Blog

Our State of AI Survey Report found that one of the top challenges marketers face when using generative AI is its ability to be biased. 

And marketers, sales professionals, and customer service people report hesitating to use AI tools because they can sometimes produce biased information. 

It’s clear that business professionals are worried about AI being biased, but what makes it biased in the first place? In this post, we’ll discuss the potential for harm in using AI, examples of AI being biased in real life, and how society can mitigate potential harm.

What is AI bias?

AI bias is the idea that machine learning algorithms can be biased when carrying out their programmed tasks, like analyzing data or producing content). AI is typically biased in ways that uphold harmful beliefs, like race and gender stereotypes. 

According to the Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2023, AI is biased when it produces outputs that reinforce and perpetuate stereotypes that harm specific groups. AI is fair when it makes predictions or outputs that don’t discriminate or favor any specific group.

In addition to being biased in prejudice and stereotypical beliefs, AI can also be biased because of: 

• Sample selection, where the data it uses isn’t representative of entire populations, so its predictions and recommendations cannot be generalized or applied to groups left out
• Measurement, where the data collection process is biased, leading AI to make biased conclusions.

How does AI bias reflect society’s bias?

AI is biased because society is biased. 

Since society is biased, much of the data AI is trained on contains society’s biases and prejudices, so it learns those biases and produces results that uphold them. For example, an image generator asked to create an image of a CEO might produce images of white males because of the historical bias in unemployment in the data it learned from. 

As AI becomes more commonplace, a fear among many is that it has the potential to scale the biases already present in society that are harmful to many different groups of people. 

AI Bias Examples

The AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Incidents Controversies Repository (AIAAIC) says that the number of newly reported AI incidents and controversies was 26 times greater in 2021 than in 2012.

Image Source

Let’s go over some examples of AI bias.

Mortgage approval rates are a great example of prejudice in AI. Algorithms have been found to be 40-80% more likely to deny borrowers of color because historical lending data disproportionately shows minorities being denied loans and other financial opportunities. The historical data teaches AI to be biased with each future application it receives.

There’s also potential for sample size bias in medical fields. Say a doctor uses AI to analyze patient data, uncover patterns, and outline care recommendations. If that doctor primarily sees White patients, the recommendations aren’t based on a representative population sample and might not meet everyone’s unique medical needs.

Some businesses have algorithms that result in real-life biased decision-making or have made the potential for it more visible. 

1. Amazon’s Recruitment Algorithm

Amazon built a recruitment algorithm trained on ten years of employment history data. The data reflected a male-dominated workforce, so the algorithm learned to be biased against applications and penalized resumes from women or any resumes using the word “women(‘s).”

2. Twitter Image Cropping

A viral tweet in 2020 showed that Twitter’s algorithm favored White faces over Black ones when cropping pictures. A White user repeatedly shared pictures featuring his face and that of a Black colleague and other Black faces in the same image, and it was consistently cropped to show his face in image previews.

Twitter acknowledged the algorithm’s bias and said, “While our analyses to date haven’t shown racial or gender bias, we recognize that the way we automatically crop photos means there is a potential for harm. We should’ve done a better job of anticipating this possibility when we were first designing and building this product.”

3. Robot’s Racist Facial Recognition

Scientists recently conducted a study asking robots to scan people’s faces and categorize them into different boxes based on their characteristics, with three boxes being doctors, criminals, and homemakers. 

The robot was biased in its process and most often identified women as homemakers, Black men as criminals, Latino men as janitors, and women of all ethnicities were less likely to be picked as doctors.

4. Intel and Classroom Technology’s Monitoring Software

Intel and Classroom Technology’s Class software has a feature that monitors students’ faces to detect emotions while learning. Many have said different cultural norms of expressing emotion as a high probability of students’ emotions being mislabeled. 

If teachers use these labels to talk with students about their level of effort and understanding, students can be penalized over emotions they’re not actually displaying. 

What can be done to fix AI bias?

AI ethics is a hot topic. This is understandable because AI’s bias has been demonstrated in real life in many different ways. 

Beyond being biased, AI can spread damaging misinformation, like deepfakes, and generative AI tools can even produce factually incorrect information. 

What can be done get a better grasp on AI and reduce the potential bias?

• Human oversight: People can monitor outputs, analyze data, and make corrections when bias is displayed. For example, marketers can pay special attention to generative AI outputs before using them in marketing materials to ensure they are fair.
• Assess the potential for bias: Some use cases for AI have a higher potential for being prejudiced and harmful to specific communities. In this case, people can take the time to assess the likelihood of their AI producing biased results, like banking institutions using historically prejudiced data.
• Investing in AI ethics: One of the most important ways to reduce AI bias is for there to be continued investment into AI research and AI ethics, so people can devise concrete strategies to reduce it.
• Diversifying AI: Having diverse perspectives in AI helps create unbiased practices as people bring their own lived experiences. A diverse and representative field brings more opportunities for people to recognize the potential for bias and deal with it before harm is caused.
• Acknowledge human bias: All humans have the potential for bias, whether from a difference in lived experience or confirmation bias during research. People using AI can acknowledge their biases to ensure their AI isn’t biased, like researchers making sure their sample sizes are representative.
• Being transparent: Transparency is always important, especially with new technologies. People can build trust and understanding with AI by simply making it known when they use AI, like adding a note below an AI-generated news article.

It’s very possible to use AI responsibly. 

AI and interest in AI are only growing, so the best way to stay on top of the potential for harm is to stay informed on how it can perpetuate harmful biases and take action to ensure your use of AI doesn’t add more fuel to the fire. 

Want to learn more about artificial intelligence? Check out this learning path.

When it comes to work events, trade shows, or promotional campaigns, they can really be hit or miss. It’s not solely the product that motivates people to come back to a brand, but rather the way they experience it. This is where experiential marketing comes in.

While a surprising number of people haven’t heard of the concept, it’s kind of a big deal — 77% of marketers use experiential marketing as a vital part of a brand’s advertising strategy.

In this post, we’ll be taking a deep dive into what experiential marketing is and share 14 of the coolest campaigns that break down how this strategy effectively works. By examining these campaigns, you’ll be able to apply the lessons learned to your own business to get the most out of your advertising efforts.

Experiential marketing (also known as xm marketing, engagement marketing, event marketing, on the ground marketing, live marketing, or participation marketing), might sound a bit like event marketing, which makes sense — experiential campaigns do tend to be event-centric. But there are also times when they have nothing to do with a specific event, as you’ll see from the examples we picked.

When an engagement marketing campaign is event-centric, it’s dedicated less to the type of event — like a concert, festival, conference, etc. — and more to interactions between the brand and the customer. (If you already have an event in the works, check out this guide to adding experiential elements to it.)

What do experiential marketers do?

An experiential marketer is in charge of creating and executing on the strategy for a client’s live, interactive marketing campaigns or in-person events.

An experiential marketer’s role is similar to a brand ambassador, event planner, or brand manager, and typically involves the following duties: 

• Brainstorm innovative experiential marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness, interact with the public, and create positive brand perception 
• Perform market research to understand what types of experiential marketing campaigns would perform best with a specific audience 
• Create events or live, interactive campaigns to help businesses effectively connect with its target audiences
• Lead events and take charge of logistics as it relates to event management 
• Track, analyze, and report on all experiential marketing campaign performance
• Work with cross-functional teams including brand, creative, digital, social, and public relations
• Travel to events as necessary to ensure vendor compliance and execution, sales support, and overall event success

Why Experiential Marketing Matters Today

According to Forbes, experiential marketing can bolster a lasting connection between customers and a brand. It can also allow you to collect vital data about participating consumers, which can then help you improve your strategy. 

These campaigns can take an integrated approach. The primary purpose is to experience a brand in a tangible, offline way, but you’ll still want an online dialogue around it.

When you consider that 87% of video marketers say video gives them a good return on their investment — and that people are twice as likely to share video content with their friends than any other type of content — it makes sense to incorporate a digital element. A branded hashtag, for example, can get people talking about the experience.

1. Warner Bros Pictures: Barbie Movie Selfie Generator

The highly anticipated film, Barbie, has been creatively marketed to fans of all ages and backgrounds — through unique trailers and immersive generative AI that let you become your own Barbie doll cover.

By visiting the website BarbieSelfie.ai, users were greeted with the message, “Welcome to Barbie Land, where you can be Barbie (or Ken). Click below to become an instant icon! #BarbieTheMovie”.

Greta Gerwig’s interpretation of Barbie supposedly leans into all the diverse and rare releases of Mattel toys, and their marketing team built on that idea by making an AI tool that allows users to identify as professionals in different fields, personalities, and color stories.

This marketing campaign is a good example of an experiential marketing campaign as it makes moviegoers feel good to see themselves represented in the coming Barbie movie and makes them feel as though they’re a part of the Barbie fantasy experience that kids (and now adults) feel when they play with Barbie products.

It also serves as movie promotion between friends, family, and followers as those who post the photos spread the movie release date as every image has its premiere date, July 21st, 2023, on every image generated.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Lean into new tech like generative AI for your next marketing campaign. Its newness and image-creation capabilities make it an engaging tool that gets attention.
• Inclusion is key. The marketing team behind the Barbie movie could have strictly marketed the film to young women, but instead, it’s done an amazing job of capturing the attention of all ages and identities — building some remarkable hype for this Summer.

2. Red Bull: Stratos

Red Bull has been at the forefront of extreme sports coverage for almost as long as the brand has existed. But the company brought its content marketing to new heights — a world-record height, actually.

Affectionately named Stratos, Red Bull’s superterrestrial marketing campaign featured Felix Baumgartner, a skydiver from Austria who partnered with Red Bull to set the world record for highest skydive.

That record: 128,000 feet, about 24 miles above Earth’s surface. Gulp.

