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Creating a marketing strategy is essential to effectively nurture your customers, improve your business’s bottom line, and increase the ROI of your efforts.

A marketing strategy is especially critical if you want to use the highest ROI trends for 2023: short video, influencer marketing, and branded social media. To get powerful results, you must carefully weave both emerging trends and proven strategies into your plan.

Let’s dive into the critical components of a complete marketing strategy in 2023, followed by some examples for inspiration.

A completed marketing strategy typically includes brand objectives, target audience personas, marketing channels, key performance indicators, and more.

A marketing strategy will:

• Align your team to specific goals.
• Help you tie your efforts to business objectives.
• Allow you to identify and test what resonates with your target audience.
• Empower you to capitalize on emerging trends.

The last one is especially important. Keeping up with marketing trends is important for your strategy, but could be a full-time job.

Why? Because almost 80% of marketers say this industry changed more in the last three years than it has in the past five decades. In short, what worked for your marketing strategy in the past might not fly today.

Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan

A marketing strategy outlines the long-term goals and overall approach, while a marketing plan covers the specific actions and tactics to achieve those goals.

Phrased another way, marketing strategy guides the overall marketing efforts of a business. It includes goal-setting, market and competitor research, as well as messaging and positioning for a brand.

For example, say you’re creating a marketing strategy for a new fashion brand. Your strategy might target young urban professionals and position the brand as trendy and affordable.

But a marketing plan is a detailed tactical roadmap. It outlines the specific actions and tactics that should achieve the marketing strategy’s goals.

For example, the marketing plan for the fashion brand mentioned above might include:

• Targeted social media campaigns
• Influencer partnerships
• Online advertising timeline

Both a marketing strategy and a marketing plan are essential for a business’s success.

To succeed in the fast-paced marketing world — and maintain a sense of relevance with your audience — it’s vital to stay ahead of the curve.

To help ease some of that uncertainty, we’re going to show you step-by-step how to create a comprehensive marketing strategy. But first, let’s go over the individual components that make up a strong marketing strategy.

1. Marketing Mix

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The marketing mix, also known as the 4 Ps of marketing, is the preliminary document you must create to understand what you will be marketing, where you’ll be marketing it, and how you’ll be marketing it. The following P’s make up this framework:

• Product: What are you selling?
• Price: What is the price?
• Place: Where will you be selling the product?
• Promotion: Where will you be promoting the product?

You can then extrapolate this information into a full-fledged marketing plan for each promotional channel. It’s important to lay out the information in broad strokes so that you understand the overall direction of your marketing strategy.

2. Marketing Objectives

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You can set your marketing objectives in conjunction with your 4 Ps, or right after. Either way, you should outline your marketing goals before building upon your strategy. Why? Because your goals will inform other components of the plan, including the budget and content creation process.

With every objective, you should aim to be as specific as possible. Try to create SMART marketing goals divided by channel or promotional tactic, and don’t forget that you can always come back and revise your goals as your priorities change.

3. Marketing Budget

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A marketing budget is an essential element of your strategy. Without allocating funds to hiring the right talent, using the right software, advertising on the right channels, and creating the right content, your marketing strategy won’t have a powerful impact. To get a high return on investment, you must first invest.

Remember that you can always start small — hyper-focusing your budget on one or two efforts — and build upon them once you generate an ROI.

4. Competitive Analysis

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Knowing your competition is key when creating a marketing strategy. Otherwise, you risk “yelling into the void” without measurable results. Worse, you won’t know whether you’re differentiating yourself enough from the competition and effectively drawing the attention of your intended audience.

You might already have an idea of who your competitors are, but it’s still essential to sit down and find them. You might end up uncovering a surprise competitor who’s vying for your target buyer’s attention and engagement.

5. Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

Segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) refers to the process of delivering “more relevant, personalized messages to target audiences.” In other words, rather than publishing posts and advertisements on a whim, you’ll go through a methodical process for creating content that resonates with your target buyer.

During the segmentation, targeting, and positioning process, you’ll take three steps:

• Identify your target audience. This process not only entails interviewing your current customers, but carrying out market research and creating buyer personas.
• Target a segment of your target audience. It’s best to speak to a narrow group of highly qualified buyers than to send your message out to everyone.
• Position your brand alongside other brands. What do you do better than your competitors? It’s essential to map this information when creating a marketing strategy.

6. Content Creation

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Once you have your budget, competitive outlook, and STP information, it’s time to create your marketing content. But it’s essential to be strategic. For one, you don’t want to publish random content that doesn’t solve for the customer, and for two, you must aim to capitalize on emerging trends so that your brand enjoys high visibility in the marketplace.

The competition is fierce across all formats. According to HubSpot Research, “half of marketers are using videos, with 47% leveraging images, followed by 33% posting blogs articles, infographics (30%) and podcasts or other audio content (28%).” Of these, video has the highest ROI.

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It’s even more essential to invest in trends that have a high ROI, such as short-form video, influencer marketing, and social media DMs.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t invest in blogging, one of the most proven content marketing techniques. It’s simply important to know where to allot the most resources, especially if you have a limited budget.

7. Metrics & Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

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Last, but certainly not least, your marketing strategy must include metrics and key performance indicators to understand how well your strategies are working. The KPIs you choose will vary depending on your business type and preferred customer acquisition channels. Examples of KPIs include:

• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
• Organic Traffic
• Conversion Rate
• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)

Now, let’s dive into why it’s important to follow the steps of a marketing strategy.

Why is a marketing strategy important?

Without a defined strategy, you’ll essentially be throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. And that process will cost you money, time, and resources.

But a robust marketing strategy will reach your target audience. It has the power to turn people who’ve never heard of your brand into loyal repeat customers.

Here are just a few of the top reasons a marketing strategy is essential:

Offers Direction

A marketing strategy outlines clear goals and defines the path to achieve them. It pulls together all marketing efforts within an organization for optimal effects.

Targets the Right Audience

A well-defined marketing strategy helps you find and understand your target audience. This helps your business tailor your messaging and positioning to reach the right people at the right time.

Builds Brand Identity

A marketing strategy helps you create a consistent and cohesive brand identity. This makes it easier to align all marketing initiatives for increased brand recognition and loyalty.

Maximizes ROI

With analysis of market trends, competition, and customer behavior, marketing strategies help businesses find the most effective marketing channels and tactics to invest in. This helps businesses get the maximum return on investment.

Evaluates Performance

A marketing strategy defines key metrics and performance indicators. This makes it easier for your business to measure and track the success of marketing initiatives. It also gives you what you need to make data-driven decisions and optimize future campaigns for better results.

1. Conduct market research.

Before you can begin creating your marketing strategy, you need to gather useful data for making informed decisions. Market research is like playing detective, but instead of solving crimes, you’re uncovering juicy details about your customers.

Market research will help your businesses make data-driven decisions for your marketing strategy. It also makes it easier to understand your target market, find gaps, and make the most of your resources.

This process is essential for understanding your customers and adapting to changing trends. If you’re new to this process, this complete market research guide and template can help.

Once you have the data you need, you’ll be ready to set some marketing goals.

2. Define your goals.

What do you want to achieve through your marketing efforts?

Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or diversifying your customer base, well-defined goals will guide your marketing strategy.

Your marketing strategy goals should reflect your business goals. They should also offer clear direction for marketing efforts.

For example, say one of your business goals is to increase market share by 20% within a year. Your goal as a marketer could include expanding into new target markets, updating your brand, or driving customer acquisition.

Other marketing goals might be to increase brand awareness or generate high-quality leads. You might also want to grow or maintain thought leadership in your industry or increase customer value.

Defining clear goals provides direction and clarity, guiding marketing efforts toward desired outcomes. It helps with resource allocation, decision-making, and measuring the success of marketing initiatives.

This SMART goal guide can help you with more effective goal-setting.

3. Identify your target audience and create buyer personas.

To create an effective marketing strategy, you need to understand who your ideal customers are. Take a look at your market research to understand your target audience and market landscape. Accurate customer data is especially important for this step.

But it’s not enough to know who your audience is. Once you’ve figured out who they are, you need to understand what they want. This isn’t just their needs and pain points, it’s how your product or service can solve their problems.

So, if you can’t define who your audience is in one sentence, now’s your chance to do it. Create a buyer persona that’s a snapshot of your ideal customer.

For example, a store like Macy’s could define a buyer persona as Budgeting Belinda, a stylish working-class woman in her 30s living in a suburb, looking to fill her closet with designer deals at low prices.

With this description, Macy’s Marketing department can picture Budgeting Belinda and work with a clear definition in mind.

Buyer personas have critical demographic and psychographic information, including age, job title, income, location, interests, and challenges. Notice how Belinda has all those attributes in her description.

You don’t have to create your buyer persona with a pen and paper. In fact, HubSpot offers a free template you can use to make your own (and it’s really fun).

You can also use a platform like Versium, which helps you identify, understand, and reach your target audience through data and artificial intelligence.

Buyer personas should be at the core of your strategy.

4. Conduct competitive analysis.

Now that you have an understanding of your customers, it’s time to see who you’re competing with to get their attention.

To begin your competitive analysis, start with your top competitors. Reviewing their websites, content, ads, and pricing can help you understand how to differentiate your brand. It’s also a useful way to find opportunities for growth.

But how do you know which competitors are most important? This competitive analysis kit with templates will walk you through the process. It will help you choose and evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, and strategies of your competitors.

This process will help you find market gaps, spot trends, and figure out which marketing tactics will be most effective. Competitive analysis can also offer valuable insights on pricing, positioning, and marketing channels.

5. Develop key messaging.

You’ve figured out who you’re talking to, what they’ve already heard, and what they want to hear. Now, it’s time to share your brand’s unique value proposition.

In this step, you’ll craft key messaging that shows the benefits of your product or service and resonates with your target audience. This process should show off the research and work you have done up to this point. It should also incorporate your creativity, inventiveness, and willingness to experiment.

Well-crafted key messaging:

• Sets businesses apart from the competition
• Resonates with the target audience
• Is flexible enough to be consistent across all marketing channels
• Builds brand credibility
• Creates an emotional connection with customers
• Influences buying decisions

The key messaging in your marketing strategy is critical to driving engagement, loyalty, and business growth. These value proposition templates can help if you’re not sure how to draft this important messaging.

6. Choose your marketing channels.

You know what you have to say, now decide on the best marketing channels for your message. Your top goal for this stage of your strategy is to align your channel choices with your target persona’s media consumption habits.

Start with media channels you’re already using. Then, consider a mix of traditional and digital channels such as social media, TV, email marketing, podcast ads, SEO, content marketing, and influencer partnerships.

To streamline this process, think of your assets in three categories — paid, owned, and earned media.

