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No matter how much I love my job, at the end of the day, it’s still a job. It will and should never replace the things about life that bring me the most joy — my loved ones, exercise, travel, a glass of Pinot Noir, or my parents’ home-cooked food.

However, there are some ways to make a job feel more meaningful. Apart from great colleagues and exciting projects, company values can help direct team members toward a common goal and align groups around a bigger purpose.

Companies need something their teams can get behind and understand to maintain growth.

This search has led many people to The HubSpot Culture Code — and the original 2013 deck has almost 6 million views online. The main focus around our culture code is “Creating a company we love,” which all companies should work towards to add structure to goals and retain employees who believe in those goals.

Table of Contents

• What are company values?
• Why are company values important?
• Elements of Company Core Values
• Examples of Companies with Inspiring Core Values
• How to Develop Business Values
• How to Implement Core Values

Why are company values important?

1. Give your team a shared purpose to rally around.

One of our Nickelodeon company values is that we put kids first in everything we do. This value reminds me that, even when work gets busy or trying, I work here because I believe in educating and entertaining kids and helping them be their best and truest selves.

Core company values give employees purpose, which is undeniably critical for employee satisfaction. A McKinsey & Company survey found 70% of employees said their sense of purpose was largely defined by work. However, that number dropped significantly to 15% when non-executive participants were asked if they were living their purpose at work.

This is why your core values must be embraced at every level, not just by the executive team. Purpose doesn’t just improve employee satisfaction — it also increases your bottom line and builds trust with customers.

Professor and author Ranjay Gulati explains in his book Deep Purpose that “to get purpose right, leaders must fundamentally change not only how they execute it but also how they conceive of and relate to it.”

Gulati calls this process “deep purpose,” which furthers an organization’s reason for being in a more intense, thoughtful, and comprehensive way.

2. Increase team well-being and motivation.

As much as I may try to “leave my baggage at the door,” stresses and tribulations can sometimes weasel their way into my workday.

At times like this, it helps me to know that, whatever is happening outside of my company, this is a place where I can be happy about and proud of the work I get to do.

WifiTalents data found that 56% of employees cite company culture and values as having a significant impact on their happiness, which is crucial since companies with higher employee happiness levels were shown to have approximately 23% higher revenues.

3. Go public with an aligned message.

What you do should be just as important as why and how you do it.

While your main goal for your company may be increasing sales, awareness, retention, or another key business metric, many consumers nowadays care immensely about purchasing from brands that align with their values.

An MIT Sloan Management Review article references a B2B customer study that asked tens of thousands of consumers how much it mattered if a company was less aligned with its social or environmental values than one of its competitors.

The study found that once buyers become aware of these differences between companies, a lack of alignment in values could reduce sales by as much as 30%.

This risk means it is essential to proudly share public-facing communications about your company values to be authentic about your company’s purpose while drawing in consumers who align with those values.

Ultimately, core values are critical if you want to create a long-lasting, successful, and motivating workplace, whether you work for a new company in need of core-value inspiration or an older company requiring a value revamp.

Elements of Company Core Values

1. Clear and Concise

Having too many values (that may not make sense or contradict each other) or using a lot of unnecessary jargon can make them feel inaccessible to new or younger employees.

Thus, it is essential to keep your company values clear so that they can be understood and embraced by all employees, regardless of their level or position.

For instance, Nickelodeon’s value of putting kids first in everything we do might mean something different to each person, but it’s easy to grasp and something I can easily keep in mind on every campaign.

2. Brief and Memorable

Don’t over-explain your company values — keep them brief, instead. Having bite-sized values will make them easier to remember, making it more likely that they will be internalized and adopted as part of your company culture.

Plus, having short and catchy values can help create a distinctive brand identity, giving your company a competitive advantage.

It will be easier to differentiate your company from others in the market when the values are memorable and unique.

3. Action-Oriented

It’s easy to use attractive, vague words like “Authenticity” and “Diversity” without actually thinking about how those terms can and should apply to your company’s work. To create a significant impact, your values should be action-oriented.

One of The HubSpot Culture Code tenets is “We work to be remarkably transparent.”

The action-oriented aspect of this comes in its proof; the Culture Code states that HubSpot shares (almost) everything with its 4,000 employees, including financials and diversity goals, and everyone has equal access to the same data.

This proves that HubSpot isn’t just stating values that sound nice but has taken actionable steps toward exemplifying that value. This helps establish accountability among employees and empowers us to do our best work.

4. Reflective

Your core values establish the foundation of your company’s culture, which is why they must be unique to your company and accurately reflect your mission, vision, beliefs, and objectives.

For instance, one of the Culture Code tenets is, “We solve for the customer.”

While other companies may be able to state this same value, it has a unique meaning for HubSpot, since we continuously develop and market new software products for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service designed to increase customers’ efficiency and efficacy.

Keeping your values consistent with your objectives can help create an authentic brand image and foster trust among your customers, partners, and employees. It will also help attract and retain employees with the same beliefs, resulting in a more cohesive and effective staff.

5. Adaptable

While core values should always be consistent with an overall mission, don’t be afraid to make adjustments as your company grows.

Your company may not look like it did when it first started out, and your original values may not be as relevant or effective as they were then.

For instance, HubSpot has updated its Culture Code over 30 times since its founding. As your business evolves, regularly obtain feedback from employees and other stakeholders, and re-assess your core values when necessary.

Examples of Companies with Inspiring Core Values

1. Google

1. Focus on the user, and all else will follow.
2. It’s best to do one thing really, really well.
3. Fast is better than slow.
4. Democracy on the web works.
5. You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
6. You can make money without doing evil.
7. There’s always more information out there.
8. The need for information crosses all borders.
9. You can be serious without a suit.
10. Great just isn’t good enough.

On Google’s philosophy page, they don’t just list their core values — they also provide examples.

For instance, consider their value, “You can make money without doing evil.”

While many companies likely tout the benefits of integrity, Google references strategic efforts it has made to avoid “evil” business, including “Advertising on Google is always clearly identified as a ‘Sponsored Link,’ so it does not compromise the integrity of our search results.”

Fulfilling values like “don’t be evil” can be complicated. As Google grows and develops more products, there is more tension and scrutiny.

Ultimately, a core value is powerless if your company can’t list intentional, calculated decisions it has made to put values ahead of profit.

2. Coca Cola

1. Leadership: The courage to shape a better future
2. Collaboration: Leverage collective genius
3. Integrity: Be real
4. Accountability: If it is to be, it’s up to me
5. Passion: Committed in heart and mind
6. Diversity: As inclusive as our brands
7. Quality: What we do, we do well

Coca-Cola demonstrates its diversity core value with its public Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion page, which lists the company’s current efforts and future goals under this larger strategy. I appreciate that the company doesn’t just highlight what it’s already doing but also how it can improve and grow in years to come.

Additionally, Coca-Cola’s Sustainability page exemplifies its commitment to climate. This page includes reports about water usage, packaging, climate, and more.

By acknowledging both its efforts and its shortcomings, Coca-Cola is able to show its desire to live up to its values, while taking responsibility for any mismatch between its ideals and reality.

3. Whole Foods

1. We sell the highest quality natural and organic foods.
2. We satisfy and delight our customers.
3. We promote team member growth and happiness.
4. We practice win-win partnerships with our suppliers.
5. We create profits and prosperity.
6. We care about our community and the environment.

Underneath each of its values on its core value page, Whole Foods provides an in-depth, yet easy-to-understand, explanation. There are also some links, such as “Learn more about how we support communities and our environment,” which share more resources, such as the Whole Foods Market Foundation.

Ultimately, their page demonstrates their ability to walk the walk. For instance, to exemplify their commitment to local communities, Whole Foods created a Local Producer Loan Program, which has provided over 365 loans, representing roughly $28 million in capital, for small-scale, local, and emerging producers.

Additionally, Whole Foods provides a list of environmentally friendly efforts they’ve practiced since 1980, including being the first U.S. grocer to ban plastic grocery bags at checkout (2008) and plastic straws (2019).

I hadn’t even known they had paved the way for both these efforts, so your core values can also be an opportunity for a humble brag.

Amazon’s acquisition of the grocery chain in 2017 caused some loyal shoppers to question the brand’s authenticity, but Whole Foods brought in a new CEO in 2022 who is more dedicated to the company’s core values.

A Yahoo Finance article states that CEO Jason Buechel recognizes Whole Foods customers “… care about where the product was grown, raised, and produced, which comes at a higher cost, raising a challenge for the company.”

He is working to invest in technology, with Amazon’s help, to strike a balance between providing that same product value to customers while still growing the company’s sales and profits. This is partially why so many customers are brand loyalists: they support these efforts, too.

4. Airbnb

1. Champion the Mission — We’re united in partnership with our community to create connection, which enables belonging.
2. Be a Host — We’re caring, open, and encouraging to everyone we work with.
3. Embrace the Adventure — We’re driven by open curiosity, hopeful resilience, and the belief that every person can grow.
4. Be a Cereal Entrepreneur — We’re determined and creative in transforming our bold ambitions into reality.

Airbnb’s continued commitment to being by and for the people sets it apart. People like me use Airbnb to stay in real homes that embrace the culture of the region you’re visiting, so it makes sense that its values are rooted in kindness, connection, and growth. The company’s About Us section reads:

“Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home and has since grown to over 5 million hosts who have welcomed over 1.5 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe.

Every day, hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.”

Co-founders Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia are famed for their iconic origin story. They launched Airbnb at SXSW in 2008 and were met with uncertainty.

To create their own investment dollars, they sold self-designed cereal boxes featuring then-presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain at $40 a box.

This venture made them $30,000 but, more importantly, it caught the eye of Paul Graham from tech startup accelerator Y Combinator, who told the trio, “If you can convince people to pay $40 for $4 boxes of cereal, maybe, just maybe, you can convince strangers to live with each other.”

As a brand rooted in travel, opportunity, determination, and connection, it makes sense that its core values and mission tie around these same beliefs. Airbnb makes it clear that it prizes its company culture and wants employees who fit into those values.

5. Gusto

1. Embody a service mindset. — Never stop advocating for the needs of others.
2. Dream big, then make it real. — Be ambitious. Show and do is greater than tell and talk.
3. Be proud of the how. — Ensure deep integrity in everything you do.
4. Embrace an ownership mentality. — Take initiative to leave things better than you found them.
5. Debate, then commit. — Share openly, question respectfully, and once a decision is made, commit fully.

This popular payroll app supports more than 300,000 businesses in the United States. Gusto doesn’t just talk about supporting the needs of employees and customers; leaders at this company make it happen with radical transparency.

Gusto was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in human resources this year. One of the reasons behind this recognition is how Gusto continues to expand its opportunities and technologies to meet the needs of small-business customers — something that slots into several of its values.

By integrating with Chase Payment Solutions and adopting new AI technologies, Gusto shows that it will continue to make change that meets the needs of customers, is willing to strive for more, takes the initiative to keep growing the brand’s capabilities, and commits to change.

All of these tick boxes in its core values and proves the leaders’ accountability.

6. Adobe

1. Create the future. — Creativity is in our DNA. We constantly look around the corner to see what is possible. But we don’t wait for the future; we create it. We are builders, makers, and inventors, driven by a deep empathy for our customers and users. We are open-minded and celebrate new ideas. We have the courage to disrupt the market and ourselves through bold bets and ideas we turn into reality.
2. Own the outcome. — We think and operate like owners. We take initiative, have a bias toward action, and assume ownership for end results, not just our part. We are reliable and have clear points of view. We’re decisive and learn from our mistakes,
3. Raise the bar. — We aim high, and we play to win. We relentlessly focus on execution, celebrate excellence, and are intellectually honest about where we must do better. We deliver both speed and quality by doing fewer things better. Our success is measured by the success of our customers and users.
4. Be genuine. — The ability to be yourself is core to who we are. We embrace and respect diversity. We support and challenge each other by being honest and direct. We always act with sincerity, integrity, and the highest of ethics. We do this for our employees, partners, customers and communities.

These values were shared last year in an internal memo from Adobe chairman and CEO Shantanu Narayen to employees globally.

The memo’s goal was to share how the company would evolve its values and cultures to bring in new decades of growth.

What I love about this memo is the immediate transparency of the values to the entire company, so everyone can read, understand, and align with them. Along with this information, Narayen shared his personal thoughts on the four company values, including the following blurb about being genuine.

“Being genuine is a hallmark of Adobe and something that always comes up when people talk about our culture. Ensuring that we reflect the diversity of the world around us — where everyone feels included, respected, and has the opportunity to make an impact — has been a core value since our founding.

It underscores how we support each other while being honest and direct. It also speaks to where we want to go and who Adobe should continue to be for our employees, partners, customers, and communities.”

While these values are relatively new for Adobe, they represent the idea that companies can evolve and update their core values with their growing businesses. Taking responsibility to adapt and share them with employees is a hallmark of a dedicated workplace.

7. American Express

1. WE DELIVER FOR OUR CUSTOMERS — We’re driven by our commitment to deliver exceptional products, services and experiences to our customers. We value our strong customer relationships, and are defined by how well we take care of them.
2. WE RESPECT PEOPLE — We are a diverse and inclusive company and serve diverse customers. We believe we are a better company when each of us feels included, valued, and able to trust colleagues who respect each of us for who we are and what we contribute to our collective success.
3. WE CARE ABOUT OUR COMMUNITIES — We aim to make a difference in the communities where we work and live. Our commitment to corporate social responsibility makes an impact by strengthening our connections.
4. WE MAKE IT GREAT — We deliver an unparalleled standard of excellence in everything we do, staying focused on the biggest opportunities to be meaningful to our customers. From our innovative products to our world-class customer service, our customers expect the best —and our teams are proud to deliver it.
5. WE NEED DIFFERENT VIEWS — By being open to different ideas from our colleagues, customers, and the world around us, we will find more ways to win.
6. WE DO WHAT’S RIGHT — Customers choose us because they trust our brand and people. We earn that trust by ensuring everything we do is reliable, consistent, and with the highest level of integrity.
7. WE WIN AS A TEAM — We view each other as colleagues – part of the same team, striving to deliver the brand promise to our customers and each other every day. Individual performance is essential and valued but never at the expense of the team.

American Express doesn’t just hit the bare minimum with polite, helpful customer service. They go above and beyond to solve for their customers, even without strict protocol.

For instance, Raymond Joabar, group president of American Express’ global merchant and network services, told this story in a Forbes interview.

Joabar recalled a hotel café manager who alerted Joabar’s team that he sold a display cake with harmful chemicals. The manager needed to track down the customer before they ate it.

“Obviously, there’s no procedure for that, but our team took ownership of the problem,” Joabar told Forbes. Joabar’s team gathered all the information they could and found 21 card members who used their cards at the café during that time frame. They were able to track down the customer before the cake was served at an anniversary party.

