most organizations know this. yet, bad data costs u.s. companies as much as $3 trillion per year, and up to 60% of organizations do not calculate the true cost of their bad data.

that signals that there is a lot of room for improvement in data maintenance in many companies. companies of any size would be impacted by that much inaccurate data in their customer database, although they may be unaware of just how painful the impact may be, with many of the day-to-day issues flying under the radar.

that much "bad" data represents a huge problem for your marketing teams in particular. how do you speak to your customers' biggest concerns if you can't be sure that you know exactly who they are and what they care about? you need accurate, reliable data to be confident in your assertions.

today, companies often lean too heavily on manual work to fix data issues, which can be extremely time-consuming and draining for your teams. relying on your employees to export data, fix it in excel using complicated formulas, and import it back into your crm issue-free is a big ask.

let's consider how poor data quality impacts your marketing teams, slowing them down and giving them less creative options when launching new campaigns.

learn more about why hubspot's crm platform has all the tools you need to grow better.

impact of data quality on your marketing efforts

while the impact of poor customer data quality is felt throughout your organization, it has an especially volatile impact on your marketing teams.

everything that a marketing team does — every strategy employed, campaign launched, messaging delivered, & creative produced — is influenced by customer data. or at least it should be.

that's what great marketing teams do — understand their customers deeply and speak directly to them in a way that resonates. you can't do that if you don't know them, and you can't be sure that you know them if you can't rely on your data.

let's look at some of the specific ways that data issues and low-quality data can impact your marketing teams.

segmentation

a big piece of any marketer's job is segmentation. or, the practice of analyzing long lists of customers and breaking them down into smaller lists so that you can more reliably speak to each segment's concerns.

you wouldn't market your b2b software product in the same way to both ceos and marketing managers, even though both might be targeted buyer personas for your product. they have different needs and concerns. if you try, the language that you use will never fully resonate with both.

so you break things down. you make the list of people that you are speaking to smaller and more manageable. then, you can use specific language that will resonate with that segment. but if your data isn't reliable, you can't effectively segment it down into those smaller groups.

marketers cannot properly segment contacts with inconsistent data. with inconsistencies, creating even basic campaigns becomes a complicated analysis effort that requires experts on hand that understand all of the nuances. as a result, it prevents marketers from creating effective campaigns and impedes their ability to execute quickly.

let's consider an example. let's say you're a b2b software company, and you want to send out an email campaign to ceos in your hubspot crm.

if you aren't regularly standardizing and formatting your job title field data, you'll find that ceos are listed in your database in many different ways:

• ceo
• c.e.o.
• chief executive officer
• founder/ceo
• founder & ceo
• owner and ceo
• etc.

and there are likely to be many other variations as well.

to run a thorough campaign, you need to bring all of these different job titles together, as they are all effectively the same title. to do this, you'll need to either run some creative excel formulas, create complicated search filters to "catch" all the relevant titles, or enlist the help of a developer. either way, you are still unlikely to catch every single error in the field.

this doesn't even include typos and other errors in your data, either. some people might be listed as "ceon" or have job titles listed that include other data issues. and these standardization and data quality issues can potentially impact your entire database.

for instance, this standardization problem wouldn't only affect ceos, but every job title in your database. or, what if you wanted to segment your crm contacts by city, country, area code, or years of experience? data issues are present in every field.

every data point in your database has a host of potential issues that could impact your ability to segment your contacts and deliver effective campaigns that meet your kpi goals.

data issues make your segmentation efforts complicated and unreliable. ultimately your marketing teams will be forced to segment less often and less creatively until the issues are rectified.

personalization

data issues will also impact your ability to personalize your messaging as well. and personalized messages are critical for successful campaigns.

80% of consumers are more likely to purchase a brand that provides personalized experiences. 72% of consumers say they only engage with personalized messaging.

your ability to personalize messaging is critical and relies on high-quality, consistent data in your crm. have you ever received an email and had your name uncapitalized, or been mistakenly referred to by your last name?

inherently, you probably know that this is a simple data oversight. they didn't mean to refer to you by your last name. but it does still impact your feelings about the company in question, doesn't it? maybe it's not intentionally rude, but it's unprofessional to keep your customer data in disarray.

and it's not just about {firstname} or {jobtitle} either, although those are important. true, deep personalization may not reference the data so directly, but use conclusions drawn from that data to guide your messaging.

for example, one common personalization issue that arises out of crm data problems comes from associations. in hubspot crm, your b2b contacts are associated with companies.

if that association was missing and a portion of your contacts were free-floating, that would make it impossible to execute account-based marketing strategies. additionally, personalizing the message based on account engagement becomes difficult when you are missing data.

inconsistent associations also contribute to inaccurate lead scores in account-based marketing. because scores are applied on the account level, based on variables for the independent contacts within the account, missing contacts will impact the account scores. ultimately, the difference in lead scoring could affect the lifecycle stage of the entire account, slowing its movement through your pipeline and potentially derailing a deal.  

customer experience

issues with segmentation and personalization ultimately impact the experience that customers have during their customer journey. with less specific marketing messaging that is less likely to resonate, their experiences and opinion of your brand will suffer.