Paid media

Paid media is any channel you spend money on to attract your target audience. Most of this spending is advertising. This includes online and offline channels like:

• Television
• Direct mail
• Billboards
• Social media ads
• SEM (Search engine marketing)
• Podcast advertising

Owned Media

Owned media refers to (mostly) online channels your brand owns, including:

• Blogs
• Websites
• Organic social media

It also refers to the media your marketing team creates such as

• Videos
• Podcasts
• Ebooks
• Infographics

Earned media

Another way to say earned media is user-generated content. Earned media includes:

• Shares on social media
• Posts about your business on X or Threads
• Reels posted on Instagram mentioning your brand

To decide which marketing channels are best for your marketing strategy, look carefully at each channel. Think about which channels are best for reaching your audience, staying within budget, and meeting your goals.

For example, a business targeting a younger demographic might consider using TikTok or Reddit to reach its audience.

Don’t forget to take a look at emerging platforms and trends as you complete this review. You may also want to look at the content you’ve already created. Gather your materials in each media type in one location. Then, look at your content as a whole to get a clear vision of how you can integrate them into your strategy.

For example, say you already have a blog that’s rolling out weekly content in your niche (owned media). You might consider promoting your blog posts on Threads (owned media), which customers might then repost (earned media). Ultimately, that will help you create a better, more well-rounded marketing strategy.

If you have resources that don’t fit into your goals, nix them. This is also a great time to clean house and find gaps in your materials.

7. Create, track, and analyze KPIs.

Once you have a clear outline of your marketing strategy, you’ll need to think about how you’ll measure whether it’s working.

At this stage, you’ll shift from marketing detective to numbers nerd. With a little planning and prep, your analytics can unveil the mysteries of marketing performance and unlock super insights.

Review your strategy and choose measurable KPIs to track the effectiveness of your strategy. Create a system that works for your team to collect and measure your data.

Then, plan to check and analyze the performance of your strategy over time. This can help you refine your approach based on results and feedback.

Analyzing KPIs helps businesses stay agile, refine their strategies, and adapt to evolving customer needs.

8. Present your marketing strategy.

A finished marketing strategy will pull together the sections and components above. It may also include:

Executive Summary

A concise overview that outlines the marketing goals, target audience, and key marketing tactics.

Brand Identity

You may want to create a brand identity as part of your strategy. Brand positioning, voice, and visual identity may also be helpful additions to your marketing strategy.

Marketing Plan and Tactics

Your marketing plan is the specific actions you’ll take to achieve the goals in your marketing strategy. Your plan may cover campaigns, channel-specific tactics, and more.

Not sure where to start? This free marketing plan template can help.

Download for Free

Budget Allocation

Defining a budget for your marketing strategy helps you show that your planned resource allocation aligns with business goals.

Timeline and Milestones

Marketing strategies can be complex and difficult for stakeholders to understand. Creating a timeline that outlines the different tactics, milestones, and deadlines can help.

Your marketing strategy is a living document. It will need constant reviews, revisions, and optimizations to meet your long-term goals. Prepare to revise your marketing strategy at least once a year to address market trends, customer feedback, and changing business objectives.

Recommended Resources

Here are a few tools that can help you track and measure the success of your marketing goals:

1. HubSpot Marketing Hub

The Marketing Hub allows you to connect all your marketing tools into one centralized platform.

Too often, you’ll find a tool that’s powerful but not easy to use. With this tool, you can attract users with blogs, SEO, and live chat tools. You can then convert and nurture those leads through marketing automation, the website and landing page builder, and lead tracking features.

With custom reporting and built-in analytics, you can analyze your data and plan out your next move. Plus, HubSpot Marketing Hub integrates with over 700 tools.

Pricing: Free; Starter, $20/month; Professional, $890/month; Enterprise, $3,600/month.

2. Trello

Trello keeps your marketing team on track and openly communicating about the projects they’re working on. Create boards for individual campaigns, editorial calendars, or quarterly goals.

Built-in workflows and automation capabilities keep communication streamlined, and simplicity keeps your marketing team focused on the work that matters.

Pricing: Free; Standard Class, $5/month; Premium Class, $10/month for 100 users; Enterprise, $17.50/month for 250 users.

3. TrueNorth

TrueNorth is a marketing management platform built to help you hit your marketing goals. Built specifically for marketing teams, TrueNorth turns your marketing strategy into a visual projection of your growth, which is used to create monthly milestones that help you stay on track.

One of the key benefits of TrueNorth is that it centralizes all your ideas, campaigns, and results in one place, with everything tied back to your goal.

Pricing: $99/month (free for 14 days).

4. Monday.com

Everything on Monday.com starts with a board or visually driven table. Create and customize workflows for your team and keep groups, items, sub-items, and updates synced in real time.

You can also transform data pulled from timeline and Gantt views to track your projects on Monday.com to make sure you’re meeting your deadlines. Plus, with more than 40 integrations — from SurveyMonkey to Mailchimp and, of course, HubSpot — you can visualize your data and make sure your whole company is collaborating.

Pricing: Basic, $8/month/seat; Standard, $10/month/seat; Pro, $16/month/seat; Enterprise, contact for pricing.

5. SEMrush

SEO continues to be a huge factor in the successful ranking of your website.

SEMrush allows you to run a technical SEO audit, track daily rankings, analyze your competitor’s SEO strategy, research millions of keywords, and even source ideas for earning more organic traffic.

But the benefits don’t stop at SEO. Use SEMRush for PPC, building and measuring an effective social media strategy, content planning, and even market research.

Pricing: Pro, $129/month; Guru, $249/month; Business, $499/month.

6. Buzzsumo

BuzzSumo allows you to analyze data to enhance and lead your marketing strategy, all while exploring high-performing content in your industry.

Use the platform to find influencers who may help your brand reach, track comments, and find trends to make the most of every turn.

As your needs evolve, you can also use their crisis management and video marketing tools.

Pricing: Content Creation, $199/month; PR&Comms, $299/month; Suite, $499/month; Enterprise, $999/month.

7. Crazy Egg

Need to optimize your website this year? Consider getting started with Crazy Egg. You’ll be able to identify “attention hotspots” on your product pages, track ad campaign traffic on your site, and understand if shoppers are clicking where you want them to.

You can even make sure your “Buy Now” buttons are in the best place.

Crazy Egg also offers recordings, A/B testing, and more to help make sure your website is offering the best user experience.

Pricing: Basic, $29/month; Standard, $49/month; Plus, $99/month; Pro, $249/month; Enterprise, contact for pricing.

Examples of Successful Marketing Strategies

1. Regal Movies

Digital Strategy: Owned Media

This “Guess the Monday Movie” question is a fun, interactive way to get followers invested in Regal’s content:

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Regal’s Instagram post is an example of owned media because the company was in full control of the answers followers gave (and, apparently, they’re hoping for fewer horror movies).

Regal kept true to their brand by asking viewers to guess the secret movie. And this is a popular type of post for this brand. In only two hours, it has over 800 likes and 64 comments.

2. La Croix

Digital Strategy: User-Generated Content, Earned Media

User-generated content is one of the best ways to gain traction in your strategy.

It demonstrates your appreciation for loyal customers, builds community, and incentivizes other users to promote your products for the chance at a similar shout-out.

Plus, sometimes the content your brand loyalists create is really, really good.

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In this case, the consumer is creating a handmade needlepoint featuring the brand’s product.

3. Small Girls PR

Digital Strategy: Owned Media

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Small Girls PR is a boutique PR company based in New York, and one of the company’s talents is connecting with amazing clients. This post on Instagram is an effective marketing example, as it boosts awareness for your brand and offers social proof by featuring high-profile clients.

4. Superside

Digital Strategy: Paid Media

Design agency Superside launched an Instagram ad to promote a lead magnet: Their digital ad design guide. While the brand may have created the guide specifically for paid promotions, it’s also possible that they repurposed a high-performing blog post into a downloadable ebook.

In this case, all they had to do was repackage their current content, build an ad around it with creative assets, and run it.

In previous sections, we discussed the power of leveraging multiple forms of media in your marketing strategy. This is a great example of it.

5. Target

Digital Strategy: Owned Media, Influencer Partnership

If you’ve got the time for influencer partnerships, take full advantage of it.

Influencer marketing is when you partner with influencers, to promote your content on their site. By doing this, your content reaches new audiences you might not be able to reach organically:

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This post from Target highlights new apparel from a trusted partner. More social channels are offering ways for shoppers to purchase in-app or close to it, driving sales and boosting exposure for brands.

What to Expect After Following Your Marketing Process Steps

Ultimately, creating a complete marketing strategy isn’t something that can happen overnight. It takes time, hard work, and dedication to confirm you’re reaching your ideal audience, whenever and wherever they want to be reached.

Stick with it (and use some of the resources we’ve included in this post), and over time, research and customer feedback will help you refine your strategy to make sure you’re spending most of your time on the marketing channels your audience cares most about.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2019. It has been updated for freshness and accuracy.

Have you ever gone on social media with the intent of scrolling for entertainment, but left the app with a new purchase?

When I scroll through my TikTok For You page, I come across videos with products that pique my interest, not realizing that the button for me to purchase that item is right above the caption. As a consumer, I love how effortless shopping can now be. But what about businesses — what do they think about social commerce?

To help brands navigate social commerce features and determine if they fit into their strategy, I surveyed 512 social media marketers who leverage social commerce tools like active community engagement and user-generated content to learn if they’ve provided ROI. Here’s what I discovered:

General Trends of Social Selling

Social commerce is a growing channel for both buyers and sellers.

As seen in our Consumer Trends survey, social media is the future of shopping. Within Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X, social media is the preferred channel for product discovery. Among all consumers, there is a growing number of social media users who buy on social media.

In this survey, 87% of sellers say that social selling has been effective for their business this year. 59% say their company is making more sales through social media this year when compared to last year. Some marketers who sell on multiple channels felt that social media is the best at targeting potential customers and provides one of the best ROI.

Precise audience targeting is a key benefit, in ways beyond advertising.

Over 50% of social sellers mentioned audience reach when asked about the benefits of social selling. They also say that the ability to advertise to your target audience is the most important feature a platform should have, as you can reach markets that would otherwise be untapped.

Paid ads are often the first thought when it comes to targeted advertising. But luckily, social media has more than that. Brands can reach their targeted audience through other pull marketing methods, such as the following:

• UGC: Creators reach a community of people who share similar interests to the creator and would likely be part of the brand’s target audience.
• Word-of-mouth marketing: One-click sharing on social media makes WOM easier, also reaching people with similar interests.
• Active community engagement: Posts with high engagement tend to land on discovery pages, which are tailored to users based on their interests.

Social sellers still diversify where they sell.

Social selling is not seen as a replacement for other channels, but rather, as a complementary channel. 94% of social sellers also sell on another digital channel, such as their own website or a third-party online marketplace.