“The important point here,” Joabar says in the interview, “other than that everybody ended up safe and sound — is that there isn’t a script for every situation, so we empower our care professionals to do what’s right for the customer.”

This anecdote exemplifies American Express‘s commitment to its customers, even when it’s not easy, and demonstrates the company’s dedication to living by its values and recognizing employees who do the same.

How to Develop Business Values

Now that you’ve seen what core values look like at other companies, you can use the following steps to create your own.

1. Check in with your team.

A quick way to get started is to consult your founders or executive team. They’ll often already have a mission statement or vision for the company values.

If not, I recommend setting up a few brainstorming sessions with your team. Company values can also come up as your team solves problems together.

As you start your business, jot down ideas as they come up, and keep them somewhere that‘s easy to find. This way, you have a go-to place for inspiration when you draw a blank.

Once you have that framework, you can work on fleshing out your organization’s core values.

If you’re having a hard time getting started, this company culture code template can help.

How HubSpot completed this step: HubSpot was operating for three years before co-founder Dharmesh Shah started work on HubSpot’s culture code. He started the project by asking questions and sending surveys to the team.

This took several rounds because one of the common themes was that employees love working at HubSpot because of the people. It took more time and effort to discover why and how that feeling could translate to a set of company values.

2. Solicit feedback.

The level of feedback you need for a project like this isn’t a one-and-done sort of effort. For instance, if I was asked, “Why do I value writing for the HubSpot Blog?” I could list dozens of amazing things, from the flexible hours to the ability to incorporate my personal experience into my writing.

However, if I was also asked, “What other values would I like the HubSpot Blog to embrace?” I might share some thought-provoking answers that can be taken into consideration. Building on your existing values is the best way to create a lasting company culture.

It‘s also important to key into informal conversations and non-verbal signals. Let your team know what you’re doing and why. Then, practice active listening. It may be tempting to argue or defend your point of view during these conversations. But interrupting in this way could mean that you’ll lose valuable insights.

These are some useful resources for gathering feedback from your team:

• Positive feedback examples
• Giving and receiving feedback
• Giving and receiving employee feedback

How HubSpot completed this step: HubSpot’s core employee values were initially outlined in the acronym HEART:

• Humble.
• Effective.
• Adaptable.
• Remarkable.
• Transparent.

While getting feedback for HubSpot’s culture code update, co-founder Dharmesh Shah realized that something was a bit off. He found that the acronym was missing one integral part of how HubSpot does business: empathy.

In response, Shah proposed replacing “Effective” with “Empathy” and encouraged employees to submit feedback via an internal wiki page.

3. Implement feedback.

Part of creating a set of company values is ensuring employees buy into those ideas. If collecting feedback is an essential step, the next step is putting that feedback into action.

While not every piece of feedback will be useful, it‘s important to recognize these contributions. As you review updates from your team, you’ll want to compare these insights and start to look for patterns.

Once you have some clear ideas of what you want to add or update, outline your next steps to put these changes into place.

Then, share the plan with your team and thank them for their insights.

How HubSpot completed this step: In HubSpot’s case, the team decided to update our culture code and the HEART acronym changed to Humble, Empathetic, Adaptable, Remarkable, and Transparent.

This process took several years of refining. After this change and many rounds of feedback, the culture code was shared globally.

4. Make your core values unique to your brand.

Many industries have catchy phrases or jargon that are central to the business.

But those phrases probably aren‘t the best way to communicate the unique values of your brand.

Your company values aren’t just a blueprint for what your business does and what your employees believe in. It’s about what separates your team from everything else out there.

One of Nickelodeon-parent-company Paramount’s core values is “Optimism & Determination — We share a positive belief that we can navigate and thrive in the landscape ahead.”

This is foundational to our industry, which constantly embraces changes from the fall of cable to the rise of streaming and is core to how we approach these changes with excitement and resilience.

We learn from each other and develop tactics and strategies every day. These habits come from a foundation of shared values. So, your goal during this step is to bring those distinct values to light.

This may mean collecting quotes that inspire your team. It could arise from offsite meetings or impromptu conversations. No matter your creative process, you’ll need to think about what you want your values to do to make them unique.

Ask yourself:

• How can my team act on these ideas?
• What will make these ideas easy to remember?
• Do these ideas inspire me to do my best?
• Are these ideas inclusive and relevant for everyone on the team?
• Are they specific enough to guide us when making tough decisions?

As you refine your core values, make sure that they embody the spirit of your business and team.

How HubSpot completed this step: Core values often relate to the problems your business wants to solve and how that relates to your personal values.

For example, in a talk at Stanford University, Dharmesh Shah shared the quote, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

He told a story of how he interpreted this Louis Brandeis quote and then explained how it came into conversations that he and co-founder Brian Halligan were having about transparency.

You can hear the full story in the video below:

Company values often use short sentences and declarative phrases. Because of this, it can also be useful to explain how your team interprets a simple phrase within your values. For example, the culture code explains what transparency is and what it isn’t at HubSpot.

5. Continue to evolve when necessary.

Change is the only constant. Your business will change over time. Societal norms, values, and trends will change too. To keep your company culture in line with the times, you’ll want to revisit your values regularly.

First, spend some time with your core values. These will often stay the same. That said, the way your business applies or interprets these values may have shifted.

In my earlier Paramount example, navigating and thriving in the landscape ahead could have meant something entirely different 30 years ago.

It could have meant coming up with fresh and exciting content to attract new audiences, whereas today, it may look more like embracing new platforms to broaden the reach of our content.

Next, add or remove values in line with changes to your culture. Make thoughtful updates and bring in a group of engaged employees to offer early feedback. Once the group feels satisfied with your updates, share them with the full team for another round of feedback.

Staying open throughout the process is important for keeping your team engaged. Your company values should consistently reflect the core of your business. This means that how you write and edit them will impact every person connected to the company.

As you make changes, start with leadership and ask them to model these updated values. Find ways to encourage employees to embrace updated values and engage them to ensure your company’s culture stays top of mind, fresh, and current.

How HubSpot completed this step: As HubSpot continues to grow, there are new ideas to consider. For example, the culture code covers concerns about time off, remote work, and more with a simple phrase – use good judgment. Leaders at HubSpot talk constantly about the culture, and HEART comes up in both tactical and strategic conversations.

In many ways, the team built HubSpot‘s culture code in the same way they create HubSpot’s products — thoughtful updates, regular feedback, and continuous investment.

This slide from the culture code deck emphasizes the importance of updates to company values:

As of now, HubSpot’s culture code has seen more than 33 revisions. Updates undergo a beta testing process that collects quantitative and qualitative data. And HubSpot employees work with HEART & SOUL.

How to Implement Core Values

Creating the core values is one thing — implementing them into your everyday business is another. I’ve included some tips on how you can ensure your values resonate and become pillars to live by.

1. Encourage discussion as a step toward acceptance.

In 2023, Nickelodeon introduced a rebrand. It was successful for many reasons, but I believe one of the main reasons was that it was a topic of discussion amongst employees, which helped exponentially grow our excitement for it.

The more discourse employees can have — in meetings and 1:1 — the more they will remember, recognize, and accept the core values as something new but important to learn and adapt to.

2. Hire and onboard based on the values.

You may have gotten your current employees on board, but the key is ensuring future generations also want to abide by these values.

Embolden recruiters and hiring managers to incorporate these values into interviews to discover candidates who resonate with these basic company beliefs.

For example, if one of your values is “We take responsibility for our actions and mistakes,” you can ask candidates how they have owned up to errors in the past to gauge their willingness to continue observing this tenet.

2. Continuously mention and act on the values from a leadership perspective

As a senior coordinator at my job, I feel incredibly distant from some of our executive leadership. Wanting to impress leaders can be a daunting task, especially if you feel unable to relate to their day-to-day, and vice versa.

By relentlessly explaining and exemplifying company values, leaders can show that the values are for everyone — no matter your title.

This can help bridge hierarchical gaps and make employees more excited to follow the same guidelines maintained by their executives.

3. Urge employees to consider these values when reflecting on their performance.

It can be difficult to try to sum up six or twelve months of performance in a review with your manager. I try to align my projects and accomplishments around key business goals to prove how what I do every day has a company-wide impact.

Similarly, you can encourage employees at your company to consider the company values when preparing their performance reviews.

This works in duality — it provides a structure for employees when writing their reviews and helps them conceptualize how they already support company values.

4. Incorporate new activities and programs that reflect your values.

Some company values go beyond deskwork and meetings.

For instance, Whole Foods’ core value, “We Care About our Community and the Environment,” can be proven through high-level strategic decisions, as well as employee community service.

Think outside the box to find ways for employees to get involved in your core values, in and out of the office.

If one of your core values centers around ambition and resilience, host a biannual meeting where any employee can sign up to present an idea, no matter how outlandish. If one of your core values is sustainability, organize a local beach or park clean-up for employees.

The key is to show employees, in more ways than one, that these values aren’t just words on paper that sound nice. They are principles to live by and actions to take in everything your company does.

The Value in Company Values

As I grow older and have deeper thoughts about the world I live in, I care more about aligning myself with businesses that are working towards a positive impact.

One of the easiest ways to tell if a company cares about its employees, customers, and the larger world is through its values.

It’s not easy to articulate what your company cares about and is striving towards, but being able to do so can make a huge difference in the people you partner with.

Being able to explain in words what your business values can empower others to advocate for you. And, most importantly, it can return some much-needed purpose and vision to the company you care about.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in November 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

When I started my journey as a freelance writer, I struggled with writing introductions. I’d often find myself diving into the main body of the article and even wrapping up the conclusion before circling back to the beginning.

The pressure to craft an attention-grabbing opening was overwhelming, and I’d spend days trying to figure out the right angle. The reason is that intros have to be compelling enough to make readers continue.

They have to make a good first impression.

Compelling readers to read the article is an art form in itself. And if you don‘t do it well, you’re missing out on potential subscribers, leads, and customers.

In this post, I’ll share some simple techniques that helped me write powerful introductions that turn casual browsers into readers. Article introductions matter, and here’s how you can make yours count.

Table of Contents

• How to Start an Introduction
• How to Write a Good Introduction Sentence
• Using Generative AI to Write Content

How to Start an Introduction

Writing a compelling introduction is crucial for grabbing your reader’s attention and setting the tone for your entire article.

While there are many approaches you can take to your introduction, here are three common but effective ways to start an intro that captivate your audience from the very first sentence:

1. Using Quotes

Starting with a quote can immediately engage your readers by introducing a voice or perspective that resonates with the theme of your article.

Whether it’s a famous quote, a line from a relevant book or movie, or a statement from an industry expert, a well-chosen quote can lend authority and context to your topic. It can also spark curiosity, encouraging readers to think about how the quote connects to the content that follows.

In the article, The Hidden Costs of Hobbies and Side Projects, the author, Sam, starts with an anonymous quote: “You have to sacrifice in life, or your life will become the sacrifice.”

While the article’s title is somewhat worrying, the quote does intensify the ominous feeling readers will likely develop as they examine their own lives to see what their hobbies and side projects might be costing them and how detrimental these costs are to their overall well-being.

Another example of how quotes multiply the impact an article intro has on readers is this one in an article about the three deep books that rewired his mind.

While the quote is not the first sentence in the intro, it does appear quite early: “We question all our beliefs except the ones we really believe in” by Orson Scott.

This quote carries emotional weight, provoking thought and stirring curiosity in readers. It makes them want to find out the titles of these books, how exactly they rewired the author’s worldview, and if the books can help them question their own deeply held beliefs.

2. Setting a Scene

Setting a scene at the beginning of your article can draw readers into a specific moment, place, or situation. This method is particularly effective for creating a vivid mental image that makes the topic more relatable and engaging.

By painting a picture with your words, you invite your readers to step into the scenario and experience it alongside you, which can make your content more impactful and memorable.

Here’s an article titled Your OKRs Aren’t OKRs. While business-related articles can be boring and monotonous, the author of this one infuses life and color into the piece by starting with a scenario.

This scenario activates readers’ imagination, allowing them to “see” the context of the piece before consuming the main content.

It’s also written in a way that readers will likely be able to relate, especially as the author discusses their own former dislike for Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), showing that it’s something of a universal experience for managers.

When you set a scene, you’re not just describing a situation — you’re creating an atmosphere that evokes emotion.

Whether it’s tension, excitement, nostalgia, or calm, the scene you set can influence how readers feel as they begin reading. This emotional connection makes them more invested and more likely to continue reading.

Pro tip: Whenever I have a relevant personal or work experience to share (that relates to my article topic), I like to use my experience as the intro (as I did in this article). But instead of swapping one for the other, you can combine a fictional scenario with an anecdote to create a stronger impact.

3. Using Statistics or Fun Facts

Starting your introduction with a statistic or fun fact is a powerful way to grab attention by surprising your readers or providing them with a piece of information they might not have known.

This approach can quickly establish relevance and credibility, especially when the statistic or fact directly relates to the problem or topic your article addresses. It also encourages readers to think critically about the subject, making them more invested in learning more.

In this article about the benefits of eye contact, the author referenced a study by Intelligent.com that shows that over 50% of employers interpret a struggle to make eye contact as nervousness or a lack of confidence.

This statistic achieves two things in this article. First, it educates readers who were not aware of this fact. Those who struggle to make eye contact, especially in interviews, will want to read the article till the end to figure out how to fix this issue and increase their chances of finding a job.

Second, it lends credibility to the piece and, by extension, the author. Instead of the author simply saying that not making eye contact can lead others to think one is nervous or lacks confidence, they find and reference an actual study to prove their point and emphasize the importance of eye contact in conversation.

Readers will more readily believe the study and other articles by the same author as they’ve seen that the author doesn’t pull claims out of thin air.

Fun facts might not be based on surveys, but using them in your intros is a, dare I say, fun way to quicken readers’ interest in your piece. The caveat is they have to be relevant to the topic you’re discussing.

Take, for example, this fun fact in the intro of an article titled, How Writing Makes The Invisible Visible (And Using This to Connect to Things Far Bigger).

The author uses the fact that octopuses can taste things (and thus, sample their environment) with their tentacles to draw a parallel to how writing can help folks “turn our complex worlds into structured language.”

Sure, this fun fact is great to learn, but it also provokes curiosity and helps readers think critically about the topic.

1. Keep it short.

I’m a big fan of short sentences. I love them because people can understand them easily. There’s great value in short sentences that are readable, digestible, and punchy.

Writers often get so caught up in the pressure of a good intro that they deliver long, run-on sentences. The problem with these sentences is that they make readers work hard, which isn’t a great incentive to keep reading.

While the length of an introduction can vary, it’s best to aim for brevity with up to three short paragraphs. Using AI tools like our Paragraph Rewriter tool can help make your paragraphs more impactful and concise.

