improve it.

Pro tip: Check with your managers about their sales enablement program. Sales enablement can help you learn how to manage your sales more effectively.

9. Be a Star Employee

Becoming a star employee is really about advancing your career within your company. Erica Santiago, Marketing Manager at HubSpot, made this one of her professional goals and told me how she did it.

Santiago says, “A professional goal of mine at HubSpot was to really own a lane in terms of content so that I could be a go-to for certain projects and really get my name out in the company.”

She says she noticed other writers and contributors seemed to really own a topic, and it helped them stand out.

“I wanted to do the same to set myself up for opportunities,” she says. “I achieved this by taking a moment to ask myself what my strengths are, what topics I enjoy, and how these things tie in with HubSpot’s greater goals.”

Eventually, Santiago realized that the creator economy is a topic that she’s really familiar with, thanks to the content creation she does outside of HubSpot.

She then realized there are content creators who could benefit from HubSpot’s marketing products and blog content.

“From there, I took it upon myself to write more content centered on creators and eventually started my series ‘The Creative,'” she explains. “It‘s still getting off the ground, but the content that’s come out so far has proven it to be a promising project.”

She continues, “Now, I‘m regularly assigned creator economy-based content, and I’ve carved my own niche within the marketing blog.”

10. Become a Mentor

If you feel you have a lot of industry experience and knowledge to share, consider making “Become a Mentor” one of your professional goals. As a mentor, you’ll gain leadership skills, like teaching, while positioning yourself as a leader in your field.

Pro tip: If you want to become a mentor, consider partnering with your manager to design a mentorship program for new employees. If your organization already has a mentorship program, sign up to share your knowledge with others.

11. Create a Work-Life Balance

As someone who works from home, it can be tempting to work 24/7. But one of the biggest reasons I started my own business was to have time for the things I wanted to pursue—like running a half marathon and working on my personal blog.

So, making it a goal to create a better work-life balance was a must! Time to refresh and recharge is critical to decreasing the chance of burnout.

Pro tip: Commit to keeping your work at work. That means getting into the habit of leaving unfinished tasks on your desk for the next day. You can always pick up on your tasks later.

12. Get a Promotion

Many people share the professional goal of working towards a promotion, which often comes with a salary increase.

Martina Bretous, Editor of HubSpot’s Next in AI blog, made getting a promotion her goal. But she didn’t sit idly by and wait for her managers to notice her. Instead, she made a plan and shared it with me.

Bretous says one of her professional goals was to become a blog editor at HubSpot.

“The first thing I did was ask blog editors to shadow them. This was a key part of my learning,” she recalls. “I had to understand the day-to-day of the role and ask questions to understand initiatives, goals, and challenges.

She then took any opportunity to fill in when an editor was out of the office. This gave her the hands-on experience she was looking for before she was actually in the role full-time.

“All of this prep work set me up nicely so that when an opportunity presented itself to fill in that role, I was a shoo-in because I knew the property very well,” she says. “Other editors could recommend me as someone who understood the blog and confirm that I had hands-on experience.”

13. Become a Pro at Technology

Technology is constantly changing, which sometimes means our jobs change with it. If using technology is integral to your job, consider becoming a pro or super user of your tech stack.

This will help keep your skills current and set you up as the office go-to for assisting others in learning, too.

Pro tip: Depending on the tech you use in the office, many organizations offer training courses on how to use their products. Sign up for their email newsletter to stay on top of their training and product releases.

14. Publish Your Research

Publishing your research can set you up for success and position you as an industry expert. Consider writing and publishing your work in industry publications if this is a career goal.

You’ll gain new writing skills and learn how to promote your work to experts in the field.

Pro tip: Research industry publications and their submission guidelines. Each publication may have different submission guidelines, and it’s helpful to know them upfront to save time in the submission process later.

15. Receive an Award

It’s nice to be recognized for your dedication and hard work. Plus, recognition can add to your credibility and credentials as an expert. Receiving acknowledgments and an award takes time, though.

But if this is your professional goal, it’s well worth the effort.

Pro tip: Consider the backgrounds of the award winners within your industry. What did they do to stand out amongst the crowd? Use what you learn from their experiences to map your own path to success.

Be sure to make it your personal roadmap, though, to stand out.

Tips for Achieving Professional Goals

Ready to set your goals in motion? Here are five tips from me and our HubSpot experts for achieving professional goals.

1. Lean Into Your Network

Your network is a gold mine of opportunity. Instead of “gold mine,” rebrand it to “goal mine.”

Milliken offers expert advice on using your network to achieve your professional goals:

“Make the most of your network. The chances are there’s someone you already know who has accomplished the professional goal you want to achieve. In my experience, people have been really generous about sharing their advice. You just need to reach out.”

2. Break Your Goals Down

If you’re not careful, your professional goals can become too big to achieve and manage. Instead, follow Bretous’ advice and break your goals into smaller pieces.

Bretous says, “My advice to anyone with a goal is to break it down into bite-size pieces. Because having a goal can get overwhelming when you see how much you have to accomplish to get there.”

She explains, “To avoid that, break it into measurable, smaller goals that you can tackle on a daily or weekly basis. And don’t forget to lean on colleagues and managers for help in achieving this goal.”

3. Find a Mentor

You don’t have to tackle your goals alone. Support, especially from a mentor or manager, is invaluable.

Santiago suggests reaching out to your manager. 

“Share your goals with your manager so they can help steer you in the right direction,” she explains. “When I first thought of The Creative, I wasn’t sure how to pitch it or what direction to take it in. So, I reached out to my manager, and he helped me fill in the blanks.”

4. Be Your Own Advocate

Advocating for yourself is a tough lesson to learn. However, if you want to achieve professional goals, you need to learn to be your own advocate.

Forsey agrees and offers two essential tips for advocating for yourself. Forsey says, “My tip for achieving personal goals is a) ensure your personal goals are aligned with larger business goals, and b) be a major advocate for yourself!”

She explains, “Let people across the company know the impact your goals are having on the company— and, equally importantly, make sure your manager as well as leadership is aware of your personal goals.”

Forsey says to continue asking your manager things like, “My personal goal is X. What is your advice on how to get closer to that goal?” or “My personal goal is X. How am I measuring up when it comes to meeting that goal?”

“Having leadership aware of your personal goals helps create personal momentum even on the days that you’re feeling less motivated,” she says.

5. Seek Feedback

My last tip for achieving professional goals is to seek feedback. In my experience, feedback is an invaluable tool for guiding your personal improvement.

If your manager doesn’t directly offer feedback, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Their insights into your work can help you identify areas for improvement that you might not have been aware of.

Work Toward Your Professional Goals

Professional goals are more than things to check off your to-do list. Instead, they help advance your career and give you a purpose for your hard work.

Don’t let your goals get out of hand, though. Set yourself up for success by using the SMART goals framework and breaking your goals into smaller tasks. With this framework in place, you’ll hit your targets in no time!