Category: Marketing Automation

Love, flowers, chocolate, bla bla bla …
Where are the marketing results?!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

YouTube, launched in 2005, the second most visited website in the world. It’s available in 100+ countries, features videos in 80 different languages, and its users watch over a billion hours of content daily.
Many businesses take advantage of the large number of users and daily viewership to advertise for their business. In fact, YouTube is the second most popular channel for businesses sharing video content.
However, despite the sheer amount of hours watched every day, it can be challenging to hold up on YouTube. Creators sometimes struggle to get their channel off the ground, resorting to paying for YouTube views to generate engagement. The platform’s algorithm has become better at detecting bots, and, as you can guess, fake engagement doesn’t do much in the way of meeting your business goals.
Although it will take time, it is possible to generate views (for free) and grow your channel on YouTube. In this post, we’ll go over how to get more views on YouTube and how to continue growing your channel after reaching your first 1000 views.

How To Get More Views on YouTube For Free
Getting views on YouTube takes time and effort. But, if done right, it pays off (Forbes estimates that you can make anywhere from $3-$5 per 1000 views). Below, we’ll go over a few ways to get more views on your YouTube account.
1. Be mindful of SEO and organic search results.  
YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world, only topped by Google. To get more views on YouTube, follow the same SEO tactics you use to surface your content in organic Google search queries.
Since Google owns the platform, YouTube has similar algorithms for displaying the most relevant content. The video below goes into detail, but the tips that follow highlight the best steps you can take to obtain more views.  

2. Use keyword-rich descriptions.
Your viewers initially see the first 100 characters of your video descriptions (example below), so you should aim to use keywords in snippets that provide the most relevant explanations to your viewers.

But using your keywords doesn’t mean an excuse to be dull. Get creative with your descriptions and aim to stand out. After all, the goal is to entice users to view your videos over your competitors.
Your first 100 characters should also entice users to click ‘Show more’ to learn more about what you have to say.
3. Use business-relevant tags.
YouTube’s algorithm determines 70% of what people watch on the platform. Using relevant tags for your business is key to surfacing your content in search results and obtaining more views.
Opt to use a combination of long-tail and short-tail keywords that truly relate to your video, listing the most important keywords first. Be mindful of keyword stuffing, as it is against YouTube policy and doesn’t help you generate more views.
4. Create unique, enticing titles.
Video titles are what people read first when browsing search results. So, aim to create compelling, unique video titles that clearly describe your video’s content and make people curious and interested in learning more. For SEO results, you can include your most relevant keyword in your video title.
Be mindful of clickbait, though, when creating your titles. It can be a valuable tool for getting users to click on your videos (see this article from a HubSpotter who was effectively clickbaited), but it can also backfire.
You don’t want to say your videos will be about one thing and have interested users find that you don’t touch on it at all. Ensure that your titles align with your content.
5. Use creative, relevant thumbnails.
Just as titles are the first exposure to your video content, thumbnails are the first images. Creating thumbnail previews that are exciting but relevant to your content is an excellent strategy for driving views. High-quality, engaging thumbnails can attract users in organic search results.
Your thumbnails can be screencaps from your videos or even text-based titles. Here’s an example of a thumbnail from popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee. He’s effectively created a thumbnail that depicts the content of the video: reactions to upcoming Apple product rumors.

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6. Use closed captions and transcripts. 
Subtitles and closed captions are another way to optimize your video SEO, as they highlight additional keywords and phrases for the algorithms to detect when indexing your videos.
Most importantly, closed captions and video transcripts make your YouTube account more accessible. If you solely rely on audio and visuals, you’re probably going to lose a large portion of your audience that’s unable to interact with your content in that form. When you create content that is accessible, all audiences can enjoy what you have to offer.
You should also opt for using closed captions instead of subtitles, as closed captions include dialogue and additional sound descriptions for actions like laughter or closing a door. Here are some resources that can help with understanding web accessibility and how to align your content with accessibility standards:

Bureau of Internet Accessibility – Closed Captioning Guide
Accessible Media Inc. YouTube Accessibility guide
Google Accessibility Resource Database for Developers and Publishers

7. Encourage subscribers
While organic search results can be great, the algorithms won’t always surface your videos.  Encouraging viewers to subscribe to your channel is another way to ensure that people can see your videos.
This means that when you post, your videos will show up in their subscriptions tab (shown below).

