11 best email marketing tools for restaurants in 2025

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 21:27:19 +0300

Email marketing for restaurants can be challenging with all its unique responsibilities.

You're managing fluctuating customer traffic, promoting time-sensitive specials and events, coordinating reservations across multiple channels, competing for attention in crowded local markets, and building loyalty programs that keep diners coming back.

Email marketing tools solve these problems by automating reservation confirmations, segmenting customers by dining preferences and visit frequency, and promoting specials when customers are most likely to book.

The right platform helps you fill tables during slow periods, increase average order values, and turn one-time visitors into regulars.

In this guide, you‘ll find a detailed comparison table of 11 email marketing platforms, feature breakdowns for each tool, benefits specific to restaurants, a step-by-step selection guide, and answers to common questions.

Here’s what matters: restaurants using email marketing can see an average of 3-5x ROI, with targeted campaigns driving up to 25% more repeat visits.

HubSpot is used by restaurant groups worldwide—from single-location eateries to multi-unit chains—who rely on the platform's integrated CRM and marketing automation to increase reservations and build customer loyalty.

Table of Contents

What is email marketing for restaurants?
Comparison Table: Best Email Marketing Software for Restaurants
Best Email Marketing Software for Restaurants
Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Restaurants
10 Important Features for Restaurant Email Marketing Software
How to Choose an Email Marketing Tool for Restaurants (Step-by-Step)
How to Create Email Marketing Campaigns for Restaurants
Frequently Asked Questions
Meet HubSpot, the Top Email Marketing Choice for Restaurants

What is email marketing for restaurants?

Email marketing for restaurants is a key way to stay connected with diners through targeted campaigns. You use it to promote daily specials, announce new menu items, send reservation reminders, share exclusive offers, celebrate customer birthdays, and drive traffic during slow periods with strategic promotions.

Comparison Table: Best Email Marketing Software for Restaurants

Email Marketing Tool	Best For	Key Features	Pricing	Average Rating
HubSpot	Multi-location restaurant groups	Free CRM, reservation tracking, loyalty automation, revenue attribution	Free; Available with Marketing Hub; Starter $9/month per seat	4.4/5
Mailchimp	Independent restaurants and cafes	Templates, automation, segmentation, journey mapping	Free; Essentials $13/month	4.3/5
Constant Contact	Restaurants prioritizing ease of use	Drag-and-drop builder, event marketing, live support	Starts at $12/month	4.0/5
ActiveCampaign	Restaurants needing advanced automation	Guest scoring, SMS integration, conditional workflows	Starts at $15/month	4.6/5
Klaviyo	Restaurants with online ordering	Advanced segmentation, predictive analytics, revenue tracking	Free; Email $45/month	4.6/5
Brevo	Growing restaurant groups needing SMS	Email + SMS, transactional emails, unlimited contacts	Free; Starter $8.08/month	4.5/5
Omnisend	Restaurants with e-commerce components	Omnichannel automation, product recommendations	Free; Standard $11.20/month	4.5/5
Square Marketing	Restaurants using Square POS	Native POS integration, automated campaigns, customer insights	Starts at $45/month	4.3/5

Toast Marketing	Restaurants using Toast POS	Toast POS integration, guest data sync, automated campaigns	Custom pricing	4.5/5
Moosend	Budget-conscious restaurants	Unlimited emails, automation, landing pages	Free; Pro $9/month	4.6/5
GetResponse	Restaurants hosting events	Webinar/event hosting, automation, conversion funnels	Email $15/month	4.2/5

Best Email Marketing Software for Restaurants

Here are the top email marketing platforms that work well for restaurants, cafes, bars, and hospitality businesses.

1. HubSpot

Source

Best For: Multi-location restaurant groups that need CRM, marketing automation, and reservation tracking in one platform

Key HubSpot Features:

Free CRM with guest profile management – Track every customer interaction from first reservation to repeat visits, dietary preferences, favorite dishes, and spending patterns. Everyone on your team sees the same up-to-date guest information.
Automated loyalty campaign workflows – Create email sequences that reward repeat visits, celebrate customer milestones, and re-engage guests who haven't dined in 30-60-90 days without manual work.
Revenue attribution by location and campaign – See which email campaigns drive reservations, online orders, and in-store visits. Connect your marketing directly to revenue by location, day part, and promotion type.

HubSpot Pricing:

Marketing Hub Free: $0 (email marketing, forms, landing pages, CRM)
Marketing Hub Starter: $9/month per seat
Marketing Hub Professional: $800/month
Marketing Hub Enterprise: $3,600/month

View detailed pricing

2. Mailchimp

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Best For: Independent restaurants and cafes that want easy-to-use automation with food and beverage templates

Key Mailchimp Features:

Restaurant-specific templates – Launch promotions quickly with email designs built for daily specials, happy hour announcements, and seasonal menu reveals without design skills.
Guest journey mapping – Visualize the complete diner experience from first visit to loyal regular, spot communication gaps, and find opportunities to increase visit frequency.
Behavioral automation – Send targeted emails based on what customers do—reservation bookings, online orders, email clicks—to follow up at the right time without manual sending.

Mailchimp Pricing:

Free tier (limited capabilities)
Essentials: $13/month
Standard: $20/month
Premium: $350/month

View detailed pricing

3. Constant Contact

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Best For: Restaurants that want simple email marketing with strong customer support and event promotion tools

Key Constant Contact Features:

Drag-and-drop email builder – Create professional restaurant emails without coding. Simple interface makes launching promotions fast, even during busy service hours.
Event marketing integration – Promote and manage wine tastings, chef dinners, live music nights, and private events with registration, confirmations, and reminders in one place.
Real-time reporting dashboard – Monitor campaign performance with clear visuals showing opens, clicks, and reservations without complex analytics.

Constant Contact Pricing:

Lite: $12/month
Standard: $35/month
Premium: $80/month

View detailed pricing

4. ActiveCampaign

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Best For: Restaurants that need sophisticated automation and guest scoring for VIP programs and personalized marketing

Key ActiveCampaign Features:

Advanced guest scoring – Automatically identify your highest-value customers based on visit frequency, average check size, and email engagement to create VIP experiences and exclusive offers.
Conditional workflow automation – Create email sequences that adapt based on guest responses, dining preferences, and visit patterns with different paths for first-timers versus regulars.
Integrated SMS – Coordinate email and text campaigns for time-sensitive communications like same-day table availability, last-minute reservations, and weather-related closures.

ActiveCampaign Pricing:

Starter: $15/month
Plus: $49/month
Pro: $79/month
Enterprise: $145/month

View detailed pricing

5. Klaviyo

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Best For: Restaurants with online ordering and delivery that need advanced segmentation and revenue attribution

Key Klaviyo Features:

Predictive analytics for restaurants – Identify guests likely to churn, predict future order values, and recommend menu items based on past orders using machine learning algorithms.
Advanced segmentation with 350+ criteria – Create specific guest segments based on order history, dietary preferences, spending patterns, and visit frequency for hyper-targeted promotions.
Revenue attribution tracking – See exactly how much revenue each email campaign generates from dine-in reservations, online orders, and delivery to prove marketing ROI.

Klaviyo Pricing:

Free: $0 (250 contacts)
Email: Starting at $45/month
Email + SMS: $60/month

View detailed pricing

6. Brevo

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Best For: Growing restaurant groups that need email and SMS in one platform with pricing based on sends, not contacts

Key Brevo Features:

Unified email and SMS for restaurants – Coordinate text reminders with email promotions from one interface to confirm reservations via SMS while promoting specials via email.
Transactional email capabilities – Automatically send reservation confirmations, online order receipts, and gift card purchase confirmations with reliable delivery.
Unlimited contacts on paid plans – Build large customer databases without escalating costs since pricing is based on emails sent, not contact count—ideal for growing email lists.

Brevo Pricing:

Free: $0 (300 emails/day)
Starter: $8.08/month
Business: $16.17/month
Professional: $449.08/month
Enterprise: Custom pricing

View detailed pricing

7. Omnisend

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Best For: Restaurants with merchandise, meal kits, or packaged goods that need e-commerce email marketing

Key Omnisend Features:

Omnichannel workflow automation – Create unified customer journeys that combine email, SMS, and push notifications based on guest behavior for consistent messaging across channels.
Product recommendation engine – Automatically suggest menu items, merchandise, or meal kits based on previous orders to increase average order value through personalized recommendations.
Campaign booster feature – Automatically resend campaigns to non-openers with different subject lines to give each promotion a second chance and increase overall reach by 10-15%.

Omnisend Pricing:

Free: $0
Standard: $11.20/month
Pro: $41.30/month

View detailed pricing

8. Square Marketing

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Best For: Restaurants using Square POS that want native integration with their point-of-sale system

Key Square Marketing Features:

Native Square POS integration – Automatically sync customer data from your POS system, including purchase history, visit frequency, and favorite items without manual exports or third-party connectors.
Automated campaign triggers – Set up emails that automatically send after customer visits, on customer birthdays, or when guests haven't visited in 30 days based on actual POS data.
Customer insights from POS data – Segment guests based on real purchase behavior, average check size, and visit patterns pulled directly from your point-of-sale system.

Square Marketing Pricing:

Free
Square Plus: $49/month
Square Premium: $149/month

View detailed pricing

9. Toast Marketing

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Best For: Restaurants that want deep integration with their restaurant management system

Key Features:

Toast POS integration – Sync guest data directly from Toast POS, including order history, preferences, allergies, and visit frequency for highly personalized marketing campaigns.
Automated guest communication – Send triggered emails and SMS based on Toast data, including post-visit thank you messages, birthday offers, and win-back campaigns for lapsed diners.
Loyalty program integration – Connect email campaigns to Toast loyalty program data to promote point balances, reward redemptions, and tier achievements that drive repeat visits.

Pricing:

Custom pricing based on restaurant size and needs
Contact Toast for a quote

View detailed information

10. Moosend

12 best email marketing tools for accounting firms in 2025

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 21:10:49 +0300

Email marketing for accounting firms comes with unique challenges. You're dealing with strict compliance requirements, seasonal workload swings during tax season, complex financial information that needs to be communicated clearly, and client relationships that can span decades.

Email marketing tools solve these problems by automating tax deadline reminders, segmenting clients by service type, and keeping you connected with clients year-round—not just during tax season. The right platform helps you stay top-of-mind, cross-sell advisory services, and generate more referrals without adding hours to your day.

In this guide, you‘ll find a detailed comparison table of 12 email marketing platforms, feature breakdowns for each tool, benefits specific to accounting firms, a step-by-step selection guide, and answers to common questions. Here’s a stat worth noting: email marketing delivers an average ROI of $42 for every dollar spent, with professional services firms often seeing even higher returns.

HubSpot is used by accounting firms worldwide — from solo practitioners to multi-partner CPA practices — who rely on the platform's integrated CRM and marketing automation to increase client engagement and cross-sell advisory services.

Table of Contents

What is email marketing for accounting firms?
Comparison Table: Best Email Marketing Software for Accounting Firms
Best Email Marketing Software for Accounting Firms
Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Accounting Firms
10 Important Features for Accounting Email Marketing Software
How to Choose an Email Marketing Tool for Accounting Firms (Step-by-Step)
How to Create Email Marketing Campaigns for Accounting Firms
Frequently Asked Questions
Meet HubSpot, the Top Email Marketing Choice for Accounting Firms

What is email marketing for accounting firms?

Email marketing for accounting firms is how you stay connected with clients through targeted campaigns. You use it to send tax deadline reminders, share regulatory updates, deliver financial planning tips, announce new services, and maintain relationships during the off-season when client interaction naturally drops off.

Comparison Table: Best Email Marketing Software for Accounting Firms

Email Marketing Tool	Best For	Key Features	Pricing	Average Rating
HubSpot	Multi-partner firms needing CRM integration	Free CRM, marketing automation, client portals, revenue tracking	Free; Available with Marketing Hub; Starter $9/month per seat	4.4/5
Mailchimp	Small to mid-size CPA practices	Templates, automation, segmentation, journey mapping	Free; Essentials $13/month	4.3/5
ActiveCampaign	Firms needing advanced automation	Lead scoring, SMS integration, conditional workflows	Starts at $15/month	4.6/5
Constant Contact	Practices prioritizing ease of use	Drag-and-drop builder, live support, event marketing	Starts at $12/month	4.0/5
Brevo	Growing firms needing SMS + email	Email + SMS, transactional emails, unlimited contacts	Free; Starter $8.08/month	4.5/5
Drip	Advisory firms with complex journeys	Visual workflows, behavioral tracking, revenue tracking	Starts at $39/month	4.4/5
AWeber	Solo practitioners and small firms	Templates, autoresponders, list management	Free; Lite $14.99/month	4.2/5
GetResponse	Firms hosting educational webinars	Webinar hosting, automation, conversion funnels	Email $15/month	4.2/5
Klaviyo	Firms serving e-commerce clients	Advanced segmentation, predictive analytics, attribution	Free; Email $45/month	4.6/5
Moosend	Budget-conscious practices	Unlimited emails, automation, landing pages	Free; Pro $9/month	4.6/5
Campaign Monitor	Firms with multiple practice areas	Multi-brand management, custom templates	Lite €9.90/month	4.1/5
Kit	Accounting educators and creators	Visual automation, subscriber tagging, digital products	Free; Creator $33/month	4.4/5

Best Email Marketing Software for Accounting Firms

Here are the top email marketing platforms that work well for accounting firms, CPA practices, and tax advisors.

1. HubSpot

Source

Best For: Multi-partner accounting firms that need CRM, marketing automation, and client portal features in one platform

Key HubSpot Features:

Free CRM with client pipeline management – Track every client interaction from consultation to tax prep to advisory services. No spreadsheets required, and everyone on your team sees the same up-to-date information.
Compliance-ready email templates – Send professional communications using templates designed for financial services. They maintain the right tone, include disclaimers where needed, and present complex information clearly.
Revenue attribution by service line – See which email campaigns generate tax clients, advisory engagements, and consulting projects. Connect your marketing directly to billable hours and revenue.

HubSpot Pricing:

Marketing Hub Free: $0 (includes email marketing, forms, landing pages, and CRM)
Marketing Hub Stater: $9/month per seat
Marketing Hub Professional: $800/month
Marketing Hub Enterprise: $3,600/month

View detailed HubSpot pricing

2. Mailchimp

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Best For: Small to mid-size CPA practices that want easy-to-use automation with professional templates

Key Features:

Professional services templates – Launch client communications quickly with email designs built for tax reminders, financial tips, and regulatory updates. No design skills needed.
Client journey mapping – Visualize the complete client experience from inquiry to tax filing to year-end planning. Spot gaps in your communication and find opportunities to engage.
Behavioral automation – Send targeted emails based on what clients do—website visits, email clicks, form submissions. Follow up at the right time without manual work.

Pricing:

Free
Essentials: $13/month
Standard: $20/month
Premium: $350/month

View detailed Mailchimp pricing

3. ActiveCampaign

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Best For: Accounting firms that need sophisticated automation and client scoring for complex service models

Key Features:

Advanced client scoring – Automatically prioritize high-value prospects based on email engagement, website behavior, and inquiry history. Focus on leads most likely to become long-term advisory clients.
Conditional workflow automation – Create email sequences that adapt based on client responses, service types, and engagement. Different paths for tax-only clients versus full-service relationships.
Integrated SMS – Coordinate email and text campaigns for time-sensitive communications like tax deadline reminders and appointment confirmations.

Pricing:

Starter: $15/month
Plus: $49/month
Pro: $79/month
Enterprise: $145

View detailed ActiveCampaign pricing

4. Constant Contact

Source

Best For: CPA practices that want simple email marketing with strong customer support

Key Features:

Drag-and-drop email builder – Create professional emails without any coding. Simple interface makes campaign creation fast, even during busy tax season.
Event marketing integration – Promote and manage CPE events, client appreciation gatherings, and financial planning seminars. Registration, confirmations, and reminders all in one place.
Real-time reporting dashboard – Monitor performance with clear visuals showing opens, clicks, and engagement. Quick assessments without diving into complex analytics.

Pricing:

Lite: $12/month
Standard: $35/month
Premium: $80/month

View detailed Constant Contact pricing

5. Brevo

Source

Best For: Growing accounting firms that need email and SMS in one platform with pricing based on sends, not contacts

Key Features:

Unified email and SMS – Coordinate text reminders with email notifications from one interface. Simpler than managing multiple platforms.
Transactional email capabilities – Automatically send engagement confirmations, document receipts, and invoice notifications. Reliable delivery for critical client communications.
Unlimited contacts on paid plans – Build large client databases without escalating costs. Pricing based on emails sent, not contact count.

Brevo Pricing:

Free: $0
Starter: $8.08/month
Standard: $16.17
Professional: $449.08
Enterprise: Custom pricing

View detailed Brevo pricing

6. Drip

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Best For: Advisory-focused firms managing complex client journeys with behavioral tracking

Key Drip Features:

Visual workflow builder – Design complex email sequences with an intuitive interface. Map client journeys from consultation to ongoing advisory relationships.
Behavioral tracking and tagging – Monitor client interactions across email, website, and content. Automatically tag based on behavior for hyper-personalized follow-up.
Revenue tracking integration – Connect campaigns to client acquisitions and service upgrades. See which marketing efforts generate the highest-value relationships.

Drip Pricing:

Email: Starting at $39/month (2,500 contacts)
Pricing scales with contact list size

View detailed pricing

7. AWeber

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Best For: Solo practitioners and small firms that want simple, reliable email marketing

Key AWeber Features:

700+ email template library – Choose from pre-designed professional templates for tax reminders, financial tips, and newsletters. Fast campaign creation without custom design.
Autoresponder sequences – Set up automated follow-ups after consultations, tax filing, or inquiries. Consistent communication without manual sending.
List segmentation tools – Organize clients with unlimited tags based on service type, engagement, and lifecycle stage. Target specific segments easily.

AWeber Pricing:

Free: $0
Lite: $15/month
Plus: $30/month
Done for You: $30/month

View detailed AWeber pricing

8. GetResponse

Source

Best For: Accounting firms using educational webinars for CPE courses and thought leadership

Key GetResponse Features:

Integrated webinar hosting – Conduct live events for up to 1,000 participants. Tax planning workshops, software tutorials, and regulatory updates without separate webinar software.
Conversion funnel builder – Create complete marketing funnels with landing pages, email sequences, and webinar registration. Guide prospects from interest to consultation.
Autofunnel templates – Launch campaigns faster with pre-built templates for professional services. Minutes instead of hours for tax season promotions.

GetResponse Pricing:

Starter: $15.58/month (1,000 contacts)
Marketer: $48.38/month
Creator: $56.58/month
Enterprise: Custom Pricing

View detailed GetResponse pricing

9. Klaviyo

Source

Best For: Accounting firms serving e-commerce clients that need advanced segmentation and revenue attribution

Key Klaviyo Features:

Predictive analytics – Identify high-value clients and predict future service needs using machine learning. Target clients most likely to buy advisory services or refer business.
Advanced segmentation with 350+ criteria – Create specific client segments based on service history, engagement, revenue, and lifecycle stage. Hyper-targeted communications.
Revenue attribution tracking – See exactly how much revenue each campaign generates. Connect marketing directly to client acquisitions and service upgrades.

5 best email marketing tools for real estate businesses in 2025

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 20:40:06 +0300

Real estate professionals face unique challenges when it comes to staying top-of-mind with clients, nurturing leads through long sales cycles, and managing relationships with both buyers and sellers simultaneously.

Email marketing addresses these challenges by enabling agents and brokerages to deliver personalized property listings, market updates, and timely follow-ups that keep prospects engaged throughout their home-buying or selling journey.

This post provides a comprehensive comparison of the best email marketing tools for real estate businesses, including detailed feature breakdowns, pricing information, and a structured guide to help you choose the right platform. We'll compare tools and share how HubSpot has successfully aided businesses like Avison Young, a global real estate advisor with over 5,000 employees, with increased CRM adoption from 23% to 90% in four months using its integrated email marketing and platform.

Table of Contents

What is email marketing for real estate?

Email Marketing Tools for Real Estate Comparison Table

Best Email Marketing Software for Real Estate Businesses

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Real Estate

7 Important Features for Real Estate Email Marketing Software

How to Choose an Email Marketing Tool for Real Estate (Step-by-Step)

How to Create Email Marketing Campaigns for Real Estate

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top Email Marketing Software for Real Estate Companies

What is email marketing for real estate?

Email marketing for real estate enables agents and brokerages to build relationships with prospective buyers, sellers, and past clients through targeted campaigns. Real estate email marketing automates property alerts, market updates, and nurture sequences that guide leads through extended decision-making processes while maintaining consistent touchpoints that drive referrals and repeat business.

Email Marketing Tools for Real Estate Comparison Table

Email Marketing Tool

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Average Rating

HubSpot

Full-service real estate marketing with CRM integration

Drag-and-drop builder, property listing automation, lead scoring, CRM integration

Free plan available; Marketing Hub starts at $15/month

4.4/5

Mailchimp

Small agencies needing basic email campaigns

Template library, basic automation, audience segmentation

Free for up to 500 contacts; paid plans from $13/month

4.3/5

Constant Contact

Agents prioritizing ease of use and templates

Real estate-specific templates, list management, event marketing

Plans from $12/month

4.0/5

ActiveCampaign

Brokerages requiring advanced automation

Complex automation workflows, CRM features, lead scoring

Plans from $29/month

4.6/5

BombBomb

Video-focused real estate marketing

Video email integration, tracking analytics, mobile app

Plans from $33/month

4.5/5

Best Email Marketing Software for Real Estate Businesses

Selecting the right email marketing platform can transform how real estate professionals nurture leads and close deals. The following tools offer features specifically valuable for real estate workflows.

HubSpot

HubSpot is best for: Real estate agents and brokerages seeking comprehensive marketing automation with integrated CRM capabilities

Key HubSpot Features:

Smart Content & Personalization – HubSpot enables real estate professionals to deliver property recommendations based on client preferences, budget parameters, and location interests, ensuring every email feels personally curated rather than mass-distributed.

Automated Lead Nurturing Workflows – The platform automates follow-up sequences for open house attendees, property inquiry responses, and buyer journey stages, allowing agents to maintain consistent contact without manual intervention.

Integrated CRM & Deal Tracking – HubSpot connects email campaigns directly to contact records and deal pipelines, giving real estate teams visibility into which properties generate the most engagement and which clients are closest to making decisions.

HubSpot Pricing:

Free plan: Up to 2,000 email sends per month with basic CRM, forms, and email marketing

Marketing Hub Starter: $15/month per seat

Marketing Hub Professional: Starting at $890/month (includes 3 seats)

Marketing Hub Enterprise: Starting at $3,600/month (includes 5 seats)

Learn more about HubSpot

Mailchimp

Best For: Independent agents and small real estate teams needing straightforward email campaigns with minimal setup

Key Mailchimp Features:

Pre-built Real Estate Templates – Mailchimp provides ready-to-use templates designed for property showcases, market updates, and open house announcements, reducing design time for busy agents.

Basic Automation Sequences – The platform supports simple automated welcome series and follow-up emails for new leads, though workflows are less sophisticated than enterprise alternatives.

Audience Segmentation Tools – Mailchimp allows real estate professionals to segment contacts by location, price range, and property type, enabling more targeted messaging than one-size-fits-all broadcasts.

Mailchimp Pricing:

Free plan includes up to 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly email sends

Essentials: $13/month for 500 contacts with basic automation

Standard: $20/month for 500 contacts with advanced automation and A/B testing

Premium: $350/month for 10,000 contacts with advanced segmentation

Learn more about Mailchimp

Constant Contact

Best For: Real estate professionals prioritizing user-friendly interfaces and industry-specific email templates

Key Constant Contact Features:

Real Estate Template Library – Constant Contact offers dozens of professionally designed templates specifically for property listings, market reports, and client newsletters, streamlining campaign creation.

Event Marketing Integration – The platform includes built-in tools for promoting open houses and client events, complete with registration management and automated reminder emails.

List Growth Tools – Constant Contact provides sign-up forms and landing pages that help real estate agents grow their contact database through website integration and social media promotion.

Constant Contact Pricing:

Lite: $12/month for 500 contacts with basic email features

Standard: $35/month for 500 contacts with automation and event marketing

Premium: $80/month for 500 contacts with advanced features and SEO tools

60-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee

Learn more about Constant Contact

ActiveCampaign

Best For: Growing brokerages requiring sophisticated automation and detailed lead scoring capabilities

Key ActiveCampaign Features:

Advanced Automation Workflows – ActiveCampaign enables complex, multi-step nurture sequences that respond to specific behaviors like property page visits, price range searches, and email engagement patterns.

Predictive Lead Scoring – The platform assigns scores to contacts based on engagement and behavior, helping real estate teams prioritize high-intent buyers and sellers for immediate follow-up.

Conditional Content Blocks – ActiveCampaign displays different property listings within the same email based on recipient preferences, creating personalized experiences without building multiple campaign versions.

ActiveCampaign Pricing:

Lite: $29/month for 1,000 contacts with basic automation

Plus: $49/month for 1,000 contacts with CRM and advanced automation

Professional: $149/month for 2,500 contacts with predictive sending

Enterprise: Custom pricing with dedicated support

Learn more about ActiveCampaign

BombBomb

Best For: Real estate agents leveraging video to build personal connections and showcase properties

Key BombBomb Features:

Simple Video Email Creation – BombBomb allows agents to record and send personalized video messages directly through email, creating face-to-face connections that text-only emails cannot achieve.

Video Tracking Analytics – The platform notifies agents when recipients watch their videos and tracks engagement metrics, enabling timely follow-up when prospects show interest.

Mobile Recording App – BombBomb provides a mobile application that lets real estate professionals record and send video emails from property locations, offering authentic, on-site perspectives.

BombBomb Pricing:

Core: $36/month (billed annually)

Core + Copilot: $56/month (billed annually)

Enterprise: Custom pricing

Learn more about BombBomb

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Real Estate

Email marketing software solves critical challenges that real estate professionals face daily:

Automated Lead Nurturing – Real estate email platforms maintain consistent contact with prospects throughout extended buying and selling timelines, ensuring agents remain top-of-mind without requiring manual follow-up for every lead.

Personalized Property Matching – Modern email marketing tools deliver customized property recommendations based on client preferences, search behavior, and budget parameters, increasing relevance and engagement compared to generic listing blasts. Email marketing has an average conversion rate of 1.4% in real estate, outperforming many other digital channels.

Scalable Client Communication – Email automation enables individual agents and small teams to communicate with hundreds or thousands of contacts simultaneously, providing large-brokerage capabilities without proportional staffing increases. eXp Realty uses HubSpot to communicate with more than 90,000 agents across 24 global locations through a single unified platform.

Performance Tracking & Optimization – Real estate email platforms provide detailed analytics on open rates, click-through rates, and property interest patterns, allowing agents to refine their messaging based on data rather than guesswork.

Relationship Maintenance at Scale – Automated birthday messages, home anniversary notes, and market update newsletters keep past clients engaged for future referrals and repeat business without overwhelming agent schedules.

7 Important Features for Real Estate Email Marketing Software

When evaluating email marketing platforms for real estate businesses, prioritize these capabilities:

CRM Integration – Seamless connection between email campaigns and contact databases ensures agents can track communication history, property interests, and transaction stages without switching between multiple systems.

Property Listing Automation – Tools that automatically generate and distribute emails featuring new listings save significant time and ensure timely market updates reach interested buyers.

Behavioral Segmentation – Advanced segmentation based on property type interests, price range, location preferences, and engagement patterns enables highly targeted messaging that resonates with specific buyer or seller profiles.

Mobile-Responsive Templates – With over 60% of emails opened on mobile devices, real estate email templates must display property photos and details flawlessly across all screen sizes. 73% of homebuyers use mobile devices to search for properties, making mobile optimization essential.

A/B Testing Capabilities – Testing different subject lines, property descriptions, and call-to-action buttons helps real estate professionals optimize campaign performance based on actual recipient behavior.

Lead Scoring & Prioritization – Platforms that assign engagement scores help agents identify and prioritize hot leads who are actively searching and engaging with content versus passive contacts.

Automated Drip Campaigns – Pre-built nurture sequences for buyer journeys, seller timelines, and past client re-engagement ensure consistent communication without requiring manual campaign launches.

How to Choose an Email Marketing Tool for Real Estate (Step-by-Step)

Follow this structured process to select the email marketing platform that best fits your real estate business:

Step 1: Map your current workflows.

Document how you currently manage client communication, property marketing, and lead follow-up processes. Identify pain points like manual follow-up tasks, difficulty tracking client property interests, or time-consuming campaign creation that an email platform should solve.

Step 2: Identify must-have features.

Determine which features are non-negotiable for your business model. Solo agents might prioritize ease of use and templates, while growing brokerages often require CRM integration, team collaboration tools, and advanced automation capabilities.

Step 3: Compare ease of use and team fit.

Evaluate platform interfaces to ensure your team can effectively use the tools without extensive training. Request demos or free trials to test campaign creation, automation setup, and reporting interfaces before committing.

Step 4: Check cost at scale.

Calculate total costs as your contact database grows. Some platforms offer attractive entry pricing but become expensive at higher contact volumes, while others provide better value for growing businesses.

Step 5: Choose a flexible platform — like HubSpot.

Select a platform that grows with your business and integrates with other tools in your marketing stack. HubSpot provides real estate businesses with email marketing, CRM, landing pages, and analytics in a unified platform, eliminating the need to connect multiple disconnected tools. Real estate businesses, such as Havenpark Communities, closed 6,000 deals and decreased deal cycle time-to-close by 51% using HubSpot's integrated platform between 2019 and 2021.

How to Create Email Marketing Campaigns for Real Estate

1. Define your campaign objective.

Establish clear goals for each campaign — whether generating open house attendance, promoting new listings, nurturing long-term buyer relationships, or soliciting seller leads—before designing content or selecting recipients.

2. Segment your audience strategically.

Divide your contact database into meaningful groups based on factors like buyer versus seller status, price ra

8 best email marketing tools for HVAC companies in 2025

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 20:32:19 +0300

The HVAC industry often means juggling emergency calls, seasonal demand spikes, and fierce local competition. When your schedule‘s packed during summer heatwaves and winter chills but crickets in spring, staying top-of-mind with customers is critical. That’s where email marketing for HVAC companies delivers.

Email marketing generates $36–$40 for every $1 spent, making it still one of the most cost-effective marketing channels. In fact, email marketing has an average ROI of 4200% for HVAC companies specifically.

But any old email tool won't cut it for HVAC companies.

You need tools to handle appointment reminders, seasonal maintenance campaigns, and equipment replacement nurturing without being too technical. The right software automates follow-ups, segments customers by system type, and tracks which campaigns actually fill your calendar.

This guide breaks down the best email marketing platforms built for HVAC companies like yours (i.e. HubSpot), complete with pricing, must-have features, and how to pick the right one for you.

Note: Heating and air conditioning company Viessmann orders increased by 12% and revenue increased by 15% while using HubSpot.

Table of Contents

What is email marketing for HVAC companies?

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for HVAC Companies

6 Important Features for Email Marketing Software for HVAC Companies

Comparison Table: Email Marketing Tools for HVAC Companies

Best Email Marketing Software for HVAC Companies

How to Choose an Email Marketing Tool for HVAC Companies (Step-by-Step)

How to Create Email Marketing Campaigns for HVAC Companies

Frequently Asked Questions About Email Marketing for HVAC Companies

Meet HubSpot: The Top Email Marketing Choice for HVAC Companies

What is email marketing for HVAC companies?

Email marketing for HVAC companies involves using targeted email campaigns to stay connected with customers from the initial installation of their equipment or service through annual maintenance to eventual replacement.

Unlike spray-and-pray advertising, email marketing for HVAC companies segments customers by equipment age, service history, or property type, then sends personalized messages when relevant and appropriate.

For HVAC contractors, this includes automated appointment reminders, seasonal tune-up campaigns, filter change alerts, and equipment replacement nurturing sequences. The goal? Keep your schedule full year-round while building the customer relationships that turn one-time service calls into lifetime maintenance contracts. HubSpot’s free email marketing tools are a great choice for HVAC companies.

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for HVAC Companies

So, why do HVAC companies need email marketing software exactly? There are a handful of benefits.

Automates Year-Round Customer Communication

HVAC demand fluctuates wildly with seasons, but your customer relationships shouldn't. Email automation keeps you connected during slow periods while nurturing future equipment replacement opportunities.

Source

HubSpot's workflows, for example, automatically trigger seasonal maintenance reminders, filter replacement alerts, and tune-up campaigns based on customer equipment age and service history—ensuring no customer falls through the cracks when your schedule lightens.

Segments Customers for Targeted Campaigns

Not every customer needs the same message. I mean, homeowners with 15-year-old systems need equipment replacement nurturing, while commercial clients with maintenance contracts need different touchpoints than residential one-time service customers. The right email marketing tool for HVAC companies will enable this.

HubSpot's CRM-powered segmentation lets you create customer lists based on equipment type, property classification, service history, and dozens of other criteria, then automate targeted campaigns that speak to each segment's specific needs.

Tracks Marketing ROI

Traditional HVAC advertising (radio spots, direct mail) leaves you guessing which channels drive results. Email marketing shows exactly which campaigns drive bookings and revenue.

HubSpot Marketing Hub connects every email to your CRM, attributing appointments and revenue directly to specific campaigns.

Source

You'll know whether your spring tune-up campaign generated 15 appointments worth $3,000 or your equipment replacement series closed $45,000 in system installations.

Builds Maintenance Contract Recurring Revenue

One-time service calls keep you busy, but maintenance contracts create predictable recurring revenue that smooths seasonal volatility. Email nurturing converts one-time customers into contract holders.

HubSpot lets you create automated sequences that educate customers about preventative maintenance benefits, showcase contract member advantages, and gradually move customers toward enrollment—turning transactional relationships into long-term partnerships.

Integrates with Existing Business Tools

Your email platform shouldn't live in isolation from your scheduling software, CRM, and other business tools. It should speak and work along with them without much manual effort on your part.

HubSpot natively integrates with ServiceTitan, Jobber, Housecall Pro, and hundreds of other platforms HVAC contractors already use. Customer data syncs bidirectionally, so your CRM always reflects email engagement, and your email campaigns are personalized automatically based on scheduling system data.

Now that you know why you need email marketing software, let’s dig into what you should look for.

6 Important Features for Email Marketing Software for HVAC Companies

Customer Segmentation and List Management

No two HVAC customers are alike. They can differ dramatically in equipment age, property type, and service needs.

Robust segmentation lets you send filter replacement reminders only to customers with specific unit types, target commercial property managers separately from homeowners, and identify systems approaching replacement age.

HubSpot lists let you segment by basically any trait or activity logged in your CRM, and if they’re active, they’ll automatically update based on any changes, keeping segments current as customer situations change.

Appointment-focused Automation Workflows

Generic automation templates don't address HVAC-specific customer journeys. Look for platforms that let you build workflows around service appointments, seasonal maintenance windows, and equipment lifecycle stages.

While not HVAC specific out-of-the-box, HubSpot's visual workflow builder allows you to create sequences like quote request → follow-up email → phone call reminder → closed deal → maintenance reminder → filter replacement → equipment replacement nurturing over multiple years.

Mobile-optimized Templates

Your techs and customers are on the go. They’re accessing email primarily on phones, not desktop computers. In fact, 65% of all email opens now happen on mobile devices. This means responsive design is non-negotiable. You need an email marketing tool that has it built in.

HubSpot's email templates automatically adjust for smartphone screens, ensuring your seasonal campaigns and appointment reminders display perfectly regardless of device. You can also preview what your emails look like on a variety of devices before scheduling or sending.

CRM Integration for Complete Customer Visibility

Email campaigns inform better service delivery when you know what your customers have been through with your company — what services they’ve received, what emails and conversations they’ve had. An integrated CRM means every email, form submission, and website visit appears in the customer profile alongside service history, so you can use it to inform your marketing.

HubSpot's unified platform eliminates data silos. Your marketing team sees service history while your techs reference email engagement before arriving on-site.

Local Service Business Templates and Assets

Starting with a blank canvas can waste time that contractors don't have. Having pre-built templates handy for seasonal tune-ups, maintenance reminders, and equipment replacement campaigns help cut this time and keep things moving quickly.

HubSpot provides service business templates you customize with your branding, stock images of HVAC equipment, technicians, and satisfied customers. This eliminates the need for custom photography.

Analytics That Connect Emails to Revenue

Opens and clicks matter less than appointments booked and revenue generated. Look for platforms that attribute business outcomes to specific campaigns.

HubSpot's robust analytics connect every email to CRM data, showing exactly which campaigns drove quote requests, maintenance bookings, and equipment sales, plus lifetime value of customers acquired through each marketing channel.

Comparison Table: Email Marketing Tools for HVAC Companies

Email Marketing Tool

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

HubSpot Marketing Hub

Full-service HVAC companies wanting CRM integration

Marketing automation, CRM integration, landing pages, and advanced segmentation

Free plan available; Starter at $15/month (1,000 contacts)

ServiceTitan Marketing Pro

HVAC contractors using ServiceTitan FSM

Native ServiceTitan integration, equipment-based segmentation, revenue attribution

Add-on to ServiceTitan subscription; contact for pricing

Housecall Pro Campaigns

Small to mid-size HVAC businesses using Housecall Pro

Built-in automation, SMS + email, Mailchimp integration

Included with Housecall Pro plans starting at $49/month

Jobber + Mailchimp

HVAC contractors using Jobber FSM

Mailchimp integration, customer data sync, automated campaigns

Jobber from $69/month + Mailchimp from $13/month

Mailchimp

Small HVAC businesses getting started

Drag-and-drop builder, basic automation, landing pages

Free plan available; Essentials at $13/month (500 contacts)

AWeber

HVAC businesses prioritizing automation

Smart designer, automated tagging, subscriber segmentation

Free plan available; Lite at $15/month (500 contacts)

ActiveCampaign

Mid-size HVAC companies needing complex workflows

Advanced automation, CRM features, predictive sending

Lite at $29/month (1,000 contacts)

MailerLite

New HVAC businesses

Website builder, landing pages, clean interface

Free plan available; Growing Business at $10/month (1,000 contacts)

Best Email Marketing Software for HVAC Companies

1. HubSpot Marketing Hub

HubSpot Marketing Hub’s strength lies in connecting marketing campaigns directly to your customer database (CRM). This allows you to see exactly which content drives appointments to inform your email campaigns, use customer behavior to segment lists, and improve your targeting.

Best For: Full-service HVAC companies wanting integrated marketing automation and customer management in one platform.

Key HubSpot Marketing Hub Features:

CRM-powered segmentation – Target customers based on equipment age, service type/ history, location, or property type using data that automatically syncs from your customer database. Send filter replacement reminders only to customers with specific unit types.

Automation – Build sophisticated, automated drip campaigns that nurture leads from quote request to installation without manual follow-up. HubSpot's drag-and-drop builder makes creating multi-step workflows simple.

AI-powered generation & personalization – HubSpot is no stranger to “personalization tokens,” but Breeze takes this to the next level, enabling you to not only generate email copy from scratch but also use CRM data to make it feel truly personal to the recipient. This is important in Loop Marketing.

Unified customer timeline – Every email interaction appears alongside service calls, quotes, and previous jobs in one customer profile in HubSpot. Your technicians can reference communication history before arriving on-site or even while there to give them a better idea of what clients know or don’t know.

HubSpot Marketing Hub Pricing:

Free: Includes email marketing, forms, and basic CRM

Starter: $15/month (1,000 contacts, 3 users)

Professional: $800/month (2,000 contacts)

Enterprise: $3,600/month (10,000 contacts)

View detailed HubSpot pricing

2. ServiceTitan Marketing Pro

ServiceTitan Marketing Pro is one of the only email marketing tools built natively inside field service management (FSM) software. This eliminates data sync headaches and allows you to use existing customer, job, and equipment data to power hyper-targeted email campaigns.

Source

Best for: HVAC contractors already using ServiceTitan who want email marketing powered by their FSM data; new, small teams that want to streamline their technology toolkit.

Key ServiceTitan Marketing Pro Features:

Audiences – Thanks to its native location within ServiceTitan, you can create audiences based on equipment age, unsold estimates, expiring memberships, or service history without exporting data. Everything updates automatically in real-time from your existing ServiceTitan database to help you hyper-target your email campaigns.

True revenue attribution – Track which emails drive actual booked jobs and revenue, not just opens and clicks. ServiceTitan connects every email to call data and completed jobs for genuine ROI measurement.

Set-and-forget automation – Build dynamic audiences that automatically update as customer situations change. For example, your “aging equipment” campaign automatically adds customers when their systems hit 10 years old. You can also automate these emails to send based on when the trait is triggered.

ServiceTitan Marketing Pro Pricing:

Available as add-on to ServiceTitan subscription (Contact for pricing details)

Free trial periods are sometimes available

Learn about ServiceTitan Marketing Pro

3. Housecall Pro Campaigns

Housecall Pro brings email, SMS, and direct mail marketing into the Housecall Pro field service platform. The Marketing Center consolidates campaign creation, scheduling, and performance tracking, where contractors already manage jobs, eliminating the need to juggle separate marketing tools.

7 best email marketing tools for lawyers in 2025

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 20:23:57 +0300

Law firms face unique marketing challenges in 2025. Lawyers balance strict ethical guidelines with the need to maintain client relationships, generate referrals, and attract new business in an increasingly competitive market. Email marketing delivers an average return of $36 for every $1 spent, making it one of the most cost-effective channels for legal professionals.

The right email marketing platform helps law firms automate client communications, nurture leads through the intake process, and stay top-of-mind with referral partners without sacrificing billable hours.

HubSpot powers email marketing for law firms worldwide. Legal firm Campmany Abogados increased its visitor-to-lead conversion rate from below 1% to 4% and boosted client numbers by 7X in just four months. This article compares the top seven email marketing tools that help lawyers automate client communications and grow their practices, read more to find the right one for your business.

Table of Contents

What is email marketing for lawyers?

Comparison Table: Email Marketing Tools for Lawyers

Best Email Marketing Software for Lawyers

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Lawyers

7 Important Features for Lawyer Email Marketing Software

How to Choose an Email Marketing Tool for Lawyers (Step-by-Step)

How to Create Email Marketing Campaigns for Lawyers

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top Email Marketing Software for Lawyers

What is email marketing for lawyers?

Email marketing for lawyers involves strategic communication with current clients, prospective clients, and referral sources through targeted email campaigns that effectively reach and engage these audiences. Law firms use email marketing to nurture leads through the client intake process, share legal insights that demonstrate expertise, provide case updates, and maintain relationships that generate referrals. Effective email marketing for lawyers combines compliance with legal advertising rules, data privacy protection, and personalized messaging that builds trust.

Comparison Table: Email Marketing Tools for Lawyers

Email Marketing Tool

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Average Rating

HubSpot

Law firms needing CRM integration

All-in-one platform, advanced automation, CRM sync, analytics

Free plan; paid from $15/month

4.5/5

Mailchimp

Solo practitioners and small firms

User-friendly interface, templates, basic automation

Free plan; paid from $13/month

4.4/5

ActiveCampaign

Firms requiring advanced automation

Sophisticated workflows, segmentation, CRM features

From $29/month

4.5/5

Constant Contact

Event-driven legal marketing

Event management, social media integration, simple interface

From $12/month

4.1/5

Brevo

Budget-conscious small firms

SMS marketing, transactional emails, automation

Free plan; paid from $25/month

4.5/5

GetResponse

Firms with webinar needs

Webinar tools, landing pages, automation

From $19/month

4.3/5

Moosend

Budget-conscious small law firms

Intuitive interface, automation, reporting

Free plan; paid from $9/month

4.7/5

Best Email Marketing Software for Lawyers

Choosing the right email marketing platform helps lawyers maintain consistent communication with clients and referral partners while focusing on billable work.

1. HubSpot

HubSpot is best for: Law firms seeking an all-in-one marketing and CRM solution

HubSpot provides email marketing tools integrated with customer relationship management designed to help law firms automate marketing while managing client relationships effectively. A Houston-based law firm improved team productivity by 25% and decreased time spent on non-billable activities by 40% after implementing HubSpot.

Key HubSpot Features:

Integrated CRM and Email Platform – HubSpot combines contact management with email marketing, allowing lawyers to track every client interaction from initial contact through case completion without switching between systems.

Legal-Specific Workflows – Create automated email sequences for client onboarding, case status updates, and post-case follow-ups that maintain communication without manual effort.

Advanced Segmentation and Personalization – Target specific practice areas, case types, or client stages with personalized content that demonstrates relevant expertise and builds trust with potential clients.

HubSpot Pricing:

Free plan: Up to 2,000 email sends per month with basic CRM, forms, and email marketing

Marketing Hub Starter: $15/month per seat

Marketing Hub Professional: Starting at $890/month (includes 3 seats)

Marketing Hub Enterprise: Starting at $3,600/month (includes 5 seats)

Learn more about HubSpot

2. Mailchimp

Best For: Solo practitioners and small law firms with limited budgets

Mailchimp offers user-friendly email marketing tools that simplify campaign creation for lawyers without extensive marketing experience. Mailchimp's versatility, integrations, and ease of use make it a solid option for law firms seeking CRM-linked email marketing.

Key Mailchimp Features:

Legal Practice Management Integration – Direct integration with Clio, MyCase, and PracticePanther automatically syncs new contacts, enabling immediate marketing to potential clients.

Drag-and-Drop Email Builder – Pre-designed templates and intuitive editing tools allow lawyers to create professional emails quickly without design expertise.

Audience Segmentation – Organize contacts by practice area, case type, or client status to send targeted communications that maintain relevance.

Mailchimp Pricing:

Free plan includes up to 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly email sends

Essentials: $13/month for 500 contacts with basic automation

Standard: $20/month for 500 contacts with advanced automation and A/B testing

Premium: $350/month for 10,000 contacts with advanced segmentation

Learn more about Mailchimp

3. ActiveCampaign

Best For: Law firms requiring sophisticated automation and client nurturing

ActiveCampaign delivers powerful automation capabilities that enable law firms to create complex client journey workflows. ActiveCampaign combines email marketing, automation, and CRM functionalities seamlessly, making it ideal for lawyers seeking integrated marketing solutions.

Key ActiveCampaign Features:

Advanced Marketing Automation – Build sophisticated drip campaigns that guide potential clients through consultation scheduling, document submission, and retainer agreement processes automatically.

CRM with Pipeline Management – Track leads through intake stages while automating follow-up communications based on client actions and engagement levels.

Predictive Sending – ActiveCampaign's AI determines optimal send times for each recipient, increasing open rates and engagement with legal marketing content.

ActiveCampaign Pricing:

Lite: $29/month for 1,000 contacts with basic automation

Plus: $49/month for 1,000 contacts with CRM and advanced automation

Professional: $149/month for 2,500 contacts with predictive sending

Enterprise: Custom pricing with dedicated support

Learn more about ActiveCampaign

4. Constant Contact

Best For: Law firms hosting seminars, CLEs, and client events

Constant Contact specializes in event marketing alongside email campaigns, making it valuable for law firms that regularly host educational events. Constant Contact helps businesses automate personalized emails based on customer interactions, including cart abandonment features that can be adapted for service inquiries.