To pull off this amazing stunt, Red Bull housed Felix in a small communication capsule and sent him up to the stratosphere using a large helium-filled balloon. And what’s truly remarkable is that his ascent and preparation to jump, alone, allowed him to break another record before landing safely back on Earth (spoiler alert): Red Bull streamed the entire event online, and saw the highest viewing traffic of any live stream ever broadcast on YouTube — at just over 8 million viewers.

Want to see that experience again? Check out Red Bull’s recap video below. I won’t lie, I indulged in a rewatching as I wrote this article.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Don’t underestimate the power of suspense when hosting an event your audience can own a piece of themselves. Being able to witness something new, and maybe a little scary, is such a personal experience. And the better the result, the longer your audience will remember and reminisce over it.
• Oh, and if you can put your brand in the record books while you’re at it, that’s pretty cool too.

3. Refinery29: 29Rooms

For about three years now, lifestyle brand Refinery29 has hosted the 29Rooms event: What it calls “an interactive funhouse of style, culture, & technology.” As the name suggests, it consists of 29 individually branded and curated rooms — and attendees can experience something different in each one. The rooms are designed and created with brand partners, who range from personalities like artists and musicians, to consumer-facing companies like Dunkin’ Donuts, Dyson, and Cadillac.

Each year, 29Rooms has a different theme, with this year’s being “Turn It Into Art.” Attendees, it seems, are encouraged to enter each room and use the surroundings to create something — one room, for instance, invites participants to put on punching gloves and hit punching bags that each produce a different sound when contacted to create a symphony of sorts. A truly hands-on experience, indeed.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Go nuts, but keep it on-brand. An experience should be memorable, but relevant to the people attending.
• Partner with creators like artists and musicians to create experiences, especially if they are recognizable within the region where you’re trying to build or augment an audience.

4. Lean Cuisine: #WeighThis

It’s disconcerting how many commercials today tell women to change something about themselves. Sitting on the couch and watching TV for just two minutes, I had already lost count of the number of times that message came up.

That’s why it’s so refreshing to see brands like Lean Cuisine, whose marketing used to center solely on weight loss, stray from diet-centric messaging. And its #WeighThis campaign is a great example of just that.

As part of the campaign, Lean Cuisine curated a gallery of “scales” in New York’s Grand Central Station, and invited women to “weigh in.” But here’s the catch: The scales were actually small boards where women could write down how they really wanted to be weighed. And rather than focusing on their weight in pounds — or anything pertaining to body image — the women opted to be measured by things like being back in college at 55, caring for 200 homeless children each day, or being the sole provider to four sons.

What’s particularly cool about this experience is that none of the participants actually interact with a Lean Cuisine product. No one was interrupted, asked to sample something, or stopped to answer questions. In fact, no one was really asked to do anything — the display itself was enough to make people stop, observe, and then voluntarily interact.

Lean Cuisine figured out what message it wanted to send: “Sure, we make stuff that fits into a healthy lifestyle. But don’t forget about your accomplishments. That matters more than the number on the scale.” But instead of blatantly advertising that, it created an interactive experience around the message.

Still, the experience was clearly branded, to make sure people associated it with Lean Cuisine. The company’s Twitter handle and a branded hashtag were featured on the display in large text, which made it easy for people to share the experience on social media. And that definitely paid off — the entire #WeighThis campaign led to a 33% increase in positive brand perception, and earned a 6.5 million reach just during week one.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Don’t interrupt — especially if you’re trying to grab someone’s attention in New York City, like Lean Cuisine was. If you create an experience that provides value to the people who pass by it, they’re more likely to participate.
• Figure out the message you really want to your brand to send — that may or may not be directly tied to an actual product, and it might be something that your brand hasn’t said before. Then, build an experience around it.

5. M&M: Flavor Rooms

If you’ve ever had a peanut M&M versus regular M&M debate, you know people can get passionate about candy. So, when M&M needed to choose its next flavor, the company chose to do so with an immersive pop-up in New York City. 

The experience included “flavor rooms”, which were each complete with decor and fragrances unique to a certain flavor. The pop-up also included snack and drink lounges with M&M-themed cocktails — which, I’m willing to bet, we’re great opportunities for M&M to appear on different attendees’ social pages. 

Image Source

Takeaways for Marketers

• With every marketing campaign you launch, find the “fun” factor. It’s easy to get caught up in how much your brand helps solve your customer’s problem. But what about them, as people, would also bring them enjoyment?
• Consider how you might leverage your audience for key business decisions. If they’re the ones who will be buying and using your product, they’re also the ones best-equipped to tell you what’s working, and what isn’t. An experiential campaign is one good opportunity to connect directly with your consumers and create enjoyable experiences in which they can provide perspective. 

6. Benefit Cosmetics: ‘A Lashtastic Virtual-Media Campaign’ 

In today’s digital-first world, a good experience doesn’t have to be in-person. But traditionally, consumers still want to test out new makeup products before purchasing — which created a challenge for Benefit Cosmetics during the worldwide pandemic, in which most retail locations were closed. 

To draw attention to its new Magnet Extreme Lengthening Mascara, Benefit, working with Because Creative Experiences, chose to create an immersive experience in which users could collect tokens and exchange those tokens for discounts, mascaras, or virtual beauty consultations on Benefit’s website. Best of all, they used Augmented Reality to create a fun, unique experience for their users. 

Here’s how it worked: Once users signed into Benefit’s Virtual Reality platform, they were asked to drop their location. Next, thanks to Augmented Reality, the prospects could use their phones to find tokens in their physical space. 

The campaign proved incredibly effective — including a conversion rate of over 50%, a CTR of 39.4%, and an average gamification dwell time of 2 minutes and 22 seconds. 

Image Source

Takeaways for Marketers: 

• Even adults love games. Consider how you might gamify your own experience and provide unique challenges or contests to drive engagement. In this case, the experience is fun whether or not a user purchases the product — which is key towards creating a good user experience. 
• If an in-person experience isn’t feasible, get creative with technology, VR, or AR to create the next best thing. Nowadays, digital experiences can feel just as real as in-person. You might need to think beyond traditional social campaigns to grab your audience’s attention.

7. Misereor: Charity Donation Billboard

When was the last time you used cash to pay for something?

Tough to remember, right? We’re kind of a species of “mindless swipers” — globally, an estimated 357 billion non-cash transactions are made each year. And knowing how often we whip out our cards, German relief NGO Misereor decided to put our bad habit to good use with its charitable giving billboard.

It was what they called SocialSwipe. Set up in airports, these digital posters would display images of some problems that Misereor works to resolve — hunger was depicted with a loaf of bread, for example.

But the screen was equipped with a card reader, and when someone went to swipe a card — for a small fee of 2€ — the image moved to make it look like the card was cutting a slice of bread.

Even cooler? On the user’s bank statement, there would be a thank-you note from Misereor, with a link to turn their one-time 2€ donation into a monthly one.

Needless to say, this experience required a lot of coordination — with banks, airports, and a mobile payment platform. Because of that, the experience couldn’t just be a one-time occurrence. The people who interacted with it were later reminded of it during a pretty common occurrence: receiving a bank statement.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Visually represent the impact of participating in the experience. People interacting with this display were shown exactly where their money was going — like slicing bread for a hungry family. (Infographics work nicely here, too — check out our templates.)
• Partner with another brand to create an even better experience. In this instance, Misereor worked with Stripe.com for the payment technology, and with financial institutions to get a branded message on users’ bank statements. (And stay tuned — we’ll talk more about the value of co-branding here later.)
• Don’t be afraid to nurture your leads. Even if you don’t use a branded hashtag to integrate the experience with an online element, find a way to remind someone that they participated.

8. Lululemon: Proud & Present

To celebrate Pride Month, Lululemon worked with MKG to create an immersive, thoughtful experience that combined an engaging social media campaign with real-life community-centered events. 

First, the athletic brand asked its own employees and ambassadors to reflect on topics relevant to the LGBTQ+ community. The brand shared their responses via images and video on Lululemon’s Instagram page throughout the month. 

Next, the brand created an art installation at Hudson River Park that reflected those same responses. This space, which stayed in the Park for two weeks, encouraged passersbys to read and reflect. That’s not all, though — Lululemon also created a community-focused yoga practice in the same park, which aimed to raise money for The Trevor Project. 

Image Source

Takeaways for Marketers

• Consider how you might create a cohesive experience to unit your online and offline presence. In this case, Lululemon leveraged its social accounts to reach its 3.7 million followers, but then created a few special, in-person experiences to drive the point home for its New York-based community. 
• An experiential marketing campaign shouldn’t just focus on selling a product or service — it oftentimes can, and should, focus on a larger issue. In this case, Lululemon’s dedication to Pride Month increased brand awareness and loyalty.

9. Häagen-Dazs: Strawberries & Cream with Wimbledon

To draw attention to its new, limited-edition ice cream flavor Strawberries & Cream, Häagen-Dazs worked with Wonderland to create a GIF photo booth at the tennis championship Wimbledon. 

The booth included a swing (playfully alluding to tennis), which encouraged famous tennis players, models, and influencers to take pictures to post on social media — a good opportunity to collect user-generated content and expand their reach quickly. 

Naming itself “the official ice cream of Wimbledon”, Häagen-Dazs created a commercial for the limited edition flavor, as well: 

Takeaways for Marketers 

•  Consider how you might create fun opportunities to encourage user-generated content. This doesn’t have to break the bank, either — there are plenty of budget-friendly options to create small booths at business conferences that still embrace that Instagram-worthy look. 

10. Facebook: Facebook IQ Live

Facebook — who also owns Instagram — has always understood how much data it has on how people use these platforms. For that reason, it created the Facebook IQ Live experience.

For this experience, that data was used to curate live scenes that depicted the data. Among them was the IQ Mart: A “retail” setting that represented the online shopper’s conversion path when using social media for buying decisions. There was also a quintessential Instagram cafe, chock full of millennial-esque photo opportunities and people snapping them — latte art and all.

The campaign wasn’t just memorable. It also proved to be really helpful — 93% of attendees (and there were over 1500 of them) said that the experience provided them with valuable insights on how to use Facebook for business.