92% of marketing professionals see personalization as a "crucial" element of the customer experience. and personalization often relies on your ability to segment customer data effectively to deliver relevant messaging. all of these impacts are interconnected, hurting your entire marketing operation.

duplicate data, for instance, presents a customer experience issue that can potentially harm your brand reputation. if you don't regularly merge duplicates, many of your customers will receive your messaging multiple times. this drives up the costs of your campaigns, harms your brand reputation, and makes your reporting less reliable.

deduplication helps achieve a single customer view, which is when your data on your contacts and accounts can all be reliably found in one system. having one single ‘record of truth' means that your marketing teams can effectively segment and personalize communications. a single customer view provides your teams with faith in your data, allowing them to focus their attention on other areas.

the quality of your data impacts customers every step of the way. without reliable data, each of those touchpoints is cheapened. less data, or less reliable data, limits what can be used and what your teams know about each contact. across months and dozens of touchpoints, that adds up.  

the only way for companies to fix these issues is to recognize and embrace data management strategy and regular crm data maintenance.

what is crm data maintenance?

crm data maintenance is the ongoing process of auditing your crm data, identifying issues, and fixing those issues within your database.

the larger process of maintaining your crm data can be broken down into numerous focus areas, including:

• data quality
• data cleansing
• data operations
• data deduplication
• data purging
• data monitoring and kpis

data quality

data quality refers to data that is accessible, consistent, and relevant. your entire organization is impacted by the quality of your data — from individual campaigns through larger strategic decisions.

accessible means not only that the data is accurate, but that the right people within your organization can access it when they need it. siloed data creates bureaucratic redundancies that slow your organization down.

data consistency largely refers to how consistently data is formatted and standardized in your database. are your phone numbers formatted uniformly? are your job titles standardized? are your contact names appropriately capitalized? consistency allows you to slice and dice data in interesting ways.

then there is relevance. it doesn't matter if you have a million perfectly accurate records in your crm if none of them are in your target market. the data that you collect must be relevant to be useful.

data quality is achieved through other data maintenance processes like data cleansing.

data cleansing

data cleansing is the process of fixing or removing incorrect, improperly formatted, duplicate, or incomplete data within your crm.

• fixing first and last name capitalization issues (jane vs. jane)
• standardizing addresses and phone numbers (1234567890 vs 123-456-7890)
• standardizing job titles (ceo vs. c.e.o vs. chief executive officer)
• removing redundant data
• removing incorrect and fake data
• removing special characters
• identifying and fixing outlying issues

the process of cleansing data can be time-consuming. often it involves breaking out chunks of your database and assigning fixes and tasks to members of your team. then, they will load the data into excel and use vlookup and complicated formulas to identify and fix errors in your data. once complete, the data has to be reimported back into your crm.

it's a non-exact process. unless you have a true excel wizard on your team, you're likely to miss many issues and still require ongoing help from developers to update data in bulk.

data deduplication

all companies deal with duplicate data. duplicate contact or company records might be created through manual entry, either by your customers into forms or by your team through your backend crm. or, they may be created through data imports or integrations with other software.

no matter how duplicate records are created, they can be a thorn in the side of your marketing team.

duplicate data leads to increased campaign costs and lost productivity. as your teams spend time ironing out data issues instead of focusing on other areas, leading to missed opportunities. every second they spend sifting through records to identify the "correct" or most complete record is wasted time. duplicate data shatters your single customer view, as there is no single ‘source of truth' that can be relied on.

when you have high duplication rates, your marketing teams will always be aware of that fact. they know that they will have to deduplicate any list of prospects or customers before new campaigns go out, adding a new task to every campaign launch.

most critically, duplicate data harms the customer experience. not just because they are likely to receive mixed messages and redundant messaging. but because your ability to understand them will be halved throughout the customer lifecycle, leading to less fulfilling interactions over and over again.

data operations

data operations encompasses the ongoing day-to-day tasks that are required to maintain your crm data and ensure the usability of that data across your organization.

data operations tasks include day-to-day bulk updating of data, consolidating fields and redundant data, migrating free-text fields to picklists, importing data (from events or third-party sources), and other tasks.

these tasks are a necessity for high-quality data, and for putting your data in a position where data cleansing can be as effective as possible.

data purging

data purging encompasses the removal of garbage data, outdated data, redundant data, and low-quality data that will only serve to clutter up your database and negatively impact your reputation and email open rates.

there are many types of data issues that could potentially make records a good candidate for purging. examples include:

• undelivered emails
• clearly fake data
• outdated records
• unqualified prospects
• bad records from integrations
• incomplete contact data
• free and role-based email addresses
• unengaged contacts
• unqualified contacts
• duplicate contacts

purging this data is critical for improving the usability of your crm data as a whole. without having to continually sift through and remove garbage data for campaigns, your productivity will improve.

without clutter, you'll be able to keep costs down on data storage and contact-based crm fees, along with the time that your teams would usually spend dealing with the purged records.

without low-quality data dragging down your email delivery and open rates, you'll avoid being penalized and enjoy an improved sender reputation.

data monitoring and kpis

to fix issues in your crm database, you'll need to be able to identify where those issues lie. between the different data issues that you'll find in your database, understanding what those issues are and what kind of issues there are helps you to prioritize fixing the most impactful problems.

of course, you could monitor your kpis and generate reports manually. but that involves running reports or exporting data to excel and analyzing it. however, some tools can automate diagnostics and collections kpis.

for example, the crm data grader is a tool that connects directly to hubspot, analyzes the crm database, and surfaces specific issues that you need to fix. this ensures you have visibility into the quality of your data and actionable insights for dealing with those issues.  

