Category Archives: B2B

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

Employers in today’s global marketplace want leaders who are adaptive, passionate, innovative, and critical thinkers.

The key for LGBTQ+ professionals is to not see their career growth as a daunting task where they have to become something they are not.

Instead, with a little bit of cultural self-esteem, individual rebranding, and Queer moxy, LGBTQ+ professionals can position themselves as the perfect candidates and catalysts for moving any organization forward.

How LGBTQ+ Leaders Can Market Themselves and Their Unique Assets

1. Build Cultural Self-Esteem

Before LGBTQ+ professionals can market themselves externally, we have to market ourselves internally to generate an enduring, unflappable, and healthy self-image of who we are as Queer people. To underline our strengths and create a positive self-concept as an LGBTQ+ person, we should do the following:

Release internalized Queerphobia.

Internalized phobia occurs when a group internalizes the negative messages and stigmatization it receives from society.

Unquestionably, the LGBTQ+ community has faced its share of bias…Yet, when we harbor internal messages that devalue our cultural pedigree and individual worth, it becomes difficult to achieve our goals when dynamic opportunities present themselves. For these reasons, we must protect our cultural image and boost our level of pride to market ourselves effectively.

Study LGBTQ+ history.

If we become students of history, we can find countless examples of “everyday” LGBTQ+ people who do miraculous things despite overwhelming odds.

The annals of history provide beautiful examples of how Queer historical figures have been resourceful, dogged, and creative in achieving everything from the miraculous to the mundane. When LGBTQ+ people look to Queer role models for inspiration and guidance, they will be motivated to market themselves in strategic and unabashed ways.

Honor the healing Journey.

In a world that still stigmatizes Queer culture, many LGBTQ+ people may find themselves negotiating trauma, emotional wounds, or a nagging sense of “unworthiness.”

However, the lasting legacy of the Queer community is not of pain or oppression but triumph over tragedy. As Queer people, we have the right to heal and forgo the pain of the past to reach our professional aspirations.

Before anyone else can afford us the opportunity to be self-actualized, we must give ourselves grace, freedom, and latitude to be great. Once we do that, we can engineer outcomes that align with our values and professional purpose.

2. Practice a Cultural Rebranding

Once we see our Queerness as a strength instead of a limitation, we can recognize LGBTQ+ cultural genius and use it to advance our careers.

CulturalGenius™ is the leadership acumen that minority groups acquire by virtue of their cultural pathway. Once LGBTQ+ people minimize internalized Queerphobia, honor their cultural legacy, and give themselves permission to be great, they can appreciate the gifts they’ve accumulated along the journey.

From my ethnographic research, I identified several superpowers that align with the needs of a complex and dynamic world. The following three examples illustrate how Queer people can market themselves more intentionally and showcase their Queerness as a strength as opposed to a liability.

• Creativity: Queer people exhibit creativity in everything from personal presentation and linguistics to art and social mapping. This proclivity speaks to a novel approach to problem-solving that can help organizations embrace innovation.

• Non-binary thinking: Queer people reject rigid norms related to gender, which also helps Queer people to be disruptive when organizations have difficulty letting go of outdated paradigmatic thinking. The Queer persona can help any enterprise think outside the box and employ new mental models for addressing organizational issues.

• Interconnectedness: As champions for diversity and inclusion and architects for community building, Queer people have a penchant for supporting multicultural environments and nurturing safe spaces. Studies show that employees are happier and more productive when they feel connected to their peers and workplaces. As a result, LGBTQ+ professionals have a competitive edge when they highlight their cultural ability to break down silos, enliven interpersonal engagement, and create a sense of belonging.

Over to You

This asset-based approach to LGBTQ+ professional development can transform Queer job seeking from one-sided affairs in which prospective employers have all the appeal to empowered campaigns where LGBTQ+ candidates reiterate their full self-worth.

As LGBTQ+ people, we can use this to highlight our leadership capability if we reframe how we see ourselves and re-fashion how others can leverage our skill sets. By seeing our cultural experience and journey as a proving ground for leadership development, LGBTQ+ people can market their unique talents, enhance their career opportunities, and accelerate their career growth.

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

Getting traffic to your website is a smart and valuable goal, but it can’t be the end of the line. When you’ve put in the work to get people through the digital door of your business, you need to have a plan for what happens next. You have a short amount of time to make a big impression. Otherwise, your visitors might bounce away, lurking and leaving your website in the dust.

Converting your website visitors into long-term customers starts with the end in mind! What do you want to happen after a visitor lands on your site? What next steps are you pointing them to? How do you optimize their experience and capture their information so that you can stay in touch with them? Getting thoughtful about your target customer’s perspective can help you lead them to see you as their solution.

Years ago, when I was building my first website, I sat down with my mom, excited to show her what I had built. I sat and watched her navigate my website, and I started to notice places where I had gaps or where my website was unclear. I’ve since coined that experiment “the mom test,” but if you haven’t sat and watched someone navigate your site to ensure it’s designed with the user in mind, here’s your invitation.

Since then, my website has transformed from a portfolio for a burgeoning wedding photographer to a hub for my digital marketing virtual course library. I went from shooting weddings around the Midwest to hosting one of the top-rated business podcasts in the world, Goal Digger. My website showcases me speaking, teaching, and creating solutions for millions of people. It’s where I wrote my very first blog post and where my NYTimes bestselling book lives. From a few clicks to millions of visitors every month, my website has gone through several dozen iterations. And through each small change or total redesign, I’ve learned what helps a website function as a powerful conversion tool for a business.

An important reminder: when a visitor lands on your website, there’s a reason they are there. They’re interested in or curious about who you are. They’re hoping you’re the answer. They’ve got a spark of inspiration from a glimpse of your work and want to see more.

You’ve accomplished the first (and often challenging) step of getting that introduction and growing your website traffic, so now you need a plan to convert those visitors into buyers, followers, subscribers, readers, and listeners. Let’s talk about five ways you can equip your website to captivate your visitors’ attention and convert them into real results for your business.

1. Get Smart with Your Pop-Up Strategy

Before you think that this strategy is ineffective or annoying, stick with me. Pop-ups aren’t just those annoying ads and auto-play videos that plague your blog scrolling. In fact, you’ve likely reconsidered a purchase or opted in for a freebie thanks to the perfect timing of a well-written pop-up.

According to BDOW’s pop-up data study, the average pop-up conversion rate is just over 3%, with some of their top-performing pop-ups averaging over 9% and the best reaching a conversion rate of over 50%! While 3% feels small, their research said that what helps a pop-up get up to that 40-50% conversion rate? Context!

The key to an effective pop-up is two-fold: subject and timing. First, make sure the subject of your pop-up is related to what your website visitor is already reading. In this example from my website, the blog post is an in-depth feature about a Goal Digger Podcast episode about growing email list subscribers.

Then when the reader goes to exit the page or search for a new topic, the pop-up displays an opportunity to join my free email list-building challenge. The subject is not only relevant to what they already spent time looking at, but it provides a solution that also means they become my email list subscriber!

That means you’ll want to be thoughtful about when your pop-ups show up on screen for your readers. Good timing depends on the subject of your pop-up! If you want to offer your visitors a discount before they shop, make sure the pop-up shows up early — before they contemplate their purchases. If you want to capture their attention before they leave your website, set the pop-up to show up when they’re scrolling away for the exit button.

Read more:

• 45 Website Pop-up Examples That Get Clicks

2. Design an Eye-Catching (and Helpful) Sidebar

When I was first becoming a wedding photographer, I also co-founded a Midwest wedding blog. I had been a bride planning my wedding (pre-Pinterest era) and noticed a gap in the wedding blog world and I decided to help fill it. As a blogger, I learned how valuable the real estate on your blog is.

The way that our wedding blog made any money (and it wasn’t much at the time) was through advertisers who would buy space on our sidebar. As my business and website changed, that space became a place to subtly showcase my offers without having to clutter up my website visitor’s screen.

You might’ve designed an amazing home page that spotlights all the amazing things you do, but consider how someone tends to find your website. They’re likely inbound from a link to a blog post, a freebie, a podcast episode, or your portfolio. If your website allows, You can boost user engagement by adding a curated sidebar alongside your main content. This gives you different ways to grab visitors’ attention and encourage them to click.

I know a lot of the traffic to my site is leading people to my blog posts and podcast articles, so I want to give my readers a sampler platter of other interesting freebies or offers to peruse. Just as other businesses use this space to advertise for partners, this can be a space where you advertise your offers.

The sidebar I’ve crafted changes over the seasons depending on our current offers, my featured favorites, and new freebies we’ve dropped that feel like a well-rounded entry for any visitor scrolling through the site. Think about your offers like a menu — what are the chef’s favorites (i.e. you are the chef)? What are the key experiences you would want anyone to know about when they’ve stumbled across a blog post?

As a powerful side effect, a sidebar is also a quick ‘credibility check’ for your reader to catch a glimpse of what you offer, and, therefore, what you know. It’s an easy way to show off ways you’re already equipped to serve them!

3. Turn Your Dead Ends into CTAs

When traffic lands on your blog posts and other fresh website content, they scroll through, reading every word, and eventually get to the end. Are you leaving them wondering, “What happens next?” I mean, Netflix sure doesn’t let you sit in that question long before they start rolling the next episode, so why do we leave people wondering where to go? That’s a bridge you need to build for them with a smart, relevant call to action (CTA).

Having a clear next step for your visitor to take means you’re not losing them right after you’ve hooked them. They might not organically look for a search bar, click on your more discreet back-links in your blog posts, or look into your website menu to find out what else you offer. Handpick a solution for them and offer it up right at the end of your content.

I aim to keep the CTAs on my blog posts and podcast articles easy to read and easy to take action on. The reader has just scrolled through a whole article, so I want to value their time with something quick and helpful! In this blog post about how to implement Pinterest strategies in your business, I point my reader to a free, virtual Pinterest masterclass at the end to keep their learning journey moving forward.

The main idea here is no dead ends. Converting your website traffic into not only buyers and subscribers but also real long-term results means you’re looking for your website’s holes and filling them. Your visitor appreciates when you do the work for them and connect them from one helpful tool to another. You’re essentially laying the groundwork for their success by placing the next best step on the path right in front of them.

4. Simplify Your Contact Form

When one of your primary goals is to get directly connected with visitors that you want to become paying clients (i.e. book you for a photo gig, speaking opportunity, or coaching slot), you need a contact form that makes doing so a breeze. A smart, thoughtful contact form relies on simplicity and smart website placement.

Keeping your contact form simple means you’re not asking them to put in a ton of work right up front. The more fields you throw into that form (even if they’re fun ones!) the less likely someone will take the time to actually get in touch with you. Keep the verbiage inviting and warm, because you don’t want your potential client to second-guess hitting send. Set expectations if it takes you extra time to get through your inquiries or if your books are only open at certain times of the year. Use this space to remind them they’re in the right place at the right time.

Consider where your contact form is placed and featured throughout your website. If a contact form is one of the main ways you’d like people to get in touch with you, make sure it’s not missable! If it currently lives at the bottom of your home page, bring it up much higher and make it clear that you want to hear from them! If it looks buried in your website menu, highlight the link amongst your list. A smart way to use a pop-up here would be to have an opportunity to contact you when a visitor goes to leave your “work with me” page or portfolio!

5. Build a Bridge to Your Other Channels

Your website exists as a home for your brand online, but it’s probably not the only place you build connections, share your work, serve your audience, and share content. So, your website should thoughtfully connect your visitors with opportunities to see you in different forms.

While your visitors might not be ready for your biggest paid offer, you can continue to warm up that lead by inviting them to listen to your podcast. Tell them why joining your Facebook community or Private Instagram account would be valuable to them. Share a part of your story in a YouTube video and embed it on your About page to encourage people to subscribe and watch the rest of the series.

Ultimately, linking your platforms strategically doesn’t just connect them to your other channels. It keeps engaging them with your brand. Much like the “no dead ends” rule applies to your website, it needs to apply to your other platforms! According to my experience (and data), your goal needs to be to get your visitors, listeners, and readers to become email list subscribers.

Every time I teach people how to get someone “off” their website, I am talking about getting them “on” to your email list. Rather than website views, followers, or viewership dictated by an algorithm, you’ve got a direct line to your customers that you own and control with an ROI 40x that of social media. So, make sure your website and other channels continually give everyone encountering your brand multiple opportunities to join your list!

Your Ultimate Goal? Thoughtfully Capture and Convert Your Traffic

I know a website can go from simple to overwhelming when you try too many conversion strategies all at once. (Cue thinking about trying to read a recipe blog online.) So, build thoughtfully with your dream customer in mind. After all, a ‘funnel’ doesn’t work if it’s all clogged up, right?

Think of it like this: When the world (and the internet) feels like the thrumming chaos of Times Square, could your website be the peaceful, elevated experience of walking into a beautiful hotel lobby? From there, imagine your customers understanding exactly where they need to go, who to talk to, and where to get the information they’re looking for.

Your website is a space to connect them to the specific, important solutions only you can offer. But if they have to hunt for those solutions on their own, they may never find them. These five simple website strategies aim to create a more thoughtful, intentional experience so that when your customers are on your website, they feel seen. They can click on anything that piques their interest and be led on a journey that is curated and streamlined, honoring their time and attention.

Ultimately, if you want your website to serve your visitors well, it should capture their information at any chance you get. Once your traffic becomes your audience (and ideally, your email list), it’s from there that you’re able to serve them in the long term. Visitors become returners. They go from passersby to residents of your online world. From mere metrics to real, powerful results for your business.

Shopping on social media has become increasingly popular over the past few years, as brands explore how to make money on these platforms.

In fact, one in three consumers report having discovered new products on social media in the past three months.

Consumers also report that some of their preferred methods of discovering products on social media are through short-form videos like TikToks or Instagram Reels (37%), ads or sponsored content (32%), and social media shops like Instagram Shop (29%).

This statistic may seem surprising, but as someone who purchases all of my skincare products and many clothing items based on Instagram ads, I can attest that social media shopping tools are effective.

TikTok user Bri Hofsass is in this boat. She told me, “Seeing an outfit via TikTok immediately puts the product in a reality I can see myself in. I don’t need to worry about how I will style it, or if it will look good on my frame. [Social media shopping] essentially helps you skip the fitting room stage.”

I can relate. When I’m shopping, I want to see the products being used, and I need immediacy.

Let’s look at three companies that have exemplified success using the product discovery methods listed above.

Three Brands That Leveraged Social Media Shopping Tools

1. TikTok and K18

With over 1 billion monthly users, TikTok is an undeniably powerful platform for reaching large audiences.

