Category Archives: B2B

Here‘s a cliche among digital marketers: Search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t what it used to be.

Here‘s a true statement you don’t hear as often: Your SEO strategy shouldn’t focus on keywords.

These days, most businesses understand the basic concepts of SEO and why it’s important.

However,  when developing and executing a sound SEO strategy for your business, just creating content for the keywords your customers are searching for is both arduous and wrong.

In this post, we’ll explain an SEO strategy and how you can create your own to help you meet your content marketing goals.

Know precisely what you need? Jump to one of the following sections:

• What is an SEO Strategy?
• SEO Content Strategy
• Best SEO Examples
• SEO Process
• SEO Monthly Plan

An SEO strategy is essential because it helps you stay on track when creating content. Instead of just making what you think people are looking for, your plan will ensure you create content people search for.

For content marketing, an SEO strategy is a critical piece of the puzzle because it is how your content will be seen in the first place, especially in search engine result pages (SERPs). If your content is scattered and unorganized, search engine bots will have more difficulty indexing your site, identifying your area of authority, and ranking your site pages.

Mobile SEO Strategy

Keeping mobile SEO in mind when creating your overall strategy is crucial. Mobile optimization ensures your site and content are available and accessible to visitors on mobile devices. (That means they can have the same experience and receive the same value as desktop browsers.)

Mobile optimization is also essential because Google practices mobile-first indexing. Instead of crawling a desktop site, the algorithm will use the mobile version of your site when indexing and ranking pages for SERPs.

Aside from mobile-first indexing, mobile SEO strategy also matters to consumers. According to HubSpot Blog’s 2023 Web Traffic & Analytics Report:

“54% of consumers use their phones most often when looking up a question on a search engine.”

Over half of online shoppers pick up their phones to ask questions that may lead to purchases. Optimizing your site to reach and capture that market share makes sense when all’s said and done.

While it’s not an entirely separate process, there are distinct considerations for mobile SEO, like monitoring page speed, responsive site design, local SEO, and creating high-quality content, regardless of the device it’s viewed on.

Expert Insight

I spoke with Mersudin Forbes, a portfolio SEO director and agency advisor with 15 years of experience in SEO.

“When it comes to thinking about a mobile strategy for SEO, it is important to think about how a user is seeking to complete their desired transaction and ensuring that this matches their expectations on mobile,” says Forbes.

Forbes explains that it’s not only Google that practices a mobile-first indexing system but most search engines. So, ensuring that relevant content and functionality is surfaced on mobile remains essential.

Pro tip: “You may also want to test your website speed by throttling page speed tests to 3/4G to ensure that user experience and page responsiveness don’t decline with less bandwidth,” says Forbes.

What is a search engine optimizer (SEO)?

Search engine optimizers (SEOs) optimize websites to help them rank higher on SERPs and gain more organic traffic. A search engine optimizer is a highly specialized content strategist who helps a business discover opportunities to answer people’s questions about their respective industries.

There are three types of SEO that an SEO strategist can focus on:

• On-page SEO. This SEO focuses on the content on site pages and how to optimize it to boost the website’s ranking for specific keywords.
• Off-page SEO. This SEO focuses on links directed to the website from elsewhere. The number of backlinks a site has from reputable sources helps you build trust with search algorithms.
• Technical SEO. This SEO focuses on a website’s backend architecture, like site code. Google cares just as much about technical set-up as it does content, so this position is essential for rankings.

Bear in mind that every business has different objectives, so it’s an SEO’s job to examine their industry, determine what their audiences care about, and develop a strategy that gives them what they’re looking for.

Below, I’ll go over some steps you can take to ensure your SEO strategy sets you up for success.

 

SEO Strategy for Beginners

I’ve been an SEO for the more significant part of the past decade, and I can tell you that our industry has never seen anything like this before.

The search landscape is no longer the same in 2024. With the advent of search AI and AI-generated content, we must implement new approaches to keep our sites ahead of unprecedented competitive challenges.

The good news is that the basics of SEO remain the same. Focus on the user first, always. Focus on helping them, always, and not just gaming the algorithm. Your goal isn’t just to rank highly — it’s to get the right content in front of the right people.

I will walk you through a basic SEO strategy I would use to start a site in 2024 for the first time. Later, below, I’ll cover a more sophisticated SEO content strategy that has generated millions of organic traffic visits for the HubSpot blog.

Let’s get started.

1. Search for your company’s head term on Google.

If I were trying to start an SEO strategy in 2024, my first step would be to look for my company’s head term on Google.

“Head term” refers to the general word or phrase you’d use to describe your product, service, or even the topic you’d like to write about. If I were trying to launch HubSpot for the first time, I would look up “marketing software,” our product’s head term.

And if I were trying to start a blog about publishing, I’d look up “publishing blog.”

Head terms are usually high-volume, meaning many people search for the terms every month. That makes them more challenging to rank for.

What we’re trying to do with this step is not find keywords but rather build our awareness of the search landscape. Take note of everything you see, including the terms suggested after you type in your head term.

We don’t need to use any fancy tools yet, though you’re welcome to use them if you’re familiar with SEO tools. With Semrush, for instance, you can look at the exact number of searches a term receives and an estimation of how difficult it’d be to rank on the first page.

But I’d caution against using tools just yet. Looking directly at the SERPs as you create an SEO strategy is crucial because Google comes up with new SERP features daily.

I’m not just talking about AI-generated results. Featured snippets, local packs, image packs, knowledge packs, and “People Also Ask” boxes can be valuable sources of information that can help you optimize your website later.

2. Look at Google’s suggested searches and filters.

After looking up your head term, the most critical step is to look at Google’s generated filters, highlighted below.

Don’t look at the standard filters, such as “Images, “Shopping,” “Maps,” and so on. You’re looking for the unique filters Google generated for your head term.

These filters are invaluable for answering several questions:

• What are people looking for that’s related to your head term?
• What would they find most useful?
• Does your service or product match what people are looking for?
• Can you offer a product page or article that people would find helpful?

If I were building a product page for Marketing Hub, I would be able to answer these questions favorably. Marketing Hub is free, small businesses can use it, and it’s useful for digital marketing.

That means I could probably address a person’s goal when they’re looking for this term. This is good strategic information to have. I wouldn’t execute it just yet because I haven’t considered how difficult it is to rank for this term.

Remember: Head terms are more difficult to rank for, so you’ll want to aim for longer keywords (also called “long-tail keywords”) in your SEO strategy. You can begin getting ideas on long-tail terms by clicking on the filters below your head term.

Now, for my publishing blog, I see that I could focus on the publishing industry or self-publishing, as seen by the filters below.

That’s good news — but later down below, I see that Google has included a “What to read” search feature.

That tells me that a blog could be a good fit for this term but that people are also looking for books on publishing. I would then revise my initial head term or revise my blog strategy to slant toward thought leadership.

3. Examine the SERPs.

Once you’ve found a good head term and perused the filters, take a look at the SERPs. I’d recommend going several filters deep so you can get an approximation of a long-tail keyword.

We’re looking for several pieces of information here:

• How many people are trying to rank for this term?
• What kinds of publishers and companies are ranking? Well-known publishers like the New York Times or Nerdwallet, or niche publishers and companies?
• What is located “above the fold” (the area in the upper part of the page before the user scrolls)?
• What SERP features is Google including?
• What kinds of pages and articles are ranking?

For “marketing software for small business,” a relatively long-tail keyword, I saw that Google delivered 850M+ results.

Yikes. That’s a lot of competition.

But the truth is Google has excellent crawlers. It will find just about any website related to a term and rank it to answer a searcher’s query. Don’t be discouraged by large search results.

You should pay close attention to what’s happening in the results themselves. For instance, “marketing software for small business” has multiple SERP features:

• Sponsored ads.
• “From sources across the web” product panels.
• A “People also ask” box.

Yikes again. All of these conspire to give us fewer chances for ranking for this keyword because the SERP features push us down, and we’re already competing against publishers like G2.

Even if we managed to rank on the first page, our click-through rates would probably be lower because this is such a competitive term. Click-through rate refers to the number of people who see your search result compared to the number of people who actually click on it.

I would do one of the two things below:

• Search for an even longer long-tail keyword to try to rank for.
• Continue examining the SERPs for opportunities related to the same search intent, like related searches and FAQs.

Search intent refers to what the user wants to do when they input a keyword in Google.

If I search “how to bake kale chips,” then I intend to not only bake kale chips but also stay “healthy.” As smart as it is, Google would deliver both recipes and related questions about kale chips’ “health value.”

The SERP features for “marketing software for small business” are all supposed to serve a single intent: A searcher who wants to market their small business using software.

Therefore, every SERP feature you see is an additional opportunity to serve content to the same searcher.

The “People also ask” box is a gold mine for finding related questions that the same user probably has, giving us an opportunity to answer those questions.

With SEO, what matters most is not just that your page ranks — but that the right user finds you and ends up becoming a customer (or signing up for your newsletter, subscribing to your YouTube channel, etc).

If I were creating an SEO strategy for Marketing Hub in today’s search landscape, the “People also ask” box is probably where I’d start for keyword and content ideas, and not the head term itself.

The questions, after all, serve the same user and are much less competitive.

You could also use a tool such as Answer the Public to find questions and related terms.

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Of course, don’t forget a classic: Looking at suggested searches at the bottom of the SERPs. These will give you alternative terms you could try to rank for and additional long-tails and hints about your top competition.

4. Analyze your competition.

When you find a keyword you’re happy with, it’s time to start looking at your competition.

I would say that with SEO, it’s less about what we do and more about what they do than beating them. The thing is, though, that how we beat competitors has changed. It’s no longer about who has the longest blog post or the most backlinks (although these are still important).

The Google search algorithm has gotten more complicated than ever. It’s important to take into account a wide variety of factors like website age, authority, user experience, and even website structure.

Looking at these elements can help you decide what you should put on your website and learn what Google is currently favoring.

When trying to rank for the term “publishing blog,” I found three top competitors: Selfpublishing.com, thatpublishingblog.wordpress.com, and janefriedman.com.

I would look at several things when trying to beat these competitors.

• What kind of content do they publish?
• What kinds of categories do they address?
• What’s the publishers’ or owners’ personal and professional history? Jane Friedman, for instance, is a known industry veteran.

The first question, in particular, is essential for mapping out my SEO content strategy.

For instance, selfpublishing.com has the following categories:

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If you’d asked me years ago how I would approach beating this publisher, I would say that I would copy all of their categories and add three more just for kicks.

But Google is no longer the same. It values authority and expertise. It wants to know that you know what you’re talking about and that you’re not just gaming the system.

Therefore, based on my personal expertise, which is in children’s fiction, I’d probably choose two to three categories where I feel I could create a wealth of content: Writing, Children’s Fiction, and Publishing.

If I were trying to rank for “marketing software for small business,” I would ask:

• What kinds of articles or pages are ranking?
• Because this is such a competitive term, what kind of authority or history do I need to rank?
• Could I create something similar?

Look at your competitors’ pages, and keep their qualitative attributes, such as their history in the industry, in mind. But don’t be discouraged by long-time industry players.

When I was an SEO at a transportation startup, we were competing against transportation companies that had been in the industry for 30+ years.

But with a strong content SEO and backlink-building strategy, we managed to get one of our transportation partners to the top of the SERPs.

Once you’ve scanned your competitors, it’s time to dive into a simple three-pronged strategy:

Authority, content, and backlinks.

5. Generate online authority.

If content is queen and backlinking is king, authority is the kingdom.

Authority, in fact, is everything.

These days, SEO isn’t just about writing SEO-optimized content and hoping the algorithm will discover you.

Once upon a time, you used to be able to include the keyword in the title, headings, and text and rank well.

Now, there are a wide variety of content quality factors that Google takes into account, such as:

• Expertise.
• Experience.
• Authority.
• Trustworthiness.

Collectively, these are called E-E-A-T, and they’re part of Google’s Search Quality Rater guidelines. Google wants to know that you’re qualified to deliver information to searchers. And if you’re selling a product, it wants to know that you’re legitimate.

Let’s go back to the publishing blog example. Jane Friedman, who ranks #3 for the term “publishing blog,” is a well-documented industry veteran. Her site ranks for 30K+ keywords, and she has more than two hundred thousand backlinks.

Her blog post, “How to Find a Literary Agent,” ranks #1 for the highly competitive head term “literary agent,” above top publishers such as Reedsy and even Wikipedia.

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Why?

Because Friedman has plenty of E-E-A-T — she’s an expert with experience, and therefore, she’s authoritative and trustworthy.

There are several ways to build your authority when creating an SEO strategy for a new site or company:

• Include your credentials across several sources on the web: LinkedIn, Facebook, your personal website, etc.
• Interview experts and include their insights in your pages and blog posts.
• Hire freelance writers who specialize in your niche, and use their name, content, and insights on your website.
• Publish guest blog posts in authoritative blogs and websites to slowly build a digital footprint.

The Google algorithm is smart. It can cross-reference hundreds of thousands of sources to determine whether you’re an authority in the field.

To make it a bit easier for the algorithm, you should also make your authority clear, as Jane Friedman does below in her biography.

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If I were launching Marketing Hub for the first time, I would:

• Cite my nearly decades-long digital marketing experience on the “About” page.
• Publish guest blog posts on marketing blogs and websites.
• Start another media outlet, such as a podcast or blog, to publish my marketing opinions and insights.
• Publish an ebook with my marketing expertise.
• Hire software developers who’ve created proven products before — and publicize that Marketing Hub was made by the developers who made X.

As you foster authority, you should concurrently create content on your website, which I cover next.

6. Create search engine optimized content.

This step is probably what you thought of when I first started talking about an SEO strategy. And for good reason. According to the web analysts and SEO experts surveyed for HubSpot Blog’s 2023 Web Traffic & Analytics Report:

“Optimizing your on-page content around target keywords is the most effective strategy for ranking highly in SERPs.”

Remember all that research we did at the beginning? It finally comes into play because it’s time to create content that’s optimized for those long-tail keywords.

I recommend using a tool to help you find potential keywords, such as Ahrefs or Semrush.

Here’s a guide on keyword research to help you out.

I follow one simple rule when creating content I want to rank: Write for humans first, search engines second.

I like to think of it this way. I’m writing an article or page to help a person. But also to hold the algorithm’s hand a little bit. Google is smart, but not so smart to rank your page unless you give it a few hints.

Therefore, I like to stick to the basics.

1. Include the Keyword in the Page Title, H1, Text, Meta Description, and URL.

I generally include the keyword a few times on and off your page to give Google a hand.

As an example, our product marketing team optimized Marketing Hub’s page to a T.

What we like: They include the keyword in the page title (which is the text that appears in search results, pictured above), the H1, and the very first line of text at the top of the page.

And, it works: We rank #3 for the highly competitive term “marketing software.”

You’ll also want to include your keyword in the meta description and the URL.

2. Be helpful.

Be helpful with your content. Ask yourself: When a person lands on this page, what would they be looking for?

You can answer this question by examining the SERPs and your competition. You can also think through your reader’s thought process and their search intent.

For Marketing Hub, we included commonly asked questions, even those related to one of our competitors.

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And Jane Friedman includes information on what to expect from a good literary agent.

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What we like: Notice that this content is not necessarily beautifully formatted, nor does it target a specific keyword. It’s supposed to help the reader first and foremost — and by helping the reader, you help yourself.

After all, Google only wants to rank content that genuinely helps someone do or learn something.

3. Include alt text and compress images.

Image alt text still remains one of the most underrated ways to optimize your page.

Not only does it improve web accessibility, but it gives you a chance to rank in Google’s image pack and image results. That ultimately means more traffic to your website.

And if you don’t believe me: Here’s a traffic snapshot from HubSpot’s image pack rankings (look under the column titled “Traffic”).

Just from our position for “resignation letter example,” we’ve received more than 6K organic visits.

Not surprisingly, the image that ranks has the alt text “gracious resignation letter sample.”

In addition to describing what the image contains, you should include your keyword in the alt text to give you a better chance of ranking.

Lastly, don’t forget to compress your images so that your page loads more quickly.

4. Build Internal Links

After creating content, internal linking is paramount.

It creates a network for Google to follow. Remember, the Google algorithm is smart, but it still needs a hand here and there. How will it know certain pages are topically related unless you tell it?

So, by internally linking from one page to another, you’re giving the algorithm a pattern to follow.

At the HubSpot blog, we call this the pillar-cluster model, which helped us overcome a year-long traffic plateau.

By internally linking, you’re telling the algorithm that a number of your pages are interrelated. You’re also signaling that you cover specific topics at length and that you’re, therefore, an authoritative resource.

And authority is everything.

Expert Insight

I reached out to Nedim Mehic, who has 10 years of experience in SEO. He’s also the founder of Beki AI, an internal linking software.

“As an internal linking software founder, I might be biased, but I can confidently say that in 2024, internal linking remains a pillar of effective SEO strategies,” says Mehic.

Mehic explains that by strategically interlinking pages, we accomplish two major goals: “We guide users in navigating the site with ease and assist search engines in effectively understanding and organizing our content.”

Aside from achieving those two goals, internal linking can garner significant results in other areas. “I’ve seen so many websites find success after improving their internal linking strategy that they neglected for years,” says Mehic.

When I asked what “success” looks like in this context, Mehic cited a user in the beta test phase for Beki AI. The user reported an 800% click increase after adding relevant internal links to a page that was struggling with traffic.

7. Build backlinks.

Content is still queen — but she has to be accompanied by her king: Backlinks.

You could have the most beautiful, SEO-optimized website, but Google won’t rank it unless you receive “votes” from other sites.

We’ll cover backlinks again for your SEO content strategy below. However, I can’t underemphasize how important they are, so I’m going to repeat it again.

Backlinks are the most quantitative way to build authority in your industry. The more backlinks you have, the more authoritative you seem to the Google algorithm.

Why? Because a site wouldn’t link to you unless you were a legitimate, trustworthy source of information.