But what makes those insights so valuable? Momentum Worldwide, the agency behind Facebook IQ Live, puts it perfectly: “When we understand what matters to people … we can be what matters to them.” In other words, we can shape our messaging around the things that are important to our target audiences.

And by creating this experience, Facebook was able to accomplish that for its own brand. In creating this experience, it also created a positive brand perception for a few audiences — including, for example, the people who might have been unsure of how to use the platform for business.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Build an experience for people who aren’t sure about how they would use your product or service. Find ways for them to interact with your brand in a way that creatively spells out how it can benefit them.
• Bring your data to life. We love numbers, but creating a live installment that illustrates them can help people understand exactly what they mean. And since 65% of people think that live events help them understand a product, this setting is a great place to do it.

11. Vans: House of Vans

Recently, Vans hosted House of Vans pop-up locations at skateparks within major cities like NYC and Chicago. This gave skateboarders a place to meet up, connect, listen to live music, and shred. 

Vans also used these skatepark-based popups to promote the launch of their new shoe line which honored David Bowie. 

With Vans being a leading shoe line of skateboarders, pop-ups in and near skateparks seem like a natural fit for an experiential marketing experience. 

Takeaways for Marketers

• Identify your audience’s hobbies and embrace them. In the example above, Vans knew that they had a big skateboarding audience, so they crafted an event to reward them while intriguing other skateboarders.
• Similarly, if you know you have audiences based in certain locations, go to where they are for your experiential campaign. This will provide less friction and make your audiences feel like you are literally meeting them where they are.

12. Rick & Morty: Rickmobile

To promote the return of the animated Adult Swim series Rick & Morty, Cartoon Network sent a car around the country shaped like Rick, a main character and mischievous time-traveling grandfather on the show. By marketing primarily on social media, the company was able to get the campaign to go viral. 

People began following where the Rickmobile was via a live destination page on the adult swim site.

When the Rickmobile hit major cities, people flocked to it to take a picture with Rick’s face and enter the mobile where they could purchase products related to the TV show.

Takeaways for Marketers

• It’s okay to embrace social media to create anticipation and excitement around your pop-up or experience, just as Adult Swim and Cartoon Network did. 
• Embracing weirdness, like that of a giant cartoon head driving around the country, can be a helpful way to make your event shareable or intriguing — even to people who might not follow the content or company that you’re promoting.
• If you can work in product sales, consider it. In this example, the network not only promoted the television show, but it also sold products related to it. So, essentially, people directly paid for aspects of a large scale ad.

13. Coca-Cola: FIFA World Cup VR Experience

In Zurich, during the FIFA World Cup, Coca-Cola placed a VR experience in front of a train station. With the experience, you could stand in front of a screen and see a popular soccer player next to you. You could then practice a soccer move with the athlete or compete in your own mini soccer tournament.

Takeaways for Marketers

While VR isn’t accessible to many marketers, this experience did have a few scaleable strategies associated with it.

• To give your attendees an experience of value, consider hosting an expert who can answer questions or give tips related to your marketing campaign.
• Embrace major events. If you know a city or area will be highly populated due to a game or another event, consider placing a pop-up there that somehow relates to that audience or the event itself.

Clearly, taking some very calculated risks worked out pretty well for these companies. So when it comes to creating an experience with your brand, don’t be afraid to think outside of the box — and don’t be afraid to work together on it with someone else.

Invest some time into thinking about the ways people could interact with you, even if it seems a little nutty. If it’s aligned with what you do and executed thoughtfully, people will be talking — in the best way possible.

AI has undoubtedly upended the way professionals across the organization work.

And content creation is no exception.

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are offering new ways for marketers to create more effective and engaging content. From automating content creation to improving personalized recommendations, AI is reshaping the content marketing landscape.

But if you’re unsure how to leverage AI to create better content, you’re not alone. At HubSpot, we’ve been exploring the fine line between using AI to enhance our content without relying too heavily on it.

Here, let’s explore some of the ways HubSpotters across the marketing organization are leveraging AI to enhance their content and drive better results.

How HubSpotters Are Enhancing Their Content with AI

1. HubSpotters Are Using AI to Figure Out Which Type(s) of Content to Make

One of the most powerful use cases for AI is figuring out what content you want to create in the first place.

For instance, AJ Beltis, HubSpot’s Senior Content Strategist of Media Conversion, told me, “Part of my team’s responsibilities is to create content offers on high-traffic blog posts that convert visitors into leads at as high of a rate as possible, which we then promote on that blog through CTAs. Understandably, some blog posts are more challenging to create content with a reliable conversion path.”

He continues, “For instance, when our blog team writes a post about marketing planning strategy, we know a downloadable marketing plan template will work as a CTA. However, some of our more technical topics on our Website Blog aren’t as straightforward when it comes to our traditional conversion strategy.”

Which is where AI comes in.

He says, “Here, we turn to AI and ask prompts like ‘What would somebody reading a blog post about (Topic X) want to learn about next?’ or ‘What is a template, guide, or checklist that somebody would find useful after reading a blog post about (Topic Y)?'”

Similarly, you might leverage AI chatbot tools like ChatSpot for your own content strategy. Beyond brainstorming blog topics that relate to your core product or service, you can use AI to determine which types of downloadable offers make the most sense for each individual piece of content.

As Beltis puts it, “AI helps us with content ideation and outlining for areas where our team lacks familiarity. We can then run these offer ideas by our experts and writers – the same way we would with any other outline – and take it upon ourselves to create this content with HubSpotty design and tone-of-voice.”

2. HubSpotters Are Using AI to Discover The Right Audiences — And How to Speak to Them

Justin Graci, HubSpot’s Marketing Fellow, Partner GTM & Product Readiness, uses AI in his role to determine who his audience is and what matters most to them.

He told me, “I leverage generative AI to change the tone of my writing by informing ChatGPT who my audience is and what they care most about. Very quickly, I can adapt my copy to be more tailored to the different audiences I’m writing for without having to research whether one audience prefers shorter versus longer form, deep context versus high level, or informal versus professional.”

One of the most difficult aspects of content creation is shifting your tone depending on your audience and the platform for which you’re creating content. For instance, your tone will change depending on whether you’re creating content for an Instagram post versus a weekly newsletter.

Rather than spending hours finessing your content to fit the platform and audience, you can use generative AI to speed up the process and spend more time on what matters most: The content itself.

Additionally, you might consider leveraging AI to help hit the right tone with your buyer persona.

As Graci puts it, “I’m also using AI for sales enablement … Being able to generate templates and phrases that are effective and proven to engage buyers has been immensely helpful when creating sales email templates and collateral.”

3. HubSpotters Are Using AI As Their Own Creative Co-Pilots

HubSpot’s Associate SEO Strategist Josh Blyskal is a big fan of AI.

As he puts it, “When I use AI in my role, I’m amplifying what I already know I can do. When I get stuck or have a mental block, that’s when I open up my AI tools. AI is like my creative co-pilot — it’s not going to everything perfectly, and I don’t expect it to. AI has been most beneficial in enabling me to quickly outline, plan, and get the ball rolling.”

His colleague, SEO Strategist Bianca Anderson, agrees. She told me, “For me, AI has served as the ultimate virtual assistant. I’ve been using AI daily to improve my internal communications with stakeholders and have found that it’s particularly effective in editing for tone and clarity. It even helped me write out this quote!”

She adds, “Additionally, AI has become a valuable resource for me in outlining memos for larger projects. It provides a solid foundation for me to build upon and refine, which greatly streamlines my workflow.”

Note that neither Blyskal nor Anderson use AI to replace their role in the content creation process — instead, they use it to amplify their content in much the same way you’d turn to a colleague if you were stuck on a paragraph or concept.

HubSpot’s Senior Marketing Technical Manager – AI, David Groechel, agrees that AI is a catch-all when it comes to content creation. He told me across the Marketing department he’s seen all teams leverage AI to create copy: “We throw copy into ChatSpot and have it give us iterations or come up with ideas we can riff on.”

Of course, it’s vital you take the time to determine which types of content work best when it comes to generative AI. As HubSpot Senior Technical SEO Specialist Sylvain Charbit puts it, “I find AI-generated content particularly useful for anything related to creating technical guides, which simply rely on listing and mechanically explaining facts, without the need for any specific opinion on a subject.”

(Bonus: If you’re a HubSpot customer, you can access your own creative co-pilot – Content Assistant – which is natively integrated in HubSpot’s platform and can effectively generate copy for you.)

4. HubSpotters Are Using AI to Off-load Time-consuming Tasks

One of the most powerful advantages of using AI is how much time it frees up for you to focus on tasks that, quite simply, need a human touch.

Marketers, sales professionals, and service professionals can now offload route, mundane, and repetitive tasks to AI — and save the work that requires more creativity, innovation, and empathy for themselves.

As HubSpot’s Senior Marketing Manager Pernilla Jungåker puts it, “Since I’m the only marketer for seven countries (Nordics and Benelux), I use AI to help me with easier yet time-consuming tasks to take some workload off my plate and save time. For instance, it could be summarizing a webinar landing page I’ve created and using that text in an email. Or creating versions of ads text so the ads team can test the different texts against each other.”

Justin Graci agrees, adding, “My writing process often requires me to get a lot of thoughts on a page before tightening it up in a way that makes it clearer to a reader (making every word fight to be on the page is key). With tools like ChatSpot I’m able to paste in my long paragraphs and ask it to shorten the copy without losing its depth … and Voila!”

He adds, “I also use AI on a daily basis to get over writer’s block. For example, I’m in the process of writing a new content offer and for each section I’ve come against a brain block on how to articulate certain points … So off to ChatSpot I go for inspiration instead of mulling over it for hours.”

As a writer myself, I’m well-aware of the time-suck that writer’s block can become. With AI, the days of staring out the window and waiting for inspiration to strike are gone. That, in itself, can quickly become an easy way to save hours of time.

