Author: Franz Malten Buemann

As a legally blind woman, it took me years to disclose the full extent of my disability to employers. When I did, I downplayed my blindness as “just a bit of nearsightedness,” or I had to give a disclaimer of, “It’s never held me back and I have references to prove it.”
And, if I had to go back in time, I’d do the same thing.
Why? Even if I had a great manager, I couldn’t deny the stats that were engrained in my mind. Although one in five U.S. adults has a disability, more than one-third of corporate employees report negative bias or discrimination at work.
If that stat seems tough to swallow, imagine reading it as a young professional with a disability.
Because of hard data, combined with the fact that I knew no one like me in my field, I was terrified to mention my disability.         
Now, at HubSpot, I’ve safely opened up about my blindness. Through doing so, I’ve met others with disabilities. I’ve even helped other colleagues to form HubSpot’s first Disability Alliance group, which provides education, virtual meetups, and resources to our allies and others in the disabled community.
One thing I’ve discovered is that disability impacts almost all of us, regardless of race, gender, or geographic region. If you don’t have a visible or unseen disability right now, you might learn how to navigate one as you age. If not, you might have a friend or family member that navigates a disability every day.
Unfortunately, there are still employers that will ignore someone’s achievements due to physical or mental disabilities. Sadly, because disabled people might be limited by location or financial restraints, they might still have to endure judgment in the workplace to earn a living wage.
Luckily, in 2021, we can and should work towards changing this. And, there’s no better time to start than in July (a.k.a. Disability Pride Month).

These endeavors encourage those with disabilities to show pride in what makes them unique while encouraging allies to promote the visibility and representation of those in this group.
Disability Pride Month is also an important time to look back and reflect on all the great strides that the disabled community has made in the past. When we look back on positive historical outcomes, it can motivate us to act for a change and a better future for those with disabilities.
Why Marketers and Businesses Should Embrace Disability Pride
Although Disability Pride Month is only observed in July and primarily within the United States, Disability Pride can be celebrated every day by marketers, managers, and companies around the globe.
While marketers can take time to brainstorm new ways to make their campaigns, offerings, and content more inclusive and accessible, managers and employers can consider how they can help all employees receive the accommodations and support they need to succeed.
To inspire future action and change, here’s a brief history of how disability rights have changed and improved around the world — leading up to Disability Pride Month, declared in 2015. This is not an exhaustive list of wins for the disabled community, but it highlights a few people, landmark court cases, and international events that spread disability awareness or encouraged disability equality.
A Timeline of Disability Pride
Disability in the Late 1800s and Early 1900s
1880-1986: The Era of Helen Keller
Helen Keller, a deaf and blind woman who was nearly institutionalized for her impairments as a child, proved many skeptics wrong when receiving degrees from Radcliffe College, within Harvard University; Cambridge School in Weston; and Wright-Humason School of the Deaf.
Keller went on to work in public service and wrote a number of best-selling books.
Keller’s early life and work with teacher Anne Sullivan were chronicled in a groundbreaking book titled “The Miracle Worker.”
1930: The Mental Treatment Act 1930
This was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that permitted voluntary admission to, and outpatient treatment within, psychiatric hospitals. At this point, “asylums” transitioned to “mental hospitals.”
1946: Psychiatric Hospital Employees Tried for Murder
German courts tried members of the Hadamar Psychiatric Hospital staff for the murders of nearly 15,000 citizens at the facility. Adolf Wahlmann and Irmgard Huber, the chief physician, and the head nurse, were convicted. This trial was a landmark case that put the livelihood importance on those with mental illnesses as those without them.
1947: Japan Enacts Accessibility Laws
During this year, Japan enacted three laws including

The School Education Law: Provided education for disabled children such as general classes, special classes, non-residential classes, special schools, and itinerant teaching.

The Workmen’s Accident Compensation Insurance Law: Provided disability pension and disability lump-sum payments, as well as welfare services such as special allowance, medical services, health care, or supply of prosthetic appliances.

1947: The Mail Law: Made postage for Braille paper and recorded mail for visually impaired persons are free of charge, and parcels for disabled people can be mailed at half the cost. The postage for periodicals published by disabled person groups can be mailed at a small charge.