Key Constant Contact Features:

Event Management Tools – Create invitations, manage registrations, sell tickets, and handle check-ins for legal seminars, continuing legal education events, or client appreciation gatherings.

Social Media Integration – Schedule posts to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram directly from the platform while creating coordinated marketing campaigns across channels.

List Growth Tools – Use text message sign-ups, Google ads integration, and Facebook lookalike targeting to expand your contact database with qualified prospects.

Constant Contact Pricing:

Lite: $12/month for 500 contacts with basic email features

Standard: $35/month for 500 contacts with automation and event marketing

Premium: $80/month for 500 contacts with advanced features and SEO tools

60-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee

Learn more about Constant Contact

5. Brevo

Best For: Small law firms needing email and SMS communication

Brevo combines email marketing with SMS capabilities, allowing law firms to reach clients through multiple channels while maintaining budget-friendly pricing.

Key Brevo Features:

Transactional Email Capabilities – Send automated appointment confirmations, case status updates, and document receipt notifications that keep clients informed throughout their legal matter.

SMS Marketing Integration – Reach clients via text message for time-sensitive communications like court date reminders or urgent document requests.

Advanced Contact Segmentation – Create detailed contact segments based on practice area interest, case status, or engagement history to deliver highly relevant communications.

Brevo Pricing:

Free plan includes 300 emails per day

Starter: $25/month for 20,000 emails

Business: $65/month for 20,000 emails with marketing automation

Enterprise: Custom pricing with advanced features

Learn more about Brevo

6. GetResponse

Best For: Law firms conducting educational webinars

GetResponse provides comprehensive marketing tools including webinar hosting, making it ideal for attorneys who educate potential clients through online presentations.

Key GetResponse Features:

Built-in Webinar Platform – Host up to 100 attendees in educational webinars about legal topics, generating leads while demonstrating expertise in your practice area.

Landing Page Builder – Create high-converting landing pages for case evaluation forms, consultation bookings, or downloadable legal guides without coding knowledge.

Automation Workflows – Design email sequences triggered by webinar attendance, consultation requests, or website behavior to nurture leads effectively.

GetResponse Pricing:

Email Marketing: $19/month for 1,000 contacts

Marketing Automation: $59/month for 1,000 contacts with advanced automation

Ecommerce Marketing: $119/month for 1,000 contacts with e-commerce features

30-day free trial available

Learn more about GetResponse

7. Moosend

Best For: Budget-conscious small law firms

Moosend delivers powerful email marketing features at competitive prices, making advanced automation accessible to solo practitioners and small firms.

Key Moosend Features:

Intuitive Email Editor – Design professional legal marketing emails with drag-and-drop simplicity and responsive templates that display correctly on all devices.

Behavioral Automation – Trigger email sequences based on client actions like form submissions, email opens, or link clicks to nurture leads effectively.

Real-Time Analytics – Track email performance with detailed metrics including opens, clicks, and conversions to refine legal marketing strategies.

Moosend Pricing:

Free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers

Pro: $9/month for 500 subscribers with unlimited emails

Enterprise: Custom pricing with advanced features

30-day free trial on paid plans

Learn more about Moosend

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Lawyers

Email marketing platforms address specific challenges law firms face in maintaining client relationships and generating new business:

Time Efficiency Through Automation – Lawyers maintain billable hour requirements while automated email sequences nurture leads, update clients on case progress, and maintain relationships with referral sources without manual effort for each communication.

Cost-Effective Lead Generation – Email marketing generates one of the highest ROIs in digital marketing at $36 return for every $1 spent, making it more economical than paid advertising while delivering targeted messages to qualified prospects interested in specific legal services.

Compliance and Professionalism – Purpose-built email marketing platforms help lawyers maintain ethical compliance by managing opt-in consent, providing clear unsubscribe options, and maintaining professional communication standards required by bar associations.

Client Relationship Management – Integrated CRM features track every client interaction, ensuring lawyers stay informed about client needs, follow up consistently, and provide attentive service that generates referrals and positive reviews.

Measurable Marketing Performance – Detailed analytics reveal which practice areas generate the most interest, which messages resonate with potential clients, and which campaigns drive consultation bookings, enabling data-driven marketing decisions.

7 Important Features for Lawyer Email Marketing Software

When selecting email marketing software, lawyers should prioritize features that address the unique needs of legal services marketing:

Legal Practice Management Integration – Seamless connection with practice management software like Clio, MyCase, or PracticePanther eliminates double data entry and ensures marketing communications stay synchronized with client records.

Advanced Segmentation Capabilities – Organize contacts by practice area interest, case type, referral source, or client status to deliver highly relevant content that demonstrates expertise in specific legal matters.

Compliance and Privacy Features – Built-in tools for managing consent, providing clear opt-out options, and protecting sensitive client information help maintain ethical standards and data privacy

The buyer persona gap that’s costing you customers and making your marketing less authentic [+ the fix]

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 14:00:02 +0300

Buyer personas are a foundational component of many brands’ marketing strategy. Personas often serve as a blueprint that guides marketing campaigns, customer journeys, and even product development.

Even though buyer personas are highly effective, they often miss the helpful context that marketers need to effectively serve the various identities their ideal customers possess. As a result, personas aren’t converting certain consumers at the rates that they could be.

In this post, I’ll share where traditional buyer personas miss the mark and how to fix it.

Table of Contents

The Gap in Most Buyer Personas

Consumer identities are often part of their decision-making process.

How to Make Your Buyer Personas More Effective

The Gap in Most Buyer Personas

As an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant, I work with my clients to audit various components of their customer experience. This often includes reviewing and providing feedback on their creative briefs as they work on creating campaigns. It also involves getting consumer feedback on what they make.

Whenever I flag materials that can be improved regarding consumers with specific identities, brands have included specific buyer personas in their creative brief.

However, the execution of the materials wasn’t as successful. That’s often because the personas lacked the depth of information about the various identities of the consumers that the brand wanted to reach.

And as a result, the corresponding campaigns often fail to effectively engage consumers who are part of underrepresented and underserved communities that also fit the buyer persona profile. That’s a missed opportunity. Getting it right makes buyers feel seen, supported, and like they belong.

Here are some examples of challenges that arise with personas that lack specificity. I should note that these are all complaints I’ve heard directly or seen consumers commenting on in various channels:

Magazine covers that don’t have plus-sized people featured.

General market ads that don’t feature any Hispanic consumers.

Website pages that don’t take into account accessibility features to support consumers with disabilities.

Ads that feature people from underrepresented and underserved communities but lack cultural intelligence elements. The messaging doesn’t speak to their needs or objectives.

Visual imagery that features people from underrepresented and underserved communities in a stereotypical way.

Consumer identities are often part of their decision-making process.

Every consumer has identities that influence what they buy and who they buy from, whether they know it or not.

For instance, I’m a Black woman. I’m left-handed. I follow a gluten-free diet for health reasons. My husband is a Spanish-speaking immigrant. And, together, we have a mixed-race bilingual child. As both a consumer and a business owner, at least one of these aspects of my identity influences what I buy in more instances than not.

For example, as a business owner, I often look for success stories from other business owners who “look like me.” After relocating to the U.S. from Buenos Aires, when we went to buy a car, my husband and I chose our salesperson based on whether or not they spoke Spanish. When I buy clothes, dolls, and toys for my daughter, I intentionally look for options where the images reflect girls who have curly hair and match her skin tone.

Other consumers don’t have the choice of considering their identity when it comes to making buying decisions. That’s because societal influences shape their experiences. How others respond to and/or engage with them is different. That’s especially true when compared to others who fit what has traditionally been considered the “mainstream.”

To illustrate, I worked with a client who had both service providers and the end consumers in their customer base. During research, we often heard from service providers that aspects of their identity (including race/ethnicity and gender) impacted the way they were treated while doing their work.

The service providers’ identities did not impact how well they were able to perform at their craft. But, their identities sometimes impacted the kinds of experiences they had with others. That wasn’t the case for people with identities that were part of the “mainstream”.

As consumers, our identities are a core part of who we are. Most consumers don’t compartmentalize or separate their identities when it comes to the buying process — even if marketers aren’t necessarily considering or infusing identity effectively into personas.

For buyers, their identity is so ingrained that they might not even realize how much it is a part of their decision-making process. And if marketers don’t ask about it during research, their identities may never come up as a point of consideration.

Therein lies the disconnect between many buyer personas and the consumers they are intended to represent.

Marketers must remember that the customers they serve are both consciously and unconsciously looking to answer this fundamental question when engaging with your brand: Is this product for someone like me?

That someone like me could be a variety of things:

A solopreneur.

Someone who isn’t tech savvy.

Someone who is neurodivergent.

Someone who speaks English as a second language.

A woman.

Someone with a bigger body frame.

Someone with textured hair.

Someone with kids.

Someone without kids.

Someone who is single.

Someone who is married.

Someone who practices Hinduism.

A gay male.

An immigrant.

Someone with a disability.

Someone who is 53.

And the list goes on and on.

If a consumer doesn’t feel like what you have to offer is for “someone like them,” they will move on to something or someone else.

Brands face a challenge: They must clearly and quickly communicate that their offering is for the specific identities of people who face the problem they solve. To meet this need, marketers need to call out those identities and acknowledge them in personas.

So even though a neurodivergent consumer fits one of your buyer persona categories to a tee, that doesn’t mean he will feel seen, supported, or like he belongs with your brand. That’s especially true if your personas don't mention any aspects of his identity.

How to Make Your Buyer Personas More Effective

One of the core tenets of customer acquisition is choosing the specific identities you want to serve as customers. By infusing those identities into your buyer personas, you’ll set your brand up with the foundation needed to effectively serve all the consumers you want to target.

There are two ways you can approach this.

1. Add identity layers within your personas.

This involves taking your existing personas and adding more of the identity-based context. The extra information will help marketers execute on campaigns.

It's always a good idea when data can inform the identity-based layers you want to include. So whatever data you can access about your ideal consumers from an identity standpoint, dig into it.

If you can’t access that data from your own internal or third-party data sources, consider sourcing this type of information from surveys, 1:1 interviews, or other direct engagements. That way, you can start to build the layers of the identities into your buyer persona profiles.

Once you have more specifics about what the identities are, be intentional about clearly and quickly communicating that what you have to offer is “for people like them” throughout your customer journey.

Here’s what adding in more identity-based information could look like for Creator Carmen.

These facts alone might be helpful to include in the narrative. But if a marketing team doesn’t know how being visually impaired, an Afro-Latina, or speaking English with a Spanish preference potentially influences Carmen, that information isn’t useful.

Marketers need to understand how identity factors impact these three versions of Creator Carmen’s decision-making process and buyer journey.

My recommendation is to infuse more nuanced information into your personas like this:

Then, supplement your identity-related challenges, frustrations, and wishes with supporting documentation. The extra information serves as a guidebook of what’s different about Creator Carmen’s experiences because of her disability versus a Creator Carmen who doesn’t have one. You can then show up well for the various versions of Creator Carmen you want to reach.

Customer interviews, focus groups, social listening, and other secondary sources can help you gain the cultural intelligence you need about identity.

2. Build identity-specific personas.

You might find that there are times when having a buyer persona specific to certain identities is helpful. However, the success of a persona depends on what your suite of buyer personas looks like or how they’re categorized.

This works well in the instances where it’s necessary to create specific products, features, communications, experiences, and even core messaging.

For instance, let's say one of your product offers includes a customer segment of children under the age of 18. The needs, experiences, expectations, and ethics associated with how a brand communicates with them would be sufficiently different. With these constraints, it could be harder to make personas with identity-specific layers.

Here’s another example for you. In this video, email marketing strategist Eman Ismail explains how her Muslim faith identity has impacted her experiences at business events. Brands that host any kind of event and want to create a space where Muslim attendees feel seen, supported, and like they belong could benefit from creating a separate identity-specific persona.

You can listen to my entire conversation with Eman here on this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast.

It’s time to make your personas more effective.

Buyer personas are powerful, but only when you create them to operate at their full potential. Move beyond traditional buyer personas to incorporate important elements of identity that your ideal customers are using to make buying decisions.

The payoff: more authentic campaigns, more conversions, and greater impact.

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Thu, 23 Oct 2025 02:36:17 +0300

With more AI projects seeking large datasets, Reddit's looking to ensure that it gets is fair share.

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Thu, 23 Oct 2025 02:03:24 +0300

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12 best email marketing tools for automotive businesses in 2025

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 01:03:32 +0300

Email marketing needs in the automotive industry are unique. Dealerships, repair shops, and automotive service centers face challenges that differ significantly from those in other sectors.

These challenges include managing long sales cycles that span months, coordinating service appointment reminders based on mileage and time intervals, and maintaining customer relationships that generate repeat business over decades rather than weeks.

Email marketing tools solve these industry-specific challenges by automating service reminders, segmenting customers by vehicle type and purchase history, scoring leads based on engagement levels, and integrating with dealership management systems to create seamless customer experiences.

This comprehensive guide includes a detailed comparison table of the top 12 email marketing platforms, in-depth feature breakdowns for each tool, benefits specific to automotive operations, important features to prioritize, a step-by-step selection guide, and actionable FAQs.

Email marketing delivers an average ROI of $36 for every dollar spent, making platform selection a critical business decision.

HubSpot is used by automotive businesses worldwide, including multi-location dealership groups, independent repair shops, and automotive parts retailers who leverage the platform's integrated CRM and marketing automation to increase lead conversion rates and service appointment retention.

Table of Contents

What is email marketing for automotive businesses?

Comparison Table: Best Email Marketing Software for Automotive Businesses

Best Email Marketing Software for Automotive Businesses

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Automotive Businesses

10 Important Features for Automotive Email Marketing Software

How to Choose an Email Marketing Tool for Automotive Businesses (Step-by-Step)

How to Create Email Marketing Campaigns for Automotive Businesses

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top Email Marketing Choice for Automotive Companies

What is email marketing for automotive businesses?

Email marketing for automotive businesses is a digital communication strategy that enables dealerships, repair shops, and automotive service centers to nurture customer relationships through targeted campaigns.

Automotive companies utilize email marketing to send service reminders, promote vehicle inventory, announce special offers, and maintain customer engagement throughout the lifecycle.

Comparison Table: Best Email Marketing Software for Automotive Businesses

Email Marketing Tool

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Average Rating

HubSpot

Multi-location dealerships needing CRM integration

Marketing automation, free CRM, landing pages, revenue attribution

Free; Available with Marketing Hub; Starter $9/month per seat

4.4/5

Mailchimp

Small to mid-size independent dealerships

Templates, automation, segmentation, journey mapping

Free; Essentials $13/month

4.3/5

ActiveCampaign

Businesses requiring advanced automation workflows

Marketing automation, lead scoring, SMS integration

Starts at $15/month

4.6/5

Constant Contact

Dealerships prioritizing ease of use

Drag-and-drop builder, event marketing, live support

Starts at $12/month

4.0/5

Brevo

Growing businesses needing SMS + email

Email + SMS, transactional emails, automation

Free; Starter $8.08/month

4.5/5

Klaviyo

Automotive parts retailers and e-commerce

Advanced segmentation, predictive analytics, revenue attribution

Free; Email $45/month

4.6/5

GetResponse

Automotive businesses hosting webinars

Webinar hosting, automation, conversion funnels

Email $15/month

4.2/5

Omnisend

Automotive aftermarket retailers

Omnichannel automation, product recommendations

Free; Standard $11.20/month

4.5/5

Moosend

Budget-conscious automotive businesses

Unlimited emails, automation, landing pages

Free; Pro $7/month

4.6/5

Campaign Monitor

Agencies managing multiple dealerships

Client management, custom templates, white-label reporting

Lite €9.90/month

4.1/5

AWeber

Small repair shops and service centers

Email templates, autoresponders, list management

Free; Lite $12.50/month

4.2/5

Kit

Automotive content creators and influencers

Visual automation, subscriber tagging, landing pages

Free; Creator $33/month

4.4/5

Best Email Marketing Software for Automotive Businesses

The following platforms represent the top email marketing solutions specifically suited to automotive industry needs including service reminder automation, vehicle-based segmentation, CRM integration, and long-term customer relationship management.

1. HubSpot

Source

Best For: Multi-location dealerships and automotive groups requiring integrated CRM, marketing automation, and sales enablement in one unified platform

Key HubSpot Features:

Free CRM with Unlimited Contacts – Track every customer interaction from initial inquiry through vehicle purchase and ongoing service appointments without paying for basic CRM functionality, eliminating the need for separate database management tools that create data silos in automotive businesses

Visual Workflow Automation Builder – Create sophisticated service reminder sequences, lead nurturing campaigns, and customer retention workflows using drag-and-drop automation with conditional logic that adapts based on vehicle ownership, service history, and engagement patterns

Revenue Attribution Reporting – Connect email campaigns directly to vehicle sales and service appointments with closed-loop reporting that shows which marketing efforts generate actual dealership revenue, enabling data-driven budget allocation decisions

HubSpot Pricing:

Marketing Hub Free: $0 (includes email marketing, forms, landing pages, and CRM)

Marketing Hub Stater: $9/month per seat

Marketing Hub Professional: $800/month

Marketing Hub Enterprise: $3,600/month

View detailed HubSpot pricing

2. Mailchimp

Source

Best For: Small to mid-size independent dealerships seeking user-friendly automation with pre-built automotive templates and intuitive campaign creation

Key Mailchimp Features:

Pre-Built Automotive Templates – Launch professional campaigns quickly using industry-specific email designs optimized for vehicle promotions, service reminders, and dealership announcements without requiring design expertise or custom development

Customer Journey Mapping – Visualize and optimize the complete customer experience from initial lead inquiry through vehicle purchase and service appointments, identifying gaps in communication and opportunities for engagement

Behavioral Automation Triggers – Automatically send targeted emails based on customer actions, including website visits, email clicks, and form submissions, ensuring timely follow-ups that match the automotive sales cycle timing.

Mailchimp Pricing:

Free

Essentials: $13/month

Standard: $20/month

Premium: $350/month

View detailed Mailchimp pricing

3. ActiveCampaign

Source

Best For: Automotive businesses requiring sophisticated automation workflows with advanced lead scoring and multi-touch nurturing campaigns that match complex sales cycles

Key ActiveCampaign Features:

Advanced Lead Scoring System – Automatically prioritize hot prospects based on email engagement, website behavior, and interaction history, enabling sales teams to focus efforts on customers most likely to purchase or schedule service appointments

Predictive Sending Optimization – Leverage machine learning to automatically send emails at optimal times for each individual customer based on their past opening behavior, increasing open rates by delivering messages when recipients are most likely to engage

Integrated SMS Marketing – Coordinate email and text message campaigns within unified workflows for appointment confirmations, last-minute service reminders, and time-sensitive vehicle promotions that require immediate customer action

ActiveCampaign Pricing:

Starter: $15/month

Plus: $49/month

Pro: $79/month

Enterprise: $145

View detailed ActiveCampaign pricing

4. Constant Contact

Source

Best For: Dealerships and repair shops prioritizing ease of use with extensive customer support, including live chat and phone assistance for teams with limited marketing experience

Key Constant Contact Features:

Drag-and-Drop Email Builder – Create professional automotive emails without coding knowledge using an intuitive visual builder that simplifies campaign creation for busy dealership staff who need to launch promotions quickly

Event Marketing Tools – Promote and manage test drive events, vehicle reveal parties, and customer appreciation sales with integrated event registration, automated confirmations, and reminder sequences that increase attendance rates

Real-Time Reporting Dashboard – Monitor campaign performance with clear visualizations showing open rates, click-throughs, and conversions, enabling quick performance assessments and campaign optimization decisions

Constant Contact Pricing:

Lite: $12/month

Standard: $35/month

Premium: $80/month

View detailed Constant Contact pricing

5. Brevo

Source

Best For: Growing automotive businesses needing email and SMS marketing in one platform with pricing based on emails sent rather than contact list size

Key Brevo Features:

Unified Email and SMS Platform – Coordinate text message appointment reminders with email follow-ups from a single interface, reducing tool complexity and ensuring consistent customer communication across channels without managing multiple platforms

Transactional Email Capabilities – Automatically send service confirmations, appointment receipts, and purchase documentation with reliable delivery infrastructure that ensures critical customer communications reach recipients promptly

Unlimited Contacts on Paid Plans – Build large customer databases without escalating costs since Brevo charges based on emails sent rather than contact quantity, making it economical for dealerships maintaining extensive customer lists

Brevo Pricing:

Free: $0

Starter: $8.08/month

Standard: $16.17

Professional: $449.08

Enterprise: Custom pricing

View detailed Brevo pricing

6. Klaviyo

Source

Best For: Automotive parts retailers and e-commerce businesses in the aftermarket sector requiring advanced segmentation and revenue attribution

Key Klaviyo Features:

Predictive Analytics Engine – Identify high-value customers and predict future purchase behavior using machine learning algorithms that analyze past buying patterns, enabling targeted campaigns to customers most likely to make repeat purchases

Product Recommendation Engine – Automatically suggest relevant automotive parts and accessories based on previous purchases and browsing behavior, increasing average order value by showing customers items that complement their vehicle needs

Revenue Attribution Tracking – Track exactly how much revenue each email campaign generates with detailed attribution reporting that connects marketing efforts directly to sales, proving email marketing ROI to stakeholders

Klaviyo Pricing:

Free: $0 (up to 250 contacts)

Email: Starting at $45/month (based on contacts)

Email + SMS: Starting at $60/month

View detailed Klaviyo pricing

7. GetResponse

Source

Best For: Automotive businesses incorporating webinars into their marketing strategy for virtual vehicle walkthroughs, maintenance tutorials, and customer education

Key GetResponse Features:

Integrated Webinar Hosting – Conduct live virtual events for up to 1,000 participants, including vehicle reveals, maintenance workshops, and Q&A sessions, without requiring separate webinar software, streamlining event marketing from promotion through execution

Conversion Funnel Builder – Create complete automated sales funnels combining landing pages, email sequences, and webinar registrations that guide prospects from initial interest through vehicle purchase or service bookin.g

Autofunnel Templates – Launch marketing campaigns faster using pre-built funnel templates designed for lead generation and sales conversion, reducing setup time from hours to minutes for automotive promotions

GetResponse Pricing:

Starter: $15.58/month (1,000 contacts)

9 best email marketing tools for dentists in 2025

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 00:45:07 +0300

Running a successful dental practice requires more than fluoride, free toothbrushes, and clinical expertise.

Between managing patient appointments, following up on treatment plans, and regulatory concerns, dental practices face unique marketing challenges, and analog outreach methods often fall short of tackling them.

Thankfully, email marketing offers a scalable channel to stay top-of-mind, educate patients, and boost retention across hygiene, referrals, or specialty procedures by automating appointment reminders, personalizing treatment follow-ups, and segmenting patients based on their dental health needs.

In fact, the average email open rate for dental practices hovers around 40%, showing email marketing is a highly effective avenue in the industry. But where do you start?

This article provides a comprehensive comparison of email marketing solutions built for dental practices (including HubSpot). You'll find detailed feature breakdowns, verified pricing information, a side-by-side comparison, and a step-by-step guide to choosing the right platform.

Table of Contents

What is email marketing for dentists?

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Dentists

7 Important Features for Dental Email Marketing Software

Comparison Table of Best Email Marketing Tools for Dentists

Best Email Marketing Software for Dentists

How to Choose an Email Marketing Tool for Dentists (Step-by-Step)

How to Create Email Marketing Campaigns for Dentists

Frequently Asked Questions About Email Marketing for Dentists

Meet HubSpot, the Top Email Marketing Choice for Dentists

What is email marketing for dentists?

Email marketing for dentists enables dental practices to send digital targeted messages to patients and prospects. This includes appointment reminders, treatment follow-ups, recall notifications for cleanings (all with HIPAA compliance), oral health education, and promotional campaigns for cosmetic procedures. Email marketing helps dental practices maintain consistent patient engagement while reducing no-shows and increasing treatment acceptance rates.

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Dentists

Email marketing software addresses critical challenges dental practices face in patient communication and practice growth. Here's how the right platform transforms dental practice operations:

Better Patient Segmentation

Organizing patients by treatment needs, demographics, visit history, or engagement behavior helps you better target your contacts with messaging that truly resonates and drives action.

HubSpot's advanced segmentation allow dental practices to create both static and dynamic patient lists that you can use to promote things like orthodontic services to families with teenagers, cosmetic procedures to adults aged 35-55, or dental implant consultations to seniors. In fact, companies have cut their time creating lists and segmenting contacts by 50% using HubSpot.

However, it’s important to note that your email marketing tool must be HIPAA-compliant (like HubSpot) to target and email patients based on any health or medical history data. (More on this shortly.)

Reduced No-Show Rates

Automated appointment reminders (like the one below) significantly decrease missed appointments, which cost dental practices an average of $150-200 per occurrence in lost revenue and schedule disruptions.

Appointment reminder workflows with a HIPAA-compliant tool like HubSpot can integrate with practice management systems to automatically send confirmation emails upon booking, followed by strategically timed reminders at 48 hours and 24 hours before appointments.

Appointment reminders have been shown to reduce no-shows by up to 40%.

Improved Patient Retention

Regular communication keeps patients engaged between visits, encourages consistent preventive care, and builds camaraderie, directly impacting practice revenue and patient health outcomes.

Dental practices can send care tips, team updates, host contests, or even send birthday wishes like the orthodontist below:

Increased Sales

Educational email campaigns that explain procedures, address common concerns, and showcase results can help patients feel more confident about recommended treatments , particularly high-cost ones like implants or cosmetic work.

Here's an example of a newsletter from the same orthodonist:

HubSpot Content and Marketing hubs can aid the delivery of this kind of content through automated drip emails. Practices can share targeted educational content, patient testimonials, and even financing information, all of which can help patients make more informed purchase decisions.

Enhanced Practice Efficiency

Automating routine communications frees up staff time previously spent making phone calls and sending manual reminders, allowing them to focus on higher-value activities like in-office patient care.

HubSpot's versatile workflows, for example, can automate consistent, transactional communication (e.g., appointment confirmations, pre-appointment instructions, and insurance reminders) thanks to its HIPAA compliance without requiring staff intervention.

This reduces administrative burden while improving communication consistency and timeliness.

7 Important Features for Dental Email Marketing Software

When evaluating email marketing platforms for your dental practice, prioritize these essential features that directly impact patient communication effectiveness and practice growth:

HIPAA-Compliant Infrastructure and Security Standards

Protecting patient information is legally mandatory for dental practices and any healthcare providers under HIPAA regulations. And a lot of email initiatives like appointment reminders and campaigns based on patient history depend on this.

To be HIPAA-compliant, email platforms must maintain specific security standards and sign Business Associate Agreements to send messages including or relating to protected health information (PHI).

Source

HubSpot offers Business Associate Agreements for enterprise-level plans and maintains the security infrastructure necessary to communicate patient information safely (i.e. encryption, access controls, and audit logging).

Note: HIPAA compliance is unnecessary for sending general marketing emails that do not include specific health information.

Automation

The ability to automatically send pre-appointment reminders at strategic intervals reduces no-shows, improves schedule efficiency, and eliminates staff time spent making manual reminder calls.

HubSpot's automated emails integrate seamlessly with practice management systems like Dentrix and Eaglesoft, so practices can trigger confirmation emails upon booking, followed by reminders at 48 hours, 24 hours, and even same-day.

Your HubSpot emails can also include personalization, such as patient names, appointment times, and specific pre-appointment instructions for different procedure types.

Segmentation and List Management

Grouping patients by treatment history, age, last visit date, procedure interest, insurance status, or engagement behavior enables targeted, relevant communication that drives higher engagement and conversion rates (though this requires HIPAA compliance).

For instance, perhaps you could send emails about braces to preteen patients or resources on denture care to elderly patients.

HubSpot's segmentation tools allow dental practices to create patient lists based on multiple criteria. Dynamic lists can also automatically refresh segments as patient data changes.

Source

Read: Customer Segmentation: How to Segment Users & Clients Effectively

Mobile-Responsive Email Templates and Design

Over 60% of emails are opened on mobile devices, making mobile optimization essential for ensuring appointment details, treatment information, and practice updates display correctly and remain actionable on smartphones and tablets.

Great email marketing tools like HubSpot provide mobile-optimized templates specifically designed for healthcare communications.

HubSpot’s drag-and-drop editing ensures any staff member can create professional, mobile-friendly emails without coding skills, while its preview tools show exactly how emails appear across different devices before sending.

Check out HubSpot’s free email templates.

A/B Testing and Optimization Capabilities

Testing different subject lines, send times, content variations, and calls-to-action helps optimize email performance and identify what resonates best with your specific patient base.

HubSpot's built-in A/B testing allows dental practices to experiment with up to five variations simultaneously, automatically determining winning versions based on open rates, click rates, or custom goals.

Seamless Integration with Practice Management Software

Bidirectional data flow between email marketing and scheduling systems prevents duplicate data entry, ensures patient information stays synchronized, and enables automation based on practice management system events like appointments, completed treatments, or outstanding balances.

HubSpot connects with leading dental practice management platforms, including Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, and Curve, through native integrations and API connections.

This allows it to automatically synchronize patient demographics, appointment history, and treatment information to enable sophisticated segmentation and personalization without manual data exports.

Comprehensive Reporting, Analytics, and ROI Attribution

Understanding which campaigns drive results helps refine marketing strategy and justify marketing spend to practice owners and stakeholders.

HubSpot's analytics dashboard can track email opens, clicks, appointment bookings, and revenue attribution with clear visualization, providing visibility into which campaigns generate the highest ROI, which patient segments are most responsive, and how email marketing contributes to overall practice growth.

Comparison Table of Best Email Marketing Tools for Dentists

Email Marketing Tool

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

HubSpot

Dental practices seeking all-in-one patient management

AI-powered personalization, appointment workflows, patient segmentation

Free plan available; Marketing Hub Starter at $15/month; Professional at $800/month

Mailchimp

Small practices with basic email needs

Email templates, basic automation, audience segmentation

Free for up to 500 contacts; Essentials from $13/month

Constant Contact

Practices focused on event marketing

Event management, social media integration, list segmentation

Starting at $12/month for up to 500 contacts

ActiveCampaign

Practices with complex automation requirements

Advanced automation, CRM integration, predictive sending

Starting at $29/month for 1,000 contacts

AWeber

Solo practitioners and small teams

Drag-and-drop builder, autoresponders, landing pages

Free for up to 500 subscribers; Pro from $12.50/month

Kit

Practices with content marketing strategies

Landing pages, visual automation, subscriber tagging

Free up to 1,000 subscribers; Creator from $25/month

Drip

Practices with sophisticated patient journeys

E-commerce focus, multi-channel campaigns, custom workflows

Starting at $39/month for 2,500 contacts

Campaign Monitor

Practices valuing design and brand consistency

Template builder, journey designer, analytics

Starting at $11/month for 500 contacts

Moosend

Cost-effective option for growing practices

Marketing automation, landing pages, reporting

Free for up to 1,000 subscribers; Pro from $9/month

Best Email Marketing Software for Dentists

Choosing the right email marketing platform can transform how your dental practice communicates with patients. Here are the top solutions designed to meet the unique needs of dental professionals.

1. HubSpot

HubSpot is the most comprehensive email marketing solution for dental practices, combining robust automation with an integrated CRM and practice management capabilities.

Unlike competitors that focus solely on email delivery, HubSpot provides a complete patient engagement ecosystem that tracks every interaction from initial inquiry through ongoing care. This makes it the ideal choice for practices that want to eliminate data silos and streamline operations. It’s also HIPAA-compliant, unlike many other popular email marketing tools.

Source

Best For: Dental practices of all sizes that want to consolidate patient communication, appointment scheduling, and marketing automation in one unified platform while maintaining complete visibility into patient engagement.

Key HubSpot Features:

AI-Powered Email Creation and Personalization – HubSpot's Breeze can generate email content for different patient segments, from routine cleaning reminders to cosmetic dentistry promotions, while personalization tokens automatically insert patient-specific details like names, appointment dates, and treatment history. This saves hours of manual work while increasing relevance.

Automation – With HubSpot workflows, practices can create sophisticated, automated email sequences for a variety of events (i.e. appointment reminders, post-treatment follow-ups). This helps ensure no patient falls through the cracks without requiring staff intervention.

Integration and Segmentation – HubSpot seamlessly connects with leading dental software including Dentrix, Eaglesoft, and Open Dental so it can synchronize patient data automatically. From there, its segmentation abilities enable targeting based on treatment history, last visit date, demographics, or custom criteria for highly relevant messaging.

HubSpot Pricing:

HubSpot offers a free CRM with basic email marketing capabilities, including email creation, contact management, and simple automation. Marketing Hub Starter begins at $15 per month (billed monthly) with expanded email features and removes HubSpot branding.

Marketing Hub Professional costs $800 per month (annual billing) and includes advanced automation, A/B testing, and comprehensive reporting. Marketing Hub Enterprise is $3,600 per month (annual billing) for

6 best email marketing tools for higher education businesses in 2025

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 00:35:25 +0300

Higher education institutions face unique communication challenges in 2025. Between recruiting prospective students, engaging current learners, maintaining alumni relationships, and coordinating with faculty, colleges and universities need robust email marketing solutions that can handle complex, multi-audience campaigns while delivering personalized experiences at scale.

Email marketing remains the most preferred communication channel for prospective students during the college application process, with 55% preferring email over text messages (33%). The education industry also achieves an average email open rate of 28.5% — among the highest across all sectors — making email marketing an essential tool for enrollment management and student engagement.

This guide compares the best email marketing software for higher education institutions in 2025, including detailed feature breakdowns, pricing information, and recommendations to help you choose the right platform for your college or university.

Table of Contents

What is email marketing for higher education?

Email Marketing Tools for Higher Education Comparison Table

Best Email Marketing Software for Higher Education Businesses

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Higher Education

6 Important Features for Higher Education Email Marketing Software

How to Choose an Email Marketing Tool for Higher Education (Step-by-Step)

How to Create Email Marketing Campaigns for Higher Education

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top Email Marketing Software for Higher Education Companies

What is email marketing for higher education?

Email marketing for higher education is a strategic communication approach that colleges and universities use to connect with prospective students, current students, alumni, donors, and faculty through targeted email campaigns. Email marketing enables institutions to nurture leads through the enrollment funnel, share important academic updates, promote campus events, and maintain long-term relationships with their community while tracking engagement and measuring campaign effectiveness.

Email Marketing Tools for Higher Education Comparison Table

Email Marketing Tool

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Average Rating

HubSpot

Universities seeking integrated CRM and marketing automation

Free CRM, advanced automation, multi-channel campaigns, robust analytics

Free plan available; Paid plans start at $15/month

4.5/5 (G2)

Mailchimp

Institutions with basic email needs and large contact lists

Drag-and-drop editor, audience segmentation, pre-built templates

Free for 500 contacts; Paid plans start at $13/month

4.4/5 (G2)

Constant Contact

Schools needing event management and ticketing

Event registration tools, social media integration, automated welcome emails

Plans start at $12/month for 500 contacts

4.1/5 (G2)

ActiveCampaign

Colleges requiring advanced automation and CRM features

900+ automation templates, predictive analytics, sales automation

Plans start at $15/month for 1,000 contacts

4.5/5 (G2)

Omnisend

Institutions focused on ecommerce and course sales

Multi-channel campaigns, ecommerce integrations, SMS marketing

Free for 250 contacts; Paid plans start at $16/month

4.6/5 (G2)

Envoke

Canadian universities requiring CASL compliance

Data stored in Canada, advanced consent management, CASL compliance

Plans start at $69 CAD/month for 2,500 contacts

4.8/5 (Capterra)

Best Email Marketing Software for Higher Education Businesses

Understanding the right email marketing platform can transform how your institution communicates with students, prospects, and stakeholders. Here are the six best solutions tailored for higher education needs.

HubSpot

HubSpot is best for: Universities seeking an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform with advanced analytics

HubSpot provides higher education institutions with a comprehensive platform that unifies marketing, admissions, and student service processes. The platform enables colleges and universities to attract prospective students, convert inquiries into applications, and nurture relationships throughout the student lifecycle.

Key HubSpot Features:

Free CRM integration – HubSpot offers a free CRM that enables admissions teams to track every interaction with prospective students from initial inquiry through enrollment, ensuring no lead falls through the cracks

Marketing automation workflows – HubSpot automates personalized email sequences based on prospect behavior, enabling institutions to send targeted content at optimal times in the enrollment journey

Advanced analytics and reporting – HubSpot provides dashboards that track campaign performance, lead sources, and conversion rates, allowing marketing teams to demonstrate ROI and make data-driven decisions

Landing page and form builders – HubSpot includes tools to create high-converting landing pages for program information, virtual tours, and application starts without requiring technical expertise

Multi-channel campaign management – HubSpot coordinates email, social media, and paid advertising campaigns from a single platform, ensuring consistent messaging across all touchpoints

HubSpot Pricing:

Free plan: Up to 2,000 email sends per month with basic CRM, forms, and email marketing

Marketing Hub Starter: $15/month per seat

Marketing Hub Professional: Starting at $890/month (includes 3 seats)

Marketing Hub Enterprise: Starting at $3,600/month (includes 5 seats)

Mailchimp

Best for: Institutions with straightforward email marketing needs and large subscriber lists

Mailchimp delivers user-friendly email marketing tools with an extensive template library and straightforward campaign creation process. The platform serves higher education institutions that prioritize ease of use and need to manage large contact databases.

Key Mailchimp Features:

Extensive template library – Mailchimp offers hundreds of pre-designed email templates suitable for recruitment campaigns, student newsletters, and alumni communications, reducing design time

Audience segmentation – Mailchimp enables institutions to segment contacts based on demographics, behavior, and engagement history to deliver targeted messages to prospective students versus current students versus alumni

A/B testing capabilities – Mailchimp allows institutions to test subject lines, send times, and content variations to optimize open rates and click-through rates

Social media advertising integration – Mailchimp creates retargeting ads on Facebook and Instagram based on email campaign data, extending reach to prospective students across multiple platforms

Mailchimp Pricing:

Free plan: 500 contacts, 1,000 monthly email sends

Essentials plan: Starting at $13/month for 500 contacts (10x contact limit for monthly sends)

Standard plan: Starting at $20/month for 500 contacts (12x contact limit for monthly sends)

Premium plan: Starting at $350/month for 10,000 contacts (15x contact limit for monthly sends)

Nonprofit discounts: 15% off annual plans

Constant Contact

Best for: Colleges and universities that regularly host campus events and need integrated event management

Constant Contact specializes in event marketing tools alongside traditional email marketing features, making it valuable for institutions that coordinate open houses, alumni events, webinars, and campus tours.

Key Constant Contact Features:

Built-in event registration – Constant Contact enables institutions to create event pages, collect RSVPs, manage attendee lists, and process ticket payments directly within the platform, eliminating the need for third-party event tools

Automated event reminders – Constant Contact sends automated email reminders to registered attendees before events, reducing no-shows for campus tours and information sessions

Social media posting – Constant Contact schedules and publishes social media posts across multiple platforms to promote events, programs, and campus news alongside email campaigns

Customizable email templates – Constant Contact provides themed templates for various occasions including enrollment deadlines, scholarship announcements, and academic calendar reminders

Constant Contact Pricing:

Lite plan: $12/month for 500 contacts (basic email marketing and event management)

Standard plan: $35/month for 500 contacts (includes automation, A/B testing, and segmentation)

Premium plan: $80/month for 500 contacts (adds SEO tools, ads management, and advanced analytics)

30-day free trial available

ActiveCampaign

Best for: Institutions requiring sophisticated automation workflows and predictive analytics

ActiveCampaign provides advanced marketing automation and CRM capabilities that enable higher education institutions to create complex, behavior-based email sequences that respond to prospect actions in real-time.

Key ActiveCampaign Features:

900+ automation workflow templates – ActiveCampaign offers pre-built automation sequences for common higher education scenarios including application nurture campaigns, admitted student engagement, and re-enrollment outreach

Predictive analytics – ActiveCampaign uses machine learning to identify which prospects are most likely to enroll, allowing admissions teams to prioritize outreach to high-intent leads

Conditional content – ActiveCampaign dynamically changes email content based on recipient attributes such as intended major, campus location interest, or application status

Lead scoring – ActiveCampaign assigns scores to prospects based on engagement behaviors like email opens, website visits, and form submissions, helping admissions counselors identify warm leads

ActiveCampaign Pricing:

Starter plan: $15/month for 1,000 contacts

Plus plan: $49/month for 1,000 contacts

Professional plan: $79/month for 1,000 contacts

Enterprise plan: $145/month

14-day free trial available

Omnisend

Best for: Universities with online course sales and ecommerce components

Omnisend focuses on multi-channel marketing automation with strong ecommerce integrations, making it suitable for institutions that sell online courses, professional development programs, or branded merchandise.

Key Omnisend Features:

Multi-channel campaigns – Omnisend coordinates email, SMS, and push notifications in unified campaigns, enabling institutions to reach prospective students through their preferred communication channels

Ecommerce platform integrations – Omnisend integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, and other ecommerce platforms to track online course purchases and trigger relevant follow-up communications

Abandoned cart recovery – Omnisend automatically sends reminder emails to prospects who started but didn't complete course registrations or merchandise purchases

Product recommendations – Omnisend suggests related courses or programs to enrolled students based on their purchase history and browsing behavior

Omnisend Pricing:

Free plan to send 500 emails/month up to 250 contacts

Standard plan: $11.20/month up to 500 contacts

Pro plan: $41.20/month for 2,500 contacts (adds advanced reporting and priority support)

Pricing scales with contact list size

Envoke

Best for: Canadian universities requiring CASL compliance and data sovereignty

Envoke specializes in serving Canadian higher education institutions with compliance-focused email marketing that meets Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) requirements while storing data within Canada.

Key Envoke Features:

Automated CASL compliance – Envoke automatically manages consent tracking, opt-in confirmations, and unsubscribe processes to ensure compliance with Canadian anti-spam legislation

Data stored in Canada – Envoke hosts all contact data on Canadian servers, addressing data sovereignty requirements for Canadian public institutions

Multi-department management – Envoke enables universities to create separate subaccounts for different departments while maintaining centralized oversight and brand consistency

Higher education templates – Envoke provides email templates designed specifically for university communications including recruitment, student services, and alumni relations

Envoke Pricing:

Pro plan: Starting at $69 CAD/month for 2,500 contacts with unlimited email sends

Pay-as-you-go option available (store unlimited contacts, pay per email sent)

Custom pricing for larger institutions

Free migration services from other platforms

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Higher Education

Email marketing platforms deliver measurable advantages that directly support enrollment goals and student engagement objectives.

Streamlined Enrollment Management

Email marketing software enables institutions to automate prospect nurture campaigns from inquiry through enrollment. Universities using marketing automation track prospective students through each stage of the enrollment funnel, automatically sending relevant content based on application status and demonstrated interests. This systematic approach increases conversion rates while reducing manual workload for admissions staff.

Enhanced Personalization at Scale

Higher education institutions serve diverse audiences with varying needs—prospective undergraduates, graduate students, international applicants, transfer students, alumni, and parents each require tailored messaging. Email marketing platforms segment contacts based on dozens of attributes and behaviors, enabling institutions to deliver personalized content to thousands of recipients simultaneously. In a 2024 EAB study, 93% of students said that receiving a personalized message from a college would encourage them to explore a school further.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Email marketing software provides detailed analytics on campaign performance, including open rates, click-through rates, and conversion metrics. Higher education marketing teams use this data to identify which messages resonate with prospective students, which recruitment channels generate the highest-quality leads, and how marketing efforts directly contribute to enrollment numbers. This visibility enables institutions to allocate budgets more effectively and demonstrate marketing ROI to leadership.

Improved Alumni Engagement

Email marketing platforms help in

TikTok Announces Shortlists for Its 2025 UK Ad Awards

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 22:57:21 +0300

These nominees could give some guidance on how to approach TikTok campaigns.

YouTube Adds AI-Powered Q&A Stickers, Shorts Viewing Time Limits

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 22:39:02 +0300

The latest feature drop from YouTube also includes a couple of Halloween-themed elements.

Starting a new business? Here are the AI tools I would use when building from scratch

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 18:00:05 +0300

Building a business has never been easier, but the landscape is also more competitive. The difference between success and failure often comes down to how quickly you can execute. You need to understand your market and know how to scale your operations. AI tools can help you get off the ground.

If I had to rebuild my business from scratch today, I'd lean heavily into AI tools to make the process faster, smarter, and more efficient than ever before.

Here‘s exactly how I’d approach rebuilding from zero, and the specific AI tools that would make it possible.

Table of Contents

Two Approaches to AI Business Building

Essential AI Tools for Modern Business Building

Two Approaches to AI Business Building

Approach 1: Use LLMs to flesh out your ideas.

Every entrepreneur needs to know their niche. If you don’t have a unique angle, you’ll never stand out in the crowded market. So, you need to be specific. I'd approach it like a research sprint using AI tools to cut through the noise and find real opportunities.

AI tools allow you to organize and vet your ideas. You can start a conversation with ChatGPT or OpenAI’s advanced voice mode and flesh out all your different ideas through the discussion. I would ask things like:

What are the pros and cons of this idea?

Do you see potential downsides to this?

What would you change about the idea?

This lets you freeflow. Later, you’ll have the conversation saved in your ChatGPT dashboard, so you can look back at the conclusions. Next, tell it to summarize what you’ve discussed and give you a list of the top ten ideas for cool companies.

From there, you can use other AI tools to research and validate your ideas.

My Next Wave co-host Nathan Lands adds a spin to this approach. He says, “I would go do some Perplexity searches and see if there are existing companies in the areas that I’m interested in.” Look at the websites of those companies and copy/paste them into ChatGPT to start your research into industries you’re not familiar with.

The Step-by-Step Process for Validating Business Ideas

Once you’ve got a list of your top ten business ideas, you’ll need to test those ideas with an audience to see which one sticks.

To do that, I suggest a tool like Mixo, which can rapidly build a website with a single prompt. With Mixo, you can create a few test sites that you can show to a focus group. You can show potential buyers a real mockup to see what they’re more likely to spend money on. The steps below can help you get started.

Give Mixo the details about the software products you’re considering. Based on that idea, Mixo will create a landing page for you with images and copy.

Have it create ten different websites — one for each idea you’re interested in. Make sure each website has an email opt-in box so people can join the product's waitlist.

Buy ads on Facebook, Google, Twitter, or whichever platform your potential users hang out on. You should get ads for each landing page. Then, whichever one has the most interest via the waitlist, go make that product.

When you release the product, hit up the people who joined that specific waitlist. Since you’ve already generated an email list beforehand, you’ve got your first marketing campaign ready to go.

And of course, also email the other nine lists and let them know you didn’t make the product they signed up for. If the products are similar, you can ask them to check out the one you actually made.

Now that you have the idea, it’s time to build out relevant features. Whatever you decide to build, you’ll want to use AI to analyze the features that should be included or excluded. To start, I recommend finding products that already exist that are close to your idea. You can then riff off of them to build yours. Here’s the step-by-step process.

Find reviews in places like Reddit or Trustpilot, or any place where you can gather comments, reviews, and feedback.

Copy and paste everything you find into Claude. Then, ask for a sentiment analysis to understand what people love or hate about the product. When you build your version of the product, make it better than the one that exists.