The same goes for social media content, as well. As Nicole Phillip, The Hustle’s Senior Social Media Manager, told me, “Operating as a one person show has its challenges, but generative AI has made it a bit easier. I’ve started using ChatSpot for help with content ideation, text summaries and script-writing.”

She adds, “Of course, generative AI is still imperfect, so there’s fact-checking and rewriting that needs to be done, but it takes what would usually be hours of brainstorming and reduces the time needed to develop content like TikToks, especially.”

5. HubSpotters Are Leveraging AI to Edit Their Work & Research Faster

HubSpot’s Product Marketing Manager Irina Nica’s role requires her to get the latest news out about HubSpot’s product launches — which includes writing blog posts, product updates, and sales materials quickly.

Leveraging AI in the editing process has been monumental for Nica.

She told me, “One of my favorite go-tos is the Content Assistant’s blog writing feature. It’s like having a second pair of eyes that helps me go through my drafts, tidy them up, and get them out there faster. Don’t get me wrong … Writing is a huge part of my job and something that AI can’t take over, but it sure helps to speed up the nitty-gritty bits like editing. Plus, it’s a lifesaver when it comes to brainstorming catchy titles based on my own drafts.”

Beyond the editing process, AI can also supercharge your research process. Rather than spending hours on Google, you can now ask a chatbot to provide you with a fast, compact paragraph with all the information you need to get started.

Nica says, “I also like to use ChatSpot for getting quick recommendations for products, books, or any type of resource really. Say I’m looking for the best product marketing book for SaaS companies; normally, I’d be knee-deep in Google searches, reading articles and checking out recommendations on Goodreads. But with the right prompt, ChatSpot can get me there 10X faster. I still give its final recommendation a quick Google check, but it’s a super handy shortcut.”

While these are some of the most effective ways HubSpotters have been using AI in their roles, I’m sure this list with evolve – and expand — over time. We’re in the early days of AI, so it’s critical you take the time to experiment within your own role and determine how AI can work best for you.

And you might try becoming comfortable with AI outside of your professional life, too. As Nica told me, “AI is not just for work. It’s great for personal stuff, too. For example, it can help me find the best stops on a road trip or whip up a recipe for toddler-friendly, no-sugar, oat flour, banana muffins.”

The future of marketing is undoubtedly intertwined with AI. The question now becomes: how will you fold it into your work?

The HubSpot Blog surveyed 1,300+ professionals to see how they use AI in their day-to-day work and where they see the biggest benefits of this technology.

We hope these insights will help you find the best areas to supercharge your marketing with AI. Let’s dive in.

The Top Benefits of AI for Marketers [New Data]

1. 67% of marketers say the biggest benefit of AI is the ability to create content faster.

If you’re in marketing, your job likely requires some degree of creativity. Yet, the quality of your creativity is often impacted by tight deadlines, limited time, and competing responsibilities.

So, what’s a marketer to do? Enter AI.

A staggering 67% of marketers who use AI say it speeds up the content creation process, enabling them to write faster, research quicker, and hit “Publish” in a fraction of the time.

Even if you’re not ready to hand over your entire creation process to the robots — which we don’t recommend anyway — you can still use it for smaller tasks within the process.

Here’s a snapshot of how marketers are leveraging AI for content creation:

• 25% use AI to summarize content into key points
• 18% use AI to create outlines 
• 20% use AI to write marketing copy
• 36% use AI to create images

AI is also a powerful tool for repurposing content. 13% of marketers use AI for this exact purpose, enabling them to get more traction content-wise.

Take Vidyo AI, for example. This tool enables you to convert YouTube videos into short, bite-sized videos for TikTok and Instagram. This is one of many tools that can convert content for different formats, platforms, and audiences.

Steve Jobs, the iconic co-founder of Apple, was a master of persuasion. His ability to convince billions of people to buy his products at premium prices was no coincidence.

While technical innovations and relentless advertising played a role, the true secret to his success lay in the persuasive techniques that he employed. Techniques that anyone can learn and adopt.

In this post, I share how Steve Jobs managed to sway the world using simple, yet powerful persuasion strategies that you can apply in your own life.

Leveraging the Labor Illusion Effect

One of the most effective tactics Steve Jobs used to instill confidence in Apple products was to emphasize the amount of work and effort he put into their development.

Take his first keynote back at Apple recorded in 1998. He’s been re-hired as interim CEO. While he was away the company started to fail, revenue fell, and profits dwindled.

It was vital for Steve to rebuild confidence in Apple. Here’s what he chose to say.

By highlighting the countless hours, weekends, and years dedicated to perfecting Apple devices, he invoked a psychological principle known as the labor illusion.

The labor illusion suggests that when people witness the effort and labor put into a task, they tend to value the end product more.

This principle has been demonstrated in various contexts, from restaurant-goers appreciating their meals more when they see chefs preparing the food to house buyers valuing properties more when their real estate agents spent hours crafting a list of options.

In fact, a 2022 paper called “Pulling back the curtain” found that going on a brewery tour — and seeing the work that goes into making beer — will make visitors 32% more likely to buy that beer.

It’s something I’ve tried when promoting my podcast Nudge.

Turns out, stating that I’ve spent “480 minutes listening to marketing experts” made people 45% more likely to click my Reddit ad (look at the copy above the image).

By applying the labor illusion to Apple products, Jobs made consumers appreciate and value them more, which ultimately drove sales and customer loyalty. When he launched the iPhone, he noted, “This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two and a half years.”

Harnessing the Halo Effect

Another powerful persuasion technique that Jobs used was the Halo Effect, a cognitive bias in which people’s positive associations with one thing influence their perception of other things associated with it.

For example, if someone likes George Clooney, they are more likely to try the coffee he endorses and might even perceive it as tasting better.

I tested the halo effect for myself on my podcast Nudge. I gathered 200 people and asked them if they would listen to my podcast.

However, 50% of participants just saw my podcast logo. And the other half saw my logo next to some very popular British podcasts.

I wanted to see if merely being in the presence of other popular podcasts would boost the likelihood that people would listen to Nudge.

Turns out, people were almost 3X more willing to listen to Nudge when it was pictured alongside other well-known podcasts.

Jobs was well aware of the Halo Effect and expertly applied it to Apple’s marketing campaigns, most notably in the iconic “Think Different” campaign.

By associating Apple with groundbreaking figures like Gandhi, Einstein, John Lennon, and Picasso, Jobs created positive associations between these visionary individuals and the Apple brand.

The success of the “Think Different” campaign, which won multiple awards and revived Apple’s dwindling market share, can be largely attributed to Jobs’ understanding of the Halo Effect.

Making a Lasting Impression with Distinctiveness

Standing out in a crowded market is essential for success, and Steve Jobs knew this all too well.

He understood the Von Restorff effect, a psychological principle that states distinctive items are more memorable than those that blend in.

Von Restorff’s research shows that numbers are 30X more memorable when placed alongside letters in a memory test.

Almost 100 years later, Richard Shotton replicated the research, this time finding that one brand from a unique category (say fast food) is 4X more memorable when placed alongside multiple brands from one category (say automotive).

This principle can be seen across marketing today. It’s why Party Cannon (a death-metal band) are 30X more memorable than their peers.

Jobs applied this principle to Apple’s products, making them visually striking and easily recognizable.

One prime example is the 1998 iMac launch. While competing desktop computers at the time were uniformly gray and dull, the iMac was unveiled in an array of vibrant colors, immediately capturing the attention of consumers.

This distinctive design played a crucial role in Apple’s resurgence, as the iMac helped return profits to the company after years of decline.

Steve Jobs’ ability to persuade and convince people was not a matter of luck or happenstance. He had a deep understanding of the psychological principles that influenced human behavior and expertly applied them to his work at Apple.

Modern Day Persuasion Masters

While Steve Jobs remains an iconic figure in the world of persuasion, there are several other individuals in the startup communities who are just as skilled at winning people over.

Take Arlan Hamilton, founder of Backstage Capital, who broke barriers in the venture capital industry as a black, queer woman. Her persuasive storytelling, relatability, and genuine belief in her mission have garnered her a loyal following and impressive investments.

Or Payal Kadakia, the founder of ClassPass. She has revolutionized the fitness industry through her persuasive skills. Her ability to share personal experiences and connect with her audience has successfully convinced investors, customers, and partners to support her mission.

But Wait … There’s One More Thing

But there’s one more persuasion technique that Jobs used repeatedly to sell the iPod, pitch the iPhone, and announce the iPad.

To discover this powerful tactic, you’ll have to tune in to the next episode of Nudge Podcast, where I unveil the final piece of the puzzle in Steve Jobs’ arsenal of persuasion techniques.

So go ahead and give it a listen, you’ll learn a persuasion technique that you won’t forget.

If you’re a B2B Demand Gen marketer, you’ve no doubt heard of intent data. We’ve talked quite a bit about it of late. In fact, you might even be tired of hearing about it.

Intent data was supposed to be the tool we could use to replace the third-party cookies Google has decided to kill off, without hampering or even slowing down our customer identification and tracking capabilities.

But so far, the reality hasn’t lived up to the promise.

Instead, most intent data provides what’s called account-level intent data. That is, it gives you broad, less-than-actionable info on entire accounts that just might be engaged with your ads and interested in your product. Of course, for B2B, hearing that an entire company might be interested in your product is kind of like hearing that something that looked like a flying saucer was spotted above Texas three nights ago.

“OK…great, but what do I do with that information?”

Fortunately, account-level intent data isn’t the best we can do. There’s another level to intent data that will transform your business. In fact, it’s already here.

Our latest guide has the details.

New guide: “The Proof is Out There: Discover True Buyer-Level Intent Data”

For our latest guide, The Proof is Out There: Discover True Buyer-level Intent Data, we asked some of the best and brightest in marketing how buyer-level intent data will change marketing for the better, and how marketers can prepare to make the most of it.