37% of consumers have used the app in the past three months (72% Gen Z, 51% Millennial, and 45% Gen X), and 30% of Gen Z consumers list TikTok as their favorite social media app.

Hofsass added, “TikTok Shop is the most convenient for in-app purchasing. Half the time, I don’t even realize I’m being served an ad or am on the TikTok Shop page.”

So, if your brand‘s target audience is Gen Zers like her, it makes sense to test out TikTok’s ad capabilities.

K18, a haircare brand rooted in science and biotech, launched its first paid campaign on TikTok when it had roughly 2K followers and 500K views.

K18 partnered with TikTok creators who created natural, before-and-after tutorial haircare videos. The brand ran these creatives using Spark Ads and targeted any users interested in hair care.

The month-long ad campaign resulted in a 70% lift in daily average sales. On top of this increase in sales, the brand also grew its TikTok presence. Its followers increased from 2K to 20K, and their ads saw 27M views.

2. Facebook and AlwaysHealthy

According to HubSpot blog research, 42% of consumers list Facebook as their favorite social media app, and 58% of consumers who’ve made a social media purchase in the last three months report that they did so on Facebook.

Facebook is a popular app for many reasons, but we can’t deny its trust across generations as a shopping tool.

AlwaysHealthy, an online-first Thai performance fashion brand, ran a campaign that paired ads that directed to Messenger with Shopee-powered shopping features.

This allowed customers to view the brand’s products in ads, learn more about the product and add items to their shopping cart in Messenger, and then click to the Shopee app or website to make the purchase.

The campaign ran from June to July 2023 and targeted women aged 17-50 in Thailand with ads promoting various products and special offers.

The campaign saw huge success; CEO Thanat Tippanusawat reports, “After connecting our Shopee catalog with Meta, we saw a 71% increase in return on ad spend.”

3. Instagram and Homesick

There is a lot of value in selling your products directly on social media platforms.

49% of consumers trust brands that sell directly on social media platforms like Instagram, and one in four consumers have bought a product on a social media app like Instagram Shop in the last three months.

Due to the growing popularity of social media in-app shopping, Homesick, a candle, home fragrance, and lifestyle brand, decided to add Advantage+ shopping campaigns to its ad strategy on Instagram.

Advantage+ shopping campaigns use AI and machine learning so advertisers can easily set up a single campaign and test up to 150 different combinations to optimize for the highest-performing ads.

Homesick paired its Advantage+ shopping campaigns with Shops ads, so paid traffic could be automatically diverted to either the brand’s website or its Instagram Shop.

The team tested out two campaign methods and concluded that there was a 27% higher return on ad spend when selecting “website and Shop” in the Advantage+ shopping campaigns versus “website” only.

Homesick reached more incremental buyers with Shop ads and created a more seamless shopping experience for buyers who prefer purchasing through social media shops.

Ultimately, the Shopping Tools you consider using will depend upon which platforms your target audience prefers, and which tools make the most sense for your business goals.

The above success stories teach us that there is an opportunity to leverage social media as a money-making tool.

Next, let’s look at eight ways you can monetize your social media presence.

How to Make Money on Social Media

There are several options for making money and growing your business on social media while remaining true to the heart of your brand.

How to Make Money on Social Media as a Brand

1. Partner with other brands.

Two heads are better than one, right? If you want to grow your brand presence on social media, one of the best ways to do so is by extending your reach to the reach of another brand.

For example, one of my favorite collabs I’ve seen recently is OOKIOH Says Gah!: a collab between independent, sustainable swimwear brand OOKIOH and women-owned independent clothing boutique Lisa Says Gah.

The brands joined forces to create a custom line of swimwear that was the best of both brands: swimwear made of OOKIOH’s regenerative materials in eye-catching Italian-cuisine-inspired patterns beloved by Lisa Says Gah fans (like me!).

While Lisa Says Gah boasts 614K Instagram followers, OOKIOH has 24.2K, so the brand partnership works doubly as hard to lift the latter’s social media presence and increase its ability to make sales.

When your network grows, you grow with it, so it’s a great idea to partner with brands that will lift your brand awareness and, thus, sales.

2. Collaborate with creators.

At Nickelodeon, I manage our international influencer marketing program.

I’m constantly searching for international creators who match our brand values, are relatable or aspirational to our target audiences, and are enthusiastic about being involved with Nickelodeon.

As mentioned earlier, 37% of consumers prefer discovering products on social media through short-form videos like TikToks or Instagram Reels.

Who knows short-form videos better than influencers who dedicate their lives to content creation?

I spoke with creative partnerships professional Rosston Tague, who cautioned that some paid sponsorships with influencers perform better than others.

“You have to be particular about your audience. When the product or service lines up with an influencer’s brand and audience, it feels more authentic, and that’s what you should funnel your dollars into.”

It may feel daunting to figure out how to find the best influencers to partner with for campaigns like this.

Before beginning any outreach, it’s important to know exactly what kinds of influencers you’re targeting for your Instagram influencer marketing campaign.

At work, I use Tagger, an influencer marketing tool, to discover influencers based on location, engagement rate, age, account mentions, and more.

Tools like this can help you weed through the crowd and find creators who will best understand and represent your brand.

3. Sell your products directly on social media.

25% of social media users have bought a product on social media directly in the app, such as on Instagram Shops.

As an avid social media user with a slight shopping addiction, I will admit I recently fell down a rabbit hole of summery tanks and sheer dresses elicited by an Urban Outfitters Instagram Shop post.

Selling your products directly on social media is a surefire way to reach social media users where they already are.

In contrast, your brand may only be reaching a niche audience specifically seeking out your products via your website or retail stores.

Social media opens up a new realm of consumers of various ages, locations, and interests. After all, 36% of consumers use the search feature on social media platforms specifically to find products and services to buy.

Also, it allows for much more DTC communication. You can directly speak with and answer questions from consumers in post comments and direct messages, which adds both efficiency and humanity to your customer interactions.

4. Promote giveaways and special offers.

Social media helps you spread the word quickly and widely.

An Instagram or Facebook giveaway is one of the best ways to draw new consumers to your brand and encourage them to try your products.

Sometimes you have to spend money to make money, and a giveaway is the perfect example of that.

For instance, the Nickelodeon France marketing team runs frequent product giveaways on their Instagram page, including this one for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figurines.

These giveaways often draw in a high volume of comments, and thus, eyes on the brand.

You can also use social media to promote special offers, which do involve a purchase and directly help you make money.

Laneige, a Korean skincare and makeup brand, recently posted on Instagram and TikTok promoting its 25% off Friends & Family sale.

This is a great way to draw consumers from social media to your website if you don’t yet have a social media shop.

5. Implement social media management tools.

While all the above methods of making money on social media are actionable, you may be asking yourself, “How do I even get started?”

At times like this, it’s crucial to build a social media strategy that helps you leverage social platforms to target various audiences while staying within your budget. This will help you make money without overspending.

When building your strategy, you should always refer to the most current consumer trends and expert advice. Humans are ever-changing and adaptable, and the best way to make money is to target them how and with what they want.

After all, TikTok only launched in 2016 and has already amassed a cult-like following.

Lastly, consider scheduling your social media content in advance — from brand collabs to influencer-sponsored content to giveaways — so you can spread the wealth of content you want to share over a longer period.

It’s always best to have content in storage that can be utilized during future quiet periods.

If you don’t have a dedicated team to manage these organizational and planning processes, it’s worthwhile to invest in a social media management tool that does the job for you.

This gives you more time to focus on the most important things: brand and influencer outreach, content planning, and business management.

Though these are all great tips for companies to make money on social media, these platforms can be just as successful at monetization for individuals.

BookTok nano-creator Katie Zepf admitted, “The decision [to start a BookTok] definitely had something to do with making more money.”

If you’re looking to make money on social media as an influencer, consider these tips below.

How to Make Money on Social Media as a Creator

6. Join an affiliate marketing program.

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing tactic in which a business pays another business or influencer a commission for sending traffic to its website or store and, ultimately, sales.

This is especially effective if the company’s products align with your brand and values.

There are tons of affiliate marketing programs, so it’s essential to select one that allows for mutual trust, transparency, and of course, a solid commission.

You want to ensure you’re promoting products and/or services that you truly believe in and would (or do) use, as followers can easily spot inauthenticity, as Tague mentioned earlier.

For example, if you are a health and wellness influencer, it would make sense to be an affiliate for brands in the fitness or food industries.

The ideal situation is a win-win-win: you make a commission from your followers’ purchases, the company makes money off sales of their products or services, and your followers get to try something new recommended by a trusted creator.

7. Work with brands on a post-by-post basis.

Not all brands have an affiliate marketing program, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work with them as a creator. There are other ways to partner with a brand, such as through paid ads and sponsored content.

Content creator Shompa Kabir agreed, telling me, “I have partnered with a variety of brands to do paid ads and sponsored posts. I like to do brand deals and sponsored posts because it generates a stream of revenue for myself.”

While I conduct international influencer research on behalf of Nickelodeon, many influencers have also reached out to express a desire to partner with us in some capacity.

This shows initiative and makes it abundantly clear there will be enthusiasm for the content they create.

You don’t need a macro following to make money on social media.

Kabir added, “My biggest tip would be that consistency is key. Consistency will help your following, and just because you don’t have a large following doesn’t mean you can’t get brand deals.”

Lastly, unlike affiliate marketing programs, you know you are guaranteed compensation upfront as part of the contract with the brand when you partner on a sponsored post.

You may only need to do as little as one post as part of the partnership, so this is a low-risk, high-reward situation.

8. Share and sell your products or services on social media.

It’s not just brands who can sell their products on platforms like Instagram. As an individual creator, you have the power to create content that makes your products or services appear highly lucrative.

For instance, I follow many crafty creators like @averp who knit and crochet beautiful sweaters, blankets, and more. What may have begun as a skilled hobby can easily transform into a business using social media.

Posting tutorials and GRWM (“Get Ready With Me”) videos featuring your hand-knitted creations can encourage followers to want to shop with you.

On one of @averp’s TikToks, a follower commented, “do you sell these? Im in absolute NEED of the 1st tank!!!!!” to which the creator replied, “Yes i will be selling the vests!!!! Dm on instagram if you’d like to buy, otherwise it will be up on my depop tomorrow <3”

There is clearly opportunity to kickstart and grow your business while relying on social media. After all, 29% of consumers prefer to discover new products through influencers they follow.

Kabir mentioned, “I’m in the process of starting a business and will be implementing showcasing my product through social media as well as holding influencer events to help spread the reach.”

Social media is a great opportunity to show off your products, services, or budding business on a platform with high shopping demand.

Whether you’re part of a large corporation or small business, or simply an individual looking to sell your product, there are numerous ways to leverage social media to grow your brand awareness, following, and sales.

No matter where you primarily prefer to conduct your sales, social media offers cost-effective, efficient, and high-return opportunities to reach more consumers where they are.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2022 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Being a small business is both easier and harder than ever. Yes, the competition is tough, but there have never been more AI tools that can help you in almost every segment of your business.

For example, I’d long wanted to sell merchandise with my designs. However, the thought of getting started and thinking about the initial steps felt overwhelming.

Turns out, I was wrong. With the help of AI tools, I got the name, slogan, and brand color suggestions in just a few minutes, and they were all stunning (more on this later).

So, in this piece, I’ll show you how AI can benefit your small business, going far beyond just communication and content creation. Let’s dive in.

How AI Can Level Up Your Marketing

There are so many different ways that AI can improve your marketing, and the list could probably include more than 100 ways, but I’ll show you the 12 greatest.

1. Speeding Up Content Writing

79% of marketers believe that AI improves the quality of the content they create. And I totally agree. AI has changed content marketing in a very positive way (of course, only for those who know how to use it properly).

Struggling with writer’s block? AI can analyze trends and suggest engaging content ideas which is the top reason why many marketers use AI, according to our study.

Image Source

It can also automate repetitive tasks such as generating SEO descriptions and social media posts.

Additionally, AI can improve content by checking grammar, spelling, and sentence structure to ensure clarity and professionalism. Some AI assistants, like Jasper, can even adapt their writing style to match your desired tone.

But remember, none of these tools are plug-and-play solutions. You still need creativity and solid writing skills. Otherwise, the content might sound off, and readers will notice it’s AI-generated. So, be ready to tweak and refine.

Pro tip: We have a free content assistant ChatSpot, which combines the power of ChatGPT with unique data sources like HubSpot CRM to streamline your working day.

Image Source

2. Automating Personalized Offers

Personalization isn‘t just about sending generic birthday coupons anymore.

You need to understand each customer’s preferences and then craft special offers just for them. Even though it may seem like a mountain of work, AI can swoop in to save you.

Based on customer data, AI can personalize your marketing content, recommendations, and offers for each individual customer.

This can significantly improve CTRs, conversion rates, and, most importantly, customer satisfaction. To prove how AI can help with personalization, I explored a bit and found a great case study.

U.S. Beauty retailer Ulta Beauty benefited from SAS Customer Intelligence 360, which combined all their data and sent personalized messages and recommendations to each customer.

The outcome? A massive win. Ulta Beauty’s sales went through the roof — an incredible 95% of their sales were influenced by their personalized marketing efforts.

Image Source

Pro tip: Always analyze customer sentiment during the checkout process. If you notice they’re hesitant, let your AI suggest a less pushy and more intriguing CTA like “Are you sure you need me? Let’s find out” instead of “Buy Now.” This subtle shift can address purchase anxieties and improve conversion rates.

3. Analyzing Customer Behavior

AI is seriously good at sifting through massive amounts of customer data — website visits, app interactions, social media activity, purchase history, email clicks, and more.

It can map out the different touchpoints customers interact with on their way to making a purchase, so you can identify any roadblocks or friction points in the customer journey.

It can also analyze customer purchase history to identify products that customers are likely to buy together. You can use this information to create targeted upsell and cross-sell campaigns that increase the average order value.

One pretty good tool for this purpose is Adobe Customer Journey Analytics, which provides insights into customers’ journeys across channels — online and offline. It offers connected data and unlimited customer data collection. And you can get contextual insights instantly, which is a huge plus.

Image Source

Pro tip: Give a try to HubSpot’s Behavioral Targeting tool to create segmented lists based on personas and engagement levels. Plus, the tool helps identify and respond to high-intent behaviors like website visits, email interactions, and form submissions.

