Category: Marketing Automation

Sometimes you have to make your own luck, especially when it comes to email marketing. There’s no better time than right now to adopt the email marketing best practices that will propel your campaigns to success. And while at the end of the day, you only have so much control over what happens once you…
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 Furniture. Clothing. Software. Posters. Maps. Experience. Buildings. Websites.
These are all things that can be designed. Heck, design has so many different meanings and application you wonder if the term can be defined at all.
Answer: It can. Design has a variety of definitions, but in its simplest form, it can be defined as both a verb and a noun: It can refer to the act of creating a composition or or to the composition itself.

Design is about creating feasible, functional solutions to a variety of problems, and always happens with a particular goal in mind. — Amanda Chong, HubSpot designer

As ambiguous as it seems, design can be defined … particularly when it comes to how it applies to marketing. That’s why we compiled this guide — to help you better understand design and it’s principles and types. Bookmark this guide for future reference, and use the chapter links to jump ahead to any section that interests you.

Design has many different connotations depending on its application. It’s is an incredibly fluid industry. In short, design can be whatever you want it to be — as long as you don’t forget some of its predefined tenets. These are known as the principles of design.

There are many additional terms related to these principles: movement rhythm, symmetry, and white space. These design concepts fall under and/or are based on the above tenets and therefore aren’t considered standalone principles.
Let’s break down each principle of design and their associated design concepts.
Feeling stuck? Take our Design for Non-Designers workshop.
Balance
Balance is how objects in a composition are arranged and what visual weight they carry. Balance can be achieved using the following methods.

Symmetry (Formal balance): When objects are arranged evenly around a vertical or horizontal axis. Objects are arranged around a central point (or a radius) is known as radial symmetry.

Asymmetry (Informal balance): When objects are arranged unevenly around a vertical or horizontal axis. Typically, there’s one dominant side or element in an asymmetrical composition.

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Contrast
Contrast refers to how elements in a composition differ. This principle is often paired with the principle of similarity, which is how composition elements resemble each other. Contrast can be established using design elements like color, space, form, size, and texture.
White space is also an important element of contrast. Often called negative space, which space refers to the empty parts of a composition. White space can help organize the elements in a composition and emphasize the most important ones. It also creates an aura of luxury and minimalism.
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Dominance
Dominance refers to the varying degrees of emphasis within a composition. Emphasis is typically achieved using elements like size, font choice, and certain color combinations (that may create contrast). There are three main stages of dominance in design.

Dominant — The object of primary emphasis. It’s given the most visual weight and is typically found in the foreground of a composition.

Sub-dominant — The object(s) of secondary emphasis typically found in the middle ground.

Subordinate — The object(s) of tertiary emphasis typically found in the background.

Fun fact: The visual center is where we naturally focus on a piece of visual design. It’s slightly above and to the right of the actual center of a composition and is often referred to as “museum height”.
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Movement
Movement is the visual path a viewer follows when viewing a composition. With proper movement, a composition can create a narrative and provide a high-quality user experience (UX). Movement can be established using design elements like lines, shapes, and colors.
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Proportion or Scale
Proportion refers to the visual weight and size of a composition’s elements and how they relate to each other. This principle is also known as scale.
The relative size of one object to another can help create a focal point or movement along the composition. Also, varying sizes of objects can help communicate the importance and dominance of one element over another.
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Unity
Visual unity has been said to be the main goal of design, although that opinion differs among designers and certain design communities. Unity, or harmony, refers to the relationship between the individual parts and the whole of a composition. When a composition’s elements are in agreement, there exists unity; when the elements aren’t in agreement, a composition is said to have variety.
The following design principles are associated with unity.

Alignment — When objects are lined up on a certain axis or cadence

Continuation — When a line or pattern extends

Perspective — When there’s a distance between elements

Proximity — When objects are placed close together

Repetition — When objects are copied multiple times

Rhythm — When objects recur with a slight change or interruption 

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While the principles of design are considered universal, they look a little different as applied to different design communities and practices. Below, we’ve reviewed the top seven types of design in marketing.

Types of Design in Marketing

Graphic Design
Branding and Logo Design
UI and UX Design
Web (Front-End) Design
Multimedia Design
Environmental Design

Let’s break down each type of design and how they apply to the marketing industry.
Grab 195 free visual marketing design templates on us.
Graphic Design
Graphic design is probably what you picture when you think of design in the marketing field: social media images, email marketing headers, infographics, postcards, and much more.
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Since visual content is a highly valuable and engaging marketing medium, companies rely on graphic designers to create assets that represent their brand and communicate with their audience.
Need templates to help you create content for any online channel? Download our free library of over 195 visual marketing design templates.
Branding and Logo Design
Branding and logo design is a subset of graphic design. It includes the visual elements of a brand and brand identity, such as logos, typography, color palettes, style guides, and more.
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Branding and logo designers create assets that represent a brand, illustrate the brand’s mission, vision, and values, and promote brand awareness for the company.
Learn the fundamental concepts of graphic design and how to use them to create high-quality graphics by taking the HubSpot Academy Graphic Design Essentials course.
UI and UX Design
User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design focus on improving how website, app, and software users interact with and experience a product.
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While some roles combine UI and UX design, the two practices are quite different. UI designers are responsible for creating a visually-pleasing, on-brand experience for users through web page design, app design, and theme design on sites like WordPress and Shopify.
UX designers, on the other hand, are responsible for making sure a product actually solves a problem through usability testing, user flows, and digital prototypes.
Web (Front-End) Design
Web design applies to the front-end (public-facing) side of a website. Front-end designers are like UI designers equipped with coding knowledge — they design static UI mockups for a website and then translate them into HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code. (But don’t confuse this practice with front-end web development.)

Web designers create assets that produce an attractive and fully-functional website, such as splash pages, navigational elements, sitemaps and pages, scrolling and clicking features, and content management systems.
Multimedia Design
Multimedia (or motion graphic) design is designing graphics for a variety of media, particularly video and animation. Because of its time and cost requirements, this type of design has historically been reserved for those in TV and film. But with advancements in technology and a recent rise in video content marketing, motion graphic design has become more accessible than ever.
 

 
Multimedia designers are responsible for creating moveable assets that communicate and delight with an audience, like moveable logos, GIFs, animated videos, tutorial videos, and animated websites.
Environmental Design
Environmental design, also known as environmental graphic design, is intended to improve a person’s experience by furthering the purpose of an environment, whether that’s to be memorable, exciting, informative, motivational, or easily navigable. The practice merges interior design, architecture, graphic design, landscape design, and industrial design.
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Environmental designers create assets that connect people to their environment, such as, murals, office design and branding, store interiors, event space design, and signage and interactive advertising.
Marketing Design Tips
We’ve covered the basics of the most common types of design in marketing: graphic, branding, UI and UX, and web, multimedia, and environmental. Now, we’re going to dive into some tips for the top four.
Note: Keep an eye out for the principles of design we discussed above … they’ll make an appearance in this section, too.
Graphic Design Tips
1. Start with the purpose
What type of content are you designing … a social media ad, email template header, or ebook? These are three different pieces of content with three wildly different purposes and goals. Before you create your piece of graphic design, jot down the purpose of the content. This can help keep your design goals aligned with your content goals as you create your piece of art.
2. Apply your style guide
When deciding on what design elements to include, consider your company’s branding style guide. (We’ll get into how and why to create a style guide next.) This guide will immediately show you what colors, fonts, and other design elements to use when designing your content. From there, you can make small tweaks depending on what type of content you’re creating.
3. Create order with lines and alignment
Lines and alignment in your graphic design can create movement and order. Align the text in your graphic to guide your viewer as they read, or incorporate horizontal lines to section off your text and imagery. Similar to how you format long blog posts in small paragraphs, lines and alignment make pieces of graphic design easier to digest.
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4. Pepper in some icons and illustrations
Colors, text, and images make for gorgeous graphics, but don’t limit your elements to those three. Icons and illustrations can also spice up an otherwise text or image-heavy piece of content. Icons might also be able to illustrate concepts that photos can’t, and they serve as creative bullet points for long lists.
Spruce up your graphic design today with our 135 free icons to use in your marketing graphics.
Branding and Logo Design Tips
1. Design the aesthetic of your personality
How do you visually present the personality of your brand and company? If your brand was a person, what would he or she be like? Your branding design should reflect the answers to these questions.
Before starting your design, make a list of adjectives that describe your brand, company, and culture. This will help you choose color combinations, images, fonts, and other design elements and bring out the key points of your personality. Also, using your brand adjectives as guidance, build a collection of images, graphics, color samples, and similar logos that represent the “mood” of your brand — a.k.a. a mood board.
2. Get a little funky
Your logo and brand assets don’t have to be a straightforward representation of what your company does. Heck, HubSpot’s logo has really nothing to do with marketing, sales, or service software. Yet, it represents our company perfectly while being memorable and distinctive.
As you design your brand’s visual identity, don’t be afraid to get a little funky and incorporate some unique design aspects. Doing so may help your brand stand out from the rest.
3. Keep it simple
Your branding should communicate your aesthetic in a less than a second. Impressions are made in the blink of an eye, and your logo and brand identity is no exception. Consumers will decide if they like, dislike, are impressed by, or want nothing to do with your brand in a split second, so keep your design simple and to the point.

