Author: Franz Malten Buemann

Do you remember those old school projectors they used to have in school? Whenever the projector was pulled out in class, I knew I was going to have fun. Teachers would allow us to go up and write on the projector, and it just felt more collaborative.

That’s kind of what whiteboarding is like in business. As marketers, you probably have a lot of brainstorming sessions where you’re laying out landing pages, writing copy, and creating a strategy for a campaign.
And brainstorming sessions and whiteboarding go together like peanut butter and jelly.
In this post, we’ll dive into whiteboarding and learn how you can use this process to improve your brainstorming sessions.

Whiteboarding Session
While whiteboarding sessions are great, it’s easy to lose control over a brainstorming session. To conduct a successful whiteboard session, we’ve gathered a few tips.
Whiteboarding Techniques
1. Be creative.
One of the best parts of a whiteboarding session is that it allows your team to be creative. People can share documents, put up sticky notes as reminders, and share their ideas with the team. When you’re in person, it’s fun to let all your team members use the whiteboard, so everyone has a chance to write down notes and share their thoughts.
2. Stay focused.
With any brainstorming session, it’s easy to lose track of what the goal is. To stay focused, we suggest writing out your goal at the top of your whiteboard, so everyone can see and knows what they’re supposed to be doing. When ideas that are off-topic are brought up, write them down in a section on the side for ideas to follow up on.
3. Encourage meaningful conversation.
Brainstorming sessions also allow teams to have meaningful conversations about different ideas. No idea is too small, and everyone should feel confident speaking their mind. The whole point of a whiteboarding session is to engage and collaborate with members of your team. It’s supposed to be interactive. These sessions also help people feel heard and like their ideas are being taken into consideration.
4. Keep the board organized.
When you’re running a whiteboard session, it’s important to keep the board organized. Even though it’s brainstorming, your ideas should be labeled in sections, so everyone knows what idea pertains to what topics. This is also where you can add a side section just for “off-topic” ideas. You’ll still want to write those down, even if it doesn’t have to do with the topic at hand, so you can come back to it later and keep the meeting focused.
Now that we know what whiteboarding is and how to be successful when you’re running a meeting, let’s review some remote whiteboarding tools to help you be successful in a virtual brainstorming session.
Remote Whiteboarding
As we’ve discussed above, whiteboarding can be done remotely as well. This doesn’t need to be an in-person activity. In fact, remote whiteboarding meetings can be just as effective because everyone can use the whiteboard at once, and have full visibility of it at the same time.
Below, let’s review some whiteboarding tools to use in your video conferencing meetings.
Remote Whiteboarding Tools
1. Zoom

A great thing about Zoom is that a whiteboarding tool is built into the video conferencing software. If you use Zoom for your remote meetings, then you don’t need to look any further for a whiteboard tool.
To access the Zoom whiteboard, click the Share Screen button, and then click Whiteboard. One of the features we like about this tool is that other participants can annotate and participate in writing on the whiteboard (if allowed). It’s also nice because you can turn that feature off if you want as well.
2. Microsoft Whiteboard

If you aren’t using Zoom, or would rather use another whiteboard tool, Microsoft has an excellent option. With this tool, all team members can edit and comment directly on the screen in real-time.
The whiteboard is also infinite, meaning you can draw, type, or add sticky notes as much as you need. You can also save your whiteboards, so you can continue using the tool as much as you want, while also going back to old sessions.
3. Conceptboard

Conceptboard is another remote whiteboarding tool you can use during your meetings. With this tool, you can see live cursors, and everyone can collaborate at once.
Additionally, this tool has video conferencing capabilities, so you can talk to your team while you’re brainstorming.
4. Limnu

Limnu is an online whiteboard tool that’s realism is the biggest seller. It feels like a real whiteboard, but it has the features of online whiteboarding such as collaboration. Anyone can edit in real-time, but you can also limit permissions if need be. Additionally, there’s a chat box function which is helpful for those who don’t have editing permissions to give their point of view.
Whiteboarding is a great way to collaborate and brainstorm with your team. And the best part is, you don’t need to be in-person to have collaborative meetings. With remote whiteboarding tools, you can hold a brainstorming session just as easily.

