Author: Franz Malten Buemann

Within the past two years, emerging technologies like NFTs and the metaverse have gotten a lot of hype. But how exactly are brands leveraging it? We’ll cover that and more in this article.
Plus, we’ll tackle where small businesses fit in this space and how they can leverage emerging tech.

Virtual Experiences
1. Patrón Spirits
In August 2022, Patrón held a virtual pop-up event in the Metaverse for a summer campaign.

This limited-time event, held on two consecutive weekends, was hosted on Decentraland, a virtual browser-based platform.
Participating users could visit three pop-up events dedicated to the brand’s three summer cocktails.
There was also a giveaway element in the virtual experience, in which users who collected badges through quests would be entered to win a trip and NFT wearables (virtual clothing and accessories used to dress up your avatar).
The benefit of hosting an immersive virtual pop-up event is that it’s accessible to all, which allows the brand to reach a wider audience. The metaverse is also a hot topic this year, so brands leveraging this technology can benefit from social buzz.
2. Nike
In late 2021, this shoe brand joined the virtual world by introducing Nikeland.

Made in partnership with gaming platform Roblox, Nikeland invites users to get their bodies moving.
On the website, they say Nikeland gives “classic games a fresh twist.” While the target audience is the younger generation, anyone who likes gaming can enjoy Nikeland.
What’s in it for Nike? Well, users play these games while styled in Nike gear – from shoes to clothes and accessories. This serves as a subtle marketing play to promote active products from the brand.
NFTs
3. Paramount
In April 2022, Paramount announced that in partnership with RECUR, it would drop its first digital collection featuring Star Trek on paramount.xyz.

Creating its own NFT marketplace, Paramount allows users to collect NFT ships from the Star Trek Universe.
In a press release, the president of consumer products and experiences Pam Kaufman said this collection serves as another expression of fandom, which will allow fans to own a part of a popular franchise.
The company has faced some backlash with some fans arguing that Star Trek and NFTs do not align, namely due to the environmental impact.

NO NO NO NO NO NO. This is against everything Trek should stand for. This is the anti-Trek. — Michael Crawford (@MiklCraw4d)
April 4, 2022

The brand has since released additional NFT collections from popular shows and TV shows, such as Top Gun, Rugrats, and Hey! Arnold.
4. Heineken
In a contrarian play, Heineken leveraged the metaverse to highlight that some moments are best shared in person.
In April 2022, Heneiken introduced Heneiken Silver, a virtual beer that pokes fun at the digital world and invites users to enjoy real life.

Their site features fun copy like this:

With so many brands wondering how or even if they should join this trend, Heineken shows how to successfully do so while staying true to your brand.
AI
5. Airbnb
Everyone tells you “content is king” but what we don’t talk about enough is how much time and how many resources creating high-quality content takes.
For both small and large companies, content is a large investment that usually offers long-term value rather than short-term benefits. As a result, brands will often neglect this area.
Looking to solve this are Frase.io, Jasper.ai, and other AI-powered writing tools in the market. In a matter of seconds, AI writing software can write anything from a social media caption to a long-form blog post – all based on the information you feed it.
What’s great about these AI writing tools is that they take the legwork out of writing and allow you to focus on polishing instead of building from scratch.
Companies like Airbnb, Coursera, Google, and Logitech all leverage artificial intelligence to support their content marketing efforts.
How to Use Experimental or New Technology on an SMB Level
These days, it seems like everyone is talking about web3, the metaverse, and NFTs. This may cause some panic among small business owners who feel they’re not able to keep up.
However, the truth is this space is very much experimental. In fact, our State of Consumer Trends report revealed that most consumers don’t know or understand what web3 even is.
So, for small businesses, there’s no pressure to jump into the metaverse quite yet.
Small brands may not have the large resources to launch NFT collections and host virtual events. However, they can embrace experimentation and try new things in ways that align with their brands.
Take luxury retail brand Hanifa. In 2020, fashion brands weren’t able to host fashion shows to showcase new designs.
In May, the brand went live on Instagram and hosted an innovative 3D fashion show debuting their new capsule collection.
Each garment was seen in 3D as invisible models strutted down the runway against a black backdrop, creating a stunning show.

This approach blew away everyone in the fashion industry and beyond, as it was the first of its kind. In an interview with Vogue, founder and designer Anifa Mvuemba revealed that she always wanted to do a show like this and that the pandemic offered the perfect opportunity.
The takeaway here is that whether it’s the metaverse or something else, emerging technology is all about experimenting and being creative.