1973: Rehabilitation Act. Section 504 is Passed by US Congress
The passage of section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act guaranteed that people could not be denied services or federal funding on just the basis of disability. It also recognized those with disabilities as a minority for the first time. This law was also incredibly historic because it labeled the exclusion or segregation of children or adults with disabilities as illegal discrimination. Because of this, disabled people were now able to be educated or work in similar roles as those without disabilities.
The landmark law passage was highly publicized and led to more conversations about disability rights and equality in the U.S. Ultimately, it was seen as the foundation for the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Disability Pride Celebrations Begin with the ADA
1988-1990: The Americans With Disabilities Act is Proposed and Passed
The ADA was drafted in 1988, brought through Congress within the next two years, and was ultimately passed and celebrated by President George H.W. Bush in 1990.
In its earliest form, the act aimed to protect those with disabilities from discrimination both in and out of the workplace. A few of the act’s major regulations include:

State and local governments must give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from all of their programs, services, and activities (e.g. public education, employment, transportation, recreation, health care, social services, courts, voting, and town meetings).
Employers with 15 or more employees must provide qualified individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from the full range of employment-related opportunities available to others.
The act prohibits discrimination in recruitment, hiring, promotions, training, pay, social activities, and other privileges of employment and restricts questions that can be asked about an applicant’s disability before a job offer is made.
All employers must make reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities unless it results in an undue hardship.
Public transportation authorities can’t discriminate against people with disabilities in the provision of their services.
Public transit must also comply with requirements for accessibility in newly purchased vehicles, make good faith efforts to purchase or lease accessible used buses, remanufacture buses in an accessible manner.
Paratransit must also be provided on fixed-route bus or rail systems.
Businesses must comply with basic nondiscrimination requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation, and unequal treatment. They also must comply with specific architectural standards for new and altered buildings, such as reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures. Additionally, public businesses must remove physical disability barriers in buildings.

Disability Pride Celebrations Begin
The first Disability Pride Day was held in Boston in 1990 to coincide with the passing of the ADA. Later, in 2004, the first Disability Pride Parade in the U.S. was held in Chicago, which made the celebration an annual tradition in the city after the first drew thousands of people into the city.

Image Source
Disability Pride did not become a full month until 2015 — when Mayor Bill De Blasio designated July as Disability Pride Month in New York state to celebrate ADA’s 25th anniversary. Aside from 2020, when public gatherings were canceled, NYC’s Disability Pride Month Parade has become a major annual celebration that pulls in people from all around the world.
Disability Pride Today
In the past decade, we’ve seen more representation of disabled people in the media and workplaces than ever before. While there are still a number of changes we’re fighting for, equality rights have come a long way. Here are a few great examples of where we’re seeing groundbreaking disability pride:
Books
One area where disability stories have particularly been embraced is in the world of literature. Even in the 1900s, we had groundbreaking books like, “The Miracle Worker” which followed the early life of Helen Keller (noted above). Today, there are thousands of great works written by disabled figures, their advocates, or their followers. Here’s just one long list to start with.
Television
Here are two awesome examples of current or upcoming shows that feature disabled actors playing a character with a disability:

Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Netflix, YouTube)

This Netflix documentary follows a groundbreaking Woodstock-era summer camp that inspired a group of teens with disabilities to build a movement and forge a new path toward equality and independence.

Ramy (Hulu)

A few members of HubSpot’s Disability Alliance have recommended Ramy, a Hulu dramedy that follows a first-generation American Muslim, played by comedian Ramy Youssef, on a “spiritual journey in his politically divided New Jersey neighborhood.”
While the show’s been buzzed about for its plotline, it’s also made news because Youssef cast his best friend, a standup comedian with muscular dystrophy named Steve Way, to play his onscreen pal.
Here’s an interview Way gave about the show and how the casting was a groundbreaking move in streaming content:

This Is Us (NBC, Peacock, Hulu)
The most recent seasons of This Is Us have partially followed the parents of a blind character named Jack. As Jack grows up, he gains independence, struggles as a musician, and eventually becomes a famous singer and parent. Not only is the story hopeful, but the character is incredibly realistic because he’s actually played by a blind man.
Here’s an interview with Blake Stadnik, who plays Jack, talking about his experience on This Is Us:

Social Media
Social media has become a major platform for those with disabilities, and their allies, to tell their stories. Below is a list of just a few great accounts to follow, courtesy of HubSpot’s Disability Alliance:

Diversability: Instagram, Website

Tiffany Yu (Founder of Diversability)
Sinéad Burke: Website, Twitter, Podcast

Tess Daly:  Instagram

Jillian Mercado: Instagram

Tae McKenzie: Instagram, Website

Madeline Stuart: Instagram, Website

Haben Girma: Instagram, Website, Twitter

Keah Brown: Instagram, Website

Andrea Dalzell: Instagram,
Annie Segarra: Instagram, Youtube 
Chella Man: Instagram, Website 
Imogen Fox: Instagram, Website