This is likely because social shops can easily be integrated from e-Commerce websites and connected to third-party online marketplaces. The ease of implementation and high returns of social shops makes it a worthwhile investment.

Sellers struggle to build trust, but UGC can help.

Out of the businesses we surveyed, 3 in 4 repost UGC. 87% say UGC increases their sales, and 92% say it increases brand awareness. Businesses feel strongly about UGC, so we’ll dive a little deeper into why it’s so essential.

In our Consumer Trends surveys, we see that consumers don’t fully trust social shopping. Just 47% of social media users feel comfortable buying through social apps, with the main concern being that companies aren’t legitimate.

Similarly, when we asked social sellers about the challenges of selling on social media, many shared the difficulty of convincing customers to trust their brand/shop. Given that many social shops are smaller businesses and that there’s a rise in both sellers and scammers on social media, building trust is hard.

That brings us to the benefit of incorporating UGC in your selling strategy. Because UGC allows customers to share their personal experiences with products, it acts as social proof that the product is authentic and valuable, with clear use cases.

Social proof guides purchase decisions: one in four social media users bought a product based on an influencer’s recommendation in the past three months. Consumers who find products interesting from UGC can easily reach the brand’s social shop from the UGC post’s tags, and make a purchase.

Sellers can encourage customers to post UGC through active community engagement and incentives.

Within the types of content that brands post on social media, relatable content is the most memorable to consumers.

Simultaneously, there’s been a growth of consumers who now consider themselves content creators. Brands can take advantage of this trust for and growth of content creators by encouraging customers to post their own UGC.

64% of social sellers said that active community engagement is most effective for encouraging customers to repost UGC, with incentives (discounts, rewards, etc.) following as a close second. Sellers have shared how beneficial UGC has been for them, as well. With social media’s vast network, one post can reach and be talked about by many.

Leveraging Inbound Marketing in Social Selling

Social media’s frictionless shopping experience supports the buyer’s journey.

If you’ve ever purchased on social media, you may have noticed how fast the process is.

Here’s an example of how social media features cover the buyer’s journey:

1. Awareness: Through push and pull marketing strategies such as targeted advertising, influencer marketing, and word-of-mouth marketing, consumers become aware of a brand’s products and consider learning more.
2. Consideration: If a consumer decides to learn more, they can peruse the brand’s profile, which contains a digital storefront, active community, and product reviews. As a community visitor, the consumer may notice the brand’s personality and how brands interact with their community. This may impact purchase intent, as we’ve seen that Gen Z especially values brands that have active communities around them.
3. Decision: Now that the consumer has “visited” the brand, they may have questions. These questions can be answered through posts and reviews, or asked through direct messaging. Once the consumer decides to purchase, they can check out in the app.

Throughout this entire process, the consumer never left the social media app. Social selling reduces the friction of traditional e-Commerce, where consumers may do research on social media, purchase on a website, make phone calls for service, and more. Consolidating these tasks into one platform simplifies the shopping process for consumers, increasing customer satisfaction and business sales.

Social selling also supports impulse buying. When asking sellers about social selling benefits, several of them mentioned “impulse purchases.” Because social media is so widely used, someone who meant to scroll for entertainment may be drawn to a product through an ad or UGC post and end up leaving the app with a purchase.

Active community engagement drives social selling success.

45% of social sellers said that the ability to build a community and actively engage with them is the most important feature a social media platform should have when it comes to social selling.

Driving brand communities are the interactions brands have with their followers, who become brand advocates.

As brands keep their customers satisfied post-purchase, they encourage customers to become promoters through methods such as posting new reviews, uploading user-generated content, or sharing the brand with their community with one click of the “share” button.

These promotional strategies align with the previous section’s discussion on strategies for awareness in the buyer’s journey, thus creating a flywheel effect.

This effect is also what HubSpot calls inbound marketing: “Once you attain enough customers and delight them, they can keep your flywheel spinning by promoting your organization and bringing new customers to you. Over time, your flywheel allows you to grow without continually investing in customer acquisition.”

Social selling covering the entire flywheel is very powerful because brands can tailor content toward multiple types of customers on one platform and build their customer base faster. With this being said, as a customer, I recommend engaging with smaller brands that you like, as it acts as social proof for prospective customers — uplifting smaller businesses.

Next Steps for Social Media Success

As you consider social selling, spend some time developing your approach toward some of the key drivers for social selling success: audience targeting, brand community engagement, and user-generated content. For more, check out these posts:

• Get started on one of the most popular social selling platforms: How to Sell on Instagram Using Shoppable Posts
• Understand challenges that consumers face with regard to social shopping: Why Consumers Still Hesitate to Shop on Social Media Platforms [New Data]   
• Read case studies of how other companies used social commerce tools: How 3 Companies Grew Revenue With Social Media Shopping Tools [New Data + Case Studies] 

Lastly, learn more about the other key trends in social media marketing with our free 2023 Social Media Trends Report below.

If you aren‘t familiar with The Hustle, it’s a media entity known for its offbeat and irrelevant spin on the news (case in point: The Corporate Marriage of Pop Tarts and Crocs).

Fans of The Hustle have struck content gold. They can subscribe to their daily newsletter, now 2+ million subscribers strong. They can listen to their podcast, or watch their YouTube videos. And if they still need an extra fix, they can hit “follow” on one (or all) of their social media accounts.

It’s no secret that The Hustle is a content engine – but with the emergence of AI, their workflow is starting to change.

Here, I spoke to the team at The Hustle to learn how they’re using AI to supercharge their content.

How The Hustle Team Uses AI

Repurposing content across social media.

The Hustle is everywhere on social media, enabling them to reach an audience that spans every corner of the internet.

As Taryn Varricchio, Editorial Manager of The Hustle’s YouTube channel, puts it, “Not every YouTube viewer is a dedicated TikToker, and vice versa. By sharing different forms of our content, we can reach these audiences and give extended life to our long-form stories,” she told me.

However, adapting their content to different platforms can be a time-consuming process. This is where AI can help.

Varricchio uses AI to convert long-form content into bite-sized YouTube Shorts. Using the tool vidyo.ai, she enters the URL from the long-form video, and the tool returns with several snippets of the video.

For example, the YouTube Short below is a snippet of a longer, seven-minute video on their YouTube channel. With the help of AI, Varricchio was able to maximize the mileage of the longer video and meet her audiences in more than one place.

Making room for more creative work.

“Fortunately, we feel like AI can’t out-creative us just yet,” Ben Berkley, Managing Editor of The Hustle, told me.

After all, it’s hard to imagine an AI chatbot cooking up such titles as How to Barbecue In Outer Space or Seaweed-Sinking Robots Are Tackling the Climate Crisis. Although this might change in the future, for now, Berkeley and his team are dabbling with AI to make room for more creative work.

He told me, “We’re taking it upon ourselves to experiment with every tool available to us — whether it’s helping us distill complicated concepts more efficiently, creating new kinds of graphics that could accompany our stories, or just simply helping us with administrative work.”

Over on The Hustle’s YouTube channel, Varricchio and her team use AI to streamline the research stage of content creation.

“As journalists, content creators, and video scriptwriters, our teams constantly need to research, read articles and reports, and sift through the clutter online to find reputable sources. AI can help us summarize research and highlight key points from articles and reports that could otherwise take hours to read through,” she told me.

However, Varricchio points out that AI doesn’t remove the need to fact-check or confirm their sources. While it streamlines the research stage, she still has human guardrails in place to check for quality.

Experimenting with AI as an alternative to stock imagery.

While most creative teams rely on stock photos, Ben Harmanus, Principal Editorial Lead at HubSpot, is experimenting with AI-generated images for videos.

One of the biggest drawbacks of stock imagery is the complicated licensing fees and agreements. For example, if you need to replace a copyrighted image in a YouTube video, you have to take it down, edit it, and then re-upload it. In the process, you lose all the views, comments, and likes from the original video.

“While we can easily swap an image on a website, this is impossible for videos. AI is often a safer way to use images,” Harmanus told me.

Not only are AI-generated copyright-free, but they’re also entirely customizable. Oscar Estrada, Motion Designer at HubSpot, has also been experimenting with AI-generated images for this reason.

“Sometimes it’s hard to find a stock image that matches the mood or the color palette that I need,” he told me. “It’s helpful to have tools like Midjourney or Runway to visualize ideas and even to replace stock imagery.”

In Estrada‘s experience, AI doesn’t just push his creative potential; it also has clear time-saving benefits.

“It helps me work on multiple projects simultaneously without having to waste time on the manual, repetitive parts of the process. In that way, I feel like it’s super valuable.”

Ultimately, tools like Runway AI could be a life-saver for teams who need content in a pinch, or a way to test out new ideas or concepts with minimal time commitment.

Getting inspiration for YouTube titles.

“I like to ask HubGPT to help our team craft engaging YouTube video titles,” Varricchio told me. She does this by pasting video scripts into HubGPT and prompting it for suggestions.

It‘s worth noting that Varricchio doesn’t simply copy and paste its responses. Instead, she uses it as a creative springboard.

“While I don’t use any title word for word, it helps inspire phrases or language for a video title I otherwise hadn’t considered,” she told me. “It can trigger a new framing for a video or consider what other information might be more useful to prioritize in the naming of a story.”

In this way, AI becomes a brainstorming partner, offering alternative angles and new perspectives. This type of collaboration is invaluable for content teams like The Hustle, and can be used in a variety of ways — from coming up with YouTube titles and blog ideas, to social media copy and more.

Above all, The Hustle team is still figuring things out.

When I asked Ben Berkley how his team uses AI, his answer was refreshingly candid.

“It’s important that we’re honest with ourselves and our readers that we’re still figuring out AI like everyone else. We aren’t sure how it’ll fit into our jobs in the long run yet, but it won’t be for a lack of trying,” he told me.

I’m willing to bet this sentiment is felt by many teams trying to navigate this new AI world. While AI is exciting, many teams feel pressure to build their entire operation around it.

However, Berkeley is embracing AI where it makes sense, and with a healthy dose of curiosity.

“We want The Hustle to be the very best and that’s only possible with more time to lean into our own creativity. We hope AI will offer us a way to do that.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many consumers raced online to buy products they couldn’t get in-store. And, by July 2020, global retail ecommerce sites cumulatively saw a record 22 billion monthly visits.

Shopping on social media rose in popularity as well, allowing businesses to sell more items directly from their existing profiles.

Now, most platforms offer native shopping tools, but, as with any new trend, you might wonder, “Are consumers actually shopping on social media?” The question is worth asking, and we’ll answer it in this post.

Table of Contents

• Do consumers actually buy products on Social Media?
• Which social media platforms are consumers really shopping on?
• Which social platforms should you sell on?

Do Consumers Actually Buy Products on Social Media?