4. Prioritize consistency
This is perhaps the most important tip when it comes to branding and logo design: Be consistent. You can spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars developing a gorgeous visual identity for your brand — but if it’s not reflected on every piece of print and digital content, all your resources have gone to waste.
Consistency applies on a couple different axes — horizontally along your content elements, i.e. in your fonts, spacing, and color combinations, and vertically across your content outlets, i.e. between your social media, email, website, and print materials. Create a style guide to encourage everyone to adhere to your new branding. Here’s HubSpot’s Style Guide as an example.
Learn the key elements you need to create a strong brand by downloading The Essential Guide to Branding Your Company here.
UI and UX Design Tips
Note: UI and UX design are considered two different types of design, but because they’re so similar, we’ve collected a few tips that can apply to both practices.
1. Adapt a user’s perspective
Whether you’re designing the interface or the experience of an app, website, or online tool, always adapt the perspective of a user. Why would someone use your site? What would they hope to achieve? What might their challenges be? It’s important to research your user base and better understand how they’d approach or your site or application. Consider doing first-hand user research through a focus group or by talking to current customers.
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2. Anticipate mistakes
Regardless of much you talk to users, there will always be a handful (or more) of people who’ll stumble through your website or application. Anticipate these mistakes by incorporating fool-proof mechanisms, such as not letting someone submit a web form if they’ve skipped a box or having a user confirm they’d like to exit in case they accidentally clicked off the screen. These mechanisms can help prevent mistakes before they happen and let your users know you’ve got their backs.
3. Don’t neglect standards and trends
Designers love paving a new path and “reinventing the wheel” with their designs. While this can create something unique and memorable for the user, it may also confuse them if you’ve gone too far. Consider sticking with known design patterns, standards, and trends, such as a navigation bar the top right corner or contact information along the bottom of the page. This can help your users already subconsciously know how to navigate your site without explanation.
4. Be mobile-friendly friendly
Responsive design is a non-negotiable for websites and applications, but is your design mobile-friendly friendly? Consider the spacing of your buttons, the size of the text, and any other navigational or organizational elements that might be inconvenient in a responsive design. Also, look at how your site may change when viewed on a desktop, tablet, and various types of smartphones.
Web (Front-End) Design Tips
1. Consider the fold
On a website, the fold is considered the bottom of the screen — where your page would “fold” if it were a physical item, like a newspaper. The most important information on a websites should always be placed “above the fold” (like in newspapers) so a visitor doesn’t have to scroll down to see it.
2. Leverage white space to draw focus
In the case of web design, less is often more. With lots of information to share with visitors, it can be tempting to clutter it all above the fold so folks see it right away. But less cluttered websites are easier to read, navigate, and digest. Keep your visitors on your website by putting plenty of white space around your content; it’ll be easier for them to focus on reading and understanding your content.
3. Use color to guide action
Color psychology plays a big role in marketing. Without us even knowing it, certain colors can encourage us to do certain things, such as click a button or continue on to the next page of a web form. Use colors to guide the same types of action on your website. Make all of your CTAs a bold color to help them stand out.
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4. Avoid generic stock images
There are lots of ways to use images in your marketing, but the one method to avoid is using generic stock images. Generic, cheesy stock images make a brand seem lazy and disengaged with their buyer persona. The images on your website should be a representation of your audience, and if you can’t capture your actual audience, you should work hard to find stock images that do. Tip: One great way to collect audience images is by running a user-generated content (UGC) campaign.
Download our free guide to growth-driven web design for even more web design tips.
Time to Design
Design comes in all shapes and sizes … literally. From websites to print graphics to office space design, it plays a major role in marketing our businesses and brands. Even if you don’t consider yourself a designer, we encourage you to become more familiar with the elements and types of design. You never know when you may have to consult on a project or whip up a design of your own.

Content marketing has seen a lot of changes during the past few years.
Many of these changes can be attributed to the rapidly evolving search landscape as well as a huge shift in the way people are actually discovering content.
New, more sophisticated search algorithms, changes in how people use search engines, and new ways that marketers go about actually developing their content are just a few of the contributing factors and outcomes.
All that said, many marketers still experience the same pain points that were commonplace more than five years ago:

“I struggle to measure the ROI of the content I create.”
We create great content, but we still don’t seem to rank high in Google for our target keywords.”
“So, I’ve done my keyword research. Now what?”

As a response to these problems — specifically the second one — a lot of marketers will create more and more content. Unfortunately, creating larger volumes of the same underperforming content will often result in the same underwhelming results — just at a greater expense.
In fact, adding more content to a poor existing site architecture can make it even harder for Google to find and rank your content. That’s not a situation any marketer wants to find themselves in.
The answer to these problems spans way beyond the number of blog posts being pushed out each week; the real problem lies in the way that most content strategies are being developed and organized.
SEO is evolving, and marketers need to change with it.
Fortunately, there are ways to overcome these obstacles and drive high-performing results for your marketing team.
Here, we’ll discuss the changing state of search and how marketers can keep up. Continue reading this page or use the links below to jump to a specific section.

Search Engines are Changing
Before we jump into solutions for finding success in the changing world of content marketing, let’s dive a bit deeper into the driving forces behind that change.
First, we need to chat about search engines. Updates to how search engines process and evaluate content have created drastic changes in recent years for SEO. As a result, the old metrics of success aren’t as reliable as they once were.
For example, one of the ways in which content producers evaluate the performance of content is by looking at keyword rankings within the search engines. However, there’s been a lot of debate around the actual credibility of keyword rankings as a metric, and the reason for this largely stems from the fact that rank changes depending on context.
To put it simply, depending on how and where you’re searching from, you’ll see different search results, which makes it difficult to evaluate success based on keyword rankings alone.

A simple search for the term “where to eat pizza” illustrates this perfectly. If you’re searching for this query from Boston, you’ll receive a completely different set of results compared to someone searching in San Francisco. In fact, the results page for this query probably has thousands of different variations at any one moment in time.
With this in mind, how do you accurately determine your ranking for this keyword?
Outside of keyword ranking problems, the search engines have also been dictating how content should be structured, most notably with the increased appearance of featured snippets.

Google has been rolling out more and more featured snippets within the search results — one 2017 study found that of 1.4 million queries, 30% showed a featured snippet. These numbers have likely increased since then.
These boxes try to answer the question that the searcher has without them needing to navigate through to the content.

The reality is that content ranking within the featured snippet section often gets a much greater share of the traffic for the given query when compared to non-featured snippet SERPs.
Publishers now have to restructure their content to try and appear within these featured snippets, of which Wikipedia reigns supreme — owning an estimated 11.2% of all featured snippets.
On a more general level, Google in particular has been making big investments in machine learning and has introduced RankBrain into the core algorithm it uses to index and rank content. Ultimately, RankBrain enables Google to better understand the intent behind specific queries without the search query explicitly stating them — all with the goal of providing more relevant results to the searcher.
This brings us to the next big change in search: the searcher.

How People Search
More significant than the way in which search engines themselves are evolving is the way that searchers are communicating with search engines.
Amplified by the rise of mobile and voice search, queries have become more and more conversational. A few years ago many people entered fragmented terms into search engines. Now, it’s more common for people to ask complex questions using full sentences. Google’s updates over the past two to three years have focused on understanding these types of queries better through natural language processing, most notably with the rollout of Hummingbird in 2013.
The introduction of this new search algorithm, which began analyzing phrases instead of solely relying on keywords, marked a major switch for the search giant from keyword to topic-focused SEO. In 2016, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that one out of five queries on its mobile app and on Android devices were voice searches. Based on these new developments, the increasing importance of search topics shows no signs of slowing.
The takeaway here for content marketers? The traditional view of “keywords” in search has changed. Where a few years ago there were maybe 10-20 “big keywords” that would be sought after for ranking within a topic, there are now hundreds or thousands of long-tail variations that are regularly searched within a topic and change based on location. Simply dominating a few words is no longer enough to produce successful results.

Content Strategy in 2021 and Beyond
Considering the advancements in the ways that both the search engines and searchers are evolving, there needs to be a shift in the way marketers determine their content strategy — especially when focused on driving organic search.
The way we approach this at HubSpot is to look at our visibility across a topic, as opposed to a specific keyword. By organizing content within topic clusters instead of individual disjointed posts, we’re able to capture a large amount of search traffic across an ever-increasing pool of relevant keywords. This also allows us to align our brand with several recognizable core topics. Embracing the topic cluster model has allowed us to completely transform how we create and organize our content.