having a clear key performance indicator, such as the percentage of clean records in your database, allows you to track your progress and quickly assess the overall health of your customer data.

image source

differences data maintenance and standard cleanup projects

standard data cleanup projects are short-term and tactical. you find a fire, you put it out. data cleanup projects are reactive because they have to be. sometimes unexpected data issues can grind things to a halt and need to be fixed immediately. those needs will always be there, but less often with a data maintenance strategy.

unlike one-off cleanup projects, data maintenance is an ongoing strategy. it requires consistent investment and attention, but with the help of modern data management tools you can automate a majority of your data maintenance tasks, improving operations across your teams.

as your customer data grows, management of that data becomes more complicated. it requires more focus and planning to ensure your data is accessible, consistent, and relevant.

as this happens, companies tend to move through several stages on their way toward true data maintenance optimization:

1. undefined and chaotic. no understanding of issues and no processes in place to deal with them.
2. visibility. aware of data-related problems have visibility into the specific problems in their database, with reporting generated automatically regularly.
3. standardization. established data quality standards and alignment among cross-functional teams about data expectations and goals. to execute effectively, standards need to be enforced automatically.
4. optimization. employ automation to proactively cleanse and maintain data, avoid repetitive manual work, streamline data corrections and collaboration, alert about exceptions.

image source

data maintenance isn't something that you do once and then never again. this process is something that you'll need to do over and over again. you need accurate documentation and processes in place to minimize your time investment.

new data is always flowing into your crm database, and with that data will come a range of issues and errors that have the potential to slow down nearly every team in your organization. tools like insycle help you to audit your existing data, identify common data issues, and fix them on an automated set schedule.

improving your crm data maintenance processes enable your marketing teams to produce more marketing qualified leads through improved segmentation, personalization, and nurturing.

quality data means that you can represent your brand professionally in all communications with customers while improving their experience throughout the customer lifecycle.

originally published jul 23, 2021 7:00:00 am, updated july 23 2021

enter onesignal. founder george deglin and his team began as a small crew of app and game developers solving their own problems with reaching their users in a unified way. they built onesignal to initially power push notifications.

today, they are a customer engagement platform of choice implemented by over 1,000,000 developers across 500,000 live apps and almost 4% of sites on the internet. they've built a web and mobile sdk that developers install and marketers use to offer omni-channel messaging across web-and-mobile push, in-app messaging, sms, and email. 

hubspot worked closely with onesignal to develop an integration (in beta) that's now available in our marketplace, and we've been steadily impressed by the power of their product and the considerable value it can bring to our customers' core hubspot experience. 

in addition to our integration, we are thrilled to announce hubspot's investment in onesignal as we continue to collaborate with their team in powering a remarkable messaging experience for our customers.

one of hubspot's product leaders, will dekrey, shared a bit more about the collaboration between the two businesses after spending many months working with their team:

"through hubspot's marketing hub, we want to help marketing teams craft remarkable customer journeys across all the channels where their audiences spend time. this integration combines the ease of use and deep power of hubspot's marketing automation capabilities with reach into critical channels where onesignal has honed specific expertise, like web and mobile push. marketers are going to be thrilled with the ability to tap into these channels, align their push messages with the rest of their marketing, and leverage crm data along the way to power personalization.”

on top of a great product, onesignal has built a wonderful team, and we are excited to support them in their next phase of growth. we have no doubt that the onesignal journey is just getting started, and we are honored to be a part of that story.

originally published apr 14, 2021 11:01:29 am, updated april 14 2021

→ download now: sponsorship proposal template

when your business needs additional support and resources for events and projects, corporate sponsors can make a huge difference. but it's not as easy as just reaching out to companies you want to collaborate with.

find out how a corporate sponsorship works, how to secure one for your next event, and how to write a sponsorship proposal.

while financial support is usually synonymous with sponsorship, that's not the only way a company can contribute to your event. here are three main types of sponsors:

• a media sponsor will help your event or project gain the publicity needed to attract attendees. the sponsor may invest in ads in the local newspaper, tv commercials, or other marketing efforts to help you gain exposure.
• an in-kind sponsor will offer things other than money. looking for a venue? they may provide that. need food vendors or prizes? that's another way they can contribute. they could even help you secure a keynote speaker. this type of sponsor provides the resources you need to accomplish your event goals.
• a digital sponsor will assist in the execution of tech-related activities for your event. this can be providing the hosting platform or an app.

so, what's in it for the sponsors? for one, associating with a company that has a positive brand image can be an effective way for a brand to improve its market perception. it's also an opportunity to gain more exposure and reach audiences they may not yet have access to.

on the sponsored side, attaching your company to an established brand can also boost your credibility and help you reach more consumers in your market.

examples of corporate sponsorships

1. essence's "dear black men" event

image source

in june 2020, essence held a virtual summit designed to celebrate the black community and black men in particular. the "dear black men" event was sponsored by bevel, a consumer goods brand whose target audience reflects the event attendees.

the second sponsor was advancing black pathways, jp morgan chase & co.'s fellowship program that centers its work around empowering members of the black community.

given the topic and the target audience, these sponsors were a great match for this event.

