Inbound Marketing Feed

YouTube Adds Custom App Promotions for Shorts

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 04:00:36 +0300

New opportunities for Shorts creators to earn money from their content.

Edits Gets Updated Reels Insights, Safe Zone Mapping, and More

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 03:42:21 +0300

More features for Meta's video editing app.

Threads Adds Post Counter for Linked Updates

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 03:15:02 +0300

A handy addition for your longer threads.

The Development of AI Companions Could Lead to Significant Harms

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 00:13:13 +0300

With more apps looking to introduce AI tools for romantic connection, are we sure we've measured the potential risk?

WhatsApp Adds New Group Call Options

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 23:37:00 +0300

Some new tools to help you coordinate group chats.

TikTok Updates Community Guidelines to Address AI Misinformation

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 23:20:42 +0300

The updated terminology will enable TikTok to address more instances of concern.

Meta Provides More Performance Insights for Creators

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 22:48:08 +0300

Now, creators will be able to access their full content insights on the web as well as on mobile.

Meta Shares Tips on How to Improve Ad Performance with AI

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 22:25:54 +0300

Some handy notes for your holiday campaign planning.

How I do content research: Steps to follow (with examples)

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0300

With ChatGPT, anyone can create blog posts in seconds. But, just because you have copy doesn’t mean it's valuable. You need content research to make a post that’s actually valuable. That’s especially true with Google’s Helpful Content Update, a shift that placed even more emphasis on expertise, knowledge, and credibility.

To stand out in today’s crowded landscape, teams need to craft content that’s not easily found elsewhere. Every paragraph needs to be rooted in deep research, diverse sources, and genuine insight that delivers meaningful value to the audience.

In this article, I'll give a guide on content research by going through a detailed report I published. Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

What is content research?
Why is content research important?
How to Do Content Research
Valuable Tips on Doing Content Research

Content research involves understanding your target audience’s needs, pain points, and search behaviors. It means digging into relevant data, reviewing credible sources, identifying gaps in existing content, and spotting emerging trends in your industry.

Done well, it involves a combination of:

Keyword and SEO analysis.
Competitor content reviews.
Industry publications, academic studies, and expert interviews.
Audience insights from social media, forums, or direct feedback.
Strategic alignment with brand messaging and business objectives.

Given the massive amount of AI-generated content out there, solid content research helps me create impactful, trustworthy content that rises above the noise.

Why is content research important?

In the AI age, more and more people are starting their research on ChatGPT. When your potential customers have a question, they’ll likely ask AI first. And, if their query is informational, they’ll likely get a tailored answer and move on.

So, creating generic, informational content isn’t a sustainable strategy.

Instead, you need to dive deep into content research to come up with a unique angle. Thoughtful, in-depth research lays the foundation for content that is compelling, engaging, and genuinely helpful to users. Bonus points if you can run your own surveys and gather original data.

Content marketing is about positioning your brand as the go-to authority in your space. So, when someone asks a question to an AI tool, it cites your website as the source. That’s all because your content is rich, relevant, and trustworthy.

How to Do Content Research

To explain my content research process, I’ll describe the method I used to create this report on the ecommerce landscape in Pakistan.

This piece is heavily data-centric. It demanded deep, focused research across multiple sources to ensure accuracy, originality, and value. The entire process, from the initial stages of investigation to the final content publication, spanned three months.

Here’s how I approached content research, including clear, bite-sized steps that are easy to understand and apply.

Start with competitor research.

Typically, I start by reviewing what competitors have already published. This helps me understand the landscape and identify gaps. In the case of my report, we were breaking new ground. There were no existing content pieces to benchmark against, which meant we had to build everything from scratch.

While this presented a challenge, it also came with a big advantage: Being the first to publish a data-driven report positioned the brand as a thought leader.

When audiences see original insights backed by research, they’re more likely to view your brand as a credible authority in the space. That kind of trust is hard to beat.

Then, use tools to gather data.

My go-to tools for collecting data are Semrush and Ahrefs. Both platforms allow me to compare two websites side by side.

This becomes especially powerful when you're analyzing a top-ranking competitor against one that ranks slightly lower, revealing key differences in content, keywords, or backlinks. What gives the top performer its edge? These tools uncover exactly that.

For this report, I analyzed the traffic of the top five ecommerce stores. The aim was to rank the country’s leading ecommerce players and categorize them by whether they’re digitally native or focus on an offline presence.

For example, I used Semrush to get traffic data on the biggest ecommerce platforms. The traffic data was then provided in an easy-to-read table.

The chart clearly shows which ecommerce company has the most traffic and the highest estimated global revenue.

When conducting research, I recommend going the extra mile to provide added value for your readers. For instance, to offer better context and enable a more meaningful comparison, I included a brief analysis of trends in other emerging markets — such as the Philippines, Egypt, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.

The idea of adding this additional layer of insight was to help readers better understand the bigger picture. To make this happen, I needed to have access to third-party sources (ECDB and World Bank, in my case).

If you aim to produce valuable, data-centric content on a regular basis, I recommend getting a subscription to Statista. It’s a treasure trove of studies that are directly relevant to your topic.

Keep in mind that not everyone has the time to sift through all the information and data you share. That’s why I included a concise TL;DR section highlighting the key takeaways and most important data points.

I provided this clear, data-backed starting point because I know this information will be valuable for anyone looking to start a new ecommerce business. The key takeaway here is to highlight the core insights from your content research to make it easy for readers to absorb.

For a deeper dive into market research, including a how-to guide, check out this market research guide and template.

Establish authority by answering questions.

To truly establish authority, focus on answering questions that others have overlooked or failed to address in depth. By tackling these underexplored topics with clarity and substance, you position yourself as a go-to expert in your field.

For this report, I took that extra step. I connected with Daraz, the largest ecommerce marketplace in the country, which provided my team with internal data that wouldn’t have been available through traditional online research.

Daraz provided a wealth of valuable insights covering sales performance, transaction volumes, and activity during peak months. The dataset was so rich that I could easily create at least five distinct content pieces. But, I managed to condense the research into a page that offered users real, actionable information backed by solid data.

Doing content research on a deeper level helps surface new trends. After getting the data, I had numbers to show that November and the last quarter generally had higher sales. This level of information added real depth and credibility to the research.

Consult the experts for more insight.

In my opinion, content research goes far beyond simply gathering information from publicly available sources. In many cases, valuable data from industry leaders is needed, but it isn’t usually accessible online. That calls for reaching out to real people.

In the research phase, the more people you reach out to, the better. During our outreach, I connected with PostEx, a leading logistics company in the country with an estimated 1.45 million shipments per month.

Their team told us how the last quarter compared to the rest of the year in terms of total orders and order value. That kind of insight can only come from industry experts. It won’t appear in a Google search, and AI tools would just fabricate the data.

What began as a simple information request turned into something bigger: PostEx generously offered to sponsor the project — something we hadn’t initially planned for. Their involvement added both credibility and meaningful support to our research.

Reach out to people internally.

A component of content research is also gathering insights from people on your team.

For my report, I gained valuable high-level insights by having a 15-minute meeting with my CEO. He had built a price comparison engine earlier as a hobby project, which provided me with valuable information into the country's ecommerce landscape.

By tapping into that expertise, I was able to analyze the monthly traffic and GMV of Pakistan’s ecommerce marketplace.

Remember, internal knowledge-sharing can be powerful. Your colleagues might be experts themselves, or they might connect you to someone in their network who is.

Present the content research.

When you have done solid research, creating content becomes much easier. I believe the key is to strike a balance between written content and visuals. Since many people prefer to absorb information visually, I made sure the content included plenty of charts and graphics to enhance clarity and engagement.

Here’s an example of one of the graphics:

Some people prefer reading to fully grasp the details, so the report includes clear, well-written explanations, ensuring there’s something for everyone. These graphics also help in repurposing the content across email and social media, which brings me to my next point.

Further your business goals with content research.

Repurpose key findings into social posts and email campaigns. That can help you extend the life and reach of the research far beyond the original published piece.

After completing our content research, we decided to make the content gated. Users were required to sign up to access it. Because the content offered valuable insights, people were willing to fill out a form that included their company details and responses to tailored questions. So, we were able to dive warm leads for our company.

Be sure to align content research with strategic business objectives to drive measurable results across marketing and sales.

Valuable Tips on Doing Content Research

“People Also Ask” on Google

Beyond the standard search results, I always use the “People Also Ask” section on Google. Scrolling down to this area can reveal a wealth of related questions. I use it for additional topics to explore and gaps to fill in my content research.

There will be times when I need to create content on a topic I’m not yet an expert in. In this case it pays off to know the following tip on how to become equipped with relevant information quickly.

Type the keyword you are looking to research on Google. Let’s say I am writing about how AI is being used in the healthcare sector. Now, I don’t have a degree or a whole lot of expertise to write on this topic, but I can quickly learn what is happening in this field by learning from those who do have the expertise.

Here’s the formula that I use to type in search engines: Keyword + “expert opinion” + platform

Content Research on LinkedIn

A quick search can reveal what leading voices in the field are saying on LinkedIn. By finding and reading expert commentary, I can build a solid understanding of the subject and back my writing with insights from credible sources.

Remember to always do your due diligence. Take a moment to review their LinkedIn profiles or professional background to ensure their expertise is credible and relevant.

If you have a sizable following or a strong network in your industry, letting others know that you’re working on a piece can surface some experts you may already know. Your network might also have suggestions for other people or resources.

Content Research on Reddit

Reddit is a goldmine for research. Unlike LinkedIn, individual users remain anonymous and aren’t easily citable. But, the platform still offers valuable insights into public opinion and trending perspectives, helping you understand the general feeling surrounding a subject.

The goal of searching on these platforms is to analyze search intent. I want to know my users’ initial questions and their follow-ups. And in the process, I can uncover additional questions they may be searching for but haven’t yet articulated.

The Role of E-E-A-T

With E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) playing a crucial role, I know that my personal insights and the lessons I've learned over the years are incredibly valuable. So, don’t overlook your own experience. Start thinking about what you bring to the table in terms of your own experience, knowledge, and network.

Content Research Using Clearscope

Let’s say I am writing an article on “B2B Market Research,” so my first step is to type the keyword into Clearscope:

When I hit “Create report,” I can see the following interface with the “Terms,” “Research,” and “Outline” tabs on the right.

I use “Terms” to identify the key headings I need to research before I begin structuring the content. When I click on “Research,” it reveals the essential questions I should address to ensure the topic is covered thoroughly and comprehensively.

When I click on “Outline,” it pulls in the top-performing results from the SERPs (essentially showcasing my competitors). It even breaks down their heading structures, giving me a clear view of how they’ve organized their content.

Notice how I can also see the word count for each of the top-performing articles. All this information helps me identify opportunities to improve upon their approach and create something even more holistic and valuable.

Pro tip: I think it can be very easy to inadvertently plagiarize from a competitor — maybe a definition, the structure of the post, or even a turn of phrase. To avoid this, I don’t spend a ton of time reading content from the competition. I really just skim the pages while researching.

Sending Out Surveys

I find that I attain valuable insights by sharing a survey directly with specific groups or communities. If I want to crowdsource insights without requiring respondents to reveal their identities, I use Typeform. It makes it simple for people to shar

TikTok Adds AI Avatar Stickers, Expanding Its AI Tool Set

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 02:40:02 +0300

TikTok continues to integrate more AI elements.

Russia Restricts WhatsApp and Telegram Usage

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 23:57:37 +0300

Russian authorities are seeking to push Russian users towards its own local messaging platform.

How to use AI tools in your Instagram strategy: Tips from HubSpot’s global head of brand marketing

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 21:30:00 +0300

For anyone struggling with using AI in Instagram marketing, now is definitely the time to learn. Nearly half of the marketers we surveyed for our 2025 State of AI Marketing report said they're already using AI for social media, with 49% using it for text-based social content and 47% for video/audio-based content.

HubSpot’s own social media team is leveraging AI to create more engaging, authentic, and on-trend content fast. I did some digging on the ways brands are using AI on Instagram and chatted with HubSpot’s Global Head of Brand Marketing to bring you the AI examples, tips, and tools you need to succeed on Instagram.

Table of Contents

Examples of How Brands Are Using AI on Instagram
Tips for Using AI in Your Instagram Marketing Strategy
Best AI Tools for Instagram Marketing

Examples of How Brands Are Using AI on Instagram

1. Generating Instagram Captions

Coming up with captions is often the bane of a social media marketer’s existence. Thanks to generative AI, this tedious task can be much faster. I personally like to start with a draft I’ve written and then ask ChatGPT to help me refine it by prompting it with something like, “Improve this. Make it shorter, punchier.”

I recommend revising the output. In fact, our State of AI Marketing research found that only 7% of marketers do not edit the AI outputs. More than half (56%) significantly revise or rewrite the outputs.

Here’s an example of the iterative process of using AI to generate Instagram captions, as demonstrated by Melissa Lunt of Superhero Design. She starts with this Claude prompt.

Source

And after some re-prompting and refining, she ends up with this:

Source

2. Repurposing Blog Content into Instagram Posts

Source

Every marketer knows the power of repurposing content. By doing this, one piece of content can take on many lives, expanding its reach.

And thanks to AI, you can do this faster than ever. Using Content Remix by HubSpot, you can take a landing page or blog post and repurpose it into multiple marketing assets, including an Instagram post, in just a few clicks.

3. Hopping onto AI-generated Trends Like ChatGPT’s Action Figure Trend

By now, who hasn’t seen the fun AI-generated action figures all over Instagram and LinkedIn? Here’s an example from when HubSpot hopped on the trend:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by HubSpot (@hubspot)

AI can certainly help you stay on top of trends — but as this action figure fad shows, sometimes AI is the trend. And that can be a fun way to use AI on Instagram.

4. Playing with AI to Extend Backgrounds

Source

Gymshark used AI to extend the backgrounds of these epic photos, garnering nearly 52k likes on a single post. And if you’re curious, I asked ChatGPT what tool Gymshark used to do this, and it told me it was Photoshop’s “Generative Fill.”

I can see how this tool would be useful in taking an image you already like and fine-tuning it. For example, if a subject got cut off or if the image dimensions don’t fill the frame as is, you could use Photoshop to make the photo Instagram ready.

5. Creating AI Influencers

I admit, watching AI influencers on Instagram is still a little too uncanny valley for me. But for many brands, it’s driving engagement and sales. Just look at Brazilian retailer Magazine Luiza (or Magalu)’s AI-powered persona, Lu.

Dubbed “the most followed virtual influencer in the world” by Virtual Humans, Lu do Magalu has 8 million followers on Instagram alone.

Source

She's powered by Google's Vertex AI, which created “Lu's Brain” to help the brand persona make personalized product suggestions for its online shoppers.

Pro tip: Use AI influencers with caution. A 2025 Northeastern University study found that, when things go wrong, AI influencers are more likely to hurt brand trust than human influencers. That's because consumers see AI as having less agency, and therefore, less responsibility for advertising a faulty product to consumers — meaning consumers redirect the blame to the brand that was managing the AI.

The takeaway? The study authors conclude: “Organisations must recognise their accountability for the actions of AI-powered VIs [virtual assistants], as these directly affect brand trust. Selecting VIs should involve not only their ability to attract followers but also a careful evaluation of potential risks to brand reputation.”

6. Using AI Analytics to Drive Social Media Strategy

“Data-driven social media strategy” takes on a new life when you apply AI analytics to your Instagram marketing, allowing you to optimize posts based on past post performance and your audience’s preferences and data.

“AI helps us uncover unique insights about glasses wearers (even ones we might not have experienced ourselves)," says Or Zinger, VP of Brand Marketing at GlassesUSA.com.

GlassesUSA.com used Sprout Social’s AI to analyze past successful posts and come up with the POV format and captions for this Reel. The video got more than 367,000 views — 90% of which came from non-followers.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GlassesUSA.com (@glassesusa)

Tips for Using AI in Your Instagram Marketing Strategy

1. Constantly experiment with and refine your AI workflows.

"The biggest mistake I see brands make is dumping their entire brand guidelines into AI and expecting magic,” says Amy Marino, HubSpot’s Global Head of Brand Marketing. “That’s like giving an intern a 200-page employee handbook and expecting them to embody your culture on day one."

Just like you wouldn’t throw a new hire into their role without sufficient onboarding, don’t expect your AI workflow to work perfectly the first time. It will require constant experimentation and refinement before you realize maximum productivity and quality gains.

So, where to begin? Marino offers guidance: “Get AI started on the boring stuff nobody wants to do anyway. That's where AI shines, and you can get some quick wins.”

She adds, "The most powerful part isn’t the tools themselves, but how you create a system or principles for evaluating and refining outputs. Anyone can use AI to create a bunch of mediocre content, but the competitive advantage comes from how masterfully you push and refine what the AI gives you.”

2. Leave the humor to the humans.

“Let AI do the 80% that’s predictable, and save the 20% that makes people stop scrolling for human creativity,” says Marino.

“We've learned that AI is not the best at humor or cultural references that feel current and authentic. We use AI to generate structure, but our team adds the cultural touchpoints and personality that make content feel of the moment."

For example, check out this hilarious Instagram video from the official HubSpot account. Marino’s team used AI to assist with the script, but humans brought the humor.

Mindstream, I'm constantly thinking about scale, especially when it comes to content. For me, video was the bottleneck. I wanted to show up consistently, but I didn’t want to spend hours filming, editing, or setting up gear. That’s what led me to explore AI avatars.

At first, avatars were just an experimental shortcut for businesses. But over time, they became something more: a flexible way to keep things personal without needing to be physically present. Today, savvy teams are already leveraging avatars.

Here are six high-impact ways I’ve seen businesses leverage avatars, along with tools that make it easy to get started.

6 Ways Businesses Are Leveraging AI Avatars

1. Short-form Content Creation at Scale

Creating video used to be slow and frustrating, especially for small businesses with cash-strapped teams. It took forever to film, edit, subtitle, and polish something enough to actually post it. Now, AI avatars are changing the game.

Now, you can write a script and let the tools do the rest. I’ve tested Argil, which is specifically built for short-form creators. Once the avatar is in place, it adds captions automatically and even suggests relevant B-roll based on the topic. I noticed the tool still needed reviewing and tweaking, but I didn’t need to start from scratch.

I believe this shift will make daily video publishing possible for teams of any size. What used to take hours now takes ten minutes, without compromising quality. And because it’s scalable, you can show up way more consistently, even without a dedicated video producer.

Source

2. Localized and Translated Content for Global Reach

Translation and localization are also where I see avatars making huge strides. For example, most people know YouTuber Mr. Beast for his over-the-top videos, but what I find equally fascinating is his distribution model. Only around 30% of his audience speaks English, while the rest is made possible through translated content.

AI avatars now allow for native-quality lip syncing in multiple languages. I’ve seen HeyGen do this, and the fidelity is honestly mind-blowing. The avatar's lips and voice match perfectly with the new language.

Avatars open up international audiences without the need to re-record anything, making it an essential strategy for any content-focused business that wants to expand globally.

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3. Scalable Sales Outreach and Customer Service

Another use case I’m personally excited about is using AI avatars in outbound sales. If you've ever received a Loom from someone scrolling your LinkedIn and pitching you something generic, you know how forgettable that feels. But when you integrate AI avatar tools like Tavus with AI research agents like Clay, which can scrape LinkedIn profiles, you can do much better.

With just a name and a few data points, I can generate a tailored video that says, “Hey Sarah, I saw you work at Acme Corp and recently posted about AI coaching. I think you'll find this demo useful.”

It’s fast, it’s scalable, and it lands better than any cold email I’ve ever sent.

Source

4. Personalized Welcome Videos in Email Marketing

Imagine someone joins my newsletter and 30 minutes later they receive a video that looks like you recorded it just for them: “Hey Matt, thanks for signing up to Mindstream. Here’s what you can expect.”

Even when people know it’s AI, the gesture still feels personal, and that’s what makes it effective.

Tools like Synthesia, which integrate directly with CRM platforms like HubSpot, make it easy to automate videos that are personalized with names, company details, and other contextual client information. As a result, you’re able to deliver human-feeling onboarding at scale, without stepping in front of a camera.

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5. Virtual Influencers and Brand Ambassadors

The virtual influencer space is wild — and honestly, one of the areas I’m most curious about.

You may have heard of Lil Miquela, a fully synthetic Instagram influencer who reportedly makes $10 million a year from brand deals. What struck me wasn’t just her popularity; it was the potential for brands to create permanent, programmable spokespeople.

With tools like Arcads and Creatify AI, businesses can now build these digital personalities themselves. And, it doesn't have to be high-fashion or ultra-polished. A friend of mine is building a coaching platform where the avatar represents them across all brand touchpoints, from social posts to appointment booking to onboarding content.

It’s like spinning up a creative team overnight. And because it’s all synthetic, it scales effortlessly.

Source

6. Internal Communication and Training

Not all avatar use cases are public-facing. I’ve seen business leaders use avatars for internal updates and briefings as well. Rather than writing a Slack post or a lengthy doc, they can generate a quick video summarizing weekly priorities, news, or metrics.

This is particularly helpful for distributed teams. It adds a personal tone and saves time without requiring anyone to go on camera. I’ve also seen teams use avatars to enable employee onboarding, product explainers, or even internal compliance training.

Tools like Colossyan and Hour One are worth exploring here. Both offer features designed for structured, scripted video content — ideal for training, learning and development, or announcements — and support slide integration, multilingual output, and team-based video production.

Source

AI avatars help you scale for a fraction of the cost.

When I started following AI avatars, I didn’t expect them to become a core part of how businesses scale video. But over time, I’ve seen how they can empower transformative video strategies. These tools help teams stay consistent, keep a human tone, and remove the bottlenecks that used to slow them down.

People still write the scripts. They still shape the message. But the execution? That’s handled. And for any business that wants to do the same, AI avatars are the key.

To learn more about AI avatars and how you can use them to improve your business, check out the full episode of The Next Wave below:

The essential SEO tutorial for thriving in the age of AI-driven search

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0300

You want to learn about search engine optimization (SEO), but where do you start? We were all SEO beginners once, so take heart: There’s lots to learn, but I’ve got plenty of expert advice and a step-by-step guide to get you started.

We’ll cover basic SEO vocabulary, review a step-by-step SEO tutorial to get your strategy started, and take a deep dive into AI. Throughout, I’ll include tips from HubSpot SEO pro Victor Pan and SEOFOMO newsletter founder Aleyda Solís.

Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

SEO Basics
How to Learn SEO
Building an SEO Strategy: Step-by-Step Tutorial

SEO Basics

To understand where we’re headed, let’s first take a quick look back. The traditional SEO playbook focuses on targeting keywords, climbing search rankings, driving traffic, and converting that traffic into leads or sales. Here’s how it works.

Key Words to Know

Understanding the foundational SEO vocabulary is important. Let’s dive into a few key terms:

Search Engine Optimization optimizes your website to provide the high-quality information searchers look for. Good SEO also helps you rank higher in search results for specific keywords. That gets you in front of a bigger audience.
On-page SEO improves search rankings. On-page elements include keywords used in your content or back-end elements like site structure.
Off-page SEO focuses on actions that improve your search engine rankings outside your website, like backlinks from other websites.
Link building involves getting to your content on other high-quality websites. That builds authority and credibility.
SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) are the results page you see when you conduct a search on Google or another search engine.
White-hat SEO tactics align with accepted and recognized best practices. If you follow these tactics, your site will rank.
Black-hat SEO continues the good cowboy versus bad cowboy metaphor. These tactics manipulate search engine algorithms to rank websites higher in SERPs through unethical means.
E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trust. It’s part of Google’s search quality rater guidelines and one of the factors Google uses to determine a page's relevance and authority.
Keywords are phrases users type into a search engine to find content.
Keyword research involves finding search terms that relate to your business to help you inform your website pages and content.
Organic/organic results are any results in SERP that are unpaid and appear because of a page’s relevance to the search query.
Organic traffic is traffic that comes from organic results.
Ranking factors are elements that impact where your site may fall in search results, like your page authority.
A search intent is why a user conducts a search.

1. Content SEO: Write great content.

My number one tip for content SEO is simple: Write really good content. Savvy SEO strategists know what people are searching for and have genuinely helpful content to address those needs. A shoddy post stuffed with keywords won’t compel people to stick around.

2. Technical SEO: Improve the technical elements of your website.

Even the best content on the internet won’t get any readers if Google can’t find it. That’s why technical SEO matters. The goal here is to set a strong technical foundation so that Google and other search engines can easily find and crawl your website so that it shows up in search results.

Technical SEO can seem complicated if you don’t have a lot of technical experience. Don’t try to do everything at once. A good CMS — like, ahem, HubSpot — takes care of the more technical aspects so you don’t have to. Go deeper into technical SEO with our technical SEO guide.

3. Sharing and backlinking: Make sure that users can find your website.

Because your content is great, people want to share it. Congratulations! Now let’s talk about how to build those backlinks.

HubSpot’s Victor Pan says to ask yourself, “Why do people want to share what you created?”

He identifies three simple answers to that question:

“One, you’re super local, so it’s very relevant. You might even be the only person talking about it.”
“Two, you could have data or a perspective that only your site can share, because of access that you have,” like original research or other proprietary data.
And lastly, “your content triggers an emotional response.”

Pro tip: Don’t waste money buying backlinks. Google has clearly stated that “no one can buy better PageRank.” Since links contribute to PageRank, purchasing backlinks is ineffective and risks penalties.

We’ve got a complete guide on backlinking when you’re ready to give it a shot.

4. Keep an eye on AI.

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, calls AI-driven search “the next chapter of search,” and he believes it’s here to stay. So, how is the search trend shifting now?

Consider this: When someone has a problem, they might turn to ChatGPT for answers. If your brand is discovered there, they can learn about your products or services entirely within that session — without even visiting your website!

The overall value of AI search-based discovery is rising, too. A single visitor arriving through an AI-powered search platform is estimated to be 4.4 times more valuable than one from conventional organic search.

So, by the time someone lands on your website after exploring your brand via ChatGPT or similar platforms, they’re already well-informed and far more likely to convert.

So today, you’re not just looking to drive traffic to your website. You also need to appear prominently on AI-powered platforms.

You can learn more about generative engine optimization (GEO) to stay on the cutting edge.

5. Optimize for AIOs.

Google’s AI Overviews are now a part of the search experience. When you type in a query, an AI-generated answer appears with helpful links. If you show up in AIOs, people are exposed to your brand and services. That’s true even if searchers don’t click through.

If your brand has a long history and high SEO rankings, you’re probably already getting cited by and benefiting from AIOs. But, if you’re new to the space, you’ll have to adapt your strategy.

I recommend focusing on longtail, bottom-of-the-funnel keywords related to your offering. There will be less competition for these queries, so you’re more likely to be cited in the AIO. Beyond that, your keywords will address a specific pain point tied to your offering.

The people searching for that long phrase are already in need of what you sell. So, you’re primed to show up in front of potential buyers.

6. Understand vector embedding

Vector space models help search engines show more accurate and relevant results.

Imagine each web page or document as a dot on a giant graph. This graph has many dimensions, and each dimension represents a different word (like “SEO,” “content,” or “ranking”).

If two web pages use similar words, the dots that represent them will be close together. If they use very different words, the dots will be farther apart.

By measuring the distance between these dots, search engines can figure out which pages are more similar to each other and which ones are most relevant to what someone searched for. This approach enhances search accuracy, delivering more relevant results to users.

As a result, simply targeting specific keywords is becoming less effective. Data and context matter more.

Search Engine Journal calls this shift semantic drift. If you notice a drop in search traffic, it may be because your content’s vector no longer matches the evolving vector of user search intent. Understanding how vectors work can help you stay relevant.

How to Learn SEO

Learning SEO is a big task, and because SEO best practices change over time, international SEO consultant Aleyda Solís “highly, highly recommends that you don’t go to a single source.” It’s why on her own site, LearningSEO.io, she’s compiled guides and information from many different resources.

Solís offers this pro tip: “See what works for you within your context,” because even if the information is accurate, “it might not be right for your circumstances.”

Here are a few ways you can do that.

1. Read and watch reliable resources.

There are a lot of educational resources out there to read and watch that will help you build your knowledge of SEO. Here are some of my recommendations.

The HubSpot Marketing Blog (we cover a variety of topics for different skill levels)
The HubSpot YouTube Channel
Bing Webmaster Guidelines
LearningSEO.io
Search Engine Journal
Search Engine Land
SEMrush

Google still has a little more than 90% of the search market worldwide, so add its Search Central Blog and Search Quality Rater Guidelines to your list.

AI-powered search engines are a fast-growing segment of the search landscape, so if you want to see how AI perceives your website and brand, take HubSpot’s AI Search Grader tool for a spin (it’s pretty cool).

2. Take free courses.

If you benefit from structured and guided learning, an SEO course is another option to build on your SEO skills. A bonus is that many courses offer certificates upon completion. These are some high-quality options:

HubSpot Academy SEO Training Certification (free): Best for beginners
Google Analytics Academy (free): Beginner and advanced learning paths
MOZ Academy (paid): Courses for multiple levels
Semrush Academy (free): Courses for multiple levels

3. Stay on top of the trends.

Especially with the advent of AI-powered search, SEO changes and evolves on a sometimes daily basis. Algorithms get updated, new trends surface, and consumer behaviors change.

For example, in December 2022, Google added an E for experience to the old E-A-T guidelines. Experience ensures that content is helpful, relevant, and created by someone with experience in the subject at hand. (And, it’s a key differentiator between computers and humans, as AI-generated content scrambles to get a robotic foot in the door.)

One of the most important factors in becoming an SEO expert is staying on top of the trends so you can pivot when major industry shifts happen. We cover changes in the SEO landscape on the HubSpot Blog, and Google also maintains a running list of major updates that can impact your SEO success.

4. Know how AI works.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping SEO and how content is discovered. So, I recommend staying on top of AI trends and knowing how search algorithms are shifting in response.

Personally, I find Semrush’s content valuable. Their 2025 AI research has been especially interesting. (For example, did you know that 89% of information cited by ChatGPT comes from sources that rank 21 or lower?)

Search Engine Journal has been another critical resource as I navigate the shift.

5. Study your competitors.

Learning from your competitors is a great way to understand the keys to their success.

Pan suggests looking at websites that are doing well and seeing what other pages they link to, so that when you’re “thinking about creating content, it’s not just a single piece of content you’re creating, but the whole journey that a user might go through.” Your content should cover a natural progression of topics.

You can conduct a competitor analysis to uncover new keywords, where competitors get backlinks (also called inbound links) from, and other new opportunities to capitalize on.

Featured resource: Our free Competitive Analysis Templates help you conduct a thorough analysis of competitors in your niche, and this step-by-step guide walks you through how to use the template for an SEO competitive analysis.

6. Learn by doing.

I’ve always found that I’ve learned best by doing. So, I recommend taking an experimental approach to the process.

If you already have a website, you can practice by doing a competitor analysis and updating your current strategy based on your findings. If you don’t have a website, consider building one, implementing your new SEO knowledge, and monitoring metrics.

One of the best things about SEO is that a wide variety of tools are available to help you along every step of the way.

7. Use SEO tools.

Considering the breadth and depth of the internet, it would be a nightmare to do some of the essential SEO functions by hand — this is where SEO tools come in to save the day. They’ve saved me significant time and energy and quickly brought me the results I’m looking for.

Here’s a list of tools I recommend:

HubSpot’s SEO Marketing Software offers SEO recommendations to improve your site, optimize page content, and measure ROI.
AI Search Grader, another HubSpot tool, analyzes how visible your brand is to AI search engines.
Our Website Grader scores your site based on factors like mobile friendliness and SEO optimization.
Google’s Search Console can help you measure your site traffic and fix SEO performance issues.
Google Analytics helps you view important metrics to understand your SEO efforts, like the measure of organic vs non-organic traffic.
Ahrefs is a favorite of HubSpot bloggers. It helps you conduct keyword research and track important stats like search volume and CTR.
Jasper is an AI writing assistant that can help write SEO-optimized blog posts with target keywords.

Once you’re more fluent in the vocabulary of SEO, it’s time to jump in and get hands-on. Since I’ve promised you the shortest SEO tutorial ever, I’ve broken it down into three very broad categories for beginners: content, technical, and sharing.

As you get more familiar and comfortable with SEO, you can build out strategies in each of these categories using the links I’ve provided below.

Building an SEO Strategy: Step-by-Step Tutorial

Building an SEO strategy can feel overwhelming if you're just getting started. This tutorial will guide you through the process until it becomes second nature.

1. Understand search intent.

You can have the perfect blog post — well-written, informative, and genuinely interesting. But, if no one is searching for the key term, no one will find your content. Knowing your search intent helps you connect with your audience and create content that’s actually valuable.

So, think: Who is your audience, and what do they need to know? How does your offering solve a real pain point, and what content would communicate that message?

Answers to these questions translate into keywords. You can try to capture these queries throughout your content.

The focus on relevant, helpful information will also help you add E-E-A-T elements to your post. Google uses these guidelines to establish your page authority. In short, spammy content will lag, while genuinely helpful posts rise to the top.

Focus on creating concise, factual, and well-structured content that delivers real value. Learn more about SEO writing to see how you can get it right.

2. Run a competitor analysis.

In SEO, the ultimate goal is to secure a top spot on the first page. That mindshare can help you appear in AIOs and end up in front of organic searchers. Competitors stand between you and that number one ranking. So, I always start with a competitor analysis.

I start by creating a spreadsheet and listing the sites that are already on the first page. I note their title phrases and content structure. This helps me understand what’s working and identify opportunities to improve my own content. I can then see if there are fresher angles to feature, newer trends to include, or elements competitors are missing that I can capture.

My ultimate goal is to understand what my content needs to be the most helpful and comprehensive.

Pro tip: Check out these free competitive analysis templates to help you conduct a thorough analysis of competitors in your niche.

3. Improve your own on-page SEO.

When tackling on-page SEO, I think about user behavior and experience. What elements can I add that people could click on to learn more? What elements would make my site frustrating or unusable that would drive people away?

These elements often relate to on-page SEO. Here are some elements to keep an eye on:

The title

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 20:02:26 +0300

Here’s how to prove marketing’s pipeline value & revenue impact to your CFO

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0300

Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are wired to want proof, not promises. While we marketers light up at impressions, and engagement — excuse the stars in my eyes — CFOs focus on revenue, risk, and return.

This clash of professional love languages can create friction in budget conversations, performance reviews, and board meetings.

I’ve experienced this tension too many times to count, over the years. My teams knew that sales couldn’t have closed without our marketing, but with so many touchpoints and an evolving data climate, it became increasingly difficult to prove.

Thankfully, we’ve found our ways. This guide will share exactly how to use automated attribution reporting to show finance the metrics they want, bridge the communication gap between departments, and ultimately win the budget you deserve.

Table of Contents

Why does pipeline influence reporting matter?

What metrics do CFOs actually care about?

Which attribution models do CFOs prefer?

How to Show Marketing’s Impact to the CFO Step-by-Step

How to Handle Long Sales Cycles and Multi-year Deals in Pipeline Value Reporting

Addressing Dark Funnel and Offline Attribution

Why does pipeline influence reporting matter?

Simply put, pipeline value attribution matters because it shows why you’re worth the investment. I mean, if a business is spending more than it’s making with any effort, it isn’t financially wise, right? That’s why CFOs need to see the numbers.

But why is it especially important for marketing to prove its value?

As any seasoned marketer will tell you, marketing is often seen as a money pit. Small businesses often assign marketing tasks to existing team members, or worse, they’re the first to be ignored when faced with a tight budget.

In fact, Marketing Week’s Career & Salary Survey last year found that close to half of brands view marketing as a “cost” rather than an “investment.”

I’d argue this is because many marketing mediums can’t be tracked accurately. For instance, if someone sees a paid ad for one of your in-person events, attends, and then follows your blog for a month before contacting sales, what channel gets the credit?

With so many different, intersecting touchpoints, it’s notoriously difficult to attribute credit where it belongs.

via GIPHY

To be honest, as a marketer, it’s exhausting, but smart attribution reporting can help mitigate these issues and get us our due and dollars from financial leaders.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “How do I show marketing's impact to the CFO? How do I prove marketing drives revenue? How do I get budget approved?” That all starts with understanding what metrics and attribution models CFOs want to see.

What metrics do CFOs actually care about?

Traditional Marketing Metrics

CFO-Focused Revenue Metrics

MQLs

Qualified pipeline sourced

Website traffic

Revenue contribution by channel

CTR / Engagement rate

Marketing ROI (MROI)

Impressions / Reach

CAC and CAC Payback Period

Email open rate

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Social shares

Pipeline velocity (conversion speed)

Attribution clicks only

Multi-touch revenue attribution

We marketers get pretty excited about likes and views, but those will likely leave your finance folks unimpressed.

CFOs prioritize financial efficiency and scalability, not just volume or exposure. Many marketing teams focus on performance indicators like MQLs, website traffic, or engagement rates, but CFOs prioritize metrics that directly relate to bottom-line outcomes.

As Todd Morris, InMarket CEO, explains, “CFOs have all these measures that matter [to them], and unfortunately, marketers don’t always have an aligned sense of what those same metrics are for them....CFOs [will] appreciate the beautiful commercial… but they’re going to want to know, ‘for every dollar I invested, what did I get back?’”

In other words, marketers need to learn how to speak CFO. Here are eight finance-approved metrics to showcase in your marketing ROI reporting:

Marketing-sourced revenue: This measures how much revenue was directly generated by marketing campaigns and programs. It's the clearest signal that marketing is not just a cost center, but a revenue engine.

Marketing-influenced pipeline: This tracks how much pipeline value marketing contributed to through activities such as nurturing, retargeting, or event promotion. CFOs appreciate this metric when paired with a sourced pipeline to show broader impact.

Revenue per lead: Calculating the average revenue generated per lead provides a straightforward efficiency metric. It helps finance compare marketing’s performance against other acquisition channels.

Marketing ROI (MROI): MROI is the ratio of revenue generated to the cost of marketing. For CFOs, it's a crucial efficiency metric that demonstrates whether investments are producing returns.

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) payback period: This metric reveals how long it takes for revenue from a customer to cover the cost of acquiring them. A short payback period signifies high marketing efficiency, which CFOs value in budgeting decisions.

LTV:CAC ratio: The ratio of customer lifetime value (LTV) to acquisition cost. A healthy ratio (typically 3:1 or greater) signals sustainable growth and scalable marketing.

Pipeline velocity: This measures how quickly leads move through the pipeline. Faster velocity means a quicker return on marketing spend, which finance leaders find valuable.

Forecast accuracy vs actuals: Marketing teams that can forecast pipeline and revenue accurately demonstrate maturity, reliability, and strategic alignment. CFOs see this as a sign of operational discipline.

Pro tip: Need some help determining your marketing budget to begin with? Check out the steps outlined in our article, “Revenue Marketing: What It Is and Why It Matters”

Which attribution models do CFOs prefer?

Next, it’s important to understand attribution models. There is a wide variety of attribution models that assign credit to different marketing touchpoints.

This affects how they demonstrate ROI, handle channel conflict, address long sales cycles or multi-year deals, and ultimately what information is communicated to CFOs.

Here’s a breakdown of the most common:

First-touch attribution: This model gives 100% of the credit to the first marketing interaction. While useful for understanding initial awareness drivers, CFOs often dismiss it because it ignores the nurturing and decision-making phases. It also doesn’t speak to long sales cycles.

Last-touch attribution: This assigns all credit to the final interaction before conversion. Like first-touch, it oversimplifies the buyer journey and is rarely sufficient for financial evaluation.

Multi-touch attribution: Multi-touch attribution takes into account every channel and touchpoint that a customer interacted with before converting. This is a great solution for addressing channel conflict because it evaluates and weighs touchpoints differently as well as provides insight into how they worked together to influence a customer.

Linear attribution: This distributes credit equally across all touchpoints. It provides a balanced view but doesn't account for varying influence levels of each touchpoint, which limits strategic value.

Time-decay attribution: More credit is given to interactions closer to the conversion. This model is useful for long sales cycles, highlighting the final nudges that convert prospects. CFOs value its logical progression, but it also may minimize the influence of early marketing touches.

W-shaped attribution: This gives heavier weight to three key moments: first interaction, lead conversion, and opportunity creation. It aligns well with sales stages and is favored by finance for its structure.

Custom attribution: Custom models assign weights based on actual revenue impact and business logic. When built collaboratively with finance and RevOps, these models are the most CFO-friendly and suitable for board-level reporting.

Source

Regardless of which model you choose, remember: CFOs tend to care less about which campaign touched a lead first and more about how marketing influences revenue outcomes across the entire buying journey.

This speaks to the importance of your work from awareness to sale, rather than just focusing on first impressions.

How to Show Marketing’s Impact to the CFO Step-by-Step

1. Choose your attribution model.

With everything we discussed earlier, determine which attribution model would be best for your needs. Not sure? Ask your financial leadership flat out what is most important to them.

2. Set up your attribution reporting.

Attribution reporting is complicated. Manual spreadsheets and one-off presentations lack credibility with their room for human error and are difficult to scale.

Thankfully, there are many tools to help make it easier these days. In fact, with HubSpot’s Marketing Hub you can even automate your attribution report to do things like:

Tie marketing activities directly to closed revenue deals

Attribute influence across first, lead-creating, and deal-creating touchpoints

Integrate with CRM for accurate, real-time reporting

Offer multi-touch views that align with actual buying behavior

This automated attribution creates a consistent system CFOs can rely on and trust — a foundational step in earning their confidence. Plus, it just streamlines your workflow.

Glints, a tech career development company in Southeast Asia, improved its reporting efficiency and increased lead conversion rate by 40% by using HubSpot.

2. Create visuals of marketing’s revenue impact.

Visuals are powerful. They make it easier to digest complicated information and are more engaging and memorable than just numbers on a report. That said, take the time to create board-ready visualizations of your data (i.e. charts, graphs, pie charts).

Some popular graphs you may want to include in your report:

Campaigns with highest sourced revenue

Marketing-attributed revenue quarter over quarter

CAC trends and MROI breakdowns by channel

Pipeline movement and velocity

Providing these dashboards in a CFO-friendly layout (clear, concise, and data-rich) builds confidence that marketing is accountable and aligned with company goals.

Pro tip: In Marketing Hub, our native dashboards often help accomplish this without any additional work. Just pull up what you need and screencap. If you’re feeling extra creative, you can also use Canva to create custom visuals.

3. Preempt CFO concerns with finance-ready narratives.

Even with the numbers to back you up, there are bound to be some skeptics who still need convincing.

via GIPHY

When presenting your reports to your CFO, anticipate objections and have data-driven answers ready. Here’s how you can respond to some of the most common concerns and questions:

CFO Concern

Marketing Response

“You can't prove ROI.”

“Here’s our sourced pipeline over 3 quarters via HubSpot attribution.”

“What about long sales cycles?”

“We track touchpoints across the entire lifecycle using multi-touch attribution.”

“Channel conflicts?”

“We report both first and W-shaped influence to show shared impact.”

“Offline events?”

“We log event attendance and sales follow-up in CRM for attribution.”

“Dark funnel?”

“We’re tracking anonymous activity via intent tools and matching CRM entries.”

This kind of preparation makes marketing a strategic partner in growth conversations.

How to Handle Long Sales Cycles and Multi-year Deals in Pipeline Value Reporting

B2B deals can sometimes stretch over 12, 18, or even 24 months. That doesn’t mean marketing’s influence disappears, of course — but it does require some even more thoughtful modeling.

Multi-touch attribution is my personal favorite as it acknowledges every touchpoint that went into a deal while drawing attention to the most impactful.

For instance, the New Breed marketing team used HubSpot's multi-touch attribution reporting tools to prove a 79.8% increase in attribution to their blog posts and 88.4% increase in attribution to marketing emails.

With this proof of ROI thanks to HubSpot, they were able to increase their marketing headcount by 33.3% and their budget by 71.2% the following year.

Time-decay attribution is another good option. This model can highlight sustained influence and late-stage nudges. You can pair this with CRM data, including:

Lead source and original campaign

Opportunity creation date

Sales cycle duration

Close date and revenue value

Segment attribution by product tier, vertical, or persona can also be used to create granular stories. Whichever you choose, these breakdowns help CFOs see where marketing investments are working overtime, even if they don’t convert immediately.

Addressing Dark Funnel and Offline Attribution

The modern funnel includes touchpoints you can’t always track in a standard analytics suite. Marketers are getting less access to browsing and private data, and heck, some interactions happen without ever knowing (i.e., word of mouth).

You’re basically in the dark — hence the name “dark funnel.” CFOs want to see that you’re still acknowledging and accounting for these. So, what can you do?

Log offline events manually within your CRM.

Use UTM parameters and call tracking to bridge gaps between online and offline.

Document ABM outreach, dinner invites, podcast appearances—anything that impacts buying behavior.

When CRM and attribution tools can’t cover everything, build custom fields and reporting views that combine qualitative input (from sales) with quantifiable data (from campaigns).

Secure your marketing budget with buy-in.