Rebekah Taussig: Instagram, Website

Angel Giuffria: Instagram

Holly Scott-Gardner: Website, YouTube

James Rath: Instagram, YouTube

The Blind Life Sam: Instagram, YouTube 
Squirmy & Grubs (Shane & Hannah): YouTube

Molly Burke: YouTube

Megan Absten: YouTube

Cole & Charisma: YouTube

Where We’re Continuing to Increase Awareness
Disability Pride Month is a great time to recognize how far we’ve come, and how far we can still go. As we continue to boost awareness, July is also a time to ask ourselves questions like:

“Am I being a good ally for those in the disabled community?”
“How can we push businesses and people to become more inclusive?
“How can we make workplaces safer for those with unseen or mental health disabilities?”
“How can we prevent people with disabilities from feeling like they have to hide their identity to have job security?”

By continuing to learn, tell our stories, and listen to others, we can better reflect on where we can better improve the lives of those with disabilities.
Ultimately, landmark laws, regulations, and change — like what we’ve seen above — come from a combination of advocacy and allyship. By telling and listening to Disability Pride stories, those with disabilities can be empowered to advocate for themselves. Meanwhile, those without disabilities can learn how to serve as stronger allies.
To learn more about building inclusive campaigns or offices, check out these recent posts:

7 Brands That Got Inclusive Marketing Right
Why Accessible Marketing is the Future, According to an Inclusive Design Expert
25 Stats That Prove Why Workplaces Need to Embrace Diversity
39 Stats About Diversity In Entrepreneurship

Want to learn more about how HubSpot celebrates Disability Pride Month? Follow HubSpot Life on Instagram to catch takeovers from myself and other members of HubSpot’s Disability Alliance.

Marketers have been spoiled by the internet. Digital marketing, social media, and email marketing afford us tons of luxuries when it comes to tapping into our audiences and reaching them directly with our products or services. We’ve had it pretty good. Until now.  As I’m sure you’re well aware, Apple will be releasing an iOS…
The post iOS 15 and How it Will Change Your Email Marketing appeared first on Benchmark Email.

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Have you ever done some obscure search on Google, and been amazed when the search engine still returned such accurate results? 
You can thank RankBrain for that.
RankBrain went live in 2015 and is now an essential part of the Google algorithm.
This article will help break down what you should know about it, and how you can optimize for it.

What Is Google RankBrain?
RankBrain is a part of Google’s algorithm that uses machine-learning and artificial intelligence to better understand the intent of a search query. This understanding can help return the most relevant search results to users.
It was implemented into the core algorithm back in 2015 and was initially only applied to the 15% of never before seen queries it received. Once Google became more confident in it, they made it a part of every search query.
Let’s explore how machine learning and AI contribute to RankBrain.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence helps computers understand and act like a human when they are given tasks like decision-making, language translation, and visual perception.
Google has also stated they use what is called neural matching, which is an AI-based system that helps understand how words relate to concepts.
Although RankBrain and neural matching may differ, they do work together to bring the best results for a search query.
Machine Learning
Machine learning is essentially the ability for a machine to learn on its own from data it receives.
If you currently use a junk mail filter in your mailbox or have movie recommendations appear in your Netflix account, these are examples of machine learning.
The combination of AI and machine learning are what drives RankBrain to be an effective part of the algorithm.
As an example, if I were to look for “the scary hotel movie with the maze”, I would get results for The Shining.
Even without the results using that exact term on the page, RankBrain can assess the topical relevance and deliver the results I want.
Pretty cool, right?

How important is RankBrain?
Given that RankBrain is used in every search that takes place on Google, it’s pretty important.
RankBrain is the first attempt at machine learning and will be paving the path for the future of search. By implementing some best practices now, you can ensure that your website is ready for the continued improvements machine learning will bring to search results over time.
At one time Google claimed it was the third-most important ranking factor. While we are not sure that still applies, what we do know is that RankBrain is still a big part of how Google delivers search results.
So what does that mean for you?
It means you need to up your content and SEO game. Let’s dive into how to do that, next. 
Optimizing With RankBrain In Mind
You cannot directly optimize for RankBrain.
But what you can do is better optimize your content, which will then improve how RankBrain views your website.

RankBrain is focused on ranking sites that most accurately match a users’ query. So your job is to make sure you create content that can match those specific needs.

