Category: Marketing Automation

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On top of lead generation, a blog can also help your site climb in search rankings. Not to mention, sharing tips and insights related to your industry makes your brand look more credible and trustworthy to prospects.

At the HubSpot Blog, which gets a whopping eight million page views per day and has seen a 25% boost in traffic year after year, we’ve experimented with and written many key strategies that can make any blog successful.
We’ve learned how to harness the power of SEO and research to give our readers valuable content while also generating large amounts of organic traffic at the same time.
Whether you’re just starting a blog or have years of experience, it never hurts to gain new tips. Here’s a list of mistakes to avoid in 2023, according to HubSpot Blog managers.

Anyone can start a blog, but many will never give blogging the attention that it needs to be a successful part of a business.
A hobby blog is one thing, but when you want to grow or monetize your blog, there are several things you need to focus on. Namely, you need to identify the goal of the blog, know your target audience and what moves them, build a blog site that is easy to navigate, and choose a writing style that resonates with your audience.

Fear that you’re missing some of these elements? It’s okay! We’re here to help you and your blog become a success. Let’s delve into some common blogging mistakes and the solutions that will help your blog move up the ranks.

Most of a blog’s traffic is driven organically — in other words, consumers will search for something on a search engine and click on your blog if it matches their intended topic. However, there are a lot of organizations competing for your audience’s attention, so it’s important to avoid common blog mistakes to stand out.
Here are the most common blog post mistakes (and their solutions), according to HubSpot bloggers.
1. Create blog posts that serve your larger company goals.
Mistake: You think of ideas that only interest you.
As much as you might read and re-read your blog posts after you publish them, you’re not the intended reader.
When you start blogging, ideas will come to you at random times — in the shower, on a run, or while on the phone. While the ideas may come at random moments, the ideas themselves should never be random.
“Your blog is a honeypot, not a megaphone. Make it a point to position your content around what your audience wants to discover, not what you want to tell them,” said Amanda Sellers, historical optimization manager at HubSpot.
Solution: Align your blog posts with company growth goals.
The reason you’re blogging is to solve problems for your audience and, ultimately, to grow your business. So, all of your blog post ideas should help serve those growth goals. They should have natural tie-ins to issues in your industry and address specific questions and concerns your prospects have.
Need help figuring out what those goals are and how to address them? Chat with your manager about the larger company goals, and then schedule a meeting with someone on the sales team to hear what questions they get asked most often.
After both meetings, you should know which goals you need to achieve and have some ideas on how to achieve them.
2. Identify what resonates with your audience.
Mistake: You forget about your persona.
If you want your blog content to perform well (i.e. generate traffic, leads, and sales), it must resonate with your audience and compel them to take action.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is assuming that your content will perform if you haven’t actually considered your audience or the actions you want them to take.
“Your persona is the basis for everything you create. Writing for yourself won’t always resonate with your intended audience,” said former Senior Content Marketing Manager at HubSpot Christina Perricone.
She continues“If you, instead, speak to your persona’s pains, challenges, and goals and they feel like you are speaking to them, they are more likely to stay on the page and convert on your offer.”
Solution: Pick topics that speak to your target audience directly.
By defining your buyer persona and the things that matter to them, you can bridge the gap with your content. Remember, your blog should strive to connect with folks who are likely to eventually purchase something from you.
Your persona development should determine factors like what job your ideal customer has, what goals they want to achieve, and what pain points or annoyances they deal with on a daily basis.
“Once you have a solid understanding of who you want to target, this knowledge can inform not only your topic selection, but the tone, format, and complexity level of your content,” says Karla Hesterberg, the HubSpot Blog’s Senior Team Manager.
“Without this foundational understanding of your audience, you’re not going to connect with the right people in the right way.”
3. Write like you talk.
Mistake: Your writing is too stiff.
Writing a blog post is much different than writing a term paper. But when bloggers first start out, they usually only have experience with the latter. The problem? The style of writing from a term paper is not the style of writing people enjoy reading.
Let’s be honest: Most of the people who see your post aren’t going to read the whole thing.
If you want to keep them interested, you have to compel them to keep reading by writing in a style that’s effortless to read.
Solution: Write blogs that feel personable.
It’s okay to be more conversational in your writing — in fact, we encourage it. The more approachable your writing is, the more people will enjoy reading it. People want to feel like they’re doing business with real people, not robots.
So loosen up your writing. Throw in contractions. Get rid of the jargon. Make a pun or two. That’s how real people talk — and that’s what real people like to read.
4. Brainstorm evergreen topics.
Mistake: You only cover trending news.
Trendy or buzzy content can quickly become outdated and irrelevant. That’s why you shouldn’t craft your entire blog strategy around them.
For example, news about a petition to change the law surrounding sponsored content might become out of date when the law is struck down or goes into effect. If your post only covers the news, it will stop gaining traffic once the topic is no longer relevant.
Solution: Prioritize evergreen content with buzzy angles.
Evergreen topics often touch on overarching ideas that won’t become outdated or irrelevant in the near future.
On our marketing blog, one example of this is, “What is Digital Marketing.” Although we’ve updated the piece to include new digital marketing strategies, the definition of digital marketing won’t change at its core.
At the HubSpot Blog, we often call our overarching evergreen topics “pillars” =because an overarching evergreen topic can lead you to brainstorm a number of smaller post ideas and story angles.
Going back to the previous sponsored post example, an evergreen version of this post would cover what sponsored content is, and highlight examples as well as current laws.
While we identify pillars for content inspiration, we also take it one step further by creating and regularly updating long-form posts, called pillar pages.
They give our readers comprehensive information about evergreen topics and link to a wide variety of our best blog posts on each topic.
Although stats and facts might need slight updating from year to year, foundational topics aren’t likely to change drastically.
This means the content will be relevant, more shareable, and linkable. This might also mean a higher search authority and search engine ranking.
5. Hone in your point.
Mistake: You digress.
Although you are encouraged to let your own personality shine through in your writing, don’t abuse the privilege. It’s one thing to be yourself in the topic you’re covering, but it’s another thing to bring up too many personal experiences, which will bury the point you’re trying to make.
Don’t digress into these personal anecdotes and analogies too much — your readers aren’t sitting in front of you, which means you can’t guarantee that you have their undivided attention. They can (and will) bounce from your article if they lose patience.
Solution: Focus on your main point.
To prevent your writing from losing its audience, restate your point in every section of the article. The best blog posts commit to an overarching message and then deliver it gradually, expressing it multiple times in small ways from beginning to end.
If you’re writing about how much water a potted plant needs, for example, don’t spend three paragraphs telling a story of how you came home to a dead fern after returning from a two-week vacation.
This story offers real evidence of your point, but what is your point? Certain plants can’t go without water for more than 14 days. That’s one point, and it should be stated upfront.
6. Narrow down your angles.
Mistake: Your topics are too broad.
When people start blogging, they generally want to write on really big topics like:

“How to Do Social Media Marketing”
“Business Best Practices”
“How to Make Money on the Internet”

Topics like these are far too broad. Because there are so many details and nuances in these topics, it’s really hard to do a good job answering them. Plus, more specific topics tend to attract smaller, more targeted audiences, which tend to be higher quality and more likely to convert into leads and customers.
So, to get the most short-term and long-term benefits of blogging, you’ll need to get way more specific.
Solution: Begin with a clear, concise idea.
Nailing really specific blog topics is crucial to knocking your first few posts out of the park.
“It’s so easy to want to cast a broad net and write about anything and everything in your industry,” says Meg Prater, the HubSpot Blog’s Managing Editor. “What sets a great content manager apart from a good one is their ability to focus the content they’re creating.”
“Identify the niche your company fills and write highly specialized content about that niche,” Prater explains. “It can be tough to stop writing about any topic that pops into your head, but the end result will be quality content that raises your voice and your profile in your industry.”
Start with a working title — it isn’t final, it’s just a concrete angle you can use to keep your writing on track. Once you nail this stage of the ideation process, it’s much easier to write your blog posts.
Pro-tip: Let us help you brainstorm with our Blog Ideas Generator. This tool allows you to enter basic terms you know you want to cover, and then produces five sample blog titles that work for business blogs.
7. Niche posts should still tie into the bigger picture.
Mistake: You don’t tie a niche topic into your reader’s broader struggle.
You already know how important it is to resonate with your buyer persona and understand their pain points. However, there’s a reason why they’re experiencing pain points and what is driving them to get it solved.
Solution: Understand the challenges and consequences they’re facing.
You should be asking yourself:

What is at stake?
What do they gain by taking action?
If they don’t take action, what will happen?