The smartest marketing teams don’t just generate leads — they generate revenue and can prove it. By implementing automated attribution reporting, visualizing impact through board-ready dashboards, and aligning narratives with finance language, you reposition marketing as a revenue engine.

HubSpot makes this transition seamless, with attribution tools, CRM integration, and transparent reporting that CFOs trust.

Buyer persona essentials: My top tips & examples to inspire yours

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0300

As I was scrolling on Facebook today, I noticed two ads. One was offering me 20% off at a store that I've never heard of before. It felt completely random, in a “did you send this message to the right person?” kind of way.

The other ad felt like it was looking me dead in the eye. It was for an SEO software that I already use, beckoning me to join an upcoming webinar with the text “Get your website traffic back.” As an SEO writer, webinars like this are like catnip to me. It wasn't an accident, either: this company understands my segment of their audience.

Bullseye marketing like this is the result of buyer personas. As a consumer, I appreciate the investment the company made in understanding me. As a marketer, I know that their marketing dollars would be gambled on guesswork without it.

I've created eight buyer persona examples that illustrate the best practices and uses. Let me show you the how and why behind their design (and even sample ads generated with each one!) to get your gears spinning for your own persona creation.

In this article, I'll share my framework and eight original examples.

Table of Contents

What is a buyer persona?

Why Buyer Personas Are Essential to Your Business Growth

How to Create Buyer Personas: An Actionable Playbook

8 Buyer Persona Examples to Inspire Yours

What is a buyer persona?

A buyer persona (aka a customer or user persona) is a fictional representation of your ideal customer. Marketing, support, and sales teams use this to interact with customers in a way that makes them feel instantly understood.

Creating personas starts with deep research on both your existing and potential customers. Take customer data and market research, then add details like the buyers' demographics, pain points, motivations, expectations, and constraints.

Companies have specific personas for specific products and customer segments. This is natural, given that every segment will have unique priorities, goals, challenges, and even demographics. For example, let‘s say I’m an ideal customer for the clothing brand Patagonia. Marketers would need two separate personas to sell me a winter puffer jacket in the winter versus a pair of summer shorts because my needs and motivations would be different.

So, how does persona-based marketing feel to the customer? Jake Victor, a copywriter and growth strategist, perfectly summarizes how persona-focused marketing makes people feel like “this is for me.”

Source

I‘ve designed strategic marketing campaigns for online businesses, government offices, and nonprofits. If there’s one important thing I‘ve learned, it’s this: The most effective marketing is done by brands that are obsessed with knowing their audience. Let's look at how you can become that brand.

Why Buyer Personas Are Essential to Your Business Growth

Sure, buyer personas help companies create personalized campaigns. But the value of these fictional profiles goes far beyond that. Here‘s why they’re powerful for long-term growth.

1. Brand Positioning

When you think of healthy fast food, what brand comes to mind? For many, it's Subway. Or what about a relaxing night in at home? Netflix. Looking to refresh your living room? IKEA.

These brands have earned a reputation as the go-to solution for specific pain points thanks to their successful positioning. Nail this for your brand, and your marketing team can more easily:

Write compelling copy and content that makes them feel seen and understood.

Design user experiences tailored to specific aspirations and challenges.

Craft relatable campaigns to stress buyers' pain points.

Strong brand positioning relies on understanding exactly who you're positioning for. That's where buyer personas come in. This clarity on positioning needs will guide you in designing a customer journey.

Source

2. Customer Journey

Marketers work extremely hard (and spend millions of dollars) trying to convince customers to think of their brand a certain way. These efforts sometimes stick: like Subway telling us to “eat fresh” in the early 2000s.

But no matter how catchy a campaign is, marketing will always stand in the shadow of the lived user experience. Like Subway patrons learning there‘s so much sugar in Subway’s bread that it isn't legally classified as bread in some countries.

Brands can't dictate what consumers will think of them. Instead, marketers have to follow the journey that the customer takes when forming an opinion of them, and optimize these touchpoints for success.

3. Cross-Functional Alignment

I‘ve seen marketing teams pour hours of work into their buyer personas only to have other departments completely ignore the finished product. What causes this? Sometimes, the wider team doesn’t see the value. Other times, the marketing team worked in a silo and missed the mark.

Alignment — specifically, early alignment — between teams pays off. Sales, marketing, product, and customer success teams should collaborate to create personas that are both accurate and useful for all parties.

HubSpot's buyer persona templates are designed for cross-team use and have marketing messaging built directly into a select number of templates:

Source

Convinced about the impact? Let me share my recipe for building in-depth personas.

How to Create Buyer Personas: An Actionable Playbook

Here's what I do to keep generalizations and assumptions at the gate and create nuanced buyer personas based on hands-on market research.

1. Collect quantitative and qualitative data about customers.

The first step is the most critical link in the chain: collecting customer data. A generic snapshot of your target customers isn't enough to move the needle on sales. Instead of assuming details about your target buyers, use analytics tools and conduct qualitative research to dig deeper into customer behavior.

A combination of quantitative and qualitative data will explain what buyers want and why they want something. Ben Pines, the Director of Content at Wordtune, shares why this holistic approach is so essential:

“You need to go beyond demographics. Buyer personas help me think and feel like my buyers. Without understanding who these people are, their needs and wants, you have no way of going beyond the obvious marketing moves,” Pines shared.

Let me show you how you can collect this data.

Use analytics tools for quantitative data.

Analytics tools will tell you how customers behave across different interactions with your brand. You can use tools like Google Analytics and Tag Manager to create custom tags and stay on top of these interactions.

Then, document everything in a CRM tool like HubSpot. You can start by monitoring behavioral metrics like:

The user journey. Where do customers first find you? What sequence of pages do they visit?

Micro-conversions. What conversion milestones did they complete, like signing up for a newsletter?

Event tracking. What actions did they take, like clicking on buttons or submitting forms?

Source

You can also combine this data with heatmaps (visual representation of user interactions) and session replays (recording behavior in every session) to identify the most engaging areas and see where users drop off. This is a good way to create different customer cohorts and analyze their behavior over time.

Focusing on demographic data alone is an outdated approach. Instead, you should focus more on understanding customer behavior. I've noticed that behavioral data is an intimidating topic for some marketers — this guide will help make segmentation straightforward (exciting, even!).

Conduct user research for qualitative data.

Based on the quantitative data you've collected, you can create a few hypotheses to critically understand buyer motivations and behaviors. I always found this to be the most exciting part of the research process because it reveals facts about your target customers that you could never find through guesswork.

You can create surveys, schedule user interviews, or leverage social listening to gather insights from buyers. The survey and interview methods will involve a set of questions specific to your hypotheses.

For example, if your hypothesis says, “Persona A is likely to use our product for the Z use case,” then your interview/survey questions will dissect Persona A's problems related to that use case.

Ask questions about challenges, expectations, jobs to be done, and current workflows related to that use case. Alternatively, you can monitor brand mentions for your competitors or analyze content for specific keywords to collect inputs from social media.

My advice: Comb through your customer reviews in search of your most detailed positive AND negative reviews. I recommend that you reach out to these customers and ask them to share their thoughts on a one-on-one call. Ask open-ended questions and encourage them to share their ideas, all while an AI assistant is creating a transcript of the conversation. This is a goldmine of insight for your marketing personas.

2. Study the data and gather insights from each team.

Once you've gathered customer data, the next step is to analyze it for patterns and meaningful insights about buyer preferences and behavior.

This step is essentially about organizing the data into different parameters for defining your buyer personas. This analysis will reveal trends and patterns to take you from a broad understanding of your customers to a more nuanced view.

Here are some key parameters to categorize your research:

Buying intent and budget. What's their budget and level of urgency to solve the problem?

Company type. What's the company size and growth stage they represent?

Primary motivations. Why should they buy from you over other brands?

Major pain points. What's keeping them up at night that you can solve?

Jobs-to-be-done. What do they want to achieve using your solution?

Role or work profile. What position do they work in?

Each parameter will come together to convey a complete story about your persona. You can analyze audience research collectively with different stakeholders to collect multiple perspectives. For example, how your marketing team looks at the data will differ significantly from your product or design team's perspective.

These varying perspectives will give you a 360-degree view of your user experience.

Use ChatGPT for deep research.

ChatGPT can be a powerful strategic partner on this task for you, but only if it has enough context. I recommend doing deep research to help you deepen ChatGPT‘s understanding of your business, ideal customer, and product or service. ChatGPT’s memory was recently upgraded, and it will remember the details uncovered in the deep research phase and will give you highly customized output.

3. Define your use cases and solutions for each segment.

Now that you‘ve categorized buyers into different groups mapped to their main characteristics, it’s time to explain how your product/service fits into the picture.

Identify your core value propositions for each segment and tailor to their use cases and pain points. Dig deeper into how you can tackle buyers‘ challenges and highlight the particular benefits of your product/service. I’ll show you eight examples of this below.

4. Document your personas using a tool or template.

Once you‘ve done all the legwork to collect and organize your audience research data, you can start documenting your personas. In the past, I’ve used tools like Notion or a simple Google Docs file to record all the insights about my personas and make them as detailed as I want.

But now, I‘ve switched to HubSpot’s Make My Persona tool, as it lets me make these personas visually appealing.

A bit about this tool: It collects different insights about your buyers to create a neat persona document like the one below. You can easily customize this and add more sections to include in-depth information. It's an easy solution to visualize all the details and share your personas via a link or a file.

Source

5. Create a workflow to update personas regularly.

Your buyers' needs and expectations are constantly evolving. So, the final step in my process is making a workflow to consistently review these buyer personas and update them based on market shifts.

I speak with customers from every segment to understand how their priorities have changed and what they expect from our brand. These conversations, paired with customer data from analytics tools, can reveal new trends and shifts in customer behavior that you didn't know before.

This new information can help you fine-tune buyer personas to reflect current customer needs. Save this guide to create (or refresh) your buyer personas and get a pulse of your target audience. It‘s easy to document your personas with HubSpot’s free buyer persona maker. Get started here.

8 Buyer Persona Examples to Inspire Yours

How does all of this look in practice? I've made eight buyer persona examples to demonstrate. These are all fictional personas that I created for real companies to help bring these tips and best practices to life.

For fun, I‘m also dropping each persona into ChatGPT-4o to see what kind of Instagram ad would be generated (inspired by HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar’s experimentation).

P.S. If you like the style of these examples, you can use my exact template for each one — they're all free! I used the prompts included in the templates and ChatGPT to build out different personas for each product or service.

1. Trello Taylor

Source

Trello is a card-based task management system. It solves emotional needs for its users: they're feeling overwhelmed, disorganized, and frazzled. I created the fictional Trello Taylor persona using the free HubSpot Persona Generator to represent this user. This persona summary acknowledges the emotional state that Taylor is in: They've tried lots of products, and feel like nothing has been right for their role.

What I Like

If you look closely at Taylor's goals and objectives, you learn that Taylor is motivated by both extrinsic and intrinsic forces.

Of course, they want their team to meet deadlines, but they‘re also hoping to be promoted in the company. Underlying motives are often overlooked in personas. Knowing a customer’s long-term interests shows a sophisticated understanding of your target market and will generate more targeted marketing campaigns.

You'll also notice that this persona has an about section. This type of summary isn't essential for every persona, but here, it helps us better contextualize the daily struggles of Trello Taylor. This directly ties to a selling point of the software, which makes it a small but impactful detail.

Here's a target Instagram ad that ChatGPT created based on this persona. What do you think?

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The definition of a buyer persona [in under 100 words]

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 23:00:00 +0300

Marketing is a paradoxical undertaking: We create campaigns for the masses, but those messages are only ever experienced on the individual level. How does a good marketer straddle this? By writing directly to a single viewer, aka their buyer persona.

The definition of a buyer persona hasn‘t changed much in recent years. But the trends have, and so has the opportunity that AI presents. I love creating personas: I’ve used them while working for nonprofits, government offices, online businesses, ecommerce products, and more.

As a consumer, I observe marketing materials in the wild and try to put my finger on who they were targeting and if their messaging was effective. Let's dive into a brief buyer persona definition, then examine the benefits and opportunities at our fingertips (examples included!).

Table of Contents

What is a buyer persona?

7 Buyer Persona Benefits

Where AI Fits In

Best Practices for Creating Buyer Personas

Using market research and real customer data, companies will create multiple buyer personas that reflect diverse user groups and different points of the customer journey. A detailed buyer persona will guide product development, marketing campaigns, and provide cross-team alignment.

Ready to put this definition into practice? Create a detailed buyer persona for your business.

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What is a negative buyer persona?

Most buyer personas are positive, meaning that they focus on who a brand wants to attract. At times, it‘s beneficial to reverse-engineer this process and focus on who isn’t the right fit for the brand.

Here‘s an example of a negative persona that I created with HubSpot’s free persona templates. I designed the fictional character Premed Isabella as a negative persona for a rural medical school. The school (inspired by my alma mater) specifically wants to attract premed students with a passion for rural medicine and underserved communities.

Premed Isabella is an impressive candidate, but she doesn‘t align with the school’s mission of treating the rural healthcare crisis. This is apparent in the technology/social media and goals/motivations section of Premed Isabella's persona profile:

Source

I cover this buyer persona example in more depth (plus share seven more examples) in this guide.

My advice: Not every marketing strategy needs a negative persona. Start here if you‘re feeling stuck on developing your positive personas. Deciding who doesn’t fit as your target audience can help you clearly see who does.

7 Buyer Persona Benefits

Why are buyer personas important? These seven benefits speak for themselves.

1. Centers Customers

Marketing teams self-sabotage when they make their product the hero of the story. The real hero is the customer, and your brand acts as a guide on their journey to success. This is famously referred to as the hero's journey, and it‘s something that’s covered in every introductory marketing class.

If it's so foundational, why is it so easily forgotten? Many businesses become brand obsessed instead of customer obsessed. By creating detailed buyer personas and using them as a compass, marketing teams recenter the customer.

It shifts the conversation from “how do we sell our incredible water?” to “how do we sell our water to the incredible Water Walter?” Water Walter is a quick customer persona I drew up using ChatGPT. You can see the contrast of this approach:

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My advice: Use your persona's first name (like Walter) in internal emails, campaign brainstorming, etc., to reinforce this character in your marketing efforts.

2. Sharpens Copywriting

The most effective copywriting feels like it's looking a customer dead in the eye, not mumbling and avoiding eye contact. Defining buyer personas doesn't automatically achieve the former. But developing every marketing asset for one of them does.

I often see companies use vague, untargeted copywriting. Here are three examples of common copywriting flops and how I edited them to focus on one buyer persona.

Pregnancy test company:

❌ We know that some of you hope you‘re pregnant, and some of you hope you aren’t.

✅ By your side, whether you're hoping for plus or a minus.

Used car dealership:

❌ This is for all our customers who feel overwhelmed by buying a car.

✅ I know you feel overwhelmed by car shopping.

Software provider:

❌ You guys asked for this new feature, and we finally have it ready.

✅ You asked — and you were spot-on!

Feel the difference? These language tweaks remove the distance between you and the customer.

My advice: Never use plural pronouns to describe your target customer (and minimize them when talking about your brand). Speak to one individual person every time, like this sample Grammarly ad ChatGPT generated for one of my persona examples.

Source

3. Aligns Teams

Sales, marketing, customer support, and leadership should all have a unified understanding of customers and products. Depending on company size and product complexity, this can be a big internal hurdle. Personas of both potential and existing customers will give the internal teams a shared language and vision.

This is an ongoing, circular effort: Align on the target audience personas. Accrue data. Align around that data (learn how here). Meet regularly to identify patterns.

Here's an example of a fictional persona I made for the crochet kit company The Woobles, named Woobles Whitney. Using HubSpot's free persona templates, I built marketing messages directly into the document to ease the handoff between teammates.

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4. Leads to Highly Relevant Content

Detailed buyer personas describe the ideal audience as it relates to the product. This connection between customer and product should be crystal clear so marketing can create the most relevant messaging possible. This might sound obvious to founders or career marketers, but it gets overlooked.

For example, I once consulted with a menstrual cup company on their content marketing. They had outlined their ideal buyer persona as a 20 to 45-year-old, trendy, active woman who lived in New York City and loved eating out, traveling, going to clubs, etc.

What was this persona card missing? Specific pain points as they relate to the product: it was missing menstruation. A woman could meet all of the listed points but be on birth control that stops her period, and therefore, she's not going to convert into a customer.

Remember my persona, Woobles Whitney? I asked ChatGPT to create two fake Instagram ads: one that was generic, and one that targeted Woobles Whitney. Here's what ChatGPT made me:

Source

Relevant content is the stepping stone to the next benefit: personalization.

5. Creates Personalization Opportunities

I just scrolled on LinkedIn for 10 minutes trying to find an ad that was personalized to me. What did I find? Nothing. It‘s possible — I’ve seen many ads on LinkedIn in the past targeting people who work for HubSpot. I've even seen ads on Pinterest so personalized that they included my name.

It was for a sweatshirt that said “You wouldn't understand, it's an Ihrig thing” (Ihrig being my last name). The first time I saw this, my eyeballs popped out of my head like in an old cartoon. Imagine how much ad spend the company would've wasted by showing that ad to people with the last names Gould, Fanty, or Huffman.

Personalization is both an old-school sales strategy and a surging trend. In our 2025 State of Marketing survey, 96% of marketers said that personalized experiences have increased sales. Yet many of them struggle to create personalized experiences.

Source

Once you gather data (through your website, social media, CRM, etc.), creating content targeting specific customers or pain points is a lot of fun. The image below was produced on an episode of Marketing Against the Grain, where HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar showed how he's toying with AI to create one-of-one, hyper-personalized ads (see more here).

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6. Boosts Brand Loyalty

The personalization trend leads directly to brand loyalty. According to Content Square's 2025 Digital Customer Experience Trends, 78% of consumers say personalized content makes them repurchase from a brand.

Creating tailored marketing messages is only the tip of the iceberg. Great brands are able to understand their ideal customers' desires and know how to delight them. This may sound vague, but look at brands or entrepreneurs that do this well: Disney, LEGO, Trader Joe’s. The level of customer loyalty has risen to the point of fandom.

Even on its 404 page, LEGO has fun with its customers:

Source

Buyer personas aren‘t new, and neither is the urge to improve customer loyalty. So why isn’t everyone doing this well? It‘s time-consuming, expensive, and some brands won’t be around long enough for this to manifest.

My advice: Get investigative about this process from the other side. Find a brand in your life that you feel a loyal connection to and examine how their marketing efforts have facilitated that.

7. Lowers Costs

All of these factors manifest into more efficiently spent budgets. You can draw a direct line between understanding your customer and making more sales. Campaigns, landing pages, and emails convert at higher rates. Ad spend goes further. In the marketing world, successful persona creation = a better use of budget.

Where AI Fits In

Ready to create a buyer persona that leverages AI? The power at your fingertips is massive. Our research found that 73% of marketers feel AI can help them be more productive at what they do.

In terms of personas, AI makes it possible to analyze massive amounts of data in real time. We‘ve all heard this — here’s exactly how it comes to life.

Analyzing data: There's an incredible amount of data sleeping inside your support tickets, Google Analytics, CRM, etc. Try to analyze it yourself, and your job will never be done. Use AI to make the data actionable by highlighting trends and opportunities. Train a custom AI knowledge base for each persona, and you can ask it to suggest demographic segmentation, seasonal opportunities, etc.

Generating multiple personas: Most businesses need multiple personas. How many buyer personas should a business have? You should start with one: your most common customer at the top of your funnel. Creating these manually is tedious, but AI makes this approachable, as you can use each persona as the template for the next.

Creating personalized experiences: AI can analyze past behavior at an individual level, creating recommendations that are hyper personalized. This is especially useful for online platforms with large quantities of products such as bookstores, music stores, or online shopping. A great example of this is Spotify's recommendations based on your most listened-to playlists.

Making routine updates: Feed your AI models with new data, and you can get automatic real-time updates to your customer personas. This doesn't mean make your persona a set-it-and-forget-it marketing task. Some changes with your target market will only be caught through human observation, but AI can focus on the micro while you focus on the macro.

What AI Needs to Succeed

If you‘re reaching for ChatGPT to avoid gathering real data on your customers, you’re setting yourself up to create generic personas. AI should be used to enhance your buyer persona research, not replace it. Data and human understanding of your consumer and product are still essential ingredients.

All of this data should come together to create a unified view of your customer. This should be the goal of any tool that you use to gather data on your customers or leads. It's the focus of the HubSpot Smart CRM, where our AI system helps 59% of HubSpot users have a more unified view of their customers versus non-HubSpot users.

Best Practices for Creating Buyer Personas

Excited? Let these best practices guide your persona generation. These apply whether you're creating campaigns yourself or prompting AI to do it for you.

Include demographic information: Fundamentals like job title, age, income, family, education, etc. (get a conclusive list of persona research points here).

Observe their behavior and feelings: What are their preferred information channels? Behavior patterns? Motivations? Goals? Fears? You can only create content that‘s personalized when you understand who you’re talking to and what their desires are.

Aggregate all of the data possible: Customer insights are lurking in your website analytics, product reviews, customer feedback, support tickets, etc.

Consider the customer journey: Effective buyer personas evolve as the customer moves through the buying process. Top of funnel concerns are different from bottom of funnel concerns.

Weigh generational trends: Age can be an arbitrary number, but grouping cu

How to scale your hypergrowth marketing team from 5 to 25 people using this template

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0300

In times of chaos, marketing team structure is often overlooked, but for companies in hypergrowth, this can be a recipe for disaster.

The lean marketing team that got a business off the ground is not the same team that will help it scale. Trust — as a serial marketing team of one, I’ve experienced the fallout firsthand.

Failing to evolve your marketing team during hypergrowth can lead to overwhelm, poor quality work, and missed goals, but how exactly do you structure it for growth?

The template shared in this article will help you scale from five to 25 people without losing speed, clarity, or impact. Each scaling phase is triggered by revenue milestones and comes with hiring priorities, role evolution, and structure recommendations.

Table of Contents

Why Structure Matters in Hypergrowth

Marketing Hiring Plan Template

How to Prioritize Roles

FAQs about Scaling a Marketing Team in Hypergrowth

Why Structure Matters in Hypergrowth

At hypergrowth speeds — where companies double yearly and headcount scales rapidly — the right marketing team structure is crucial to preserving momentum.

A recent McKinsey survey found that nearly 67% of organizations report being overly complex and inefficient. In other words, poor roles and structure have led to slower decisions, redundancy, and reduced velocity.

But why is that? In my experience, much of it comes back to workload and productivity. More ambitious goals often mean bigger and a higher volume of tasks to tackle. Your labor and roles need to reflect these goals.

For example, if you want to increase your content output, you need more content creators and strategists. If you’re launching a product, you’ll need a product marketing manager to do it right.

Piling more work on team members with already full plates will only lead to burnout and even employee churn. (Again, I’ve seen this firsthand.)

Co-founder of Stage 2 Capital and former HubSpotter Mark Roberge echoes this, saying:

“We have a long conversation with our founders out of the gate about their five-year scale plan and do a bottom-up analysis to understand the realistic inputs…That‘s a critical strategic decision that determines everything — how many reps you’ll hire, how many support people, how many engineers, how much property.”

Talent is a resource, and if you don’t get the resources needed to get a job done, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen.

Marketing Hiring Plan Template

According to Stripe, hypergrowth teams typically restructure every 6–9 months to stay aligned with business growth.

Elad Gil, an entrepreneur, operating executive, and investor/advisor to the company, supports this idea, saying organizations can sustain 3x growth as team complexity increases by implementing the right organizational design.

That said, a marketing organization that's scaling up will need a new, hypergrowth-friendly team structure. The template below walks through three phases on the journey to a team of 25:

Foundation

Specialization

Scale

We’ll discuss what marketing roles you need at each phase, associated metrics, when you should hire specialists, and overall outline an effective marketing organization structure for rapid growth. The best hiring sequence will ultimately vary from company to company, but these suggestions are a great place to start.

Phase 1: Foundation (5–10 People)

As a company reaches $5–15M in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and acquires over 100 customers, the first phase of team building begins.

This stage is all about establishing the core marketing functions and setting up foundational tools and processes. A big part of this is hiring generalists with wide skill sets who can wear different hats if needed.

Learn more about the skills all marketers should have in our article, “20 Technical Skills Every Marketer Needs.”

While the priority of some roles will depend on the nature of your product and business, others are universal. The actual job titles may change, but here are the roles I’d recommend at this phase:

VP or Director of Marketing

This role leads strategy, manages early hires, and aligns the team with business goals. They also tend to be the marketing decision-maker and the one held accountable for hitting metrics.

Efficiency metrics: Return on marketing investment (ROMI), Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), marketing-sourced pipeline, Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER)

Content Marketing Manager

They own content creation and SEO. They may create a variety of content themselves (i.e., blog articles, emails, landing pages, videos) or manage the production by others.

Efficiency metrics: Publishing frequency, organic traffic growth, content-attributed MQLs, first-30-day page traffic

Resources:

Free Content Marketing Certification Course: Grow Better with Content

Demand Generation Manager

This role oversees acquisition and pipeline generation. They’re focused on getting conversions and leads to sales.

Efficiency metrics: MQLs, SQLs, cost per acquisition (CPA), marketing-sourced pipeline, payback period

Graphic Designer

They create visual content, including website materials, social media, and premium content, among other things.

Efficiency metrics: Campaign consistency rate, turnaround time per asset, engagement uplift (CTR, social shares), brand adherence audits

Paid Media Specialist

They manage advertising and paid social.

Efficiency metrics: Impressions, CTR, CPC, CPA, ROAS (return on ad spend)

Resources:

“10 Essential PPC Courses for Every Marketer”

How to Build Pay-per-Click Marketing Campaigns [+ Best PPC Platforms, Tools, and Software]

(Optional) Marketing Operations Manager

They manage automation and reporting systems. This would include working with tools like HubSpot.

Efficiency metrics: Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER), campaign setup time, funnel conversion rates, data accuracy score

(Optional) Product Marketing Manager

They focus on messaging and positioning.

Efficiency metrics: Sales enablement usage, win rate uplift, sales cycle reduction, product-qualified leads

Resources:

How to Do Product Marketing Like A Pro: Strategy, Tips, & Examples

Free Download: Ultimate Product Marketing Kit

What Is a Product Marketing Manager? Job Description and Salary

(Optional) Event or Field Marketing Manager

They support in-person events, which may be especially helpful for B2B organizations.

Efficiency metrics: Leads generated per event, CPL, event attendance rate, pipeline sourced from events

Resources:

Event Marketing: How to Build Your Strategy & Connect With Customers in Real Life

(Optional) Marketing Analyst

They monitor, measure, and report on performance.

Efficiency metrics: Dashboard refresh cadence, attribution model coverage, forecast accuracy, data insights generated

(Optional) Marketing Coordinator

They assist with a variety of executional needs.

Efficiency metrics: Task completion rate, campaign support accuracy, coordination turnaround time

During this phase, your marketing team structure is best if it remains flat, with all team members reporting directly to the marketing leader. With fewer people on the team, this hierarchy helps avoid confusion in decision-making and aids in collaboration.

Pro tip: Gil recommends leaders initially “allocate functional areas based in part on who has the time and skill set to focus on and make that area succeed.” This doesn’t mean they’re stuck in that area forever. “Remember, nothing needs to be permanent,” Gil continued.

At my last employer, I saw one teammate jump from web development to account management, marketing, sales, then back to web over a decade — and I’m sure there are other departments I’m missing. It gave me whiplash to watch, but I see why it happened.

For new and smaller businesses, phase one is just about getting a running start. Leaders need reliable people they know can set things up for success and prove the concept before investing fully.

That’s also why the people filling your phase one roles should be generalists. As marketing generalists, each team member will be able to quickly adapt to shifting priorities and help build traction across core channels.

Need a graphic in a crunch, but your designer is busy with your website? The demand gen manager has time to help. Generalists are agile, and agility is key when scaling in hypergrowth.

Tools needed: CRM system like HubSpot, email marketing software to manage contacts and nurture leads, and CMS to publish content online or manage your website. Role-specific tools like the Adobe Suite or Canva.

HubSpot can also help you automate tasks and track your efficiency metrics.

Daniel Foulkes Leon, Senior Marketing Operations Manager at CoachHub, a HR tech company based in Germany, explains how HubSpot helped his team scale during hypergrowth and secure $330 million in financing.

Source

“In twelve months, [our team had] grown from 250 to around 1,000 employees,” says Daniel. “We needed to find some quite elaborate ways to prioritize the work and automation….HubSpot gives us tools that we don’t use in separate universes, but rather together. And everyone benefits from that.”

Expected impact: Establish a functioning funnel, create foundational processes, and generate early pipeline traction.

Can’t I use AI to fill these marketing roles?

AI can help support some of these roles, of course, but it isn’t foolproof. At every phase, you need humans refining and reviewing anything sourced from artificial intelligence, especially generated content.

What about remote talent?

In my experience, it’s smart to opt for local or in-office team members when you’re just starting to build your marketing team and strategy.

Remote work comes with its own set of challenges, like navigating time zone differences, feeling disconnected, and maintaining productivity. Don’t make this phase even more complicated than it already is. Keep things in-office until they’re less in flux.

Phase 2: Specialization (11–17 People)

Once a company surpasses $15M ARR and serves over 500 customers, it enters a new market with larger competitors. This means marketing must become more sophisticated and often complex to attract attention.

With this in mind, phase two introduces specialization and a layer of management. Specialization usually takes place based on department or channel ownership to improve performance tracking, enable focus, and support repeatable growth.

New potential roles may include:

Director of Demand Generation

This role oversees both paid and inbound efforts focused on driving conversions and sales. They’ll also likely manage the demand generation manager.

Efficiency metrics: Leads generated, task completion rate, campaign support accuracy, coordination turnaround time

SEO Specialist

Your content manager handled SEO in phase one, but as you grow, you need more advanced knowledge and skills to see improved visibility and site performance in search engines. That’s where this hire comes in.

Efficiency metrics: Task completion rate, campaign support accuracy, coordination turnaround time, and organic traffic.

Email Marketing Manager

This is another responsibility that grows out of the content marketing manager’s responsibilities. It’s focused on lead nurturing and communications via lifecycle campaigns and retention.

Efficiency metrics: Number of email campaigns launched, email open/conversion rate, campaign support accuracy, coordination turnaround time

Resources:

Free Email Marketing Certification

Social Media Manager

Social media is a must these days and, as we’ve learned as an industry, it’s a full-time job. This role will manage your brand’s presence and engagement on various platforms.

Efficiency metrics: Task completion rate, campaign support accuracy, coordination turnaround time

Videographer or Video Marketing Manager

Video is a non-negotiable in today’s world, mainly thanks to social media. Phase 2 is a smart time to invest in talent that can help you build and scale this strategy.

Efficiency metrics: Number of videos completed, campaign support accuracy, coordination turnaround time

From here, additional content writers may also be needed to help scale content output, or a campaign manager coordinates cross-channel initiatives tied to revenue. It depends on your strategy, goals, and bandwidth.

Also, at this point, you are in a better position to explore a remote or hybrid structure. You may even start considering international team members. With your foundation built and solid, you likely have the processes, tools, and documentation needed to support team members in different locations while maintaining consistency.

Organizationally, the team should begin forming functional teams with clear leaders who act as middle managers. Channel-specific ownership improves focus (e.g., content, search, and demand), and the analytics function should stand alone for objectivity and rigor.

Tools needed: More advanced marketing automation platform (like HubSpot Pro), attribution, and tracking tools.

Expected impact: Drive reliable, scalable performance across every channel and introduce efficient campaign processes.

Phase 3: Scale (18–25 People)

At the final stage — triggered when the company reaches $40–100M ARR and 1,000+ customers — structure your marketing team to support global operations and long-term scale.

That means introducing a fully layered marketing organization with both strategic and executional roles across functions and regions.

New role considerations include:

Director of Product Marketing

This role owns and guides the vision for go-to-market strategy and enablement. They also manage the product team.

Efficiency metrics: Task completion rate, campaign support accuracy, coordination turnaround time

Director of Brand or Creative

This role leads brand storytelling and visual identity. They also likely manage any graphic designers.

Efficiency metrics: Task completion rate, campaign support accuracy, coordination turnaround time

Account-based Marketing (ABM) Manager

This role focuses on marketing to key segments or even specific accounts. It dances the line of sales and marketing and can enable sales and marketing alignment.

Efficiency metrics: Task completion rate, campaign support accuracy, coordination turnaround time

Resources:

8 steps to build your account-based marketing strategy [+ recommended tools]

Free Account Planning Template

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Manager

This role works on improving on-site and funnel conversion rates.

Efficiency metrics: Conversion rate, task completion rate

Marketing Automation Specialist

This role supports backend workflows and integrations. This could be related to operations, service, or even web and marketing.

Efficiency metrics: Workflows launched, Task completion rate

YouTube, newsletters, and X — the AI workflows that will help you dominate them all

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0300

Let‘s be honest: if you’re running a business focused on AI tools and you‘re not using AI to grow that business, you’re missing the point entirely.

I've been testing AI growth strategies for months now to boost my following across YouTube, X, and my newsletter. These tools aren‘t just speeding up the grunt work. They’re helping me create content that stands out in a sea of generic content.

Here are the exact AI-powered workflows, tools, and tips that powered my success. Let's dive in.

YouTube Growth Strategies with AI

When it comes to growing on YouTube, you need hooks that people feel compelled to click on and content that follows through. While that balance seems tricky, AI can help you get it right. Here’s how AI helped me grow my YouTube channel to over 785,000 subscribers.

Thumbnails

You can make the most informative, entertaining video of all time. But, if your thumbnail is boring, potential viewers will keep scrolling. Luckily, AI can help you create click-worthy images — no graphic design background required.

In the past, I used Stable Diffusion with the Dream Booth add-on to make AI art and add my face to thumbnails. Now, I use Leonardo. This tool has a built-in feature that lets me add my likeness to their system. Now, I can generate thumbnails with my face directly without any extra steps.

Here’s another method:

You can ask Midjourney to generate an image of a person. For example, I may ask for a man sitting in a chair beside a robot.

You can then import the output to Stable Diffusion.

Then, mask the AI person’s face and ask Stable Diffusion to replace it with your face.

The result is a high-quality image that accurately shows what you look like.

Pro tip: Ask your image generator to make your thumbnails bright and colorful. Your final image should pop on viewers’ feeds.

Titles

The perfect title strikes a delicate balance. You want something that both entices people to click and accurately portrays your video’s content. In the past, I’d get stuck trying to write something succinct, punchy, and honest.

AI makes the process easy and helps me get the perfect title faster. Here’s my workflow.

Once my video is edited, I pull it into a tool like Descript to get the transcription.

I take the transcription, plug it into ChatGPT’s 4o model, and say, “Help me come up with ten titles that’ll grab a lot of attention based on this transcript.”

That gets me pretty close to done. From there, I tweak my favorite headline and decide on my final title.

Pro tip: If you’re looking for even more inspiration, Claude’s Projects tool can help you learn from your YouTube role models. Just made a list of 30 different YouTube titles that you really like. Then, ask Claude Project to suggest titles that are written in the same style.

Scripting

Now, let’s dive into the content. The information in your video has to be valuable so people stick around and subscribe. AI has helped make the scripting process easy and allowed me to learn from leading creators in the space.

Here’s the ChatGPT workflow I use to create scripts fast.

I find maybe ten to fifteen YouTube videos where I really like the flow. They have a beginning, middle, and end, and they grabbed my attention the whole way through. The topic doesn’t need to be the same as my intended video. This is all about style.

I’ll get the transcripts for those fifteen videos and pull each one individually into a ChatGPT Project. Then, I’ll say, “This is the style of script that I want to make for my video. Make a video in a similar style.”

Then I’ll give it a topic. For example, I’ll say, “I want to talk about the OpenAI o1 model. Write me a script about that,” and give it information about the topic. Then, I tell ChatGPT to write in the style of the scripts that I uploaded.

That’s my first draft. I always edit the scripts heavily, but ChatGPT gives me the flow that I’m looking for. Now, I have a framework with a hook that grabs attention and the right beats.

Pro tip: You can use this approach for YouTube Shorts. I often find myself following the AI script more closely because I only have 59 seconds to share my thoughts.

X (formerly Twitter) Growth Strategies with AI

X is where ideas get tested in real time. Unlike LinkedIn, where posts can feel polished to the point of being sterile, or YouTube, where you need a full production setup, X rewards raw, immediate takes on what's happening right now.

But, staying consistent on X while also creating quality content is time-consuming if you‘re doing it manually. That’s where AI comes in. Here’s my AI workflow for posting and growing on X. You’ll notice it’s similar to my approach to YouTube scripting.

I plug my podcast transcripts or YouTube videos into ChatGPT.

I ask ChatGPT to “summarize this into something that would work well as an X Thread.”

Then, I edit the output so it sounds like me.

My Next Wave Podcast co-host, Nathan Lands, offers another strategy, which took his X following from 5,000 to 50,000 in three months.

He teaches ChatGPT the kinds of X Threads that he likes (or doesn’t) by using Tweet Hunter to find the top AI creators. He then locates their most successful tweets and puts them into ChatGPT.

“When I was doing it every day, I could consistently get at least 300,000 views on tweets every single day,” Nathan told me.

Beyond that, Nathan uses AI as an editor to speed up the workflow, even when he writes the content himself.

“It saved me about two hours. And, actually, I felt like when I was doing it myself. I was getting a lot less views, and as soon as I started using AI as an editor, all of a sudden, every time I tweet, it goes viral,” he says.

Newsletter Growth Strategies with AI

With over 210,000 subscribers, my FutureTools newsletter has helped me share my perspective on all things AI. The newsletter grew an initial audience from the FutureTools website, but eventually it took on a life of its own.

Today, I use AI to continue that growth trajectory and to maintain my reach. Here’s how.

Lead Magnets

Here’s a quick marketing refresher: A lead magnet is a valuable freebie that encourages people to fill out a form with their info. I’ve found that building high-value lead magnets with AI encouraged people to sign up for my newsletter.

For example, I can take some of my YouTube tutorials that reach really valuable concepts, have them transcribed, and pull those transcriptions into Claude or ChatGPT. Then, I can ask it to make the transcription read more like an e-book or a blog post. This gives me a PDF that can be used as an opt-in offer to get people to join my newsletter.

I get a new subscriber for my newsletter, and the person who filled out the form gets value right away. It’s a win-win.

Content Proofreading

I want my newsletter to be polished and professional. AI helps me get there, acting as a proofreader and editor that does the final pass before I send. Don’t get me wrong, my team and I still write most of the newsletter ourselves. But after we have the draft, I plug it into Claude and tell it to proofread for grammar, spelling, and readability.

If I make any spelling and grammar mistakes, Claude catches them right away. It will also make suggestions for moving sentences up or down in a paragraph, just to make the content easier to follow. I’ve found that Claude is good at rearranging ideas to make the newsletter more readable.

Outlining

If you don’t have a newsletter yet, it’s easier than ever to get started thanks to AI. Chatbots can help you with the outline, even if you want to write it yourself. That’s especially true for curation-focused newsletters.

Since I write in the AI niche, for example, I can go and find seven of the biggest news stories in the AI world for a given week. I take those stories, plug them into Claude or ChatGPT, and then tell it to outline a newsletter that features all of those big stories.

I can also feed it some of my past content, so that it will write in my style. When I’m pressed for time, I can quickly create a newsletter that sounds like me and covers important trends. Beyond that, outlines help me add my voice while keeping my newsletter on track. The result is a valuable newsletter that sends consistently.

Grow faster with AI.

So, there you have it. Those are the biggest AI growth hacks I’ve found to dominate across platforms in 2025. If you want more fresh takes and industry insights on how AI can power your business, be sure to check out The Next Wave Podcast.

16 best practices for email design, according to an email marketing consultant

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 22:35:00 +0300

Email design is a mix of art and science. You can have the best email body copy ever written, but if your design and layout don’t support it, it can still flop. I know. I’ve been focused on email marketing for more than 20 years, and I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in email design.

I often start client engagements with an audit of their past email marketing efforts. I see the same design and layout errors over and over again, and when we correct them, we inevitably see a boost in performance. Not just opens and clicks — but conversions which are what really matter.

So, let me give you some free advice on how to boost your email performance with email design best practices.

Table of Contents

What is email design?

Why Email Design Matters

Email Design Best Practices

Email Design Tools

Email Design Examples

Why Email Design Matters

In marketing, the message is important, but so is how you present it. Problems with design and layout can render your awesome email unreadable. Here are some examples of this I see over and over:

The lack of contrast between font and background colors, making the content unreadable.

All-image emails which look like literally nothing when images are blocked by default (which some inbox providers still do).

Even little things, like text links versus buttons, can make a big difference.

In contrast, great email design supports your strategy by increasing open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, while enhancing the user experience and reinforcing your brand.

There are a lot of tools you can use to design emails (we’ll cover some of them later in this article). But they aren’t a replacement for understanding best practices in email design.

Here are some of the simple-to-fix design issues I see frequently. As you look over these best practices, take a minute to review your templates and see if they need an update. I’ll go into detail on each.

Inbox View

There are three elements of your email that appear in your recipient’s inbox (hopefully!) without any effort on their part. They are:

Your from address

Your subject line

Your preheader text

This is the “prime real estate” you have to entice recipients to open your email. If you don’t engage readers here, you won’t engage them at all.

Here are tips for each of the three key elements of your email program.

1. Use a meaningful “from” address.

There is always an “actual” email address that’s required for an email to be sent. But here we’re going to talk about the friendly “from” address, which is what should appear in your recipients’ inboxes.

If you neglect to provide a friendly from address, your actual from address will show up in the inbox, which is not a best practice.

Here are a few examples from my inbox:

All of these are from the New York Times, but as you see, the friendly from addresses (and some of the actual from addresses) are different.

The first from address is what most of their online publications and promotions carry — just the brand. But NYT Wirecutter and NYT Cooking, which offer product recommendations and recipes, respectively, each have a friendly from address that includes copy that differentiates them from other NYT publications as well as an abbreviation for the brand (NYT).

This is great for readers, like me, because I always look forward to the NYT Cooking newsletters and open them as soon as they arrive. While I enjoy the other content, it’s not a must-read like the cooking content is.

The last friendly from address, El Times — you may have guessed it — is the Spanish language version of the NYT newsletter. Here the friendly from aligns with the language used in the newsletter.

You might be wondering: Should you include something other than just the brand in your friendly from addresses?

If it will help the readers more easily identify content of interest to them, the answer is yes!

Another thing you may have heard is that including a person’s name in the friendly from address will help boost your open rate. In truth, it depends. But if there is a person who is associated with the content in the email, by all means, include a person’s name. Just be sure that your brand or organization name is there too.

Here are a few examples of how to do it right, from my inbox:

In each of these, the brand is there (Citycast named their email newsletter ‘Hey DC’) as well as a person’s name.

2. Engage recipients with the first 25 characters of your subject line.

It’s not that your subject line should be only 25 characters long — it’s that that’s all you are guaranteed the recipient will see in the inbox, so make those first 25 characters count.

I find that subject line testing is often overused, but in some cases it makes sense. I’ve tested this 25-character rule over and over again and it’s never failed me. Is the lift in bottom-line performance like conversion rate or revenue-generated-per-email-sent dramatic? Not usually, but even a lift of 10% adds up over time.

For example, the case study below is based on work I did with a client during the holiday season. They were in the midst of their “12 Days of Christmas Sale” and they were leading with this phrase in each of their subject lines. The offer, which was different every day, followed that phrase.

So we did a test …

We moved the offer, which is what recipients really cared about, to the beginning of the subject line and we got a 14.4% boost in revenue-generated-per-email-sent. You can read all the details here.

3. Make your preheader text support your subject line.

Preheader text is another misunderstood element of the inbox view — master it and you’ll be head and shoulders above your competitors. The preheader text appears either after or below the subject line; the subject line is usually bold, while the preheader text is not.

Here are a few examples:

In this example, Monumental Sports Network does a good job with their preheader text. They use it to expand on the subject line. You should do the same.

Don’t:

Leave it blank

Restate the subject line

Keep the same form each time

Do use it for:

Secondary key messages

Providing dates

Any additional information that will build on the subject line and motivate the recipient to open and act on your email

Want to learn more about preheader text? I was obsessed for a while. Here’s a good place to start.

Copy

For most email marketing messages, copy is king. Copy is what’s going to motivate the reader to take the action you want them to. Here are some tips to get you on the right track.

4. Focus your copy on what’s in it for your readers.

It’s not that your readers are narcissists, but you need to give them a reason to read and act on your email. The way to do that is with benefit-oriented copy, or to put it more bluntly, copy that clearly states what’s in it for them (WIIFT).

Note: This is true for the subject line, preheader text, and the copy in the body of your email.

One way to do this is to use the words “you” and “your” generously, while using “we,” “our,” and your company name sparingly. For instance:

I always try to imagine the reader, also known as the target audience, when I write copy. To do this, I think about:

Who they are

What’s important to them

What would entice them to take the action the email is asking for

Where they will be when they are reading this email

If you can get into your reader’s headspace, you’ll be better able to write copy that motivates them to action. Want more? Here’s an article to help you write better body copy.