Here’s a selection of my favorite backlink strategies:

• Publish guest blog posts on other publishers’ websites and link back to your site.
• Write helpful content that other sites will want to link to.
• Publish original research that other publishers will want to link to.
• Partner with companies on co-marketing campaigns.
• Join industry membership organizations with public profiles.
• Sponsor events and conferences.

Here’s an example of some original research by Design Bundles that generated backlinks.

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What we like: The research isn’t just compelling but highly tailored to the company’s niche. That means it likely generated relevant backlinks, and thus relevant viewers, to the website. The research methodology is also sound. Plus, we love that Design Bundles repurposed the research and press coverage across its social channels. Here’s how The Calvert Journal featured the research.

Next up, I’m going to dive a little more deeply into the SEO content strategy that’s driven millions of visits to the HubSpot blog.

1. Make a list of topics.

To get your SEO content strategy off the ground, make a list of topics you’d like your content to address.

To start, compile a list of about 10 words and terms associated with your product or service. Use an SEO tool (Google’s Keyword Tool, SE Ranking, Ahrefs, SEMRush, or GrowthBar, just to name a few) to research these words, identify their search volume, and come up with variations that make sense for your business.

By doing this, you are associating these topics with popular head terms (or short-tail keywords, if you’d prefer), but you’re not dedicating individual blog posts to these keywords. Let’s go over an example of this process using the image below.

Let’s say a swimming pool business is trying to rank for “fiberglass pools,” which receives 110,000 monthly searches. This short-tail keyword can represent the overarching topic for creating their content, but the business will also need to identify a series of related keywords to include in their content. For example, they could opt to use the “fiberglass pool prices” or “fiberglass pool cost” to achieve additional rankings for the overall keyword of fiberglass pools.

Using search volume and competition as your measurement, you can create a list of 10-15 short-tail keywords that are relevant to your business and are being searched for by your target audiences. Then, rank this list based on monthly search volume.

Each of the keywords that you’ve identified are called pillars, and they serve as the primary support for a larger cluster of long-tail keywords, which we’ll discuss below.

2. Make a list of long-tail keywords based on these topics.

During this step, you’ll begin optimizing your pages for specific keywords. For each pillar you’ve identified, use your keyword tool to identify five to 10 long-tail keywords that dig deeper into the original topic keyword.

For example, we regularly create content about SEO, but it’s difficult to rank well on Google for such a popular topic with this acronym alone. We also risk competing with our own content by creating multiple pages that are all targeting the exact same keyword — and potentially the same SERPs.

Therefore, we also create content on conducting keyword research, optimizing images for search engines, creating an SEO strategy (which you’re reading right now), and other subtopics within the SEO umbrella.

This helps businesses attract people who have varying interests and concerns, and ultimately creates more entry points for people interested in what you have to offer.

Use your long-tail keywords to create blog posts or web pages that explain the specific topics within the pillars you’ve selected. Together, all of your long-tail keywords create a cluster around a pillar topic. Search engine algorithms depend on the relationships between clusters to connect users with the information they’re looking for.

Here’s a short video on this concept:

[Video: Topic Clusters: The Next Evolution of Content Strategy]

Think of it this way: The more specific your content, the more specific the needs of your audience can be, and the more likely you‘ll convert this traffic into leads. This is how Google finds value in the websites it crawls — the pages that dig into the inner workings of a general topic are seen as the best answer to a person’s query and will rank higher.

3. Build pages for each topic.

When it comes to websites and ranking in search engines, trying to get one page to rank for a handful of keywords can be next to impossible. But here’s where the rubber meets the road.

Use the pillar topics you came up with to create a page or post that gives a high-level overview of the topic using the long-tail keywords you came up with for each cluster in step two. These pillar pages can essentially be a table of contents, where you’re giving a description of the main topic and briefing readers on subtopics you’ll elaborate on in other posts.

Ultimately, the number of topics for which you create pillar pages should coincide with your business needs, like the number of products and offerings you have. This will make it much easier for your prospects and customers to find you in search engines no matter what keywords they use.

4. Set up a blog.

Blogging can be an incredible way to rank for keywords and engage your website’s users. After all, every blog post is a new web page and an additional opportunity to rank in SERPs. It’s no wonder, then, that marketers cite blogging as the top media format they aim to use for the first time in 2024. (HubSpot’s Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics for 2024)

Long story short? If your business does not already have a blog, consider creating one. As you write each blog post and expand on your clusters, you should do three things:

1. Don‘t include your long-tail keyword more than three or four times throughout the page, as Google doesn’t consider exact keyword matches as often as it used to. In fact, too many instances of your keyword can be a red flag to search engines that you’re keyword stuffing to gain rankings, and they’ll penalize you for this.
2. Second, always link out to the pillar page you created for your topics. You can do this in the form of tags in your content management system (CMS) or as basic anchor text in the body of the article.
3. Once you publish each blog post, link to it within the parent pillar page that supports the subtopic. By connecting both the pillar and the cluster in this way, you‘re telling Google that there’s a relationship between the long-tail keyword and the overarching topic you’re trying to rank for.

5. Create a consistent blogging schedule.

Your blog should be a trove of information for your prospective customers. That means not every blog post or web page you create needs to belong to a topic cluster. There’s also value in writing about tangential topics your customers care about. Doing so will help you build authority with Google algorithms.

But it’ll take time to build that authority, so make it a point to blog at least once a week. Remember, you’re blogging primarily for your audience, not search engines, so study your target market and write about things that they’re interested in.

It may also be helpful to create a content strategy to stay consistent with your blogging schedule and focused on your goals.

Expert Insight

I spoke with Zoe Ashbridge, Senior SEO Strategist at forank. Ashbridge has nearly a decade of experience in digital marketing and SEO.

“Your blog will likely become your biggest traffic generator, providing you’re doing it properly,” says Ashbridge.

“Weekly blogging can feel like a lot, but if you’re starting out, content production is truly what you need. You want to become the most trusted resource within your niche so your users are served and Google prioritizes your site in SERPs,” Ashbridge explains.

Pro tip: A simple Google sheet helps manage blog production.

“At minimum, use a Google sheet to keep a record of the blogs you‘re posting, their keywords, the date published, the cluster they belong to, and the live URL. Refer back to this sheet when you’re monitoring performance or for internal linking,” she says.

6. Create a link-building plan.

The topic cluster model is your way forward in SEO, but it‘s not the only way to get your website content to rank higher once it’s been created.

While our first five steps were dedicated to on-page SEO, link-building is the primary objective of off-page SEO. Link-building is the process of attracting inbound links (also called backlinks) to your website from other sources on the internet. As a general rule, sites with more authority that link back to your content have a more significant impact on your rankings.

Dedicate some time to brainstorming all the various ways you can attract inbound links. Maybe you’ll start by sharing links with local businesses in exchange for links to their own sites, or you’ll write a few blog posts and share them on different social media platforms. You can also approach other blogs for guest blogging opportunities through which you can link back to your website.

7. Compress media files before uploading them to your site.

This is a small but important step in the SEO process, especially for mobile optimization.

As your blog or website grows, you‘ll undoubtedly have more images, videos, and related media to support your content. These visual assets help retain your visitors’ attention, but it’s easy to forget that these files can be very large. Since page speed is a crucial ranking factor, it’s important to monitor the size of the media files you upload to your site.

The bigger the file size, the more difficult it is for an internet browser to render your website. It’s also harder for mobile browsers to load these images, as the bandwidth on their devices is significantly smaller. So, the smaller the file size, the faster your website will load. But how do you compress images and still retain quality?

It’s worth considering the use of a compression tool to reduce file sizes before uploading images, videos, and gifs. Sites like TinyPNG compress images in bulk, while Google’s Squoosh can shrink image files to microscopic sizes. However, you choose to compress your media, keeping files in the kilobytes (KB) range is a good rule of thumb.

8. Stay up-to-date on SEO news and best practices.

Just like marketing, the search engine landscape is ever-evolving. Staying on top of current trends and best practices is an important strategy, and there are multiple online resources that can help you do so. Here are a few resources to check out:

• Moz.
• SEOBook.
• Search Engine Roundtable.
• Search Engine Land.
• Diggity Marketing.
• This blog!

9. Measure and track your content’s success.

SEO can take a lot of time and effort, and because of this, you’ll want to know if your strategy works. It’s important to track your metrics to understand the success of your overall process and identify possible areas for improvement.

Not sure where to start when it comes to metrics? According to 2023 HubSpot data, sales, leads, and conversions are the most important metrics tracked by web analysts. Next up are total monthly visitors, click-through rate, search traffic, and bounce rate.

You can monitor organic traffic using your preferred web analytics tool or create your own dashboard using Excel or Google Sheets. Also, tracking indexed pages, conversions, ROI, and your rankings on SERPs can help you recognize your success as well as identify areas of opportunity.

Creating an SEO Report

An SEO report is an overview of the SEO efforts you’ve enacted over a specific period of time. It essentially shows how successful you’ve been, as well as any areas that need improvement. Having a consolidated report also helps you present the data to relevant stakeholders to display why your SEO activities are important and how they drive growth for your business.

Your SEO report can contain metrics like organic traffic results, the SEO health of your website, inbound link generation, and also address any areas where growth has declined that need to be addressed for future improvement.

The image below is an example of an SEO report from Ahrefs, which has given an overview of the link-building progress of the SEO efforts.

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What we like: We love that the report is broken down across one, seven, and 30 days, so it’s clear to see the traction of link-building campaigns over a given period. You can then identify what’s working and what isn’t across these intervals.

In order to fuel your SEO report, you’ll actually need to have completed some SEO activities, and below, I’ll give some high-quality examples of successful SEO.

Best SEO Examples

As mentioned above, there are a variety of different things you can do for your business to enact your SEO strategy. Below, I go over some examples of what this looks like in practice that you can use as inspiration for your own processes.

There are a variety of different things you can include in your SEO strategy. Consider the following.

1. Writing Compelling Meta Descriptions

A meta description is the snippet of text below a title and link in search results. The description, well, describes the content of the page to the person conducting the queries so they know what to expect. The image below is the result of a search query for market research.

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What we like: This is a high-quality meta description because it lets Google know exactly what the page contains, helping your content surface in the correct search results and helping audiences understand exactly what they’re about to click on.

2. Getting Content Backlinks and Inbound Links

A backlink, also called an inbound link, is when another website links back to your website or blog content. It’s usually placed as a hyperlink on a string of text that relates to your content, and when clicked, they’re taken to your site.

Backlinks are an effective SEO tool because they show search engines that your content is authoritative and relevant, helping you rank higher in SERPs. The image below is an example of a blog post from the Content Marketing Institute that has a backlink to the HubSpot Blog post that you’re reading right now.

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Pro tip: You can use different paid tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to find your existing content backlinks. But to find this one, I made use of Ubersuggest’s free backlink checker.

3. Optimizing Your Site Pages for Page Speed.

Page speed is how quickly the content on your website loads when someone visits a specific page on your website. Google began taking page speed into account for SERP rankings in 2018, making it a critical area of focus when you enact your strategy.

Pro tip: Try the “Compress media files before uploading them to your site” step I outlined above in your SEO strategy. This is a critical step in optimizing your site for page speed.

4. Local SEO

Local SEO is improving search engine visibility for your business’s location. An effective local SEO strategy will surface your content in search queries from customers in your local area, letting them know your business is there to meet their needs.

The image below is a SERP result example for “best restaurants Brooklyn,” showing local SEO in action.

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What we like: The three businesses that appear in results have an optimized Google My Business profile that contains information that helps it surface in results for Brooklyn-area restaurants. Having up-to-date information here doesn’t just help the restaurant’s wider SEO efforts. It also helps potential customers find the information they need.

Expert Insight

I contacted Christopher Levy, senior manager of SEO at Marketing Six, for comment. Christopher has ten years of SEO experience and specializes in local.

“While most SEOs have had to compensate for traffic erosion due to Google’s increasing use of rich features and paid ads on search engine result pages (or SERPs), local SEOs must compete with two of the most visually appealing and authoritative features that dominate local,” says Levy.

Christopher explains that local service ads (or LSAs) are one of these features. This ad format is exclusive to local businesses in fields such as plumbing, law, dentistry, preschools, childcare, and massage, to name a few.

The other is the local pack or Google Maps — this SERP feature takes up nearly the entire browser menu on mobile search. Google Maps often meets the searcher’s needs by providing geographic proximity, reviews, and an easy click-to-call feature.

“A business’s presence on Google Maps is managed via Google Business Profiles (or GBPs)… Administering a client’s GBP is an important skill set that a local SEO must learn,” Chris emphasizes. This skill set includes optimizing the listing to be up-to-date and accurate, with relevant and compelling visuals.

“You can also share content, updates, and offers on a GBP,” he offers.

Pro tip: “Soliciting and responding to reviews is another important role in managing a GBP that draws on skills needed for outreach. It would be best if you worked with your local clients on a strategy for soliciting reviews from their customers,” he says.

SEO Process

Once you’ve created your SEO strategy, you should also build a process to continue optimizing for new keywords and evolving search intent. Here are a few steps you can take.

1. Historically optimize your content.

Devote some time each month to updating old blog posts with new and up-to-date information to continue ranking in SERPs. You can also use this time to add any SEO best practices that weren’t initially addressed, like missing image alt text.

2. Look out for changing keywords and new search intent.

After a few months, track how your blog posts are ranking and which keywords they’re ranking for. This can help you adjust subheadings and copy to leverage new search intent that your audience may be interested in.

3. Add more editorial value to your old content.

Sometimes, you’ll find that a post is completely out of date. In this scenario, you should go beyond the average historical SEO update and give it a full refresh. You can do this by updating out-of-date information and statistics, incorporating new sections for added depth, and adding quotes or original data to give the post more referral traffic.

4. Create a monthly content plan.

To keep up with your SEO strategy, it can be helpful to create and refine a monthly content plan. You can place it into a spreadsheet, and your teams can track it accordingly. The list below is an example of a monthly content plan that takes the above steps into account.

With a monthly SEO plan like the one above, plus a tracking document like a search insights report, you can build out and execute an efficient SEO strategy. You can also identify and leverage low-hanging-fruit topics to discuss related to your industry.

Create A Strategy That Supports Your Business Goals

Ranking in search pages can be difficult. While it may seem enticing to create content that is centered around high-traffic keywords, that strategy may not help you meet your business goals.

Instead, opt to create an SEO strategy that helps you address your individual business needs, like increasing customer acquisition, for greater marketing success.

Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published in April 2019 but was updated in January 2024 for consistency and freshness.

A few months ago, my inbox was filled with emails from a health specialist. I didn’t remember signing up for random diet plans, so why was I getting constant emails?

I was ready to fire off a complaint, but I checked my inbox first. There it was, an opt-in email I’d actually subscribed to. The specialist hadn’t been consistent with their communication, so it completely slipped my mind.

This is exactly why opt-in emails are crucial. They save you from annoyed subscribers and maintain a clean, respectful email marketing strategy. Opt-in emails ensure that people remember to give you permission to send them content. Without them, you risk becoming just another forgotten sender—or worse, marked as spam.

So, how do you word them in a way that encourages people to sign up while not appearing pushy at the same time? In this article, I’ll share my favorite email opt-in wording examples, why they work, and how you can make your own. 

Table of Contents

• The Best Opt-In Messages in Emails
• Email Opt-In Language (+ Template)

The Best Opt-In Messages in Emails

What makes an opt-in message stand out in inbox clutter? In this section, I’ll highlight 20 email opt-in wording examples and explain what makes them unique to bring you closer to creating your own.

1. Pitch

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Pitch’s opt-in email is refreshingly straightforward, saying, “We’re all set to send you the latest and greatest reads, Tips, and resources to bring you along the road to presentation enlightenment.”

Their respectful nudge for my explicit permission is great, too. It emphasizes collaboration, saying, “We can’t do this without your explicit permission,” which makes me feel in control. The CTA also feels like an invite to a journey and makes me curious about where it leads.

Pro tip: Be specific about the end goal of your opt-in journey to create a sense of excitement and belonging among subscribers.

2. Deviant Art 

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Deviant opt-in email invites you to a huge, exciting club. Their headline, “Get started on your devious journey,” is fun and sparks curiosity. The email also uses the fear of missing out (FOMO) by mentioning “the world’s largest art community — 61 million creatives and over 370 million deviations” to encourage me to confirm. 

Deviant Art also makes it easy to sign by emphasizing how it will “take a second to confirm your email” to show you’re one click away from joining an exclusive club.

Pro tip: Reduce friction with a simple confirmation process and emphasize how easy it is to join your list. 

3. Icon Utopia

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Icon Utopia’s opt-in email is personal and easy to understand. Using the author’s headshot in the email adds a personal touch and builds a connection with subscribers with trust. The copy, “Thanks! You’re almost there! Please confirm your subscription,” is clear and concise and guides me through the next step without confusion. 

The CTA also works as a positive affirmation. It makes me an active participant in the process and reinforces the subscriber’s choice to engage with Icon Utopia. 

Pro tip: Create a CTA that clearly reflects what subscribers are signing up for and makes them feel confident about their decision to opt in.

4. Polaroid

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Polaroid promises creatives that “a more inspiring inbox awaits…” to build excitement and anticipation. To move forward, they add a prominent “Complete your subscription” button. It’s easy for me to know exactly what I need to do next with the direct call to action.

Polaroid also includes a link to read more about their privacy policy in their newsletter. Lastly, the email ends with a “See you soon! Polaroid” to create a friendly sign-off that keeps the conversation going.

Pro tip: Make subscribers feel welcome and valued by ending your opt-in email on a personal note.

5. Hero Cosmetics

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Hero Cosmetics takes a very direct and enticing approach in its opt-in wording. The email promises “early access to exclusive presales, insider announcements, and more” and focuses on the tangible benefits of subscribing.

This strategy is smart — it cuts through the noise and directly addresses the “what’s in it for me?” question that most subscribers have. Highlighting exclusive perks like early access and insider information makes the offer irresistible and taps into the desire to be part of a select group.

Pro tip: Offer a clear value proposition and a sense of exclusivity in your opt-in messaging to make it more compelling.

6. Withings

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Withings’ opt-in email gets me excited for a healthier future with their products. The copy says, “The next step on your path to better health,” which sounds like I’m about to start something great. 