“The Proof is Out There” contains their answers and our breakdown in full, and it’s available to download right now. But we can’t resist sharing a few of the most exciting highlights. Here are just a few of the big questions our B2B Demand Gen experts helped us answer:

What is Buyer-level intent data, anyway?

The simplest definition of buyer-level intent data is: “an amalgam of information indicating a specific individual prospect is in their buying cycle and preparing to make a purchase decision.” Compared to account-level intent data, which gives you the company or enterprise interested, buyer-level intent data Is focused on actual, specific people.

As CEO of Arment Dietrich and author of Spin Sucks Gini Dietrich put it, one of the major reasons why buyer-level intent data represents such an opportunity is that Demand Gen teams are already seeking it out. They just don’t have any way to get at it directly. In fact, as she explained, it’s one of the major challenges facing teams today: “One of the biggest roadblocks my team and I experience is whether or not the data is good, which doesn’t make executives super happy. If we can’t prove buyer-level intent (versus account-level) with the data available to us, aligning with sales and reporting to the C-suite becomes nearly impossible.”

What makes buyer-level intent data so exciting?

Buyer-level intent data has the potential to solve some long-standing B2B marketing challenges. That’s how TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden sees it: “A more granular understanding driven by buyer-level data solves the blurry B2B marketing mystery by helping marketers tailor their outreach and target the individuals with the highest likelihood of converting,” he told us, “and all while delivering a more efficient marketing process, as well as cost and time savings.”

CEO and Founder of Vengreso and creator of FlyMSG (a text expander) Mario Martinez Jr. agreed, calling buyer-level intent data revolutionary for both marketing and sales teams: “If marketers and salespeople have the ability to spot individual buyer intent early and accurately, it revolutionizes the buying and selling process,” he said. “With this knowledge, sellers and marketers can tailor their approach to each buyer, increasing the chances of a successful sale. It also allows them to identify potential roadblocks and address them before they become an issue.”

How will buyer-level intent data accelerate the sales pipeline?

For years, we’ve written about the chasm between what sales wanted and what marketing could deliver. Through buyer-level intent data, these two departments can now speak the same language. The outcome can be out of this world.

“When sales and marketing teams get their hands on reliable buyer-level intent data, they can really join forces to speed up the buying process,” CEO of OnMi Patch Scott D. Clary pointed out. “By creating campaigns that truly speak to the buyer’s needs, marketers can spark interest and smoothly guide them through the sales funnel. Salespeople, equipped with these insights, can concentrate on the most promising leads, boosting their overall performance.”

Founder and President of Heinz Marketing Matt Heinz explained even more simply how buyer-level intent would speed up his sales process: “The age-old questions for anyone in sales are: 1. Who do I call next? and 2. What should we talk about?”, he says. “Buyer-level intent data answers both of those questions.”

How should I prepare to use buyer-level intent data?

All the experts we talked to agreed on this point: buyer-level intent data is the future of Demand Gen marketing and sales — and teams should be preparing to make the most of it right now. “The new insights provided by buyer-level intent data will help marketers gauge your lead quality and prospects’ intentions to optimize your goal-setting much more effectively,” said speaker, author, and podcaster Pam Didner.

And co-founder and CEO of Content Monsta A. Lee Judge aptly sums up what our experts told us: “As I speak to organizations about sales and marketing alignment, a key factor involves showing sales teams what marketing teams already know about potential customers. A true revenue team emerges when sales and marketing find their alignment. This occurs when marketing seeks sales’ help to develop content for the right buyers and sales relies on marketing for signal data about specific individuals with current buying intent.”

The availability of buyer-level intent data will make this “true revenue team” possible in a way it never has been before. The time to start building that team, therefore, is now.

For more insight on the exciting potential of buyer-level intent data from these experts, download “The Proof is Out There,” available now.

Since 1994, NetLine has processed billions of first-party data points as business leaders around the world engaged with content to make better-informed decisions. 

Yet, despite what we’ve delivered, we knew there was more out there.

Specifically, your buyers.

Your Buyers Are Out There

With nearly 15k+ pieces of content on the platform, a given customer’s assets usually account for 0.03% of all content. For years, our clients gladly worked with us to source first-party leads that specifically engaged with their own content.

The reality, however, is that 99% of their ICP were engaging with content on our platform—they just weren’t engaging with their content. 

They were missing nearly all of their buyer’s journey…

But not anymore.

Welcome INTENTIVE: The Next Frontier of Buyer-Level Intent Insights

Today, we’ve launched INTENTIVE—a revolutionary product we believe will change the way B2B organizations identify and approach buyers.

Through INTENTIVE, you’ll be able to turn those Unidentified Future Opportunities into known buyer-level identities.

What is INTENTIVE?  INTENTIVE is the only buyer-level intent platform delivering real-time insights into “who” is actively expressing intent in an account, “what” actions that person is taking, “when” those actions took place, and uniquely “where” those actions occurred. INTENTIVE is uniquely powered by first-party data, offers buyer-level transparency, and exclusively blends online and offline Event Intent data.

Why Does INTENTIVE Matter for Today’s B2B Organizations?

Intent data, specifically buyer-level intent data, matters because it provides a path toward understanding the needs and timelines of your prospective buyers.

For years, marketers and sales reps have struggled to consistently and successfully identify and engage the right prospects from in-market accounts. Intent data promised to simplify or even solve this issue.

INTENTIVE’s buyer-level focus delivers on these promises, solving a multitude of challenges for businesses in one fell swoop.

How is INTENTIVE different from existing intent solutions?

Ultimately, INTENTIVE separates itself from other intent-based solutions by focusing primarily on genuine buyer-level intent data. 

Existing intent solutions target and report on account-level intent. Many of these solutions and vendors also obfuscate their offerings, stating they provide buyer intent when truly they do not. In fact, they’re merely insights around a specific account,  providing you no transparency into who is actively exhibiting that intent and or partaking in the precise activities you’re most interested in.

Perhaps the greatest issue with these existing solutions happens to be that they’re designed to capture intent-based on one unique touch point: Pageviews.

Pageviews Offer Minimal Intent Value

The basis for 99.9% of all intent data on the market comes directly from pageviews. Sans INTENTIVE, these solutions curate these data sets based upon this behavior, which lasts seconds, if not milliseconds, long.

These pageviews are then referenced against historical baselines at the IP address and company domain. Effectively, every single existing intent vendor (thanks in large part to Bombora’s mostly commodified status sets) offers the same level of insights as their competitors.

Buyer Confirmed Projects

For years, NetLine has been capturing intent data from real users about if and when they might be in-market for different solutions. We’ve captured custom, intent-rich, customer-specific insights directly from prospects, resulting in more efficient capitalization connecting the dots to who is in-market. This activity is mined on a real-time basis and intercepted once a buyer has met or exceeded each element required to define intent.

What Does INTENTIVE Report On? INTENTIVE currently recognizes and reports on billions of data points, including: 285 District Event Activity Types  11K+ Intent Topics 329K Intent Keywords 247 Industries 37M+ Persona Filtering Attributes 100M Offline Activities via Informa Events

How Does INTENTIVE Source its Data?
Long before first-party data was cool, one-to-one data was NetLine’s focus. Our fully-permissioned and voluntarily-provided user data is the bedrock of INTENTIVE, but that’s not all this incredible product is housing.

• The NetLine Platform

• • The foundation of everything NetLine does finds its way back to our first-party content registrations. With more than 200+ formats, INTENTIVE leverages data directly from the global content consumption behavior occurring across our platform.
• Informa
  • Event Intent: The largest owner and operator of physical events in the world, not to mention our parent company, Informa, delivers 500+ B2B events each year. Not only will these events simply bring together buyers, sellers, and decision-makers in one place and time, they power some of the most intriguing intent signals found within INTENTIVE—a feature we call Event Intent.
  • Content Consumption: Covering more than 3,000 unique areas of interest and supported by thousands of industry experts, Informa operates an all-star brand portfolio featuring marque names like Black Hat, Content Marketing Institute, Dark Reading, and IndustryDive, the company boasts more than two billion monthly interactions from B2B professionals.

As INTENTIVE evolves, more data points are likely to be added.

How Can INTENTIVE Be Used?

INTENTIVE’s primary function is to accelerate sales outcomes by making buyer-level intent data actionable. 

Specifically, NetLine sees four use cases where the product can provide real value:

USE CASE	WHY IT’S IMPORTANT	INTENTIVE FUNCTIONS
GROWTH	The primary use case for INTENTIVE is to advance revenue growth for your business. There are three specific functions in the platform that power this use case.	Buyer Discovery: Identify WHO is actively expressing intent within a given account
		Buyer Monitoring: Load your existing account list and know precisely what those accounts are doing and WHO within the accounts are expressing intent
		Buyer Prioritization: Leverage real-time learnings to optimize initial outreach, fine-tune context on discovery calls, and prioritize in-market buyers
ACTION	In order to progress with anything, we must take action. When combined with NetLine’s Portal, INTENTIVE’s extensive buyer-level insights and datasets become a powerful dynamic duo.	Data Activation: Closed-loop informed content-centric lead gen campaigns.
		Real-time Insights: Delivery of trending buyers via email notifications and companion Salesforce app.
RETENTION	Even if you’re confident your clients are happy, it pays to conduct competitive research. After all, research conducted by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company shows increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. Regardless of the economy’s health, retaining customers is extremely valuable.	Customer Behavior Observation: Identify if/when they are engaging with competitive brands.
		Personalize Existing Outreach: Leverage insights from buyer behavior occurring outside of your products and customer touchpoints.
		Cross-Sell/Upsell: Identifying client research on related services helps tailor cross-selling or up-selling offers accordingly.
COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE	Keeping an eye on the competition is always a good idea…especially when you know they’re snooping around or trying to poach your clients.	Monitor Competitor’s Accounts: Understand what individuals are doing to identify strategic initiatives.

Using INTENTIVE

We’ve highlighted a number of aspects of this remarkable tool. Before we wrap up, let’s talk about how the two primary user departments can expect to put these features to good use.

How Can Sales Best Use INTENTIVE?