5. Use inverted pyramid style when you write body copy.

Inverted pyramid style just means putting the most important information first. By getting to the point, you won’t risk boring your reader.

Here’s an example from work with one of my clients:

See what we did there? We told readers, right up front, what we wanted them to do. Then we spoke about who the nominees were. This is important. You want them to understand why what you’re telling them is important, so you don’t lose their interest.

Here are some more tips on writing body copy.

6. Keep your paragraphs short.

It’s rare that people read emails in detail. Most of us skim, looking for something of interest. As a result, you have to make sure your email is easy to skim. One of the best ways to do this is to keep your paragraphs short.

Many years ago (like 20 or more) I read a case study from Microsoft about writing for online audiences. They said that paragraphs should be 5-¼ lines (not sentences, but lines) or less to make them easy to skim. I wish I had a link to the case study. I cannot find it, but I have lived by this rule ever since — and it works.

Here’s an example from work from one of my clients:

Which one of these do you find more readable? If you’re like most people, the one on the right, with shorter paragraphs and bullet points (we’ll talk about those in a minute) will be easier to skim and your eye will gravitate toward it. This is just one of the tips on body copy discussed here.

7. Email copy loves bullet points.

Anytime I have a list of things that need to be included in email or online copy, I make it a list. You should too.

Bullet-pointed lists, as you can see in the example above, are naturally skimmable. Notice how there’s a blank line between each bullet point? This is also helpful, as white space like this aids in readability. Otherwise, the bulleted list would look like a block of text that your eyes don’t want to read (just like the sample on the left above).

Calls-to-Action

An email without an effective call-to-action (CTA)? It’s like a car without an engine. You’re unlikely to get any movement out of it.

Here are a few tips to make sure your CTAs drive action.

8. Use bulletproof buttons in your emails — not text links.

We’ll cover buttons versus text links first. Buttons get more attention, so your primary CTAs, or any CTA that you really want people to engage with, should be buttons.

Here’s a chart showing monthly newsletter clicks by CTA format:

Do you see what I see? More than 50% of the clicks are happening on buttons. Only 10% or fewer clicks are taking place on text links.

Bonus tip #1: Look at the data under video — 16% to 29% of newsletter clicks. When we say video, we mean a screenshot of a video that, when clicked, takes the recipient to a landing page where the video plays. Videos are a great way to engage readers. If email copy loves buttons, email readers love videos.

Bonus tip #2: Do you see the data under image? It’s not as high as video, but it’s higher than text links. That’s because people will try to click on the images in your emails. I highly recommend you don’t disappoint them. Make sure their click lands them on a page with content relevant to the image, either a blog post, an article, a product page, or something else.

Now let’s talk about bulletproof buttons.

In olden days (and still on the web today), buttons were/are images. But that’s not a good idea in email, due to image blocking (refer to best practice #10 for more on that.)

Bulletproof buttons aren’t images. They are table cells with a colored background and rich text copy which is linked to your landing page. Since they aren’t images, they will appear even if images are blocked. If you want to make them pill-shaped instead of rectangular, you can add white images at the corners to change the look of the shape.

Bulletproof buttons aren’t difficult to build in HTML, but drag and drop interfaces make it even easier to include them. So do it!

Want more? Here are some additional tips on effective CTAs.

9. Make your calls-to-action benefit-oriented.

Whenever I see “Click Here” I am transported back to 1995. Back then, we had to tell people to click. The World Wide Web was relatively new and clicking was not yet a learned behavior.

But now? Everyone knows to click. So consider your CTA copy another opportunity to make the case for the reader taking the action you desire.

Here are some examples for inspiration:

Source

Images

Copy may be king, but images are queen when it comes to email marketing. Here are some tips to make effective use of them.

10. Don’t send image-only emails.

I have spoken to many organizations that are using image-only emails for their sends. We will talk through the pros and cons, but let’s just start with a visual.

Here’s an example from my inbox of an image-only email:

Wait, why are we looking at it with images disabled? Because many programs that recipients use to read your email messages still disable images by default. While not as prevalent as it used to be, image blocking is still an issue — see this case study I did with a client that proves it.

If you can convince your recipients to whitelist

Marketing without the cringe: Jayde Powell on Gen Z audiences

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 22:50:53 +0300

I am “just threw out my back while turning to adjust my seatbelt” years old, so I was especially excited to talk to Jayde Powell, who’s made a name for herself as a bit of a Gen Z whisperer.

I am also chronically online, so I’m aware of a lot of the Gen Z slang/memes/jokes that wend their way through the fiber optics. But does that mean I should start addressing Masters in Marketing newsletters, “Heyyyy besties!”? (Don’t worry, I’m not going to start doing that; it’s safe to hit that subscribe button below.)

Powell is also one of our featured speakers at INBOUND next month, so if you love her marketing lessons — and I think you will! — come join us in San Francisco.

Meet the Master

Jayde Powell

Creatorpreneur and the founder and head of creative, The Em Dash Co

Claim to fame: Jayde made $100k+ last year — just from creating content on LinkedIn.

Fun fact: She plans to retire by the time she’s 40. “If you see me [on social when I’m 40], it’s because I have a team managing my social media presence.”

Lesson 1: Use influencers to reach new audiences — not existing ones.

Influencer marketing doesn’t have to be expensive — think micro influencers with niche audiences — but if you’re like most marketers right now, your budget is still probably feeling a bit squeezed.

That can make it extra hard to relinquish control over how your brand is presented to the world. But you gotta let go: Let influencers “speak to their audience in the way they’re used to,” Powell says, otherwise you could be flushing your hard-won budget down the drain.

“What you're doing when you work with influencers is — you're trying to reach new audiences, not your existing customers.” If you wanted the influencers to sound like your brand, “then it’s a waste of money,” Powell says. “You could have just had that asset made in-house.”

“It doesn‘t make sense for a creator or influencer to all of a sudden start posting this branded asset that doesn’t even sound like them. It's going to confuse their audience,” she tells me.

Powell says that the last thing you — or the influencer, for that matter — want is for followers to ask, “Why is this sponsored content on my feed? That’s how you lose their trust.”

“To put it simply, let your creators and your influencers cook. Let them do their thing.”

Lesson 2: You don’t need to be a part of every moment.

It’s only been a couple of weeks since the Coldplay concert incident revealed a CEO’s affair to the world… followed by dozens of major brands trying to get in on the action on social. But does your brand need to be a part of it?

2024 Marketing Technology Landscape revealed a staggering 14,106 martech products available, representing 27.8% growth year-over-year. But here's the uncomfortable truth: marketers estimate they waste an average of 26% of their budgets on ineffective channels and strategies, with about half of respondents saying they misspend at least 20% of their budgets.

Businesses using 15+ marketing apps can consolidate to a unified platform without losing functionality while reducing costs and improving team efficiency. This isn‘t about sacrificing capability — it’s about strategic consolidation that maintains 95% of your functionality while dramatically cutting waste.

And the problem isn't just financial. Gartner reports that average marketing budgets dropped from 9.1% of company revenue in 2023 to 7.7% in 2024, putting enormous pressure on teams to do more with less. Meanwhile, your marketing stack has become a Frankenstein monster of disconnected tools that creates more problems than it solves.

Table of Contents

The Problem: When More Tools Mean Less Results

The 10-Phase Consolidation Framework: From Chaos to Clarity

What 95% Functionality Retention Actually Means

Example Tool Consolidation Comparison Tables

Advanced Marketing Tool Consolidation Strategies: Beyond the Basics

Maintaining Functionality During Transition

Example ROI Calculation: Proving Consolidation Success

Common Marketing Tool Consolidation Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

The Problem: When More Tools Mean Less Results

Why Teams Resist Consolidation

Marketing teams accumulate tools for legitimate reasons. Each platform promised to solve a specific problem, and individual team members developed expertise in their preferred tools. But this organic growth creates three critical issues:

Data silos: Customer information scattered across platforms prevents comprehensive customer understanding

Integration nightmares: Manual data transfers and broken connections waste countless hours

Hidden redundancies: Multiple tools performing similar functions without anyone realizing the overlap

According to research by Proxima, up to 60% of marketing budgets are wasted due to inefficiencies in execution and planning. The waste isn‘t just monetary, it’s operational, strategic, and psychological.

The Most Common Marketing Apps Creating Sprawl

Before diving into consolidation, let's identify the typical culprits. Most mid-sized marketing teams use variations of these 15+ tools.

Content & Creative Tools

1. Graphic design and visual content

2. Professional design and video editing suites

3. Video recording and screen sharing

4. Writing assistance and proofreading

Social Media Management

5. Social media scheduling and management suites

6. Social media publishing and analytics systems

7. Social listening and engagement monitoring tools

Email & Automation

8. Email marketing campaign management tools

9. Email automation and CRM tools

10. Creator-focused email marketing tools

Analytics & SEO

11. Website traffic analysis tools

12. SEO and competitive research tools

13. Backlink analysis and keyword research tools

Sales & CRM

14. Customer relationship management

15. Sales pipeline management

Additional Specialty Tools

16. Meeting scheduling calendar tools

17. Internal team communication channels

18. Project management platforms

The 10-Phase Consolidation Framework: From Chaos to Clarity [Example]

Phase 1: Comprehensive Tool Audit and Usage Analysis

Time to complete: 1-2 weeks

Expected savings: Immediate visibility into $10,000-50,000 annual waste

Start with a complete inventory of every marketing tool your organization pays for. A recent Slack/Salesforce survey found the average small business owner juggles four different digital tools daily, and this contributes to inefficiency—29% end up repeating messages across platforms and 30% spend time searching across multiple systems.

Action steps:

List every marketing software subscription and cost

Document actual user adoption rates (not just licenses purchased)

Track time spent switching between platforms daily

Identify data export/import requirements for each tool

Red flags to watch for:

Tools with less than 50% team adoption

Monthly costs exceeding $100 for underutilized features

Duplicate functionality across platforms

Manual data entry between systems

Phase 2: Functionality Mapping and Gap Analysis

Time to complete: 1 week

Expected savings: Clear picture of feature redundancy worth $5,000-20,000 annually

Create a comprehensive map of what each tool actually does versus what you thought it did when you bought it. Most teams discover they‘re using 30% or less of their software’s capabilities.

Critical questions:

Which features do you actively use versus pay for?

Where do workflows break down between tools?

What manual processes exist because tools don't integrate?

Which team members are “power users” versus “login occasionally” users?

Phase 3: Team Resistance Assessment and Change Management

Time to complete: 2 weeks ongoing

Expected savings: Avoiding failed implementations worth $25,000+ in wasted time

Why teams resist consolidation goes beyond simple preference. Understanding these psychological barriers is crucial for successful consolidation:

Expertise investment: Team members have invested time learning specific tools

Workflow disruption: Fear that consolidation will slow down current processes

Feature loss anxiety: Concern about losing specialized capabilities

Control issues: Worries about having less autonomy over tool selection

Change management strategy:

Identify “tool champions” who can become consolidation advocates

Document current pain points and inefficiencies

Create side-by-side feature comparisons showing maintained capabilities

Establish clear communication about what functionality will be preserved

Phase 4: Unified Platform Evaluation and Selection

Time to complete: 2-3 weeks

Expected savings: Avoiding wrong platform choice worth $50,000+ in migration costs

When consolidation isn't the answer: If your team requires highly specialized tools for technical SEO, advanced video editing, or industry-specific compliance, partial consolidation may be more appropriate than full unification.

Platform evaluation criteria:

Native integration capabilities

API availability and reliability

Data migration support and tools

Training resources and learning curve

Scalability for future growth

Total cost of ownership (not just license fees)

Real-world success example: Liquidity Services consolidated eight different software tools onto HubSpot and reduced their overall costs by 50%. The key was choosing a platform that could handle their complex, multi-marketplace sales and marketing operations without losing the specialized features each team needed.

Phase 5: Data Migration Strategy and Execution

Time to complete: 3-4 weeks

Expected savings: Avoiding data loss and rebuild costs worth $30,000+

How to handle data migration between tools requires meticulous planning. Most failed consolidations happen because teams underestimate data complexity.

Migration best practices:

Export all historical data before starting any cancellations

Create backup systems for critical data

Map data fields between old and new systems

Test migration with subset of data first

Maintain parallel systems during transition period

Data migration priorities:

Customer contact information and communication history

Campaign performance data and analytics

Content assets and creative materials

Workflow automation rules and sequences

Integration settings and API connections

Phase 6: Workflow Recreation and Optimization

Time to complete: 2-3 weeks

Expected savings: Eliminating manual processes worth 10-15 hours weekly per team member

Don't just recreate old workflows, optimize them. Consolidation offers the opportunity to eliminate inefficiencies that existed because of tool limitations.

Workflow optimization opportunities:

Automatic data synchronization between marketing and sales

Triggered campaigns based on comprehensive customer behavior

Unified reporting eliminating manual data compilation

Streamlined approval processes with fewer handoffs

Phase 7: Team Training and Adoption Support

Time to complete: 4 weeks ongoing

Expected savings: Avoiding productivity loss worth $20,000+ in delayed adoption

Discovering hidden features that reduce redundancy often happens during training. Most platforms have capabilities that eliminate the need for specialized tools, but teams never discover them without proper onboarding.

Training strategy:

Role-specific training rather than generic platform overviews

Hands-on workshops with actual work scenarios

Create internal documentation and quick-reference guides

Establish “super users” for ongoing peer support

Regular check-ins to address adoption challenges

Phase 8: Integration Testing and Quality Assurance

Time to complete: 1-2 weeks

Expected savings: Preventing integration failures worth $15,000+ in lost productivity

What's the migration sequence for minimal disruption? Run parallel systems for 2-4 weeks while testing all integrations and workflows. This ensures you can revert quickly if critical issues arise.

Testing checklist:

All data imports correctly and completely

Automated workflows trigger properly

Integrations with remaining tools function correctly

User permissions and access controls work as intended

Reporting and analytics provide accurate data

Phase 9: Performance Monitoring and Optimization

Time to complete: Ongoing monthly reviews

Expected savings: Continuous optimization worth $5,000+ annually in improved efficiency

What functionality might I actually lose? Most teams discover they lose 5-10% of highly specialized features but gain 40-60% improvement in overall efficiency and data accessibility.

Performance metrics to track:

Time spent on marketing operations tasks

Campaign setup and launch speed

Data accuracy and accessibility

Team productivity and satisfaction

Cost per marketing qualified lead

Overall marketing ROI improvement

Phase 10: Tool Retirement and Cost Reduction

Time to complete: 1-2 weeks

Expected savings: Immediate cost reduction of $30,000-100,000 annually

Successful consolidation example: Pleo consolidated four external tools onto HubSpot, saving over $350,000 each year. Their success came from focusing on workflow simplification rather than feature maximization.

Retirement strategy:

Cancel subscriptions strategically to avoid early termination fees

Download final data exports and archive properly

Update billing and vendor relationships

Communicate changes to all stakeholders

Document lessons learned for future consolidation efforts

What 95% Functionality Retention Actually Means [Example]

When we say you can maintain 95% functionality, here's what that looks like in practice.

Marketing Operations Before Consolidation

6 hours weekly managing tool integrations

12 different logins for team members

48-hour delay for cross-platform reporting

$85,000 annual tool costs

15% data accuracy due to manual transfers

Marketing Operations After Consolidation

30 minutes weekly system maintenance

Single login with role-based access

Real-time reporting and analytics

$42,000 annual platform costs

95% data accuracy with automated workflows

The 5% You Might Lose

Highly specialized features used by one team member

Very specific integrations with niche tools

Advanced customization options rarely utilized

Industry-specific templates or workflows

The 40% Efficiency You Gain

Unified customer data and complete interaction history

Automated lead scoring and nurturing

Streamlined campaign creation and deployment

Consolidated reporting and analytics

Simplified team training and onboarding

Example Tool Consolidation Comparison Tables

Feature Overlap Analysis: Before vs. After Consolidation

Function

Before (Multiple Tools)

After (Unified Platform)

Functionality Retained

Email Marketing

Mailchimp + ConvertKit

HubSpot Marketing Hub

95%

Social Media

Buffer + Hootsuite + Sprout

HubSpot + Native Integrations

90%

CRM & Sales

Salesforce + Pipedrive

HubSpot CRM

95%

Analytics

Google Analytics + SEMrush

HubSpot + GA4 Integration

85%

Content Creation

Canva + Adobe CC

Canva + HubSpot Templates

90%

Project Management

Asana + Slack

HubSpot Tasks + Slack

80%

Total Annual Cost

$84,000

$42,000

50% Savings

Integration Complexity Reduction

Current State (15+ Tools)

Consolidated State (Unified Platform)

47 potential integration points

8 strategic integrations

12 hours monthly troubleshooting

2 hours monthly maintenance

15 separate user accounts

Single SSO across all functions

Manual data exports weekly

Automated reporting daily

6 different support contacts

Single vendor relationship

Cost-Benefit Analysis: 3-Year Projection Example

Year

Current Tool Costs

Consolidated Co

How to add HTML embed codes to your website [quick tip]

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0300

As a digital marketing consultant, I spend a lot of time promoting website content on social media. But what about promoting your social presence via your website? Embedding enables you to do exactly that. I’ll often use this tactic for video content as a way to repurpose it and increase its reach.

So what’s the process for embedding external content on your site? It differs slightly between platforms depending on where you’re pulling the content from, but the basic steps are mostly the same.

Let’s take a look at how to add HTML embed codes to your site and the specific steps for different platforms.

Table of Contents

What does embed mean?

What is an embed code?

How to Add HTML Embed Code to Your Site

Embedded content is referenced with HTML, one of the most basic languages used on the web to design and lay out web pages.

You often see this code when you're in the “back end” of a blog post, for example. That’s where you’ll add your embed code. Most website editors, from WordPress themes to drag-and-drop builders, will have HTML blocks available that you can place on a blog post or website page to paste the HTML code.

I frequently use embed codes to embed posts from X or LinkedIn as a quick and easy way to add thought leadership dimensions to blog content, for example.

Most social and multimedia websites have an option to generate an embed code right from each individual post. Here’s an example of an embed code for a HubSpot YouTube video:

<iframe width=“560” height=“315” src=“https://www.youtube.com/embed/eGUEAvNpz48” title=“YouTube video player” frameborder=“0” allow=“accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>

And here’s the embedded result.

Want to do the same thing on your blog posts and pages? Next, I’ll go over how to generate an embed code from the most popular social sites. I’ve found that, once you know how to do this on one platform, the steps are very easy to replicate anywhere embedding is available with small variations.

Let’s dive into each step in more detail.

Step 1: Generate the embed code.

Before I embed external content, I first have to generate an embed code for the post or page I want to embed on a website.

Pro tip: A lot of website builders and CMS’s allow you to simply paste the link to the post and automatically embed it without having to go get the embed code. But this varies from one platform to another.

Here’s how I generate the embed code on most of the major social and content networks.

How to Embed a Facebook Post

Here’s how I embed a Facebook post:

First, I open Facebook on a desktop browser.

I find the post that I want to embed.

After clicking the three dots in the top right corner of the post, a drop-down menu appears.

From the dropdown menu, I click Embed.

A pop-up appears, and I have the option to include the full post and access advanced settings. The advanced settings are mainly for people with more advanced know-how who want to adjust the width of the post. For beginners, I recommend leaving that alone and simply clicking Copy Code .

Now, I’ve got the embed code copied to my clipboard and ready to be pasted in the back end of a website.

How to Embed an Instagram Post

If I want to embed an Instagram post, it’s a pretty similar process. Just remember that embedding Instagram posts is only possible from the desktop version. Here’s how I do it:

First, I find the post I want to embed and click to open it up fully in the browser.

Then I click the three dots in the top right corner of the post and out comes a pop-out dropdown menu.

I select the Embed option from the list.

The embed code comes up with a button to copy it to my clipboard.

Sometimes, I want to include the caption. But a lot of times, I’ll uncheck the box Include caption, especially for embedding videos.

Once I’ve hit the Copy embed code button, I’m ready to head back to the website to embed the post.

How to Embed a YouTube Video

If I’ve spent a lot of time putting together video content for a YouTube channel, I want to make sure it gets seen as much as possible. So, embedding YouTube videos is one of the most frequent ways I use the embed functionality. It makes my video content accessible to website users to expand its reach.

The other reason it’s good to embed videos? It saves a ton of bandwidth for a website. Videos tend to be very large files. Uploading them directly to a website can drastically slow down page load times. So, if you want videos on your website, I recommend using a platform like YouTube or Vimeo to do so.

Back to how I embed YouTube videos:

I click into the video I want to embed, and select Share from the row of options underneath the video player.

Embed is the first option on the list after clicking the Share button.

After clicking Embed, the video pops back up with the embed code to the right-hand side.

I simply click Copy in the bottom right corner.

I now have the embed code in my clipboard and ready to paste in the website editor.

How to Embed an X Post

There’s a lot of useful thought leadership on X, and I like to embed tweets throughout editorial or blog content to boost authority and social proof. It’s also a good way to quote experts without needing to contact them directly or get something custom for your post.

Here’s how I can embed X posts:

First, I open the post I want to embed.

Up in the browser bar, I copy the link to the post (more on this in a moment).

Like other platforms, I click the three dots at the top right corner of the post.

This opens up a list of options, including Embed post.

Here’s where the process on X gets a little more complex than it probably needs to be. When I click embed, the website opens up https://publish.twitter.com/ in a new tab with the question “What would you like to embed?”

This is where I paste the link to the X post that I copied earlier from my browser bar.

I hit enter, and two options appear under “Here are your display options.”

I click Embedded Post from the two options, but you can click Embedded Video for video content.

A pop-up appears underneath with the embed code and an option to Copy Code, so I click that option.

Like Facebook, X also provides the opportunity to “set customization options.”

Once I’ve clicked Copy Code I can return to my website editor and embed the post.

How to Embed a Pinterest Post

I particularly like Pinterest posts for fashion, DIY, decor, cookery and recipe sites, and hobby sites. If your website is within a niche that lends itself well to Pinterest’s format and audience, embedding your Pinterest posts is a great way to grow your following on the social platform.

Here’s the process I follow for embedding a Pinterest post:

I open up the Pin I want to embed on the site.

I click the three dots on the top left, right at the end of the list of options.

Next I click Get Pin embed code.

One of the things I like about Pinterest embed codes are the size options. It means you get the right sizing and resolution. If I’m embedding the pin in a small area like sidebar content, I might choose small. But if I want a full-width image for a blog post, I would choose large.

Once I customize the size, I highlight the code and click Command + C or CTRL + C, depending on the device I’m using.

Now my Pin is ready to get embedded.

How to Embed a SlideShare Presentation

SlideShare presentations are a little dated these days – it’s a long while since I’ve embedded one on a website. But, you never know. So it’s useful to know how, just in case.

Here’s I grab the embed code for a SlideShare presentation.

I open the SlideShare presentation I want to embed.

Under the presentation, I click the three dots and then select the Share option.

This prompts a Share this SlideShare box to appear over the presentation slides.

I go to the Embed section underneath the social share buttons.

At first, the field looks blank. But when I click into it, I can see the embed code.

The good thing about SlideShare is that I can select the size of the presentation on the left, and choose which slide the embed starts on to the right.

Once I’m happy with those settings, I highlight the embed code and click Command + C or CTRL + C, depending on my device.

Now, I can go back to my website editor and embed the presentation directly on a website page or blog post.

How to Embed an External Webpage

On a rare occasion, I might need to embed an external webpage. Like all embed codes, this is done using an iframe HTML tag.

Here’s an example of what iframe HTML code looks like:

<iframe src=“url” title=“description” ></iframe>

I can use these same tags to embed an external webpage. Here’s how I do it:

I take this entire line of code and paste it somewhere like a Notepad app: <iframe src=“url” title=“description” width=”” height=””></iframe>

Then I go to the webpage I want to embed and I grab the URL from the browser bar.

Note: I’ll need the entire URL, including the “https” piece.

In the space in my iframe code where it says “url,” I paste the full webpage URL over that text so it looks like this: <iframe src=“https://example.com/embedded-page” title=“Embedded Page Title” width=”” height=””></iframe>

I can also adjust the pixel height and width of the frame using the “width=” and “height=” sections, which would look like this: <iframe src=“https://example.com/embedded-page” title=“Website Page Title” width=”750” height=”500”></iframe>

Finally, I copy the entire line of code to embed it on the website.

Step 2: Access your content management system and paste the embed code in your HTML viewer.

I work with a lot of different CMSs and they all work slightly differently. But the process of using the HTML block is fairly similar across the board. Here, I’ll go over how you can do it in Content Hub and WordPress.

Inserting Embed Code onto a Content Hub Site

In Content Hub, although I could use the HTML editor if I wanted to, I actually don’t need to in order to add embed content. Here’s how it works:

I open up my HubSpot dashboard and go to Content > Blog. If I was embedding content on a website or landing page, I would go to Content > Website Pages or Content > Landing Pages, respectively.

Next, I find the blog post or webpage where I want to embed the content, hover over it in the list, and click on the page or post name highlighted in blue.

In the top editor bar above the post, I click Insert and select Embed from the dropdown menu.

A pop-up app

How I grew my Substack by 7,000% in less than 3 years without burning out

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 21:35:04 +0300

The newsletter platform and social media site, Substack, has become one of the hottest spaces for online creators—and now brands and celebrities are joining the bandwagon. Boasting more than five million paid subscribers across the platform, Substack invites creators like myself to build an audience, make money, and connect with other readers and writers.

My name is Alex Lewis, and I joined Substack in December 2022. My newsletter, Feels Like Home, is now home to more than 3,500 subscribers and receives over 20,000 monthly reads. I started the newsletter to explore some of my favorite things (like music, sports, and pop culture) and to have a creative outlet outside of my 10-year career in social media marketing.

Here are the steps I took to grow my newsletter by 7,000% in less than three years and how it continues to help me avoid burnout and maintain my love for writing. Let’s get into it.

1. I wrote about what I enjoy.

The beauty of Substack is you can write about whatever you want, and there’s a good chance you’ll find people who actually want to read it.

When starting my Substack, I set out to write about things I love and the people and moments that have shaped me. This ensured that my writing would always be personal and always feel enjoyable because I’m writing about topics that I’m genuinely interested in, such as NBA basketball and healthy masculinity.

Consistency is much more attainable when writing and publishing feel like less of a burden. I get excited to return to the page because I’m following my curiosities—and what I often find on the other side of this pursuit are people who love the same things and feel seen, as well as people who aren’t as familiar with the topic but gain a newfound appreciation for it.

Ana Calin, whose How We Grow newsletter has hundreds of paid subscribers, encourages creators to “write the newsletter you would want to read—not the one you think will ‘perform.’” She adds, “Readers can tell when you’re being authentic, and they’ll stick around for your voice—not some polished version of what you think they want.”

While Substack lets you label your newsletter under 1-2 categories to help readers find your publication, you don’t have to corner yourself into a specific niche in order to grow. Sharing your interests can pave the way for connection and consistency.

2. I nurtured the people who already supported me.

Substack makes your writing accessible for people who want to read it.

Before joining Substack, sharing my work on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X felt like the only way for people to learn that I published something new. Friends would tell me they missed something I wrote because the algorithm didn’t serve my posts to them.

I chose to join Substack and start publishing a newsletter because I wanted the people who enjoyed reading my work to receive it directly in their inbox. While I still post about my publication on social media, email is my newsletter’s top traffic driver by far, generating 186% more views than the Substack app (which is my next closest).

By inviting readers to opt into an easier way to read my work, I started my Substack journey with over 100 subscribers within the first week. That’s more than 100 people who could share my newsletter and invite others to subscribe and begin sharing.

If you already have an audience but are having trouble reaching them online, consider starting a newsletter.

As noted by Seth Werkheiser, who writes his Social Media Escape Club newsletter to more than 6,000 subscribers, “Direct access to your audience is so important, and very much worth the time and energy.”

Social media algorithms are unreliable. Through Substack, you can take ownership of your email list and speak directly to your audience while making it easier for your long-time supporters to continue supporting.

3. I focused on consistent quality over consistent quantity.

Just because your favorite Substack writer posts every day doesn’t mean you need to.

What I began to observe, prior to joining Substack, is that I averaged two new essays per month. These weren’t just throwaway ideas; they were well-researched, thoughtful, long-form pieces that came as a result of reading, living, listening, and wrestling.

Once I started my newsletter, I launched a content recommendation series, Take It or Leave It, to fill in the gaps between essays. These started as weekly drops, but I shifted the cadence to monthly at the beginning of this year as I learned how challenging it was to maintain a weekly rhythm—especially since writing isn’t my full-time job.

Also, I knew my biggest metric for success was making work I’m proud of, and that takes time. Work I’m proud of is work I’m comfortable with returning to and want to share even after its publish date. This is work I believe readers can come to at any point and still find value in.

Consistency, in terms of how much you post, is often discussed as being tied to growth. But Sarah Fay, whose Substack Writers at Work newsletter has over 36,000 subscribers, says, “Substack’s algorithm doesn’t favor frequency.”

Fay adds, “Engagement is what matters.”

Posting more may get your newsletter in front of people more often, but it can also make your work harder to keep up with or even bombard readers’ already jam-packed inboxes. By focusing on consistent quality over upping your quantity, you can do a better job of delivering work your readers won’t want to miss because they know you always bring your best.

4. I “stole” from my favorite writers.

Your fellow Substack writers are the best blueprint for getting started.

I began my Substack journey on a whim. After months of putting off starting a newsletter, I finally decided to jump all in. Not knowing where to begin, I looked at publications from Substack writers I already followed, such as Hunter Harris and Emily Sundberg.

By looking at their newsletters, I gained a better understanding of how I wanted to structure my About page, as well as what to include in the header and footer of my emails. While I made the words my own, they helped me learn what’s possible with my publication.

Austin Kleon, whose self-titled Substack has 297,000 subscribers, authored the book, Steal Like An Artist. Within the guide, Kleon quotes fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto: “Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self.”

Your best path forward isn’t plagiarism; it’s learning from the writers and creators you admire. It’s letting the best of what they do inspire you to make the best work you can.

A few of my favorite Substackers are:

Shivani Kumar

Marc Typo

Rachel Moss

Jamal Robinson

Dia Lupo

Katie Heindl

5. I embraced playfulness and experimentation.

There’s no one way to show up on Substack.

Since starting my newsletter, I’ve tried different types of posts outside of long-form essays and content recommendations. I’ve interviewed artists I admire, such as Louisville rapper Horace Gaither and senior social media manager Jenn Crim. I’ve written love letters with my best friends and collaborated on conversation series with other writers.

For the sake of self-care and creative freedom, I resist rules and restrictions when it comes to Substack. I treat my newsletter as a playground instead of a prison. I set the guidelines for my creativity. And just like my own little playground, I can pick and choose what I want to play with, as well as how long I want to play with it.

Robert Monson, whose Musings From A Broken Heart newsletter has more than 7,000 subscribers, gives himself “permission to play and not appear perfect on Substack.” Supporters of his work, including myself, resonate with Robert’s openness and tag along for the ride wherever he chooses to go.

Try stuff. Follow your curiosities and see where they might take you. Mike Sowden of the Everything is Amazing newsletter said his first year on Substack was “just experimenting with everything.”

He also noted, “I just didn’t want to write stuff that didn’t fill me with joy, curiosity, and wonder.”

Sowden now has over 31,000 subscribers. Even if your playfulness doesn’t lead to audience growth, it might lead to more joy—and that’s just as important.

6. I shared about my Substack off of Substack.

There’s a whole world outside of Substack that doesn’t know about your newsletter.

Before joining Substack, I wrote an essay about rapper Kid Cudi, which I’ve since re-published on my newsletter. Not thinking anything of it, I shared the essay on Twitter (now X) and tagged Cudi. Less than 10 minutes later, he retweeted the essay and introduced my writing to his millions of followers.

I carried that strategy over to Substack and now regularly promote my newsletter on social media. Some of my most popular pieces gained traction on platforms like X, Threads, and LinkedIn, which drove more traffic to my newsletter.

Andy Adams, who publishes FlakPhoto Digest to over 38,000 Substack subscribers, noted, “Instagram plays a significant role in my Substack workflow.” He added, “[Instagram] has been instrumental in growing the audience for my Substack newsletter. For me, they go hand in hand.”

You’re already on social media. Use it to get your Substack in front of more people. In some ways, it can even be an extension of your newsletter by inviting new readers to dive deeper into your work.

7. I benefited from Substacks’s features.

Substack is jam-packed with tools to help you grow your newsletter audience.

The Substack Network, including app features like Notes and Chat, has driven 86% of my newsletter subscribers. Because culture journalist Ayan Artan recommended my Substack using the platform’s Recommendation feature, I gained nearly 1,000 subscribers in one month at the start of this year.

I regularly connect with other writers and readers on Notes, which is similar to short-form content channels like X and Threads. Notes has also introduced me to new Substacks and kept me inspired. I’m a better artist and person because of the relationships I’ve been able to build on Substack.

Mario Gabriele of The Generalist says, “Substack isn’t just a place to publish or read – it’s an ecosystem for writers and creators to collaborate and contribute to one another’s growth.”

You don’t have to go elsewhere to grow. Your new readers are waiting for you on Substack.

8. I stuck with it.

Substack growth could happen overnight, but it’s more likely to take time.

I’ve been on Substack for more than two and a half years, and it took over a year for me to reach my first 1,000 newsletter subscribers. Six months later, I gained nearly 1,000 subscribers in one month.

While each month looks different, my greatest achievement is that I’ve kept returning to the page. Writing has been a source of joy for me, and I’m thankful that I get to nurture that love through my newsletter.

Mika, who publishes the musings by mika newsletter, wrote about plateauing on Substack. “My secret sauce on Substack is enjoying the journey rather than fixating solely on the destination,” she shared.

Continuing on this topic, Mika wrote, “Showing up and honoring what you’re feeling called to write, embracing your authenticity, sparking real connections, and unleashing creativity is the real magic of Substack!”

Sometimes, the best thing for your growth may be setting the numbers aside and remembering what brought you to Substack in the first place. That will keep you going even if growth slows down.

Condé Nast marketing leader shares her framework for destroying your imposter syndrome

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 20:31:59 +0300

When I spoke to this week’s master in marketing, I was surprised at how seamlessly she had combined her two professional loves, digital marketing and life coaching. I’ll admit to having been skeptical about life coaching in the past, but this conversation changed my mind. As a life coach, she developed a framework she calls the Three See’s — more on that below — that can help any marketer up their game.

Meet the Master

Sheena Hakimian

Senior director of digital consumer marketing at Condé Nast and certified life coach

Fun fact: Sheena’s journey to becoming a life coach began at her favorite NYC restaurant, Piccola Cucina, which led her to taking an eight-month certification course. “The best decision I ever made,” she says.

Lesson 1: Focus on what you can control.

“There’s just so much change,” Hakimian says, in what I would consider a gross understatement at the moment. “From the [shift in traffic patterns] to us not knowing exactly how AI is going to shape our jobs to things going on in the world.”

If you focus on all of that at once, it becomes clutter. (See: my brain.) And all these uncertainties just breed more anxiety. But “how do you build resilience to uncertainty?” Hakimian asks. “It’s by focusing on the things you can control.”

As a marketer, this might look like what your data is telling you, understanding your customer needs, or growing your email lists.

Condé Nast has a very diverse set of brands — Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair are just a few — so Hakimian really took the time this year to “slice and dice. Really understanding different segments of your website and how they respond to different parts of your funnel.”

“We know we can’t have a one-size-fits-all strategy on our website anymore,” she says. So about that slicing and dicing: She did A/B testing within just the politics section of Vanity Fair. And she found that allowing readers one free article before gating the content — i.e., requiring a subscription — led to a 20% increase in subscriptions in their test panels.

Hakimian and her team have taken a lot of time over the last six months to do this testing thoughtfully — because what you do with the data is something that you can control.

Lesson 2: Make your boss’ life easier.

“What [is my boss] talking about that might not be on the KPI sheet?” Hakimian asks. It’s not a rhetorical question: You can’t solve business problems if you don’t know what they are. “The mindset is, I’m here to make my boss’ life easier.”

That doesn’t mean Hakimian doesn’t care about herself — “it just means that I’m aligning [with] the people who are responsible for my career.”

She’s spent much of this year working on being a good communicator, even sharing her communication goal with her team and asking them to hold her accountable.

And that means being a good listener.

Wanna make an impact? “Actively listening — when you really listen,” Hakimian says, you’ll be able to ask better questions and find more clarity. Whether it’s a 1:1, a Zoom meeting, or even a company all-hands, Hakimian keeps her ears open for problems, complaints, or other bugbears.

“And then I can just shift my mindset — and solve for that.”

Lesson 3: Build a strong in-person brand.

As both a life coach and a digital marketer, Hakimian sees her own personal growth — particularly unlocking her self-confidence — as essential to her marketing career.

“A great tangible way to actively pursue building more self-confidence — and ultimately self-worth — is by building a strong in-person brand,” she tells me.

It’s not that your digital presence is less important — “we have to take control of how we’re perceived online,” she says — but Hakimian is “on a mission to remind people that how you’re perceived [in person] is important. Really important.”

So important, in fact, that Hakimian built a framework she calls the Three See’s: How you see yourself, how others see you, and how you see your future. She uses this proprietary framework in her life-coaching business to help other people build a strong, aligned personal brand.

But like any good marketer, Hakimian tested it out first — on herself.

“Getting super self-aware and honest with myself has released a lot of that imposter syndrome so that I could go in and take risks” in her job as a marketing leader at Condé Nast. And that, she says, will make you stand out.

Lingering Questions

This Week’s Question

Have you found AI making an impact on your work at Condé Nast? If so, has it been a net positive or net negative? In many ways, the proliferation of AI content is making creating quality content, especially educational content, more difficult so I'm always curious how this new technology is affecting other fields? —Max Miller, Founder and host, Tasting History

This Week’s Answer

Hakimian says: From a marketing and subscription standpoint, we’re excited to explore how AI can help us deliver more dynamic, personalized experiences on our sites. That said, the human touch is still the heart of our strategy, especially when it comes to brand voice and creative direction.

The rise of AI-generated content has actually made high-quality, thoughtful content even more valuable. It’s easier than ever to pump out content, but much harder to build trust, credibility, and originality.

At Condé Nast, our unique edge is still our storytelling and editorial integrity. AI, to us, is a tool to scale our voices around that, not replace it. So overall, I’d say it can be a net positive when used with intention. But like anything, it depends on how thoughtfully it’s integrated.

Next Week’s Lingering Question

Hakimian asks: [Our next master in marketing has] built an incredible reputation for understanding Gen Z behavior and creating authentic, community-first content. In a world that’s constantly chasing virality, how do you balance consistency with creativity, and what advice would you give to brands trying to build genuine relationships over time, not just reach?

4 best pharma CRMs in 2025

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 18:01:29 +0300

Managing relationships across healthcare professionals (HCPs), healthcare organizations (HCOs), and complex regulatory requirements makes choosing the right CRM critical for pharmaceutical companies. Whether you're tracking drug samples, coordinating clinical trials, or ensuring compliance, pharmaceutical companies benefit from CRM systems with features that support their specialized workflows.

This guide examines four leading CRM solutions that help pharmaceutical businesses streamline operations and build stronger relationships with healthcare stakeholders. We‘ll compare essential features like regulatory compliance tracking, sample management, HCP engagement tools, and multichannel capabilities. You’ll discover how each platform addresses industry-specific needs, from pricing structures to integration capabilities.

Wondering what a pharma CRM can do for you? Healthcare company Fatebenefratelli generated over 350,000 sessions and 4,000 leads in a year using HubSpot Smart CRM.

AI tools generated the initial draft of this article. All content has been thoroughly reviewed, fact-checked, and revised by a HubSpot staff writer to ensure accuracy and quality.

Table of Contents

What is a CRM for pharmaceutical companies?

CRM Comparison Table

Best CRM Software for Pharmaceutical Businesses

Benefits of CRM Software for Pharmaceutical Companies

5 Important Features for a Pharmaceutical CRM

How to Choose a CRM for Pharmaceutical Companies (Step-by-Step)

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Pharmaceutical Companies

What is a CRM for pharmaceutical companies?

A pharmaceutical CRM is a customer relationship management software designed to manage the complex relationships between pharma companies and their stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, healthcare organizations, patients, and medical science liaisons. While some platforms like Veeva are built specifically for pharmaceuticals, others like HubSpot provide flexible CRM foundations that healthcare companies can configure for their pharmaceutical operations.

Best CRMs for Pharmaceutical Companies at a Glance

CRM

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Free Trial Available

HubSpot

Growing pharmaceutical companies seeking an all-in-one platform that scales from startup to enterprise

Contact and activity management, advanced marketing campaign tools, communication and workflow features

Free CRM. Paid plans start at $15/seat/month. To store sensitive information and enable HIPAA-supporting features, you need the Enterprise plan for its products, which starts from $150/month/seat for Sales and Service Hubs.

Free plans available

Creatio

Mid-size pharmaceutical companies wanting a platform with pharma-specific features and no-code customization

Field force features, compliance features, Copilot AI assistant

Starts at $25/user/month

14-day free trial

Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud

Enterprise pharmaceutical organizations requiring a platform with life sciences-specific features

HCP engagement features, clinical trial participant management, patient services features

Starts at $325/user/month

30-day free trial

Veeva CRM

Large pharmaceutical companies seeking a CRM and suite of software purpose-built for the life sciences industry

Compliance features, mobile and offline support, AI features

Contact for pricing

No free trial

Best CRM Software for Pharmaceutical Businesses

1. HubSpot

Source

Best for: Growing pharmaceutical companies seeking an all-in-one platform that scales from startup to enterprise

Key HubSpot Features

Contact and activity management: HubSpot's CRM provides contact management, email tracking, and meeting scheduling features. The platform enables companies to track interactions across multiple touchpoints with activity logging and user attribution. Teams can set up custom properties and workflows to match their specific needs.

Advanced marketing campaign tools: HubSpot's marketing features include email marketing, landing pages, and forms. Users can create marketing campaigns and segment contacts using lists. The platform offers marketing automation workflows that can be customized for different use cases.

Communication and workflow features: For managing communications, HubSpot offers email templates, workflow automation, and custom forms.

HubSpot Pricing

HubSpot’s CRM is free. In addition, it offers free plans for all six core products (marketing, sales, service, content, operations, and commerce).

Each core product has a free, Starter, Professional, and Enterprise plan. Paid plans start at $15/seat/month and go up to $3,600/month for the Marketing Hub Enterprise plan (which includes five core seats).

Please note that if you’re seeking HIPAA compliance, you must purchase the Enterprise plan to get HIPAA-related security features. The Enterprise Customer Platform bundle (which includes Enterprise access to HubSpot's marketing, sales, customer service, content, and operations software) starts at $4,700/month and includes seven seats.

HubSpot pricing depends on your specific needs and add-ons. Use this HubSpot pricing calculator to see your custom price.

2. Creatio

Source

Best for: Mid-size pharmaceutical companies wanting a platform with pharma-specific features and no-code customization

Key Creatio Features

Field force features: This CRM offers field management software that enables you to set up rep visit schedules, optimize routes between meeting locations, log employee activities during each visit, and create rules and actions for the HCPs and HCOs your reps work with.

Compliance features: This CRM has safety information management, privacy management, legal case management, and internal audit features.

Copilot (Creatio AI assistant): Get recommendations and insights powered by AI.

Creatio Pricing

Creatio has modular pricing that allows you to build a solution based on the products and features you need. You can add on sales, marketing, or service products, plus AI tokens, additional user types, and support plans. There is a minimum purchase of $10,000/year for new customers.

The platform plans are as follows:

Growth: $25/user/month

Enterprise: $55/user/month

Unlimited: $85/user/month

14-day free trial of Creatio CRM available

3. Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud

Source

Best for: Enterprise pharmaceutical organizations requiring a platform with life sciences-specific features

Key Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud Features

HCP engagement features: Offer providers a personalized online portal with AI-powered agents and content relevant to their prescriber activity.

Clinical trial participant management: Screen candidates, onboard participants, and access reporting dashboards.

Patient services features: Help patients verify pharmacy benefits, access financial assistance, and report outcomes.

Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud Pricing

Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud pricing is as follows:

Life Sciences Cloud Enterprise: $325/user/month

Life Sciences Cloud Unlimited: $500/user/month

Life Sciences Cloud Agentforce 1 for Service: $750/user/month

Life Sciences Cloud Agentforce 1 for Sales: $750/user/month

30-day free trial of Life Sciences Cloud available

4. Veeva CRM

Source

Best for: Large pharmaceutical companies seeking a CRM and a suite of software, all purpose-built for the life sciences industry

Key Veeva Features

Compliance features: Admins can define restricted phrases, which will prevent these phrases from being sent in the Engage tab chat in the CRM. In late 2025, this CRM plans to release “compliant free text,” which will use AI to automatically check free text and flag entries that present a risk to compliance.