In addition to encouraging subscribers, ask users to turn on post notifications to get notified when you post a video.
Notifications can be a valuable tool for generating excitement. Users may feel they want to stop what they’re doing to watch your videos so they can actively participate in conversations about your content.
8. Repurpose your existing quality content.
Content repurposing is re-using existing content and presenting it in a new format to prolong its shelf life. Repurposing could mean creating a video from a high-performing how-to blog post (the bonus here is that YouTube users love how-to videos) or posting recording sessions from a popular podcast episode.
You’re repurposing helpful content and sharing it with a new audience in a format you know they enjoy.
9. Create a unique introductory hook for your videos.
It’s a unique tip, but it’s worth considering as many popular creators use this strategy.
Mr. Beast is a famous YouTube persona with almost 52 million subscribers. Each one of his videos begins with a clip of an exciting moment that doesn’t usually play out until at least halfway through the video.
Users must keep watching to see the moment unfold. Here’s an example:

 
10. Create a playlist.
If you create content clustered around a relevant, related topic, create playlists to encourage video views. The image below shows the playlists on the HubSpot YouTube account, where videos are organized by topic.

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Playlists default to autoplay, so users can watch an entire playlist without taking action themselves.
Playlists and autoplay allow your users to view subject-relevant content that they may not have found themselves. This gives them a well-rounded experience and increases your video views.
11. Lead users to other videos in end screens.
End screens are the final 15-20 seconds of your video, sometimes called credits, used to recommend additional content on your channel as cards. Below is an example from the HubSpot YouTube account.

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Your end screens can feature cards for single videos or entire playlists, a subscribe button, links to your associated websites, or secondary channels your business has (we’ll touch on this below.) It’s important to note that end screens should recommend relevant content.
12. Enable embedding.
Almost anything can be embedded these days, including YouTube videos. If you’ve created a YouTube strategy, you’ve likely identified your target audience on the platform. They’ll probably give you the most views, but enabling embedding can help you introduce yourself to additional viewers that may not have known your content would be relevant to them.
Here’s an example of a YouTube video embedded in a blog post.

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You can embed your videos in your content, like blogs and email newsletters, but it’s also a valuable way to expose your content to new audiences.
Other people can embed your content within their own pages and share your expertise with their audiences. These views still count towards your overall view count, even if they’re not on YouTube.
13. Promote videos on other platforms.
YouTube probably isn’t your only social media profile, and you should use this to your advantage. Share new video announcements on your Instagram Stories, share links and clips on Twitter and Facebook, and share them in your blog posts and emails.
You’ll expose new audiences to your content, and, as mentioned above, views on other platforms count towards your YouTube view count.
14. Leverage current trends.
Leveraging YouTube trends is a valuable tool for obtaining more video views. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should create content that is exactly in line with a current, trending meme on YouTube, but you should pay attention to what types of videos get lots of views.
For example, Mediakix released a list in 2019 of the most popular types of videos. Among them are how-to and Q&A videos.
Suppose you’re a business hoping to utilize one of these trends. You could create a how-to video demonstrating how to use your product or service and a Q&A video where you troubleshoot consumer inquiries. You’re creating content that users want to see that provides value to them to generate more views.
15. Focus on creating relevant content.
Leveraging trends is important for generating views, but you shouldn’t abandon your topic type to get views.  
A YouTube channel filled with unrelated content can generate views but won’t be seen as a source of authority. Your content would be scattered, users might write you off, and algorithms won’t know your niche. So, the two tips come together to leverage current trends to create content that aligns with your existing strategy.
Also, relevant content outweighs video quality. YouTube found that, when deciding what to watch, content relating to a user’s passions is 1.6x more important than the video’s quality (like visuals and camera quality), and 3x more important than whether it features well-known actors.
This means that the most valuable content you can create isn’t expensive and high budget — it’s content that’s in line with your audience’s needs. When you understand what they want, it’ll be easier to earn views.
16. Collaborate with similar accounts.
One of the exciting aspects of YouTube is its community. There are people creating all different types of content, from gaming videos to exercise classes. You’ll likely find people who make content like yours, and collaborating with them is a valuable tool for generating more views.
Collaborations usually involve creating two separate videos, one for your channel and another for the collaborators’ channel. When they’re posted, you’ll gain exposure to their audience group and them from yours.
If you’ve collaborated with a topic-relevant channel, new viewers will likely already be interested in your content and may even subscribe to your channel. It’s also a valuable way to create more content, and more content always inspires more views.
17. Post at the right time.
There is a right time to post on YouTube. The best times to post on YouTube are Thursday or Friday afternoons between 12:00 and 3:00 PM, and on Saturdays between 9:00 and 11:00 AM.
You can certainly leverage these numbers and obtain views, but it’s also essential to create a posting schedule that aligns with your existing viewership.
You can get this information from YouTube’s native analytics tool or your preferred service. If you’re a HubSpot user, you can connect your YouTube account to Marketing Hub and generate custom reports.