Buyer-level intent data is the most actionable information available for sales professionals.

Just as intent data can help you identify and prioritize accounts in your ABM endeavors, the same process can be applied to buyers that are actively researching or considering your products or services. 

Save Time & Save Money
Spray and pray can go away.

By targeting in-market buyers who have exhibited intent signals, your marketing and sales efforts immediately become more effective and better received.

NetLIne’s own sales reps estimate that INTENTIVE saves them roughly an entire day’s worth of work each week.

What could you and/or your sales team do with an extra day to sell?

Improve Lead Quality
By reaching out to prospects who are already interested in what you have to offer, you’ll have smoother discovery calls and have conversations with professionals who actually look forward to hearing from you.

Increase Close Rates
Trust is everything. INTENTIVE provides the information necessary to create more personalized and relevant messages, enhancing your level of trustworthiness.

Because buyer-level intent data gives you a detailed view into a prospect’s priorities, challenges, and timelines, you’ll also know precisely how to help.

How Can Marketers Best Use INTENTIVE?

Marketers might find the information found within INTENTIVE quite disruptive—in a good way.

Identify Your Prospects
Buyer-level intent data enables you to identify exactly who is consuming content, attending events, and offers a transparent lens into your whole buyer’s journey. These insights will help identify what is of interest and, more specifically, share who is interested.

Target More Effectively
Knowing precisely who to reach is quite freeing. You’ll save countless hours researching, executing, and optimizing—not to mention the money saved.

Engage More Successfully
A direct benefit of refined targeting is increased engagement. Whether we’re talking improved ABM or email lists, social media ads, or making a sales call, reaching out to prospects with messages that are relevant to their needs makes things infinitely easier.

These insights found within the product aren’t meant to remain in a pretty report. These insights need to be actioned and put to use by Sales and Marketing. NetLine can help you take the first step by running extremely targeted lead gen campaigns powered by the insights INTENTIVE has brought to life.

For instance, if INTENTIVE recognizes the individuals showing intent, NetLine can help a client reach these people to convert the Persona to an actual Person that consumed their content.

Seeing is Believing INTENTIVE aspires to do something different—and arguably far better and far more actionable. There’s plenty more to explore through this tool and we’ll bring you more in the not-too-distant future. Ready to see the proof? B2B marketers and revenue team leaders are welcome to join the INTENTIVE waitlist to kick off their free 14-day trial. See for yourself exactly why UFOs are only the start of understanding the whole buyer’s journey.

According to GetFive, only 30% of resumes are approved by applicant tracking systems (ATS). Once the resumes are approved, a hiring manager will only spend an average of six seconds reading each resume.

With a resume builder, you can build a personalized professional resume that passes ATS, stands out to the hiring manager, and helps you land your next job interview.

Resume builders are incredibly helpful when creating a resume and can help you showcase your unique personality. Here, we’ve compiled a list of the best free resume builders. Keep reading, and then get to work designing your own with these tools.

Why use a resume builder?

Writing a polished resume is second nature for some job applicants. But even the most experienced professionals can struggle while making a resume.

If you’re one of the many people who need a little extra help with resume creation, here are a few ways that a resume builder can help:

Saves Time

Resume builders offer templates, clean designs, and tips that speed up resume writing. They also make the process less stressful.

Offers Writing Tips

It takes a lot of work to promote yourself. And even if you enjoy self-promotion, writing isn’t a skill everyone has. A resume builder can help you use the best words and phrases to show your experience and knowledge.

Improves Design

Each industry has different expectations for what a great resume looks like. If you’re not familiar with design skills or tools, resume builders offer free templates to make your resume look as good as it sounds.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

Recruiters often use ATS systems to scan resumes. And a good resume builder will help with formatting to make sure that your resume is easy for these systems to read.

We’ve discovered the best free resume builders on the market. These resume builders are great for all jobseekers, from entry-level to executive level. Each free resume builder has a simple interface, customization options, and templates that help you create the perfect resume for your next job.

Featured Resource: HubSpot Resume Templates

Download these free templates to get your thoughts on paper and plan your resume before using a free online resume builder.

1. Zety: Best for Expert Resume Creation Tips

Zety is an excellent online resume builder because of its state-of-the-art templates. You can quickly start from scratch and input your information. My favorite element of this tool is that the site will walk you through the process. All you need to do is fill out the information, and then — voila! You have a resume. While this tool is free, you’ll need to make an online account.

To use Zety for free, click “Download” on the left toolbar once you reach the final step of the builder — instead of selecting “Save and next.” Then, choose “Plain Text (.txt)” to download your resume for free.

Best For

Zety is best for those looking for expert help in creating their resumes. The tool provides tips and prompts to help you create the content for your resume. There are also a variety of customization options to ensure your resume fits your needs.

While you can download a .txt file for free, it costs $2.70 for a different file format, and some templates use graphics and colors that interfere with ATS.

PROS	CONS
Guides users through each step of the process and offers tips and prompts	Free download is a .txt file; $2.70 for a different format
Variety of customization options to create a unique resume	Some templates interfere with ATS
Auto-suggestion feature provides ATS-optimized descriptions of work experience and skills

Available Resume Templates

There are 18 resume templates to choose from, including Cascade, Crisp, and Concept.

Verdict

Zety is a fast and easy resume-building tool and offers writing help at crucial moments in the process. But you won’t be able to take advantage of its simple and attractive resume templates without paying a small fee.

2. Resume Genius: Best for Easy and Fast Resume Creation

Resume Genius is undoubtedly one of the easiest and fastest free resume tools you have at your disposal. With a clean and easy-to-use interface, the tool walks you (speedily) through the sections of your resume, including education, work experience, and references.

Resume Genius provides you with easy fill-in-the-blank sections so you can have an impressive, comprehensive resume in no time.

Best For

Resume Genius is best for those looking for step-by-step guidance when creating a resume. The tool offers tips and advice at each stage of the process.

Resume Genius’ search options help you build an ATS-optimized resume that’s customized to fit your industry and position.

PROS	CONS
Easy to use interface	Free download is a .txt file; you must pay for a 14-day trial to download as a PDF or different format
URL for sharing and performance tracking	No option to upload an existing resume, so you must start from scratch each time, making it difficult to make updates
Can search for positions and choose from 50,000+ job description bullet points that relate to what you’re applying for

Available Resume Templates

Resume Genius has over 500 templates varying from Taj Mahal to Classic. Its resume builder tools let you scroll through different templates to see how each one looks with your information.

Verdict

This resume builder feels intuitive to use and offers helpful suggestions to polish your resume. But the template selection step can feel rushed, and you’ll need to pay a small fee to make the most of their wide range of templates.

3. Wepik: Best for Customizing Pre-made Resumes

A lack of graphic design knowledge is no longer an issue thanks to Wepik, a user-friendly editing tool. This tool allows users to create the most professional and attractive visual branding documents with ease.

Once you’ve picked your perfect resume, import and complete your information into the template including your academic background, contact information, and business experience.

With one more click, download the document in your preferred format and you’ll be more than prepared to share your professional profile in minutes.

Best For

Wepik is a great tool for small businesses and individuals looking to create a quick, professional-looking resume and cover letter. Users will have access to completely free premium-level features within the online editor, such as a broad library of pictures, fonts, and graphic elements.

PROS	CONS
Free premium-level features	Fewer customization options for existing designs, which cannot be uploaded.
Intuitive and easy editing	You have to start from scratch or choose a template.

Available Resume Templates

This tool includes over 100 resume templates. Wepik also has thousands of ready-made templates for cover letters, name tags, cards, and more.

Verdict

Wepik makes it easy to plug your work experience into a beautiful template. Unlike the previous resume builders, it works more like a visual editor and doesn’t offer as much writing help as other tools. But this tool does offer AI writing help, and you can download your finished resume in PNG, JPG, or PDF formats.

4. My Perfect Resume: Best for Guided Resume Creation Help

My Perfect Resume allows you to either start from scratch and input information into a blank template, or upload a pre-existing resume if you already have one. Plus, the tool offers you expert recommendations as you move throughout the process, including suggested phrases you can include for specific roles.

My Perfect Resume also enables you to include optional sections like certifications, accomplishments, and affiliations. This is vital, particularly if you’re just starting out, or switching industries. This tool is particularly useful if you’re applying for a creative role and want to add color or a unique design to your resume.

To use My Perfect Resume for free, click the”Download” button once you reach the final step of the builder instead of selecting “Finish Resume.” Then, choose “Plain Text (.txt)” to download your resume for free.

Best For

My Perfect Resume is excellent for those looking for guided help when creating their resumes. The tool recommends templates based on your experience level and provides expert recommendations for skills to include based on your job titles. Compared to other tools on the list, there are fewer customization options.

PROS	CONS
Recommends templates based on experience level	Fewer customization options
Provides expert recommendations for skills and job responsibilities based on job title	Some templates interfere with ATS
	Free download of a .txt file; you must pay $2.95 for a 14-day trial to download your resume as a PDF or Word document

Available Resume Templates

This tool has over 40 resume templates. It automatically shares template options based on how long you’ve been working. You can also filter templates by categories like Modern, Traditional, or Creative.

Verdict

This tool is super user-friendly and does a good job of anticipating and resolving challenges in the resume-making process. It also gives you a chance to experiment with templates before and after you’re done editing your resume. But to make the most of its optimized templates you’ll need to pay a fee.

5. Standard Resume: Best for Active LinkedIn Users

Standard Resume allows you to import your qualifications straight from LinkedIn, making it an ideal time-saver if your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date.

The white background and minimalist features enable you to focus on what really matters — your content. You can switch back and forth between “Write” and “Design” to see how your resume looks as you go along. To download it as a PDF you’ll need a paid plan, but you can share it online for free when you’re finished. Best of all, the tool also makes your resume mobile-responsive so that you can view it on your smartphone.