A great example of this is around “inbound sales,” an area that we’ve been covering a lot. You can see from Google’s autocomplete section that there are a number of big links to HubSpot — with our Inbound Sales Day, Certification, and Methodology being the top three, as well as a direct mention of the HubSpot brand.
We’ve managed to align our brand with topics that directly relate to our buyer personas, and as a result of this topic cluster model, we generate millions of relevant visits to our web properties.

What’s a topic cluster?
The basic premise behind building a topic cluster content program is to enable a deeper coverage across a range of core topic areas, while creating an efficient information architecture in the process.
You’re probably thinking, “This sounds difficult to implement? How can I start using this strategy for my own content marketing?” Don’t worry, it sounds more complicated than it really is.
In simpler terms, a pillar page is a broad overview of a specific topic. You can think of it like a summary or road map. We built pillar pages for each of our major focus areas. Linking into the pillar content is a range of content that covers individual, more specific subtopics, otherwise known as cluster content. Each cluster topic page for the pillar focuses on providing more detail for a specific long-tail keyword related to the main topic. The pillar links to each cluster page and each cluster page links back to the pillar with the same hyperlinked keyword.
The benefit of this model, in addition to organizing your site architecture, is that one high performing cluster page can elevate search rankings for all the other pages linked to the same pillar.

By aligning sets of web pages this way into topic clusters, you can manage the internal linking between each page more efficiently, boost your search ranking, and also provide a better user experience for visitors.

Building a solid information architecture is incredibly important for ranking well in organic search across a broad topic area. Creating hyper-focused clusters of content geared around a specific topic will not only help solve for that, but also enable you to keep focused on creating content that your target audience actually cares about. That means higher efficiency for your search marketing and less time wasted on producing repetitive content that doesn’t help advance your search goals.
The typical way to structure a topic cluster of content, which we outlined earlier, is with one larger piece of content that broadly covers the core topic, otherwise known as pillar content. Here’s an example to illustrate this:
 
In the above example, the core topic is “workout routines.” Each of the surrounding subtopics focuses on a more specific branch of the core topic, for example, “workout routines to build lean muscle.”
The role of the pillar content is to cover the core topic broadly while also converting visitors into leads (or whatever your conversion goal is). The cluster organization also signals to search engines that the content has more in depth information on the topic, in turn giving your pillar page a higher level of authority on the topic while gaining higher search placement from orderly linking.
The beauty of this model is that you can spend a lot more time optimizing your pillar content for conversions and your cluster content for traffic. This saves a lot of time compared to the traditional model of optimizing each individual post. It also makes it easier for you to give a better user experience while sending a positive signals to the search engines with this site architecture.
For example, the typical organization of a blog may look like the below, with lots of overlapping and repetitive posts on a few focus topics:

A blog using topic clusters would look like this, with multiple posts all linking back to their respective pillar pages for each core topic:
An example of pillar content that we’ve produced at HubSpot would be our Blog Topic Generator tool.

This pillar content brings in a substantial amount of new leads every month and gets a considerable amount of traffic. Tools work particularly well for pillar content because they’re often evergreen content and get shared a lot.
We’ve built out a wide range of cluster content that ties into specific subtopics. An example of this would be our blog post titled, “How to Think Up a Year’s Worth of Blog Post Topics in an Hour,” which has an internal link pointing to the Blog Topic Generator tool. For more inspiration, check out these great pillar page examples.
This content will drive traffic to the pillar content and push positive link signals to the search engines in the process, increasing both the organic search visibility and leads generated from the overall topic cluster.

How to Create a Topic Cluster Plan
Before you get started creating new topic clusters of your own it’s important to determine if this is the right approach for your site. You can figure this out by asking yourself three simple questions outlined in the chart below.

Does the topic you want to rank for have enough search volume to be worth the time and effort?
Do you already have content covering the topic? If so, you may be better off using what you have and adding internal links.
Is the topic something you want to cover in detail? If you’ve made it this far and the answer is “yes”,  you can start creating your own topic cluster.

When it comes to actually mapping out topic clusters, there’s a general process that works particularly well. Follow these steps to create your own pillar page:

Map out 5-10 of the core problems that your buyer persona has (use surveys, run interviews, and do some secondary research within online communities).
Group each of the problems into broad topic areas.
Build out each of the core topic with subtopics using keyword research.
Map out content ideas that align with each of the core topics and corresponding subtopics.
Validate each idea with industry and competitive research.
Create, measure, and refine.

This is a simple overview but should help you to begin to prioritize content ideation and production. Following this process will help you to structure your editorial calendar for the topic cluster content model.
But how do you figure out what content to focus on? This is where keyword research comes into play. Keyword research is a helpful way to determine what content your target audience already is looking for so you can reach them in a way that is relevant and impactful to them.
To get started, create a list of broad topics that are important to your business. Then fill in each topic with potential keywords you think your audience will search for. It’s better to not self-edit during this stage and write out as many keywords as you can think of. For example, if your main topic is Instagram marketing, your subtopics might include Instagram business accounts, Instagram captions, Instagram hashtags, and Instagram analytics.
Once you have your list, search for these terms or use a tool such as Ubersuggest to find related keywords and terms you may not have initially included in your list. Make sure you have a mix of long-tail and short-tail keywords.
Now that you’ve finalized your keyword list, see how your competitors rank for each of them using a service like SEMRush. This will allow you to find gaps in their search strategy as well as single out important words and phrases to aim for in the pillar content you create. After all of those steps are complete, use Google’s Keyword Planner or HubSpot’s keywords tool to narrow down the keyword list.
Once you’ve developed your core topic and cluster content, create a tracking document to keep track of your existing content and cluster strategy. Tracking documents can help organize your clustering process to make sure all of your content has been linked correctly. For HubSpot customers, you can automate clustering using HubSpot’s content strategy tool.

 

How to Measure the Success of Your Topic Cluster

You’re probably wondering, “how do I measure the success of a piece of content?”
The answer to this question is complicated because, for the most part, it’s not a great idea to evaluate the success of your campaign on a content-by-content basis. Just looking at the success of one blog post is difficult at the best of times, but more often than not, the definition of success is too narrow to account for indirect benefits that it has.
A good example of this would be with more brand-driven content. The focus here isn’t around generating sales or even capturing email addresses, but instead it can be around elevating the brand, attracting new talent, or even earning backlinks or press coverage.

If we based the success of our “Our Story” page on the number of leads it generated, it would appear to be performing terribly. However, this page has over 5,000 backlinks from external websites and gets a huge amount of traffic from potential hires looking to join our company.
Luckily, this problem can be solved by evaluating success on a topic cluster level instead.
Measuring the entire topic cluster against all of your core business metrics will enable you to include residual benefits coming from content that doesn’t align with direct conversion goals. Let’s say one of your blog posts is a study with a bunch of original data that gets thousands of backlinks — this page will pass on authority across all the pages in the topic cluster and grow the search visibility across the cluster. That’s difficult to measure in isolation, but can be done on a topic level.
Using this framework for measurement, you’ll be able to understand the following:

Which topics perform better at driving traffic to your web properties?
Which topics earn you the most leads?
Which topics drive the most revenue to the business?
Which topics earn the most backlinks/coverage?

Search Engines Aren’t Searching for Your Content, People Are

What this all works towards is ensuring that you’re actually creating content that people want to see, as opposed to content that’s designed specifically for the search engines. Don’t forget, search engines are pretty smart. In most cases, they don’t require you to ever mention a specific keyword in the copy of your content to understand that it’s relevant.
Shifting your focus to building content on a keyword-by-keyword basis and moving to owning topics is going to help you create better content, increase your visibility in the search engines, and provide a more positive experience for visitors.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

The first ecommerce sale was made in 1994 … and can you guess what it was?
It was a Sting CD.
Dan Kohn, a 21-year-old who ran a website called NetMarket, sold Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales CD to a friend who purchased it with his credit card for $12.48 plus shipping costs. These exchanges are what we know as ecommerce today: Sales of services and goods made through the internet.

Ecommerce has come a long way since 1994, and it’s growing as more shoppers turn to devices and computers as the primary tools for discovering and buying new products.
Let’s take a deeper look at what ecommerce is and the growth trends around it, as well as some basic getting started tips.

Guide to Ecommerce
In this section, we’ll review the many benefits of ecommerce, major ecommerce trends, types of ecommerce, and sales tax. 
Benefits of Ecommerce
Ecommerce is not a trend, and it isn’t going away any time soon. Why? Selling goods and services on the internet highly benefits both the seller and the buyer.