All of these things can manifest in the content that you write for your blog post. Doing so will signal to your reader that you understand what they’re going through and that you want to help.
“If you’re uninterested in a particular topic you’re writing about, it’s probably because you haven’t stopped to think about the big picture,” says Senior Content Strategist at HubSpot Caroline Forsey.
“Understanding how the topic you’re writing about will fit into a reader’s broader challenges will help you find meaning and value in any post you write, and will enable you to connect with your readers better.”
For instance, let’s say you’re tackling a post like “first vs. third-party APIs.”
While the topic is dry and allows for little creativity, the big-picture value is huge. You’re helping readers decide whether they should shell over the big bucks for an in-house API or save money and time by asking a third party for API development.
Essentially, “first vs. third party APIs” is a question that hits at computer security, efficiency, and budget constraints, all of which could have big consequences for your reader.
8. Structure your post.
Mistake: Your writing is a brain dump.
Sometimes when I get a great idea I’m excited about, it’s really tempting to just sit down and let it flow out of me. But what I get is usually a sub-par blog post.
Why? The stream-of-consciousness style of writing isn’t really a good style for blog posts. Most people are going to scan your blog posts, not read them, so it needs to be organized really well for that to happen.
Solution: Structure your blog with a template, outline, and section headers.
The first thing you should do is choose what type of blog post you’re going to write. Is it a how-to post? A list-based post? A curated collection post? A SlideShare presentation?
For help on this, download our free templates for creating different types of blog posts. Once you have a template down, it’ll be easier to write your outline.
Your outline is the skeleton from which you build your sections and fill out your content
“More experienced bloggers might dismiss this, but creating an outline can have a big impact on the clarity, organization, and flow of your final piece — particularly when you’re trying to teach a complex concept,” says Hesterberg. “I can always tell when someone’s skipped an outline.”
If you’re new to outlining posts or still are unsure of where to start, consider formats like listicles or step-by-step guides, These can be more readable to audiences and easier to write.
Using headers is also critical for the reader experience.
“While it’s nice to imagine that your readers hang on your every word, the reality is that they’re probably mostly skimming your posts,” says Hesterberg.” As you write, be sure you’re making your piece skim-friendly: including plenty of paragraph breaks, clearly titled sections, relevant images, and formatting that makes it easy to find the piece of information they came for.”
9. Give your audience something to walk away with.
Mistake: You’re relying on vague concepts instead of concrete information.
One of the first things you’ll do in your blog research is look up how other publications are writing about a topic.
If you notice, almost all of the results on the first page of Google are writing about conceptual, vague ideas. How can your blog stick out? You can include concrete, actionable steps for your readers to achieve success.
Solution: Include actionable steps and offer resources.
One of the biggest tenets of content creation is that it should be useful, and that means your audience should walk away with something.
“People want to learn how to do things in actuality, not just theoretically,” says Rebecca Riserbato, former staff writer at HubSpot. “When you’re done with a blog, ask yourself, ‘Will the reader know how to implement this idea?’ or ‘Did I provide steps to achieve success?’”
Consider including offers for related resources, products, or services.
On a small scale, say your company sells food products, you could write recipe-styled blog posts that include one or two of your ingredients. Then at the bottom of the post, offer a coupon or free sample if they subscribe to your e-newsletter.
If your company sells a high-priced service that requires more lead nurturing, include a CTA leading them to an ebook or template to help them accomplish their goal.
10. Use data and research to back up the claims you make in your posts.
Mistake: You don’t use data as evidence.
Let’s say I’m writing a blog post about why businesses should consider using Instagram for marketing. When I’m making that argument, which is more convincing?

“It seems like more people are using Instagram nowadays.”

OR

“Instagram’s user base is growing far faster than social network usage in general. In the U.S, Instagram will grow 15.1% this year, compared to just 3.1% growth for the social network sector as a whole.”

The second, of course. Arguments and claims are much more compelling when rooted in data and research.
As marketers, we don’t just have to convince people to be on our side about an issue — we need to convince them to take action. Data-driven content catches people’s attention in a way that fluffy arguments do not.
Solution: Leverage recent data and mix in industry trends.
In any good story, you’ll offer a main argument, establish proof, and then end with a takeaway for the audience. You can use data in blog posts to introduce your main argument and show why it’s relevant to your readers, or as proof of it throughout the body of the post.
Some great places to find compelling data include:

Pew Research Center
MarketingSherpa
HubSpot’s State of Inbound report

You should also dive into industry trends, such as new social media platforms or recently published research. This tactic allows our blog to keep readers in the loop of new trends, while still covering more stable marketing topics.
“Evergreen content is a necessary backbone of any successful content strategy, but don’t ignore the trends happening in your industry — because your readers certainly aren’t,” says Hesterberg.
“Offering your take on industry trends is an opportunity to build a thought leadership presence and show your target audience that you’re a knowledgeable, active player in your space,” she continues.
11. Use descriptive examples to illustrate your point.
Mistake: You’re not adding enough context.
“When I first joined the HubSpot Blog team, I would consistently get the edit that I wasn’t adding enough examples to support my statements,” says Prater.
“For example, I might write ‘SMBs should expand their social media strategies to experiment with newer, cheaper channels.’ Sure, that might be true, but it’s a pretty broad suggestion.”
Solution: Illustrate ideas with examples, customer stories, and quotes from industry experts.
As bloggers, we become experts in our industry. Because of this, it’s easy to forget about specificity when giving advice, explaining examples, or walking through a common process.
It’s important to build upon your point with details, Prater says, as she follows up with her previous example.
“A stronger way to share this with an audience might be to add on, ‘For example, test running ads on question-and-answer platform Quora, or go live on Tiktok to engage your audience.’”
Prater shares that by adding specificity to a previously broad statement, she made her point more actionable.
Another way to illustrate your ideas is by leaning on industry experts.
“Seeking out guest pieces from qualified experts on subjects you want to cover can help fill knowledge gaps on your own content team,” says Hesterberg.
If that contributor is well-known in your industry or considered a thought leader, this might also make the post more shareable on social media or through backlinks.
On the blog, we regularly host expert contributors and thought leaders who give research insights and discuss their successes. If you can’t get a full blog post from a contributor, you can also consider reaching out to experts for quotes that will add a touch of expert insight to your pieces.
Here’s a post that features several experts written by Forsey.
“I’ve found including original quotes from experts helps you reach a new audience whenever that expert shares your post on their own social channels,” Forsey says.
She continues, “Best of all, it helps the user experience. For instance, if I’m writing a post about social media consultants, I’d much rather interview and use quotes from someone in the field, rather than rely on my own second-hand knowledge.”
12. Give credit where credit is due.
Mistake: Your content borders on plagiarism.
Plagiarism didn’t work in school, and it certainly doesn’t work on your company’s blog. But for some reason, many beginner bloggers think they can get away with the old copy-and-paste technique.
You can’t. Editors and readers can usually tell when something’s been copied from somewhere else. Your voice suddenly doesn’t sound like you, or maybe there are a few words in there that are incorrectly used. It just sounds off.
Plus, if you get caught stealing other people’s content, you could get your site penalized by Google — which could be a big blow to your company blog’s organic growth.
Solution: When drawing from others’ ideas, cite them.
Instead, take a few minutes to understand how to cite other people’s content in your blog posts.
It’s not super complicated, but it’s an essential thing to learn when you’re first starting out.
13. Take 30 minutes to edit your post.
Mistake: You think you’re done once the writing’s done.
Most people make the mistake of not editing their writing. It sounded so fluid in their head when they were writing that it must be great to read … right?
Nope — it still needs editing. And maybe a lot of it.
Solution: You’ll never regret time spent proofreading.
Everyone needs to edit their writing — even the most experienced writers. Most times, our first drafts aren’t all that great. So take the time you need to shape up your post. Fix typos, run-on sentences, and accidental its/it’s mistakes. Make sure your story flows just as well as it did in your outline.
To help you remember all the little things to check before publishing, check out our checklist for editing and proofreading a blog post.
14. Don’t sit on your post too long.
Mistake: You try to make every post perfect.
I hate to break it to you, but your blog post is never going to be perfect. Ever.
There will always be more things you can do to make your posts better. More images. Better phrasing. Whittier jokes. The best writers I know, know when to stop obsessing and just hit “publish.”
Solution: Better to publish and update than postpone for perfection.
There’s a point at which there are diminishing returns for getting closer to “perfect” — and you’re really never going to reach “perfect” anyway.
So while you don’t want to publish a post filled with factual inaccuracies and grammatical errors, it’s not the end of the world if a typo slips through. It most likely won’t affect how many views and leads it brings in.
Plus, if you (or your readers) find the mistake, all of you have to do is update the post. No biggie. So give yourself a break once and a while — perfect is the enemy of done.
15. Optimize your blog content.
Mistake: You’re not writing with SEO in mind.
When people want to learn more about a topic, they go to Google, Bing, or another search engine and type a phrase or a question.
This means that to ensure your intended audience finds your website, you’ll need to use SEO strategies to optimize your website and blog content. Otherwise, you risk putting in all this work without getting any eyes on it.
Solution: Identify relevant keywords, design a backlink strategy, and optimize your content.
Let’s start with keywords.
Leveraging keywords or phrases in your blog post’s subheads, body text, and image alt text can help to optimize your piece so search engine crawlers can find it and rank it more easily.
Once you have a list of topics you think might be interesting to your audience, research phrases or keywords related to them using a tool like SEMRush. If you find that a phrase has a high MSV (monthly search volume), you should work that phrase or keyword into the titles or subheaders of your post.
Want to learn more about this? Here, you can find a detailed guide on how to do keyword research for your blog posts.
Next up: Linking to your own website’s posts and credible sources.
“Interlinking your own content is an important strategy from both an SEO and content discoverability perspective,” says Hesterberg.
From an SEO perspective, any link to your page is like a vote. The more votes you get, the higher your search ranking and authority will be. Linking to your own content can count as a vote for yourself.
You can also earn links from external websites, which are called backlinks.
A backlink, or inbound link, is earned when another site links to your blog post. Because search engines want to show people the most credible, original content first, these backlinks will help you move up in search rankings.
Aside from SEO, quotes, thought leadership, and original research will also improve the reader’s experience.
Lastly, optimize your alt text and images.
You might not realize it, but even your images can be holding your search engine ranking back. While search engines like Google analyze the alternative text of your photos to ensure that they have consistent keywords in them, they also look at how fast these photos actually load.
If a photo loads slowly, it creates a poor user experience. If users bounce from your page quickly because photos aren’t loading, search engine crawlers will catch this and move you down on search result rankings.
To avoid this, we like to compress our images as much as possible before they lose quality. If you’re not a Photoshop expert, don’t worry. You can do this quite simply with websites like Squoosh.app.
16. Focus on the long-term benefits of organic traffic.
Mistake: You concentrate your analytics on immediate traffic.
Both beginner bloggers and advanced bloggers are guilty of this blogging mistake.
If you concentrate your analysis on immediate traffic (traffic from email subscribers, RSS feeds, and social shares), then it’s going to be hard to prove the enduring value of your blog. After all, the half-life for those sources is very brief — usually a day or two.
When marketers who are just starting their business blogs see that their blog posts aren’t generating any new traffic after a few days, many of them get frustrated. They think their blog is failing, and they end up abandoning it prematurely.
Solution: The ROI of your blog is the aggregation of organic traffic over time.
Instead of focusing on the sudden decay of short-term traffic, focus instead on the cumulative potential of organic traffic.
Over time, given enough time, the traffic from day three and beyond of a single blog post will eclipse that big spike on days one and two thanks to being found on search engine results pages through organic search. You just have to give it a while.
17. Add a subscription CTA to your blog and set up an email newsletter.
Mistake: You aren’t growing subscribers.
Once you start blogging, it’s easy to forget that blogging isn’t just about getting new visitors to your blog.
One of the biggest benefits of blogging is that it helps you steadily grow an email list of subscribers you can share your new content. Each time you publish a new blog post, your subscribers will give you that initial surge of traffic — which, in turn, will propel those posts’ long-term success.
The key to getting significant business results (traffic, leads, and eventually customers) all starts with growing subscribers.
Solution: Set up a subscription CTA and email newsletter.
First, use your email marketing tool to set up a welcome email for new subscribers, as well as a regular email that pulls in your most recent blog posts. (HubSpot customers:
You can use HubSpot’s email tool to easily set up these regular email sends, as well as set up a welcome email for new subscribers.)
Next, add subscription CTAs to your blog (and elsewhere, like the footer of your website) to make it easy for people to opt-in. These CTAs should be simple, one-field email opt-in forms near the top of your blog, above the fold.
As for where to put these CTAs, we typically place our blog CTAs at the bottom of our blog posts or add a slide-in, which you can learn how to do using a free tool called Leadin here.
You can also create a dedicated landing page for subscribers that you can direct people to via other channels such as social media, other pages on your website, PPC, or email.
18. Refresh old content while writing new content.
Mistake: You are publishing new content while neglecting old content.
Once you start blogging consistently, it’s easy to put all of your effort into publishing new content.
However, neglecting old content can hurt your click-through rates and SEO because as time passes, the more outdated and less relevant your content becomes to the reader’s current needs.
For instance, if you have a blog post about Facebook pages with screenshots from years ago, your content is no longer as helpful and thus will drop in ranking. Updating your old content will show Google your information is valuable, relevant, and fresh.
Solution: Refresh your old content.
On the blog, we prioritize the historical optimization of old blog posts.
This strategy involves working with the SEO team to identify old blog posts that may have out-of-date research, tips, or keywords and updating them to include new insights.
Not only does this prevent a reader from finding and quickly exiting old posts, but new data can also help to revive an old blog post’s search ranking.
When you update old posts, you also have a chance to identify great SEO opportunities that you missed the first time around.
For example, if a phrase or keyword has a high search volume, but it wasn’t included in the headlines or subheaders of the first post, you can tweak the text to include your focus keywords.
19. Break up sections of text with visuals.
Mistake: Your blog is text-heavy.
When you’re writing a blog post, it’s easy to get carried away with the words.
The problem is that readers can get bored with words and start disengaging. Not to mention that long blocks of text can be intimidating for any reading. After all, that’s why TLDR (too long didn’t read) was invented.
Well, there’s one way to address this.
Solution: Experiment with infographics and videos.
“You don’t need to have a full-time team of multi-media content creators to experiment with different formats,” says Hesterberg. “Use free tools like Canva or Venngage to create visuals and play around with different post structures – just remember to experiment with a purpose.”
When determining if you should create a video or infographic, ask yourself what this content could accomplish that text can’t.
For example, if a piece of trend research has a lot of facts and figures associated with it, you might want to consider an infographic that shows the stats in an eye-catching way.
In another scenario, if you land an interview with an industry expert, this could be a great opportunity to record a video interview rather than posting a text-based Q&A.
Perricone explained that videos and graphics can also provide organic traffic opportunities.
“We’ve found that visual content gets more backlinks, ranks higher in search engines, and drives more traffic,” she says. “Use charts, graphs, and images to supplement your copy.”
At the HubSpot Blog, we’ve experimented with placing infographics and videos into our blog pieces. These visuals add another layer to the reader’s experience, beyond the text. They also can be helpful for audiences who don’t have time to read a full post but want to watch a video.
As Hesterberg mentioned above, it doesn’t have to be costly or time-consuming to experiment with this type of content. For graphics, there are a number of affordable, easy-to-use software and design templates that can help you.
When it comes to video, creating this content could be as simple as filming yourself explaining a topic, or interviewing a customer on camera. While you’ll still want to consider lighting and the quality of your content, you don’t need to hire an expensive film crew to film it.
If you want to zest things up after recording, you can use free or affordable video editing tools to make quick clean edits and add interesting effects like transitions.
Alternatively, you can also consider embedding and sourcing videos that were already made.
For example, if you’re writing a post about hot products that people in your industry might enjoy, you could embed demos created by other companies that you find on YouTube or Vimeo. Here’s an example of a blog post where we did something similar.
20. Diversify your promotion channels.
Mistake: You only use one medium to share your content.
Growing your audience is imperative to your business, and using different mediums — such as podcasts, ebooks, and more — to distribute your content will help you do just that.
Try experimenting with various mediums to present the same information that’s in your blog post.
A 2021 stat says that 56% of Americans aged 12-34 listen to at least one podcast per month. That means that more of your audience is relying on podcasts to get the same information they might get while reading an article.
Publishing your article in a text medium only will significantly limit your audience reach.
Additionally, by having different mediums, you also get to produce more content around the same topic, negating the need for brainstorming sessions.
Solution: Try different mediums to reach your audience.
By utilizing different platforms, you will increase audience engagement on your blog. You can generate more ideas on the same subject when you use more than one medium and, consequently, generate a larger audience.
Additionally, adding video content can help your blog. 34% of bloggers say they experience strong results after including videos in blog posts.
So, if you are trying to increase audience engagement or switch up how you share your information, including different mediums will go a long way in building a successful blog.
21. Promote your content.
Mistake: You are not sharing your content via social platforms.
Writing the article is half the battle. The other half is distributing and promoting your content.
Sharing your content on social platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram will help your content get more traffic and can help grow your audience.
In 2021, 90% of bloggers used social media to promote their content, while 62% of bloggers used email marketing and SEO to help promote their content.
Solution: Promote your blog on your social platforms.
Search engines can be incredibly competitive, and algorithmic changes can affect how your content is ranked. So, even with a great SEO strategy, you should still promote your blog on other platforms including social media channels and in marketing emails.
Yes, creating a promotion strategy might seem like another daunting extra step. But it doesn’t have to be challenging.
To get started, think back to when you created your blog’s reader persona. Which platforms would they use most often? And, which types of social posts do they engage with? These answers will help you determine which platforms you should focus on when sharing blog content.
The HubSpot Blog works closely with HubSpot’s social team to determine and post content on platforms that our target audience will be on.
For example, when we have content related to social media trends or tips, we promote it on Instagram Stories or Twitter. In another scenario, if we have content that dives deeper into strategy, we might share it on LinkedIn, where many professionals in the marketing field go to gain insight from others in similar roles.
If you’re still not sure where to start, you can find more advice on specific platforms by using our guide to email marketing as well as my post on the five major types of social media.
22. Show your personality; don’t tell it.
Mistake: You think people care about you as a writer.
It sounds harsh, but it’s the truth: When people first start out blogging, they think that their audience will be inherently interested in their stories and their interests but that’s not the case.
It’s no knock against them as a person — it’s just that when you’re new, no one is interested in you and your experiences. People care way more about what you can teach them.
Solution: Infuse your personality without eclipsing the topic.
Even though people don’t really care that it’s you that’s writing the post, you can infuse parts of your personality in your writing to make them feel more comfortable with you.
How you do that is entirely up to you. Some people like to crack jokes, some like to make pop culture references, and others have a way with vivid descriptions.
Corey Wainwright, Principal Marketing Manager at HubSpot, is particularly good at this. Here’s an example from the introduction of one of her posts:

To infuse personality into your own writing, try looking for ways to relate to your readers on the topic you’re writing about — then write in the first person as if you’re hanging out with them and chatting about it.
Make your tone personal, approachable, and engaging, just like you would in a face-to-face conversation.
23. Blog consistently with the help of an editorial calendar.
Mistake: You don’t blog consistently.
By now, you’ve probably heard that the more often you blog, the more traffic you’ll get to your website — and the more subscribers and leads you’ll generate from your posts.
But as important as volume is, it’s actually more important that you’re blogging consistently when you’re just getting started. If you publish five posts in one week and then only one or two in the next few weeks, it’ll be hard to form a consistent habit.
It’s the companies that make a commitment to regularly publishing quality content to their blogs that tend to reap the biggest rewards in terms of website traffic and leads — and those results continue to pay out over time.
Solution: Schedule and publish blogs consistently.
Use a calendar to get into the habit of planning your blog post topics ahead of time, publishing consistently, and even scheduling posts in advance if you’re finding yourself having a particularly productive week.
Here at HubSpot, we typically use good ol’ Google Calendar as our blog editorial calendar, which you can learn how to set up step-by-step here.
Or, you can click here to download our free editorial calendar templates for Excel, Google Sheets, and Google Calendar, along with instructions on how to set them up.
Blogging Mistakes Are a Thing of the Past
Blogging is more than just writing words on a screen and hitting the publish button. The more you blog, the better you’ll get at it — and you’ll reap the benefits in terms of traffic and leads in the process.
Blogging as a business is always about setting yourself up for success and knowing and understanding your audience and the content that they want to read and see.
Making sure that your grammar, title, and blog is properly organized, staying on brand, connecting with your target audience will only help your business scale into more success.
We hope you’ll use this list of mistakes to step up your blogging game. After all, the benefits of keeping up a healthy business blog will be well worth the time and effort.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

 

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: Not all the content you create has to be 100% original.
Mind-blowing, right? And for you inbound marketers plagued by the incessant demands of content creation, maybe also a little comforting? Now before some of you say “But content curation is lazy.” and “Content curation is why there is so much stuff on the internet,” hear me out.

Sure, curated content is a collection of other people’s content and resources from around the web. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be valuable. Just think about a collection of mint-condition vintage toys. Each toy that comprises the collection is valuable in and of itself — but a collection of many is even more valuable.
We’re going to walk you through how to compile a valuable curated blog post in this post. So, keep reading or jump to the section you’re looking for.

What is curated content?
How to Create a Curated Blog
Content Curation Tips
Curated Content Examples

Curating is a process that’s best known in the art world. Curators choose, organize, and exhibit the work of different artists in galleries and museums. These exhibits usually come together under a common theme or idea.
Curated content follows a similar process. Content curators collect content that aligns with a specific topic, area of interest, or theme. They can use these groups of content to:

Add context to new ideas
Make comments on trends
Highlight the best new content in their niche or industry

Why is content curation useful?
Managing a content calendar is tough. According to HubSpot research, keeping up with the latest trends is a major struggle. For example, 22% of marketers worry about creating engaging content for social media.
Curating content is a proven tactic for generating new and relevant content. It’s a super time and budget saver, but that’s not all. Content curation can help brands develop thought leadership and add diverse perspectives. It can introduce your audience and team to new ideas and help you fill your editorial calendar with useful and exciting content.
But content curation is more than resharing or copying whatever there is to find online. If all you’re doing is quickly throwing together a few pieces of subpar content, then yes, content curation can be lazy. But take the time to curate a lot of valuable pieces of content, and you’ll end up with a collection that’s valuable to both the content consumer and yourself.
Because not only does curation save you the step of creating content from scratch, but it also gives the viewer all that awesome content in one place. Great content curation should complement the original content that comes from your brand. It’s a way to highlight your brand’s role in wider industry conversations. And here’s another thing: Curated content also has a lot of potential to rank well in search. Talk about a win-win-win.
Curating content can add powerful value for your audience. But how can you curate content for your blog? Let’s review the process step-by-step.

How to Create a Curated Blog
Before you start reading, download the free blog post templates so you can follow along and easily create curated posts for your own blog. And don’t forget to check out our additional tips for creating curated blog content at the bottom of this post.
For this post, we’re going to use the “Newsjacking” blog post template. Got your template? Great! Let’s get started.
Plan Your Curated Blog Post
First, take several minutes to plan what you want to write about so that you can stay on topic and keep your readers engaged.
1. Identify Your Audience
Which buyer persona are you writing this blog post for? Complete this field in your template.

2. Identify Your Key Takeaway
What do you want your audience to learn after reading your curated blog post? How do you want to offer unique value with your curated content? You can write quick notes for this section.
3. Identify Which Types of Content You Want to Curate
What content matters to your audience that you don’t have the time or resources to create? Take a look at these ideas for high-performing blog posts. Then jot down the content types or resources you can curate to support your post ideas. Are they videos? Slideshows? Charts and graphs? Links to articles or ebooks?
4. Brainstorm a Few Possible Titles
You don’t have to pick the perfect title before you finish your blog post, but it helps to jot down a few ideas to help keep you focused during the writing process.
At HubSpot, we call this a working title — a title that you can “work” off of that guides your post. This technique can also help you resist the urge to ramble off in a million different directions. Once the post is complete, we usually fine-tune it to ensure the title accurately reflects the post content, grabs potential readers’ attention, and is optimized for search.
Use the space in your template to craft a few possible blog post titles, and then choose one as your working title. Don’t worry about finalizing your title until you’re finished writing and curating.
Featured resources:

Headline ideas for traffic
SEO titles

5. Create an Outline
The typical curated content post consists of:

An introduction: sets the stage for what you plan to address through your collection of curated content
A body: expands on every bullet, list item, step, and example in a logical order
A conclusion: wraps up your post with a brief statement that’s reflective of what your readers just learned

What are all the bullet points you need to cover to introduce your compilation, explain each point, and remind the reader what they just learned? Use these questions to help you create an outline in your template.
Create Your Curated Blog Post
6. Write Your Blog Post
Write the Introduction
When writing your introduction, you want to keep one question top of mind: How can I establish credibility and get my audience to care about the resources I plan to share with them?
Feel free to leave the introduction for last, too. Sometimes it’s easier to introduce your post after you’ve written the real meat of it. When you do write your intro, here’s how we recommend going about it, using this post about motivational Ted talks as an example:

Note: The template content we’ve provided here is not intended to be copied and pasted into every blog post you write. That results in duplicate content for which you’ll be seriously punished in the SERPs.
These templates simply help you start putting pen to paper — or cursor to screen — and help you think through the structure and process of a curated blog post to make the whole writing experience far less painful. We encourage you to incorporate your own original copy.
Write the Body
Remember: The body should follow through with what you promised in the introduction. Your body can be written in paragraphs, with bullets, numbered lists, multiple headings, or a mix of any of these. Feel free to make use of whichever format is easiest for you given the types of content you’re curating.

Just be cognizant of these questions: How many examples do I need to include to make this post valuable to readers? How in-depth do I need to go into each example to make them easier to understand? Can I add any visuals that will make my post easier for my readers to understand and consume?
Write the Conclusion
Your conclusion is where you’ll paraphrase the key takeaway you outlined earlier in the planning stages and/or prompt your reader with a question. Check out this example from a blog post about LinkedIn bio examples:

7. Link to Additional Resources Within Your Post
Sometimes it’s hard to say everything you want to say about a single topic in one post. This is why it’s helpful to your readers to find extra resources you can link to for more detail or credibility.
Linking to other blog posts or pages on your site can result in increased visibility in search engines, page views, and time on site. Besides the links to the third-party content you’re curating, think about what other resources you can reference to strengthen the points made in your post, and then place those links in your post.
When you insert your blog post copy into your blogging platform, create hyperlinks for these resources where they fit best.
8. Finalize Your Title
Revisit your working title and see if you can make it more accurate, specific, sexy, concise, and SEO-optimized.
Need help? Check out this post on writing perfect page titles. Then, put your finalized title in the field on your template.
9. Choose a Call-to-Action (CTA)
At the end of your post, what action do you want your readers to take? Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter? Request more information? Tweet something? Download something? Buy something? Ideally, the action is relevant to the content they just read. For help choosing the perfect CTA for every blog post, check out this list of CTA examples. Once you’ve figured out what you want people to do after they read your post, you should add that to your template.