For marketing, lean into those differences. If people love a feature, highlight that feature in your campaigns. If they hate something or are asking for a feature to be added, then add that functionality.

Approach 2: Scale your content with AI.

If I were starting a new business now, I would focus on content creation. There’s more opportunity than ever to influence LLMs and dominate AI overviews with specific, bottom-of-the-funnel keywords.

AI can help you create the content you need to get in front of your customer — wherever they’re at. Here’s how I would do it:

Pick a niche topic that you’re really excited about. I would pick something I have some experience with that I can talk about myself. If you dive down into sub-niches, there’s unlimited potential.

Use AI to help with ideation. Right now, I constantly use Perplexity and Claude in my AI stack. Use those tools to research your niche until you understand that universe inside and out.

Create as much content around those topics as possible. AI can help you outline those posts or even write them for you.

Expand into multimedia. Let’s say I want to do a video about making 3D walkthroughs of houses for a real estate product. I can ask Claude how I should make the video. What’s the flow? What camera do I need? How can I hold people’s attention? It will generate an outline for me, and I can follow those notes to make sure I hit all the beats.

Use AI tools to speed up the production process. For example, TimeBolt can locate all the silences and then remove them from short-form videos. That’s hours saved.

Essential AI Tools for Modern Business Building

Building a business used to require massive upfront investment, months of development, and teams of specialists. Today, you can validate an idea, build a working prototype, and start acquiring customers faster than ever before — if you know which tools to use.

Let’s dive deep into the tools I find most helpful.

Perplexity: Validating Ideas With Speed

Perplexity is a large language model, like ChatGPT or Claude, but it also searches the internet whenever you ask it a question. I find Perplexity’s informed responses hard to beat. You can ask Perplexity what people are searching for right now, what they’re struggling with, or what content they want. This will help you zero in on a niche where you can make an impact.

You can also use Perplexity to find information that web scraping tools can’t get to. If there’s nothing on the website to scrape, it finds reviews from Reddit or TechCrunch, and then tells me what the tool is all about. I’ve used this process to discover product details for my we,bsite Future Tools.

Cursor, Repilt, and Firebase: Managing Your Product and Website

If you’re launching a new business, these three software create the perfect tech stack. You can build a product, create a website, and keep everything up-to-date easily.

Source

It all starts with Cursor, an AI code editor that can help you build your software faster. The biggest benefit? Cursor uses your entire code base for context, so the output is accurate and integrates into the larger system.

With retrieval augmented generation (RAG), Cursor looks through the text of all your uploaded files and uses that information to complete the code and improve accuracy in the software you're creating.

Now, you need to build a website that attracts buyers and keeps customers in the loop about your offering. Replit moves you from idea to website, all with AI. Replit’s Cursor integration allows you to automatically link any product changes to your website, eliminating any duplicate work.

Source

Replit manages the front end, and Firebase takes care of the backend. Firebase can help handle your hosting and keep your databases organized. This tool also handles single sign-in, using existing accounts like Google or Apple, so you don’t have to worry about login functionality.

Source

So, with Cursor to write the code, Replit to host the front end, and Firebase to host the back end, you’ve got an integrated AI approach for building your business.

NotebookLM: Creating Well-Researched Content

NotebookLM is an AI research assistant that can read your sources and help you write, summarize, and brainstorm all in one place. ⁠

I use this to get breakdowns of complex academic papers so I can quickly and easily understand the information. NotebookLM can also create mini-podcasts from the documents. I can use those summaries later when creating my own content.

Even in the age of AI, your business needs a face.

AI can help you in every step of building your business. But, your human presence and brand are still essential.

As people are inundated with AI-generated content and avatars, they’ll look for real humans. When I click on a YouTube video and hear an AI voiceover, I hit the back button immediately because I assume it’s low-effort content. I want to hear a human explain things to me.

So, you need to showcase your real voice and unique personality to build trust. Your content will need a face in content creation. They should get to know and build a bond with you personally.

I keep that human element front and center at Future Tools. I personally curate every tool that goes on the site. I use AI to scrape the product details so I can easily review the tool before it goes up, but each recommendation has my authentic stamp of approval. AI and personalized content are totally compatible — and totally necessary going forward.

Leveraging AI Tools to Build Your Business

Now you have my actionable tech stack, so you can start building your business today. For more actionable insights and industry trips on how AI can power your business, check out The Next Wave Podcast.

Why SurveyMonkey's Marketing Leader Says Your Foundation Is Broken

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 15:00:04 +0300

The way most marketing teams approach AI is probably the way I approach my inbox at 4:59 PM on a Friday.

With reckless optimism and zero follow-through.

But Katie Miserany, SurveyMonkey's Chief Communication Officer and SVP of Marketing, thinks the real problem isn't AI — it's that most marketers have forgotten a fundamental truth: Just because you can talk about something doesn't mean you should.

Katie Miserany

Chief Communications Officer and SVP, Marketing at SurveyMonkey

Claim to fame: Miserany's proud accomplishment isn't a single launch or campaign... It's the people. She's felt fortunate to meet, hire, and mentor incredibly talented people who've chosen to follow Katie from team to team and company to company. Miserany told me, "Building workplaces people want to join again and again tells me I’m creating environments where people can grow, do their best work, and feel genuinely supported. That’s the kind of legacy that makes me proud."

Lesson one: Stop doing random acts of marketing.

Remember the TikTok ban?

SurveyMonkey's team was excited. Almost immediately, they knew they needed to hop on the trend by conducting a survey on how people were feeling about TikTok.

(I can relate. I remember sitting in an airport lounge writing a panic-induced blog post on the TikTok ban because HubSpot felt we should cover it, too.)

And just as Miserany's team prepared to launch their findings… TikTok released its own study.

"Guess what the media covered?" Miserany says with a laugh. "It was TikTok’s study."

Emily Kramer (a Masters in Marketing alum) has a phrase for this temptation to jump on every trending topic just because you can. She calls it “random acts of marketing.”

And Miserany doesn't think it's going to cut it anymore.

"To scale in this new chapter of B2B marketing, the foundation needs to be stronger. You can't do random acts of marketing. You need to set your foundation, understand your customers' needs, and then have the discipline and discernment to only build from that foundation instead of chasing shiny things," she tells me.

More volume without a strong foundation? That's just noise.

Lesson two: Build your foundation first, then repeat it everywhere.

When she was the senior director at Sheryl Sandberg's Foundation, Miserany worked on a campaign aimed at getting men to be allies to women in the workplace.

She and her team did something that most marketers would find agonizing: They spent forever in the planning phase.

"You're a small organization… So you would think the temptation would be to just start running [with something]," Miserany tells me.

But instead, "we spent so long beating the idea up."

They asked themselves: What's the cost of doing this? What's the cost of not doing it?

Once they'd meticulously nailed down their vision for the campaign, execution felt "almost effortless." Even better, it made consistency possible.

The team created something called "the well" — a document that outlined exactly how they were supposed to talk about everything. If something was called "stunning" in the well, you couldn't call it "gorgeous." You stuck to the script, and you had to make a real case for deviating from it.

"The repetition of this exact language is really important for breaking through," Miserany explains.

"And then you need all of your channels doing the same exact thing to have any hope of someone seeing it, recognizing it, remembering it, [and] feeling good about your brand."

The lesson for leaders: Spend time to nail the planning and trust your marketers to tell the right story every time.

Lesson three: Try scaffolding.

Miserany gets frustrated when she sees good marketing ideas executed in a vacuum.

Her solution? What she calls scaffolding.

Recently, SurveyMonkey's brand leader chatted with Miserany about the opportunity to do a sponsorship at F1.

But the idea didn't fully excite Miserany until she heard what could go along with it — like a conference, a webinar, and a follow-up email nurture campaign.

"An F1 sponsorship sounds cool, but it doesn't really get me that excited about the potential for the business until you can scaffold it with all these other things and surround it with different tactics and different storytelling, to make it helpful to our customers.”

The takeaway for SMB marketers? Before launching any campaign, ask yourself: What else can we build around this? How can we turn one good idea into an integrated experience that surrounds our prospects in a way that's actually helpful?

Because in a world where everyone has access to AI and can crank out content, the brands that break through won't be the ones doing more isolated tactics. They'll be the ones doing fewer things, better.

Bonus: The SurveyMonkey feature SMB marketers are sleeping on.

Before we wrapped, Miserany told me something that surprised me: You can use SurveyMonkey to survey people you don't know.

Want to test logo designs? Ask about product preferences? Validate a business idea? You can reach a targeted audience (including specific industries, locations, or demographics) without hiring an expensive research firm.

Why most go-to-market playbooks fail internationally — and what to do instead

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 14:00:04 +0300

I first worked across borders in the mid‑90s, interpreting Spanish calls for AT&T. What struck me then — and what still holds today — is how quickly things break down when people assume their way of working is universal. Fast‑forward nearly three decades, after leading international growth at HubSpot and advising companies from Google to SaaS startups, I’ve seen the strongest domestic strategies fall flat abroad.

Here's what I see happen over and over again: Teams think they’re being global, but they’re still defaulting to the comfort of their home market. Proximity bias and familiarity creep in quietly, and the playbook that worked so well at home suddenly stops delivering.

At HubSpot, I introduced the idea of going “global-first,” a mantra we repeated often. The idea was straightforward: stop treating international as an afterthought, because the tactics that work in your home market rarely carry you into the next one. The mindset has to evolve from the start.

So, where do teams go wrong with international expansion, and what should they be doing instead? Let’s break it down.

Table of Contents

The Shared Language Problem That’s Sabotaging Your Global Strategy

Where Teams Go Wrong with International Expansion

Building a Global-first Approach That Actually Works

The Shared Language Problem That’s Sabotaging Your Global Strategy

One of the first hurdles I see in global expansion is surprisingly simple. People don’t speak the same language about what they’re trying to do.

Before teams can even talk strategy, they need a shared vocabulary. Too often, people use terms like translation, localization, and globalization interchangeably, as if they mean the same thing. They don’t, and confusing them leads to wasted money and misaligned expectations.

Here’s how I break it down:

Translation = adapting the message, or ensuring the meaning carries across, even if the words change.

Localization = adapting the experience, or putting the full customer journey in context and going beyond text on a page.

Internationalization = adapting the code. Here, infrastructure choices, like hard-coding U.S. dollars, can create barriers.

Globalization = adapting the strategy or mindset. This is the deepest layer and re quires rethinking strategy for each market rather than applying the same playbook everywhere.

These distinctions matter because what appears to be a simple “localization problem” is often something much deeper. I've watched teams waste months trying to fix translation issues. Meanwhile, the real problem was a missing market strategy. Once everyone understands what these terms actually mean, you stop throwing money at the wrong things.

Where Teams Go Wrong with International Expansion

Companies continue to make the same mistakes when they expand internationally. Once you understand the framework above, these become obvious.

Forgetting About Go-to-market Fit

Most leaders understand product-market fit, but few think about go-to-market fit. Just because you see website traffic from another country doesn’t mean there’s a business opportunity there.

I’ve seen multiple companies assume it was time to invest in India after seeing traffic spikes from the country. But when we looked closer, those visitors weren’t willing to pay U.S. prices, we didn’t accept rupees, and we had no local payment processing. Traffic didn’t equal opportunity. Without adjusting pricing and infrastructure, there was no go-to-market fit.

At HubSpot, we ran into the same issue when launching our CRM in Latin America. The product resonated, but HubSpot hadn’t adjusted pricing for local economies, so only enterprise buyers could afford it. Product-market fit existed, but go-to-market fit was limited to the wealthiest segment.

Assuming One Strategy Fits All Markets

When HubSpot rolled out changes to our partner program, someone asked me to localize an announcement email into Japanese. It seemed simple at first, but upon reviewing the email, we noticed it included several links pointing to dependent assets, including a video, 10 blog posts, seven web pages, and more.

What appeared to be a straightforward job turned out to be a localization project that would have cost tens of thousands of dollars.

So, I asked the obvious question: How many partners do we have in Japan? Turns out, fewer than 10, and they were all in Tokyo. Instead of this big, elaborate campaign, we just invited them to our Tokyo office to walk them through the changes in person. It was less work for everyone and a better fit for a culture that values face-to-face relationships.

I ran into a similar challenge with our website.

When we were expanding to Japan, people wanted to translate our entire U.S. website. But our U.S. site was built for a market where we‘re already established. We’re a public company that people know. In Japan? Nobody had heard of us. Why would we need this complex site with all our partner integrations and advanced features when people didn't even know who we were yet?

I found the playbook that works for a market leader doesn’t make sense when you’re just planting roots in a new region.

Trying to Localize Everything

Another mistake is assuming that teams have to localize every asset for every market. This mindset often leads to sprawling projects that drain time and money without making much difference to local buyers. In reality, a handful of high-value assets usually cover most customer needs.

I always encourage teams to ask what’s essential at this stage in the market. Initially, it may be just a clear landing page, pricing guidance, or localized onboarding materials. You don’t need to mirror your entire U.S. website or replicate every blog post to build credibility in a new region.

Focusing on Translation Instead of Adaptation

Translation isn’t just about words. What matters is whether the message lands with people in another culture.

When HubSpot entered the Japanese market, we realized our CRM lacked a crucial feature for the region: business card scanning. In Japan, business cards are central to professional relationships, and every local CRM offers business card scanning. To succeed, we partnered with Sansan to integrate this capability into HubSpot.

I still have a box of Japanese business cards from that time. I never had cards for the U.S. market, but I absolutely needed them for Japan because proper presentation matters so much there. That small but telling detail illustrates how adaptation goes beyond language.

Building a Global-first Approach That Actually Works

Knowing what not to do is just the beginning. The real challenge is building something that actually works.

Make global-first a mantra.

When I joined HubSpot, one of the first things I realized was that global thinking needed to be part of daily decision-making. To make it stick, I started calling it “global-first” and brought it up constantly — in meetings, on our company wiki, and whenever I talked to executives.

I invited colleagues who cared about international growth to act as ambassadors and help spread the word. We even set up a Slack channel for our “global-first” community, so people across offices could connect and share ideas.

Eventually, people started using the phrase without me having to push it. New employees would hear it from their teammates and start saying it too. That's when I knew it was becoming an integral part of how we worked.

What you call it doesn't really matter. What matters is making global thinking a fundamental part of how your company operates. At HubSpot, we used “global-first,” but I’ve also seen other companies adopt phrases like “global-ready” or “think global.”

Even small companies can benefit by doing this early. The sooner you set global thinking as a norm, the more naturally it grows with the business.

Think of each new market like a startup.

Each new market is like starting a small business inside your company. You don’t have brand recognition, customer stories, or established partners yet. Success depends on staying close to customers. That means talking with them often, listening carefully, and letting their feedback guide your next steps.

Start simple, move quickly, build relationships, and grow from the ground up.

Hire people with international experience and curiosity.

If I could give only one piece of advice, it would be to hire people who bring an international perspective. They might have lived abroad, speak several languages, or grown up in a multicultural household. Equally important is curiosity about other cultures.

Build this into your job descriptions and hiring practices. Make it a requirement, not just a nice-to-have. We don’t talk about international diversity nearly enough, but it has a tangible impact on growth. People with global mindsets naturally make decisions that strengthen global strategy.

Give local voices power.

Local teams are closest to the customer, yet their voices often get drowned out by headquarters. You have to be intentional about amplifying them.

At HubSpot, we created two programs to address this:

International Helm (iHelm): A monthly meeting where executives heard directly from local teams about their specific market needs. Because international was our fastest-growing segment, it was easier to advocate for resources.

The Tomodachi Program: A buddy system connecting team members across geographies. Tomodachi means “friend” in Japanese, and the program started to help our Japan team build relationships across the company. It was simple but powerful: 30-minute calls between colleagues in different countries to share knowledge and make connections.

These informal connections are crucial. When people have personal relationships across markets, they're more likely to consider global implications in their daily decisions.

Understand your maturity stage in each market.

Don’t let aspiration cloud reality. I always advise teams to be honest about their current market position. Are people even aware you exist? Are they considering you but haven't made a purchase yet? Or are you already established and just trying to optimize your operations?

Your tactics need to match that reality, not where you wish you were.

Adapt the product, not just the messaging.

You can only do so much with marketing changes. Sometimes, you actually need to change your product to fit how people work in different countries. This could involve accepting local payment methods, integrating with widely used software, or adjusting your workflows to align with local business practices.

Build partnerships and trust, especially in relationship-driven markets.

In a lot of Asian markets, who you know matters more than what your product does. You need government approval and the right introductions. Beyond that, people have to believe you‘re in it for the long haul. American companies often miss this because we’re used to more transactional relationships. Getting the right partnerships can make or break your entry into these markets.

Use ecosystem shortcuts strategically.

There are shortcuts to going global, especially for small businesses. Instead of building presence in each country from scratch, you can use platforms where customers already are. Launch on Amazon or Etsy for instant reach across multiple countries, or tap into partner ecosystems like the HubSpot App Marketplace.

One company I advised, Lottie Dolls in Ireland, used this approach to reach customers worldwide and get distribution they would have struggled to establish on their own.

Knowing When Your Global-first Mindset Is Working

The real test of an international strategy is whether it strengthens the company as a whole. Expansion shouldn’t be a side project or a box to check. It should contribute directly to goals like diversifying revenue, sharpening the product, or staying ahead of competitors.

At HubSpot, international growth always connected back to company-wide targets. Too often, I see businesses chase new markets because of a traffic spike or a handful of prospect requests. That reactive approach usually wastes time and resources. The companies that get it right tie international moves to clear objectives from the start.

When it’s working, you see it clearly. Local insights shape product decisions. International colleagues move into leadership roles. Perspectives from abroad guide major choices.

Too many companies still think they can put off international until they‘re “ready.” But by then, you’ve already built so many assumptions and biases into your product and processes that going global becomes this massive, expensive undertaking.

Start thinking globally from the beginning. It doesn‘t mean you have to launch everywhere at once. Instead, you design things knowing you’ll eventually expand beyond your home market. That makes everything else so much easier.

AI email subject lines that drive 3x more revenue and actually convert [+ exclusive insights]

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 14:00:02 +0300

Email subject lines determine whether your carefully crafted campaigns ever see the light of day — yet most marketers still rely on gut instinct and basic A/B testing to choose them. What if you could predict which subject lines will resonate with your audience before hitting send? AI email subject line optimization makes this possible by analyzing millions of data points from your actual subscribers’ behavior, automatically testing variations, and continuously learning what drives engagement.

But here’s what most articles won’t tell you: there’s a massive difference between using a basic AI generator to brainstorm subject lines and implementing true AI optimization. When this optimization occurs in HubSpot’s Marketing Hub with Breeze AI, you are not only testing subject lines but also creating a smart system that understands your audience and adapts to their behaviors.

This guide shows you how to use AI to create subject lines that increase revenue, not just open rates. You’ll learn how to:

Set up governed workflows that maintain your brand voice

Create testing frameworks that go beyond simple A/B splits

Measure real business impact rather than vanity metrics

Whether you’re sending 1,000 emails a month or 10 million, these strategies will help you turn your weakest subject lines into your strongest revenue driver, whether you send 1,000 emails a month or 10 million.

Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

What is AI email subject line optimization?

How to Optimize Email Subject Lines with AI

How to Safeguard Deliverability and Compliance During AI Subject Line Optimization

How to Optimize AI Subject Lines in HubSpot

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About AI Subject Line Optimization

AI Email Subject Lines Make Email Marketing Easier

What is AI email subject line optimization?

AI-driven email subject line optimization is a data-driven process that utilizes machine learning to continuously test, analyze, and refine email subject lines based on actual recipient behavior and engagement patterns.

Unlike simple AI generation tools that only create subject line ideas, proper optimization involves automated testing across multiple variations, real-time performance prediction, and ongoing refinement based on your specific audience’s response data.

Most marketers confuse AI subject line generators with true AI optimization systems — but they’re as different as a calculator is from a financial advisor. Here’s the difference between the two:

AI generation: Creates subject line ideas based on prompts (one-time output)

AI optimization: Tests variations, learns from results, and automatically improves future performance (continuous improvement cycle)

While generators simply create clever text options based on your prompts, optimization platforms like HubSpot’s Marketing Hub establish data-driven workflows that continuously test, learn, and improve subject line performance based on actual revenue results.

Additionally, AI-driven email subject line optimization requires an integrated CRM system, automated testing infrastructure, and performance analytics that work together to drive measurable business outcomes — not just creative suggestions.

If you’re still wondering about why AI optimization is the way to go, check out these core benefits that might sway your decision:

It processes thousands of data points per campaign to predict performance

It runs unlimited A/B tests simultaneously without manual setup

It learns your unique audience preferences over time

It scales personalization across millions of subscribers instantly

It reduces campaign prep time from hours to minutes

Now, these benefits sound impressive, but you may wonder how this technology actually delivers such results in practice. Here’s a closer look at how AI email subject line optimization actually works:

Strategy input: You define campaign goals, brand guidelines, and target segments

Intelligent generation: AI creates 10-20 variations based on historical performance data

Predictive scoring: Each variation gets scored for likely open rate before sending

Automated testing: System deploys multivariate tests to sample audiences

Performance analysis: AI tracks opens, clicks, and conversions in real-time

Continuous learning: Winners inform future campaigns, building a knowledge base

AI optimization amplifies your marketing expertise rather than replacing it. You maintain control over brand voice, messaging strategy, and creative direction while AI handles the heavy lifting of testing and data analysis.

Think of it like this: AI is your assistant who remembers every subject line that’s ever worked for your audience and applies those insights instantly.

Why Platform Integration Matters

When AI optimization happens within HubSpot’s Marketing Hub, it connects seamlessly with your contact database, behavioral triggers, and analytics dashboard. This integration means AI can:

Access complete customer lifecycle data (for smarter personalization)

Trigger optimized subject lines based on user behavior

Track performance across all touchpoints, not just opens

Apply learnings across teams and campaigns automatically

But proper optimization requires more than just powerful technology — it needs governance and measurement to ensure consistent and compliant results. Therefore, adequate optimization includes guardrails to maintain brand consistency, such as:

Approval workflows before deployment

Brand voice parameters that flag off-message content

Performance benchmarks that track improvement over time

ROI measurement connecting subject lines to revenue

Pro tip: Ready to move beyond basic AI generation to complete optimization? Get started with HubSpot’s Email Marketing Software and Breeze AI to elevate your subject lines from guesswork to data-driven success.

Now that you understand the foundation of AI-powered subject line optimization and its critical components, let’s explore practical implementation. The following section will walk you through the exact steps to set up, configure, and deploy AI optimization in your email marketing workflow, turning these concepts into measurable results for your campaigns.

How to Optimize Email Subject Lines with AI

As stated above, AI-driven email subject line optimization enhances your email marketing by utilizing machine learning to test, analyze, and automatically refine subject line performance based on recipient behavior and revenue data.

This process goes far beyond simple text generation — HubSpot’s Marketing Hub connects AI optimization directly to your CRM database, enabling personalized testing across segments while tracking actual conversions, not just opens. However, successful AI optimization relies on one key factor: clean, well-organized contact data. This allows the system to understand your audience’s preferences and behaviors.

Before diving into the technical setup, let’s first establish the foundation that makes AI optimization possible: properly prepared email segments and data.

How to Prepare Email Segments and Data

Preparing email segments and data for AI subject line optimization involves organizing your contact database into meaningful groups based on shared characteristics and ensuring all contact information is accurate, current, and properly formatted.

This preparation is crucial because AI learns from patterns in your data. It’s simple: clean, well-segmented data leads to subject lines that can increase open rates; in contrast, messy data yields generic and ineffective results that hinder engagement.

Data and Segments to Use to Get the Best AI Subject Lines

The most effective AI subject lines come from four key data categories that help the AI understand recipient context and intent:

Essential segmentation categories:

Lifecycle stage data: Where contacts are in their customer journey (subscriber, lead, customer, evangelist),

Behavioral signals: Email engagement history, content downloads, website visits, and purchase frequency.

Demographic attributes: Industry, company size, role, location, preferred language.

Intent indicators: Product interests, support tickets, cart abandonment, and trial status.

Why do these fields matter? Well, AI uses them to predict which emotional triggers and value propositions will resonate with users. Here’s a breakdown of the essential segments you’ll need to create for optimal AI performance:

Lifecycle stage segments: New leads (education-focused), MQLs (benefit-driven), customers (loyalty-focused), at-risk (re-engagement).

Intent-based segments: High intent (visited pricing page), researchers (downloaded guides), comparison shoppers (viewed competitors).

Industry segments: Group by vertical to match terminology and pain points.

Behavioral segments: Engagement frequency, preferred content types, and typical purchase patterns.

Value segments: High-value customers, frequent buyers, and dormant accounts.

Each segment should contain at least 1,000 contacts for statistically significant AI learning. Smaller segments can be initially combined into broader categories, which can then be refined as more data is collected. AI uses these segments to identify which subject line elements — such as urgency, personalization, benefit statements, and questions — are most effective for each group.

Your Go-To Data Hygiene Checklist (Before AI Implementation)

Now, clean data is, as I’m sure you’ve realized, non-negotiable for AI performance. Thus, your Smart CRM should maintain:

Standardized formats: Consistent date formats, proper capitalization, no special characters in names.

Complete records: Fill critical fields (email, first name, lifecycle stage) for at least 80% of contacts.

Updated information: Remove bounced emails monthly, update job changes quarterly.

Unified profiles: Merge duplicate contacts to prevent conflicting signals.

Permission status: Clear opt-in/opt-out records for compliance.

Here’s the thing: When your data lives in a Smart CRM, AI can access the complete customer picture — not just email metrics but also sales interactions, support tickets, and website behavior. This unified view means AI can generate subject lines that reference a contact’s recent support case resolution, their upcoming renewal, or their browsing history, creating relevance that standalone email tools can’t match.

Pro tip: HubSpot’s Email Marketing Software with Breeze AI automatically segments your Smart CRM data and maintains hygiene standards while generating subject lines that speak directly to each segment’s needs.

How to Design AI Subject Line Prompts with Brand Voice Guardrails

Designing AI subject line prompts with brand voice guardrails involves creating structured instructions that tell AI exactly how to write in your brand’s unique style, while automatically preventing off-brand language. This systematic approach ensures that every generated subject line sounds authentically “you,” regardless of who creates it or which campaign it supports.

Additionally, it converts AI-generated writing into your brand’s consistent voice, ensuring message quality remains consistent across thousands of variations. Don’t believe me? Well, here’s a complete list of reasons why you should:

AI structured prompts generate 20+ on-brand variations in seconds versus hours of manual writing

AI structured prompts create and maintain a consistent voice across all teams and campaigns

AI structured prompts generate and prevent compliance violations and inappropriate language automatically

AI structured prompts generate, learn, and improve from approved/rejected patterns

AI structured prompts generate scale personalization without losing brand authenticity

With these benefits in mind, the key to unlocking AI’s full potential lies in crafting the proper prompt structure from the start. A well-designed prompt template acts as your blueprint for consistent, high-performing subject lines that maintain your brand voice while exploring creative variations.

That said, let’s review a proven template that top marketers use to generate subject lines that actually convert.

The Best Prompt Template for Subject Line Ideation

Creating an effective prompt template is like programming your AI with your brand’s DNA — it ensures every generated subject line reflects your unique voice while exploring creative angles you might never have considered.

The following template has been refined through millions of successful subject line generations across industries, providing the perfect balance of structure and flexibility. By filling in these specific components, you enhance generic AI suggestions into on-brand subject lines that consistently outperform those created manually.

Role definition: Start by establishing the AI’s identity and expertise. “You are [Company Name]’s email marketing specialist who understands our [industry] customers and writes subject lines that [core brand attribute, e.g., ‘inspire action through friendly expertise’]”

Tone parameters: Specify exactly how you communicate. “Professional yet approachable, confident without arrogance, helpful rather than salesy, using everyday language instead of jargon”

Audience context: Include subscriber details. “Writing for [segment]: [job title] at [company size] companies who [key challenge/goal]. They value [core priorities] and respond best to [communication style]”

Pro tip: Always follow these brand do’s and don’ts:

DO: Use action verbs, reference specific benefits, and include numbers/data

DON’T: Use all caps, excessive punctuation (!!!), clickbait phrases, competitor mentions

NEVER: Make unsubstantiated claims, use fear tactics, include profanity or slang

The Best Prompt template for On‑Brand Rewrites

An on-brand rewrite prompt template is a structured framework that transforms generic or underperforming subject lines into compelling, brand-aligned versions while maintaining compliance and deliverability standards. So, whether you’re refining AI-generated drafts or updating legacy campaigns, this step-by-step process ensures every subject line reflects your brand personality, avoids spam triggers, and fits within optimal character limits.

Here’s a universal on-brand rewrite template that’ll adapt any subject line into a high-performing, on-brand message:

Step one: Share brand and voice parameters. Include tone (i.e., “professional yet warm,” or “knowledgeable without condescension”), personality traits (3 to 4 traits, i.e., “helpful, innovative, trustworthy, approachable”), and reading level (i.e., “8th grade, avoiding technical jargon”)

Step two: Give AI rewrite instructions. 1) Maintain the core message about [main topic/offer], 2) Rewrite in our brand voice that is [tone description], 3) Include [required element — e.g., percentage, deadline, benefit], 4) Start with [preferred opening — action verb, question, number].

Step three: Be sure to supply AI with words to avoid. Never use: FREE, GUARANTEE, LIMITED TIME, ACT NOW, URGENT, $$$, 100%, RISK-FREE, WINNER, CONGRATULATIONS, CLICK HERE, BUY NOW, SAVE BIG, SPECIAL OFFER.

Step four: Specify your output format. Clarify how many variations you’d like/need and what different emotional triggers you’d like to target (logic, urgency, curiosity, benefit, social proof).

Step five: Finalize length constraints. Ideally, subject lines should be a maximum of 7 words (scanning ease), mobile displays should have a maximum of 45 characters (optimal mobile display), and preview text suggestions should be no more than 90 characters.

Personalize AI-Generated Subject Lines with CRM Tokens

CRM personalization tokens are dynamic placeholders that automatically pull specific information from your customer

Enterprise generative AI tools that actually work

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 14:00:02 +0300

TL;DR: Enterprise generative AI tools are advanced software platforms designed to automate and enhance marketing, sales, and customer service at scale.

The best tools integrate with your CRM, unify customer data, and support secure, governed workflows.

To choose the right solution, focus on proven use cases, integration depth, governance controls, and measurable ROI. Start with a clear rollout plan, align teams, and use a selection matrix to compare vendors.

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT have changed individual work, but using them in a company causes many challenges. Teams copy-paste customer data into external interfaces, but the outputs lack context from your CRM, and there's no audit trail when something goes wrong. Security teams raise red flags, compliance officers demand answers, and leadership questions whether the technology is ready for production use.

The gap between consumer AI and enterprise AI isn‘t just about features. It’s about integration, governance, data sovereignty, and the ability to prove measurable business outcomes. Enterprise generative AI tools help by integrating AI into your workflows and systems, allowing safe large-scale AI deployment.

This guide provides production-proven use cases, a vendor evaluation matrix, a practical rollout plan, and a governance checklist. We‘ll even show how platforms like HubSpot’s Breeze AI integrate these capabilities into marketing, sales, and service workflows.

Table of Contents

Best Generative AI Tools for Enterprise

Enterprise Gen AI Use Cases

How to Choose the Right Enterprise Gen AI Tool

How to Integrate a Gen AI Platform With Your Enterprise Tech Stack

Frequently Asked Questions About Enterprise Generative AI Tools

Enterprise Gen AI Use Cases

Enterprise generative AI tools deliver measurable value when applied to specific, repeatable workflows. Here's how leading organizations deploy these tools across marketing, sales, and customer service.

Marketing Use Cases

1. Content Generation at Scale

Marketing teams use generative AI to create blog posts, social media content, email campaigns, and landing page copy that fits the brand voice and targets different audience segments. The difference between consumer and enterprise tools shows up in brand consistency controls, approval workflows, and the ability to ground content in your actual customer data.

What I like: Tools that connect to your CRM can use real customer interactions, sales call pain points, and product usage patterns to create relevant content.

2. Personalization Engines

Rather than creating one-size-fits-all campaigns, generative AI analyzes customer behavior, engagement history, and firmographic data to generate personalized messaging, subject lines, and calls-to-action for each recipient. This moves beyond simple merge tags to genuinely adaptive content.

3. SEO and Search Optimization

Enterprise AI tools analyze search intent, identify content gaps, and generate SEO-optimized content that addresses specific queries your target accounts are asking. They can also optimize existing content for better search visibility and suggest internal linking strategies.

Pro tip: AI workflow automation is more effective when generative AI tools can trigger actions based on content performance and adjust campaigns according to engagement data.

4. Campaign Analysis and Reporting

Instead of manually pulling data from multiple platforms, generative AI synthesizes campaign performance across channels, identifies patterns, and generates executive summaries with actionable recommendations. This goes beyond basic merge tags to truly adaptive content.

Sales Use Cases

5. Intelligent Email Sequencing

Sales teams use AI to craft personalized outreach sequences that reference specific pain points, recent company news, and mutual connections. Enterprise tools ground these emails in CRM data, ensuring accuracy and relevance rather than generic templates.

Best for: Teams that need to personalize outreach at scale without sacrificing the quality that comes from manual research.

6. Meeting Preparation and Briefings

Before every call, generative AI compiles account history, recent interactions, open opportunities, and relevant market intelligence into a concise briefing. This eliminates prep work and ensures reps enter conversations fully informed.

7. Proposal and RFP Responses

Writing proposals typically requires pulling information from multiple sources, past proposals, product documentation, and case studies. Generative AI assembles customized proposals by analyzing RFP requirements and matching them to your capabilities, significantly reducing turnaround time.

What we like: Tools that maintain a knowledge base of past successful proposals and can identify winning patterns in your responses.

8. Call Transcription and Analysis

Enterprise AI tools transcribe sales calls, identify key moments, extract action items, and update CRM records automatically. They also analyze conversation patterns to identify what top performers do differently and surface coaching opportunities.

Pro tip: Generative AI in sales works best when integrated directly into the tools reps already use, eliminating context switching and increasing adoption.

9. Deal Intelligence and Forecasting

By analyzing pipeline data, win/loss patterns, and deal progression, generative AI provides early warning signals about at-risk deals and suggests specific actions to move opportunities forward.

Customer Service Use Cases

10. Knowledge Base Automation

Rather than manually creating and maintaining help articles, generative AI analyzes support tickets, identifies common questions, and generates comprehensive knowledge base content. It also keeps articles current by suggesting updates based on recent ticket trends.

11. Intelligent Ticket Routing and Triage

AI analyzes incoming support requests, extracts key information, determines urgency, and routes tickets to the appropriate team or agent. This reduces response times and ensures customers reach the right expert faster.

12. Response Drafting and Suggested Replies

Service agents receive AI-generated response drafts based on ticket content, customer history, and knowledge base articles. Agents can accept, edit, or regenerate suggestions, dramatically reducing handle time while maintaining quality.

What we like: Systems that learn from agent edits to improve future suggestions, creating a continuous improvement loop.

13. Sentiment Analysis and Escalation

Generative AI monitors customer interactions across channels, identifies frustration or churn risk, and automatically escalates critical issues to senior support staff or account managers before small problems become major incidents.

14. Self-service Chatbots and Virtual Agents

Modern AI-powered chatbots move beyond rigid decision trees to understand natural language, access your knowledge base and CRM, and resolve common issues without human intervention. They escalate to human agents when needed, passing along full context.

Pro tip: The most effective implementations of generative AI and customer centricity use unified customer data to ensure AI responses are informed by purchase history, support history, and account status.

15. Customer Feedback Synthesis

Instead of reading hundreds of survey responses, chat transcripts, and reviews manually, generative AI identifies themes, sentiment trends, and actionable insights that inform product and service improvements.

How to Choose the Right Enterprise Gen AI Tool

Selecting the right enterprise generative AI platform requires evaluating capabilities beyond impressive demos. Here's what actually matters in production environments.

Integration Depth

Enterprise generative AI tools automate and enhance marketing, sales, and customer service workflows most effectively when they connect natively to your core systems. Surface-level integrations via API create maintenance overhead and data sync issues. Look for tools that embed directly into your CRM, marketing automation platform, and customer service software.

Why this matters: When AI tools access unified customer data in real-time, they generate more accurate outputs, eliminate manual data transfer, and reduce security risks. A CRM-first approach means every AI interaction is grounded in actual customer context, not generic training data.

Data Governance and Security

Best enterprise generative AI tools integrate with CRM and core business systems while maintaining strict data controls. Evaluate how tools handle:

Data residency and sovereignty: Where is your data processed and stored? Can you specify geographic constraints to meet regulatory requirements?

Access controls and permissions: Does the tool respect your existing role-based access controls, or does it create a new permission system that requires separate management?

Audit trails and observability: Can you track what data was accessed, what prompts were used, and what outputs were generated? This becomes critical for compliance and troubleshooting.

Data retention and deletion: How long are prompts and outputs stored? Can you enforce retention policies consistent with your existing data governance framework?

Pro tip: Governance controls mitigate risk and ensure accuracy in generative AI outputs by creating layers of verification before information reaches customers or makes decisions.

Extensibility and Customization

Every enterprise has unique workflows, terminology, and business logic. The right platform allows you to:

Fine-tune models on your data to improve accuracy for domain-specific tasks

Create custom prompts and workflows that encode your business processes

Build proprietary agents that combine multiple AI capabilities

Integrate with specialized tools and data sources specific to your industry

Agent Capabilities

Understanding when to use different types of AI assistance matters. Breeze Copilot assists with in-flow AI guidance and automation across teams by providing suggestions and drafts that humans review. Autonomous agents handle end-to-end processes with minimal supervision, like automatically responding to common support tickets or enriching lead data.

The best platforms support both copilot and agent modes, letting you match the level of automation to task complexity and risk tolerance. They also provide orchestration capabilities that let multiple specialized agents work together on complex workflows.

Observability and Continuous Improvement

Production AI systems require monitoring beyond traditional software metrics. Look for platforms that provide:

Confidence scores on AI-generated outputs

Feedback mechanisms that let users flag inaccurate or unhelpful responses

Analytics on how AI suggestions are being accepted, edited, or rejected

A/B testing capabilities to compare different prompt strategies or model configurations

This observability enables continuous improvement and helps you identify where AI adds value versus where it creates friction.

Pricing Model Clarity

Enterprise generative AI pricing models vary dramatically across vendors. Common structures include:

Per-user pricing: Fixed cost per seat, regardless of usage intensity. Predictable but potentially expensive if only some users leverage AI heavily.

Usage-based pricing: Charges based on API calls, tokens processed, or outputs generated. Scales with actual consumption but requires monitoring to prevent runaway costs.

Hybrid models: Combines base platform fees with usage-based components, balancing predictability and flexibility.

What to watch for: Hidden costs for training, customization, premium models, or data storage. Ask vendors for representative customer consumption patterns to inform your forecasts.

Support and Partnership Approach

Enterprise AI deployments succeed or fail based on the vendor's ability to support change management, provide technical guidance, and adapt to your evolving needs. Evaluate:

Availability of technical account management and implementation specialists

Quality of documentation, training resources, and certification programs

Responsiveness of support channels and issue resolution timeframes

Vendor's product roadmap and commitment to enterprise features

The Unified Data Advantage

Unified customer data reduces implementation risk and time to value by eliminating the need to replicate information across systems or build complex data pipelines before AI can be useful. When your generative AI platform sits on top of your CRM rather than alongside it, you get:

Faster time to value: No lengthy data migration or integration project required before seeing results. AI works with your existing data from day one.

Higher accuracy: AI outputs are grounded in actual customer records, reducing hallucinations and irrelevant suggestions.

Simpler governance: Data access controls, retention policies, and audit requirements are already in place. AI respects existing governance rather than requiring new frameworks.

Better user adoption: Teams don't need to learn new interfaces or switch between systems. AI assistance appears in their existing workflows.

HubSpot Smart CRM serves as a unified data layer for enterprise AI tools, connecting marketing, sales, and service data in one platform that Breeze AI can access securely.

Here are proven platforms organized by primary use case, with a focus on production-ready capabilities and enterprise-grade features.

Here are proven platforms organized by primary use case, with a focus on production-ready capabilities and enterprise-grade features.

Tool

Primary Use Case

Key Strengths

Best For

Integration Approach

HubSpot Breeze AI

Marketing, Sales, Service

Native CRM integration, unified customer data, Claude connector

Teams wanting AI embedded in existing workflows without separate vendors

Native to HubSpot platform

Jasper

Marketing Content

Brand voice consistency, approval workflows, content templates

Large marketing teams producing high-volume content across channels

API integrations

Copy.ai

Marketing & Sales Copy

Campaign automation, multi-channel generation

Demand gen teams running integrated campaigns

API integrations

Gong

Sales Intelligence

Conversation analysis, deal risk identification, rep coaching

Sales orgs focused on call analysis and performance optimization

Integrates with major CRMs

Outreach

Sales Engagement

Sequence optimization, predictive analytics, email generation

Inside sales running high-volume outbound campaigns

Native sales engagement platform

Intercom

Customer Service

AI chatbot (Fin), workflow automation, knowledge base integration

Teams wanting automated resolution for routine inquiries

Standalone with integrations

Zendesk AI

Customer Service

Intelligent triage, sentiment analysis, multi-channel support

Large support orgs with complex routing needs

Native to Zendesk platform

Anthropic Claude

Cross-Functional

Complex reasoning, long-context analysis, high accuracy

Knowledge work requiring nuanced judgment and document analysis

API access

Microsoft Copilot

Productivity

Office 365 integration, Microsoft Graph access

Enterprises invested in Microsoft 365 ecosystem

Native to Microsoft apps

Google Gemini

Productivity

Google Workspace integration, collaborative AI

Organizations using Google Workspace

Native to Google apps

Marketing Tools

1. HubSpot Breeze AI

Breeze integrates directly into HubSpot's Marketing Hub, providing AI capabilities across content creation, campaign optimization, and analytics without leaving your CRM.

It serves many func

Can music influence what we buy? To find out, I dove into the psychology of music

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 14:00:02 +0300

In the first episode of my Nudge podcast, I interviewed the fantastic psychologist Dr. Adrian North, who conducted one of the seminal studies on the psychology of music.

Back in 1997, the researchers stocked an English supermarket with four types of French and German wines, all similarly matched in cost, dryness, and sweetness. For two weeks, the store speakers either played German oom-pah music or French accordion music. North and his colleagues would switch the music daily and measure the effect on sales.

Turns out, 83% of wine buyers bought French wine when the accordion music was playing, while 65% of buyers picked German bottles when the Bavarian music was on.

North interviewed these buyers as they left the store, but no one claimed the music had an effect on their purchase — yet it clearly did.

Is the connection between music and buying behavior still relevant?

North’s study had some important results, but it’s worth noting that this study is almost three decades old and has a relatively small sample size of just 82 people.

So, are the findings still relevant today?

Well, in 2017, researchers at Montclair State University found that playing Italian music in a university cafeteria increased sales of their Italian dish (chicken parmesan). When playing Spanish flamenco tunes, they increased sales of paella.

It’s clear that music does seem to shape what we buy. And maybe even what we want to eat?

Indeed, during a recent trip to Paris, I couldn’t help but stop at the local boulangerie each morning for a coffee and croissant. Thinking back, I realized that they routinely played French café-style music. Perhaps that’s what drew me in.

What else can music influence? Turns out, quite a lot …

In his book Pre-Suasion, Robert B. Cialdini writes that music made children 3x more likely to help their peers. Similarly, in Get It Done, Ayelet Fishbach shared how music can increase gym reps by 50%. And Nick Kolenda’s work in Imagine Reading This Book shows that sad music makes exciting life landmarks feel further away.

Yet, the study on music that’s arguably most influential involves (more) supermarket shoppers.

In Ronald E. Milliman’s study (aptly titled “Using Background Music to Affect the Behavior of Supermarket Shoppers”), he monitored the flow of shoppers as they navigated a supermarket in the southern U.S. Over nine weeks, he found that customers spent 38% more when slow music (60 BPM) was played compared to fast music (108 BPM).

Milliman and his team concluded that the pace of the music influenced the speed of the shoppers. In other words, a slow tempo slowed down the pace of shopping, giving the customers more time to buy. Compelling, right?

In his wonderful book Sensehacking, Charles Spence desperately tried to find companies that have applied this insight into music and tempo (and were willing to talk about it).

One of the few public examples is Chipotle.

According to Spence, Chipotle carefully controls the tempo of the music in all of its 3,500+ stores. They deliberately play faster music at busy times of the day to speed up their customers and shorten the long lines.

Chipotle’s in-house DJ is quoted as saying, “The lunch and dinner rush have songs with higher BPMs because we need to keep the customers moving.”

During the quieter periods, the store plays slower tunes to keep customers lingering and keep the store busy.

So, the next time you find yourself chomping down on your lunchtime burrito or reaching for that bottle of German wine, take a minute and ask yourself: “What music is playing right now?”

Best practices for answer engine optimization (AEO) marketing teams can't ignore

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:00:03 +0300

A few months back, I was having a bit of a professional identity crisis. And it’s all thanks to answer engine optimization (AEO) and AEO best practices.

Before 2024, I spent the better part of a decade focused on topping search engine result pages — and, frankly, I was great at it. I knew the ins and outs of keywords, schema, and even technical SEO aspects like site speed.

But with the rise of AI, those skills were slowly becoming less urgent, for lack of a better word. (Cue marketer existential panic.)

Search and consumer behavior have changed dramatically. While traditional search engines still dominate, people increasingly turn to AI tools like ChatGPT to answer their questions. Heck, with 79% of those who already use AI for search believing it offers a better experience than traditional search engines, even Google has introduced AI overviews to stay competitive.

But what about all my SEO glory? This shift demands a new approach. Unfortunately, AEO is generally a mystery to businesses and marketers alike. HubSpot is no exception, but we’re finding our way.

We’ve been researching and experimenting with how we produce and format content for AI and loop marketing for almost a year. In this article, I’ll share some of the most critical AEO best practices we’ve uncovered.

Table of Contents

TLDR

What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?

Why Answer Engine Optimization Matters Now More Than Ever

Best practices for Answer Engine Optimization

How does Loop Marketing fit into AEO?

Technical AEO Checklist

Common AI Engine Optimization Challenges

Frequently Asked Questions About AEO Best Practices

TLDR

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the process of making your content easy for AI-powered systems — like Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT — to find, understand, and cite. Unlike traditional SEO, AEO focuses on direct answers, structured data, and authority signals that help your brand appear in zero-click results and AI summaries.

To get started, map user questions, structure content for quick answers, add the right schema markup for AEO, and track your visibility with tools like HubSpot's AI Search Grader. Ready to see where you stand? Check it for free.

What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?

At its core, answer engine optimization is the strategic practice of structuring your content so AI-powered systems can easily extract, understand, and present it as authoritative answers.

Many in the industry also refer to related terms like generative engine optimization (GEO) or large language model optimization (LLMO), but “AEO” emphasizes the answer.

When someone asks ChatGPT for marketing advice, queries Google for a quick definition, or speaks to Alexa about local services, AEO determines whether your brand is cited in the response.

How is AEO different from SEO?