Image Source

4. Predicting Audience Behavior

One of the best things about AI is its ability to predict audience behavior and pinpoint customers who are super interested in taking some action or those who are at risk of churning (canceling a subscription or stopping using your service).

For instance, Google Analytics and its Predictive audiences are great for this purpose. Predictive audiences help target users likely to take specific actions, like making a purchase soon.

It includes users with high probabilities of performing specific actions. For instance, “Likely 7-day purchasers” include those with high purchase probabilities. Adding extra conditions can refine the audience even further.

Image Source

Pro tip: Partner with industry experts and trend forecasters to develop “what-if” scenarios for your customer journey. Explore potential disruptions, changing customer expectations, or even the impact of new technologies.

5. Automating Email Campaigns

Email marketing automation has been around for a while, but new AI tools are making it even better.

They can help you write more interesting emails and understand what your subscribers like. This lets you spend less time planning and more time running successful campaigns.

Here’s how AI can help you with emails:

• Analyzes user data to send targeted messages that resonate, boosting open rates and clicks.
• Checks historical data and subscriber behavior to predict the optimal send time, so your emails land in inboxes when recipients are most likely to open and engage.
• Automates A/B testing of various email elements like subject lines, CTAs, and design layouts to identify the best versions for future campaign
• Analyzes your email content and flag potential spam triggers, so you can avoid landing in the dreaded junk folder.
• Identifies subscribers at risk of unsubscribing and creates personalized re-engagement campaigns to win them back.

Pro tip: HubSpot’s AI assistant can create an email that grabs attention and gets your subscribers clicking through to your content. It crafts catchy subject lines, product descriptions, and even whole email drafts.

6. Conducting Research

Market research can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. That’s why 48% of marketers use generative AI for research. Here’s how:

• No more legwork. AI automates boring tasks like sending surveys and sorting piles of responses.

• Mind reading (almost). AI can analyze social media posts, reviews, and surveys to understand the emotions and opinions hidden behind the words.

• Spotting hidden clues. AI can scan massive amounts of data to find trends and patterns that you might miss on your own.

• Seeing into the future (sort of). AI can analyze data to predict how customers might behave and what trends might emerge. This lets you make smarter decisions about products, campaigns, and where to invest your resources.

• Tailored questions for tailored answers. AI can personalize surveys and automatically create questions for different customer groups, which saves a lot of time.

Image Source

Pro tip: HubSpot Service Hub offers access to awesome Customer Feedback Software, which helps you run surveys and gain insights into your customers’ shopping habits. Plus, there are tons of ready-to-go survey templates, so you can quickly learn about your customers’ habits and preferences.

7. Transcription and Summarization

After having a brainstorming session with your marketing team, you definitely don’t want to spend time sifting through hours of recordings.

You need someone, or even better — something — to do it for you. That’s where AI transcription tools take the stage.

Actually, 63% of marketers use AI tools to take notes and summarize meetings.

Before adding such software to my toolkit (Notta is currently my fav), I was constantly scrambling to take notes, worried about missing something crucial.

This left me feeling overwhelmed, and frankly, I hated meetings altogether. Emails were my haven — clear, written communication where I could keep track of everything.

Now, I can be fully present in the discussion while, after the meeting, sorting all transcripts into clear text and bullet points.

Image Source

Pro tip: Most AI transcription tools have the ability to summarize the entire transcript into bullet points to make it clearer and more organized. Also, if you need a specific word you can simply find it by typing it in the search bar.

8. Automating Social Media Management

To market your small business, you need to be active on social media and keep regular track of what’s going on there, which can be overwhelming.

That’s why you need AI-powered social media tools that offer a range of features to help you:

• Schedule posts efficiently. Plan your content calendar in advance and publish across all your social media platforms at optimal times.

Image Source

• Craft engaging content. Generate content ideas, write attractive captions, and personalize posts for each platform.
• Gain audience insights. Track brand mentions, analyze customer sentiment, and identify trends to understand your audience better.
• Optimize ads. Improve your advertising efforts and identify relevant influencers for marketing campaigns.

Pro tip: HubSpot AI Social Media Post Generator refines post ideas, adjusts tone to match your brand, and helps create better posts in less time. You can also repurpose posts by channel and track the ROI of SM accounts.

Image Source

9. Faster Video Creation

Out of 701 people we asked about their favorite content types, 45% said they like short videos like TikToks, while 24% prefer longer videos.

So, it’s clear — if you want your business to stand out, you need video content. But, for small business owners and startups, hiring professional videographers and editors can be a budget-breaker.

Luckily, AI tools for video creation are incredibly good.

They allow you to script, generate, and even edit videos without needing pro equipment or expertise. These tools turn your ideas into engaging visuals with features like text-to-video conversion and footage libraries.

Image Source

Some popular options are InVideo, Lumen5, and Kapwing, all offering user-friendly interfaces and budget-friendly plans.

Pro tip: Avoid stock footage that screams “fake” and “boring.” Always film some of your content with a phone (it doesn’t have to be a pro camera), upload your clips, and then let the AI tool do its part of the work.

10. 24/7 Customer Support

Unlike human reps who need breaks and work limited hours, AI chatbots are tireless. They can answer customer queries and provide basic support anytime, day or night.

This is especially good for small businesses with limited staff or operating in global markets with different time zones.

We surveyed people to see how they feel about using AI chat for customer support on websites. It turns out that 25% always turn to web chat for help, while only 15% prefer sending direct messages.

The good thing about AI chatbots is that they’re trained to handle various FAQs and common issues.

For instance, a clothing store chatbot could answer questions about sizing, return policies, or order tracking.

AI bot will have all answers to these questions because they’re general and repetitive, so human reps can focus on more complex problems that require a personal touch.

Pro tip: You can build your AI chatbot using HubSpot’s Free AI Chatbot Builder. Sweet spot? No coding skills required. Your chatbot will qualify leads, schedule meetings, and offer customer support round-the-clock. The best part? You can customize it to perfectly match your brand.

Image Source

11. Intelligent Advertising

As a small business owner, the last thing you want is to throw money on ads that bring nothing. That’s why you should think about incorporating AI advertising tools. AI digs through information about past customers and website visitors.

It analyzes things like demographics (age, location) and browsing habits to understand who your ideal customer is.

With this customer profile in hand, it finds similar people on the web and personalizes your ads accordingly. Another way to use AI tools in advertising is for designing.

Kipp Bodnar, HubSpot’s CMO, shared that using AI to design ads for subscriber growth slashed contact acquisition costs by 300%.

How A $25B Company Uses A.I. To 300x Their Marketing Results (#129)

A great AI advertising tool is AdCreative.ai, which helps generate high-performing ad creatives quickly. It provides insights, generates text and headlines, creates social media post creatives, and even produces super-quality videos for ads.

Image Source

Pro tip: Involve consumers in your AI-powered advertising to ditch the cold, “robotic” feel. Encourage UGC through contests or challenges. Then feed the customer-created pics/videos to AI tools and watch the magic happen.

12. Search Engine Optimization

Last but not least, AI tools can help with SEO — not only for SEO content creation but also for keyword research, competitor analysis, and overall optimization.

For instance, here’s how HubSpot SEO tools can make “ranking climbing” easier:

• Get keyword recommendations to optimize your website content.
• Plan your content strategy by discovering relevant topics to target—those that resonate with your audience and boost search authority.
• Generate content ideas based on search popularity and competition.
• Track your website’s SEO performance with detailed reports.
• Integrate with Google Search Console for even deeper insights.
• Scan your website with an SEO recommendations tool that shows improvement opportunities automatically.
• Use AI Blog Writer to generate engaging SEO posts from outlines or bullet points.

Pro tip: Use AI Paragraph Rewriter to refresh existing content for relevance and engagement, extending its reach and effectiveness.

Image Source

My Favorite AI Marketing tools

I love AI marketing tools, and I’m often impressed by them. I’ve tried so many different ones. And of those tools, here are my four favorites.

1. ChatGPT Plus

My forever favorite is undoubtedly ChatGPT, especially its Plus version, which I can access even during peak times and get faster responses.

I always say that ChatGPT is the most versatile tool ever. I use it for all kinds of my projects.

• Need to sort out the messy data order? ChatGPT helps.
• Need to create an article outline? ChatGPT helps.
• Need to understand the overly complicated law? ChatGPT helps again.
• Need to proofread, reword, and find a creative angle? ChatGPT 4 helps here.

The most important thing to get the most out of ChatGPT is to give it the clearest possible directions so it can understand you and adapt to your writing style, tone of voice, or task.

Good prompts are key.

If you give it a good command, it will do a lot for you, and you’ll avoid generic words such as “unleash,” which the whole world is making a joke of. For instance, let me show you how I used it to invent the name for my shop.

Here’s the prompt I sent:

“I need some ideas for a unique name for my new merch brand. I‘ll sell clothes featuring personalized prints, capturing moments with family and friends that hold sentimental value. I want the name to be cute, maybe with ’charm‘ in it. But here’s something important: it has to be totally made up, invented, fictional, easy to remember, and sound nice. Give me some good words with all these qualities, please.”

The ChatGPT suggested many great ideas, but the winner was Charmaloo. I used it for my slogan as well, so here you can see the final result:

It also suggested using vibrant colors to grab attention and even provided color codes for me to choose from for my Insta feed. How amazing it all looks:

The LinkedIn post below shows just how great ChatGPT can be — it acted like a CEO. Yes, a real CEO. It made decisions on the brand name, product design, pricing, and even marketing strategy.

Image Source

Read the whole post here.

Submagic

As someone who enjoys creating videos for both my social media and clients, Submagic has been a lifesaver.

The primary reason I chose it over perhaps some more popular names is that it supports 48 languages. As a bilingual person, I often need automatic captions in languages other than English.

The best part about Submagic is that it generates 98% accurate real-time captions in literally seconds to a few minutes, depending on the length of the video.

Most of the time, I don’t even have to edit anything after its job. Other times, there are just maybe a letter or two or some commas. But overall, it’s very, very good.

Image Source

There is a great choice of different fonts, and it automatically adds relevant emojis, which is fantastic. This tool has saved me so much time. Now when I remember that I used to add subtitles manually, I could cry. Literally.

Grammarly

One of the tools I use on a daily basis is Grammarly, and I can‘t imagine living without its AI powers.

However, I’m not a big fan of it when it comes to suggestions. Sometimes, Grammarly offers corrections that actually disrupt the flow and tone of my content. I feel like its ideas throw off the vibe I’m going for.

So, I mainly use it to catch misspelled words and typos. Also, I love its phone app, which allows me to quickly fix mistakes in my messages as well.

Speaking of the app, I can’t get enough of Grammarly’s coolest notifications I receive when fixing all the mistakes in my text. For instance, look how sweet this is:

Jasper

While ChatGPT offers a lot, Jasper is No.1 for my social media needs.

Its pre-built templates are fantastic. I simply pick the desired SM template, add a quick one-sentence explanation and bam — my post is ready with emojis and hashtags.

But the main reason why I love Jasper is its uncanny ability to “get me.” When I choose the desired tone of voice and adjust the parameters, Jasper nails it 8 out of 10 times.

It understands the nuance I’m going for—playful and conversational for Instagram or informative and authoritative for my LinkedIn. It really has a “feel” for that because you can teach it.

It also helps me with all video-related things, such as hooks, scripts, titles, and descriptions — basically everything needed to ensure my video starts off on the right foot and turns out excellent.

Everyone needs AI.

Your small business needs the help of AI to move faster, smoother, and save time and money. But once you grow, you’ll still need it to continue growing, improving, and not falling behind.

And no, you don’t need to use it solely for business purposes.

As a small business owner, managing non-work-related activities and daily plans can be super challenging, right? AI can lend a helping hand with this, too.

If I had to choose just one tool that every small business owner should use, it’s ChatGPT Plus. It can assist with planning, strategies, ideation, data extraction, content creation, and even coding and SEO.

And remember — the more good tools you have in your toolkit, the better, faster, and more productive you’ll be, so you’ll have more time to enjoy the fruits of your business. So, don’t run away from AI — embrace it instead; it’ll pay off.

Quick riddle for you: What do you have in common with podcast hosts, YouTube sensations, TikTok stars, and Instagram influencers? Stumped? Okay, okay. I’ll tell you the answer.

Statistically speaking, you probably also consider yourself a “content creator,” at least on some level. Recently, our State of Consumer Trends Survey revealed that 50% of millennials and 46% of Gen Z call themselves content creators.

That number might seem high at first, but when you consider how deeply ingrained social media has become in our lives, it starts to make sense.

What did surprise me, however, was this: out of those who call themselves creators, one-fourth have less than 1,000 followers, and almost 50% have less than 5,000 followers.

This confused me. In high school, I had roughly 100 followers. But I’d never considered myself a content creator. I guess, as it turns out, maybe I should have.

To investigate whether the idea that “everyone is a content creator” is true — and what it means if it is — I spoke with three content creators and influencers about their relationship to the label. Let’s dive in.

Is anyone who creates content a content creator?

Li Jin is an investor and co-founder of Variant Fund, a venture firm investing in the ownership economy. Jin, who’s been called The Investor Guru for Online Creators, believes everyone is a content creator.

As Jin told The Information, “No matter which industry you’re in, people are all going to be creators …

This embrace of virtual brand-building is already starting to happen but will accelerate in coming years, as doctors, CEOs and other established professions, including venture capitalists, realize the importance of cultivating online profiles.”

Jin adds, “Everyone will have to build influence online, because we’re living more of our lives online … All of us will have to adopt some of the skill sets and behaviors of creators in order to be successful.”

If a content creator is defined as someone who “produces entertaining or educational material that caters to the interests and challenges of a target audience”, then it makes sense to label anyone with a social profile as a content creator.

It doesn‘t matter whether it’s just me posting a funny Instagram video to share with my 300 followers or a major TikTok influencer doing the same thing for her 3 million fans.

Leslie Green, HubSpot’s senior social strategy manager, agrees. She says, “Nike believes ‘everyone is an athlete,’ and I also believe everyone is a content creator. There may be varying levels of skill, but if you have a phone with a camera, you’re a content creator.”

Internet personality Jensen Tung also supports that statement, saying, “I believe anyone who creates content is a content creator. The term should not be gatekept, because who determines the cut-off line?”

Tung notes that what counts as a high follower count varies across platforms. Tung emphasizes that tying content creation with money and followers commercializes the activity and neglects the artistic side of content creation.

“Just like how athletes are labeled amateur athletes and professional athletes, I believe content creators can be labeled similarly. A content creator who makes money can be labeled a professional content creator,” Tung says.