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Posting at the right time translates into views, because your subscribers are more likely to watch during a time that they’re free versus when they’re at work.
18. Use a multi-channel approach.
If you’re a large business, consider creating multiple YouTube channels for different purposes. For example, HubSpot has five separate YouTube channels (shown below) tailored to different audience groups.
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Multiple channels ensures that content is accessible to different viewers, and it generates more views.
This isn’t just a HubSpot thing — Interbrands says that the top 100 brands on YouTube have an average of 2.4 channels.
19. Optimize for mobile viewers.
More than 70% of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices, so create content that these audiences can enjoy.
Optimizing for mobile viewers means creating videos that can adapt to different mobile device aspect ratios, video titles and thumbnails that don’t get distorted on smaller devices, and recommend videos in end-screen cards.
20. Remember to be patient.
As marketers, we all want virality and immediate success for the content we create. While you may sometimes get lucky, generating more YouTube views takes time and patience.
There’s not much concrete advice to give with this tip, but understand that if you’ve leveraged the tips on this list, you’ll likely gain more views to begin growing your channel.
Next, we’ll go over how to keep growing your channel after reaching your first 1000 views on YouTube.
How To Reach 1000 Views on YouTube and Keep Growing Your Channel
Although it certainly would be nice, there is no equation to help you generate your first 1000 views on YouTube. Some people gain instant success, while others struggle to reach even 100 views after making hundreds of videos. In fact, 88.4% of YouTube videos generate fewer than 1000 views.
This may be discouraging to hear, especially since you can only begin to monetize your videos on YouTube after having more than 4,000 public watch hours. Many creators, including Zac Snyder, have attempted to figure out the perfect formula.
Snyder highlighted his mathematical approach in a Medium article recommended that a good start could be to make 300 videos a year at 10 minutes a piece. However, this strategy may not work for all creators.
There are ways to generate more views sooner rather than later. First, you should use and reference the tips mentioned above when creating your videos. There are also four additional tips to consider to continue growing your YouTube channel after reaching 1000 views.
1. Increase your upload frequency.
If it’s taken you a long time to reach 1000 views, it may make you nervous to risk your viewership by doing anything differently. However, it’s easier to generate more views with more videos than to generate more views from one or two standalone videos.
Pay attention to your channel analytics, understand when you generate the most views, and increase your upload frequency to match your engagement metrics.
Once you’ve developed a schedule, identify time frames in which you’ll reassess your strategy. For example, maybe you’ll aim to upload three times per week until you reach 10k views, and then you’ll analyze your metrics and switch to uploading twice a week.  
2. Keep introductions and opening credits short and to the point.
Attention spans are short, so any unnecessary content in your videos can cost you viewers. Once you’ve reached 1000 views and generated an audience, you don’t want to lose them.
Use analytics to understand their behavior and adjust accordingly. If viewers seem to stop watching after a certain amount of time, consider shortening your introductions so viewers get to the core of the content faster and feel more inclined to finish the video.
3. Optimize for ‘Suggested Video’ views.
Suggested videos show up in the sidebar of a desktop YouTube screen, as shown below in the red outline.