There are now more ways than ever to buy products on social media. But, since some social media shopping tools are still rather new to shoppers and brands, you might think consumers have barely used them yet.

When we asked consumers if they’ve purchased a product on social media, 17% said they’ve bought something directly from a social platform in the past three months alone.

The number is higher among millennials (27%) and Gen Z (22%).

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Ultimately, while social media shopping features are still fairly new to consumers, they might make sense for brands that are looking for a scalable way to enter the ecommerce world.

Among all the excitement that social media commerce brings, it’s essential to also brush up on how to build trust with your customers as a marketer. Check out our video guide here on the social scams to avoid.

Which social media platforms are consumers really shopping on?

Facebook

Among those who shop on social media, Facebook is the most popular platform consumers used to make in-app purchases in the past three months. Consumers also report it has the best in-app shopping experience.

Facebook’s online shopping popularity isn’t surprising. Even before the 2020 launch of Facebook Shops, users flocked to Facebook Marketplace to find items or products being sold by residents nearby, independent sellers, or even local stores.

While Facebook Marketplace is more like Craigslist than an ecommerce store – and still requires you to contact a seller or go to their website before buying a product, its years of success likely helped justify the launch of Facebook’s newest shopping features.

Here’s a brief rundown of the newest ways people shop on Facebook:

Facebook Shops

Facebook Shops enables business page admins to create a “Shop” featuring a list of products or product collections. Each shop can also link back to an Instagram profile, WhatsApp, Messenger, or Facebook Business Page.

Users who visit the brand’s Facebook Business Page can tap or click a View Shop button to see products, add items to their cart, and purchase them directly from a Facebook Checkout page.

Facebook Messenger

Social media users who aren’t interested in sifting through a Shop’s list of products can also message brands on Facebook Messenger. Once a brand creates a Facebook Shop, they can integrate it with their Messenger account, WhatsApp account, or Instagram account for a smooth customer purchasing experience directly in their threads.

When customers message brands with Shop integrations to learn more about specific products, they’ll receive automated messages with product suggestions from the Shop owner – as seen in the image below.

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Takeaways for Marketers

Facebook Shops is the second most popular social selling feature among social media marketers and has the second-highest ROI.

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With this in mind, launching a Facebook Shop is a valuable way to sell products on social platforms. Not only is Facebook the most used app among consumers, but it can also integrate with Instagram and WhatsApp, allowing you to easily expand to multiple social media platforms when you’re ready.

Even if you already have an ecommerce site, having a Facebook Shop can likely put you in front of a new audience. They can simply click into your shop, check out a few products, and even make a purchase with much less friction, as they never have to leave the social media app they’re already on.

Ultimately, Shops’ versatile options could be a good fit if you sell to a broad audience, are interested in expanding to Instagram or WhatsApp, or are an experienced online seller who also wants to turn social media followers into customers.

Instagram

Instagram is consumers’ second-most used platform for social purchases. Instagram Shops is also the most popular social selling feature used by social media marketers, and it offers the highest ROI and the best tools for selling directly within the app.

Although most of Instagram’s shopping features were added after Facebook Shops launched, nearly a quarter of respondents have bought products on Instagram.

Below are Instagram’s most notable shopping features:

Instagram Shops

Instagram Shops essentially uses the same design, layout, and technology Facebook Shops, but is linked to Instagram Business Pages specifically. Like Facebook Shops, you’ll also need admin access to a Facebook Business Page and a Facebook Shop to use this feature.

To leverage this feature, you merely need to go to your Facebook Commerce Manager settings, link your Facebook and Instagram Business pages, and enable your Shop on your Instagram Business profile so your visitors will see a View Shop button. Once this Shop is activated, your Instagram Shop’s viewers will see the same mini-online store they’d see if they entered your Facebook Shop on that platform.

Instagram Shoppable Posts

While you’ll still need a Facebook catalog that lists your products, you do not need a Facebook Shop to launch Instagram Shoppable posts. This feature allows you to link your Instagram feed posts and images directly to the product’s Instagram Checkout page.

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While this feature began specifically with feed-style posts, it has now stretched to Instagram Stories, Instagram Live (shown below), and – most recently – Instagram Reels.

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While an Instagram Shop allows your followers to see all the major products or collections you’re selling, Instagram Shoppable posts allow you to highlight your product with creative content, such as reviews or demos, while also linking directly to a purchasing page. This enables users to discover a product, watch it in action, and buy it almost immediately if they like what they’ve seen.

Takeaways for Marketers

Instagram’s shopping features might be useful to your brand if you already have a presence on Instagram, primarily target a Millenial audience, and have engaging or intriguing photo or video assets to market your product, brand, or service.

If you already have a Facebook Shop and want to expand your social media ecommerce strategy to Instagram, it’s also scalable and easy. Because Instagram Shops are carbon copies of pre-created Facebook shops, you only need to take a few steps to place a Shops button on your Instagram Business Page. But, if you don’t have interest in a Facebook account, you can still leverage Instagram Live Shopping, Shopping Posts, and highlight your products in the Instagram Shopping tab.

To learn more about each of these tools, how they work, and how brands can leverage them, check out this post for more details.

WhatsApp

While WhatsApp, also owned by Facebook, doesn’t have its own shopping platform, users can still chat with brands, request to purchase a product from the companies WhatsApp for Business catalog, and pay for it directly in the message thread.

The WhatsApp payment feature, shown below, is quite similar to Facebook Messenger’s older “Buy Now” feature, shown in the section above:

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Takeaways for Marketers

While buying products might take a bit longer on WhatsApp than on a Facebook or Instagram Shop, roughly 13.5% of respondents have still done it.

As WhatsApp continues to grow and expand its business features, this app might be worth keeping on your radar if you are interested in building a chat-based community and social revenue stream at the same time.

While this app might be opportunistic for conversational marketers, this app might also be beneficial if you’re looking to sell internationally. While Facebook and Instagram also have audiences around the world, most of WhatsApp’s user base lives outside of the U.S. In fact, WhatsApp’s largest audiences are from India and Brazil.

Pinterest

Until recently – Pinterest users could buy some of the products they saw directly in the Pinterest app. From 2015 to 2018, Pinterest enabled brands to create Buyable Pins that allowed you to purchased pinned products directly from the app. Next to each Buyable Pin’s “Save” button was a blue “Buy It” button. When tapped, it sent users directly to a Pinterest purchasing screen.

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While Pinterest offered its in-app purchasing feature for years, the brand pivoted to scalable Product Pins in 2018.

Product Pins send app users to a company’s website checkout page rather than a Pinterest app page. The switch meant Pinterest no longer needed to manage millions of transactions a year because the transactions don’t happen on Pinterest servers. But, users can still make quick purchases without interrupting their social media experience. The change proved beneficial to brands, as 85%of weekly U.S. Pinners have made a purchase inspired by Pins from brands.

Takeaways for Marketers

Although Pinterest no longer enables consumers to make purchases directly from the platform, you should take its product marketing opportunities, such as Product Pins, seriously, especially if Millennials are your target audience.

Aside from the brand-friendly nature of Pinterest’s platform, marketers should also take note of its consistent growth. By Q1 of 2023, Pinterest surpassed 463 million monthly active users, up from 13 million from Q4’22. Even if it doesn’t seem like Pinterest is the right platform for your brand now, it might be useful to your strategy later as its audience continues to grow, evolve, and use the platform to look for products or inspiration.

Which Social Platforms Should You Sell On?

The verdict is that, yes, consumers are shopping on social media. As more brands leverage social shopping tools, they’ll become even more accustomed to using their preferred platforms to shop.

Of marketers that have used social selling, 87% say that it has been effective for their business, and more than half say they’ve made more sales via platforms this year than last, making it a valuable strategy to consider.

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When deciding on platforms, audience reach is one of the most important things to consider, as you want to ensure you sell on a platform your audiences are already on.

For example, if your audience is made up of many different age groups, Facebook might be the best place to set up shop. Meanwhile, if your audience is primarily Gen Z, you might want to embrace TikTok.

Additionally, you should prioritize social media shopping tactics on platforms you’ve already built a following on. For example, if you have a large, engaged WhatsApp audience, selling products there might be a scalable expansion to an already-strong social media strategy.

Ultimately, the best strategy will be to determine where your audiences are most likely going to shop or surf social media and then meet them where they are with your product listings or online shop

To learn more about where your target social media audience might be, check out this helpful post on social media demographics.

Over 49% of the US population listens to podcasts. Globally, this figure stands at 383.7 million people. If you’re looking to reach these people, and more of your audience, a website can help. Having a website also helps you manage your podcast content easily. This is where WordPress comes in.

In this post, we’ll show you 25 of the best WordPress themes for podcasters. These themes will help you build a podcast site with WordPress, share your episodes, host bios, get subscribers, and more.

Here are the top WordPress themes for podcasters on the market today.

This list of our favorite podcasting themes will help you share your content and make lasting connections with your fans. To determine the theme that best suits your needs, review these 25 options, their unique features, and our key takeaways. Let’s dive in!

1. Viseo

Viseo is a podcast theme with a “latest show” section for your site pages. This lets your fans locate and listen to your newest content quickly. You can easily upload and add high-quality videos with the theme’s locally-hosted video player feature. Customizing your site pages and sections requires no coding knowledge because Viseo has a drag-and-drop builder.

Core Features

• Visitors can browse the “Latest show” section for new content
• Share high-quality video content with the locally hosted video player feature
• Customize your site with the built-in drag-and-drop page builder

2. Podcaster

Podcaster is specifically made for broadcasting and managing podcasts. Its unlimited podcast episode archive pages help you maintain your shows and seasons over a long period.

The theme’s homepage contains an audio and video player feature. This feature allows visitors to experience your latest content the moment they enter your site. There are also a variety of color palettes that help you customize your site to match your branding.

Core Features

• Add unlimited podcast episode archive pages
• Use an audio and video player feature on the site’s homepage
• Access a variety of color palettes to customize pages

3. Tusant

The Tusant theme makes managing and designing your podcast website easy. Tusant is also compatible with all major podcast plugins. That means you get access to increased functionalities.

The theme is compatible with Elementor, allowing you to edit and update your site pages with ease. You can review changes in real time before publishing them.

Core Features

• Integrate your favorite major podcast plugins
• Design your pages with the Elemntor plugin
• Display content in multiple layouts

4. Livecast

Are you already hosting your podcast on a platform like Spotify or Soundcloud? Then Livecast is a great podcast theme to build your WordPress site with.

This theme is compatible with the top music and podcasting platforms. You don’t have to host your episodes in more than one place. Livecast also has a built-in drag-and-drop editor, so you can build and modify your site quickly.