The email also talks about using cool tech to help me understand my health better. Their smart gadgets are like an invitation to learn more about your body. They finish by saying, “Subscribe now and be the first to know when the light turns green,” to make me feel like I’m getting an exclusive heads-up on something special. 

Pro tip: Use anticipation and exclusivity in your opt-in emails to engage your audience. Mention how your tech, tools, or information improves their life or solves a problem

7. Gartner

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Gartner’s email is very straightforward, with no fuss at all. The instructions are clear and hassle-free: Please verify your email address. The opt-in also reassures recipients about their privacy, which I appreciate. “Gartner takes your privacy seriously” makes the recipients feel secure and respected.

Pro tip: Emphasize that your audience’s consent and data protection are priorities to counter any hesitation they might have about sharing their info. 

8. Famous Footwear

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Famous Footwear followed a community-building approach in its opt-in email. Phrases like “Welcome to our family!” and “This is gonna be fun” add a sense of inclusivity to the email. This approach works well because it taps into our innate desire for connection and belonging and builds an emotional connection.

The brand also builds anticipation with “Things are about to get really, really good” and lists the benefits (trend tips, style inspiration, and sale alerts) I’ll get. This way, I know I have much to look forward to.

Pro tip: Create a sense of community or belonging and highlight the experiential benefits of joining your list, not just the practical ones.

9. Wealthsimple

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Wealthsimple, an online investment management service, has a very straightforward opt-in email. The email makes it clear why they’re sending it (to prove I’m not a bot) and what I need to do (confirm my email). 

“You’re almost done” also emphasizes that the process is probably easy and hassle-free, showing that Wealthsimple values a non-nonsense approach. The email also offers support options in case I need clarity regarding anything.

Pro tip: Provide a channel for support in your opt-in emails and communicate that help is available if your subscribers have any questions or need assistance.

10. SEO Notebook

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SEO Notebook is a newsletter that provides SEO tips and tricks. The author, Steve Toth, takes a direct and personal approach with a personalized greeting and sign-off that creates a friendly tone. It makes me feel valued from the start and creates a human-to-human connection.

Where the email really stands out is through its value proposition: access to pages from Steve’s exclusive SEO Notebook. This offer taps into the desire for insider knowledge and shows what subscribers can expect if they just press the green button. 

Pro tip: Personalize your opt-in emails to make your subscribers feel valued.

11. Return Path

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Return Path’s opt-in email shows they’re tracking subscriber activity by acknowledging that it’s been a while since I engaged with their emails. It’s a smart way to personalize interactions.

The email also shows respect for my time in two ways: it states its goal to provide interesting and relevant content and gives subscribers the option to adjust their preferences. If I want to opt out entirely, I have that option too.

Pro tip: Provide a preference center link in your opt-in emails to allow subscribers to tailor their experience.

12. Republic

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Republic’s opt-in breaks down all the benefits I’ll get from their platform. The opening line (welcome to Republic!) adds to the community they’re trying to build. This step is clearly highlighted with a “Verify your email” button, simplifying the process.

The email also includes a direct link in case of any technical glitches so I can still complete the process without any hiccups. It prioritizes user experience, which is always great.

Pro tip: Include a direct link for email verification alongside the button — it ensures I can proceed even if they encounter issues with the button.

13. Aisle

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Aisle’s opt-in email is interesting. The tagline “We’re reinventing the period aisle – join our list to stay in the loop” piques my curiosity and makes me wonder what they’re doing differently. The CTA button “Yes, I want to subscribe” also affirms my choice and makes it clear.

The fine print at the bottom is great, too. If I have any questions, they made it easy by saying I could just reply to the email or contact them at [email protected]. It felt good knowing they were open to questions. This email made the whole process clear and made me feel like they value my choice and my time.

Pro tip: Be clear about what subscribers can do if they don’t want to receive this email.

14. Beyond the Envelope

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Source: Really Good Emails

Beyond the Envelope’s opt-in email got straight to the point with an important update about the GDPR regulations coming into effect. It clearly explained that to keep getting emails, I’d need to confirm my subscription by a certain date. 

They also offered options to customize the content I’m interested in, like publications, products, apparel, and news. This flexibility allows me to control what I see in my inbox, which I really appreciate. To confirm my preferences, all I had to do was click a button, make my selections, and confirm. It’s an easy step to stay connected with the content I’m interested in.

Pro tip: Letting subscribers choose what information they receive respects their inbox and personalizes their experience.

15. The Sunday Dispatches (Paul Jarvis’s newsletter)

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The Sunday Dispatches email starts with clear instructions: “Please confirm your subscription to The Sunday Dispatches.” This email displays a clear button that outlines the steps to what to do next.

What really adds a cherry on top is the testimonial: “He is honest, thoughtful, and doesn’t hold back.” It gives a preview of the quality and authenticity I can expect from the newsletter.

The email wraps up with a casual, almost playful line: “Oh my goodness, you are so close! If you click that big grey button above, you’ll be signed up for my list.” It’s the final gentle push to make the decision easier.

Pro tip: Add a testimonial to your opt-in email to show subscribers the value of signing up.

16. Houses Of

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The greeting, “Thanks for dropping by!” immediately acknowledges and appreciates subscriber interest and sets a positive tone for the rest of the email. Knowing exactly what I was signing up for (“fresh photos and locations via the Houses Of newsletter”) helps me decide to subscribe because I understand the value proposition.

I also noticed the “Manage subscribe preferences” and “Unsubscribe” links, which reassures me I have control over their subscription settings. 

Knowing I could easily adjust my preferences or opt out if I changed my mind built trust. It showed me that the brand prioritizes my comfort and consent over merely increasing their email list numbers.

Pro tip: Clearly communicate the benefits of the subscription to make it easy for people to see the value they’re getting.

17. Recess

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With a simple “hi friend,” Recess’ opt-in email instantly feels personal and laid-back. They thanked me for trusting them with my email and promised to make it worth my while. Occasionally, sending deals or content worth reading makes me feel like they respect my time.

The sign-off “talk soon, the people of Recess” keeps the tone casual and approachable. “Yes, I want to subscribe” is a straightforward CTA that encourages action.

Pro tip: The consistent use of lowercase throughout the email adds to the brand’s casual style and gives the message a more personal feel.

18. CyanVariable360 Studios

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CyanVariable360 Studios’ simple opening eliminates any confusion. The explicit mention that I won’t receive the newsletter unless I confirm sets clear expectations.

This email includes an “Invite via Twitter” and “Invite via Facebook” option, which encourages me to share the newsletter with their friends. Making sharing easy expands the brand’s reach and builds a community around its content.

Finally, they recommend I add their email address to my address book so I don’t miss out. The fact that they thought about my experience from the beginning is evident from this practical tip.

Pro tip: Encourage new subscribers to share your newsletter on social media to increase your reach and create a community around your brand.

19. Notionway

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Notionway’s opt-in email is also one of those that just get straight to the point. It’s clear that all I need to do is click a button to access the newsletter. It’s also personalized in a way by including the email address to provide maximum clarity.

The email also includes a fine print to show Notionway cares about my privacy and choice and adds a layer of security to the subscription process.

Pro tip: Include a clear and direct confirmation button to simplify the process.

20. Zapier

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Zapier sends this email to existing subscribers as a check-in if they still want to be subscribed. It’s a great way to gauge how active and engaged your audience is. Plus, it’s also a respectful reminder and reinforces the value Zapier places on subscriber satisfaction and consent. 

The email also answers what happens if I don’t confirm. The language (“No hard feelings — we’ll still be friends. :)” also builds a positive relationship. Overall, it’s a win-win, like they’ve mentioned: I receive content they find relevant and valuable, and Zapier maintains a clean list. 

Pro tip: Reengage inactive subscribers based on open rates with a friendly check-in email to remind your audience they have control over the content they receive.

Email Opt-in Language (+Template) 

We’ve discussed 20 email opt-in wording examples and what makes them unique. Now, I’ve chosen some of the most relevant elements—like a placeholder for personalization, value proposition, fine print about privacy, and link to the preference center) to create an email opt-in wording template that you can copy and customize right now. Here it is:

Subject: Welcome to [Brand Name]! Please Confirm Your Subscription

Hi [First Name],

We’re thrilled you’re here! Before we get started, we just need to make sure we have your permission to send you [brief value proposition, e.g., weekly insights, exclusive deals, etc.] straight to your inbox.

Please click the button below to confirm your subscription. By doing so, you’re not just signing up for emails; you’re starting on a journey with us towards [reiterate value proposition briefly].

[Confirm Subscription Button]

Can’t click the button? No problem! You can also confirm by clicking this link: [Direct Link for Email Verification]

We take your privacy seriously. Your information is safe with us, and we promise to only send you content that is relevant and valuable. You can read more about our privacy policy here.

Customize your experience

Want to tailor what you receive from us? Visit your Preference Center here to select the types of emails you’re interested in.

Think a friend would love our content as much as you do? Share our newsletter with them through X/Facebook!

If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to reply to this email or contact us at [Contact Email]. We’re here to help!

Not You? If you didn’t sign up for this list or you’re unsure why you’re receiving this email, feel free to ignore it. You won’t be subscribed if you don’t click the confirmation link.

Cheers,

The [Brand Name] Team

Having Your Audience Opt In

Healthy subscriber lists have a lot of benefits. They segment your customers better, increase open rates, and decrease marketing costs – just to name a few. When your content matches the interests and needs of your audience, it becomes a no-brainer for them to press the subscribe button.

But when you aren’t sure what works? Use A/B testing to experiment with different phrases, CTAs, and layouts. This way, you’re constantly testing and refining your strategy to meet changing preferences and improve communication with your target audience.

Whenever I receive an email, my eyes immediately scroll to the bulk of the email. And why not? The branding, the copy, and sometimes the promise of juicy discounts draw us like moths to a flame.

But — it’s also super important not to gloss over the email header. There are two types of headers: technical and design-based. The design-based header is usually a part of the email content, while the technical part tells you the sender’s and recipient’s email addresses, the path the email has taken, and various identifiers and timestamps.

Definitely not as glamorous as the content, the technical email header is your first line of defense against scams and phishing attempts. At the same time, it’s also important for brands to configure headers for deliverability and trust.

In this article, I’ll share my favorite email headers, why they work, and how you can make your own.

The Best Email Headers

The email header is just one part of email design. But picking out the perfect email header can feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack — especially if you’re not quite sure what you’re looking for or what makes one stand out. It’s tough to nail down the right mix of elements that make your email pop and ensure your recipients don’t click the “Mark as spam” button. 

In this section, I’ve rounded up nine of my favorite design-based email headers with their technical counterparts that serve as great benchmarks for your own designs.

1. Evernote

Note-taking app Evernote’s approach to their newsletter header is as no-fuss as it gets, and yet, it speaks volumes. It features a sleek megaphone set against its recognizable brand colors. The design is straightforward, without any unnecessary clutter. 

When you glance at the technical header, you’ll notice it clearly states the email is coming from Evernote’s communications team and that it has standard encryption to add a layer of trust and transparency. It’s a prime example of how minimalism can pack a punch.

What I like: What makes the design really interesting is how the icons emerging from the megaphone represent play, stop, and check actions, similar to tasks you might manage within Evernote itself. It subtly reinforces the app’s core functionality and how insights from the newsletter might help you perform those actions. 

2. Mango

Mango’s email header design is a beautiful example of minimalism in black and white. It straightforwardly mentions an enticing offer — free shipping for orders over $75 and free returns, and also announces its latest collection with the catchy tagline “New Now | THE LATEST FASHION UPDATES.” 

With the subject line “The New Now: The sartorial combo,” the technical header complements this blend of utility and allure.

What I like: Even in their email headers, Mango conveys its brand’s essence — sophisticated, modern, and customer-focused. This consistency reinforces their identity to me and builds a reliable and stylish image in my mind. It shows that even in the smallest details, staying true to your brand matters.

3. Readwise

This colorful gradient background catches my attention, yet doesn’t overshadow the text in Readwise’s newsletter. The header text (“A new newsletter from the folks at Readwise containing the most highlighted content, exclusive ebooks, curated RSS feeds, and more”) is great, too, and outlines what subscribers like me can look forward to. The newsletter’s name, Wisereads, is a clever twist on the brand’s name that also makes sense.

Apart from this, the technical header details, such as the subject line “Wisereads Vol. 23 – Noah Kagan’s Million Dollar Weekend, Dan Wang’s 2023 letter, and more” offer detail about the content of the email. Plus, bounce-back addresses and encryption reinforce the email’s security.

What I like: The one-liner summary in the header is brilliant. It strikes the perfect balance between providing enough detail to intrigue and inform without overwhelming me. This approach respects my time and attention and invites me to explore the newsletter with just the right amount of teaser. 

4. The University of Warwick

Who doesn’t love a wave of nostalgia? I really liked this email from my alma mater, The University of Warwick. The header featured a screenshot from a video message by Professor Stuart Croft, which made the email feel quite welcoming and personal. 

The technical header also clearly displayed the subject: “Season’s Greetings from Warwick” and the sender’s address, “[email protected]” to show that this message was specially tailored for graduates like me.

What I like: The header’s emotional connection and familiarity were great. This one-liner summary in the header, paired with a familiar face, turned a simple seasonal greeting into a warm, personal message for me. 

The email reminds me of my cherished time at Warwick and reinforces the bond between the university and its alumni. A personal touch and direct engagement are what make it stand out.

5. Proofpoint

Proofpoint sent me a really cool email promoting its new report, “The Human Factor 2023: Analyzing the cyber attack chain.” The header also includes an eye-catching preview of the report.

The clear call-to-action (CTA) button in red, saying “Download Now,” provides direct access to the report with just a click. The technical header provides enough detail to pique my interest and perfectly balances the delivery of information with intrigue.

What I like: The header sparks my curiosity. A sneak peek of the report and a direct invitation to learn more draws me into the topic. This strategy of creating anticipation and providing immediate value makes Proofpoint’s email stand out. 

6. Tarte

An email I received from Tarte featured a simple header with clickable categories that led straight to their website. It was clear and to the point: The brand wanted me to explore more of what they had to offer. 

What’s great about this approach was how effortlessly it allowed me to dive deeper into their products. With just a click on tabs like “Lipsticks” or “Eye Shadows,” I was browsing its latest collections in no time. 

What I like: The email felt like Tarte was extending a personal invitation to me to discover all the beauty treasures they have in store. This kind of direct, user-friendly link in an email is a small detail, but it makes a world of difference in how we experience and interact with a brand.

7. Search Engine Journal

Search Engine Journal (SEJ) recently sent an email promoting its collaboration with HubSpot on The State of Marketing 2024. 

Here’s why this header works so well: It contains a visual preview of the report and includes a direct CTA to “Get Your Report.” The header also features both brands’ logos. All the elements work really well together and, despite a lot going on, don’t detract from each other.

What I like: Even though the email is from SEJ, the header still complements both brands. It features both logos and brand colors. It drives home the fact that the report is a collaboration, which enhances the content asset’s credibility. 

The header is a great example of how to feature brand partnerships in your email.

8. Glassdoor

This header is from a Glassdoor email that highlights interesting discussions from the platform’s Bowls (conversation spaces that allow users like me to discuss different topics). I love the visual — it’s friendly and simply shows different people discussing something amusing in an office space. It’s a great representation of the way people have conversations on the Bowls and how it’s no different from real-life interactions.

The technical header is like any other except for the subject line, which actually offers a preview of the kind of discussions I might be interested in as a Glassdoor user. The choice of discussion is most likely based on my history on the app. This little tidbit makes the email personalized and shows this email is unique for me.

What I like: The header has a very calm and warm feeling. As a result of the light blue background and cheerful visual, Glassdoor Bowls evokes exactly the kind of impression it wants people to have of the company.

9. Meltwater

Media, social, and consumer intelligence app Meltwater’s email header is brilliant. The email is about how the chance to get an event’s early-bird prices is ending soon, and Meltwater pulls out all the stops to drive the urgency. The “Time is running out!” creates anticipation and is the main focus of the email.

While Meltwater does mention the event’s details at the top left, the focus is clearly on the urgency. It’s a great way to drive action from recipients and increases the chance of conversion.

What I like: Of course, the moving clock in the header GIF. It’s dynamic, different, and catches the eye right away. It also literally shows how time is running out, which adds to the urgency factor and makes the email more engaging.

Creating Email Headers that Work

Email headers require a balance of design and technical aspects. Compromise one, and the header won’t get your audience to take action.

Find the right mix of design elements for your audience (and different segments). You might get better results with bold, attention-grabbing headers, while others prefer something more subtle. At the same time, technical requirements like using proper code, optimizing for different screen sizes, and including text versions also matter for headers to pass through spam filters.

So what do you do? Test-and-learn. Try different styles, fonts, colors, and layouts to see which perform best with your audience. And most importantly, keep track of these results and pivot to continuously improve your email design and header strategy.

I was scrolling through the “For You” page on TikTok when something caught my eye — a TikTok from the clothing brand Foxblood showcasing a black, flowy mesh cloak.

I’d actually been searching for a cloak and while this piece of clothing did not fit the bill completely, I’d still wear it.

Intrigued, I clicked on the shop link, which took me to the product description within the app.

TikTok made it easy for me to check out the product and add it to my cart. I also instantly saw suggestions for more products from the shop and a chat option where I could ask the company questions. While I didn’t make the purchase, TikTok put this brand (and this cloak) on my radar.

Why Should Retailers and Entrepreneurs Care?

With 1 billion users, TikTok provides you with bountiful opportunities to get your products in front of your target audience. According to HubSpot’s Social Media Marketing Report, social media marketers already on TikTok planned to double down on their investment in 2023 — more than marketers on any other platform. “53% of them will increase their investment in marketing on TikTok in 2023 and another 36% will keep investing the same amount.”

TikTok Shop is fairly new, having launched in Sept. 2023, but it holds great potential for brands. Below we’ll dive into:

• What is TikTok Shop? (+Key Features)
• How to Start a TikTok Shop
• How to Market Your TikTok Shop

What is TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop is an e-commerce feature within the TikTok platform that allows sellers to display and sell products. TikTok Shop offers in-feed video and live shopping, product showcase, an affiliate program, and advertising.