Readers are impatient to get to the meat of the article, so don’t bury the lede deep in your article — cut to the chase.

A good example of a short intro is this one by Pablo Srugo for his article titled “I Was Supposed To Be a Millionaire at 25 … Instead, I Went Bankrupt.” The intro is just three sentences long and adequately complements the attention-grabbing headline, prompting readers to continue.

Another one is this listicle explaining the top 15 software development trends. The intro quickly explains why software developers must be aware of these trends and segues right into said trends.

2. Say something unexpected.

You‘ve probably heard advice like “Create a hook” and “Grab the reader’s attention.” But what kind of stuff actually grabs someone’s attention?

The trick is to say something unexpected — something that catches the reader off guard.

This could be a personal story that’s relatable yet surprising, a question that challenges assumptions, compelling data that shifts perspectives, or a scene-setting sentence that transports the reader into a different context.

Think about it — your reader has already clicked on the headline. So, they’re interested in your topic. But now, you have to reel them in a little further.

If your very first sentence is interesting enough to make people want to read the next one, then you’ve done a good job.

For example, this intro for an article titled “Absurdism: The Philosophy That Changed My Mindset” starts off with a thought that many people struggle with: Nothing good is going on in my life.

While this is a shocking way to start an article, it does communicate to readers that the author has been in their shoes and understands what they’re going through. And so, people who had never heard of absurdism before would be interested in continuing the article to see if there’s anything in it for them.

Here’s another example of a great intro, except this one sets the scene with a fictitious character named George, a recruiter whose job is to sort through thousands of resumes for new job openings.

This scene helps readers picture an environment in which they’re key players. In this case, the character they’re relating to isn’t George but the candidates whose resumes get stuck in the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and who wait for a response that will never come.

George’s character provides the necessary context for candidates to understand what goes on at the other end of their application once they’ve sent it.

3. Don’t repeat the title.

You only have a few seconds to make a strong impression in your introduction, so use that time wisely.

While repeating the title of your article in the opening sentence might seem like a natural way to start, it’s actually a wasted opportunity. Your reader has already seen the title and clicked on it because it intrigued them. Now, they’re looking for something more.

Instead of reiterating the headline, use your introduction to reinforce the promise made by the title and set the stage for the rest of the article.

This is your chance to expand on the topic, provide context, and highlight the value your content will bring.

4. Use the word “you” at least once.

The word “you” is a powerful word.

It tells the reader that you, the author, are writing the article with them in mind. You empathize with them, you care about them, and you want your piece to resonate with them.

It’s a simple trick that establishes a crucial connection with your reader. It can transform a piece of writing from a distant, impersonal narrative into a conversation that resonates with the reader on a deeper level.

I’m using this technique in this article itself.

After discussing my experience struggling to write introductions, I explained to you, my readers, why knowing how to write compelling introductions is important and how these techniques will help you write better intros.

5. Tell readers what’s coming next.

As you craft your introduction, guide your readers by letting them know what they can expect from the rest of your article. What will you be covering? What will the reader learn? How will this help them?

By answering these questions in your intro, you set clear expectations and help your audience navigate your content. They might just jump to the section they’re most interested in or read the whole thing. Here are a few examples:

• “You’re about to find out why sea turtles always lay their eggs on the beach.”
• “And, if you’ve ever wondered why sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach, here’s everything you need to know.”
• “This article explains the 17 reasons why these amazing creatures lay their eggs on beaches.”
• “Fascinating, funny, and shocking, these are the reasons why sea creatures lay their eggs on the beach.”

But you don’t always have to be so explicit. Sometimes, a well-placed question is enough to help readers infer that you’re about to give them some good information or tips in the article.

Here’s an example of this from a business article about handling a low performer:

After explaining how managers often inherit team members they didn’t hire, and some don’t meet the company’s expectations, the author asks, “So what should you do when faced with an underperforming team member?”

The presence of this question implies that the author will answer it in the main body of the article, so readers know to look forward to it.

6. Explain why the article is important.

It may be obvious to you why your article is important to your readers, but it’s up to you to emphasize its value and put it in context.

For instance, say you’re writing an article about TikTok written for a marketing audience. You could lead with a surprising TikTok stat about its user base. Here’s an example:

“In the past two years, TikTok’s user base has grown by 15% while other platforms are seeing stagnant or declining engagement. This suggests that marketers may want to pay more attention to this short-form video platform.”

In two sentences, you’ve presented an interesting tidbit and explained why it matters.

Take the introduction to this article. You’ll recall the following sentence: “And if you don‘t do it well, you’re missing out on potential subscribers, leads, and customers.”

My goal here was to connect the topic of blog post introductions to a business’s bottom line.

This article by Rakia Ben Sassi about starting a YouTube channel does something similar:

She sets the stage by describing the fear, excitement, and uncertainty people feel when starting a YouTube channel. Then, she talks about her credentials and why readers should trust her opinion (she launched her own channel three years ago).

Then, she explains why the article is important: It’s to help readers who are starting a new channel or trying to scale an existing one.

7. Refer to a concern or problem your readers might have.

Everyone in every field has their own set of problems. You should have some listed already from when you created your buyer personas.

Addressing a specific concern or problem your readers face is a powerful way to engage them right from the start.

By acknowledging their challenges, you show empathy and immediately establish the relevance of your content. People want to solve their problems, and articles that explain how to do this will help you earn readership.

For example, if you’re writing an article explaining how digital marketers can keep up with the ever-evolving digital landscape, you could say: “Feeling overwhelmed by the constant changes in digital marketing? You’re not alone. In this article, we’ll explore strategies to help you stay ahead without burning out.”

This empathetic approach helps you build trust and credibility, as it demonstrates your understanding of your readers’ needs. When you tap into the reader’s problem-solving mindset, they’re motivated to continue reading in search of solutions, making your content more impactful and memorable.

8. Be careful telling stories.

Many people will tell you that you need to write a story in the introduction to captivate your audience. Stories can be a powerful tool to draw readers in, as they naturally spark curiosity and create an emotional connection.

However, there are both good and bad ways to use storytelling in your introductions. The key is to tell a concise, relevant, and compelling story that piques your readers’ interest without overwhelming them with too much detail.

While it’s tempting to delve into a long and intricate story, remember that an introduction aims to grab attention quickly and set the stage for what’s to come. A long-winded story can lose readers along the way, diminishing the impact of your article.

If you choose to begin your article with a story, consider withholding the conclusion of that story until later in the article or even until the very end. By delaying the resolution, you create a narrative thread that weaves through your article, maintaining your readers’ interest as you build up to the story’s conclusion.

For example, say you’re writing an article about overcoming challenges in entrepreneurship.

If you’re an entrepreneur yourself, you might start with a short anecdote about a time you faced a significant setback in your entrepreneurial journey.

Describe the struggle you faced and how it seemed insurmountable at the time, but don’t reveal how you overcame it just yet.

Instead, use the story to illustrate the theme of resilience and promise your readers that you’ll explore how you turned things around later in the article.

9. Use a stat or a fact to convey urgency.

When journalists begin a news story, they often give readers an eye-catching stat or fact about what’s going on.

As a blogger or any type of writer, a really interesting stat or fact will draw your reader in and show them why your topic is really important.

For example, say you’re a plumber writing a blog post on pipe replacement. You might pull in more readers if you start a post by explaining how frequently old pipes burst in the winter.

Or, if you’re writing an article showing folks how to spend more time reading instead of scrolling their phone screens, you can start by sharing statistics on how many hours young people spend on their phones daily. Like this:

If readers see that this is a common issue that others face, they might keep reading to learn how they can avoid it.

Using Generative AI to Write Content

ChatGPT’s instant and massive popularity in late 2022 heralded serious discourse about using generative AI to write content.

While there are some polarizing opinions on how generative AI should be used, there’s no denying that AI tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and Copy.ai have become valuable tools for content creators, including myself. These tools help writers brainstorm ideas, overcome writer’s block, and generate content drafts.

In my experience, they speed up my writing process by providing a starting point, crafting compelling introductions, and suggesting alternative phrasings.

However, while generative AI can be incredibly helpful, I don’t think you should solely rely on what it generates. AI tools can produce coherent and well-structured content, but the output often lacks the depth and nuance that come from personal experience, deep research, and subject-matter expertise.

Moreover, AI-generated text may include inaccuracies or “hallucinations” — instances where the AI presents false or misleading information as fact.

In this article, the team at IBM detailed a few examples of AI hallucinations, including the time Meta pulled its Galactica LLM (large language model) demo in 2022 after it provided users with inaccurate information that was sometimes rooted in bias and prejudice.

This is why you should always fact-check anything AI generates for you.

That said, you can use AI as a starting point in your writing process and then refine the content with your own (or third-party) expertise to create an engaging and trustworthy piece. If you struggle with intros, here are the steps to using AI to craft article introductions:

1. Determine the type of introduction you want to create. Are you starting with a fun fact, a quote, or by setting a scene? Each approach requires a different prompt.
2. Next, write a prompt that instructs the AI on what kind of intro you need. Be clear about the tone, style, and content you’re aiming for.
3. Once the AI tool generates the text, read it carefully. Look for any inaccuracies or areas that might need clarification, restructuring, or additional detail. The AI’s output is just a draft; it’s up to you to refine it.
4. Edit the AI-generated content to incorporate your own knowledge, experiences, and voice. Make sure the introduction aligns with the rest of your article and provides an engaging start.
5. Verify any data, quotes, or facts included in the AI-generated text and personalize the content where necessary to ensure it resonates with your audience and reflects your unique perspective.

Here are a few examples of AI prompts for different intro types.

1. Stating a Fun Fact

Prompt: Write an engaging introduction for an article about the benefits of morning exercise. Start with a surprising fun fact about how exercise impacts mental health.

Possible output: Did you know that just 20 minutes of exercise in the morning can boost your mood for up to 12 hours? In this article, we’ll explore how a simple morning workout can set a positive tone for your entire day.

2. Using Quotes

Prompt: Create an introduction for an article about leadership in the workplace. Start with a powerful quote about leadership from a well-known figure.

Possible output: “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” This quote by Ronald Reagan perfectly captures the essence of leadership. In this article, we’ll discuss how great leaders inspire their teams to achieve extraordinary results.

3. Setting a Scene

Prompt: Write an introduction for an article about the challenges of remote work. Start by setting a scene that highlights a common struggle for remote workers.

Possible output: It’s 7:00 AM, and you’re already answering emails from the comfort of your kitchen table. The line between work and home blurs as you sip your coffee, trying to find focus in a space that was once reserved for relaxation. This is the new reality of remote work, where the challenges are as complex as they are unique.

Note: If you find it difficult or time-consuming to write a whole blog post from start to finish, check out HubSpot’s free blog post templates that help you save time without compromising on quality.

Making a Great First Impression

While setting a scene and/or sharing a relevant anecdote is my favorite way to start an article intro, I learned — and I hope you did, too — that there are several ways to write an introduction that packs a punch and prompts readers to read till the end, including using quotes and sharing fun facts.

However, while these techniques are excellent for creating interest, over the past couple of years, I realized that what really keeps people reading a piece is the empathy I, the author, infuse into it.

Letting readers know that I know and relate to their struggles and that I have a possible solution for them, be it an alternative way of doing things or a contrarian idea to help them broaden their epistemic horizons, is what keeps them engaged.

So now, whenever I write an introduction, I think about what kind of introduction would make me want to read the article. I then use that to inform the approach I take.

Introductions are hard, and writing effective ones takes time and practice. But remember, it’s all worth it if it means keeping the attention of a few more of your readers.

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

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

For many Native entrepreneurs, it’s not active discrimination that proves the biggest issue in getting a business off the ground. In fact, per a recent Breaking the Blueprint HubSpot Blog survey, many Natives don’t feel like their heritage figures one way or the other into their entrepreneurship challenges.

Instead, it is the generational disadvantages that accompany past discrimination, such as a chronic lack of credit and capital access, alongside new issues like discoverability and scalability.

It’s unfortunate that these challenges can pose significant hurdles to entrepreneurs and business people looking to find success. But they are survivable.

I reached out to Native and Indigenous Entrepreneurs to hear their direct takes on these challenges and ask their advice for rising above and overcoming them. Here’s what they had to say.

Top Challenges Faced by Native & Indigenous Entrepreneurs

Respondents to the survey I mentioned above were asked to name their three biggest challenges.

Roughly 56 percent of respondents pointed to financial issues such as raising capital or budgeting, while 33 percent cited growing and scaling their businesses as a major issue.

Lastly, getting the word out and building awareness was an issue for 24 percent of respondents.

1. Financial Challenges

Financial challenges make sense, says Heather Fleming (Navajo), executive director for Tuba City, Arizona-based business incubator Change Labs.

Fleming’s program works closely with Navajo and Hopi entrepreneurs to hone and grow their businesses. She sees these challenges facing participants firsthand — many of them are the symptoms of larger problems, like infrastructure issues and a chronic lack of access to credit in Indian Country.

“The financial challenges like securing capital have been a long-standing issue, just because of the way land is structured. You can’t use it as collateral if it’s reservation land, because it’s held in federal trust,” Fleming said.

“When we talk about scaling — there’s a specific challenge for many people because of the transition to e-commerce. I was just reading our annual reporting, and a lot of members talked about the lack of reliable internet. How do you grow a business if everything’s confined to your home and your internet reliability isn’t great?”

The lack of credit access is often worsened by exclusion from otherwise good-intentioned financial programs at large, nationwide banks. Chad Johnson (Cherokee), founder and president of farm logistics company The Akana Group, pointed to a shortage of such programs at nationwide financial institutions.

Due to a combination of aforementioned land laws and a lack of generational wealth, credit in Indian Country is a different beast – and without specialized financial programs, that means Indigenous entrepreneurs miss out, Johnson said.

“There are these big guys, and they have these programs, but they’re not there for Natives,” Johnson said. “The financial institutions really struggle with getting credit access to Native entrepreneurs.”

There are resources, such as community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which are often tailor-made for the Native communities they serve. But funding for Native CDFIs is limited – and when a business owner hits a certain point, microloans aren’t going to cover scaling costs, Johnson said.

For example, the Akana Group has partnered with farm equipment manufacturer John Deere to get equipment into Native producers’ hands and has started doing business internationally for other projects. That means scaling well beyond the capacity of many Native CDFIs to cover, Johnson said.

“There’s this missing gap between, ‘I’m a start-up,’ and ‘I need a $10 million line of credit,” Johnson said. “Where do Natives go when they need a $10 million loan?”

2. Getting the Word Out and Building Awareness

Then there’s the marketing. Justin Quis Quis (San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians) heads up Sacred Bev, a beverage company in California. Quis Quis says marketing is a complex thing that requires a lot of focus and long term vision to pan out.