Feature

Traditional SEO

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)

Goal

Rank high in SERPs, drive website traffic

Get cited in AI responses, win zero-click visibility

Content focus

Broad, long–form, targeting keyword groups

Precise, Q&A–style, direct answers (brief + extended)

Signals

Backlinks, keyword metrics, domain authority,

Mentions, semantic markup, freshness, structured data

Metrics

Impressions, clicks, CTR, conversions, visits

Citation rate, share of AI voice, AI impressions, brand mentions

Time horizon

Medium to long term, with sustained growth

Some faster wins (snippets), but needs continual adaptation

When people use a search engine, they get back what the tool thinks are the best resources to answer their question. Like if I searched the very scientific question of “what are the best action movies of all time?”, it would give me a bunch of different resources (websites, videos, even forum responses), which it believes could offer the information I’m looking for.

That’s why the goal of traditional SEO is to increase rankings, clicks, and, in turn, website traffic.

As marketers, that means targeting keywords, building backlinks, securing a place on page one, if not position one, and tracking impressions, click-through rates, and organic sessions. (All that good stuff I used to tackle.)

Read: 8 SEO Challenges Brands Face [HubSpot Blog Data]

Answer engines don’t just give users possible resources; they attempt to provide the exact answer they want.

For example, if I ask ChatGPT for the best action movies of all time, it’ll give me a list compiled from many sources rather than simply linking to some pages for me to check out.

Because of that, the goal of AEO is citations and inclusion in those answers.

As marketers, you need to structure your content for extraction, use schema markup to clarify meaning, and build authority so language models trust and reference your expertise. And you’ll track success with the number of zero-click answers, AI summaries, and voice responses, even when users never visit your website.

The strategic difference is visibility without traffic. A well-optimized answer might get cited thousands of times in ChatGPT conversations or Google AI Overviews without generating a single session in your analytics. This challenges traditional attribution models but extends your brand's reach into entirely new contexts where buying decisions increasingly begin.

In short: SEO gets traffic. AEO owns the answer.

Read: The essential SEO tutorial for thriving in the age of AI-driven search

Why Answer Engine Optimization Matters Now More Than Ever

The internet is shifting from a click-based economy to an answer-based one, and your brand can easily get bypassed if you ignore AEO. Don’t believe me?

Google reports that nearly 60% of searches now end without a click as users get what they need directly from AI Overviews, featured snippets, or knowledge panels. On top of that, generative AI is being embedded into every major platform (i.e., Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, and Gemini), and voice assistants answer queries in seconds, often citing a single source.

ChatGPT alone has nearly doubled its weekly average users to 800 million from February to August this year, so clearly, this trend is not slowing down.

Brand visibility now depends on being cited and summarized by these systems, not just ranking well in search. But that doesn’t mean you can neglect SEO.

AI engine optimization actually complements SEO and inbound marketing; it doesn't replace them. AEO draws on many SEO foundations — strong content, domain credibility, internal linking — but reorients priorities so that content is machine-friendly, structured, and ready to be quoted or excerpted.

While traditional SEO remains essential for driving traffic, AEO determines whether your brand appears in the most important answers. So, think of it as a new layer to your existing content strategy, not a separate thing competing for resources.

Best Practices for Answer Engine Optimization

Effective AEO requires systematic implementation across your content operations. Each practice below includes specific workflows, clear ownership, and actionable checklists to help your team execute with confidence.

1. Map questions and user intent into AEO content.

AEO is extremely question and answer-focused.

So, start by building a comprehensive question inventory that captures what your audience typically asks at every stage of their journey.

Connect with sales and customer service to understand the questions prospects and customers frequently ask. Then, mine Google‘s “People Also Ask” (PAA) boxes for your core topics. These reveal what users want answered and what Google’s algorithm considers relevant.

Once collected, audit your existing content to identify gaps or opportunities to update content. Also, research them in both search engines and AI tools to see how your competitors are currently performing for them.

From there, segment questions by funnel stage and buyer persona. Here are some general guidelines you can follow:

Awareness-stage questions need educational, jargon-free answers.

Consideration-stage questions require comparisons, frameworks, and proof points.

Decision-stage questions demand specifics about implementation, pricing, and support.

Pro tip: Track this inventory in a shared spreadsheet or your CRM, noting which questions you've covered, which are in progress, and which represent content gaps your competitors might be filling first.

2. Structure content for direct answers and extractions.

When you search Google, its AI doesn't read your entire article linearly. Instead, it identifies answer-like structures (short paragraphs after questions, numbered steps, comparison tables) and decides if that content directly addresses the user’s query.

Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT do something similar during training and retrieval, prioritizing content that presents information in clear, modular blocks that they can confidently cite.

To optimize for this behavior, lead every key section with a 40-60-word direct answer that fully addresses the question, similar to how you would typically go after “featured snippets” in Google (more on that later).

If someone asks, “What is inbound marketing?” define it completely in two or three sentences in your first paragraph, no fluff, preamble, or quips (as much as this one pains me), just the answer. Follow that with supporting detail, examples, and context for readers wanting depth.

Also, use scannable formatting like bullet points, numbered lists, and tables, and keep paragraphs under four sentences when possible. This isn‘t about dumbing down your content, it’s about making valuable information accessible to both hurried readers and parsing algorithms.

If you have the resources, adopt reusable content block patterns that answer engines recognize. Think definition blocks for terminology, step-by-step blocks for processes, pros-and-cons blocks for evaluations, example blocks for illustration.

Here’s an example from one of my HubSpot articles on organic marketing:

Source

These patterns act as semantic signals that help AI identify what type of information you're providing and how to extract it accurately.

Pro tip: Content Hub can help you templatize these patterns, streamline content briefs, and maintain editorial governance at scale as your team produces more AEO-optimized content. So can schema.

3. Implement schema that answer engines read.

Schema markup is structured data you add to your HTML to explicitly tell search engines and AI systems what your content represents.

It's the difference between Google guessing that your page is a how-to guide and Google knowing with certainty that it is, with five specific steps, an estimated completion time, and required tools.

Focus on these core schema types for AEO impact:

Use FAQPage schema on pages with question-and-answer pairs. This helps Google surface your content in rich results and gives LLMs clear question-answer associations to extract.

Apply HowTo schema to instructional content, marking each step, its position in the sequence, and any images or warnings.

Tag editorial content with Article schema, including headline, publish date, author, and organization. This establishes freshness and authority signals.

Add Speakable schema to key sections you want voice assistants to prioritize when reading answers aloud.

Finally, implement Organization schema sitewide to clarify your brand identity, logo, and social profiles for consistent entity recognition.

CMS SEO tools in platforms like HubSpot let you templatize schema across content types so your team doesn't hand-code for every post. If you’re a HubSpot user, set up templates for your most common content types— blog posts, guides, FAQs, and product pages — and the schema will be applied automatically with clean, crawlable HTML.

4. Win featured snippets and “People Also Ask.”

Featured snippets and “People Also Ask” boxes are Google‘s most visible answer formats, and they’re training data for how AI Overviews select and present information.

When your content appears in a featured snippet, you've essentially been pre-selected by Google as the authoritative answer, which definitely increases your chances of being cited by AI summaries and language models that crawl the web.

To win featured snippets, keep these guidelines in mind when creating content:

Format your answers to match the snippet type in Google. If the existing snippet is a numbered list, structure your answer as a numbered list. If it‘s a paragraph, lead with a concise paragraph answer. If it’s a table, present your information in a comparison table with clear rows and columns.

Mirror the question wording in your H2 or H3 header. If the PAA question is “How do you calculate ROI?”, your header should match that phrasing exactly.

Place your answer high on the page. Ideally, this is within the first two scrolls. Google prioritizes content that's easily accessible and clearly structured.

Use the inverted pyramid approach: answer first, then provide context, examples, and related information for users who want to go deeper.

Pro tip: To systematically capture more features, harvest “People Also Ask” questions for your target topics every quarter. Open an incognito browser, search your core keywords, and document every PAA question that appears. Note which ones you already answer well, which you answer poorly, and which you don't address at all.

Prioritize updating existing high-authority pages to target new PAA questions rather than creating net-new content. Google favors established pages for featured snippets, so enhancing what already ranks often delivers faster results.

5. Prioritize credibility.

Recent research shows that content including citations, quotes, and statistics is 30-40% more visible in AI search results. This emphasizes the importance of backing up claims with credible sources and maintaining high editorial standards. That said, strengthen your content by:

Format your content for easy skimming. Think bullet points, schema, etc.

Supporting all claims with facts. Including data-driven insights and expert citations to increase trustworthiness and demonstrate expertise. (Even better if it’s original data or research.)

Use trusted resources. Leverage authoritative publications that AI models favor while maintaining originality in your analysis.

Update existing content regularly with new data and insights. This maintains relevance and helps already-ranking pages stay on top.

6. Build a strong, positive online presence across multiple channels.

Social proof works. I mean, it’s marketing 101. The more people rave about something or buy it, the more others are likely to believe it’s true. AI and LLMs work similarly. They learn what to trust based on which sources appear frequently across authoritative contexts.

In other words, LLMs are more likely to treat your content as credible and worth citing if your brand is cited in reputable industry publications, discussed in high-quality forums, and referenced in academic or government sources.

Off-site authority isn't just about backlinks for SEO, however. It’s about establishing proof that your brand is a legitimate subject-matter expert across many different online territories. Think other publications, forums, review sites, and social media platforms.

Knowing this, you want to develop a multichannel distribution strategy that prioritizes platforms where your audience and AI training data intersect. This could me

Married at 28, divorcing at 29 — how I learned to own the narrative

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:00:02 +0300

At 28, I thought I was building the life I’d always dreamed of. I got engaged, shared it with my audience, and then brought them along on the journey. Over 10 million people watched my “Get Married With Me” video across my platforms. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life, magnified by the fact that I had built this level of trust and connection with my community.

But a year later, I wasn’t preparing for another celebration. I was preparing for a divorce. The person I had married misrepresented who they were on nearly every level. Behind the curated moments and public smiles was a predatory relationship.

I took what could have been my deepest humiliation and turned it into a story of resilience. I launched my “Married at 28. Divorcing at 29” TikTok series. I wasn’t sensationalizing my heartbreak. Instead, I was reclaiming the narrative and processing what had happened to me in the most honest way possible.

Here’s why I decided to share my experience and how the experience shaped my career as an influencer.

Table of Contents

Choosing to Go Public

Courage That Inspires

Lessons I’ve Learned

Choosing to Go Public

When your life unravels on a stage that big, silence feels tempting. Hiding feels safe. But, silence doesn’t set you free. Truth does.

I decided to go public about my divorce because, as a creator who prides herself on authenticity, I don’t believe in only sharing the good and hiding the bad. My audience saw my engagement, my wedding prep, and even the most intimate moments leading up to the big day. To omit the ending would have felt dishonest.

Authenticity is what has helped me secure brand partnerships, and I view it as my duty to show the full spectrum of my story. What I’ve found is that the best brands don’t shy away from what’s real. Instead, they embrace it. In fact, many of the opportunities that have come my way have been from brands drawn to my unfiltered storytelling.

When I announced my divorce, I didn’t do it in a breakdown video. I did it in partnership with OSEA – a skincare brand I genuinely love. The tagline was simple: “Glowing Through Divorce.” In my campaign with OSEA, I was able to weave my real-life journey into the promotion of their products.

Source

These are the collaborations that resonate most, because they aren’t manufactured. They are born out of alignment. When they recognize that authenticity sells, brands are rewarded for their honesty with audience trust.

My partnership with OSEA wasn’t just marketing. It was a declaration.

I was showing my audience that even in the middle of betrayal, deception, and pain, I could choose light. I could choose to nourish myself, to take care of my body and spirit, and to glow from within.

And that’s what people connected with. Not the perfection of my past, but the courage to live in the truth of the present.

Courage That Inspires

Since I began telling my story, tens of thousands of women have reached out to share their own. Some even confided that my transparency gave them the courage to finally leave abusive, narcissistic, and predatory relationships. Others admitted they hadn’t even realized they were in one until my videos gave them language for their experience.

Men, too, have reached out — many recognizing the patterns of deception, gaslighting, and emotional sabotage in their own lives.

The messages flood in daily. Comments pour in on every post. And what I’ve realized is this: When you speak truth, you give others permission to do the same. You create connection not just through relatability, but through liberation.

That is why audiences resonate so deeply with this story. Because it doesn’t just entertain … it validates. It reminds people they aren’t alone. That exposure is often the first step toward freedom.

And from a professional standpoint, my experience reinforced one of the most important lessons of my career: honesty creates community, and community creates longevity. My credibility as a creator hasn’t been damaged by sharing my divorce. In fact, it has been strengthened.

Brands haven’t pulled back because of my vulnerability. They’ve leaned in. They’ve seen that authenticity deepens trust, and trust is the currency of influence. That’s why partnerships like my campaign with OSEA, or even my divorce announcement with a skincare brand, resonated so strongly.

When content is rooted in truth, it doesn’t just sell products — it builds belief.

Lessons I’ve Learned

This season of my life has been a personal reckoning, but it has also been one of my greatest professional case studies. Here’s what I’ve learned:

Truth liberates. Honesty and owning a story puts the power back in your hands. When I exposed what happened to me, I wasn’t just freeing myself from silence. I was reclaiming my credibility.

Exposure is a form of healing. What thrives in secrecy loses its grip when brought into the light. In both life and business, addressing issues head-on creates more trust than pretending they don’t exist.

Pain can be transformed. What was meant to break you can be reshaped into something that empowers both you and others. For me, that transformation became my viral divorce series — and it deepened audience loyalty.

Credibility flows from authenticity. Audiences can tell when you’re hiding. Brands can too. The more transparent I’ve been, the stronger my partnerships have become.

Protect your professional image by leaning into the truth, not running from it. When unexpected events occur, silence leaves room for speculation. By being proactive, I controlled the story instead of letting it control me.

Bring brands into the story instead of shutting them out. My most successful partnerships during this season came from brands that allowed me to weave my reality into campaigns. Instead of pausing opportunities out of fear, I collaborated with partners who saw the power in authentic storytelling.

Crisis can strengthen connection. What feels like a professional threat can actually elevate your brand if you navigate it honestly. My divorce could have been a liability, but it became the foundation of a new theme — Glowing Through Divorce — that resonated with millions.

From Survival to Strategy

I got married at 28 and began getting divorced at 29. I was entrapped in marriage fraud. But by exposing the truth, I turned what could have been my greatest shame into my greatest source of power.

This isn’t just about divorce. It’s about the freedom that comes from living authentically, from speaking the unspeakable, and from refusing to let someone else write your story.

There’s a lesson here that extends beyond personal life: Truth builds trust.

What I lived through was predatory and deceptive, but the way I shared it became strategic. People didn’t just watch for updates. They watched because they saw themselves reflected back. They found courage in the cracks of my story.

And that bond — raw, unfiltered, undeniable — is why my content didn’t just withstand the storm. It grew.

That bond is also why brands have been eager to work with me. Credibility in today’s landscape doesn’t come from projecting a façade. It comes from living in your truth. When people see you own that truth, they don’t just follow you — they invest in you.

Machine learning in email marketing: What drives revenue growth (and what doesn't)

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 14:00:03 +0300

TL;DR: Machine learning in email marketing uses algorithms to personalize content, optimize send times, and predict customer behavior — driving higher engagement and revenue.

You can unify your CRM data and automate workflows to use ML for dynamic personalization, send-time optimization, and predictive lead scoring without a data science team.

Email marketing has evolved from batch-and-blast campaigns to sophisticated, data-driven experiences. Machine learning algorithms analyze patterns, predict behavior, and personalize email marketing at scale. Not every ML application delivers results, and teams often find it hard to distinguish between hype and impactful use cases.

This guide cuts through the noise. You‘ll learn effective machine learning strategies, how to prepare your data, and how to implement ML features in phases, whether you’re a solo marketer or leading a team. We'll also discuss common pitfalls that waste time and budget and provide practical steps to measure ROI and maintain brand integrity.

Table of Contents

What is machine learning in email marketing and how does it help?

Steps to Take Before You Switch ML on for Your Email Marketing Campaigns

Proven Email Marketing ML Use Cases You Can Deploy Now

Measuring the ROI of Machine Learning for Email Marketing

An ML Rollout Plan for Every Team Size

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Frequently Asked Questions about Machine Learning in Email Marketing

Unlike rules-based automation (if contact X does Y, send email Z), ML models find patterns humans can't spot manually and adapt as new data arrives.

It's distinct from general AI in two ways: ML is narrowly focused on prediction and pattern recognition, while AI encompasses broader capabilities such as natural language understanding and generation. And unlike static segmentation rules you write once, ML models continuously refine their predictions as they ingest more engagement signals.

Where Machine Learning Works

Personalization at scale: Selecting the right content, product, or offer for each recipient based on their behavior and profile.

Send-time optimization: Predicting when each contact is most likely to engage.

Predictive scoring: Identifying which leads are ready to buy or at risk of churning.

Copy and subject line testing: Accelerating multivariate tests and surfacing winning patterns faster.

Dynamic recommendations: Matching products or content to individual preferences.

Where Machine Learning Doesn't Work

When your data is messy or incomplete: Garbage in, garbage out — ML amplifies bad data.

As a substitute for strategy: Models optimize toward the metrics you choose; if you're measuring the wrong thing, ML will get you there faster.

Without sufficient volume: Most models need hundreds or thousands of examples per segment to learn reliably.

For highly creative, brand-sensitive copy: ML can suggest and test, but it can't replace human judgment on tone and brand voice.

When you skip measurement: If you don‘t compare ML performance to your baseline, you won’t know if it's working.

Machine learning shines when you have clean, unified data, clear success metrics, and enough volume to train models. It falls short when data quality is poor, goals are vague, or you expect it to replace strategic thinking.

Steps to Take Before You Switch ML on for Your Email Marketing Campaigns

Most machine learning failures occur before the first model is run. Poor data quality, fragmented contact records, and missing consent flags will sabotage even the smartest algorithms. Before you enable ML features, invest in these foundational steps.

1. Unify contacts, events, and lifecycle stages.

Machine learning models need a single source of truth. If your contact data lives in multiple systems — email platform, CRM, ecommerce backend, support desk — models can't see the full picture. A contact who abandoned a cart, opened three emails, and called support last week looks like three separate people unless you unify those records.

Start by consolidating contacts into one system that tracks identity, lifecycle stage, and behavioral events on a shared timeline. Map key activities — form submissions, purchases, support tickets, content downloads — to lifecycle stages like Subscriber, Lead, Marketing Qualified Lead, Opportunity, and Customer. This mapping gives ML models the context they need to predict next actions.

Identity resolution matters here: if john.doe@company.com and j.doe@company.com are the same person, merge them. If a contact switches from a personal to a work email, link those identities. The more complete each contact record, the better your models perform.

HubSpot Smart CRM automatically unifies contacts, tracks engagement across channels, and maintains a single timeline for every interaction — giving your ML models the clean, connected data they need to personalize effectively.

2. Automate data quality and consent management.

Before you train models, clean your data. Deduplicate contacts, standardize field formatting (lowercase emails, consistent country names, formatted phone numbers), and tag consent status for every record. If 15% of your contacts have duplicate entries or missing lifecycle stages, your segmentation and scoring models will misfire.

Set up automated workflows to:

Deduplicate contacts on email address and merge records with matching identifiers

Standardize field values using lookup tables or validation rules (e.g., map “US,” “USA,” and “United States” to one value)

Enrich missing data by appending firmographic or demographic attributes from trusted sources

Flag and quarantine bad records that fail validation checks until a human reviews them

Track consent preferences at the field level — email, SMS, third-party sharing — and respect opt-outs in real time

Manual cleanup is a temporary fix. Automate quality checks so new records arrive clean and existing records stay accurate as they age. Data quality automation in Operations Hub reduces errors, prevents duplicates, and keeps consent flags up to date, ensuring your ML models train on reliable signals rather than noise.

3. Audit your event tracking and attribution.

ML models learn from behavior, not just static attributes. If you're not tracking key events—email opens, link clicks, page views, purchases, downloads, demo requests—your models will lack the signals they need to predict engagement or conversion.

Audit your event schema: Are you capturing the events that matter to your business? Can you tie each event back to a specific contact? Do events carry enough context (product viewed, dollar value, content type) to inform personalization?

Fix gaps by instrumenting your website, email platform, and product with consistent event tracking. Use UTM parameters and tracking pixels to attribute conversions back to specific campaigns and contacts. The richer your event data, the sharper your predictions.

4. Set baseline metrics before you flip the switch.

You can‘t measure ML’s impact without a baseline. Before you enable any machine learning feature, document your current performance:

Open rate and click-through rate by segment and campaign type

Conversion rate from email to your goal action (purchase, demo request, signup)

Revenue per email and customer lifetime value by acquisition source

Unsubscribe rate and spam complaint rate

Run a holdout test if possible: apply ML to a treatment group and compare results to a control group receiving your standard approach. This isolates ML's impact from seasonality, external campaigns, or changes in your audience.

Track these metrics over at least two to three campaign cycles post-launch so you can distinguish signal from noise. Quick wins like send-time optimization may show results in weeks; longer-term gains like predictive scoring and churn prevention compound over months.

Proven Email Marketing ML Use Cases You Can Deploy Now

Not all machine learning applications deliver equal value. These use cases have the strongest track records across industries and team sizes. For each, we'll explain what it does, when it works best, and the most common mistake to avoid.

1. AI Email Personalization and Dynamic Content

What it does: Machine learning selects content blocks, images, product recommendations, or calls-to-action for each recipient based on their profile and behavior. Instead of creating separate campaigns for every segment, you design one template with multiple variants, and the model chooses the best combination per contact.

When it works best: High-volume campaigns with diverse audiences — newsletters, onboarding sequences, promotional emails. You need enough historical engagement data (opens, clicks, conversions) for the model to learn which content resonates with which profiles.

Common mistake: Personalizing for the sake of personalization. Just because you can swap in a contact‘s first name or company doesn’t mean it improves outcomes. Personalize elements that change decision-making — offers, product recommendations, social proof — not cosmetic details. Test personalized vs. static versions to confirm lift.

Pro tip: For faster content creation, use HubSpot's AI email writer to generate personalized email copy at scale, or tap the AI email copy generator to create campaign-specific messaging that adapts to your audience segments.

2. Send Time Optimization by Recipient

What it does: Instead of sending every email at 10 a.m. Tuesday, a send-time optimization model predicts the hour each contact is most likely to open and engage, then schedules delivery accordingly. The model learns from each contact's historical open patterns—time of day, day of week, device type—and adjusts over time.

When it works best: Campaigns where timing flexibility doesn't hurt your message (newsletters, nurture sequences, promotional announcements). Less useful for time-sensitive emails like webinar reminders or flash sales where everyone needs to receive the message within a tight window.

Common mistake: Assuming optimal send time alone will transform results. Send-time optimization typically lifts open rates by 5–15%, not 100%. It's a marginal gain that compounds over many sends. Pair it with strong subject lines, relevant content, and healthy list hygiene for maximum impact.

HubSpot Marketing Hub email marketing includes send-time optimization that analyzes engagement history and automatically schedules emails when each contact is most likely to open.

3. Predictive Lead Scoring and Churn Risk

What it does: Predictive scoring models analyze hundreds of attributes—job title, company size, website visits, email engagement, content downloads—to assign each contact a score representing their likelihood to convert or churn. High scores go to sales or receive more aggressive nurture; low scores get lighter-touch campaigns or re-engagement sequences.

When it works best: B2B companies with defined sales funnels and enough closed deals to train the model (typically 200+ closed-won and closed-lost opportunities). Also effective in B2C subscription businesses for identifying churn risk before cancellation.

Common mistake: Trusting the score without validating it. Models can be biased by outdated assumptions (e.g., overweighting job titles that were once strong signals but no longer correlate with conversion). Regularly compare predicted scores to actual outcomes and retrain when accuracy drifts.

Predictive lead scoring in HubSpot builds and updates scoring models automatically using your closed deals and contact data. It surfaces the contacts most likely to convert, so your team focuses effort where it matters most.

4. Subject Line and Copy Optimization

What it does: ML models analyze thousands of past subject lines and email bodies to identify patterns that drive opens and clicks. Some platforms generate subject line variants and preview text, then run multivariate tests faster than manual A/B testing. Others suggest improvements based on high-performing language patterns.

When it works best: High-send-volume programs where you can test multiple variants per campaign and learn quickly. Less effective if your list is small (under 5,000 contacts) or you send infrequently, because you won't generate enough data to distinguish signal from noise.

Common mistake: Letting the model write everything. ML can accelerate testing and surface winning patterns, but it doesn't understand your brand voice or strategic positioning. Use AI-generated copy as a starting point, then edit for tone, compliance, and brand consistency.

Generate subject lines for marketing emails with HubSpot AI to quickly create multiple variants for testing, and generate preview text for marketing emails to complete the optimization. For broader campaign support, the Breeze AI Suite offers AI-assisted copy and testing workflows that integrate across your marketing hub.

Pro tip: Want deeper guidance on AI-powered email? Check out AI email marketing strategies and how to use AI for cold emails for practical frameworks and real-world examples.

5. Dynamic Recommendations for Ecommerce and B2B

What it does: Recommendation engines predict which products, content pieces, or resources each contact will find most relevant based on their browsing history, past purchases, and the behavior of similar users. In ecommerce, this might be “customers who bought X also bought Y.” In B2B, it could be “contacts who downloaded this ebook also attended this webinar.”

When it works best: Catalogs with at least 20–30 items and enough transaction or engagement volume to identify patterns. Works especially well in post-purchase emails, browse abandonment campaigns, and content nurture sequences.

Common mistake: Recommending products the contact already owns or content they've already consumed. Exclude purchased items and viewed content from recommendations, and prioritize complementary or next-step offers instead.

HubSpot Marketing Hub email marketing enables you to build dynamic recommendation blocks that pull from your product catalog or content library and personalize based on contact behavior.

Pro tip: For more advanced tactics, explore how AI improves email conversions and how to localize AI-generated emails for global audiences.

Measuring the ROI of Machine Learning for Email Marketing

Vanity metrics like open rates and click-through rates tell you what happened, not whether it mattered. To prove ML's value, tie email performance to business outcomes to metrics like revenue, pipeline, customer retention, and lifetime value.

Shift from activity metrics to business outcomes.

Open and click rates are useful diagnostics, but they‘re not goals. A 30% open rate means nothing if those opens don’t drive purchases, signups, or qualified leads. Reframe your measurement around outcomes:

Revenue per email: Total attributed revenue divided by emails sent

Conversion rate: Percentage of recipients who complete your goal action (purchase, demo request, download)

Customer acquisition cost (CAC): Cost to acquire a customer via email vs. other channels

Customer lifetime value (CLV): Long-term value of customers acquired through email campaigns

Compare ML-driven campaigns to your baseline on these metrics. If send-time optimization lifts revenue per email by 12%, that's a clear win even if open rate only improved by 6%.

Attribute revenue and pipeline to email touches.

Machine learning personalization and recommendations influence buying decisions across multiple touchpoints. To measure their impact accurately, implement multi-touch attribution that credits email alongside other channels.

Use first-touch, last-touch, and linear attribution models to understand how email contributes to the customer journey. For example, if a contact receives a personalized product recommendation email, clicks through, browses but doesn't buy, then converts after a retargeting ad, email deserves partial credit.

HubSpot Smart CRM tracks every interaction on a unified timeline and attributes revenue to the campaigns, emails, and touchpoints that influenced each deal—so you can see which ML-driven emails actually drive pipeline and closed revenue, not just clicks.

Run holdout tests to isolate ML impact.

The cleanest way to measure ML's ROI is a holdout experiment: split your audience into treatment (ML-enabled) and control (standard approach) groups, then compare performance over time. This isolates ML's impact from seasonality, external campaigns, or audience shifts.

For example, enable predictive lead scoring for 70% of your database and continue manual scoring for the other 30%. After three months, compare conversion rates, sales cycle length, and deal size between the two groups. If the ML group converts 18% faster with 10% higher deal values, you've proven ROI.

Run holdouts for 4–8 weeks minimum to smooth out weekly volatil

Why brands should stop overlooking their most powerful influencers: customers

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:00:03 +0300

Every January, I sit down to write my predictions for the year ahead in social media and consumer behavior. And this year, one trend stood out to me more than anything else: the rise of customers as influencers.

In the past 18 months, we’ve seen people boycotting brands, blocking campaigns, and becoming much more marketing literate. We know how influencer deals work, we see the behind-the-scenes, and in many cases we now view influencers as brands themselves. That changes how we trust them, and how we want to engage.

It’s made me stop and think: what if customers are the new influencers?

This article is about that shift. Why consumers are growing tired of influencer culture, what happens when brands put their customers in the spotlight instead, and how any business — big or small — can start building a customer influencer strategy of their own. Because in 2025, I believe the smartest brands will be the ones who give their customers the microphone.

Table of Contents

Why Brands Are Ditching Influencers

The Benefits of Swapping Influencers for Customers

How to Get Started With Your Own Customer Influencer Strategy

Why Brands Are Ditching Influencers

Over the past year or so, the sentiment around influencers has changed. At the start of 2024 we saw the “blockout” after the Met Gala — entire communities boycotting brands and creators at once.

Source

For me, that moment showed just how powerful consumers have become, and how different the brand–consumer relationship looks now compared to just a few years ago.

You see this play out around big cultural moments like Coachella. I remember watching one influencer’s White Fox gifting haul where she casually pulled a Dyson Airwrap out of the bag. Half the comments were people saying, “Wow, I wish this life would find me,” and the other half were angry, calling it a “disgusting display of not just wealth but opportunity.” It was so telling of the split between aspiration and alienation.

That’s also why REFI Beauty’s approach felt so refreshing. Instead of flying out influencers for another glossy trip, they invited their own customers on a community holiday to launch a new collection.

If influencers are now brands themselves, then maybe customers are the ones best placed to carry the trust, authenticity, and connection that traditional influencer marketing has lost.

The Benefits of Swapping Influencers for Customers

I’m not saying we should ditch influencers entirely — they still have a place. But I do think there’s something really powerful about bringing customers into the spotlight. When brands do this, the benefits are clear.

Authentic, Relatable Content

One of my favorite examples is Toco Swim, a London-based swimwear brand run by two sisters. Instead of hiring influencers or models, they invited their own customers to model their new summer collection.

They shared behind-the-scenes on Instagram, gave people the chance to try on pieces, and I’m sure those who took part got to take a few products home. For the brand, it meant gorgeous content and big savings on model fees. For the customers, it was an experience with a brand they already loved.

I remember thinking, that’s incredible — maybe that could be me next time if I’m brave enough.

A Brand Presence That Reflects Your Community

Snag, a Scottish-based hosiery brand, takes a different approach.

They don’t work with influencers at all. Instead, they comb through their tagged posts and reach out to customers whose content they like. They’ll pay those people a small fee for the rights, and suddenly their entire grid is filled with real customers.

Source

For the brand, it’s a cost-effective way to source authentic content. For the customer, it’s exciting and validating — who wouldn’t want to be featured by a brand they love?! And once you’ve been spotlighted, you’re likely to post about the brand even more.

Word-of-Mouth That Actually Works

Here’s the thing: if a brand featured me, I’d tell my friends, I’d tell my co-workers, I’d post it on my own grid.

Sure, maybe that only reaches ten people. But those ten people know me. They trust me. They’ve seen me wear the product in real life. That kind of ripple effect feels more powerful than a stranger with 100,000 followers telling me to buy something.

Loyalty That Lasts

The other big benefit is loyalty. Featuring customers shows them you value their support, and that matters. When people feel recognized, they stick around. They spend more, they engage more, and they tell their friends. It’s personalization in the truest sense — not an algorithm guessing what I want, but a brand showing me I’m part of their story.

For me, that’s the real opportunity here. Using your customers in this way is a smart way to build deeper, lasting relationships.

How to Get Started With Your Own Customer Influencer Strategy

If you’re a smaller brand, this might sound intimidating. But getting started doesn’t have to be complicated — or expensive. Here are a few ways I’ve seen it work well:

1. Make communication easy.

The first step is creating one clear place where your audience knows they can go for opportunities. It could be an Instagram broadcast channel like REFI Beauty use, where they share links to apply for community trips or sign-ups for events.

Or it could be a simple landing page, like Coco Kind has, where customers register once and are automatically entered into future raffles.

Source

The important thing is consistency. Your customers shouldn’t have to search across ten channels wondering how they can get involved.

2. Decide how you want customers involved.

Think about what you want these opportunities to look like.

Do you want them to be part of your content, like Toco Swim’s photo shoots? Do you want to swap out influencer gifting trips for customer trips, like Coco Kind? Or do you want to highlight people virtually, like The Productivity Method does with their “Day in the Life” grid takeovers?

There isn’t one right way — it’s about choosing what feels most natural for your brand.

3. Ask your community what they want.

Sometimes the best ideas come directly from your customers. I love the “IKEA effect,” which basically says people value something more if they feel like they helped build it. So why not ask them?

You could run a series of Instagram stories, create a LinkedIn poll, or send out an email that simply says: “We want to involve you more — what would make this valuable for you?” I can picture the responses now: ideas for trips, content formats, events you wouldn’t have even thought of. And honestly, your customers are often far more creative than you are.

I can imagine a whole campaign built this way — sharing back the submissions, spotlighting community suggestions, and letting people vote on what excites them. Not only do you end up with amazing ideas to work with, but you also create this sense of co-ownership. Customers start to feel like they’re part of the brand instead of just buyers of a product.

4. Don’t limit yourself to in-person experiences.

Not every business can afford to fly their customers to Spain for a launch. And that’s okay!

Virtual opportunities can be just as powerful. Think story takeovers, day-in-the-life content, or simple features on your grid. I’ve seen brands spotlight customers on their feed with tags and shout-outs, and honestly, that recognition goes a long way.

Even a small slice of your online presence (like an Instagram post, a story highlight, or a LinkedIn feature) can mean everything to the people who love your brand.

5. Reward participation.

Finally, think about what you can offer in return. It might be a free product, early access, or even a small payment for content rights like Snag does.

The point isn’t to create a polished influencer-style contract; it’s to show your customers that you value their time and creativity. That recognition is what keeps people coming back, posting more, and becoming long-term advocates.

At the end of the day, it comes down to giving your customers space in your brand story. Whether that’s physical (through trips or shoots) or digital (through takeovers and features), it’s about handing them real estate in your presence and letting them shine.

Putting Influence Back in the Hands of Customers

I don’t think influencers are disappearing anytime soon, but I do think 2025 is the year customers finally get their moment.

The past year has shown us just how much power people hold when they block, boycott, or call out brands, and honestly, I find that fascinating. If we can channel that same energy into positive, community-driven opportunities, everyone wins.

For me, this whole idea came from a very real place: scrolling TikTok, seeing the backlash to lavish gifting hauls, and then watching brands like REFI, Toco Swim, and Snag do things differently. It felt fresh. It felt exciting. It made me think, maybe that could be me next time.

That’s the heart of it: giving your customers a chance to feel seen, to feel valued, and to feel like they’re part of your story. When you do that, you’re not just filling a content calendar — you’re building real trust and lasting loyalty. And as someone who lives and breathes this space, I truly believe the smartest brands in 2025 will be the ones who hand over the spotlight to the people who already love them most.

Loop Marketing strategy: A framework for stellar AI-era growth

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:00:03 +0300

Something’s been throwing marketers for a loop lately. (Eye-roll level pun very much intended.)

Instead of turning to Google for the answers to all their curiosities and questions, consumers are increasingly watching YouTube reviews, asking ChatGPT for recommendations, scrolling through social feeds, and messaging influencers instead. Meanwhile, AI search engines are serving up “summarized” direct answers to them instead of sending them to your website.

What are we to do? A Loop Marketing strategy can help you navigate this new era of AI and audience behavior.

This guide will explain Loop Marketing, introduce you to the playbook, and detail how to create a Loop Marketing strategy that meets modern buyers where they are.

Table of Contents

Summary

What is Loop Marketing?

Loop vs Funnel vs Closed-Loop Marketing

Why Loop Marketing Matters Now

How to Build a Loop Marketing Strategy

How Humans and AI Collaborate in a Loop Marketing Strategy

How to Implement Loop Marketing in HubSpot

What to Measure at Each Loop Marketing Stage

Common Mistakes with Loop Marketing (And How to Avoid Them)

Frequently Asked Questions About Loop Marketing Strategy

Summary

Loop Marketing is a cyclical, four-stage strategy — Express, Tailor, Amplify, Evolve — where teams learn from every customer interaction to improve their campaigns and combine human creativity with AI and unified data. Unlike linear funnel approaches to marketing, which are typically static, Loop Marketing adapts in real time and personalizes at scale.

To implement: define your brand and ideal customer profile (Express), personalize every touchpoint (Tailor), distribute and optimize for multiple channels, including AI search (Amplify), and measure, learn, and iterate quickly (Evolve).

Start by identifying your biggest gap and use unified tools like HubSpot’s Smart CRM and Breeze AI to accelerate each stage. Ready to modernize your marketing? Start free.

What is Loop Marketing?

Loop Marketing is a four-stage approach to promoting a brand or business (Express, Tailor, Amplify, Evolve) that learns from every interaction and unites human creativity with AI and unified data.

It turns the marketing funnel on its head — but not literally. Rather, it transforms the funnel into an endless cycle that immediately implements what it’s learned from the last campaign with the help of AI.

While older “funnel” approaches to marketing assume buyers take a pretty set path from awareness to purchase, Loop Marketing recognizes modern buyers engage across multiple touchpoints and can take very different journeys through them.

It also considers the impact of AI on search and buyer behavior, taking advantage of real-time feedback and AI-powered insights to deliver experiences that truly feel personal to each customer, in hopes of increasing conversions.

Here’s a quick peek at what that looks like through the four stages:

Express: This stage is all about expressing who you are. Define your taste, tone, and point of view as a brand or business — informed by your ideal customer profile.

Tailor: Next comes tailoring your approach. Here, you use AI to make your interactions with customers personal, contextual, and relevant.

Amplify: In this stage, you’re focused on amplifying your reach. That means diversifying your content across channels for humans and bots.

Evolve: Loop Marketing is dynamic. So, this stage is where you iterate quickly and effectively. AI helps you make changes in days, not quarters.

Sure, these aren’t necessarily new tactics, but Loop Marketing outlines them in a new way to facilitate fast and consistent improvement.

How is this different from other methodologies exactly?

Loop vs Funnel vs Closed-Loop Marketing

Understanding the distinctions between loop, funnel, and closed-loop is crucial for modern marketers. Knowing their differences and similarities helps clarify when each strategy makes sense and perhaps what needs to change for your team.

Funnel Marketing Models (like early inbound marketing) serve as helpful marketing frameworks, focusing on moving prospects through linear stages. While these models provide structure and an understanding of the buyer’s journey, they don’t really reflect the marketer’s workflow.

Loop Marketing follows the buyer’s journey, but recognizes the need for marketers to stay dynamic, measure campaign performance, and implement changes immediately — hence showcasing it as an endless cycle.

Closed-loop marketing is simply a measurement practice, not a strategy. It connects marketing activities to revenue outcomes (often called closed-loop reporting), which is valuable, of course, but not a tactical approach to executing marketing.

Source

Depending on your metrics, this type of reporting can actually be an important part of the Evolve stage of the Loop or funnel marketing, so it’s kind of misguided to compare them.

Overall, I’d argue that Loop Marketing combines the best parts of funnel and closed-loop marketing into the modern strategy businesses need to stay competitive.

Why Loop Marketing Matters Now

Many businesses forget it, but marketing is for your buyers, not for you. Buyers have changed a lot, especially in the last few years, so your marketing needs to change with them.

People today find and buy products on social media. They also get information through video platforms, online communities, and conversational AI assistants. Even the old search engines we know and love have incorporated AI summaries that provide direct answers rather than just links.

Buyer attention and awareness scatter across multiple platforms, and their journey to purchase is rarely linear. They’re also craving more personalized experiences from brands and businesses. Traditional marketing funnels struggle to account for this complexity.

Enter on white horse: Loop Marketing.

Loop Marketing can outperform static campaigns because it can adapt to changing patterns in real time, incorporating AI insights and feedback.

It enables faster time-to-market through AI-assisted content creation, personalization at scale with intelligent segmentation, lower acquisition costs through smarter targeting, and compounding learnings that make each campaign cycle more effective than the last.

Loop Marketing doesn't just react to change — it anticipates and adapts.

How to Build a Loop Marketing Strategy

Teams can enter the Loop Marketing framework during any of the four stages, with each cycle strengthening the next.

Note: We’re just going to scratch the surface here. Check our free Loop Marketing Playbook and AI prompts to dive deeper into each step.

Express Stage

In this stage, you’re basically gathering all of the background information AI will need to create on-brand and effective content for you. That means solidifying your ideal customer and brand identity. Here’s what you need to do at a high level:

Document your ideal customer profile: Learn about your buyer’s behaviors, interests, concerns, and preferences in general.

Create a style guide.

Ask AI to generate campaign ideas and content.

Bonus: Build a content template Library: Develop reusable frameworks for different content types.

Tailor Stage

Next, you’re taking those campaign and content ideas and making them feel personal to your audience, not just personalized. That means using AI insights to deliver different messages, CTAs, and experiences based on what’s most relevant to that specific person.

Your to-dos:

Enrich your data: Gather user data and behavior signals to inform your experiences

Create dynamic audience segments: Use AI to identify and continuously update audience segments based on behavior. (i.e., HubSpot’s AI Audience Segments)

Implement Personalization Rules: Set up automated personalization that adapts messaging to individual preferences (i.e., Smart Content in emails).

Deploy Smart Email Sequences: Create responsive email campaigns that adjust based on engagement patterns.

Pro tip: Have human quality assurance in place. While AI’s speed is undeniable, its accuracy is still a work in progress. (More on that shortly)

Make sure your team is ready to spot-check and humanize any AI work. Learn more about how to do this in our article, “How to Humanize AI Content So It Will Rank, Engage, and Get Shared in 2025.”

Amplify Stage

Modern buyers' attention is highly divided. They watch videos on YouTube and social media, ask questions to ChatGPT, text friends, and message creators, sometimes all at once. That’s why this stage is about diversifying your channels and meeting your buyers where they actually are.

Optimize for AI Engine Visibility: Ensure content is discoverable by AI search engines and conversational platforms.

Activate Multi-Channel Distribution: Use AI to rethink and scale messaging and distribution across all relevant channels, including AI chatbots, social media, forums, podcasts, etc.

Enable Creator and Community Partnerships: Explore and leverage relationships with creators and influencers your buyers know and love.

Evolve Stage

Was something in your campaign a hit? Awesome. Was something else a bust? You’ll get ‘em next time, slugger.

The Evolve stage uses AI to track performance, gather these insights, and develop a real-time feedback loop. It’s about iterating quickly and improving with every campaign.

Here’s how:

Predict before you publish: Use AI to predict which segments and campaigns will be the most successful and find any areas for improvement. Ask, “How can this be better?”

Analyze real-time performance: Track how different touchpoints contribute to conversions and what assets are getting engagement.

Run continuous, fast experiments: Establish regular testing cycles across all stages and channels. A/B test headlines, offers, images, and even audiences.

How Humans and AI Collaborate in a Loop Marketing Strategy

Ok, I know. Loop Marketing puts a lot in AI’s robotic hands, but that doesn’t mean you can just sit back and watch it do the work. Successful Loop Marketing needs clear role definition and collaboration between humans and AI systems.

In Loop Marketing, humans own the strategic elements — taste, brand judgment, relationship building, and creative direction. AI accelerates the operational aspects — data analysis, content generation, personalization at scale, and campaign orchestration.

Human responsibilities include:

Setting creative direction

Maintaining brand voice authenticity

Making strategic pivots

Nurturing high-value relationships

AI handles:

Pattern recognition

Content optimization

Audience segmentation

Real-time personalization adjustments

To maintain this balance, make sure to establish team guardrails, including comprehensive prompt libraries, detailed brand kits that guide AI decision-making, clear review workflows with human approval checkpoints, and robust data privacy policies.

AI can certainly help us with quantity, but that doesn’t mean we start neglecting quality. Make sure your team keeps a high standard where AI recommendations require human approval before implementation, ensuring that technology enhances rather than replaces human judgment.

How to Implement Loop Marketing in HubSpot

So, you’ve got your implementation plan, but what tools should you use? There’s no shortage of AI tool options. Still, rather than pick dozens to piece together, HubSpot can give you a single integrated platform that provides the ideal foundation for implementing the Loop.

Here's what that would look like:

Express Stage

Begin by integrating brand voice in Content Hub to create a style guide and leverage Breeze to maintain consistency across all content creation.

Source

You can create content templates and approval workflows that ensure brand alignment while enabling rapid production. Marketing Studio can help you turn a campaign brief into a mix of content assets across multiple channels and formats.

Tailor Stage

The Tailor stage includes some features of HubSpot I’ve loved for years. At prior organizations, I’d craft “smart lists,” draft automated emails, and use personalization tokens almost on the daily. Today, they’ve just gotten more advanced.

Create Smart CRM segments that automatically update based on behavioral triggers.

Source

Implement the Personalization Agent to deliver individualized experiences (not just [first name]), and deploy AI-powered email sequences that adapt messaging based on engagement patterns and preferences.

Amplify Stage

Trying new mediums and platforms can be intimidating but doing this in the Amplify stage of Loop Marketing is easy.

Marketing Studio can help you plan, create, and launch multi-channel campaigns, and Customer Agent lets you set up live chat and chatbots on your website to personalize interactions at scale.

You can also use Content Hub's repurposing capabilities to maximize

It's all about you

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 03:01:29 +0300

It’s a marketer’s dream: Hosting a sold-out event for 10k attendees. That brands are begging to be a part of. Oh, and that was headlined this year by none other than Taraji P. Henson, Kerry Washington, and Jennifer Hudson.

That’s Shareese Bembury-Coakley’s reality as one of the driving forces behind CultureCon, the world’s largest festival for Black creatives and entrepreneurs.

Here’s how she makes the magic happen.

Meet the Master

Shareese Bembury-Coakley

Vice President, Business development and partnerships at CultureCon

Claim to fame: Successfully sold a partnership between the TV show Killing Eve and buy-now-pay-later service Klarna; deliverables included an in-app experience that sourced pieces from Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh’s (truly incredible) wardrobes. (Lesson 0: Look for audience behavior that you can amplify. Bembury-Coakley had noted that viewers were asking questions on social media about designers.)

Lesson 1: It’s not “Why this?”, it’s “Why you?”.

At CultureCon, Bembury-Coakley tells me, people make a run for Activation Alley as soon as it opens.

It’s not just that the activations are amazing or that a particular brand is there — it’s that CultureCon’s attendees have high expectations, because they trust that this year’s activations will be as good as the last. (More on this in a minute.)

With events and experiential spaces becoming ever more saturated, I ask Bembury-Coakley how she stands out in a crowd. Her answer is deceptively simple: Instead of answering the question, “Why do this idea?” answer the question, “Why do this idea with me?”

“It’s not just about it being a unique idea,” she says. “Oftentimes, people can’t answer the ‘with me’ question.” To answer it, evaluate your cultural relevancy, your community, and your consistency.