Best For

Standard Resume is great for LinkedIn users looking to quickly create an ATS-compatible resume. The tool uses your LinkedIn profile to automatically build a professional resume. Standard Resume also provides tips and best practices you can consult as you complete your resume draft.

PROS	CONS
Free	Limited customization options or design-focused tools
Easy import from existing LinkedIn profile
Minimalist, helping you focus on your experience and achievements

Available Resume Templates

Standard Resume offers 12 streamlined resume templates including Yew, Venables, and Cordova.

Verdict

The “Review Score” feature offers a clear score and set of recommendations to improve your resume before you start designing. It also offers an easy way to share an attractive resume online. But you’ll need a paid plan to download your resume as a PDF.

6. Canva: Best for Design Creativity and Expression

If you’re applying for a creative role or want a resume that truly lets you stand out, you might consider using one of Canva’s hundreds of free designer templates.

Canva’s selections are incredibly varied and unique, so you’ll undoubtedly find one you like, and inputting resume sections can be as easy as copy-and-paste.

Best For

Canva is best for those looking for resume design creativity and expression. Although not specifically designed for resume building, the tool offers a wide variety of templates, layouts, and designs to choose from when creating your resume.

PROS	CONS
Easy to use interface	No option to upload an existing resume, so you must start from scratch with each new resume
Hundreds of free designer templates	Difficult to edit design elements
Templates are categorized by industry	Canva’s PDF formatting can interfere with ATS

Available Resume Templates

Hundreds of templates, organized in categories, such as Graphic Design, Corporate, and Creative. This makes it easy to choose based on your preferred industry.

Verdict

This design tool can help you create a unique and visually-stunning resume. But if you’re looking for help formatting, writing, or editing your resume, you may want to look for another tool.

7. Indeed: Best for In-Platform Job Seekers

Creating an Indeed resume is an incredibly quick process. Best of all, the site allows you to automatically share your resume with employers on Indeed as soon as you’re finished. If you’ve already completed a resume, it’s still a good idea to upload it to the site for exposure to potential employers.

While Indeed doesn’t offer as many options for creativity as some of the others on this list, it’s an impressive option if you want to create a more traditional resume and start sharing it right away.

Just add your pre-written resume content, add it to a template, and download your resume as a PDF.

Best For

Indeed’s free resume builder is best for those looking to immediately jumpstart their job search after creating their resume. It guides you through the resume creation process with expert advice and prompts to help your resume catch employers’ attention. Resumes created using Indeed’s free resume builder are designed to be viewed and picked up by ATS.

PROS	CONS
Free	Only eight templates
Includes expert tips and advice	Limited design and customization options
Templates compatible with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)	Unable to import or upload an existing resume or LinkedIn profile
Automatically share your completed resume on the site for employers and recruiters to see

Available Resume Templates

This resume builder has eight simple templates, including Executive, Modern, and Minimalist.

Verdict

This resume builder is most useful if you’ve already used a resume template to write each section. It’s a quick way to make your resume look clean and professional, but if you’re looking for writing help or advice, you may want a more comprehensive tool.

8. Resume.com: Best for Minimalist Resume Creation

With Resume.com, you can build a beautiful resume in minutes. This tool is an excellent choice if you’re looking for recommendations on what to include in your resume. And this resume website has popular templates for various job categories to help you stand out from the competition.

To use this for free, when you’re at the last stage, you’ll see a pop-up that says to create an account — instead, just click “Skip for now.” Then, in the top right-hand corner, you can click the download button.

Best For

Resume.com is great for jobseekers looking to quickly create a professional resume. This 100% free resume builder provides resume examples to help you during the process.

PROS	CONS
Completely free	Limited options for design and customization
LinkedIn importing	No pre-written content
Share, print, and download in multiple formats	Minimal guidance for resume creation

Available Resume Templates

This tool offers 15 simple resume templates, including Apollo, Tempe, and Terra.

Verdict

This resume builder is easy to use and offers general tips to inspire your resume creation. That said, if you haven’t already written a resume you love, it doesn’t offer any personalized help to improve your resume.

9. Novoresume: Best for ATS-Friendly Resume Building

If you want a quick, modern, and professional resume, check out Novoresume. This tool is especially popular for creative industries such as graphic design, writing, or marketing. Its drag-and-drop editor helps you customize your resume to your needs.

Plus, its “Content Analyzer” tool can give you ideas for content, formatting, and design. This makes it an excellent resume builder if you’re changing careers or need an all-in-one resume tool.

Best For

Novoresume is an excellent choice if you want an ATS-friendly resume. The platform checks for relevant keywords and resume format for ATS system optimization. Its templates are eye-catching but still meet the strict ATS guidelines. Plus, Noveresume has a free ATS checker to scan your final document.

PROS	CONS
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) Optimized	Limited features in the free version
User-friendly interface	Some features are only available with premium pricing
Modern design and formatting	Limited options for layout changes

Available Resume Templates

This tool offers eight free resume templates, and more with the premium version.

Verdict

This tool offers a range of features to create a well-designed and easy-to-read resume that you can quickly download to PDF. But many features come with premium pricing, and there’s no option to upload an existing resume for editing.

10. VisualCV: Best for Multimedia Resumes

Creative industries like photography, advertising, and design often like to see a resume with visual appeal. While many resume builders offer fetching designs, Visual CV offers a drag-and-drop editor to create a truly custom resume.

This tool also gives you a chance to track the performance of your online resume and multimedia extras. This lets you update your resume and attachments with data-driven ideas.

Best For

Besides an appealing resume, creatives often submit multimedia applications with an online portfolio, videos, images, or links. This resume builder makes it simple to add media directly to your resume, adding interaction and visual engagement.

PROS	CONS
Multimedia resume options	Primarily for creative professionals
Customizable drag and drop editing	Limited features in the free version
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) optimized templates	Some complicated or difficult-to-use features

Available Resume Templates

This tool has over 20 attractive templates, including Denali, Quartz, and Fuji.

Verdict

This resume builder is a great way to create an attractive and professional resume, with loads of premium choices. While technically a free tool, without upgrading to a paid account, you’ll have a large watermark on your new resume PDF.

11. CakeResume: Best for Resumes With an Online Portfolio

CakeResume is one of the best resume websites for creative resumes. It offers customizable templates and a rich media editor to embed videos, images, and PDF files directly into your resume. It also includes resume optimization for ATS.

Make your resume stand out without coding experience using this simple interface and drag-and-drop tools. Once you’ve designed your resume you can preview to make sure your final resume is formatted correctly, then click “Download PDF” to save your new resume.

Best For

This resume builder is for job seekers who want to add an online portfolio, video, quote, or slideshow to their resume. Your online portfolio can include recent projects to help you stand out from other candidates and get to the job interview stage.

PROS	CONS
Create a resume with an online portfolio	Limited to one free resume
User-friendly drag-and-drop design features	Limited features with the free version
ATS optimization

Available Resume Templates

CakeResume offers 10+ multimedia-friendly resume templates.

Verdict

This resume builder is excellent for creating resumes that incorporate other media or important links. But it doesn’t include tips for writing, so it’s useful to use a resume template for drafting your resume before using this resume design tool. 

12. Resume-Now: Best for Time-Saving Resume Creation

Creating a custom resume for each job application is ideal, but it can also be a headache because of the time drafting a resume can take. But Resume-Now is an intuitive resume builder with a ton of customization choices. It offers key phrase and skill suggestions for both ATS and the recruiter you need to impress.

Smart templates, a clear interface, and useful advice make this a great tool for resume building in no time. To download your resume, instead of clicking “Save and Next” at the bottom of the screen, click “Download.” Then, select Plain Text to download your resume for free. Other resume download formats will mean a charge.

Best For

Resume-Now uses powerful templates and useful tools to speed up the resume creation process. This makes it perfect for job seekers who want to create a personalized resume for each application. You can also make your resume interactive and track resume engagement once you’ve finished.

PROS	CONS
Pre-written content and tips for different job industries	May not offer depth and detail for technical or niche positions
User-friendly interface	Limited customization compared to other resume builders
Easy to customize	Free download is a .txt file; you must pay for a 14-day trial to download as a PDF or Word document

Available Resume Templates

Resume-Now offers over 30 attractive resume templates.

Verdict

This is a comprehensive tool for efficient and effective resume building. But you lose the unique quality of the templates when using the free version only.

13. ResumeNerd: Best for Resume Writing Help

ResumeNerd is a super helpful tool for new job seekers creating resumes. It offers dozens of pre-written bullet points, expert resume coaching, and customizable designs. If you’re not sure how to write a resume, this could be the resume builder for you.

Another bonus this builder offers is industry-specific resume samples. That said, if you’re looking for a free tool, this free download is .txt format only.

Best For

This resume builder is a top choice for help with writing a resume. Its features include writing suggestions and pre-written sections for highlighting skills and experience. This tool is also super user-friendly for creating quick and polished resumes.

PROS	CONS
Pre-written phrases and bullet points	Limited features in the free version
Step-by-step resume-building instruction	Better for entry-level job seekers than experienced professionals
24/7 customer support	Some features are only available on the premium version

Available Resume Templates

This resume builder offers 13 unique templates, including Hospitality, Impresa, and Heron.

Verdict

ResumeNerd is a helpful resume builder for people building a first resume. But the suggestions and tips may not be as useful for people with more work history.

14. Hloom: Best for Resume Templates

Whether you need a modern, creative, or traditional template, Hloom can help job seekers in any industry. This customizable and easy-to-use resume builder can help you create an eye-catching and ATS-friendly resume or CV.

This tool is comprehensive too — you can add fonts or images to amp up your design or use the resume writing tips to improve your resume.

Best For

Hloom offers a selection of over 400 professional resume templates. You can edit any template to your specific needs, saving time and effort. This platform also offers cover letter and reference templates to keep your personal branding consistent across your job applications.

PROS	CONS
400+ resume templates	Free downloads are limited to .txt files
Industry-specific templates	No multimedia support
Drag-and-drop customization features

Available Resume Templates

HLoom has over 400 templates available, and offers categories to help you find the best template for your needs.