Hi Marketers, We’re trying to find the right marketing automation software or software stack with good integration but after several months of research, we’re yet to find a system that will do everything we need. Most systems are really good at their “thing” but only do 70% of what we need. We sell travel insurance so we have 3 main phases: Nurturing (transactional) User responds to an ad -> hits a relevant landing page -> gets a quote -> is emailed a quote specific to them -> added to a remarketing list (FB, Adwords, Youtube etc) -> added to a quote follow up sequence (email, SMS, scheduled call). Sale (transactional) User buys a policy -> added to a date triggered email sequence for delivery of the product (sale confirmation, reminders, event warnings, friend referrals) Rebuy (campaign) Regular campaign sequences triggered by sales, important dates, world events, etc. The features we need: – Journey builder – with decisions based on page visits, email opens/clicks (both transactional and campaign) – Campaign builder that supports complex sequences – Email builder (Marketing and Transactional) with split test and dynamic text – Transactional email system that supports complex sequences and multiple transactions for the same customer – Able to connect sequences with Google, FB, SMS & other remarketing – Landing page builder / pop ups – SMS / WhatsApp – Tracking of repeat site visitors with ability to launch a sequence based on this – Split testing emails and landing pages in a sequence – Attribution reporting We have our own custom CRM and have devs that can do any integration work required. I hoping someone out there has solved this and can suggest a tool or stack of tools that has worked well to solve the above. Any suggestions greatly appreciated! Cheers, Dean
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If you’re considering whether a shared IP or dedicated IP environment is better for your business, this quick guide will help you decide. We explain the differences between the two and how your IP reputation can impact your sender reputation and email deliverability.

What are the Best Email Marketing Software out there for your business? Getting the appropriate Marketing Software product is as straightforward as comparing the features and terms offered by these six software that I personally use and recommend. (HERE) I suggest that you take some time to review their unique features and determine which one is the better alternative for your organization. What’s more remember to take into account your company’s or industry’s special circumstances, for example, a multilingual app for a global company or a mobile platform to help you work in the field. I collected The 6 Most Useful Blog posts about them: Read more here. I also wrote a blog about the Top 3 Best Email Marketing Tools– Check It Out HERE And about the Top 2 Best Landing Page Software Comparison– Read It HERE And The Nr.1 Shopping Cart Software That I Personally Use– Take a look HERE Try Them FREE
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Love, flowers, chocolate, bla bla bla …
Where are the marketing results?!

Okay, probably not what your Valentine’s date cares about. But if you’re a marketer, you might be interested in merging the most lovey-dovey of days with your marketing. But how?

Well, these companies have figured out some creative ways to leverage the warm and fuzzies (or unadulterated rage and crushing loneliness … whatever) that Valentine’s Day instills in people.
If you don’t have a marketing campaign planned for the 14th, maybe some of these will inspire you to get in on some last-minute Valentine’s Day action.
9 Effective Valentine’s Day Marketing Campaigns
1. Crook & Marker’s “OnlyCans” Website
In 2020, many online threads and message boards were discussing the controversial website “OnlyFans.” This platform invites users to purchase videos or images from people or influencers with profiles on the site. 
Fast-forward to 2021, Crook & Marker is embracing the OnlyFans controversy with relatively PG marketing content.
The cheeky holiday campaign, which aims to earn donations for Muddy Paws Rescue, began with the brand launching a co-branded website called OnlyCans.dog.
When visiting the “OnlyCans” website, you instantly see videos and images of shirtless men holding cute puppies. You can also browse the profiles or each man-puppy duo.
From each profile page, you can then pick and share a pre-recorded video message or photo of them with a friend or loved one.
For every visitor who shares a video or photo message, Crook and Marker pledges to donate $1. Aside from the funny profiles, videos, photo messages from shirtless men, the site also features subtle ads for Crook and Marker products — as seen in the GIF above. 
This is a great example of a co-marketing campaign that leverages edginess and current trends to create a campaign that catches your eye and makes you laugh. Although Crook and Marker are only subtly mentioned on the website, users know that they created it and that the campaign is for a good cause. 
While this campaign isn’t specifically about marketing a brand, it’s fun and unique — which might enable shoppers to remember Crook & Marker next time they’re looking for a Spiked Seltzer product.
2. Ranch Dressing’s Customized Bottle
Nothing says Valentine’s Day like giving someone a bottle of — Ranch Dressing?
In 2021, while flower companies and B2C brands were highlighting the romantic gifts partners could give to each other, Hidden Valley took a funny approach to this strategy by offering audiences customized Valentine’s Day-themed bottles of Ranch salad dressing.