2. a free bird, org

image source

storage mart is a nationwide storage company that's core values include supporting philanthropic initiatives. a free bird is a nonprofit organization helping children battling cancer find joy in the arts.

one thing to note is that a free bird has a webpage dedicated to sponsors. in addition to reaching out to sponsors, your company can also proactively set up a page to attract and direct companies interested in supporting you.

3. victoria film commission

both companies have more in common than just the name "victoria," and that's locality.

the victoria film commission is a nonprofit with a mission to promote southern vancouver island as a film destination.

in a statement, chateau victoria hotel & suites revealed that supporting local businesses is a part of their mission, given that it is owned and operated by a local.

how to get corporate sponsorship for an event

1. plan internally.

before you reach out to sponsors, there's a lot of prep work to complete. start by gathering all the information you'll need to attract sponsors.

the first is the vision for the event or project: what is the purpose, and what do you want audiences to gain from it?

say you're the newest affordable office supply company in the market. you may want to host an event to solidify your brand as a go-to store for office items.

next, what are the goals of your event? how will you measure success? this is an important factor to consider, as it will inform which sponsor you choose. you'll want to work with a sponsor with event goals in sync with your own.

what comes after is figuring out your attendees. how many attendees do you expect, and who are they? this is arguably the most important factor for your sponsors, because they'll want to know if your audience aligns with the persona(s) they're targeting.

as a furniture company, you may expect professionals between 20 to 30 years of age who have recently entered the workforce and are looking for affordable supplies to stock in their office. a brand that also targets young professionals would be a great sponsor.

if you're a nonprofit fighting world hunger, for instance, you'll want to find a company with a mission that includes philanthropic efforts like these.

another big selling point are your event assets. how are you attracting consumers to your event or project? this could be a well-known speaker, interactive activities, or innovative presentations.

and lastly, based on these factors, what resources are you missing? this will help you determine the type of sponsorship your brand needs so you can draft your proposal using the right language.

2. build a nurturing workflow.

getting a sponsor can be a long process that requires a lot of relationship management.

you can't just send an email to your sponsor and consider it done. it may take a few (or more) conversations to secure an agreement. while that may seem tedious, both parties need to ensure it's the right fit.

before you even reach out to your sponsors, build a workflow to streamline the communication process. here's an example of the automation you could set up in your crm:

• reach out to x sponsor and include a link to schedule a call with y team member. if scheduled, the team member will receive an email with the details of the sponsor and preliminary screening questions.
• send follow-up email in three days if contact has not responded to initial reach out.
• after the initial call, send event details over to the sponsor.
• follow-up with x sponsor to ask thoughts on event details if no response after three days.

these are processes you can automate in your crm platform to facilitate communication between you and potential sponsors.

3. decide what brands to reach out to.

now that you're ready for outreach, decide who is the best fit for your brand.

don't know where to start? look at brands that have already sponsored other businesses in your industry. this creates an easier point of entry. you can also look at your competitors. what type of brands are they collaborating with?

once you have an idea of who to contact, do some research. look at the company's mission and values to see if they align with your own. what about its audience? is there an intersection between your target audience and theirs? that's a selling point you'd want to highlight in your sponsorship proposal.

track the company's current brand perception – you can leverage this information to convince them why partnering with you would be positive for their image.

you'll also need to evaluate their local presence. if your sponsor has no presence in your region, they may not be the best fit, as you'll want your sponsor to bring more exposure to your event.

in addition, be sure to check that the companies you're considering have sponsorship guidelines. some brands have strict eligibility rules, and you wouldn't want to waste your time reaching out if you don't meet their requirements.

4. find out what your sponsors are looking for.

learn everything you can about the company to see if it will be a good fit for your event. this means reaching out to the company and asking questions like:

• who is your target audience?
• what are your marketing goals?
• what do you look for in a company you sponsor?
• how do you measure the success of a relationship with your sponsor?

these questions will help you get to the heart of what your potential sponsors are looking for and write a proposal that speaks directly to that.

5. prepare your sponsorship proposal.

your sponsorship proposal can make or break your chance of getting a sponsor. so, you want to take your time tailoring it to each sponsor you're reaching out to. every proposal should have:

• an overview of your brand
• event details
• a breakdown of what you need from the sponsor
• incentives
• a personal touch

let's dive into each of these points here.

6. start your sponsor search.

it's time to reach out – where do you go?

the easiest place to start is online. websites like sponsormyevent are designed specifically to bring brands and sponsors together. you can start there during your initial search to narrow down potential companies.

if you're going the traditional offline path, use linkedin to identify the right employee to call or email. you don't want to waste any time reaching out to employees who aren't in a position to discuss the sponsorship.

corporate sponsorship proposal

by including the following elements in your proposal, you will make sure your proposal stands out and get one step closer to securing your sponsors.

1. brand overview

when reviewing your proposal, the first thing your sponsor will likely ask is, "who's this brand?" this is your opportunity to make a great first impression and wow your sponsor.

tell a story about your brand, your mission, your values. you can dive into how your company got started or focus on your company's recent path. either way, you want to aim for emotional appeal.

you can get into the nitty-gritty later. this is where you capture their attention and make them want to sponsor you.

2. event details

this section is where the meat of your proposal starts.

describe your event or project. what is the goal, and what does success look like?

then, cover your attendees. who is the target audience for this event? your sponsor will want to know if your event will allow them to reach their key demographic. if not, focus on how your event will help them accomplish the marketing goals they outlined during your initial conversation.