Mobile and offline support: Give your field team the tools they need with this CRM's offline capabilities on mobile devices.

AI features: Use Voice Control to record and transcribe voice notes after HCP visits (planned release in late 2025).

Veeva Pricing

Contact Veeva for pricing. No free trial.

Benefits of CRM Software for Pharmaceutical Companies

Improved communications: CRM platforms enable teams to track interaction history and preferences to deliver more relevant communications. DocPlanner, a healthcare marketplace, uses HubSpot to enter new markets quickly by cloning and translating templates, cutting time and ensuring cohesive messaging.

Unified data management: CRM platforms centralize all customer data in one accessible system, breaking down silos between departments. HubSpot’s unified customer platform spans sales, marketing, customer service, operations, and commerce.

Streamlined operations: CRM systems centralize data management and provide workflow automation capabilities. Teams can use these platforms to manage various processes from marketing campaigns to field activities, though specific features depend on the chosen platform and configuration. Emergency medical information service MedicAlert Foundation Canada replaced its disconnected systems with HubSpot, achieving implementation costs that were “10X less than Salesforce,” according to MedicAlert’s CEO.

Data analytics and reporting: CRM platforms provide reporting and analytics features to help teams track performance and make informed decisions. Most platforms offer dashboards and custom reporting options, though the depth of analytics varies by solution. Cancer software platform CancerIQ uses HubSpot's Dashboard & Reporting Software add-on to enable better data-driven business decisions.

5 Important Features for a Pharmaceutical CRM

Contact and interaction tracking: Essential for pharmaceutical companies to maintain comprehensive records of all HCP engagements. Look for platforms that offer detailed activity logging, custom properties for tracking interaction types, and easy reporting capabilities. While it isn’t tailored to pharma compliance needs out of the box, HubSpot’s flexibility allows for configuration to approximate key pharma use cases.

Marketing automation capabilities: Pharmaceutical companies need tools to create targeted campaigns for different HCP segments and therapeutic areas. HubSpot's marketing automation helped Mesa Labs, a medical safety company, connect with specialized audiences using precise targeting informed by its CRM data, improving its ability to reach the right audience.

Multichannel engagement tools: Modern pharmaceutical sales require coordinating interactions across in-person visits, virtual meetings, email, and digital channels. HubSpot offers tools for email, social media, and content management, allowing you to personalize your outreach across many channels.

Integrations: Pharmaceutical companies often need to connect their CRM with other systems for a complete view of operations. HubSpot has over 1,900 apps, a network of solutions partners for custom integrations, plus plentiful API documentation for DIY integrations.

Scalability and ease of use: As pharmaceutical companies grow, their CRM needs to scale without requiring complex migrations or extensive technical resources. CancerIQ was able to set up its sales process on HubSpot without needing a CRM engineer, highlighting how user-friendly and intuitive the platform is.

How to Choose a CRM for Pharmaceutical Companies (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Map your workflows. Document current processes for HCP engagement, sample management, medical inquiries, and compliance reporting. Identify pain points where manual work slows teams down or creates compliance risks. Include input from sales, medical affairs, marketing, and regulatory teams.

Step 2: Identify must-have features. Based on your workflow analysis, prioritize features that address your biggest challenges. Consider regulatory requirements in your markets, integration needs with existing systems, and mobile capabilities for field teams. Distinguish between immediate needs and future requirements.

Step 3: Evaluate user experience and support. Request demos and trials to test actual functionality with your team. Check vendor support options and whether they have pharmaceutical industry expertise.

Step 4: Check cost at scale. Look beyond initial licensing to understand total cost of ownership. Factor in implementation, training, ongoing support, and integration costs.

Step 5: Select a platform that meets your needs. Choose a CRM based on your specific requirements and budget. Look for one that is flexible enough to be configured based on your unique needs. 258,000+ customers across various industries in over 135 countries use HubSpot to grow their businesses.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best CRM for pharmaceutical companies?

The best CRM depends on your company's specific needs, size, and budget. HubSpot offers a strong option for growing pharmaceutical companies with its flexible platform and scalable features.

What features should I look for in a CRM for pharmaceutical companies?

Look for CRM features such as contact and interaction tracking, marketing automation, and multichannel engagement tools. Additionally, consider mobile access for field teams and integration capabilities with existing systems. Remember that many advanced features may require configuration or additional modules.

Is HubSpot good for pharmaceutical companies?

HubSpot provides a strong foundation for pharmaceutical companies with its healthcare-focused features. It has features that support HIPAA compliance. Pharma companies can configure this flexible, reliable platform to fit their needs and access powerful marketing and sales tools.

How much does a CRM for pharmaceut

5 best healthcare CRM software in 2025

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 17:48:47 +0300

There‘s more to healthcare than the visit itself. Whether you’re a doctor’s office, dental practice, or senior living facility, you know that consistent, personalized communication is key to meeting patients’ changing health needs. In fact, it’s what patients prefer. Research by global healthcare company Abbott found that 72% of patients want more personalized care.

But keeping patients’ protected health information safe is a requirement, not just a nice-to-have. A good healthcare CRM will protect sensitive information and help you use it to power more personalized communications and stronger relationships with your customers.

Healthcare company Santagostino used HubSpot Smart CRM to send personalized pediatric communications to parents based on patient segments. This shows the power of combining CRM data with marketing tools in one platform.

Below, we’ve put together a list of healthcare CRM software with features that support HIPAA compliance. We’ll go over the features, pricing, and comparisons of different CRMs to help you choose the right one for your business. We used generative AI tools to enhance research and drafting, and a HubSpot staff writer fact-checked and reviewed this article before publication.

Table of Contents

What is a CRM for healthcare?

CRM Comparison Table

Best CRM Software for Healthcare Businesses

Benefits of CRM Software for Healthcare

5 Important Features for a Healthcare CRM

How to Choose a CRM for Healthcare (Step-by-Step)

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Healthcare Companies

What is a CRM for healthcare?

While an EHR stores the full digital chart and medical records of your patient, a healthcare CRM complements an EHR by storing only the limited, relevant patient data that your marketing, sales, and service teams need to create a cohesive patient experience.

This data might include a patient's needs or interests so marketing can send condition-specific campaigns or a patient’s chosen communication preferences, such as receiving calls only in the evenings. And of course, it is critical to maintain HIPAA compliance, which is a shared responsibility between the CRM software provider and the customer.

Best CRMs for Healthcare at a Glance

CRM

BEST FOR

KEY FEATURES

PRICING

FREE TRIAL AVAILABLE

HubSpot

Healthcare businesses seeking an all-in-one customer platform built for HIPAA compliance

Features that support HIPAA compliance, unified customer platform, advanced marketing automation

HubSpot’s CRM is always free and includes free tiers for all six core products. Paid plans start at $15/seat/month. To store sensitive information and enable HIPAA-supporting features, you need the Enterprise plan for its products, which starts from $150/month/seat for Sales and Service Hubs.

Free plans

Epic Cheers

Providers seeking a healthcare CRM that’s seamlessly integrated with the Epic EHR ecosystem

Natively integrated with Epic’s EHR, helps patients find new doctors, streamlines call center operations

Contact for pricing

No

Salesforce Health Cloud

Enterprise healthcare organizations seeking an out-of-the-box healthcare CRM solution

Features that support HIPAA compliance, access to MuleSoft integration platform, powered by Agentforce AI

From $325/user/month

Yes, 30-day free trial

Zoho

Healthcare businesses seeking an affordable CRM with built-in scheduling

Features that support HIPAA compliance, built-in appointment scheduling, EHR integrations

From $14/user/month

Yes, 15-day free trial

LeadSquared

Healthcare businesses wanting to manage the full patient journey in one CRM

Features that support HIPAA compliance, automated personalized patient outreach, EHR integrations

From $60/user/month

Yes, free trial available

Best CRM Software for Healthcare Businesses

Choosing the best healthcare CRM for your business requires knowing the unique advantages of the top platforms. We’ve evaluated the following popular healthcare CRMs based on their HIPAA-related features, sales and marketing automations, and ability to provide a more personalized patient experience.

1. HubSpot

Source

Best for: Healthcare businesses seeking an all-in-one customer platform built for HIPAA compliance

Key HubSpot Features

Features that support HIPAA compliance: In June 2024, HubSpot released features for HIPAA support. Enterprise-level subscribers to HubSpot can now configure the customer platform to support HIPAA compliance by turning on Sensitive Data settings and accepting HubSpot’s Business Associate Agreement (BAA). HubSpot also provides comprehensive audit logging, inactive session timeout, and other security features.

Unified customer platform: Say goodbye to disjointed tech tools. HubSpot is a unified customer platform with connected sales, marketing, service, and operations tools all powered by the CRM data. CancerIQ streamlined its sales and marketing by combining them into HubSpot's single platform.

Advanced marketing automation: With Marketing Hub, build visual workflows to automate tasks such as appointment reminders and follow-ups. You can also build custom email campaigns that are triggered by certain patient behaviors or milestones.

HubSpot Pricing

HubSpot’s CRM is always free, and it offers free plans for all six core products (marketing, sales, service, content, operations, and commerce).

Each core product has a free, Starter, Professional, and Enterprise plan. Paid plans start at $15/seat/month and go up to $3,600/month for the Marketing Hub Enterprise plan (which includes five core seats).

Please note that if you’re seeking HIPAA compliance, you must purchase the Enterprise plan to get HIPAA-related security features. The Enterprise Customer Platform bundle (which includes Enterprise access to HubSpot's marketing, sales, customer service, content, and operations software) starts at $4,700/month and includes seven seats.

HubSpot pricing depends on your specific needs and add-ons. Use this HubSpot pricing calculator to see your custom price.

2. Epic Cheers

Source

Best for: Providers seeking a healthcare CRM that’s seamlessly integrated with the Epic EHR ecosystem

Key Epic Cheers Features

Natively integrated with Epic’s EHR: This CRM is a part of Epic’s ecosystem, which includes MyChart, a popular patient portal that already supports HIPAA compliance. Providers already using MyChart can implement this CRM and conveniently connect to their patients’ health records and portal.

Helps patients find new doctors: The Provider Finder feature ensures you can connect your patients to a new PCP, provide correct addresses for their upcoming appointments, and see which doctors are currently accepting new patients.

Streamlines call center operations: The Call Management module helps call center agents see past interactions with patients and provide more personalized information. It also ensures calls are routed to the best department.

Epic Cheers Pricing

Epic does not list pricing for Cheers CRM on its website. Contact Epic for pricing. No free trial available.

3. Salesforce Health Cloud

Source

Best for: Enterprise healthcare organizations seeking an out-of-the-box healthcare CRM solution

Key Salesforce Health Cloud Features

Features that support HIPAA compliance: Health Cloud is designed to support HIPAA compliance. Customers can contact their account representative to find out more about obtaining a Business Associate Addendum (BAA).

Access to MuleSoft integration platform: Health Cloud customers can purchase MuleSoft Accelerator for Healthcare, which contains prebuilt APIs to help customers integrate with popular EHR systems, including Epic.

Powered by Agentforce AI: With the Agentforce add-on, customers can unlock AI agents to provide 24/7 support to patients. For example, Agentforce can answer common questions, suggest services based on patient needs, and build quotes.

Salesforce Health Cloud Pricing

Below are the different tiers of Salesforce Health Cloud pricing, all billed annually.

Health Cloud Enterprise: $325/user/month

Health Cloud Unlimited: $500/user/month

Health Cloud Agentforce 1 for Service: $750/user/month

Health Cloud Agentforce 1 for Sales: $750/user/month

30-day Health Cloud trial available

4. Zoho

Source

Best for: Healthcare businesses seeking an affordable CRM with built-in scheduling

Key Zoho CRM Features

Features that support HIPAA compliance: This CRM has features to help you ensure HIPAA compliance, including audit logs to monitor access and modifications to customer records, ePHI encryption that you can turn on by selecting fields with protected health information, and the ability to enable HIPAA compliance settings.

Built-in appointment scheduling: Access a unified scheduling system to book in-person and virtual appointments that sync with calendar apps like Google Calendar. You can also send automatic reminders to patients to reduce the chances of no-shows.

EHR integrations: This CRM has a native integration with Charm EHR, but it doesn’t have out-of-the-box integrations for major EHRs such as Epic or Cerner. For that, you’d need custom middleware or access to its APIs to build your own integration.

Zoho CRM Pricing

Below are the different pricing tiers of Zoho CRM, based on annual billing.

Standard: $14/user/month

Professional: $23/user/month

Enterprise: $40/user/month

Ultimate: $52/user/month

15-day Zoho CRM free trial available

5. LeadSquared

Source

Best for: Healthcare businesses wanting to manage the full patient journey in one CRM

Key LeadSquared Features

Features that support HIPAA compliance: This CRM can be used in compliance with HIPAA and has many security features, including audit logs for each remote user session, and data centers that are ISO 27001, SSAE-16, and HIPAA compliant. It also has a BAA.

Automated personalized patient outreach: Send automated appointment confirmations to reduce no-shows.

EHR integrations: Access ready integrations to connect to EHR systems like Epic, AthenaHealth, DrChrono, and more.

LeadSquared Pricing

Below are the plans for LeadSquared’s healthcare CRM pricing:

Sales Pro: $60/user/month

Sales Super: $100/user/month

Free trial available

Benefits of CRM Software for Healthcare

Increase patient support and satisfaction. A healthcare CRM with in-depth reporting can increase your understanding of customer behavior and needs, empowering your customer service team to provide better support. Mental health startup Mindgram enhanced customer satisfaction after integrating HubSpot help desk features within its platform.

Grow your practice by attracting new patients. A healthcare CRM with built-in marketing tools helps you create targeted content that attracts the right patients to your practice. DocPlanner, a marketplace for patients seeking doctors, used HubSpot’s Marketing Hub's smart content to display different versions of content based on user segments to drive its international growth.

Improve your healthcare business’ operational efficiency. When you finally have access to all your customer data, it’s incredible the time savings you’ll see. Sales reps will no longer waste time chasing the wrong leads; customer service agents will no longer field repetitive common questions; and your marketing team will no longer wonder which campaigns are driving the most ROI. MedicAlert saw “astronomical” efficiency gains after replacing its disconnected systems with HubSpot's unified customer platform.

Scale your healthcare business without adding unnecessary complexity. With the right healthcare CRM, you won’t overburden your IT team with complicated, cumbersome systems. CancerIQ was able to quickly onboard new sales team members without the help of a CRM engineer by using HubSpot's intuitive CRM platform.

4 Important Features for a Healthcare CRM

Security features to support HIPAA compliance: Configuring your CRM for HIPAA compliance is essential. HubSpot Enterprise users can enable the Sensitive Data setting and indicate their status as a HIPAA-covered entity or business associate to accept the terms of HubSpot’s Business Associate Agreement (BAA).

Integrations with EHR and other existing software: Check what kind of integrations your healthcare CRM can offer and whether they’re native integrations that can be enabled in one click or custom integrations that take more time and resources. HubSpot offers more than 1,900 apps in its App Marketplace, HubSpot solutions partners for custom-built integrations, and developer-friendly API documentation for DIY integrations.

Mobile access: Your staff aren’t always at a computer. That’s why your healthcare CRM needs to have a mobile app that provides your staff with easy access wherever they are. HubSpot's mobile app lets you report customer issues, open support tickets, create social media posts, and message your patients from the convenience of a smartphone.

Analytics and reporting: Get data-driven insights into the health of your practice with your CRM. Medic

4 best CRMs for wholesalers in 2025

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 17:41:18 +0300

Spreadsheets and manual processes can hold back your wholesale business from growing. As wholesalers face increasing pressures to deliver faster, maintain accurate inventory visibility, and provide exceptional customer service, the right CRM becomes essential for success.

A CRM helps wholesalers streamline operations, from managing volume-based pricing to tracking shipments across multiple channels. That‘s why we’ve compiled this list of the best CRM software for wholesalers, complete with feature breakdowns, pricing comparisons, and implementation guidance.

Below, we'll explore solutions including HubSpot, Pepperi, Prospect CRM, and Zoho. Unipart, a global provider of supply chain solutions, grew its pipeline from millions to billions in just 12 months using HubSpot.

To quickly bring you this comprehensive guide, we used AI tools for research and drafting. All content has been thoroughly reviewed, fact-checked, and revised by a HubSpot staff writer to ensure accuracy and completeness.

Read on to discover which CRM will transform your wholesale operations.

Table of Contents

What is a CRM for Wholesalers?

CRM Comparison Table

Best CRM Software for Wholesalers

Benefits of CRM Software for Wholesalers

5 Important Features for a Wholesale CRM

How to Choose a CRM for Wholesalers (Step-by-Step)

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Wholesale Companies

What is a CRM for Wholesalers?

A CRM for wholesalers is a specialized customer relationship management system designed to handle the unique complexities of wholesale distribution. Wholesale-focused systems can integrate with inventory management, handle bulk pricing structures, manage distributor networks, and track orders from purchase to delivery — all while maintaining detailed customer histories and facilitating B2B communications.

HubSpot's CRM platform serves wholesalers by providing customizable properties, automation for order workflows, and unified data across sales, marketing, and service teams to manage complex B2B relationships at scale.

Best CRMs for Wholesalers at a Glance

CRM

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Free Trial Available

HubSpot

Wholesalers wanting an all-in-one platform that unifies sales, marketing, and service with powerful automation

Unified customer view, marketing automation, AI-powered features

Free CRM; paid plans start at $15/seat/month

Free plans

Pepperi

Brands and wholesale distributors needing unified B2B commerce across all channels

Self-service buying portal, sales rep order taking, route accounting & DSD

Starts at $500/month

No free trial

Prospect CRM

Wholesalers needing stock-aware CRM with real-time inventory visibility

Stock-aware CRM technology, RFM customer segmentation, cross-selling Magic Matrix

Starts at $210

14-day free trial

Zoho CRM

Small to mid-sized wholesalers seeking affordable, feature-rich solutions

Process management (Blueprint), Zia AI agents, lead nurturing

Starts at $20/user/month

Free trial available

Best CRM Software for Wholesalers

The right CRM can change constant bottlenecks into smooth operations. Let's examine four leading solutions that excel at managing wholesale complexities.

1. HubSpot

Source

Best for: Wholesalers wanting an all-in-one platform that unifies sales, marketing, and service with powerful automation

Key HubSpot Features

Unified customer view: HubSpot's Smart CRM creates unified customer profile to give you the ultimate visibility into interactions. It offers custom properties that allow businesses to configure the customer platform to suit wholesaler needs.

Marketing automation: HubSpot's Marketing Hub includes workflow automation capabilities that can trigger actions based on various criteria. The platform supports email marketing and campaign management.

AI-powered features: HubSpot's AI tools include features for content generation, predictive lead scoring, and automation assistance across the platform.

HubSpot Pricing

HubSpot’s CRM is free and includes contact management, deal pipelines, and basic reporting. You can expand functionality by adding paid Hubs. Hub pricing is as follows:

Free: $0/mo/seat

Starter: From $15/mo/seat, depending on the product

Professional: From $100/mo/seat, depending on the product

Enterprise: From $150/mo/seat, depending on the product

2. Pepperi

Source

Best for: Brands and wholesale distributors needing unified B2B commerce across all channels

Key Pepperi Features

Self-service buying portal: Pepperi's B2B eCommerce platform provides 24/7 customer self-service through branded wholesale portals. Customers can browse multiple catalogs with custom pricing, check real-time inventory, place orders, and monitor order status independently, reducing the burden on sales teams while increasing order frequency.

Sales rep order taking: Pepperi's mobile app empowers field sales reps with offline-capable order taking on iOS and Android devices. The app provides complete account information, order history, and real-time inventory visibility in the field.

Route accounting & direct store delivery: Access a map view that lets you see accounts near you, get GPS navigation, and schedule appointments.

Pepperi Pricing

Pepperi pricing is as follows:

Pro: Starts at $500/month

Corporate: Starts at $1,500/month

Ultimate: Contact for pricing

No free trial

3. Prospect CRM

Source

Best for: Wholesalers needing a stock-aware CRM with real-time inventory visibility

Key ProspectCRM Features

Stock-aware CRM technology: This CRM is specifically designed for businesses selling physical products B2B. The platform combines product, inventory and customer sales data to provide real-time stock visibility.

RFM customer segmentation: The platform automatically segments customers using Recency, Frequency, and Monetary (RFM) analysis, helping wholesalers identify high-value customers and personalize messaging for each segment.

Cross-selling magic matrix: The Magic Matrix system helps you to find and take action on key cross-selling and upselling opportunities to help increase average order values.

Prospect CRM Pricing

Prospect CRM's pricing is as follows:

Start-up CRM: From $210 (4 users)

Professional CRM: From $421 (4 users)

Advanced CRM: $2,327 (15 users)

14-day free trial available

4. Zoho CRM

Source

Best for: Small to mid-sized wholesalers seeking affordable, feature-rich solutions

Key Zoho CRM Features

Process management: Blueprint helps standardize and automate sales processes with visual workflow design that guides you to the best step to take.

Zia AI agents: Zia Agents are AI assistants that handle sales tasks for you. These agents can coach your sales team, give you insights into lost deals, and identify cross-sell and upsell opportunities.

Lead nurturing: Define criteria to auto-assign leads to the right reps and set up automated follow-ups.

Zoho CRM Pricing

Zoho CRM's pricing is as follows:

Standard: $20/user/month

Professional: $35/user/month

Enterprise: $50/user/month

Ultimate: $65/user/month

Free trial available

Benefits of CRM Software for Wholesalers

Improve order accuracy and fulfillment: Centralizing customer information helps reduce errors in order processing. CRMs store customer preferences, order history, and shipping details in one accessible location. HubSpot's Smart CRM provides a unified view of all customer data, helping teams access the information they need for order processing.

Strengthen distributor relationships: Track interactions and performance metrics across your distribution network. CRMs provide visibility into partner activities and help identify growth opportunities. HubSpot stores information about previous interactions, helping you stay in the loop and nurture relationships with contacts.

Enhance inventory visibility: Many CRMs integrate with inventory systems or include inventory features to provide better stock visibility and order management capabilities. HubSpot's App Marketplace offers integrations with leading inventory management systems — including Zoho Inventory, Katana Cloud Inventory, and Inventory Panda — to provide stock visibility within your CRM.

Scale operations efficiently: Automation features in CRMs help businesses handle growth without proportional increases in manual work. HubSpot's workflow automation enables wholesalers to automate routine tasks so you can boost team productivity and spend resources wisely.

5 Important Features for a Wholesale CRM

B2B-specific functionality: Look for CRMs that support B2B sales processes, including account management, opportunity tracking, and contact relationship mapping. In HubSpot, you can associate records to connect companies with their related contacts and deals for better relationship visibility.

Integration capabilities: Your CRM should connect with other business systems. HubSpot's App Marketplace offers over 1,900 integrations with popular business tools, allowing connections with various third-party applications.

Pricing and quoting tools: CRMs should support complex pricing scenarios common in wholesale. Look for platforms with customizable quote templates and pricing rule capabilities. HubSpot's quotes tool enables users to create professional quotes and send them for electronic signature.

Reporting and analytics: Comprehensive reporting helps track performance and identify trends. HubSpot's reporting tools allow creation of custom dashboards and reports to track sales metrics and performance data.

Mobile accessibility: Field sales teams need mobile access to CRM data. HubSpot's mobile app provides access to reports, deals, and tasks on iOS and Android, so your sales teams can work from anywhere.

How to Choose a CRM for Wholesalers (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Map your current processes. Document existing workflows and identify areas where a CRM could improve efficiency. Consider order processing, customer communication, and reporting needs.

Step 2: Define integration requirements. List all systems that need to connect with your CRM. Check each platform's integration options and consider middleware solutions if needed.

Step 3: Calculate total cost of ownership. Consider subscription fees, implementation costs, training, and ongoing support when evaluating CRM options.

Step 4: Involve key stakeholders. Include representatives from sales, customer service, and operations in the evaluation process to ensure the CRM meets all departmental needs.

Step 5: Test with real scenarios. Use free trials to test CRMs with actual business scenarios. If a free trial isn’t available, book a demo with a sales rep. Create sample quotes, manage test orders, and evaluate ease of use.

Step 6: Plan for scalability. Choose a CRM that can grow with your business. HubSpot's scalable platform allows businesses to start with free tools and add features as they grow.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best CRM for wholesalers?

The best CRM depends on specific business needs, size, and budget. HubSpot offers a comprehensive platform with free CRM tools and scalable paid features. Its flexibility and unified approach to sales, marketing, and service make it suitable for many wholesale operations.

What features should I look for in a wholesale CRM?

Key features include contact and account management, opportunity tracking, integration capabilities, reporting tools, and mobile access. Look for platforms that support B2B sales processes and can connect with your existing business systems. HubSpot's CRM has over 1,900 integrations in its App Marketplace, offering plentiful opportunities to connect with many of your favorite tools.

Is HubSpot suitable for wholesale businesses?

Yes, HubSpot's flexibility makes it suitable for wholesale businesses. The platform offers custom properties, workflows, and integrations that can be configured for wholesale-specific needs. Manufacturing companies with similar B2B complexity have seen strong results — Positec Group, a manufacturer of power tools, manages over 90,000 support tickets annually with HubSpot.

How much does a wholesale CRM typically cost?

CRM costs vary widely based on features and vendor. Pepperi starts at $500/month for its Pro plan. Prospect CRM begins at $210 for four users on its Start-Up plan. Zoho CRM offers more affordable per-user pricing starting at $20/user/month for Standard. HubSpot's CRM is always free with contact management, deals, and basic reporting, with paid plans starting at just $15/month/seat for additional features.

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Wholesale Companies

HubSpot stands out as a flexible CRM solution for wholesalers seeking to modernize operations and build strong customer relationships. Here's why wholesale businesses choose HubSpot:

Flexible platform: HubSpot's CRM adapts to various business processes with custom objects and workflows that can be configured for wholesale operations

Unified operations: The platform brings together sales, marketing, and service tools with shared data and integrated functionality. VELUX, a manufacturer of skylights, reduced skylight simulation wait times from 2-3 weeks to just minutes using HubSpot's Breeze Copilot AI solution.

Proven results: Companies across

4 best CRMs for higher education in 2025

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 17:32:31 +0300

With college enrollment trending downward and experts anticipating a “demographic cliff” in 2025 — having a higher education CRM is absolutely vital to ensuring a thriving institution. A CRM is key to attracting and retaining students, ensuring enrollee success, and fostering relationships with alumni and donors.

The University of Wyoming boosted enrollment by using HubSpot Smart CRM, with 60% of one year's incoming class having come through a HubSpot landing page somewhere along their journey, proving just how powerful the right CRM can be.

Below, we'll explore four higher education CRMs, providing you with feature comparisons, pricing details, and implementation guidance. To quickly bring you this comprehensive guide, we used AI tools for research and drafting. All content has been thoroughly reviewed, fact-checked, and revised by a HubSpot staff writer to ensure accuracy and completeness.

Read on to discover which CRM can best improve your institution's enrollment and engagement strategies.

Table of Contents

What is a higher education CRM?

CRM Comparison Table

Best CRM Software for Higher Education

Benefits of CRM Software for Higher Education

5 Important Features for a Higher Education CRM

How to Choose a CRM for Higher Education (Step-by-Step)

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Higher Education

What is a higher education CRM?

A customer relationship management (CRM) system for higher education is a specialized platform that helps colleges and universities manage interactions with prospective students, current students, alumni, donors, and other stakeholders throughout their entire journey with the institution.

From tracking prospect interactions and automating personalized outreach to supporting student success initiatives and alumni engagement, these platforms serve as the central hub for all constituent data and communications. HubSpot's CRM can help enrollment teams work smarter by automating routine tasks while providing the insights needed to make data-driven decisions.

Best CRMs for Higher Education at a Glance

CRM

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Free Trial Available

HubSpot

Institutions wanting an all-in-one platform that unifies recruitment, student success, and advancement with AI-powered automation

360-view of contacts, Breeze AI agents, marketing automation for enrollment growth

Free CRM; paid plans start at $15/seat/month

Yes (free tier available)

Salesforce Education Cloud

Large universities with resources for comprehensive digital transformation and enterprise-grade solutions

Education-specific data model, Agentforce AI capabilities, modular SIS capabilities

Starts at $81.25/user/month

Yes, 30-day free trial

Ellucian CRM

Institutions that want a higher ed software suite that has CRM products (Recruit, Advise, and Advance) and an SIS solutions in the same ecosystem

Student portal, application management, seamless Ellucian ecosystem integration

Contact for pricing.

No

Slate

Institutions seeking a purpose-built admissions and enrollment management platform

Unified admissions and enrollment platform, SIS integrations, AI-driven features

Starts at $30,000 per year

No

Best CRM Software for Higher Education

Selecting the right CRM can transform how your institution engages with students throughout their educational journey as well as optimize donations and sponsorships. Let‘s examine four leading solutions that can meet higher education’s unique needs.

1. HubSpot

Source

Best for: Institutions wanting an all-in-one platform that unifies recruitment, student success, and advancement with AI-powered automation

Key HubSpot Features

360-view of contacts: Create custom objects to tailor HubSpot to fit your higher ed needs and workflows. Break down data silos by connecting information from admissions, student services, advancement, and alumni relations in one centralized system. HubSpot's Smart CRM provides every department with the same comprehensive view of each constituent, enabling personalized experiences throughout the student lifecycle.

Breeze AI agents: Deploy AI-powered agents that work 24/7 to support your teams. Use Breeze Content Agent to create compelling recruitment content and personalized communications. Leverage Breeze Customer Agent to answer prospective student questions instantly, transfer complex inquiries to a human support rep, or help students find the right content to answer their questions.

Marketing automation for enrollment growth: Build sophisticated nurture campaigns that adapt based on student behaviors and interests. Track which programs generate the most interest, automate event invitations and follow-ups, and measure ROI on every campaign. The University of San Diego saw a 10x increase in event registrations after publishing content and implementing smarter email nurturing through HubSpot.

HubSpot Pricing

HubSpot's CRM is always free and includes free tiers for all six core products (marketing, sales, service, content, operations, and commerce)

Paid plans start at $15/seat/month for Starter plans.

HubSpot pricing depends on your specific needs and add-ons. Use this HubSpot pricing calculator to see your custom price.

2. Salesforce Education Cloud

Source

Best for: Large universities with resources for comprehensive digital transformation and enterprise-grade solutions

Key Salesforce Education Cloud Features

Education-specific data model: Built with native education objects for courses, grades, academic terms, and application decisions. It also contains purpose-built modules for recruitment, admissions, academic operations, and more.

Agentforce AI capabilities: Deploy pre-built AI agents powered by your CRM data to support student recruitment, advising, and prospect research. This CRM product comes with pre-built skills and actions designed to handle routine tasks in education, such as retrieving donor milestone data.

Student information system (SIS) capabilities: Salesforce continues to roll out modular SIS capabilities, including registration features so students can find and enroll in classes.

Salesforce Education Cloud Pricing

Please note that the following Salesforce Education Cloud pricing is for non-profit institutions and is billed annually. View the pricing for for-profit institutions. There is a 30-day free trial available.

Education Cloud Enterprise Edition: $81.25/user/month

Education Cloud Unlimited Edition: $138.75/user/month

Education Cloud Agentforce 1 for Sales Edition: $375/user/month

Education Cloud Agentforce 1 for Service Edition: $375/user/month

3. Ellucian CRM

Source

Best for: Institutions that want a higher ed software suite that has CRM products (Recruit, Advise, and Advance) and an SIS solutions in the same ecosystem

Key Ellucian CRM Recruit Features

Student portal: Students can access an online portal to view their applications, see upcoming events, and stay connected to your school.

Application management: Track applications as they move through the process, set up rules to auto-assign decisions, and allow prospects to manage their applications.

Seamless Ellucian integration: Seamlessly integrate your CRM data with the ERP and SIS products available in the same ecosystem, providing a more unified approach.

Ellucian CRM Pricing

Ellucian has three CRM products: Recruit, Advise, and Advance, but it does not publicly list its pricing. Contact Ellucian for pricing. No free trial available.

4. Slate

Source

Best for: Institutions seeking a purpose-built admissions and enrollment management platform

Key Slate Features

Unified admissions and enrollment platform: Access tools to streamline your admissions and enrollment processes, including reader review forms, reader workflows, electronic decision releases, enrollment checklists and enrollment forecasting.

Integrations with major SIS platforms: Enjoy bidirectional integrations with Banner, PeopleSoft, PowerCampus, and more.

AI-driven features: Use AI-powered predictive text to generate personalized text quickly. Natural language querying helps you search your database using conversational language.

Slate Pricing

Slate CRM pricing has different license tiers: Admissions, Student Success, and Advancement.

The Admissions licensing is charged based on application volume, starting at $30,000 for less than 1,500 applications.

There is no additional cost for Student Success within an existing Slate database on your campus. Otherwise, Student Success is $30,000 per year.

Advancement rate tiers are based on active full-time undergraduate enrollment, starting at $50,000 for less than 2,500.

No free trial.

Benefits of CRM Software for Higher Education

Increase enrollment through personalized recruitment.

Modern CRMs help institutions deliver personalized experiences at scale. By tracking prospect behaviors and interests, you can send targeted communications that resonate with each student's unique needs. The University of Wyoming leveraged HubSpot's Marketing Hub to increase lead volume by 26%.

Streamline admissions processes and reduce manual work.

Automate routine tasks like application status updates, document reminders, and event confirmations. CRMs unify data from multiple sources, freeing admissions staff to focus on helping students thrive. HubSpot can automate inquiry follow-ups and nurture leads, reducing manual workload.

Improve student retention and success.

Track student engagement across academic and social dimensions to identify at-risk students early. CRMs enable coordinated intervention strategies by connecting advisors, faculty, and support services around shared student data. For example, HubSpot's ticketing system can help manage student support requests.

Strengthen alumni relations and boost fundraising.

Build lifelong relationships with graduates through targeted engagement campaigns and personalized giving opportunities. CRMs help advancement teams track donor capacity, manage campaigns, and demonstrate ROI on fundraising initiatives. Howard University's School of Business used HubSpot to raise over $100,000 for its Center for Career Excellence.

5 Important Features for a Higher Education CRM

1. Integration with Student Information Systems

Your CRM must seamlessly connect with your SIS to maintain data consistency and eliminate duplicate entry. Look for pre-built integrations with popular systems like Banner, Colleague, PeopleSoft, and Jenzabar. HubSpot offers over 1,900 integrations through its App Marketplace, including Zapier middleware that you can use to connect to many SIS soluations, plus robust APIs that enable custom integrations for real-time data synchronization.

2. Multi-channel Communication Capabilities

Today's students expect to engage through their preferred channels, whether email, text, chat, or social media. A robust CRM should support omnichannel communications while maintaining a unified conversation history. HubSpot's shared inbox consolidates email, live chat, and Facebook Messenger communications in one place.

3. Event Management and Tracking

From open houses to admitted student days, events play a crucial role in recruitment. Your CRM should streamline event registration, automate confirmations and reminders, and track attendance to measure event ROI. Look for features like QR code check-in, capacity management, and post-event survey automation. HubSpot's forms and landing pages can handle event registrations, while marketing automation can send confirmation emails and reminders.

4. Predictive Analytics and AI Capabilities

Modern CRMs leverage AI to identify best-fit students, predict enrollment likelihood, and recommend optimal communication strategies. HubSpot's Breeze AI provides intelligent insights across the platform, from content creation suggestions to lead scoring that can help prioritize recruitment efforts.

How to Choose a CRM for Higher Education (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Assess your current technology ecosystem.

Create an inventory of all systems currently in use across admissions, student services, advancement, and other departments. Document pain points, data silos, and manual processes that a CRM could address. Consider which systems must integrate with your new CRM and which might be replaced.

Step 2: Define your goals and success metrics.

Establish clear objectives for your CRM implementation. Are you primarily focused on increasing applications, improving yield rates, boosting retention, or growing advancement revenue? Set specific, measurable goals like “increase completed applications by 15%” or “reduce time-to-decision by 3 days.”

Step 3: Evaluate feature requirements by department.

Gather input from all stakeholder groups who will use the CRM. Admissions may prioritize application management, while advancement focuses on donor tracking. Create a requirements matrix that weights must-have versus nice-to-have features for each department.

Step 4: Consider implementation and support needs.

Assess your team's technical capabilities and available resources for implementation. Some platforms like HubSpot offer intuitive interfaces and extensive free training through HubSpot Academy, while others may require significant IT involvement and external consultants. Factor in ongoing support and training needs.

Step 5: Request demos and pilot programs

Narrow your list to a few top contenders and request comprehensive demos tailored to higher education use cases. Ask to see real workflows like processing an application or running an email campaign. Many vendors offer trials where you can test the system with a small group before full implementation.

Step 6: Choose a platform that scales with your institution

HubSpot's platform scales from small colleges using free tools to lar

5 community-building tips I’ve learned from working in social media, TV, and nonprofits

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

For the past ten years, I’ve lived and breathed marketing. I’ve run social campaigns, worked with influencers, created content, built affiliate programs, and everything in between. One factor unites everything: Every single winning strategy has always tied back to community.

And more often than not, when an initiative flops, it’s because that community is missing. When brands fail to engage, there’s a sense that they’re just pushing content onto their audience, rather than bringing people into a conversation and engaging with them.

Community has always been critical. But in 2025, it matters more than ever. That’s why I wrote this post. Below, I’ll share common mistakes to avoid and my personal tried-and-tested tips for building lasting, authentic communities.

Why Community Matters More than Ever in 2025

In the past, marketers talked a lot about identifying a target audience. We’d come up with a product and tell our target audience to buy it. The exchange ended there, without any deep, human-centered connection.

That’s all changing. If your brand is just telling people to buy a product, you’re falling behind. When you sound sales-y, potential customers tune out. They don’t feel heard. There’s no engagement, and they don’t feel like they’re a part of anything. The solution is community.

Instead of “Hey, look at this” or “Hey, I need you to buy this,” a community-focused campaign starts by actually talking to people and understanding their needs. Now, top brands work backward, starting from customers’ needs and then building products based on real, human input.

It’s not a cookie-cutter approach. The process involves both knowing what existing communities to serve and building communities around new products. Teams have to invest time exploring why existing solutions don’t work. Then, they can develop effective solutions hand-in-hand with a community.

Over the last ten years of my career in nonprofits, TV, and social media, I’ve found that investment leads to loyalty. I’ve learned to make community the center of all my campaigns, so customers become a part of our brand story.

What does this look like in practice? One of my favorite campaigns involved marketing a cosmetic eye mask for Topicals as their Director of Social Media. Before launch, we sent the product to real customers for testing. We connected with participants in group chats to see what they thought. We even organized an in-person hike, invited everyone to wear the eye masks, and listened to what they thought.

My team’s focus wasn’t just on collecting product feedback. We weren’t trying to bank content from this awesome group of 40 women, all wearing eye masks and walking around Long Beach. We wanted to build a two-way relationship with our customers.

That’s what community-based marketing is all about. Building a real community decenters the product and instead focuses on the people who are the heart of any brand.

3 Common Mistakes Brands Make When It Comes to Community

After a decade in the field, I’ve seen many winning strategies and common setbacks. Here are the pitfalls that get in the way of effective, community-focused marketing.

1. Engaging with the Wrong Community

Whatever you’re interested in, there’s a community full of experts who know the topic inside and out. So, when you’re first diving into community-focused marketing, you need to find the right niche. If you focus on a community that doesn’t fit your offering, your campaign will flop.

For example, I run a nonprofit social club called off worque. It’s a community that’s focused on events and networking for professionals navigating issues related to work/life balance. We get a lot of pitches for random beauty products that don’t make sense for our group.

Now, I can do the work to try to tie these products to our community. I might see if there’s a mental health connection, for instance, that would help some of these products feel more relevant. But in general, it’s best to identify a community that really aligns with your product, rather than trying to push a product on a group that’s not interested in it.

2. Falling into the “Free Stuff” Trap

Don’t get me wrong: I love free stuff. But, it’s easy for marketers to fall into the trap of thinking that giving out lots of free stuff means that lots of people are engaged. A goodie bag with a free sample or mini gift can keep your brand top-of-mind, but your freebies need to be relevant.

If I’m at a journaling event, a free pen or notebook makes all the sense in the world. But a free lip gloss? That’s less helpful. You can give out 50 free lip glosses, but if those 50 people never wear lip gloss, they aren’t the right community for you. A freebie won’t change that.

3. Treating Community-Building Like a Strategy Session

This is more a matter of mindset than tactics. Of course, being strategic is important, but in my experience, building a community is not a strategy session.

You really don’t have to think too hard. You don’t need to craft a meticulously calculated and organized strategic plan. To the contrary, I’ve found that the best community engagement campaigns happen organically.

So, don’t overthink it. Just use some common sense: For instance, if you’re selling shoes, maybe a run or walk club could be a good community for your brand. If you’re selling skincare products, where are people already talking about related health and beauty issues?

Not everything has to be a serious, strategic decision. Instead, asking basic questions and engaging authentically with existing communities can be a great way to get started.

My Top 5 Community-Building Tips

So, what does it take to build and engage with a community? Here’s what I’ve found most successful.

1. Find your people.

First and foremost, community-building is all about finding your people. This goes deeper than just defining a target audience. It’s about talking to your customers, understanding their needs, and learning where and how they like to connect with each other.

Then, once you’ve identified a community that is likely to be interested in your brand, you can start reaching out. But remember: Don’t just skip straight to selling. Instead, find authentic, creative ways to engage with people on their terms.

2. Build bridges.

Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself just to a narrow, highly specific community. It’s also smart to find ways to build bridges between your existing loyal customers and other, related communities adjacent to your own.

For example, if you’re selling vitamins, your customers are probably fairly health-conscious. That might mean that run clubs or 5K races could be good places to find people who may be interested in your brand. On the other hand, a hair or beauty-focused event may be less relevant to your brand and customers.

To figure out what groups your customer base tends to spend time in, I’ve found that conducting some simple surveys can be really effective. You can reach out to existing customers to ask about their interests and day-to-day lives, and then you can use that information to make educated guesses about the kinds of communities and events that might be aligned with your brand.

3. Define communities clearly but inclusively.

When it comes to community-building, it’s important to define your community clearly. You can’t be everything to everyone. After all, effective brands know who their people are.

At the same time, it’s important to keep that community open and inclusive. You should be a guardian of your community, but not a gatekeeper. For a community to grow and thrive, it needs to be able to welcome new people in.

Adidas and Nike are some of my favorite role models here. These are running brands, but you don’t have to be a runner to be a part of their community. You don’t have to be a three-minute-miler to enjoy an event. Their shoes are for walkers, too.

These brands have defined communities that are clear in their focus, but still open to a wide range of people with a wide range of abilities and interests. They are aspirational and relatable. The brands inspire people to join, rather than pushing people away or pressuring them to engage with the community inauthentically.

4. Leverage social media.

Identifying a broad community is one thing. Figuring out how to actually engage with it is another. Specifically, there are three key social media platforms that I’ve found tend to be especially helpful in connecting with a brand community.

LinkedIn

Number one is LinkedIn. I love LinkedIn because it’s got something for everyone. There are people looking for jobs, the networkers, the people asking for advice, the people offering advice… There are so many different communities on this platform, which makes it a great place to connect with people for anything related to careers, mental health, and work-life balance.

Substack

More recently, I’ve found that Substack is another great place to connect with a community. You can write about anything on Substack: Some folks are sharing recipes, some are publishing a daily journal, some are posting in detail about their relationship woes (and hoping their partners don’t see their posts).

Substack is a great place to see other people’s ideas, to comment, to share, and to contribute in whatever way makes sense.

TikTok

And finally, of course, there’s TikTok. The incredible thing about TikTok is just how many random, niche audiences it has created. The platform sparks curiosity in interests people didn’t even know they had. This platform is a great place for brands to connect and engage with hyper-specific communities.

5. Embrace empathy.

Building a community is hard. So, throughout the highs and lows of community marketing, brands need to always empathize with their customers.

Don’t create clubs or organize events because community marketing is something you’ve been told you should be doing. Instead, tap into your audience, express genuine curiosity about their needs and interests, and let the things you learn inform the communities you create.

Build community like a pro.

Over the last ten years, I’ve seen firsthand just how powerful a brand community can be. Gone are the days when brands could just sell products in a vacuum. Today, the most effective brands learn to identify and engage with their customers’ communities.

It’s time to invest in real understanding and center communities at every turn.

How to create an editorial calendar [+ free templates]

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

If you’re creating content without an editorial calendar you’re setting yourself up for stress, inconsistency, and missed opportunities. Been there, done that, got the “I meant to do more” t-shirt.

Whether you’re part of a major brand, a small team, or it’s just you wearing all of the hats, without a centralized plan, things get messy fast.

But if the words “editorial calendar” make you itch, hear me out. This doesn’t have to add a dozen levels of complication to your process.