Benefits to the buyer:

Convenience
Quicker and easier transactions
Informed purchasing decisions
Easier price and product comparisons
Improved delivery process
Targeted communication

Benefits to the seller:

Lower overhead costs due to the elimination of brick and mortar locations
The ability to sell goods around-the-clock (versus traditional store hours)
Ability to reach customers beyond geographical location
More control over the selling process and tracking, especially if there’s one portal that handles point-of-sale (POS)
Greater visibility to potential customers via SEO
More control over personnel costs and inventory management

Ecommerce Trends
The biggest trend around ecommerce right now is growth — and that growth extends far and wide.
1. U.S. Ecommerce Growth
Ecommerce has seen tremendous growth within the U.S. in the last 10 years. In fact, data from the U.S. Department of Commerce shows that in 2017, U.S. ecommerce sales grew faster than it had since 2011 and that it represented 49% of the growth in total retail sales. That growth trend isn’t slowing down, either. Statista data predicts that U.S. online retail sales of physical goods are projected to reach close to $476.5 billion in 2024.
2. Global Ecommerce Growth
Global ecommerce is rapidly growing, too. Emarketer trend data indicates that retail ecommerce sales may exceed $4.058 trillion by as soon as 2020. As more shoppers look for products across borders and from international marketplaces, an uptick in ecommerce sales is evident around the globe.
3. Ecommerce Growth by Category
ComScore data indicates there are a few particular industries seeing rapid change in regard to retail ecommerce growth. Jewelry and watches was at the top of the growth chart (as of 2016) with 39% growth, followed by furniture, appliances, and equipment (26%), and video games/accessories (24%).
Lastly, let’s review the three types of ecommerce. 

There are three classifications of ecommerce. The classification depends on who is selling to who.
1. Business to Business (B2B)
Goods and services are sold from one company to another. For example, HubSpot provides products to other companies that are looking to grow better.
2. Business to Consumer (B2C)
A business sells to a customer. This is one of the most common types of ecommerce. An example would be an online clothing store or the online segment of some popular brick and mortar business, like Walmart or Target.
3. Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
As you may have guessed — consumers sell directly to consumer via online marketplaces. Craigslist, Ebay, and Amazon are all examples of C2C ecommerce.
Sales Tax for Your Online Store
Now, you might be worried about how sales tax should be incorporated into your online sales. Let’s look at a state-by-state breakdown of sales tax. There are five states that do not currently collect sales tax: Delaware, Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, and Alaska.
Sales Tax by State

State
Tax Rate

Alabama
4.00%

Alaska
0.00%

Arizona
5.60%

Arkansas
6.50%

California
7.25%

Colorado
2.90%

Connecticut
6.35%

Delaware
0.00%

Florida
6.00%

Georgia
4.00%

Hawaii
4.00%

Idaho
6.00%

Illinois
6.25%

Indiana
7.00%

Iowa
6.00%

Kansas
6.50%

Kentucky
6.00%

Louisiana
5.00%

Maine
5.50%

Maryland
6.00%

Massachusetts
6.25%

Michigan
6.00%

Minnesota
6.875%

Mississippi
7.00%

Missouri
4.225%

Montana
0.00%

Nebraska
5.50%

Nevada
6.85%

New Hampshire
0.00%

New Jersey
6.625%

New Mexico
5.125%

New York
4.00%

North Carolina
4.75%

North Dakota
5.00%

Ohio
5.75%

Oklahoma
4.50%

Oregon
0.00%

Pennsylvania
6.00%

Rhode Island
7.00%

South Carolina
6.00%

South Dakota
4.50%

Tennessee
7.00%

Texas
6.25%

Utah
5.95%

Vermont
6.00%

Virginia
5.30%

Washington
6.50%

West Virginia
6.00%

Wisconsin
5.00%

Wyoming
4.00%

D.C.
5.75%

Source: Based on 2018 Data. Refer to State’s Department of Revenue for up-to-date rates.
Now that we’ve reviewed some ecommerce basics, let’s review the steps you should consider following if you’re looking to launch an online business. 

While you’re working through the steps above and establishing your online store, keep the following best practices for ecommerce marketing and websites in mind.

Ecommerce Marketing Best Practices
What do you need to know about marketing for an ecommerce business? Here are a few best practices that can help jumpstart your efforts.
1. Test social media ads.
With 1.18 billion daily active users, Facebook has a huge audience that can be tapped. Consider targeting your audience with social media posts and videos and experiment to see what works best and drives sales and revenue.
2. Collect email addresses and stay in touch.
Recent data shows that three-quarters of companies agree that email marketing offers “excellent” to “good” ROI. By collecting email addresses on-site and asking customers to opt-in to future communications from you, you can give visitors a reason to keep coming back to your ecommerce site again and again via offers, sales, VIP discounts, and more.
3. Use personalization to tailor offers/messaging.
Personalization is more important than ever for online shoppers. In fact, research shows 74% of online consumers get frustrated with websites when offers, ads, and promotions appear that have nothing to do with their interests.
Make sure you’re leveraging personalized product suggestions, personalizing your email marketing efforts, and generally striving to make each customer feel like you’re speaking only to him or her.
4. Gather feedback via surveys.
The best way to keep a finger on the pulse of what your audience wants is to ask them. Leverage online surveys to gather feedback on everything from product to your marketing efforts to customer service interactions.
5. Choose ecommerce software that helps you meet your needs and goals. 
You may be wondering how to make sure you choose the right ecommerce software for your specific business. Here are some tips. 
How to Choose the Best Ecommerce Software
When searching for the best ecommerce platform and software — such as an ecommerce website builder —to meet your needs, there are many factors to consider. Look for:

Themes and customization abilities: You should be able to customize ready-made themes that allow you to personalize and add company branding.

Domain name customization: Make sure you can get a custom domain name and URL (so you don’t have to include the platform’s name in your website URL).

Expert, 24/7 support: Take the time to explore the platform’s service in detail. If an emergency crops up down the road, you want to be sure you’ll have fast, reliable support at a moment’s notice.

Flexible payment options: Customers want to pay in a variety of ways today — from credit cards to digital wallets and beyond. Look for an ecommerce software solution that is flexible enough to support many different secure payment options.

Multiple language abilities: Your customers may be coming from all over the world, so you need to be able to speak their language. It’s a good idea to work with a tool that supports many different languages.

6. Keep best practices for your website in mind.
When you’re ready to build an inbound ecommerce website, there are a few best practices to keep in mind that will help you get results out of your time and effort.
Select and customize a mobile-friendly theme.
BrightEdge data shows that more than half (57%) of web traffic now comes from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets — which means it’s essential to use a mobile-friendly theme when building your ecommerce website.
On ecommerce platforms, you can browse a selection of free and premium themes (all of which are mobile-optimized) and find one that’s best suited for your needs. Plus: From there, you can customize the templated website theme. By adding your color scheme and branding elements (like your logo), you can make your ecommerce website look 100% custom-made.
Take a look at this Shopify template example:

Source
Optimize for the web.
Web optimization encompasses a wide range of strategies and tactics that help convert more site visitors into customers, but let’s focus on two in particular:

Write enticing product descriptions. Use persuasive copywriting triggers to make your product descriptions sell. That means tapping into psychological tactics like fear of missing out, reciprocity, exclusivity, and more — all of which encourage site visitors to buy (and to buy NOW).

Add beautiful product images. When it comes to marketing, visuals are extremely important — especially for online buyers who can’t see or touch products before making a purchase. Along with static product images, add context by incorporating images of models using the product and videos that give customers a 360-degree view.

Create a stellar customer experience.
Research indicates that customer experience will overtake price and product as the primary brand differentiator for sales by 2020. This means it’s important to focus on creating an impressive customer experience across all of your brand’s various touchpoints.
A few ideas to get you started:

Add a FAQ page. Answering frequently asked questions on your ecommerce website helps potential customers quickly and easily find the information they need to complete a purchase.

Reduce image sizes for quick load times. Survey data shows more than half of website visitors expect a page to load in less than two seconds. At more than three seconds, they leave the page (and aren’t likely to return.) Reduce the size of your on-site images so it loads quickly.

Leverage user-generated content. Including user-generated content (think customer reviews, images from social media, and testimonials) on your ecommerce site means adding elements of social proof — which can improve the overall buying experience for customers.

Next, let’s cover the ways in which you can work to increase your ecommerce sales. 

How to Increase Ecommerce Sales
Ecommerce sales in the U.S. alone gross $130 billion per quarter, which is nearly 10 percent of all retail sales (that number is increasing globally as well). That’s a lot of people looking for online products and services.
If you’re building an ecommerce business, you need to devise a strategy to increase sales and get a piece of that pie. You won’t have an ecommerce business without customers. So, consider this one of the most important sections in this article. Let’s cover a few ways that you can increase your ecommerce sales.
1. Hook prospects in the consideration stage.
If you only try to reach prospective buyers in their decision stage, you’re too late. Conversely, if you provide relevant content in the awareness stage and fail to follow-up, you risk them forgetting about you as they move along the buyer’s journey.
It’s also important to remember that people go through buying cycles and can move back and forth between stages before they commit to a product or service. Once you hook a prospect with your content keep them engaged and send them content that speaks to their present stage. Your goal should be to get on their short-list of potential purchases.
2. Use paid targeting to outrank your competitors.
There’s a reason why sites like Google Shopping are so lucrative — they work. Search engines return billions of results daily, and many of those results are for products and services just like yours. The problem is the competition. When done right, paid advertising can position your ecommerce store in front of the right audience and ahead of your competition.
3. Get (or give) some information before they leave your site.
Not everyone who visits your ecommerce store is ready to buy — engage them anyway. Think about reasons why someone would visit and bounce off a page (maybe they’re considering options or they find your product too expensive or they want to make a more informed decision).
Whatever the reason, your job is to provide them with something that will keep you top of mind as they continue their search. Ideally, you would gather some lead information but at a minimum provide them something useful that can assist them as they go about their search.
4. Invest in re-engaging shopping cart abandoners.
Shopping cart abandonment is inevitable but not irrevocable. Sometimes users just need a little nudge to get back to their cart either through remarketing or a simple email reminder. Before you reach out though, make sure to address some of the common reasons why prospects abandon their shopping carts in the first place.
5. Remember to integrate social.
Don’t underestimate the power of social media when it comes to online sales. Instagram reports that 60% of people find products on social, which makes sense with the integration of shoppable content. Meet your potential customers where they are and remove friction from the buying process by leading them seamlessly to a sale.