These days, it feels like everyone is on social media. But make no mistake, not everyone is on every channel.
As marketers, it’s important to know your audience’s favorite social channels. For instance, if you’re selling retirement homes, it’s safe to forgo Snapchat, where only 3.7% of users are over 50.
HubSpot surveyed over 1,000 consumers across the U.S to find out which social media channels are gaining steam — and which are falling behind. Read on to discover which platforms are most popular with consumers in 2022.

Social Media Channels Gaining Steam in 2022
Facebook
Facebook currently attracts 2.89 billion monthly users, more than any other social platform. A high concentration of its audience belongs to Millennials, Gen X-ers, and Baby Boomers.
In the last three months, a whopping 91% of Baby Boomers, 88% of Millennials, and 83% of Gen X-ers have visited Facebook.
On top of that, Gen X and Baby Boomers rank Facebook as their favorite social media app and their most visited app. If you’re looking to target older demographics with social media marketing, Facebook is your best bet.

That said, engagement drops significantly for Gen Z audiences. Just 12% of Gen Z-ers say they use Facebook more than any other platform, and only 55% have visited Facebook in the past three months.
TikTok
TikTok is known as the platform for Gen Z — and the data confirms it. In fact, over half of Gen Z consumers are on TikTok. Plus, Gen Z-ers say TikTok is the platform they use most, pulling ahead of Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube.
It doesn’t stop there: TikTok is also picking up steam with other demographics. 36% of TikTok users in 2021 were between 35 and 54 years old, a 10% increase from the year before. That said, usage amongst Baby Boomers is still low, with only 7% visiting the app in the last three months.
It’s also worth mentioning that TikTok has the highest engagement rate out of any other social platform, averaging 10.85 minutes per session. In short, TikTok’s snackable content is addictive for a variety of age groups.
YouTube
YouTube has a user base of 2 billion+ people and receives over 34 billion monthly visits, according to data we pulled from SimilarWeb.
YouTube is popular with Gen Z, Millennial, and Gen X audiences, almost in equal measure. In the last three months, 83% of Millennials have visited YouTube, followed by 81% of Gen Z, and 79% of Gen X. For Baby Boomers, YouTube is their second favorite social media app, just behind Facebook.
YouTube is also a top favorite amongst video marketers. In fact, more than a quarter of video marketers plan to invest in YouTube than any other platform in 2022, according to HubSpot’s Video Marketing Report. In addition, video marketers ranked YouTube as the second-best platform for ROI.
Instagram
According to SimilarWeb, the Instagram app has over 78 million monthly active users, making it one of the most popular apps today.
Although Gen Z visits TikTok the most, they rank Instagram as their favorite social media app — as do Millennials.
Instagram is also holding steady with older audiences. In the last three months, 55% of Gen X-ers have visited Instagram, followed by more than a quarter (27%) of Baby Boomers. However, if you’re looking to target these audiences specifically, Facebook or YouTube could be a better option.
On the marketing side, more than half of video marketers rank Instagram as the best platform for ROI, engagement, and lead generation. If you’re looking to dive more into video marketing, Instagram is an attractive option.
Social Media Channels Losing Steam in 2022
Tumblr
After numerous acquisitions and near-revivals, Tumblr has yet to recreate its early- to mid-2000s popularity.
According to our report, Tumblr is most popular with Millennials, but only 11% have visited the platform in the past three months.
Surprisingly, Gen Z has visited Tumblr at nearly the same rate (10%). In fact, a report by Quartz found that 61% of new Tumblr users in 2022 were under the age of 24. This begs an important question: is another revival around the corner?
While it’s still too early to call, we recommend focusing on platforms that pull stronger numbers for the audience you want to target.
Twitch
Although Twitch is top dog in the live-streaming space, all major streaming platforms — including Twitch, Facebook Gaming, and YouTube Live — are seeing a drop in total hours watched this year.
In the last three months, only 15% of Millennials have visited YouTube, followed by 13% of Gen Z, and 11% of Gen X.
Decreased viewership isn’t the only concern for Twitch — people are also streaming less. Year-over-year, hours streamed on the platform declined 16% from 2021 to 2022.
According to HubSpot’s Video Marketing Report, video marketers report low engagement and ROI on the platform, and only 10% of marketers plan to leverage Twitch for the first time in 2022.
Back to You
One question remains: what channels are best for your social media marketing? Should you stick to mature platforms, like Facebook and YouTube, or test the waters with new platforms, like TikTok?
Ultimately, your decision should hinge on one crucial factor: your target audience. Putting your audience at the center of your social media strategy means prioritizing the platforms that will reach them most effectively.
And remember, social media marketing is all about experimenting. There’s no need to commit to one platform for the rest of time — in fact, it may be useful to run side experiments on different platforms to see what results you get.