Whether you use HubSpot’s built-in marketing calendar or an option like Google Calendar, spreadsheets, or project management software — you can create an editorial calendar that fits your goals, needs, and brain without making yourself crazy. And I’m going to show you how.

Table of Contents

How to Create an Editorial Calendar in Google Calendar

How to Use Excel or Google Spreadsheets for Editorial Calendars

How to Use Online Calendars for Editorial Calendars

How to Use a Project Management Platform for Editorial Calendars

Why Using Google Calendar as an Editorial Calendar Works

Follow Along With These Free Editorial Calendar Templates

How to Create an Editorial Calendar

Before you whip out your paper calendar and start adding dates, let’s take a step back. Your editorial calendar is a schedule, but it represents so much more.

When I consult with businesses on how to develop a content strategy and what to include in an editorial calendar, dates are typically the last thing we consider. I like to start by reviewing upcoming goals and plans:

What are our big picture goals or initiatives?

What’s going on that we’ll need content for?

What does our audience know already — and what do they need to know?

Do we have existing content we can adapt?

What do we need to create from scratch?

How can we repurpose anything new?

If you’re reading this and thinking “I just need a structure that works for me,” or “None of that is relevant to me right now” — totally fine.

Most people don’t start with a full-fledged strategy-driven plan. But if you do have anything coming up or going on, the last thing you want is a last-minute scramble.

Once you’ve thought through the big picture, it’s time to start thinking about the content itself. Start by asking:

What types of content is your audience interested in?

Where do they hang out online?

What types of content is your competition using, and how often?

How often can you commit to creating something?

That last one is the clincher. If you only have bandwidth for one high-quality blog, podcast, or video — plan accordingly. If you put 4 on the calendar, you’re setting yourself up for failure — and if you’re like me, endless guilt.

Whatever your answers, they’ll give you a solid idea of what makes sense for your audience and your capacity.

Step 1: Choose your platforms.

If I ever got into the “Live. Love. Laugh” sign craze, I’d probably have one that says “You don’t have to be everywhere for everyone.”

You only need to show up where your audience hangs out and in a way that you enjoy. If you hate creating a specific type of content, you’re always going to put it off — or you’ll have to hire someone to do it for you. EIther way, it’s a big factor in how you plan content.

I recommend choosing a primary content type that fits with your natural strengths:

Written (blog)

Audio (podcast)

Video (YouTube or Livestreams)

From there, you can repurpose as needed to different platforms. Since I’m most comfortable with the written word, that’s where I start, then adapt to email and LinkedIn.

If you show up best live, then start there and adapt to other content types. The only right way is the one that makes sense to you. Use that as the basis for your editorial calendar.

Step 2: Determine content guidelines and frequency.

This is where a lot of people get stuck — because they’re trying to match someone else’s pace.

Let me be extremely clear: most businesses do not need to publish three articles a week, two podcasts, and manage five social media platforms.

Larger ones with full-time content teams? Sure. But that’s not 90% of the companies out there. Not to mention that with AI making it easier to churn out mediocre content, quality matters more than ever.

Here’s what I ask clients (and myself) at this stage:

What kind of content can you realistically create right now?

What cadence feels sustainable for the next 90 days?

What categories or themes matter most to your audience?

What’s the goal behind each piece — awareness, engagement, sales?

For some people, one post a week is doable. For others, one per month or one per quarter feels best.

Whatever that is, we can work within the bounds of your bandwidth, but it’s so important to be honest with yourself here. Otherwise, you’ll just be overwhelmed.

Once you have a cadence in mind, think about the big-picture categories you can speak to, and your content goals. From there you can prioritize your ideas, focusing on the mission-critical stuff first, and the nice-to-have or lower priority content later.

Here are a few ways you could map out your content repurposing framework.

Blogging Weekly

1x week: Blog (Tuesdays).

2x week: Email (Tuesdays, Thursdays).

2x week: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube (Wednesdays, Fridays).

Blogging Monthly

1x month: Publish Blog (week 1)

1x week: Email

2x week: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube (Wednesdays, Fridays)

You can create and flesh out your editorial calendar using the above examples more easily. The less frequently you publish, just make sure every post is meaty enough tto support repurposing.

Step 3: Choose an editorial calendar platform.

Now that you’ve got a sense of what you’re creating, how often you’ll publish, and where it’s going — it’s time to decide where all of this planning will live.

The truth is, the “best” platform is the one you and your team will actually use. Fancy tools are great, but if they add friction or require too many clicks to see what’s going on, they won’t get used consistently. I’ve seen beautifully built project boards go completely stale because no one wanted to open or manage them.

The most popular options are spreadsheets, online calendars, or project management tools like Trello, Asana, or ClickUp. I’ve tried them all, and for most clients, a simple spreadsheet is the way to go.

Keep in mind: the more complex the organization and as quantity increases, a more complex tool may be needed.

No matter which format you choose, I recommend tracking the following basics:

Publish date: When it goes live

Due date: When the draft needs to be ready

Title or topic: Working title is fine

Assigned owner: Who’s responsible for delivery

Call to action (CTA): What do you want the reader/viewer to do?

Keywords (for SEO): So you knows what phrases to optimize for

Status: Idea, drafting, editing, scheduled, live

Links: To both the draft and final version for easy reference

You can always build from here. But keeping these core elements in your calendar makes it easier to track progress, spot bottlenecks, and repurpose content without digging through old folders.

How to Create an Editorial Calendar in Google Calendar

I’ve built editorial calendars in everything from fancy enterprise platforms to color-coded notebooks. But when it comes to simplicity, flexibility, and team visibility, Google Calendar still holds up nicely.

It’s free, it plays nicely with Gmail, and almost everyone already knows how to use it. Plus, you can layer it with other calendars (like launch schedules or social campaigns), share it with your team, and set reminders to stay on track — without adding a new tool to your stack.

Below, I’ll walk you through how to use Google Calendar to set up a content calendar that keeps you organized and focused — whether you’re a solo creator or working with a team.

We’ll be using a downloadable template to make the setup easier, but feel free to start from scratch if you’d rather build your own.

Step 1: Download HubSpot’s free editorial calendar templates.

Download Now

First, download the calendar templates above (they’re free.) By doing this, you’ll have three editorial calendar templates on your computer (or in your Google Drive).

Blog Editorial Calendar

Social Media Calendar

Content Planning Template

Here I’ll go over how to use the Google spreadsheet with Google Calendar. There are ways to upload the Excel version into Google Calendar — it just requires a few more steps.

Step 2: Customize your template and prepare it for import into Google Calendar.

With your Google Sheets calendar open, it’s time to make it work for your process.

It already includes these columns:

Publish date: When the content will go live

Due date: When the draft or final version needs to be ready

Author: Who’s responsible for creating or finalizing the content

Topic/Title: A working title or quick summary of the piece

Content/Details: Notes, links, outlines, or context for the post

Keywords: SEO phrases to include or focus on

Target persona(s): Who the content is for (audience segment, buyer type, etc.)

Offer/CTA: What action you want the reader to take, or what offer this content supports

This gives you a solid mix of strategic clarity and practical execution. You’ll know what’s going out, why it matters, who it’s for, and how it ties back to your larger business goals.

Don’t be afraid to tweak or hide columns you’re not using right now — but I recommend keeping them in your template at least as a “default” tab, so they’re easy to bring back when your content plans get more complex.

Once you’ve filled in a few important dates, it’s time to connect it with Google Calendar.

Step 3: Create a Google Calendar for your content plan.

Before you connect your editorial calendar to Google Calendar, you need a Google Calendar to sync to.

No brainer here, but don’t skip this step. Just go to Google Calendar > Other Calendars > Create New Calendar.

Then find your Calendar ID.

Step 4: One-time upload into Google Calendar (Option A).

From here, you can load it into your Google calendar. There are a few catches:

1. It won’t update automatically and everything must be manual.

2. Google Calendar only supports CSVs with specific column headers, so you’ll need to rename and reorganize your column headers to the following and may not have the level of data you want:

Subject

Start Date

Start Time

End Date

End Time

Description

From here, you’ll need to export the sheet as a CSV then go back to Google Calendar. You’ll then click Settings > Import & Export, select your CSV and then choose the calendar you want to import into.

This is best only if you need quick visibility into your calendar. Otherwise I recommend option B — the auto-magical route :)

Step 5: Automatically create calendar events with Google Apps Script (Option B).

Now that your editorial calendar lives in a Google Sheet — and you’ve created a dedicated Google Calendar to map your content dates — it’s time to connect the two.

I’m obsessed with using Apps Scripts to automate things in Google Workspace. This process will help you automatically create a calendar event for each row in your sheet, based on the publish date and title. Keyword: automatically!

And my favorite way to do it is by using ChatGPT to help me create and troubleshoot the scripts.

Here’s the prompt I used:

“I want to connect a Google Sheet to my Google Calendar that automatically updates so I don’t have to manually update calendar with editorial plans. What is the App Script I need? Please walk me through it step by step.”

Then I followed these instructions;

1. Open the Apps Script editor: Extensions → Apps Script

2. Delete any placeholder code and paste this in:

function createCalendarEvents() {

const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet();

const calendar = CalendarApp.getCalendarById('your-calendar-id@group.calendar.google.com'); // ← Replace this

const data = sheet.getDataRange().getValues();

for (let i = 1; i < data.length; i++) {

const publishDate = data[i][0]; // Column A

const title = data[i][3]; // Column D

const details = data[i][4]; // Column E

const keywords = data[i][5]; // Column F

const author = data[i][2]; // Column C

const cta = data[i][7]; // Column H

const posted = data[i][8]; // Column I (Posted to Calendar?)

if (title && publishDate instanceof Date && !posted) {

const description =

`Author: ${author}\n` +

`Keywords: ${keywords}\n\n` +

`Details:\n${details}\n\n` +

`CTA:\n${cta}`;

calendar.createEvent (title, new Date(publishDate), new Date(publishDate), {

description: description

});

// Mark the row as posted

sheet.getRange(i + 1, 9).setValue(“✓”);

}

}

}

3. Replace: your-calendar-id@group.calendar.google.com with the calendar ID you just found.

4. Save and run the script by clicking the floppy disk icon to save and clicking the run button. If it prompts you to authorize access, follow the steps.

5. Set it to run automatically using the clock icon “Triggers” by creating a new trigger:

Choose which function to run, select: syncEditorialCalendar

Event source: Time-driven

Type of time-based trigger: Hourly, daily, or custom

Click Save

Once it runs, you should see your content show up in the new calendar you made, complete with title, author, and details. And since mine is set up to run every 2 hours, I’ll see those changes at that frequency. You can make this more or less frequent, as needed.

If you get any error messages, just feed them into ChatGPT and keep updating the script. Sometimes it takes a few tries, but the payoff down the road is awesome!

Step 6: Share your editorial calendar with your team.

Once your editorial calendar is set up — whether you’re using the Google Sheet alone or syncing it with Google Calendar — make

5 best CRMs for plumbers in 2025

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 20:27:28 +0300

If missed appointments, mismanaged invoices, and fragmented customer communication are draining your revenue, it’s time to consider implementing a CRM for plumbers. The right platform helps reduce no-shows, speeds up emergency dispatch, and provides the insights you need to improve profitability and customer loyalty.

That’s why we’ve compiled this list of top CRM solutions for plumbing businesses, complete with feature comparisons, pricing breakdowns, and implementation guidance. Our staff writer used generative AI for drafting and research, then fact-checked, reviewed, and revised the content to bring you this comprehensive, helpful guide.

We’ll explore how industry leaders like HubSpot, ServiceTitan, and Jobber can transform your plumbing operations. Uponor Asia, a plumbing systems manufacturer, achieved a 400x increase in leads by integrating HubSpot into its marketing workflows, proving how powerful the right plumbing CRM can be.

Ready to keep revenue flowing instead of leaking? Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

What is a CRM for plumbers?

CRM Comparison Table

Best CRM Software for Plumbers

Benefits of CRM Software for Plumbers

5 Important Features for a Plumbing CRM

How to Choose a CRM for Plumbers (Step-by-Step)

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Plumbing Companies

What is a CRM for plumbers?

A CRM for plumbing businesses is specialized software that stores and manages all customer interactions, service history, and job details in one centralized system. HubSpot's Smart CRM unifies sales, marketing, and service data to give plumbing teams complete visibility into every customer relationship while automating time-consuming administrative tasks.

Best CRMs for Plumbers at a Glance

CRM

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Free Trial Available

HubSpot

Plumbing companies wanting unified sales, marketing, and service teams with scalable pricing plans

Smart CRM with unified data, advanced marketing automation, Breeze AI for intelligent operations

HubSpot’s CRM is always free and includes free tiers for all six core products. Paid plans for its core products start at $15/seat/month.

Yes, 14-day free trial of Marketing Hub Professional and free tiers for all products

ServiceTitan

Mid-to-large plumbing companies needing comprehensive field service management

Dispatch board, online customer portal, advanced field reporting and scorecards

Contact for pricing.

No free trial

Zoho

Small to mid-size plumbing companies wanting an affordable CRM with integrated field service

Unified CRM and field service platform, volume-based pricing for scalability, mobile-friendly field operations

Zoho CRM: Free plan. Paid plans starting at $20/user/month.

Zoho FSM: Free plan. Paid plans starting at $30/month.

Yes, 15-day free trial available for Zoho CRM and Zoho FSM

Jobber

Small to mid-size plumbing contractors seeking CRM software with a field service focus

Smart map and routing, online customer portal, mobile app

Starts at $28/month for 3 months (promotional rate)

Yes, free trial available

Housecall Pro

Growing plumbing businesses wanting all-in-one operations management

360-degree view of customer journey, online customer portal, mobile app

Starts at $79/month for one user

Yes, 14-day free trial available for HouseCall Pro's Max plan

Best CRM Software for Plumbers

If you struggle with disorganized operations or want to level up your plumbing business, the right CRM can make a huge difference. Let's examine five leading CRM solutions and their specific benefits for plumbing contractors.

1. HubSpot

Best for: Plumbing companies wanting unified sales, marketing, and service teams with scalable pricing plans

Key HubSpot Features

Smart CRM with unified data: Stop losing track of customer information across spreadsheets, paper forms, and different software systems. HubSpot's Smart CRM creates a single source of truth for every customer interaction. Your office staff and field technicians access the same real-time data, ensuring everyone knows the customer's service history, preferences, and outstanding issues.

Advanced marketing automation: HubSpot's marketing automation helps you automate email sequences and form follow-ups, plus extend campaigns across multiple channels. One handyman company using HubSpot saw conversion rates soar by 30% and a 45% increase in lead generation within six months.

Breeze AI for intelligent operations: HubSpot's AI assistant, Breeze, can analyze past data to project future sales, draft professional follow-up emails, and even power a 24/7 customer agent that answers common questions. This AI-enabled support ensures customers get immediate responses while your team focuses on actual plumbing work.

HubSpot Pricing

HubSpot's CRM is always free and includes contact management, deals, and basic reporting.

HubSpot has six core products, including Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and Service Hub, with free plans available for all. Individual paid product plans start at $15/month/seat.

Starter plans for its entire customer platform begin at $15/month/seat with marketing, sales, and service tools.

Commerce Hub for payment processing charges transaction fees but has no monthly cost.

All plans scale with your business — start free and upgrade only when you need advanced features.

14-day free trial available for Marketing Hub Professional.

2. ServiceTitan

Best for: Mid-to-large plumbing companies needing comprehensive field service management

Key ServiceTitan Features

Dispatch board: Drag-and-drop dispatch board lets you optimize scheduling and routing, track technicians in real time, and enable SMS texting from dispatchers.

Online customer portal: Customers can view their balance, make payments, and see their service history.

Advanced field reporting and scorecards: Optimize business performance with a dashboard that can track revenue, memberships sold, and each technician’s total hours worked.

ServiceTitan Pricing

ServiceTitan offers three tiers, but you must contact the company for pricing:

Starter: Dispatching, scheduling, call booking, invoicing, pricebook

Essentials: All of the above, plus mobile estimates and payroll management

The Works: All of the above, plus configurable payroll, advanced reporting, commission tracking, customizable memberships

No free trial available.

3. Zoho

Best for: Small to mid-size plumbing companies wanting an affordable CRM with integrated field service

Key Zoho Features

Unified CRM and field service platform: If you subscribe to both Zoho CRM and Zoho FSM, you can enable a two-way sync between the two, eliminating data silos between office and field operations. This integration enables plumbing businesses to manage the entire customer lifecycle on one platform.

Volume-based pricing for scalability: Zoho FSM charges based on volume of appointments per month. Start free with up to 30 appointments monthly, then scale affordably as your business grows.

Mobile-friendly field operations: Zoho FSM's mobile app empowers plumbers with job details, customer information, and navigation.

Zoho Pricing

Zoho CRM pricing is as follows (billed monthly):

Free: For up to three users

Standard: $20/user/month

Professional: $35/user/month

Enterprise: $50/user/month

Ultimate: $65/user/month

15-day free trial of Zoho CRM available

Zoho FSM pricing is as follows (based on monthly billing and 60 appointments per month):

Free: For up to 30 appointments

Standard: $30/month

Professional: $45/month

15-day free trial of Zoho FSM available

4. Jobber

Best for: Small to mid-size plumbing contractors seeking CRM software with a field service focus

Key Jobber Features

Smart map and routing: Optimize your routing by viewing your visits on a map and having the software auto-generate the fastest route. GPS tracking allows you to assign jobs based on the closest technician.

Online customer portal: The Client Hub allows customers to request work, see upcoming visits, and pay invoices online.

Mobile app: Text customers when a technician is on the way, create quotes, and schedule work all from the mobile app.

Jobber Pricing

Jobber pricing is as follows (based on monthly billing):

Core: $28/month for 3 months (promotional rate)

Grow: $140/month for 3 months (promotional rate)

Connect: $84/mo for 3 months (promotional rate)

Free trial available

5. Housecall Pro

Best for: Growing plumbing businesses wanting all-in-one operations management

Key Housecall Pro Features

360-degree view of customer journey: Gain visibility into every stage of the customer lifecycle with the pipeline feature where you can see leads at every stage, review past jobs and communications, and send automated follow-ups.

Online customer portal: Let customers book and reschedule appointments, view and pay invoices, and share referral links.

Mobile app: The field service mobile app lets your technicians view job details on the go, craft estimates, and send invoices. It also features an offline mode.

Housecall Pro Pricing

HouseCall Pro pricing is as follows (based on monthly billing):

Basic: $79/month for one user

Essentials: $189/month for up to five users

Max: $329/month for up to eight users

14-day free trial available for HouseCall Pro's Max plan.

Benefits of CRM Software for Plumbers

Increase revenue through better organization. A properly implemented CRM helps plumbing businesses capture more revenue by optimizing leads in the pipeline. HubSpot's lead scoring identifies hot prospects, while workflow automation ensures timely follow-ups on every estimate. Climatics, an HVAC and plumbing service group, increased qualified leads from just a few per month to a few per week with the help of HubSpot implementation done by solutions partner Simple Machines.

Provide better service. Access to complete service history and equipment details helps technicians deliver better service. HubSpot's mobile app gives field teams instant access to customer information.

Build stronger customer relationships. Today's customers expect personalized service and proactive communication. HubSpot stores detailed customer profiles, including communication preferences and past interactions.

Gain visibility into business performance. Wondering which of your marketing campaigns generates the most profitable jobs? HubSpot's reporting tools track leads and help you see the ROI on marketing spend.

5 Important Features for a Plumbing CRM

Mobile access for field technicians. Your CRM must work seamlessly on smartphones and tablets since technicians spend most of their time in the field. HubSpot's mobile app provides full access to customer information to keep your plumbers informed.

Integration with existing tools. The right CRM will integrate well with your existing tech stack. HubSpot offers over 1,900 integrations, including Gmail, Slack, and QuickBooks.

Automated scheduling and dispatch. In plumbing, emergency calls and last-minute schedule changes are the name of the game. Your CRM needs to be able to accommodate this. While not an FSM, HubSpot does have field service app integrations that allow you to schedule and dispatch, including Dusk FSM and Zuper.

Estimate and invoice management. Speed up your cash flow with integrated estimating and invoicing. Use HubSpot’s Commerce Hub to create and send quotes and invoices, plus accept online payments with HubSpot payments or Stripe payment processing.

Customer communication tools. Modern customers expect updates via their preferred channel, whether that’s text, email, or phone. HubSpot's omnichannel customer service supports email, chat, phone, WhatsApp, and more — all in a unified workspace.

How to Choose a CRM for Plumbers (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Define your needs. Sit down and go through all of your processes, such as how you currently handle leads, scheduling, invoicing, and customer communication. Note pain points like missed appointments, lost leads, or inefficient dispatching. Be sure to ask your team what frustrates them most about current systems. This baseline helps identify must-have CRM features.

Step 2: Define your growth goals. Consider where you want your business to be in three years. Planning to add more technicians? Expand service areas? Offer maintenance contracts? Your CRM should support future growth, not just current needs. HubSpot's scalable platform grows with you. Start with free tools and add advanced features as needed.

Step 3: Evaluate integration requirements. List all software your business currently uses, such as accounting, inventory, and marketing tools. Check which CRMs integrate with these systems. HubSpot's extensive integration library an

5 best CRMs for publishing companies in 2025

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 20:19:50 +0300

With advances in technology and evolving media consumption habits over the years, publishers are no strangers to business model pivots — and it’s only getting more challenging with the rise of generative AI. To conquer obstacles to monetization and distribution, publishing companies need to be able to build stronger relationships with their readers, subscribers, and viewers as well as measure the ROI of different campaigns to ensure they spend resources on what works best. From managing subscriber relationships to automating workflows to crafting personalized marketing campaigns, a good CRM can help you tackle modern-day obstacles.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll compare the top CRM solutions for publishing companies, complete with pricing details, feature breakdowns, and implementation guidance. HubSpot leads our recommendations with proven success in the publishing industry. Research publisher Springer Nature increased email click rates from 6% to 9% after implementing HubSpot, demonstrating the platform's impact on publishing engagement.

To bring you timely, in-depth CRM comparisons, this article's initial draft was generated with AI tools, then revised and fact-checked by a HubSpot staff writer to ensure accuracy.

Table of Contents

What is a CRM for publishing companies?

CRM Comparison Table

Best CRM Software for Publishing Companies

Benefits of CRM Software for Publishing Companies

5 Important Features for a Publishing CRM

How to Choose a CRM for Publishing Companies (Step-by-Step)

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Publishing Companies

What is a CRM for publishing companies?

A CRM for publishing companies is specialized software that stores data, tracks interactions, and manages relationships across the entire publishing ecosystem — from writers, contributors, and advertisers to subscribers, distributors, and readers. HubSpot’s Smart CRM helps publishers personalize content, automate renewals, and improve campaign ROI across multiple channels.

Best CRMs for Publishing Companies at a Glance

CRM

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Free Trial Available

HubSpot

Small to mid-size publishers looking for a free CRM that scales with their business

Subscription management, advanced email marketing automation, popular software integrations

HubSpot’s CRM is always free and includes free tiers for all six core products. Paid plans start at $15/seat/month.

Yes, 14-day free trial of Marketing Hub Professional and free tiers for all products

Salesforce Media Cloud

Large media enterprises and publishing groups requiring purpose-built industry solutions with complex customizations

Media-specific data model, subscription management, Salesforce AppExchange

Starting from $325/user/month billed annually

Yes, free 30-day trial

Pipedrive

Small to mid-size publishers seeking a CRM focused on streamlining sales pipelines

Email tracking and personalized communications, recurring revenue features, Pipedrive Marketplace

Starting from $24/seat/month billed monthly

Yes, free 14-day trial

MediaOS

Digital-first publishers and media companies requiring a purpose-built publishing CRM

Custom ad sales reporting, streamlined invoicing, full QuickBooks Online integration

Contact for pricing.

Free offer on its subscription management

The Newspaper Manager

Print and digital newspaper publishers needing ad sales, billing, and production tools in a unified system

Ad management, 360 view of data, integrations

Contact for pricing.

No

Best CRM Software for Publishing Companies

1. HubSpot

Source

Best for: Small to mid-size publishers looking for a free CRM that scales with their business

Key HubSpot Features

Subscription management: Publishers rely on recurring revenue from subscriptions. HubSpot's Commerce Hub includes automated subscription billing and payment collection features. Grow your business by gaining insights from HubSpot’s revenue reporting.
Advanced email marketing automation: Publishers can leverage HubSpot's email marketing tools to automate subscriber communications and boost engagement rates across their publications.

Popular software integrations: HubSpot's App Marketplace features more than 1,900 integrations with popular software, including native integrations with Gmail, Meta Ads, WordPress, and Slack.

HubSpot Pricing

HubSpot’s CRM is always free, and there are free plans for all six core products (marketing, sales, service, content, operations, and commerce).

14-day free trial available for Marketing Hub Professional

Each core product has a free, Starter, Professional, and Enterprise plan. Paid plans start at $15/seat/month and go up to $3,600/month for the Marketing Hub Enterprise plan (which includes five core seats). Commerce Hub is a payment processor that is free to use but charges fees per transaction.

HubSpot pricing depends on your specific needs and add-ons. Use this HubSpot pricing calculator to see your custom price.

2. Salesforce Media Cloud

Source

Best for: Large media enterprises and publishing groups requiring purpose-built industry solutions with complex customizations

Key Salesforce Media Cloud Features

Media-specific data model: This industry vertical product has a data model built specifically for media and entertainment companies, meaning that it works with many of your industry's unique workflows out of the box, including product catalog, contract lifecycle management, and pricing and promotions.

Subscription management: Use personalized outreach to attract new subscribers and take advantage of predictive AI to retain existing ones.

Salesforce AppExchange: Access more than 9,000 apps built for this platform, extending the CRM features you might need to run your publishing business.

Salesforce Media Cloud Pricing

Salesforce offers a free 30-day trial of Media Cloud. Salesforce Media Cloud pricing is as follows and is based on annual billing:

Media Cloud Growth: $325/user/month

Media Cloud Advanced: $475/user/month

Media Cloud Agentforce 1 Sales: $850/user/month

Media Cloud Agentforce 1 Service: $850/user/month

3. Pipedrive

Source

Best for: Small to mid-size publishers seeking a CRM focused on streamlining sales pipelines

Key Pipedrive Features

Email tracking and personalized communications: Convert more readers into paying customers by tracking communication history and personalizing messages based on the CRM data.

Recurring revenue features: Access features that let you turn on automatic subscription renewals and forecast revenue trends.

Pipedrive Marketplace: Extend this CRM’s functionality by choosing from over 400 integrations for every stage of your revenue lifecycle, including DocuSign, Asana, Google Meet, and Trello.

Pipedrive Pricing

Pipedrive has a free 14-day trial for all of its plans. Pipedrive pricing is as follows (billed monthly):

Lite: $24/seat/month

Growth: $49/seat/month

Premium: $79/seat/month

Ultimate: $99/seat/month

4. MediaOS

Source

Best for: Digital-first publishers and media companies requiring a purpose-built publishing CRM

Key MediaOS Features

Custom ad sales reporting: Build custom reports based on your specific industry, and tailor them with pie charts, bar charts, or histograms.

Streamlined invoicing: Accept online payments and ACH. Set up auto-recurring payments.

Full QuickBooks Online integration: This CRM has an integration that allows you to automatically sync data both to and from QuickBooks Online in real time.

MediaOS Pricing

Contact MediaOS for pricing. MediaOS is currently providing a free subscription management offer.

5. The Newspaper Manager

Source

Best for: Print and digital newspaper publishers needing ad sales, billing, and production tools in a unified system

Key The Newspaper Manager Features

Ad management: The ad order entry system allows you to track media buys. Access proposal templates, rate cards, and built-in e-signature capabilities.

360 view of data: Easily find customers with its advanced CRM contact search, plus gain visibility into all of your data, including leads, subscriptions, and billing.

Integrations: This CRM integrates with MailChimp, QuickBooks, Adobe InDesign, and more. There’s also an integration with Mirabel’s Marketing Manager product for access to marketing automation features.

The Newspaper Manager Pricing

This CRM provider does not list prices on its site. Contact The Newspaper Manager for pricing. No free trial available.

Benefits of CRM Software for Publishing Companies

Centralized audience data: Publishers managing relationships with advertisers, contributors, and readers benefit from having a single source of truth for contact data. HubSpot’s CRM creates a unified view of every contact, allowing publishers to tailor campaigns and communication. This ensures marketing, sales, and editorial teams are all on the same page.

Improved campaign ROI: Publishers rely on data-driven campaigns to convert readers and maximize ad yield in a competitive digital landscape. With tools like HubSpot’s Marketing Hub, publishers can create targeted, automated campaigns and track performance in real time. By understanding which content drives engagement, publishers can make better budget decisions.

Streamlined subscription management: Recurring revenue is critical to publishing businesses’ financial health, making efficient billing and renewal processes essential. HubSpot’s Commerce Hub supports automated billing and reminders and reporting features, helping publishers grow recurring revenue and reduce churn.

Sales pipeline visibility: Publishers that manage ad sales or sponsorships need a clear view of deal progress to forecast and close revenue effectively. HubSpot’s deal tracking and reporting tools let teams prioritize top revenue opportunities and accelerate closing rates. For publishers monetizing through advertising or sponsorships, CRMs provide clear pipeline visibility.

Enhanced team collaboration: Coordinating across editorial, marketing, and revenue teams requires shared systems and streamlined communication. With shared contact records, notes, tasks, and integrations, HubSpot improves cross-functional visibility and alignment.

5 Important Features for a Publishing CRM

Marketing automation: Marketing teams in publishing often manage multiple newsletters and segmented audiences; automation makes their jobs easier. HubSpot can automate newsletters, reader re-engagement campaigns, and onboarding flows, helping publishers increase engagement without manual work.

Subscription billing: Managing recurring payments and renewals efficiently is key to maintaining steady revenue from digital and print audiences. HubSpot’s Commerce Hub automates recurring billing and offers revenue reporting — essential for publishers relying on subscription models.

Audience segmentation: Personalizing content and campaigns based on behavior or subscriber status is essential for engagement and retention in publishing. With HubSpot, you can segment lists based on your chosen criteria, such as age, previous activity, or deal size, so you can better personalize your email campaigns.

Multi-channel integrations: Publishers distribute content across websites, newsletters, apps, and social media — integrations ensure all platforms work together smoothly. HubSpot integrates with tools like WordPress, Gmail, Slack, and social platforms, giving publishers full flexibility in content and campaign delivery.

Analytics & reporting: Measuring performance by campaign, channel, or audience segment helps publishers optimize content and maximize ROI. HubSpot’s dashboards provide real-time visibility into campaign performance, subscriptions, and reader engagement, helping teams make data-driven decisions.

How to Choose a CRM for Publishing Companies (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Assemble your decision-making team. The choice of a publishing CRM affects multiple departments, from sales to marketing to editorial, so try to get one representative from each affected team to gather feedback from. Also identify the stakeholders you’ll need to get approval from for final purchase and implementation.

Step 2: Identify existing pain points. With your decision-making team assembled, it’s time to list the existing pain points in your publishing workflows. This might be frustrations over using disconnected systems, such as a sales pipeline management tool that is completely separate from your marketing automation software.

Step 3: Map pain points to must-have features. Once you’ve identified pain points, you can more easily decide on the must-have features of your CRM for publishing. For instance, you might find that a CRM like HubSpot, which connects customer data to its built-in marketing automation tools, unifies your sales and marketing teams.

Step 4: Test out the CRM options. Make a list of your top options, and then sign up for demos or free trials of each. By doing this, you can better evaluate each platform and ask more detailed questions of sales reps. You’ll also usually be able to get custom quotes at this stage.

Step 5: Choose a flexible platform that meets your needs. In the end, you’ll likely have to decide between a purpose-built media CRM solution or a more flexible general CRM with high customization capabilities like HubSpot. HubSpot’s ease of use and proven results in the publishing industry make it a strong contender. Radio group CommunicorpUK rolled out HubSpot across ten radio stations and 80+ salespeople within just three months.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best CRM for publishing companies?

HubSpot is an excellent CRM for publishing companies due to its unique combination of CRM functionality with built-in content management capabilities. The platform's integrated Content Hub allows publishers to manage their entire content lifecycle alongside subscriber data, without needing separate systems. The free tier allows smaller publishers and independent media companies to s

The psychology behind clicks: Where digital marketing meets neuroscience

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

In the crowded digital marketplace, a single click is everything. It’s not just a metric, it’s the heartbeat of conversion. But what compels someone to click? Is it the headline? The button color? The layout?

While traditional marketing leans on creativity, data, and tech, today’s most effective strategies dig deeper into the brain. Understanding the unconscious impulses behind clicking behavior gives marketers a serious edge. By aligning design, content, and campaigns with how the brain processes emotion, attention, and reward, brands don’t just earn clicks — they earn trust, connection, and action.

This is behavioral marketing. And we'll explore how it's reshaping everything.

Table of Contents

Why the Brain Clicks: Inside the Digital Consumer’s Mind

Designing for Attention: The Most Valuable Digital Currency

Emotion, Memory, and the Click: How the Limbic System Drives Behavior

Simplify to Convert: Reducing Cognitive Load and Decision Fatigue

Reward Pathways: Triggering the Brain’s Need to Belong, Win, and Act

Ethics in the Age of Behavioral Targeting

Why the Brain Clicks: Inside the Digital Consumer’s Mind

Up to 95% of purchasing decisions happen subconsciously. That means your audience isn’t just thinking. They’re feeling. They’re reacting, often irrationally, in milliseconds. The psychology behind clicks isn’t about logic — it’s about instinct.

To market effectively in this landscape, you need to understand three foundational principles of consumer psychology:

The limbic system: This emotional command center influences behavior, memory, and snap judgments. This includes everything from curiosity to trust.

Cognitive load: When the brain is overwhelmed, it checks out. Simplicity and clarity reduce friction and increase conversion.

Reward pathways: Dopamine is the engine of engagement. Teasers, exclusivity, and social validation all spark this primal craving for reward.

Every campaign is a chance to meet your audience at the intersection of instinct and interaction. The rest of this article explores exactly how to do that.

Designing for Attention: The Most Valuable Digital Currency

In a world of endless scroll, attention is oxygen. With an average attention span of just eight seconds, users don’t “read” pages — they scan for emotional relevance and novelty.

Here’s how to design for the brain’s selective attention system:

Use contrast to interrupt the scroll.

The human brain is wired to detect change. Contrasting colors and bold typography interrupt autopilot browsing.

Example: A fashion brand using a red “Shop Now” button on a muted background is more likely to see faster clickthrough rates than one using brand-consistent pastels.

Personalize your messaging with behavioral relevance.

The more personal something feels, the more attention it commands. Use behavioral cues and dynamic content to trigger that “this is for me” response.

Example: Spotify’s “Your Wrapped” campaign uses listening history to make users feel seen, leading to millions of social shares and spikes in app opens.

Source

Add motion (micro-interactions and short-form video).

Movement signals relevance. The brain instinctively tunes in.

Example: A SaaS product homepage might feature a looping animation of the product in action, capturing attention before a single line of copy is read.

This is where short-form content shines. Bite-sized, high-impact media is neurologically optimized for attention capture. Whether it’s a six-second explainer or a looping product demo, brevity builds recall and earns repeat views.

Attention isn’t a luxury — it’s the cost of entry. Design to earn it.

Emotion, Memory, and the Click: How the Limbic System Drives Behavior

Clicks are emotional reactions. We act not when we understand, but when we feel. The limbic system governs emotion, memory, and behavioral impulses, which means great marketing speaks directly to this part of the brain.

Here’s how to activate it:

Use human faces and eye contact.

We’re biologically wired to recognize faces. A direct gaze establishes trust and captures attention.

Example: Landing pages with models looking directly at the user tend to see more engagement in A/B tests.

Harness color psychology.

Colors evoke immediate emotional responses. Use them with intention.

Example: Amazon uses orange for its “Buy Now” buttons to evoke excitement and urgency, triggering impulse behavior.

Source

Add microcopy that feels human.

Small language choices have a huge emotional impact. Speak like a person, not a prompt.

Example: Slack uses onboarding messages like “You’re doing great!” to give users encouragement like they would receive from a friend. This eases friction and helps drive activation.

These emotional hooks are central to strong representation in marketing, showing diverse faces, inclusive messaging, and authentic stories. When users feel seen and reflected in the content, emotional resonance multiplies. And so does engagement.

Simplify to Convert: Reducing Cognitive Load and Decision Fatigue

More choices don’t lead to more conversions. They actually lead to paralysis. When users feel overwhelmed, they bail. The prefrontal cortex fatigues quickly, and without clarity, the brain defaults to inaction.

Here's how you can design to simplify:

Limit calls to action.

Focus on the user. One strong CTA is more powerful than five weak ones.

Example: Instead of multiple signup buttons, Dropbox emphasizes one path: “Try for free” which makes it easier for users to make a decision.

Source

Use progress indicators to trigger completion bias.

We’re wired to finish what we start. Progress bars create psychological momentum.

Example: TurboTax visually tracks steps completed during onboarding, making even taxes feel satisfying.

Chunk content into digestible units.

The brain can’t process walls of text. Break ideas into sections, bullets, and clean visuals.

Example: Apple’s product pages use white space and modular content to reduce cognitive friction and seamlessly guide action.

Source

Understanding user psychology is no longer a niche focus. It’s become the backbone of performance-driven marketing. As consumer expectations evolve, brands must respond with smarter, more intuitive digital ecosystems prioritizing behavioral insight over brute reach.

This principle is especially critical for digital marketing solutions platforms, which now integrate cognitive psychology directly into UX design, minimizing friction to maximize ROI.

These top digital marketing solutions use data-informed psychological cues to guide user journeys, increase conversion likelihood, and enhance brand engagement. By embedding these insights at every stage of the funnel, they offer not just visibility, but measurable psychological resonance.

Reward Pathways: Triggering the Brain’s Need to Belong, Win, and Act

Beneath every click lies one craving: reward. Whether it’s the social high of fitting in, the thrill of urgency, or the satisfaction of habit, effective marketing taps into the brain’s reward circuitry.

Here’s how to activate it:

Use social proof to build tribal trust.

Humans mimic. We trust what others trust.

Example: Amazon uses star ratings and “Best Seller” badges to validate user decisions before they’re even made.

Activate scarcity and urgency.

Urgency creates tension. Scarcity triggers loss aversion. Together, they convert.

Example: Booking.com shows real-time availability (“Only # room(s) left”) and countdowns to push users toward immediate action.

Source

Reinforce habit through repetition.

Reward + consistency = loyalty. The brands we return to don’t just market well — they train us.

Example: We're likely all familiar with Duolingo’s daily streaks which keep users returning. Not out of need, but out of routine.

Platforms that deploy these principles see compounding effects over time.

It’s no coincidence that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is projected at 7.02% for the digital advertising market from 2025 to 2035.

The science behind the click is becoming the backbone of long-term growth.

Ethics in the Age of Behavioral Targeting

With great insight comes great responsibility. Tactics that exploit vulnerabilities (like hidden opt-outs or trick language) might spike short-term conversions, but erode long-term trust.

Here’s how to use behavioral science ethically:

Be transparent: Make terms, opt-outs, and pricing clear. Users trust brands that respect autonomy.

Respect emotional states: Don’t prey on fear or anxiety without offering real value or resolution.

Design for empowerment, not exploitation: Give users meaningful choices, not illusions of control.

The digital ad market is expected to more than double by 2035, reaching $800 billion. Ethical differentiation will separate the trusted from the tolerated.

Final Thoughts: Behavior Is the New Battleground

It’s not the brand with the biggest ad budget that wins — it’s the one that understands how the brain works. The future of marketing isn’t just creative or technical. It’s psychological.

If you’re evaluating a digital marketing solutions platform, don’t just ask what it does. Ask how well it understands what makes people act. Because in the end, the difference between a scroll and a click is everything.

What is a marketing plan & how to write one [+ examples]

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

I’ve helped build marketing plans at startups where the entire “team” was just me and a Google Doc. Other times, I worked side-by-side with CMOs and VPs of marketing to launch new products, shift positioning, or scale growth. No matter the stage, the goal was the same: make a plan that actually gets used, not one that collects dust.

A good marketing plan isn’t about filling out a template. It’s about aligning your strategy with your resources, your goals, and your reality. In this guide, I’ll walk you step by step through exactly how to do that, plus share examples of what strong plans look like in the wild.

By the end, you’ll be ready to begin implementing your own marketing strategies — to take them from ideas to action. So, grab your free marketing plan template and let’s get started.

Table of Contents

What is a marketing plan?

Marketing Plan vs. Business Plan

What’s included in a marketing plan?

How to Write a Marketing Plan

Types of Marketing Plans

Sample Marketing Plan

Marketing Plan FAQs

Marketing Plan Examples

At its core, a marketing plan helps you:

Align your team around shared priorities.

Focus on the tactics that move the needle.

Set goals and track performance.

Make smarter decisions about where to invest your time and budget.

A good plan doesn’t have to be long. But it should be clear, actionable, and tied to real outcomes — not just activity.

Marketing Plan vs. Business Plan

A business plan covers your entire company — from your mission and market opportunity to your financials, hiring roadmap, and product strategy. A marketing plan is just one piece of that larger puzzle.

While a business plan lays out what your business is and where it’s going, a marketing plan focuses on how you’ll reach and convert your ideal customers along the way.

Pro tip: If you’re wondering where to start with executing a marketing plan, check out HubSpot’s Marketing Hub.

Marketing Plan vs. Marketing Strategy

A marketing strategy defines the “why” behind your efforts — the long-term vision and positioning that guide your team. Your marketing plan breaks that strategy down into clear, measurable actions.

Think of it this way:

Strategy = Increase visibility among small business owners through content and partnerships.

Plan = Launch a weekly blog, run a co-branded webinar series, and test LinkedIn ads targeting founders.

The strategy gives you direction. The plan turns that direction into motion.

For example: When I was working with a B2B startup looking to grow top-of-funnel traffic, the strategy was to position the brand as a go-to resource for sales teams. The marketing plan outlined how we’d get there: through SEO-focused blog content, a lead magnet campaign, and paid LinkedIn ads targeting sales leaders at mid-market companies. The plan mapped out the timing, content, budget, and KPIs — so everyone knew exactly what we were doing and why.

What’s included in a marketing plan?

Most marketing plans follow a similar structure — and for good reason. These core components help you turn strategy into focused execution. I’ve used this exact framework across different companies, from scrappy startups launching their first product to more mature teams scaling content or entering new markets.

Here’s what to include (and how I’ve seen each piece actually move the needle).

Executive Summary

This is the TL;DR of your entire plan — and the first thing stakeholders will look at. I’ve learned to keep this short, confident, and results-oriented. When I worked on a go-to-market plan at an early-stage SaaS company, this section helped align leadership around the “why” before we got into the “how.”

Focus on what you‘re trying to achieve, your target audience, and how you’ll get there. A few well-written paragraphs can go a long way in getting buy-in.

Target Market Analysis

Your entire plan depends on knowing exactly who you're trying to reach. When I worked with a B2B fintech startup struggling to find product-market fit, we realized our original assumptions were way off.

We thought we were selling to businesses, but after digging into user behavior and testing new messaging, we discovered that our product actually resonated more with individual consumers. That shift to a direct-to-consumer (D2C) approach changed everything from how we talked about the product to where we showed up online.

Pro tip: I’ve found that combining qualitative insights (like customer interviews) with basic demographic and behavioral data is key. Defining your audience isn’t just a planning exercise — it’s what makes your messaging actually connect.

Competitive Analysis

I once worked with a company where “competitive research” meant checking a few websites. But a good competitive analysis goes deeper. It shows how you stack up in positioning, pricing, brand voice, and channel strategy — and where you can stand out.

Pro tip: I like to include a quick SWOT-style breakdown of top competitors, along with notes on how we’ll differentiate. Even a simple Google search audit can reveal a lot.

Marketing Strategies

This is your big-picture thinking — the “how” behind your goals. For example, a strategy might be: “Build thought leadership through SEO and original research” or “Drive product sign-ups through paid social and influencer partnerships.”

At one startup I worked with, our strategy was to “own the conversation around payroll compliance” through educational content and organic search. That approach not only built awareness, but later became a key sales enablement engine as we moved upmarket.

The strategy should reflect your goals, audience, and strengths. It also needs to be realistic — especially if you're working with limited resources. I’ve made the mistake of overpromising here; now I always gut-check this section against our team’s actual capacity.

Tactics

This is where the real work starts. I like to break tactics down by channel or initiative: blog content, paid media, email, events, partnerships, etc.

One thing I’ve learned? Tactics only work when they're connected back to strategy and resourced properly. It’s easy to list 30 things you could do — but a focused, realistic set of 5-8 well-executed tactics is almost always better.

Budget and Calendar

I’ve helped build marketing plans with five-figure budgets and ones with barely any — but either way, this part forces you to get specific. Where is the money going? When will things launch?

I recommend including both fixed and variable costs (freelancers, tools, ad spend) and mapping tactics across a simple monthly calendar. Even a rough timeline helps teams stay accountable.