Core Features

• Compatible with the most popular podcasting and music platforms
• Drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to build each page on your WordPress website
• Edit your site in real-time using the live edit feature

5. Podcast

Podcast is a WordPress theme that supports embedding your podcast episodes from Spotify, SoundCloud, Libsyn, and YouTube. The theme comes with eight built-in color palettes, and it’s compatible with WordPress podcasting plugins like PowerPress and Seriously Simple Podcasting.

This theme has limited free features. However, its paid version lets you import demo content, allows for one-click updates, and gets you priority support.

Core Features

• One-click, automatic updates
• GDPR-friendly, local fonts

6. Podcaster Radio

Podcaster Radio is a responsive, SEO-friendly podcast theme. This theme is excellent for professionals in film, video, magazines, music, and related industries.

Podcaster Radio has many free features, making it ideal if you’re on a budget. Its free version comes with four slides, three template pages, one homepage template, and many more. Podcaster Radio is also WooCommerce compatible.

Core Features

• Integrate your podcast site with WooCommerce
• Secure and optimized code
• Budget-friendly podcast theme

7. Vice

The Vice theme lets you incorporate video backgrounds on your web pages to create an interactive and fun experience for visitors. The theme’s responsive design makes your site fit a viewer’s screen, whether that’s desktop, mobile, or tablet.

Vice also has pre-made podcast page templates with players that support Soundcloud, MP3, and Mixcloud audio, allowing you to import and share your podcast in a matter of seconds without changing its format.

Core Features

• Incorporate video backgrounds on site pages
• Change your site’s format depending on a viewer’s device
• Make changes quickly with podcast page templates that support audio players

8. Audio Podcast

Audio Podcast is another podcaster theme by VW themes. This theme has similar features and functionalities to Podcaster Radio. The theme is responsive, SEO-friendly, and budget-friendly.

Its free version comes with four slides, three template pages, one homepage template, and many more. It’s also compatible with WooCommerce.

Core Features

• Compatible with WooCommerce
• SEO-friendly podcast theme
• Responsive and budget-friendly

9. Podcaster

Podcaster is a multimedia WordPress theme for creating and managing your own podcast website. This theme supports audio embeds from Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, YouTube, PodBean, and more.

If you want visitors to binge your episodes, you can showcase multiple episodes and entire seasons using the unlimited podcast archive.

Core Features

• Use a list or grid view for an aesthetically appealing layout of your podcasts
• Customize your media player so that it compliments your brand and style
• Interact with followers using the newsletter subscription feature
  

  10. Satchmo

  

  Satchmo is ideal if you’re looking for a podcasting theme that lets you share blog content in addition to your audio. Whether you’re an experienced blogger or just want to share information about your podcast, then Satchmo’s blog template pages will come in handy.

  You can add icons in your headers and footers that direct visitors to your social media accounts. This feature also lets you promote your content and increase your followers. Satchmo has 700+ Google Font options that you can use to customize the typography on your pages.

  Core Features

  • Choose a podcast or blog theme for your site
  • Attract more followers with the social media account icons in headers and footers
  • Customize your typography with 700+ Google Font options

  11. Castilo

  

  Castilo has a contact form template that lets visitors easily get in touch with you. The theme also offers a podcast statistics feature. You can monitor who’s listening to your podcasts and see a podcast’s short- and long-term success.

  Castilo also lets you know the popularity of each podcast. With this theme, you can place your custom logo in the header and footer of your pages to make for a professional and branded look and feel.

  Pro Tip: If your theme lacks a contact form plugin, you can add one to your site with HubSpot’s WordPress Contact Form builder.

  Core Features

  • Add a contact form to capture visitor data using the template
  • Capture podcast data with the statistics feature
  • Add your custom logo in the header and footer of your site

  12. GeneratePress

  

  GeneratePress is a free and open-source theme — speed, usability, and accessibility are the features that set it apart. There is an unlimited number of custom color combinations to achieve the desired look of your website.

  Performance and design aren’t mutually exclusive with this theme. GeneratePress prides itself on providing podcasters with both to bring an immersive experience to their listeners.

  Core Features

  • Get started easily with an open-source theme
  • Customize your site pages with unlimited custom color options
  • Integrate this theme with the top audio plugins

  13. Divi

  

  Divi is a popular WordPress theme that has a podcast landing page layout to go along with it. This modern design comes with seven landing page layouts, including sections for your homepage, about page, contact page, and podcast episodes.

  This modern, sleek design looks professional and inviting right out of the box. Plue, you can easily customize it to fit your brand.

  Core Features

  • List multiple podcast episodes in a single block on your landing page
  • Display audio trailers of your most recent podcast episode right on the front page
  • Upload multiple shows, videos, and music content
  • Keep the visitor listening to a podcast preview with a sticky audio player

  14. Castpod

  

  Castpod includes a MailChimp integration that lets you get subscribers for your podcast. With Castpod, you can submit your podcast to an external platform, such as Google Podcast, in one-click. The theme’s retina-ready design ensures your images are high-definition and look professional.

  Core Features

  • Integrate MailChimp on your site to manage emails
  • Submit your podcast to external services with one click
  • Get a high-definition and professional look with the retina-ready design

  15. SONIK

  

  SONIK is a responsive WordPress theme for podcasters, singers, DJs, clubs, and labels. This flexible theme has 12 custom post types, like events, videos, music charts, and galleries.

  SONIK is also WooCommerce compatible, meaning you can easily create a store to sell your products. The theme also has four ready-to-import demo sites, 600+ Google font options, and amazing customer support.

  Core Features

  • Has four demo websites
  • Responsive and SEO-optimized
  • WooCommerce compatible

  16. Audioatro

  

  Audioatro has a unique, full-width audio player called the “Audio Visualizer.” This play is placed on top of a full-width background image on your page.

  The audio player includes several 3D bars that run across the bottom of your page to show listeners their timestamps in the podcast. These bars also rise and fall with the podcast’s volume levels to add another entertaining and interactive visual element.

  Audioatro also has two podcast-specific templates to choose from and expert customer support in case you run into a challenge that you need help troubleshooting.

  Core Features

  • Incorporate the unique, 3D, video-like audio player
  • Choose from two podcast themes

  17. Megaphone

  Megaphone supports multiple shows, episodes, and seasons, as well as videos and music content. The theme requires no coding knowledge, so you can quickly. Simply design your sections in any way you want.

  To give visitors the full listening experience before they download your podcast, Megaphone includes a sticky audio player that follows them as they browse the site.

  Core Features

  • Upload multiple shows as well as videos and music content
  • Build faster and easier without coding

Keep the visitor listening to a podcast preview with a sticky audio player

18. Onair2

Onair2 is a podcast and music theme with an ecommerce store feature where you can sell your products to fans. Managing your online store is also straightforward due to the theme’s WooCommerce integration.

There is a customizable podcast page template that you can implement on your pages with an audio player that’s integrated with YouTube, Mixcloud, Soundcloud, and more. Social sharing icons are customizable. This gives your visitors the ability to find and follow your accounts within seconds.

Core Features

• Use the podcast and music theme with ecommerce store feature
• Design your podcast page template with YouTube, Mixcloud, and Soundcloud integrations
• Increase your social media presence with social sharing icons

19. Music

As the name suggests, this WordPress theme was created with artists, musicians, and podcasters in mind.

With six customizable layouts, you can build an attractive WordPress site for your podcast using Music’s drag-and-drop editor. The smart layout options take this further, allowing you to customize your menus and headers for the most helpful site navigation.

Core Features

• Non-stop music play allows your podcasts to play continuously throughout your visitor’s session
• Use the album feature to display a custom playlist of podcast episodes
• Embed video podcasts on your site to give visitors an audio + visual experience

20. Dixie

If you use your podcast to promote your business, check out the WordPress podcast theme, Dixie. Dixie is compatible with WooCommerce and Elementor, making it a user-friendly theme for building your own podcast website. It comes with a fully-featured audio player that visitors can use to download an episode or listen to it while browsing your site.

Core Features

• Two to six column grid display for a clean layout of multiple podcast episodes
• Infinite scroll pagination to keep visitors engaged as they listen
• Dedicated pages for individual podcasts to feature particular topics

21. Megabyte

Megabyte is a popular WordPress theme for podcasters. It incorporates the tools you’ll need to display your podcasts on your website. One of the coolest features of this theme is the audio-enabled megamenu that plays a featured podcast episode right on the homepage.

Core Features

• Audio-enabled mega menus for immediate podcast plays
• Responsive for tablet and mobile devices
• Drag-and-drop page builder for a no-code design experience

22. Astra

Astra is a popular multipurpose WordPress theme that’s perfect for podcasting. Its size is less than 50 kb, making it a great foundation for a fast-loading podcast site. Besides Astra’s responsive, SEO-optimized, and customizable templates, it has one dedicated theme for podcasting.

This podcasting template showcases your latest episodes, guests, and reviews right on the homepage. It also includes a newsletter subscription form for nurturing your community. Plus, Astra comes with a pre-designed subscription widget for external podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Core Features

• Showcase recent episodes, guests, and reviews on your homepage
• Use pre-designed subscription buttons to grow your subscribers across various podcasting platforms
• Grow your email list with the built-in newsletter sign-up form

23. WpCast

WpCast is a fast and responsive theme for creating user-friendly podcast websites. The theme’s homepage features a sticky audio player that remains on top of the homepage as listeners browse through your site. This theme also lets you group episodes by series.

WpCast is compatible with major podcast plugins like Seriously Simple Podcasting, PowerPress, and Libsyn. This makes managing your podcast easier.

Core Features

• Group related podcast episodes into series
• Integrate seamlessly with popular podcasting platforms and plugins like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Seriously Simple Podcasting, and Libsyn
• Keep visitors engaged with an interactive or sticky audio player

24. Rare Radio

Rare Radio features 12+ responsive and customizable pre-made demos, including three pre-made header styles. The retina readiness of the site makes it look great on any platform.

Rare Radio includes social media icons, so you can grow your social following. It also supports Instagram Feed plugins, so you can display images from your Instagram page.

Other compatible plugins include GiveWP plugin, which lets you accept donations from listeners. Its integration with Mailchimp can also help you build your email list and nurture your listeners.

Core Features

• Accept donations from listeners
• Enjoy cross-browser compatibility — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, and Opera
• 12+ responsive and easily customizable demos
• Compatible with Elementor and WooCommerce

25. Gumbo

Gumbo is a responsive and SEO-optimized theme built for podcasters and vloggers. Its homepage contains a full-width slider in the hero section of the header area. This lets you instantly grab visitors by presenting your most popular or recent content.

The content slider also features an audio player so visitors can start listening when they land on your site. Meanwhile, viewers can download podcast episodes using the built-in download button.

Gumbo also supports locally-hosted videos and videos from popular platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. This WordPress theme provides multiple layout options for displaying your podcast episodes. This includes the one-column list, two-to-six-column podcast grid, and the masonry grid display option.