He pointed to initial marketing efforts for his company’s product – a set of functional beverages using Indigenous ingredients – as a costly failure.

“I’ve already been through a marketing agency, nationwide, and it did nothing for me,” Quis Quis said. “I spent a bunch of money, and it did nothing.”

To get the word out and build awareness, Quis Quis suggests leveraging marketing, focusing on your product, starting small, and working smart.

He has since gone back to marketing his drink locally, working on finding a distributor and building success from there. He just ordered his fourth run of 20,000 cans of his product.

His advice on marketing, and securing investors, is to develop a long-term vision for the product or service and focus as much as possible on its uniqueness.

“Marketing is a necessary evil,” Quis Quis said. “You just have to be careful which route you go. Be realistic with your ideas, and don’t spend a ton of money to start off. It’s easy to get caught up in something that seems big and translates to you going big. Be judicious.”

Fleming said it could be difficult to stay on top of marketing trends while managing all the other aspects of starting a business. Instead, she recommended finding marketing blogs or podcasts that could do some of that legwork to keep the messaging as on-trend as possible.

Fleming said it’s also a good idea to find other Natives to collaborate with when marketing Native products or services. Change Labs has had a lot of success when pairing its program participants with Native graphic designers, for example, since it’s more likely they will understand another Native’s needs and vision.

Her third big tip was to get comfortable with digital tools. She watched many business owners struggle with moving to e-commerce during the advent of COVID-19 as flea markets and art shows shut down.

Aspiring entrepreneurs should familiarize themselves with programs like Canva, which can help design logos and visual messaging, and AI tools like ChatGPT.

“We hear a lot of people say things like ‘I don’t know what I want to say,’” Fleming said. “You have all these tools now that can help you with that – you can get the basic message out and then get it into ChatGPT and have that help you clean it up. There’s no excuse for bad copy when you have tools like that now.”

3. Growing and Scaling

Say the marketing efforts pay off, and it’s time to grow. That means scaling up production, shipping logistics, or service access – and that means money, said Quis Quis and Fleming.

Fleming referred back to internet connectivity. Large swathes of the Navajo reservation are offline due to scattershot physical infrastructure like signal towers and fiber optic lines.

Running an online side business from a local library or coworking space is one thing, but aiming to make a living usually means scaling that idea up.

That means consistent connectivity, which could mean anything from a hotspot to a Starlink modem, which can run around $500. Small improvements like that can create huge growth for businesses expanding into new markets.

But even with a thriving side business, many Natives, being among the poorest demographics in the United States, won’t have that spare $500 for a unit, stifling their growth.

That can be where places like Change Labs come in, Fleming said. The organization offers participants loans after completing workshops and other activities as part of a yearly cohort.

“I think it’s critical that we do that. Access to just a little bit of money would improve their ability to participate in e-commerce,” Fleming said. “I think when you‘re a business owner, it’s easy to overlook how important it is to have access to loans or financing in order to grow your business.”

Quis Quis said access to credit is crucial to getting anywhere with growth, however. That goes back to marketing: being able to present a product or service to investors or lenders as something that can scale up. Putting together a solid business plan and a clear vision can make that process much smoother.

“Money is competitive,” Quis Quis said. “You need a really good financial plan in order to look attractive to investors and to have that plan set out as tightly as you can.”

Cherish the little victories, because those are hard to obtain.

As much of an uphill climb as Native entrepreneurship can be, the results can be incredible. As a business journalist, I’ve followed stories of people who make the climb and begin building wealth for their families and communities.

For example, I first shared a profile for Johnson’s Akana Group well before their first forays into international trade missions and overseas business.

But getting there takes patience and perseverance, says Quis Quis.

“You have to have that long-term vision – there’s no overnight success. That’s not meant to be discouraging, just to say that it takes determination and the ability to see down the road,” Quis Quis said. “There’s a lot of good things out there, but you’re going to go through a meat grinder to find it. If you understand those realities, you can fight through it and succeed.”

There are resources for Indigenous entrepreneurs at nearly any step of their journey: tribal grants for people just getting started, incubators for people hoping to learn where to go next, and financial institutions for taking bigger steps into bigger finances.

While gaps exist and the available resources have a long way to go, seeing what’s available is always a good first step.

Johnson said one of those resources should be mentorship and connectedness with other Native businesses. It’s easy to feel compartmentalized and isolated, but working with other Native businesses can help with figuring out solutions to problems that are sometimes uniquely Indigenous.

“When I talk to other Indigenous business owners, I say, you’re not going through anything that’s unique to you,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to come together and show up for each other. That’s a big part of it.”

Are you hoping to bypass overcrowded channels and engage your audience at the perfect moment? If your answer is yes, you may want to learn about Point-of-Need paid advertising opportunities.

Too many advertisers stick to the basics — they pour money into Google keywords, Facebook ads, maybe even a few billboards or podcast spots.

But here’s the problem: these channels are overcrowded, and the competition is fierce. Ultimately, you end up paying top dollar for less impact, and the returns are dwindling.

If you’re ready to set yourself further away from the competition and tap into advertising channels where your audience is actually engaged, it’s time to rethink your approach. As Kieran and I discuss in a recent episode of Marketing Against the Grain, one high-impact way to do that is Point-of-Need advertising.

In this post, we dig into exactly what Point-of-Need advertising is and how you can use it to cut through the advertising noise and capture your audience’s attention when it matters most.

What is Point-of-Need advertising and why does it matter?

I’ll be honest: Point-of-Need (PoN) advertising is a term I made up. But it’s a potent, actionable strategy that Kieran and I frequently use to maximize our ad spend.

Point-of-Need (PoN) advertising is a tactic that targets your audience at the exact moment they’re most engaged and in need of something — like getting online during a flight, waiting for a taxi ride, or while watching their favorite show.

Especially when traditional ads are becoming increasingly ignored or skipped over, PoN advertising hits when your audience is already laser-focused. So instead of fighting for attention in crowded channels, you’re placing your brand in front of people when they’re most receptive and primed to pay close attention.

This boosts engagement and increases the chances that your message will stick and drive real results.

3 Ways to Incorporate Point-of-Need Advertising Opportunities

Not sure how to get started with PoN advertising? Kieran and I have you covered.

Learn how to reshape your marketing plans with these three, high-impact approaches, along with resources from HubSpot’s Free Advertising Plan Kit.

Let’s dive in!

1. WiFi Sponsorships

One of the most effective PoN advertising opportunities is WiFi sponsorships in transportation, like in airports or on trains. In fact, one of HubSpot’s most successful ad campaigns for both brand awareness and conversion came from testing WiFi ads on airplanes.

We hypothesized that this type of advertising would hit people when and where they’re more attentive — and we were right.

Think about it: when people are on a plane, train, or subway, they’re stuck. They can’t leave, they’re looking for something to do, and most importantly, they want to get online.

If the ‘price’ of WiFi is watching a short ad, they’re going to watch it until they get access to what they wanted in the first place — and that’s what makes this such a powerful PoN moment.

2. Gig Marketplaces

Another untapped PoN opportunity is in-app ads on gig marketplace platforms like Lyft or DoorDash. These are moments when users are waiting for a time-dependent service — a ride, a delivery — and they’re again actively engaged with the app, waiting for a status update.

Take a look at the customer experience when using Uber, for example. When you open the app to call a ride, you’re immediately locked into the experience — checking the driver’s location, ETA, car description, and other details.

Suddenly, an app that was built for transportation transforms into a robust advertising platform. Yet again, this is because users are completely glued to their screens, willingly giving you their undivided attention, until they get the service they originally ordered.

3. Free or Low-Cost Streaming Services

A final, often overlooked, PoN opportunity is Over-the-Top (OTT) advertising on free or low-cost streaming services like Hulu or the ad-supported version of Peacock.

What’s particularly powerful about this strategy is that OTT allows you to reach viewers who are already open to consuming content. They’ve already settled in to watch an entire film or episode — so what’s another 30 seconds?

Plus, with free streaming services, users already expect ads as part of the experience, making them more likely to engage with your message because it’s a transparent part of the deal.

To learn more about accessing untapped advertising opportunities, check out the full episode of Marketing Against the Grain below:

This blog series is in partnership with Marketing Against the Grain, the video podcast. It digs deeper into ideas shared by marketing leaders Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (SVP, Marketing at HubSpot) as they unpack growth strategies and learn from standout founders and peers.

Recruiters and HR professionals have a lot on their plate. From time-consuming customer screening to scheduling interviews and predicting success, they have much to keep track of — especially when hiring at scale.

But in 2024, professionals across industries are starting to take advantage of AI as a handy assistant.

As a writer and entrepreneur, I lean on AI tools every day to help lighten my workload. Recruiters can (and should) be taking advantage of AI recruiting software to help streamline their processes, too.

AI recruiting tools can’t replace a great recruiter or HR person, but they can certainly make recruiting easier.

I’ll be diving into the benefits and limitations of AI tools for recruitment and identifying some variables to assess before you select a tool. Then I’ll take a look at 12 industry-favorite AI recruiting tools.

Table of Contents

• Why use AI recruiting tools?
• How to Choose the Right AI Recruiting Software
• Best AI Recruiting Tools

Why use AI recruiting tools?

For recruiters and HR professionals, AI recruiting software can relieve a long list of the tasks that make up their to-do list. But AI can’t do everything. Here’s a look at the benefits — and limitations — of AI recruiting software.

Benefits

• Improved candidate matching. Recruiting tools can read hundreds of applications and find the ones that best meet your job description, sorting by skills and experience. Some experts have found that AI can cut down on the time spent screening candidates by up to 75%.
• Improving cost per hire (CPH). AI tools minimize the need for excessive job advertising. They also reduce the manpower necessary to hire by automating large parts of the process, driving down CPH.
• Reaching a wider talent pool. AI recruiting software can source talent from multiple platforms and siphon through more applications than a team member could on their own, allowing HR professionals and recruiters to consider a broader variety of talent.
• Filling positions faster. AI recruiting tools speed up the hiring process at multiple points. The screening and interview phase moves quicker with AI augmentation, and many AI tools automate various administrative tasks. In fact, AI tools may cut overall hiring time by nearly 90%.
• Improving candidate experience. AI recruiting tools personalize communication with candidates and provide information about the company and job. But most importantly, since AI tools lead to faster hiring times, candidates don’t need to wait nearly as long to hear whether or not they got the position.

Limitations

• Lack of personal touch. AI tools are limited in their ability to mirror humans. While they can personalize communications, messages generally won’t feel as human as they would if a person wrote them. Not to mention, these tools can’t use intuition to analyze resumes.
• Privacy concerns. Recruiting tools may collect, store, and analyze personal data, infringing on job applicants’ privacy rights.
• Bias. Recruiting software may be trained on biased information, which actually furthers bias, rather than improving it. In fact, Bloomberg reported AI may be worse than humans when it comes to race and gender bias.
• Waste of time for less frequent users. There’s a learning curve that comes with many of these tools, so if an organization is a one-time user looking to analyze a small set of applications, it may not be as much of a time-saver and so not worth the cost.
• Accuracy. Because AI technology lacks human judgment, there are times when the tool may not make accurate conclusions about best-fit candidates for a job placement. AI model error, as well as human error in building the model, contribute to questionable accuracy at times.

I spoke to Dan Kevin Roque, a senior recruiter from HRUCKUS, to hear his thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of using AI at work.

“Anything that requires human interaction and empathy like interviews, addressing candidate concerns, deciding on who to hire, etc. — are things I will not entrust to AI,” said Roque. “But the majority of the stuff recruiters do, including sourcing and writing job descriptions, can be improved with AI.”

Each recruiter may have different reservations and comfort levels with various AI use cases, so it’s important to research your tool well so it helps — and does not hurt — your preferred hiring process.

How to Choose the Right AI Recruiting Software

Augmented vs. Automated

Before you can decide the exact right software for you, you need to consider the two broad types of AI technology: augmented or automated.

Augmented AI technologies assist humans in completing their tasks. If you’re using AI recruiting software, augmented technology would assist you in recruitment analysis and increase your productivity — but it wouldn’t replace you.

I find that augmented technology is generally a bit more comfortable to use — especially for folks who aren’t used to relying on AI. I can audit my results rather than sending them off without looking, which helps build trust for the tools.

Automated technologies complete tasks fully without any human intervention. In the case of recruiting technology, an automated tool could send emails, source profiles, and screen resumes without any human interaction.

Automated tools are faster than augmented tools, but result in lower rates of accuracy — but depending on the task, that may be okay. If your inbox is piling up with interviews to schedule or resumes to peek at, it might be worth considering finding a fully automated tool to lighten your workload.

Roque shared his preference between augmented and automated technology, stating that he likes “a combination of both.”

“I don’t believe AI would truly be able to completely replace human input any time soon,” Roque continued, “but AI automation helps with minor tasks that can take a chunk of a recruiter’s time, and AI augmentation helps support human decision-making and actions.”

Other Considerations

Some other variables I consider when I’m assessing an AI tool are:

• Integration. Does the tool integrate well with your existing hiring process, or will it require a process overhaul?
• Accuracy. How well does the tool identify and evaluate candidates — and how well do you need it to?

(If you’re using it as an augmentation, you won’t need as high a level of accuracy as you would if it’s fully automated.)

• User interface. How easy is the tool to use and what’s the technological proficiency of the recruiting team using it?
• Customization. Can the solution be tailored to fit your organization’s exact needs?
• Support. Does the tool offer good customer support and resources for set-up, implementation, and troubleshooting?

The answers to these questions vary considerably based on the type of problem you’re tackling and the organization you’re working within. I generally prioritize user interface and accuracy when I’m assessing a tool.

Best AI Recruiting Tools

Now that you know the benefits and limitations of AI tools, as well as the type of tool you’re looking for, it’s time to find the right tool for your organization.

There are a lot of great recruiting tools on the market, so here’s a high-level list identifying the basics of the tool, what stood out to me about the software, and the pricing information.

1. iCIMS

iCIMS offers a broad range of capabilities and applications, from a career suite to job postings management to a CRM.

The software is extremely comprehensive, providing end-to-end assistance for recruiters and hiring teams.

There’s an analytics dashboard, applicant tracking, email and messaging capabilities, and a video suite that allows you to personalize and humanize your hiring process.

What I like: iCIMS is a long-standing vendor with a rich history of providing great tools to users. It’s easy to use and straight-forward, so it checks the box for teams who are a bit less tech savvy. I like its broad capabilities — it’s great for companies looking for a comprehensive tool.

Pricing: Custom

2. SeekOut

The SeekOut tool starts when you upload a job description. As talent applies, you can filter and sort results by things like skills, licenses, education, and diversity variables.