A few years ago, being a content creator — or influencer — required a certain follower count to earn the title, and it was a relatively exclusive club reserved for brands, mega-influencers, or celebrities.

Now, anyone with a smartphone has the opportunity to become one.

There‘s something incredibly freeing about this: As we broaden the scope of what we mean when we say “content creator,” we’re inevitably opening the doors for more diverse voices.

This means consumers worldwide can find content creators who mirror their unique, distinct experiences.

Our 2024 Consumer Trends Report showed that when customers consider the types of content brands post on social media, 38% find relatable content to be the most memorable.

In other words: Content doesn’t need to reflect one singular version of reality anymore. Now, it can encompass all of them.

Nicole Phillip, The Hustle’s senior social media manager, told me she sees major benefits to the fact that there are no guardrails when it comes to labelling yourself as a content creator.

As Phillip puts it, “Content creator is definitely an overused descriptor … But that speaks to how accessible the arena is, which in some ways is great for people who otherwise would’ve hit glass ceilings or invisible walls trying to get their work out there through conventional means.”

To become a content creator, you only need a smartphone.

Admittedly, there are levels of skill, expertise, and influence within the creator economy, just like there are levels in any profession.

But what‘s surprising is that, unlike other professions, there’s no entry-level requirement to becoming a content creator.

You don’t need to possess certain skills or live in a specific region or be an expert in a particular field. You just need to own a phone or a computer.

That’s perhaps what makes it so enthralling for so many. Consider, for instance, how the hashtag #contentcreator reveals more than 9 million results on Instagram:

What’s equally interesting is the growth of the creator economy over the past few years Goldman Sachs reported that the creator economy market could nearly double over the next five years from $250 billion to $480 billion by 2027.

The creator economy, a term that refers to the marketplace of content creators as it relates to businesses, skyrocketed during the pandemic.

The pandemic also greatly impacted the requirements of becoming a content creator. As people were stuck at home with nothing but their phones, they had to make due. And, as it turned out, audiences didn’t care about super-polished content, anyway.

Instead, audiences appreciated and sought out the more authentic posts that spoke to the true state of the world.

As Phillip acknowledges, “Being a content creator used to mean you had a super large following and created original content that would consistently go viral to large audiences. Then, we started having micro and nano-influencers, which lowered the barrier to entry, so there’s no particular follower count necessary, either.”

She adds, “In terms of content types or quality, there’s an audience for every niche and ability, so someone who only has an iPhone 8 just recording their thoughts during their morning commute can compete in the same space as a celebrity makeup artist operating with a DSLR and an entire team.”

It’s undoubtedly thrilling to consider the possibilities of creative individuals with fewer resources competing in spaces with high-profile, mega-rich celebrities.

But that leads me to my next point: What’s the end game with all of this, anyway?

Becoming a content creator on social media is no longer a means to an end.

A few years ago, becoming an influencer was oftentimes a stepping stone to fame.

A few names come to mind: Consider King Bach, who became famous on Vine and has since starred in multiple TV shows, including The Mindy Project and Punk’D; or Addison Rae, a TikTok dancer who was recently featured in Netflix’s movie He’s All That.

And yet, nowadays, becoming an influencer is in-and-of itself the goal.

One TikTok creator, Brady Lockerby, decided to become a full-time TikToker after recognizing the financial incentives outweighed her previous employment.

As she notes, she made roughly $50,000 in her corporate 9-to-5 job. By comparison, she now makes upwards of her yearly corporate salary in one month.

Lockerby told me, “The first time I posted on TikTok, I never expected it to turn into what it is today for me. It’s something that truly just fell into my lap. Once my TikTok career started to take off and I realized, ‘Wow, this could actually be my job,’ I made the plunge and quit my job. Freedom was probably the driving force.”

She adds that nowadays most people are interested in money and receiving free items. However, she still believes that building authentic relationships is key.

“Whether that‘s with your followers or a brand, if you don’t have that trust, no one will believe your content. You make the choice to put your life online, and it makes my heart warm to know that people genuinely care about not only what products I’m promoting that month, but about me and my life,” Lockerby says.

Unsurprisingly, our 2024 Consumer Trends Survey showed that 21% of social media users purchased a product/service based on an influencer’s recommendation.

However, only 37% feel that the content they see from brands (i.e., ads, billboards, social media posts, etc.) is authentic to them.

In fact, customers can tell when something is worthwhile to interact with. So, the definition of quality material is constantly evolving. What’s popular this year can be dated and overdone the next — requiring you to be on your toes.

However, one thing should be on your mind: Never lose sight of someone looking over your content on their phone and determining whether it’s worthwhile for them to spend time on. So, make it worth their time.

It‘s also important to note that the money you make as a content creator is well-deserved. As easy as it is to earn the label of “content creator,” it’s not easy to make a living off of it.

Youtuber Robert Benjamin limits the definition of content creators to people who make a full-time living making content.

“Otherwise, I believe it‘s just a hobby and something you do for fun. I love to cook, but I’m certainly not a chef! I don‘t think that the number of followers matters — so long as you’re able to make a full-time living off of that following,” Benjamin says.

Followers also vary by the topics content creators cover. “Every niche is different and just because you don‘t have a lot of followers doesn’t mean that you don’t have a big impact on those that follow you,” Benjamin says.

However, Philip predicts that in the future, many will actually consider quitting as the market becomes increasingly saturated.

She told me, “People can get content from every corner of the internet, and to maintain an audience through such competition can be stressful and exhausting. I’ve seen this first-hand just working on branded social. There are no off days and you constantly have to feed the beast.”

Although full-time content creation has its perks, it’s still challenging. Occasionally, a creator can experience dry spells, difficult clientele, internet trolls, and creative blocks. In that case, preparing yourself to weather the storm is best.

It‘s true: Content creation is a 24/7 gig. And if you don’t consistently post engaging content, you could lose your audience’s attention as they move on to the new creator of the moment.

On average, consumers spend 4 hours daily on social media, and over 50% look through social media to find entertaining content. So, you must engage your audience as a content creator to help your brand grow.

But that shouldn‘t deter you from embracing your role as content creator if that’s what you want.

As Green says, “Content creators have more power than ever. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are competing for content and are actively helping to produce income for their most valuable asset — content creators. If you’re looking to break into content creation, don’t be discouraged. Brands and platforms are looking for your personality and expertise.”

It’s clear from the success of each of these creators that no category is superior to another. As a content creator, your priority should be selecting the creative personality that fits your ideals and lets you express yourself freely.

There’s a big difference between a financial creator offering straightforward, money-saving advice to millennials/Gen Z and one who only provides general financial advice.

When it comes to the content brands post on social media, 63% are interested in authentic and relatable content. Among them, 52% of consumers enjoy content like images/photos/infographics, and 49% prefer short-form video content (e.g., TikToks, Reels).

Moreover, 29% of consumers prefer to discover new products on social media through an influencer they follow, underlining the crucial role of content creators in the marketing landscape. So, brands are now seeking content creators more than ever, recognizing their value and impact.

Green continues, “My best advice: pick a niche, stick to one platform, and focus on volume. Social media may feel like a crowded space, but there’s room for everyone. Be patient, test a variety of formats, and stick to a cadence you can be consistent with month over month.”

Ultimately, just as art means something different to every individual, so too does content. This means the narrow scope we‘d previously defined as content creator was too limiting.

There’s value in leveling the playing field and allowing anyone with a camera and a voice to be heard.

After all, every content creator has the unique ability to connect deeply to their audience — and whether that‘s an audience of one or one million, there’s power in that.

The reign of keyword dominance is over. How SEO is changing is about to totally rewrite the rulebook. We’re now in the world of AI, chatbots, zero-click searches, and video content.

But what I love most about all these changes is that there’s finally a laser focus on users and what they truly want and need when searching online.

The new landscape may feel unfamiliar, and some updates might look scary at first, but there‘s more potential there than you might think. Let’s dive into how all these SEO changes can positively impact your rankings.

How SEO is Changing

SEO is changing like crazy, and sometimes it seems impossible to keep track of everything that’s going on. While it can feel overwhelming, the core goal is positive: to show only the best content from the Internet.

Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 SEO trends shaping 2024.

1. AEO takes center stage.

The 2024 HubSpot Consumer Trends report shows that a whopping 79% of people rely on search engines for answers.

However, with the advent of ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI chatbots, no one wants to sift through endless details and jump between sites just to find what they’re looking for. People want answers immediately.

 

That’s why Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is more popular than ever before. It delivers direct answers to your questions and uses NLP technology to understand your queries in the same way a human would.

Answer engines gather information from different sources, like databases and even real-time data. But probably the best thing about it? You can ask follow-up questions to delve deeper into a topic.

Here are some tips for a good AEO strategy:

• Combine your AEO with your regular SEO.
• Structure longer content around key questions users might ask.
• Focus on making headings that answer common questions directly.
• Your content must be clear and simple for AI to understand and use.
• Always include FAQs in your articles (if relevant).

2. Hello, zero-click searches.

Something closely related to AEO is zero-click searches. Whether it’s converting currencies, checking restaurant hours, or getting a celebrity bio, users want to access all that information ASAP.

 

Here are some popular ways of providing information through zero-click results:

• Featured snippets. Highlighted blocks of text pulled from websites that directly answer the user’s query.
• Knowledge panels. Information boxes that summarize key details about a particular entity, like a person or place.
• Direct answer boxes. Boxes that display factual answers sourced directly by the search engine without attributing them to a specific website.

Pro tip: Analyze SERPs to find definition-featured snippets, then target those keywords. HubSpot’s SEO Software can help with this by offering personalized recommendations and optimizing content strategy.

3. Don’t ignore the importance of video SEO.

The way users search for information is changing dramatically, and video is leading the charge.

32% of people reported using YouTube to find answers to their questions online, with Millennials (48%) and Gen Z (45%) being the biggest users.

This explosion in video search makes video SEO an essential element of any modern marketing strategy.

If you want to improve your video SEO, here’s the checklist for you:

• Research relevant keywords and use them naturally in your title, description, and tags.
• Write a compelling description highlighting what viewers will learn.
• Invest in good audio and video for a professional look.
• Captivate viewers in the first seconds with a strong intro — make your hook catchy.
• Use captions/subtitles.
• Create a transcript for your website to boost accessibility.
• Share on social media, embed on your site, and think about influencer marketing.
• Create an eye-catching thumbnail using Canva (or a similar tool).
• Regularly upload high-quality videos to establish yourself as a go-to source.

4. Author entities matter.

With the rise of AI-generated content, trust becomes even more crucial. Our study shows that only about 33% of people trust AI-written content, while the remaining 67% are skeptical or don’t trust it at all.

That’s why SEO in 2024 is placing more importance on author entities. This means search engines focus more on the credibility and expertise of the people who create content.

They want to deliver trustworthy and relevant information to users, and knowing who the author is helps establish this credibility.

Remember the Sports Illustrated scandal, where articles were published under fake authors with AI-generated bios and headshots? This not only resulted in poor-quality content but also damaged reader trust.

Image Source

That‘s why it’s important to have experts — great writers who can craft authoritative content.

So, create author pages on your website, include writers’ professional photos, detailed bios, and credentials. Highlight their expertise and experience in the field.

Link to their best articles, books, or other publications. This shows readers and search engines their range and quality of work. Include links to their social media profiles to verify their identity and allow your readers to connect.

5. Repurpose your content.

SEO wants more repurposed content this year.

Content repurposing is an excellent way to reach new audiences with your existing material — for example, we wrote this blog post about SEO for Pinterest, and then whipped up a YouTube video, too.

So, how do you repurpose your content effectively? Here are some best practices:

• Check the Google Analytics landing pages report to find high-traffic pages, indicating content that people love.
• Use YouTube Analytics to identify popular videos that can be turned into blog posts or podcast episodes.
• Focus on content that remains relevant over time. Evergreen content like “est ways to clean an iPhone,” can be repurposed multiple times, unlike time-sensitive news.
• Go through your blog and identify posts that are still relevant. Update any outdated information before repurposing.
• Tailor your content to fit the new format.

The biggest advantage of repurposed content is the increased likelihood of landing among the top search results.

That means your blog and YouTube tutorial could both show up when targeting specific keywords. And you’re reaching more audiences — readers, listeners, and viewers alike.

6. Tap into AI SEO Tools.

SEO is getting a major upgrade thanks to AI. One of its best benefits is how much time it saves for SEO managers.

In our survey of over 1,350 marketing professionals, 90% agreed that AI and automation cut down manual tasks, freeing up more time for creative work.

AI tools can also improve ranking, content quality, user experience, and even technical SEO.

For instance, HubSpot AI tools use machine learning and natural language processing to support your SEO efforts. They make it easy to transition between manual and AI-assisted creation, giving you the best of both worlds.

Here’s how the AI tools can help you:

• SEO suggestion tools find optimization opportunities ranked by priority.
• Use the AI content writer for brainstorming topics, drafting email copy, and creating blog posts.
• The AI blog writer helps turn ideas into engaging posts while following SEO best practices.
• The AI paragraph rewriter updates existing content and makes it more effective.

Pro tip: Try out HubSpot’s Blog Ideas Generator. Powered by AI and Semrush keyword data, this tool crafts amazing blog post titles, outlines, and content.

7. It’s never been easier to get penalized.

We all know that avoiding penalties in SEO is essential for maintaining visibility, reputation, revenue, and long-term growth prospects. But it seems that in 2024, it’s more important than ever.

Google rolled out some major updates that hit websites with penalties out of the blue. It caught a lot of site owners by surprise.

Image Source

Also, Google updates its spam detection systems to improve search quality. If your site is impacted, check Google’s spam policies and make necessary changes.

Fixing issues may help over time, but link spam penalties may not be fully reversed.

What can you do about it?

Well, not much, but adhere to search engine guidelines and prioritize ethical SEO practices to protect your site and keep it growing instead of disappearing.

8. Topical relevance over domain authority.

One of the key shifts in SEO for 2024 is the emphasis on narrow topical relevance. Gone are the days when websites could try to be everything to everyone.

Today, search engines reward sites that show expertise in a specific niche. I love how Erika Varangouli explained it in one of her LinkedIn posts:

Image Source

And then we have backlinks. They are still crucial for SEO, but the focus is on quality over quantity (but the quantity of quality links matters, too).

Here’s how you can become a “link magnet”:

• Contribute guest posts to high-authority websites within your niche. This establishes you as an expert and earns you a valuable backlink.
• Find broken links on relevant websites and create content that offers a better alternative. Reach out to the webmaster and suggest replacing the broken link with yours.
• Connectively (the new home for HARO) connects journalists with sources. Provide expert insights for relevant queries to earn backlinks from high-traffic news websites.
• Create content that is naturally shareable and linkable — infographics, research studies, or original data analysis.