Metrics

In one of my earliest marketing plans, I listed pageviews as a key performance indicator (KPI) — without tying it to any downstream goal. Lesson learned.

Now, I always define metrics in terms of what success actually looks like: signups, demos booked, deals influenced, etc. I also note which tools or KPI dashboards we’ll use to track performance.

1. Start with your mission.

Your marketing mission should support your broader business goals. It’s your north star — a short statement that explains what your team is trying to achieve and why.

For example, if your company’s mission is “to help small businesses manage their finances,” your marketing mission might be “to attract and educate small business owners through helpful, actionable content.”

I always start here. Even if the rest of the plan evolves, having a clear mission up top keeps everything aligned.

Pro tip: If you need help building your mission statement, check out this guide with mission statement examples and templates. And if you’re running a startup or small business, HubSpot’s starter bundle is a great all-in-one solution — it can help you find and win customers, execute content marketing plans, and more.

2. Set your KPIs.

I’ve seen too many plans fall apart because the goals weren’t clear or weren’t measurable. Setting KPIs forces you to define what success looks like from the start.

Think beyond vanity metrics like impressions. Ask: What’s the real outcome we’re driving? For example:

Website traffic from organic search.

Number of demo requests or product sign-ups.

Cost per lead (CPL) from paid campaigns.

Email engagement or conversion rates.

There are tons of other B2C and B2B marketing KPIs, but whatever you pick, make sure your reporting tools can track them easily — I’ve used HubSpot dashboards, Google Analytics, and even Notion for scrappier setups.

3. Define your buyer personas.

Who are you trying to reach? And what do they care about?

When I helped launch a B2B product that served both HR and finance leaders, we realized we needed two distinct personas with different pain points, language, and buying triggers. That insight completely changed how we structured our messaging and lead nurture flows.

Pro tip: You don’t need to overcomplicate this — a clear one-pager that covers demographics, goals, challenges, and buying behavior is often more than enough. HubSpot’s free Make My Persona tool is a great starting point.

4. Map out your content and channel strategy.

This is where most of the heavy lifting happens. I usually break this section down by:

Content types (blog, video, email, lead magnets, etc.).

Goals for each type (SEO traffic, lead gen, engagement).

Channels for distribution (social, email, partnerships).

Cadence and ownership (weekly blog posts, monthly webinars, etc.).

At one company, we focused 90% of our resources on SEO and LinkedIn because those channels consistently outperformed the rest. Prioritization is key — especially if your team is small.

5. Clarify what’s not in scope.

This might sound counterintuitive, but one of the most helpful things I include in a marketing plan is a quick list of what we’re not doing. Why? Because it sets boundaries — especially if you're juggling a lot of requests from stakeholders.

For example: “This plan does not include event marketing or partner co-marketing initiatives, which will be addressed in a separate plan next quarter.”

It’s a small detail, but it can save you a lot of misalignment down the line.

6. Outline your budget.

Whether you’re working with $500 or $50,000, budgeting forces you to prioritize. I typically bucket costs into:

Tools and software (e.g., CMS, analytics, email platform).

Content production (e.g., freelance writers, designers).

Paid media (e.g,. social ads, Google Ads).

People (e.g., new hires or contractors).

Even a rough estimate by tactic helps leadership understand the tradeoffs. If you’ve never done it before, here are 8 free marketing budget templates to help you get started.

7. Identify your competition.

You probably know your top competitors … but putting it in writing helps you position your plan more strategically.

At one startup, we realized that even though we weren’t competing with a certain brand on product, we were absolutely competing with them for attention. That insight helped us rethink our content strategy to show up in more relevant conversations.

A simple competitive matrix including what they do well, and where you’re different, goes a long way here. You can get started with this exercise using these 10 free competitive analysis templates.

8. Assign roles and responsibilities.

I like to end every marketing plan with a clear breakdown of who’s doing what. This doesn’t need to be formal — even a simple chart with names, roles, and ownership can reduce confusion and help people feel accountable.

If it’s just you and a few freelancers? All the more reason to be clear. I’ve been there, and the only way to stay organized is to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Types of Marketing Plans

The type of marketing plan you create will depend on your company, your industry, and your business goals. Let’s take a look at five common types, along with templates from real-world businesses and brands.

1. Quarterly or Annual Marketing Plans

Source

A quarterly or annual marketing plan outlines your top priorities over a set time frame — typically three months (Q1–Q4) or a full calendar year. These plans help align teams, allocate resources, and map out when and where marketing efforts will happen.

This structure is especially useful when you need to present your plan to leadership or collaborate across departments like product, sales, or customer success.

I really like this downloadable template from Shopify that includes:

Executive Summary. Business overview, team, and goals.

Quarterly Plan Sections. Dedicated space for Q1 through Q4.

Budget and Projections. Financial planning by time period.

Market Research. Target market, competitor review, SWOT analysis.

Marketing Strategy. Messaging and content focus areas.

Measurement. A review framework to reflect on what worked (and what didn’t).

Best for (in my opinion):

Teams that need a clear roadmap for the year.

Startups pitching their strategy to stakeholders or investors.

Marketers juggling multiple campaigns across different quarters.

2. Social Media Marketing Plan

A social media marketing plan outlines the platforms, content, and tactics you’ll use to grow your audience and connect with them consistently on social media. It typically includes details like post cadence, content types, campaign goals, and platform-specific strategies.

A lot of plans also include a paid strategy alongside organic efforts — especially if you're launching a new product, running lead gen campaigns, or boosting high-performing content. Depending on your goals, that might mean testing native advertising placements or running targeted pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on platforms like LinkedIn or Meta.

When I’ve built these in the past, the biggest challenge wasn’t creativity — it was focus. The best social plans prioritize the channels where your audience actually spends time and match the brand’s bandwidth to a realistic posting schedule.

If you're looking for a framework to build your own, Hootsuite’s Social Media Strategy Template is a great starting point. It walks through how to audit your current channels, set SMART goals, define your content pillars, and measure performance across platforms. I like that it’s structured but still flexible — which is exactly what you need when priorities shift mid-quarter (as they always do).

Source

What you can expect in the Template:

Channel-by-channel audit with engagement benchmarks.

SMART goals tailored to each platform.

Social audience personas.

Content themes and post types.

Editorial calendar by channel.

Performance tracking framework.

Budget section for paid ads and boosted content.

Best for (in my opinion):

Brands building or refining their organic and paid social presence.

Small teams or solo marketers managing multiple platforms.

Launch campaigns that need both visibility and performance.

3. Content Marketing Plan

A content marketing plan outlines how you'll use content to attract, engage, and convert your target audience. It includes what you’ll create, where it’ll live, how you’ll promote it, and how success will be measured. This type of plan is especially useful for teams looking to grow traffic, build authority, and support lead generation over time.

As a content marketer at heart, this is hands-down my favorite kind of plan to build. Whether launching a new blog, scaling an editorial calendar, or supporting a campaign with gated content — I love seeing how strategic efforts compound over time.

I’ve used content marketing plans to support product launches, test lead magnets, and build full-funnel SEO content strategies. The key is having a clear goal and not trying to do everything at once, especially if your team is small.

If yo

How to start a blog (the right way) and write posts people actually want to read [+ free templates]

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

Wondering how to start a blog that gets read, gets clicks, and actually leads to conversions?

I started blogging back in 2009 — completely by accident — when I was looking for a way to keep track of my favorite recipes. That food blog evolved into a lifestyle blog and led to a career writing content and copy for hundreds of clients, including HubSpot.

The internet has changed a lot since I first hit publish (we didn’t even have Instagram yet), but one thing hasn’t — good blog content still works.

So today, I’m walking you through how to start a blog the right way — without wasting time, chasing trends, or letting AI write a word salad on your behalf. Whether you’re writing to grow your business, build your brand, or turn one post into a partnership, this is the place to start.

Table of Contents

What is a blog post?

How to Start a Blog

What makes a good blog post?

How to Write Your First Blog Post: Getting Started

Blog Format Guidelines

Blog Post Examples

Quick Blog Writing Tips

What is a blog post?

A blog post is a piece of written content published on a website, typically covering a specific topic to inform, educate, or engage readers.

That’s the simple, sanitized, boring definition.

In my experience, blog posts can do so much more — building trust and community, establishing authority and thought leadership, and yes, driving traffic and leads. (Shoutout to inbound marketing.)

They help you get found and stay top of mind with your audience — and (hopefully), keep people coming back for more.

Despite — or maybe even because of — AI’s growing popularity, blogging is nowhere near dead.

Your blog isn’t just for readers anymore — it’s feeding the bots, too. And I think that’s good news.

LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini are trained on public web content, including blog posts, often pulling from that same content when generating answers.

When people actually enjoy your content — stick around, scroll, click — that behavior sends signals that your post is worth recommending. The better the experience, the more likely your blog is to show up in both search engines and AI-driven responses.

According to HubSpot’s 2025 State of Marketing Report, blog content ranked among the top-performing channels for ROI, alongside SEO and website strategy. And while blog posts may not be the flashiest format out there, nearly 1 in 5 marketers still rely on blogs as a core part of their content mix.

How to Start a Blog

I started my first blog the scrappy way — copy-pasting code into a Blogspot theme and hoping for the best. Since then, I’ve helped launch blogs on self-hosted WordPress sites, optimized content for SEO, and built editorial systems that actually work.

Whether you're starting from scratch or finally getting serious about strategy, these steps will help you build a blog that’s both technically solid and ready to publish content people want to read.

1. Understand your audience.

Before you think about keywords, categories, or even post topics, take a step back and ask: Why are you blogging in the first place?

Your “why” shapes your “who.”

If someone said, “You should start a blog,” and you’re doing just that, fantastic. But I recommend first identifying your goals in blogging:

More leads?

Building a personal or business brand?

Positioning yourself as an authority?

Educating your current or future customers?

All or none of the above?

Whatever your answers, they’ll help you figure out who your blog is for and what they need from you.

Once you’re clear on that, start your market research. This doesn’t have to be fancy. You can use market research tools or simply spend focused time learning more about what people are searching for, reading, or sharing. I absolutely love platforms like Reddit for learning more about your audience and how they talk about their problems.

This is also where buyer personas come into play.

"Buyer personas can be a handy way to keep a human in mind while you’re writing. Coordinate your personas with your marketing and sales teams. Chances are that your existing customers are exactly the kind of people you want to attract with your writing in the first place,” says Curtis del Principe, user acquisition manager at HubSpot.

Even a simple persona that maps out who your buyer is, what they know already, and their pain points can make a BIG difference. I’ve found all kinds of great topic ideas and content just from seeing what people are asking. As you get to know your audience more, it will get easier to write content that speaks to them.

Don't have buyer personas yet? Start here:

Create Buyer Personas for Your Business [Free Template]

Guide: How to Create Detailed Buyer Personas for Your Business

[Free Tool] Make My Persona: Buyer Persona Generator

2. Check out your competition.

It’s not quite time to start writing yet. I also want you to take some time to see what else is out there.

But, don’t get discouraged if you see your space is “oversaturated” or, on the flip side, if there’s no one in your space yet.

I always joke that there’s a market for everything because my husband watches YouTube videos of people boiling water. Granted, there’s hops in the water — because he’s a homebrewer, but it’s still…boiling water.

Lots of blogs in your space means that there’s an established market and you have an opportunity to add your voice and perspective to something people are searching for already.

A less established space might mean you have to work a bit harder to draw people in but they’ll likely be superfans...and more importantly, you have the opportunity to truly stand out.

Here’s what I recommend using as a guide during this phase:

Are they really a competitor?

What tone and style are they using?

How is the blog visually presented? (think layout, color palette, and branding)

What topics are they covering (and repeating)?

What’s getting shared or ranking in search?

Remember, this is mostly to get a sense of what’s out there, not an absolute guide to follow for your own content.

3. Determine what topics you’ll cover.

Picking a topic can be challenging, but I find that getting started is always the hardest part. And whatever your starting point is, you’re not married to it for life.

Not sure what to cover? I always teach a content strategy where 90% of your content relates directly to your business and what you want to be known for. If you’re already known for it, great! You can have a lot of fun with your content.

But if people introduce you differently, bridging that gap is your starting point. And if you still need more ideas, here are a few jumping-off points:

Write what you know. Just be sure to figure out the baseline of what your audience already knows and go from there.

Answer questions your audience is asking. Whether you find the topic on social or using Google’s autocomplete feature, it’s a great place to start.

Start with what’s working. If your competitors are covering a topic, you can too. Plus, your lived experience adds value to your audience.

Make sure your topics matter to your readers. Del Principe suggests checking with sales and service teams for ideas. "What kinds of things do they wish customers already knew? What kinds of questions do they get asked a thousand times?” If you’re not serving their needs, then you’re shouting into the void — or, worse, attracting the wrong readership.

Use keyword research to guide you. Search for topics using a keyword research tool and see if there’s search demand. Topics that sit between your expertise and your reader’s needs are gold — but it’s fool’s gold if people aren’t searching for those keywords.

Pro tip: If you need help brainstorming ideas or lack inspiration, use HubSpot’s AI-powered blog topic generator. You’ll get title ideas and outlines based on a brief description or a specific keyword.

4. Identify your unique angle.

When I’m speaking or telling my story, I always say “All roads led me to this point,” usually after joking that my career path reads like two truths and a lie.

No one else has my perspective, insights, or approach because no one else has the exact same lived experience that I do. The same is true for you.

This takes time and deep work to develop, so if you haven’t figured out your positioning yet, it’s probably not going to happen overnight. Be patient and don’t stress about wordsmithing it into oblivion.

This is a case where action is better than perfection.

I recommend telling your story and developing a preliminary unique selling proposition to share exactly why people should be paying attention to you and what you bring to the table.

A few ideas:

Write a professional and personal bio and “About me” page to tell your story.

Get clear on the problem(s) you’re solving. What kinds of things can readers expect to learn from you?

Choose an editorial approach. Your blog topics and the problems you’re helping your readers solve will inform the editorial approach you choose. For example, if your goal is to keep marketers up-to-date on the latest changes, then you’ll likely take a journalistic approach.

5. Name your blog.

Naming your blog can be fun — or maddening. The first name I had for my food blog was “The Daily Lentil.” That lasted about 5 minutes.

I’ve seen people get stuck on this step for weeks trying to find the “perfect” name. Here’s my advice: don’t let it hold you back.

If you’re writing a blog for an established business, it’s totally fine to keep it simple. You can literally call it “Blog.” Clarity beats cleverness, especially when people are navigating your website.

But if you’re creating a personal or standalone blog, it’s worth putting a little thought into the name — because it sets the tone and gives readers a hint of what to expect. And it’s worth your while to get the title and URL right from the get go, because rebranding can be a royal pain.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Make it easy to say, spell, and remember. Creativity is great, but not if it comes at the cost of clarity. Your blog name should also work well as a clean, readable URL.

Connect it to your brand or message. The closer your name is to what your blog is about, the better. For example, DIY MFA covers writers pursuing the concepts of a Master of Fine Arts in writing program on their own. Your name should allude to your blog’s message, value proposition, and covered topics in one fell swoop.

Tie it to your audience’s goals. What do your readers want to learn, solve, or achieve? A good blog name speaks to that journey, even if it’s metaphorical.

Pro tip: Stuck? Use a blog name generator or generative AI tool like ChatGPT. Just make sure you check domain availability early — there’s nothing worse than falling in love with a name that’s already taken.

Which brings me to step 6.

6. Create your blog domain.

Quick definition time: your blog’s domain is the URL. If you’re starting from scratch, you’ll need to choose and register a domain name. Most hosting platforms (like GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Google Domains) make this pretty straightforward and affordable.

Want to create a subdomain for your blog?

Some content management systems (CMS) offer subdomains as a free service, where your blog lives on the CMS instead of your business' website. For example, it might look like this: blog.yoursite.com.

You could also tie your blog to your primary domain. For instance, if you already own a cooking business at www.yourcompany.com, you might create a blog at: blog.yourcompany.com. This format can boost your blog’s SEO benefits.

However, you’ll need to register your subdomain with a website host. Most website hosting services charge very little to host an original domain.

Pro tip: You can connect your custom domain to free hosting with HubSpot’s free CMS or in premium editions of Content Hub . This includes access to built-in security features and a content delivery network (CDN).

7. Choose a CMS and set up your blog.

Starting a blog for free on a platform like WordPress.com is fine if you‘re doing something personal. But if you’re going the business route, or ever want a profit, you want your own domain and to host your blog...regardless of what platform you use.

A CMS is a software application to build and maintain your website without having to code from scratch.

If you’re blogging for personal reasons, starting for free on a platform like WordPress.com is totally fine.

But if you’re creating a business blog — or even think you might monetize your blog in the future — you’ll want your own domain and your own hosting, no matter which platform you use. It’s more professional, gives you more control, and sets you up for long-term growth.

HubSpot customers host web content via Content Hub. Another popular CMS option is a self-hosted WordPress website on a hosting site such as Hostinger or WP Engine.

Pro tip: You can get started for free with HubSpot’s free blog maker. Our free CMS offers everything you need to get started, including hosting, a visual editor, and hundreds of free and paid themes.

Start using HubSpot's Free Blog Making tool to publish blog posts.

8. Customize your blog’s appearance.

Once your blog is set up, take a little time to make it look like you. The design should reflect your content and your brand — especially if you’re building trust with new readers or integrating your blog into an existing website.

If you’re writing about sustainability, for example, you might lean into earthy colors and clean visuals. If you’re writing about tech trends, a bold, modern layout might be a better fit. The goal is consistency, not perfection.

Already have a website? Make sure your blog feels like part of it — visually and tonally. That means matching fonts, colors, and voice across the board.

Don’t forget to spend time pulling together your logo and your “About” page.

9. Write your first blog post.

Your blog is set up — well done! Now you need content.

While the design and layout are fun and functionally necessary, the content is what draws in your readers and keeps them coming back.

I’ll go into detail on this point later.

What makes a good blog post?

A good blog post is engaging and helpful. When you can people on the page entertained, educated, or interested, you’ll make the algorithm gods happy. Google rewards content that does well against its E-E-A-T framework — or content that shares experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.

Remember that lived experience I mentioned above? This is where that comes into play.

For example, your introduction should hook the reader and make them want to continue reading while teaching them from your point of view..

Want to learn how to apply blogging and other forms of content marketing to your business? Check out HubSpot Academy's free content marketing course.

You’ve solved the practical tidbits of how to start a blog. Now…ready, set, write! Ehhh, not quite. #sorrynotsorry

Not all blog content is created equa

I built my backlink strategy on guest blogging — here’s exactly how it drove results

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

If I were looking for the best way to divide a room full of marketers, I’d bring up the topic of guest blogging and link building.

Without a doubt, I’d start a heated debate. Some will argue that digital PR is the best way to earn backlinks. Others will call purposeful link building a waste of time. But in the end, every marketer out there will agree there’s no way to rank in SERPs without quality backlinks — and guest blogging.

However, I must warn you that only a well-crafted guest blogging strategy will effectively fuel your site’s growth. Here’s how you can create one.

Table of Contents

What is guest blogging?

How to Become a Successful Guest Blogger

Guest Blogging SEO

Top Tools for Guest Blogging

What is guest blogging?

Guest blogging is a content marketing tactic that involves writing and publishing articles on other websites to secure a backlink. Nearly 65% of link builders call guest blogging the most popular tactic.

These articles include your byline and, oftentimes, are highlighted by the editor of that website (or publication) as being written by a “guest author” or a “contributor”.

Depending on the publication, you might pay compensation to publish your guest post. However, that's not always the case. Some high-quality publications on notable resources are free of charge, and you will get a link back to your personal website or social media accounts for the sake of quality content.

In rare cases, guest bloggers may receive a monetary reward for their efforts. (Although, I’ve only heard of that happening twice.)

But guest blogging isn’t solely about link building.

Benefits of Guest Blogging

Here are some of the biggest benefits people get from guest blogging:

Build a profile as an industry expert/thought leader.

Grow your personal brand.

Grow an audience (social followers, subscribers, etc.)

Improve SEO performance.

Build authoritative backlinks.

Build relationships and drive new partnerships (e.g., co-marketing partnerships, job offers).

Drive referral traffic.

Improve a company's brand awareness.

Get more leads, users, and even customers.

Actually, you receive most of these with a single guest post if you’re strategic about media outlets and the topic of your article.

How to Become a Successful Guest Blogger

First, let’s define success. I measured it by the number of guest posts published per month per person, the domain rating (DR) of a site, and the amount spent on guest posts.

I was proud to have my small team publish 168 articles with $0 spend on SEJ, SEW, WordStream, SingleGrain, MOZ, OrbitMedia, and other notable blogs. The total number of guest posts exceeded 200+ in one year.

I also measured the number of leads, referral traffic, and shares to understand how guest posts impact business growth, too.

Benchmarks show that 13-15 links per month is the average for link builders with 1-5 years of experience, using different tactics. I reached that number through guest blogging alone.

Source

With that, let’s map out your strategy to become a successful guest blogger.

1. Set specific, achievable goals, like the number of guest posts.

The first step to start a successful guest blogging process is to set attainable, measurable goals. And you know where to hit now — you can start from 7 posts per month and grow the number along the way.

Seven will work if you’re both a writer and an outreach specialist. If someone else writes articles, set the bar higher and target 10-12 posts per month.

You can also set goals related to your business performance (like getting more leads or clients) or your website performance (like improving your search visibility or your referral traffic), or blend these goals with the number of posts.

Whatever your goal is, make it SMART. Make sure you have the capacity to write and outreach to attain those targets.

If you're just getting started, here are five examples of measurable goals you can set:

Get X referral visits from your guest posts, or increase referral traffic by X% from your guest posts. But be cautious, even Forbes won’t guarantee referral traffic. Track it, but don’t get obsessed with it.

Get X leads from referral traffic from your guest posts, or increase the number of leads from your guest posts by X%.

Get X clients from your guest posts, or increase clients from your guest posts by X%.

Improve your SEO performance or SERP visibility by X%.

Get X number of high-quality backlinks to relevant content from your guest posts.

My personal preference is to set goals around SERP visibility, increased SEO traffic, and the number of backlinks. A change in these metrics can be somewhat easily traced back to guest posts. Clients and leads are obviously more important for the business and can be influenced by guest blogging, but correct attribution is a challenge.

2. Choose topics that will benefit both your own business goals and the publisher’s.

Many times, guest bloggers fail because they pitch irrelevant or weak submissions, or, conversely, overlook their topical relevance.

What I advise you to do is pick topics that serve your ultimate goal first — whether that's referral traffic, SEO performance, leads, or clients. Secondly, you’ll need to find theme-aligned media outlets.

Start by making a short list of your top website pages that you want to promote and include in your future guest blogs. You can also select underperforming pages, those lingering in the top-20, top-30, but with high traffic and lead potential. Plus, you can link to your pillar content and distribute link juice through internal linking.

For each page, analyze your current status, like your monthly SEO traffic, SERP positions, conversion rates, etc., and set a goal that you want to achieve in a certain timeframe of guest blogging. You can have both an overall website goal and page-specific goals.

For each target page, pick an overarching topic that is relevant to your expertise and would be useful for readers. Then you can start using keyword research tools like SEMRush and Ahrefs (just to name a couple) to fuel your bank of ideas for future guest posts.

Example:

Let's take a meta-example and say I build a guest blogging strategy around the overarching topic of “guest blogging.” I can create different types of content under the umbrella of this topic: how-to articles, thought leadership, case studies, and ultimate guides. For each type of content, I can find relevant article ideas using keyword research tools.

Here, I used Topic Research (Semrush) and found relevant content clusters and topic themes to build your pitch around. I’d opt for thought leadership since it’s relevant to my niche, and I can easily incorporate guest blogging mentions.

If you use Ahrefs, I recommend running competitor analysis and finding content gaps to build your pitch around. At the end of the day, a blog where you want to publish your guest post also aims to attract organic traffic.

There are actually more ways to find guest post ideas that will get buy-in:

Evaluate the informational traffic potential for a keyword.

Use Google Trends to find niche-relevant trends.

Offer blog post updates that have declined in search traffic.

Analyze the most shareable content across a domain in the last 30-90 days and ask ChatGPT to find a pattern.

3. Find reputable guest blogging sites.

Now that you have your content ideas mapped out, it's time to find relevant publications and guest blogging sites.

Start by putting together a list of target websites, as in the example below:

Here's how I discover guest blogging opportunities to populate the list:

Advanced Search Operators — where I use advanced search operators like “intext:submit a guest post/write for us” OR “guest post”, “guest author”, “become a contributor” AND your keyword.

Google Reverse Image Search — take the headshot of a popular guest blogger or a thought leader, and use it to find places where they've published in the past. Those publications most likely accept guest posts.

Look for lists of top websites that accept guest posts, but verify their DR before pitching.

Check your competitors' backlinks with tools like Semrush or Ahrefs.

Next, make sure you prioritize your list and only pitch blogs that have:

Domain Authority of 40 or higher (or Domain Rating if you're using Ahrefs)

Spam Score of 3% or lower

Thorough editorial process

Ultimately, you will build a spreadsheet with hundreds of potential blogs for guest posting with the editor’s contact, guidelines, etc.

4. Prepare for guest blogging outreach.

At this point, it's time to start thinking about how to pitch your guest post ideas.

Read editorial guidelines and tailor your pitch.

As I mentioned in the previous step, the publications you want to target have a thorough editorial process. So first, look for the website’s guest blogging guidelines, then prepare your pitch idea.

For example, Zapier outlines their ICP, word count, and even topics.

My suggestion would be to approach your blogger outreach process very strategically, starting from the keywords you previously found and your target publication. Check if your target website already ranks for the topic you chose.

Sara McGuire, Content Marketing Lead at Venngage, says that “before pitching an idea to a site, it‘s fundamental that you do your research. Go through their posts and see if there’s a topic that hasn't been covered or an angle you could take to complement their existing posts. Then, craft your pitch with their publishing guidelines in mind.”

“Doing the groundwork first will show editors that you are willing to put in the work to produce good content for them and that you want to contribute value to their site — something most editors will find irresistible. ”

While there are many tactics you can use to get a response, a good heuristic to follow is asking yourself, “Does my pitch offer real value?”

Don‘t beat around the bush. If you’ve done your research, and especially if you've already built up a portfolio of visibly great content, then a straightforward pitch should do the trick.

Check out guest posting outreach templates for inspiration.

Once your pitch is ready, it’s time to find your contact person and reach out to them.

Find relevant people to send out your guest posting ideas.

Different people can accept your pitch:

Head of Content

Editor-in-Chief

Content Marketer

Editorial Assistant

Editor, Contributor Content

Website owner

Journalist

It all starts with an outlet. For example, HubSpot evaluates guest blogging pitches only via the guest blogging form. But it doesn’t limit you to trying out and pitching editors. With one caveat: you first have to build strong relationships with them through X or LinkedIn.

Here’s how I find those people:
1. Look up LinkedIn for selected job titles at a company. Go to Company → People → Keywords “content/editor”, and look through the list of employees. I usually connect with a warm connection request and don’t pitch them right away.

2. Try Hunter.io to find relevant people and get their verified emails. Find Company → Departments (Marketing, Writing & Communications) → Reveal. Alternatively, you can use Hunter to find the email address of a specific person.

I prefer writing cold emails for guest blogging and use LinkedIn outreach only if I’ve built rapport with a person.

Emails give me more space to talk about the guest post idea, why I think it’s useful, unique, etc. LinkedIn primarily allows for a brief pitch and an email address to send details.

Note: Some publications, including HubSpot, require a full draft to be included in the initial pitch. Make sure you always read the guest blogging guidelines of the site to ensure your pitch includes all necessary elements.

5. Choose your all-in-one guest post platform.

Lots of marketers still use Google Sheets or Excel to track their contacts and responses. It's not bad, but it means you're missing out on tracking a lot of valuable information.

By using HubSpot’s email tracking tool, you can gain insights into email opens, clicks, and other engagement metrics, allowing you to refine your outreach strategy with actionable data.

A powerful CRM can help you track all of the relevant information you need — emails, meeting notes, and projects. Plus, you can go back and refresh your memory anytime.

In my case, I'm using our own HubSpot CRM, but any CRM you‘re using would work for this task. If you’re looking for one now, HubSpot CRM is 100% free forever, no matter how many contacts you're adding.

For the outreach part, I also suggest trying Respona, an all-in-one search, outreach, and engagement platform. Using AI, it helps you with your content and keyword research, lets you find contact information for your target publications, and enables you to send dynamic emails (Yes, it includes email templates for almost any type of campaign).

However, I’ve listed more outreach tools at the end of the article so you can find one that suits your budget.

6. Write the post.

This should be the easiest step of the process, as long as you’ve picked a topic that you feel passionate about and you have expertise in. You just need to set time aside and start typing.

If you‘re not comfortable with your writing, it’s perfectly fine to hire an editor to review your draft. I‘d actually highly recommend it, even for experienced writers. It’s always good to have a fresh pair of eyes pick your article apart and make suggestions. Feedback is the breakfast of champions!

But I can’t leave you empty-handed with “just write,” so check out my 12 essential recommendations for writing guest posts (and any type of post, for that matter):

Write long-form, compelling content (at least 1,500-2,000 words).

Break the text into small, digestible paragraphs.

Structure your post with logic. Every heading (e.g., H2, H3, H4) serves a clear idea.

Optimize for on-page SEO using Clearscope or SurferSEO.

Use only original images and graphs to make the content more linkable (Canva is a great tool for novice designers).

Add quotes from subject-matter experts and influencers.

What is a lead magnet? 20 lead magnet ideas and examples [+ step-by-step]

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

Stacks of notes. A half-finished webinar script. Google Docs open in every tab. That’s the beginning of a lead magnet story I hear from peers, founders, and marketers on tight budgets.

Then, the plot twists:

“I spent three weeks designing the perfect lead magnet… and got six downloads. I’m miserable.”

“I slapped together a checklist in 15 minutes. It brought in 200 leads. Woo-hoo!”

It left me wondering whether lead magnets have to be complicated and if there are any patterns you and I can replicate. Guess what? I found them after talking to subject-matter experts. Here are 20 lead magnet examples you can replicate quickly by reusing content you already have.

Table of Contents

What is a lead magnet?

How to Create a Lead Magnet

5 Lead Magnet Examples

15 Additional Lead Magnet Ideas to Try

Before I share lead magnet examples, let's quickly review the conversion path that turns website visitors into leads — and the role email marketing plays in this process.

Call to action (CTA): This is the button that website visitors click to access the resource you're offering.

Landing page: This is where your lead magnet captures information provided by the visitor. Once visitors click on the CTA, they‘re brought to a landing page where they fill out a form with their name, email address, and any other relevant information you’ve deemed important.

Thank-you page: The visitor-turned-lead now lands on a thank-you page with information on where to access their resource and is added to your mailing list.

Kickback email: The kickback email is your follow-up message to the lead a short time after the exchange takes place. This email marketing campaign starts a conversation with the lead to keep them engaged with your business.

Every piece of content you’ve created — blog posts, guides, videos, even internal docs — has the potential to bring in new leads. The goal is to turn what you already have into a lead-generating machine.

What is a good lead magnet?

A good lead magnet is something your ideal customer really wants. I love to say it's about hitting the right nerve.

A strong one needs to:

1. Be relevant to your audience.

Relevance beats reach every time. Early in my career, I made the mistake of going broad, creating general templates and checklists just to collect emails. And sure, I got signups … but most of them never converted. They weren’t really my people.

Now, I’d choose topics my ideal customer actually cares about – even if it means fewer but high-quality leads.

A McKinsey report backs that up: Companies using relevance-driven personalization generate 40% more revenue than those that don’t.

That’s because when your offer speaks directly to the right problem, people pay attention – and they’re way more likely to convert.

2. Provide value to your audience.

Once you know who you’re talking to, your next move is creating something valuable. Personally, I always ask: Would I trade my email for this? If the answer’s no, it’s back to the drawing board.

Don’t regurgitate what's already out there. Instead, offer something they can’t Google in 5 minutes:

A shortcut to save time

A framework that solves a frustrating problem

A fresh perspective backed by your unique data or experience

For example, HubSpot recently gated a report titled The 2025 State of Marketing based on data from 1,460 marketers.

Source

It’s packed with insights on AI adoption, channel performance, and consumer behavior shifts. Reports like these help HubSpot generate thousands of qualified leads and secure link placements on the most thought-after media outlets.

Why? Because they give people something they can’t get anywhere else – real data, real takeaways, real value.

3. Be trustworthy.

People don’t just hand over their info anymore unless they trust you.

According to Demand Gen Report’s Content Preferences Survey, 54% of buyers said they don’t trust low-quality content.

The report made it clear: only personalized, data-backed lead magnets actually drive engagement, build trust, and move buyers closer to a decision.

Moreover, nothing kills credibility faster than a lead magnet full of typos. If it looks rushed or sloppy, people assume everything else is too. That’s why I always double-check every guide before it goes out and get a second pair of eyes to give it a quick look too.

When something’s polished and professional, it sends the message: we care, and we know our stuff.

Trust is earned with facts, clarity, and respect for your reader’s time.

4. Make your audience want more.

It’s a fine line – give people enough to get them excited, but not so much that they don’t need you anymore. You’re not trying to trick them, but you’re also not here to solve everything for free.

A free tool or freemium version? Perfect example. It shows your value, gets them in the door, and if they want the full experience, they’ll need to upgrade.

In fact, product-influenced revenue is highest among SaaS companies with a self-serve freemium model, making up about 90% of total revenue.

Source

But here’s the catch: that number drops to just 28% for companies in the bottom quartile, proving that simply offering a freemium plan isn’t enough. You need to design this strategically – give users enough to get hooked and create a good onboarding experience.

5. Be shareable content.

Your lead magnet should be crafted to be easily shared because when your audience loves it and shares it, you've just sparked a mini viral moment.

That’s why 94% of marketers repurpose content, proving nearly everyone maximizes one asset across multiple formats.

Source

That means your lead magnet should be built to break into bite-sized, sharable pieces — snippets, visuals, social cards, or quick videos.

Here’s how to put it into action:

Host it on a clean, standalone landing page with big, easy “Share” buttons.

Create ready-to-post snippets — quotes, tips, stats — text or visuals that map back to the original.

Pin or highlight your lead magnet in social profiles for easy discovery.

Repurpose it: turn it into a carousel, a short video, or even a tweet series to multiply your reach.

This Semrush LinkedIn post is a solid example:

Source

It takes a useful piece of content – a content strategy template – and turns it into a quick, scroll-stopping post that starts with a relatable problem, delivers value right away, and invites engagement with a swipeable walkthrough.

Obviously, it worked: the post was reposted 79 times.

When you design your lead magnet for shareability and repurposing, you’re priming your audience to become your best promoters.

1. Figure out who you're targeting and what they want.

The goal of a lead magnet is to offer something your audience wants in exchange for their contact information.

To do this, you have to know what user persona you're targeting and what offer would entice them.

You may have one to three personas with different needs and pain points. That means one lead magnet likely won't appeal to all three personas.

Let’s say I run an influencer marketing agency. I might be targeting two types of influencers:

Influencer #1 doesn’t fully understand how brand partnerships work and needs help building their personal brand.

Influencer #2 is overwhelmed with admin tasks and doesn’t have time to create content.

For the first group, I’d create knowledge-based lead magnets, such as ebooks, guides, or how-to guides. For the second, I’d offer time-saving tools like templates or automation checklists.

To shape these offers, I’d check what competitors are sharing and review my own content. If my audience is more engaged with videos or asking about certain topics, that tells me exactly what kind of content they want.

2. Create, design, and name your lead magnet.

Now that you know what your offer will be, it's production time. You have to create and design your lead magnet.

If you don't have an in-house designer, you can outsource the work or use a platform like Canva. Their platform offers hundreds of templates that you can customize to build your lead magnet, everything from books and presentation slides to worksheets and reports.

AI tools are also a huge help. I often use Reve to generate on-brand images fast, and play around with Sora for more creative or video-based content. Both are fantastic.

For example, here’s the exact prompt I gave Sora when I needed a cover for my ebook:

And here’s what I got — it matched exactly what I had in mind:

Always give your lead magnet a title that’s both catchy and clear enough. Don’t overcomplicate it. If people don’t get what it’s about at first glance, they probably won’t click.

Some solid examples:

“The Ultimate Guide to Influencer-Brand Partnerships” tells you exactly what you’re getting.

“10 Email Templates That Actually Get Replies” is benefit-driven and easy to scan.

“The Checklist Every New Founder Needs” is short, clear, and useful.

3. Build your conversion path.

The next step is building your conversion path, which must include your landing page, thank-you page, form, and email sequence.

Starting with your landing page, there are a few best practices to improve conversions:

Have a dedicated landing page that doesn't include a navigation bar. This will keep users' focus on your offer and not on the other pages on your website.

Write a clear call to action. Your CTA should be clear, short, and to the point. It should also use words that will appeal most to your audience.

Consider eye scanning patterns. Users in Western cultures typically follow F- and Z-reading patterns, which is why most landing pages are designed with key elements placed in those zones.

Add social proof. Adding reviews and testimonials to your landing pages adds credibility to your offer and can increase your conversion rate.

For your form, the two pieces of information you'll want to include are name and email. Everything else is optional. However, keep in mind that the more fields you include, the higher the chance a user may abandon the form.

Next up, your email sequence: Once you've acquired your lead, you can add them to a nurturing sequence that will lead them further down the funnel. This can include additional resources, such as webinars and newsletters.

4. Set up conversion tracking.

Once your lead magnet is live, track how users move through each stage so you can identify drop‑off points, optimize messaging, and boost conversions.

Here’s what you should pay attention to.

Landing page behavior: Pageviews, scroll depth, time on page, bounce rate.

CTA: Button clicks, click-through rates.

Form interactions: Form views, submissions, field drop-off.

Traffic sources: LinkedIn, email, search, etc.

Conversion rate per step: % of users progressing from landing page – form start – form submit – thank you page.

Pro tip: Use HubSpot’s “Analyze form submissions data” guide to see page views, submission counts, and conversion rates for each form.

Source

4. Tailor your lead magnet to buyer personas.

Once your lead magnet is ready, it’s time to get it in front of the right people.

I always start by thinking about the real problems my ideal customers are trying to solve — not what I want to say, but what they’re already searching for.

Let’s say I run a fitness business and you’re speaking to three very different personas:

Sarah is a busy mom in her 30s trying to lose baby weight.

Mark is a college athlete focused on building muscle.

Barbara is a retiree working on flexibility and balance.

Now, if I write something like “10 Quick and Easy Workouts for Busy Moms,” that’s perfect for Sarah — but Mark and Barbara will scroll right past it.

The same thing goes for “5 Protein-Packed Meals for Muscle Gain.” That’s great for Mark, but not relevant for the other two. And, “Gentle Yoga Poses for Seniors?” A total miss for Sarah and Mark, but just right for Barbara.

The takeaway? When you are crafting a lead magnet, you have to design it for a single persona. That means one topic that’s specific and relevant.

Here’s my quick checklist on how to pick topics to promote a lead magnet:

Solve a real problem. Don’t regurgitate generic advice; dig into the actual pain points your audience is dealing with right now.

Get ultra-specific. “How to grow your business” is fine. But “5 ways plumbers can book more jobs this summer”? Way better.

Share real proof. People love numbers. Use your own data, case studies, or client wins whenever you can.

Make it actionable. Give people steps they can use today.

Write a strong headline. “Double your sales in 30 days” beats “Increase your revenue.”

Promote where it matters. Go where your audience hangs out.

Create urgency. A time-sensitive bonus or deadline can prompt someone to download it now instead of waiting until “someday.”

To help you never run out of engaging content ideas, HubSpot has created the Free Blog Ideas Generator. Use it to generate content ideas relevant to your lead magnets. Simply mention what the lead magnet is about and enjoy content ideas that your potential customers are interested in.

5. Set a schedule to update regularly.

Depending on the type of lead magnet, experts advised me to set a reminder to update it every 6 to 12 months.

Let’s say you put out a report on 2023 data science salaries. Now that it’s 2025, it’s way overdue for a refresh. Ideally, you’d pull in updated numbers from last year — or even better, grab some early data from the first half of this year if it’s available.

If you don’t, the whole thing starts to feel stale

5 best CRMs for cleaning businesses in 2025

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 16:08:24 +0300

Running a successful cleaning business in 2025 goes far beyond spotless floors and sparkling windows — it requires seamless communication, efficient scheduling, and reliable customer management. Yet, finding the right tools to keep everything organized is a challenge; here’s why: the CRM needs of cleaning businesses are uniquely demanding, blending field service logistics with customer service, recurring job tracking, and quick invoicing.

Unlike generic CRM systems, cleaning companies need platforms that accommodate mobile crews, on-the-go updates, and repeat customer interactions. This is where Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software becomes essential. The right CRM doesn’t just store contact information; it helps streamline workflows, automate client follow-ups, reduce no-shows, and improve customer satisfaction at scale.

In fact, a recent study from CRM.com revealed that 91% of companies with 10 or more employees now use CRM software. And it’s not just theory — real cleaning businesses already use platforms (like HubSpot) to centralize operations, personalize marketing, and ultimately drive more revenue with less friction.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the top five CRM systems tailored for cleaning businesses in 2025. You’ll find:

A comparison table of the top platforms

A breakdown of key features and pricing

Tips on how to choose the right CRM for your business needs

A quick-start how-to guide for getting up and running fast

Whether running a solo operation or managing a multi-location cleaning service, this guide will help you choose a CRM that keeps your business spotless — inside and out.

BTW: Did you know that Paidy increased their target audience reach by 50% by implementing HubSpot’s OneSignal integration? If you didn’t, you do now.

Table of Contents

What is a CRM for cleaning businesses?

CRM Comparison Table

Best CRM Software for Cleaning Company Businesses

Benefits of CRM Software for Cleaning Businesses

5 Important Features for a Cleaning Businesses CRM

How to Choose a CRM for Cleaning Businesses (Step-by-Step)

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Cleaning Companies

What is a CRM for cleaning businesses?

A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system for cleaning businesses is a tool that helps manage client relationships, streamline job scheduling, and track recurring services — all from one centralized platform.

For example, HubSpot helps cleaning businesses:

Automate email reminders

Organize and track leads from initial inquiry to repeat customer

Gain insights into team performance and customer satisfaction through reporting and analytics

This makes it a strong fit for cleaning businesses looking to scale their operations while delivering top-tier customer service.

Best CRMs for Cleaning Businesses at a Glance

CRM

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Free Trial

HubSpot

Growing cleaning businesses seeking all-in-one solution

Automated scheduling and dispatch

Customer portal with online booking

Invoice and payment processing

Marketing automation tools

Mobile app for field teams

Integration with QuickBooks

Free: $0/month

Starter: $9/month/user

Starter Customer Platform: $9/month/seat

Professional: $720/month

Enterprise: $2,000/month

Yes, 14 days

Jobber

Field service companies with multiple crews

Route optimization

Two-way SMS communication

Before/after photo storage

Chemical tracking

Recurring job automation

Connect: $109/month (up to 5 users)

Plus: $378/month (up to 15 users)

Grow: $210/month (up to 10 users)

Yes, 14 days

ServiceTitan

Large commercial cleaning operations

Advanced dispatching

Inventory management

Performance dashboards

Customer review management

Equipment maintenance tracking

Custom pricing only (must request a demo for price quote information; see here)

Yes, 14 days

Housecall Pro

Residential cleaning services

Online booking widget

Automated review requests

GPS time tracking

Credit card processing

Customer communication hub

Basic: $59/month (up to 1 user)

Essentials: $149/month/user (up to 5 users)

Max: $299/month/user (up to 8 users)

Yes, 14 days

ZenMaid

Maid services and house cleaners

Cleaning-specific workflows

Quality control checklists

Team communication tools

Client preferences tracking

Automated reminders

Starter: $19/month (up to 40 clients per month)

Pro: $39/month (unlimited clients per month)

Premium: $49/month (unlimited clients per month)

Yes, 14 days

Best CRM Software for Cleaning Company Businesses

Choosing the right CRM can transform your cleaning business, saving time, reducing manual tasks, and improving customer satisfaction. With so many platforms on the market, it’s crucial to find one that meets the needs of cleaning services, from managing recurring jobs to handling team scheduling and mobile access.

In this section, we’ll explore the best CRM software for cleaning businesses in 2025, highlighting key features, pricing, and what makes each one stand out. Take a look:

1. HubSpot

Source

Best for: Growing cleaning businesses that need comprehensive customer management solutions.

Key HubSpot Features

Automated scheduling and dispatch: HubSpot eliminates double-bookings and reduces administrative time for cleaning companies managing multiple properties daily.

Customer portal with online booking: HubSpot streamlines the appointment workflow by allowing clients to self-schedule recurring cleanings, view service history, and update preferences without phone calls.

Marketing automation integrated with QuickBooks: HubSpot automatically syncs invoices, tracks payment status, and triggers follow-up campaigns based on service completion, creating a seamless billing-to-marketing pipeline.