While this seems like an odd gift to some, Hidden Valley knows that they have fans out there that just love to cover everything they eat with Ranch dressing. To those audiences, this gift is funny, personalized, and potentially useful.

“I appreciate Ranch leaning into the quirky and self-aware following for their product. It’s a consumer brand not trying too hard,” says Connor Cirillo, HubSpot’s Conversational Marketing manager.
“I can’t wait to order some for my Valentine. And this totally isn’t just me,” Cirillo, who brought the campaign to our attention, admits. 

3. Deliveroo’s “Third-Wheel Kevin”
Many people have identified as a “third-wheel,” or the only single person hanging out with one or more couples. And, many of these people know how awkward or uncomfortable couple’s holidays, like Valentine’s Day, can be.
That’s why Deliveroo’s 2020 Valentine’s Day ad told the story of a third-wheel named Kevin, rather than a romantic couples’ narrative.
The commercial, which is filmed to look like a documentary, follows the life of Kevin — an incredibly single man who’s always surrounded by couples. As the ad goes on, it tackles the strange, awkward, and completely untrue thoughts that single people might wrongly think about themselves.

The narrator, who’s seen throughout the commercial, explains, “Being a single doesn’t just effect Kevin when he’s at home. Many life-affirming activities are impossible alone. — It can be tiring being this lonely. He’s just a hollow shell.”
As the narrator dramatically describes the slight inconveniences of being single in a comedic and light-hearted way, Kevin’s seen playing boring single-person sports and posing in a two-person photo stand. As Kevin is seen doing these daily-life activities alone, the narrator and his partner are also shown playing team sports together and enjoying each other’s company
After the narrator is done explaining how boring the single life is, he adds, “Deliveroo can help you give the third-wheel in your life some love.”
If you’re single person, the commercial is pretty hilarious because it reminds you of all the strange, over-dramatic comments less-single people make. Meanwhile, if you aren’t single, you reflect on the times you were single and thought about the same awkward thoughts. 
Because audiences might relate or laugh at the sarcasm of this ad, it might be more memorable to them. Because of this, they might think of Deliveroo next time they’re ordering a Valentine’s Day meal for themselves or “third-wheeeling” friends.
4. Twitter’s Offline Campaign
Believe it or not, one of Twitter’s great Valentine’s Day campaigns was actually not launched online.
In 2020, Twitter launched billboard ads around Valentine’s Day that only showed users’ incredibly sarcastic tweets about love and dating.
For example, in the image below, one tweet reads “Yo, I’m really awkward. Good luck to whoever is about to date me,” while another reads, “My husband said we had too much cheese in the fridge, so now I need to find a new husband.”

Image Source
In this funny campaign, Twitter highlights the tweets of real users that have leveraged the platform to share their thoughts around Valentine’s Day. While other companies are zoned in on promoting ideal images of love and relationships, Twitter promotes relatable content from its actual users.
“The campaign not only feels authentic, but it reminds you that Twitter is a place to share your thoughts freely without judgement — even if they aren’t always pretty,” says Pam Bump, HubSpot Blog Audience Growth Manager.
5. 1-800 Flowers’ Cupid Commercial
In 2019, 1-800 Flowers launched a commercial where Cupid shared his grievances of how the bouquet company put him out of a job.
In the ad, which features a shirtless Cupid in his costume sitting in front of phones that are no longer ringing, Cupid yells “Ever since 1-800 Flowers, I’ve been out of a job!” He adds, “People no longer need Cupid to express their love. Now all they need is 1-800 Flowers.” 