10. Editing is Important
Everyone can use a second set of eyes to look over their post before putting it out into the world, so have a friend or colleague look it over. Another thing that will help? This ultimate editing checklist.
Prep Your Blog Post for Publishing
11. Add Your Blog Post to Your Blogging Platform
Now that you’ve gone through the exercise of outlining and writing your blog post, you’ll want to prepare it for publishing.

A simple way to do this is to select and copy your finalized title and all your blog post body copy and paste it into a text editor like Microsoft Notepad or TextEdit on a Mac. Pasting into one of these programs strips your copy of all formatting.
This way, when you copy and paste it from the text editor into your blogging platform of choice, the formatting you apply within your blogging platform should render correctly. That being said, after pasting this into your platform, you should triple-check that your formatting carried over.
Now’s the time to make your blog post more scannable by using:

Headers
Bold text for key points
Hyperlinks
Images
Embedded content like videos and slideshows

Also, if your CTA is a button, don’t forget to add that to your post, too.
12. Add an Image
Every blog post should have an image. At HubSpot, we include at least one photo or image in every post we publish so that A) The content is more visual, and B) When the blog post is shared through social media channels, it’s accompanied by a thumbnail image to entice a clickthrough.
Take a look at our free bundles of downloadable stock photos (general and holiday) to see if any of these royalty-free images will do the trick for you. If you want help deciding which photo to use, check out this quick post about choosing the perfect image for your next blog post. You may also want to check out this article on image SEO.
13. Optimize Your Post for Search
If you’ve spent all this time collecting and annotating your curated content, you’ll want to make sure your post is easily discoverable in search engines. Check out our post about blog SEO for tips on how to do just that.
14. Publish Your Curated Blog

Publish your post, and start tracking its performance.
Content curation objectives should focus on keeping your audience engaged with value-added content. It can help drive increased, pass-along awareness for other brands. These tips will help you make the most of your curated content.
With that in mind, here’s what we recommend for more effective content curation.
1. Keep it high-quality and relevant.
No matter what type of content you’re curating, quality and relevance should always apply. No one wants to access a list of 10 mediocre industry blogs. They want the best. So, the individual content elements you curate should represent the utmost level of quality. You should also explain what criteria you’re using to judge that quality.
Remember: Quality is what separates valuable content curation from mediocre content curation.
Stay reasonably focused on a small handful of themes, but make sure your curated content also reflects the human element.
For example, most curated content on HubSpot focuses on sales, marketing, services, and website development. But you’ll also see content about conversation starters, boredom cures, emojis, and more.
It’s also important to make sure the content you’re curating is relevant to your audience. That aggregated list of funny viral videos may be funny, but if you’re not in the business of humor or marketing, it might not belong on your blog.
2. Pull from a consistent set of sources.
You can find good content just about anywhere. But it can streamline your process if you keep a core set of sources you can count on for consistently good content. You may also want to curate your sources of similarly-themed content.
Before you begin curating, be sure to bookmark a handful of great marketing examples. Topical aggregation sites and newsletters are also great for this. These sources often pull from a wider variety of sources than you may find on your own.
3. Use an automated queuing and distribution system.
This technology helps offer a one-click, easy-to-curate process so you can queue content from your browser.
Many of these tools are customizable. So, you can decide what you want to automate and how to make the most of your content workflow. Any tool that makes it easy to pick content to curate, quickly choose which channels to publish it through, and then automatically space it out over days and weeks is preferable. It’s also helpful to have tools that can help you track how your content is performing.
Featured resources:

Content distribution tools
Marketing automation software

4. Always give credit back to the original creator.
Since curation involves borrowing content from another creator, you absolutely must attribute and link to the original source. Here’s a guide to proper attribution in blog content.
This act of professional respect could also drive more reciprocation and curation of your own content as a result.
5. Post on multiple channels.
Post across channels to increase reach and awareness growth. Multi-channel marketing and cross-posting are essential to content success. This approach can help you save time and make the most of your resources.
That said, don’t go overboard on this (as in, don’t post to 50 LinkedIn groups three times a day). But don’t be afraid to curate good content across social media, blogs, and newsletters at the same time.
6. Figure out a schedule for your curated content.
Content marketing sometimes feels like driving by a house at 35 miles an hour and trying to throw a newspaper into the mailbox. Sometimes it’ll get in, but most of the time it won’t.
You may need to play the numbers game a bit so that a small percentage of your curated content reaches and impacts your intended audience. That said, you can also target the right message to the right audience with a content calendar. This written schedule can help you figure out when to post your favorite content.
For example, if you’re using an automatic distribution system, like a social media calendar tool, you don’t need to find and post new content every day.
To keep your process efficient, plan to schedule posts two or three times a week. This will give you time to go through your reading material and queue up new and interesting stuff.
7. Make instant curation one-click easy from your browser.
There is so much content to consume online that it can be easy to get overwhelmed. But there are ways that you can make your collection process easier and more enjoyable.
Use content curation tools that let you post one-click curated content from anywhere you happen to be reading. You can increase your curating by 2-3 pieces a day this way.
8. Use team tools to increase contributions.
Content curation is sometimes a solo act, but you can create a more diverse and exciting voice for your brand if you bring in other members of your team.
Team collaboration tools make it easy for teammates to suggest their favorite content. It’s also a great way to cut down the time you’d spend curating everything yourself. To make sure that you have a constant stream of new ideas from your team, you may want to create assignments or prompts.
For example, if you want to expand developer content in your curation, ask an engineer on your team to send their favorites once a week. Adding an invite to their calendar can be an easy reminder that simplifies the process for both of you.
9. Spread out posts from the same consistently-good sources.
There are probably a handful of blogs and sources you read on a regular basis. If they have consistently great stuff, they may show up in your content creation more than you intend.
So, stay aware of those habits and try to space them out a bit. Make a point of adding new inspiration to your sources at least once a month. Curating a variety of sources adds to the comprehensiveness and value of your curated blog.
10. Prioritize content from partners and prospects.
As you curate, make an impression on the people you care about most. Content curation is a chance to show your partners and collaborators that you’re paying attention. It’s also a simple way to show that you appreciate their content.
If you’re still building your co-marketing, start by contacting complementary brands. Curating content from brands you appreciate is a great way to begin new partnerships. You can also use your analytics to find your top referrals, talk to customers, or contact members of your team to find new content partners.
11. Add value.
Content curation is more than a quick repost. It’s using other creators’ content as a jumping-off point to build extra value for your audience.
For example, this collection of famous quotes is more than a compilation of inspirational quotations. It breaks the quotes into useful sections for quicker and easier application in marketing. The offer also includes 20+ image templates to effortlessly make these quotes appealing to the eyes. The templates are in square, horizontal, and vertical formats for use in a variety of channels.

It usually isn’t enough just to aggregate. A blog post that lists these quotes probably wouldn’t be as useful. By adding value, you create something brand new that builds on great content that already exists.

Curated Content Examples
HubSpot
HubSpot has more than a useful blog for marketing, sales, service, and website knowledge. It offers how-to guides, product reviews, and original research. The blog is also a great resource for trends and thought leadership.

If you’re still looking for more curated content inspiration, these HubSpot resources are a great place to start:

The Hustle
The Hustle Daily Show podcast
My First Million YouTube channel

The Marginalian
Formerly Brain Pickings, this blog is one of the best-known visions of curated content online. This site combines inspiration from art, science, and literature through the lens of its creator, Maria Popova.