Core Features

• Full-width content slider for showcasing recent or popular podcasts
• Multiple options for episode display layout
• Responsive and compatible with most major browsers
• Compatible with Elementor

Creating Your Podcast WordPress Website

WordPress podcast themes will help you share your hard work on a website that you’re proud of. These themes make it easy to:

• Manage your seasons and shows.
• Include descriptions about your hosts.
• Stay in contact with fans.
• Share the latest information about live shows and events in one location.

With a wide variety of features, layouts, and customization options, you can achieve any design you want with your preferred podcasting theme. Download and install a podcasting theme today so you can begin sharing your content and building lasting relationships with your fans.

Editor’s note: We originally published this post in December 2018 and we’ve updated it for comprehensiveness.

It’s amazing how fast things can change in just one year.

After combing through major reports on inbound marketing, content marketing, social media, and online behavior, as well as gathering our own data, we’ve compiled the top visual content marketing statistics for marketers to reflect on.

This year, we’ve seen the continued importance of visual content emphasized by the changes that occurred across almost every major social network, including TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

To help you keep pace with these trends, let’s take a look at some visual content marketing statistics that demonstrate the impact visual content has on reach, engagement, and sales.

General Visual Content Stats

Video Marketing Stats

Emerging Visual Marketing Stats

Infographic Stats

Social Media Stats

52 Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know

General Visual Content Statistics

• Video is the most popular and effective media format. (HubSpot)
• 50% of marketers leverage video in their marketing strategy, followed closely by images at 47%. (HubSpot)

• Long-form videos above 30 minutes, like webinars and live events, saw over 11,000% growth over the past decade, making it the fastest-growing video segment. (HubSpot)

• 71% of B2B marketers say content marketing has become more important to their organization in the last year. (Content Marketing Institute)

• In 2021, over 50% of marketers used visuals in over 91% of their content. (Venngage)
• According to a survey by Venngage, original graphics are the most used type of visual content by marketers at 36%, followed by stock photos at nearly 34%. (Venngage)
• 30% of marketers primarily create visual content for blogs, followed by social channels such as Facebook and LinkedIn. (Venngage)
• According to The World Health Organization, there are an estimated 2.2 billion people with visual impairments globally. (World Health Organization)
• Over 50% of marketers agree that visual content is essential to their marketing strategy. (Venngage)
• A third of marketers find producing visual content consistently is their biggest struggle with content production. (Venngage)

Video Marketing Statistics

• 75% of adults in the US watch short-form video content on a mobile device. (eMarketer)
• 59% of Gen Z viewers use short-form video apps to discover things that they then watch longer versions of. (Think With Google)
• On average, people watch 17 hours of video content per week. (HubSpot)
• 91% of consumers want to see more online videos from brands. (HubSpot)
• Social media videos are the most common type of video marketers create at 71%, followed closely by explainer videos at 70%. (HubSpot)
• 96% of consumers have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product. (HubSpot).
• 80% of marketers held live events in 2022. (HubSpot)
• When it comes to B2B, 79% of people say they’ve been convinced to purchase an app or piece of software because of a video. (HubSpot)
• YouTube is the most widely used video platform by marketers at 90% (Facebook is second, at 86%). (HubSpot)
• 33% of marketers leverage short-form video content in their marketing strategy.

• Short-form video has the highest ROI of all marketing trends. (HubSpot)
• Most short-form videos are under 60 seconds, and they have the highest average engagement. (HubSpot)
• Over 11 million people streamed video for the first time on Twitch in 2022. (Twitch)
• In 2022, YouTube surpassed Netflix as the top streaming platform in the US. (HubSpot)

Emerging Visual Marketing Trends

• 90% of marketers using short-form video will increase or maintain their investment next year, and 21% of marketers plan to leverage short-form video for the first time in 2023. (HubSpot)
• 56% of marketers plan to increase their investment in TikTok in 2023. (HubSpot)
• 24% of marketers are planning to invest more in video than any other format in 2023. (HubSpot)
• 1 in 3 marketers plans to stop using NFTs this year. Additionally, 29% plan to stop marketing in the Metaverse and in audio chat rooms. (HubSpot)
• 65% of all web traffic is via a mobile device. (Similarweb)
• 40% of marketers plan to prioritize mobile-friendly website design in 2023. (HubSpot)
• 56% of consumers who are interested in the metaverse want to watch TV and movies there. (GWI)

Infographic Stats for Visual Content Marketers

• Original graphics like infographics and illustrations perform best, according to marketers. (Venngage)
• Stock photos perform the worst out of all visual formats. (Venngage)
• When it comes to content creation, 30% of marketers share infographics. (HubSpot)
• One study found that people following directions with text and illustrations do 323% better than people following directions without illustrations. (Springer)

Source: NeoMam

Social Media Stats for Visual Content Marketers

• Facebook is the most popular social media platform, used by 64% of marketers. Additionally, it has the best ROI compared to other social media platforms. (HubSpot)
• 70% of Instagram users don’t mind seeing ads when watching videos on Instagram. (Instagram Business)
• 26% of marketers plan to use TikTok for the first time in 2023, and 16% of marketers plan to invest more in TikTok than any other social media app. (HubSpot)
• In 2023, 31% of marketers use YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. (HubSpot)
• Of the Instagram Story formats people prefer most, 35% say they engage with short narrative-styled Stories with photos, videos, and text most often. (HubSpot)

• YouTube is the most popular social media platform among teenagers, with 95% of American teenagers ages 13 to 17 using it. TikTok is the second most popular platform among teens at 67%. (Pew Research)
• As of 2022, the largest demographic of U.S. Instagram users was between the ages of 18 and 29, making up 71% percent of Instagram’s user base in the U.S. (Pew Research)
• In a poll of over 350 consumers, 56% said they “sometimes” watch Instagram Stories with the sound on, while 29% said they “always” do this. (HubSpot)

• On Instagram, carousel posts draw the highest engagement of all post types, followed by video posts. (Statista)
• For videos up to 5 minutes long, viewers will watch about 50% of the content. (HubSpot)
• Snapchat had 100 million daily active Snapchat users as of 2022. (Statista)
• Advertisers can reach more than 250 million people on Pinterest. (Hootsuite)
• Pinterest users are five times more likely to make a purchase after using a Try-On enabled pin, Pinterest’s AR feature. (Hootsuite)

• By the end of 2022, Pinterest had 450 million global active users. (Pinterest)

• Users who saw immersive, actionable ads on Pinterest were 59% more likely to recall that brand. (Pinterest)

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Unless you’re Beth Harmon from The Queen’s Gambit, navigating the B2B buyer journey can feel like you’re playing a multi-level chess game. 

With an average of 1.9 decision-makers per midmarket solution purchase, each with their unique goals and interests, it’s no small feat to align all the pieces. 

And it’s not just us saying that—a whopping 75% of customers surveyed by Gartner attest to the complexity of the purchase process. 

However, in this post, we’re here to guide you through this maze and help make sense of the time and relationships it takes to secure that satisfying ‘Purchase Approved’ notification.

What is the B2B buyer journey?

A B2B buyer journey begins when a business realizes that they have a problem and continues until the point when they make a purchase. 

It is our goal as marketers to provide our customers with the right resources at the right time to help make their journey easy and fruitful. We make this happen by understanding the stages of the B2B buyer journey and learning what our customers need at each stage.

Understanding the B2B buyers’ journey stages

You might think that a B2B customer might not be as emotionally invested as a B2C customer, but research suggests otherwise. 

According to CMO.com, B2B customers are significantly more emotionally connected to their vendors and service providers than consumers.

For this purpose, it is important to map out your buyer’s journey that someone goes through when they’re making a decision to purchase.

It is important to note that the journey is not always linear and the buyer may move to and fro between two stages. 

Let’s read about the seven stages of B2B buyers with examples and the type of content creation or support that happens at each stage.

Stage 1: Awareness 

Photo by Kai Gradert on Unsplash

At the awareness stage, the customer is either becoming aware of their problem or they’re becoming aware of your company and the fact that your company offers a product that can be the solution to an existing or future problem.

In a marketing sales funnel, the awareness begins at the top of the funnel (TOFU). This is the stage where marketers can actually be the people who make them aware of their problem by creating resources to drive awareness in their customers. 

For instance, an awareness campaign may include creating blog posts, social media content, white papers, ebooks, reports, guides, infographics, checklists, and PPC ads. The purpose of content creation at this stage is to raise awareness about a problem and tie the pain point to an undesirable outcome. 

Stage 2: Interest

Like the classic AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action), in the interest stage of the B2B buyer’s journey, the customer explores their options after becoming aware of the pain point. They assess the complexity of their problem and evaluate whether investing in a solution is necessary given the stakes involved.

During the interest phase of the buyer journey, the primary goal is to engage and educate potential customers. Content creation at this stage should aim to capture their attention, establish credibility, and provide valuable information that addresses their pain points or challenges. 

Some examples of content that can be created during the interest phase include thought leadership articles, educational videos, tutorials, webinars, podcasts, case studies, whitepapers, comparison guides, infographics, and eBooks that offer valuable research findings and actionable recommendations.

Stage 3: Consideration

The consideration stage in the buyer journey is a critical phase where potential customers have identified their needs or pain points and are now actively evaluating different solutions.

During this stage, they compare various alternatives, assessing their features, benefits, and costs, and determining which option aligns best with their requirements.

The consideration stage is characterized by the following aspects:

• Research and evaluation
• Comparison and decision-making
• Seeking validation and social proof
• Interactions with sales and service teams

At the consideration stage of the B2B buyer journey, it is important to create content that helps potential customers evaluate and compare different solutions. The goal of content creation at this stage is to showcase the unique value proposition of your offering and address specific pain points or challenges your target audience may have.

This is your cue to meet the customer where they are in their journey and provide them compelling arguments to choose them vs. any other option.

This includes providing in-depth product/service information, case studies, comparison guides, demos, and expert guides. Among all these, social proof in the form of written and video testimonials, reviews, and endorsements by industry leaders play an important part in shaping customers’ decisions.

Stage 4: Intent 

The intent stage is where a prospect has shown a clear intention to make a purchase. 

For a marketer, the goal at this stage is to help the prospect solidify their intent to move forward with your offer and provide the necessary information and confidence to take the next step in the buying process, whether it’s making a purchase, requesting a proposal, or engaging in further discussions with your sales team.

At the intent stage, it is crucial to provide content and resources that facilitate the decision-making process and reinforce the value and benefits of your product or service. This may include personalized product demonstrations, free trials, pricing information, testimonials from satisfied customers, and persuasive content that addresses any remaining concerns or objections.