Examples of Inspiring Shopify Ecommerce Stores
Not sure what your ecommerce store should look like? Here are a few examples of inspiring stores to help get your creative wheels turning.
1. Tattly

Because Tattly offers a product that’s highly visual in nature, they’ve opted for a theme that’s photo-centric. This lets new visitors quickly get acquainted with the product offering and provides a few different paths for deeper product exploration, too.
2. Graydon Skincare

Graydon Skincare uses a website layout with a large rotating header image that helps communicate a feeling around the brand and product. The images feature different products sold by the brand, and the simple top navigation makes it easy for customers to quickly find what they’re looking for.
3. 18Waits

18Waits also uses large rotating photos on the home page of their ecommerce store — but they sometimes integrate them with promotional offers. This helps shoppers visualize themselves wearing the product, while also enticing them to check out a special sale going on, too. Overall, the theme they’ve used is fairly minimal, which puts all the focus on the photography.
4. Easy Tiger

Speaking of minimal … Easy Tiger takes minimal design to the extreme. With a clean white background and no distracting design elements, all the focus is on their products. The red text also pops from the screen, making it easy to read and consume.
5. BluKicks

BluKicks also uses an image-centric approach on their homepage with quick navigation to product types. The lifestyle-type images they spotlight here communicate a certain feeling to shoppers — and ups the beachy charm of their product.
The Future of Ecommerce
Sales tax is a hot topic in the news right now — and the Supreme Court may be making changes to the policies for ecommerce retailers. Be sure to stay up-to-date on the latest laws and regulations.
The future of ecommerce is a bright one, and with the right strategy and tools, launching an online business can be easier than you ever imagined. Tap into the audience of engaged online shoppers and get your piece of the growing ecommerce pie.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

We know that growing a business can feel like a constant juggling act: from driving sales and managing a team, to prioritizing product roadmaps and keeping customers happy. Founders are often forced to step away from building their business and consider the numbers behind their day-to-day operations, in order to fundraise, which can be a serious distraction.
The good news is that the world of alternative financing is evolving by the day. Founders have a growing set of options for accessing capital which can give them time back to focus on higher-impact work. This aligns well with our mission at HubSpot, which is focused on helping companies grow in a way that doesn’t come at the expense of customer delight or that sacrifices the culture a team has worked so hard to build.
That’s why HubSpot Ventures is thrilled to announce our investment in Pipe, a company that is changing the way companies access capital and one that shares our mission to help companies grow on their terms.
Founders Harry Hurst, Josh Mangel and Zain Allarakhia started Pipe with the idea that recurring revenue streams are assets in and of themselves. Historically, there hasn’t been  a two-sided platform connecting companies that have monthly or quarterly recurring revenue with investors who could bid to purchase these revenues for their annual value, upfront.
Pipe integrates with a company’s banking, payment processing, and accounting systems to rate a business almost instantly, without disrupting any existing workflows or customer relationships. The product tracks revenue streams automatically, and once companies are approved, they have access to the Pipe Trading Platform to see real-time bids for their full annual value.
They’ve attracted buy side participants who are vetted institutional investors who bid to purchase monthly and quarterly paid recurring revenues at a small discount to their annual value, unlocking an entirely new asset class. What this means for companies is that founders can now access low-cost, non-dilutive financing conveniently without the drawbacks of traditional debt or the distraction of raising growth capital.
We were attracted to Pipe’s bold vision to be the go-to platform for companies seeking convenient, low-cost capital, as well as their unique positioning around using ecosystem partnerships to help drive their growth. The entire Pipe team is on a mission to change the game in how companies like HubSpot’s customers access capital, and HubSpot Ventures is honored to be part of their journey.
Learn more about Pipe here, and more about HubSpot Ventures here.

In times of crisis and uncertainty, new business acquisition slows down for most creative, marketing, and digital agencies. Offering a flexible, completely customizable newsletter is one great way to minimize churn and retain accounts when you need them most.
According to research from Uplers, 47% of agencies are experiencing a reduction in new business leads in the wake of COVID.
When acquiring new accounts becomes increasingly difficult, client retention becomes a paramount concern to agencies. The cost of getting a new agency account closed and won is about 4x greater than renewing a contract and keeping an existing client on board, as Proposify CEO Kyle Racki explains in this video on client retention strategies. 
Custom newsletters: Easier than ever for agencies
A custom newsletter, complete with your client’s own style and branding, is a great way to show how much you value their relationship and understand their unique needs. 
As a technology built by agency marketers for agency marketers, Campaign Monitor recognizes the importance of these kinds of special gestures and unique offerings. And we also understand the importance of knowing how to make email marketing templates quickly and at scale.
That’s why we’re excited to unveil our new branded templates tool within the Campaign Monitor platform. This new capability will make it easier than ever for agencies to treat their clients to captivating custom newsletters that look beautiful and get results.

Whether your shop serves just a handful of clients or a few hundred, the branded template tool simplifies the production process for your team. It guides you step by step through how to make email marketing templates that look great and fit perfectly into each client’s brand. You’ll be able to effortlessly apply themes, color schemes, logos, and more.
The flexibility of this feature gives you multiple options for improving your clients’ experience and results. If you usually use a hands-on approach where you handle most or all of their email marketing, the tool is intuitive for use by your own team. 
Alternatively; if you have more of a ‘self-serve’ model where clients do most of their own work and you operate in more of a support/advisory role, it’s easy to activate and make the functionality available for them. All clients have to do is enter their website URL: the tool does the work of identifying their logo and colors automatically!
Ready to get started? Sign up to check out the full power and capabilities of the new and improved branded template builder.
The power of custom newsletters for your agency
If you’re not already, there are several important reasons you should consider offering custom newsletter services and capabilities.

They’re good for business. One big advantage of newsletters for agencies is that they’re regular, recurring projects. Many organizations send (or at least, would like to send) newsletters on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis. That means reliable, dependable billing hours for you and a constant way for you to keep accounts engaged and push your other services.

It’s easy to do, but will make you look like an absolute wizard to your clients. You can help your clients deliver gorgeous, highly-effective newsletters that look like they took an army of designers and developers untold days of toil and sweat to produce. What they don’t need to know is that pulling it together was a cinch for your team with email marketing software designed for agency use.

Custom newsletters keep you sticky. If you’re doing something special for a client that they love, it makes it hard for them to try and take that work in-house or elsewhere. This is huge for long-term client retention.

The value of branded content for your clients
Branded newsletters aren’t just great for your agency; they have big potential benefits for clients, too. 
A recent survey shows that 74.5% of marketers currently rely on branded content. It’s also worth noting that over two-thirds of marketers expect their clients to spend more on branded content in the future. Branded content makes customers feel a sense of familiarity. They’re more comfortable engaging, making branded emails better for ROI.
How about the world’s bigger brands? Are they turning to this strategy in their content? Take a look at how one of the biggest names in entertainment/media upped their approach to branded content in recent years.