Image Source
The algorithm recommends videos based on tags, so choose industry-relevant tags that your competitors are also using. When they match, you have a significant chance of showing up in suggested videos for the same tags.
YouTube also doesn’t discriminate by subscriber count, so even if you don’t have as many subscribers as your competitors, it’s still possible to be suggested after their videos.
4. Engage with subscribers in the ‘Community’ tab.
The Community tab is built for YouTube creators hoping to interact with their audience outside of their video comments. You can create polls, feature images, and generate hype for upcoming videos.
Post snippets to get subscribers excited about what’s to come, and they’ll likely be looking out for your video and ready to watch when it goes live.
Image Source
If you’re interested in learning more in-depth strategies for growing your channel, check out this HubSpot Academy YouTube Course featured resource. You’ll learn how to build your brand, develop an audience, and gain insight from YouTube influencers on creating a successful channel.
Create Content That Inspires Subscribers and Encourages Views
You’re creating YouTube videos because you know you can provide value to your audience.
Remember, it may be frustrating if results aren’t immediately significant. But if you optimize your videos and channel for SEO, create consistent, relevant content, and engage with your audience, you’ll not only reach 1000 views but own a channel that just keeps on growing.

Being an email marketing automation software company, you’d think we fall in love with different emails every day. That isn’t exactly the case, however. We’re rather picky when it comes to being head over heels, but when it does happen, it’s for good reason. Ecommerce requires a lot of back and forth communication between brands…
The post 7 eCommerce Emails That Give Us Heart Eyes appeared first on Benchmarkemail.

SAINT LOUIS, MO, February 9, 2021 — Benchmark Email, a leading software as a service provider of sales and marketing solutions for SMBs, today announces that it acquired Contacts+, a subsidiary of Denver-based FullContact.  The acquisition opens the opportunity to extend contact management tools to small businesses as well as integrate with Benchmark’s family of…
The post Benchmark Email Announces Acquisition of Contacts+ appeared first on Benchmarkemail.

The Pardot Spring ‘21 release is packed with new features that we can’t wait to share with you. We’re also making major changes to our User and API authentication methods to expand authentication functionality and increase security.
Here’s a summary of what you need to know and how to prepare for the changes, which take effect Feb. 15, 2021.
1. Make the Switch to Salesforce SSO (User Authentication Changes)
Starting Feb. 15, all “Pardot-Only” customers must log in to the product using Salesforce SSO. This change requires Pardot and Salesforce admins to work together to connect all Pardot users to a Salesforce user. 
What this means for system access: If you’re logging in to Pardot Classic via pi.pardot.com, you must enable Salesforce SSO. Pardot-Only customers won’t be able to log in with Pardot credentials after Feb. 15 until they update their authentication method to SSO. 
If you haven’t yet implemented Salesforce SSO for your Pardot-Only users, please act now! To make this a smooth transition, we’ve provisioned 100 Salesforce identity user licenses to all Pardot customers’ Salesforce orgs. 
Check out this screenshot for a visual representation of which authentication option is being impacted:

How can you tell if your users will be impacted?
Pardot-Only users are seeing this warning message when they log in:

If you’ve seen these warning messages but haven’t yet made the switch, you can quickly search for answers in our Pardot User Migration FAQ.  
The Pardot User Migration Admin Guide outlines the implementation steps to take.
Interested in more info? Here’s a list of go-to resources about User Authentication changes. Many of these resources are developed by Salesforce-certified partners who specialize in Pardot. 
Salesforce Documentation
Pardot User Migration Frequently Asked Questions
Salesforce User Migration guide
User Sync Implementation Guide 
Manual User Mapping: How to Map Salesforce and Pardot Usernames and Set Up SSO for Salesforce and Pardot
Blogs
Configure Salesforce User Sync for Pardot: compliments of Nebula Consulting; helpful for folks who implemented User Sync previously
How to Prepare for the SSO Update: podcast with Tom Ryan from MarCloud Consulting; start five minutes in for SSO and Lightning 
Pardot Authentication Update: guest post for Salesforce Ben’s The Drip