Once you’ve found the right candidates, you can take advantage of AI-powered engagement tools to create personalized outreach. The platform is also rich in analytics, with dashboards dedicated to helping you track your hiring goals.

What I like: SeekOut has exceptional filtering, so the tool relieves a lot of the work required to find the right candidates. I also like how the software emphasizes diversity in hiring, which shows up in multiple ways throughout their platform.

Pricing: Multi-tiered annual packages — discover price tag after demoing the software.

3. Paradox.ai

Paradox.ai offers a few different conversational tools, but their recruiting CRM lightens the administrative load for recruiters.

The AI tool can schedule interviews and respond to questions from candidates automatically. With an 82% decrease in time-to-hire and a 99% candidate satisfaction rating, Paradox.ai is clearly doing something right.

What I like: Everything about Paradox.ai is simple and candidate-centric. As much as I want a tool that’s easy for me to use, I also want to make sure it offers a great user experience to the end client or candidate. The Paradox.ai tool is really exceptional when it comes to creating a great candidate experience.

Pricing: Custom

4. Fetcher

Fetcher combines AI tools with recruiting experts to source great candidates for your organization. Use Fetcher to manage and create a pipeline with AI automation, then gather insights about candidate activity and demographics.

You can also integrate tools like your ATS, email, calendar, CRM, and Slack to further improve your team’s productivity.

What I like: I love how Fetcher uses in-house experts to screen your candidates in conjunction with the AI tool. That means you get all the benefits of AI automation with added accuracy from human supervision.

The other thing I like about this tool is that you can add specific diversity initiatives to the search, battling the biases that AI tools sometimes have.

Pricing: Custom

5. Textio

Textio helps you improve the quality of your job listings by giving you insights into tone and word choice.

For recruiters, this means it can also help you choose language that appeals to specific age groups and demographics. It also learns as you use it, so the more frequently you rely on it, the better the output becomes.

What I like: Most AI recruiting tools are about screening automation, but Textio helps you optimize the actual content of your job descriptions. It’s a unique tool that could fit well with other AI software.

Pricing: Tiered packages starting at $15k annually for teams of 1-199.

6. HireVue

HireVue is a tool for interviewing and assessing candidates.

It has a video interview feature, as well as a rich library of AI assessments that allow recruiters to evaluate candidates comprehensively — looking for potential in addition to experience.

It also automates recruitment communication, significantly speeding up the hiring process. Finally, the tool offers analytics, reports, and great customer support.

What I like: HireVue does an exceptional job of reducing bias because of the type of algorithm they use. The tool doesn’t “learn” through increased use, which means that every candidate is assessed equally as time passes. As I start leaning more and more on AI tools, it’s important to me that they’re ethical, and HireVue does a great job of ensuring that.

Pricing: Packages start at $35K.

7. Manatal

Manatal has a simple interface for sharing job posts and gathering a pipeline of qualified candidates.

The AI tool recommends candidates based on job requirements and helps you gather comprehensive information on the candidates from social media accounts.

What I like: Manatal pulls information from social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook to paint a full picture of the candidates applying to your job description. This makes for a really thorough understanding of candidates that recruiters would otherwise have had to create themselves.

Pricing: Plans start at $15 per user/month. For enterprise companies, the price reaches $55 per user/month — which is affordable compared to other options. There is also custom pricing.

8. Humanly

Humanly is an automation platform for recruiters that value human interaction. It automates tasks that don’t need a human touch so recruiters can give more attention where it really counts.

The tool screens candidates and answers questions and then provides feedback for hiring teams. It’s great for companies that are hiring at scale who still want their candidates to have a personalized, positive experience.

What I like: Humanly is aptly named — it’s completely focused on a human-centric application of AI technology. The homepage of the site states that the tool is, “Loved by candidates and recruiting teams.”

I like AI tools that emphasize both the user and the customer and, for both parties to love the tool, they’re really doing something right.

Pricing: Custom

9. Arya

Arya is an AI-driven candidate sourcing tool that finds great candidates quickly and automatically. The tool screens, scores, and ranks candidates based on hundreds of attributes and seven multidimensional data points to predict the candidate’s likelihood of success in the role.

What I like: Arya’s focus is data and analytics. As a result, you get extremely strategic outcomes from the tool. If you’re recruiting at scale, this sort of specificity and accuracy is incredibly important. I think Arya is a great choice for teams hiring lots of candidates on a frequent basis.

Pricing: Custom

10. Skillate

Skillate provides candidate prescreening, automatic scheduling, job description feedback, and predictive analytics to gauge a candidate’s likelihood of taking the offer. It’s a really comprehensive tool for recruiters looking to take a data-driven approach to the entire hiring process.

What I like: Skillate provides in-depth analysis of your company’s hiring trends. You can see insights based on location, experience, education, past companies, and skills. Finding trends like these can significantly speed up the hiring process so it’s great for companies hiring often or at scale.

Pricing: Custom

11. TurboHire

TurboHire is an end-to-end tool that optimizes the entire recruitment process from candidate sourcing to final selection.

The AI recruitment software sources talent from across channels, screens candidates, and provides workflow management. Interviews are automatically scheduled and the tool integrates with any ATS.

What I like: TurboHire claims to reduce time to hire by 78% and cost to hire by 65% while improving the quality of the hire by 5x. It’s hard not to appreciate a tool that can offer such staggering results!

Pricing: Custom

12. Workable

Workable helps you source, interview, and communicate with candidates throughout the hiring process.

You can use the AI tools in the recruiting software to generate job descriptions and interview questions, as well as automate time-consuming tasks like interview scheduling.

Plus, Workable helps you manage signed-on employees at no extra cost.

What I like: With one-click, your job posting can land on 200+ sites. If you’re looking for a highly specialized candidate, or if you want your applications to come in from a diverse number of pools, Workable is a great option.

Pricing: Workable offers a 15-day free trial plan followed by a tiered pricing plan that starts at $189/month.

Finding the Right Tool

There’s clearly no shortage of AI recruiting software on the market — which means teams can be confident there’s a tool out there that’s a perfect fit for their organization.

I think recruiters and HR hiring teams should start by determining what they’d like streamlined before they dive into finding the exact right tool.

Some of these tools target communication, others target job description prep, and others are more focused on administrative automation. If you can clearly define what you’d like done, you’re going to have an easier time finding the right tool.

Securing approval for a marketing budget is often tough, especially in times of economic uncertainty.

I haven’t been there myself, but my learnings from C-level marketers show the many complexities around marketing budgets.

Budget slicing is a common occurrence. Entire initiatives are sometimes shelved.

But there are also those glorious moments when your strategic budget proposal gets the green light.

In this post I’ll share what I learned about marketing budget approval from experts in the field, industry data, and more.

In this article:

• Expert Marketers Featured in this Post
• What Is the Budget Approval Process?
• Benefits of a Budget Approval Workflow
• Marketing Budget Approval
• How to Get Your Marketing Budget Approved

Expert Marketers Featured in this Post

To help you navigate the budget approval process, I talked to three marketers who’ve been in the trenches for 7+ years:

• Johnny Hughes, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Avenue Z
• Pamela Bump, Head of Content Innovation & Research at HubSpot
• Sabina Brdnik, Marketing Strategist at Tretton37

Their stories not only shed light on what it takes to secure a budget, but also offer practical tips you can use right away.

When I spoke to Sabina Brdnik, I learned the Tretton37 team follows a 4-step budget approval process, which you can adopt.

1.  Forecasting
2.  Budget proposal writing
3.  Review and revision
4.  Execution and reporting

Forecasting

Consider this the research, planning, and brainstorming phase. It includes evaluating past performance, analyzing market trends, establishing marketing goals, building your marketing strategy, and estimating associated costs.

Brdnik believes forecasting is the most important step of the budget approval process, and for good reason. If your forecasts aren’t thorough, you’ll struggle to build a compelling case for your budget.

Budget Proposal Writing

Outline the outcome of your forecast in a concise budget proposal. An excellent proposal includes your marketing goals, initiatives, channels, proposed expenses, and, when possible, expected ROI.

For Brdnik’s team, they first “present a detailed plan showing how much money will be invested in individual parts of [the] marketing plan (social media, SEO, influencers, etc).”

Pro tip: Focus your proposal on key points to ensure executives clearly understand the situation. Be concise, as they are likely reviewing proposals from multiple departments.

Review and Revision

Present your budget proposal to the company’s senior management for review and sign-off. Sometimes, they may instantly approve the budget and allocate the required funds. Other times, you may need to provide additional information or make adjustments.

Execution and Reporting

Brdnik says, “During the year, we implement the approved plan and track the actual spent budget versus the forecasted budget.”

Brdnik recommends setting aside 10% of your annual budget as a contingency fund for unexpected circumstances or opportunities, such as a viral trend that could help enhance brand visibility or testing out the new shiny AI tool that will help the team create better and faster articles.

As Johnny Hughes said, “New tools emerge each month, along with new opportunities and risks. We have to be extremely agile and conduct weekly efficacy reports to inform spending.”

Evaluating your budget’s effectiveness and documenting lessons learned helps future budget cycles. “HubSpot — and its endless integrations and dashboards — is our MVP tool that supports this effort,” Hughes adds.

Pro tip: To track your budget, consider using free marketing budget templates. They help you track marketing spend across various channels like content, paid advertising, PR.

Benefits of a Budget Approval Workflow

Below are three primary benefits of a budget approval workflow.

1. Faster Approval Times

Without a budget approval workflow, securing your budget can feel like driving through thick fog. The journey is slow and uncertain. A standardized workflow clears the fog, clarifies the next steps, and lets you move faster.

You can further increase speed by automating your workflow. Business process management software like Jira and Monday.com can help you eliminate hours of manual budgeting activities. For instance, instead of exchanging emails endlessly, an automated workflow can notify assignees to act.

2. Compels You to Set Robust Marketing Goals

Data from CoSchedule’s 2022 Trend Report reveals marketers who set goals are 377% more successful than their peers.

Yet, 30% of marketers do not set specific goals. I have seen firsthand how this results in wasteful spending — and worse, makes it difficult to measure success.

But with a marketing strategy required in your budget approval process, setting clear marketing goals becomes a must, leading to better resource management.

3. Democratizes Decision-Making

Top leaders need to delegate decision-making so they can focus on other high-level activities. A budget approval process lets them establish boundaries and set clear guidelines for decision-making. Once the budget is approved, managers can exercise autonomy within established limits.

Marketing Budget Approval

Why Marketing Budgets Are So Hard to Get Approved

When I spoke to Pamela Bump, she told me, “It’s often hard to tie marketing efforts and KPIs (like traffic or reach) to direct ROI (like sales or renewals).” That’s why leadership is sometimes reluctant to allocate funds to marketing.

Marketing attribution helps address this challenge by allowing marketers to analyze the buyer’s journey, identify effective touchpoints, and measure the impact of each effort.

However, recent events suggest attribution is dying and becoming increasingly difficult. Apple‘s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework and new privacy laws in New York, California, Canada, and the EU have significantly limited marketers’ ability to track buyers.

Additionally, about one-third of internet users use ad blockers which block tracking scripts.

These developments complicate efforts to measure marketing effectiveness and convince higher-ups that marketing investments will pay off.

How to Get Your Marketing Budget Approved

I asked our marketing experts to share tips to help others secure their marketing budget. Here’s what they said.

Align Marketing Goals with Company Goals

“The key to any successful budget request is knowing what KPIs your upper leaders need to drive,” says Bump. “Spoiler: They’ll likely tie it to company revenue,” Bump adds.

Your budget proposal should show you understand your leadership’s priorities and want to achieve them. Without this, you don’t have a leg to stand on.

Show Path to ROI

Determining marketing ROI can be tricky. Still, it’s important to justify your budget and prove it’s an investment, not a black hole sucking up the company’s profit.

As Bump shared, once you know the KPIs that resonate with your executives, you can show how your investment could drive ROI directly or support those KPIs.

For example, if you pitch for more blog writers, emphasize how the content will generate leads that drive visitors further into the sales pipeline, not just increase traffic or clicks.

Hughes’s team still relies heavily on marketing attribution data to track ROI.

First, Hughes ensures alignment on the key channels driving business growth. He also ensures the attribution data is clean for accurate ROI reporting. They then track returns on a week-over-week basis.

This approach helps Hughes avoid pushback from stakeholders.

Use Data to Justify Your Budget

“Ground your request and any estimates you make in data-backed evidence,” says Bump.

Without data, all you have is an opinion. And an opinion alone might be unconvincing.

Hughes considers data a “fortress of numbers to defend against budget cuts and welcome new investments” and says, “We rely heavily on ROI metrics from previous campaigns, market trend analysis, and competitive benchmarking.”

Similarly, Brdnik says that competitive benchmarking is vital when pitching new ideas without past firsthand data.

“I had an interesting experience getting approval for a new TikTok campaign. We are not active on the platform. So, to strengthen our pitch, we used competitor analysis showing similar brands saw up to a 30% increase in engagement,” Brdnik explains.

Request a Small Budget for New Ideas.

Justifying the budget for similar/past campaigns is pretty straightforward. For instance, if a Cost Per Purchase (CPP) campaign generated $100K in revenue for a $20K spend, it easily justifies a similar budget for future initiatives.

However, as Brdnik shared, “The problem arises when we have to justify more innovative/new ideas and strategies based on no previous data.”

In such situations, be more rigorous and creative in vetting opportunities. Then, run small tests to validate your hypothesis. If successful, securing additional investment becomes easier.

Brdnik said she allocates up to “20% of the annual budget for new/innovative projects.” Data from these tests then guide the next steps.

To improve their chances of success, Brdnik sticks to best practices when testing new ideas, and Hughes recommends implementing a flexible budget model and making real-time adjustments based on performance metrics.

Get Early Support

There’s a lot of lead-up work involved in getting marketing budget buy-in. If you’re in a big company, you likely can’t walk up to a busy CMO and ask for $1 million without other leaders supporting you.

So, before investing time in research or proposal writing, casually discuss your idea with your manager.

As Bump shared, “Your manager is human and has also requested, secured, and faced rejections of budgets before. Plus, your manager is likely the most KPI-obsessed person on your team to guide you in the right direction.

So they’ll know more about how to think and talk to the executives above them.

They’ll also know what motivates those executives and the biggest KPIs they desperately want to drive.”

With this early support and guidance, you set your proposal up for success or refine the idea if needed. This saves time on budget revisions or unnecessary proof-of-concept tests.

Here are some messages that Bump shared with me to start conversations with managers.

Example 1:

Hi [Manager],

I [noticed/read/observed] that [evidence] leads to [KPI], and I’d like to pitch an idea/project to test that I think could help us explore/scale this further.

I would love to get your thoughts and see if there’s any budget available for a test like this before I start writing a deeper proposal for you in our next one-on-one.