3. required resources

when it comes to asking for what you need, don't beat around the bush.

describe exactly what resources your team will need from the sponsor and how they will be used.

let's say your team has determined that you need a $10,000 contribution for your upcoming event. you'd include that along with a breakdown of the cost allocation, as follows:

• location rental: $2,000
• keynote speakers fees: $5,000
• decor: $1,000
• food vendors: $2,000

if your team needs a non-financial investment, outline what you'll need and why it's important for the execution of the event.

4. incentives

one question potential sponsors may have when reviewing your proposal is, "what's in it for us?" this is your turn to highlight how they can benefit from working with you.

during your initial research and preliminary contact with the company, you should have learned what the company is looking for. this could be a better brand image or exposure to a target segment. use your proposal to highlight how this event will help them accomplish their goals.

many brands can also be incentivized by being included in the event in the follow ways:

• adding their logo to all event marketing collateral
• giving them a designated booth at the event
• offering a presentation slot

5. a personal touch

finally, your proposal won't be complete without adding a personal element to your presentation that ties right back to the sponsor.

there's nothing worse than a generic pitch. make sure to include elements in your proposal that connect you to the sponsor. whether that's their market entry story, their values, or their latest initiatives. include anything that can help close the gap and convince your sponsor you're meant to work together.

securing a corporate sponsor requires a lot of planning and strategy. but if done right, not only will you gain a partner for your next event, but you'll foster a relationship with a brand that can continue to support you in the future.

 

originally published apr 13, 2021 7:00:00 am, updated april 13 2021

when instagram reels first launched, many users treated it like tiktok 2.0. they posted their videos on tiktok first, then reuploaded that same content to reels. now, instagram is saying, "hey, stop that."

on its creators' account, the company announced it would be on the lookout for recycled content and stop recommending it to users on the reels tab.

download now: free instagram for business kit + templates

i mean, they've got a point. some videos lose their quality when they're reuploaded and become blurry, which can dissuade viewers. with this new approach, brands can provide fresh content that generates more engagement, and instagram can improve its reels adoption rate.

so, now that you're tasked with making instagram reels, get inspired by these examples below.

instagram reels examples to inspire you

1. people's revolt

what better way to make your first reels than by introducing your followers to your team? in this video, people's revolt does three things right. first, they use a viral sound in their video, which can help them reach more users.

that sound also includes a call-to-action to business owners and encourages them to engage with the post. given that the company offers digital marketing and pr services, it's a great way to connect with their target audience.

they also keep the video simple. no fancy props or design – just the sound, the team, and the copy. it's really all you need for a good reels video.

2. sassy woof

if you want another way to introduce followers to your team, take a page out of the ‘90s tv show playbook, like "full house" and "family matters." that's what this brand did.

sassy woof introduced its staff (which included one furry boss) with the full house theme song playing in the background – it's the pawfect approach (don't look at me, they started with the puns first).

3. anima iris

for your next reels video, consider pulling the curtain back and showing your followers behind-the-scenes content. in this example, luxury purse brand anima iris gives followers a peek into the product shots for an upcoming campaign.

consumers want brands to be more authentic, and content like this does can humanize your brand and help build a stronger connection with your audience.

it's also an effective strategy leading up to a launch, as it builds anticipation and excitement within your following.

4. glamnetic

who said you need fancy lighting and equipment for product marketing?

in this video, glamnetic uses a simple setup to market its makeup corrector pen, the latest product launch from the brand.

one benefit of using instagram reels is the music embed feature. as long as it's available in instagram's library — which most songs are — you can use any song you want in your video. it doesn't constitute an official advertisement, so you are not restricted by copyright laws.

5. jumz.accessories

yes, this is an example of the recycled content that instagram will now make less discoverable. you can clearly see the tiktok watermark, but that aside, this is a great example of the type of content brands should be embracing.

it's product marketing but it's a little more subtle. in this video titled "how to style our mini handbags," a model styles the handbags with different outfits, showcasing the product's versatility.

it's unclear whether the video is produced by a jumz team member or an influencer, but what we do know is that it checks off all the boxes for a good reels video.

6. apple

if your team doesn't have the resources or time to dedicate to brainstorm reels content, consider outsourcing it.

in this instance, apple commissioned creative studio incite design to make a how-to video using the iphone 12. the end result is a quick tutorial of two apple products that highlights the phone's slo-mo effect, a key product feature.

7. missionrecruit

when in doubt, share some tips and tricks with your audience. they add value to your audience and present another opportunity to gain some credibility.

missionrecruit executed this well with this video, which gives women three ways to dress for their next interview. as an employment recruitment firm, this type of content is in perfect alignment with the brand.

the best part? the reels video also doubles as user-generated content (ugc), as they featured pictures from influencers.

8. netflix

when it comes to social media, netflix doesn't take itself too seriously.

they've succeeded in tapping into what viewers want and how they want it. their reels content is no different.

this hilarious skit is meant to show the point of view (pov) of a plant looking at someone crying over a show on netflix. it's so simple but if the comments under the post are any indication, netflix hit the nail right on the head.

just as sounds go viral on short-form video platforms, so do special effects like this one. when the opportunity strikes, join in on the fun.