Guidance on recommended features 
London Users Group – recorded talk

Pardot-Only Identity Users — User-Side Activation, Enabling SSO, Best Practices: from Adam Langley at Invado; once implemented, this is the authentication experience for users that log in and out of multiple accounts
Videos for Select Customer Use Cases
We’ve recorded a few short videos that cover various customer configurations. These short videos may apply to some of your specific configurations and are supplementary to the resources shared above. 
Below is a short explanation of how each video aligns to the customer use case:

Connector Creation: if connector is not yet configured
Create Identity User: if logging in to Pardot Classic at pi.pardot.com or pi.demo.pardot.com
Mapping Users: manually if not using User Sync
Importing Users: bulk updates if not using User Sync
User Sync V1 (configured prior to Summer ’20) – Profile mapping
Salesforce User Sync (configured Summer ’20 through today) – Profile mapping

2. Audit and Update Your Integrations (API Integrations / Connectors)
Pardot customers using integrations will need to audit their Pardot-Only users and begin updating their connector authentication methods. Starting Spring ‘21, integrations with Pardot-Only users will continue to function with controlled enforcement. 
Controlled enforcement will turn off API access for a specified number of hours, slowly increasing on a set schedule over the next four months until June 15, when Pardot-Only access will no longer be available. As a result, you may notice that your integrations aren’t updating at normal frequency.  
See the full integration schedule by referencing the “Pardot API” section of the User Migration FAQ.
You can also check the status of your integrations by clicking on the following link to download to your computer: Which integrations will have Salesforce OAuth by February 15th? (also access by clicking on the image below)

API integration resources: Third-party vendors
Many third-party software companies manage their own integrations with our API. We recommend that you reach out to them directly for updates regarding when their new authentication methods will become available if they’re not listed above. As there’s more than one way to update authentication methods, these companies will need to provide you with specific instructions for how to authenticate with the new OAuth method.
If your software vendor is looking for resources on how to make this change, they can reference our public API documentation, including our post on Setting up Salesforce OAuth for Pardot API authentication. 
API integration resources: Registered Independent Software Vendors (ISV) and consulting partners
Registered Salesforce ISV and consulting partners also can tap into our partner community for exclusive resources, including Pardot Developer Org environments. I highly recommend the ISV Partner Basics Trailhead trail for vendors considering becoming a registered ISV partner.
The Spot for Pardot published a great series on these API changes with step-by-step visual instructions. These methods can vary depending on your vendor’s specific implementation approach. In this instance, the deep-dives for Apex or Code demonstrate a proof-of-concept for the type of development services provided by Sercante Labs. Your vendor will still need to supply you with proper documentation for their Pardot integration once they’ve updated authentication methods. 

Part 1: Preparing for SSO – Adam Erstelle Product Development Lead at Sercante

Part 2: WordPress Pardot Plugin Edition – compliments of Kelly Michael Skelton at Fiber Optic

Connecting to Pardot API from APEX 

Connecting to Pardot API from Code

There are various approaches to maintaining your marketing automation system, including making the changes yourself. However, if you want hands-on help, there are many Salesforce partners that would be happy to help. 
When searching the AppExchange for consulting partners specializing in Pardot and Salesforce,  look specifically for practices that show Pardot Consultant and Salesforce Admin certifications from the “Expertise” tab of their listing. 

We hope the information and resources in this post help you take the steps you need to prepare for the Pardot spring ‘21 release.