And think of it as a lens. When you focus your ideas through “why me,” you can frame your deliverables in a way that makes it “as easy as possible to get buy-in.”

Lesson 2: Build trust before opening wallets.

Trust was a through-line in our conversation, both interpersonally and between brands and audience. Bembury-Coakley credits much of her success to having had amazing advocates throughout her career — but "it‘s double-sided,” she says. “It comes with the very heavy responsibility of making sure that you’re also fulfilling your promises on the back end.”

In other words: Trust is not something that Shareese Bembury-Coakley takes lightly.

She carries this responsibility into her work with brands and partnerships. I ask her what makes her say “no” to a CultureCon partnership, and she immediately says, “anything that would betray the trust we’ve built with our community.”

Trust is the underlying reason that Activation Alley is so popular — brand activations “aren’t a necessary evil that you’re connecting with for a free water bottle,” Bembury-Coakley says. They’re “a testament to how authentically our partners have showed up in the past.”

The secret behind the Activation Alley hype is pretty simple, really: Consistency.

Lesson 3: Creators have audiences. Brands have bosses.

“Creators should always remember that their point of contact has a boss,” Bembury-Coakley says. “Usually the person they‘re talking to is a stakeholder — but it’s generally not the key stakeholder.”

“Anything that you can do to be a resource to make it easier on your partner is going to increase the likelihood of them working with you again,” she says. “I think sometimes you look at the brands as a whole, but they are [made up of] individuals.” It’s easy for creators to forget that “figuring how to navigate these brands internally in a way that makes it easy on them” — and that makes them more likely to want to keep working with you.

And on the flip side, “the brand should always remember why they wanted to work with that creator to begin with.” What often happens, she says, is that a creator’s content might be slightly controversial, but once they’ve signed with a brand, the brand “wants them to be extremely brand-safe in a way that would be betraying their audience.”

See? It all comes down to trust.

Masters in Marketing was a proud sponsor of this year’s CultureCon, which took place October 4 - 5, 2025.

Lingering Questions

This Week’s Question

When it comes to building partnerships for CultureCon, how do you decide which people to collaborate with — whether that’s speakers, creators, or community leaders — to make sure they authentically represent CultureCon’s mission and resonate with your audience? —Deesha Laxsav, Senior manager of brand marketing, Clutch

This Week’s Answer

Bembury-Coakley: At CultureCon, data is paramount to everything we do. So, we‘re not making assumptions about our audience, we’re not just coming up with ideas. We're really letting that [data] inform everything that you see.

So, the programming that you see being hyper-relevant? Our communities told us what they wanted, the brands that they like to engage with, the speakers they wanted to hear from, and we listened to them.

I think a lot of brands and communities are sometimes trying to go against the grain, trying to push something on their audience, and it‘s not what they want. We evolve and iterate [based on data], and that’s why the brands and the community and the speakers can come out and have a great time.

Next Week’s Lingering Question

Bembury-Coakley asks: I think nostalgia is something that‘s been overdone. I would love to know: What’s a better way for brands to engage with communities or consumers that they want to connect with?

AI email marketing analytics: 5 performance metrics every marketer should track for revenue growth

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 14:00:02 +0300

Email marketing analytics have evolved far beyond open rates and click-throughs. Today’s AI-powered analytics can predict which subscribers are most likely to convert, optimize send times for maximum engagement, and track every dollar of revenue back to specific campaigns.

The difference between good and great email marketing often comes down to which metrics you track (and, more importantly, how you act on them). AI email marketing analytics transforms raw data into actionable insights, helping you understand what happened, why it happened, and what’s likely to happen next. Tools like HubSpot Marketing Hub have made this sophisticated analysis accessible through native dashboards and reporting features that automatically surface patterns human analysts might miss.

Whether analyzing predictive engagement scores or tracking complex revenue attribution paths, these AI-driven insights help you make smarter decisions faster. In this guide, I’ll explore five essential AI-powered metrics directly impacting your bottom line. Plus, you’ll learn what AI email marketing analytics tools to use and, most importantly, how to use these insights to create email campaigns that consistently drive revenue growth.
Table of Contents

What is AI email marketing analytics?

Pricing Comparison of AI Tools for Social Media Marketing

AI Email Marketing Analytics Tools

AI Email Marketing Metrics to Track

How to Build AI Email Analytics Dashboards Your Team Will Actually Use

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About AI Email Analytics

What is AI email marketing analytics?

AI-driven email marketing analytics utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to automatically analyze email campaign data, predict subscriber behavior, and optimize marketing performance in real-time. Unlike traditional analytics, which report on past performance, AI-powered analytics identify patterns, predict future outcomes, and provide actionable recommendations to enhance engagement and drive revenue growth.

These advanced analytics systems measure predictive metrics, including:

Engagement probability scores

Optimal send times for individual subscribers

Content performance patterns

Deliverability trends

Email revenue attribution

AI processes data points across subscriber interactions, email content, timing patterns, and conversion paths to uncover insights that would be impossible to detect manually.

Pricing Comparison of AI Tools for Social Media Marketing

Tool

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Free Trial

HubSpot Marketing Hub

All-in-one marketing teams seeking integrated AI analytics with CRM

Breeze Intelligence for predictive scoring

Native AI dashboards and reporting

Send time optimization

Revenue attribution tracking

Content intelligence analytics

Automated lifecycle analytics

Free: $0/month

Marketing Hub Starter: $9/month/seat

Starter Customer Platform: $9/month/seat

Marketing Hub Professional: $800/month

Marketing Hub Enterprise: $3,600/month

Yes, 14 days

Klaviyo

E-commerce brands focused on revenue-driven email analytics

Predictive CLV and churn risk

AI-powered segmentation

Benchmark reporting

Revenue attribution

Product recommendation engine

Free: $0/month

Email: $45/month

Email + Mobile: $60/month

No

Braze

Enterprise companies with complex, multi-channel campaigns

Predictive churn and purchase scoring

AI content optimization

Intelligent channel selection

Custom prediction builder

Real-time analytics

Custom pricing only (see here)

Yes, 14 days

ActiveCampaign

SMBs wanting advanced automation with AI insights

Predictive sending

Win probability scoring

Content recommendations

Attribution reporting

Engagement scoring

Starter: $15/month

Plus: $49/month

Pro: $79/month

Enterprise: $145/month

Yes, 14 days

Mailchimp

Small businesses starting with AI-powered email analytics

Content optimizer

Send time optimization

Predictive demographics

Smart recommendations

Basic attribution

Free: $0/month

Essential: $13/month

Standard: $20/month

Premium: $350/month

Yes, 14 days

SendPulse

Budget-conscious teams needing multichannel AI features

AI personalization

Predictive analytics

Send time optimization

Engagement scoring

Basic revenue tracking

Free Tier: $0/month

Standard Tier: $8/month

Pro Tier: $9.60/month

Enterprise: Custom pricing only (see here)

No

Segment

Data teams building custom AI analytics infrastructure

Customer data platform

Identity resolution

Predictive traits

Journey mapping

400+ integrations for AI tools

Free Tier: $0/month

Team Tier: $120/month

Business Tier:

Custom pricing only (see here)

No

AI Email Marketing Analytics Tools

1. HubSpot Marketing Hub

Source

An all-in-one marketing platform with an integrated CRM, HubSpot transforms email marketing through its Breeze Intelligence AI, which analyzes millions of data points across your entire customer journey.

While other platforms focus on basic automation, HubSpot’s Breeze AI automatically tracks email revenue attribution, connecting every email interaction to closed deals and calculating true campaign ROI. HubSpot also powers send-time optimization, automatically determining the optimal delivery time for each subscriber. Its content intelligence analytics reveal which subject lines, CTAs, and content variations drive the highest engagement.

With Marketing Hub, you can build campaigns, analyze email performance, and see revenue impact through native dashboards that update in real-time.

Best for: Teams seeking integrated AI analytics with CRM data for complete revenue attribution.

Pricing

Free: $0/month

Marketing Hub Starter: $9/month/seat

Starter Customer Platform: $9/month/seat

Marketing Hub Professional: $800/month

Marketing Hub Enterprise: $3,600/month

HubSpot Case Study

DoorDash transformed its merchant acquisition strategy using HubSpot’s marketing automation and integrated CRM to scale personalized outreach across email, landing pages, and lead nurturing workflows. “Over the course of the last year, we’ve shifted from 100 percent one-off campaigns to about 80% of our emails existing within workflows,” says Andrew McCarthy, Director of Content Marketing at DoorDash.

Additionally, Christopher Wise, Senior Manager, Retention Tech and Operations at DoorDash, said, “HubSpot honestly has the best UI out of any enterprise email service provider.” He continued, “It’s easy to understand. It makes sense — and you don’t need an entire team to execute within it.” Because of Marketing Hub, DoorDash was able to reduce the time required for its email campaign production process, segment audiences more efficiently, and facilitate faster collaboration between marketing and sales.

2. Klaviyo

Source

Klaviyo, a B2C email CRM, uses generative and agentic AI to personalize, problem-solve, and create. While other e-commerce tools rely on historical data, Klaviyo’s AI technology uses real-time customer data insights to power your workflows, campaigns, and sign-up forms. Additionally, its K:AI customer agent answers your questions, recommends products, and (when needed) hands customer queries off to a live agent with full context.

Within Klaviyo, you can test predictions, set up campaigns, and measure performance through detailed analytics dashboards, all of which are enhanced with intuitive AI capabilities.

Best for: E-commerce brands maximizing customer lifetime value through predictive analytics.

Pricing

Free: $0/month

Email: $45/month

Email + Mobile: $60/month

Klaviyo Case Study

74% of marketing professionals use AI for their work. With so many marketers using AI, it is important to acknowledge and solve for its known limitations, particularly the biases that are baked into it.

As an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant, I am trained to recognize bias when I encounter it. Whenever I review materials and campaigns for clients, I evaluate whether bias, cultural insensitivity, or inappropriate messages have crept into the communications.

But, most of the marketers I’ve come across either don’t yet have this skillset or are actively working on developing it. Many often don’t pick up on biases AI produces, which could prove detrimental to marketing efforts and brand reputation if published in the market.

To help you use AI more responsibly and effectively, I’ve created some prompts to help you cut out bias. Let’s dive in.

The Fundamental Question for Converting More Customers

Before we get into actual prompts, it's useful to ensure you are grounded in the fundamental question consumers (especially those from underrepresented and underserved communities) are asking.

As consumers evaluate whether or not your brand is right for them, they are seeking to answer this question, either consciously or subconsciously: Is this product for someone like me?

Every part of your customer journey serves as an input to producing an answer to this question.

So, if any aspect of your customer journey features bias, you’re signaling to potential buyers that “this product isn’t for someone like you.” In most instances, that signal isn’t one the brand intends to send.

Now, let’s focus on how you can use AI to let your audience know that “this is for you.”

Joyann Boyce is an inclusive AI expert and founder of Inclued AI, a tool that helps marketers with inclusive communication. She told me that it is helpful to think of AI as a very well-trained puppy.

She explains, “It’s like someone has already house-trained the puppy. And, they’re going to give it to you, and you’re going to customize it to your home.”

Customizing your well-trained AI puppy means training it to ensure it communicates with your customers in a way that draws them closer to you, rather than pushing them away because of any bias.

Have a listen to the full conversation with Joyann Boyce on this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast.

How to Get AI to Help You Identify and Remove Bias

While AI systems can inadvertently perpetuate biases present in their training data, they can also serve as powerful tools for detecting and mitigating bias in human decision-making processes.

By leveraging AI's ability to analyze patterns and flag potential inconsistencies, you can create more objective evaluation frameworks and uncover blind spots that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Give the right context.

Start by providing your AI tool with clear context about its role and perspective. Specify exactly what persona or expert viewpoint the AI should adopt, and define the particular lens through which it should analyze your content when giving feedback.

Right from the beginning, I like to tell my AI collaborators that it is a highly skilled, inclusive marketing strategist.

That works from a general standpoint for reviewing content on the whole and for broader audiences. However, if you want to be even more specific about the type of feedback you are looking for, tweak the context for that point of expertise.

Let’s say you want to understand whether an ad has bias toward consumers over the age of 50. You can prompt your AI companion to review the content through the lens of a marketing expert who has expertise in that consumer base.

As an example, I asked AI to review a web page about anti-aging products. I asked it to act like a marketer who specializes in reaching consumers over 50. The AI could then use that foundation to give me helpful feedback.

Here is the first part of the feedback it produced about language that was ageist and lacked inclusivity:

Here are the recommendations AI gave for how to improve the copy to make it more inclusive:

The goal is to prevent publishing content that already has bias in it. However, there will be times when you’ll need to reevaluate and improve on something that is already in the market.

So, here is a prompt to help you when creating new content, and one to help you improve what has already been produced.

Prompt for Reviewing

You are an inclusive marketing strategist who specializes in marketing to consumers over the age of 50. Please review these headlines, and let me know if there is anything I should be aware of that would rub consumers who are interested in the product the wrong way. I’m particularly interested in anything that would be offensive, culturally inappropriate, or just not inclusive.

Prompt for Creating

You are a copywriter who specializes in marketing to consumers over the age of 50. Please brainstorm 10 headlines for this skin care web page that deliver on our product goals while making our ideal customers, including people over the age of 50, feel seen, supported, and like they belong with our brand.

Give it specificity about your consumer.

One of the challenges that many marketing communications face when it comes to being inclusive is that the brand hasn’t effectively defined its ideal customer.

For instance, a brand might say they are targeting “women aged 25-34 who are looking to advance their careers.” However, even though there is specificity about age, gender, and even aspirations, there is still so much context missing that could influence the way the consumer receives messages you create from them.

As such, when working with AI, avoid treating it like it is talking to a general market audience. Instead, provide your AI companion with additional details about who you want to communicate with. This will help it better tailor its messages to the audience you are targeting.

So, instead of saying you’re creating landing page copy for “women aged 25-34 who are looking to advance their careers,” add in details about their identities. That additional information will support your AI companion in crafting messages that have less bias.

Some of the identity-based details about your ideal customer to include in your prompt could be:

Racial and ethnic identities.

Sexual orientation.

Religion.

Family status (i.e., married, children).

Economic status.

Where they live, because regional differences can impact word choice.

Includes people with disabilities and neurodivergence.

As such, a prompt to draft copy for a landing page could look like this:

Prompt for Creating

The audience for this landing page includes women 25-34 who want to advance their careers. This includes Black, Latina, and Asian women. Some are married. Some have young children at home. All have at least a Bachelor’s degree, and they live in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Mexico, and 30% of them are neurodivergent. Most of them don’t yet own a home. Please draft a landing page for them that takes their identities and needs in mind.

Prompt for Reviewing

Please identify anything in the copy of this landing page that would prevent people with [insert identities] from feeling seen, supported, and like they belong.

Be direct about the type of bias you want to stamp out.

Your target consumers have many identities, and you want to make sure each person feels connected to you’re offering. That means creating inclusive campaigns that avoid bias, and AI tools can help you get it right. You just need to tell your tools what type of content you don’t want to include in your messaging.

When I’m doing an audit for clients’ brands from an inclusion standpoint, some of the things I’m looking for include:

Inclusive language.

Power dynamics.

Representation.

Stereotypes.

Identity-based friction in the customer experience.

Being this specific is especially important. If your AI tool is just focused on one area, you may miss out on other areas that are problematic.

In this example, I asked AI to evaluate a blog post for cultural bias. It missed some problem areas I would have flagged. When I asked it why it didn’t pick up on those problems, here is what it had to say:

Based on the specific type of communication you are having AI help you write, be sure to include specific instructions on elements you want to include or want to avoid.

Prompt for Creating

Please create some images we can use for this social media ad that are reflective of our ideal customers. Ensure adequate representation of the different identities of the consumers we serve that is free of common stereotypes and cultural biases.

Prompt for Reviewing

In this ad, please highlight any areas that would be considered problematic from an inclusion perspective. Take into account inclusive language (ex., Are there any AAVE included?). Are there stereotypes associated with any of the images we are highlighting?

It’s time to get rid of the bias built into your AI.

When your AI-generated content authentically reflects your brand values and speaks meaningfully to diverse audiences, it builds trust and connection with potential customers who might otherwise feel overlooked or misunderstood.

This inclusive approach not only helps you avoid alienating prospects due to unconscious bias but also demonstrates your commitment to serving all customers equitably. That can significantly differentiate your brand in today's marketplace, where consumers increasingly expect businesses to be socially conscious and representative.

Re-training your AI tools to catch bias can help you connect with a larger audience. The sooner you make the switch, the faster you can grow.

How to migrate marketing automation workflows from legacy CRMs: A guide for B2B SaaS companies

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 17:30:03 +0300

When B2B SaaS companies decide to migrate from legacy CRM systems, one of their biggest concerns isn‘t just moving data—it’s ensuring their existing marketing automation workflows continue running without interruption. A single gap in automated nurture sequences or lead scoring can mean lost opportunities and confused prospects, and who wants that?

The stakes are high: A botched migration can misplace or muddle your data, such as customer records, purchase history, lead information, and pricing tiers.

To make your workflow automation migration as smooth as possible, I will break down the 10 marketing automation workflow templates for B2B SaaS companies migrating CRMs. I'll even tell you in what order you should migrate your workflows to avoid data loss or other transition nightmares.

Table of Contents

10 Marketing Automation Workflow Templates for B2B SaaS Companies Transitioning from Legacy CRMs

How do I map legacy CRM processes to HubSpot B2B SaaS workflows?

Workflow Migration Q&A

10 Marketing Automation Workflow Templates for B2B SaaS Companies Transitioning from Legacy CRMs

Phase 1: Critical Revenue Workflows

1. Demo Request Response Automation

The goal of a demo request response automation workflow is to immediately respond to and schedule demo requests.

HubSpot setup:

Trigger: Form submission on demo request page

Actions: Send instant confirmation email, create deal, assign to sales rep based on territory, add to “Demo Requested” sequence

Enhancement: Use HubSpot's meeting scheduling tool integration

Time to implement: 2-4 hours

Why first: Highest conversion rate touchpoint

Revenue risk: Any delay in demo scheduling directly loses deals

Migration complexity: Low — straightforward trigger/action setup

Why it matters: Demo requests have the highest conversion rates, so any delay in responding to demo requests directly impacts revenue.

2. Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) Handoff Workflow

Purpose: Seamless transition from marketing to sales

HubSpot setup:

Trigger: Lead score reaches SQL threshold OR specific action taken (pricing page visit + demo request)

Actions: Assign to sales rep, send internal notification, add to sales sequence, schedule follow-up reminder

SLA: Automatic escalation if no sales contact within 24 hours

Time to implement: 2-4 hours

Why second: Maintains marketing-to-sales velocity

Revenue risk: Breaks the entire lead pipeline if not working

Critical factor: Requires alignment between marketing and sales teams

Critical success factor: This workflow requires tight coordination between marketing and sales teams during migration.

3. Lead Lifecycle Progression Workflow

The purpose of a lead lifecycle progression workflow is to automatically move leads through your funnel stages.

HubSpot setup:

Trigger: Contact property changes (Lead Score, Engagement Level, or Demo Request)

Actions: Update lifecycle stage, assign lead owner, send internal notifications

Key feature: Use HubSpot's native lead scoring vs. recreating complex legacy CRM scoring rules

Time to implement: 6-10 hours

Why third: Handles 60-80% of your lead volume

Revenue risk: Leads get stuck in wrong stages, affecting reporting and follow-up

Foundation: Other workflows depend on this one working correctly

Migration tip: This workflow typically handles 60-80% of your lead volume, so test thoroughly before going live.

Phase 2: Customer Success Workflows

4. Customer Onboarding Progression Workflow

Purpose: Guide new customers through implementation milestones

HubSpot setup:

Trigger: Deal closes won

Actions: Enroll in onboarding email sequence, create onboarding tasks, assign customer success manager

Milestones: Welcome (Day 0), Setup reminder (Day 3), First success check-in (Day 14), 30-day health score

Time to implement: 8-12 hours

Why fourth: Directly impacts churn rates and expansion revenue

Business impact: Poor onboarding can increase churn by 75%

Time sensitivity: New customers expect immediate onboarding communication

Migration priority: High — customer success workflows directly impact churn rates.

5. Customer Health Score Monitoring Workflow

Purpose: Proactively identify at-risk customers

HubSpot setup:

Trigger: Customer health score drops below threshold

Actions: Alert customer success manager, add to retention campaign, schedule check-in call

Data sources: Product usage data, support ticket frequency, payment history

Time to implement: 12-16 hours

Why fifth: Prevents revenue loss from churn

Strategic value: Proactive retention is 5-7x cheaper than acquiring new customers

Migration note: Health scoring models may need adjustment for HubSpot's calculation methods.

Phase 3: Growth and Optimization Workflows

6. Abandoned Trial Recovery Sequence

Purpose: Re-engage trial users who haven't logged in recently

HubSpot setup:

Trigger: Contact hasn't engaged with product for 3 days (tracked via API)

Actions: Send helpful tips email, offer customer success call, provide tutorial resources

Timing: Day 3, Day 7, Day 12 touchpoints

Time to implement: 2-4 hours

Why sixth: High ROI but not immediately critical

Recovery potential: Can recover 10-15% of abandoned trials

Lower urgency: Trial users expect some delay in follow-up

7. Renewal Opportunity Creation Workflow

Purpose: Automatically create renewal opportunities and start the renewal process

HubSpot setup:

Trigger: 90 days before contract renewal date

Actions: Create renewal deal, assign to account manager, enroll contact in renewal nurture sequence

Automation: Generate renewal proposal template, schedule renewal discussion

Time to implement: 3-5 hours

Why seventh: Important for predictable revenue, but has a longer timeline

Planning horizon: 90-day advance notice allows for migration timing

Revenue impact: Companies with automated renewal processes see 18% higher renewal rates.

Phase 4: Enhancement Workflows

8. Lead Nurturing by Industry Workflow

Purpose: Deliver industry-specific content to prospects

HubSpot setup:

Trigger: Contact property “Industry” is known

Actions: Add to industry-specific email lists, send relevant case studies, tag for industry-specific campaigns

Personalization: Use HubSpot's smart content features

Time to implement: 6-8 hours

Why last: Support growth but don't break existing business

Optimization focus: These improve performance rather than maintain it

Data point: Segmented nurture campaigns see 25% higher open rates than generic campaigns.

9. Event Registration and Follow-up Workflow

Purpose: Manage webinar/event registrations and post-event nurturing

HubSpot setup:

Trigger: Registration form submission

Actions: Send confirmation email with calendar invite, add to event reminder sequence, segment for post-event follow-up

Post-event: Send recording, related resources, schedule follow-up based on attendance

Time to implement: 5-7 hours

Why last: Support growth but don't break existing business

Optimization focus: These improve performance rather than maintain it

Integration tip: Connect with your webinar platform (Zoom, GoToWebinar) for seamless data flow.

10. Competitive Intelligence Workflow

Purpose: Track prospects researching competitors

HubSpot setup:

Trigger: Website visitor views competitor comparison pages OR mentions competitor in form

Actions: Add to competitive battlecard sequence, alert sales team, provide competitive positioning content

Intelligence: Track competitive mentions for market insights

Time to implement: 3-4 hours

Why last: Support growth but don't break existing business

Optimization focus: These improve performance rather than maintain it

Strategic value: Helps sales teams prepare for competitive deals and improves win rates.

How do I map legacy CRM processes to HubSpot B2B SaaS workflows?

Start with what you have.

List all your current CRM processes — how leads come in, how sales follow up, and what happens after someone becomes a customer. Don't overthink it; just write down what actually happens day-to-day.

Learn HubSpot's style.

HubSpot works differently from most legacy CRMs. It's all about workflows that trigger automatically when certain things happen (like when someone fills out a form or opens an email). Take some time to play around in HubSpot and see how workflows function.

Map it out step by step.

For each process you currently have, figure out how to recreate it in HubSpot. The good news? You don't have to copy everything exactly - this is your chance to fix those annoying parts of your old system that never worked quite right.

Start small.

Don't try to rebuild everything at once. Pick your most important process (usually lead follow-up) and get that working perfectly before moving on to the next one.

Test everything.

Before you go live, run your workflows with a few test contacts to ensure they work like you expect. Trust me, it's much easier to fix issues before your whole team is using it.

Keep improving.

Once it's running, check your workflow reports regularly. HubSpot shows you exactly where people are getting stuck, so you can keep improving.

The biggest mindset shift? Think of HubSpot as your new automated assistant that never forgets to follow up, rather than just a place to store contact info.

Workflow Migration Q&A

Why is my marketing automation not working after switching CRMs?

Your marketing automation not working after switching CRMs could likely be due to one or more factors.

Your data got messy in the move. Names of contact properties might have changed, or some of your data didn‘t transfer properly. Check if your automation is trying to use fields that don’t exist anymore or have different formatting. For example, if your old system called it “Lead Source” and HubSpot calls it “Original Source,” your workflows won't know what to look for.

Integrations broke. Your marketing automation likely relied on connections between your old CRM and tools such as the email platform or landing page builder, whose connections need to be rebuilt with your new system.

Different trigger logic. Your old automation might have triggered when “Lead Status = Hot” but now you need it to activate when “Lifecycle Stage = Marketing Qualified Lead.” Your workflow automation logic is the same, but the language is different.

Permissions and settings. Sometimes, automation gets turned off during migration, user permissions are changed, or email-sending domains need to be re-verified.

Quick troubleshooting steps:

Check if your workflows are actually turned on (sounds obvious, but happens all the time)

Look at your contact records to see if the data your automation needs is actually there

Test with yourself as a contact to see where things break down

Check your email deliverability settings if email automation isn't working

Can we keep our current automation processes after switching CRMs?

You can keep most of your workflow automation processes after switching CRMS, but bear in mind that switching CRMs provides an excellent chance to improve your processes. Ask yourself: “Is our automation working well, or are we just used to the process?” Many businesses find that their new CRM works better when simplifying overly complex workflows.

Will we lose our data as we migrate marketing automation workflows from legacy CRMs to CRMs like HubSpot?

Your data will transfer, but it might look different. Historical reports may need rebuilding, and some data relationships might change. Always export everything from your old system before starting, and keep that old system accessible for at least 6 months as a backup.

Content marketing vs inbound marketing (& why they both still matter)

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 14:00:00 +0300

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in years as a marketer, it’s that understanding the key distinctions of content marketing versus inbound marketing can transform how you attract and convert customers.

The two strategies are like the Baldwin brothers — closely related but dramatically different, so employing the wrong one could mean the difference between a blockbuster and a bust. (I mean, imagine Alec in Biodome; it just wouldn’t work.)

Today, content marketing and inbound marketing actually work together, with content serving as the fuel that powers your inbound engine. But knowing exactly how they compare and work with AI will help you build a more effective marketing strategy. Let’s unpack all the details.

Table of Contents

Summary

What is content marketing?

What is inbound marketing?

Content Marketing vs Inbound Marketing: The Key Differences

Why Both Matter More Than Ever Right Now

How to Integrate Content into Inbound Marketing

FAQs about Content Marketing vs Inbound Marketing

Summary

TLDR: Content marketing is a core part of inbound marketing, but not all inbound marketing is content.

Content marketing focuses on creating a variety of valuable, relevant content (e.g., blog articles, guides, videos) to attract and engage potential buyers. Inbound marketing is a broader methodology that uses content, SEO, email, social media, lead nurturing, and automation to attract, convert, and delight customers throughout their journey.

The strategies work best together. Content drives awareness, while inbound turns that attention into leads and customers. For the best results, use content marketing as the catalyst for your inbound strategy, supported by the right tools and data. HubSpot has all of the tools you need to implement the two strategies, and you can get started for free.

What is content marketing?

When I tell people I work in content marketing, they assume I’m making videos on TikTok or posting on Instagram all day, but that’s a bit misguided. Yes, content marketing can include social media, but that’s not all it is.

Content marketing is when a business or brand creates, packages, and distributes valuable information to attract and engage their target audience — ultimately leading to a purchase.

Instead of directly pitching products, it provides genuinely useful information that solves their audience's problems, answers their questions, or even just brightens their day. It can be written, visual, auditory, or interactive.

The catch? Regardless of medium, your content must deliver value, whether or not someone ever becomes a customer. It's about building trust and authority first, sales second.

For example, a project management software company might publish guides on remote team collaboration, not just features of their tool. At the same time, a meal delivery service like Hello Fresh may share recipes and healthy eating tips.

Source

In both instances, the companies solve their audience's challenges and demonstrate expertise, but don’t go for the hard sell of their product.

Types of content marketing can include:

Blog posts (like the one you’re reading right now)

Videos (like those on the HubSpot Marketing YouTube Channel, seen below)

Podcasts (i.e. HubSpot’s Marketing Against the Grain)

Infographics (like those shared here from Buffer)

Guides or eBooks (like these in the HubSpot Resource Library)

Tools (like our AEO grader)

Templates (like these)

Source

Benefits of Content Marketing

Content marketing isn’t just more fun for your audience; it also has a number of benefits for your business.

1. Lower Cost

By taking advantage of public platforms like blogs and social media, most content marketing is low- or no-cost to get started with. On top of lower upfront costs, content marketing tends to generate compounding returns, so it’s especially attractive to businesses with a tighter budget.

Read: How to Manage Your Entire Marketing Budget [Free Budget Planner Templates]

2. Helps with Online Visibility

Producing consistent content (especially blog posts, articles, etc.) creates more pages for your brand and website to get found through search engines and even AI agents like ChatGPT or Gemini. They also create more opportunities to get shared.

Pro tip: Our free AEO Grader can help you find these opps.

3. Increased Brand Awareness and Trust

Greater visibility comes with greater brand awareness, which is the first step in getting someone to buy from you. Even more importantly, however, sharing helpful, informative content helps companies build credibility and trust with their audience as an expert.

Read: How to Build a Brand Awareness Strategy (and Why It Matters)

4. High Return on Investment (ROI)

With its low costs and longer-term impact, content marketing delivers a strong return on investment. In fact, according to Neal Schaffer, content marketing is 62% less expensive than traditional marketing, yet generates three times as many leads.

What is inbound marketing?

I know you’re probably thinking, “Content sounds a lot like inbound marketing, Ramona.” And you’re right. But content marketing is just one piece of the inbound puzzle.

Inbound marketing is a comprehensive methodology that attracts customers through relevant, helpful content and experiences tailored to them.

While old-school marketing tactics (like billboards) interrupt audiences, inbound marketing aims to deliver the information people need when they are actively seeking it.

Inbound marketing includes:

Content creation (surprise!)

SEO and technical optimization

Social media engagement

Email nurturing campaigns

Conversion rate optimization

Lead nurturing

Marketing automation

PPC/paid ads

It's a full-funnel approach: attract strangers, convert visitors to leads, close leads into customers, and delight customers into promoters. Content marketing brilliantly handles the “attract” phase, no doubt, but inbound marketing orchestrates the entire journey.

Source

Benefits of Inbound Marketing

In addition to the low cost and high ROI benefits of content marketing, inbound marketing offers a few unique big-picture benefits.

1. Full-Customer-Journey Engagement

Inbound marketing doesn’t stop at just awareness; it outlines a path from attraction to engagement (conversion and purchase) to delight. In other words, its goal is to engage customers at every stage of their journey and actually close a purchase.

It can accomplish this using lead capture and conversion rate optimization, lead nurturing, automation, chatbots, sales enablement, and more.

2. Personalized and Multi-Channel Touchpoints

Part of the fun of incorporating so many different tactics in inbound is that each buyer's journey can be distinct. With such a variety of channels and touchpoints, buyers can feel like their experience is catered specifically to them.

One person may find you through a blog article, peruse your website, and then decide to buy in a few hours. Another may see a paid ad, ignore it, but then follow you on social media and make a purchase a year later.

Plus, thanks to automation and AI, you can use behaviors, segmentation, etc., to serve prospects different messages, calls-to-action, or even website pages. Every journey is a snowflake.

3. Better Lead Quality and Conversion

Because inbound focuses on pulling in people who are already interested, the leads tend to be more qualified. This increases conversion rates compared to more generalized content distribution.

4. Increased Customer Retention & Loyalty

Inbound marketing emphasizes “delighting” customers after converting through thoughtful onboarding, support content, and personalized communication.

These efforts help new customers start on the right foot, which can improve their overall experience and customer lifetime value, drive referrals, and reduce churn. While content marketing mostly focuses on building trust and awareness, inbound marketing tries to build ongoing loyalty.

5. More Measurement, Optimization, & Alignment Across Teams

Inbound tends to involve more digital tools and infrastructure: marketing automation, lead scoring, CRM integration, email workflows, landing pages, etc.

This means marketers have more opportunities to measure which touchpoints are working, optimize the funnel, and align with sales more tightly.

Content Marketing vs Inbound Marketing: The Key Differences

So what are the actual differences between content marketing and inbound marketing?

In short, content marketing is a tactic, while inbound is a holistic methodology. Content marketing tends to be more awareness-focused, while inbound tackles the whole customer journey through conversion, purchase, and delight.

Truth is, you can do content marketing without a full inbound strategy (like publishing a blog without lead capture forms). But you can‘t do inbound marketing without content. It’s the fuel that attracts people in the first place.

How does loop marketing fit into this equation?

Loop marketing is an evolution of inbound marketing. Like inbound, Loop marketing employs multiple channels and moves through the full buyer’s journey, but it now takes into account the impact of AI in the modern ecosystem and how its fast pace requires constant optimization.

If you're just getting started with your marketing strategy (i.e, creating customer personas, your content strategy, etc.), begin with inbound marketing principles. If you have all this and ready to level-up your results with AI-powered personalization, cross-channel amplification, and rapid optimization, loop in Loop Marketing.

Get 100+ FREE expert AI prompts for each stage of the Loop Marketing playbook.

Which approach delivers better ROI for my business?

Like all great marketing questions, the answer to this one is “it depends.” Which approach delivers better ROI really depends on your business’s goals and how you specifically use content or inbound.

For example, if you’re simply using content to build a following on social media, perhaps content alone will give you the return you’re looking for. However, if you’re trying to convert leads and make sales, you likely see more return from your inbound efforts.

Why Both Matter More Than Ever Right Now

Marketing has massively shifted since the early days of content marketing and inbound marketing.

Personally, I’d go as far as to say the modifiers of “content” and “inbound” are obsolete, as their tactics have just become general marketing best practice — but the shift is not purely by name.

With AI-generated content, summaries, and zero-click searches, and algorithm-controlled reach, the old “build it and they will come” approaches aren’t as effective as they used to be.

Today, Google might summarize your content without sending traffic to your website. Social platforms can limit organic reach, especially if it includes a link, while technically “owning” your audience. And ChatGPT can answer questions using your expertise without attribution.

It’s easy for your content efforts and name to go unknown and unrewarded, but there is a possible solution. Savvy marketers aren't choosing between content and inbound, but uniting them so:

Content marketing builds authority and trust across multiple platforms

Inbound marketing captures and nurtures the audience you do attract

You own the relationship, not just rent attention

(Spoiler alert: The Loop Marketing playbook essentially does this for you.)

How to Integrate Content into Inbound Marketing

Ready to combine content marketing and inbound marketing? Here's your action plan:

1. Create content that attracts your target audience.

Create content addressing your audience‘s biggest challenges. Use keyword research and customer interviews to identify topics that matter. Focus on problems your ideal customers face before they’re ready to buy.

In Loop Marketing, this is called the Express stage — you’re clarifying your ideal customer profile and crafting a style guide that aligns with their preferences. From there, you can share your style guide with AI to help you create content and personalize experiences.

2. Add inbound elements to engage and convert.

With your content created (perhaps with the aid of AI), add inbound elements to help you engage and ideally convert your audience.

This means:

Creating premium content offers (templates, checklists)

Including relevant calls-to-action

Implementing live chat or chatbots

Building landing pages for high-value offers

This is where the Tailor and Amplify stages of Loop Marketing come in. Here you’re crafting content and experiences that feel personal to each audience member with the help of data enrichment and segmentation and diversifying your channels.

3. Nurture contacts with personalized follow-up.

Engagement doesn’t end with the form fill. You need to use marketing automation to deliver related content based on your visitors’ personal needs and past behavior. This may include creating email sequences that provide additional value while building toward conversion or even setting up retargeting ads on social media.

4. Measure performance and iterate.

In this combined approach, you’ll then track not just content views, but how content contributes to lead generation and revenue. Use attribution modeling to understand which content pieces influence conversions over time.

All of this work proves ROI and guides future strategy (which is what Loop Marketing’s Evolve stage is all about).

FAQ about Content Marketing vs Inbound Marketing

1. Is content marketing the same as inbound marketing?

No, content marketing and inbound marketing are not the same thing. Rather, content marketing is a standalone tactic that lives under the umbrella of inbound marketing.

To get more granular, content marketing focuses specifically on creating and distributing valuable content. In contrast, inbound marketing is a comprehensive methodology that includes content creation plus lead capture, nurturing, and conversion optimization.

2. Which is better: content marketing or inbound marketing?

Neither — Just like Alec or Stephen.

Content marketing and inbound marketing work best together. Content marketing attracts your audience, while inbound marketing converts that attention into business results. You need both for maximum effectiveness.

3. Can you do inbound marketing without content marketing?

Technically, yes, but it's not recommended. You can use forms to gather information from your target audience and email marketing to communicate with them, but what’s in it for them?

Content marketing is the primary way to appeal to strangers and turn them into visitors. Without compelling content, your inbound strategy has nothing of value to fuel the “attract” phase of the methodology.

4. How much should I budget for content marketing vs inbound marketing?

Think of it as one integrated budget rather than separate line items.

You can get started with content marketing and inbound marketing for free with tools like HubSpot. As you scale, however, content creation typically requires 30-40% of your marketing budget (including tools, talent, and promotion), while the remaining budget supports lead capture systems, automation tools, and conversion optimization.

5. What tools do I need for content marketing and inbound marketing?

For content marketing: Content management systems, design tools, analytics platforms, social media scheduling tools, and perhaps an AI assistant like Breeze. For inbound marketing: CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, landing page builders, and email marketing tools.

Many platforms, like HubSpot, offer all of these capabilities.

6. Are there examples of companies using both strategies successfully?

Absolutely! Many successful companies integrate both content marketing and inbound marketing to create comprehensive digital strategies. For example:

Clearwing Productions, a live event production company, used HubSpot’s Marketing Hub to create content and follow up with leads, ultimately driving $8M in Revenue and 4,200% ROI.

To meet the needs of both students and parents, AI is transforming how we work, play, and live faster than any tech I’ve seen in my decade-long marketing career.

With so many changes and unknowns, it’s been overwhelming even for the seasoned marketers and writers here at HubSpot. But the more we learn, the more we realize AI doesn't have to be the enemy of content writers.

When used as a thoughtful addition to a human-led content creation process, AI can be a powerful tool that helps us all work faster and smarter – without sacrificing our human touch.

Here on the HubSpot blog team, we've been experimenting with AI for a while now, and, like everyone, we’re still figuring it out.

But we've also uncovered some exciting use cases that have streamlined some of our more time-intensive workflows, improved our output, and given us time back for deeper topic research.

We’re not about gatekeeping, so let’s talk through how we’ve brought AI into our writing process.

How HubSpot Bloggers Use AI in Their Writing Process

Step 1: We use AI to break through creative blocks and generate ideas.

Every great article starts with a spark of inspiration. Sometimes the ideas flow freely; other times, we need help getting off the ground. This is where our relationship with AI begins.

I’ve penned around 800 articles as a content marketer, and even I still get writer’s block. When I had trouble in the past, I would chat with teammates for thoughts and ideas. But working remotely, there are fewer opportunities to talk casually like this.

While AI can't replace chats with teammates, it has been a game-changer when I want help fleshing out an idea or thinking about how to approach a topic.

"When I’m planning topics to cover, AI is an incredibly helpful brainstorming buddy,” shares Fellow HubSpotter Caroline Forsey.

“I just throw an idea or even a general topic in a chat, and it kicks back angles, subtopics, and even potential titles. I don’t use its suggestions verbatim. But starting off with that creative spark saves me hours on ideation, letting the human team layer in voice and nuance from the get-go."

I couldn’t agree more.

Recently, I was coming up with topics for HubSpot’s Breaking the Blueprint column, and had some trouble getting started. I tagged ChatGPT in for some help, prompting:

“I‘m brainstorming article topics for a blog focused on giving marketers and business professionals from underrepresented groups advice and information they need to know. I want to target specific topics and concerns that are unique to these groups. I’d also like to touch upon topics related to the evolving role of AI on society and business. Can you give me some ideas?”

Here's a peek at its response:

From there, I workshopped the suggestions and then met with a colleague to finalize the topics that best suited our audience.

Like I said, AI doesn‘t fully replace bouncing ideas off a colleague, but it can provide a promising starting point when you’re stuck. This got my creative juices flowing, and that’s all I needed. Once we have our direction, it's time to dive into research.

Step 2: We power our research with AI as an information assistant.

With our topic and angle defined, we need to understand our subject inside and out. This is where AI becomes our research powerhouse.

As a content marketer and editor, my top concern is always quality and accuracy. I want to make sure the information I put in front of any audience is valuable and trustworthy. That means a lot of research, and good research takes time.

Generative AI can help exponentially here with its ability to gather and summarize information from multiple sources, often in seconds. In fact, 47% of marketers report using AI for research already.

When it comes to my own research process, I no longer have to filter through pages and pages of Google results to find the information I need. Instead, AI does most of the heavy hunting for me and wraps it up into a nice, easy-to-understand package. It doesn’t just give me a resource that might answer my question like a search engine; it gives me an answer directly.

Forsey also sees the benefits of using AI for content research.

She recalls, “Once, I needed to write a post — ironically — about the differences between ChatGPT, Google‘s Bard [now Gemini], and Bing’s AI-powered search engine. So, I asked ChatGPT: ’Can you tell me the differences between ChatGPT, Google‘s Bard, and Bing’s AI-powered search engine? Please put the pros and cons in a table format.’"

Shortly after, Caroline got back a detailed chart illustrating exactly what she wanted in a few short paragraphs:

Kaitlin Milliken, Senior Program Manager for our Freelance Writer Network, considers AI a big part of her research process as well. She shares how it’s helped her distill information about HubSpot products when writing.

“When we write about products, I'll ask AI to explain in more detail what makes a certain product unique, and it gives me a list of specifics that can help inform my writing/editing."

The result? Using AI for content research and analysis has helped us dig deeper and uncover angles and understandings we may have missed or taken more time to come across without it. Now comes the actual writing.

Step 3: We collaborate with AI on rough outlines and messy first drafts.

Here‘s where things get interesting. We don’t just research and brainstorm with AI — we actually let it help us write. But there are parameters to our approach.

The HubSpot blog team doesn’t just copy, paste, and publish AI-generated content. Rather, we use AI as a jumping-off point — that messy first draft to fuel ideas.

One of the big reasons people read HubSpot articles is to learn from real-life marketers, sales, and service people. They want expert, verified examples and accounts of what works and what doesn’t.

That kind of human expertise doesn’t come from AI. Human judgment and storytelling can’t be replicated. AI can’t produce lived knowledge, experience, and insights, but it can quickly gather initial, general information for our writers and editors to build into a final piece.

Our writers use AI to save time, particularly for more general, educational articles. Many, including myself, use AI to draft the more straightforward sections of blog posts so they can focus on more impactful ones.

For instance, I’ve often turned to AI to draft conclusions in recent months. With the bulk of my article content finalized, I pop into ChatGPT and ask it to draft a conclusion that matches the tone and ideas shared. From there, I refine and edit to my liking.

HubSpot writer Tristen Taylor also uses AI for blog intros and conclusions. She explains:

“Before using AI, I often found myself rewriting introductions and conclusion paragraphs multiple times. Now that I have access to these tools, my time for completing blog articles has been cut down tremendously. AI can capture the topic, intent, and targeted keywords I need through refined AI prompts.”

She adds, “It also allows me to refocus on the content or information of value that readers are looking for, instead of ruminating over small details at the beginning or end.”

Our team has used AI in our creative brief and outlining process for over a year, and we‘ve started experimenting with AI-generated first drafts. So far, we’ve found AI drafting to be a helpful time-saving measure for some topics, though not all.

For more general topics, such as “what is” and “how to’s,” it frees up more of our writers‘ and editors’ time to speak with other experts, gather unique examples and case studies, and “humanize” more generic topics overall, but AI can’t offer the original ideas needed for op-eds and thought leadership pieces.

Read: How to Humanize AI Content So It Will Rank, Engage, and Get Shared in 2025

This is where our philosophy comes into play: “AI assists, humans lead.” AI supports ideation, drafting, and iteration — but people make the final call. AI gathers the pieces; we put together the puzzle. We never publish AI-generated content without thoughtful human editorial oversight.

Learn more about our AI principles here.

Step 4: We use AI to analyze data and uncover insights.

Numbers don‘t lie. They add credibility to our articles, but they don’t always tell their story clearly either. Here's how AI helps us make sense of our data.

Numbers are not my strong suit. When faced with survey data or performance analytics, my head spins a bit, so when the prospect of using AI for data analysis came about, I couldn’t have been more excited.

Earlier this year, I tested this use case for our State of Inclusive Marketing 2025 report. ChatGPT allows you to upload spreadsheets, so I attached the file and asked it to give me the most significant trends coming through the data.

Initially, the agent just returned a simplified spreadsheet (womp), but when I requested that it explain the qualitative trends in paragraph form, here’s what I got:

Could I have distilled these trends without the help of AI? Yes — but not in the minute or two it took ChatGPT.

Senior Staff Writer and Website Editor Amy Rigby echoes this, reflecting on analyzing data for our website marketing report.

"LLMs are incredibly powerful at identifying patterns in data, especially ChatGPT’s o3 model. I used ChatGPT to help me highlight trends and further segment our website marketing survey data, resulting in a much deeper, richer report. I used to get frustrated with ChatGPT because its math was frequently wrong, but the o3 model has greatly improved.”

While it’s tempting just to take the trends AI finds and run, double-check them. As we know, AI can make mistakes and make things up. This is the biggest challenge marketers report facing with AI, so take the time to spot-check your data to ensure the agent didn’t take any liberties.

(Note: OpenAI just launched GPT 5, so hopefully, it’s improved in this area.)

Step 5: We experiment with AI-generated visuals to enhance our content.

Great words deserve great visuals. Here's how we use AI to create compelling imagery and interactive elements that would otherwise be out of reach.

So, I fancy myself a keen self-taught graphic designer, but writing remains my first and most refined skill. While written content still matters, consumer content consumption habits and buying behavior increasingly demand more visual and interactive mediums like videos, infographics, and quizzes.

This kind of advanced content is out of reach for me and marketers with limited design and development skills.

Thankfully, many AI tools are available now to help us. In fact, our AI Trends for Marketers report found that image and design generators are tied with general chatbots for the most popular AI tool marketers use.

Source

Senior marketing manager and AI blogger Martina Bretous showcases generative AI's prowess in this area in her series “Is it Real or AI?”

In it, she crafts a variety of multimedia content (i.e., video, audio, photos) using AI and challenges readers to see if they can identify them. For instance, this video of a beautiful yellow bird she featured was AI-generated on PikaLabs.

Impressive, right? I also used ChatGPT to create this highly specific featured image of a piggy bank representing a Facebook budget.