TikTop Shop Features

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1. In-Feed Video and LIVE Shopping: Customers can shop for tagged products directly from videos and LIVE feeds in your For You feed.

2. Product Showcase: With this feature, you can create personalized product collections on your profile to make it easier for customers to find and buy what they’re looking for with organized product tiles and helpful reviews.

3. Shop Tab: This tab of the app allows customers to search and discover promotions, get recommendations, and manage their orders, all in one convenient place. Once your shop is created, customers might find your showcased products here as well as products from other businesses TikTok’s algorithms might direct to them.

4. TikTok’s Affiliate Program: Want to leverage creators or influencers, but don’t know where to start? Brands can leverage TikTok Affiliate plans to connect with and monetize TikTok creator videos or live streams that mention their product or brand. Depending on the plan, creators usually get some level of commission for marketing a product, service or TikTok Shop (that can also be linked directly within their content.)

5. Shop Ads: Sellers can promote their TikTok Shops with the new TikTok Shop Ads, providing more opportunities for customers to discover and make purchases directly on TikTok.

6. Fulfilled by TikTok: Merchants can now focus on your products while TikTok takes care of logistics. TikTok Shop stores, picks, packs, and ships sellers’ products to your customers, providing a seamless shopping experience.

7. Secure Checkout: Feel confident during the checkout process with TikTok’s trusted third-party payment platforms. Transactions are quick, smooth, and secure, and all US user data is stored and managed by USDS in the US for added protection.

How to Start a TikTok Shop

Setting up a TikTok Shop involves several steps. To set up your shop on TikTok, you’ll need to meet the requirement of having at least 1,000 followers. If you do, go to the TikTok Seller Center.

Create and Verify Your Shop

1. Create a Shop in TikTok Seller Center

Go to the TikTok Seller Center for your specific country/region. Sign up with a TikTok account or phone number and email. Once you’re done with that, set up your shop’s warehouse/pickup address and return address.

2. Verify your documents.

Click on Verify Documents in the TikTok Seller Center. Upload the required documents based on your business type: corporation or individually-owned business. Here, you will enter your shop name.

3. Bind your bank account.

Click on “link bank account” in the TikTok Seller Center. Enter the required details to bind your bank account to your shop.

Adding Products to Your Shop

4. Access the TikTok Seller Center.

Once you’ve set up your shop on TikTok, it’s time to add your products to start selling. Follow these steps:

Login to your TikTok Seller Center account using your credentials.

5. Navigate to Product Management.

In the Seller Center dashboard, find the “Product Management” section or tab.

6. Click on Add Products.

Look for the option to add products and click on it. This will open up the product creation page.

7. Fill in your product’s details.

Enter all the necessary information for your product, including the product name, description, price, SKU (if applicable), and any other relevant details. You can also add product images to showcase your merchandise.

8. Add Product Variants (if applicable)

If your product comes in different variants such as size or color, you can create and include these options along with their corresponding price and inventory details.

9. Set Up Shipping and Inventory

Specify the shipping options and rates for your products. Additionally, manage the inventory for each product to ensure accurate availability information is displayed to customers.

10. Add Product Tags to make items easy to find.

To improve discoverability, add relevant tags or keywords that describe your product. This will help customers find your products when they search for related terms.

11. Save and publish your products.

Once you have entered all the necessary information, review and confirm that everything is accurate. Click the “Save” or “Publish” button to make your product live on TikTok Shop.

12. Repeat for Additional Products

If you have more products to add, you can repeat the above steps for each item. Remember to regularly update your product listings with any changes or new additions to keep your shop fresh and engaging for customers.

How to Market Your TikTok Shop

1. Define your target audience.

Defining your target audience is a crucial step in effectively marketing your TikTok Shop. Take the time to research and understand your ideal customers. Consider factors such as demographics (age, gender, location), interests, behaviors, and purchasing power. This will help you create targeted campaigns and tailor your marketing messages to resonate with your audience.

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You can use tools like HubSpot’s free Make My Persona to construct buyer personas that will help you define who you’re  marketing to.

2. Create engaging content that highlights products.

On TikTok, content is royalty. Create visually appealing and engaging videos that showcase your products in a creative and entertaining way. Experiment with different formats, trends, and challenges to grab attention and keep your audience hooked. Use catchy captions and compelling visuals to make your content stand out.

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Pro Tip: By leveraging HubSpot’s AI tools, you can generate copy that converts.

3. Utilize influencer marketing

Unsure of HOW to create great content or get recommendations for your products? Consider leaning into influencers.

Influencer marketing can be a powerful strategy for promoting your TikTok Shop. Identify influencers within your niche who have a strong following and engagement rates. Collaborate with them to create sponsored content that showcases your products.

The influencer’s endorsement can help you reach a wider audience and build trust among potential customers.

4. Leverage TikTok Shop Ads for better reach.

Tap into the power of TikTok Shop Ads to expand your reach and drive traffic to your shop.

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You can also use TikTok’s advanced targeting options to ensure your ads are shown to the right audience. Monitor and optimize your ad campaigns based on key metrics such as impressions, clicks, and conversions to maximize your ROI.

5. Engage with the TikTok community.

Engaging with the TikTok community is essential for building brand awareness and connecting with potential customers.

Participate in trending challenges, respond to comments, and collaborate with users by duetting or stitching their videos. This interaction can help you build brand loyalty and generate organic reach.

6. Run promotions and contests.

Running promotions and contests is an effective way to drive traffic and generate excitement around your TikTok Shop. Offer exclusive discounts, limited-time offers, or hold contests where users can win prizes by engaging with your content. This will encourage engagement, increase visibility, and incentivize users to make a purchase.

7. Learn about product performance with analytics and insights

Utilize TikTok’s built-in analytics tools to gain insights into your shop’s performance. Monitor key metrics such as views, likes, shares, and conversions to understand which content resonates with your audience. Use this data to refine your marketing strategies and create more targeted and effective campaigns.

By following these steps and consistently refining your marketing efforts on TikTok, you can successfully promote your TikTok Shop, reach your target audience, and drive meaningful engagement and sales.

Get Started With TikTok Shop

Whether you’re a small business looking to grow or a well-established brand seeking to give your audience more options to engage with your products, you need to be on TikTok Shop.

Social media management will be integral to keep things organized. Get started with HubSpot’s Social Media Management Software.

As the resident social media and content creation expert for the HubSpot blog, I know a thing or two about social media marketing. And one of those things is that the social media marketing landscape is constantly evolving.

Fortunately, I can lend my expertise — and that of the 1,460 marketing professionals HubSpot recently surveyed — to help you stay informed on the latest happenings in social media marketing.

Yes, we asked 1,400+ global social media marketers about their biggest trends, goals, challenges, and strategies going into 2024. And we’re passing out knowledge to you.

Not much time on your hands? Click the section you’d like to jump to here:

• Social Media Trends
• Top Social Media Platforms
• Top Social Media Marketing Goals
• The Top Social Media Challenges
• Top Social Media Marketing Metrics
• The Best Times to Post on Social Media
• Social Media Marketer Predictions

1. Social media e-commerce will continue to grow.

I can’t scroll for more than five seconds on almost any social media app without seeing a chance to purchase something online.

Whether it’s TikTok Shop, Instagram Shopping, or sponsored content from influencers — opportunities to make purchases directly from social media are almost endless and will only grow in 2024.

Our survey shows that a quarter of marketers are currently leveraging the strategy of selling products directly via social media apps, and 50% of marketers plan to increase their investment in social selling in 2024.

Over the last few years, social media apps have evolved into e-commerce platforms that connect users with products they can buy without leaving the app.

While some, like Instagram, are further along in this transformation, many apps are working hard to implement new features and tools that enable social shopping.

TikTok, for example, launched TikTok Shop in the U.S. in 2023, and while 33% of TikTok users say they have not shopped on the platform, 30% have used it, according to Statista.

Furthermore, consumers are discovering new products on social media more than anywhere else. In fact, about 1 in 3 consumers use social media to discover new items and brands, according to Porch Group Media.

And I’m definitely a part of that 1 in 3. A few months ago, I discovered a brand called Midnight Hour on Instagram that sells goth-inspired clothing and accessories. After perusing its Instagram, I bought two blouses and a skirt directly from its Instagram storefront.

Our own research shows I’m not the only millennial influenced by social media shopping.

In our previous social media marketing survey, we found social media especially takes the lead for product discovery among Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X, beating out internet searches.

Social media is also the channel consumers 18-54 most prefer to discover new products on.

And social selling is yielding results for marketers. The majority of marketing professionals in our survey (16%) say social media shopping tools resulted in the biggest ROI in 2023.

So, it makes sense that 87% of marketers plan to maintain or increase their investment in such tools in 2024.

2. Consumers slide into brands’ DMs for customer service.

Since social media is all about shopping, it makes sense that customer service is moving into the DMs.

In 2023, we found that around one in five Gen Z, Millennial, and Gen X social media users had contacted a brand through DMs for customer service, and 76% of social media marketers reported their company already offers customer service on social.

Fast forward to 2024, and 87% of marketers say they will maintain or increase their investment in using social media DMs for customer service.

With so many consumers sliding into business’ DMs for customer support, customer service professionals could become overwhelmed. This will likely prompt many businesses to turn to AI to lighten their load.

Almost a quarter of marketers in our most recent survey (24%) say AI tools like chatbots would help customer service professionals respond to tickets and inquiries.

So, naturally, 88% of marketers plan to boost or maintain their investment in AI, including tools such as chatbots.

3. AI-generated Social Media Posts

The use of AI isn’t going to stop at just customer service in 2024 — marketers will leverage AI to help them create engaging social media content, according to our survey.

51% of marketers say generative AI is most helpful in creating social media posts, and 58% say that’s what they use generative AI for. And just a few scrolls online prove their statements.

I was shocked and pretty impressed with how big of a role AI played in huge marketing campaigns like Nicki Minaj‘s rollout for her most recent album, Pink Friday 2.

Fans gathered from all over the internet to use generative AI to create Gag City, a fictional utopia made in the rapper’s honor to show fans excitement about the project.

Pretty soon, Nicki Minaj began using her own AI-generated images to promote singles and events for the album.

And Nicki Minaj isn‘t the only one. If you go on apps like TikTok, you’ll see tons of users using AI to generate viral content. Some users narrate their videos with AI-generated voices or use AI images to ask questions.

TikTok is placing itself at the forefront of the trend by making tools like its Creative Assistant available to users.

So in 2024, consider leveraging AI for social media posts — because your competition likely will. Just make sure to do so ethically and responsibly.

4. Brands continue to swap out celebrities for micro-influencers.

Influencers are becoming the new celebrity endorsements in 2024 as brands and businesses continue to tap into social media personalities to promote their products and services.

Our survey shows that almost a quarter (23%) of marketers currently leverage influencer marketing, and 87% of those marketers plan to maintain or boost their influencer marketing investments.

If you‘re a marketer or an influencer, you may think influencers with massive following are who brands are flocking to for promotions. However, our survey shows that isn’t the case.

64% of marketers have worked with micro-influencers (10,000 to 999,999 followers) in the last year, and 47% say they yielded the most success with micro-influencers—making them the most popular influencers among marketers.

Our survey shows macro-influencers with 100,000 to 999,999 followers are the second most popular.

44% of marketers say they’ve worked with macro-influencers in the last year. Even nano-influencers (less than 10,000 followers) are leveraged by 22% of marketers.

Only 17% of celebrity or mega-influencers with more than 1 million followers have been leveraged by marketers in the last year.

Compared to celebrities, working with small influencers is less expensive, makes it easier to establish long-term partnerships, and offers access to tight-knit, engaged, and loyal communities.

Regardless of how big or small the influencer is, influencer marketing is a highly effective marketing channel that drives consumer purchase decisions.

Our most recent consumer trends survey shows that 31% of social media users prefer to discover new products on social media through an influencer they follow over any other social format or channel.

This shoots up to 43% for Gen Z – making influencer marketing their preferred product discovery channel.

On top of that, 21% of social media users 18-54 have made a purchase based on an influencer’s recommendation in the past 3 months. This also rises to 32% among Gen Z.

5. Content remains king in 2024.

Of course, with influencer marketing continuing to rise, it makes sense content marketing would continue to be a popular go-to for marketers. After all, all influencers are content creators, though not all creators are influencers.

But that’s a distinction for another blog post.

Anyway, almost a third of marketers in our survey (29%) are leveraging content marketing, and a whopping 90% plan to maintain or boost their investment in the strategy in 2024.

However, content marketing comes with its hurdles. Most marketers in our survey say the biggest challenges they face in content marketing are creating highly engaging content and coming up with fresh ideas.

To combat that, some marketers will likely turn to AI to generate ideas, outlines, or copy. 46% said AI would help their business on that front. However, that doesn’t mean the robots are taking over.

For many marketers, boosting their investments in content marketing means hiring people for specific roles.

According to our survey, three roles expected to be a top priority to recruit in 2024 are content creator, content strategist, and content marketing manager.

1. Brands will flock to Instagram for ROI and audience growth.

Instagram is leveraged by 55% of brands in our survey, coming in just behind Facebook at 57%.

The good news for Instagram marketers is the platform ties with Facebook in the top spot for ROI, with 29% of marketers listing both as yielding the highest ROI in the past year.

Furthermore, 43% plan to increase their investment in the platform in 2024, while another 46% will keep it the same.

If I were a betting person, I’d gamble that Instagram will likely continue seeing growth from marketers due to the growing trend of social media shopping.

The app placed itself at the forefront of the trend by enabling brands to set up Instagram storefronts and shops within the app.

Before moving on to trend #7, let’s take a look at a few more social media platforms and see how they stack up against each other.

2. Facebook will keep growing, but TikTok’s closing in.

Facebook might be the platform used by most social media marketers at 37%, but TikTok is slowly creeping up as 24% of marketers say the latter app yields the most ROI.

Facebook will also see significant growth in 2024, with 23% of social media marketers planning to invest more in it than any other platform, and 43% plan to increase their investment in Facebook, while 41% will continue investing the same amount.

3. More marketers are looking to TikTok.

44% of marketers say their companies leverage TikTok, placing it third behind Instagram and Facebook. This number also goes up from 36% last year.

Furthermore, almost a quarter of marketers (24%) say the platform yields the highest ROI, placing it right behind YouTube (26%).

TikTok‘s growing appeal to marketers concerns the platform’s relationship with Gen Z, the most prominent generation on the app.

Not only does Gen Z flock to the app, they also make purchases from the platform (remember what I said about e-commerce?).

According to TikTok, 1 in 3 of its Gen Z users are interested in buying from TikTok Live, and 74% of Gen Z weekly TikTok users would seek more information about an advertised product after seeing the ad on TikTok.

4. YouTube Comes in 3rd for Usage & ROI, but Will Continue Growing in 2024

As short-form videos continue to dominate (more on that later), marketers shouldn’t count YouTube out. More than a quarter of the marketers in our survey say the platform yields the highest ROI.

Moreover, 88% of marketers say they will increase or maintain their investment in the platform in 2024.

Top Content Type Social Media Marketers Are Leaning Into in 2024

Short-form Video Continues Its Takeover

Short-form video has the highest ROI compared to other marketing trends, according to our survey.

Short-form video will see the most growth in 2024 by far, with 67% of social media marketers planning to invest more in it than any other format.

53% of those using it also plan to increase their investment in 2024, while 38% will keep investing the same amount.

Social Media Challenges

1. Creating engaging content.

One of the top challenges social media marketers face each year involves creating engaging content. So, it’s no surprise that 18% of those we polled said it was their top hurdle.

And it makes sense. In social media, content drives engagement, traffic, and conversions that boost your business. However, social media, its trends, and what people want to see on each platform change daily. It’s pretty tough to keep up.

2. Gaining and Keeping Followers.

18% of marketers also said gaining and keeping followers is another top social media marketing challenge they‘re facing. That’s not surprising, considering how much content consumers are flooded with on a daily basis.

So much content can make it hard for brands to stand out above the noise.

3. Turning engagements into leads.

Like all marketers, social media pros are always asking themselves, “How can my work benefit the bigger business?” And, one measurable way to justify business impact is by driving leads or conversions.

Yet, that‘s still pretty hard. After all, most social media scrollers don’t just want to leave their feed to become a lead or a customer and come right back.

To win them over, you‘ll have to create content that energizes them beyond the point of simply commenting or clicking a reaction emoji.

That’s why we absolutely aren’t shocked that 18% of social media marketers list lead generation as one of their top challenges.

Top Social Media Marketing Goals

It’s all about the money in 2024. According to our survey, the top goal for most marketers (23%) is increasing revenue and sales. Other goals include:

• Improving the customer experience (19%))
• Increasing brand awareness and reaching new audiences (19%)
• Increasing engagement (18%)
• Improving sales/marketing alignment (16%)
• Integrating AI with their marketing strategy

The Top Social Media Marketing Metrics

How are social media marketers tracking success? Let’s see what metrics they’re looking at when posting organic and paid content.

• 41% of marketers say sales is the most important metric to track
• 32% say web traffic
• 29% say social engagement

• 27% say lead generation
• 23% say on-site engagement

The Best Times to Post on Social Media

As a social media marketer, you likely want to be posting at the best times for peak engagement.

So, while we had our social media survey participants, we got their thoughts on the best times to post across social media platforms in the U.S. specifically.

• Facebook: 9 AM to 12 AM
• YouTube: 3 PM to 6 PM
• Instagram: 12 PM to 6 PM
• TikTok: 3 PM to 9 PM
• X: 9 AM to 3 PM
• LinkedIn: 9 AM to 3 PM

For tips on what other times to post or what to post during the times above, check out this social scheduling guide.

Social Media Predictions for 2024

Based on our findings (and being the Marketing Blog‘s social media expert), I predict more and more consumers will make purchases directly from their favorite brands’ social media platforms, like Instagram and TikTok.