Campaign Monitor is excited to release our 2021 Email Benchmarks Report, specifically for the publishing industry and media groups.
When it came to email performance over the past year, publishers fared quite well compared to the overall average. People had more time to browse content and had more of a reason to really engage with it.
Not only did consumers care more about breaking news and COVID-related issues, they were also more engaged in at-home learning and entertainment, including everything from DIY projects to yoga and baking.
But first, a little bit about what we saw across the 100 billion emails we reviewed from all industries evaluated. There was a surge in email volume and performance in the early months of the pandemic, especially March and April. We also looked at key performance indicators averaged across the year like open rate, click-through rate, click-to-open rate, and unsubscribe rate. 
Overall, open rates jumped to 18%, after increasing more than 13 percentage points year over year. Think about this big jump another way — it is equal to that many more people taking interest in a particular email message! That can equate to millions of people for a big newsletter. The average click-through rate stayed fairly constant at 2.6%, while the click-to-open rate went down a bit, to 14.1%. 
Our client Tim Huelskamp, Co-Founder of 1440, notes the importance of the Benchmarks Report: “We’re constantly using the benchmark data to understand how we can improve our offering. We look forward to the Benchmarks Report coming out each year, because in addition to evaluating the data, we then use it to dive deep with some of the Campaign Monitor segmenting tools to get a full picture of what our data and results really mean.” 
To hear how customers use the benchmarks to set record-level engagement, join us for the webinar.
Publishers had some silver linings during the pandemic. Like all other industries, publishers saw a surge in March and April. People who were stuck at home turned to email (among other digital content channels) as a preferred information source for everything from entertainment to information, promotions and deals. This gave publisher emails a big boost, helping the industry perform well above the average across the entire year.
Publisher and media email marketing performance:

Average open rate: 21.3%
Average click-through rate: 3.7%
Average click-to-open rate: 17.5%
Average unsubscribe rate: 0.0%

Perhaps most interesting, the unsubscribe rate averaged out to a near-perfect 0.0%. This attests not only to better retention, but also potential increases in new subscribers which balanced out the average over the course of the year.
Publishers will also be intrigued to know that Friday turned out to be the best performing day of the week across every KPI, which is surprising compared to past data. For years, Tuesday and Thursday tended to perform best, as people sat in front of their computers at work. 
However, with people dialed in nearly every time of day, on both cell phones and computers, people shifted some of their email time to later in the week. It’s possible they were busier on Zoom calls, or just saved their email housekeeping to the end of the work week. 
Either way, this valuable insight should direct publisher and media groups’ emailing schedules while people are still confined at home, and perhaps even after that, as millions of people opt into remote work and keep many of their new online media habits.
Huelskamp also noted, “Friday having the highest open rate was the most shocking data for us, but was interesting to see in parallel with mobile open rates dropping this year as well. As a daily email newsletter that is sent early in the morning, we saw similar YOY engagement overall, but it tended to be later in the day. In a year that changed commuting habits pretty drastically, our thesis is that folks are not on the train anymore and sleeping in a little longer, so it makes sense they’re going to read our news on their computers rather than on their phones.”
We encourage you to download the full report. After an unusual year, consumer behavior may never go back to where we were before the pandemic. The Media and Publisher Benchmarks Report provides updated data that is a reliable element of comparison moving forward. 
See how your results compare, and what changes you might want to test out to take advantage of new norms in email engagement.
The post Media and Publisher Benchmarks Are Here appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

Wondering what marketing tool is best for your business? Check out this detailed comparison between GetResponse and ClickFunnels to help you make the right choice!

Did you know that the cost of acquiring consumer attention has increased dramatically (seven- to nine-fold) in the past two decades?
It might not be surprising to hear, but overall our collective attention span has been narrowing.
You might be wondering, “What does this mean for marketers?”

As marketers, it’s our job to attract people to our brand. We need to deliver almost magnetic-like messaging to grab our audience’s attention. But when you only have seconds to do this, it might seem like an insurmountable task (hint: it’s not, we have some ideas).
In this post, let’s review what attention marketing is and how you can use it to grab your audience’s attention.