Example 2:

Hi [Manager],

I would love to pitch a [lean budget or project] to test how [tactic] leads to social media reach. However, I know reach doesn’t directly tie to the KPIs our department ladders up to.

I’d love to get your guidance on how we could connect these KPIs or how we’ve tied reach to revenue in the past before pitching potential tactics around it.

Be Prepared for Pushback and Be Open to Compromise

“It’s important to have concrete arguments about why something is necessary when stakeholders push back,” Brdnik says. Your executives may not have the details you do, so be ready to provide additional information and data to address their objections.

Remember, marketing is just one department, and there are others competing for a share of the company’s fixed budget. So, be open to compromise wherever it is possible.

“If stakeholders think $50K of the budget is excessive for influencer marketing, propose a pilot program for 50% of it and test (and measure) its effectiveness,” Brdnik advises.

The point is to put yourself in the shoes of your higher-ups. Think like a business owner aiming to generate significant returns from marketing spend. This will allow you to be more rigorous in your analysis.

Continue to Earn Trust

If you lock down the budget, spend it responsibly and report on the results, as Bump suggests.

This keeps you accountable for spending your budget based on impact. It’ll also earn you the trust and support of executives who can decrease or increase the budget in future quarters.

Brdnik regularly updates stakeholders, mostly via monthly email reports. Her team also creates quarterly reports that show all relevant KPIs (lead generation, conversion rates, etc.) to illustrate marketing’s contribution to overall revenue.

Getting Your Budget Proposal Greenlit

Marketing budgets are among the first to be scrutinized in many companies. I’ve seen several marketers vent about this on LinkedIn, especially when they experience budget cuts.

Sometimes, this scrutiny arises when executives view marketing as less essential than other departments. However, it’s also prevalent because leadership wants efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and solid ROI.

And that’s okay! After all, it’s their job to get value for every dollar spent.

Understanding this lets you embrace the challenge. Lean into it. Anticipate objections from leadership and become more strategic.

Plan thoroughly and prioritize the most impactful initiatives. These ultimately make you more effective in driving results and securing future investments.

Bump, for example, started with $0 per year but now manages an increasing budget, a team of four direct reports, and a part-time contractor.

By applying the tips in this post, you’ll not only secure the funding you need but also strengthen your ability to drive impactful marketing initiatives.

The wild ride of AI is still on, and industries across the globe are riding it for growth. But concerns are also mounting.

For one, professionals continue to question AI’s impact on their work. This is especially true for many marketers and content creators, such as myself, who are keen to understand the role of AI in content marketing.

With the global revenue for AI in marketing pegged at over $107.5 billion by 2028, there is no doubt that AI will soon (and may already) be an integral part of the digital marketing landscape.

So, for the creator or marketer who wishes to stay ahead of the curve, knowing how to leverage this technology is a no-brainer.

Using the real experiences of marketing professionals and data from our recent State of AI for Marketers survey, I will answer your questions about how creators and marketers are using AI in 2024 and what this means for their output and productivity.

Table of Contents

• What is AI in content marketing?
• Benefits of Using AI in Content Marketing
• How to Use AI in Content Marketing
• AI in Content Marketing Examples
• Will AI replace content creators?

What is AI in content marketing?

While there’s no standard definition of “AI in content marketing,” I will attempt to build one based on the understanding of the two concepts.

Corey Wainwright describes content marketing as a “marketing program that centers on creating, publishing, and distributing content for your target audience — usually online — the goal of which is to attract new customers.”

Google defines AI as “a set of technologies that enable computers to perform a variety of functions, including the ability to see, understand and translate spoken and written language, analyze data, make recommendations, and more.”

Combining these two concepts into one definition for AI in content marketing would look like this:

AI in content marketing involves using technologies that analyze data, understand language, and make recommendations to create, publish, and distribute content designed to engage an online audience.

Benefits of Using AI in Content Marketing

I’ve gathered some of the most popular applications of AI in content marketing, and their benefits are below.

1. Content Creation

In our 2024 State of AI report, 43% of marketers place content creation as the most popular use case of AI in content marketing.

Content can take many forms — written, visual, video, and audio — and marketers are using generative AI to bring these to life at scale.

“As a PR professional working with high-growth SaaS startups and VC firms, AI enables us to craft more personalized stories that resonate deeply with their audiences, drive engagement, and ultimately, build stronger, more credible brands,” Sim Aulakh, founder of PR firm EstablishCred, says.

Benefits: In using generative AI to do anything from writing marketing copy to turning text into video, marketers can save time and increase productivity in the content creation process.

2. Research

Content marketers need to know enough about customers, competitors, and their industry to make confident decisions about the entire pipeline of content production.

AI tools can be quite useful in finding this information and analyzing volumes of data to identify trends, keywords, and relevant information, all in record time.

For example, HubSpot’s new AI Search Grader — a first-of-its-kind, free app that quickly analyzes your brand based on what your prospects and customers are seeing across AI search engines — gives you actionable recommendations on how to improve. Imagine the wonders this would do for any marketing team.

Benefits: Besides saving time and effort, using AI for content marketing research guarantees that decisions are made more quickly and confidently than manual research. Advanced AI models can even extract up-to-date information for more accurate content planning.

3. Brainstorming Content Ideas

I know from personal experience that to be a creative professional is to, among other things, accept the fact that good ideas may elude you once in a while.

With AI, I’ve found this creative block does not need to linger for long as there are tools that will generate or suggest creative concepts that you could tweak to your liking. As a content writer, I personally love having AI as a brainstorming partner when I get stuck.

For Aulakh, whose company undertakes several creative projects, leveraging AI for content brainstorming has been pivotal to their recent growth.

“While human creativity cannot be replaced by AI, it can be enhanced by AI. As an example, AI tools like Gemini and ChatGPT have helped us during brainstorming and ideation processes for content projects. Now, we’re able to deliver on projects at a fraction of the time it used to take us,” he says

Benefits: Brainstorming with AI will not only kickstart your creative engines but also speed up the process. Nearly 82% of the marketers surveyed say that using AI for brainstorming content ideas has saved them at least one hour of their precious time.

4. Data Analysis And Reporting

To learn how content distribution is faring in the market and impacting the business, content marketers need to rely on data analytics.

AI-powered analytics tools evaluate content performance and generate detailed reports on engagement metrics, ROI, and audience behavior.

This is, in fact, the third most popular use case of AI for marketers, according to our survey.

Benefits: Provides data-driven and actionable insights for optimizing content strategies and could also automate reporting. This improves the quality of decisions the marketer makes which, in turn, affects performance positively.

5. Self Upskilling

Ever been in the middle of work and reached a hurdle that only a quick search or YouTube video could help you cross? Well, 41% of the marketers we surveyed have and they say using AI helped them learn how to do those things.

Benefits: Besides the comfort of learning how to solve a problem and doing so in record time, this use case also ensures that marketers remain competitive and knowledgeable in the ever-evolving landscape of marketing.

How to Use AI in Content Marketing

Let’s now test some of the use cases mentioned above.

Without a good idea, it’s impossible to get the content on the road to either attract or engage audiences. So, we’ll start with brainstorming.

Assume I’m a content marketer at HubSpot who needs a cool video idea for distribution on our social media channels.

I found a cool AI brainstorming platform called Ideamap AI and asked it to brainstorm a video content idea for HubSpot, after providing context on what kind of brand HubSpot is. You’ll find that the map it produces is a bit much, considering that I already have trouble deciding what I want to do.

I chose the first idea and used the expand with AI option to generate more ideas or inspiration for marketing content.

One way AI can be used for ideas or inspiration is by creating a mood board with tools like Kive.ai.

Given the sheer range of options for expansion and transformation available, it is nearly impossible not to find something you would be willing to work on.

So, we are creating an animated explainer video showcasing how HubSpot connects marketing, sales, and customer service.

To get accurate information needed for this video, I will need to extract it from the website. This time, I will employ the research abilities of ChatGPT Plus, which can pull real-time information from the internet.

While it does a good job of extracting the information (from six sites), the output is not exactly video material. So, the next step would be to ask it to create the video script, which would kickstart the content creation process.

Since OpenAI’s Sora has still not been released to the public, I had to find available alternatives. It is worth mentioning here that 70% of the marketers we surveyed say they cannot wait to use the new tech.

However, Elai, an intuitive AI video creator, came in handy.

Creating the video with the script ChatGPT helped me create was indeed straightforward, although I must mention that there were not many video editing options to choose from.

Using an avatar, an American voice sample, and a blank background with HubSpot’s brand color were as far as I could go, especially as someone with limited video editing skills.

While I think this attempt was far from flawless, it was a solid effort. With some additional time to refine the details, I believe it has the potential to be even better.

AI in Content Marketing Examples

Generating Ideas & Inspiration: Mateo Toro

There’s an abundance of marketing professionals leveraging AI to boost their productivity and enhance their strategies.

For example, filmmaker and photographer Mateo Toro recently started using Kive.ai to design mood boards to develop treatments for his film projects.

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. ”[Kive.ai] just makes it so much easier for me to find the video that has a style or tone I’m looking to emulate.”

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.

“In a video treatment, I could be going through 10, 15, 20 videos to reference,“ he said. ”You add that up, and it could easily be an hour of time just scrubbing through, screenshotting, and dragging content to a treatment.”

Writing Copy: Bethany Anderson

Then there’s Bethany Anderson, a public information officer for Milton, Florida, who says ChatGPT streamlines the writing aspect of her job.

“I love it because ChatGPT is a software that learns,” Anderson explains.

She says ChatGPT can mimic her writing style, so she’ll sometimes use the tool to write press releases, social media posts, and SEO-friendly blog content.

Anderson says the tool is handy because writing is a crucial part of her job, but it’s far from the only responsibility she has to tackle daily.

“I am behind the scenes planning events and getting them out to the public,“ she says. ”So, ChatGPT allows me to get the writing done in a very easy, seamless way so that I can get to the bones of my job — which is outreach.”

Anderson admits she was wary of ChatGPT at first but tested it out during a week that was jam-packed with deadlines.

“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 recalls. “So I said, ‘I’m going to give it a try.’”

Days worth of writing assignments could be completed in just a few hours thanks to the assistance of AI, according to Anderson.

Her experience aligns with the findings of our survey — nearly 80% of marketers said generative AI has a positive ROI on their content writing tasks.

“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.”

Editing Drafts: Irina Nica

On the other hand, Irina Nica, HubSpot’s Senior Product Marketing Manager, uses HubSpot’s AI Content Writer to edit her drafts.

“It’s like having a second pair of eyes that helps me go through my drafts, tidy them up, and get them out there faster. Don’t get me wrong … Writing is a huge part of my job and something that AI can’t take over, but it sure helps to speed up the nitty-gritty bits like editing.”

She also uses ChatSpot, HubSpot’s AI chatbot solution designed to help businesses perform marketing and sales operations, to supercharge her research.

“I like to use ChatSpot for getting quick recommendations for products, books, or any type of resource really. Say I‘m looking for the best product marketing book for SaaS companies; normally, I’d be knee-deep in Google searches, reading articles, and checking out recommendations on Goodreads,” Nica says.

“But with the right prompt, ChatSpot can get me there 10X faster. I still give its final recommendation a quick Google check, but it’s a super handy shortcut.”

Will AI replace content creators?

A common concern surrounding the use of AI is whether the technology will replace human marketers and creators. Nima Olumi of Lightyear Strategies says it’s unlikely.

“We use AI to pull a lot of statistics, come up with interesting angles to pitch to companies, and work around certain angles that are marketing and media-friendly,” Olumi said. “I don’t think it’s a complete replacement for writers or thinkers.”

Writing and content creation are subjective fields, according to Olumi, and they still require people to do the necessary critical thinking to decide the kind of content that gets published.

Ultimately, Olumi predicts a future where AI will assist marketers and creatives in improving their output and producing content in a shorter time.

This makes sense, considering our survey found that 74% of marketers agree that AI tools can help them be more productive in their roles.

Olumi encourages professionals to embrace AI and use it to their advantage rather than shy away.

Specifically, he says creators should spend time learning and testing applications like Open.ai and ChatGPT to see their different capabilities.

“Spend hours asking question after question to see how far you can push the limits of the application to serve your needs,” he said. “You have to feed it context.”

Making the Most of AI

As the presence of AI in marketing continues to grow significantly, I suggest you take the time to discover how it can best serve your own team’s needs.

Professionals and creatives like Olumi, Aulakh, Anderson, Nica, and Toro all found ways to use AI to help them improve the efficiency and quality of their content.

Instead of worrying whether the robots will take over, I recommend finding ways to work alongside AI, so you and your company can remain competitive in the market and essential to your clients.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

If you asked whether technology could replace marketing a few decades ago, most would look at you like you hit your head on concrete. Now, it’s no more a question but an issue that’s sparking industry-wide debate.

And we owe this specifically to the generative AI surge — which has more implications for the creative sector than many others.

But the question is, will AI replace marketers or make us better? And what about SEO? Will Googling be replaced with AI chatbots — and what does all that mean for content creation?

To answer these questions, I spoke with Samyutha Reddy, Jasper’s former Head of Enterprise Marketing, to explore her perspectives on what the future holds for AI in marketing and organic search.

Table of Contents

• How do marketers use AI?
• Why AI Won’t Replace Marketing
• AI is a Tool For Marketers, Not a Replacement
• But what about the search engines?
• So, will marketing be replaced by AI?

How do marketers use AI?

First, let’s consider how generative AI is even used in marketing.

Marketers surveyed in our 2024 State of AI in Marketing revealed the major tasks they use AI for. Top on that list are content creation, research, brainstorming, learning, and data analysis.

These tools are offering marketers the ability to generate content more quickly, analyze vast amounts of data with greater accuracy, and even come up with creative ideas through AI-powered brainstorming sessions. All leading to significantly positive ROI for their efforts.

Still, 48% of marketers in our survey are concerned about AI replacing their jobs in the next few years while a whopping 69% believes it’s a possibility that AI completely replaces human beings in the workplace one day.

But here’s why Reddy and I think that may not happen.

Why AI Won’t Replace Marketing

1. AI augments the human experience (but it doesn’t replace the human within that experience).

Generative AI can research any topic online and create original content, formatted as a blog post, email, ad, or more, based on the query — and in record time. In the future, rather than needing a team of five or ten content creators, will you just need one — someone to fact-check the AI’s content?

Fortunately, Reddy isn’t worried. In fact, even though her team used generative AI on a daily basis, she was still actively hiring and growing her team.

As she puts it, “AI augments the human experience, but it doesn’t replace the human within that experience. We value writers in our society because they’re able to give us a thought-provoking human perspective on the world.

It isn’t just about summarizing facts that are out there. It’s about humans sharing opinions on very real topics that help build your perspective on how you feel about something. So an AI [tool] could really never replace that human perspective.”