HubSpot Pricing (Operations Hub)

Free: $0/month

Starter: $9/month/user

Starter Customer Platform: $9/month/seat

Professional: $720/month

Enterprise: $2,000/month

2. Jobber

Source

Best for: Multi-crew cleaning companies managing field technicians across residential and commercial properties.

Key Jobber Features

Route optimization with live GPS tracking: Saves cleaning crews time daily by calculating the most efficient paths between job sites.

Two-way SMS with automated appointment reminders: Reduces no-shows through customizable text messages sent 24 hours before scheduled cleanings.

Chemical inventory tracking with usage reports: Monitors cleaning supply levels across all teams and automatically generates reorder alerts when products run low.

Jobber Pricing (For Teams)

Connect: $109/month (up to 5 users)

Plus: $378/month (up to 15 users)

Grow: $210/month (up to 10 users)

3. ServiceTitan

Source

Best for: Enterprise-level commercial cleaning operations with 50+ employees servicing large facilities.

Key ServiceTitan Features

Performance dashboards with real-time KPIs: Critical for commercial cleaners to track contract compliance.

Advanced dispatching with skills-based routing: Matches specialized cleaning crews (carpet, window, biohazard) to appropriate jobs based on certifications and equipment availability.

Automated review management integrated with Google My Business: Captures customer feedback immediately after service completion.

ServiceTitan Pricing

Custom pricing only (must request a demo for price quote information; see here)

4. Housecall Pro

Source

Best for: Residential cleaning services focused on recurring house cleaning appointments.

Key Housecall Pro Features

Online booking widget with instant quotes: Converts website visitors into customers by allowing them to select cleaning packages, view pricing, and book services.

GPS time tracking with before/after photos: Provides transparency for homeowners by documenting arrival/departure times.

Integrated payment processing with stored cards: Simplifies recurring billing for weekly/biweekly cleanings by automatically charging saved payment methods after service completion.

Housecall Pro Pricing

Basic: $59/month (up to 1 user)

Essentials: $149/month/user (up to 5 users)

Max: $299/month/user (up to 8 users)

5. Zen Maid

Source

Best for: Independent maid services and small cleaning teams under 20 employees.

Key ZenMaid Features

Cleaning-specific quality checklists: Ensures consistency across all homes by providing room-by-room task lists that cleaners check off via mobile app.

Client preference tracking with special instructions: Maintains detailed notes about pet locations, alarm codes, and cleaning product preferences that automatically appear in work orders.

Automated feedback collection via SMS: Sends satisfaction surveys 2 hours after cleaning completion, allowing immediate issue resolution before negative reviews appear online.

ZenMaid Pricing

Starter: $19/month (up to 40 clients per month)

Pro: $39/month (unlimited clients per month)

Premium: $49/month (unlimited clients per month)

Benefits of CRM Software for Cleaning Businesses

Eliminates Scheduling Chaos with Automated Dispatch Management

Cleaning businesses often struggle with double-bookings, forgotten appointments, and inefficient route planning that costs valuable time and fuel. A robust CRM transforms this chaos into streamlined operations.

HubSpot’s automated scheduling software allows you to:

View all appointments in a centralized calendar

Automatically assign crews based on availability and location

Send instant notifications to field teams

Then, the system automatically blocks a time slot, assigns an appropriate team, and optimizes a route based on other appointments in the area, eliminating the manual juggling act that causes costly scheduling errors.

Transforms Customer Communication from Reactive to Proactive

Many cleaning companies lose clients simply because they fail to maintain consistent communication between services.

HubSpot’s automated communication workflows solve this by creating touchpoints that strengthen customer relationships without manual effort. When a cleaning is completed, HubSpot automatically triggers a thank-you email, sends a satisfaction survey 24 hours later, and schedules a reminder for the next appointment.

Gives You Real-Time Visibility into Field Operations

Without proper tracking, cleaning business owners operate blindly—unsure if crews arrived on time, how long jobs took, or whether quality standards were met.

HubSpot’s mobile CRM app provides complete visibility by allowing field teams to check in/out of jobs, upload completion photos, and update job status in real-time. Managers can monitor all active jobs through HubSpot’s customizable dashboards, instantly seeing which properties are being serviced, tracking average cleaning times, and identifying bottlenecks. This visibility enables data-driven decisions that improve efficiency and profitability across all operations.

Automates Billing and Payment Collection

Chasing down payments is one of the most time-consuming aspects of running a cleaning business, often resulting in cash flow problems and awkward customer conversations.

HubSpot’s integration with payment processors and QuickBooks creates an automated billing ecosystem that handles everything from invoice generation to payment collection. When a cleaning is marked complete in HubSpot’s system, it automatically:

Generates an invoice

Charges stored credit cards for recurring clients

Syncs all financial data to your accounting software

This automation through HubSpot’s workflow builder reduces payment delays from weeks to hours while freeing staff from manual billing tasks.

Scales Your Business with Data-Driven Insights

Growing a cleaning business requires understanding which services are most profitable, which customers generate the most revenue, and where opportunities exist for expansion.

HubSpot’s advanced analytics and custom reporting transform raw data into actionable insights by tracking metrics like:

Customer lifetime value

Service profitability

Team performance

For instance, HubSpot’s list segmentation can identify your top customers by revenue, allowing you to create VIP service packages or referral programs targeting this valuable segment. These insights enable strategic growth decisions based on actual performance data rather than guesswork.

5 Important Features for a Cleaning Businesses CRM

Mobile access for field teams: Your cleaning crews spend their entire day moving between properties, making mobile functionality non-negotiable. HubSpot’s mobile CRM app equips field teams to access customer information, update job status, and capture photos directly from their smartphones. When a cleaner arrives at a property, t

5 best accounting software CRMs for small businesses in 2025

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 15:57:08 +0300

Managing client relationships in the accounting world involves much more than keeping contact info in one place. For small business accountants, it means staying on top of recurring deadlines, securely handling sensitive financial data, and ensuring no client communication falls through the cracks. These unique needs make it essential to have a CRM that’s not just flexible but tailored to the specific demands of accounting work.

That’s where a specialized CRM can really make a difference. The right tool doesn’t just track leads or send reminders — it helps you automate invoicing, keep tabs on client documents, and sync effortlessly with your accounting software. Whether preparing for tax season or managing ongoing bookkeeping, a well-suited CRM can save you time, reduce errors, and keep your client relationships running smoothly.

In this guide, we’ll compare the five best accounting software CRMs for small businesses in 2025. You’ll get:

A side-by-side comparison of the top CRMs built with accounting needs in mind

Key features explained in plain terms — so you know exactly what you’re getting

Tips on how to choose the right CRM for your firm’s size, goals, and workflow

A quick-start guide to help you get up and running smoothly

And yes — real accounting firms are using HubSpot to simplify client management, automate follow-ups, and integrate seamlessly with tools like QuickBooks and Xero. Keep reading to determine if HubSpot is the right fit for your team.

BTW: Did you know that NOW Finance reduced manual processing time from three applications to one by implementing HubSpot’s unified platform? If you didn’t, you do now.

Table of Contents

What is an accounting software CRM for small businesses?

CRM Comparison Table

Best Accounting CRM Software for Small Businesses

Benefits of Accounting CRM Software for Small Businesses

5 Important Features for an Accounting Software CRM

How to Choose an Accounting Software CRM for Small Businesses (Step-by-Step)

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Small Business Accounting

What is an accounting software CRM for small businesses?

An accounting software CRM for small businesses is designed to help firms manage client relationships, streamline communication, and keep financial workflows organized — all in one place. Unlike general-purpose CRMs, these tools often include features like:

Invoice tracking

Client document storage

Integration with accounting platforms.

HubSpot offers customizable pipelines, automated follow-ups, and integrations with tools like QuickBooks, making it an excellent fit for small accounting teams that need to stay efficient and client-focused.

Best Accounting Software CRMs for Call Center Businesses at a Glance

CRM

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Free Trial

HubSpot

Growing businesses seeking an all-in-one solution

Integrated accounting features with QuickBooks sync

Contact & deal management

Email marketing & automation

Reporting dashboard

Invoice tracking

Free: $0/month/seat

Starter: $9/month/seat

Starter Customer Platform: $9/month/seat

Professional: $90/month/seat

Enterprise: $150/month

Yes, 14 days

Zoho Books + CRM

Budget-conscious businesses needing accounting focus

Full accounting suite

Invoice & expense management

Bank reconciliation

Tax compliance

CRM integration

Free: $0/month (up to 1 user, 1 accountant)

Standard: $15/month (up to 3 users)

Professional: $40/month (up to 5 users)

Premium: $60/month (up to 10 users)

Elite: $120/month (up to 10 users)

Ultimate: $240/month (up to 15 users)

Yes, 14 days

FreshBooks

Service-based businesses & freelancers

Time tracking & billing

Project management

Client portal

Expense tracking

Basic CRM features

Lite: $8.40/month (up to 5 clients)

Plus: $15.20/month (up to 50 clients)

Premium: $26/month (unlimited clients)

Select: Custom pricing only (see here)

Yes, 30 days

QuickBooks + Method: CRM

Businesses already using QuickBooks

Deep QuickBooks integration

Customer lifecycle tracking

Automated workflows

Lead management

Financial reporting

Contact Management: $25/user/month

CRM Pro: $44/user/month

CRM Enterprise: $74/user/month

CRM Multi-entity: Custom pricing only (see here)

Yes, 14 days

Sage 50cloud

Established small businesses need robust accounting

Advanced accounting features

Inventory management

Cash flow forecasting

Contact management

Microsoft 365 integration

Pro Accounting: $61.92/month

Premium

Accounting: $109.67/month

Quantum Accounting: $188.67/month

Hosted: Custom pricing only (see here)

Yes, 30 days

Best Accounting CRM Software for Small Businesses

With so many CRM options, it can be tough to know which ones truly meet the needs of small accounting teams.

To help you narrow it down, we’ve rounded up the best accounting CRM software for small businesses — tools that combine client management with features like invoicing, reporting, and integrations with popular accounting platforms. Whether you’re a solo bookkeeper or managing a growing firm, these CRMs are built to support your workflow and scale with your business. Take a look below:

1. HubSpot

Source

Best for: Growing small businesses need integrated accounting features with QuickBooks sync to streamline sales and financial operations.

Key HubSpot Features

HubSpot’s QuickBooks integration: Automatically syncs contacts, deals, and invoices between HubSpot’s CRM and QuickBooks, eliminating manual data entry that typically consumes 10+ hours monthly for accounting teams.

HubSpot’s email sequences: Automates follow-up communications tied to invoice status and payment reminders, ensuring consistent cash flow management while maintaining personalized customer touchpoints.

HubSpot’s custom pipelines: Creates specialized workflows for quote-to-cash processes with built-in automation rules, allowing finance teams to track deal progress alongside accounting milestones.

HubSpot Pricing (Sales Hub)

Free: $0/month/seat

Starter: $9/month/seat

Starter Customer Platform: $9/month/seat

Professional: $90/month/seat

Enterprise: $150/month

2. Zoho Books

Source

Best for: Budget-conscious small businesses seeking comprehensive accounting functionality with CRM integration.

Key Zoho Books Features

Full accounting suite integration: Combines complete bookkeeping functionality with CRM data.

Automated bank reconciliation: Matches transactions automatically while maintaining customer relationship context.

Multi-currency support with CRM sync: Manages international clients seamlessly by tracking exchange rates and customer preferences in one unified platform.

Zoho Books Pricing

Free: $0/month (up to 1 user, 1 accountant)

Standard: $15/month (up to 3 users)

Professional: $40/month (up to 5 users)

Premium: $60/month (up to 10 users)

Elite: $120/month (up to 10 users)

Ultimate: $240/month (up to 15 users)

3. FreshBooks

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Best for: Service-based businesses and freelancers prioritizing time tracking with client billing.

Key FreshBooks Features

Integrated time tracking: Captures billable hours directly within project workflows.

Automated expense receipts: Snaps and categorizes receipts via mobile app, connecting expenses to specific clients.

Client portal access: Provides secure, login-free viewing of invoices and project status.

FreshBooks Pricing

Lite: $8.40/month (up to 5 clients)

Plus: $15.20/month (up to 50 clients)

Premium: $26/month (unlimited clients)

Select: Custom pricing only (see here)

4. Method

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Best for: Established businesses already using QuickBooks who need robust CRM capabilities without data migration.

Key Method Features

Deep QuickBooks integration: Offers patented two-way sync that updates customer data in real time.

Automated commission tracking: Calculates sales rep commissions based on QuickBooks invoice data.

Custom workflow builder: Creates industry-specific processes (like construction job costing) that pull financial data directly from QuickBooks entries.

Method Pricing

Contact Management: $25/user/month

CRM Pro: $44/user/month

CRM Enterprise: $74/user/month

CRM Multi-entity: Custom pricing only (see here)

5. Sage 50cloud

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Best for: Established small businesses with complex inventory needs requiring desktop accounting with cloud accessibility.

Key Sage 50cloud Features

Advanced inventory management: Tracks serial numbers and multi-location stock levels.

Cash flow forecasting: Projects future financial position based on historical data and current pipeline.

Microsoft 365 integration: Syncs financial data with Excel for custom reporting while maintaining audit trails.

Sage 50cloud Pricing

Pro Accounting: $61.92/month

Premium Accounting: $109.67/month

Quantum Accounting: $188.67/month

Hosted: Custom pricing only (see here)

Benefits of Accounting CRM Software for Small Businesses

Eliminate Manual Data Entry Between Sales and Accounting Systems

Small businesses can lose hours of valuable time weekly to duplicate data entry between CRM and accounting software, leading to costly errors and delayed invoicing.

HubSpot’s native QuickBooks integration automatically syncs customer information, deals, and invoices bidirectionally, ensuring your sales team’s closed deals instantly appear as billable customers in your accounting system. This real-time synchronization through HubSpot eliminates the risk of missed invoices or mismatched customer records.

Gain Complete Visibility Into Cash Flow and Sales Pipeline

Financial uncertainty kills small businesses. Luckily, HubSpot’s unified dashboard combines pipeline visibility with accounting data, showing exactly when deals will close and how they impact your financial position.

Plus, through HubSpot’s customizable reporting, finance teams can view real-time metrics like average deal size, payment terms, and collection periods alongside traditional sales metrics. This enables proactive cash management instead of reactive scrambling when bills come due.

Automate Invoice Follow-ups and Payment Collection

Late payments drastically impact small businesses’ success. HubSpot’s workflow automation triggers personalized payment reminder sequences based on invoice status from your accounting system, dramatically improving collection rates without awkward manual follow-ups.

These automated sequences through HubSpot can include escalating reminders, automatically applying late fees, and even pausing further services for overdue accounts — all while maintaining professional client relationships.

Enable Mobile Access for Field Teams and Remote Work

Modern small businesses need financial visibility in today's digital economic climate.

HubSpot’s mobile CRM app provides full access to customer financial history, outstanding invoices, and payment status from any device, empowering field sales and service teams to make informed decisions on-site.

Through HubSpot’s mobile interface, small business teams can:

Create quotes

Check credit limits

Process payments during client meetings

Scale Financial Operations Without Adding Headcount

Growing businesses often hit a wall where manual processes can't keep pace with increased transaction volume.

HubSpot’s scalable platform handles 10 to 10,000+ customers without requiring additional administrative staff. It uses intelligent list segmentation to automatically categorize customers by payment history, industry, or revenue potential.

This segmentation capability in HubSpot enables targeted financial communications, automated credit limit management, and personalized service levels, allowing sm

Traditional marketing vs. digital marketing: Why not both?

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

Traditional marketing vs. digital marketing shouldn’t be a controversial decision.

From my experience, the smartest brands aren’t choosing sides. They’re learning how to blend both worlds to reach people where it matters. I personally work with a SaaS company that invested relentlessly in billboards across the US and saw a jaw-dropping spike in leads.

So in this piece, I’ll break down the key differences, strengths, and use cases for each so you can build a strategy that’s actually aligned with how your audience shops, scrolls, and decides.

Table of Contents

What is traditional marketing?

What is digital marketing?

Traditional Marketing vs. Digital Marketing

Types of Traditional Marketing

Importance of Traditional Marketing

Pros and Cons of Traditional Marketing

Can traditional and digital marketing really work together?

What is traditional marketing?

Traditional marketing is all marketing that happens offline. This includes print, broadcast, direct mail, phone, and out-of-home advertising like billboards and posters.

It’s called “traditional” because it predates the internet, but that doesn’t mean it’s outdated.

In fact, some of the most digital-native startups are circling back to it. Case in point? One of my customers, Artisan, a fully AI-driven outreach platform, shocked marketers with their now-viral billboard campaign.

In a world where SaaS companies obsess over CAC and digital tracking, Artisan went old-school. They rolled out billboards in San Francisco with a bold message: “Stop Hiring Humans.”

Source

This campaign brought in millions of impressions, a wave of press, Reddit rage-bait, and drove $2M in new ARR. Can you imagine that?

That’s the power of traditional marketing when the message hits — even in a digital-first world.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is any form of marketing that happens online. That includes paid social ads, email campaigns, SEO, content marketing, PPC, influencer collaborations — the list goes on.

Why has it taken center stage? Because it meets modern buyers where they are: researching solutions online, reading thought leadership, comparing vendors, and scheduling demos. All before ever talking to sales.

Take Gong as an example. They’ve become one of the most recognized B2B SaaS brands largely thanks to content marketing. Their content strategy, developed by Devin Reed, ex-Head of Content, is sharp, their social presence is bold, and their ads are super targeted. They use digital not just to generate leads, but to shape how the market sees them.

In fact, Devin Reed’s strategy fuelled Gong from $20M to $200M ARR.

See how many resources Gong designs for revenue leaders.

Source

Digital marketing isn’t just cheaper or faster — it’s more precise. You can speak directly to your ICP, track every click, and adjust in real time.

But even though it’s the dominant strategy today, it works best when paired with traditional tactics that build brand and trust over time.

Traditional Marketing vs. Digital Marketing

Should you favor one of them?

My short answer is: it depends. My apologies for that, but let’s make it clear.

In today’s landscape, it’s no surprise that digital marketing is an increasingly important revenue driver. In fact, 78% of businesses that use social selling outperform those that don’t.

Disadvantages to digital marketing do exist, however. Chief among these concerns are privacy and security issues. According to Hubspot’s State of Consumer Trends 2025, online data privacy is valued as a human right by 75% of survey respondents.

This means that “digital power” comes with responsibility. To build trust and achieve long-term success, marketers must be cautious in their use of data and respect consumers’ growing expectations regarding privacy.

But when my business is all about creating sales and marketing content, I see no other option but to market my skills online 99% of the time. However, I could also blend it with traditional marketing, like attending events and selling my services offline.

In another scenario, if I were to open a laundry service, I’d definitely opt for a 50/50 mix of traditional and digital tactics, which I’ll discuss below. So, stay tuned.

What about AI?

Let’s not dance around it. AI is already rewriting the marketing playbook to some extent.

The State of Marketing 2025 report states that 92% of marketers claim AI has already impacted their role, and teams utilizing connected CRMs, such as HubSpot, are 67% more likely to feel confident in their strategy.

Even more, marketers using AI tools saw 82% higher email conversion rates, proving that AI is giving a measurable edge.

Also, AI is saving us time and money.

Take HubSpot’s Campaign Assistant, for example. I used it to create a full campaign – from email copy to social media ads – in under 15 minutes. (Read more here.)

I imagined I was running a sustainable travel bag brand and needed a quick Earth Month campaign. I started with a newsletter, and the tool walked me through prompts for the campaign summary, key points, tone, and CTA. Then, it delivered a polished, editable copy in seconds.

Types of Traditional Marketing

Traditional marketing is all around us.

Imagine you’re walking past a busy street corner when someone hands you a flyer. A billboard flashes above with a catchy slogan. The local paper in your bag? Full of ads.

Let’s take a deeper look at old-school tactics that still work.

Print Media

Print media uses newspapers, magazines, and other printed materials to market to potential customers. This option is scalable, from locally to globally read publications.

A great example in this category is IKEA UK, which launched its Tomorrow Starts Tonight campaign in 2024. The main goal was to reframe sleep as the ultimate self-care tool.

Based on research showing that a third of Brits don’t get enough sleep, the campaign featured beautifully photographed posters comparing quality sleep to things like energy drinks and anti-aging creams (products that promise what sleep actually delivers).

Look at it! You could spot them in a metro station, on the street, etc.

Source

Shot in-camera with giant props and real IKEA bedding, the campaign was slick, clever, and impossible to ignore.

Broadcasting

This refers to TV and radio commercials and aims to create brand awareness. Broadcasting relies on repetition, as the same ad will play over and over.

An ad that has stuck with me is Heinz’s “Ketchup Fraud” that aired during the Super Bowl in Canada (and then kept popping up on U.S. TV).

It’s a tongue-in-cheek campaign that exposed the sneaky practice of restaurants refilling Heinz bottles with cheaper, generic ketchup.

Presented as a playful investigation, the ad featured visuals of this swap happening in kitchens and urged consumers to call out the fraud by tagging guilty restaurants online.

Bold and incredibly on-brand, it sparked real social conversation.

Source

Direct Mail

My mailbox will soon explode with the number of flyers it’s fed. This is direct mail in action, when marketing materials are sent straight to your door.

These can be letters, postcards, flyers, catalogs, or even gifts, and the point is to connect with an individual directly, unlike with print or broadcast, where the aim is to reach as many people as possible.

But some companies use this tactic correctly. Subway did a great job with direct mail, running a localized campaign aimed at driving foot traffic back into stores.

Subway sent promotional postcards to households within a ten-minute radius of each outlet, complete with store-specific offers and QR codes linking to app downloads. Voucher-driven sales tripled, and weekly app sign-ups grew 200%.

Source

Phone

Telemarketing, which includes cold-calling, is another traditional method for reaching a prospect directly. Direct phone marketing goes a step further than direct mail in aiming to generate a connection with the prospective customer.

I admit I had to look up an example for this one, and it’s difficult to find much information since calls are so ephemeral.

But, I found a great analysis by SmithDigital from 2025. They reveal that calling success rates have more than doubled since 2022, now averaging around 4.8%, compared to just 0.8% for B2B display ads.

The report highlights that well-targeted, personalized calls (especially those paired with research on prospect needs) are proving far more effective than generic outreach.

Out-of-Home (OOH)

OOH marketing occurs outside your home, and the primary examples are static billboards, posters, signs on buses, and painted wallscapes.

This is a form of visual marketing that most often uses images to convey its message. OOH is location-based and aims to market to people passing by a particular spot.

One cool example? Kiehl’s “Ski(n) Adventure” campaign during the 2024–25 ski season in Austria’s Hochzillertal-Kaltenbach resort.

Source

They set up massive billboards at 8,000 feet featuring their Ultra Facial Cream and tied it all to a ski-lift pop-up and influencer-driven content.

It was the perfect blend of outdoor media, experience, and local relevance.

Event Marketing

Sponsoring, hosting, or participating in trade shows, fairs, or local events. Great for face-to-face engagement and building trust with your audience.

For instance, in 2024, Adobe hosted its Creative Jam Live in a few cities, inviting local creators to compete live while the audience watched and voted.

It blended experiential marketing with social engagement and gave Adobe a content goldmine to reuse online. This is what I call a good “traditional and digital” combo.

Guerrilla Marketing

Unconventional, low-cost, high-impact stunts or placements in public areas – like sidewalk chalk art, pop-up experiences, or flash mobs – guerrilla marketing is designed to surprise and engage.

The first person that comes to mind when I think of this kind of marketing is Timothée Chalamet.

He launched a guerrilla-style campaign to promote his Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. Timothée made totally unexpected appearances, like riding a Lime bike to premieres and showing up at a Bob Dylan lookalike contest dressed like himself.

Source

It felt spontaneous and fun, which got people talking online. He also surprised audiences by performing rare Dylan tracks on SNL and showing up at niche fan events, creating buzz without big ad budgets.

The campaign matched the film’s rebellious vibe and turned Chalamet into the face of the story.

Importance of Traditional Marketing

It might already be pretty clear from the above examples, but I want to break down some of the reasons why traditional marketing is still important alongside digital marketing.

Trust

Connecting with potential customers is at the heart of marketing.

Print still leads in credibility. A 2024 Kantar US Media Reactions report found newspapers were ranked the #1 most trusted and relevant advertising channel by American consumers, beating out digital formats.

So, even if it seems like we live in a digital marketing landscape, when it comes to trust, what’s tried and true works better.

Honestly, I’m right there too. Anytime I see an ad in onboard journals or The Atlantic, it just feels more legit than something I scroll past online. There’s something about the format that makes me take it more seriously, even though I’m Gen Y.

Loyalty

Given that I hardly receive mail anymore, I was surprised to learn that direct mail ranked third in the same trust surveys.

In addition, according to a 2024 post from the Data & Marketing Association, personalized mailings are set to make a comeback with contemporary marketers for their ability to convert into long-lasting loyalty.

Moreover, Franklin Madison Direct report highlights that 54% of consumers keep interesting mail pieces for later reference. That stat honestly surprised me. I always assumed that if something didn’t grab attention right away, it would just end up in the trash.

Just like when we open a random newsletter and instantly forget about it, we rarely go back to read it later, don’t we?

Turns out, people are more likely to hold onto print than I thought.

Reach

Despite streaming trends, radio remains a daily companion. An Edison Research survey found that 76% of people still tune into AM/FM radio, mainly during commutes, making it an ideal setting for reach and frequency.

Podcasts have carved out their space here, accounting for 10% of daily audio time.

Engagement

As I mentioned earlier, cold calling continues to deliver results. According to Cognism, average success rates doubled from roughly 2% in 2023 to 4.82% in 2024.

Their 2025 fig

The 15 best “Meet the Team” pages I’ve ever seen

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

I’ve worked on many websites that have pretty standard “Meet the Team” pages. But I think it’s a huge missed opportunity for your brand if you don’t try to get a little creative or, at the very least, make sure the page is engaging and up to date.

One client I worked with had spent the time to customize everyone’s image with animated branding elements, for example. Whether it’s investors or customers, people visit the Meet the Team page to get a sense of who you are as a business. It’s an opportunity to put faces to names and give your brand a more human element.

With HubSpot's drag-and-drop website builder, creating this page is easy, straightforward, and highly customizable. You can showcase your team members with a personal touch, making it easier for visitors to connect with your business.

But what should the page look like? Here are a few of the best examples I’ve seen to give you some inspiration.

1. Humaan

Humaan has done a great job on the individual “Meet the Team” section on their “About” page. The photos are professional and consistent in style, with names and roles clearly labeled.

But they’ve really taken it to the next level with various group shots throughout the rest of the page, showing the team having some fun with the concept.

Why I think this works: It pairs perfectly with the “Digital Products. Human Experiences.” tagline and the motion scroll effects on the page are the cherry on top. It also stays true to the branding and positioning on the rest of the website, giving users a consistent experience and reinforcing the overall brand values.

2. Fishfinger

Fishfinger is a creative agency, and their Meet the Team page reinforces that fact and is an excellent showcase of the team’s talents.

When I scrolled on their “About” page, each scroll gives a full-screen dedication to a specific team member, complete with an animated cartoon representing them and a personalized description and “favorite” section.

Why I think this works: As a creative agency, Fishfinger is using every opportunity to showcase its abilities. But it’s also an opportunity to give the brand a very human element, especially with the personalization of each description.

One person might have a “Claim to Fame” paragraph while another has a “Favorite Tom Hanks Movie” section. I also really like the level of interactivity and on-page animations to boost engagement.

3. Buffer

As a larger company, Buffer doesn't focus on individual headshots and profiles. But they do find a unique and clever way to highlight the remote nature of their workforce and their global presence.

The Meet the Team section shows how many team members they have and the number of countries, while a spinning globe dotted with headshots emphasizes the point nicely.

Why I think this works: If I were applying for a job at Buffer and visited this page, I would instantly get a sense of how they work and their values as an employer. For other visitors, the copy highlights how remote working is baked into the company’s values and operations.

4. GitLab

Despite the large size of the team, GitLab lists all its employees on the Meet the Team page. But, they get around any user experience issues by providing a filtering option at the top of the page.

Each team member’s profile contains an optional headshot, list of skills, and a link to their LinkedIn page.

Why I think this works: This is a great way to highlight the wide expertise and technical abilities within the entire team, an important factor for a tech-focused company. But I like that they still use visuals to add a human touch to the bios, too.

5. Major Tom

Major Tom is a brand and marketing agency and they keep it nice and simple with their “Meet the Team” section.

Headshots are consistently styled and captions are minimal with just a name and title for a really clean look.

Why I think this works: For me, the value of this Meet the Team page is how they have built the rest of the page around it. They have employee-led videos throughout the page highlighting the company’s values and commitment to service levels, including what makes them unique to work with.

Video is a great way to boost engagement on a page that can sometimes fall a little flat without some extra creativity.

6. IDEO

IDEO gets a lot of things right with its Meet the Team page. Everything is consistently styled, and they’ve even added microinteractions that highlights the team member and flips the image to a slightly different version, so it almost looks like the team member has just smiled at you as you hover over them.

Plus, like GitLab, they’ve provided a filter so you can browse the expertise each lead brings to the table – an important element for a business that relies on its human capital to differentiate.

Why I think this works: The page is a perfect blend of good information and microinteractions to boost engagement. It engages without overwhelming and helps each team member shine to drive user trust.

7. Crowd

At first glance, Crowd’s Meet the Team page looks pretty basic. They’ve used a classic black-and-white treatment for the team headshots and provided their titles.

But when I scrolled, I noticed they’ve added tiles to showcase extra information like how many languages are spoken across the team – perfect if your company is trying to attract international clients.

Once I scrolled a bit more, I realized that when I hover over a team member, the images flip through a series of personal shots from home life and pets to vacations and hobbies. It finishes with some quick bullet points of personal information.

Why I think this works: It was a really nice surprise to come across these microinteractions as I scrolled through what I first thought was a fairly basic design. I think it's a perfect example of how you can build the “delight the user” concept into your web design.

8. Lush

As a large retail organization, Lush focuses only on executive leadership and board members on the Meet the Team page. The page has a nice split-screen layout with only the right section containing the team bios moving on scroll.

The bios contain a lot of detail, including anecdotes from working at Lush, quotes from the team members, and a history of their time at the company. Some of the executive leadership team members started in entry-level positions at the company and worked their way up, so their bio focuses on that journey.

Why I think this works: Rather than shying away from detailed bios and lots of copy, Lush chooses to present their Meet the Team page almost as an extended editorial about the executive leadership team members. For investors, prospective employees, and customers alike, it’s an excellent way to learn about the values of the decision-makers at the company and the overall positioning and vision for the brand.

9. Monzo Bank

I’ve got a lot of highly creative, sometimes quirky examples on this list. But that isn’t the right approach for every brand. Monzo Bank keeps it extremely simple on their Meet the Team page with a headshot, name, and role for each member of their leadership team.

They still keep the styling of each photo consistent in terms of framing and the use of a blurred background.

Why I think this works: In this instance, the goal is more about building brand trust and showcasing the people in charge. As a financial services company, this is more important for the Monzo Bank website than opting for flashy animations.

10. Adchitects

When I loaded the About page on the Adchitects website, it first loaded a full screen showing a customer testimonial before transitioning to the rest of the page showcasing the team. As someone who is always trying to find creative ways to put social proof front and center on websites, I thought this was a really clever play.

The executive team is highlighted with a nice, clean set of tiles featuring consistent images, names, and roles.

It’s not anything fancy, but I really liked that a further scroll took me to an extended list of the other team members.

This list includes pop-up animated cartoon graphics personalized for each team member and a link to their LinkedIn profiles. I think it’s a great way to use images for a human touch and still showcase the rest of the team without an endless scroll through a grid of tiled headshots.

Why I think this works: Between the customer testimonial transition, leadership images, and clever animation on the profiles of other team members, I really liked how Adchitects has made this an interactive and engaging area of their website.

11. Series Eight

There was a lot going on when I loaded the About page of Series Eight, a web design agency.

Microinteractions and animations appear on every scroll, from a full-screen logo on initial page load to bouncing smiley face emojis.

But the most impressive animation is in the Meet the Team section which, even though I had to scroll quite a bit to get to it, did not disappoint.

As you load each row of team members, it looks like the graphic versions of their headshots are being drawn in front of you in real time. The yellow accent on each is also a lovely use of branding.

Why I think this works: The About page highlights a lot. It includes award wins, customer testimonials, and a brief founders story. The use of animation on the Meet the Team section is really unique and they don’t overwhelm by adding bio text or gridlines which keeps the design really clean.

12. Pitch

Pitch is a SaaS entry in a list that has a lot of creative agencies in the mix. Rather than sticking with a grid style, their images are stacked irregularly but all have the same interesting color treatment.

When I hovered over an image, I could see the person’s name, role, and a link to their LinkedIn page. Further down the page are images of the team at work, at social events, and pictures of personal elements like pets.

Why I think this works: Pitch has chosen to keep their headshot section very simple, but still found a way to showcase the team and company culture with a gallery further down the page. I’ve worked with a lot of SaaS companies, and few can strike this balance between professional and personal so well.

13. Dapper Agency

Dapper is another example of how to use animations and microinteractions well. The About page loaded with a video of the team in the hero. As I scrolled, the video expanded to fill the screen before I scrolled further down to the Meet the Team section.

The Meet the Team section starts with a heading that clearly re-states who the company is and what they do. It also uses a staggered layout rather than a standard grid, which is interesting.

When I hovered over a team member, the site highlighted them with a side tilt and grayed out the other profiles. I also got a little pop-up LinkedIn icon to click through to their profile.

This article compares the top CRM solutions for oil and gas businesses, including detailed feature breakdowns, pricing information, and guidance on choosing the right platform. We'll also explore why energy companies like SPOC Automation trust HubSpot to manage their customer relationships and drive growth. According to recent CRM research, companies using CRM tools see a 27% increase in customer retention and 47% report improved customer service efficiency.

Table of Contents

What is a CRM for oil and gas?

CRM Comparison Table

Best CRM Software for Oil and Gas Businesses

Benefits of CRM Software for Oil and Gas

5 Important Features for an Oil and Gas CRM

How to Choose a CRM for Oil and Gas (Step-by-Step)

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Oil and Gas Companies

What is a CRM for oil and gas?

A CRM for oil and gas is a specialized platform that manages customer relationships, vendor partnerships, and project workflows specific to energy sector operations. These systems track long-term contracts, regulatory compliance requirements, and multi-stakeholder projects that can span several years.

HubSpot's CRM supports oil and gas companies with custom pipeline stages, deal tracking for complex energy projects, and integration capabilities that connect field operations with corporate sales teams.

Best CRMs for Oil and Gas Companies at a Glance

CRM

Key Features

Pricing

Free Trial

HubSpot

Custom pipelines, project tracking, regulatory compliance tools

Free tier available; Starter at $15/month

Yes - Free forever plan

Salesforce Energy Cloud

Industry-specific modules, advanced analytics, compliance tracking

Starting at $150/user/month

Yes - 30 days

Microsoft Dynamics 365

ERP integration, field service management, supply chain tools

Starting at $95/user/month

Yes - 30 days

SAP CRM

Deep ERP integration, advanced reporting, industry templates

Custom pricing starting at $150/user/month

Contact for demo

Choosing the right CRM can transform how your energy company manages client relationships and project workflows. Here are the top platforms designed to handle the unique demands of oil and gas operations.

Best CRM Software for Oil and Gas Businesses

1. HubSpot

HubSpot is best for: growing oil and gas companies that need scalable solutions without the complexity of enterprise-only platforms.

Key HubSpot Features

Custom pipeline management: HubSpot allows oil and gas companies to create pipeline stages that match their unique project lifecycle, from initial exploration permits to final production agreements

Project tracking and deal management: HubSpot's deal tracking system helps energy companies monitor multi-million dollar projects across extended timelines, with custom properties for regulatory milestones and compliance checkpoints

Integration capabilities: HubSpot connects with field management software, accounting systems, and regulatory reporting tools commonly used in oil and gas operations

HubSpot Pricing

Free tier with basic CRM functionality

Starter Plan: $15/user/month or starting at $9/user/month when billed annually

Professional Plan: $1,450/user/month for automation and reporting

View detailed HubSpot pricing.

2. Salesforce Energy Cloud

Best for: Large oil and gas enterprises requiring industry-specific modules and advanced compliance tracking capabilities.

Key Salesforce Energy Cloud Features

Industry-specific modules: Pre-built templates for upstream, midstream, and downstream operations

Advanced analytics and reporting: Comprehensive dashboards for project performance and regulatory compliance

Regulatory compliance tools: Built-in features for environmental reporting and safety management

Salesforce Energy Cloud Pricing:

Energy Cloud: Starting at $150/user/month

Additional industry modules: $50-100/user/month

Custom enterprise packages available

View Salesforce Energy pricing.

3. Microsoft Dynamics 365

Best for: Oil and gas companies already integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem seeking unified business management.

Key Microsoft Dynamics 365 Features

ERP integration: Seamless connection with financial and supply chain management systems

Field service management: Tools for coordinating remote operations and equipment maintenance

Supply chain integration: Advanced inventory and vendor management capabilities

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Pricing

Sales Professional: $95/user/month

Customer Service Enterprise: $120/user/month

Field Service: $110/user/month

View Microsoft Dynamics pricing.

4. SAP CRM

Best for: Large-scale oil and gas operations requiring deep ERP integration and extensive customization capabilities.

Key SAP CRM Features

Deep ERP integration: Complete integration with SAP's enterprise resource planning suite

Advanced reporting and analytics: Comprehensive business intelligence tools for energy operations

Industry-specific templates: Pre-configured modules for various oil and gas business segments

SAP CRM Pricing

Custom pricing based on deployment size

Typically starts at $150/user/month for basic functionality

Enterprise packages require consultation

Contact SAP for pricing.

Benefits of CRM Software for Oil and Gas

Improved Project Management and Visibility

Oil and gas projects often span multiple years and involve dozens of stakeholders. HubSpot's timeline view and custom deal stages help energy companies track project milestones, from initial geological surveys to final production startup. This visibility reduces project delays and keeps all team members aligned on critical deadlines.

Enhanced Vendor and Partner Relationship Management

Energy companies work with numerous contractors, suppliers, and joint venture partners. HubSpot's contact management system organizes vendor relationships, tracks contract renewals, and maintains communication history across complex partnership structures. This centralized approach improves vendor negotiations and reduces procurement costs.

Streamlined Regulatory Compliance Tracking

The oil and gas industry faces extensive regulatory requirements that vary by location and project type. HubSpot's custom properties and workflow automation help companies track compliance deadlines, environmental permits, and safety certifications. Automated reminders ensure teams never miss critical regulatory submissions.

Better Sales Cycle Management for Long-Term Contracts

Energy sector sales cycles can extend 12-24 months or longer, involving multiple decision-makers and complex approval processes. HubSpot's deal progression tracking and probability scoring help sales teams focus on the most promising opportunities while maintaining engagement with prospects throughout extended evaluation periods.

Integrated Communication and Documentation

Oil and gas projects generate extensive documentation, from geological reports to environmental impact studies. HubSpot's document management and email integration ensure all project communication stays organized and accessible, reducing time spent searching for critical information during audits or regulatory reviews.

5 Important Features for an Oil and Gas CRM

Custom pipeline configuration: HubSpot allows oil and gas companies to create pipeline stages that reflect their unique business processes, from lease acquisition to production optimization, ensuring deal progression matches industry workflows.

Multi-location project tracking: Energy companies operate across multiple geographic regions with different regulatory requirements. HubSpot's location-based custom properties help track region-specific compliance needs and local partnership requirements.

Long-term contract management: Oil and gas deals often involve multi-year agreements with complex terms. HubSpot's deal tracking system supports extended timelines and milestone-based progression, helping teams manage contracts that span several years.

Integration with field management systems: HubSpot connects with popular oil and gas software platforms, allowing companies to sync field data, production metrics, and operational updates directly into their CRM for comprehensive project visibility.

Regulatory compliance automation: HubSpot's workflow automation helps oil and gas companies track environmental permits, safety certifications, and regulatory deadlines, ensuring compliance requirements never fall through the cracks.

How to Choose a CRM for Oil and Gas (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Map your current workflows. Start by documenting how your team currently manages projects, from initial prospecting through contract completion. Identify bottlenecks in your process, such as delayed approvals or missing documentation, that a CRM could address.

Step 2: Identify must-have industry features. List the specific capabilities your oil and gas operation requires, such as multi-year project tracking, regulatory compliance tools, or integration with field management software. Prioritize features that directly impact your revenue cycle.

Step 3: Evaluate integration requirements. Consider which existing systems your CRM needs to connect with, including accounting software, field management platforms, and regulatory reporting tools. Strong integration capabilities reduce manual data entry and improve accuracy.

Step 4: Calculate total cost of ownership. Factor in setup costs, training time, and ongoing subscription fees when comparing platforms. Consider how pricing scales as your team grows and whether the platform offers flexibility for seasonal workforce changes.

Step 5: Choose a flexible, scalable platform — like HubSpot. Select a CRM that can adapt as your business evolves, like HubSpot, which offers customizable pipelines and scalable pricing tiers. SPOC Automation increased total video views by 968% after implementing HubSpot's Service Hub and Marketing Hub, demonstrating how the right platform grows with your business needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best CRM for oil and gas companies?

HubSpot stands out as the best overall CRM for oil and gas companies due to its flexibility, industry-friendly pricing, and robust integration capabilities. HubSpot's custom pipeline management and workflow automation specifically address the long sales cycles and complex project management needs common in energy sector operations.

What features should I look for in a CRM for oil and gas?

Key features include custom pipeline configuration, multi-location project tracking, regulatory compliance automation, and integration with field management systems. HubSpot offers all these capabilities plus scalable pricing that works for both growing companies and established enterprises in the oil and gas sector.

Is HubSpot good for oil and gas companies?

Yes, HubSpot is excellent for oil and gas companies of all sizes. The platform‘s flexibility allows energy companies to customize deal stages, track multi-year projects, and automate compliance workflows. HubSpot’s integration capabilities also connect seamlessly with industry-specific software commonly used in oil and gas operations.

How much does a CRM for oil and gas cost?

CRM pricing for oil and gas companies varies widely, from HubSpot's free tier to enterprise solutions costing $150+ per user monthly. HubSpot offers the best value with its Starter plan at $20/user/month, providing advanced features specifically beneficial for energy sector project management and client relationships.

Can a CRM help with regulatory compliance in oil and gas?

Absolutely. Modern CRMs like HubSpot include workflow automation and custom property tracking that help oil and gas companies monitor environmental permits, safety certifications, and regulatory deadlines. HubSpot's reminder system ensures compliance requirements are never overlooked during complex, multi-year projects.

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Oil and Gas Companies

HubSpot emerges as the leading CRM solution for oil and gas companies seeking growth without the complexity of enterprise-only platforms. Here's why energy sector leaders choose HubSpot:

Flexible pipeline management: HubSpot's customizable deal stages adapt to any oil and gas workflow, from upstream exploration to downstream distribution, ensuring your CRM matches your business processes

Scalable pricing structure: Starting with a robust free tier, HubSpot grows with your company without requiring expensive enterprise commitments, making it ideal for both emerging energy companies and established operators

Industry-proven integration capabilities: HubSpot connects seamlessly with field management software, regulatory reporting tools, and financial systems commonly used across the oil and gas industry

SPOC Automation increased total video views by 968% using HubSpot's Service Hub and Marketing Hub. The oil and gas automation company also saved $140,000 in the first month while improving customer service efficiency. Additionally, companies using CRM tools see a 27% increase in customer retention according to recent industry research.

Ready to see how HubSpot can transform your oil and gas operations? Get started with HubSpot's free CRM today and discover why energy companies worldwide trust our platform to manage their most important client relationships and drive sustainable growth.

5 best CRMs for call center businesses in 2025

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 23:36:42 +0300

Managing customer relationships in call centers presents challenges that standard business software simply can’t address. Unlike typical sales environments, call center teams handle hundreds of interactions daily, require instant access to customer history across multiple touchpoints, and need sophisticated routing and monitoring capabilities to maintain service quality. These high-volume, fast-paced environments demand specialized tools to keep up with rapid-fire customer inquiries while maintaining detailed records and enabling seamless handoffs between agents.

Modern CRM systems are game-changers for call centers, turning what could be overwhelming customer interactions into smooth, efficient experiences. These powerful platforms automatically capture every call detail, instantly pull up customer history when calls come in, and help supervisors track team performance without hovering over shoulders.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the five best CRM solutions for call centers in 2025, starting with HubSpot — a platform trusted by companies like Ritual, Zoom, and DoorDash to power their customer service operations. You’ll find:

A detailed comparison table to quickly assess each option

In-depth breakdowns of key features that matter most for call center teams

A practical how-to guide for evaluating and implementing the right CRM for your specific needs

Whether you’re looking to upgrade from spreadsheets or switch from an outdated system, this guide will help you make an informed decision that transforms your call center operations.