Some of its top posts include:

Joan Didion on Keeping a Notebook
The Gashlycrumb Tinies: A Very Gorey Alphabet Book
What the Popeye Mythology Teaches Us about How Error Spreads

Sparktoro Trending

Sparktoro’s tools focus on audience intelligence, but this side project also offers a lot of value for content curators. It tracks hot topics in marketing based on the number of shares from people in the industry.
HuffPost

This news aggregator has had a pulse on celebrity ideas since 2005. The political sections of this site tend to get the most notice, but the scale of this curated blog makes it a great source of ideas for any curious creator.
but does it float

This curated blog of visual content is a rich resource. Full of photography, illustration, design, and other creative inspiration, this site is a constant source for visual trend-seekers. This is also a good example of content curation from multiple points of view since the blog has two curators.
Buzzfeed

Buzzfeed has been a source of inspiration for curated lifestyle blogs since 2006. With its popular listicles, quizzes, and pop culture stories, it’s also a great source of user-generated content.
If you’re looking for more blog curation examples, check out these lists of the best sales and customer service blogs.
Content Curation Isn’t Just for Blogs and Social Media
Curated content is a simple and fun way to develop engaging and useful content for your audience. It’s a strategy for promoting ideas from your network, an option to keep up with trends, and a solution for the blank spaces in your editorial calendar. So start collecting and adding your own value and insights. You never know what the next secret to growth might be.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

How and where do you start when creating a brand new social media channel for your business? #AskBuffer— Jake Pryszlak (@Jakepryszlak) October 19, 2022

It’s a given that social media can drive online awareness for your business, but with the various sites out there, you may be wondering how to efficiently get started when leveraging a social channel for your brand. We received a great user question on this very topic and will try our best to answer it in this edition of #AskBuffer.Along with covering how exactly to start a new social media account for your business, we’ll provide tips that’ll help you make the most out of that channel as well.What to consider when creating a new social channelSetting up a new social channel for your business may feel a bit overwhelming at first, but with the proper preparation, you can have a successful account. Here are some things to consider before you create your new channel.Figure out where your audience isThere are a ton of potential options when choosing which social media site to be active on. From Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and TikTok, it’s not always realistic for one business to be posting on five different channels. Instead, you want to be very deliberate when choosing the top-priority social network for your business.To figure out what this main channel should be, you need to learn where your audience spends most of their time online. And in order to do that, you need to have a good idea of your target market. Here are some questions that can help you do so:How old are the people you are trying to reach?Where are they located?What are their pain points?What are their hobbies, interests, and passions?Once you have a clear understanding of the demographic you’re interested in, it’s time to do some research and find their favorite social channels. While it’s true that most individuals are active on several platforms, the data suggests that certain demographics prefer specific sites.For example, Gen Z users are super active on TikTok, YouTube, and even Snapchat, whereas 24 to 34-year-olds make up nearly 40 percent of both Twitter and Instagram users.Picking a channel your audience already frequents ensures you’re being strategic and efficient with your social media posting, and reaching the people you’re most interested in. .Pinpoint the type of content you want to shareOnce you’ve selected which social platform you’ll be using, it’s time to brainstorm ideas for posts. Here are some suggestions for generating content.Create content that fits the platformThe type of media you create will depend on the platform you choose. For example, if your community is on TikTok, you’ll need to create videos, whereas if your priority channel is Twitter, you’d come up with text ideas for tweets and Twitter threads. For Instagram, you’d likely be creating a mix of video and photo content.A good way of gauging what will perform well on a certain channel is to spend time on it yourself! Check out what’s trending and follow some accounts that interest you. Browsing through other content creators’ work can inspire your own creativity.Establish content pillarsContent pillars are topics or themes that can be used to generate posts. They should be relevant to your audience while also connecting back to your brand principles.At Buffer, our content pillars include remote work, social media strategies, our culture, and highlighting sustainable and ethical brands. If you browse our blog and social media channels, you’ll see that most of our content revolves around these core themes.Another way to look at this is to think about what you want to share as a content creator. It can include the following:Helpful adviceIndustry trendsBehind-the-scenes insightsDeep dives into your services or productsQuestions for your followersLong-form contentIt’s not realistic to talk about everything on your account, and oftentimes individuals will follow you because of your specific niche. Therefore, it’s a good idea to come up with three to four content pillars and brainstorm ideas from there.Call out: Have a content idea that you want to play around with? Use Buffer’s Ideas feature to tweak your work until you get it right.Let your brand voice inform your contentYour brand voice is the way you come across to your audience as a content creator. This voice can help inform the type of content you want to share because it includes your company’s core values and principles.For example, if your brand voice is educational, you may want to share content that is more explanatory and informative on social media. If your brand voice is fun and silly, you may post more humorous TikToks and Reels.Don’t think of your brand voice as something that boxes you in, but rather a way to create content that really aligns with your goals as a creator.Think about ways to repurpose your contentAs you’re exploring ideas for social media, we recommend repurposing content. While tailoring content for each platform is a great way to really thrive on a given channel, you can always repurpose your content to fit any social media platform.TikToks can easily turn into Instagram Reels. Static graphics can become video content. Tweets can even be repurposed into images – we recommend Remix for doing this in seconds!Repurposing content is a great way to extend the life span of social media content on your channel.Have a plan for creating and sharing your contentTo really succeed on social media, you need to post consistently. You don’t want to promote a social channel only to use it sporadically. But to post frequently, you need to have a plan to generate and share your content.Gathering the tools and services you’ll need to create and distribute your social media content will help you stay ahead of the game. Here are some of the main tools you’ll want to consider:Image creation: Much of social media consists of aesthetically pleasing images, and luckily there are tons of options when it comes to creating these graphics. Canva is a great service that generates professional-looking images. Pablo and Remix are also convenient options.Video editing: When it comes to video editing services, many social platforms, including TikTok and Instagram, have native video features that are easy to use. We recommend familiarizing yourself with these features until you get the hang of them. If you’re looking for other options, here’s a list of video editing softwares.Scheduling: Getting your posts out into the world is the most important part of this equation! Instead of taking time out of your busy day to upload your various media, write your captions, and publish your posts, we recommend using a tool to schedule these posts in advance. Buffer can do just that for you and more. Start for free today!We also recommend content batching as a way to ensure you always have posts ready to go. With this strategy, you’re essentially working on multiple posts at a given time. By creating content in batches, you’ll be saving time and energy and will end up with weeks worth of content you can schedule in advance.Understand how social media algorithms workTo improve the likelihood of your posts being seen in your followers’ feeds, it’s best to have a solid understanding of social media algorithms. The algorithm can be thought of as rules and guidelines specific to a certain platform that decides which content will be shown on a social media feed and in what order.While every social media site has its own unique algorithm, some best practices are relevant for all social platforms, including:Being an active account that posts original content regularlyUsing trending hashtags and audioEngaging with others on the platformsThis includes replying to comments you receive on your posts, but also interacting with content posted by othersKeeping your videos short and to the point, specifically for Reels and TikToksThe algorithms are complex and depend on multiple factors – including a user’s individual behavior – but some factors are in your control and knowing how to effectively leverage them can improve the chances your content will be seen by your audience.Call out: Finding out the best time to post on the various platforms — including TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter— can help your posts be seen by more of your audienceHave a measurable goal for successOnce you get your social media channel up and running, you should also track and measure its success. This will help you understand what kind of content is working with your followers and what isn’t. If you don’t do so, you’re essentially posting blindly – meaning you’re not analyzing whether your work is resonating with your followers.There are a lot of ways you can approach this. At Buffer, we specifically use engagement rate and impressions as our base metrics when analyzing our posts’ performance.Call out: Check out Buffer’s top social media posts of 2022 and our social media manager’s analysis of why they did so well.Here are some other metrics that you can look at for a given post:LikesCommentsHow often it has been saved or bookmarkedRetweets and sharesExamining all of this data manually can be a bit time-consuming, and that’s where Buffer comes in. With Analytics, Buffer can analyze your social media accounts, create reports that clearly lay out specific trends in your content, and provide a number of recommendations, including the best times to post, suggesting how often you should post, and laying out your best content.Creating social media channels for your brand is a great way to get the word out about your business. We recommend starting small with one to two accounts, and then adding more channels as you grow.Use this quick checklist before you start those new accounts:Figure out where your audience isPinpoint what kind of content you want to shareHave a plan for creating & sharing said contentUnderstand social media algorithmsMeasure and track your social media performanceHave a social media question for us? Use the #AskBuffer and let us know on Twitter!

 

 

Lean Marketing requires efficiency, but such a title may seem outrageous. It turns out, it is not an over-the-top expectation, but actually a solution. You can do this – if you have a proper Workflow. In this article, we will explain what Workflow is, how it works, who is responsible for its efficiency, and ultimately – how to take advantage of it.

Lost productivity and poorly managed leads cost companies over $1 trillion annually. Some of these costs could be avoided with database automation software. (CMO Council). 

In our previous article on our latest feature, we explained the factors driving the incredible growth of Workflow Automation solutions. Here, we want to provide you with a grasp of what a powerful tool Workflow actually is.

 

How do workflows work?

 

Workflows are a part of the marketing automation phenomena, so some context is needed before we can discuss them in detail.

According to Gartner, “A marketing automation system is a system that helps marketers execute multichannel marketing campaigns by providing a scripting environment for authoring business rules and interfaces to a variety of third-party applications.”

Clearly, the efficiency of such a system depends entirely on the competence of its creators. So, what about Workflows?

“Workflow rules let you automate standard internal procedures and processes to save time across your organization. A workflow rule is the main container for a set of workflow instructions. These instructions can always be summed up in an if/then statement.” (Salesforce)

Workflows are simply command structures. We usually visualizing them as a flow because they foresee consequential instructions, that make marketing automation strategies operationally possible. 

What makes up a Workflow?

 

What is a workflow and what does it do?