Verdict

HLoom is a simple and straightforward resume builder that offers a range of templates and tips for resume creation. Like many other tools, users need to pay to get all the benefits of designed templates, as it limits free downloads to Plain Text files.

Building a resume can feel like you’re staring at a blank canvas. But with an online resume builder, you can get recommendations and build a beautiful document that will stand out without needing a graphic design degree.

What’s the best resume builder?

The best resume builder for you will vary depending on your needs.

If you prefer a tool that guides you through the process of creating a resume, we recommend using a builder that provides tips and suggestions. If you prefer a resume builder that automatically creates a resume, we recommend a tool that pulls information from LinkedIn. If you prefer having creative freedom when building your resume, we recommend using a tool that includes customization options.

Choose the resume builder that meets your needs and fits your industry and personal style, and you’ll be well on your way to earning a second look from hiring managers.

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

Starting a new company is exciting. So is gauging an industry’s profit potential or forecasting a revenue goal for your business. But as you start calculating, you must remember to root these figures in reality.

If you don’t, you could enter a market that doesn’t have a large enough market size to convince investors to back you, or you could set an unrealistic revenue goal for your business and burn your employees out.

To help you avoid these issues, we’ve put together a guide that’ll teach you exactly how to calculate your industry’s total addressable market, serviceable addressable market, and share of market.

These metrics are key components of a business plan, particularly as you craft your marketing and sales strategy, set realistic revenue goals, and choose to enter the markets that are worth your time and resources.

 

 

TAM SAM SOM Definitions

TAM (Total Addressable Market)

Total addressable market or TAM refers to the total market demand for a product or service. It’s the maximum amount of revenue a business can generate by selling its product or service in a specific market.

Total addressable market is most useful for businesses to objectively estimate a specific market’s potential for growth. This data also helps companies figure out product market fit.

SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market)

Due to the limitations of your business model (such as specialization or geographic limitations), you’ll have a tough time servicing your total addressable market.

Serviceable addressable market is most useful for businesses to objectively estimate the part of the market they can acquire to figure out their targets.

SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market)

Unless you’re a monopoly, you most likely can’t capture 100% of your serviceable addressable market. Even if you only have one competitor, it would still be extremely difficult to convince an entire market to only buy your product or service. That’s why it’s crucial to measure your serviceable obtainable market to estimate how many customers would realistically benefit from buying your product or service.

Serviceable Obtainable market is most useful for businesses to determine short-term growth targets. It can also help with competitive awareness and strategizing.

Why TAM SAM SOM Matters

TAM, SAM, and SOM are essential to business strategy and growth planning. This is because these metrics show how much opportunity a particular market holds at every stage of business growth.

TAM SAM SOM is also useful because it’s a simple and succinct way to present the value of an idea. This data gives teams an idea of the target audience and income opportunities for a market or niche.

These metrics can also help businesses share key insights with investors if they are seeking funding. The process makes it easier to make decisions that impact growth.

For example, say you don’t have a clear picture of the right segment for your SAM. This could make your serviceable addressable market too big, which can then impact your SOM.

TAM SAM SOM Template

Now that you know what each of these acronyms is and what they’re used for, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how to calculate TAM, SOM, and SAM. Doing so requires advanced market research ahead of time, but here are the formulas once you’re able to get those figures:

Total Addressable Market (TAM) Calculation

The best way to calculate total addressable market is by running a bottom-up analysis of an industry. A bottom-up analysis involves counting the total number of customers in a market and multiplying that number by the average annual revenue of each customer in this market.

Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM) Calculation

To calculate your serviceable addressable market, count up all the potential customers that would be a good fit for your business and multiply that number by the average annual revenue of these types of customers in your market.

Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) Calculation

Divide your revenue from last year by your industry’s serviceable addressable market from last year. This percentage is your market share from last year. Then, multiply your market share from last year by your industry’s serviceable addressable market from this year.

Right Size Your Market Opportunities with TAM SAM SOM

As you get started, keep in mind that these figures will largely be estimates to inform your strategy. The more market research you do and the more historical data you build up, the more precise your planning will be.

Don’t just figure out the opportunities in your market. Use your research to decide who you want to target and how you plan to engage them with your products. Then, use these templates to make your plans clear.

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

Working with large data sets is always tricky. Excel is one of the most powerful tools you can use to manipulate, format, and analyze large sets of information.

Several well-known functions exist to help you look up specific matches within a dataset, like VLookup.

But functions like VLookup had certain limitations, so Microsoft recently introduced the XLookup function to Excel. It provides a more robust method for finding specific values in a data set.

Knowing how to use it effectively can drastically cut down the time you spend trying to analyze data in Excel.

What does XLookup do in Excel?

The Benefits of XLookup in Excel

XLookup Required Arguments

XLookup Optional Arguments

How to Use XLookup in Excel

Best Practices for XLookup in Excel

What does XLookup do in Excel?

The core functionality of the XLookup is the ability to search for specific values in a range or array of data. When you run the function, a corresponding value is returned from another range or array.

Ultimately, it’s a search tool for your Excel datasets.

Depending on your arguments, XLookup will show you the first or last value in instances with more than one matching result.

Other lookup functions like VLookup (vertical lookup) or HLookup (horizontal lookup) have limitations, such as only searching from right to left. Users need to either rearrange data or find complex workarounds to mitigate this.

XLookup is a far more flexible solution, allowing you to get partial matches, use more than one search criteria and use nested queries.

Check out this XLookup Excel tutorial to see it in action:

The Benefits of XLookup in Excel

The main benefit of XLookup in Excel is the time savings it provides. You can achieve the search result without manipulating data positioning, for example.

Like other Excel lookup formulas, it saves a huge amount of time that would otherwise have to be spent manually scrolling through rows and rows of data.

When it comes to comparisons with other lookup functions, XLookup’s flexibility is key. For example, you can use wildcard characters to search for partial matches.

This helps to reduce errors overall, as you can use it to find data that may be misspelled or entered incorrectly.

The arguments for XLookup are also simpler than VLookup, making it faster and easier to use. XLookup defaults to an exact match, for example, whereas you would have to specify this in your VLookup argument.

The overall functionality of XLookup is superior since it can return multiple results at once. One example of this use case would be searching for the top five values in a particular dataset.

XLookup Required Arguments

Your XLookup function requires three arguments:

• Lookup_value: This is the value you’re searching for in an array.
• Lookup_array: This is the range of cells where you want the return value to be displayed.
• Return_array: This is the range of cells where you want the function to search for the value.

So a simple version of an XLookup would look like this:

=XLOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_array, return_array)

XLookup Optional Arguments

The XLookup function also has several optional arguments that you can use for more complex scenarios or to narrow down your search:

• Match_mode: This determines the type of match to use, such as exact match or wildcard match to get partial matches.
• Search_mode: This determines whether your function should search from left to right or vice versa.
• If_not_found: This argument tells the function what value should be returned if there is no match at all.

With optional arguments included, the XLookup function looks like this:

=XLOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_array, return_array, [if_not_found], [match_mode], [search_mode])

How to Use XLookup in Excel

1. Open the Excel and the datasheet on which you want to use the XLookup function.

2. Select the cell where you want to place the XLookup Excel formula.

3. Type “=” into that cell and then type “XLookup.” Click on the “XLookup” option that comes up in the dropdown.

4. An opening parenthesis will automatically generate. After the opening bracket, enter the required arguments in the correct order: lookup_value, lookup_array, and return_array.

This means selecting the range of cells for each argument and placing a comma before moving on to the next argument.

5. If you’re using any optional arguments, enter them after the required arguments.

6. When your XLookup arguments are complete, add a closing parenthesis before hitting enter.

7. The results of your XLookup should be displayed in the cell where you entered the function.

In this Excel XLookup example, we used XLookup to find out the grade for a particular student. So, the lookup_value was the student’s name (“Ruben Pugh”).

The lookup_array was the list of student names under column A. Finally, the lookup_return was the list of student grades under column C. With that formula, the function returned the value of the student’s grade: C-.

But how do you use XLookup with the optional arguments?

Using the same data set as above, let’s say we want to find the attendance rate for a student with the surname “Smith.”

Here, we’re telling Excel to return the message “Not Found” if it cannot retrieve the value, indicating that the student “Smith” is not on this list:

Now, let’s say we want to determine whether any students had an attendance rate of 70%. But we also want to know the next closest attendance rate if 70% does not exist in the dataset.

We’ll use the value “1” under the match_mode argument to find the next largest item if 70 does not exist:

Since no student has a 70% attendance rate, the XLookup has returned “75,” the next largest value.

Best Practices for XLookup in Excel

Use Descriptive References

It’s preferable to use descriptive references for the cells you’re using rather than generic ranges like A1:A12.

When it comes time to adjust your formula (which you tend to do frequently with a function like XLookup), descriptive references make it easier to understand what you were originally using the formula to do.

This is also useful if you pass the spreadsheet off to a new user who needs to understand the formula references quickly.

Use Exact Match Where Possible

Using the exact match default within the formula (as opposed to wildcard characters) helps ensure you don’t get unintended values in the return.

Wildcard characters are more useful for identifying partial matches, but the exact match is the best way to ensure the formula works as intended.

Keep Argument Ranges the Same Size

When putting your arguments together, make sure that you use the same number of cells for the return_array and the look_up array. If not, you’ll get an error, and Excel will only return #VALUE in the cell.

Test Your Formula

It’s not difficult to fix problems with a simple XLookup. But if you’re using nested functions or XLookup in conjunction with other formulas, ensure you’re testing everything along the way.

If you don’t and receive an error, it can be challenging to work backward and identify where the function is going wrong.

Getting Started

As a new and improved way to use lookup functionality in Excel, the XLookup outperforms the classic VLookup in multiple ways.

While the basics of the function are easy to grasp, it can take some practice to use XLookup in more complex ways. But with some practice data and test scenarios to work on, you’ll master the XLookup in no time.