Stage 5: Evaluation 

During the evaluation stage, the potential buyer evaluates and compares the available choices. They consider things like features, price, reputation, customer reviews, and how well the options meet their specific needs. The customer might be leaning toward one option at this stage, but they need enough data to justify their purchase.

Ideally, the buyer journey should become more personalized—as Entrepreneur tells us to stop selling like it’s the 90’s. 

At the evaluation stage, it is the marketer’s job to create and provide content that supports the buyer’s decision in their favor. The kind of content that is relevant at this stage includes email drip nurture campaigns, product comparison guides, case studies, expert reviews, and any content that can establish the credibility of your offering.

Additionally, providing pricing information, payment plans, implementation guides, and demos can help buyers assess the feasibility and suitability of your solution for their specific needs.

Stage 6: Purchase 

We’re at the purchase stage. This is when the customer decides to go ahead with a specific solution or vendor and completes the transaction. 

During this stage, the buyer may negotiate terms, sign contracts, and make the payment. 

It’s important for businesses to make the purchasing process easy and smooth by providing ongoing support, easy documentation, and minimal back-and-forths.

Stage 7: Customer Retention 

After a customer makes a purchase in the B2B buyer journey, we enter the post-purchase/customer retention stage. 

This is when the company focuses on keeping the customer happy and engaged to encourage future business. They want to build a long-term relationship and ensure customer satisfaction. 

During this stage, content that is shared aims to provide additional value and support to the customer. This may include tutorials, guides, case studies, and tips on how to make the most out of the product or service. 

You may also send personalized emails or newsletters to keep the customer informed about updates, new features, or exclusive offers.

How do I create a B2B buyer journey?

Photo by Jean-Frederic Fortier on Unsplash

By mapping out a buyer’s journey based on the following steps, we’ll satisfy all of the above needs as they move through the funnel.

Identify your ideal client profile (ICP)

When it comes to creating a successful B2B buyer journey, it’s important to start by identifying your target customers. These are the people who are most likely to be interested in your products or services. 

Here are some best practices to help you find and understand your ideal customers.

• Research your industry – Learn about the industry you operate in and gather information about its key players, trends, and challenges. This will help you identify the types of businesses or professionals that are most likely to benefit from what you offer. 
• Define your buyer personas – Create a profile of your ideal customer, known as a buyer persona. Consider factors such as their job title, company size, industry, goals, pain points, and challenges. This will help you understand their needs and tailor your marketing efforts to address them. 
• Analyze your existing customers – Look at your current customer base and conduct surveys and interviews to identify common characteristics among them. Consider factors like company size, location, and industries they belong to. This information can give you insights into the types of customers who are already interested in your products or services. 
• Understand what they’re already consuming – NetLine’s Audience Explorer tool is one of the best free tools on the market. Interested in what your ideal B2B audience(s) is/are consuming? Audience Explorer gives you a rolling 180-day view into the topics they’re consuming and, most importantly, gives you insight into precisely who is engaged.

• Conduct market research – Survey your target audience or interview existing customers to gather valuable insights. Ask questions about their preferences, needs, and challenges. This information will help you refine your buyer persona and create targeted marketing messages.

• Monitor social media and online communities – Pay attention to discussions happening on social media platforms and industry-specific forums. Look for common questions, problems, or interests shared by your target audience. This will give you a better understanding of their pain points and the solutions they are seeking.

• Use analytics tools – Leverage data analytics tools to gather information about website visitors, such as their demographics, behavior, and interests. This data can provide valuable insights into your target audience’s online activities and help you refine your marketing strategies.

• Seek feedback from sales and customer service teams – Your sales and customer service teams interact directly with customers. They can provide valuable feedback on the types of customers they engage with most and the challenges those customers face. Regularly communicate with these teams to gather insights and refine your buyer persona.

Understand your customers’ goals, pain points, and challenges

Here are some simple ways to understand customer goals and pain points:

• Conduct customer interviews – Talk to your customers and ask them about their goals and challenges. Their answers will give you important information about how you can help them. 
• Mine reviews –  Look at what customers say in their reviews. They often talk about their goals and the problems they want to solve. This can give you ideas on how to make your products or services better. 
• Monitor social media and forums – Pay attention to what people say on social media and in online business groups. People ask specific questions online. This can give you insights into what your customers need. 
• Go to events – Attend events where you can meet current and potential customers. Talk to them and learn about their goals and challenges. This can help you understand what they need.

Create content that addresses each stage of the buyer journey  

Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash

Unlike the B2C customer journey, the B2B buying process is often complex, extensive, and information-heavy, with numerous stakeholders involved in purchasing decisions. 

As technology improves, B2B buyers now expect B2C-like customer experiences online as well. In fact, 80% of business buyers expect real-time communications.

This means B2B companies have to continue innovating in order to stay one step ahead. As marketers, it is our job to meet the customer where they are.

One way to do this is by creating quality content that meets buyers where they are. 

Build your distribution strategy to get in front of prospects

When you create content, you want to make sure that it reaches the right people. That’s where a content distribution strategy comes in. It’s a plan for getting your content in front of your target audience.

Here are some simple steps to help you distribute your content effectively and reach more leads.

• Use social media – Customize your message for each platform and engage with people who comment or share your content. 
• Send emails – Send newsletters or targeted emails to people who are interested in your content. 
• Collaborate with B2B influencers – Work together with people who have many followers or are experts in your industry. They can help promote your content to a larger audience and attract more leads. 
• Syndicate your content – Publish your content on websites like Medium or LinkedIn Pulse, which can reach new readers and expand your audience. Syndicating eBooks, White Papers, and Webinars is another wise method of getting in front of your ICP. Suffice it to say, we’re pretty big fans of content syndication on our end, as well.

• Participate in online and IRL communities – Share your knowledge and provide helpful resources to gain visibility and connect with potential leads.

• Host webinars and podcasts – Organize online presentations or appear as a guest on podcasts to share your expertise. This way, you can reach engaged audiences and attract leads who are interested in your content.

• Leverage paid ads – From Google and Meta to TikTok, this can help you reach more people who are likely to be interested in what you have to offer.

Align your sales and marketing efforts  

Aligning sales and marketing efforts is crucial in ensuring a smooth and effective B2B buyer journey, particularly if you are following an Account-Based-Marketing playbook (ABM). 

At the bare minimum, this means: 

• Ensuring open lines of communication – This starts by creating a shared understanding of goals, strategies, and target customers. This helps identify areas for improvement, share success stories, and address any challenges or gaps in the buyer journey. By maintaining an ongoing dialogue, you can refine strategies and optimize the buyer journey over time. 
• Define what a lead looks like and key handoffs between sales and marketing – Develop lead scoring criteria that both sales and marketing agree upon. This helps prioritize leads based on their level of engagement, fit with the ideal customer profile, and readiness to purchase. 

Test and optimize your process

Testing and optimizing your process is an ongoing task. It’s about continuously learning and adapting to make the B2B buyer journey more effective and successful. 

Practically, this means making changes based on feedback.

Why knowing the buyer journey for B2B is so important? 

Understanding how to map it and take action on gaps can be the difference between a customer signing on and a potential buyer looking for an alternative partner.

Let’s look at some benefits of understanding the buyer’s journey:

Understand your customers better

By understanding the buyer journey, businesses can get to know their customers better. They can learn about their needs, preferences, and challenges. This helps in creating products and services that truly meet customer requirements.

Improve your marketing strategy

When businesses understand the buyer journey, they can create marketing strategies that are targeted and effective. They can reach the right audience with the right message at the right time, increasing the likelihood of a sale.

Provide a better customer experience 

Understanding the buyer journey allows businesses to provide a better experience for their customers. They can tailor their interactions, provide relevant information, and address customer pain points. This leads to happier customers and long-term relationships.

Increase sales

With a clear understanding of the buyer journey, businesses can optimize their sales process. They can identify key touchpoints and opportunities to engage with customers. This can lead to more conversions and increased sales.

What does the future look like for the B2B buying journey?

With B2B buyers relying on more channels, the future of B2B sales is hybrid.

Here are some trends to pay attention to: 

• Create more personalized sales experience – Businesses will use advanced technologies to understand customer preferences and deliver tailored experiences throughout the buying process. 
• Rely on data-driven decisions – From identifying trends to forecasting pipelines and optimizing sales and marketing strategies, data will play a crucial role. 
• Omnichannel engagement  -Businesses need to provide a seamless experience across different touchpoints and channels. 
• The rise of AI and automation – Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) will further revolutionize the B2B buying journey from lead generation to personalized content and personalized recommendations. 

How NetLine helps to map a buyer’s journey in B2B 

INTENTIVE is the go-to buyer-level intent platform designed to help you understand prospects and deliver personalized content at the right time. 

Our platform gives you real-time insights that go beyond the basics. It doesn’t just tell you “who” is showing interest in an account, it reveals “what” actions they’re taking, “when” they’re taking them, and uniquely, “where” these actions are happening. This intelligence empowers you to truly understand your prospects, paving the way for successful and meaningful content personalization efforts. Start a free trial today.

At INBOUND 2023, HubSpot CEO Yamini Rangan introduced changes to the customer journey driven by the recent surge of AI technology.

Where people spend their time, how they buy, how they share information, and how they expect to receive customer service is all changing. What’s not changing, however, is the importance of connection.

The advent of AI makes this an extremely exciting time. The businesses that can effectively leverage technology to drive deeper connections will ultimately be the companies that grow better.

AI will help level the playing field with features that give you incredibly powerful content creation tools. For example, HubSpot AI features such as Content Assistant and ChatSpot.

Both leverage the same large language model that OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but conveniently packaged directly within your HubSpot portal.

At HubSpot, we affectionately refer to our top 20% of growing customers that prioritize the art of forging deep customer connections in their growth strategies as “Connectors.”

These remarkable businesses understand that meaningful engagement with customers is not just a buzzword, but a powerful catalyst for driving sustainable growth and building lasting relationships.

But how do we know customer connection leads to growth? We decided to dig into the data and find out.

I lead Product Analytics at HubSpot; our mission is to understand how using HubSpot helps our customers grow.

With over 184,000 customers spanning 120 countries and 149 different industries, we’ve built a strong point of view on the importance of connection — and have the data to back it up.

I’m excited to share some of these best practices here.

Digging Into the Data

In most data science projects, 80% of time is spent on data prep and this project was no different.

We started by defining a growth metric: year-over-year closed-won deal volume. We focused on consistent Deals tool users for 2+ years, giving us high confidence in our measurements.

From there, we isolated customer behavior impact by grouping customers (20+ segments) by industry, size, HubSpot tenure, and feature access. Each segment was individually modeled for performance comparison among peers.

Here’s what we learned.

1. Customer Connection Drives Growth

After HubSpot talked to connectors across a variety of industries, we discovered something we are calling the “Connection Gap”. It turns out that HubSpot’s top connectors are growing 29 percentage points more than average companies.