 

Workflows use an “if/then” structure to execute certain actions when a certain condition is met. An automated Workflow, at least in an eCommerce marketing context, always involves:

Different touchpoints in the customer journeyConditions for steps within the Workflow (these may be user or customer features or behaviors)Actions that are automatically triggered by such instructions, such as sending an email to a contact on a  list or adding a new contact to a list. 

In general, every Workflow is configured like a predetermined set of instructions in a specific order to obtain two objectives: 

To facilitate a visitor’s transition to becoming a customer (conversion) To trigger a circle of lead nurturing, creating greater awareness and increasing purchase motivation. 

At SALESmanago, we consider this to be part of Customer Intimacy.

In summary, Workflows distribute content and personalized (or hyperpersonalized) messages to members of a company database:  

On the different touch points provided by the digital strategy, which correspond to different moments of the customer journeyTo give the decisive impulse to the activation of a conversion With the ultimate goal of creating interactions and, above all, creating Customer Intimacy 

But exactly how do Workflows achieve these goals? What features or actions on the visitor or customer website should trigger what actions?

When addressing these questions, the marketer’s competence is key and can even override the competence of the creators of the marketing automation system.

 

Examples of the Workflow goals and tactics

 

The key factors of a successful, efficient Workflow are:

Clearly defined marketing goalsProven, tested tactics Awareness of the potential of different channels

Let’s look at two examples of expertly crafted Workflows. The first was created by Marcin Ostrowski, a marketing expert who works regularly with such companies as Eurospin or RC Lens.

The marketing goals of this workflow are to increase customer engagement and build customer loyalty. To do this, Marcin uses the Lead Nurturing tactic. Remember, Lead Nurturing is not a goal in itself, it is just a tactic to achieve the goal.

Marcin decided to execute his tactic omnichannel, via:

Email MarketingSMSCustom audience

Details: Lead nurturing begins when a contact is added to the system. We send an introductory email, and then we try to determine the best way to communicate with the contact. Lead Nurturing involves delivering the same content to each lead, divided into installments, using the best channel for that lead. So, we check if the email has been opened. If so, we send two more emails. If not, we check if we have a phone number. If so, we send a message telling the lead that some interesting information is waiting in their email inbox (if the client’s Lead Nurturing is uninteresting, then do not conduct it at all) and then follow up with another email. Then we check if that email has been opened. If so, we send the rest of the content by e-mail, if not, we follow up again via SMS. 

If we don’t have a phone number, we resend the email to make sure the first one wasn’t sent to spam or otherwise lost. If the second email is opened, we end the Nurturing channel. if it isn’t opened, we add the contact to the custom audience list and GAds to increase brand presence without providing nurturing content. For customers with SM Mobile, a separate lead nurturing is created when they install the application. If the customer has his own application, both workflows should run simultaneously.

Another example is a Workflow created by Aleksandra Urban, an expert working with Cenomi Group, Nahdi, Alphorm, and Miss Group. This Workflow has several interconnected marketing goals: Lower customer churn, Increase customer lifetime value, Increase customer engagement, Hyper-personalize customer experience, build customer loyalty.

To do this, the workflow uses the NPS survey tactic, executed via three channels: 

Email MarketingMobile PushMobile Marketing 

Details: Email: After a purchase, we wait (time to be determined) and then check whether the contact has opted-in. If so, we send a message with a link to the NPS survey if not, finish the workflow. After sending this message, we wait (time to be determined) and then check whether the contact has clicked on the previous email (with the link to the NPS survey). If so, we mark the workflow complete; if not, we do not send follow-up. 

SMS: After a purchase, we wait and then send an SMS with a link to the NPS survey. We then wait again before sending a follow-up, and at the end, we add the path end tag. 

Web push notifications: These follow a similar pattern. 

Website personalization: After a purchase, we wait and then launch a WAR, which is designed to display a chat encouraging the lead to provide feedback. We wait and then check whether the contact has visited the page (and thus seen the chat window). If so, we check whether the contact has a tag that the consultant could have manually assigned to him after leaving a review. If the contact has this tag, we finish the workflow. If there is no tag, we run another WAR which is designed to display a pop-up to an NPS survey. If the contact hasn’t visited the page, we add a no-campaign tag. 

Omnichannel: After a purchase, we wait and check whether the contact has subscribed to the newsletter. If so, we send an A/B test email. If not, we check whether the contact has a tag (web push consent). We wait and then check whether the contact has provided a phone number. If so, we send an SMS; if not, we check whether the contact is in SM Mobile. If they are, we send a mobile push; if not, we check whether the contact is saved on NS. If so, we send an e-mail; if not, we run a WAR that opens a chat window encouraging the contact to write a review. We wait and then check whether the contact has visited the URL. If so, we send a web push; if not, we send a follow-up email. At the end, we add the tag of the finished path.

 

Why does it matter who creates a Workflow?

 

While marketing automation software is a solution in itself, Workflow templates created using such software can be brilliant and effective or flawed and ineffective. 

Marketing automation software designers can create a seamless, intuitive interface that allows users to build and execute a Workflow with multiple features, options, and customization possibilities – without coding. But in the end, you will be left alone with the program to do the best you can with your own expertise … or will you?

Modern marketing automation systems require constant development, especially if they are connected to Customer Data Platforms, and the skilled eCommerce experts at Martech work with some of the greatest eCommerce brands in the world. Their Workflow Libraries catalog the most efficient proven marketing tactics and can help companies achieve their most ambitious marketing goals. 

In essence, a Workflow Library allows marketers access to the most skilled marketing experts in the world. Of course, you will need to experiment with the available templates to find the best one for you, but with our modern Marketing Automation Software and Workflow Libraries, you can be sure that you are starting with solutions that not only work, but are responsible for the success of some of the greatest eCommerce brands in the world.

 

 

Take a journey with your buyer and decode their activities, likings, preferences, interests, and lots more: BUYER’s JOURNEY 1. Unaware Stage The first and foremost stage is to make noise and create awareness for your brand and company about what you do, how you do, and lastly, why do you do it. Pro Tip – Specifically for B2C markets, viral giveaways have proven to be very rewarding as these giveaways make way for direct leads, which could also lead to referred leads. 2. Lead Stage Once they know you and people are talking about you, it’s time you check whether they are a good fit for your business. Pro Tip – Use the Dollar Strategy to validate the interest of the leads. What is Dollar Strategy? Ask people to put a dollar into the campaign to reserve a spot and this will guarantee you intent. The ones who put a dollar in your campaign will be the ones who are genuinely interested in your product or service rather than just being here to win something for free. 3. Prospect Stage Once you validate the lead, it is time to turn that lead into a paying customer or a prospect. Pro Tip – Use softwares like Mailchimp or LeadPages, which can help you nurture these leads with drip e-mail campaigns and content upgrades. Once they are in your ecosystem, they can be marketed directly through e-mail campaigns. 4. Customer Stage The journey comes to the ultimate fulfillment only with this step. You have kept in touch with the prospects, nurtured the leads, and now the prospective lead trusts you enough to invest in your product or service. They become the CUSTOMER everyone is looking for. 5. Fan Stage Yes, there’s more to it. While the goal could have met, the journey has yet to end. For a business to run well, you need not only to think about the immediate results but focus on the long-term ones. Further your organic sales through referrals or recommendations, you need to build that extraordinary personal relationship with your customer. This effort will make them fans of your brand, enticing them to buy themselves and get others to buy repeatedly. And voila, this was your buyers journey for you! Remember, marketing and psychology are a match made in heaven. You can not afford to ignore your buyer. And once you find a sweet spot in the heads of your targeted buyer, you will see the difference yourself. Feel free to add in the discussion with your comments. We would love to interact! See you. Happy Marketing! submitted by /u/KiwiTechCorp [link] [comments]

Hi all. I’m wondering what you think are the top 3-5 skills a marketing automation specialist should possess. Look forward to your answers! submitted by /u/james2232 [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/chebeatz [link] [comments]

Welcome to HubSpot Marketing News! Tap in for campaign deep dives, the latest marketing industry news, and tried-and-true insights from HubSpot’s media team. 
Participating in Dry January? Martha Stewart has a few suggestions for how to use your Tito’s Vodka if you aren’t drinking it.
The vodka company and lifestyle maven partnered to create “DIY January,” a campaign showing the various ways the Tito’s DIY January kit can be used around the house, served with a splash of humor.