9. UX becomes an even more important ranking factor.

UX is getting a lot of attention in the SEO world recently.

Interaction to Next Paint (INP) has officially become a Core Web Vital, stepping in for First Input Delay (FID).

This means that websites will now be judged based on how quickly they respond to your clicks and taps, all aimed at making the browsing experience smoother.

 

Image Source

For those using Chrome, tools like PageSpeed Insights and the CrUX Dashboard will now give priority to INP over FID.

FID will gradually fade out — but don‘t worry, you’ve got until September 9, 2024, to make the switch to INP.

10. User search intent leads the way.

According to Semrush’s State of Search, Google has totally changed the landscape of SERPs.

User intent is now the driving force behind search engine rankings. Google‘s fine-tuning prioritizes content that fulfills users’ transactional or commercial goals. Informational content isn’t out, but it needs to adapt.

Understanding the “why” behind searches is key. Are users researching a purchase (commercial) or looking to buy (transactional)? Google tailors results to that intent.

SEO needs to follow suit.

Keyword research dives deeper, and content bridges the gap between awareness and action. Think product comparisons, clear buying guides, and informative pieces with a nudge toward conversion.

This is SEO for the customer journey, not just website visits. Businesses create a smooth path from research to purchase by understanding user decision-making and tailoring content.

The future of SEO is clear: prioritize users, and your website will thank you.

Pro tip: To get the most out of your SEO efforts, get the Complete SEO Starter Pack — approved by web designers, hosting providers, and web admins.

How to Adapt to SEO Changes

A “conversion” isn‘t the same for everyone — it’s all in how you define it.

A conversion for a SaaS company might be the act of purchasing a software subscription, while a conversion for a local business might be as simple as a searcher calling their business.

The kinds of conversions you’ll see happening directly on the SERPs depend largely on the types of clients you serve.

So, let’s explore how you can optimize for on-SERP conversions.

1. Local businesses and brands can meet the needs of specific locations.

Google has devoted a huge amount of effort into improving the local search experience for consumers.

Local search results are filled to the brim with special features beyond organic links to a website, with Google My Business (GMB) profiles and “local packs” being two of the most prominent things a local searcher encounters.

For instance, when searching for a “nearby massage studio,” you might come across a Google My Business profile like this one, which includes information on a company’s hours of operation, phone number, address, and reviews from the web.

Again, depending on what a conversion means to you and your clients, both local packs and GMB profiles provide ample opportunity for converstion.

Local packs, shown in the example below, even offer a short list of options based on the business’ proximity to the searcher.

Upon clicking for more info, you‘re given the option to head to the website, find map directions, click-to-call, and sometimes even place an order through a third-party service.

That’s right — for local businesses, there’s an ad-free option to sell your products or services directly in the SERPs.

Now, no one needs to visit your website to find your hours of operation, contact information, or FAQ. Instead, it‘s all laid out for them on Google as soon as they hit “enter.”

In a very real sense, a local client’s Google My Business profile is their new homepage.

There are a multitude of ways marketers can optimize for in-SERP conversions for their local clients:

• Build out accurate listing information for each discrete location to ensure foot traffic driven from search gets to the right place (also a type of conversion!).
• Use Google Posts to promote sales, events, news, products, and special offers to entice both foot traffic and the now-elusive site click. Make sure you have an enticing image that includes a CTA button.
• Reduce friction and create an in-SERP FAQ by answering Google Q&A in GMB profiles.
• Seed common industry questions and answers in the Business Questions section.
• Add UTM tracking to Google My Business profile CTAs to help you accurately report your successes to clients and stakeholders.

2. National and digital brands can harness the power of the low-click landscape.

In-SERP conversions aren’t restricted to your local clients alone. There are several ways certain national and digital-only brands can harness the power of the low-click landscape to make money and generate leads.

• In-SERP bookings. The travel and hospitality industries have a huge amount of potential for conversions directly in the SERP results, with the ability to book a hotel room or a flight often appearing directly below the query.
• Media purchases. Movies, albums, and books often appear with options to buy directly via various platforms on the SERPs. These look quite a lot like Knowledge Panel results, but they drive conversions.

For instance, take a look at the options for immediate, in-SERP purchasing when you search for the book Eat, Pray, Love. Searchers can get the book as an ebook or audiobook straight from the SERP page.

Additionally, it’s interesting to note that in the past, looking up song lyrics would go to Google Play and drive purchases there, but the search engine has pulled back on that recently (possibly due to backlash from lyrics sites).

Suffice to say, it’s worth it to keep an eye out for any experiments or changes Google might make that could represent a conversion opportunity.

3. Businesses can build brand awareness with on-page SERP features.

This section is going to scare some of you, and I don‘t blame you. But consider for just a moment: maybe traffic isn’t the end-all-be-all to search.

Traffic is easy to measure and looks nice in reports, but it doesn’t tell the whole story of your brand. Traffic is a symptom, not a cause.

Your efforts to show up on page one shouldn’t eclipse the fact that, at the end of the day, Google likes to rank brands.

And the low-click landscape is practically built to help your clients build their reputation via branding, messaging, and increased share of voice.

Brand awareness often gets deprioritized since it’s hard to measure, difficult to report on, and there always seems to be something more urgent to analyze.

But branding, messaging, and share of voice have a huge impact on whether or not someone decides to buy from a business and should never be ignored.

In the low-click landscape of search, featured snippets are one of the best ways to achieve multiple goals with one concerted effort.

They appear in the coveted “position zero” spot as the first thing a searcher sees, provide a link back to your site (and can entice a click if you craft them right), and will go a long way toward reinforcing your client’s authority and reputation.

For instance, if your retail site shows up as the number one Google-endorsed answer to five separate queries comparing different products, you’ve got those impressions down, and the consumer is now well-acquainted with the brand.

Ultimately, people used to go to a site to do research, but now they go to Google.

You might see fewer site visits overall, but if the visits you do get result in revenue and intent to purchase, it‘s hard to believe you’re missing out simply because traffic is down.

How to capture featured snippets for improved brand awareness on the SERPs.

You‘ll have to use some elbow grease to capture featured snippets, but it’s well worth the effort.

Not only will you be able to satisfy that easy-to-measure, up-and-to-the-right feeling, but you’ll also be doing a world of good for your brand, beating out competitors in both authority and share of the SERP real estate.

Here are a few key tips on how to start earning featured snippets:

• Identify keywords that trigger snippets that you already rank on page one for. It’s easier to capture a featured snippet if you’re already ranking highly, so optimize the low-hanging fruit for best results.
• Understand and play to the searcher’s intent. You‘ll need to dig into keyword research and possibly refresh your understanding of your brand personas to make sure the queries you’re trying to rank match the intent you want to capture.
• Provide succinct answers. There‘s only so much space in the box Google provides — you’re more likely to capture a snippet if your content is straightforward and helpful. Formatting matters, so see what‘s currently winning and emulate: if it’s a numbered list, for example, edit your content similarly to make it competitive.
• Add summaries to popular content. Your existing content that‘s ranking highly may not be triggering a featured snippet simply because it’s not concise. Adding a summary at the top can help.
• Identify commonly asked questions. You want your client‘s brand to be the most helpful answer a searcher sees, and you want as many searchers to see that answer as possible. Identify the top questions asked that are relevant to your client’s business, product, or services and start from there.

Pro tip: Delve deeper into this topic with our post on SERP feature opportunities.

There’s a lot that goes into winning, monitoring, and retaining featured snippets, but the very first step is being aware of how much they can do for your brand.

Winning at SEO in 2024

Ultimately, not every problem in marketing has a black-and-white answer. The trend of lowered CTR from the SERPs to your site likely isn’t going away soon.

It will prove beneficial in the long run to adjust our expectations and strategies accordingly, rather than chasing the past.

Adapting to the new low-click landscape of search isn‘t going to be as easy as pushing a button, but the fact remains that your SEO strategy is about more than simple website clicks.

It’s about building your brand, attracting qualified customers, and driving the business initiatives that matter most.

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

The first time I managed a marketing budget, I was handed a dollar figure and asked to accomplish X, Y, and Z with it. The following year, I was asked to do more with a slightly smaller budget. Sound familiar?

While this top-down approach is common, it isn’t the only way to budget. The opposite approach is a bottom-up budget, where each department and team proposes a budget according to their needs and goals.

This is common in large organizations and startups alike.

Had I played a more active role in creating that first marketing budget, our strategic approach and performance — not to mention my engagement level — likely would have looked different.

Let’s explore the benefits of bottom-up budgeting and how to implement it at your company.

Table of Contents

• What is a bottom-up budget?
• Example: Building My Own Bottom-Up Budget
• Get Started: How to Create a Bottom-Up Budget in 5 Steps
• Bottom-Up Budget Best Practices
• When to Use a Bottom-Up Budget

What is a bottom-up budget?

A bottom-up budget is a budgeting methodology where individual departments propose their own budgets to be consolidated by the centralized finance team.

Unlike top-down budgeting which takes a prescriptive approach to assigning budget amounts to teams, bottom-up budgeting is a collaborative method.

Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Budgets

For bottom-up budgeting to work, companies need exemplary guidelines, workflows, and communication to navigate the budgeting process.

While this methodology has many advantages, it also has some drawbacks. Each company should carefully weigh the pros and cons and follow best practices.

Pros of Using a Bottom-Up Budget

Bottom-up budgeting gives teams and employees more autonomy and flexibility and can be more accurate. But like any collective decision-making, it’s more complicated to pull off.

Here are four advantages of the bottom-up budgeting approach.

1. Bottom-up budgets improve accuracy.

Finance leaders don’t have an in-depth knowledge of the day-to-day functions, needs, and constraints of each unit. The teams that carry out this work do.

When the teams doing the work create the budget, it’s more likely to be detailed and accurate because of the team’s intimate knowledge of the operational realities.

2. Bottom-up budgets increase team autonomy and engagement.

Inviting teams to participate in the budgeting process gives them more autonomy and engagement with their work. Not only can this help engage and retain employees, but it positions the company for better performance.

“When finance teams give budget owners more ownership and autonomy to create their budget, there is better partnership that can increase accountability to comply with it and improve overall financial performance,” shares Bala Kini, senior director and financial consultant at ZRG Partners.

“This fosters a culture of empowerment and collaboration between all levels of employees.”

3. Bottom-up budgets allow for more agility.

Since teams are experts in their functional areas, they can anticipate how priorities and costs may change from year to year. For instance, non-marketers may be unaware of how the cost of paid advertising has risen in recent years.

Bottom-up budgeting shines as it allows quick adjustments and adaptations to changing market conditions or internal priorities.

4. Bottom-up budgets increase transparency among departments.

Bottom-up budgeting is a collective process, and companies using this method benefit from greater transparency. This contributes to greater trust, accountability, and collaboration.

Cons of Using a Bottom-Up Budget

Despite the benefits, bottom-up budgeting brings some challenges along with it.

1. Bottom-up budgets can lead to misalignment between the company and departments.

If departmental goals and strategies don’t align with overarching company goals, there’s a risk of strategic misalignment.

“I’ve seen cases where lower levels of management are blindsided by their operational needs and deliverables and lose sight of the company’s long-term strategic goals,” says Kini.

How to counter this: Invest in internal development to connect employees and teams to your company values. Include champions from each unit in creating your overarching strategy and vision.

2. The process can be cumbersome and time-consuming.

The process of bottom-up budgeting is more complex and time-consuming. 73% of organizations say they spend too much time on manual budget processes such as validation and data entry, according to Vena.

Bottom-up budgeting involves initial communication, forecasting costs and revenue, consolidating an overall budget, and working through revisions and errors. This can make the process slower and inefficient and create a higher indirect cost from employee time spent on budgeting.

“Building the budget from the ground up can also be daunting for budget contributors,” explains Melissa Howatson, CFO at Vena and host of The CFO Show podcast.

“In many cases, managers would actually prefer to know what the starting guardrails are and go from there. This would also help with reducing the likelihood of budget owners having to start the process over if their proposed budget doesn’t fit with the company’s overall objectives.”

How to counter this: Create a well-defined budget process and oversight (see our detailed implementation tips below).

3. Bottom-up budgets have a greater risk of distorted budgets.

With bottom-up budgets, there’s a risk that each unit will ask for too much money and that the company will overspend.

“There is a high possibility that department leads approach this as a ‘blank check’ opportunity and inflate their expense budget and underestimate revenues (overestimate losses) so that their performance always appears favorable,” cautions Kini.

How to counter this: Take a realistic look at your projected revenue for the year. In the consolidation process, ask departments to make cuts if necessary.

Anatomy of a Bottom-Up Budget

So, what does a bottom-up budget actually look like? A bottom-up budget is more than just numbers on a spreadsheet. Here are all the parts that go into a bottom-up budget.

Revenue Projections

In this section, you’ll add estimates of the income or revenue expected from sales, services, investments, grants, or other sources.

Revenue projections serve as the foundation for budgeting expenses. If your unit isn’t a revenue-generating one, skip this step.

Expense Categories

Start by breaking down your projected expenses into categories like:

• Personnel (salaries, benefits).
• Operating expenses (rent, utilities, office supplies).
• Marketing expenses (agencies, ad campaigns, production).
• Equipment or capital expenditures.
• Research and development.

Expense Estimates

Now, we come to the dollar amounts. Estimate how much you’ll spend on specific activities, projects, or initiatives during the budget period.

Consider direct costs (e.g., materials, labor) as well as indirect costs (e.g., overhead, administrative expenses).

Budget Assumptions

List which assumptions and factors you considered during budget planning, such as revenue and growth projections, inflation rates, market trends, or regulatory changes.

Budget Justifications

Give justifications for each budget line item, detailing the rationale behind it. Link budget items to strategic objectives and performance metrics and account for any increases from the previous budgeting period.

Scenario Planning

In bottom-up budgeting, it’s a good idea to propose more than one budget to management.

This gives teams the agility to adapt, but retain ownership if they don’t receive the budget amount they requested, or unforeseen circumstances change budget assumptions or financial performance during the year.

Scenario planning outlines steps to manage risks, reallocate resources, or adjust budget priorities as needed. Consider the example below from U-nique Accounting Services, which gives the option for three different budget scenarios.

Image Source

Example: Building My Own Bottom-Up Budget

Ready to see this in action? Follow along as I create a product marketing budget proposal. For this project, I used a modified version of the HubSpot marketing budget templates.