Source: Numerator
Essential email newsletter key performance indicators
As with all email marketing, you should closely monitor KPI progress for your clients’ newsletters. This equips you with the data and evidence you need to prove your value and show how your customized newsletter templates are an indispensable service to them.
When it comes to newsletters, there are a few metrics that you’ll want to keep an especially close eye on in your reporting.
Click-through rate 
This is the bread-and-butter number for most email marketing, including newsletters. It explains how engaging subscribers find your newsletter templates—and the content within. For most brands, click-throughs are the first step to the most important metrics of all: conversions, sales, donations, and so on.
Open rate
Because of the unique nature of newsletters, you and your clients should consider open rates with a different perspective from how you might evaluate the open rates of promotional or transactional emails. Remember; the purpose of a newsletter isn’t just to convert but, to share the news. That means information, updates, entertainment—the kind of email content that builds relationships.
If the main goal of a given newsletter is to update subscribers about an important product change, or share holiday best wishes, or unveil a big announcement, all that information could well be contained right in the newsletter itself. In cases like this, open rate is the best indicator of whether users are getting the message.
Unsubscribe rate
Newsletters increase the frequency at which your clients are cropping up in subscribers’ inboxes. And once they’ve seen how effective your custom email templates are, they might ask you to design and send even more.
That’s good news for you and your clientele…to a point. There’s always a risk of too much of a good thing. Regular newsletters on top of your typical marketing emails and triggered messages can quickly go from charming to annoying and ratchet up the unsubscribe rate. If you see this figure ticking up, suggest letting up on the gas to your client so you don’t alienate too many customers.
Check out this guide for a more in-depth look at the most important email newsletter KPIs.
Test your way to killer newsletter performance
Once you’ve established a great custom newsletter program for your clients, it’s time to activate your killer marketer instinct. This is what will really make the difference between a generic newsletter experience and a custom one with your agency, driving up client retention.
Fortunately, it’s not difficult to get started with some simple, high-impact tests. Thanks to their ongoing nature, newsletters make it especially easy to control for a variety of variables and gather enough data to determine clear winners. An email platform designed for agency use, like Campaign Monitor, makes it easy to set up tests and report results to clients.
Need some inspiration to get started? Try one of these invaluable email testing resources for agencies:

Business Not As Usual: 14 Email Marketing Tactics to Test Now
The Right Email Testing Tools to Optimize Every Campaign
How to A/B Test Your Email Campaigns With Campaign Monitor

Wrap up
Custom email templates are a small way to show a client you care, but they can have a big impact on client retention. The best email templates for agencies are those that are flexible and easy to adapt to any brand, so you spend less resources getting wrapped up in menial production. To recap:

When new accounts are hard to come by, it becomes that much more important to maintain your relationships and renew existing contracts.
Use Campaign Monitor’s branded templates to scale up newsletter customization with minimal incremental stress on your team and resources.
Newsletters are an especially great place to start with branded templates thanks to their value both to clients and your own agency.
Once started, don’t forget to carefully monitor your custom newsletter performance; especially with metrics like open rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribe rate.
Don’t get complacent, even if you find immediate success. There’s always room for improvement and growth—test to see what works and show clients you’re committed to non-stop optimization.

Branded templates are just one reason Campaign Monitor is the go-to email marketing technology for over 50,000 agencies around the world. Get powerful email technology designed by agencies, for agencies, and drive better performance not just for clients but your own brand. Learn more.
The post Create Killer Email Marketing for Your Clients With Custom Newsletters appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

On March 4, the Wall Street Journal ran an article on the front page above the fold titled “Google To Stop Ad Sales Based on Browsing.” The tagline was: “Citing privacy concerns, company says it won’t track individuals’ paths across multiple sites.” [link to article – subscription required]
The article discussed the end of technologies that allow cross-site tracking of internet users. And it’s not only Google. Apple, Mozilla, Brave, and Microsoft are on board as well. As a marketer, here are some considerations to keep in mind as these changes roll out over the next year.
Why should a marketing professional care about privacy?
Data is powerful. The information age has enabled the collection and processing of data in unprecedented ways at unprecedented scale. That’s why privacy considerations are a key part of a healthy society.
At Salesforce Pardot, we want to enable our customers to personalize prospect journeys in ways that are transparent and compliant. This looks like:

minimizing data collection
avoiding widespread tracking and profiling across unrelated internet properties
never aggregating data across our customer boundaries

Browser vendors recognize the power of data and that some actors have violated user privacy by aggregating too much data about individuals from too many sources. And they’ve often done it in ways that cross the line between the reasonable use and unreasonable abuse of personal data.
To prevent data abuse through large-scale aggregation — often in ways that are deliberately opaque — browser vendors are implementing privacy controls to prevent malicious tracking of users. These changes are important for marketing professionals to understand because they impact how we accomplish marketing automation and personalization.
What about tracking in marketing?
Marketing is about understanding a prospect’s needs. Salesforce Pardot enables effective marketing partly by tracking a prospect’s interactions with our customers’ websites and emails — but not across customer boundaries. For example:
Let’s say you plan to host a conference around your flagship product so that users can swap best practices and share solutions they built around your product. You may create one website for your company, another website for your product, and a third for your conference. Salesforce Pardot helps you coordinate your registrants’ experience across all three websites and your conference-related emails using tracking.

Your conference registrants expect personalized content as they prepare for and follow up from your conference. But changes to browser privacy controls intended to prevent abusive pro
filing of internet users will also change the way you personalize across your conference websites and emails.
How marketing personalization will change depends on how privacy-preserving technologies that are currently in development mature over the next year.
What do marketing professionals need to know about browser privacy?
There’s a lot going on in the browser privacy world. Here are a few activities worth paying attention to:

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the primary www governance body. It’s responsible for maintaining most of the technology standards that empower the web, including the technology behind web browsers. All of the major browser vendors participate in web governance via the W3C. Salesforce is an active member of the Consortium.

Google’s Privacy Sandbox is a project to develop privacy-respecting technologies for the web that provide alternatives to cross-site tracking. (Privacy Sandbox is technically a Chromium project, but Google is the primary driver.) Google is working closely with other browser vendors and the W3C to mature these technologies as they approach the end of third-party cookies next year.

Apple is working on numerous privacy initiatives that will apply to Safari, including Intelligent Tracking Prevention. These privacy initiatives will apply to all browsers that run on iOS.

Mozilla, maintainer of Firefox, is working to enhance user privacy to prevent cross-site tracking using a number of techniques described in their Enhanced Tracking Protection documentation. These technologies include cookie policies specifically designed to limit websites’ ability to track users across sites, plus other recently announced technologies such as State Partitioning.

What is Pardot doing?
We’ve previously written about first-party tracking in Pardot, which was rolled out in our Spring ’21 release. (Learn how to set it up in Pardot.) This is one way marketers can continue to personalize without third-party cookies.
This is not a way to track and profile individuals across the internet. That’s the kind of tracking that concerns the privacy community, and marketers don’t need it for their use case. Salesforce Pardot is also engaged in privacy conversations with the W3C and browser vendors so we can represent our customers’ needs and stay ahead of the latest changes in the browser privacy landscape.
Browser privacy is changing, and it will continue to evolve to prevent abusive tracking of www users. This trend is good for privacy, but it also makes it challenging for marketers to personalize across their websites. Salesforce Pardot is working with the browser vendors and the W3C to find ways to support marketing use cases and respect end-users’ wishes and privacy at the same time.
Stay tuned to this security, privacy, and technology series as we continue to provide the knowledge you need in a world of changing technology.
See how Salesforce Pardot is helping customers comply with evolving privacy regulations, then learn how to scale your consent and privacy management process.

Gen Z has the fastest-growing buying power of any generation — but it’s still one of the most misunderstood and challenging age groups to market to.
While previous generations can be generally be persuaded to buy products through brand loyalty, fear of missing out, or high-budget ads from major companies, Gen-Z’s relatively modest spending habits and craving for authenticity has turned some traditional marketing tactics upside down.
Gen Z’s budget-consciousness became even more apparent during 2020 and the global pandemic. As physical stores closed, brands struggled to keep up with online sales demand, and as members of the young-adult workforce worried about job security, brands had to take even more steps to market to the age group.
Not only did marketing content have to establish that products were essential, worth purchasing, or readily available to Gen Z audiences, but brands also needed to prove that they were relatable, trustworthy, and shared values with them.
Because creating engaging content for Gen Z was no easy feat in 2020, Fanbytes — an influencer talent agency — began to host Gen Z TikTok influencers in a U.K.-based home where they lived full-time, created content, and collaborated during the 2020 lockdowns. This home was named, “Bytehouse.”

What the Heck is Bytehouse?
At the moment, Bytehouse — which BBC, The Guardian, and other news outlets referred to as a “TikTok house” — hosts influencers including KT Franklin, Lily-Rose, Sebbyjon, Monty Keates, and the duo Em and Loz. According to Fanbytes content manager Shelly Chadha, the group of influencers, known as the “Bytesquad”, have more than 10 million combined TikTok followers.
“Bytehouse was created in response to Gen Z consumer behavior, which has moved away from linear TV and towards social media,” Chadha explains. 
By housing Gen Z creators together, Chadha says, “We have ensured that the content is not only relatable and entertaining to young people but reflects their beliefs and behaviors. It was extremely important to us that … [the influencers] are almost mirror images and can help answer any questions regarding identity, sexuality, and race.”
While the Bytesquad churned out many non-branded TikTok videos, they also helped market products to Gen Z. For example, here’s a Bytesquad demo of products from the skincare brand Starface:

@bytesquadhq
a little night routine for u all ##fyp ##foryou
♬ Elevator Music – Bohoman