Below are some ways you can better optimize your content for RankBrain.
1. Use Natural Language
When creating content, you’ll want to write in a natural tone that you might also use when speaking.
Read your content aloud when creating it — does it sound like a human would say it? Is it conversational?
This writing style can make a big difference in helping RankBrain understand your content.
2. Search Intent
This is a big one!
Type the keyword you would like to rank for in the search results and review the top-ranking pages.
These pages are ranking because Google understands that this is the type of content a searcher is looking for based on interactions with the results.
3. Strengthen Relevance
Once you are clear on the intent of the keyword, you will need to create content and optimize it to match that intent.
Think of each page more as a “topic” than just a keyword and make it as comprehensive as possible.
In the past, we may have written several posts about a topic so we can optimize each for a specific keyword. But now the goal is to combine those posts into one post, and rank for multiple keywords and phrases.
When you create a post that covers all possible variations of a topic, you will ultimately rank for more keywords — which will help make the page more authoritative.
Below is an example of a website that has thousands of keywords ranking for their two top pages.

How can you create posts that have thousands of keywords?
Be comprehensive about your topic.
If your main topic is “how to potty train a puppy”, for instance, you’ll want to add content that relates to all aspects of training a puppy. This might include:

How long does it take to train a puppy
How fast can you train a puppy
At what age can I start training a puppy
How to potty train a “5” month old puppy (break it down by age)
Easiest way to train a puppy

All of these variations of terms and phrases will build a strong piece of content that addresses all issues related to puppy potty training. This in turn will help with RankBrain because you are adding items of topical relevance!
4. Improve Click-through Rate (CTR)
Because RankBrain does look at how many clicks from the search results you get, writing exceptional title tags and meta descriptions is critical.
Using emotions in your title is one of the best ways to increase those clicks. You can also use numbers, brackets, or parentheses to help make your title stand out from the rest.
Look at what paid ads in your niche are using as inspiration, as well as the top ranking pages.
5. Quality Over Quantity
If you have been in SEO as long as I have, you will have to change how you view content and keyword strategy.
The days of writing a post around a singular keyword are gone. In the past you may have written a separate post for the terms “get more sales”, “increase your sales”, or “grow monthly revenue” so that you could optimize for each of those phrases.
Unfortunately, that no longer works with RankBrain.
Creating one post and maximizing the content around the term “get more sales” should help RankBrain understand that it is related to those other terms.
For instance, below you can see the search results for “get more sales” and “increase your sales”. You will notice how close the results are for these terms.
This may not have been the case before RankBrain.

RankBrain has made it more beneficial to create long-form content that can be optimized around many phrases or terms.
6. Time On Page (Dwell Time)
Once it delivers the search results, how does RankBrain understand which results are good ones?
There is some indication that it will take UX signals and pages that have more engagement, and rank those higher. Measuring a user’s time on page and whether any pogo-sticking is happening are two of the factors that are likely used.
Some things to consider to improve these UX signals include:

Break-up the text into small paragraphs so it is easy to read
Use titles to break content into sections
Create an engaging introductory paragraph to get users interested in reading more
Use images and videos
Answer questions early in the content
Create content that answers all the questions a user may have about the topic

This is why it is more important than ever to take time to craft great content that makes users’ stay on the page. The longer they stay on your website, the better signals it will send to RankBrain.
7. Improve Old Content
If your website has been around for a while, you may have old content that was optimized before RankBrain.
Additionally, you might have several posts that are topically relevant that might now be better served as one long-form post.
If this is the case, determine which post has the highest traffic, backlinks, and ranking, and make that your primary post. Then merge the content from the other posts into it and do a 301 redirect for those posts to your new “RankBrain-optimized” post.
This is a great opportunity for some quick ranking wins!
RankBrain is definitely a game changer for search. As a content creator or SEO professional, it’s important to use the strategies above to help improve your chances of ranking well with RankBrain.
One thing we know for sure is that RankBrain will be here for a while. While it may evolve over time, the combination of AI and machine learning is here to stay. Learn how you can adapt your own content to reap the full benefits of the SERPs. 

Ten years ago, SEO strategists across the world followed a relatively similar process.
Step one, conduct keyword research. Step two, randomly write those keywords into the text on a page approximately five billion times. And step three — rank number one for that keyword.
I hate to break to you, but that isn’t the case anymore.
Several algorithm updates like Hummingbird and RankBrain brought about a new concept: semantic search.
While this may remove jobs for black-hat keyword stuffers, SEOs who prioritize the importance of providing a good customer experience can sigh in relief that Google is now on their side.
Google and other search engines are continuously striving to satisfy the searcher with the most accurate results — which is precisely where semantic search comes in. In other words, it connects search intent with the context of your content to provide the most relevant and helpful results.
With these updates in place, how does this affect search traffic? And what do SEOs need to consider moving forward?
That’s what I’ll cover in this article.