Download the Marketing Budget Templates

First, I started by breaking my product marketing costs into expense categories.

For these, I chose product/market fit, product testing, product releases, and content. I listed out each anticipated cost, such as $10,000 for user testing sessions under product testing.

In a more detailed version, I would estimate the cost for each category by month, quarter, and year.

You’ll notice that I have two scenarios here. Scenario 1, presumably the ideal one, has a larger budget of $200,000, while Scenario 2 has a smaller overall amount of $150,000 to show how I would adjust for a smaller budget allotment.

Now, to give my finance department and executive leadership some context, I’ve added three additional columns:

• Cost explanation breaking the line item down into smaller costs and needs.
• Objectives showing the goal of each item or initiative it supports.
• Assumptions I made to reach my cost projection.

Below, you’ll see how this looks for the content category.

Finally, here’s the entire budget proposal put together. The graph at the bottom shows how my budget breaks down by category.

The beauty of this template is that I can use it for budget tracking throughout the year, using the actual column to track expenses.

At the end of the year, I can use the actual expense data in a budget analysis to project a more accurate budget for the following year.

Once I submit my budget proposal to my finance department, the consolidated budget will look a lot different. It may look something like this annual budget template from Google Sheets.

Here, you can see my product marketing budget in context with expenses from all across the company: legal, insurance, taxes, and more. That way, company leadership can consider and balance all needs and priorities.

Get Started: How to Create a Bottom-Up Budget in Five Steps

Creating a bottom-up budget is a big undertaking and takes collaboration from every part of a company! Here’s how to approach creating a bottom-up budget.

1. Define budgeting roles.

First, determine all parties with a role to play and how each will participate. Here are the players who typically contribute to the bottom-up budgeting approach:

• Executive leadership. Leadership sets the overall strategy, sets strategic goals, and reviews and approves the final budgets.
• Finance. The finance team is the main player responsible for budgeting. They should develop standardized procedures, train and support department heads, reviewing submissions for accuracy, consistency, and strategic alignment.
• Department heads. Department leads are accountable for the accuracy of their budgets and for ensuring that the budget aligns with their goals. They should work closely with field-level staff and operational leads to identify the best opportunities for resource efficiencies.
• Go-to-market team. Your GTM team can provide key assumptions for the year like new bookings, product launches, and addressable market to inform your budget needs.
• Human Resources. Human resources can contribute to estimates of job salaries, benefits, and other employment costs like retention initiatives.
• IT. Of finance leaders, 49% rely heavily on IT to manage their existing systems. IT departments can provide the right tools and technology to house and analyze budget data, manage approvals, and maintain cybersecurity of financial data.

Make sure that each team understands its roles and responsibilities for a successful partnership between departments.

2. Ask departments to submit a budget proposal.

Next, ask departments to submit their budgets to you. Give a clear scope, guidelines, and timelines for departments, as well as a clear process and appropriate tools to support teams.

“The finance team needs to have a strong process ethic to develop, test, and distribute templates with clear guidelines and communication about timelines, performance metrics, and ways to clarify questions that may arise,” says Kini.

3. Consolidate departmental budgets.

Next, combine all the individual budget proposals into one master budget.

Perform a quality review to check for errors as you input everything into your larger budget.

Together with your revenue projections, you will have a full financial picture of the next budgeting period.

Depending on the complexity of your organization, you may have an initial submission and preliminary review before sending the budget on to leadership.

4. Review, adjust, and finalize your budget.

Once you have a full financial picture validated by the finance team, leadership can review the master budget.

At this stage, they can compare this year’s budget against last year, ask questions of department heads, and ask units to make changes if needed. Once all iterations are complete and approved, you have a bottom-up budget.

5. Track budget metrics.

Once your budget is finalized, the work isn’t done. Throughout the budgeting period, track metrics monthly, track performance, and report variations.

Budgeting metrics vary by industry but may include gross profit margin, operating cash flow, or working capital.

Use budget control methods like budget variance to determine any deviations from or corrections needed to a budget. Consider the variance report below from Vena as an example of how to track budgeted versus actual expenses.

Image Source

Bottom-Up Budget Best Practices

To make your budgeting process smooth and successful, follow this advice from mature financial organizations.

Map out budget timelines and guidelines.

To manage the complex process, communicate guidelines and timelines for every step of the process. You may want to use a project management software or other tracking tool to create calendars and keep everyone on track.

Kini advises, “When setting timelines, work backward from target dates and never lose sight of the fact that teams have their operational responsibilities and constraints. Teams need to understand that this is not a ‘once and done’ but an iterative process.”

You should also time your budget process with other key initiatives, like strategic planning.

“Budgeting should be one workstream that is part of a comprehensive annual operating plan,” says Howatson. “The budget creation process should happen with context into other key business plans to make sure they are ultimately aligned.”

Beware of misallocation.

One danger of bottom-up budgeting is that department leaders aren’t all playing by the same rules.

Stronger voices may build in a buffer and end up with more budget than they need, whereas leaders who push for efficiency can end up disadvantaged.

“To solve this, it’s important for finance and HR to be effective business partners throughout the whole budget creation process and ensure consistency across how managers are approaching their budget inputs,” advises Howatson.

“Providing budget contributors with guardrails ensures the budget process isn’t entirely open-ended, helping avoid this issue further.”

Support your teams through the budgeting process.

For bottom-up budgeting to work, it must be truly collaborative.

During budget season, teams take on budgeting responsibilities in addition to their everyday job duties. This combination can be stressful already, and a lack of support from finance partners can add to the stress and lower morale.

Open a support channel and communicate regularly about guidelines and deadlines. Make it user-friendly to account for non-technical budget contributors.

During and after the budget cycle, collect feedback to identify areas for improvement.

Ultimately, this helps create the best environment for successful bottom-up budgeting.

“A bottom-up approach allows you to get buy-in from across the business, and because individual managers effectively ‘own’ the budget, they won’t feel like it’s being imposed onto them,” says Howatson.

When to Use a Bottom-Up Budget

Ultimately, the choice between bottom-up and top-down budgeting depends on your specific needs and culture.

Bottom-up budgeting can be advantageous in fast-changing industries or startups where field-level insights are critical, as well as in highly collaborative, cross-disciplinary companies.

To reap its benefits, your company needs strong financial discipline.

If a business is small, operates in a very predictable industry, or doesn’t have a mature finance department, a top-down approach may be more suitable.

Carefully consider the pros and cons before committing to one approach over the other. Whichever you choose, commit to a clear process and stay open to employee feedback.

It’s been a few years since I applied for my first internship, but I still remember the difficulties I encountered. After I finally crafted an eye-catching resume, I faced the daunting prospect of creating an internship cover letter for every application; I honestly didn’t know what to include or the tone I should strike.

Although I got the internship, in the end, I never found out whether my academic achievements, experience, or well-crafted cover letter got my foot in the door. However, I’ve always been curious.

With the benefit of hindsight — and some guidance from cover letter experts and hiring professionals — I’m here to help you write a winning internship cover letter. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

• How to Write a Cover Letter for an Internship
• Writing My Own Internship Cover Letter
• Internship Cover Letter Examples
• Internship Cover Letter Templates

I’ve seen some creatively designed cover letters, but in my opinion, you can’t go wrong with the traditional business letter format, which you’ll find in our free cover letter templates.

Download our cover letter templates …

Business professionals use this format style to apply for full-time roles and other purposes, so it’s something you can reuse in the future.

Remember to use formal terms such as “Dear” and “Sincerely,” and lean towards a professional tone in your body copy. Even if you know the recruiter personally, always use formal salutations instead of “Hey!” or Hi [name].”

1. Include your name, date, location, and contact information.

Ensure you provide your contact information, such as your phone number, email, and location, on your internship cover letter.

Since you’ll probably be sending your cover letter online (through an email or web form), you don’t need to provide your full home address — your city and state should be enough for most positions.

Your Name

Your Address

Your City, State, Zip Code

Cell: 555-555-5555

Email: [email protected]

Date

2. Include the company name, department, and address.

With your personal information out of the way, it’s time to showcase your research skills a little. Do an internet search to find the full name and address of the company you’re applying to. Try to dig deep to find the department name, but leave it out if you’re unsure.

If the internship will be remote, use the company’s general headquarters address if the internship will be remote.

Department

Company

Street

City, State Zip

3. Address the hiring manager.

Tempted to type “To whom it may concern” or “Dear hiring manager”? In your hunt for an internship position, you’ll stand out from the crowd by being resourceful. So, channel your inner sleuth by tracking down the hiring manager’s name.

You might find their role description on the company website, but if not, your best bet is to look through LinkedIn.

If you can’t find the hiring manager’s name, or you’re unsure if you’re addressing the right person, leave the name out. I think it’s safe to say that sacrificing a bit of personalization is much better than addressing the wrong person in your cover letter.

4. Set the context for your application.

The first paragraph can make or break your internship cover letter and your entire application.

I’ll admit: I’ve always found opening paragraphs tricky, whether they’re for a cover letter, regular email, or a blog post, but they’re essential for creating a strong first impression and engaging the reader.

First, explain how you found out about the company or position. If you know anyone at the company, you can mention them here. Next, express your interest in the company and how it relates to your goals and passions. Also, make sure you get your basic information down, like your name, education level, major, and interests.

Depending on the company and position, you could try a creative approach to get your reader’s attention. Here’s one that worked for me early in my career:

“Can I tell you a secret? I’ve been telling stories since I was five years old. No, not fibbing — real storytelling …”

A word of warning, though: Be sure to research the company’s culture before taking an approach like this. While this opening statement worked well for startups and more laid-back companies, a big accounting firm might find it culturally off-beat.

Pro tip: Geoffrey Scott, hiring manager and certified professional resume writer at Resume Genius, says, “The cover letters that stand out to me are ones where the candidate’s excitement clearly comes through. Of course, the tone must stay professional, but it shouldn’t be dull. When you’re passionate about what you do, it comes through in your cover letter.”

5. Sell your experience and personalize your cover letter.

Your cover letter isn’t supposed to be a summary of your resume, so go deeper and personalize it for your internship application.

To start, read through the specific position’s description and pick out a few qualities that you think apply to you. I don’t recommend choosing all the descriptors mentioned, as it could appear disingenuous and make your cover letter too long.

For instance, if I see a company looking for someone who’s “outgoing, organized, hardworking, and willing to take criticism,” I would pick the qualities that best describe me and focus on providing examples in the body of my cover letter.

You should cover things like:

• Relevant coursework.
• Soft skills (e.g., teamwork, problem-solving).
• Extracurricular activities (e.g., volunteering).
• Work experience (if any).

That said, make sure you tie them to the internship opportunity. For example, you could say, “I understand that this role requires that I consistently meet deadlines. I held down a part-time job while keeping up with my college assignments, which demonstrates my time management skills.”

Pro tip: If you lack relevant experience, use your research and knowledge to show enthusiasm. Daniel Space, a human resources business partner who has worked with companies like Spotify and WebMD, told me he once hired a French major instead of an HR major for an HR internship.

Why? He explains, “Not only did she clearly articulate how she understood the role … she also spent a few sentences describing the company going through a merger and correctly assuming that her work would be in helping with that.”

6. Think about your cover letter’s readers (humans and machines).

According to Jobscan’s research, 487 out of 500 Fortune 500 companies (97.4%) used an Applicant Tracking System in 2023. If you’re not familiar, this is a tool used to streamline hiring tasks.

Why do they matter for internship cover letters? Well, companies use these systems to filter resumes and cover letters based on keywords.

Ben Lamarche, general manager at recruiting firm Lock Search Group, told me that his company screens internship applications using an application tracking system.

When I asked how applicants could get their cover letters seen by a human, he recommended “avoiding excessive formatting, sticking to a basic text layout, and including a few important words from the internship description, such as the precise requirements for skills and knowledge.”

Pro tip: Wondering how long your internship cover letter should be? I recommend you limit it to under a page or around 250 to 400 words. Also, use shorter paragraphs to break up the text.

Here’s what Indrė Padegimienė, talent acquisition specialist at Omnisend, has to say on the matter: “Recruiters are pretty busy people with hundreds of applications to review, so clear and concise communication is key. A five-page cover letter won’t get you a job.”

7. Close the letter with grace and a call to action.

If the internship application does not explicitly state “please do not contact,” you might choose to conclude by specifying how you will follow up, such as, “I will call next week to see if my qualifications are a match,” or “I am eager to meet with you to discuss this opportunity, and am available for an interview at a mutually convenient time.”

In your closing paragraph, thank the hiring manager for taking the time to consider you, and end on a positive, confident note, such as, “I look forward to speaking with you soon.”

Pro tip: You may even go a step further and give the hiring manager a call to action. I don’t think it hurts to include a link to your online portfolio, website, or even a YouTube channel where you display your work and personality.

To see how often hiring managers follow through on your calls to action, track the number of clicks on your link using a URL tracker like Bitly.

8. Proofread, proofread, and proofread.

When I asked Scott (Resume Genius) about the cover letter pitfalls he encounters the most, applicants’ lack of proofreading stood out.

After describing the cover letter mistake of simply summarizing what’s in your resume, he shared, “Another common error that could end up costing you a position is having spelling and grammar mistakes, especially if the internship is for anything that requires close attention to detail, like data entry. This seems obvious, but you wouldn’t believe how often I see it.”

Even with the availability of spell-checking tools like Grammarly, internship applicants still submit cover letters riddled with typos. Let me put it this way: You’ve done the hard part of actually writing your internship cover letter, so don’t let small mistakes put employers off.

Pro tip: Some companies provide AI cover letter generators. You simply input your resume and the job description, and you should get a decent-looking cover letter in seconds.

Just remember that while AI generators can save you time, you should check over everything they produce to ensure the AI hasn’t told any tall tales about your hands-on experience or skill set or made any mistakes. As you’ll see in these ChatGPT-generated internship email examples, caution and revisions are advised.

If you’re still unsure after your check-up, get a friend or classmate to proofread your cover letter for clarity and spelling before you finally sign off on it and hit send.

Writing My Own Internship Cover Letter

Now, I’ll use the tips I gave you above to craft an internship cover letter. In this sample, I will be applying for an event planning position. I start by including my contact information. That includes an address, phone number, and email address.

I also included the recipient’s contact information including the department I’m applying for.

I start with a greeting and the hiring manager’s name. If you can find a direct contact, referring to the person by name is preferred. From there, I mention that I am a referral and mention my contact at the company. I can then introduce myself and discuss relevant school experience relating to the role.