The term attention marketing was coined by Steve Jelley and popularized by Seth Godin, as a way to describe a business model that focuses on capturing users’ attention through non-invasive content rather than interrupting users’ attention with something like a pop-up ad. With attention marketing, once you have your audience’s attention, you can then engage with and convince them to purchase your product or service when the opportunity presents itself.
Before this concept was introduced, around the beginning of social media, the marketing landscape looked a lot different. Brands would usually market themselves on a massive scale, using TV ads, billboards, or radio spots. This means that they weren’t able to target individuals, but instead had to focus on appealing to a broader audience.
With social media, brands can now figure out what interests individual customers and then market to them individually. Ultimately, it’s important to consider using attention marketing because you want your marketing assets to engage customers and pull them in.
Marketing Attention Span
Now that you’re thinking about capturing your audience’s attention instead of interrupting it, let’s focus on some logistics. To start, you don’t have as much time as you think.
Years ago, Microsoft reported that the average person’s attention span was 8 seconds. A more recent study shows that our collective attention span is narrowing.
Essentially, you only have seconds to capture your audience’s attention before they continue scrolling or click through to something else.
So, how should you capture your audience’s attention? Let’s go over some ideas below.
Marketing Attention Grabbers
1. Be platform-specific.
A great way to grab your audience’s attention is for your content to show up natively in your audience’s feed (if we’re talking social media).
For example, if your video shows up as recommended on YouTube and they click the video and it’s clearly in sync with what your title was and what they were expecting, then you’ll probably be able to keep them watching.
But, if they click through and the content is a photo montage instead of a video (a vast difference from what they might expect), then you might lose them.
In that same vein, when brands repost content from Instagram on Twitter, instead of making a separate Twitter post, people are less likely to click on the link than if they were to see the post right on Twitter.
An important thing to remember here is that some users are on mobile and some on desktop. Think about how you can design your website or content for those platforms specifically, so it’s easier for the consumer to interact with your content.
2. Write super clear messaging.
When people can immediately tell what your value proposition is, it will hold their attention longer. It might seem simple, but review your marketing assets and ask yourself, “Is my value proposition clear for my audience? Can they tell within seconds the value we can provide?”
If so, that will hold people’s attention longer because if they clearly see the value in what you offer, then they’ll want to look further into your brand. Your messaging should be clear, concise, and written specifically for your target audience.
3. Use integrated media.
Integrated media, or a multichannel and multimedia approach to marketing, will help grab your audience’s attention.
This means that you use several forms of media, including video, images, podcasting, GIFs, memes, etc. Different types of media on different platforms will help you figure out what your audience likes and dislikes.
Your overall marketing strategy should also include interactive media as well. In fact, 81 percent of marketers say that interactive content is more effective than static content when it comes to grabbing consumers’ attention.
Ultimately, it’s important to play around with your media content — both the type of assets you create and the channels that you use to distribute it.
4. Tell a story.
People love a story. They love watching TV, reading books, or listening to a podcast. If you can capture your audience with a good story, then it’ll be easier to market to them.
To do this, you can start off your videos, blogs, or Facebook ads, with a storytelling hook. Once you’ve got your audience’s attention, then you can proceed to engage and delight them.
5. Consider emotional marketing.
Have you ever heard of emotional marketing?
This is the concept that your marketing assets should primarily use emotion to grab your audience’s attention. By tapping into a singular emotion, your audience will naturally have a response to your content. And isn’t the goal to get your audience to respond in some way?
6. Don’t forget about co-marketing.
Co-marketing is when you use brand partnerships and collaborations to grow your audience. It’s the process of working with another brand and sharing expertise and value with each other’s audiences.
In that same vein, you can also work with influencers. 51% of marketers believe that they can acquire better customers with influencer marketing.
By using influencers, or working with other brands, you can tap into their audience — which is usually large and engaged — to market your product or service and grab your audience’s attention.
7. Have a good website.
One of your greatest marketing assets is your website. It should be engaging, have a great user interface, and be built with user experience in mind.
If your homepage on your website can grab your audience’s attention within seconds, then you’ve done it right.
Attention marketing isn’t just about creating viral content like the name might imply. It’s about truly creating content that will grab your audience’s attention and keep it in the long run.