Shortly after the success of Bytehouse, a U.S.-version, called “Hype House,” started housing YouTubers and TikTok influencers in Los Angeles. This house was also covered in publications like the New York Times and Cosmopolitan.
While influencer houses like these might seem more centered around entertainment than branding, these experiments have enabled content managers and agencies like Fanbytes to zone in on the Gen Z audience.
And while influencers might not be relevant to your marketing efforts now, you can still learn a great deal from the content they’re creating for the unique Gen-Z demographic.
Luckily, if you’re a marketer who can’t get top Gen-Z talent to make content for you, there are still plenty of ways your team can engage and reach this audience.
To help marketers in their quest to capture the Gen-Z audience, Chadha offered us a handful of great tips for creating engaging content for the age group.
How to Create Marketing Content for Gen Z
1. Remember: Gen Z and Millennials aren’t the same.
“One crucial mistake we see a lot of brands do is bundle up Gen Z and millennials into one category and create content that they believe will engage them simultaneously,” Chadha explains.
For example, “Despite both [millennials and Gen Z] looking for authenticity in the content they consume, Gen Z takes this to a whole new level and possesses unique consumer behavior,” Chadha says.
Additionally, because Gen Z was raised around revolutionary technology, like smartphones and IPads, “the content they choose to consume is always in line with the newest trends, whereas millennials may not be so picky,” Chadha explains. “It is compulsory for brands to be up-to-date with the newest innovations in the content they create if they want to win over Gen Z hearts.”
Lastly, since Gen Z grew up in times of recession, while millennials grew up in an economic boom, Gen Z tends “to not trust brands quite as readily as millennials do,” Chadha adds.
Chadha is not the only marketer to notice the key differences above. In a research-driven post, HubSpot dug into similar generational differences in spending, content consumption, and level of brand trust.
Ultimately, brands will need to leverage authentic, trustworthy, or entertaining content that demonstrates the value of a product to engage Gen Z. We’ll dive more into what this looks like with the following tips.
2. Pick the right platform.
One thing is certain about Gen Z. They love experimenting with the latest social and video creation apps.
But, if you’re marketing to young adults, it can be hard to determine which apps are just a trend, which have marketing potential, and which aren’t worth spending time on.
To ensure they’re telling brands and influencers to focus on the right platforms, Fanbytes does deep research and testing on viral apps before recommending them to clients.
“For each new app that comes to our attention, we create a strategy using members of our team by researching [the app’s] offerings. Not until we have completed thorough investigations into new platforms’ offerings will we advise which platforms are worth brands’ investments and which aren’t,” Chadha explains.
For example, two platforms Chadha’s team recently researched are Triller — a music video creation platform and Instagram Reels — a TikTok-like feature within the Instagram app.
Aside from spending time on Triller and Instagram Reels to learn how they work, as well as which influencers use them, “we look into the type of campaigns that can be run on these platforms and how other brands have used the platform,” Chadha explains.
“We also activate test campaigns with real brands ourselves to put our insights into action and see if the platform can really deliver,” Chadha adds.
Apps Fanbytes is Watching
TikTok
While TikTok saw astounding growth in its launch year, it received another burst in usage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The world saw a huge rise in the rate at which we consume short-form content, with Tiktok becoming the most downloaded app in a single quarter at the start of 2020,” Chadha says.
“TikTok provided a form of escapism to so many people that needed to tune out to what was happening in the world whilst stuck indoors,” Chadha notes. “It also offered a constant feed of short-form content, from comedy to dance challenges and everything in between.”
“TikTok has continued to rise in its numbers and other apps have risen or diversified their offerings to follow suit,” Chadha adds.
But what makes TikTok rise above its competitors? Chadha explains:
“Instead of the polished aesthetics that platforms like Instagram perpetuate, TikTok values personality, originality, innovation, and fun. Consequently, TikTok offers all types of brands the opportunity to reach users in a way that they can’t do elsewhere.”
Additionally, because TikTok’s algorithms aim to match viewers with videos they’ll enjoy based on data from the viewer and video-specific engagements, “brands and creators can go viral from a great piece of content regardless of follower count,” Chadha says. “If a brand can understand the platform’s algorithm, the behavior of its users, and the trends, even if they only have 200 followers, they’re already 75% there.”
If you choose to market your brand on TikTok, Chadha says it’s important to define your “niche” and create attention-grabbing content around it.
While knowing you’ll want to market to Gen Z is a good start to finding your TikTok niche, it’s important to remember that there are many subgroups of young adults with different interests on the app. As you determine what your brand niche is, Chadha suggests asking yourself the following questions:

“What demographic do you want to drive traffic, sales, or clicks from?
What content should you be creating to target those users?
What influencers can you leverage to distribute the content?

“Noting these things down is a great first step in your TikTok marketing journey and can make all the difference,” Chadha says.
While TikTok can be a helpful tool for brands trying to reach Gen Z, you should still consider testing other similar apps as well. Although TikTok’s had historic app growth, it’s still vulnerable to bans, regulations, and censorship in certain countries which could impact marketers.
If regulations impact your TikTok strategy, staying in the know of other apps, such as those mentioned below, could help you smoothly pivot your content strategy elsewhere if needed.
Instagram Reels
“Instagram’s new Reels feature offers brands a more diverse and varied range of content on the platform and we’ve seen quite a few brands take advantage of this,” says Chadha.
For example, this Reel from Louis Vuitton creates seamless transition content,”

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Louis Vuitton (@louisvuitton)

While Instagram Reels could have a promising outlook based on the success of other Instagram features, Chadha says Fanbytes is “still questioning” whether this alternative “will ever quite reach TikTok’s potential.”
Although Reels might not be as viral as TikTok, marketers should still check it out — especially if they’ve already gained Gen Z Instagram audiences. While TikTok has taken over app stores, Instagram Reels still allows you to reach Instagram’s audience of more than 2 billion users.
Triller
Right now, Triller — a music video creation app — might be more relevant to music industry companies. However, it might be a good app to keep on your radar for Gen Z research, especially if TikTok continues to see ban concerns around the world. To show you some of the similarities, here’s a video that demonstrates how to make a Triller video:

“From our research, we have seen campaigns taking off on Triller due to its well-deserved reputation in the music industry. With investors like Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, it’s no wonder musicians have jumped on the app to create music videos using Triller’s built-in AI video editing software.”
However, while Triller is seeing steady usage and campaign growth, Chadha notes that it still is more specific to brands and creators in the music industry, while TikTok is still more appropriate for brands with all sorts of niches.
“We believe that Triller is going to continue to grow after being downloaded 250 million times and reaching number one in the App Store in 50 different markets,” says Chadha. “However, we don’t see it as direct competition to TikTok as Triller will continue to cement itself in the music marketing world whilst TikTok has the potential to grow in all other areas.”
Catering your content to each platform.
Once you land on a platform, you’ll want to follow some of the tips noted above to determine which types of content will stand out and which opportunities you’ll have there.
For example, when ByteHouse launches branded content on TikTok, it’s short, entertaining, and to the point.

@bytesquadhq
a little get ready with us ##foryou ##fyp
♬ Elevator Music – Bohoman

Meanwhile, the group’s YouTube page features longer-form videos that take more time to give detailed information about a brand. Here’s an example where the group went to a restaurant called FUWA FUWA:

While ByteSquad offers quick information and attention-grabbing storylines on TikTok, they use YouTube to create more in-depth discussion around a brand.
3. Prioritize video and audio content.
“It is always advisable to go with a video approach in the content you’re creating. Gen Z rejects traditional advertising with their mobile-first mindset, spending an average of about 3.5 hours of internet videos a day,” Chadha explains.
Chadha’s words are backed by a handful of research studies. In one of the most recent from YouTube, Gen Z respondents polled said they couldn’t “live” without YouTube content. The study also revealed that many members of Gen Z rely on video research when determining if they should make a purchase.
When it comes to Bytehouse, influencers there focused primarily on creating short-form videos, primarily for Gen Z platforms like TikTok. At the moment, Bytesquad’s official TikTok account features hundreds of original videos targeted at Gen Z — many of which have more than 100 thousand views. The squad also creates videos for platforms like YouTube and Instagram.
Aside from video, Chadha says brands might also want to consider audio marketing as well. Examples of this could include creating podcast content and advertising on music streaming services that are popular to Gen Z.
“We also predict that audio marketing is going to be big in 2021. Audio within marketing enables personalized content and intimacy, which Gen Z loves,” Chadha says. “In a report by Pandora, the average daily audio streaming hours have increased by 32%. Digital audio now commands more listening time than traditional AM/FM radio, accounting for 53% of all daily audio consumption.”
4. Hook your audience quickly.
“[Gen Z marketing] content shouldn’t just be informative, it should also be fast,” Chadha advises. “Keep it snappy and to the point.”
Regardless of which content type you use, it’s key to remember that Gen Z only has an eight-second attention span. And, that span could be even shorter when surfing fast-paced social platforms with endless content.
To capture Gen Z’s attention, Chadha advises that marketing content has “to be super succinct and come with a great hook.”
Here’s an example of a TikTok the ByteSquad created with a great hook. In the video, one of the members entices mystery by walking up to her roommates and saying “Look what I got.” Because the video is shot from her point of view, you can’t see what type of product she’s holding but see her roommates’ jealous reactions. As the video continues, it’s revealed that everyone is jealous over the influencer’s bag of food from McDonalds.