In the next section, I refer to relevant professional experiences. While these may not apply to an event role in corporate, I mention club work that I’ve done that relates to the role. I also reference an orientation job I held at the university that matches the events skillset.

From there, it’s time to wrap up with a conclusion. I also used Preview’s signature function on my Mac to include a handwritten signature followed by a typed version of my name.

Now, let’s explore some other cover letter examples for inspiration.

Internship Cover Letter Examples

To inspire you further, I’ve curated additional internship cover letter examples tailored to different industries and positions. I’ll also explain why each example works and what you can do to evoke a similar response.

1. Hospitality Internship Cover Letter

Why This Cover Letter Example Works

I like that this cover letter demonstrates the applicant’s passion, willingness to learn, and previous industry experience. If I were the hiring manager, I’d shortlist them based on their internship cover letter.

How to Incorporate That Into Your Internship Cover Letter

I recommend you start by analyzing your own transferable skills and experience and seeing how they relate to the internship you’re applying for.

Do you have any examples, facts, or figures that you can include in your letter? This will help the hiring manager understand your interest in the position and give them more of a reason to hire you over the competition.

I often see applicants use statements like, “I helped increase my group’s scores by [X]%.” If you have any figures like this, use them, but be honest about the role you played.

2. Supply Chain Internship Cover Letter

Why This Cover Letter Example Works

I could easily tell that, like many internship applicants, this student had yet to gain professional experience in the field. However, the applicant does a great job of showing enthusiasm for taking on real-world experiences.

They also demonstrate their knowledge of three areas of supply chain management: forecasting, inventory management, and logistics.

How to Incorporate That Into Your Internship Cover Letter

Go through your course notes and write down a list of topics and terms relevant to the internship you’re applying for. After I’ve completed coursework, I sometimes need to remind myself of what I’ve covered.

3. Fashion Design Internship Cover Letter

Why This Cover Letter Example Works

The student wrote a great second paragraph discussing their experience participating in design projects with original pieces that show their “artistic vision.” I also like that the student highlights how their design philosophy aligns well with Sleeves and Thread’s commitment to “pushing boundaries.”

How to Incorporate That Into Your Internship Cover Letter

Do your research on the company you’re applying to. You can compliment them on awards they have won or mention how you would fit well within their company culture.

4. Finance Internship Cover Letter

Why This Cover Letter Example Works

Rebecca takes the time to highlight her skillset, but she also balances her cover letter with reasons why Banking Corporation will be a great fit for her career. She gives plenty of reasons why the company appeals to her, which helps balance the cover letter.

How to Incorporate That Into Your Internship Cover Letter

Don’t be afraid to explain what an internship will do for you. Yes, companies want to know how an intern can help them, but they know you’re mainly there to advance your career.

5. Marketing Internship Cover Letter

Why This Cover Letter Example Works

If you work in marketing or another creative industry, you’ll have more freedom when it comes to drafting your cover letter. Here, Robin takes a novel approach by weaving in colorful language that practically jumps off the page. With just enough pizazz, their personality shines through. I think any marketing hiring manager would be eager to learn more.

How to Incorporate That Into Your Internship Cover Letter

Let your creative side run free! On a blank page (a creative’s nightmare, I know!), type out plenty of eye-catching phrases and sentences to showcase your writing skills. Next, see if you can find the right places to add them to your internship cover letter.

Internship Cover Letter Templates

If, instead of examples, you’d like a jump-off point, don’t worry — I’ve got you covered. Here are some internship cover letter templates to get your creative juices flowing.

Standard Internship Cover Letter Template

This highly customizable internship cover letter is generic but can serve as the foundation for all your applications.

Data-Driven Internship Cover Letter Template

If your major is data-driven, like STEM, marketing, or accounting, I think this is the internship cover letter template for you. With this template, you can include the data highlights of your class projects and assignments to show the hiring manager that you can support your experience with credible facts.

Entry-Level Cover Letter Template

As you approach your senior year of college, you may be looking for entry-level roles rather than internships. Cover letters are just as important for full-time roles as they are for internships, so use this template to make the transition in your job search.

Wrapping Up Your Internship Cover Letter

Worried about not having enough experience or skills to get your preferred internship? Don’t stress over what you haven’t achieved yet — and remember, everyone starts somewhere.

Instead, take stock of your academic and extracurricular achievements and see how you can apply your skills and experience to an internship.

Then, you’re ready to craft a compelling cover letter that shows you’re competent, enthusiastic, and willing to go the extra mile for every position you apply for. Whether you get your preferred internship or not, you’ll be happy that you gave it your best shot.

Advertising communicates the value of your product, services, and brand to the world. The best ads spark interest and ignite a desire for what you offer, build brand awareness, and drive sales.

As a marketer, I’ve learned that the best ads don’t happen by accident. Knowing how to make an ad is about understanding your customer, knowing what medium to use, which metrics matter, and the technical process of creating the ad media.

Ready to start creating ads that get real results? In this guide, I’ll show you how to do it step-by-step. Let’s dive straight in.

Table of Contents

• How to Make an Advertisement
• Start Creating Great Ads Today

Featured Resource: Advertising Planning Templates & Kit

To make your advertising planning easier, use HubSpot’s free Advertising Planning Kit. Included are templates to help you plan and present your ad pitch, schedule your release dates, and inform your stakeholders. We’ve also thrown in an advertising best practices guide to help you choose the advertising method that works best for your business.

1. Define your target audience.

My first step is to clarify who I’m making the ad for. Pinpointing the right audience ensures that my ad cuts through the digital noise to reach people most likely to engage with my product or brand.

I’ve found that the more precisely I define my audience, the better. For example, if I’m promoting a new fitness app, I won’t target a broad audience like “people interested in fitness.” Instead, I’d target ”busy professionals aged 25-40 who are interested in getting fit via high-intensity interval training (HIIT).”

Those details let me create more personalized ads that speak directly to the challenges and interests of my target audience. That personalization helps boost revenues by 5 to 15% according to research from McKinsey.

2. Conduct market research.

After defining my target audience, I need to go deeper into their world. That’s where market research comes in.

Collecting and analyzing data to learn more about my potential customers helps uncover details like their demographics (age, gender, education level, location), psychographics (interests, values, lifestyles), and even their behaviors (purchasing habits, media consumption patterns).

That information helps me answer questions like:

• What is my primary target audience’s age range?
• What are their biggest pain points or challenges?
• What do they spend most of their time doing?
• Where do they live?
• What media or social platforms do they use?
• What types of ads do they commonly see?

There are multiple options for conducting market research. For instance, you can use existing market data, ask them to complete surveys or questionnaires, or even run a focus group.

Baruch Labunski, founder at Rank Secure, suggests an even more hands-on approach: “The best information comes from talking to people in a check-out line. Ask them what they want in a specific product or what would make them buy something.”

HubSpot’s Market Research Kit has everything you need to get started with market research for your ad campaign.

With research in hand, I build profiles of my ideal customers that will influence my decisions moving forward.

These buyer personas are fictionalized profiles that capture my potential customers’ backgrounds, interests, challenges, and how my product, service, or brand adds value to their lives.

My favorite tool to streamline creating buyer personas is HubSpot’s Make My Persona tool.

3. Decide on the ad format.

With my buyer personas to guide me, I need to choose the most effective format(s) to deliver my message. Each format has different strengths and weaknesses, and you may find that using a combination is best for your campaign.

Let’s break down some of the most popular ad formats.

Ad Formats

• Display ads. Appearing in websites and apps, these visual ads are usually served as banner ads or popups. According to Statista, display ads account for 30% of all digital advertising spending in the U.S.
• Video ads. Video’s ability to convey a lot of information quickly makes it popular, and research shows that 91% of businesses use videos as part of their marketing strategy. In fact, video marketing spending is expected to reach $120 billion in 2024. Video ads can be long or short but must be tailored to the advertising platform, whether streaming services, social media, or websites.
• Audio ads. Appearing on audio streaming platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and Pandora, audio ads are typically 15-30 seconds long and can be music-driven or voice-overs. Like video advertising, audio is growing rapidly, with spending expected to reach $16.09 billion by 2029.
• Influencer marketing ads. Powered by social proof, influencer ads use an influencer discussing or using your product to convince their audience to buy. Influencer ads come in several types, including online videos, product reviews, influencer takeovers on social media, and sponsored content.
• Search engines. These text-based search ads look like a typical search entry plus a “sponsored” note on search engine result pages (SERPs). Because these are usually pay-per-click ads (PPC), how often your ad shows when a person searches for certain phrases or keywords may vary based on what your competition is paying for ads on the same keywords.
• Social media. Social media advertising is one of the fastest-growing advertising channels, with revenue expected to reach $262 billion by 2028. Ads on social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter) are available in several formats. Text, images, videos, carousels, and even sponsored content are available on different networks.
• Podcasts. Often overlooked, podcast advertising is relatively low-cost and reaches a well-targeted audience. Audio ads can be placed before, in the middle, and at the end of episodes, with some podcasts also offering video placements on streaming platforms.

4. Determine the ad’s purpose.

Knowing who I want to reach and how I’ll say it is only part of the battle of how to make an advertisement. Now, I need to know what I want out of the ad.

What is the goal of the ad?

Ad goals usually fall into three categories:

• Brand awareness.
• Product awareness.
• Conversions.

Brand awareness builds a sense of familiarity and positivity with your target audience. The goal is to build credibility for the long term so you can make a sale easier later on. For example, if you say Boeing, most consumers immediately think aircraft.

Product awareness and conversions are both product-focused instead of brand-focused. The main difference is that product awareness focuses on sales later, while conversions focus on making a sale now. For example, limited-time sales promos would be conversion-oriented.

How to Make an Advertisement for a Product vs. for a Brand

When creating an ad for a product, the focus should be on that item. I want to point out the features and benefits of my product rather than just my brand’s overall product category.

Potential customers need to know what the product does and how it helps them. Depending on the product and the platform, I might even create a tutorial showing how to use the product.

In contrast, if I’m building brand awareness, I might talk more about our employees, company culture, history, and value position to build credibility and trust. Brand awareness ads need to connect emotionally for the long term rather than focus on a quick sale.

5. Choose a platform.

Image Source

My message’s platform must match the ad format and the target audience’s presence. For example, the perfect ad will fail if I choose a platform my customers don’t use.

HubSpot’s 2024 The State of Marketing report is my favorite tool for helping me narrow down what platform to use for the best ROI.

Use your market research findings (such as where your audience spends the most time online), ad goals (product awareness or brand awareness), and the chosen format to determine the platform that makes the most sense for your ad.

Ad Platforms

Kamel Ben Yacoub, CEO at Getupload, notes that “Paid search platforms like Google Ads are ideal for capturing existing demand from high-intent users actively searching for solutions. Google Users are directly typing the solution they are looking for in the search bar.”

However, social media ads on Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn “are better for generating new demand and awareness reaching users who are not seeking your product but could be interested once they learn about it.”

Pro tip: Don’t restrict yourself to one platform.

For example, my market research might show that my target audience loves X and spends a lot of time on YouTube. A multi-platform approach also casts a wider net, increasing my chances of reaching more of my target audience.

6. Set a budget.

Outside of word-of-mouth advertising, ad campaigns take money, so I must set my budget.

There is no one-size-fits-all budget for ad campaigns. How much to spend depends on the purpose of the ad, the format, the platform, production costs, and how much your brand can afford.

Industry benchmarks and market data can provide a helpful starting point for understanding the average costs associated with different ad formats and platforms, as well as what similar brands are spending. For example, small- to medium-sized businesses spend an average of $1,000 to $7,500 per project on online ads.

Pro tip: Start small and then scale up with time.

Starting with a smaller budget lets you test different strategies, understand what works best for your target audience, and optimize your campaigns before making a larger investment.

Baruch Labunskis suggests that “Too many people want to put all their advertising money into the medium that is the flashiest. Instead, I would suggest stretching your budget further by focusing more of the campaign on the cheaper tools you can run more or longer.”

7. Craft your ad message.

Getting my message right is vital. Not only does the information have to be correct and serve the ad goal, it has to be engaging for the right audience. Even when I use copywriters, I have input into the ad message.

What exactly do I want my ad to say? How do I say it?

Revisit audience insights.

I always revisit my target audience’s needs, desires, and pain points before I draft ad copy. What are their aspirations or greatest desires? What keeps them up at night? By truly understanding their motivations, I can create a message that speaks directly to them and positions my product or service as the ideal solution.

Focus on the benefits.

Lauren Bayne, Founder and CEO of The Creative Brand Refinery, says: “People don’t care about specs; they want to know what problem your product or service solves.”

I always explain how the features translate into tangible benefits. For instance, rather than saying a vacuum cleaner has “strong suction power,” I might say it “cleans in one pass, so you have more time to enjoy the things you love.”

Create an attention-grabbing headline.

TL;DR is real, and your headline is prime real estate with the power to make or break your ad. Use a question, a surprising fact, or a benefit-driven statement to make them stop scrolling and click. My secret for creating killer headlines for ads and landing pages is HubSpot’s Free AI Headline Generator.

Set your product apart from the competition.

Clearly communicating my product’s unique selling proposition (USP) is vital. Why should someone choose my product over the competition? Whether superior quality, exceptional customer service, or unbeatable price, my USP must make a compelling case for why my product is the best choice.

Keep it simple.

Brian Town, CEO and founder of marketing and branding agency Michigan Creative, advises brands to keep the design as simple as possible because “A common pitfall in ad design is cluttering the ad with too much information, which can confuse the message.”

Include a clear call to action (CTA).

Leaving my audience wondering what to do next wastes my ad dollars. I must tell them what I want them to do with a clear and compelling call to action.

Domante Gerdauske, Digital Advertising Team Lead at marketing automation platform Omnisend, says you should always “adjust your CTA to your goals.” For example, for brand awareness, she recommends using “softer CTAs” like “Learn More” or “Visit Our Website.” and leaving “more action-oriented CTAs” for sales campaigns.

Pro tip: Place CTAs carefully.

Don’t let your audience miss a CTA. According to Mike Vanelli, Head Video Producer at Envy: “It should stand out visually and be placed in a contextually relevant spot to draw the user’s eye naturally.”

When I place CTAs, I always try to use a contrasting color scheme or slightly different font to grab attention and place it near a point of interest, like the product image or after a benefit description.