As Cupid continues to complain about 1-800 Flowers’ quality bouquet products, the video shows screenshots of the brand’s website and all the pretty flowers it has to offer.
Because you’re thrown into the scene of seeing Cupid as an angry, disgruntled grown man, the ad instantly grabs your attention. Then, as Cupid complains about how his competition is one-upping him, he also highlights how 1-800 Flowers is also better than competitors that also sell romantic products because they provide quick and painless scheduled delivery. 
This ad is a great example of how a brand can playfully leverage their competition, and tell a fictional story, that highlights what makes their product different.
6. Frankie & Benny’s “Lady & the Tramp” Instagram Post
In 2019, the Italian restaurant chain Frankie & Benny’s referenced romantic scenes from notable films like “Lady and the Tramp.”
In a cute Instagram post, two real dogs are seen on a classy date at Frankie & Benny’s holding the same strand of pasta in their mouths. This mimics a class scene from Lady and the Tramp where two dogs kiss after accidentally eating the same strand of pasta.
The carousel post then highlights actual photos from iconic movies like, “When Harry Met Sally.” In the post’s caption, it encourages Instagram audiences to guess which movies are being referenced.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Valentine’s Day 💝 Can you name the films that inspired our 4 romantic movie recreations? 🎬🎞 Comment below! #FrankiesFilms #ValentinesAtFrankies
A post shared by Frankie & Benny’s (@frankienbennys) on Feb 14, 2019 at 12:46am PST

While the real dog’s mimicking Lady and the Tramp grabbed attention, especially from the animal lovers on Instagram, this post’s caption and other photos encourages audiences to interact with the brand by guessing which movies are being referenced.
This is both a fun way to boost brand awareness, and leverage the holiday to gain engagement on social media.
7. Panera’s Engagement Offer
In 2018, Panera tweeted that customers who got engaged in one of their restaurants on Valentine’s Day could win free wedding catering from the chain. 
The tweet included a short and simple video which announced the promotion and showed two Panera employees cheering, as if they were witnessing a proposal.

Love is in the air. This Valentine’s Day, get engaged at a Panera and we might cater your wedding, for free. #PaneraProposalSweeps https://t.co/mpL5VbjSOd pic.twitter.com/VPRzu0QLNd — Panera Bread (@panerabread)
February 9, 2018

This is a quick and sweet way to leverage the holiday and social media to gain foot traffic into a physical business. Although Panera is a giant corporation, this campaign strategy is so simple that smaller businesses could create something similar with a tweet, short video, and offer that drives foot traffic.
8. Facebook Messenger Heart Feature
Just before Valentine’s Day in 2018, Facebook Messenger’s Twitter announced that if you shared that you were “In a Relationship” with a friend you were messaging, celebratory hearts would rain down in your Messenger thread with that person.

It’s not official until it’s #FacebookOfficial. Update your relationship status on Facebook and shower bae with ❤️❤️❤️on Messenger. Also customize your chat emoji, color and more! pic.twitter.com/P6oy35fHmp — Messenger (@messenger)
February 13, 2018

Although a small business probably can’t add a major feature to their product just because of a holiday, this is a good example of how you can theme something related to your product, such as your website, around a holiday temporarily. 
Another thing that’s interesting about this campaign is that Facebook is using a competing social platform, Twitter, to announce this new feature. This slightly undermines Twitter, which also allows direct messaging but with less interactive features.
9. “Adults Meal” – Burger King
While Burger King’s “Adults Meal” campaign is one of the oldest on this list, it’s still a classic that marketers talk about today.
Burger King has always been no stranger to poking fun at its biggest competitor, McDonalds. This was no different on Valentine’s Day 2017 when they offered an “Adult Meal” alternative with a similar box shape to McDonalds’ kids’ meal.
In the ad for the meal, Burger King explains that Kids’ Meals are for kids. But, on the night of Valentine’s Day, Burger King customers can buy an adult meal with an “adult toy.”