Source

Overall, AI is helping us create visual elements that can truly enhance the experience of our content and make the concepts easier to grasp. There are tons of robust AI video and AI image generators, including HubSpot’s Breeze, that you can use to do the same.

Step 6: We use AI as a quality control check.

Before any piece goes live, it goes through our editing process. And yes, AI plays a role here too — but not in the way you might expect.

Whether we realize it or not, we’ve been using AI for proofreading and editing for decades.

Think about it: spell and grammar check on Microsoft Word and Google Docs, “autocorrect” on iPhone, Grammarly — even non-writers rely on these tools to minimize misspelled words and grammar issues that could come off as negligent or unprofessional.

Today, this has just gotten more advanced.

"People are rightfully concerned about AI’s potential to hallucinate in editing, but one thing that gets lost in the debate is that humans make mistakes, too,” reflects Rigby.

In recent months, she has turned to AI agents as proofreaders and even editors for her articles.

She continues, “Every writer knows the experience of being too close to their own work to see it clearly or being in such a rush to meet a deadline that they miss something. So, in addition to human editorial oversight, I see LLMs as another set of eyes, an extra layer of verification.”

“I fact-check all of my articles, but for additional assurance, I sometimes run them through ChatGPT or Claude and ask the AI to flag any errors, which I can then look at more closely. AI often does catch typos and errors that I missed.”

She doesn’t just stop at grammar and spelling. Rigby recommends asking agents for feedback on even how to improve your writing.

She says, “I sometimes ask AI to critique my work, poke holes in my logic, and point out weaknesses I may not have noticed.”

I like to prompt it with something like, ‘Think like a digital marketer who will read this piece to decide which software to buy. What concerns would they have after reading this? What questions would come up that were not answered in the piece?” This helps me go back and re-examine and strengthen my arguments.”

Rigby has also built a custom GPT called StyleScout for our team's internal use, which helps writers quickly scan their drafts for style inconsistencies. This was as easy as uploading our internal style guides to the GPT and letting AI handle the rest to ensure our content is consistently on brand.

“Before I submit an article, I can run it through the GPT and get a line-by-line breakdown of anything that might violate our style guidelines. Yes, AI sometimes returns outputs that are overly pedantic or heavy-handed. That’s why human judgment always gets the final say. It's my responsibility to check that what it tells me is sensible and accurate. If it isn’t, I disregard it."

Check out our free Masterclass “How to Create Custom GPTs That 10x Your Marketing Results” to learn how to build a custom GPT for your team.

Step 7: We use AI to whip up “microcopy” (i.e., meta descriptions, social posts).

The article is written, edited, and ready to publish. But our work isn't done—now we need to promote

Why you should build relationships backward (and how)

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 21:14:13 +0300

Today’s master has things kinda backward. But she shared with me one of the most clever strategies for collaborative content and brand awareness that I’ve ever heard. (And I talk to a lot of marketers, so that’s saying something.)

And whether you’re working on brand partnerships, influencer marketing, or creator campaigns, you just might start doing it backward, too.

Deesha Laxsav

Senior Manager of Brand Marketing, Clutch

Fun fact: Deesha started a (now abandoned) foodie TikTok exploring elite eats in the DC Metro area. (“Turns out, eating was easier than editing videos.”)

Claim to fame: Built Clutch’s first influencer marketing program, setting the stage for long-term partnerships with top voices in marketing and tech.

Lesson 1: Social marketing has a trust problem.

A stinging 53% of consumers outright distrust paid endorsements, according to a recent survey by the global service marketplace Clutch. And the better polished the content was, the more suspicious it looked. What’s more, 41% of consumers weren’t sure whether they trusted influencers more than brands.

Which is really awkward because… wasn’t influencer marketing supposed to be the silver bullet against brand backlash?

“Our survey makes it clear that consumer trust in influencer marketing has taken a hit,” Laxsav says, but she isn’t deterred. “When we got the data, we didn’t think, ‘We shouldn’t be doing influencer marketing.’ Instead, it was, ‘How do we do it better?’”

She believes that the high number of scattershot paid posts created by one-off marketing campaigns have turned skepticism into a monster.

So maybe the real silver bullet was the friendships we made along the way. No, really. Laxsav says the solution to the influencer backlash is building authentic relationships with content creators and/or partner brands that deeply understand your audience.

And in that endeavor, Laxsav has it entirely backward.

Lesson 2: Make your own opportunities.

Most folks begin a content campaign by asking a content creator to… y’know, create content. But Laxsav finds that it works best when you flip the script. (And, pro tip, this works with brand collabs, too.)

“We’re a small brand, so the first step is just getting through the door. It’s hard getting the attention of these influencers. They’re getting thousands and thousands of emails.”

So, instead, Laxsav asks influencers if they’ll agree to be interviewed by one of Clutch’s executives.

“We’re not asking to appear on their channel. We want them to appear as a guest on our channels.”

Then, and here’s the kicker, YOU create the content. “The number one thing is giving people something to share. We slice up [one interview] into two to three videos that they could promote. We give them graphics. We even give them social media messaging copy. You build this strong promotional toolkit, and you build that relationship. That’s how it starts.”

But that’s not how it ends. The initial campaign acts as an ice breaker for further collaboration, which, in turn, creates the authenticity your audience is looking for.

“It doesn’t just look like a stamp on a sponsored post. It actually looks like a long-term partnership.”

And that’s where the next lesson comes in clutch. (I’m sorry.) (No, I’m not.)

Lesson 3: Stop thinking in terms of one-and-done.

I asked Laxsav what I suspect is on all of our minds right now: What if I take all this time to make all this content and then they don’t share it?

“There have been times we’ve interviewed CEOs and founders, and they just say ‘Thank you for the content,’ and it never gets shared. But whether they shared or not, you’re still building that relationship.”

Remember that the goal isn’t simply distribution for your content. Whether you’re talking YouTube videos, social media campaigns, blogs, podcasts, or whatever, the goal is a trusted relationship with people your audience trusts.

“You might work with a really big influencer and see a huge spike in traffic that one week. What is that really doing? Consistency is key. Consistently working with a variety of partners that are reaching your target audience.”

“Don’t chase the glossy campaigns of the past. Today’s audiences are far more interested in transparency, relevance, and real value.”

Lingering Questions

Today’s Question

"As marketing shifts from communication and storytelling to creating authentic cultural experiences, how are you or your company rethinking the role of Creative?" — Alicia Mickes, Senior Creative Director, Magic: The Gathering

Today’s Answer

Laxsav says: At Clutch, we’re making sure every content piece is supported by creative that feels rooted in real-life experiences. That means weaving in authentic perspectives from influencers and providers we quote, so the stories aren’t just polished narratives, they’re reflections of what’s actually happening in the market.

Most recently, we’ve been testing more video content that’s intentionally lighter-touch rather than investing in big, glossy productions. We’re seeing that people consistently choose authenticity over stiffness. They want to hear directly from trusted experts in a way that feels conversational and relatable. For us, creative’s role is to amplify those voices and ensure every piece of content feels like an experience buyers can trust and connect with.

Next Week’s Question

Laxsav asks: When it comes to building partnerships for your event, how do you decide which people to collaborate with — whether that’s speakers, creators, or community leaders — to make sure they authentically represent your mission and resonate with your audience?

How marketers can boost their executives’ presence on LinkedIn, from a LinkedIn Top Voice

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 14:00:03 +0300

Of all the consulting requests I receive, helping executives (or their teams) strengthen their LinkedIn presence is the most common — and for good reason. LinkedIn is no longer optional for executives. It's where top talent, investors, journalists, and industry peers vet leaders and build trust — often before they’ve ever met you.

I've seen this firsthand throughout my career. As a founding editor at LinkedIn, I worked on the LinkedIn Influencer program (now known as LinkedIn Top Voices) and watched how the platform evolved into the ultimate professional networking tool.

Since then, I’ve created 20 courses as a LinkedIn Learning Instructor, earned LinkedIn Top Voice recognition with more than 320,000 followers, and wrote about the platform in my bestselling book, Unforgettable Presence.

Most importantly, I've worked with C-Suite executives and senior leaders across Fortune 500 companies, startups, and beyond to help them shape a strategic, credible LinkedIn presence.

What I‘ve learned is this: LinkedIn is the ultimate virtual watercooler. Here’s why it matters, and how marketers can make the most of it.

Why LinkedIn Matters for Executives

The benefits of an executive LinkedIn presence extend far beyond personal branding. Here are the four areas where I've seen the biggest impact.

1. Attract top talent.

Today’s candidates make it a priority to research company leaders before applying for a job. A strong LinkedIn presence builds trust, signals authenticity, and can directly influence a candidate’s decision to join your organization.

It also gives candidates a clearer picture of your company’s culture, values, and what it’s like to work with your leadership team.

2. Establish thought leadership.

Maintaining a consistent presence on LinkedIn positions executives as industry leaders, opening doors to speaking opportunities, interviews, and strategic partnerships. (In fact, many of my own media opportunities have come directly from my LinkedIn.)

Plus, regularly sharing insights or personal reflections can help spark ongoing conversations that reinforce an executive's leadership and credibility over time.

3. Boost company visibility.

Executive posts regularly outperform company posts in reach and engagement. Why? Because people ultimately connect with people. When executives actively engage in online discussions, they amplify the company's overall visibility by showing the human behind the brand. Their presence can make the company feel more authentic, relatable, and trustworthy.

4. Create strong first impressions.

An executive’s LinkedIn profile often creates the critical first impression for investors, partners, and potential collaborators. A comprehensive and engaging profile not only sets clear expectations and establishes credibility but also allows the executive to proactively shape perceptions. It also reinforces your value — well before any meetings or sales conversations take place.

People connect with people, not logos.

Investors, partners, and top talent want genuine human insights—not polished picture-perfect corporate profiles. An executive’s LinkedIn profile should make visitors feel they've genuinely “met” the leader behind the title.

I’ve seen executives with strong in-person presence get negatively impacted by a weak online presence because their profile didn’t reflect who they really are. If someone meets an impressive CEO in person but their LinkedIn is missing a profile picture and has bare bones information, it’s going to impact how you perceive them (this is a real story I heard from someone, by the way!). Executives can avoid this disconnect by ensuring their executive’s profile consistently includes:

Original insights on industry trends that demonstrate thought leadership.

Authentic personal reflections and stories that humanize and engage.

Meaningful milestones and company achievements that build credibility.

An approachable, authoritative tone that allows you to connect with your audience.

Let’s take a look at these steps in action.

Case Study: How I Helped a Fortune 500 CEO Build Their LinkedIn Presence

Here's how I helped one CEO at a Fortune 500 consumer goods retail company grow a bare bones LinkedIn presence into a recognized LinkedIn Top Voice.

The Situation

This CEO’s team reached out to me knowing how important LinkedIn was for establishing credibility. With major announcements on the horizon, they expected a surge in profile traffic, and needed the page to reflect the leader behind the role.

The Challenge

The CEO’s LinkedIn presence was minimal. His communications team was also uncertain about content strategy, unaware of LinkedIn best practices, and unsure how to authentically represent the CEO’s persona online.

They needed fast, strategic guidance to boost credibility and visibility — especially as industry peers and potential partners would be paying attention.

The Strategy

My approach was systematic and data-driven, prioritizing three steps.

1. Competitor Analysis

We jointly created a list of peer executives and competitors. Then, I analyzed the competition’s content from the past six months. We looked at everything:

Do they leave comments?

How many are LinkedIn Top Voices?

What topics are they posting — personal, professional, or promotional?

What formats do they use — text, images, or video?

This analysis uncovered unexpected opportunities to differentiate the CEO’s presence (and also get a better understanding of what peers were doing), making their LinkedIn strategy even more impactful.

Pro tip: Don't limit competitor analysis to your industry. Broaden your scope to include executives across sectors who excel on LinkedIn

2. Profile Optimization

I evaluated the executive's profile using my custom rubric, scoring every single part of their profile and providing specific suggestions for improvement based on what I learned about this person and the competitive landscape.

3. Content Strategy Development

We defined content themes and built a posting rhythm that balanced personal and professional content—while also staying realistic about a posting cadence (remember: you don’t want to start off with a schedule that will cause burnout or that is impossible to maintain, especially while ramping up).

The team needed to get approvals, which took time, and wasn't super familiar with the platform. So, we started with simpler company news content first, then gradually incorporated more personal stories tied to professional insights.

The Results

The impact extended far beyond what we initially expected. Within a few months, the executive became a LinkedIn Top Voice, which created a ripple effect throughout the organization. Other C-suite teammates became more active on LinkedIn after seeing the power of his presence firsthand, and it also boosted company culture as employees were excited to get to know their CEO better.

Additionally, the communications team also gained a clearer understanding of the competitive LinkedIn landscape and how to use the platform effectively.

Most importantly, we saw meaningful increases in the metrics that actually matter: follower count, profile views, connection requests, and direct messages. These are all clear indicators that people were not only seeing the content but taking actionable steps to stay connected.

Pro tip: While nothing is guaranteed on LinkedIn, a good rule of thumb is consistent activity on LinkedIn (at least 1x/week) should give you enough data to assess what is working. When you double down on that, you will slowly start to see momentum (remember: LinkedIn is a long game!).

How Marketers Can Support Executive LinkedIn Success

If you‘re a marketer looking to boost your executive’s LinkedIn presence, here's your tactical playbook to get started.

1. Define content pillars and voice.

Start by identifying two to three core themes that align with your executive‘s expertise and your company’s goals. These might include leadership, innovation, people development, or industry trends.

Then decide on the tone: Are they visionary? Warm? Analytical? Direct?

To uncover the right themes and tone, ask reflective questions like:

What are you passionate about?

How did you end up in this industry?

What made you want to pursue a C-suite role?

What was a big challenge or turning point in your career?

These questions help you understand who they are — not just as a leader, but as a person — and give you stories to draw from later.

Pro tip: Executives at large public companies often have less room for experimentation on LinkedIn. Make sure to coordinate closely with both the communications and executive teams to ensure alignment from the start.

2. Choose your content formats.

Text posts are often the easiest starting point. Add a photo when possible for better engagement (posts with images get 2x the number of comments).

While video is having a big moment on LinkedIn, it‘s a heavier lift for executives and their teams. I don’t see many executives doing carousels.

3. Balance your content mix.

I recommend four types of LinkedIn content: personal, educational, professional, and promotional. Promotional posts should make up no more than 25% of your overall content. The balance between the first three depends on your executive and team goals, but mixing them creates a compelling combination.

When you're starting out, company news (like earnings reports) is often the easiest content to create because it is more straightforward. As you build confidence, incorporate more personal stories — always tied to professional insights — like sharing experiences from industry events or leadership lessons learned.

Pro tip: Don't underestimate the power of commenting on LinkedIn. It builds reputation and reach with minimal effort.

4. Track what actually matters.

Don‘t get caught up in vanity metrics. I actually don’t include engagement as a main KPI when working with executives, because no one has control over the algorithm or how people will engage.

Instead, focus on metrics that indicate genuine interest: follower growth, profile visits, connection requests, and direct messages. These show that people are seeing your content and are interested in taking the next step.

5. Stay consistent.

You don't need to post every day, but consistency is crucial for staying top of mind. According to LinkedIn Top Voices program requirements, aim for at least two original posts per month.

Showing up regularly builds familiarity — and familiarity builds trust.

Start today, build tomorrow.

LinkedIn is an essential tool for executives aiming to amplify their influence and elevate their companies. Don't wait for strategic milestones or annual reviews. Initiate conversations now about their online presence.

Clarify what they want to be known for. Identify the stories that will resonate. The sooner you start, the stronger their presence will be.

Marketing career path report: What 100+ marketers told us about growth and job security

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 14:00:02 +0300

When I introduce myself at workshops, I often joke that my marketing career path looks a bit like two truths and a lie — even though it’s all “truth.” Turns out, I’m not alone. Talking with other successful marketers, a non-linear career path is one thing many of us have in common, whether by choice or necessity.

The workplace and job market are more unpredictable than ever. Between the economy, competitive hiring processes, and the ever-present elephant in the room (AI), many marketers are wondering what shifts they need to make to stay competitive.

To find out, I surveyed 100 marketing and advertising professionals and spoke with leaders inside and outside HubSpot. Here’s what I uncovered.

Table of Contents

The State of the Job Market

How Marketers Are Making Themselves More Competitive

Tools the Most Productive Marketers Are Using

What Leaders Look for in Promotions

What Employers Can Do to Better Support Career Growth

The State of the Job Market

It might surprise you to learn that most marketers are exploring new opportunities.

In our survey, 69% of respondents have looked for a new marketing job in the past 12 months, whether actively (32%) or passively (37%).

The top reasons? Higher salary (81%), more flexibility (54%), and better promotion opportunities (39%).

Desire to work at a different type of company (28%) and burnout or lack of support (24%) round out the top five.

Promotions are common — but not guaranteed.

I uncovered that 54% of marketers have pursued a promotion at their current company in the last year, and another 27% plan to.

Just under half were successful.

Those who advanced pointed to work ethic, experience, and visibility as the biggest factors. Those who didn’t cited politics, lack of opportunity, or perceived experience gaps — some also noted gender or age bias.

Confidence in career growth is mixed.

Want to hear the good news? (It’s promising whether you’re an employer or a job-seeker).

Fewer than 10% of respondents expressed low confidence in their ability to advance their marketing career path at their current company. And 43% reported that they are very confident in their ability to do so.

Marketers are navigating career pivots — here's how.

For marketers who aren’t seeing the advancement they want, the next step isn’t always chasing another full-time role right away.

Some are taking time to find the right job.

Ron Dawson, senior manager of HubSpot for Startups, mentions that it’s tough out there. “I know people who have taken one to two years to land their next role. Staying visible — especially on LinkedIn — and staying up on what’s happening in the industry is crucial.”

Others are striking out on their own.

Freelancing and contract work can feel uncertain, but it also offers control. Matt Hall, co-founder of Common People, explained his perspective:

“I don’t see contract work as any riskier than a job. Everyone knows someone who’s been ‘let go’ through no fault of their own. We’re the CEOs of our own careers. No one has as much investment in our long-term security as we do individually.”

Some are returning to in-house roles.

This is where I personally relate the most. After years of running my own show, I understand the appeal of a steady paycheck and renewed opportunities for growth, and recently went in-house with a client.

Freelance writer and strategist Derek Hambrick put it simply, saying, “The current job market is such that I’ve decided to close my freelance business. I’m seeking full-time employment, which is something I said I would never do. Times are what they are.”

Brand strategist Lindsay Hyatt agrees: “In 2025, I’m re-entering the corporate world for the stability of a paycheck and fresh growth opportunities.”

How Marketers Are Making Themselves More Competitive

In an unpredictable job market, the marketers I spoke to know that opportunities aren’t likely to land at their feet. They’re actively sharpening their skills and making themselves stand out — whether externally on platforms like LinkedIn, or internally within their companies.

I’ve learned that it’s not just about the work you do, but how you position yourself.

Our survey revealed where most marketers are focusing their efforts:

62% are learning new skills (e.g., AI, analytics, SEO, paid media).

45% are getting certifications or additional education.

43% are building their personal brand or content presence.

38% are taking on stretch projects or cross-functional work.

31% are seeking mentorship or coaching.

Only 4% aren’t actively doing anything to make themselves more competitive.

Adaptability and Problem-solving

I’ve learned that adaptability can open doors even when your resume doesn’t align perfectly with a job description. That skill — being able to quickly pivot and solve problems — has been a lifeline in my own marketing career path.

Taking a growth mindset and saying “I can learn how to do that,” often makes all the difference — in how I see myself, and how I present myself to others.

Upskilling (Especially AI)

One clear trend? The marketers who are staying competitive are leaning hard into learning — especially around AI.

I’ve spent the past year experimenting with AI tools myself, figuring out how they can help me work smarter, not just faster. I’ve used them for everything from data analysis to figuring out how to implement my ideas. And I’m not alone.

Amanda Huffman, marketing manager on HubSpot’s Global Growth Team, says that experimentation is key.

“I’ve been learning how to optimize content for AI search platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews by trying things out and learning as I go. Our team even runs AI Grow Hour twice a month to share how we’re using AI.”

Building Visibility and a Personal Brand

Something near and dear to my heart is helping marketers gain comfort in promoting themselves.

I’ve found that one of the easiest ways to do this is to shift how you think about “self-promotion.” By focusing less on telling everyone how awesome you are (even though you are) and more on how you can help people solve their problems, you can really highlight your experience and show up as your true self.

But it’s not just about showing up “out there.” Marketers who want to grow within their current companies need to position themselves internally as well.

Laura M. Browning, principal newsletter writer at HubSpot, emphasizes this point:

“Many of us (especially if you were socialized as female) are inherently uncomfortable with self-promotion. But it’s a learnable skill. I think about it in terms of sharing my excitement about something, whether it’s a blog post I’ve written that I want my co-workers to see or something I’m promoting on LinkedIn. If you’re passionate about something, it’ll show — and you’ll attract an audience.”

Aligning Ambitions With Company Needs

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that career growth isn’t just about what you want — it’s about how your goals align with the company’s priorities.

Browning explained that a conversation with her boss about her “strengths, interests, and ambitions — and where they fit with the company’s needs” opened up a year-long team lead program that’s building her management skills.

Nicole Morton echoed a similar mindset, saying, “I’m leaning into my strengths in strategic positioning and marketing automation while also building thought leadership. Visibility inside and outside the company is critical.”

Takeaway: Marketers who stay competitive don’t rest on their laurels. They’re naturally curious about how to do things better — and how to adapt what they know to make a bigger impact.

Tools the Most Productive Marketers Are Using

When it comes to staying competitive, the right tools can make or break your ability to deliver results without burning out. And that means balancing diving into new tools with understanding the (constantly) expanding capabilities your current tools share.

A word of caution: It’s easy to get excited about shiny new platforms, but too many tools can create confusion, redundant features, and data silos.

I’ve found that looking for integrations and overlap is key — often the tools you already use (like project management, analytics, or CRM platforms) have built-in functionality you can activate without adding yet another login. Keeping things simple saves money and helps you get the most out of your tools without costing you more time.

So what tools have helped the marketers we surveyed achieve the most visibility and results?

33.7% – AI Tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, etc.).

22.1% – Social Media Platforms (LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, etc.).

10.5% – Analytics & Data Tools (Google Analytics, SEMRush, Data Visualization Tools, Trends).

8.4% – Productivity & Project Management (Trello, Teams, Basecamp, etc.).

7.4% – Job Search & Career Platforms (Indeed, Glassdoor, etc.).

5.3% – Creative & Design Tools (Canva, Adobe, WordPress).

5.3% – Learning & Education Platforms (Coursera, LinkedIn Learning).

5.3% – Email & Marketing Platforms (HubSpot, Mailchimp).

AI tools are now a minimum requirement.

With a third of marketers calling out AI as their most impactful category of tools, it’s clear these platforms are no longer “nice-to-haves.”

I use AI daily to brainstorm, analyze data, and streamline repetitive tasks. It’s become one of the easiest ways to stay efficient and free up time for higher-impact work. (And I recently wrote this post comparing the top tools out there.)

Ron Dawson has a similar perspective: “Learning AI is table stakes for staying competitive. Beyond that, you need to take risks. AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, NotebookLM, and Gamma are part of my daily workflow. They help me research, write, and automate, so I can focus on strategy.”

Amy Rigby uses AI as a thought partner as much as a time saver, sharing how she’s “been using ChatGPT and Claude to poke holes in my work and deepen my understanding of complex topics.”

Social media platforms build visibility.

But AI alone isn’t enough to get you the visibility you need to further your marketing career path. Remember, nearly a quarter of marketers we surveyed named LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, or other social platforms as their most effective tools for visibility.

Rigby echoed this and shared how she’s experimented with post types and short-form video: “My most successful post was a vulnerable one about the challenges of being a writer in the age of AI — people are hungry for authentic, human perspectives.”

As for me, I’ve also seen how consistent engagement on LinkedIn has helped me showcase my work and stay top of mind with potential collaborators and hiring managers.

Project management and productivity tools keep teams organized.

How about the 8.4% of marketers who pointed to project management platforms like Trello, Asana, or Teams as their key productivity drivers? I’m a huge fan of ClickUp and Monday myself — keeping tasks out of my head and into a system is the only way I stay sane.

Dawson has found Asana to be a game-changer, “because it gets tasks out of my head and keeps me organized.”

Browning even uses AI to plan her work calendar. “Claude prioritizes assignments in minutes instead of hours and helps me see the whole month at a glance.”

Some marketers are trimming their tech stacks.

Not everyone is adding more tools; some are taking the opposite approach. Of respondents, 27% cited “other” tools, often describing pared-down, minimalist stacks that fit their unique workflows.

Lindsay Hyatt pared back her tech stack, saying, “Google Calendar, Notes, Canva, and Zoom get me most of the way there. Cutting unnecessary tools was the best thing I did for my productivity.”

Takeaway: The most productive marketers aren’t the ones juggling the longest list of tools — though versatility can be a plus. They’re the ones who know which platforms truly drive visibility, results, and efficiency, and use them consistently.

What Leaders Look for in Promotions

Since promotions are such a hot topic right now, let’s have a look at what makes candidates most promotable.

Problem-solving and adaptability are key.

“I’m interested in people who can apply problem-solving skills across different types of work,” said Karla Hesterberg, director of the HubSpot Blog. “That’s what helps people grow with the organization, not a perfectly matched set of past experiences.”

This insight mirrors what I’m hearing “in the wild.” Leaders are far more likely to promote someone who can grow with the company and learn than someone who only checks the boxes.

Visibility matters — but it’s about value.

In practice, visibility means consistently showing your work and the value you bring, including offering solutions in meetings, building relationships with advocates, or taking on cross-functional work

Proactivity and a growth mindset make the difference.

Leaders notice when you take ownership of your growth — through mentorship, certifications, or asking for feedback.

What Employers Can Do to Better Support Career Growth

If you’re a hiring manager reading this — I wanted to include this section just for you. I asked the marketers we surveyed: “What’s one thing companies (including your current employer) could do to better support your career growth?”

Most responses fell into three categories:

Invest in training and skill-building (40%). Offer structured development opportunities: launch mentorship programs, fund certifications, outline clear advancement pathways, and provide leadership training.

Communicate and recognize consistently (30.8%). Set clear expectations, hold regular career-focused check-ins, and recognize great work publicly and privately to build trust and motivation.

Reward employees competitively (29.2%). Review compensation regularly, improve benefits, and offer flexible schedules and remote work options to retain top performers.

Takeaway: When companies invest in skill-building, communicate clearly, and reward employees fairly, they can improve morale and create a strong pipeline of future leaders.

The Big Picture

The data, my conversations, and my own career experience all point to the same truth: The marketing career path isn’t linear anymore — if it ever was in the first place. I see that as a very positive thing because it puts your next step as a marketer firmly in your own hands.

The marketers thriving right now are the ones taking ownership of their careers and staying open to possibilities. They’re learning how to evaluate opportunities not just for titles or salary bumps, but for how each step moves them toward the kind of work — and life — they want.

For companies, this shifting landscape is a chance to rethink how they support talent. The marketers we surveyed made it clear. When employers invest in development, communicate clearly, and build paths for people to grow, they don’t just retain great employees — they create stronger businesses.

So what’s next?

If you’re an individual marketer: Take an honest look at your skills, visibility, and network, and choose one area to improve in the next three months.

If you’re a hiring manager: Audit your team’s career support and start offering clear paths for growth — small steps now will help you attract and keep the people who can help you move forward.

The psychological reason brands use the power of association to sell

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 14:00:02 +0300

In the 1890s, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov noticed how dogs began salivating not just when food was placed in front of them, but when they heard the footsteps of the person bringing the food.

He ran experiments where he’d ring a bell right before he fed his dogs. After repeating this several times, the dogs started salivating at the sound of the bell alone, no food needed.

Pavlov had identified classical conditioning, or learning to associate one stimulus (the bell) with a different stimulus (the food) to produce a conditioned response (salivation).

Now, I like to think I’m a little bit more evolved than those dogs. I’d hope I wouldn’t fall for the same tricks. But I do. In fact, we all do.

The Real Reason You Love That New Car Smell

Take the “new car smell” as my first example. No one is born liking this smell. Instead, we learn to like this smell through repeated associations. That new car smell becomes associated with the pleasurable experience of sitting in a shiny, clean new car.

Yet this association can be hacked to alter our perception.

Charles Spence, in his terrific book Sensehacking, describes how Rolls-Royce customers sent their cars in for service, and they returned to their owners seemingly brand new. Rolls-Royce managing director Hugh Hadland is quoted as saying, “People say they don‘t understand what we’ve done, but that their cars come back different and better.”

How did Rolls-Royce deliver this incredible service?

Apparently, by spraying the car with an aromatic mixture of leather and wood designed to capture that distinctive new car smell. The scent has become so iconic that the brand released it as a fragrance that can help keep a Rolls-Royce smelling great for longer.

Source

It’s a perfect example of classical conditioning at work — this time on humans. It’s the same formula. We learn to associate one stimulus (new car smell) with another (a new car), producing a conditioned response (believing you’re sitting in a new car).

It’s not the only associative hack pulled off by car manufacturers.

One 2011 study found that students overestimated a car’s speed when the noise of the car was artificially increased. Likewise, one 2008 study found that lowering the in-car noise by five decibels led people to underestimate its speed by 10%.

This is because over time, we’ve built an association between sound and speed. F1 cars make deafening noises, as do jet planes. We have learned to expect that fast cars do the same. So it’s no surprise that some Volkswagen Golf models use sound actuators to help boost the roar of the engine.

From Beer Logos to Air Conditioning — Association Drives Sales

There’s another association spotted by Charles Spence in Sensehacking that’s far too common to be a fluke: beer brands and stars.

Dozens of beer brands seem to include a star shape in their logos: think Estrella, Heineken, Newcastle Brown Ale, and Sapporo. Bintang’s star is visible across most of Indonesia, and in Nigeria, one of the top-selling beers is literally called Star Lager.

Why this link between stars and beer?

Well, Spence says it's due to how we associate carbonation and bitterness with angularity. A star’s angular shape nudges us to think of a refreshing, cold, carbonated beverage.

These attempts to hack our associations aren’t just used by fast cars and beer brands — even luxury stores selling premium goods do the same.

Take Lisa Heschong’s research for her 1979 book Thermal Delight in Architecture. She found that luxury brand stores are, on average, significantly colder than non-luxury stores. In other words, Harrods is colder than Selfridges, and Rolex is colder than Target.

Heschong claims that this deliberate cooling originated from a time when air conditioning was a luxury that could only be afforded by the wealthiest establishments. And it seems as though stores are still leveraging this association today.

Making Connections That Sell

While I may hope to be immune to the tricks Pavlov played on his dogs, it’s clear from the research that I’m just as malleable. I’ll salivate at a fast food brand's jingle, flinch when I hear a loud engine, and crave a refreshing star-adorned beer. Savvy marketers use that power to sell better.

From manual to AI-powered orchestration: Winning Fortune 500 IT deals with ABM

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 14:00:02 +0300

Account based marketing isn't just another channel or tactic. It’s a strategic approach that flips the traditional funnel. Instead of casting a wide net, ABM teams select high-propensity accounts. From there, marketers align revenue teams around orchestrated, personalized, and multi-channel programs tailored to buying groups within those accounts.

So, marketing doesn’t “throw leads over the wall.” In ABM, marketers co-own an account plan with sales or customer success, share a single view of the buying group, and run coordinated touches across channels to amplify engagement.

As the founder of the NextGenABM, I’ve seen this tactic lead to game-changing growth. Over the past decade, I’ve helped B2B teams break into prospect accounts, from the Fortune 500 to fast-growing startups. I’ve seen the benefits of shifting from manual tactics to automated, AI-assisted marketing orchestration using a strategic ABM approach.

In this guide, I’ll share how I build AI-powered ABM programs to tackle Fortune 500 IT deals and why they work.

Table of Contents

How ABM Works (and Why It’s Different)

The Fortune 500 IT Landscape

Why AI-Enabled ABM Orchestration Outperforms Your Traditional Marketing

ABM in an AI-First World

The AI-Enabled Orchestration Advantage: Scalability, Speed, Consistency

Manual vs. AI-Powered ABM Orchestration

Core Pillars of AI-Powered Automated ABM Orchestration

The Framework for Winning Fortune 500 IT Deals

The Framework in Action [Case Study]

Practical Tips for ABM Marketers

Q&A

How ABM Works (and Why It’s Different)

Account based marketing (ABM) strategies identify specific target accounts first. Then, teams develop comprehensive marketing and sales strategies designed exclusively for those potential customers. Using software like HubSpot ABM can make the process easy to manage.

ABM success drives real revenue for businesses. In a Forrester and RollWorks poll, personalized advertising strategies resulted in a 60% higher win rate for companies. Beyond that, 58% of B2B marketers closed larger deals after using ABM advertising.

When the process works, three things happen:

Tighter sales/marketing alignment throughout the process.

Sharper messaging (because campaigns are built on dynamic account intelligence).

Cleaner hand-offs (because everyone is looking at the same data and milestones).

Pro tip: ABM focuses sales and marketing resources on high-value accounts. For example, HubSpot ABM tools help marketing and sales teams target Fortune 500 IT decision makers with personalized campaigns that address their unique technical and business challenges.

The Fortune 500 IT Landscape

As companies build an AMB strategy, marketing and sales teams need to create campaigns tailored for each potential buyer. The first step is knowing how most enterprise organizations are structured. From there, teams can identify which accounts to target.

Enterprise IT buying is a consensus-driven decision. I’ve seen committees include at least six to ten stakeholders across functions (IT, finance, operations, security, procurement, etc.). Some stakeholders evaluate technical fit, others scrutinize risk, budget, and ROI.

With so many stakeholders involved in purchasing decisions, ABM must speak to each buyer persona with consistent narratives and experiences. IT decision-making at mid-market businesses operates in a completely different universe from enterprise companies.

So, if you want to sell to Fortune 500 IT decision makers, you have to understand both what their organizations need and how they buy. Here’s the landscape your ABM strategy has to confront head-on.

Structure of Enterprise IT Committees

Fortune 500 IT teams have many decision-makers who need to sign off on new purchases. According to Gartner, teams encounter buying groups of five to 11 stakeholders across five business functions when selling a B2B product. HubSpot ABM and other tools can help navigate that complex landscape at Fortune 500 IT companies.

Often, sales reps are selling to a senior team member like an IT vice president or director. That buyer will have to convince their boss that the product is worth the investment. The target buyer could also escalate the request to the CIO or CTO, depending on the offering or price tag.

ABM teams also need to provide value for lower-level stakeholders. Enterprise architects may need to evaluate technical fit. Individual contributors have to see how the tool will make their jobs easier. Then, sellers need to make sure solutions align with any legal and procurement requirements managed outside of the IT team.

Each company’s buying process will be different. ABM marketers and salespeople need to understand both the requirements and structures of each target company before building an ABM strategy.

Buying Triggers for Fortune 500 IT Decision Makers

Once ABM teams know what buyers to target, they need to understand the signals that lead to purchases. Leadership changes, urgent market trends, and transformation initiatives can push decision-makers to purchase helpful solutions. Marketers and sales reps can track these signals with HubSpot ABM and send key messages at the right time.

New Leadership or Organizational Shifts

Nothing shakes up the status quo like new leadership. ABM teams should monitor press releases, earnings calls, and LinkedIn updates. When a target account announces a new CIO or undergoes a major reorg, that’s a great GTM signal. Fresh leaders often come in with a mandate to drive change, which can include adopting new technologies.

Crisis Moments and Urgent Needs

Enterprise giants may be slow to move, but a crisis will light a fire under them. Urgent events — like major security breaches, system failures, or compliance deadlines — can also rapidly accelerate a buying process.

I once had a prospect go dark for months until their legacy system suffered a high-profile outage. Overnight, their “not interested” turned into “let’s talk now.”

Budget Cycles and Transformation Initiatives

Enterprise purchasing is often related to budget cycles and big strategic initiatives. I’ve seen target accounts that were unresponsive in Q3 come alive in Q1 simply because new budget was kicking in.

Similarly, if a company launches a digital transformation project or a cost-cutting initiative, teams become much more receptive to new solutions.

Why AI-Enabled ABM Orchestration Outperforms Your Traditional Marketing

Account-based marketing involves creating customized marketing and sales assets for each Fortune 500 IT decision maker. Automation, like HubSpot ABM, can help with that personalization at scale.

The Limits of Manual Orchestration

Teams can have the best strategists and savvy salespeople, but here’s the truth. The manual approach to account based marketing will only get teams so far. The biggest barriers created by manual ABM include:

Too much data to analyze. Marketers and sales reps can’t reliably time outreach when insight is siloed.

Too much content to hand-craft. Personalization of landing pages, email sequences, and content libraries at 20+ accounts becomes unsustainable.

Too many moving parts. Multi-threaded sequences across roles and channels are hard to maintain without automation.

Pain Points Marketers Keep Running Into

I still remember the first time I tried to land a Fortune 500 account with account-based marketing. I was the lone marketer at a small tech startup. I lived in spreadsheets, built tailored decks for each account, and constantly coordinated with sales. In that role, my team missed a few key decision-makers simply because we couldn’t keep straight who had seen what messages in which channel.

That experience shaped how I operate today: If you want to win over enterprise decision-makers, especially with a lean marketing team, you need automation and orchestration. Here are other common roadblocks that teams need to solve for.

1. Data Overload in Disconnected Systems

One of the first challenges I faced was information overload. There’s so much data available, but it lives in silos.

In the past, my sales counterparts and I would dig through CRM records, marketing automation reports, third-party intent signals, and first-party product engagements to piece together a clear picture of the targeted accounts. Without a unified view of account insights, it’s nearly impossible to confidently pinpoint a buyer’s biggest challenges or time your outreach right.

HubSpot ABM allows teams to see trends in their centralized data. ABM marketing teams can then send Fortune 500 IT decision makers the information they need at key moments. The manual process lacks that oversight.

2. Endless Personalization Demands

Another pain point was the amount of customized content we needed. To resonate with each top account (and key buying groups within those accounts), ABM teams can’t rely on generic one-sheets or a single deck.

At one point, I had a laundry list of custom landing pages, bespoke email sequences, and personalized whitepapers for every target company. Manually tailoring content was exhausting and unsustainable.

HubSpot ABM and other tools can create personalized content faster. For example, HubSpot ABM allows you to flag sales enablement content that works best for each type of Fortune 500 decision maker.

3. Timing and Coordination Chaos

Coordinating timing, inbound content efforts, and outreach is a real-life challenge in ABM. Marketers could have one executive receive a follow-up too late, while another stakeholder at the same company was bombarded with marketing emails.

When competitors are moving faster with automated systems, manual teams lose business. HubSpot ABM can keep track of that timing so reps never miss a moment.

ABM in an AI-First World

Knowing which buyers to target and getting them tailored content can be a lengthy manual process. Automated account based marketing can make the process faster. HubSpot ABM is one AI-powered tool that helps with personalization at scale. Here are other benefits of AI-powered ABM.

1:1 Contextual Messaging at Scale

AI helps match role, industry, and live intent to the right narrative, then fills the last mile with contextual snippets (e.g., proof points, customer logos, risk language). The result is human-sounding messages tailored to each buyer at scale.

Automated Multichannel Campaigns Triggered by Behavior

Instead of static “drip” tracks, ABM marketers can orchestrate plays triggered by key events. For example, a CTO who consumes integration content will be served a deep-dive invite. Meanwhile, a CEO or CFO who opens a TCO model sees ROI proof in the next touch.

Timely Outreach Driven by Signals

Speed matters in enterprise deals. Savvy ABM marketers set thresholds that alert sales at the right moments. Reps may get a notification when a new exec is hired, intent surges, or a customer visits the same page multiple times. These AI-driven callouts reduce guesswork. Humans can then jump in when they add the most value, while automation handles the rest.

The AI-Enabled Orchestration Advantage: Scalability, Speed, Consistency

Automated ABM orchestration allows teams to personalize at scale and engage IT committees with the precision and consistency that enterprise buyers expect. Instead of choosing between quality and quantity, automation offers both. HubSpot ABM can help you scale that process.

You can quickly build personalized experiences.

With automation, speed becomes your competitive advantage. In the past, crafting personalized account messaging took days. Today, automated systems can use account intelligence to identify key stakeholders and launch personalized sequences.

ABM orchestration allows you to personalize at scale and engage IT committees. This responsiveness is crucial when dealing with enterprise buying cycles that can shift quickly based on budgets, leadership changes, or competitive pressure.

You can make the most of your data.

In the past, manual processes led to siloed data. Today, automated ABM systems unify all buyer information, so teams can identify real pain points instead of guessing.

For example, HubSpot ABM tracks every prospect touch point. Teams can see engagement and score accounts based on stakeholder behavior. They can then see what prospects interact with, helping better understand buyer challenges and serve up the right marketing assets to address the main points.

You can tailor messaging for each person on the account.

Automated systems can help you craft compelling messages for every member of the buying committee while maintaining cohesion. HubSpot ABM can help you identify Fortune 500 decision makers and craft content that addresses their questions.

The CTO gets technical deep-dives. The procurement lead receives ROI documentation. The business sponsor sees transformation case studies.

Each message is delivered with perfect timing and brand consistency, speaking to the same underlying challenge. With automated ABM, teams won’t have to worry about confusing accounts or sending the wrong thing to the wrong buyer.

Manual vs. AI-Powered ABM Orchestration

Factor

Manual ABM (what you end up doing)

Automated orchestration (what “good” looks like)

How HubSpot ABM can help

Account research

One-off desk research across CRM, insights go stale quickly.

Unified account profile (firmographic, technographic, intent, engagement) updated on a schedule

HubSpot ABM combines 100+ data sources with predictive intent scoring

Stakeholder mapping

Focus on titles, but hidden influencers missed

Focus on buying roles and buying groups; alerts for role gaps (e.g., “no decision maker”)

HubSpot ABM provides dynamic role mapping with influence scoring specifically designed for Fortune 500 decision makers

Sequence coordination

Ad-hoc timings, with possible overlaps and gaps, easy to go off-message across roles

AI-powered, tailored sequencing by roles and prior engagements

There is cross-stakeholder sequence coordination optimized for Fortune 500 decision makers' complex buying cycles

Data integration

Manual updates, error-prone

Governed syncs (MAP↔CRM↔enrichment) with rules

HubSpot ABM offers native CRM integration with automatic enrichment

Campaign scalability

Limited

More scalable when plays are modular and tiered (1:1 / 1:few / 1:many)

HubSpot ABM enables enterprise-grade scaling with templates and workflows

Response time

24-72 hours to react (manual routing/creative)

Minutes to hours via alerts and automations

Team can access real-time personalization designed for the fast-paced needs of Fortune 500 decision makers

Consistency

Varies by workload; message drift across teams is common

Repeatable, policy-backed execution; guardrails (frequency caps, suppression) enforced

HubSpot ABM delivers brand-consistent messaging with AI-generated personalization

ROI measurement

Patchy attribution, hard to tie multi-threaded touches to revenue

Sourced + influenced pipeline tracked at account level; time-in-stage and velocity visible

HubSpot ABM offers attribution reporting with revenue impact tracking

Core Pillars of AI-Powered Automated ABM Orchestration

Effective automated ABM systems need a unified

How to onboard non-technical marketers to automation tools with zero headaches

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 14:00:03 +0300

Using AI to level up your marketing campaigns shouldn’t require a computer science background. With the right tools, non-technical marketers can use automation tools to turn initiatives into impact.

In fact, non-technical marketers can learn HubSpot Marketing Automation and become productive in just two weeks. The difference between HubSpot’s onboarding and other similar tools is a structured, confidence-first approach that delivers early wins without overwhelming anyone.

This guide covers the 14-day onboarding framework teams can use to transition from automation-anxious to automation-empowered.

Table of Contents

What are marketing automation tools?

Marketing Automation Onboarding Challenges

The Benefits of Accelerated 14-Day Onboarding

14-Day Framework for Onboarding Non-Technical Marketers to Automation Tools

Checklist for Onboarding Non-Technical Marketers

Comparison of Onboarding Approaches

Q&A: How to Onboard Non-Technical Marketers to Automation in Two Weeks

What are marketing automation tools?

Marketing automation software enables the team to focus on customer-centric tasks that require a human touch, without being bogged down by repetitive processes that consume the workday.

HubSpot Marketing Automation software uses AI to streamline marketing activities, helping marketers increase the effectiveness and quantity of campaigns. Key capabilities include:

Automated lead generation through powerful email and forms features that turn website visitors into customers.

Forms that use CRM data to remember returning visitors and adapt based on their behavior.

Email triggers and sequences automatically follow up on form submissions to welcome new subscribers, nurture leads with relevant content, or re-engage inactive contacts.

The best automation tools can be used by non-technical marketers. Whether you're building simple follow-up campaigns or complex multi-step journeys, HubSpot Marketing Automation’s user-friendly interface helps teams scale their efforts while maintaining a personal touch.

Marketing Automation Onboarding Challenges

If marketing automation tools have a simple interface and robust training materials, teams can avoid onboarding challenges. HubSpot Marketing Automation’s visual workflow builder is intuitive and designed for non-technical users. Beyond that, marketers have access to HubSpot Academy courses and knowledge base articles that make onboarding easy.

But, when training materials are missing, onboarding challenges arise. Without the right foundation, marketers may not have the right language and skill set to make the most of their tech stack. Common onboarding challenges include:

Fear of breaking things in the system.

Imposter syndrome in marketing tech.

Resistance to change and jargon overload.

I’ve seen these challenges firsthand. The first time I sat in a meeting to discuss marketing automation, I swear I could read the thought bubbles over the heads of the non-technical marketers on my team. Those bubbles read, “I just don’t want to break anything.”

I get it. As a former non-technical marketer, I understand how new technology can leave you feeling uncertain. I’ve also learned that when onboarding lags and software becomes frustrating to use, it’s not really because the team “can’t” learn a new tool. Usually, it’s because the onboard process unintentionally fuels anxiety.

When this happens, these patterns consistently show up.

1. Fear of Breaking Things in the System

Many marketers worry that a single click could send an email to the entire database or overwrite essential CRM fields. While these things rarely happen, 37% of CRM adopters feel they lack the internal knowledge needed to make the best use of their chosen platforms.

I asked Vassilena Valchanova, Digital Strategist, if she sees tech anxiety when onboarding teams to a new tool. She has, and it’s more common than you think.

She told me, “In my experience, there‘s this fear among non-marketing people that if they start working with a new tool, they might ‘break it.’ Usually, when people see a new platform they haven’t worked with, they're uncertain about where to start and what their actions might lead to.”

While the easiest way to fix this is to be curious and experiment, these hesitations often derail entire campaigns.

Pro tip: HubSpot Marketing Automation addresses the confidence gap by designing marketing automation tools that prioritize user confidence and ease of use. The platform's visual workflow builder eliminates the need for technical expertise, allowing marketers to create targeted workflows through an intuitive drag-and-drop interface.

What’s Worked for the Experts

The easiest way to help non-technical marketers learn new software is to give them a sandbox to play in. A sandbox is a dedicated space for testing features, sending test campaigns, and learning workflows.