Said another way, connectors are growing 5x more than average companies that aren’t prioritizing customer connection in their growth strategies.

Year Over Year Growth Outcomes by Prevalence of Connection Behavior

Furthermore, we learned that customers in less digitally mature industries (e.g., manufacturing) see a larger connection gap (40 percentage points) and will benefit even more by focusing on customer connection.

2. Growth Compounds as You Connect Across More Lifecycle Stages

Connecting in more customer lifecycle stages increases total growth.

On average, companies that connected with customers across all five journey stages (aware, prospect, lead, deal, customer) grew 19% more than single-stage connectors. Contrary to what you might think, each additional lifecycle stage a company connects in adds more incremental growth than the one before.

Incremental Growth by Number of Customer Journey Stages Engaged

This tells us running customer connection strategies aren’t important for just one department. This is an effort that needs to be carried out throughout your entire company — an end-to-end customer connection strategy that shines through in every touch point you have with your prospects and customers.

The numbers don’t lie; companies that connect with customers at every opportunity, from initial discovery to post-purchase delight, are winning.

3. Growth Increases When You Connect in Multiple Ways

More channels used within each journey stage leads to better connection, and better growth. Companies in the top 20% of connections are committed to meeting their customers where they are, and therefore use multiple features to engage with customers at each lifecycle stage.

Year Over Year Growth Outcomes by Number of Features Used in Each Customer Journey Stage

We’ve also learned that different features are more or less significant drivers of growth depending on the industry you’re in.

For manufacturing it’s outbound calling, tickets, and meeting links. But for software or IT the top features were sales email, ads, and meetings links. Meanwhile, professional services companies found sales email, ads, and A/B testing are more effective.

4. Growth is Maximized When Companies Leverage Both Scaled and Human-Led Connection

The combination of human-led and scaled (one-to-many) tactics across each stage of the customer journey is key to maximizing growth. (n.b. – HubSpot does not provide human-led tools for the awareness stage). When both tactics are used across the entire lifecycle, companies see 19% growth.

Median Percent Growth by Stages with Customer Connection Activity

We’ve seen human-led connection to be more prevalent and impactful later in the customer lifecycle, with customers omitting human connection in the deal and customer stages experiencing negative growth (-1%).

Closing the Connection Gap

The theme is clear — the fastest growing companies make customer connection a priority. They think holistically across the entire customer journey, use multiple modalities to engage with customers through preferred channels, and rely on both scaled and human-led tactics in tandem.

It may seem daunting, but with a potential 5x growth opportunity at stake, the most important thing is to get started.

HubSpot’s committed to making this easy for you. We’re investing in AI to level the playing field, so that even with a small team, you can win on customer connection.

It’s time to rethink how you market, sell, and support your customers. Insights and strategies in HubSpot’s new “Guide to Connection in the Age of AI” can help your professional services, software, or manufacturing company drive growth through building meaningful customer connections at scale.

In addition to chicken, KFC is frying up controversy.

On August 24 Azim Akhtar, KFC Canada’s Director of Marketing, tweeted a few billboard images from the company’s new “It’s finger lickin’ good” campaign.

While the ads are supposed to be playful, suggesting that utensils aren’t needed to enjoy KFC, X users quickly pointed out that all of the images featured Black people eating fried chicken and feed into harmful stereotypes.

Upon receiving the pushback, Akhtar took to X to clarify that the print images were part of a broader campaign and shared a video version of the ad that featured a diverse group of actors casting aside utensils to enjoy KFC with their hands.

Though sharing the video was an attempt to provide broader context, it left social media users wondering why the creative used on the billboards didn’t reflect the diversity of the commercial. Other commentators speculated that the imagery was intentionally used to stir up controversy.

The Importance of Culturally Competent Marketing

While fried chicken is not inherently racial, North America has a history of stereotyping the consumption of fried chicken by Black people, using it as a demeaning trope. Failing to take this historical context into consideration is definitely a misstep for the brand.

We saw another example earlier this summer during the Barbie movie’s promo. The official X account for the Warner Bros. film shared light-hearted responses to fan-made images of Barbie and Oppenheimer. The move was seen as distasteful to Japanese audiences given the history of nuclear weapons used in Japan during World War II. Warner Bros. later issued an apology for the insensitive engagement.

These examples show the importance of culturally competent marketing. To avoid mistakes like this in the future, marketing teams should aim to:

• Understand relevant historical context and how different demographics may be impacted by a piece of context
• Enlist diverse teams with marketers of different backgrounds and experiences who can provide necessary insights
• Constantly examine, question, and deconstruct biases that may show up in their content

While outrage can contribute to virality, not all engagement is good engagement. Culturally insensitive content breaks the audience’s trust and can overshadow potentially positive experiences a customer can have with a brand.

Once Google releases its search generative experience, one thing is for certain: The types of content that encourages traffic to your website will change tremendously.

Straightforward, cut-and-dry topics like “How to create a social media strategy” might not drive as much traffic to your website anymore. Instead, users will find the answers to queries like that directly on Google through the generative AI snapshot.

Which is an alarming thought. If some of your content is made redundant by generative AI, what could happen to your traffic and leads in a post-SGE world?

Fortunately, HubSpot’s SEO team has taken some of the guesswork out of it. Here, learn from HubSpot’s SEO experts on what types of content you’ll want to start leaning into in 2023 to continue directing traffic to your website — and what to avoid.

Which Types of Content to Lean into Ahead of Google’s SGE

1. Lean into personality-driven, thought-provoking content.

AI has a lot going for it. But, due to the nature of it being a robot, it inherently lacks one thing: A perspective.

Which is why you’ll want to ensure you start leaning into personality-driven thought leadership content that offers personal lessons, examples, and novel concepts that drive conversations forward.

As Aja Frost, HubSpot’s Director of SEO Global Growth, puts it, “As a result of the AI evolution, there is an exponential increase in the amount of AI-written, low-value content. And, in response to that, Google is prioritizing first-person, credible, personality-driven content.”

This makes sense. Google needs its AI models to continue to improve based on new information on the web. And new information – including new perspectives and ideas — can only come from real people.

For instance, consider what happens when I ask ChatSpot, “How do I build emotional resilience as an entrepreneur?”

ChatSpot’s answer includes plenty of tangible steps towards building resilience. But it lacks the nuance and complexity of real life.

Which is why it’s more helpful for me to turn to this post: “Bounce Back: Five Founders on Building Emotional Resilience“.

In the post, one founder, Michael Plisco, says, “As founders, we often find ourselves so deeply attached to our business and its mission that it becomes difficult to distinguish ourselves from what we are building. In failure, you have to take a step back and realize that the failure of the business, regardless of the situation, does not equate to a failure of self.”

Plisco then recommends getting back in touch with the things that make you happy, from spending time with friends and family to activities you haven’t had the time for since launching your business.

Consider that advice compared to ChatSpot’s advice to “Embrace failure as an opportunity for growth and learning, reframing setbacks as stepping stones to success.”

See the difference?

Ultimately, there are plenty of topics that deserve a quick, straightforward, cut-and-dry answer. I turn to ChatSpot all the time for topics like “Make me a workout plan,” “What is the top social media platform right now?”, and “Please give me five questions I should ask in an interview about product development and AI.”

AI can’t move the conversation forward into new territory with fresh, novel ideas. And it can’t fully relay the subtleties and nuances that many complex topics require. That’s where your content can truly shine.

2. First-person narratives will become increasingly crucial.

AI can round-up a long list of tools and provide a comprehensive analysis of each, but it can’t describe it’s own unique experience testing the tools out.

Which is where first-hand perspectives will become critical.

As HubSpot’s Marketing Manager and SEO Strategist, Bianca (Binks) Anderson, told me, “Productive Perspectives is a term we’re going to embrace at HubSpot to guide our writers ahead of Google’s SGE. For us, it means fully immersing ourselves in the topic and sharing our personal journey through first-person narratives.”

She continues, “We aim to showcase our hands-on experience by demonstrating the products, software, and tools we discuss, truly walking the walk.”

As we prepare for Google’s SGE roll-out, it’s vital you take a look at your existing strategy and consider where you can incorporate first-hand expertise. Rather than writing “The Top 10 Marketing Automation Tools”, perhaps you use a first-hand angle like, “I Tried These 5 Marketing Automation Tools: Here’s My Favorite”.

Along with helping you rank in a post-SGE world, incorporating first-person expertise also helps you build brand trust. Your readers want to know you have real-life experience on the topics about which you’re writing.

Anderson adds, “We also believe in taking a clear and confident stance on a topic, supported by first-hand research and data.”

She continues, “We believe that forming and articulating insightful opinions is a hallmark of genuine expertise. With Productive Perspectives, we strive to provide valuable content that resonates with our readers.”

3. You’ll need to incorporate E-E-A-T signals into your content.

Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Rating Guidelines rate E-E-A-T — which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness — as critical factors for ensuring your content ranks on Google, and E-E-A-T will become increasingly important after Google’s SGE release.

Which is why Rory Hope, HubSpot’s Head of Content SEO, advises all content creators to lean into these factors when creating content.

As he puts it, “When creating a piece of content, you’ll benefit from writing it through the real world experience of the author, whilst referencing the author or your company’s credentials to improve perceived expertise by search engines and users.”

He continues, “To improve authority, backlinks will remain important, so try to include primary research data or quotes when possible to make your content linkable and sharable. Depending on the content type, you should also add social proof or reviews onto the page, as this will help build trustworthiness.”

To prep for a post-SGE world, Hope recommends marketers read Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines to build a deeper understanding of E-E-A-T, which will help improve your visibility after SGE.

4. Lean into long-tail queries.

For a while now, marketers have heard the power of long-tail queries for ranking higher in the SERPs.

As a refresh: Head terms like “blogging” are generally searched for frequently, and are harder to rank for compared to long-tail phrases. So when considering your SEO strategy, you’ll want to make a list of long-tail phrases that could help you capture more traffic.

“How to write a blog post: a beginner’s guide,” for instance, is likely easier to rank for than “blogging”.

Senior Technical SEO Specialist Sylvain Charbit believes this will become increasingly important in a post-SGE world.

As he told me, “Prioritizing long-tail queries will become even more important as AI answers from Google are usually better in this case. Optimizing images and content around these more in-depth questions could lead to more visibility in the AI-generated responses.”

Be Prepared for Change

Regardless of the strategy shifts you decide work best for your business, one thing is certain: SGE will change how users’ search and find information. Which means, once SGE is rolled out, it will be critical your SEO and content strategist teams are prepared to test, iterate, and experiment to determine which new content plays work best for your business.

Take a look at The SEO Evolution: Expert Insights into the Future Landscape of Search if you’re interested in learning more about how SEO will change in 2023 and beyond.