This campaign is pretty cheeky. However, it’s edgy mission and subtle comments about its competitor’s product make it memorable and funny. 
Honorable Mention: Match.com’s “Match Made in Hell” campaign.
Technically, this campaign wasn’t created for Valentine’s Day specifically. But, many of our marketers thought it had all the perfect elements of a great Valentine’s Day campaign. Because of this, we wouldn’t be surprised if it sees a lot of circulation in February.
In the commercial, directed by actor Ryan Reynolds, Satan sits in Hell using Match’s app when he sees he’s matched with a woman named 2020. When he meets up with her on Earth, he nervously says “Hi 2-0-2-0.” She replies, “Please, call me 2020” — pronouncing it like the year. 
As the commercial continues, 2020’s character appears to be the epitome of everything that happened in 2020.
For example, which launched in December, shows Satan and 2020 causing mischief, stealing toilet paper from store shelves, having a picnic inn empty stadiums, and ultimately posing for a selfie in front of a dumpster fire.
The couple frolics to the familiar sounds of Taylor Swift’s hit song, “Love Story.” which also sparks a sense of rom-com nostalgia for millennials. 

On the same day of this ad’s release, Match and Reynolds also shared another commercial showing the pair explaining how they met in couple’s counseling.
In this video, Satan explains how he found 2020 on Match:
“I started by using the Match custom search filter. I filtered out joy, happiness, toilet paper, and reason,” Satan says in the video below:

Although this didn’t launch in February, it was a very clever newsjacking example that many of our marketers say they enjoyed when they were asked to share their favorite Valentine’s campaigns.
While 2020 was a difficult year for many, Match and Reynolds identified a tasteful way to create content that audiences could relate to. At the same time, they still told an epic, hilarious love story with a pleasant, entertaining tone. Although they discussed a truly terrible year, they did so in a way that felt like escapism for the viewer.
Valentine’s Day Campaign Takeaways
As you create and launch Valentine’s Day campaigns, take note of these strategies many of the brands above used:

Grab your audience’s attention: Like with any holiday, marketers around the globe are churning out content around it. To compete with this overly saturated Valentine’s Day ad landscape, you’ll need to grab and keep your viewer’s attention with entertaining elements or valuable information.

Be relatable: Around this time of year, many people are inundated with high-budget Valentine’s Day ads that offer them no useful information or value. Even if you want to tell a mushy romance-fueled love story with your content, make sure it still feels relatable or authentic. To do this, you can leverage tactics like telling a story your audience will relate to, or leveraging user-generated content from your followers — like Twitter has.

Test out different platforms: While some companies on this list took to Instagram, others embraced physical campaign strategies like special products or billboard use. 

Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published in Feb. 2013, but was updated for comprehensiveness on January 30, 2020.

Your competitor releases a new product or service. You offer something similar — but, of course, much better.
Then, suddenly, your competitor’s product is everywhere. News articles, online reviews, best-of lists, buyers’ guides, even TV segments.
How is this happening? And your real question: why isn’t it happening to you?
To compete against your competitors, there’s one thing you’ll need in your wheelhouse: a media kit.
Here, we’ll explore what a media kit is, and how it can help you increase brand awareness and, ultimately, sales.
Plus, how to make one for your own brand.