@bytesquadhq
When maccies re opened😂
♬ original sound – ByteHouse

5. Embrace advertainment.
Once you hook your audience, you’ll want to keep them entertained while continuing to differentiate your content from dull product placements.
Chadha says one of the biggest challenges Gen Z marketers face is creating entertaining content that still interestingly highlights a product or brand.
“If the campaign is intrusive with brand logos plastered everywhere, the users will know they’re being advertised to and the content won’t appear organic,” Chadha explains.
Ultimately, Chadha says the “only way” marketers can be successful on TikTok or other prominent Gen Z platforms is by naturally balancing attention-grabbing content with brand information.
“This means adopting our ‘advertainment’ approach; entertainment first, product-second mentality,” Chadha advises. “By studying [a Gen Z platform] and making use of its tools, features, and trends … you can successfully win the hearts of its users.”
One example of how Fanbytes has helped brands reach Gen Z is a recent campaign they did with Idahoan Foods
When food content was on the rise during lockdowns, Idahoan Foods wanted to drive Gen-Z awareness to their instant mashed potato products.
Instead of launching traditional ads, Fanbytes created a custom TikTok sound, “leveraged influencers, and created a dance challenge to draw users in to connect with the brand,” Chadha explains.
The video below highlights one example of an advertainment video Idahoan Foods published on TikTok. In the short-clip, an influencer named Nico Bisesi compares the taste of Idahoan’s instant potatoes to that of a butter knife.

@idahoanfoods
It’s ##MagicMonday with @nico_bisesi ! How does he do it?! ##IdahoanMash
♬ original sound – Idahoan Foods

While the video clearly shows an Idahoan Foods product placement, viewers might be more intrigued by the oddness of the story. For example, rather than getting bored by a video ad, TikTok viewers might ask themselves, “Why did he eat that knife?” or “What will happen next?”
Chadha notes that Idahoan Foods’ overall TikTok strategy has resulted in more than 14 million TikTok video views, 211 pieces of user-generated content, and 3,700 added Idahoan Foods followers.
When determining why the tactic was so successful, Chandra believes it was due to the brand focusing more on the level of content entertainment and less on intrusive product placement.
“We didn’t plaster [Idahoan Foods] everywhere, but instead found a way to connect [Gen Z] users with the product through an entertaining concept,” Chadha says.
6. Embrace retargeting.
“Gen Z’s quick attention span also means that they will most likely scroll past any ads quickly,” Chadha adds.
Because Gen Z speeds past ads, brands that leverage advertising will likely need to show their promotions to Gen Z more than once.
“[Gen Z is] bombarded with ads hundreds of times a day and so one ad is not going to win them over,” Chadha explains. “Utilising retargeting helps you keep front of mind and enables users to feel that they know you.”
7. Leverage influencer marketing (and it doesn’t have to be TikTok!).
While you don’t need influencers to take advantage of all the tips on this list, they can still be quite beneficial when you have access to them.
“A great opportunity to generate a lasting and meaningful impression on Gen Z is through influencer marketing. Gen Z is a group who buy into people rather than brands and autonomy rather than big corporations,” Chadha explains. “So, building relationships with influencers who have built strong relationships with your target market is a good way to go.”
Through leveraging influencer marketing at Fanbytes, Chadha says the agency has received “astonishing results” for its brand clients.
“Let’s take ACCA, the leading international accounting body as an example,” Chadha adds. “They approached us as they were looking to change perceptions of accountancy from ‘dull, boring and exclusive’ to ‘exciting, impactful and relevant’ amongst Gen Z.”
“We selected some of our best influencers who are reliable voices in the TikTok community to head to an accountancy firm for a day and film ‘day in the life’ content for their fans.
In the video below, captioned with “Work time vs LUNCH TIME 😂 Relatable?”, Sherice Banton, a TikTok creator with more than 1.7 million followers, pretends to work alongside actual accountants. After seeing a few clips of her working in a seemingly normal office, one clip — which symbolizes lunchtime — shows her dancing alongside the accountants.

@shericebanton
Work time vs LUNCH TIME 😂 Relatable? 🤪 Such fun with ##ACCA Accountants at Flinder 😂🔥 ##Comedy ##ad
♬ original sound – bits

The video not only allowed viewers to get a glimpse into the world of accounting, but also made the topic of working in an office funny, entertaining, and relatable to anyone who watched. Chadha notes that this campaign drove more than 6.2 million video views, 182,000 TikTok “hearts,” and over a thousand comments.
Some of the best places to leverage influencer marketing could be on short-form video platforms, such as Instagram Reels or TikTok. This type of strategy can be especially helpful if you want to leverage a viral video platform but haven’t mastered the hottest content types, trends, or audience yet. Because influencers have built a following on a given platform, they’ll likely know what content works and how to implement information about your brand or product in those videos.
While Fanbytes works with macro-level TikTok influencers, smaller brands don’t have to toss this strategy aside if they can’t access a big name or don’t know if TikTok is right for them. While it might be more challenging to access major influencers, there are plenty of micro-level creators across social platforms with large follower-bases and strong expertise in many niches.
For example, if you sell fitness products, you might consider working with a creator who posts their workouts regularly, talks about the products they use, and has thousands of engaged followers or regular comments on their content. Similarly, if you sell clothing, you could look for creators known for posting regularly about fashion trends.
8. Let Gen Z create content for you.
“Marketers who are targeting Gen Z also have the opportunity to supercharge their campaigns by inspiring [audiences] to create content for their brand,” Chadha explains. “Gen Z loves to be creative and really experience a brand through content creation. If the concept [of your campaign] is on-trend, you might be able to build an army of fans creating content for you without having to lift a finger.”
“Take the #davidstesla trend for example. It began with a collaboration between G FUEL, an energy drink brand, and David Dobrik, a popular creator on Youtube and TikTok. The collaboration was created as a contest where David would give away a Tesla to the user who creates the best video and follows the G Fuel page.”
Since launching this campaign, G FUEL’s TikTok page has grown to more than 863 thousand followers and received more than 12 million likes.
Aside from the high-priced prize, Chadha explains the campaign went viral “because it puts the audience in control by giving them the opportunity to vote on the best videos via the amount of views, shares, and engagement on a video submission.”
“Secondly, it merges our concept of ‘advertainment’ seamlessly by hardly mentioning the product. Instead, the product is integrated subtly but is still required to follow the page to be considered,” Chadha adds.
Even if you don’t have access to a top influencer — or a free Tesla — user-generated content can still be beneficial for your brand.
For example, you could host a smaller-scale version of a giveaway that asks audiences to create content for a chance of winning one of your products. Or, you could offer to share the best user-generated videos on your site or social media channels, which might encourage people to create videos in hopes of gaining online awareness.
9. Study and embrace Gen Z trends.
“A generation that grew up with fast-paced technological developments and social media, [Gen Z is] extremely digitally savvy and used to adjusting to new technology. Because of this, trends on platforms such as TikTok move extremely fast and the content that’s popular on social media platforms one minute may be out the window the next,” Chadha says.
“Brands need to be all over social media … and constantly check in with the latest and greatest trends so that they are always a part of the conversation,” Chadha explains.
“Our number one piece of advice would be to be active on the platform you’re trying to dominate. This means not only as a marketer — but as an interested user,” Chadha advises.
“You may hear about viral TikTok trends but you will never know the power [a platform] possesses and the many types of content forms and trends it circulates every week unless you are spending at least 15 minutes a day on there,” Chadha explains.
Surfing through content on the platform you’re most interested in, “Will teach you how to master the platform and build a strong strategy so that you’re not leaving anything to chance,” according to Chadha.
10. Don’t be afraid to share your values.
“Unlike millennials, who care more about what a brand can do for them, Gen Z looks for authentic messages and what a brand stands for,” Chadha explains. Growing up with the likes of Greta Thunberg, Gen Z is a generation that stands up for what they believe in and they expect the brands they invest in to do the same.”
“The content Gen Z is interested in should speak to what they believe in and have messages communicated to them as a friend would, rather than an intrusive corporation,” Chadha adds. “Leave the flashy advertising behind and tap into the real and raw side of your brand. Think entertainment first, product second.”
Chadha explains that branded content “shouldn’t be limited to advertisements or product placements. … By creating content that provides insight into [brand] stances on socio-political issues and the story behind the brand,” companies could gain more trust, loyalty, and potentially conversions from Gen Z.
Should You Target Gen Z?
Now that you know how much effort you’ll need to put into targeting Gen Z, you might be asking yourself, “Should I target this generation?”
Well, if you market for a B2C brand, or a B2B brand with products that solve for all age groups in the workforce, you’ll either want to start planning or zone in on a Gen Z strategy. While they might not have full purchasing power yet, many of them have reached adulthood, are getting jobs, and starting to make their own purchasing decisions.
As this generation inches closer to becoming one of your marketing targets, it will be vital to do as much research on them as possible. You can get started by diving into our content on how Gen Z differs from other generations, spends money, and other need-to-know Gen Z data.

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.

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.
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.