8. Develop or gather creative assets.

Once I have my message, I’ll use visual and auditory elements to support my ad message and capture attention. The type of creative assets you need will depend on the ad format and the platform but can include:

• Photography.
• Voice.
• Music.
• Video.
• Sound effects.
• GIFs.
• Animations.

Tools like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Audition can help you edit these creative assets, or you can use a creative tool like Canva that includes drag-and-drop templates.

Another option is to use stock assets, either royalty-free, rights-managed, or copyright-free, that you can incorporate into your ads. However, remember to ensure that releases are available for any recognizable people and places in the assets.

Popular stock asset sources include:

• Stock photos and illustrations. Shutterstock, Pixabay, and iStock.
• Stock video footage and audio. Pond5, Pexels Videos, and Videvo.
• Music and sound effects. AudioJungle, Free Music Archive, and Epidemic Sound.

If your budget allows it, you can hire freelancers or a professional agency for video editing, photography, sound mixing, and copywriting.

9. Create a test mock-up.

I always test ads before launching a campaign. I recommend this step because:

• Ad designs may not work in all formats. Mock-ups help me visualize an ad’s appearance on the chosen platform and identify potential issues. For example, a horizontal video might not crop well to vertical.
• It helps me spot errors. A mock-up is a quick way to spot errors like off-brand messaging and colors.
• Feedback is critical. I can show the mock-up to colleagues or test audiences for feedback. Their constructive criticism helps me identify areas where the message isn‘t clear or the visuals aren’t engaging so I can make adjustments to ensure a high-quality final product.

10. Create the final ad.

Now, it’s time to bring the ad to life by combining all your developed elements into a cohesive piece ready to run. If you have a rough draft from the previous step, this is where you polish and refine it. That might include tightening the copy, fine-tuning the visuals, and basically ensuring everything flows smoothly.

Again, you can choose a DIY approach using tools like Canva or Photoshop or outsource the ad’s creation to a freelancer or professional ad agency.

How to make a simple video ad in Canva.

To create a simple video you can run on a platform like YouTube or social media using Canva, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open Canva and type “Video Ads” into the search field.

Image Source

Step 2: Browse Canva’s library of video templates to find one that matches your vision, style, and platform formatting.

Image Source

Step 3: Customize the template. Canva’s video ad templates come with pre-designed elements like text boxes, images, video clips, and music. You can replace these elements with your own content.

• Upload your visual elements: Click on Uploads and select your desired file. Then, drag and drop it onto the template. Canva also offers a library of free and premium stock assets. Just be sure to read the licensing terms before use.

Image Source

• Replace text placeholders: Click on the placeholder text and replace it with your copy.

Step 4: Edit the fonts and colors to reflect your brand style and identity by clicking Styles.

Image Source

Step 5: (Optional) Enhance your video with animations, other visual effects, and audio.

Step 6: Click the play button to preview your video ad and ensure everything looks and sounds good. Adjust the visuals, text, or audio elements as needed.

Step 7: Once satisfied, download your video ad in your preferred format and resolution.

Image Source

11. Check the small details.

The smallest details can impact ad success. Picture this: you’ve crafted a fantastic ad for a concert your company is hosting. You’ve identified your target audience, developed a compelling message, and included a clear call to action.

However, one crucial detail is missing: the ad doesn‘t mention where or when the event is happening. While viewers might click through to your website for specifics, there’s no guarantee they’ll take that extra step and buy a ticket without details first.

So, before releasing my ad, I always do a final check to ensure I’ve not overlooked any crucial details that could prevent viewers from taking action.

12. Determine how to measure success.

The final action I take before officially launching my ad is defining how to track results. I know what I want to achieve from Step 4, but I need to measure it.

I take the overarching goal I defined earlier and break it down into specific, measurable objectives. For example, suppose my goal is building brand awareness. In that case, I might define success as reaching a specific number of people with my ad on a relevant platform.

If my goal is sales, I might define success as a certain number of sales generated through ad clicks or by the use of a promo code.

Determine key performance indicators (KPIs) or metrics you’ll track to measure progress or success. KPI examples include:

• Impressions. The number of times your ad is displayed.
• Clicks. The number of times users click on your ad.
• Click-through-rate. The percentage of people who see your ad and click on it.
• Conversion rate. The percentage of people who see your ad and complete a desired action.

Don’t get overwhelmed, and try to track every possible metric. Focus on a handful that directly align with your ad campaign goals for better results. Personally, I like to focus on no more than three KPIs per campaign.

13. Launch your ad.

Now’s the moment of reckoning — putting your ad out there for the world to see. How you launch your ad will be different for each platform.

I like to review each platform’s steps frequently to ensure I have all the details covered. Here are some of my favorite resources for launching ads on traditional and social media advertising platforms:

• How to Launch a Facebook Ad
• How to Launch a LinkedIn Ad
• How to Launch an Instagram Ad
• How to Launch an X (Twitter) Ad
• How to Launch a YouTube Ad
• How to Launch a Google Ad
• How to Launch a TV Ad
• How to Launch a Billboard Ad

14. Track and analyze performance.

The work isn’t over after I’ve launched my ad. While the ad runs, I need to analyze and track its performance, focusing specifically on the metrics I defined earlier.

Thankfully, most digital platforms — including search engines, social media platforms, and display networks — have built-in analytics tools that make it extremely easy to measure and track most of these metrics, including impressions, clicks, and conversions.

For those that don’t have these inbuilt analytics, most easily integrate with external tracking and ad management tools, including my favorite, HubSpot’s own Ad Management Software.

Image Source

By closely monitoring an ad‘s performance, I can determine whether it’s meeting my goals and identify areas for improvement. Analyzing data over time reveals patterns and trends that help me optimize future ad campaigns for even better results.

15. Continuously optimize your ad.

Many platforms have the ability to tweak ads during their run.

I might slightly adjust the ad copy, test new visuals, refine audience targeting, or adjust spending. For example, if I run multiple ads and one starts going viral, I’ll shift some budget away from other ads and put more into the popular one.

Another powerful technique I recommend is A/B testing. For A/B testing, I create several versions of my ad with different headlines, images, and CTAs and run them at the same time to see which works better.

Over time, those results help me identify the winning elements and optimize my future ad campaigns for maximum impact.

Start Creating Great Ads Today

Well-crafted ads can do wonders for your business, but the best ads require careful planning and strategic execution.

Don’t wait longer to unlock the power of effective advertising. Use our comprehensive “how to make an advertisement” guide to create eye-catching ads that produce positive outcomes for your brand.

Every time I visit my favorite coffee shop, the barista gives me a smile, nods, and brings my go-to order in a few minutes. It’s a relationship built on trust and loyalty. Imagine if all your customers felt the same about your brand.

In crowded markets where buyers are spoilt for choice, gaining consumer confidence can help you become a trusted name. This confidence will ultimately influence buying decisions and drive business growth.

In this article, I’ll explain consumer confidence and provide actionable tips for increasing this index for your business.

We’ll cover:

• What is consumer confidence?
• How is consumer confidence measured?
• Why is consumer confidence important?
• How to Increase Consumer Confidence in Your Business

What is consumer confidence?

Consumer confidence measures the degree of optimism customers feel about spending money on purchases. It predicts economic conditions for upcoming months based on consumers’ financial situation and willingness to spend or save money.

If people are optimistic about their finances, they’ll likely spend more and drive economic growth. But if they feel pessimistic, they’ll minimize spending, leading to a slowdown.

Here are three pillars for businesses to build consumer confidence and gain customer loyalty:

• Honesty. When brands choose authenticity over popularity and keep their messaging transparent, they set the right expectations for potential buyers. This creates a more truthful buying experience where consumers aren’t worried about being scammed or getting low-quality products/services.
• Trust. Trust is an extension of the honesty pillar. For consumers to trust your business, you have to make realistic promises and deliver on all promises — right from deals and discounts to timely delivery and customer support. This ultimately leads to greater satisfaction and healthy relationships, translating into customer loyalty.
• Consistency. To retain consumer confidence, you need to consistently deliver premium-quality products/services. This is a big part of building your reputation as a trusted, high-quality brand, which allows people to make more confident buying decisions.

Now that we’ve cleared the basics, let’s understand how consumer confidence is measured and why it matters to your business.

How is consumer confidence measured?

The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) is an economic indicator where the Conference Board measures people’s financial behaviors and willingness to spend.

The board surveys around 5,000 households in the U.S. to assess their attitudes toward spending or saving. Then, they release a monthly report providing insights about the economic conditions and predictions for the coming months.

Here’s how the CCI is measured in different phases:

• Survey creation. The CCI survey includes five questions about people’s present situation and future expectations. Respondents can choose from three options to answer a question: positive, negative, or neutral.
• Relative value calculation. After all the data is collected, the positive responses for each question are divided by the sum of all positive + negative responses. This gives the relative value for every question, which is compared against the relative values from 1985 (the original benchmark for CCI).
• Interpretation. The average of the relative value of all five questions becomes the Consumer Confidence Index. The index value of >100 indicates a high confidence level and economic growth. On the other hand, an index value below 100 signals a slowdown with a low willingness to spend.

With this detailed breakdown of the Consumer Confidence Index, it’s time to address the big question: Does CCI even matter for businesses?

Why is consumer confidence important?

Consumer confidence can directly impact business growth. A high confidence index means people are willing to spend more and increase consumption. This can improve sales, increase revenue, create employment, and create a sustainable growth loop.

If you’re wondering about CCI’s impact on your business, here are four ways a high confidence index can benefit businesses:

• Higher sales and revenue. When people feel financially secure, they’re more eager to spend money. This can unlock new revenue streams for businesses and drive more conversions.
• Business expansion. A consistently positive buying sentiment means businesses will have enough cash flow to expand their operations. You can hire more employees, open a new branch, enter new markets, or add more product lines/services.
• Greater customer loyalty. High CCI also promises customer retention because customers can continue to shop from brands they trust. You have the opportunity to create long-term relationships with repeat buyers.
• Stable workforce. Another big benefit for companies operating in a high-confidence climate is the ability to stabilize their workforce. You don’t have to hire rapidly or lay people off, and instead focus on mutual growth.

Put simply, the CCI can have a domino effect on the economy and your business. A positive index can create opportunities for hypergrowth, but a negative index can push you into a slump.

So, what can you do to increase people’s confidence in your brand? Let’s find out.

How to Increase Consumer Confidence in Your Business

I spent days researching what businesses need to build and maximize consumer confidence. Here are four best practices for increasing people’s confidence in your brand.

1. Maintain an authentic brand image.

The higher the degree of trust people have in your brand, the more likely they will buy from you. You can cultivate this trust in a few ways. Let’s break them down.

Transparency

Give people an unfiltered, unedited view of how you build your products or deliver your services. For example, if you’re a B2B SaaS company, you can talk about the behind-the-scenes process of building, and if you’re an ecommerce brand, you can talk about how your products are made.

In this post, Cosmix highlights how its product is different from most on the market because it’s made with real vanilla. This video gives you a glimpse of its manufacturing process.

Image Source

Brand Values

Of consumers, 84% buy from brands whose values align with theirs. People will resonate more with your brand when they know you’re committed to making an impact in society. So, spotlight your values at different touchpoints in the buyer journey so buyers can trust your brand.

Take a page from H&M‘s book with their message about sustainability and mission to build a circular economy.

Image Source

Social Proof

Building social proof is another great way to establish consumer trust. That’s because people trust brands when they hear a friend or acquaintance endorsing them. You can work on word-of-mouth marketing or strategically use social proof to win consumers’ confidence.

Creating a trustworthy brand image is a good place to start your efforts to increase consumer confidence. Once the foundations are set, you can implement these best practices to double down on this progress.

2. Simplify the buying experience.

With so many options available to your target buyers, you can’t afford to make any mistakes in the buying experience. The slightest friction in this journey can send people away, looking for alternatives.

That’s why you have to make the buying process as simple and seamless as possible.

Here’s a handy checklist I created after observing some of the most effective buying journeys from discovery to purchase:

• Website navigation. Make your website so easy to navigate that people can shop even while asleep. Instead of frustratingly searching, it should give customers what they need in a few clicks.
• Clear pricing details. Be transparent and share your pricing information upfront to help people make an informed buying decision. You should also avoid complex price points to avoid confusion.
• On-demand support. Offer round-the-clock support or create a self-serve support model for people to find relevant answers whenever they need.
• Convenient checkout. Make checkout a breeze without asking people to jump through hoops. You can also add a guest checkout option for quick orders.
• Multiple payment options. Given that at least 15% of consumers expect high payment diversification, you should add various payment options to maximize conversions. Here’s an example of Cleartrip offering various payment methods:

Image Source

3. Embrace consultative selling.

The rule of thumb for modern businesses: People don’t like being sold to. Gone are the days when pushy sales tactics could close deals and drive sales. Today, customers expect a more meaningful relationship with brands.

You have to focus on solving actual pain points instead of blatantly promoting your product/service. That’s called consultative selling, a needs-based selling approach in which you act as a helpful advisor, trying to provide tailored solutions and build a relationship.

Here are a few ways to leverage consultative selling to increase consumer confidence:

• Listen intently to your audience and understand their pain points.
• Share user-generated content to contextualize your solution for their use cases.
• Ask questions and encourage people to open up about their challenges + expectations.
• Share helpful resources tailored to specific challenges to educate and guide customers.
• Proactively support customers after purchase to solve queries and ask for feedback.

This post by Fable&Mane presents a great example of an existing customer showing how she uses one of their products and how it’s benefitted her.

Image Source

4. Deliver empathetic support.

Customer support is a critical link in building consumer confidence. If you want people to continue buying from your business, you have to focus equally on their post-purchase experience.

You can start by training your support team to listen carefully, validate people’s feelings, and respond with empathy. As part of the training program, you can host roleplay sessions, create support materials, and run mock sessions to help the team inculcate this message.

Besides direct support, communities are among the best channels to deliver support and delight customers. Our Consumer Trends Report suggests that 19% of respondents joined an online community, and at that same time, 24% actively participated in one. A thriving community can become a channel for support and turn into a growth lever.

You can also leverage social channels to deliver proactive support and address grievances.

Chewy’s support team presents an excellent example of how it’s done. They engage with people mentioning them on social channels and go the extra mile to help customers.

Image Source

Maximize Consumer Confidence in Your Brand

Gaining consumer confidence isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore. You need to strengthen your brand reputation and consistently deliver value to your buyers to win their trust.

I’ve outlined different ways in which a positive Consumer Confidence Index can help businesses. You can also strategize to get started with these best practices to increase confidence in your brand and delight customers through consultative selling, seamless checkout journeys, and round-the-clock support.