What is semantic search?
To start, let’s dive deeper into how semantic search works.
Semantic search is the process search engines use to try to understand the intent and contextual meaning of your search query in order to give you results that match what you had in mind.

In other words, semantic search aims to know why you are searching for these particular keywords, and what you intend to do with the information you get.

It’s important to note — you don’t want to mistake semantic search with Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI), or what some may call semantically-related keywords. LSIs can help provide context on what your content is about (which consequently helps with matching search intent), but semantic search is so much more than that.
If we’re looking at semantic search holistically, here are the factors that guide how it works:
1. A user’s search intent.
The term “search intent” refers to the reason why you are performing a query (or, in layman’s terms: why you Google something). Most often you want to buy, find, or learn something.
For instance, if I search for “content marketing”, Google provides results around the definition of content marketing, since the intent is fairly broad:

However, if I instead search “How do I get started with content marketing”, Google does not provide definitions of content marketing, because my intent is different:

The takeaway: For all content marketers and SEOs, the big lesson here is that you need to heavily consider search intent when choosing keywords and creating content. Even if you have content that ranks well, if it doesn’t match search intent, the user will leave the page — and that certainly doesn’t help conversions.
2. The semantic meaning of search terms.
“Semantic search” was coined based on semantics, or the study of the meaning of words and phrases in certain contexts and the relationship between those words. When it comes to search, semantics refers to the connection between a search query, words related to it, and the content on website pages.
All of those factors combined help search engines understand what the search queries mean beyond a literal translation, so it can display results that are related to the context.
For example, if you search for “wedding dresses”, the words related to that might include “wedding”, “cake”, “bride”, and “dream”. When the search is for “dresses”, the related words might be “beautiful”, “knee-length”, and so on.
The takeaway: When choosing the keywords that go into your content, I recommend creating what’s known as “keyword clusters”, or groups of related keywords. These clusters directly relate to semantic search, because they ensure that your content covers a broader range of the topic. And with a broader range, comes multiple keyword rankings per page.
Other Factors Related to Semantic Search
Although the above two are the main factors, these factors also affect semantic search:

Featured snippets: Featured snippets are based on providing the most direct and helpful answer to the searcher.

Rich results: These affect semantic search as well through content such as images, and you’ll see how in the example in the next section.

Voice search: Voice search queries are usually very direct, include natural language, longer phrases, and question words that lends to how search engines process results.

RankBrain: based on machine learning technology, the RankBrain algorithm helps Google understand the first-instance set that satisfies the query and related concepts, phrases, and synonyms.

Hummingbird: the focus of the Hummingbird algorithm update was to provide better results for voice search, conversational language, and searches for specific people.

Semantic Search Examples
In order to give you a clear idea of how semantic search works, here are a few concrete examples.
Here, I searched “order a pizza”, so the results are inclined towards local search:

Here, I Googled “Make a pizza”, and I see rich results with recipes:

If I Google just “pizza”, I will likely still get local search results, because more users are looking to order rather than make their own. However, if my search history is filled with pizza recipes, my results for “pizza” will likely also be recipes because of the personalization component.
Semantic search basically affects all results a user receives. So a website will only be served as a result for a certain keyword if the content on the page matches the context of that search query. Results for “make a pizza” will have ingredients, time to prepare, and so on, while “order a pizza” will have locations, delivery, and prices.
On an interesting note, current news affects search results, as well. Before the pandemic, a search for “corona” would have mostly returned the beer brand, but after the spread of COVID-19, you mainly get results regarding the virus.
Another example is Jeff Bezos. When you search for his name, you get a knowledge graph, general information, and below that, recent news. However, if something big has happened recently with Jeff Bezos, you’ll see the Top Stories first.

How Google Uses Semantic Search
Google’s bottom line is to give users the best search experience possible. To do that, they use semantic search to:

Identify and disqualify low-quality content.
Gain a better understanding of user search intent. For example: is the user searching to navigate to a particular page? Or are they searching to do more research about a topic?
Formulate answers to questions.
Determine what relevant data to pull from the Semantic Web
Understand websites and pages in terms of topics instead of keywords.
Integrate Google technologies where semantic search plays a role such as Knowledge Graph, Hummingbird, RankBrain, BERT.
Appropriately format the data for inclusion in the search results.
Connect with queries with all possible meaning when the search intent is not clear.