I also predict it will continue to be the norm for consumers to message brands via social media with concerns and inquiries.

None of these predictions may seem surprising, but I do have one that could shock you. While I predict short-form videos will continue to dominate marketing, I do see more creators opting to make longer videos. Why?

Because TikTok is rolling out programs meant to prioritize videos longer than 60 seconds. While I don’t see a resurgence in hours-long video essays, 2-3 minute videos could start springing up on the platform as creators seek revenue from TikTok’s Creativity Program.

What’s Next for Social Media Marketing?

Ultimately, it’s up to you and your company to determine and plan your future success strategies! But our data and insights are always here to help.

To start building, refining, or researching more opportunities for your social media strategy:

• Take our free social media certification course.
• Visit our State of Social Media Hub page where you’ll find more data, videos, and exclusive expert insights.
• Download the free report below for a saveable PDF with key data and insights.

Creating social media strategies can be overwhelming, especially when you’re just launching your brand or just building your online presence for the first time. So many channels, features, tools, and products available – but so little time to fit them all into your marketing strategy.

If you don’t have a full-time team of social media experts at your disposal, it’s even harder. But the fact is that your online success depends on having a sensible and straightforward strategy that fits your resources and goals.

I spoke with three top-tier social media experts, and dug into recent HubSpot research (including our 2024 State of Social Media Report), to show you how to develop a social media strategy that drives traffic and ROI to your brand.

Your social media strategy is your master plan for how you create, post, and engage with your social media content.

It encompasses your social content guidelines, posting cadence, social media marketing campaigns, target audience, and engagement strategy that promote your business and brand.

Many companies use social media to connect with customers, provide support, advertise new products and features, and promote special offers.

Why You Need a Social Media Strategy

According to our most recent The State of Social Media, social media marketers’ top challenges include creating engaging content, generating leads, and reaching target audiences. While these are some of the trickiest challenges, they’re also the items you’ll want to think about most when making an effective plan.

Ultimately, well-thought-out social media strategies equip you to set goals and guardrails, track performance, and tweak your benchmarks over time.

“One of the biggest challenges I think social media marketers face is saturation and competition. There is so much content on social media that sometimes it makes it challenging to stand out from the crowd. Having a robust strategy that understands the target audience includes strong copy and unique content can help to cut through the noise,” says Ellie Nash, social community executive at Kurago.

Without a starting point, you can‘t measure what’s working and how to shift your activity to hit your goals.

A social media strategy also helps you set expectations for broader team involvement and get everyone aligned on what they should and shouldn’t do on your social networks.

1. Define your target audience.

If you haven’t already identified and documented your buyer personas, start by defining the key demographics of the audience you’re trying to reach — such as age, gender, occupation, income, hobbies, and interests.

To meet your audience where they are with marketing that won’t annoy them, you first need to learn out what they want and why. 

Social Media Motivations

Are social media users visiting these apps to learn, explore, shop, or just have a good time?

In our most recent State of Consumer Trends Survey this summer, we asked over 500 general consumers to pick the three most common reasons they use social media. 

While 65% actually use it socially to keep up with friends, 53% just want to be entertained while 50% want to learn new things. Unfortunately, 28% say they prefer to go on social media to learn about new products or brands. 

The good news? Later in the survey, when we asked consumers how they prefer to research and learn about brands and products, a whopping 41% said they like to do this on social media channels (a slight increase from a similar survey we ran six months prior).

While Gen X and Boomers skew lower on this average, Gen Z and Millennial generations are using social for brand research more often – which is not surprising due to their hyper-connectedness to the web.

As you might be able to tell from our data above, your target audience plays a role in how successful the right strategy will be. And, better catering to them helps you create focused advertising that addresses your ideal consumer’s specific needs.

For instance, the below-sponsored post by Monday.com, a project management platform, highlights the platform’s flexibility and workflow customization feature.

The post targets business owners and project managers who may feel limited by other project management software.

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Consider your ideal consumer’s challenges and what problems they’re solving daily. Focus on no more than four types of people representing most of your buyers. Don’t get hung up on the exceptions or outliers, or you’ll never get started.

Once you start creating content for your audience, focus on engaging your audience at every level.

Pay close attention to any questions or comments your audience posts, and be quick to address them, as that engagement could make or break a conversion or purchase.

Consumers like feeling like they’re part of a community when they’re on your social media pages. More than 1 in 5 social media users joined or participated in an online community in the last year.

Speaking of communities, creating social media groups is a smart move to attract, keep, and engage the audience, with 90% of marketers agreeing.

Here’s why:

• Groups help people get involved.
• Followers can learn from each other.
• Your brand becomes a connector — something like a helpful friend.
• Communities feel more friendlier to chat compared to pages. 

In 2020, HubSpot made a small Facebook Group called Marketer to Marketer with 4.9k followers. It’s not as big as our Facebook page, but conversions prove its worth it.

Pro tip: To reach the right audience, use social listening tools. These tools check social media for keywords, assess if the talk is positive or negative, and give you reports. This helps in creating a buyer persona for better targeting.

2. Incorporate ecommerce.

As more and more people use social media to discover new products, they’re also finding convenience in shopping for those products directly in the social app they found them in.

While one-fourth of social media marketers are already seeing more effectiveness in social shopping tools than they are with ecommerce site strategies, 80% of social media marketers believe consumers will eventually buy products directly within social apps more often than on brand websites or through third-party resellers. 

What’s more, 25% of users between the ages of 18 and 44 had already bought a product on social media by summer of 2023. We wouldn’t be shocked if this number increased in 2024.

Lastly, if we look at how this trend is fairing across the globe, several other countries have already made social media shopping a norm.

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For example, check out this comparison of data from the UK, China, and the US:

• In the UK, social shopping saw a rise from 2021 to 2023, with 4.1% of the population engaging in this trend. Anticipated data suggests a further increase in 2024 and a growth of approximately 2% in 2025.
• In 2022, around 84% of Chinese consumers have shopped on social media platforms. Despite some COVID-19 challenges, it reached 850 million users in 2021, making the market worth more than 2.5 trillion.
• In 2023, the US made $68.91 million from social commerce, which is 5.9% of all online sales. This is a sharp increase from $39.51 million in 2021.

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Translation? If you sell products, social media should be a key part of your ecommerce strategy in 2024. It doesn’t matter where you are. Social selling is a big deal — so it’s time to take it seriously.

Most platforms offer built-in e-commerce features like shoppable posts, and 47% of social media marketers are already taking advantage of selling products directly within social media apps.

The most popular social selling tools for marketers are:

• Instagram Shops and Instagram Live Shopping — high ROI.
• Facebook Shops — average ROI.

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(Psst: Need help building a Facebook page for your business? We have you covered.)

If you need inspiration for incorporating e-commerce into your social strategy, take a cue from Sephora.

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Whenever the beauty brand shares an image of a product, it uses a product tag that links to its shoppable page above.

This makes it easy for its followers to instantly buy something they see on the page without ever having to leave the app.

One critical element of successfully selling on social media is establishing brand trust so users feel comfortable purchasing your products directly on the app.

While Sephora has built an established brand reputation over time, you can build trust in other ways, even if you’re building your social media strategy from scratch.

Focus on sharing customer reviews and testimonials, user-generated content (UGC), and product data to build social proof.

Pro tip: Go with image, video, and carousel ads for brand awareness to emphasize store visits, ad impressions, and engagement. For increased sales, select product, collection, or shopping ads to drive direct purchases and product page visits.

I spoke with three top-tier social media experts, and dug into recent HubSpot research (including our 2024 State of Social Media Report), to show you how to develop a social media strategy that drives traffic and ROI to your brand.

3. Optimize your social channels for search.

Social search is on the rise.

As more people turn to social with their queries instead of search engines, 89% of social media marketers agree that social search is important to their overall social media strategies in 2023.

Nearly 24% of consumers aged 18-54 use social media first to search for brands.

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For marketers, this insight means that your social channels must be optimized for search. Prioritize social SEO if you want your social channels to show up in the results when your audience searches for your brand.

Similar to optimizing for search engines like Google, there are a few ways you can optimize your social presence. Here’s how social media marketers did it throughout the last year.

• Include relevant keywords and hashtags in your posts and bio.
• Make sure your username is easy to search for.
• Keep your username consistent across accounts.

When adding alt-text, do not use this as an opportunity to stuff keywords, says Annie-Mai Hodge, director and founder of Girl Power Marketing.

“This feature describes the image on a page for the visually impaired, so it’s important you describe the image accurately. In doing that, you’re providing extra context for the social platform too, which can, in turn, get your content more visibility in search results,” says Hodge. 

Over 30% of U.S. desktop searches on Google feature video carousels and video results, according to Semrush Sensor. 

For instance, I searched for “best gaming laptops in 2024,” and the second result was a YouTube video. So, being active on YouTube to promote your brand is worth considering.

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Pro tip: You don’t need to film an hour-long video. Even short videos, aka YouTube Shorts, can help you rank higher in SERP. You can use UGC videos and testimonials for that purpose.

4. Focus on a few key social channels.

Most small businesses or social teams don’t have the bandwidth to establish and sustain a quality social media presence on every single channel.

It’s also overwhelming to learn the rules of engagement on multiple networks simultaneously.

Focus on the channels that will bring in the highest ROI. For most brands, this will be Instagram.

Instagram has proven to be the best source of ROI, engagement, and quality leads. Additionally, 23% of marketers believe Instagram offers brands the most potential to grow their audiences in 2023.

Adding an Instagram feed to your website is also a smart move to keep your site looking fresh and even to nudge people towards buying, as social media content can increase conversions by up to 29%.

With a tool like Flockler, even if you’re not a tech expert, you can make your site more lively and exciting with your latest Instagram posts. See their easy guide on how to embed an Instagram feed on a website.

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Brands need to be careful about which platforms they now show up on.

“The platform can say a lot about the brand itself. With more and more consumers being more in tune with how they spend their money and whether corporations’ ideals align with theirs, this is becoming more of a consideration for brands in the long run,” says Tameka Bazile, social media strategy manager at TIME.

If you want to create a strong social media strategy from scratch, start small. Research key networks to learn where your target audience is spending time.

For instance, if your ideal consumers are business professionals, it may be beneficial to post on LinkedIn rather than Instagram.

Bazile says brands should also consider the following when it comes to expanding their presence across multiple platforms:

• Means. “Does their social team consist of enough members and get enough budget to successfully manage multiple accounts?” Bazile asks. 
• Consumer Access. “Are their ideal consumers found on the platforms they are seeking to expand to?” she says. 

I recently read insightful expert perspectives on this LinkedIn article about picking the right social media platform.

Amidst all the chatter, Roel Timmermans‘ comment caught my attention: 

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Or as Annie-Mai Hodge says, “You don’t need to be on every single social media platform, full stop — for most businesses, it’s a waste of time and resources to be on platforms where your audience isn’t active.”

When creating your strategy, Hodge says, “You would’ve looked at where your audience is, what your competitors are doing, and what you’re aiming to achieve with social media — all of this will help inform you as to what social media channels you should be focusing on.”

Pro tip: Check where your competitors are most active and what kind of content they post. You’ll see what works or doesn’t and how engaged their audience is. Don’t copy them — just use that info to make smart decisions for your strategy.

5. Repurpose your content.

Why stress over creating different content for each platform? 

Keep it simple: repurpose and use the same awesome content in different places – within reason of course.

According to our research, most marketers repurpose content in some way, shape, or form, while 19% consider it one of their key strategies. Meanwhile 40% plan to invest more in content repurposing in 2024.

This makes sense. By repurposing content, you can leanly and easily:

• Get your message to more people on different platforms.
• Save time by using what you already have instead of starting from scratch.
• Stay visible on search engines by updating and reusing content.
• Cater to your audience’s preferences with different formats.
• Make your content last longer by updating timeless pieces.
• Improve your strategy by checking how your content performs on different channels.

We at HubSpot love repurposing content—from simple LinkedIn posts like this…

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…to hilarious TikTok video:

However, one word to the wise is to not lean on it for every single campaign. Although most marketers do it, only 7% told us it yields them substantial ROI compared to content that’s more catered to platforms. 

So, if you’re low on time or bandwidth, experimenting a new platform that’s similar to one you already use, or can make light tweaks to optimize content for different channels – feel free. Just make sure you’re giving your audience what they’re looking for and not over-spamming them with content they’ve seen several times already.

Pro tip: Looking for a creative content idea that feels more personal than repurposed? Make catchy quote pictures from customer thoughts, share email insights on X or LinkedIn, and whip up quick videos from podcasts — people love that kind of stuff.

6. Make a plan for customer service.

When putting together your social media strategy, consider how you’ll use your channels for customer service.

Social media is so ingrained in our day-to-day lives that it’s no surprise that people turn to these platforms for everything from brand discovery to customer service.

According to our State of Social Media and Consumer Trends research, 1 in 5 social media users contact a brand through social DMs for customer service each quarter.

43% of marketers use customer service reps, 41% rely on platform managers, and 13% employ automated tools like chatbots.

Whether you create a separate account dedicated to customer service or have an auto-reply set up when people DM you on Instagram, have a plan for how you’ll handle customer support through social media.

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It’s a good idea to add working hours in the Support page’s bio so people know when to expect help. Consider what Twitch did in its X profile:

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Now, let’s talk a little bit about the importance of good customer service on social media. According Khoros research:

• 42% felt disappointed, 43% were unhappy, and 41% reported anger with poor customer care.
• 67% shared bad experiences, and 65% switched to a different brand.
• 43% are more likely to buy from a brand after a good customer service experience.
• 83% feel more loyal to brands that resolve their complaints.
• 73% of brands expect more inbound channels, and 53% anticipate more outbound channels in the next one to two years.
• Pro tip: Apart from clearly stating working hours, let customers know the expected response time and inform them about quicker alternative resources if available.

7. Develop a recipe card to guide you.

Social media isn’t an exact science. It doesn’t work the same for every business or industry.

To see results for your business, create a recipe card. A recipe card is a posting and engagement schedule that keeps your team on track and helps you post content consistently.

HubSpot has a list of social media tools and templates that you can use to plan your content and create a posting schedule and content calendar.

One of the best ways to manage an SM content calendar is the method Bazile shared with me.

Here’s how she categorizes it:

• Evergreen engagement content.
• Evergreen promotional content.
• Specific campaign content.
• Recurring communications content.

“Breaking down content into these buckets allows social teams to maintain regular presences online while also separating content data into easily trackable pieces,” she says.

Develop a reasonable recipe card and well-organized calendar. Stick to it and get your team to follow. Set goals for your posting and engagement frequency, and hold yourself accountable for following your recipe.

Pro tip: Choose platforms that allow easy editing and content management within your team. This ensures smooth collaboration and calendar updates.

8. Talk WITH, not AT, your followers.

In our latest Consumer Trends research, 41% of consumers pointed to relatability as the most memorable aspect of posts from brands or companies on social or the web. 

Friendly brands win more followers (and hearts). So, skip the self-promotion overload. Instead, get into conversations and respond to comments authentically.

People love it when you chat with them, not just throw information their way. It makes them feel special, creating a genuine affection for your brand.

You don’t have to sound super professional. Casual talk works even better on social media. Just take a cue from McDonald’s:

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I personally can’t get enough of BMW and its fantastic relationship with fans and followers. They always try to respond to every comment on social media:

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And here’s something interesting to remember — very few people, less than one percent, interact with the brands’ posts. 

Here are the platform breakdowns:

• Facebook: 0.09%.
• Instagram: 1.22%.
• X: 0.045%.

So, once you get a comment, find the right way to interact and show that you care.

Don’t just ghost and ignore. These comments boost your post higher in algorithms and make it more visible. 

Pro tip: Never delete negative comments unless they’re super offensive or totally inappropriate. Instead, use them as an opportunity for constructive engagement and improvement.

9. Measure your results.

“Without goals, a product roadmap, or even a full brand strategy, social media managers will struggle to know what to prioritize in the social space, what metrics to measure to convey progress, and what sort of content or social presence is ideal for the brand,” Bazile says. 

There are countless things to track on your social media channels. Start by looking at how much traffic your social accounts drive to your website or blog.

Social media platforms offer tools to help businesses track analytics.

For example, you can use Facebook’s Page Insights, Instagram’s Account Insights, and LinkedIn’s Visitor Analytics to see what people are responding to and look for trends related to topics or keywords that generate the most interest.

Once you get an idea of your average traffic and post-performance, set goals for key metrics and keep a scorecard to measure your progress.

Be sure to choose metrics that are easy to gather because if it’s too time-consuming to track, you won’t be motivated to do it.

Examples of simple metrics include the total number of interactions, traffic to your website, and sales or revenue that can be attributed to social.

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“One of the most valuable indicators, in my opinion, is impressions,” Nash says, “Impressions measure the number of times a piece of content is displayed on users’ screens and help to evaluate the effectiveness of your content strategy in terms of exposure and brand awareness.”

Pro tip: Don’t only focus on platform numbers. Track the social sentiment as well. See if people express positive or negative feelings about you in online conversations. It takes a bit of manual work, but it’s worth it. Check regularly for better insights.

10. Adjust your tactics as needed.

Social media won’t start working overnight.

Establishing a following, stabilizing your brand, and seeing the results of your efforts take time. So, experiment to find the right combination of channels, content, and messaging that works for your audience.

We can pick up some cool tricks from Victoria’s Secret in this regard.

They’ve shifted from using only professional photos and videos to incorporating more casual content. Now, VS’s Insta feed also includes UGC and interviews with random people on the street and in their stores.

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Victoria’s Secret proves that even as a high-end brand, you don’t lose anything by including everyday people. 

Actually, you gain. 

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More followers, more engagement, more exposure.

Keep track of changes in your post views, audience demographics, and post interactions, and make changes as needed.

Over time, you’ll be able to adjust your recipe card, content, and personas based on the information you’re gathering, which will help you fine-tune your strategy and generate more consistent results.

Trying new stuff might seem a bit daring, but sometimes, it’s just necessary to “survive.”

For instance, try to use funny content whenever possible.