According to our 2022 Marketing Trends Survey report, 34% of marketers plan to stop leveraging podcasts or other audio content in 2022.

It’s likely because of the major roadblocks that marketers still face in the podcast marketing space. Two podcast experts weigh in on the biggest challenges and strategies to tackle them.
Organic Discoverability
Currently, there are two main ways to discover podcasts: Search through top-ranking podcasts in various genres or get recommendations based on what you’re already listening to.
This makes it very hard for lesser-known shows to get discovered organically.
“It’s really hard for podcasters who are creating amazing content and are great creators to figure out ways to get in front of their audience,” says Alanah Joseph, head of creator partnerships on the HubSpot Podcast team.
At HubSpot, Joseph says our podcast network addresses this by leaning into our cross-promotion strategy – this means placing ads across various shows across our network while ensuring audience alignment.
“Instead of going out and trying to find new audiences, we are leveraging the audiences that we already have and sharing those audiences in a way that helps boost discoverability for the podcasts,” she says. “And then also because we have a community and we can leverage that ad inventory.”
However, not every brand can go this route. Brands with access to a large ad budget opt for paid advertising, as that ensures you will gain more exposure and reach your desired audience.
“Short-term strategies will most often be paid media, like promoting on a podcast player or running Facebook ads,” says Principal Podcast Producer at HubSpot Darren Clarke, as a way to tackle discoverability. “These plays usually give great results, but won’t necessarily be ‘sticky.’”
Other tactics include cross-posting on multiple channels and growing your social media presence. Many podcasters post the video version of their content on YouTube to broaden their reach and get an SEO boost.
On social media, discovery is much easier. You can build a community there, market your podcast, and direct traffic to your series.
“These types of organic growth strategies take a long time to register any significant results, but over time, if done well, will essentially give you much more control over your distribution,” he says.
Growing a community is another key way to help with discoverability. Things like attending podcasting events and reaching out to fellow podcasters will help you build a network of people who can share their audiences with you.
For instance, being a guest on another podcast whose audience aligns with yours can be incredibly valuable for brands with limited resources.
“The audience gets to meet you, gets to learn about you, get to understand your values, [and] why you have a podcast,” she says. “All of those things are important for not only driving traffic but also building retention and loyalty.”
Clarke echoes this sentiment, saying that when you guest host, having a compelling message and an inviting call to action is necessary for it to serve as a growth lever.
He further cautions that promotion, marketing, audience building, and community development are all growth mechanisms that require different approaches. As such, they’ll require a different set of expectations and ROI.
Data Insights
As marketers, data is our lifeline. It tells us who our audience is, what they’re responding to, and much more. Joseph says with podcasts, data insights are limited.
“With tracking and reporting, the biggest issue in the podcast industry is as a listener, you are not able to accept cookies,” she says.
This means that podcast marketers are restricted in the information they’re able to gather on their audience, particularly tracking how they’re behaving after listening to an episode.
What you typically get is the following:

Geolocation
Listens (unique listens, average listening time, etc)
Subscriber count and trends
Downloads (total downloads, average downloads, etc)

And often, Joseph says, you have to compile data from several sources which is not always accurate or reliable.
One key piece of data that’s missing is listener demographics, such as gender, age, and education. As a result, building out a strong social media presence becomes even more important in understanding your audience.
From LinkedIn, for instance, you can discover a person’s title, identify where they are in their career, and why they’re tuning into your podcast.
Despite these roadblocks, Joseph believes that tech is finally catching up with the world of podcasting.
“There’s a lot of innovation right now and a lot of people are developing cool technology to support this large group of creators,” she says. “So, I feel optimistic that some of these things will be solved.”
Diversity in Voices
While this challenge isn’t specific to podcast marketing, it does affect the industry as a whole.
Joseph mentions that there’s still a lot of work to be done regarding the diversity of voices in podcasting.
“In the beginning [of building the HubSpot Podcast Network], more so than now, that was the big challenge that I faced,” she says, “How do I create a network that’s reflective of the American workforce?”
This is especially true in the business genre, where top-ranking shows are not led by BIPOC creators. As a network, you want to have a list of strong shows but you also want to make sure it’s balanced in representation.
“I’d love to see more women and more people of color rise to the charts in our genre specifically,” she says. “That’s something that we’re actively trying to work through and have been for a while.”
There’s no doubt that there are still a lot of challenges within podcast marketing, as platforms and search engines catch up to this thriving industry. However, there are still many workarounds that brands can leverage to reach their target listeners and grow their subscriber base.

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