How to Use the Power of Semantic Search to Your Advantage
To put it simply, if your content doesn’t have a semantic relationship with the search query, it won’t show up in search results. The simple solution to this is matching your content to the search term in combination with the right strategy.
To be on the right side of SEO when it comes to semantic search, I recommend that you strive to do the following:

Focus on topics, not keywords.
Make sure you understand user search intent: is it to buy? to reach a particular page of a brand? To learn?
Build relevancy through links (both internal and external).

Use schema markup.
Use semantic HTML like <header>, <footer> and <article>.
Answer all relevant questions around your topic.
Be answer-based and structure your sentences to be easily understandable.

Check these off your list, and you’ve got a one-stop shop to a powerful SEO strategy with the support of semantic search.

Over the last two years, you’ve probably heard a lot about cybersecurity.
Like many big, serious-sounding concepts, it feels like it sometimes plays out above our heads — the territory of huge conglomerates and governments, or maybe your IT department. And, let’s face it, not too interesting for professionals in marketing, sales, or services.
You may have even found yourself thinking, “Yeah, there are people worrying about this, but we probably don’t have to.”
As a product manager for security at HubSpot, I spend a lot of time thinking about this topic. Today I’d like to explore how essential good data protection and account security are to marketers and the businesses they represent.
It all starts with one thing: trust.

Why Marketers Should Care About Data Security
1. Trust is a cornerstone of the inbound marketing methodology.
You build trust in your business in a multitude of ways.
This could be exemplifying expertise in your field or providing great service centered around the customer experience. You also build trust by creating genuine relationships with customers that transcend simply converting a lead — and includes ongoing support that brings your customers enough success that they feel comfortable recommending your service to anybody they know.
At the end of the day, building and maintaining trust is a key ingredient to keeping your flywheel spinning.
Without it, this whole machine grinds to a halt.
Loss of trust is a catastrophic hit for a business and a brand, too. For example, few things can cause a customer to sever a relationship with a company more quickly than a data breach. In fact, one in four Americans won’t do business with data breached companies.
2. Prospects and customers trust marketers to keep personal data secure.
Every day, your potential customers put trust in you — quite a lot of trust, in fact — when they do things like fill out contact forms on your website, register for your webinars, or sign up for free trials of your service.
By giving you their personal information, they’re putting a massive amount of trust not only in your business but in you as the marketer who maintains those tools. They’re trusting you to keep their personal information safe, not to abuse it (say, by sending them a bunch of spammy emails), and to use it in their best interest to help them meet their goals.
3. Proper use of data isn’t enough anymore — you need to keep customer data safe.
You’ve probably heard conversations about the proper use of customer data, such as emails, centered around the concept “don’t misuse the information.”
For example: don’t over-email someone, don’t send them offers you don’t have any reason to believe they’d be interested in or don’t contact them without their consent.
Just as important is a conversation you may be a little less familiar with — how to actually keep prospect and customer information safe, and out of the hands of people who would use that information to harm them.
If you’re not as familiar with that side of the conversation, that’s understandable. The risk of bad actors gaining unauthorized access to customer data at scale is relatively new.
At HubSpot, we believe it’s just as valuable as any other way to inspire and maintain trust.
As a marketer, you are the steward of your customers’ data.
The job of a marketer doesn’t stop at generating leads or building a brand. 
There’s another important piece to the puzzle — being a trustworthy steward of customer data. 
If customers place their trust in you because of all the hard work you’ve done to build those quality relationships, to build a brand that’s seen as trusted in your field, to create a community of evangelists who have encouraged others to trust you too — then it’s imperative that you hold up your end of the bargain.
It’s your job to do what is in your personal control to validate that trust and keep customer data safe. 
Start with the Fundamentals
Luckily, implementing security best practices to keep your online accounts safe isn’t difficult. In fact, you can get started on many of these things right away.
Here’s a list of content to help any marketer set up the foundational elements of security:
Blogs:

The Ultimate Guide to Cybersecurity
Ten Minutes to Secure Your Online Account

HubSpot Academy Content and Webinars:

Implementing Website Security
Data Protection at HubSpot
Cybersecurity Tips for HubSpot Users

You’ve done a great job building relationships, communities, and image around your business. You can do a great job of security, too — and be a steward your customers can trust.