9. skillshare

the time limit for a reels video is 30 seconds. it's also just the right length for a teaser video to create anticipation ahead of a new launch.

to promote a new course, skillshare posted a snippet of the course where kelis, recording artist and chef bringing all the boys to the yard, gives a tip on mixing flavors.

it's a cooking show, so they could have just created a montage of what the course will cover. instead, they took an interesting tidbit from the course and used that to attract viewers.

another important detail to note here is the use of captions. accessibility should always be top of mind when creating any content. beyond their importance for deaf or hard-of-hearing people, non-native english speakers can also benefit from captioned videos. and let's not forget those who regularly watch videos on mute or may be watching your reels in a loud environment.

captions broaden your video's reach, so there's never a reason not to use it.

10. adobe

creativity is a core tenet of adobe's brand identity. so their reels, and most of their social media content, celebrate their users' creativity.

this is another great example of user-generated content. for it to work, the ugc has to match your brand and audience.

in this video, the artist takes a trip back in time and shows how adobe photoshop has evolved over the years. one might look at this video and think, "what's the point?"

well, not every piece of content you make is meant to lead to a direct sale. sometimes, a sale isn't the goal. sometimes, the goal is to build brand awareness, foster a community, or create stronger messaging. in this case, adobe is already a household name, so these posts may inspire and celebrate, rather than promote.

11. hubspot

i love a numbered list. i know exactly what i'm getting and there's no surprise.

and from a marketer's standpoint, this type of content is easily repurposed. let's say you had a listicle with this information. well, now you can use that same information to create a 30-second reels video.

you can also use this format to direct traffic to your blog post by introducing a few items from the list and inviting your followers to read the full list on your website.

there are so many ways to play with instagram reels. try some sounds and effects and see what resonates with your audience. once you get in a groove, you'll see how easy it is to make short and effective video content.

 

originally published mar 9, 2021 7:00:00 am, updated march 25 2021

every couple of years, we revisit something and place it on the chopping block. in the new millennium, we had the y2k computer scare. in 2012, we feared the world would end and we would all just poof. when technology took a more important role in our lives, we assumed all print publications would go bankrupt. now, with the rise of video and podcasts, it's blogging's turn to feel the heat.

→ download now: 6 free blog post templates

i reached out to marketers with backgrounds in product marketing, seo, youtube, podcasting, and more and asked them, "are blogs dead? " here's what they said.

in all fairness, this question surrounding blogs is not without reason. google trends shows that in the last five years, the interest in blogs has steadily declined worldwide.

image source

in the u.s. within the same five-year span, podcasts have risen in popularity and surpassed blogs in searches.

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however, marketers still consider blogging a top marketing channel. ross simmonds, a b2b marketer and the founder of the content marketing agency foundation, says blogging has helped his clients triple their traffic and accelerate their sales close rates.

"at foundation, blogging with intent has helped us generate millions of dollars in the pipeline for both us and our clients," says simmonds. "it's also armed us with the ability to elevate our brand's position in the market and, most importantly, truly help others in our industry learn and unlock new opportunities."

with that said, the blogging landscape has changed over the years. lisa toner, director of content at hubspot, says it's not enough to just have a blog nowadays.

"you need to consistently create content that is more valuable than your competition's content. you need to be an seo expert to get your articles ranking on page one of google, and you need a distribution strategy to promote your content across all the channels your audience likes to consume content on," says toner. "it's a lot more complex to win at blogging now, but if you can master it, it's worth the investment."

transparency is a bigger responsibility, especially as social justice becomes more important to consumers.

"you need to think about how people see your brand compared to your competition. everyone has their own unique selling position (usp) and what they want to put forward, but what users do is compare," says sandra mpouma, head of digital marketing at rationalfx. "so, in terms of business strategy, create loyalty, trust, [and] be transparent and competitive, which is very important nowadays."

blogs vs. other marketing channels

now that other content marketing channels – namely video and podcasting – have surpassed blogs, will blogs soon become redundant? well, it all depends on the user personas you're targeting. but even as other platforms grow, blogs still offer many advantages.

"podcasting is not without its own set of limitations. there are plenty of discoverability and audience growth challenges. at this point, blogs have a pretty well-dusted playbook for scaling. that's not true for podcasts," says matthew brown, senior podcast producer at hubspot. "a company can use its likely limited resources to invest in a blog that will basically give consistent, easily measurable, and reliable performance. blogs also have a direct line to the company's bottom dollar, podcasts do not."

nelson chacon, principal marketing manager for youtube at hubspot, highlights that there's no reason to choose between two platforms if your team has the bandwidth to tackle both. if it aligns with your user personas, you can engage your audience from several angles.

"creating a blog constructed of articles around the benefits of your product will be helpful. having a video showcasing its use or how to install it would be beneficial for your audience," says chacon. "home depot has done a fantastic job of doing this. while they inform and educate their customers on their products, they also add a quick 'how-to' for the more knowledgeable person who just needs a short answer explained in a video."

as for social media, annabelle nyst, a senior content strategist who focuses on social media initiatives at hubspot, says it's hard to compare it to blogs as each platform serves different purposes.

"social content doesn't always have the shelf life or the discoverability of blog posts," says nyst. "it's more about consistently meeting your audience where they are, in the right moments, engaging with them one-on-one, and establishing trust via community building."

she adds that social media can be a great way to amplify your blog posts. and vice versa, blog posts can serve as inspiration for social content. if using both, nyst recommends pulling the most compelling points from your blog posts, creating social-first content, and using it to drive traffic back to your blog.

with all that said, blogs don't come without their disadvantages. aj beltis, a content and acquisition manager at hubspot, mentions the high drop-off rates often seen in blog posts.