2. AI still has biases.

Because generative AI is still early in its development, it is prone to potential biases and inaccuracies it cannot discern in the information it gathers. These biases can lead to skewed outputs that may not align with reality, making it essential to maintain human oversight in the process.

Reddy highlights this issue, stating, “AI has biases deeply embedded within its models that people are working on. AI has the tendency to hallucinate and start talking about random things when you’re asking it for outputs, so it would be really tough to just completely remove a human from the process.”

This tendency of AI to “hallucinate” or produce irrelevant and sometimes nonsensical content underscores the importance of human intervention to ensure accuracy and relevance.

AI is a Tool For Marketers, Not a Replacement

Instead of viewing this technology as a threat, Reddy suggests marketers do this instead:

“I think the angle you take matters on this whole generative AI front. If you’re a writer, content creator, or a marketer, you’ll want to ask yourself:

‘Am I going to be someone that embraces technology and figures out how to upskill myself and actually become the cream of the crop in terms of talent? Or am I going to be someone who pushes technology away, refuses to believe it’s happening, and clings onto an old way of life?’”

Although AI will not take your job, you must not underestimate its impact on your role as a marketer. Here’s how Reddy suggests you stay on top of this innovation.

1. Marketers will need to reskill.

As aspects of content creation become more automated, Reddy acknowledges that AI will force content creators to reskill. She told me, “I think it’ll force content creators to re-skill. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think that’s what every big shift in technology has done for humans.”

She adds, “I’ve never met a content creator who has said, ‘Wait. I really want to spend more time doing all the rote tasks of reading everything I need to know on the internet about a given topic.’ AI will give marketers more time to be creative, form an opinion, and incorporate more data sources into their perspectives.”

Rather than thinking of AI as a content creator replacement, it‘s better to think of AI as a marketer’s efficient side-kick.

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Consider this: A marketer decides she wants to write a topic about SWOT analysis.

Rather than spending her morning chugging coffee and reading up on what SWOT analysis means, effective SWOT analysis examples, and how SWOT analyses can help businesses grow, she can simply plug the query into an AI chatbot.

Once she’s confirmed the sources the chatbot used to pull that information are accurate, she can quickly skim through the AI’s response and learn everything she needs to begin writing about the topic. She can even use the AI’s response as a first draft, and strengthen it with her own unique tone and perspective.

From there, she can leverage the AI’s proofreading skills to edit her final copy.

Additionally, if the marketer has written a piece of content that she’d like to turn into an entire campaign, she can use AI to re-format her blog post into corresponding ad copy, which she can then hand over to her sales and paid ad teams.

As Reddy puts it, “I can effectively hand over to sales an entire drip campaign, an entire outbound sequence, complete with landing pages, with the ads that people will click and see.

And it really allows me to take control back on what it means to execute a campaign. It enables me to truly be a project manager and a strategist, versus someone who is waiting on other people to deliver their end of the bargain.”

57% of our surveyed marketers also confess to feeling pressured to learn new skills so AI won’t make them irrelevant — so this checks out.

2. Marketers will need to become experts in select AI platforms.

Freelancing platform Upwork recently added a new category, ‘Generative AI’, as a specialty within their marketplace.

This means business leaders can now hire freelance content creators who have expertise with a specific AI platform — and Reddy isn’t surprised.

She continues, “Similar to how a marketer can level-up by becoming HubSpot or Salesforce certified, I think we’ll soon see marketers who demonstrate their value by saying, ‘Hey, I’m skilled in using generative AI platforms.’”

Reddy sees marketers at the forefront of a tool that will ultimately upend all roles within a business, and she believes there’s great privilege in being the first to adopt it.

As she puts it, “I think there’s a certain power here that marketers can reclaim, and instead of being the victims in this story of ‘generative AI is coming for marketing’, I think we really reposition it as saying, ‘generative AI has landed in the most innovative portion of the enterprise: marketing.’”

She continues, “And we are now the stewards of this technology and how it’’l be used within the enterprise, and we get to pilot it and see how it can supercharge our work.

And the folks who lean into being the stewards of this powerful technology will reap its benefits. I consider myself and our industry extremely lucky to be in this position.”

But what about the search engines?

Away from getting quick answers to common queries, marketers use search engines to complete tasks like SEO optimization to improve website rankings, conduct keyword research to target relevant search terms and analyze competitors to improve their strategy.

Now, with research being the second most-popular use case for marketers using AI, it stands to reason that they’ll be leveraging traditional search engines less often.

And as more people move to AI search engines, tools like HubSpot’s AI Search Grader are helping marketers optimize their search performance.

It’s a free app that quickly analyzes your brand based on what your prospects and customers are seeing across AI search engines, then gives you actionable recommendations on how to improve.

But what does this mean for traditional search engines? Would we no longer need, or use, them?

Reddy begs to differ, particularly since the information supplied on search engines is what powers generative AI results. She however sees it drastically changing.

As she puts it, “Search can help battle AI’s inaccuracies. For instance, Jasper has a function where you can toggle on Google search results.

So if I say, ‘Jasper, help me write a paragraph about XYZ,’ it’ll write the paragraph, and at the bottom it’ll put in the Google search results it used while it helped me create that output.

So I have factual links which I can cite, and fact-check to ensure they’re the most reliable piece of content on a given topic.”

She continues, “I don’t see search going away. I do see a future where I don’t necessarily want to type things into a search bar, and instead, I want to use chat functionality. That, I think, is imminent.

And I think we’re already seeing that with the virality of ChatGPT. In just a couple of days, it’s become the fastest-growing consumer app.”

So, will marketing be replaced by AI?

In short, our marketing jobs and search engines are safe — for now.Ultimately, my conversation with Reddy felt positive and uplifting. As marketers, we don’t need to fear AI; We need to embrace it as technology that will help us do our jobs better.

And, personally, I‘m all for any tool that minimizes the amount of time I spend doing rote tasks, so I can get back to what really matters: creating content with the intention to move, inspire, or challenge readers’ to think differently.

Think HubSpot isn’t getting in on the generative AI action? Think again. Learn about our brand-new ChatSpot and Content Assistant tools and how you can access them.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in February 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Let’s play a game: Tell me how old you are without telling me how old you are.

Not sure how to respond? Well, chances are your content consumption habits give you away.

For instance, I love Instagram and Netflix but have left my Snapchat stage behind and don’t understand Roblox.

(If you’re scratching your head, don’t worry. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to pinpoint my age, like the label on a wine bottle.)

In a world driven by content marketing, understanding how your target audience prefers to consume information is critical to getting your messages seen and heard. However, the specifics can differ dramatically based on age and generation.

Let’s break down some of each generation’s most prominent content consumption habits based on data and how to shape your strategy with them in mind.

Content Consumption Habits By Generation

To be real, I don’t like to put anyone in a box. Everyone’s different. Using me as an example again, I actually love watching television and network news, but this is uncommon with others in my generation.

All consumers are unique, but that level of personalization as a marketer isn’t really realistic. General benchmarks and statistical data, like those below, can inform a strategy you later test and refine.

Keep this in mind as we discuss:

• Gen Alpha Content Consumption Habits
• Gen Z Content Consumption Habits
• Millennial Content Consumption Habits
• Gen X Content Consumption Habits
• Baby Boomer Content Consumption Habits
• What content consumption habits do all generations have in common?

Note: Many of these trends are pulled from HubSpot’s 2024 Consumer Trends Report, based on our survey of over 700 US consumers.

You can download the full report here.

Gen Alpha Content Consumption Habits ​​

Members of Gen Alpha (born between 2012 and 2024) may not be buyers right now, but they are big consumers.

And they’re certainly influential in the purchases of their elders. Here’s what you need to know about their content consumption habits.

Video Preference

Gen Alpha is very young. Its members have limited independence and mobility, and over 50% own an iPad, so it’s no surprise video is a popular medium.

According to research firm Beano Brain, they think YouTube is “the coolest brand.”

Consumer research platform GWI also found YouTube to be the top video streaming platform for Gen Alpha in 11 out of 14 markets, second only to Netflix in the remaining three.

There’s something for every Gen Alpha on YouTube, ranging from education to entertainment. The youngest members are still in diapers, watching Ms. Rachel and Cocomelon, while older kids are leaning toward Like Nastya or even MrBeast.

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What can you do as a marketer? If you’re trying to get in front of Gen Alpha, invest in YouTube Marketing or consider partnering with YouTube influencers. We’ve got a comprehensive YouTube Marketing Guide and a free course to get you started. You can also consider YouTube Ads.

Gaming As a Pastime

While on their iPads, there’s also a good chance Gen Alpha is playing a game like Roblox or Minecraft.

GWI found over 70% play digital games every day, making it their most popular pastime ahead of watching TV/movies, social media, or talking to friends on other platforms.

These games let players build virtual worlds they can explore with real-life friends who are also playing. They’re also working to enhance their worlds by purchasing new avatars, mini-games, abilities, animations, or apparel.

What can you do as a marketer? Many of the objects and experiences available for purchase in these games mimic those into real life; they’re often even branded. If you have the means, explore how you can create a brand experience in a game like Roblox, get featured in their marketing channels, or run ads.

For example, athletic brand Nike created Nikeland in the game.

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As Obsessar explains, Nikeland is “a permanent virtual space for fans to connect, create and compete, empowering users to be their own creator and design mini-games from interactive sports materials.

Users can also compete in various mini-games such as tag, the floor is lava and dodgeball with their friends.”

“Nikeland leverages accelerometers on a user’s mobile device to translate offline movement to online. Users can also get signature Nike sneakers for their avatars from the virtual shop.”

Gen Z Content Consumption Habits

With its oldest members entering their late 20s, Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2009) is rising in spending power every day — and that’s with it already sitting with over $450 million in the US alone.

What content consumption habits do you need to know to get a piece of the pie?

Learn even more about Gen Z buying habits and how to align as a marketer.

Social Media Dominance

According to the World Economic Forum, Gen Z spends an average of nearly three hours per day on social media. That’s more than any other generation, and there’s very little they don’t do there.

HubSpot research shows social media is Gen Z’s #1 channel for product discovery, and 43% have bought something via a social media app in the past three months. They also turn to it for entertainment, education, and socializing.

Our survey also found Gen Z’s top three social media platforms are TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, but according to Morning Consult, Snapchat is not far behind.

What can you do as a marketer? Explore different ways to establish a presence on social media. Popular options include creating video content (a favorite of Gen Z), running paid ads, user-generated content campaigns, and working with influencers.

Content Hub features like Social Inbox and Content Remix can help execute social strategies to reach Gen Z in HubSpot as well.

Trusting Influencers

When it comes to purchase decisions, our research discovered that Gen Z finds recommendations from influencers even more important than those from friends and family. And their impact doesn’t stop there.

Gen Z finds influencers and content creators relatable and trustworthy. As The Drum explained, they follow them because they “can offer connection, companionship, and aspiration.”

Because of this, they not only influence a follower’s purchase decisions but also their personal views.

What can you do as a marketer? Explore which influencers and creators your Gen Z buyers follow and if you can potentially partner with them. Perhaps you could send them a free product to post about or work on a larger content collaboration.

Learn more about your options for influencer marketing in our ultimate guide.

Millennials Content Consumption Habits

Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) are unique among other generations in that they were born in an analog world but came of age in a digital one. This dual identity can be seen in their content consumption habits.

Mingling with Social Media

Social media started to rise during the early 2000s, making it contemporaries with millennials. Millennials have seen socials’ many evolutions and been a major player in shaping the cultures of older platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).

Like Gen Z, social media is the #1 channel for product discovery for millennials, but their favorite is YouTube, with Facebook and Instagram following.

45% of millennials also get their daily news from social media and over 60% their financial education.

What can you do as a marketer? Aim to educate millennial audiences on social media. This is one of the most effective ways to showcase your expertise and build the trusting relationships needed to eventually make a purchase.

Learn more about the most effective types of social media content.

Podcasts

Podcasts also came of age alongside millennials. eMarketer found that 64.2% of the generation listen to podcasts, while Edison Research found millennials and older members of Gen Z turn to them more than any other age group.

What can you do as a marketer? Consider starting a podcast for your audience or perhaps sponsoring or advertising on a podcast you know your audience already listens to. Both of these options will help you get your marketing message into millennials’ ears — literally and figuratively.

HubSpot has created several podcasts over the years, including Marketing Against the Grain.

But today, we also have a large podcast network that brings together many programs our audience can learn from.

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Many podcast streaming platforms, like Spotify, also offer ads.

Speaking of streaming…

Subscription Services

A recent Kagan US Consumer Insights shows millennials spend nine hours per day on digital entertainment.

It may surprise you, however, that more of this time is spent listening to music (2.8 hours) and playing video games (2.4 hours) than watching TV/video content (4.0 hours per day).

This is despite having, on average, 6.1 online video subscription services.

Sounds to me like one generation may need a subscription detox.

Out of these video subscription services, the most popular is Netflix (77%), followed by Amazon Prime Video (64%), with Hulu and Disney+ neck-and-neck for third place.

What can you do as a marketer? Now, of course, you can’t get original content on your favorite streaming platform — that would be cool though, right? But more and more streaming services are offering ad-supported tiers, so you can still promote your product or service to viewers.

According to a study by eMarketer, individuals of all ages watch video with ad-supported subscriptions at least once a month, with 80% of Amazon Prime Video subscribers opting for ad-supported.

Depending on your millennial audience’s preferences, these could be a great option for getting their attention.

If these ads are out of your budget, you can also explore creative ways to incorporate popular streaming shows into your content. Consider how HubSpot incorporated the HBO series “And Just Like That” into its Instagram content:

Gen X Content Consumption Habits

Unlike the generations that came after them, members of Gen X (born between 1965 and 1980) are not digital natives. They grew up with more traditional media before being exposed to the internet when they were already of working age.

Television

Though overall television viewership is trending downward in favor of streaming, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found members of Gen X watch an average of 2.5-3 hours a day.

That’s about 87%, according to Provoke Insights, making them the second largest viewer group behind only baby boomers.

Television is also Gen X’s second favorite source of daily news, behind social media.

And this makes sense. Gen X grew up during the initial arrival of home television.

What can you do as a marketer? Television ads may not be the most “inbound” strategy, but they can still be effective for reaching nostalgic Gen X audiences. Learn more about the potential in our Ultimate Guide to TV Ads.

Affinity for Mature Social Media

While of an older age when introduced to social media, Gen X have also become big fans of the medium.

In fact, it is their second most-used channel for weekly media consumption (behind television).

Like its younger successors, millennials and Gen Z, our research found social media is the #1 channel for product discovery for Gen X. However, they prefer Facebook, followed by YouTube (the same as baby boomers).