In our 2023 survey of over a thousand global social media marketers, 66% said funny content works best, followed by relatable (63%) and trendy (59%) content. While 45% talk only about their brand values, the key is to use humor for the most impact. 

Don’t believe that humor can pay the bills? One-third, or 34% of Consumer Trends respondents also told us funny content is most memorable to them. 

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I asked Hodge to tell me about a time when changing tactics improved social media results. She recalls that at the start of 2023, Girl Power Marketing stopped growing on social media and started losing engagement. 

“It wasn’t until I sat down and reassessed my strategy that I was missing something, and that was humanization,” Hodge recounts. “Why should people trust my thoughts, opinions, and guidance if they have no clue who was behind GPM or the mission behind it?”

Hodge shares that she started showing up more intentionally. She created content that showed more of herself, her personality, and GPM’s mission. 

“And a year later, GPM has grown to a community of 180k+ people – all because I switched up my tactics that no longer worked,” says Hodge.

Pro tip: Tailor your content to match seasonal trends and holidays. This helps keep your brand messaging timely and relatable. And most importantly — people love it.

Keeping Up With Social Media Strategies

While these tips will help you optimize your strategy for ROI in the present day, it’s important to get your footing and keep up with the big shifts that are inevitable as new tools, channels, and trends arise.

To keep up with low stress, keep following research like our State of Social Media Report and check out our blog and resources for the coverage of social trends and tactics you actually need to keep on your radar.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in February 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

I’ve worked in the B2B SaaS affiliate marketing space for 1.5 years and here’s my take on it: Affiliate marketing is not for the weak.

It demands a lot of time, effort, and dedication to succeed. But the challenge is what makes it rewarding.

The key to making it worthwhile? Using strategies to maximize your return on investment in your brand. Here are some core strategies we discuss with our affiliates that help them increase revenue.

Top 4 Affiliate Marketing Strategies to Maximize ROI

1. Humanize your brand.

Even though we work in the B2B space, we‘re still speaking to people — not businesses. Treating your audience as just another transaction isn’t going to set you apart from others.

People respond better to more personal and relatable interactions because those types of interactions tap into our innate desire for connection.

“Your audience is made up of individual people with their own interests and needs. By humanizing your brand and focusing on authentic, personal interactions, you can create meaningful connections that drive better results. says Lynsey Mc Hugh, Senior Affiliate Manager at HubSpot.

“Understanding your audience’s perspective and tailoring your approach to resonate with them on a more personal level can really make all the difference in maximizing your ROI.”

Let’s talk about how you can humanize your brand.

Use AI but don’t fully depend on it.

AI is one of the biggest tech advances we’ve seen in decades, which makes people feel a type of way. Some people are fascinated and excited, while others are apprehensive and skeptical. Many are both.

In a recent HubSpot study, 76% of business professionals suggested that, “People should use AI/automation in their role, but they should avoid becoming overly reliant on it.”

AI enables humans to do their work, no doubt. But it shouldn’t be used to do all of our work for us.

To be a successful affiliate marketer, your audience has to care about what you have to say. You can develop a loyal audience by engaging and connecting with them through your experience, wisdom, and creativity — all of which AI lacks.

Another consideration is that AI makes mistakes. It can output false information without you even knowing it. You’re playing a dangerous game if you rely solely on AI-generated content without verifying its accuracy.

So, how should you use AI in affiliate marketing? We encourage our affiliate partners to use AI for tasks like:

• Brainstorming
• Generating content outlines
• Writing catchy headlines
• Rewriting existing content for different platforms

AI can give you an extra boost when you’re hitting a wall, but it’s in your hands to create something that’s truly unique and valuable. All great things take time and AI simply helps us do our work faster.

Experiment with products and share your findings.

When you have personal experience with a product, it enhances your credibility and authenticity as an affiliate marketer.

Your recommendations carry more weight because your audience knows you have used and benefited from the product yourself.

This is why social proof like user reviews, case studies, customer testimonials, statistics and data-backed resources are so effective in the B2B SaaS market.

Social proof allows real users to share their stories, which can be incredibly persuasive when those stories reflect satisfaction with a company’s products.

We encourage our affiliate partners to test out the HubSpot customer platform and document their usage of our software. They may consider creating content that discusses:

• How I overcame this business challenge using HubSpot
• How I achieved all-time-high goals using HubSpot
• Why I like HubSpot more than a competitor’s solution

These prompts also support our affiliate partners’ E-E-A-T strategy (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust) which can impact how their content ranks in search.

The E-E-A-T principles are included in Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, which is a handbook used by Google to assess the quality of a website‘s content. It’s Google’s attempt to make sure your content is valuable and helpful to users.

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The “experience” element of the E-E-A-T guidelines highlights the importance of including relevant and personal experience in your content if you’re looking to drive more traffic to your website.

Dorissa Saint-Juste, Senior Affiliate Manager at HubSpot, likes to emphasize the significance of providing a unique perspective that differentiates your content from company websites, other marketers’ blogs, or typical reviews.

“What sets you apart? Sharing your own personal experience with a product is a ‌valuable approach. With prospects already leaning toward a product choice, they need less convincing compared to those searching broader terms, which makes your job a little easier,” Dorissa says.

Giving your content a human touch with anecdotal evidence will improve the discoverability of your content, build trust with your audience and compel them to buy the products you promote.

2. Optimize your website.

Not every B2B affiliate marketer has or needs a website, but most do because it serves as a central hub for their online presence and marketing efforts.

But simply having a website doesn’t do you any good if it’s not optimized for SEO and the user experience. Strategically organizing everything on your website makes sure that your content is easily accessible, coherent, and valuable for your audience.

“Imagine your website is a well-organized library. Tidy shelves, clear signage, and easy navigation make it enjoyable for visitors to find the information they need,” says Rex Gelb, Senior Director of Paid Acquisition and Affiliate Manager at HubSpot.

“Just like you wouldn‘t want to search for a specific book in a chaotic and disorganized library, users don’t want to navigate through a cluttered website. Keep your digital library in order for a seamless user experience.”

Website optimization through organization can be broken into two parts:

1. How your website’s content is interconnected
2. How the individual pieces of your content are created

Site Structure

At the macro level, organization refers to the structure of a website. By organizing your content in a logical manner, you provide a clear roadmap for visitors to enjoy exploring your site and find the information they need.

Plus, a well-organized website enhances your SEO, helping search engines index and rank your content.

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You’re doing yourself a major disservice if your website lacks thoughtful organization.

You might have the exact information that someone is looking for, but if they can’t find it quickly and easily, they’re going to leave your website without converting.

Whether you publish blog posts, videos, courses, or ebooks on your website as part of your content strategy, you should consider using categories.

What does this look like in real life? Let’s use this blog you’re on right now as an example.

HubSpot’s blog homepage provides a navigation menu that gives each type of content its own dropdown menu.

For example, the “Blogs” tab offers several categories to choose from. These categories group content related to the same topic into one bucket. Visitors can even explore more granular topics if they’re looking for something specific within a category.

It’s almost impossible to provide a positive user experience without easy navigation. As a matter of fact, when Clutch surveyed 612 people, 94% of them said easy navigation is the most important website feature.

Don’t underestimate logical categorization and intuitive user pathways when growing and managing your website’s content.

Content Structure

Organization matters at the micro level of content creation just as much as it does at the macro level.

How you organize your thoughts can determine whether visitors stay on your site or leave without ever looking back.

How can you make every piece of content a masterpiece, you may ask? By focusing on these three elements:

1. Skimmable: Make your content quick and easy to digest to adapt to people’s shorter attention spans.
2. Quotable: Provide valuable and memorable information that visitors will want to share with others.
3. Actionable: Define the next steps you want visitors to take after consuming your content.

Here’s how you can implement those three principles into your written content:

• Use subheadings, bulleted lists and bolded key phrases
• Add meaningful visuals like infographics and screenshots
• Keep your paragraphs short (4 sentences max)
• Take a thought leadership approach
• Incorporate reliable statistics
• Implement concise and impactful statements
• Provide clear call-to-actions

While these general ideas of optimizing content overlap across various forms such as video or digital courses, it’s crucial to know how audiences of different platforms and mediums prefer to engage and consume content.

3. Be smart with your links.

You put in so much effort into creating content and driving visitors to that content — all with the end goal of getting as many people to click on your affiliate link and convert.

“It’s crucial to be strategic with your link placements to drive conversions effectively. By being selective in your approach, you can create a more engaging and trustworthy experience for your audience, ultimately leading to better results,” says Nancy Harnett who leads the HubSpot affiliate program.

“Remember to track performance metrics and continuously experiment with new tactics to stay ahead in the dynamic world of affiliate marketing.”

Let’s get into how you can make the most of your hard work with your links.

Use the right links.

Oftentimes, affiliate programs will provide their partners with a default affiliate link which typically routes to a generic “get started with our main product” type of page.

But if you’re promoting a brand that offers more than one product and price plan, you should use product-specific landing pages depending on where your links are placed.

The reason we recommend that our affiliate partners use standalone product landing pages rather than linking to our website is because landing pages have a single objective — getting visitors to complete a desired action.

This focused approach increases the likelihood of conversions because there is no unrelated content or exit points to distract your leads.

For example, HubSpot’s customer platform has a plethora of tools: CRM, marketing automation, email marketing, sales, help desk, website builder, and more.

Let’s say a HubSpot affiliate writes a listicle for “The Best Email Marketing Tools for Small Businesses.” They should use our email marketing affiliate landing page rather than linking to our website’s email marketing product page or using the generic “get started with HubSpot” link.

Readers on that listicle are interested in buying email marketing tools, so using the corresponding landing page makes the most sense.

Disclose your links.

Always be transparent about your affiliate partnerships, not only to maintain legal compliance but to also build credibility with your audience.

According to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Endorsement Guidelines, you must “clearly and conspicuously” disclose your affiliate relationship with a brand when affiliate links are present in your content.

What does that really mean? Your readers shouldn’t have to search high and low to see it.

For example, placing your affiliate disclosure in your website footer or somewhere in your navigation menu meets the requirement of having one. However, those placements aren’t easy to see, so they don’t meet the requirement of being displayed clearly and conspicuously.

When in doubt, your best bet is to place your disclosure before your affiliate links at the beginning of your content or as near to the links as possible.

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Remember, you should be disclosing your affiliate links wherever they are present so that includes social media posts, too. Our affiliate partners like to do this by adding a hashtag to their post such as #HubSpotaffiliate or #ad.

Be selective and intentional.

If you provide too many links, it becomes harder for your audience to absorb your message.

To avoid overwhelming your audience, focus on relevant and contextual link placement. Place your affiliate links naturally within your content where they will be genuinely helpful.

Putting too much emphasis on your links can be off-putting and steer visitors away. Nobody likes anything spammy.

If all your content looks like this, then you might want to rethink your link placements:

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Track performance and try new things.

At the end of the day, successful affiliate marketing comes down to maximizing your outputs given your inputs (how much money you’re making from your promotional activities).

This is why analyzing performance metrics like your click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates (CVR), and traffic sources is so important. This data helps you identify which links and strategies are working well, so you can optimize your efforts for better results.

Have fun with it. Try testing out different types of content, calls-to-action, and promotion channels to see what works best.

4. Target high buyer intent keywords.

When someone enters a search query into a search engine, their intent can vary.

Some searches are purely informational, seeking general knowledge or answers to specific questions. These users aren’t actively looking to buy anything.

Other searches are driven by buyer intent. These users are actively looking to buy a specific product. They have a clear purpose and are more likely to convert.

Dorissa says, “Targeting high buyer intent keywords is a crucial strategy that every affiliate marketer should prioritize.”

She continues, “By customizing your content to meet the immediate needs of your audience and offering valuable insights and recommendations that align closely with their search intent, you can effectively capture their attention when they are ready to make a purchasing decision.”

You can attract users who are closer to making a purchase by identifying and targeting keywords with strong buyer intent. For B2B, these keywords usually include specific product names and terms like:

• Best
• Top
• Review
• Rating
• Comparison
• Vs
• Alternatives
• Demo
• Integration / works well with

The key to optimizing your content for high buyer intent searches is understanding who you’re trying to reach.

“Tailoring your content specifically to different customer segments can significantly improve engagement and drive conversions. Through this strategy, you can attract better qualified leads and achieve higher conversion rates, ultimately maximizing your earning potential,” Dorissa says.

The Search Engine Journal outlines just how to execute this strategy with the following tips:

• Use empathy to identify the paint points, needs, and preferences of potential customers.
• Find out which search queries are currently driving traffic to your site and resulting in conversions.
• Investigate the search queries people make within your target market.
• Lean on your sales and customer service teams’ expertise (if you have them).
• Read comments on relevant YouTube videos, online forums, and social media posts to learn more about your target audience’s motivations and challenges.

Once you gain insight into the intent behind search queries and optimize your content accordingly, you’ll be on your way to driving more conversions.

The Power of The Helpful Approach

What is the common theme among all four strategies we discussed?

They put your audience first.

As an affiliate marketer, you must take a value-first approach rather than a sales-first approach. Being helpful by educating, inspiring and building trust with others is a proven recipe for maximizing ROI.

I’ve never been more nervous about writing a job application email than when applying for my first marketing internship. I felt like everyone could tell I had no experience and was utterly desperate for that to change. 

The jitters are normal, and I’ll help make it easier today by showing you exactly how to write an internship email.

Landing your dream internship requires a solid first impression, and your internship application email is the place to make this happen.

First, we‘ll look at 10 internship email examples from ChatGPT, examining what bopped and flopped. Then, I’ll write an email replying to one of the internship opportunities (and you can steal it as a personal template).

Table of Contents

• How to Write an Internship Application Email
• 10 Internship Email Examples From ChatGPT
• Writing My Internship Application Email
• 6 Other Internship Emails To Send

How to Write an Internship Application Email

Potential employers want to see professional, competent communication skills. Here are some best practices to put those qualities on display in your email outreach.

Customize your email to each company.

No one likes to feel like they aren‘t unique enough to warrant a little time and thought. That’s how receiving a copy/pasted internship inquiry email makes potential employers feel.

You must tailor every email to the specific internship position and company you’re applying to. Every email should contain a few basic customizations:

1. Company name
2. Hiring manager’s name (if you have it)
3. Internship opportunity name
4. How did you discover the position

Even if you’re applying to similar internship opportunities, make sure that you customize each email sufficiently.

Use a professional email address.

While this may seem trivial, other students vying for the same internship opportunities use professional email addresses. If you slide into someone’s inbox with “[email protected],” you will be remembered for the wrong reasons.

A professional email address can be your school email account or a variation of [email protected].

Avoid cliché or vague language.

Sometimes creativity is an asset, and sometimes it muddies your message.

For example, to ensure that someone opens your email, you could write an attention-grabbing subject line like “You dropped your wallet!” and immediately pivot into “Now that I have your attention…”

Unless your potential employer is Michael Scott at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, funny subject lines won’t leave the right impression. Also, avoid vague, cliché language like “esteemed organization.”

Make it highly relevant.

“It’s important to tailor your resume and email to address the specific needs in the job posting. Consider what skills and/or majors they are looking for and address them right away,” shared Lauren McGoodwin, author of the career book Power Moves and founder and CEO of Career Contessa.

“Follow the job application process and try to find the hiring manager or recruiter to send your resume and email of interest directly to.”

Lauren explained that there are two ways to reach out about an internship:

1. Warm outreach (responding to a job posting)
2. Cold outreach (internship request/asking for an internship)

“If you’re pitching yourself for a role, you have to do a bit more work to identify a need the company has and your unique ability to help,” she says.

She explains, “For example, you would love to create Instagram Reels, and the company isn’t currently creating that content. Pitch them on being a social media intern focused on Instagram Reels.”

She also says, “Share why this matters to the company, plus examples of your creative work and details of what you can offer (i.e., number of weeks, paid or unpaid, etc).”

Lauren shared that this is precisely how her company, Career Contessa, hired a social media intern in 2020— a perfect cold pitch with examples of how she could design Instagram infographics for the brand.

Mention previous internship experience.

If you had a previous internship, mention this in your outreach email. Having relevant experience isn‘t required, but it can show that you’ve already been vetted and committed with another organization.

Show potential.

“Prior to sending your internship email, really reflect on your top areas of strength and what successes you’ve had in and out of the classroom that showcases skills that could be used in the internship,” shared Brad W. Minton, certified career counselor and founder of Mint To Be Career.

“Too often, students want to write about themselves and the company but don’t adequately connect the dots between the two. It’s important to discuss your value add and connect that to what you know the role would require.”

Mention mutual contacts (if you have any).

Do you know someone who works for the company already? Casually mention this mutual contact – this can feel like an extension of your research on your company.

Here’s an example of how to mention this in your internship email:

“I’ve been aware of [company name] since my fellow [school name] student Cindy Smith interned with your organization last year. She raved about the workplace culture and the learning experience, so I sought out your internship program.”

Make it grammatically perfect.

Nothing will send your email to the trash faster than a typo. More than 50 percent of resumes contain typos, and that‘s a document that’s given a much heavier editing eye than a standard email.

“Proofread the email to ensure it is free from grammatical errors, which can undermine your credibility and attention to detail,” shared LinkedIn and CV expert Winston Macharia.

“Read the email aloud to catch any awkward phrasing or wordy sentences that could distract the reader,” Macharia says. Pretend you are the hiring manager and view your email through their eyes – would you be compelled to offer an interview? If not, put on your editor’s hat and trim and tighten your content.”

Use tools like Grammarly to catch mistakes as you write:

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“Grab a second set of eyes, perhaps a career counselor or trusted friend. Having a proofreader spot-check your email can reveal lapses you may be too close to the content to catch yourself,” Winston added.

10 Internship Email Examples From ChatGPT

I found 10 marketing internship opportunities on LinkedIn, and I will use ChatGPT to write an internship email for each position. Here‘s the internship email prompt that I’m using:

You are a college student seeking a marketing internship to supplement your education with real-world experience. Write an internship application email replying to the following marketing internship position you found on LinkedIn. U

se professional language and show your keen interest in the position and company. Limit the email to about 150 words. [copy/paste information from job listing]

How well can ChatGPT write an internship email? Let‘s look at what worked, what didn’t, and how these can be improved to be worthy of hitting send.