Though the ad spot is clearly a joke it underscores an emerging trend in mindful alcohol consumption.
Drizly reported a noticeable increase in non-alcoholic beverage sales in January 2022 — a 48% jump from the prior year’s non-alcoholic beverage sales. In the same report, Drizly also noted products that were perceived as “lighter” such as clean wine and hard seltzer were some of the top-selling products last January.
According to Gallup, alcohol consumption for American adults is on the decline and Gen Z’s drinking patterns may be influencing the shift. 
Compared to Millennials, older Gen Z’s spend 40% less money on alcohol and are less likely to consume alcohol regularly. A survey by Numerator found Gen Z’s alcohol consumption and purchasing habits are influenced by concerns about how it affects their mood, behavior, and social media presence. 
These same themes may ring true for younger members of Gen Z as well, as there has been a decline in underage drinking over the past decade. If younger generations continue to show less interest in drinking alcohol than their predecessors, campaigns such as DIY January (minus the satire) may become the new norm for brands looking to appeal to sober-curious consumers. 
Marketing Snippets

The latest marketing news and strategy insights. 
How to make a video go viral: what the latest research has to say. 
TikTok licenses IMDB data making it easier for users to find TV and film references on the app. 
Meta was fined over $414 million by the EU for GDPR violations.
Are we in a recession? How to discuss the current economic uncertainty with your marketing team. 
Learn what types of posts work well on LinkedIn, directly from the LinkedIn team.
TikTok users will soon be able to restrict their videos to adult-only audiences. 
Twitter is rolling out a new feature that will let users swipe between multiple views based on their interests.
Instagram shares the platform’s 2023 focus areas, just in time for your social strategy. 
How shrinking budgets due to the economic downturn may impact influencer marketing in 2023.

Virality. Many brands want to go viral, but it’s more of a mystery to create viral content in a digital age where the most unpredictable content can reach millions of views overnight. There is no secret recipe for the perfect viral video, and yet there are videos that receive millions of views every year. What’s the secret?

Unfortunately, virality is more of an art than a science. While there is no tried-and-true formula for virality, there are some elements that we consistently see — and knowing what that puts you one step closer to attaining that viral glory.

So let’s identify some of the commonalities that can make them internet-famous.
The Science of Virality
From the latest trending Twitter or TikTok moment to some of the oldest viral moments to come from YouTube, like “Keyboard Cat” or “Charlie Bit My Finger,” the science of a viral video is an ever-changing imperfect formula.
How do videos go viral?
While for YouTubers of today, it may take a lot of luck, some common elements of viral videos can set you up for success. According to HubSpot research in the 2022 Video Marketing Report, these are the most prevalent characteristics:

Title length: Videos had short titles (3 words or less)
Run-time: Videos had shorter run times (3 minutes or less).
Captures viewer’s attention in first few seconds: Videos featured the element of surprise (defined as seeing or hearing an expression of surprise, such as a scream or gasp) or interesting propositions breaking of norms.
Content is relatable in nature: Videos featured relatable circumstances, situations or subject matter that viewers of multiple different backgrounds could relate to.
Production quality: Videos displayed a musical elements reflecting high production value in resolution, props, and well-thoughtout ideation.
Talent: Many viral videos were composed of songs, dances, or performances that required practice and talent.

The Art of Viral Videos: Applying Data to Real-Life Scenarios
The Marketing Report also includes survey data marketing professionals about which factors are most effective for creating viral videos, the most commonly cited characteristics are as follows:

Short and concise title (3 words or less) and run-time (3 minutes or less)
Uses engaging story-telling format
Invokes pleasant emotions like laughing
Involves elements of irony or surprise
Allows participation to be made public
Is practically useful

You can translate this list to craft a unique, viral message representing your brand, and we’ll give you our take on how to tap into each.
And while some of these items (like a short title and run-time) are self-explanatory. But others (like story format, elements of irony and surprise, public indicators of participation, and practical use) may need to be more evident, so here are some tips for addressing these more complex factors.
1. Tell a Story
Since the beginning of language, humans have been programmed to consume stories. Stories influence our thinking and provide sensory experiences. Because of these responses, people are attracted to content in a conventional story format.
Ensure you have the traditional elements of a narrative (beginning, character, conflict, climax, and resolution) present in your video, and your viewers will identify it as a story.
You could also experiment with using well-known tropes in your video — for example, you can convey an idea through a common tale like a pirate story to simplify what it’s like to use a “Smooth CRM for Rough Seas” like HubSpot:

The ad narrates how giving our CRM platform to characters, such as pirates, would alter their stories and help them find the treasures they’re looking for. This kind of video is a cute, funny way of incorporating that theme while still focusing on the brand’s mission.
2. Be Ironic
Irony is among the most common factors among viral videos at an astounding 90% of surveyed videos. That makes it a high priority when crafting your viral message.
How do you incorporate irony? You do what the majority of the sample videos did — demonstrating the breaking of social norms.
Think: Are there any social norms associated with your brand or product? Can you break one of those relevant norms in an ironic yet on-brand way?
Let’s take a look at an example. Marvel published a brilliantly ironic video for the release of Thor in 2011. Called “Little Thor,” the video is a parody of the adorable Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial that starred a little boy dressed as Darth Vader trying to harness the power of the force.
In “Little Thor,” a girl dressed as Thor is going around the house, trying to use Thor’s hammer to wield great power on the dog (appropriately named Loki), a doll, and her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

As we watch this, it’s practically identical to the Volkswagen commercial, and we assume it’s probably another video in the same series. Ultimately, the father comes home, and she runs outside for one last attempt with her hammer. We assume that her father will sound the car’s alarm, just as the father did in the VW Super Bowl commercial, but instead — the car explodes! We then realize this commercial is not for Volkswagen but for the upcoming Thor movie.

This video is ironic on multiple levels. First, it’s an ironic parody of a popular ad. Second, the child dressed as Thor is a girl, which goes against gender stereotypes (and breaks a social norm). Third, the car explodes, which is ironic since the video is a spoof of a car commercial.
An ironic video like that is a humorous way to introduce people to your brand personality.
3. Surprise the Audience
Half of the viral videos contained an element of surprise.
Why do people like to be surprised? In a world where we view thousands of ads daily, people are tired of seeing the same things repeatedly. A surprise is a nice, refreshing change of pace to all that monotonous content.
So how do you incorporate elements of surprise while still making your video relevant to your company?
Your company should be the surprise.
More specifically, your company’s benefits should be the (pleasant, funny, cheerful, etc.) surprise element to your video.
Take the iconic Old Spice commercial, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” video campaign. It’s an excellent example of using a surprise element to exaggerate the benefits of their body wash in a fun, ironic way.

The ad features a towel-clad actor in a bathroom with the shower running behind him. He says that, while your man is unfortunately not him, your man could smell like him with Old Space body wash. Then suddenly, the shower backdrop is pulled right out from behind him to reveal that he is on a boat! This story continues with constantly changing wardrobe, props, and backgrounds.
Viewers are constantly surprised and excited to see what “the man your man could smell like” will do next.
While not every brand has the budget to do a video like Old Spice, think about how you can surprise your audience in small and big ways — it could help your video get shared.
4. Encourage Sharing
Berger said that people are more likely to participate if they can publicly indicate their participation. Why? Because people like to show off and feel like they’re in the know.
It’s easy for people who interact with you in person — a branded t-shirt, bumper sticker, or pen will do the job just fine. But it’s harder to provide public participation indicators for people who interact with you online.
Correction: it was harder to provide them before social media came around.
Nowadays, social sharing buttons are on practically every form of online content: YouTube videos, website articles, audio clips, etc. This allows people to share the content they enjoy with their friends, who can then share it with their friends, etc.
By incorporating social sharing buttons on your videos and wherever you end up hosting them, you meet your audience’s need to share their experience with others.
5. Think Practicality
The two things we all have in common are that we all have problems, and we’re all looking for solutions to fix them.
People always search for informational content, from headache remedies to looking up recipes for a last-minute potluck dinner. Chances are, your customers are also looking for information regarding your field or industry. And it’s in your best interest to provide it for them.
By creating a practical, useful video, you accomplish a few essential things:

You provide information to people who prefer to seek it on their own.
You can encourage those people to share that information with their networks (accommodating those seeking advice from their friends).
You establish yourself as a helpful tool and source of information, increasing trust (and hopefully loyalty).
If you have strategically placed calls to action in your video, you can convert viewers to the next stage of the buying journey.

Can your video provide practical information that your customers might be looking for? A good first step is to identify a problem your customers are having and provide information on how they can fix it.
Maybe you sell makeup, and you have a lot of customers who aren’t sure how and when to apply it — you could create a how-to video for tips and tricks to apply makeup. Or maybe your company provides eye exams, but many first-time children are scared of the visit — you could film a tour of your office, with a step-by-step explanation of the eye exam for mothers to show their children.
By providing this helpful information, you help people associate you with solutions — which come in handy when they want to buy something down the road.
Take Pillsbury’s video for “Crescent Mummy Dogs,” for example. It’s an instructional video that shows how you can make a fun, playful dish for your children at Halloween. Parents might be searching for a recipe like this for their child’s school party, and Pillsbury has provided the recipe and a how-to video to accompany it. This way, they make completing this recipe as easy as possible, so parents who try it love it and will be more likely to share it with their friends — and heck, maybe even buy Pillsbury dough to make the recipe.
Set Your Next Video Up for Success
There’s no magic formula for the perfect viral video — but there are some general guidelines to help get you there. By understanding the elements that make content successful, you can predict (and even create) the content that will become popular. It’ll allow you to create videos that are more likely to be widely distributed online strategically.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in June 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.