Create a test environment — complete with mock customer data — for training purposes. When users feel more comfortable with their tools, they’re more likely to adopt them into their workflows appropriately.

Valchanova uses this approach, too. As she said, “The worst that can happen is spamming colleagues’ emails, not thousands of unintended recipients.”

2. Imposter Syndrome in Marketing Tech

Imposter syndrome can show up in even the most skilled marketers. For non-technical marketers, it can prevent them from fully adopting their tech stacks. In fact, 32% of CRM users say a lack of tech expertise is the biggest hurdle to feeling confident enough to embrace it. These fears are common, but if not squashed early on, they can set the entire team back.

Aaron Whittaker, VP of Demand Generation at Thrive, said he’s noticed this with his team. He told me, “When I rolled out marketing automation to the non-technical team, the main concern they had was the fear of revealing that they didn’t know how to do something. Many of them were anxious that automation meant complicated processes or being put out of work by technology they didn’t really understand.”

What’s Worked for the Experts

Pushing teams toward early wins is one of the most effective ways to eliminate imposter syndrome. Create role‑based starting points, side‑by‑side build sessions, or a five‑minute “you already do this” demo. This helps empower marketing teams to flex their existing knowledge while learning new skills.

Whittaker has used this approach with his team. He says, “One of the early ‘wins’ in transforming that fear to confidence was what I now refer to as a ‘customer journey playback.”

He explains it like this: “We mapped a basic end-to-end campaign from a lead’s point of view and depicted what they would see and go through at each stage of engagement--the goal was to ensure that the team sees and understands that automation allowed us to hyper-personalize at scale.”

3. Resistance to Change and Jargon Overload

Nothing derails adoption faster than a perceived learning curve. Whether big or small, learning curves can cause friction and invite frustration.

When I spoke to Matthew Tran, Engineer and Founder of Birchbury, about this, he said that his team’s biggest concerns about tool adoption stemmed from the complexity. He said, “They feared that the learning curve would take time and that integrating the new system with our existing platforms would cause more headaches than it was worth.”

Tran added, “Hesitation is common in teams without a technical background, especially with tools that seem like they require coding or advanced technical skills.”

Pro tip: HubSpot Marketing Automation’s interface and HubSpot Academy training materials are built with straightforward, accessible language. By removing technical language, teams can focus onstrategy and creative work that drives results, rather than getting bogged down by lengthy learning curves.

What’s Worked for the Experts

While change can be overwhelming, getting team buy-in requires an intentional approach to adoption. Marketing leaders can motivate their teams to start using a new tool by implementing simple systems.

To kick off onboarding, create an onboarding guide to walk users through an automated subscriber campaign. Give your team a chance to learn by establishing test email addresses to use for practice.

Tran notes, “Using a structured onboarding approach has helped reduce our time-to-first campaign from several weeks to just days. A phased rollout paired with guided tutorials allowed us to quickly test and refine our workflows. This hands-on experience accelerated the team's adoption and made them more comfortable with the tool.”

The Benefits of Accelerated 14-Day Onboarding

Accelerated onboarding can help teams unlock the benefit of automation tools. The right onboarding structure flips the switch from fear to confidence. And when confidence takes hold, marketers don’t just try the tool. They weave it into their everyday workflows.

I’ve seen the process firsthand. Recently, I stepped into the role of CMO at Thoughttree, an early-stage startup. When I joined, the team did not have a CRM in place. We were about to start a beta testing push, and we needed a CRM to track sign-ups. I know from experience that automating certain parts of these processes with HubSpot is the most effective approach.

In fact, HubSpot Marketing Automation is designed to be helpful out of the box with no technical expertise required. Marketers can use an intuitive visual editor to design workflows that make follow-up campaigns and multi-step journeys simple.

Here’s what else happens when you pair accelerated onboarding with marketing automation.

1. Immediate Confidence

Structured onboarding reduces time-to-productivity by 70%, and when paired with hands-on learning, users quickly feel more confident using the tool's basic features. Some onboarding elements that can help marketers better understand automated features include:

Selected knowledge base articles related to the tools.

Bite-sized modules, such as 10-20 minute videos, that increase user adoption.

Roadmaps of which skills to acquire or lessons to learn by key dates.

When Tran’s team began onboarding with new software, they started with a basic, automated welcome email for new subscribers. This helped the team see immediate results from their efforts, without feeling overwhelmed by the tool’s features.

Tran said, "The success gave our team the confidence to move forward with more complex workflows."

2. Faster Campaign Deployment

Marketing automation training can help reduce complexity and accelerate results. In turn, teams can deploy campaigns more quickly, dramatically reducing time-to-impact. When training reduces complexity, everybody wins.

But that’s not the only metric that improves when teams quickly onboard with a new tool. According to Tran, success can be found in customer retention rates.

Tran said, “With fast onboarding, we saw an 82% higher retention rate in the first three months after launching automated campaigns. It was a clear indicator of the ROI of our efforts.”

3. Peer Learning and Support

Providing marketers new to technical marketing with “what to do when stuck” guides in their own language can minimize frustration and speed up adoption rates. Coupled with peer training, marketers have the support they need to integrate a new tool into their workflow fully.

When Valchanova launches a new marketing automation tool, she opts for the “see one, do one’ approach, similar to what medical students use in their training.

She told me, “First, we start with a clear description of the process, combining video walkthroughs with text and screenshot manuals for quick reference. Then, we demo the first task flow together, showing them what I‘m doing and why, encouraging questions so they can see the process in action. Finally, I have them perform it while I’m there to help.”

Valchanova added, “This doesn‘t just give them knowledge—it ensures they’re confident enough to continue because someone who knows the process has validated they can do it too.

14-Day Framework for Onboarding Non-Technical Marketers to Automation Tools

With a structured plan, leaders can onboard non-technical marketers to automation tools in less than two weeks. The key is to match each day pairs with concise lesson. The plan should include hands-on execution and a simple success metric. This framework keeps the cadence tight and the stakes low, while giving immediate feedback and a needed confidence boost.

While this framework can be adapted to any marketing automation tool, this guide will be tailored to HubSpot Marketing Automation. HubSpot's visual workflow builder and intuitive interface make it ideal for this sprint approach, as teams can create powerful automation without technical expertise.

Days 1-3: Establish the foundation.

Goal: Platform navigation basics. Marketers learn how to navigate the HubSpot Marketing Automation interface.

Time Required: 1 hour/day

Success Metric: Complete the HubSpot Academy course on marketing automation.

Onboarding Activities

Day 1: Orientation. See how to work with contacts, lists, emails, workflows, and settings by taking a tour of the interface. Start with the HubSpot Academy Marketing Automation Course to understand the fundamentals and benefits of automation within HubSpot.

Day 2: Lists and segments. Create a static list and import contacts CSV using sample data. Review HubSpot Knowledge Base for step-by-step guidance on list management.

Day 3: Email builder basics. Review, blocks, preview, test sends, and version history. Complete the Email Marketing Certification section on personalization and automation to understand how email integrates with HubSpot's automation workflows.

Hands‑On Tasks

Create a “Practice – Internal Test” list with 10-20 dummy contacts.

Build a “Practice – Internal Only” email using a pre‑approved template.

Send a test to a 3‑person internal seed list.

By Day 3, every marketer can segment a list and execute a test send. Spending the first three days learning the basics helps remove the most common bottlenecks that delay first campaigns.

Days 4-7: Build your first campaign.

Goal: Build and launch a simple email

Time Required: 2 hours/day

Success Metric: Live test send

Onboarding Activities

Day 4: Define success criteria for a campaign. Understand the goal, audience, offer, CTA, and KPIs for an automated marketing campaign.

Day 5: Draft and build a campaign. Then, create a QA checklist. Use HubSpot Marketing Automation’s forms that adapt based on CRM data to create personalized experiences for returning visitors.

Day 6: Set up link tracking and UTM basics.

Day 7: Set up approval process. Add go/no‑go snapshots.

Hands‑On Tasks

Choose a low‑risk internal or “warm” audience, such as customers, for a webinar reminder.

Use an approved template and swap in copy and CTA.

Execute a live test send to a small, controlled audience.

By Day 7, the team has shipped a real campaign, creating early engagement signals you can optimize next week.

Days 8-10: Master your workflow.

Goal: Create basic automation sequence

Time Required: 2 hours/day

Success Metric: Triggered workflow test

Onboarding Activities

Day 8: Use the workflow builder. Leverage HubSpot Marketing Automation's visual editor to design workflows for common scenarios, like delivering content based on visits to specific pages.

Day 9: Focus on branching basics. Establish if/then workflows for engagement or lifecycle stage.

Day 10: Quality assess your systems with test contacts, suppression lists, and “kill switch” toggle.

Hands‑On Tasks

Build a welcome sequence consisting of a three‑email

AI search is forcing businesses to diversify their channel strategy: Here’s why

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 16:15:18 +0300

Picture this: Content visibility is up, but traffic to your website is way down. More than half of Google searches today end in no clicks, according to Search Engine Land. And consumers are looking everywhere — from Google’s AI Overviews to Reddit — for instant solutions to fit their needs.

Is this your reality? Welcome to the rebirth of how people find information.

Payoffs from traditional SEO tactics used to be huge. Now, AI has effectively given everyone access to unlimited, personalized knowledge on a diverse set of channels, and Google Search is losing users to AI search engines like ChatGPT.

The once reliable marketing playbook has officially been disrupted. You can no longer count on one distribution channel, like search, to do all of the work for you. As a brand, you need to diversify your content across channels to meet buyers where they are.

With the rise in AI adoption, one of those channels is AI search. When your audience is finding information in large language models (LLMs), it’s time to optimize your content strategy for both humans and machines.

The Scoop on AI Engine Optimization (AEO)

AI usage has been increasing since 2023. A recent McKinsey survey found that 78% of organizations used AI in at least one business function in 2024, compared to 55% the year prior. This widespread adoption is fundamentally changing how people consume information.

As Google and other search engines roll out more AI features, businesses are facing a unique paradox: they're seeing fewer clicks even if their rankings and impressions improve. That’s because AI engines are increasingly becoming the first stop for product discovery.

It is worth noting, however, that the buyer’s journey hasn’t changed. Users still identify a pain point, determine a solution, find the right product for that solution, and ultimately make a purchase. But the channels guiding those steps have, and AI search is shaping the first three phases more and more.

Traditional SEO focused on surfacing the best resources through search engine results pages (SERPs). Content was designed to address simplified search queries, where users make multiple search attempts and perform manual research to compare results.

But AEO prioritizes surfacing the best answers directly through LLMs. This means developing content that satisfies specific, natural language queries, where users learn from the AI engine and ask conversational follow-up questions.

Succeeding in the AEO environment depends on two things: choosing the right topics and designing content with intent.

Choosing the Right Topics

AI engines rely on vector embeddings to understand the relationships between words, concepts, and entities. This means that brands need to build strong semantic associations between their content and the product categories they want to own.

For example, a project management software company should target keywords beyond “project management tools” and create depth across related topics such as “resource allocation,” “workflow automation,” and “team collaboration best practices.” That way, AI engines can begin to associate the brand with the entire product category.

Topic selection is about claiming a semantic territory and fully owning it, rather than chasing down individual keywords. You can do this in three ways:

Category saturation: Developing clusters of content that fully explore a topic category, from definitions to advanced use cases.

Context-rich answers: Addressing nuanced, conversational queries like “How do small businesses manage projects with limited resources?” rather than only short, keyword-driven questions.

Personalization at scale: Creating variations of content tailored for different industries, business sizes, or roles. This allows AI engines to pull the most relevant response for each user context.

AEO rewards breadth and depth of context. The more complete and interconnected the content is, the better the AI can understand it and recognize it as authoritative.

Designing Content with Intent

AI engines prioritize content that is both accurate and structured for machine readability and retrieval. It’s a strategic balance between factual authority, semantic completeness, and structured storytelling.

There’s value in consensus-driven, widely corroborated information. Citing credible sources, linking to structured data, and presenting verified facts increases the likelihood of being cited. But to stand out, content should also include information gain — insights or data that can’t be found elsewhere.

For example, a marketing firm that publishes a “Top Emerging Marketing Trends” article could cite widely available data but also include proprietary findings from its own research team to increase its chances of showing up in AI search results.

LLMs also index and retrieve content in “chunks.” This means each paragraph or section in your piece of content should stand alone as a complete thought.

A paragraph that explains how workflow automation tools support tasks like audience segmentation and lead scoring is far more valuable than one that simply references an earlier point. This completeness ensures the content can be understood and retrieved without relying on surrounding context.

Another important factor here is entity association. Content that clearly identifies and connects entities (like companies, tools, or processes) helps AI engines understand information in context. Writing techniques like using semantic triples make this easier.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Semantic triple: “HubSpot’s CRM helps sales teams track leads.”

Subject: The entity being described (HubSpot’s CRM)

Predicate: The relationship or property (helps)

Object: The value or related entity (track leads)

Great content alone no longer guarantees visibility. Breaking through today requires meeting prospects where they are with content that is accurate, comprehensive, and easy for both humans and AI to understand.

To really make it count, brands need a smarter approach to distribution that amplifies content across the channels where buyers are already paying attention.

From Distribution to Amplification

This tactical AI-driven shift in search and discovery is outlined in HubSpot’s Loop Marketing playbook, which helps businesses evolve as customer habits change.

There are four stages in the Loop:

Express who you are: Define your taste, tone, and point of view.

Tailor your approach: Use AI to make your interactions personal.

Amplify your reach: Diversify your content across channels for humans and bots.

Evolve in real-time: Iterate quickly and effectively.

AEO fits right into this playbook at the Amplify stage, where the focus is on diversifying your channel mix to engage customers where they are.

The components of the Amplify stage were historically seen as one simple play: distribution. But these tactics now influence LLM citation volume in the AI search era.

Here’s a quick breakdown.

Diversify your channel mix.

This has been discussed in detail as AEO takes center stage as a new channel for information and product discovery. The key to diversification is embracing channels with more upside. This includes AEO, but also channels like community forums and video that are showing big returns.

According to Statista, Reddit is seeing significant increases in daily active users across regions with approximately 50 million users in the U.S. Statista also reports that YouTube had over 2.5 billion global viewers as of February 2025.

Your channel strategy needs to reflect changing industry trends and follow your audience’s behaviors. The goal isn’t to be everywhere — you want to be on the platforms where your message makes the most impact.

Engage buyers in real time where intent is highest.

When someone reaches your website, they’ve already signaled high intent. They’re no longer casually browsing. They’re actively evaluating whether your product or service can solve their problem.

That makes the on-site experience just as important as the channels they came in on.

Delivering value in these moments requires immediacy. Buyers expect instant answers, personalized recommendations, and smooth pathways to action.

A software company might integrate an AI assistant that surfaces relevant tutorials or comparison pages the moment a visitor begins researching features. The goal isn’t to overwhelm with information but to anticipate the next question and serve it up before the buyer bounces.

Real-time engagement also means removing friction. Fast load times and intuitive navigation help to create an experience that feels effortless. After all, buyers are more likely to convert when they don’t have to work too hard to find information.

Activate trusted creators.

While the power of influence is shifting from traditional search to LLMs, it’s also moved from polished brand channels to trusted individuals.

Audiences today are more likely to believe a product review from a respected YouTuber or an honest LinkedIn post from an industry expert than from a business press release.

Partnering with creators — like YouTubers or industry experts — builds credibility by transferring trust. These voices already have established relationships with the communities your brand wants to reach, which makes them invaluable for amplification.

Scale content production with AI.

If it isn’t clear by now, the demand for fresh, relevant content across multiple platforms is sky high. AI can give you the leverage to meet that demand without breaking the bank on headcounts or budgets.

Use AI to help you increase production, but use it wisely and don’t forego human involvement. You can ask AI to:

Transform long-form content (blog posts, whitepapers) into bite-sized assets (social media posts/graphics, short-form video).

Personalize copy for different audience segments to ensure consistent messaging at scale.

Handle busy work and time-consuming tasks like research and copyediting.

The result is a content engine that moves faster, adapts more easily, and frees teams to focus on creativity over production.

Experiment with next-gen advertising.

Advertising is entering a phase where personalization and interactivity are no longer nice-to-haves. Static banners and generic pre-rolls are giving way to AI-generated campaigns that adapt in real time.

For example, a SaaS company might run LinkedIn video ads that automatically highlight different product features depending on the viewer’s job title. A CFO sees the ROI dashboard while the sales manager sees the pipeline tracking tools.

The common thread is relevance. By experimenting with new ad formats and technologies, brands can meet audiences with timely messages that feel personal and position themselves ahead of competitors who are still relying on old methods.

Riding the Seismic Shift in Discoverability

AI is reshaping how buyers make decisions. No surprise there.

Like a game of telephone, your business website now becomes essential in influencing the AI engines that influence humans to take action and buy from you. The journey to product discovery is spread across LLMs, communities, creators, and dynamic brand experiences.

Winning in this new era means creating content that both humans and machines can trust, and showing up in the spaces where buyers are already engaged.

The companies that adapt won’t just be found — they’ll be recommended, cited, and surfaced at the exact moments when intent is highest.

These marketing KPIs will help you predict and scale revenue growth by 10x

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 14:00:02 +0300

As a marketer, you‘ve likely encountered the dreaded "prediction problem" while tracking data to predict revenue growth. The prediction problem is the frustrating gap between having data and knowing what’s coming next.

Traditional marketing metrics can tell you what happened last month, but they're like my tarot cards when predicting the future—confusing, vague, and not always accurate. Fortunately, some marketing KPIs predict future growth, and the companies achieving 10x revenue growth have figured out which ones matter.

In this deep dive, I'll share the 10 marketing KPIs that leading subscription businesses use to predict and scale revenue growth. But first, let's explore why traditional marketing KPIs often fail to make accurate predictions.

Table of Contents

Why Traditional Marketing KPIs Fail to Predict Growth

The Framework: Leading vs. Lagging Indicators for Growth Prediction

The 10 Marketing KPIs That Predict 10x Revenue Growth

Building Your Predictive Marketing Dashboard

Conclusion: From Reactive to Predictive Marketing

Why Traditional Marketing KPIs Fail to Predict Growth

The Lagging Indicator Trap

Most marketing dashboards are museums of past performance. Website traffic, email open rates, social media engagement, and even marketing qualified leads (MQLs) are metrics that tell you what already happened, not what's about to happen.

Take website traffic, for example. As a journalist, I worked for a news outlet that saw a 300% increase in organic traffic within six months of executing our strategy. From the marketing team to the TV anchors, our entire newsroom rejoiced … until we realized our revenue saw no improvement.

So, what happened? Traffic is a lagging indicator of brand awareness, not a leading indicator of revenue growth. When traffic spikes, the marketing activities driving revenue are already 3-6 months in the pipeline.

The Attribution Nightmare

Even when marketers track metrics closer to revenue, like Marketing Qualified Leads or demo requests, there‘s still a massive attribution gap. Marketing activities today don’t show up in revenue for months, especially in B2B subscription businesses with longer sales cycles.

Therefore, your marketing dashboard could show substantial MQL numbers in January, but you won‘t know if those MQLs drive revenue until March or April. By then, it’s too late to course-correct, thus delaying measurements.

The attribution gap is even more complex for subscription businesses because revenue comes from new customer acquisition, expansion revenue from existing customers, and retention (avoiding churn).

Why Subscription Models Break Traditional KPIs

Subscription businesses operate fundamentally differently from traditional companies, but most marketing teams still use traditional metrics. Here‘s why that doesn’t work:

Churn masks acquisition success: You might acquire 100 new customers this month, but lose 80 existing customers. Traditional acquisition metrics show success, but your MRR is actually declining.

Expansion revenue is invisible: A customer who starts at $500/month but grows to $5,000/month represents 10x value, but most marketing KPIs treat them the same as any other customer.

Time to value varies dramatically: Some customers see value immediately, others take six months. Traditional metrics miss this crucial timing difference, which directly predicts expansion revenue and churn risk.

The bottom line? If you‘re using traditional marketing KPIs to predict subscription business growth, you’re driving while looking in the rearview mirror.

The Framework: Leading vs. Lagging Indicators for Growth Prediction

Not all KPIs are created equal. The key to predictive marketing lies in understanding the difference between leading and lagging indicators and building your dashboard around metrics that predict future revenue changes.

Leading vs. Lagging Indicators: The Essential Comparison

Leading Indicators (Predictive)

Lagging Indicators (Reactive)

Product Qualified Leads (PQLs)

Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)

Feature adoption velocity

Total platform signups

Time to value by segment

Revenue per customer

Customer health score trajectory

Monthly recurring revenue

Content engagement depth

Page views and sessions

Support resolution impact

Total support tickets

Pipeline velocity by deal size

Closed-won deals

Expansion revenue signals

Current customer count

Key Differences:

Leading Indicators help predict future performance and allow for proactive decision-making

Lagging Indicators measure past results and outcomes that have already occurred

The most powerful leading indicators share three characteristics:

Forward-looking timing: They predict revenue changes 6-12 months in advance

Behavioral insight: They measure customer actions, not just demographics

Revenue correlation: They have a statistically significant relationship with actual revenue outcomes

The minimum data needed for accurate predictions includes: customer behavioral data (product usage, engagement patterns), revenue data by customer segment, and channel attribution data. Even the best predictive KPIs lose their power without these three data types.

The 10 Marketing KPIs That Predict 10x Revenue Growth

1. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Payback Period

CAC Payback Period measures how long it takes to recover the cost of acquiring a customer. Companies with payback periods under 12 months typically see accelerated growth because they can reinvest returns quickly. SaaStr research shows that companies with sub-12-month paybacks grow 2x faster than those with more extended periods.

2. Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

NRR above 110-120% is the strongest predictor of sustainable growth. An NRR above 100% indicates that your existing customers are expanding their usage, creating compounding revenue effects. Bessemer Venture Partners' cloud index shows companies with 120%+ NRR consistently outperform in growth metrics.

3. Lead Velocity Rate (LVR)

The month-over-month growth rate of qualified leads is more predictive than absolute lead volume. A consistent 10-15% monthly LVR typically translates to strong revenue growth 2-3 quarters later, as leads work through the sales cycle.

4. Pipeline Coverage Ratio

Maintaining 3-5x pipeline coverage of your quarterly target is essential to growth and success. Companies consistently hitting this ratio rarely miss growth targets. This metric accounts for conversion rates and deal slippage that other pipeline metrics miss.

5. Time to Value (TTV)

Customers reaching their first value milestone quickly have 3x higher retention rates in my experience. Fast TTV correlates with expansion revenue and reduces churn - both critical for compound growth.

6. Product-Qualified Lead (PQL) Conversion Rate

PQL conversion rates above 15-20% in freemium or trial models indicate strong product-market fit. Freemium users have demonstrated behavioral intent, making them highly predictive of sustainable growth channels.

7. Expansion Revenue Rate

The percentage of revenue growth coming from existing customers should ideally be 20-30% of total growth. This indicates you're building sticky products that naturally expand within accounts - a key growth multiplier.

8. Sales Development Representative (SDR) Activity-to-Opportunity Conversion

Tracking activities (calls, emails) to qualified opportunities reveals sales efficiency trends before they impact revenue. Declining conversion rates often predict growth slowdowns 1-2 quarters ahead.

9. Content Engagement Velocity

The rate at which content engagement (downloads, views, shares) converts to pipeline. High-performing content creates predictable, scalable demand generation that compounds over time.

10. Customer Health Score Trending

A weighted score combining usage, support tickets, NPS, and renewal risk. Improving aggregate health scores predicts expansion opportunities and reduced churn, both essential for growth acceleration.

Building Your Predictive Marketing Dashboard

Essential Dashboard Architecture

Creating a predictive marketing dashboard isn‘t just about choosing the right metrics — it’s about building a system that connects customer data, reveals correlations, and enables real-time optimization.

Unified data platform advantage: The most successful predictive dashboards integrate customer data from marketing automation, CRM, product analytics, and support systems. HubSpot customers using unified platforms see 40% better prediction accuracy than disconnected tools.

Real-time vs. batch processing: Leading indicators need real-time data feeds. Lagging indicators can use batch processing. Plan your data architecture accordingly to balance speed with accuracy.

Must-Have Dashboard Components

Leading indicator widgets with trend analysis: Visual displays that show not just current metrics but directional trends and momentum

Revenue correlation visualizations: Charts that clearly show the relationship between marketing activities and revenue outcomes

Predictive modeling outputs: Forecasts based on current leading indicator performance

Alert systems for threshold changes: Automated notifications when key metrics deviate from expected ranges

Cohort comparison views: Side-by-side analysis of different customer segments or time periods

Implementation Roadmap

Phase 1: Data Collection and Unification (Months 1-2)

Audit existing data sources and identify gaps

Implement a unified customer data platform

Establish data quality standards and cleaning processes

Set up basic tracking for priority predictive KPIs

Phase 2: KPI Tracking and Baseline Establishment (Months 3-4)

Deploy comprehensive KPI tracking across all identified metrics

Establish baseline performance levels for each KPI

Begin correlation analysis between leading indicators and revenue outcomes

Train team on new metrics and dashboard usage

Phase 3: Predictive Modeling and Optimization (Months 5-6)

Implement predictive algorithms and forecasting models

Begin optimization based on predictive insights

Refine KPI definitions based on correlation strength

Scale successful tactics identified through predictive analysis

Conclusion: From Reactive to Predictive Marketing

The shift from reactive to predictive marketing isn't just about better metrics — fundamentally changing how you approach growth. Instead of waiting to see what happened last month, you can predict what will happen next quarter and take action today.

The 10 marketing KPIs we‘ve covered aren’t just numbers on a dashboard. They're your early warning system for revenue changes, growth optimization roadmap, and competitive advantage in an increasingly crowded market.

The Competitive Advantage: While your competitors track lagging indicators and react to revenue surprises, you'll predict growth opportunities and scale proactively. This 6-12 month visibility advantage compounds over time, creating sustainable competitive differentiation.

Start Today: You don't need to implement all 10 KPIs immediately. Choose the three most relevant to your business model and growth stage. Focus on data quality and correlation analysis. Build your predictive capability gradually and systematically.

The Future Outlook: Predictive marketing will become even more potent as AI and machine learning capabilities advance. Companies that establish predictive KPI foundations today will be best positioned to leverage these advanced capabilities tomorrow.

The question isn‘t whether predictive marketing will become standard — it’s whether you'll be ahead of the curve or scrambling to catch up. The companies achieving 10x revenue growth have already made their choice.

Ready to get started? Begin with Product Qualified Leads, Customer Health Score Trajectory, and Pipeline Velocity by Deal Size. These three KPIs provide immediate predictive value and form the foundation for more advanced analytics.

The future of marketing is predictive. Your growth depends on when you embrace it.

Want to learn more about implementing predictive marketing KPIs? Check out our comprehensive Marketing KPI Guide and explore KPI Dashboard Best Practices for additional insights.

Ready to build your predictive marketing dashboard? Download our free Interactive Dashboard Template and start tracking the KPIs that predict 10x revenue growth.

AI market research tools: The top 7 your marketing strategy needs

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 14:00:00 +0300

Marketers are known for wearing many hats — writer, designer, psychologist, maybe the occasional raspberry berry — but one that often gets overlooked is researcher.

Market research is critical to knowing your audience, connecting with them, and convincing them to take action. Thankfully, today, there are countless AI market research tools to help make completing it easier, faster, and more effective.

I’ve tested some of the most popular to see if they really live up to the hype. Here are the seven I’ve found that your marketing strategy can most benefit from, and how to determine if they’re right for you.

Table of Contents

TLDR: AI Marketing Research Tools

What are AI market research tools?

Why use AI tools for market research?

What are the challenges of using AI tools for market research?

7 Best AI Market Research Tools

How to Choose the Right AI Market Research Tool

FAQs about AI Tools for Market Research

TLDR: AI Market Research Tools

AI tools for market research automate consumer data collection, analysis, and insight generation to help marketing and product leaders make better-informed, strategic decisions. Top AI solutions like Breeze and Crayon offer survey automation, competitive intelligence, and consumer insights AI, among other features, to make this possible.

However, choosing the right AI tool will depend on your research goals, integration needs, and budget. Many platforms offer free trials or entry-level plans to help you evaluate. Start by identifying your key research tasks, then select an AI tool that aligns with your workflow.

For a unified, scalable approach, consider platforms like HubSpot that combine AI-driven research, automation, and customer data in one place. Get started with Breeze today to accelerate your market insights and stay ahead of the competition.

What are AI market research tools?

AI market research tools use artificial intelligence to automate and enhance how businesses gather, analyze, and act on consumer data. They combine machine learning, natural language processing, and predictive analytics to transform raw information into actionable insights marketers can use to reach their audiences.

These tools pull target market data from diverse sources — social media, surveys, competitor websites, and industry reports — then use advanced algorithms to identify patterns, predict trends, and generate comprehensive reports that would take human analysts weeks to produce.

Ok, but how does this translate into our daily market research responsibilities?

AI tools can assist with market research tasks like:

• Survey automation: Design, distribute, and analyze surveys in real-time. AI can suggest questions and identify response patterns.

• Sentiment analysis: Monitor brand perception across social media, forums, and review sites to understand customer emotions toward your business.

• Competitive intelligence: Track competitor strategies, price changes, and even positioning automatically.

• Trend prediction: Analyze historical and real-time data to forecast market movements and consumer behavior shifts.

• Data visualization: Transform complex datasets into intuitive dashboards and reports highlighting key insights instantly.

• Audience segmentation: Automatically group customers based on behavior, preferences, and demographics for targeted strategies.

Why use AI tools for market research?

Can I research my market without AI? Sure. Can I analyze the facts and data and draw conclusions? Of course; I’ve been doing it since elementary school. But as much as I hate to admit it, I can’t do any of this as fast as artificial intelligence can.

According to the 2025 Qualtrics Market Research Trends Report, 89% of researchers are already using AI-powered tools regularly or experimenting with them, and 83% of researchers plan to increase investment in AI in 2025. And with good reason.

While AI tools have limitations (such as bias in training data), their benefits for market research are undeniable.

Benefits of AI tools for market research:

Improved team efficiency

Predictive analysis

Finding patterns humans may miss

Scalability

Return on Investment (ROI)

1. Improved Team Efficiency

HubSpot research found 90% of marketers say AI and automation help them spend less time on manual tasks. In other words, AI has significantly helped marketers work faster and do more.

For market researchers, this can mean:

Data collection at scale: Instead of manually combing through survey responses, social media feeds, or customer reviews for hours, AI can scrape and summarize the key findings in minutes. With a lot of tools, it can even do this automatically.

Faster synthesis of reports: Tools like ChatGPT or Claude can turn raw survey data into executive summaries, saving analysts hours of repetitive writing.

Automated competitor tracking: AI can continuously monitor competitors’ websites, ad campaigns, and pricing updates and deliver regular intelligence reports. This type of automated market research makes sure your team never misses a beat.

“Review mining” is a great research use case for AI tools. Retail brands can use AI to aggregate product reviews from Amazon or other sources and summarize the top themes (e.g., “customers love durability but complain about packaging”).

This not only gives the team language that speaks directly to their audience and tells them exactly what they need to improve, but it also enables them to focus on those tasks by freeing up their time.

Note: Once you have those sound bites from reviews, HubSpot Content Writer is perfect for saving time, overcoming writer's block, and scaling your content without extra costs. With just a few clicks, you can generate blogs, social posts, emails, and more.

2. Predictive Analysis

In a recent study, 36% of marketers who use AI said they rely on it for data analysis and reporting, and I’m not surprised.

After gathering its data, AI can instantly predict trends, giving marketers time back to fine-tune their strategies and see results more quickly. More specifically, AI tools for market research can help with:

Trend forecasting: AI models can predict shifts in consumer demand, such as increased interest in sustainable products or plant-based foods.

Customer behavior prediction: Tools like Seventh Sense (as you mentioned) can forecast when an individual is most likely to engage with marketing messages.

Market demand simulation: AI can model “what if” scenarios (i.e., predicting how sales might change if a new competitor enters the market.)

In a previous role, my team invested in a tool called Seventh Sense with great predictive analysis. This tool used AI to analyze how our contacts interacted with our email marketing in HubSpot and identify trends in their behavior.

It used this information to predict how contacts would act in the future and optimize our send times to get the most opens and engagement.

Source

In this case, the AI helped us research our target audience’s behavior, and its predictive analysis gave us actionable advice on what to do next.

Without it, deeper insights, like time opened, would be a mystery. Speaking of mysteries, another benefit of AI tools for market research is…

3. Finding Patterns Humans Might Miss

AI tools for market research shine at spotting hidden correlations that human analysts may overlook. This includes:

Cross-segment connections: It may discover that eco-conscious customers also prefer subscription services, hinting at bundling opportunities.

Voice-of-customer insights: AI sentiment analysis can uncover subtle emotional triggers in open-text survey responses that manual coding would miss.

Non-obvious correlations: AI might show that customers who engage with brand content on TikTok are also more likely to respond to referral programs.

Think about a food delivery service, for example. The company may use AI to analyze order data and find that customers who order vegetarian meals are more likely to tip generously. This insight helps shape promotions, driver assignments, and possibly even customer perks.

4. Scalability

Traditional market research is resource-intensive: the more surveys, focus groups, or interviews you run, the more people and time you need. AI breaks that limitation, especially as a company grows its output and expands its market.

With AI tools for market research, marketers can:

Handle massive datasets: Whether it’s 100 survey responses or 100,000, AI can process data of various scopes faster than any human could.

Expand into new markets: AI-powered translation and localization tools let companies analyze feedback from global audiences without hiring native speakers for every market.

Conduct always-on research: AI bots can continuously collect, categorize, and analyze customer feedback without stopping for weekends or holidays.

Let’s consider an eCommerce company entering new territories. The company can deploy AI to analyze customer sentiment in other countries. It can then use Google Translate to help it translate product descriptions, messaging, and its website overall without adding new analysts to the team.

Source

5. ROI

Ultimately, like everything in business, AI in market research is about return on investment. The savings from reduced manual work, faster time-to-insight, and higher accuracy translate directly into metaphorical and tangible returns. In other words, it can mean:

Lower research costs: Companies can conduct sophisticated studies without hiring large teams or outsourcing to expensive agencies.

Faster decision-making: Quicker insights mean campaigns can be optimized in real time, boosting performance.

Better targeting: With AI predicting customer behaviors and uncovering hidden needs, marketing dollars stretch further.

But AI is not perfect.

What are the challenges of using AI tools for market research?

As great as AI sounds for market research, it still has challenges.

Data Quality

“AI is a tool to help you work faster, not a replacement for critical thinking and problem-solving,” says Alex Cattoni, Award-winning marketer and Founder of the Copy Posse. This is true greatly because of data quality concerns.

“AI tools like ChatGPT…can produce inaccurate or even harmful results,” continues Cattoni. “This is known as an AI hallucination. Even tech researchers worry that people rely too heavily on these systems for important advice…”

Knowing this, you can’t always know if the research results you get from AI are sound or based on reliable sources. This can be dangerous when trying to understand and cater to your audience.

I mean, the last thing you want is for AI to tell you your audience loves funny TikTok videos only to find out they actually despise them.

Bias

“Much of the data AI is trained on contains society’s biases and prejudices,” explains senior marketing manager at HubSpot, Flori Needle. “For example, an image generator asked to create an image of a CEO might produce images of white males because of the historical bias in employment in the data it learned from.”

Unfortunately, I’ve seen this firsthand, and the bias is not limited to images. While there have been improvements in this in recent years, there are no guarantees that the findings presented by AI tools for market research won’t contain similar stereotypes or biased assumptions.

7 Best AI Market Research Tools

After extensive testing and analyzing how leading brands use AI for market research, I've zeroed in on seven tools that deliver real results.

Each excels in different areas—from call analysis to social listening to competitive intelligence—so you can choose based on your specific research needs.

Top AI market analysis tools:

Sales & Customer Insights: Gong, Breeze

Social Media Analysis: YouScan

Academic & Industry Research: Consensus

Text & Sentiment Analysis: Lexalytics

Competitive Intelligence: Crayon

Quick Market Validation: Poll The People

Let's explore what makes each tool valuable and how to leverage their unique strengths.

Looking for AI marketing tools that go beyond research? Check out our article The Top 33 AI Marketing Tools.

1. Gong: For Call Insights and Sales Research

Gong.io is an AI tool that offers revenue intelligence and conversation analytics. It analyzes sales calls, both audio and video meeting recordings, and customer interactions to offer insights into sales processes, customer behaviors, and market trends.

Noteworthy Gong features for market research:

Analyzes sales conversations to identify trends, effective tactics, and areas for improvement.

Offers recommendations for sales coaching based on real conversation data.

Helps understand how competitors are being discussed in sales conversations and what strategies work.

Pricing: Gong prices each license per user. Reach out to them to settle on a customized quote.

Best for: Gong is great for researchers and marketers who frequently hold customer calls or audience interviews.

What I like: Gong provides both contextual and referential insights. Contextual insights analyze real-time conversation details like tone and sentiment, while referential insights compare these interactions to past data, identifying patterns and best practices to improve sales outcomes.

For a market researcher, these features offer valuable insight into customer sentiment that can help with messaging, campaign development, product positioning, and product development.

Testing It Out

I used Gong to analyze one of our company’s sales calls, and the insights were incredibly good.

For instance, Gong’s talk-to-listen ratio showed that the sales rep spent too much time talking and not enough listening. The tool flagged as a potential issue based on successful past conversations, which is a great reminder for future calls.

Parts of the call were color-coded, indicating different topics, emotions, or levels of engagement. It was super easy to track key moments and see when important issues were discussed or when the customer’s interest dropped.

I haven’t run into many issues with Gong, but the speech-to-text feature can be a bit hit-or-miss sometimes — like most similar tools these days. It usually gets the job done, but some parts require refinement. Even so, it’s still one of the top tools out there for this purpose.

Exploring chatbots in your sales strategy? Try

Think about it: These subscribers have already shown interest in your brand. Maybe they bought from you before, maybe they signed up for your list full of good intentions. Either way, the relationship isn’t dead; it’s just dormant. And that means you have an opportunity to reignite it.

A smart re-engagement strategy doesn’t just try to salvage disengaged subscribers; it can recover revenue, improve deliverability, and keep your list healthy.

Table of Contents

What are re-engagement emails?

What is the importance of re-engagement emails?

Common Types of Re-Engagement Emails

6 Real Life Examples of Re-Engagement Emails

Common Types of Re-Engagement Emails

1. “We Miss You” Warm Nudge

I see a lot of these in my inbox. That’s because it’s the classic re-engagement message for good reason. It’s low-pressure, emotionally intelligent, and gently reminds the subscriber that you noticed they’ve gone quiet.

These messages often take a human, conversational tone (“It’s been a while,” “Haven’t heard from you lately”) and rely on warmth over urgency. The goal isn’t to push a sale, it’s to re-open the line of communication. These emails work best when they sound like someone actually noticed the absence, not like automation finally caught up.

Why I think it works: This category leads with empathy instead of marketing speak. It’s the equivalent of saying “Hey, just checking in” instead of “BUY NOW.” And that human tone can go a long way when someone’s already drifting.

2. Incentive-Based Win-Back

I get that sometimes people need a reason to come back, and an offer can do the trick. Still, while I do sometimes use these with my clients, I am not a big fan.

These emails pair the re-engagement message with a tangible reward: a discount code, free shipping, or a limited-time bundle. But the best ones don’t just scream SALE. Instead, they remind the reader of why they loved the brand in the first place, then sweeten the deal.

Why I think it works: Incentives create urgency and relevance. And when paired with well-branded creative, they feel like a thank-you gift, not a bribe. But here’s why I try not to do this. You have to be careful. If you train your audience to only engage when there’s a discount, you’ll have ongoing retention problems.

3. Product Updates or “What’s New” Check-Ins

I love this approach. Sometimes the best way to re-engage isn’t to look backward, but to offer something new. If you’ve launched new features, released a fresh collection, or improved your experience since they last interacted, tell them! A re-engagement email framed around updates says, “We’ve evolved and we think you’ll want to see what’s changed.”

Why I think it works: This approach is great for product-led businesses and SaaS. It shifts the message from “You disappeared” to “We’ve got something exciting you might’ve missed.” It taps curiosity and relevance without shaming the lapse.

I also love that they offer a new reason for people to engage with your email – and your brand.

4. Exclusive or Emotional Appeal

You have to be careful with these types of re-engagement emails; they are my least favorite type. They play the urgency card, but you have to do it carefully.

These emails use exclusivity, personalization, or emotion to prompt action: “Your 20% offer expires soon” is fine and may work, but see the notes above about incentive-based win-backs.

“This is the last email you’ll get from us” is the worst – it’s like a threat. And if they have stopped opening and/or clicking on your emails, why would they care? “We’re pausing your subscription” is perhaps a little better – but will absence make your subscribers’ hearts grow fonder? I doubt it.

Done well, this type of re-engagement email feels like a thoughtful closure, or a final chance to stay connected. Done poorly, it feels manipulative.

Why I think it works: There’s power in scarcity, but only when paired with respect. These emails work when they come from a place of “We value you” rather than “We want to hit our Q3 numbers.”

5. Benefit-Focused Reintroduction

I love creating emails that remind the subscriber of the value they are missing out on by not engaging with a brand’s emails.

Sometimes subscribers don’t disengage because they’re mad, they just forgot the value you bring. A benefit-led email reminds them of how your product, content, or service improves their life. It’s a mini re-pitch: Here’s what we offer, here’s why it matters, and here’s how to get back into it.

Why I think it works: This strategy is especially strong for brands with a values-based mission or a utility-driven product. Instead of centering the subscriber’s inactivity, it refocuses on the brand’s relevance and benefits. It says “Here’s what we do, and why it’s worth your time again.”

6. Brand Update or Story-Based Reconnect

Another great approach that I use with my clients. If your brand has changed, grown, or evolved, tell your audience. This type of re-engagement email uses narrative to re-spark the relationship. It could be a new product line, a recent milestone, or a behind-the-scenes update that makes people feel part of the journey. It’s particularly effective when paired with personal storytelling and strong brand voice.

Why I think it works: Sometimes people disconnect from brands that go quiet or lose relevance. A narrative email reminds subscribers there’s a real business with real people behind the logo and that the story is still unfolding.

6 Real Life Examples of Re-Engagement Emails

1. Slack

I really like this email where Slack nails the warm nudge approach. The headline makes it clear: “Your team is waiting in Slack.” It’s personal, direct, and framed around what the recipient is missing, not what Slack is missing. That subtle shift makes it about the reader’s relationships and role, rather than the product alone.

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The copy leans into emotional appeal: “Smiles Davis, we miss you. Your teammates miss you.” It positions Slack as a place of belonging and importance. For anyone who’s drifted away, that reminder of being part of a team is a powerful motivator to re-engage.

It also includes data-driven context: “Your team has sent 589 messages this month.” This adds urgency and a little FOMO. It’s not just abstract; the recipient now knows they’ve been out of the loop.

Finally, Slack gives readers easy next steps. Instead of overwhelming them with a sales pitch, it breaks re-engagement down into three simple actions (use emoji, organize with canvas, track tasks). Each step includes a link, so the subscriber can dive right in. Paired with a bold “Return to Slack” CTA, it removes friction and makes coming back feel easy.

This is a great example of a “We Miss You” campaign that blends emotional pull with practical value. It acknowledges absence, reminds the reader why Slack matters, and provides a clear path to reactivation, all in one approachable, brand-aligned message.

2. DoorDash

I love that DoorDash goes straight to the point in this incentive-based win-back email. “Here’s 20% off.” It’s bold, benefits-first, and easy to understand at a glance. The headline works to frame the offer as both urgent and appealing; “Knock, knock” is playful, while the discount is the real hook.

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The email also taps into nostalgia and sensory memory: “Don’t you miss the sound of a delicious meal arriving at your door?” That phrasing brings back the positive experience of using the service, pairing the incentive with an emotional reminder of convenience and satisfaction.

Design-wise, it’s clean and focused. The bright red CTA button (“Order now”) draws the eye immediately and leaves no doubt about the desired action. By limiting the copy to a short paragraph and putting the promo code front and center, DoorDash removes friction and makes redemption simple.

This is a textbook incentive-based win-back: It leverages a discount to spark action while reinforcing the brand’s value proposition (convenience, comfort, and good food delivered fast). For lapsed users who may have simply forgotten or needed a nudge, this straightforward approach can be exactly what gets them back.

3. YouTube TV

I am always up for watching the big game. Doesn’t matter who’s playing – for me it’s about the commercials. So this email would definitely have made me consider reactivating my YouTube TV account.

YouTube TV uses a major cultural moment, the Super Bowl, to pull inactive subscribers back in. The headline is clear and compelling: “Come back and watch Super Bowl LVII live on FOX.” That’s not just a product feature, it’s an event people care about, which makes the reactivation pitch immediately relevant and time-sensitive.

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Beyond the event hook, the email doubles down by highlighting new or improved features that make the experience better: real-time highlights, live stats and scores, and the ability to stream on multiple devices. Each feature is framed in simple, benefit-focused language and paired with icons for easy scanning, so even a quick glance reinforces the product’s evolution.

The design is straightforward but effective: bold imagery from the game, a clear “Reactivate Now” CTA button (repeated twice for emphasis), and minimal copy. It makes it easy for the reader to understand both why they should return (don’t miss the Super Bowl) and how YouTube TV has improved since they left.

This is a strong product update campaign because it doesn’t just remind users of what they had before, it shows them what’s new, better, and more relevant right now. It taps into urgency (the Super Bowl date), curiosity (features they may not know about), and ease (one-click reactivation).

4. All About Email

This example is actually from my own inbox. Spoiler: I did click to stay subscribed.

This reactivation message leans on emotional connection and exclusivity. The subject line, “Is it time to say goodbye?” frames the email as a personal crossroads, while the body copy reinforces that tone: “I miss having you around.” It feels like a one-to-one message rather than a mass blast, which can be effective in reminding the reader that their presence matters.

It also uses an exclusive framing; if the subscriber doesn’t click to stay, they’ll be removed from the list. That scarcity creates urgency, while the single “Keep Me Subscribed” button makes the desired action clear and easy. The note at the bottom (“I’ll assume you’re no longer interested and remove you from the list”) doubles as a list-cleaning mechanism, a win for sender reputation, even if the subscriber doesn’t re-engage.

Where this email could be stronger is in execution. The sender tells readers what they’ve missed (“I’ve shared some amazing stuff recently”), but doesn’t show it. A few headlines or links to recent content could have added a benefit-focused reintroduction layer, making the case more compelling. As is, it succeeds on emotional tone but leaves some persuasive power on the table.

This is still a solid example of the exclusive/emotional appeal category, especially for smaller publishers or creators who want to keep their lists clean while keeping the message personal. But pairing emotion with proof of value would likely drive even more clicks.

5. New York Magazine

I love this email — it’s a great example of a benefit-oriented reintroduction, which is the type of reactivation email that I’ve found works best. Because a re-engagement win isn’t just about getting a click today – it’s about getting your emails engaged with on an ongoing basis going forward.

New York Magazine leans into benefits and value rather than absence or urgency. The headline, “We were just getting started,” positions the lapse not as failure, but as unfinished business. It’s a subtle but smart framing: The reader hasn’t “missed out,” they still have the chance to rejoin the conversation.