Note: ChatGPT initially wrote over 150 words for these emails. For every example, I re-prompted ChatGPT to shorten the email.

Jump ahead:

• Digital Marketing Study and Internship
• Marketing Intern (Summer 2024)
• Marketing Intern (Regional)
• Digital Marketing Intern
• Content Marketing Intern (Remote)
• Social Media Intern (Steelers)
• Marketing Intern (Cognizant)
• Social Media Intern (IIN)
• Marketing Intern (HireIO)
• Marketing Client Services Intern (Summer 2024)

1. Digital Marketing Study and Internship

See the position on LinkedIn.

What worked: Reiterating points of the job description and aligning them with career goals.

What didn’t: Too many points start with “I am.” At a glance, it looks like this email is more about the interns’ needs than the internship position itself.

I’d improve the skills more specifically in how they relate to this position.

2. Marketing Intern (Summer 2024)

See the position on LinkedIn.

What worked: Reiterating the internship qualifications and showing that you’ve thoroughly reviewed and met the position requirements.

What didn’t: It didn‘t convert the intern’s skills to this position in a specific or impactful way.

What I’d improve: This email mentions content creation and social media – a broad term. I would dive into the specifics of platforms, types of content, etc., to bring this to life.

3. Marketing Intern (Regional)

See the position on LinkedIn.

What worked: This email expresses genuine interest in the learning opportunity and relates it to the intern’s career goals.

What didn’t: Some words stand out as being over the top; for example, it‘s not natural to say you’re “captivated” by the company’s approach. It feels cheesy.

What I’d improve: I would add a sentence or two about the day-to-day responsibilities of this role to make it less generic and translate your enthusiasm to the specifics of this role.

4. Digital Marketing Intern

See the position on LinkedIn.

What worked: This internship email reiterates points about the company and the role naturally, making it clear that this isn‘t a generic email you’re sending to everyone.

What didn’t: The first paragraph must address the company‘s needs and how you’d like to contribute to its overall goals.

What I’d improve: This internship position is in the music industry; instead of telling them you’re passionate about music, include nods to favorite artists or trends to show industry understanding.

5. Content Marketing Intern (Remote)

See the position on LinkedIn.

What worked: The intern was highly interested in the position, and understanding the roles and responsibilities was clear.

What didn’t: The company isn’t centered enough in this email. Specifically, the second paragraph is all about the intern, when it needs to be all about how the organization can benefit from this intern.

What I’d improve: Reframe this application to the organization’s specific goals, your experience, and how you can help contribute to those goals.

6. Social Media Intern (Steelers)

See the position on LinkedIn.

What worked: The experience referenced here is thorough and speaks well to the internship position, even though the position was extensive.

What didn’t: Too many sentences start with “I,” and enthusiasm (or even a basic understanding of football) doesn’t come through in this email.

What I’d improve: Don‘t just say that you’re sincerely interested in this football position; show it with specific references to the NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

This is the perfect place to mention a hobby, personal blog, or extracurricular activities related to this organization’s audience.

7. Marketing Intern (Cognizant)

See the position on LinkedIn.

What worked: This internship position listed particular requirements, and this email shows that you read these thoroughly and are qualified.

The second paragraph also speaks directly to the company’s markets and makes this email feel well-researched.

What didn’t: The second sentence in the first paragraph is confusing – the introduction doesn‘t have anything to do with the second half of the sentence.

“As a dedicated college student…” and “Cognizant’s commitment inspires me…” aren’t related and can give the impression of poor writing skills.

What I’d improve: Make sure that no part of your email is filled with fluff, clichés, or empty platitudes. Pull the sentiments about being a dedicated student and the company’s mission into two unique sentences and complete the thoughts.

8. Social Media Intern (IIN)

See the position on LinkedIn.

What worked: Social media marketing is a role with a lot of independent work, and the final paragraph of this email leaves the impression of a very confident and keen student who’s excited to dive in and deliver.

What didn’t: The phrases “social video content” and “aesthetic imagery” are vague and leave the reader with many follow-up questions.

What I’d improve: I would get particular with your examples when you’re referencing your experience and include links to your portfolio with examples of your work so that your skills can be demonstrated.

9. Marketing Intern (HireIO)

See the position on LinkedIn.

What worked: Creativity is an essential marketing skill, so mentioning soft skills such as a “creative mindset” is a positive signal for the marketing manager.

What didn’t: This email communicates apparent enthusiasm for the role‘s responsibilities, but it sounds like it’s just listing the entire job description.

What I’d improve: It‘s good to mention the broad responsibilities of the role but get specific about what you’re genuinely most interested in to make it feel more authentic and action-oriented.

What project would you pick first if you were to start working there today?

10. Marketing Client Services Intern (Summer 2024)

See the position on LinkedIn.

What worked: The specific details about the company, clients, and internship role make this email feel thoroughly researched.

What didn’t: This email references why the intern would be excited to work with big brands, but it should also express why brands would be excited to work with the intern.

Interns are typically young and from a different generation than most of the workforce, and that’s an asset to the marketing team.

What I’d improve: Youth can be indirectly leveraged with nods to understanding social media platforms and trends that the rest of the marketing team might not be in touch with. Point out opportunities that you see that others may not.

Writing My Internship Application Email

Here’s how these tips look in action. See below for a checklist to use when you write.

Important reminder: if you’re applying for a specific internship position listed online, follow the application process strictly. Failure to attach your internship resume, cover letter, or share essential details will be costly.

Subject line: Marketing Internship Application

Email body: Hello Nadine,

My name is Kayla Schilthuis-Ihrig.

I’m a public relations major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and like to apply for the marketing internship position at Awesome Marketing Agency.

Your organization is known for its creative ad campaigns, memorable content marketing, and quality workplace culture, so I am interested in your internship position.

Your last holiday TikTok campaign was so engaging that we analyzed it in one of my classes.

As a final-year public relations student, I’ve been closely studying the digital media landscape and developing content creation skills.

Some of my previous projects have included developing public awareness campaigns for a similar company. An example of that campaign is linked below:

• Portfolio of work [hyperlinked]

Inside that Google Drive folder, you’ll also find my resume and cover letter.

While my professional hands-on experience is limited, I‘ve worked extensively on projects overseen by professors and have references that speak to the valuable contribution I can make to your organization.

After three years of developing skills and gathering academic knowledge, I’m incredibly enthusiastic to learn on my feet, create content, monitor the success of projects, and continually improve to see campaigns reach their potential.

I would be honored to be considered for the opportunity to work with Awesome Marketing Agency.

Are you still vetting candidates for your marketing internship?

I’m reachable anytime by email ([email protected]) and phone (123-456-7890).

Thank you, Nadine!

Best regards,

Kayla

Email footer: Kayla Schilthuis-Ihrig
Journalism major
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
[email protected]
123-456-7890
Let’s connect on LinkedIn

Internship Email Template

Ready to write your email? Use this as your internship email template:

1. Subject line: Quickly identify your email as an application and state which position it’s for.
2. Recipient’s name: Personalize all internship emails with a specific person’s name if you have it, this sounds better than “dear hiring manager.”
3. Company name: Always mention the company‘s name right away to show that this isn’t a duplicate copy-paste email that you send to everyone.
4. Who you are: Your name, what you’re studying and where.
5. Intention: Why are you emailing them? People‘s inboxes are overflowing with messages; don’t beat around the bush.
6. Differentiators: What do you like about the company? Be specific: creativity, reputation for excellence, workplace culture, etc.
7. Specifics: Reference to the specific internship position and why you think it would be a good fit with your specific skills.
8. Your potential: What value will you add to their organization? Mention your relevant skills and experiences and how they can benefit.
9. Question: Ask a question to prompt a response from them.
10. Pleasantries: While many people include pleasantries at the beginning of their email, you can start your email directly and include these at the end.
11. Contact details: Include your email address and phone number to make follow-up contact easy.
12. Professional footer: Add your full name, school, major and LinkedIn profile to your email footer to have a polished, professional look.

How long should an internship email be? There‘s no hard word count limit for your internship email, but effective, succinct communication shows good soft skill skills and respect for the recipient’s time.

6 Other Internship Emails To Send

From writing an internship follow-up email to an internship request, there are multiple other types of internship emails that you might need to write during the hiring process.

Use these tips to help you communicate effectively while writing all of your internship emails.

Jump ahead:

• Internship Request Email
• No Response Follow-Up Email
• Interview Confirmation Email
• Interview Opportunity Thank-You Email
• Internship Offer Response
• Internship Opportunity Thank-You Email

1. Internship Request Email

The ChatGPT internship email examples above were all written in response to a job listing, but what about when you want to cold pitch yourself to intern with an organization? Here’s how to cold email for an internship opportunity:

• Define the internship role that you’d like (ex: content marketing intern).
• Set basic parameters, like how many hours a week you’re available.
• List some specifics of the job description that you’d like to deliver and your relevant skills.
• Offer examples of your work.

As you’re writing your internship request email, remember to make it about them and not about you. An internship is a job, and organizations need to understand how they’ll benefit from hiring you.

2. No Response Follow-Up Email

If you don’t get a response to your internship application, send a follow-up internship email after about a week.

Don‘t worry – you’re not bothering people when you follow up. Most companies get a lot of internship applications for each role, and your follow-up emails express continued interest.

Be very polite and keep your message short. In your follow-up email, you can:

• Inquire if they still have available internship positions.
• Ask if there’s someone better to speak to about the internship.
• Inquire if there’s a better contact method, like a phone call.

Make sure that you reply to your previous email instead of sending a new one so that the recipient has all of the information about your inquiry without having to dig through their inbox.

3. Interview Confirmation Email

The moment has come, you’ve been invited to interview for an internship opportunity! Once they provide the details of your interview, send a brief follow-up email that checks these boxes:

• Thank them for the opportunity.
• Repeat the time and place (“I look forward to speaking Friday, March 3rd at 1 p.m. at your downtown office”).
• Let them know what you‘ll bring (portfolio, references, etc.) and request that they let you know if there’s anything additional that you can provide.

This is a step that a lot of interns will skip, and it shows great communication skills to send a follow-up email.

4. Interview Opportunity Thank-You Email

It’s important to send a thank-you email after every interview that you have in your career.

You can write a foundation of this email before your internship interview, but be sure to mention specifics from your conversation to show good listening skills.

Easy tip: Send this email from your car or the bus immediately after you leave your interview. Sending a detailed thank-you email so quickly will offer a very positive impression of your organization skills!

5. Internship Offer Response

When you get the lucky email that you‘ve been offered an internship position, it’s time to write a professional confirmation email. In this email, you should:

• Express your gratitude and enthusiasm.
• Accept the position.
• Confirm any requests that they had. For example, if they asked you to fill out your tax paperwork within a week, confirm that you will do so by the deadline.
• Ask any questions that you have.

6. Internship Opportunity Thank-You Email

You should send a thank-you email to every single person that you got to know during your internship. The emails will fall into one of three categories:

1. “Let’s keep in touch.” Send this email to everyone that you worked with and follow up by connecting with them on LinkedIn.
2. “I may reach out in the future.” Anyone at your internship who tells you “If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out!” should be sent a special thank-you email. Let them know that you appreciate them telling you this, and you may reach out in the future to take them up on this offer.
3. “Can you recommend me on LinkedIn?” Anyone who you directly reported to is a great person to recommend you on LinkedIn.

Email #2 is exactly how I landed my corporate job when I was 23.

I started a spreadsheet where I recorded everyone who made me a blanket “let me know if you ever need anything!” offer, along with their contact information and a few details about our work together.

One man named Bob made this offer to me, and two years after our work together, I saw that his company was hiring new marketing staff. I reached out to him and asked if he had any insights on applying to the company.

He replied, “I’ve just called the hiring manager and told her to make sure she offers you an interview.”

After two interviews I was offered the job, and my manager said that she only offered me an interview because of this email from Bob. Never pass up someone’s offer to keep in touch and lend a helping hand.

Conclusion: Sending Your Application

Whether you‘re applying for available internship positions or you’re drafting an internship request, ChatGPT can make your job easier.

… but it can’t automate the WHOLE email writing process.

Don’t leave your internship inquiry entirely email up to AI. Let ChatGPT reiterate the needs of the role and company, and then bring it to life with specifics about your skills, experience, and passion. Who knows where it will take you.

The promise of inbound marketing is a lure that attracts businesses of all kinds, but many don’t understand the effort it takes to be successful.

After a few blog posts, many people flame out and grumble, “We tried content marketing, but it didn’t work for us.” As a content marketer, I see the same content marketing mistakes made across all platforms and industries. After reading, you’ll start noticing these mistakes, too.

There’s an epidemic of half-hearted content marketing out there that’s giving the whole inbound philosophy a bad name. While the content you see online may look effortless and natural, there’s more strategy, experimentation, and skill behind high-quality content.

From identifying your target audience to executing the perfect content marketing strategy, there are 11 common mistakes that digital marketers see again and again.

Table of Contents

• Content Marketing Mindset

• 11 Common Content Marketing Mistakes

• Invest In Your Content Marketing Strategy

Content Marketing Mindset

Content marketing is not new. The ideas have been around for decades. At this point, no business professional is unfamiliar with a blog, search engine traffic, or social media.

The problem, it seems to me, is that too many people have misunderstood the true purpose of content marketing — and so have missed the mark in their past efforts.

Go to most companies’ blogs, and you’ll often find fluffy, self-serving content: Pictures from their clean-up day at the local park, press release-style articles about promotions, and employee-of-the-month winners.

Or, it’s filled with content that feels derivative and identical to a thousand other articles on the internet.

It is no surprise to me that this kind of content has failed to bring in customers.

Unremarkable effort, unremarkable results.

With most things in life, your results match your efforts. As the saying goes, “You get out of it what you put into it.” Same thing here.

When companies tell me about their forays into content marketing in the past, I’m not surprised it didn’t work for them.

“We tried a content strategy…”

If you’re one of those businesses that “tried” content marketing, only to see sub-par results, something missed the mark:

• Your content.
• Your understanding of how to use the different social media channels.
• Your expectations.

This happens for a few all too common reasons, and I’ll share the specific marketing mistakes to avoid in a moment.

“… But it didn’t work for us.”

There’s something to unpack here, too. What do you mean it didn’t work for you? How did you plan on measuring success?

Any marketing initiative needs to be measured to be evaluated, and those measurements need context to have meaning. It’s possible you need to unlearn what you think you know about inbound marketing.

11 Common Content Marketing Mistakes

Is your online content marketing strategy destined to fail? Check to see if you’re making any of these common content marketing mistakes.

1. Focusing on the wrong metrics.

The inbound funnel is a compelling idea: If you get enough traffic to your site, a percentage of that traffic will turn into leads, and a percentage of those leads will turn into sales.

So, people mistakenly assume more traffic will equal more sales. This is not necessarily correct.

While organic traffic is important, it can also be a vanity metric that distracts you from the most important business goals.

Imagine this content scenario:

• Article A gets 10,000 views each month and brings in 10 customers.
• Article B gets 2,000 views each month and brings in 20 customers.
• Article C gets 500 views per month and brings in 50 customers.

Too often, companies chase Article A, putting their effort into high-trafficked content that doesn’t end up converting visitors into customers. A successful content marketing strategy is based on understanding the hierarchy of metrics.

This leads us to our second mistake.

2. Not getting sales involved.

The inbound approach is not just a marketing one. In fact, if you limit it to just marketing, you undercut your content marketing results. Inbound is as much about sales as it is about marketing.

If you don’t get your sales team involved with your content marketing, you’re more likely to produce a library of Article A–type content. Marketers love to brag about reach, and what’s more encouraging than thousands of site visitors?

The sales team will bring your marketing team back down to earth. Because your sales reps hear from actual customers each day, they know the questions your prospects are asking. They know why Article C is the better investment of your team’s time.

Generating your content marketing strategy with input from both the marketing and sales teams will help you avoid the next mistake.

3. Making irrelevant content.

If you can’t draw a clear line between the content you create and one of your paid products, then your content marketing efforts will be wasted. Or, at a minimum, they won’t reach their potential.

After analyzing hundreds of blog posts from brands, I’ve observed that many businesses treat their website content like a parking garage for random content ideas:

• Miscellaneous business updates that aren’t important to viewers.
• Bragging about company culture or philanthropic work.
• Random promotional content and sale announcements.

When you’re creating content, every single piece of content needs to lead directly back to:

1. Email opt-ins and free products.
2. Industry thought leadership.
3. Products and services.
4. Lead generation.

Here’s an example from my website. In my digital shop, I sell a search engine optimization (SEO) checklist for the software Keysearch. So, I wrote a blog post that’s a beginner’s guide to Keysearch:

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One of these content types is often overlooked, so let’s zoom in on point two on that list: thought leadership.

4. Overlooking thought leadership.

“Content marketing is not just about generating short-term sales, important as those are. It is also an opportunity for you to establish your brand as a thought leader in your space,” said Sally Percy, an author and business journalist who writes thought leadership content on behalf of executives and senior leaders.

Percy elaborated that thought leadership comes when you share insights, data, and expert analysis that give your customers a fresh perspective on pertinent issues and challenges they may be facing, as well as useful strategies that they can apply in practice.

“Establishing your brand as a thought leader through content marketing is critical to building trust with your customer base,” shared Percy.

Here’s an example of Percy’s thought leadership content marketing that promotes her book, 21st Century Business Icons:

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5. Always playing it safe.

Content marketing is about educating your customers, building trust, and being transparent so that your potential buyers can access the information they need to become customers.

You have to offer honesty instead of a sales pitch, which means you need to sometimes address thorny subjects and answer hard questions.

Hiding things like the prices or drawbacks of your product will make it impossible for customers to have total clarity before purchasing. Your target audience is asking these questions, so it’s productive to create content with the answers.

Good content marketing helps viewers self-select if your product can help them, which means content that helps people opt in and opt out of your offer.

6. Prioritizing quantity over quality content.

“Many people prioritize the sheer volume of content produced rather than focusing on creating high-quality, valuable content,” shared Yogesh Kumar, a digital marketing manager.