What can you do as a marketer? Don’t sleep on Facebook marketing. While waning in popularity with individuals under 45, the platform is only growing with Gen X and Baby Boomers. Here are some resources to get you started:

• How to Create a Facebook Business Page in 5 Simple Steps [Tutorial]
• How to Use Facebook for Business: 25 Facebook Marketing Tips and Tricks
• How to Run Facebook Ads: Step-by-Step Guide to Advertising on Facebook

Baby Boomer Content Consumption Habits

Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) were the largest generation in the United States until millennials arrived.

As Investopedia explains, they generally remain “economically and politically influential because of their large numbers and the relative prosperity of the U.S. economy during their working careers.”

So, their content consumption habits are worth noting.

Television

Baby boomers dramatically prefer TV to other content mediums.

93% turn to it for the majority of their weekly media consumption, and while they have subscription services, the number only hovers around 2.5 per household, four less than Gen Z or millennials.

But what are they watching? Aside from embracing shows like Yellowstone and Dancing with the Stars for entertainment, they also turn to network and cable news as their preferred channels for daily news.

46% report watching live, leading other generations by 14%.

What can you do as a marketer? Like with Gen X, television ads may be the way to go to get in front of baby boomers, but you can also consider looking into some of their favorite shows and incorporating them into your content.

Social Media Savviness

While they didn’t grow up with it, baby boomers love social media just as much as their generational successors.

Like Gen X, our report shows their top platforms to be Facebook (70% have visited the site in the last three months) and YouTube, with those two also leading for their free video consumption, according to Kagan.

Unlike other generations, however, our research found social media is their least preferred channel for product discovery.

What can you do as a marketer? Lean into long-form video content on Facebook and YouTube. With their love of television and some social media, experimenting with long-form video could be the secret to leaving a mark on baby boomers.

You can also try going live on Facebook or YouTube. Check out:

• How to Use Facebook Live: The Ultimate Guide
• Facebook Live vs. YouTube: Which One Increased HubSpot Views by 58%

What content consumption habits do all generations have in common?

Despite their differences, all generations seem to agree on three things when it comes to consuming content:

• They love social media.
• They want video.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) is going to be influential.

Our survey found that 87% of U.S. adults report using social media, with 40% using it to learn new things or get ideas. Perhaps they’re using it differently and frequenting different channels, but they are all using it.

So, regardless of who your target audience is, you can’t ignore social in your strategy.

Read “How to Create a Great Social Media Strategy in 2024 (+ New Data)”

The same can be said for video. Across every generation, the preference for visual and auditory content is apparent, while written (i.e., newsletters and news sites) are becoming increasingly less common.

Plus, video is known to be more memorable and engaging than static text alone.

All that said, invest in video marketing — whether it’s a television ad, Instagram Reel, YouTube Channel, or a host of other options. Find the platform your audience is hanging out on and meet them there with video.

Read The Ultimate Guide to Video Marketing.

Lastly, 72% of all respondents of our survey reported planning on using gen AI-powered search for shopping in the future. 79% of those who have already used it admit it offered a better experience than traditional search engines.

So, stay apprised of these habits and how you can adapt your marketing to them.

Read AI in Digital Marketing — The Complete Guide.

Are consumers content with your content?

Content marketing is here to stay, but how consumers interact with it is evolving. As discussed earlier, no two consumers are alike — even within the same generation.

But using data-backed trends and content consumption habits, like those shared here, can help you create a smart strategy that you can test and refine over time.

Now, I just have one question for you: Did you figure out how old I am?

If not, I apologize. We millennials can be a little mysterious sometimes.

The remote work productivity debate will never end, and frankly, it shouldn’t.

Leaders and employees alike should never stop being critical of how time is spent and seeking improved productivity levels.

Is it tiring to refine and edit how we work constantly? Sure. Change is always tiring to a degree, but thankfully, marketers are resilient to change because it’s inherent to what we do.

I feel like I’ve lived nine lives as a marketer: unpaid intern, salaried in-office employee, hybrid worker, remote contractor.

Most of my experience has been completed outside of the office setting, and as a remote work enthusiast and author, I prefer it that way for my productivity and quality of life. But am I the norm? Where are other marketers most productive?

I asked more than 100 marketers if they feel more productive (and happier) working in the office or at home. Here’s what they had to say.

Table of Contents

• Remote, Hybrid, In-Office: The Marketing Landscape Today
• Productivity Statistics
• What Experts Have to Say

Remote, Hybrid, In-Office: The Marketing Landscape Today

Today, millions of marketers are showing up to work across the globe. How are they working? These are the three main organizational models.

Fully In-Office Teams

The concept of a fully in-office team doesn‘t need much of an introduction. Despite remote work dating back to the 1980s, completely in-office teams were still the norm until the pandemic.

However, it’s a mistake to think that “in-person” always means together. Employees naturally spend a lot of time away from their desks for internal meetings, on-site client meetings, etc.

One company monitored their in-office team and found that employees only occupied their desks 66% of the time. The 44% desk vacancy was so reliable that they reduced the number of in-office workstations.

I used to be a marketer at this company, and while the switch sounds jarring, finding an open workstation was never once an issue.

Prevalence: Only 22% of 117 marketers in our survey said they always work in the office.

While these behaviors can happen anywhere, these are the primary productivity concerns of the in-office model:

1.  Time theft. No employee works every moment of an 8-hour workday. Workers naturally spend time chatting around the coffee machine or at their teammates’ desks, and sometimes, the amount of time wasted moves beyond the acceptable limit while still being on the clock.
2.  Interruptions, distractions, and over-stimulation. Your focus is constantly tested by the busyness of an office setting. The stimulation will reduce productivity for some workers, particularly marketers who are neurodivergent.
3.  Cyberslacking. Someone may be sitting at their computer looking focused while instead working on personal tasks. As the cliché goes, “Working hard, or hardly working?”

Some large corporations that require a fully in-office team include Goldman Sachs and Tesla.

Hybrid (Flexible) Teams

A flexible work model retains a physical workspace and lets employees split their time between home and the office.

Hybrid teams exist on a spectrum. On the conservative side is a leadership-mandated in-office schedule. In these cases, companies will determine a minimum amount of in-office time required, such as three days a week.

Other companies let employees choose if and when they work in person, giving each individual the option to be fully remote from 9 to 5 every day.

Even further on the spectrum is the flexibility for teams to work asynchronously, meaning that standard business hours aren‘t set, and employees can fit in their 40 hours a week whenever they’d like.

Prevalence: 49% of marketers in our survey said they work in a hybrid model.

Flexible work, like the in-office work model, has predictable productivity concerns:

1.  Decreased team productivity. With some colleagues in the office and others working remotely, some teams will struggle to achieve the same level of creativity, collaboration, and continuity.
2.  Disorganization. With more moving pieces comes increased odds of missing meetings and losing track of tasks.
3.  Decreased team cohesion. The daily fluctuation that comes with a dispersed team will impact some teams’ cohesion and, therefore, creativity, flow, and even motivation. A lack of spontaneous feedback will slow down some workflows.

HubSpot believes that innovation happens everywhere, including in your home office, and leads the flexible work model by example with a hybrid team.

Other prominent companies with flexible working models include Disney and Amazon (although both Disney and Amazon’s employees made headlines when they resisted the conclusion of the 100% remote work policy).

Fully Remote Teams

At the far end of this spectrum is having a 100% remote team.

Remote teams are more technology-oriented and, ideally, more efficiency-driven. A successful case study is Automattic, WordPress’s parent company.

Automattic famously has a 100% remote team, which allows them to hire “the best talent without borders.”

Their team spans 90+ countries and operates without using email. A dispersed workforce creates the need for healthy, functioning, aggressively audited systems.

Prevalence: 29% of our survey respondents said they always work remotely.

The work-from-home grapevine is never short of productivity quips. “Take regular breaks” and “go outside at least once a day” are tattooed on remote workers’ minds. There are some pressing productivity concerns of this work style:

1.  Time theft. Instead of wasting time chatting with colleagues around the office, at-home workers may spend time during the workday folding laundry or running errands.
2.  Accountability. Without oversight from managers and social pressure from colleagues, some employees will struggle to clock in on time and work hard all day until it’s time to clock out.
3.  Tool overload. Managing remote teams requires the acquisition of new tools (video conferencing software, file sharing, etc.). Not every marketer will enjoy being so software-dependent.

Many large companies employ fully remote teams, such as Buffer (fully remote since 2013) and GitLab (fully remote since 2014).

Productivity Statistics

We conducted original research with 117 marketers in the United States. Here’s what they said about their productivity:

1.  The office has fewer distractions. Of surveyed marketers, 41% said that there were more distractions at home, while 35% said there were more distractions at the office. The remaining 24% said there was no difference.
2.  However, the office is NOT more productive for most marketers. Only 21% of respondents said the office was the more productive environment. 45% said they were more productive at home, while 34% said the spaces were equally productive.
3.  Morale is higher working at home. 46% of marketers said they experience higher morale at home, while 28% said it was higher at the office, and the remaining 26% said morale levels weren’t different.
4.  Work flexibility is in demand. To 81% of surveyed marketers, work flexibility is one of the top five benefits a company can offer.

Additional data from our collection of remote work statistics:

1.  The pandemic inspired lasting change in the flexible work discussion. Pre-2020, only 8% of companies had flexible work. Post-pandemic, 58% of U.S. workers say they’re allowed to work remotely at least one day a week.
2.  Remote workers are happy. Only 1% of survey participants in a study by Buffer reported having a negative remote work experience, and 98% of people said they would recommend remote work to others.
3.  Artificial intelligence (AI) can help clear collaboration hurdles. About three in four marketers using AI and automation say it helps their organization share data and collaborate more effectively.

What Marketers Say About Productivity

A marketing manager has always had a big job trying to inspire productivity in their team, and their hands are even fuller with the remote work versus in-office conversation. Here’s what marketers have to say about the debate.

Productivity can be a product of any work environment.

Jay Fuchs, HubSpot Sales blog editor, says the best way to boost productivity is to get into a groove no matter where you’re working.

“One tip I have to boost productivity regardless of your work environment is to power through, he says. “Productivity and discipline go hand-in-hand. Even if you’re not feeling it, bear down and start working — and continue to work until you get in a groove.”

Fuchs continues, “Obviously, that’s often easier said than done, and grooves aren’t always readily accessible. But if you’re not willing to sit down and grind, you’re really undermining your ‘grooving’ potential.”

Marketers need to choose for themselves.

Jeff McGeary, CEO of the healthcare marketing agency PracticeVIP, has seen a hybrid model increase his team’s productivity by 25% year over year.

“I’ve found that marketers have greater productivity when they have flexibility over their schedules as well as opportunities for in-person collaboration,” he says.

“My team utilizes a hybrid model, spending 2-3 days in the office for strategic planning and brainstorming, with the option to work remotely other days to execute tactical campaigns.”

What Experts Have to Say

We’ve looked at the latest productivity data to see how the research applies to the marketing industry specifically.

But how are marketers actually leveraging these trends and tools? I asked three managers who run marketing teams to share their processes and learnings.

A hybrid culture supports marketers best.

This entrepreneur says that the future of work is flexible, and hybrid cultures get the best of both worlds.

Benson Varghese, the founder of the legal technology company Varghese Summersett, has a bird’s eye view of how different roles operate both in and out of the office.

When he initially started Varghese Summersett five years ago, they operated with an entirely in-office team. “But as remote capabilities developed rapidly during the pandemic, I saw an opportunity to rethink our model and boost productivity,” shared Varghese.

For brainstorming creative meetings at the office, where the energy of collaboration spurs new ideas, the team comes together in-person.

But for individual copyrighting, data analysis, project management, and other focused solitary tasks, team members now work remotely where they’re free from distractions. Varghese says that the results have been remarkable.

Is the office obsolete? Varghese thinks that spontaneous ideation and team-building still thrive best face-to-face.

“But for heads-down production, marketers can achieve significantly more output remotely when given the right structure and technology support. That’s been my experience implementing a hybrid model.”

A routine moves mountains.

Organization is easier for in-person teams (or maybe the costs of disorganization are just less noticeable).

How do remote marketers set themselves up for teamwork? Damian Reed, head of marketing at QualitySolicitors, manages a remote team of six marketers and shares his insights.

“I’ve worked either in a hybrid or remote team for the past seven years — I’ve seen what has worked and where it has failed,” Reed shared.

For his marketing team, the structure of the week creates a reliable spine for the team. Reed leads the following schedule, with meetings usually taking anywhere from 30-50 minutes per day. They follow this schedule:

• Every morning: Scrummage meeting.
• Monday: Discuss goals for the week and touch on goals for the quarter.
• Tuesday: Catch-ups and daily tasks/workloads.
• Wednesday: Check in to see where everyone’s at with the main goals for the week.
• Thursday: Focus day for catch-ups and daily tasks/workloads. Meetings are banned after the morning scrummage.
• Friday: Wrap the week up.

“These meetings are vital in seeing faces, getting updates on date nights, or talking TV, plans for the weekend, etc.,” Reed shared.

The only downside? Ideation meetings. “They never have the same impact online.

We realized this very early and so introduced a quarterly physical meeting, which went really well. We also meet up on occasion outside of work, going to the cinema, seeing clients, or even going for a walk.”

Some of the top tools Reed’s team uses to keep up to date and work on the same projects are Teams, WhatsApp, and Monday.com.

Personal productivity levels should dictate.

Show me an inflexible remote work policy, and I‘ll show you a company that’s not reaching its potential. Marketing managers who don‘t allow flexible work aren’t:

1.  Attracting the best applicants. Every organization has a marketing team; the best applicants can be picky about the benefits they want.
2.  Hiring the best talent. When you hire based on geography, how could you?
3.  Maximizing their team’s productivity. Most marketers will perform better working remotely some or all of the time.

I believe remote work is a powerful equalizer. In a fair world, people with disabilities, neurodivergences, caretaking responsibilities, or those who are geographically isolated would have the same work opportunities as anyone else.

Remote work creates that fair world and companies directly benefit by hiring the best employees, regardless of location, and enabling their employees to work in their most productive environment.

Are marketers more productive when they work remotely? Not all of them — but the research is clear that companies as a whole are more productive when they offer remote work opportunities to employees.

So, is the office more productive?

So, is the office more productive, or is the cubical a thing of the past?

The data is clear: Not all workers will be more productive at home versus in the office, but leaders see their teams thrive when they allow employees to choose their most productive environment.

Remote work isn‘t a passing trend. This conversation didn’t stop (or even get started) in 2020. It‘s a discussion you’re going to be having for the rest of your career as technology and culture continue to evolve.

Our State of Marketing Report identified personalization as a 2024 marketing industry trend, with 73% of marketers saying they think personalization is important.

This trend goes beyond the content we create — the same personalization we’re giving our customers is something we want to see reflected back to us from our employers.