"blogs lack the interactivity that many crave due to its nature as written content," says beltis. "this challenges blog writers to hook their readers in a few short sentences without having the benefit of special effects or audio engineers available to their video and podcast creating counterparts."

what it often comes down to is your brand goals and which channels will help you meet them. podcasts, for example, are better for branding while blogs serve better for top-of-the-funnel engagement.

"blog posts are an acquisition juggernaut. there's a clear path that any seasoned marketer can follow. podcasts, however, best serve as a brand opportunity," says brown. "you wouldn't measure a series of blog posts on their brand uplift ability, just like you wouldn't measure a podcast show's lead generation. that is unless you like gray hairs and a serious lack of sleep."

why blogs are still impactful

from an investment perspective, blogs may be a better long-term investment for lead generation.

"i could spend $200k to hire a full-time writer, seo expert, and conversion rate optimization (cro) specialist to work on my blog. by combining those skill sets, i'm going to be able to create a blog that drives organic traffic to my website and converts it into leads for my business all year long," says toner. "or, i could put the same $200k into an advertising campaign and maybe get a couple thousand leads over the course of the ad campaign. but once the campaign ends, so does my lead flow."

toner adds that the majority of hubspot's blog-generated leads come from older blog posts. this means that blogging can be a great lead source long after posts are published. aja frost, who leads the english seo team at hubspot, echoes this sentiment.

"organic traffic is more important than ever. unlike paid traffic, which stops coming in the second your budget runs out, organic traffic is mostly self-sustaining after you've put in the time and effort to create a blog post," she says.

she adds that most content management systems (cms) have seo tools integrated into their platforms, which makes it easier to optimize your posts.

blogging can also be valuable in shaping a brand's product positioning.

"blogs are still one of the best channels we have to create narratives around our product," says hubspot product marketing manager alex girard. "they offer us the opportunity to address trends we see in the market, how those trends impact the reader, and how our product might be able to help them meet that trend successfully. they're also great for telling customer success stories."

he adds that when using your blog to market your product, the content doesn't have to be promotional. when you establish yourself as a thought leader and gain trust from your audience, they will organically look into your products and services.

with that said, it's going to take more than good content to have a successful blog.

"growth without a goal isn't going to help your business – if 10,000 people are reading your blog, but none of them fit your persona, that's not going to do anything for your company," says hubspot's senior blog manager karla cook. "focus on something attainable, like generating new contacts, and make sure every post you're putting out has that goal in mind."

she adds that one of the biggest mistakes brands make is creating content only for people at the decision-making stage. with so many stages between reading a blog and making a purchase, marketers should have posts geared at users in every stage with corresponding offers. learn more about that through hubspot's business blogging course.

from an seo perspective, brands may also struggle with generating traffic because they're thinking blog first, link building second.

"what i often notice is that marketers see 'blogging' and 'link building' as two different disciplines. first, they write the blog posts, then they think about how to earn backlinks to them," says irina nica, a senior marketing manager at hubspot who works on product awareness through outreach initiatives. "instead, they should include linkable assets into their regular content calendar, alongside other types of articles that are maybe designed for generating organic or social media traffic."

despite the many benefits we've gone over, blogging isn't always the best strategy for every brand. why? well, what if your ideal user persona doesn't read blogs? what if they prefer emails instead?

"some brands have great email communication and workflows where they provide people with downloadable offers where they don't have to go somewhere else to get the information, it's just in their inbox straight away," says mpouma. "you don't necessarily need a blog as long as you're offering something in exchange. i think the blog has always been that: offer something for free in exchange for that user interaction."

so, in that case, blogs wouldn't exactly be dead, more so irrelevant.

why marketing isn't dead

looking at things from a broader perspective, blogs are just an extension of marketing. some have suggested that marketing is dead, which makes marketers like me wonder if there's something we don't know.

based on recent data, marketing is still influential. and that applies to both traditional strategies and digital initiatives. statista reported that in 2019, content marketing generated over $42 billion in revenue worldwide.

"there's a reason why nike and mcdonalds continue to invest millions every month in marketing even though they're already household names. there's a reason why the top musicians and artists still do promotion prior to their latest album release," says simmonds. "marketing isn't to be seen as just an expense. it's an investment. and if you make an investment that is rooted in a strategic plan — that investment should return dividends for years (maybe decades) to come."

the key takeaway is that while not all marketing tactics work for every brand, it's unlikely that blogs will stop being valuable to brands in the foreseeable future. so for now, blogs, you can rest and step off the chopping block.