Media kits may live fully-online as responsive online press pages. Or, businesses may choose to make their press kits available as static, downloadable resources, like a presentation deck.
Whatever format you choose, this much is clear: businesses of all sizes benefit from having a professional, readily-accessible media kit. This vital resource is a key to the earned media coverage all businesses covet — from massive Fortune 500 corporations all the way down to individual influencers and solopreneurs.
A comprehensive media kit should include a description of the company or individual, contact information, social media statistics, case studies, information on partnerships and collaborations, and testimonials from past customers.
Basically, it’s all the information a journalist would need to feature your brand in a breaking news story — without the headache of a last-minute information request.
How to Make a Media Kit: What to Include
So, you want press coverage and partnerships (what brand doesn’t?). And you understand how a media kit helps make this all possible. But how do you make a media kit?
Here’s some good news: most of the content and creative assets you need to create your press kit likely already exist.
Key elements of a media kit include a bio or About Us page, social media statistics, case studies, partnerships and collaborations, and testimonials. To make it even easier for the press to cover your work, you’ll want to include high-quality brand identity images (think both logos, and other brand images or product/service images).
It’s up to you to (1) find this information, (2) make it look spectacular, and (3) make it painfully easy to find on your site. The rumors you’ve heard about journalists and how overworked they are? Entirely true.
To catch the attention of someone on tight deadlines with an internet full of story prospects, you’re going to want to make this simple. Most brands choose a direct page name like “Press” or “Media” –– or, if they’re really fancy, “Newsroom” –– and make it accessible directly from their homepage (often in the Footer).
Even if you prioritize a web version, having a downloadable media kit or deck is worth the time investment. Some media users might prefer the traditional form of this resource, and it gives you the best opportunity to control your pitch and tailor content to all audiences.
Biography or About Us
Let’s start with the star of your media kit: you. Here’s where you introduce your name, your logo, your mission. Make sure your media kit design reinforces your overall brand identity, utilizing the colors, fonts, and other visual hallmarks set out in your branding guide.
Evernote goes all-out in this section, housing their press kit information within the broader “About Us” portion of their website. All the essentials for journalists and partners are there too, but the organization’s values take center stage.

Social Statistics
For social stats, you’ll need to conduct a social media audit or collect this data from whoever manages your social channels. Remember your audience for the press kit: media and PR professionals.

Your media kit needs to effectively pitch your brand to people who specialize in getting people’s attention. So show them you’re capable of sparking conversation — and show them there’s already an audience eager for stories about you and your work.

Kickstarter puts a unique stamp on this section of their media kit page, highlighting a few top metrics that show massive engagement with their service.

Media kits aimed at partnerships and collaborations should prioritize engagement rates and similar actionable metrics alongside the bread-and-butter statistics like follower counts. Savvy marketers want to partner with brands and influencers that move people to action.
[Note: If you are a HubSpot Social user, you can use Reports to analyze the performance of your social posts and determine how well your social media efforts are performing.]
Partnerships and Case Studies
This section is your chance to let past partnerships and brand collaborations speak for themselves. Let the old adage “show; don’t tell” be your guide here. Featuring the right partnerships –– either via logos or through short case studies –– is a subtle but powerful tool for positioning your brand.
International football influencers The F2 highlight past campaigns, putting reputable brand names and logos front-and-center. They also note key engagement statistics for these campaigns

Testimonials
Testimonials are another great way to show media professionals the impact and effectiveness of your brand or product.
Keep this section succinct: just a single testimonial should suffice. Only a few lines of text (even just a single short quote) and a single related image gets the point across, lending your pitch greater credibility thanks to social validation.
Briogeo does a fantastic job highlighting testimonials on its Press & Buzz page, right below the rewards section for easy access:
Visual Assets (Downloadables)
Your media kit isn’t a style guide, but it should pull in the most essential elements of your visual brand. Want your logo and that slick product screenshot to display correctly?
Provide exactly the images and files you want featured. Have a killer data visualization, infographic, or product video? Include that, too.
Journalists will especially appreciate portraits of your management team. They’re most likely to cover stories involving people, so show them the people they’ll want to write about.
Birchbox makes this easy. They highlight “Press Materials” and link to a short but comprehensive set of resources. Having everything in well-organized cloud folders is a nice touch –– especially for those browsing on mobile.

Without downloading or unzipping a large batch of images, visitors can quickly confirm you have visual assets to make their publication look good. Remember, the audience for your media kit is especially busy and juggling lots of competing priorities. Jump to the top of their “potential posts” pile by making their job as easy and painless as possible.
(Added bonus: your external media resources are easily updated –– sparing you anxiety about outdated media kits and image files misrepresenting your brand.)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Instagram also really crushes it in this portion of their press resources. They even provide branded, editable templates for broadcast media use, making it easy for publishers to adhere to their iconic visual brand.
Now you know the what and the how of creating a media kit to garner beneficial coverage for your brand. Click here to download our free media kit template and get started.
And go ahead, give yourself a pat on the back when that Features story comes out. You won’t see your name on the byline, but we both know who the real hero is here.