One of my favorite episodes of “The Office” is called Launch Party. During this episode, Dunder Mifflin hosts a corporate party, plus several satellite parties when its website launches. Hilarity ensues.
But during your corporate event, you probably don’t want to kidnap the pizza delivery person, and you might want to spell launch correctly on the sign.

As a business, you probably have several corporate events on the horizon, whether it’s a team-building event or a seminar.
In this post, we’ll learn about the different types of corporate events, plus give your party planning committee a few virtual event ideas.

Now, let’s dive into the different types of corporate events.

1. Seminars
A seminar is an event that’s focused on educating people, whether it’s your customers or employees. It’s similar to a conference or a workshop.
A seminar is usually a short event, while a conference might be a several-day event with multiple speakers. On the other hand, a workshop is usually a small, intimate event with only a few registrants.
You might consider hosting a seminar as a way to get leads and introduce people to your company.
2. Retreats
A retreat can be held to simply bond with your team, or you can sell tickets to customers. This is usually a several-day event with several workshops or seminars to attend.
Sometimes the purpose is just to relax, but other times it’s to learn, strategize, and plan for the future.
3. Team Building
Team building events are meant to boost team morale, and help people learn how to work together. Usually, these are collaborative events, where teams need to work together to solve something. It could be a ropes course, or perhaps an escape room.
Sometimes these events can even be formal if you’d prefer. For example, you could run a workshop about psychological safety or sensitivity training.
4. Milestones
Has your company just hit a revenue goal? Or perhaps you have a major anniversary coming up? Either way, it’s nice to celebrate with a corporate event.
These are similar to appreciation events (more on these below), where you can thank your team for achieving the milestone.
5. Launch Party
A launch party is when you throw a corporate event for the launch of something: your company, a product, a website (like “The Office”), etc.
These are celebratory events that are usually meant to create buzz around the release of something. Think Apple’s big product launch announcements.
6. Fundraising
A fundraising event is meant to raise money for charity, usually. Or sometimes it’s to help raise money for your company. These are usually concerts, golf tournaments, dinners, or festivals.
7. Appreciation Events
An appreciation event is meant to thank your customers, partners, or employees. These are usually fun events, such as holiday parties, private concerts, or a special dinner.
The goal is to spend informal time showing people how much you appreciate and care about the value they bring to your company.

1. Virtual MasterChef Team Building Event
A great corporate team building event is to host a virtual MasterChef. To do this, you can have one person host and send out a list of ingredients (or modified ingredients for dietary restrictions) and supplies.
On the night that you host the event, everyone will dial into Zoom and cook the same meal as the host walks them through the recipe.
When everyone is done cooking, you can have a virtual dinner party together. This is a great informal team-building event for your team to hang out and get to know each other.
2. Airbnb Online Experience Appreciation Event
One of my favorite virtual corporate events that I’ve researched is the Airbnb Experiences. On Airbnb, hosts put on virtual events that you can book for your team.
This is a great appreciation event idea for any team, customer, or partner. There are scavenger hunts, drag shows, and even remote escape rooms.
3. Mystery Dinner Partner Event
Mystery dinners are a fun way to treat your partners. You can have partners sign up to be a part of mystery dinners. Every month, you can select a partner randomly, and then host those partners to a mystery dinner party.
This could even be virtual if need be, and it’s a great way to show appreciation for your partners and to get to know them.
4. Professional Development Workshop
The classic corporate event is a professional development workshop. You can find workshops like the Disney Institute and have your team learn something from the experts. This shows appreciation, but also is a great learning opportunity.
5. Splash Webinar
If you need software to host a virtual corporate event, then Splash is a great product for you. Let’s say you want to host a webinar? You can do so on Splash. This helps with the registration process, invitations, virtual waiting rooms, and even post-event content. Everything you need for a corporate webinar is on this software.
Hosting a corporate event is a great way to boost morale, get to know your team, show appreciation, and even develop your company. Plus, hosting virtual events has never been easier.