While publishing heaps of content may feel productive, Kumar warned that creating low-quality content can harm a brand’s reputation.

“Focusing on generating a large quantity of articles, blog posts, social media updates, videos, or other forms of content won’t work. In place of large quantity, you should focus on quality and ensure that each content piece meets a certain standard of excellence,” Kumar advises. 

Creating exceptional content is easier for companies to achieve when there’s clear ownership of the content marketing efforts.

7. No clear ownership.

If content marketing is something that gets tacked onto other responsibilities, it’s going to fall by the wayside. A dedicated content marketer needs to be leading the charge to create content that’s going to get results.

It’s unrealistic and unfair to ask someone who already has a full-time job to also produce and implement a full content marketing strategy. That in itself is a full-time job, and it’s a mistake to see it as an “add-on” to an existing role.

I know that people power is stretched thin, and there are some common ways to save time, such as publishing user-generated content, but all of the shortcuts in the world can’t compete with an actual content marketer.

That being said, make sure that you hire thoughtfully. This leads us to the next content marketing mistake.

8. Outsourcing mistakes.

The reason I’ve seen many content marketing initiatives fail is that businesses hire ill-prepared agencies or freelancers to do it for them. This sounds like a good idea at first, but the help you hire needs to deeply understand your brand.

Otherwise, they’ll produce the same bland, derivative content that sounds like everyone else in your industry — but it doesn’t sound like you. Or, even worse: You hire the cheapest freelancer to produce content for platforms that they aren’t actually specialized in. This is a content marketing mistake I’ve seen many, many times.

As a Pinterest marketer, I’ve personally seen countless accounts get suspended or flagged as spam because of outsourcing mistakes. Pinterest isn’t a social media platform, as many people assume; it’s a search engine, and it has special needs.

I’ve received emails from many desperate brand owners asking me to help resuscitate their accounts after they’ve assigned their Pinterest account to a virtual assistant or general marketing staff member. The mistakes are very predictable: Newbies immediately start keyword stuffing (adding too many keywords to be natural) and repeatedly publishing pins for the same URL. These accounts are quickly flagged as spam.

These content marketing mistakes can be avoided by hiring specialized help or investing in your team’s education.

9. No content framework.

Without a plan, your content strategy probably isn’t going to get very far. A good content marketing framework gives you:

1. Goals.
2. Structure.
3. Benchmarks.

Without it, you’ve got guesswork and inconsistency — which can quickly lead to frustration. Learn how to build a content creation framework in HubSpot Academy.

10. Focusing solely on short-term content.

One of the biggest content marketing mistakes that I see with content creation is brands only focusing on short-term content. What’s the difference between short-term and long-term content?

• Short-term content is distributed based on when it was posted (think: your Instagram feed).
• Long-term content is distributed based on search terms (think: your Google search results).

Some content falls into both of these categories. For example, TikTok has a “for you” page where you’re shown content that the algorithm thinks you’ll enjoy. However, the search function of TikTok works as a search engine. Other types of search-based content include:

• YouTube videos.
• Pinterest pins.
• Blog posts.

Research has shown that 93% of all online user experiences begin with a search. Content marketers who ignore searchable content are leaving a lot of money on the table.

The type of searchable content with the longest lifespan is a blog post. The goal is to write a blog post that shows up in search engine results pages (SERPs, AKA the first page of Google).

Only blog posts that are optimized will be widely circulated by search engines, so there’s a learning curve when learning how to write a blog post. Thankfully, well-written articles can be updated and displayed by search engines for years.

Since a blog post has an extremely long lifespan, it’s okay if this content takes longer to create.

Only creating content that lives for a few hours or a day on viewers’ newsfeeds makes content marketing feel like a hamster wheel.

11. Unrealistic expectations.

This final content marketing mistake is the most fatal. Even if you do everything else correctly, your content strategy will fail if you don’t give it enough time to take root. The time investment is significant, even for professional content creators.

“Over the last four years, The Mindful Mocktail has grown to more than 300K followers on Instagram and 122K on TikTok. I’m closing in on 20K email subscribers, and I had almost 2 million visitors to my website last year, but it took me almost four years to get here,” said recipe creator Natalie Battaglia.

She admits that for the first two years, she wasn’t making anywhere near a full-time wage, and only in the last 12 months has she been able to sit back a little and watch all the hard work from her first three years come to fruition. 

“In my experience, there is no such thing as quick or overnight success if you want to build a long-term, sustainable business,” Battaglia shared.

Invest in Your Content Marketing Strategy

Ready to increase brand awareness, reach more potential customers, and maximize your content marketing efforts? Here’s a blueprint for your content strategy:

1. Define your target audience.
2. Choose your marketing channels.
3. Start posting content.
4. Measure progress.
5. Review the analytics.
6. Double down on what’s getting results.
7. Continue creating the most compelling content that you can.

Learn more in our Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing.

The Promise of Content Marketing

Which content marketing mistake surprised you the most? These are the biggest mistakes that I see brands making with their content marketing. Pay attention the next time you open a promotional email or scroll on social media, and I bet you’ll start to see these mistakes out in the wild, too.

Brands get started in content marketing for a variety of reasons, but in most cases, the goal is to drive revenue. Brand recognition is great, but it needs to translate into sales at the other end of the funnel.

In order to get content marketing right, we need to re-acquaint ourselves with the real objectives that matter, train our employees for excellence — and be ready for a long-term commitment.

I’m a content writer by night and a Head of Partnerships by day, and in my world, being productive is everything.

No scheduling or a lack of project management leads to overdue articles, failed partnership opportunities, high pressure, and stress. We’ve all been there, recovering from zero productivity.

Productivity systems help develop a sustainable work-life balance and prepare for working sprints when needed.

In this post, I’m sharing the seven best productivity systems that have become part of my routine, turning the daily grind into an efficient workday. You’ll find their pros and cons and different use cases.

 

What are productivity systems?

Productivity systems are methods and tools that assist you in getting things done efficiently. They don’t do the work for you, but they help you organize and prioritize tasks and your well-being, resulting in more productivity at a given time.

For instance, productivity systems help you with:

• Breaking down projects into smaller, manageable steps.
• Focusing and avoiding distractions.
• Goal setting.
• Organization and workflow.

Let’s explore the seven productivity systems I use and how they help me.

7 Productivity Systems to Simplify Your Workflow

1. The Pomodoro Technique

I’m simply in love with this method for supercharging my productivity when I struggle to pull myself together and get things done. It instantly activates my focus mode, and I become so in the zone that nothing can distract me.

How does it work?

The Pomodoro Technique breaks your work into short, focused intervals (typically 25 minutes) followed by breaks. It helps you stay sharp and motivated because 25-minute chunks are easily digestible by your brain.

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Also, seeing a timer counting down in your toolbar reinforces your willingness to complete a task during this time. It’s like your inner voice says, “Com’on, man, you can work for 25 minutes without scrolling your Instagram.”

I use the Marinara: Pomodoro Assistant Chrome extension to make the Pomodoro technique easily accessible. 30-minute timers with a 5-minute rest — that’s my rule.

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But often, I don’t take breaks and simply continue working on my task until it’s done. And when the timer rings, I set another one to stay focused.

I also use Pomodoro for time-tracking when I work on a specific task to understand my workload and time spent on task X.

It aids immensely in proper time estimation and project management.

Pros:

• Helps you focus when it’s hard to start working.
• Reduces procrastination.
• Less back pain and fatigue.
• Better planning for weeks and quarters.
• More accountability for tasks.
• Fewer distractions — better time management.
• Consistent motivation throughout tasks.

Cons:

• None. I’ve been using this method for ages, and it’s always helpful.

Best for: Anyone who wants to manage time better and get more done in less time.

My Verdict

At first, it was hard for me to accept the breaks. I was feeling like I was wasting time during those periods. But then I realized their power — those breaks literally recharge me.

2. Bullet Journaling

A bullet journal, or so-called BuJo, is like an advanced diary that includes writing and drawing. It’s organized with sections for daily tasks, calendars, notes, health tracking, and goal setting.

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I’ve recently stumbled upon great research exploring how bullet journaling impacts creativity and productivity. The conclusion is that it doesn’t just help with staying organized but also with reflecting on what’s really important.

I also love the piece by a teacher who shared how bullet journaling helped her overcome perfectionism. So, if you’re chasing that elusive perfection, take a read. 🙂

From time to time, I use bullet journaling for planning my days, understanding how packed I am, and carving out time for things I love to do apart from my job. It’s also helped me understand how many projects I can take on.

For example, I draft my schedule in a super old-fashioned way in my paper notebook. So, my bullet journaling usually goes like this:

7:30 — wake up
8:00 — yoga
10:00 — offer an outline for client X
11:00 — interview experts for HubSpot’s article
13:00 — lunch break
14:00 — work for a charitable fund
17:30 — meeting

If you’re not into old-school productivity methods, you can check out digital alternatives like Notion, Trello, Evernote, or Miro.

In my opinion, Miro is the coolest option because it reminds you of a regular notebook. It allows you to easily move items and fosters creativity.

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Pros:

• Helps with customizable organization.
• Assists in boosting creativity and aids prioritization.
• Provides centralized task management.
• Facilitates self-reflection.

Cons:

• Time-intensive upkeep.
• Risk of inconsistency.

Best for: Creatives, visual thinkers, and individuals seeking personalized organization.

My Verdict

Bullet journaling is a practice many of us have instinctively done at some point in our lives. Let’s say for planning trips, shopping, workout routines, or similar activities.

The trick is learning to do it more systematically. Sometimes, I rely completely on it. Other times, I use bullet journaling just as a scratchpad when transferring information from paper to my project management apps.

3. Calendar Blocking

The major issue people often face with their schedule is constantly switching between tasks. Calendar blocking is a time management method where you allocate specific time slots on your calendar for different tasks.

For instance, my workday before calendar blocking could look like this: I start writing an article. Then, after half an hour, I jump into a meeting. Next, I move to my emails. Finally, I get back to the article. Not effective at all.

Todoist’s graphic perfectly explains my point:

For time blocking, I use Google Calendar and block time for specific tasks. Each task gets its own focused time slot. Doctor appointments, yoga, and reading also go to my calendar.

The result? I get more done faster.

Here are some tips for successful calendar blocking:

• Divide your day into chunks for specific tasks.
• Be realistic about how long tasks will take; overestimate if unsure.
• Schedule breaks to avoid burnout; don’t overbook free time.
• Adjust plans if needed due to unexpected events.
• Review and follow your planned tasks regularly.
• Consider using apps like Todoist and Google Calendar for better organization.

Pros:

• Improved time management.
• Enhanced focus.
• Reduced task switching.
• Clearer prioritization.
• Better work-life balance.

Cons:

• Difficulty in adapting to changes.
• Potential for under-/overestimating task duration.

Best for: Anyone with multiple tasks and commitments to organize.

My Verdict

Calendar blocking organizes your working and free time and allows you not to get lost in multiple tasks at the same time. The biggest challenge could be sitting down on Sunday night or every Monday morning and preparing everything up front.

But it’s definitely worth it.

4. Eat the Frog

“If you have to eat a live frog, do it first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.” – Mark Twain

This quote explains what the Eat the Frog technique is all about. Do the hardest thing first, and everything else later will seem easier.

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Last year’s study found that using this method improves soft skills and helps combat procrastination, leading to long-term benefits for career and life.

I totally agree with that and implement the Eat the Frog method almost every day.

Here’s how I do it:

1. I pick my frog first — the most important but not urgent task. I go with the one that needs a lot of brainpower.
2. I usually select a task I can finish in 1 to 4 hours max.
3. I split big tasks into smaller steps.
4. I always focus on today’s tasks, not far-off ones.
5. And finally, I begin my day by tackling my frog task first.

Pros:

• Get tough tasks done first.
• Feel less stressed.
• Manage time better.
• Build good habits.

Cons:

• Starting with the hardest task may lead to fatigue.
• It could lead to overlooking time-sensitive matters.

Best for: Anyone who prefers to deal with challenges upfront rather than procrastinate or for anyone struggling with procrastination when it comes to difficult tasks.

My Verdict

When I’ve got those tough tasks to chew (the ones that need tons of focus, numbers, and research), I make them my top priority in the morning. Once I’ve tackled that, I can relax with a cup of coffee, catch up on emails, and move on to one more task.

I tried doing it the other way around, but I just couldn’t focus on anything else while knowing I had that big task waiting. So, for me, the “Eat the Frog” technique is the only way to go.

5. Project Management Practices

When I started freelancing, managing one or two projects without tracking wasn’t too hard. But as my workload grew, it became impossible.

Today, I can’t imagine my work routine without project management tools — Monday and Asana are my productivity lifelines.

They help me break tasks down, set deadlines, track progress, coordinate with my team, and deliver results.

I use Monday to plan and prioritize my weekly tasks for a charitable fund’s work in a simplified Kanban visualization with “Backlog,” “In progress,” and “Done” tabs.

What I like: Monday takes care of the project management essentials like subtasks, flexible statuses, owners and assignees, API integrations, etc.

As for Asana, I mostly use it for client writing and SEO projects. It’s so simple to get and assign tasks, track project progress, and communicate with others through the platform.

Pros:

• Centralize project information for easy access.
• Facilitate team communication and idea sharing.
• Help you break projects into manageable tasks.
• Keep your team focused and productive.
• Provide real-time data on project progress.
• Automate tasks for streamlined workflows.

Cons:

• I see nothing but benefits to using project management software. Learning how to use it might take time, but once you do, it becomes super easy.

Best for: Individuals, teams, and projects of all sizes. You can use it for small tasks or large-scale initiatives.

My Verdict

Although I like using my notebook for bullet journaling, PM tools help keep my work under control with notifications, reminders, repeated tasks, etc.

6. The Eisenhower Decision Matrix

“I have two kinds of problems — the urgent and important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Eisenhower Decision Matrix categorizes tasks by importance and urgency. I use it to decide what to focus on, delegate, or discard.

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You should consider using the Eisenhower Matrix if you’re often busy but feel your work lacks impact, struggle with time for long-term goals, or find it hard to delegate or say “no” (been there, done that).

I recently watched a YouTube video by Naomi from Todoist, where she shared insightful tips on the Eisenhower Matrix:

[Video: Beginner’s Guide to the Eisenhower Matrix]

Here’s how she explains each of these four categories:

1. Quadrant 1 — important tasks needing urgent attention.
2. Quadrant 2 — important tasks for long-term goals.
3. Quadrant 3 — urgent tasks that aren’t very important, often just busy work.
4. Quadrant 4 — tasks neither urgent nor important, providing instant but no lasting satisfaction.

And here’s how I apply this approach in my day-to-day work:

1. Quadrant 1. I prioritize meeting tight deadlines for articles.
2. Quadrant 2. I dedicate time to improving my writing and research skills for long-term progress.
3. Quadrant 3. Sometimes, if I’m too busy, I let a reliable person handle expert interviews for me.
4. Quadrant 4. I try to avoid spending too much time on social media to stay focused.

Pros:

• Clear prioritization.
• Effective time management.
• Long-term goal alignment.
• Better delegation.
• Reduced stress.
• Improved decision-making.

Cons:

• At first, it might be tough to decide which tasks are more important with a bigger impact but less urgency. After several practices, one gets used to the system and harvests tangible benefits.

Best for: Organizing obligations; particularly helpful for anyone who struggles with task prioritization, time management, or decision-making.

My Verdict

The sense of urgency posed the greatest challenge during my digital marketing career. It felt like every task demanded immediate attention. My default mode was “ASAP” for everything until I learned to categorize priorities and discern non-priority tasks.

That’s what I learned thanks to The Eisenhower Decision Matrix, and, in my opinion, it’s one of the best productivity systems out there.

7. Kanban and Scrum Methods

To be super productive during a workweek, I combine simplified Scrum and Kanban methodologies.

Scrum: You work in short bursts called sprints (usually one to four weeks long). In each sprint, you set goals and decide what tasks to tackle. Then, you have quick meetings called stand-ups to check progress and adjust your work plan as needed.

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Kanban: There are no sprints in Kanban. Instead, imagine your tasks on a board with columns labeled “Backlog,” “Doing,” “Review,” and “Done.”

As you work, you shift tasks between columns. It helps you visualize your workflow, limit work in progress, and focus on completing tasks one by one.

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Here’s how I do it:

Every Monday, I review my Backlog with ideas and tasks that have appeared randomly throughout the previous week, assign priorities and due dates, create subtasks, etc.

Every Friday, I look at my board in the PM tool Monday, a task manager, and analyze why I’m off schedule for some tasks and how to address the cause.

This helps me to be agile, complete as many tasks as fit within a work week (realistically), and spot bottlenecks or roadblocks.

Pros:

• Helps visualize workflows easily.
• Limits multitasking and improves focus.
• Encourages ongoing process improvement.
• Organizes projects effectively with clear goals.
• Fosters regular team communication and collaboration.
• Facilitates adaptation to changing project needs.

Cons:

• A lack of defined deadlines may lead to delays.
• Rigidity in sprint timelines (Scrum) may cause stress.

Best for: Environments that value flexibility and adaptability over strict timelines.

📍Note: Implementing the two systems at a time is called Scrumban.

My Verdict

Combining these two methods helps me visualize what I have to do in the Kanban board, while the Scrum sprints help me to make lots of progress on particular projects. I like the balance the two systems bring to my work, which is largely independent and remote.

What’s the best productivity system?

Although every productivity system has its merits, my personal favorites are:

• The Pomodoro Technique for keeping me focused with 30-minute working sprints and 5-minute breaks.
• The Eisenhower Decision Matrix for simple organization of urgent and important tasks.
• Scrumban for regular progress check-ups.

No matter which system you choose, the only thing that matters is that it truly helps improve your productivity. I combine three of them on a daily basis, and I think that’s the best approach for completing the jobs to be done, ideating new projects, and tracking my team’s progress.

Try a few, see what fits and what doesn’t, and ultimately, you’ll find your best solution to avoid mental blocks, demotivation, and burnout.