 

originally published feb 23, 2021 7:00:00 am, updated january 11 2022

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a platform makes it possible to connect tools, teams, data, and processes under one digital roof. it’s the nucleus of all systems and allows you to connect all your favorite tools seamlessly using integrations. an integration allows disparate systems to talk to each other. by joining tools via integrations, a change made in system a automatically carries through to system b.

leveraging platforms and integrations hasn’t always been commonplace. a couple of years ago, hubspot research found that 82% of salespeople and marketers lost up to an hour per day managing siloed tools — a costly mistake.

today, employees recognize that integrating technologies to do their jobs isn’t an option but a requirement. individual employees are opting to connect their tools and, on average, leverage eight apps to do their job.

employees and businesses alike run on connected applications. okta found that it’s small-mid sized customers (defined as companies with less than 2,000 employees) average 73 apps — up 38% from last year. while larger customers (companies with over 2,000 employees) leverage closer to 130 apps — up 68% from the past year.

from personal life to work, platforms have become a staple in our day-to-day. these platforms are well-oiled machines that initiate seamless connections between technologies. today, the consumer not only anticipates but also expects their systems to connect — raising the bar for companies to make it possible.

but more tools shouldn’t mean more friction. at hubspot, we want to help our customers connect their tools on our platform to reduce friction and grow better. customers should have tools and solutions to solve their needs, regardless of if hubspot built them. connecting tools allows for uniform data, processes, and experiences. this year, we’re experimenting with ways to expose integrations to our customers to increase adoption.

however, as a platform scales, it becomes increasingly tricky for customers to navigate exhaustive lists of integrations and identify what's relevant to them. we recognized this at hubspot and began experimenting with paid ads to see if this could be a valuable distribution channel to our customers.

our experiment on paid integration ads

at the end of q4, the platform marketing team decided to use some leftover budget to try a channel we hadn’t yet proven viable for integration adoption — paid ads.

we hypothesized that we could influence the adoption of an integration through paid ads. to test our hypothesis, we ran a retargeting campaign for three integrations on facebook. the ads were surfaced to hubspot’s retargetable audience.

these ads featured three hubspot-built integrations: slack, wordpress, and eventbrite. we selected these integrations because they are natively built (built by hubspot) and structured in a way that allowed us to measure multi-touch attribution.

by leveraging google tag manager on the in-app integration directory, custom utm parameters, and funnel reports, we were able to measure all steps from viewing the ad to installing the integration. before launching the campaign, we tested our google analytics custom funnel reports by completing all actions — including installing the integrations to make sure they worked as designed.

before running the campaign, we made the conscious decision to split our budget evenly across all three integration ads — regardless if one ad outperformed the others. we did this to minimize variables for the experiment.

because we ran ads through november and december, we decreased spending from $130 dollars a day to $5 a day on and around holidays. we did this to “pause” the campaign on days where the ads would get lost in the noise, as this data could skew overall results.

lastly, we determined our success metrics. because we didn’t have apples-to-apples benchmark data for integration paid ads, we worked with our paid team to establish reasonably similar benchmark data. while it wasn’t a direct comparison, we were curious to see how ads could influence multi-step actions. we evaluated our performance based on click-through rates (ctr), cost per click (cpc), and cost per acquisition.

experiment results

the integration ads surpassed our benchmark data for click-through rate (ctr), cost per click (cpc), and cost per acquisition at the 7-, 30-, and 44-day marks — supporting our initial hypothesis and prediction.

the 30-day ctr for our integration ads was higher than the 7-day and 30-day ctr for the benchmark data, which is surprising as we expected the audience to become more fatigued over time.

fatigue can be measured by the frequency a user views the same ad. for example, at hubspot, we look at if a viewer has seen the same ad over 2.5 times within 30 days, which we consider high. additionally, we kept an eye out for an increasing cost per acquisition.

paid ads for these integrations was attractive to our retargetable audience and a legitimate acquisition point for hubspot. it helped us influence adoption of integrations --- resulting in hundreds of installs in the featured technologies. it also provided us with a data point we’ve been curious to see — the cost of an install.

when considering the value and acquisition cost of an install, it’s helpful to understand the impact on the business. at hubspot, our customers with integrated stacks of technologies tend to be more successful — and they stick around.

this makes sense — as the more apps installed, the higher the likelihood someone will stick around. this is a common finding among platform companies.

on a recent trip to san francisco hubspot’s vp of platform ecosystem scott brinker found that “a common pattern on platforms is that the more apps a customer integrates into their system, the higher their retention rate will be — for both the platform and the apps integrated into it.”

connecting their tools allows customers to access all their data in one core system while staying flexible and adaptable to their needs as they grow.

since hubspot doesn’t currently charge integrators to be part of our ecosystem, spending money to drive a net new install may seem counterintuitive. when weighing the long-term benefits of an install for customer value and retention, we are able to determine what is a reasonable cost per install. the experiment cost was worth the insight, as it allowed us to gain a baseline understanding of the cost per acquisition of an integration install.

ultimately you can determine if the long-term value outweighs the upfront cost. (while directional value is a good baseline, you’d ideally look to lifetime value [ltv] to establish actual value.)

what this means for hubspot — and for you

our experiment with paid ads outperformed our expectations and helped us reach a larger audience than we anticipated. it became clear that this was and is a viable channel for us to increase adoption of integrations and better understand the cost per integration install.

future looking, we could alter who we target to see how it impacts ctr. we could leverage enrichment software like datanyze or clearbit to see if users have tools and cross-reference install data to create a list of folks using tools we integrate with but have yet to connect to. alternatively, we could leverage this data to target a group of users going through onboarding to encourage them to connect existing tools to hubspot.

additionally, we could look through the required steps to connect an integration and consider how we could reduce them to simplify the process for our users and potentially increase our ctr.

not a platform company? no problem. this retargeting campaigns can be leveraged to evaluate other valuable actions for your users, such as sign-ups, free trials, or event registration.

 

originally published jan 28, 2021 7:30:00 am, updated january 28 2021