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The email showcases what the subscriber gains by coming back: access to exclusive newsletters, hundreds of new stories every week, daily games, and more. It’s not just “resubscribe because we want you back.” It’s “resubscribe because here’s everything you’ll get.” That benefits-first positioning is what makes this message so persuasive.

The design supports the strategy with visual proof of value: vibrant magazine covers, bold headlines, and a curated list of “Stories You Might Have Missed.” By surfacing specific content, the email reminds readers of the brand’s cultural relevance and quality. It’s essentially saying, “Look what you’re not reading, and imagine what you could be.”

Finally, the incentive (“Resubscribe and get 40% plus an extra $20 off unlimited access”) seals the deal, but it doesn’t carry the whole weight of the email. The benefits lead, the offer supports. That balance makes this a great example of a benefit-focused reintroduction campaign: it builds desire to reconnect by emphasizing what’s valuable and unique about the experience, not just dangling a discount.

6. AllTrails

I really like this email; anytime you update your membership options, it’s a great opportunity to regain lapsed subscribers. AllTrails takes the brand update approach, positioning their new membership plan as a fresh reason for lapsed users to come back. The headline “We took exploring to a whole new level” immediately signals evolution and improvement. Instead of focusing on what the user has missed, it highlights what’s new and exciting about the brand.

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The visuals reinforce that message with crisp app screenshots that show off new features (trail maps, plant IDs, precipitation overlays). This makes the update feel tangible, not abstract. Subscribers can see what’s changed.

The email also does a nice job of tying the update to user benefits. “From creating your own adventure to uncovering the world around you” connects the product improvements back to the subscriber’s real-world goals. That benefit-first framing turns a product announcement into a re-engagement nudge.

Finally, the CTA, “Get early access,” adds an element of exclusivity and urgency. Instead of passively informing, it actively invites the reader to experience the brand’s next chapter before everyone else.

This is a strong brand update/story-based reconnect because it makes product evolution the reason to return. For subscribers who drifted away, the implicit message is: “AllTrails is better than when you left; come see for yourself.”

Final Re-engagement Advice: Strike Early, Strike Often

At the end of the day, re-engagement campaigns are about respect. Respect for your subscriber’s attention, respect for their inbox, and respect for the relationship you once had. The best ones don’t beg or guilt; they remind, they invite, they show value, and they make it easy to come back.

And one more thing: Don’t wait too long. The longer a subscriber stays inactive, the harder it is to win them back. That’s why the most effective re-engagement campaigns aren’t one-off Hail Marys; they’re automated, strategic, and triggered fairly early in the dormancy window (think 30 to 60 days of no activity, not six months of silence).

And yes, the best-performing campaigns are a series, not a single message. One email might get ignored; a thoughtfully sequenced nudge, like a warm reminder, then a value offer, and a final call, has a much better shot at bringing them back before it’s too late.

Re-engagement isn’t just list hygiene; it’s an opportunity to remind people why they said yes to you in the first place, to recover relationships (and revenue), and to strengthen your program overall. Don’t waste it.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Why creative teams need the safety to fail [according to a senior director for Magic: The Gathering]

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 12:00:00 +0300

Whatever terrible thing you’ve pivoted a campaign around — a delayed launch, maybe customer backlash — I bet it didn’t involve a multi-hundred-thousand dollar burglary.

This week’s master can put that on her bingo card. But, more importantly, her bingo card also includes working with a list of brands too long to say in one breath: Special Olympics, Coca-Cola, Nike, Google, Coors Light, Les Schwab, and the legendary Seattle radio station KEXP are just a few.

Today, she heads up the creative team behind the marketing art for the popular trading card game Magic: The Gathering. She sat down for one of my favorite interviews yet, not least because I learned that her grandpa was a Chicago bootlegger whose house was raided by Eliot Ness of The Untouchables. But also for the great advice she shares about facing adversity and working with creatives.

Alicia Mickes

Senior Creative Director, Wizards of the Coast (publishing company of Magic: The Gathering)

Fun fact: Alicia loves to collect random certifications. She’s got certs for tattooing, personal training, TRX, cake decorating, ceramic restoration, and even bloodborne pathogens training.

Claim to fame: If you’ve seen the MOD Pizza logo, you’ve seen something Mickes has designed!

Lesson 1: Take ownership, but don’t take it personally.

Mere weeks before Hasbro was set to release a version of Magic: The Gathering based on Wild West outlaws, the worst happened: Images of unreleased products hit the internet following two high-profile thefts.

“A bunch of cards got leaked because people started selling product before it hit stores,” Mickes recalls. “It really blew our planned marketing campaign.”

And while I couldn’t confirm if the thieves had old-timey waxed mustachios, Mickes relays the story with an ear-to-ear smile and a touch of mischief in her eyes.

Which isn’t to say she doesn’t take the situation seriously, but you get a sense that that smile is at the heart of who she is as a leader, a marketer, and a human being.

“We could have gotten really mad about it. [Instead,] we tried to play into it and have fun with it.”

To illustrate her point, she shared a blog penned by their communications director that tackled a similar leak head-on with inside jokes and even a few sneak peeks of their own.

We spent time trading war stories. Product launches blown by eager fans zooming in on early marketing materials. Negative feedback strewn across the internet.

The takeaway is this: On a long enough timeline, all of us will face a marketing crisis. And whether it’s a branding misstep, a social media meltdown, or actual grand larceny, Mickes says it's important to take ownership without taking it personally.

Sometimes that means “accepting that you did something wrong, or that you did something people don’t love, and being okay with it. That’s just human. I want all my team members to know they have a safe place to create, and explore, and take big risks. And big risks fail sometimes.”

“It is what it is. And so we pivot.”

Lesson 2: Collaboration starts with culture.

Mickes is a big believer that a high-performing creative team requires a supportive culture.

“With all the testing in the world, it doesn’t mean things are going to land the way you want,” she explains. “It’s important to have a group of people to talk your ideas out with, to brainstorm with, and to bounce ideas off of. And know that it may not be the idea that gets picked, but it may help contribute to the overall finished product.”

But that kind of dynamic doesn’t happen by accident.

“I make it a point to create a culture of psychological safety, where everyone feels comfortable being themselves and talking about their ideas.”

Now, the topic of culture-crafting could fill the next year’s worth of newsletters, so I asked Mickes for her number one, gotta-have, most impactful piece of advice for working with creatives.

“One of the quickest ways to build trust is to help your team members get wins.” That might look like exploring time-management strategies with a team member who wrestles with work-life balance. Or teaching communication techniques to someone who is afraid of interpersonal comms. (Or who, like my co-worker who shall remain unnamed, but who edited this, is afraid of phones.)

“We have check-in meetings where you share the things you’re struggling with or share your work to talk out. It takes time, and isn’t necessarily part of the creative process, but it aids the creative process in the end.”

Lesson 3: Fun is not the opposite of work.

When you’re constantly focused on A/B testing, engagement rates, and driving ROI, it’s easy to forget that marketing is, at heart, creative work. And creative work should be fun.

“We’re one of the loudest groups at work. We always get in trouble, because we’re over in the corner yelling and hooting and having a good time,” she laughs. “Some folks think we’re not working, and I’m like, no, that’s us getting to the answers!”

“Creatives that are having fun and feel relaxed and safe are going to make better work. It’s not a competition. No one’s trying to win anything. You’re in there, together, trying to make the best thing possible.”

It’s a simple formula. Clever minds + fun + safety = Good marketing. When something resonates with your team, there’s a greater chance that it’s going to resonate with your audience, too.

“And when the whole group says, ‘Hell yeah! That’s it!’ that’s when you know.”

Lingering Questions

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION

What's a creative hot take that will make a marketer second guess how they work with creatives? —Brandon Smithwrick, Founder, Content to Commas

THIS WEEK'S ANSWER

Mickes says: In my experience, the business side (i.e., product strategists, sales and marketing managers) bring in creative too late... often treating them as the shiny gift wrap around the product strategy — but in reality, the creative is the product strategy.

If you involve us only at the end, you’re not getting design, you’re just getting decoration. Every time you hand us a baked plan and ask us to “make it pop,” you’ve already cut the legs out from under what could have been a more powerful marketing campaign.

Let creatives lead earlier! I always encourage working in groups: Have early holistic campaign development conversations with key stakeholders from media, strategy, product, and creative. The future of marketing is all about experiences where creative execution is indistinguishable from brand strategy. If you still think of creative as just “making things look good,” you’re never going to create an authentic experience for your consumer.

NEXT WEEK'S QUESTION

Mickes asks: As marketing shifts from communication and storytelling to creating authentic cultural experiences, how are you or your company rethinking the role of creative?

14 critical elements I think every website homepage should have

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 18:30:00 +0300

As someone who’s spent the past few years building websites and helping businesses fine-tune their digital presence, I’ve seen firsthand how overlooked the homepage can be. Yet, it’s the most visited page on your entire website. The virtual front door that welcomes (or turns away) the majority of your traffic.

A lot of businesses struggle here because they treat the homepage like a one-size-fits-all landing page. But your homepage has a much bigger job to do. It needs to guide visitors from all different backgrounds, interests, and traffic sources to the next best step.

That means it has to be designed with intention, not guesswork.

When I work on websites, and what to put on the homepage specifically, I always look at three non-negotiables:

Does it attract and hook visitors quickly?

Does it educate them on who you are and what you offer?

Does it guide them toward taking action (without being pushy)?

That’s the formula for a homepage that performs. If you’re serious about making your homepage work harder for you, make sure the following must-have elements are in place.

What You Should Include in Your Website Homepage Design

1. Headline

On average, users usually scan websites within 15 seconds. That’s such a small window to tell visitors what your business has to offer. That’s why I always opt to place the headline, sub-headline, and a clear CTA right in the hero section — it’s prime real estate to get your message across fast. Your headline may only be a few words, but it’s one of the most important pieces of copy on your website.

When I’m working on website projects, I’ve learned that trying to please everyone with a single headline is a losing game. Your homepage will attract a wide range of visitors with different backgrounds, needs, and levels of awareness. But the truth is, your headline only needs to resonate with the third of your audience that’s most likely to love what you offer. Those are the people you want to connect with right away.

That’s why I always aim for clarity over cleverness.

A headline should be simple, direct, and instantly tell visitors what’s in it for them. One of my favorite examples is Dropbox’s homepage headline: “Find anything. Protect everything.” There’s no fluff, no jargon. You don’t have to think twice about what Dropbox does. That kind of clarity is what keeps people on your site.

Over the years, I’ve seen too many businesses overthink their headlines — trying to sound innovative or bold — when what really works is being clear and human. A well-written headline can do more heavy lifting than an entire paragraph of marketing copy if you keep it focused on the visitor’s needs.

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Pro tip: One way I simplify this process for myself and my clients is by using HubSpot’s free drag-and-drop website builder. It’s a user-friendly tool that allows you to build a homepage that adapts to your audience’s needs, no code required. I like it because it gives me control over layout and flow, while still leaving room to optimize as traffic behaviors change.

2. Sub-headline

Your sub-headline is where you get to add a little context to your headline. Think of it as the quick follow-up that explains what you actually do. It’s not the place to be vague or overthink it.

The best way to make it land is by calling out a problem your audience is dealing with and showing how you solve it.

One brand that does this well is Slack. Their headline says, “Where Work Happens,” which is broad, but their sub-headline gets specific: “Bring your people, projects, apps, and AI agents together.” In just a few words, they’ve described exactly what they offer and why it matters to busy teams. The video of the Slack app being used also adds to the clarity of what their product actually offers and how it works.

When I’m working on websites, I always recommend using this space to address a real pain point. Don’t just list a feature, explain how it makes life easier for your users. That’s how you turn a headline and sub-headline into a powerful combo.

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3. Primary Calls-to-Action

The first thing I think about before I dive into website building is what I want the users to do. What action do I need them to take? That’s where straightforward, easy-to-find calls-to-action (CTAs) come in.

I recommend having at least two to three CTAs above the fold, leading visitors to different parts of the buying journey. Personally, I like to at least place one in the header and another in the hero section. Some folks might be ready to sign up today, while others are just browsing. Your CTAs should meet them where they are — and they need to stand out.

A good example of this in action is Afterschool HQ’s website. Right in the header, they have a CTA geared toward program directors looking to promote their after-school activities that says “Get Started.” If they miss the button in the header, they have the same one in the hero section underneath their sub-headline.

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Pro tips:

I always advise clients to use a contrasting color for CTAs. That simply means picking a color that pops against your homepage background but still feels like it belongs in your brand palette. For example, if your website has a soft, neutral color scheme — think whites and light grays — a bold navy blue or vibrant coral button will naturally draw the eye. The key is balance: It should grab attention without clashing.

Keep the CTA text simple. I’m talking five words or less. Short, action-oriented phrases like “Get Started,” “Book a Demo,” or “Try It Free” do the trick. Don’t make people think too hard about what happens next.

4. Supporting Image

Most people are visual. Make sure to use an image (or even a short video) that clearly indicates what you offer. Use images or videos that capture emotion, drive action, and visually tell the story you’re writing about.

To optimize your images for mobile users, use high-quality images that have a reduced file size. (HubSpot customers don‘t need to worry about this, as images uploaded to HubSpot’s software are automatically compressed. Otherwise, tools like Tinify will do the trick.)

Also, always add alt text to your images to make them more accessible to visitors who use screen readers and to take your SEO efforts up a notch.

The Smith & Wollensky homepage is a great example of emotional imagery: It features a series of short, high-definition, and mouthwatering videos that play on a loop behind a simple headline.

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5. Benefits

Stating what you do is not enough. I am a huge advocate for showing what you do as well. Your audience cares about how your product helps them, and that’s what keeps them interested.

Keep your message light, clear, and in their language. Evernote is one of my favorite examples of this. On their homepage, they show their benefits in a way that’s easy to read and nice to look at.

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6. Social Proof

Social proof is a powerful indicator of trust. Your product or service could be the best in the world, and it‘s okay to lay that claim — it’s just that people may not believe you unless they hear it from other people, too. And that's exactly what social proof does.

Include just a few of your best (short) quotes on the homepage, and link to case studies if applicable. Adding a name and photo gives these testimonials more credibility.

OptinMonster nails this on their homepage with glowing testimonials from actual clients. Most local services and goods thrive on social proof. So, whether you're working on an orthodontics website design or a local bakery, make sure to include testimonials and reviews if available.

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7. Navigation

The design and content in your homepage navigation could mean the difference between a website conversion and a bounce. If you want to keep your bounce rate low, you’ve got to give visitors an obvious, easy-to-follow path to wherever they need to go — starting right from your homepage.

So, keep your navigation menu visible at the top, and lay out your links in a way that naturally guides people through your content, from the most important pages on down.

You and your team know your website inside and out, but your visitors don’t. That’s why it’s important to run user tests to see if navigating your site feels as smooth and intuitive to them as it does to you. If you can, add a search bar to make it even easier for folks to find exactly what they’re looking for.

One of my favorite examples of easy navigation is Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria. Their homepage navigation is clearly structured, keeping visitors moving in the right direction.

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8. Content Offer

To generate even more leads from your homepage, feature a really great content offer, such as a whitepaper, ebook, or guide. Folks who may not be ready to buy might rather download an offer that gives them more information about a topic they're interested in.

If you need inspiration, here are several different content types to pick from.

9. Secondary Calls-to-Action

Here’s the thing: Not everyone who lands on your homepage is going to be ready to commit straight into your main offer. That’s why having secondary CTAs is so important. They’re like your safety net, giving visitors who need a little more time (or a lower-commitment option) another way to connect with you.

While your primary calls-to-action should be front and center above the fold, those secondary CTAs belong further down the page.

As people scroll, you want to keep giving them reasons to stay engaged. A great example of this is Spanx’s homepage. Once you scroll past the top section, you’ll spot three clear CTAs waiting for you. Whether it’s grabbing $20 off or hitting “Shop Now” to browse the catalog, these secondary actions give visitors more paths to convert when they’re ready.

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10. Features

In addition to benefits, list some of your key features. This gives people more of an understanding of what's provided by your products and services. Again, keep the copy light and easy to read.

Dropbox for Business, for example, doesn't shy away from showing off a features matrix right on their homepage below the fold.

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11. Resources

One of my signature website elements is having a resourceful footer. This is because most people aren’t going to be ready to buy on the spot. They’re still in research mode, trying to figure out if what you offer is the right fit.

That’s why it’s smart to give them a space where they can explore and learn more, like a resource center or knowledge hub. It not only keeps them engaged and on your site longer, but it also positions you as the go-to expert in your space.

Take Lovesac, for example. They’ve added a resource link in the footer, below the fold, that reiterates all of their wonderful offerings.

Their secondary CTAs are thoughtfully designed to catch visitors at different stages of their buying journey. There’s a credit card link for folks ready to make a purchase, a fabric swatch guide for those still deciding on colors, and an online catalog for shoppers who are browsing but not quite ready to commit. Each one gives visitors a reason to stay connected and move closer to a purchase when they are ready.

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12. Success Indicators

Along with customer success stories, awards and recognitions are great for making a strong first impression. Is your restaurant critically acclaimed? Did your app win best new product this year? Highlight those wins on your homepage. Just like social proof, showcasing achievements builds trust and adds credibility for visitors who are new to your brand.

On Calendly’s homepage, for example, you'll find the names of famous organizations that have recognized them, like Gartner and Dropbox.

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13. Search Bar

If your website is content-heavy, adding a search bar may be extremely helpful for your users, especially if you’re an online store with hundreds of products, a blog library, or a resource hub.

Visitors who already know what they’re looking for don’t want to go through layers of navigation menus. A simple, visible search bar gives them a direct shortcut to find exactly what they need, fast.

Remember this: The more content you have, the harder it becomes for people to browse through categories and filters. A search bar solves that by letting users type in exactly what they’re looking for. It’s an underrated tool that keeps visitors engaged and prevents them from bouncing

Level up your content marketing funnel — here’s how I make the right content for each stage

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 22:30:00 +0300

Creating content for every funnel stage is about more than just cranking out blog posts. It’s easy to fall into a routine — publishing the same kinds of pieces without stopping to ask if they’re what your audience actually needs at that moment.

At one SaaS company I worked with, we were proud of our output — dozens of “how-to” blog posts that pulled in steady traffic. But when I looked closer at the analytics, those posts weren’t converting at all. We were filling the calendar, not moving people closer to a decision.

It finally dawned on me that there’s a big difference between content that gets clicks and content that moves buyers forward. Pair the right asset with the right stage of the journey, and you create momentum that leads to sales.

In this post, I’ll walk you through the three stages of the content marketing funnel, the kinds of content that work best for each, and how to make sure every piece you create helps your audience take the next step.

Table of Contents

What is the content marketing funnel?

Levels of the Content Marketing Funnel

Understanding the Buyer’s Journey in Marketing

Why Creating Content for the Buyer's Journey Is Important

Creating Content for Each Stage of the Buyer's Journey

Content Ideas for Each Stage of the Buyer's Journey

What is the content marketing funnel?

The content marketing funnel is a way to organize content by where someone is in their buying journey — from first recognizing a problem to making a purchase decision.

It’s typically divided into three stages: top, middle, and bottom. Each one calls for a different type of content based on what the audience needs to move forward.

When I develop a content strategy, the funnel is one of the first things I map out. It helps me visualize how people move from awareness to action — and makes sure I’m not skipping any stage. Creating content that aligns with each step means I can meet buyers where they are, not where I wish they were. That’s what builds trust and momentum.

Levels of the Content Marketing Funnel

Each funnel stage needs a distinct approach because what buyers need early on differs dramatically from what they need when they're ready to decide.

That said, modern buyer journeys aren't linear.

Google and BCG suggest marketers should map influence based on behaviors — like how people stream, scroll, search, and shop — rather than relying on traditional funnel stages. I think that’s a smart evolution, and one that reflects how messy decision-making is today.

According to G2's 2024 Buyer Behavior Report, which surveyed nearly 2,000 B2B decision-makers, buyers strongly prefer self-service throughout most stages of their purchasing process. In fact, 69% of buyers typically engage with salespeople only after they‘ve already made their decision. This means your content for every funnel stage needs to work harder to influence decisions when you’re not in the room.

I still use the funnel as a planning tool because it keeps me focused on covering every stage — even when people don't move through it in a straight line.

Let’s start at the top.

Top of the Funnel (ToFu)

At the top of the funnel, people are just starting to realize something‘s not working. Maybe their team productivity is slipping, or they’re missing deadlines, but they can‘t quite put their finger on why. They’re not shopping for solutions yet — they're trying to figure out what the actual problem is.

This stage is where I create content that helps them connect the dots. I want to give them language for what they‘re experiencing and help them understand why it’s worth addressing. At this stage, I‘m not trying to sell anything — I’m trying to be genuinely helpful so they remember us when they're ready to explore solutions.

ToFu content includes:

Blog posts addressing target customers’ everyday struggles

Infographics showcasing industry statistics

LinkedIn posts sharing quick strategy tips

Short videos explaining industry trends

Middle of the Funnel (MoFu)

In the middle of the funnel, prospects actively research their options. They've defined their problem and are exploring solutions — comparing tools, reading reviews, and evaluating how your offering stacks up.

Now I‘m focused on proving we know what we’re talking about. People at this stage have done enough research to ask thoughtful questions, and they want to see evidence that we can deliver. I spend time on content that demonstrates our expertise — case studies showing real results, honest comparisons that acknowledge trade-offs, and in-depth guides that go beyond surface-level advice.

MoFu content includes:

In-depth guides with actionable tips

Case studies highlighting customer success

Detailed social media posts exploring specific challenges

Comparison charts showing product differences

Bottom of the Funnel (BoFu)

At the bottom, buyers are nearly ready to act — they've done their research and need that final confidence boost to move forward.

By this stage, most people have already decided they want to solve their problem — now they're just picking who to work with. The content I create here is all about reducing risk and making the decision easier.

When someone can try the product for free or see precisely how much money they‘ll save, suddenly saying yes doesn’t feel like such a big leap.

BoFu content includes:

Free audits, trials, or strategy consultations

Testimonials from satisfied customers

Live demos showing product value

Discounts or limited-time offers

Understanding the Buyer’s Journey in Marketing

In my experience with B2B clients, the buyer‘s journey is rarely a linear process. People don’t discover a problem, read one blog post, and request a demo the next day. They move forward in fits and starts — researching, pausing, circling back — especially for complex or high-cost decisions.

That‘s why I treat the buyer’s journey as a layered process with three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. Each maps to how people think and what they need at specific moments.

Take a startup I worked with whose project management was spiraling. Tools were scattered, deadlines missed, and no one could see the big picture. They weren't immediately searching for software. Like most buyers, they began by looking for guidance — articles on improving team alignment, templates for better planning, and advice on regaining project visibility.

My job is supporting that process with strategic content for every funnel stage — content that helps them define problems, explore solutions, and feel confident about next steps.

Awareness Stage

In the awareness stage, buyers notice a problem but may not have the language to describe it yet. They know something‘s not working and want to understand what’s happening and whether it's worth solving.

The awareness stage is where I focus on content that helps define the problem. That might be a blog post breaking down a common challenge, a self-assessment checklist, or a short video validating what they're experiencing.

Content Marketing Funnel Example

Early searches might sound like: “how to improve team productivity” or “why projects keep going off track.” These queries aren‘t about tools — they’re about making sense of situations. Meeting someone here with useful, unbiased content builds trust that carries into the next stage.

Consideration Stage

By the consideration stage, buyers have named their problem and actively explore how to solve it. They‘re comparing approaches, weighing trade-offs, and looking at vendors — but haven’t decided yet.

Here, I focus on content that builds credibility. Product comparison guides, expert explainers, and case studies work well — especially when they help buyers understand how different solutions align with their priorities.

Content Marketing Funnel Example

Someone might search “project management software vs. spreadsheets” or “best tools for remote team collaboration.” They‘re evaluating options, not ready to buy — so the goal is to inform, not push. When I position content around their criteria rather than just my product’s features, I see much higher engagement.

Decision Stage

At this point, buyers have done their research and picked a solution category --- now they‘re choosing between vendors. They’re comparing pricing, reading reviews, analyzing features, and trying to make the most confident decision possible.

The decision stage is where I bring in content that removes friction and answers “Why choose us?” Customer testimonials, ROI calculators, live demos, and free trials work well. I've found that offering real people to talk to — consultations or strategy calls — can make a big difference in helping buyers close the deal.

Content Marketing Funnel Example

Typical searches might be “Asana vs. Trello vs. Jira” or “best project management software for startups.” The buyer isn‘t browsing — they’re choosing. If your content makes that decision easier, you've added value before the first sales conversation.

Why Creating Content for the Buyer's Journey Is Important

Without considering the buyer‘s journey, your content will miss the mark. I’ve seen brands publish dozens of blog posts and still fail to convert — not because the content was bad, but because it wasn't what their audience needed at that stage.

To create content for every funnel stage that performs, you need to understand how your audience thinks, what they struggle with, and how they make decisions. From there, you can map content to the right stage and start leading people forward instead of losing them in the gaps.

Colleen Barry, head of marketing at Ketch, puts it perfectly: “Content isn't just about attracting clicks, it's about guiding potential customers through a decision-making process. If your content doesn't match their stage in the journey, you'll either overwhelm them with too much information too soon or leave them hanging without enough details to make a decision.”

ToFu content sparks curiosity. MoFu builds confidence. BoFu gives people reasons to act. When these pieces work together, conversion rates improve --- and so does your relationship with your audience.

Of course, knowing the stages is one thing — creating the right content at the right time is another. And to keep everything organized and measurable, I recommend using a content marketing platform to track how your content is performing at each stage.

Creating Content for Each Stage of the Buyer's Journey

After I understand who I'm talking to and how they make decisions, I start figuring out what content I need at each stage. The biggest mistake I see teams make is creating content they think sounds smart instead of content their audience actually wants at that moment.

A content mapping template is one of the best tools I‘ve used for this. It shows you exactly where you have gaps --- like when you realize you have twenty blog posts for people who’ve never heard of you, but nothing for someone ready to make a decision.

Not every journey follows the same pattern — a startup founder weighing a six-figure software investment needs very different touchpoints than someone buying a water bottle.

For B2B buyers, I often see more time spent in consideration --- they need in-depth content that builds trust and makes the case for your solution. With B2C, the focus tends toward top-of-funnel: quick value, easy wins, and strong visuals that create urgency or curiosity.

Content Marketing Funnel Template

To visualize this, I often come back to the classic funnel framework: Awareness → Consideration → Decision. It’s not perfect, but it helps organize both content types and metrics in an actionable way — especially when collaborating with other teams.

By understanding how different personas research and evaluate, you can build content for every funnel stage that supports their journey from start to finish.

Content Ideas for Each Stage of the Buyer's Journey

ToFu: Awareness

At the top, people are exploring. They might know they have a problem or just be curious about a topic — but they're not ready for a sales pitch. Awareness is where I lead with helpful, non-promotional content that builds trust and gets our brand on their radar.

In my experience, ToFu content performs best on:

Blog (via SEO or newsletter)

Social media (LinkedIn for B2B)

YouTube

Podcasts

Third-party media ( PR hits or guest features)

I don‘t expect conversions here — that’s not the point. But I’ll call it a win if someone remembers who helped them when they were stuck.

Here are a few types of TOFU content that I’ve seen consistently attract the right audience — and how to get the most out of each one.

1. Blog Post

Blog posts are ideal for the awareness stage. By addressing pain points your audience actively researches, you create valuable, discoverable resources that build your content for every funnel stage strategy.

“People may need your product but don’t always realize it,” says Natallia Slimani, content manager at time tracking software Traqq. “For example, people might search for productivity tips or remote work advice before they even know they need a time tracker.”

One successful post Traqq published covered calculating time differences in Excel — a common challenge for their remote-working audience. It's educational and helpful, naturally surfacing Traqq as a solution without becoming a sales pitch.

Source

Pro tip: When I'm stuck brainstorming blog topics aligned with audience pain points, HubSpot's Blog Ideas Generator helps spark ideas. Just plug in keywords and let it generate relevant titles.

Featured Resource: Free Blog Post Templates

Download for Free

2. Social Media Post

Social media is powerful for ToFu — especially for B2B audiences. With over 86% of adults on at least one social platform, your audience is almost certainly scrolling somewhere online.

Since I work primarily with B2B SaaS clients, LinkedIn is my go-to. It's where decision-makers hang out, and where helpful, context-rich posts gain traction.

Research shows LinkedIn carousel ads beat static formats in engagement because they let you tell visually-driven stories slide by slide. Even for organic content, carousel-style posts work well because they break complex ideas into bite-sized slides.

Carousel-style posts allow you to break complex ideas into bite-sized slides. You can use formats like:

Quick “5-step checklist” for content planning

Mini-case study with probl

Getting started with LinkedIn marketing & networking

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:00:00 +0300

Like many people, the first few years I was on LinkedIn, I used it as little more than an online résumé. In recent years, however, LinkedIn marketing has become one of the most reliable ways I generate leads, attract opportunities, and stay top-of-mind with the people who matter most.

When you treat LinkedIn like a marketing platform with the opportunity to reach over 1 billion users, not just a social network, it works hard for you — even when you’re offline.

LinkedIn is full of opportunities to build relationships, get more eyes on your content, and grow your business — when you know how to do it right. Let’s dive in so you can get started and turn it into a lead-gen machine.

Table of Contents

What is LinkedIn marketing?

LinkedIn Marketing Best Practices

How to Use LinkedIn

LinkedIn Posting Strategies

LinkedIn Networking Tips

LinkedIn Direct Messaging Tips

How to Market on LinkedIn

LinkedIn Marketing Options

What is LinkedIn marketing?

LinkedIn marketing is all about using the platform intentionally — to build your brand, grow your network, generate leads, and drive real business results.

For me, that’s looked like landing new clients, getting invited to speak on podcasts, and reconnecting with people I didn’t even realize were paying attention. When I treat LinkedIn like a core marketing channel — not just a place to share wins — it delivers.

Unlike other platforms, LinkedIn is built for this kind of work. It’s where people go to talk shop, share expertise, and connect with others who do what they do. And when you show up with a clear strategy, LinkedIn gives you the tools to amplify your reach — from analytics and SEO-friendly profiles to content distribution and search filters. I’ll walk you through exactly how I use them in a moment.

Why is marketing on LinkedIn important?

Most businesses focus their social energy on the big three: Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. But if you’re looking to build relationships, attract quality leads, or establish your authority — especially in the B2B space — LinkedIn is where you want to be.

I’ve found that the quality of conversations I have on LinkedIn is higher than on any other platform — and the people reaching out usually already understand what I do. That’s not an accident. It’s the result of consistently showing up and using LinkedIn as part of my broader marketing strategy.

A stunning 96% of marketers prefer LinkedIn for lead generation over Facebook or X (formerly Twitter) because decision-makers are here — and they’re paying attention.

Whether you’re selling services, building your brand, or recruiting top talent, LinkedIn can help you do it more effectively — if you know how to use it right.

Just starting out? Here's a quick primer if you’re new to LinkedIn Marketing.

Now, let’s review the ways you can use LinkedIn to market and grow your business.

LinkedIn is one of the few platforms where you can build brand authority, attract qualified leads, and grow your business — all from one profile. But like any marketing channel, it works best when you use it with intention.

Here are a few of my top tips.

1. Use hashtags.

I’m not a big advocate of overusing hashtags on LinkedIn — they’re helpful, but they’re not magic.

Hashtags can help categorize your content for search and topic-based discovery and make your post visible to people who follow a specific hashtag (e.g., #RemoteWork or #Leadership).

However, they won’t magically boost your reach or engagement or replace good content.

That means you’ll want to strike a balance between relevant and popular hashtags by doing hashtag research on LinkedIn. Use the search bar to query a broad hashtag first.

You can’t always see follower counts directly on LinkedIn anymore, but you can see how often hashtags show up in feeds and who uses them by doing a quick search. Alternatively, social media tools often track hashtag metrics like reach, engagement, and frequency.

If you opt for hashtags, choose no more than three to five to reach your audiences and place them at the end of the post.

Pro tip: Some professionals like to create a series where they give business advice (in their niche) to their audience. To keep track of the advice, they create their own hashtags to represent their brand. You can do this, too!

2. Know when to use a LinkedIn Profile vs. a LinkedIn Page.

Your personal LinkedIn Profile and your company Page serve very different purposes — and if you’re trying to grow on LinkedIn, knowing when (and how) to use each is essential.

Your Profile is for building relationships. It’s where you connect one-on-one, send DMs, and show up as a real person with a face and a story. If you’re a consultant, service provider, or personal brand — this is where most of your traction will happen.

Your Page is for scale. It can be followed (no connection required), used for ads, and gives your business a “home base” that builds trust when people look you up. And to extend reach on your page, it’s usually a good idea to share it on your profile

I want to be super clear — this isn’t a competition. They complement each other.

3. Create posts of varying lengths.

Not every post needs to be a masterclass — and not every post should be a one-liner. The sweet spot on LinkedIn is variety.

Short posts are great for quick wins, bold takes, or questions that spark conversation.

Medium posts are ideal for sharing tips, frameworks, or mini case studies.

Long-form posts give you space to tell stories, explain your process, or build thought leadership over time.

I rotate between all three and always recommend mixing things up — at least until you know what your audience responds best to. It keeps your feed engaging — and gives different types of readers something to latch onto.

If you have more to say than a regular post allows, I also recommend experimenting with LinkedIn’s two long-form tools:

LinkedIn Articles. Great for evergreen content, detailed how-tos, or SEO-friendly posts that position you as an expert. Note: If you have a blog, make sure to make it different enough so that LinkedIn doesn’t take away from your SEO value.

LinkedIn Newsletters. A powerful way to build a subscriber base right on the platform. I’ve seen creators and companies use this to drive consistent engagement and even launch full content funnels.

I don’t publish articles or newsletters weekly, but when I do, I treat them like anchor content — and then repurpose pieces of them into shorter posts to extend the value.

Bottom line: Varying the length and format of your posts keeps your feed dynamic and shows you know how to show up in different ways.

4. Share external articles on the platform.

Unlike Instagram or TikTok, LinkedIn actually plays nice with external links — especially when you give people a reason to click.

I often share blog posts, newsletter issues, podcast episodes, or industry reports. The only caveat here is that context matters. Instead of just dropping a link with “check this out,” lead with a quote, a reaction, or a takeaway that adds value on its own.

And if you’re sharing someone else’s content, tag them. That extra step can generate great conversations — and more than once, it’s led to the original author resharing my post with their audience. How cool is that?

That said, there’s still some debate around how LinkedIn handles off-platform links. Some say putting the link directly in the post is fine. In my experience, though, when I include the link in the body, engagement tends to drop — so I usually place it in the first comment and mention that in the post itself.

Source

Up next, I’ll walk you through some practical ways to make the most of LinkedIn’s features — whether you’re using a personal Profile, a company Page, or both.

Some of these tips are geared toward building brand visibility and sharing content. Others are more useful if you’re focused on hiring, networking, or lead generation. Whatever your goals, you’ll find something here to support your strategy.

If you want LinkedIn to work for you, your profile has to be intentional. A strong profile helps you get discovered, builds trust, and gives people a reason to reach out (or say yes when you do).

Whether you’re using a personal Profile, a company Page, or both, here are a few ways to optimize your presence and make the platform work harder for you.

1. Customize your public Profile URL.

Make your Profile look more professional and easier to share by customizing your LinkedIn public Profile URL. Instead of a URL with confusing numbers at the end, it will look nice and clean like this:

https://www.linkedin.com/erin-pennings

You can do this by clicking View Profile and then clicking Edit Public Profile and URL on the upper right-hand corner.

Here, you can change your URL to anything you’d like — such as your first and last name or business name — assuming it hasn’t already been taken by another LinkedIn user.

2. Add a LinkedIn background photo to your Profile.

Give your LinkedIn Profile a little bit more personality by adding an on-brand background photo.

Most people leave the default background image on their Profile — which is a missed opportunity. Your background photo is free billboard space to reinforce what you do and who you help.

You can use it to show off:

Your tagline or positioning.

Company logo or testimonials.

A few of the clients you’ve worked with.

I made mine using a free Canva template in under 15 minutes. You don’t need a designer — just keep it clean, on-brand, and legible on desktop and mobile.

As you can see, it’s a simple graphic that has my name, services, and URL. This immediately lets potential clients know what I do and how I can serve them.

Alternatively, depending on your role, your company may also make some templates available.

If you’re creating your own, LinkedIn recommends a background photo size of 1584 x 396 pixels, and it must be a JPG, PNG, or GIF file under 8MB.

3. Add, remove, and rearrange sections of your Profile.

Your LinkedIn Profile is modular — and that’s a good thing. You can drag and drop sections to prioritize what matters most, whether that’s your featured content, services, certifications, or work experience.

When I updated my Profile to put case studies and client testimonials near the top, I saw a noticeable increase in DMs and profile views.

Pro tip: Use the Featured section to highlight your top-performing posts, newsletter issues, or a lead magnet.

4. Optimize your LinkedIn Profile for the search engines.

LinkedIn is a search engine — and just like Google, keywords matter.

Make sure your headline, About section, and job titles include the terms people would actually search to find someone like you. That might be:

“B2B SaaS content marketer”

“Fractional CMO for ecommerce brands”

“Sales enablement expert for medical device companies”

Worth noting, don’t stuff keywords in for the point of having them — just describe your work clearly and naturally.

Download a free SEO starter pack to learn everything you need to know about optimizing your business’s content.

5. Become a service provider on LinkedIn.

If you offer client services, LinkedIn’s “Open for Business” tool is worth turning on. It adds a services section to your Profile, allows you to show up in service-related search results, and makes it easier for potential clients to reach out.

You’ll also get a lightweight service page you can share separately, which I’ve found helpful when responding to inbound requests or listing services on other platforms.

This is used to identify freelancers within LinkedIn’s user base. This service matches contractors with project managers who are seeking help.

6. Add blog, portfolio, and external links.

You can link out to your website, lead magnets, podcast, or social channels from your Profile. I use this to drive traffic to my portfolio and booking page.

Quick tip: Don’t just paste in a raw URL — add context. Use LinkedIn’s Featured section or experience descriptions to give people a reason to click.

7. Monitor and engage with Network Updates.

LinkedIn’s homepage feed — aka Network Updates — is where you can see what your connections are posting, sharing, or commenting on.

I love using my feed to:

Spot trends in your industry.

Engaging with people you want to build relationships with.

Staying visible without having to post constantly.

I try to scroll and engage a few times a week. Commenting on someone else’s post takes 10 seconds but goes a long way in keeping your name in front of them.

8. Make your Profile easy to recognize.

People should know it’s you the second they land on your Profile. That means:

Use your real name (not just initials).

Upload a clear, professional headshot.

Write a headline that says more than just your job title.

Even your connections will skim. Your Profile should pass the “what do they do and who do they help?” test in under five seconds.

Pro tip: You should always have your Public Profile setting enabled as well, to be visible and identifiable for your audience.

9. Check out who’s viewed your LinkedIn Profile.

LinkedIn’s “Who Viewed Your Profile” feature lets you know who visits your profile. If someone keeps viewing your Profile, it might be time to reach out. If your views suddenly spike, something you posted probably resonated.

I use this data to spot potential leads, tailor my outreach, and see which types of content are pulling people in.

Just note: If you’re browsing Profiles in private mode, you won’t be able to see who viewed yours either.

10. Design all aspects of your LinkedIn Page.

If you manage a LinkedIn Page, treat it like a homepage. Use your banner image, About section, and CTA button to make a strong first impression.

Take a look at what HubSpot’s Company Page looks like for inspiration:

I recommend going beyond listing products and services to share why your company exists, who you serve, and how to take the next step to work with you.

A well-designed page can be a powerful lead-gen tool when set up strategically.

Use guides and templates to discover the best ways to design your LinkedIn page.

Next up, I'll go over some LinkedIn posting tips to help you grow your audience. But first, I encourage you to check out this helpful guide to building a professional LinkedIn profile.

How to Craft the Perfect LinkedIn Profile: 21 Easy Steps

LinkedIn Posting Strategies

If you want to grow your audience and build credibility on LinkedIn, consistent content is key — but you don’t need to post every day or go viral to see results.

Here are my recommendations.

1. Publish valuable content on your LinkedIn profile.

Most people think LinkedIn is just about networking. But one of the best ways

Tool	Primary Use Case	Key Strengths	Best For	Integration Approach
HubSpot Breeze AI	Marketing, Sales, Service	Native CRM integration, unified customer data, Claude connector	Teams wanting AI embedded in existing workflows without separate vendors	Native to HubSpot platform
Jasper	Marketing Content	Brand voice consistency, approval workflows, content templates	Large marketing teams producing high-volume content across channels	API integrations
Copy.ai	Marketing & Sales Copy	Campaign automation, multi-channel generation	Demand gen teams running integrated campaigns	API integrations
Gong	Sales Intelligence	Conversation analysis, deal risk identification, rep coaching	Sales orgs focused on call analysis and performance optimization	Integrates with major CRMs
Outreach	Sales Engagement	Sequence optimization, predictive analytics, email generation	Inside sales running high-volume outbound campaigns	Native sales engagement platform
Intercom	Customer Service	AI chatbot (Fin), workflow automation, knowledge base integration	Teams wanting automated resolution for routine inquiries	Standalone with integrations
Zendesk AI	Customer Service	Intelligent triage, sentiment analysis, multi-channel support	Large support orgs with complex routing needs	Native to Zendesk platform
Anthropic Claude	Cross-Functional	Complex reasoning, long-context analysis, high accuracy	Knowledge work requiring nuanced judgment and document analysis	API access
Microsoft Copilot	Productivity	Office 365 integration, Microsoft Graph access	Enterprises invested in Microsoft 365 ecosystem	Native to Microsoft apps
Google Gemini	Productivity	Google Workspace integration, collaborative AI	Organizations using Google Workspace	Native to Google apps

Feature	Traditional SEO	Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Goal	Rank high in SERPs, drive website traffic	Get cited in AI responses, win zero-click visibility
Content focus	Broad, long–form, targeting keyword groups	Precise, Q&A–style, direct answers (brief + extended)
Signals	Backlinks, keyword metrics, domain authority,	Mentions, semantic markup, freshness, structured data
Metrics	Impressions, clicks, CTR, conversions, visits	Citation rate, share of AI voice, AI impressions, brand mentions
Time horizon	Medium to long term, with sustained growth	Some faster wins (snippets), but needs continual adaptation

Factor	Manual ABM (what you end up doing)	Automated orchestration (what “good” looks like)	How HubSpot ABM can help
Account research	One-off desk research across CRM, insights go stale quickly.	Unified account profile (firmographic, technographic, intent, engagement) updated on a schedule	HubSpot ABM combines 100+ data sources with predictive intent scoring
Stakeholder mapping	Focus on titles, but hidden influencers missed	Focus on buying roles and buying groups; alerts for role gaps (e.g., “no decision maker”)	HubSpot ABM provides dynamic role mapping with influence scoring specifically designed for Fortune 500 decision makers
Sequence coordination	Ad-hoc timings, with possible overlaps and gaps, easy to go off-message across roles	AI-powered, tailored sequencing by roles and prior engagements	There is cross-stakeholder sequence coordination optimized for Fortune 500 decision makers' complex buying cycles
Data integration	Manual updates, error-prone	Governed syncs (MAP↔CRM↔enrichment) with rules	HubSpot ABM offers native CRM integration with automatic enrichment
Campaign scalability	Limited	More scalable when plays are modular and tiered (1:1 / 1:few / 1:many)	HubSpot ABM enables enterprise-grade scaling with templates and workflows
Response time	24-72 hours to react (manual routing/creative)	Minutes to hours via alerts and automations	Team can access real-time personalization designed for the fast-paced needs of Fortune 500 decision makers
Consistency	Varies by workload; message drift across teams is common	Repeatable, policy-backed execution; guardrails (frequency caps, suppression) enforced	HubSpot ABM delivers brand-consistent messaging with AI-generated personalization
ROI measurement	Patchy attribution, hard to tie multi-threaded touches to revenue	Sourced + influenced pipeline tracked at account level; time-in-stage and velocity visible	HubSpot ABM offers attribution reporting with revenue impact tracking

Leading Indicators (Predictive)	Lagging Indicators (Reactive)
Product Qualified Leads (PQLs)	Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)
Feature adoption velocity	Total platform signups
Time to value by segment	Revenue per customer
Customer health score trajectory	Monthly recurring revenue
Content engagement depth	Page views and sessions
Support resolution impact	Total support tickets
Pipeline velocity by deal size	Closed-won deals
Expansion revenue signals	Current customer count

Inbound Marketing Feed

Instagram Adds Option to Draw on DM Chats

YouTube Paid Out $8 Billion to the Music Industry Over the Past Year

LinkedIn Offers Users Opportunities to Help Train its AI Systems

YouTube Shares More Info on its ‘Ask Studio’ AI Bot

Meta Replaces Staff with AI, Continues to Spend Big on AI Development

Instagram Adds Assistive AI for Visual Creation

11 best email marketing tools for restaurants in 2025

What is email marketing for restaurants?

Comparison Table: Best Email Marketing Software for Restaurants

Best Email Marketing Software for Restaurants

1. HubSpot

2. Mailchimp

3. Constant Contact

4. ActiveCampaign

5. Klaviyo

6. Brevo

7. Omnisend

8. Square Marketing

9. Toast Marketing

10. Moosend

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What is email marketing for accounting firms?

Comparison Table: Best Email Marketing Software for Accounting Firms

Best Email Marketing Software for Accounting Firms

1. HubSpot

2. Mailchimp

3. ActiveCampaign

4. Constant Contact

5. Brevo

6. Drip

7. AWeber

8. GetResponse

9. Klaviyo

5 best email marketing tools for real estate businesses in 2025

What is email marketing for real estate?

Email Marketing Tools for Real Estate Comparison Table

Best Email Marketing Software for Real Estate Businesses

HubSpot

Mailchimp

Constant Contact

ActiveCampaign

BombBomb

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Real Estate

7 Important Features for Real Estate Email Marketing Software

How to Choose an Email Marketing Tool for Real Estate (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Map your current workflows.

Step 2: Identify must-have features.

Step 3: Compare ease of use and team fit.

Step 4: Check cost at scale.

Step 5: Choose a flexible platform — like HubSpot.

How to Create Email Marketing Campaigns for Real Estate

1. Define your campaign objective.

2. Segment your audience strategically.

8 best email marketing tools for HVAC companies in 2025

What is email marketing for HVAC companies?

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for HVAC Companies

Automates Year-Round Customer Communication

Segments Customers for Targeted Campaigns

Tracks Marketing ROI

Builds Maintenance Contract Recurring Revenue

Integrates with Existing Business Tools

6 Important Features for Email Marketing Software for HVAC Companies

Customer Segmentation and List Management

Appointment-focused Automation Workflows

Mobile-optimized Templates

CRM Integration for Complete Customer Visibility

Local Service Business Templates and Assets

Analytics That Connect Emails to Revenue

Comparison Table: Email Marketing Tools for HVAC Companies

Best Email Marketing Software for HVAC Companies

1. HubSpot Marketing Hub

2. ServiceTitan Marketing Pro

3. Housecall Pro Campaigns

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