BTW: Did you know, Santagostino, a healthcare company operating in Italy, grew their customer base 9x larger to 830,000 contacts by implementing HubSpot’s CRM and Marketing tools? If you didn’t, you know now.

Table of Contents

What is a CRM for call centers?

CRM Comparison Table

Best CRM Software for Call Center Businesses

Benefits of CRM Software for Call Centers

5 Important Features for a Call Center CRM

How to Choose a CRM for Call Centers (Step-by-Step)

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Call Center Companies

What is a CRM for call centers?

A CRM for call centers is a specialized software platform that centralizes customer interactions, call history, and contact information to help agents deliver more personalized and efficient service. These systems automatically log calls, track customer issues, and provide agents with complete customer context during conversations, enabling faster resolution times and improved customer satisfaction.

Modern CRM solutions like HubSpot go beyond basic contact management by integrating advanced features such as call recording, real-time analytics, and AI-powered insights that help call centers optimize operations and enhance the overall customer experience.

Best CRMs for Call Center Businesses at a Glance

CRM

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

Free Trial

HubSpot

Growing businesses seeking an all-in-one solution

Advanced call tracking and recording

Automatic call logging

VoIP integration

Real-time notifications

Conversation intelligence

Unified customer view

Free CRM: $0/month

Starter: $9/month/seat

Professional: $90/month/seat

Enterprise: $150/user/month

Yes, 14 days

Salesforce Service Cloud

Large enterprises with complex needs

Omnichannel routing

CTI adapter framework

AI-powered case classification

Workforce management

Advanced analytics

Starter: $25/user/month

Pro Suite: $100/user/month

Enterprise: $165/user/month

Unlimited: $330/user/month

Yes, 30 days

Zendesk

Customer service-focused teams

Automatic ticket creation from calls

Talk partner integrations

Call monitoring

IVR capabilities

Real-time dashboards

Suite Team: $55/agent/month

Suite Growth: $89/agent/month

Suite Professional: $115/agent/month

Suite Enterprise: Custom pricing only (must request a demo for price quote information; see here)

Yes, 14 days

Freshworks

Small to mid-size support teams

Built-in phone channel

Call masking

Smart escalations

Voicemail drop

Team collaboration tools

Free: $0 (for up to 10 agents)

Growth: $15/agent/month

Pro: $49/agent/month

Enterprise: $79/agent/month

Yes, 14 days

Zoho Desk

Budget-conscious businesses

Telephony integration

Call scripting

Automatic call distribution

Multi-language support

SLA management

Free: $0/month (for up to 3 agents)

Express: $7/user/month

Standard: $14/user/month

Professional: $23/user/month

Enterprise: $40/user/month

Best CRM Software for Call Center Businesses

1. HubSpot

Source

Best for: Growing call centers seeking to unify customer data and automate workflows with HubSpot’s all-in-one platform.

Key HubSpot Features

HubSpot's conversation intelligence: Automatically transcribes and analyzes calls to identify customer sentiment and coaching opportunities, helping call center managers improve agent performance without manually reviewing every interaction.

HubSpot's unified timeline view: Consolidates all customer touchpoints (calls, emails, chats, tickets) in one chronological feed, enabling agents to quickly understand context before answering calls and reducing time spent searching across systems.

HubSpot's workflow automation with VoIP integration: Triggers automated follow-up sequences based on call outcomes, such as sending satisfaction surveys after resolved issues or escalating unresolved calls to supervisors, while seamlessly connecting with popular phone systems like Aircall and RingCentral.

HubSpot Pricing (Service Hub)

Free CRM: $0/month

Starter: $9/month/seat

Professional: $90/month/seat

Enterprise: $150/user/month

2. Salesforce Service Cloud

Source

Best for: Enterprise call centers handling complex, multi-channel support cases.

Key Salesforce Service Cloud Features

Omnichannel routing: Intelligently distributes incoming calls based on agent skills, availability, and customer priority levels.

Case swarming capabilities: Enables real-time collaboration where multiple specialists can join complex calls, share screens, and contribute expertise.

Einstein AI integration: Predicts case escalation likelihood and suggests next best actions during calls.

Salesforce Service Cloud Pricing

Starter: $25/user/month

Pro Suite: $100/user/month

Enterprise: $165/user/month

Unlimited: $330/user/month

3. Zendesk

Source

Best for: Customer service teams prioritizing quick ticket resolution across voice and digital channels.

Key Zendesk Features

Automatic ticket creation from voicemails: Converts missed calls and voicemails into trackable tickets with transcriptions.

Side conversations workflow: Allows agents to loop in subject matter experts via internal notes or private messages while on active calls.

Talk Partner integrations: Connects with telephony providers and includes built-in call monitoring, whisper coaching, and barge-in capabilities for real-time agent training.

Zendesk Pricing

Suite Team: $55/agent/month

Suite Growth: $89/agent/month

Suite Professional: $115/agent/month

Suite Enterprise: Custom pricing only (must request a demo for price quote information; see here)

4. Freshworks

Image Source

Best for: Small to mid-size support teams needing affordable call center functionality.

Key Freshworks Features

Built-in phone channel with call masking: Protects agent privacy by displaying company numbers instead of personal phones when making outbound calls.

Scenario automation for common issues: Pre-built templates for frequent call types (i.e., password resets, order status, billing inquiries) that auto-populate fields and suggest resolution steps.

Team huddle integration: Enables supervisors to join live calls silently, provide real-time chat guidance to agents, and take over calls when escalation is needed.

Freshworks Pricing

Free: $0/month (for up to 10 agents)

Growth: $15/agent/month

Pro: $49/agent/month

Enterprise: $79/agent/month

5. Zoho Desk

Source

Best for: Budget-conscious businesses requiring multilingual call center support.

Key Zoho Desk Features

Multi-language IVR system: Automatically detects caller language preferences and routes to appropriate agents.

Blueprint workflow engine: Enforces consistent call handling procedures by guiding agents through predefined steps based on call type.

Telephony integration with call scripting: Displays dynamic scripts that update based on customer data and previous interactions.

Zoho Desk Pricing

Free: $0/month (for up to 3 agents)

Express: $7/user/month

Standard: $14/user/month

Professional: $23/user/month

Enterprise: $40/user/month

Benefits of CRM Software for Call Centers

Dramatically Reduced Average Handle Time

Call centers constantly battle against lengthy call times that frustrate customers and limit agent productivity. CRM systems solve this by providing instant access to complete customer histories, eliminating the need for agents to ask repetitive questions or search through multiple systems.

HubSpot’s unified lifecycle timeline chronologically displays every previous interaction, purchase, and support ticket, allowing agents to understand context within seconds of answering a call.

Real-Time Performance Visibility for Better Coaching

Call center managers struggle to identify coaching opportunities without proper visibility into team performance until it’s too late to impact service quality. Modern CRMs provide live dashboards that track key metrics like:

First-call resolution rates

Customer satisfaction scores

Individual agent performance (in real-time)

HubSpot’s custom reporting dashboards allow managers to monitor these KPIs across their entire team, automatically flagging when metrics fall below thresholds and enabling immediate intervention.

Automated Follow-Ups That Never Miss a Beat

Call centers often lose customer trust when promised callbacks or follow-ups fall through the cracks during busy periods. CRM automation ensures every commitment is kept by triggering actions based on call outcomes without agent intervention. HubSpot’s workflow automation can automatically schedule follow-up calls, send confirmation emails, or escalate unresolved issues based on specific call dispositions.

For instance, if an agent marks a call as “awaiting parts,” HubSpot can automatically create a task for a callback in three days, send the customer an update email, and notify the agent when it's time to reconnect, eliminating manual tracking and improving customer satisfaction scores.

Seamless Collaboration Across Shifts and Departments

The traditional challenge of shift handovers and interdepartmental transfers often results in customers repeating their issues multiple times, leading to frustration and increased call times. CRM systems create a single source of truth where every note, interaction, and case update is instantly visible to any agent or department.

HubSpot’s internal commenting system and @mention notifications enable agents to tag specialists or leave detailed notes that the next shift can immediately access. When a technical issue requires escalation from customer service to technical support, HubSpot maintains the complete context, allowing the specialist to jump in without asking customers to start over.

Intelligent Call Routing Based on Customer Value

Not all customers require the same level of service, yet many call centers treat every incoming call identically, potentially frustrating high-value clients with long wait times. CRM-integrated phone systems can automatically prioritize and route calls based on customer data.

This comprehensive guide compares the best 5 CRM solutions for investment banking, including feature breakdowns, pricing analysis, and implementation guidance to help you select the right platform for your firm's success. With the global investment banking market projected to reach $433.84 billion by 2034, selecting the right technology infrastructure becomes crucial for competitive advantage.

Table of Contents

What is a CRM for investment banking?

CRM Comparison Table

Best CRM Software for Investment Banking Businesses

Benefits of CRM Software for Investment Banking

5 Important Features for an Investment Banking CRM

How to Choose a CRM for Investment Banking (Step-by-Step)

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for Investment Banking Companies

What is a CRM for investment banking?

A CRM for investment banking is specialized software that manages complex client relationships, tracks high-value deals, and ensures regulatory compliance within the financial services sector. Unlike generic business CRMs, these systems handle sensitive financial data, support intricate deal pipelines, and provide relationship intelligence crucial for building lasting client partnerships.

HubSpot's CRM adapts to investment banking needs through custom objects, automated workflows, and financial services integrations that support deal management and client relationship building.

Best CRMs for Investment Banking at a Glance

CRM

Key Features

Pricing

Free Trial

HubSpot

Custom objects, deal tracking, compliance tools, relationship mapping

Free plan available; Paid from $15/month when billed annually

Yes

Salesforce

Advanced customization, robust security, enterprise integrations

From $25/user/month

14-day trial

MadeMarket

Purpose-built deal workflows, transaction management, buyers list tools

Custom pricing

Contact for demo

Affinity

AI-powered relationship insights, automatic data entry, network mapping

Tiered pricing starting mid-market

Contact for pricing

DealCloud

Highly customizable pipelines, advanced reporting, institutional workflows

From $250/month

No free trial

Best CRM Software for Investment Banking Businesses

1. HubSpot

HubSpot is best for: serving growing investment banking firms by providing comprehensive automation and scalability that support relationship building, deal tracking, and client engagement throughout the entire investment lifecycle.

Key HubSpot Features

Custom objects: HubSpot allows investment banks to create custom data structures for funds, investors, and deal details without expensive development costs, making relationship management more precise and efficient.

Deal pipeline management: HubSpot's customizable deal stages mirror investment banking workflows from initial pitch to deal closure, with automated notifications and task assignments that keep teams aligned.

Compliance and security tools: HubSpot provides enterprise-grade security with role-based permissions and audit trails, ensuring sensitive client data remains compliant with financial industry regulations.

HubSpot Pricing

Free CRM: Includes contact management, deal tracking, and basic email marketing for up to 1M contacts

Starter: $15/month per seat, or starting at $9/month per seat when billed annually

Professional: $1,450/month for advanced automation and custom reporting

Enterprise: Custom pricing for large-scale implementations

Visit HubSpot Pricing.

2. Salesforce

Best for: Large investment banking institutions that require extensive customization capabilities and enterprise-level security for managing complex client relationships and deal structures.

Key Salesforce Features

Advanced customization options: Extensive configuration capabilities allow banks to tailor every aspect of their CRM to specific investment banking workflows and compliance requirements.

Enterprise security features: Bank-grade security with advanced encryption, audit trails, and granular permission controls that meet strict financial industry standards.

Einstein AI integration: AI-powered insights for relationship mapping, deal scoring, and predictive analytics that help identify the most promising opportunities.

Salesforce Pricing

Sales Cloud Essentials: $25/user/month (minimum 5 users)

Professional: $100/user/month

Enterprise: $180/user/month

Unlimited: $300/user/month

Visit Salesforce Pricing.

3. MadeMarket

Best for: Investment banking teams that need purpose-built deal execution tools and transaction management capabilities designed specifically by former finance professionals.

Key MadeMarket Features

Purpose-built deal workflows: Transaction-specific features including buyers list builders, document trackers, and deal stage management created specifically for investment banking operations.

Secure transaction workspaces: Dedicated secure environments for each deal with document sharing, team collaboration, and confidentiality controls tailored to financial transactions.

Automated reporting tools: Pre-configured dashboards and analytics designed around investment banking metrics, deal flow tracking, and relationship intelligence.

MadeMarket Pricing

Custom pricing based on firm size and requirements

Purpose-built features typically cost less than heavily customized generic CRMs

Implementation and training are included with most packages

Contact MadeMarket for pricing.

4. Affinity

Best for: Investment firms prioritizing relationship intelligence and automated data capture to leverage existing networks for deal sourcing and client relationship building.

Key Affinity Features

AI-powered relationship intelligence: Automatically surfaces meaningful connections and relationship insights to identify warm introductions and strengthen existing client relationships.

Automatic data capture: Seamlessly logs email interactions, meeting notes, and communication history without manual data entry, saving hundreds of hours annually.

Network mapping capabilities: Visual relationship mapping shows connection strength and interaction history across your entire professional network.

Affinity Pricing

Tiered pricing structure with advanced features unlocked at higher levels

Mid-market and enterprise pricing available

Implementation typically completed within 72 hours

Contact Affinity for pricing.

5. DealCloud

Best for: Private equity firms and investment banks managing complex institutional relationships with highly customizable pipeline requirements and advanced reporting needs.

Key DealCloud Features

Highly customizable pipelines: Extensive customization options allow firms to create complex workflows that match specific investment banking processes and institutional requirements.

Advanced analytics and reporting: Comprehensive reporting capabilities with custom dashboards, deal analytics, and performance metrics tailored to financial services.

Enterprise integration capabilities: Robust API and integration options connect with existing financial software, data rooms, and institutional platforms.

DealCloud Pricing

Custom pricing starting around $250/month per user

Significant customization and implementation costs

24/7 customer support included with enterprise plans

Contact DealCloud for pricing.

Benefits of CRM Software for Investment Banking

Enhanced client relationship management: CRMs centralize all client interactions, transaction history, and communication preferences in one accessible platform. HubSpot's 360-degree customer view consolidates financial holdings, relationship data, and deal history, enabling investment bankers to provide personalized service and identify cross-selling opportunities that strengthen long-term client partnerships.

Streamlined deal pipeline management: Investment banking CRMs provide visual deal tracking from initial pitch through closing, with automated task assignments and progress notifications. HubSpot's customizable deal stages mirror complex investment banking workflows, ensuring no opportunities fall through the cracks while maintaining clear visibility across entire deal pipelines.

Automated compliance and reporting: Financial services require strict regulatory compliance and detailed audit trails. HubSpot's built-in compliance tools automatically track client interactions, document approvals, and transaction details, generating reports that satisfy regulatory requirements while reducing manual compliance work by up to 60%.

Improved team collaboration: CRMs break down information silos by providing shared access to client data, deal progress, and communication history. HubSpot's team collaboration features ensure that relationship managers, analysts, and senior partners have real-time access to critical deal information, improving coordination and reducing miscommunication risks.

Data-driven decision making: Advanced analytics and reporting capabilities provide insights into deal performance, relationship strength, and market opportunities. HubSpot's AI-powered analytics help investment bankers identify patterns, predict deal success probability, and allocate resources more effectively based on data-driven insights rather than intuition alone.

5 Important Features for an Investment Banking CRM

Use bullet format and highlight features most relevant to this industry — e.g. mobile access, pipeline customization, integrations, quoting tools, automation, etc. Mention how HubSpot supports each feature in each feature explanation.

Relationship intelligence and network mapping: HubSpot provides comprehensive relationship tracking that maps connections between clients, prospects, and referral sources, helping bankers identify warm introductions and leverage existing relationships for new business development.

Deal pipeline customization: HubSpot's flexible deal stages accommodate complex investment banking workflows from initial pitches through regulatory approvals and final closings, with automated notifications and milestone tracking that keeps deals moving forward.

Advanced security and compliance controls: HubSpot offers enterprise-grade security with role-based permissions, audit trails, and data encryption that meet strict financial industry standards while providing detailed compliance reporting capabilities.

Email integration and communication tracking: HubSpot seamlessly integrates with email platforms to automatically log client communications, track email engagement, and provide communication history that ensures consistent client interactions across team members.

Custom objects and data structure: HubSpot allows investment banks to create custom data structures for funds, investors, deals, and regulatory requirements without expensive development, providing the flexibility to adapt the CRM to specific business needs.

How to Choose a CRM for Investment Banking (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Map your deal workflows. Document your current processes from prospect identification through deal closure, including client onboarding, due diligence, regulatory approvals, and post-transaction management. Understanding your specific workflow requirements helps identify which CRM features are essential versus nice-to-have.

Step 2: Identify must-have compliance features. List regulatory requirements, data security standards, and audit trail needs specific to your investment banking focus areas. Consider KYC requirements, MNPI handling, and client confidentiality needs that your CRM must support to maintain compliance.

Step 3: Evaluate integration requirements. Assess existing software systems, including email platforms, document management, financial databases, and reporting tools that must integrate with your new CRM. Seamless integration reduces data silos and improves operational efficiency.

Step 4: Calculate total cost of ownership. Consider not just monthly subscription fees but also implementation costs, training expenses, customization requirements, and ongoing support needs. Factor in the value of time saved through automation and improved deal flow efficiency.

Step 5: Choose a flexible platform — like HubSpot. Select a CRM that adapts to changing business needs, regulatory requirements, and market conditions. Allica Bank scaled from start-up to £1bn+ in lending with HubSpot CRM, demonstrating the platform's ability to support rapid growth while maintaining operational efficiency and client service quality in competitive financial markets.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best CRM for investment banking?

HubSpot consistently ranks as the top choice for investment banking due to its comprehensive automation, scalability, and financial services features. HubSpot combines deal pipeline management, relationship intelligence, and compliance tools in one integrated platform, making it ideal for growing investment banks that need sophisticated CRM capabilities without the complexity of enterprise-only solutions.

What features should I look for in a CRM for investment banking?

Look for relationship intelligence, customizable deal pipelines, advanced security controls, email integration, and compliance reporting capabilities. HubSpot provides all these features plus custom objects for funds and investors, automated workflow management, and real-time collaboration tools that support complex investment banking operations while maintaining regulatory compliance.

Is HubSpot good for investment banking?

Yes, HubSpot excels in investment banking applications through its flexible architecture, financial services integrations, and scalable automation capabilities. HubSpot's custom objects handle complex deal structures, while its relationship intelligence features help bankers leverage existing networks for deal sourcing and client development, making it particularly effective for growing investment firms.

How much does a CRM for investment banking cost?

Investment banking CRM costs range from free (HubSpot's basic plan) to $300+ per user per month for enterprise solutions. HubSpot offers transparent pricing starting at $20/month, with professional features at $890/month that include advanced automation, custom reporting, and financial services integrations that provide excellent value for growing investment banks.

Can investment banking CRMs integrate with existing financial software?

Yes, modern investment banking CRMs offer extensive integration capabilities with financial

33 ChatGPT prompts I keep in my toolkit

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

Honestly, I used to be an AI critic. When ChatGPT first came out, I tried a bunch of ChatGPT prompts. The output I got was often surface-level and sometimes inaccurate. I concluded that it would take more time to edit the work than to do it from scratch myself.

The main problem, though? My prompts looked something like this: “Write a 500-word blog post on [X] topic.” Generic requests, which, to no surprise, produced generic answers.

As models improved and I learned to prompt better, everything changed.

Turns out, today’s ChatGPT can do a lot: research the internet, give me a 7/10 draft, analyze posts, generate ideas, and identify blind spots.

The catch? To do all of this, you need to prompt it the right way.

I’ve spent hundreds of hours testing prompts that give me usable drafts and actionable marketing insights. So, if you’re struggling with using AI effectively, I have you covered. This article will walk you through the 33 of the best ChatGPT prompts every marketer needs in their toolkit.

Table of Contents

What is ChatGPT?

What makes a great ChatGPT prompt for marketing?

Quick Statistics About AI and Marketing

8 Basic ChatGPT Prompts for Marketing

5 ChatGPT Prompts for Business

7 ChatGPT Prompts for Content Creation and Social Media

5 ChatGPT Prompts for Analytics

8 ChatGPT Prompts for Email Campaigns

How to Use These Marketing ChatGPT Prompts

The basic version of ChatGPT is free, with some restrictions on model usage, file uploads etc. There are two paid versions: ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) and ChatGPT Pro ($200/month). Each tier unlocks advanced models and features, such as Sora and Custom GPTs.

Pro tip: If you’re just starting with ChatGPT, I’d recommend testing the Plus version and upgrading if needed.

What makes a great ChatGPT prompt for marketing?

Like any chatbot, ChatGPT's output is only as good as the input, meaning a not-so-good prompt will yield a not-so-good answer. So I strongly encourage you to be specific, clear, and rich in context to get the most out of ChatGPT or any other chatbot.

Here's an example of a vague ChatGPT prompt:

“Write a social media post about Nike shoes.”

Here's what ChatGPT generated in response:

“Step up your game with the latest Nike kicks!

Writing a perfect executive summary that sets your document up for success (templates + examples)

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

One of the first real jobs I landed as a B2B content writer was summarizing a couple of campaign reports for a product adoption platform. I’ll be honest — I was terrified. Coming from a fiction-writing background, I was way more comfortable describing things in detail.

Summarizing? Not my strong suit.

Every time I heard the phrase “executive summary,” it sounded stiff, formal, and overly corporate. But soon, I learned that executive summaries are, put simply, the elevator pitch or the TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) of a document. And they’re critical, especially in marketing and sales, where leaders don’t have time to read 30-page decks or full audit reports.

In this article, I’m going to teach you how to write an executive summary — what to include, what mistakes to avoid, and whether it’s okay (and smart) to use AI tools to help you.

Table of Contents

What is an executive summary?

What is the purpose of an executive summary?

When is an executive summary necessary?

How to Write an Executive Summary

What to Include in Your Executive Summary

5 Tips for Writing an Executive Summary

Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Executive Summaries

Executive Summary Template

Executive Summary Examples

Should you use AI to generate executive summaries?

Ultimately, an executive summary gives readers a concise overview of the most important information in a document, so they don't have to read the entire thing.

Think of it like the SparkNotes of the business world.

Documents that frequently have an executive summary include:

Business plans

Research reports

Project proposals

Annual reports

How does it differ from other business statements? Let’s compare.

Executive Summary vs. Business Plan

All business plans have an executive summary, but not all executive summaries belong to business plans.

A business plan includes a company overview, short-term and long-term goals, information on your product or service, sales targets, expense budgets, your marketing plan, and even team information.

Business plans are very detailed and comprehensive. They can be as short as a dozen pages or as long as 100 pages. The executive summary is the first section of the business plan.

An in-demand CEO or investor might not have the bandwidth to read your full business plan without first understanding your company or goals. That’s where an executive summary comes in handy.

Note: Need help putting together your business plan? We’ve got a template for you.

Executive Summary vs. Mission Statement

Mission statements and executive summaries are typically found in business plans, but they serve different purposes.

A mission statement defines your organization’s purpose, values, and vision. It’s your company’s North Star and communicates your core identity and reason for existence. On the other hand, an executive summary provides a high-level overview of the document.

Source

Ultimately, your mission statement directs your business plan, while your executive summary describes your business plan to executives and shareholders.

Executive Summary vs. Company Description

Like mission statements and executive summaries, company descriptions can be found in business plans, your “About Us” page, or even social media profiles.

They provide an overview of your business, including company history, what your company does, unique selling points, goals, management team, and overall value proposition.

Executive Summary vs. Objective

An objective is a specific goal or target that your company sets to help achieve its overall goal.

It is a concrete, measurable outcome guiding your business’ actions and decisions. Objectives are usually set at the strategic level and align with the company’s mission, vision, and overall strategic plan.

Company objectives are often included in executive summaries but are not their sole focus.

What is the purpose of an executive summary?

An executive summary may seem like a “nice-to-have.” After all, you can find the same information just by reading the rest of the document. However, these summaries serve many purposes.

Benefits of an Executive Summary

It saves your readers' time. CEOs and investors often have limited time to review lengthy documents. An executive summary lets them quickly grasp the main points, key findings, and recommendations without reading the entire document.

It provides clarity. Executive summaries distill complex information and present it in a manner that’s easy to understand.

It helps with document navigation. For longer documents or reports, an executive summary provides a roadmap for readers. It signals the main sections or topics covered, improving overall document usability and accessibility.

I've cultivated a list of the necessary components and an example to get you started. This template is focused on writing an executive summary for a business plan, but the guidelines are adaptable to other documents.

Follow Along With HubSpot's Executive Summary Template

Click to Download

When is an executive summary necessary?

They skim and scan documents because they want to get right to the point. That’s why, in marketing and sales, an executive summary is a make-or-break move that can mean the difference between buy-in and being ignored.

From my experience, here are a few moments where skipping an executive summary simply isn't an option:

1. When you’re pitching a new marketing or sales strategy.

Whenever I propose a new campaign, strategy, or project — whether it’s a go-to-market plan, an ABM campaign, or a product repositioning — an executive summary lets me frame the big idea before getting into the details. This helps leaders understand the “what,” “why,” and “how” without getting lost in the fine print.

2. When you’re presenting to external stakeholders or potential investors.

Executives and investors hear pitches all the time, and you usually get one shot to make an impression.

An executive summary distills the value proposition, market opportunity, and ROI into something they can quickly digest and feel confident backing. It shows them that you respect their time and understand what matters most to them: outcomes, risk, and speed to value.

3. When you’re submitting reports or project updates to leadership

Every month or quarter, marketing and sales teams churn out a mountain of reports. But here’s the thing: senior leaders aren’t looking for data dumps. They’re scanning for patterns and decisions. They want to know: Are we hitting the KPIs? Are we pacing to goal?

I use executive summaries to identify trends, highlight key wins and risks, and recommend specific actions. It‘s a huge trust builder when leadership can instantly see that you’re driving the business forward, not just reporting activity.

4. When you’re requesting resources or budget increases.

Whether it's asking for $5,000 for a new tool or $500,000 for a campaign, I’ve learned that executives need the story behind the numbers upfront. A tight executive summary justifies the ask before they even flip to the second page.

It links your request to a clear business case and shows how the investment ties directly to revenue goals, customer growth, or operational efficiencies. It’s way easier for execs to say yes when they can see the payoff in 30 seconds or less.

5. When you’re closing out a project or campaign.

At the end of a campaign, it’s tempting to flood the room with metrics. But executives and team leads want the punchline first: Did it work? What’s next? I use executive summaries to recap goals, actual performance, key lessons, and future recommendations — all without overwhelming them.

This way, leadership not only sees the success (or where pivots are needed), but they also trust that I’m thinking strategically about continuous improvement.

If I had to sum it up: anytime you're communicating something important where decisions, investments, or trust are involved, an executive summary isn’t optional. It’s your chance to get them nodding before they even ask a question.

These elements will ensure your executive summary is effective, informative, and impactful.

1. Read (and understand) the full document.

Writing an executive summary without reading the full document is not only risky, but also obvious. Executives can spot when a summary feels surface-level a mile away.

Before you even think about summarizing, sit down and read through the entire document, start to finish. You need to fully understand:

The main objectives (What was this document trying to achieve?)

The key results and metrics (What numbers actually matter?)

The core recommendations or next steps (What action are you pushing for?)

As you read, take quick notes — kind of like building a highlight reel. Focus on moments that tie directly to outcomes, value, or business impact. In marketing and sales, that usually means anything connected to lead generation, pipeline acceleration, revenue growth, customer retention, brand lift, or ROI improvements.

Think of it like pulling out the “greatest hits” of the project. If it wouldn‘t make an exec sit up and pay attention, it doesn’t belong in your notes (or summary).

2. Remind yourself who your audience is.

Writing an executive summary without thinking about the target audience is like launching a campaign without knowing your buyer persona — you’ll miss the mark. Before I even start drafting, I always ask myself two questions:

Who exactly will read this?

What outcome are they hoping for?

If I'm summarizing for a CMO, I know they care about brand positioning, customer growth, and revenue. If it’s for a CFO, they’re looking for efficiency, margins, and return on investment (ROI). The audience shapes everything: the language you use, the metrics you highlight, even how bold or cautious your recommendations should sound.

3. Outline the structure.

An executive summary isn’t just a greatest-hits reel; it’s also a map. And the easiest way to create that map is by following the structure of your full document.

When I skip around or cherry-pick ideas out of order, the summary feels confusing. However, when I mirror the original flow — even if I trim details — it keeps everything logical and easy to follow.

In marketing and sales, especially, execs want a smooth path from problem → solution → expected impact. If the executive summary jumps around, they’ll assume the actual plan does too (and that’s a fast track to “no thanks.”)

Here’s how I think about structuring:

Start with the problem or opportunity (What's happening in the market, with customers, or internally?)

Then move into your key solution or recommendation (What exactly are you proposing?)

Support it with high-level evidence (Think major KPIs, customer insights, competitive advantages — not minor stats.)

End with the next steps or calls to action (What are you asking them to do or approve?)

For example, if I’m summarizing a campaign performance report, I wouldn’t jump straight to optimization ideas. I’d first summarize the campaign’s original goals, then its results, then the proposed adjustments.

This way, when someone does read the full document later, it feels like they’re simply filling in details, not discovering something brand-new.

4. Summarize the objectives of the document.

Before you dive into metrics, strategies, or recommendations, you need to be crystal clear on one thing: What was the goal of the document you’re summarizing? If you don’t lead with the “why,” executives won’t have the right lens for everything else you share.

I always start my executive summaries by answering three questions quickly:

What problem are we addressing?

What’s the overall goal?

What action or mindset shift are we hoping for?

This keeps the focus tight and sets the tone for the rest of the summary. For example, if I’m summarizing a marketing audit, my objective might sound like: “This report identifies key gaps in our inbound strategy and recommends targeted improvements to boost lead generation by 25% over the next two quarters.”

And if you need a hand? Tools like the Axios HQ AI Summary Generator and HubSpot’s AI Summarization Tool can help speed things up, especially if you need a first draft to refine (I’ll talk about using AI to write executive summaries soon).

5. Highlight critical facts and information.

Once you’ve nailed down your audience and your objective, it’s time to pull out the critical facts that make your case impossible to ignore. Think of it like building a sales pitch: you‘re not listing everything you could say; you’re choosing only the strongest proof points that drive your story forward.

Here are a few examples of what I mean:

Marketing campaign proposal. Instead of dumping every stat, highlight KPIs that matter, like “Past similar campaigns drove a 22% lift in qualified leads and a 15% increase in conversion rates within three months.”

Sales enablement strategy. Spotlight a customer pain point backed by data, like “60% of lost deals last quarter were due to delayed follow-up times, creating a $1.2M revenue gap.”

Budget request for a new CRM tool. Showcase ROI potential—“Teams using [X CRM] saw a 30% faster sales cycle and a 20% jump in annual revenue compared to non-users, according to Forrester.”

Notice how each fact isn’t just interesting — it’s directly tied to the objective I’m trying to achieve: getting the “yes.”

6. Present your resolution or conclusion.

An executive summary without a clear ending leaves people hanging. After you lay out the objective and the critical facts, you need to bring it all home with a strong resolution or call to action.

When I’m wrapping up an executive summary, I always zoom back out and answer three things clearly and quickly:

What’s the key takeaway?

What action should we take (or what action was taken)?

Why does this matter right now?

Depending on what you’re summarizing, your resolution might look a little different.

Campaign report: Summarize the key results and what they mean for future marketing initiatives. (e.g., “This campaign exceeded pipeline goals by 18%, demonstrating the effectiveness of segmented ABM strategies moving forward.”)

Sales analysis: Highlight the trend or opportunity and recommend next steps. (e.g., “Sales velocity increased by 12% in regions where lead response time was under one hour; we recommend expanding rapid-response training company-wide.”)

Market research report: Present the most urgent insight and what leadership should do next. (e.g., “Survey results show a 40% increase in demand for flexible pricing models; we recommend piloting a new tiered offering in Q3.”)

7. Edit and proofread.

Even the best first draft is still just that — a first draft. And you should never send a first draft.

Once I finish writing, I never hit send right away. I take what content expert Ann Handley smartly calls “the messy first draft” and set it aside for a few hours; ideally, a full day if I can. When I come back to it with fresh eyes, I’m not just looking for grammar mistakes. I’m asking:

Is the message crystal clear from the very first sentence?

Did I cut every ounce of fluff?

Is the tone right for this audience? (Confident, not casual? Urgent, but not frantic?)

Does every fact, number, and recommendation support the goal?

If possible, I also ask someone else, like a teammate, a manager, or even someone outside of marketing or sales, to read it quickly. A fresh reader can spot confusing wording or gaps that I might be too close to see.

Now that you know how to write an executive summary, I’ll go over what you should include.

What to Include in Your Executive Summary

An executive summary should provide a preview for readers, letting them know what to expect from the rest of your report.

Generally, that means including the following components.

Overview: Background and context for the document. Is there a mission behind what you’re doing? Why is the company taking on this project or objective? This is where you share that story.

Objective or Purpose: This is the goal of the document. It tells the reader why this document even exists.

Key Facts and Data: Include any data necessary to understand the document's contents or justify the argument. This may include statistics, sales numbers, timelines, data sources, target markets, competitors, or financial numbers.

Results/Recommendations: These are the key takeaways or actions you recommend. Recap the main findings or results presented in the document.

Conclusion: Your conclusion should be a concise, memorable wrap-up of your main points.

The length and nuances of these elements will differ depending on the document you’re summarizing. But you’ll be in good shape if you use these as a guide.

How long should an executive summary be?

There is no hard and fast rule for the exact length of executive summaries, but they typically range from one to three pages. Don’t get cau

5 best CRMs for HVAC businesses in 2025

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 00:10:39 +0300

Running an HVAC business means juggling emergency calls, seasonal demand spikes, and multi-visit jobs that can span weeks. You're dealing with a technician shortage, meanwhile customers expect rapid response times when their AC fails or their furnace breaks.

Customer relationship management (CRM) software solves these challenges by centralizing customer data, automating routine tasks, and streamlining operations. Just look at this Richmond-based HVAC company. Their team leveraged Hubspot’s automated email campaigns to generate new leads and signups within six months.

The global HVAC market was valued at approximately $165.88 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach $256.95 billion by 2032, making efficient customer management essential for capturing your share of this growing market. This guide shows you how a CRM can help, including in-depth feature breakdowns and how you can choose the right software for your business. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

What is a CRM for HVAC?

CRM Comparison Table

Best CRM Software for HVAC Businesses

Benefits of CRM Software for HVAC

5 Important Features for an HVAC CRM

Frequently Asked Questions

Meet HubSpot, the Top CRM Choice for HVAC Companies

What is a CRM for HVAC?

For HVAC companies, CRMs manage customer relationships, service histories, and job requirements. Unlike generic CRMs, these systems handle equipment-specific data, emergency dispatch protocols, seasonal scheduling patterns, and maintenance contract management that define the HVAC industry.

HubSpot serves as a comprehensive CRM platform that supports these industry-specific requirements through customizable pipelines, automated service reminders, and integrated marketing tools. Our goal is to help HVAC companies build lasting customer relationships while streamlining daily operations.

Comparing CRMs for HVAC Businesses

CRM

Best For

Key Features

Pricing

User Rating

HubSpot

Growing HVAC companies

Free CRM, marketing automation, sales pipeline, 300+ integrations

Free - $3,600/month

4.4/5 (G2)

ServiceTitan

Established field service teams

Industry-specific templates, advanced dispatching, customer portal

per-tech/month (custom pricing)

4.4/5 (G2)

Jobber

Small-medium operations

Simple scheduling, mobile apps, QuickBooks integration

$39-$599/month

4.2/5 (G2)

Housecall Pro

Customer-focused companies

Automated notifications, online booking, review generation

$49-$249/month

4.3/5 (G2)

Service Trade

Commercial HVAC companies

Asset & equipment mgmt, project management, customer self-service portal

Custom pricing

4.5/5 (G2)

Best CRM Software for HVAC Businesses

Choosing the right CRM can streamline your HVAC operations. Here's our detailed analysis of the top five CRMs in the HVAC industry.

1. HubSpot

Best for: Growing HVAC companies that want comprehensive marketing, sales, and service tools in one platform.

Key HubSpot Features

Free CRM foundation: Start managing customers immediately without upfront costs, while HubSpot's scalable platform grows with your business from startup to enterprise level. Seamlessly import your existing contacts into HubSpot and from there you can start tracking all communication with your customers, assign tasks, visualize your sales cycle, collect payments, and view metrics reports that help you make better decisions for your business.

AI-powered sales insights and content generation: Breeze AI helps prioritize high-value leads and improve customer confidence. Our AI tools automate mundane tasks, summarize customer records, and provide various email templates to help you accelerate your growth.

Marketing automation: HubSpot’s marketing tools take the manual labor out of campaign creation. Create seasonal maintenance campaigns and emergency service follow-ups, leveraging HubSpot's proven email marketing tools that help businesses nurture leads automatically.

300+ integrations: Choosing HubSpot means keeping the tools you already love. Our app marketplace makes it easier than ever to sync your existing tools and add new ones to your tech stack. Connect with QuickBooks, Google Calendar, and field service apps utilizing HubSpot's extensive integration marketplace to create seamless workflows.

HubSpot Pricing

Free plan: Unlimited contacts and basic CRM features

Starter: $45/month for marketing automation and advanced reporting

Professional: $800/month for custom automation and advanced analytics

Enterprise: Custom pricing for advanced features and dedicated support. Use HubSpot’s pricing calculator to view your custom price.

2. ServiceTitan

Source

Best for: Companies with multiple technicians requiring industry-specific field service management

Key ServiceTitan Features

HVAC-specific job templates: ServiceTitan offers pre-built workflows for common services like maintenance visits and equipment installations.

Advanced dispatching system: You can assign jobs based on technician skills and location.

Integrated payment processing: Accept payments on-site with mobile card readers, similar to how HubSpot's payment integration streamlines the customer transaction experience.

Performance analytics: Basic analytics functions help track technician productivity and job profitability.

ServiceTitan Pricing

Custom pricing: Pricing is per technician and is customized based on your needs

Implementation fees: Implementation and training are an additional cost

Enterprise: Offers several higher-tier plans for enterprise-level organizations

3. Jobber

Source

Best for: Small to medium HVAC companies prioritizing simplicity and ease of use

Key Jobber Features

Drag-and-drop scheduling: Allows visual calendar management for appointments and job assignments.

Mobile-first design: Has iOS and Android apps for field technicians, keeping customer data accessible anywhere.

Customer communication: Software offers automated text and email notifications for appointments, fewer missed connections, and scheduling conflicts.

QuickBooks integration: Integrating with QuickBooks accounting software makes for seamless accounting workflow management.

Jobber Pricing

Individuals: Plans ranging from $39/month for basic features to $199/month for more advanced features

Teams: $169/month for advanced automation to $599/month for all Jobber features plus premium support

4. Housecall Pro

Source

Best for: HVAC companies focused on exceptional customer experience and communication

Key Housecall Pro Features

Automated customer notifications: Offers real-time updates throughout the service process, similar to HubSpot's automated email sequences that keep customers informed at every stage.

Online booking system: This feature allows customer self-service scheduling for non-emergency appointments.

Customizable templates: Offers easy to customize templates for tasks like creating service reports and invoices.

Payment processing: Offers multiple payment options, including mobile credit card processing.

Housecall Pro Pricing

Rookie: $49/month for solo operators

Professional: $129/month for small teams

Enterprise: $249/month for larger operations

5. ServiceTrade

Source

Best for: Commercial HVAC contractors managing complex equipment relationships

Key ServiceTrade Features

Asset and equipment tracking: Keeps detailed maintenance histories for commercial HVAC systems.

Preventive maintenance scheduling: Has automated service reminders based on equipment specifications, similar to HubSpot's workflow automation that triggers activities based on any customer criteria.

Customer self-service portal: Clients can view service histories and schedule appointments.

Project management tools: These tools help manage large installations and multi-phase projects.

ServiceTrade Pricing

Custom pricing based on company size and feature requirements. Contact directly for pricing.

Three plan tiers: Select (up to 5 techs), Premium (10 to 20 techs), and Enterprise (20+ techs).

Benefits of CRM Software for HVAC

Improved Response Times and Emergency Management

HVAC emergencies can‘t wait. When a customer’s furnace fails on a winter night, every minute matters. CRM software transforms your response capabilities by centralizing dispatch information and automating priority workflows.

HubSpot's task automation sends emergency notifications to available technicians, while automated sequences keep customers informed about estimated arrival times and service progress.

Enhanced Customer Retention Through Proactive Service

HVACs need regular upkeep to avoid failures down the line. Your CRM can help you know when customers are due for that routine work. CRM systems automate the follow-up process that keeps customers engaged year-round.

HubSpot's workflow automation sends seasonal maintenance reminders, tracks service history, and identifies upselling opportunities. You can easily keep track of equipment age and customer preferences, helping you build predictable revenue streams.

Streamlined Operations and Reduced Administrative Overhead

Manual scheduling, paper invoices, and scattered customer records waste valuable time that could be spent growing your business. CRM software eliminates these inefficiencies by centralizing data management and automating workflows.

HubSpot's integrated platform connects customer management with marketing automation and sales tracking. You can avoid duplicate data entries and ensure that your team has complete visibility into every customer relationship.

Data-Driven Decision Making for Business Growth

Successful HVAC companies make decisions based on facts, not feelings. CRM software provides the analytics necessary to identify profitable services, peak demand periods, and trends in customer satisfaction.

HubSpot's comprehensive reporting dashboard tracks everything from marketing campaign performance to service completion rates. Take this case study from Cold Jet, a dry ice production and service company. HubSpot’s unified data reporting allowed Cold Jet to anticipate customers’ support and maintenance needs, which resulted in customers receiving faster, more reliable service.

Better Team Collaboration and Communication

HVAC projects often involve multiple team members — from initial sales contacts to installation crews to follow-up service technicians. CRM software ensures everyone has access to the same customer information and project status updates.

HubSpot's shared timeline feature keeps all team members informed about customer interactions, while automated task assignments ensure nothing falls through the cracks during complex installations or ongoing service relationships.

5 Important Features for an HVAC CRM

1. Mobile Access and Field Functionality

Your technicians need complete customer information while on-site, from service history to equipment specifications to billing details. Look for CRMs with robust mobile apps that work offline when internet connectivity is spotty.

HubSpot's mobile CRM provides full functionality on smartphones and tablets. Technicians can update customer records, log service notes, and even create follow-up tasks while standing in front of the equipment.

2. Pipeline Customization for HVAC Sales Processes

HVAC sales cycles differ significantly from other industries, involving consultations, equipment selection, permit approvals, and installation scheduling. Your CRM should adapt to these unique workflows rather than forcing you into generic sales stages.

HubSpot's customizable deal pipelines let you create stages specific to HVAC projects, whether you're tracking emergency repairs, maintenance contracts, or full system replacements.

3. Integration Capabilities with Essential Business Tools

Your CRM shouldn't exist in isolation. It needs to connect seamlessly with accounting software like QuickBooks, scheduling tools, inventory management systems, and marketing platforms. HubSpot's extensive integration marketplace includes 300+ applications, ensuring your CRM works harmoniously with the tools you already use.

4. Automated Customer Communication and Follow-up

Successful HVAC companies stay top of mind with customers through consistent communication. Look for CRMs that automate seasonal reminders, maintenance notifications, and promotional campaigns.

HubSpot creates sophisticated nurture campaigns that send heating system reminders in fall, AC maintenance notices in spring, and targeted promotions based on customer service history and equipment age.

5. Payment Processing and Financial Management

Getting paid quickly is crucial for HVAC cash flow, especially for high-ticket equipment installations. Modern CRMs should handle payment processing, financing options, and financial tracking seamlessly. HubSpot integrates with payment processors and invoicing tools, making the process simple.

How to Choose a CRM for HVAC (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Map your current workflows.

Start by documenting how your business operates today. Track a typical customer journey from initial contact through service completion and follow-up. Identify pain points like duplicate data entry, missed follow-ups, or scheduling conflicts.

This workflow mapping exercise reveals exactly what your CRM needs to solve and helps you evaluate features based on real operational needs rather than marketing promises.

Pro tip: Use HubSpot’s free process map template to help visualize and identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies in your existing workflows and operations.

Step 2: Identify must-have features.

Based on your workflow analysis, create a prioritized list of essential CRM capabilities. Emergenc

What is an editorial calendar? My guide to building one [examples + templates]

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0300

A few years ago, I inherited a content calendar that was really just a Google Sheet — no dates, no owners, and half the cells completely empty. I spent two straight weeks trying to untangle what was going live, what was already published, and what somehow didn’t exist at all.

That experience made it painfully clear: Without a real editorial calendar, even the best content strategy falls apart. These days, it’s the first thing I build when I sign a new client.

In this post, I’ll walk through what an editorial calendar is, share the tips I’ve picked up for creating one that actually works, and include a few templates to help you get started.

Table of Contents

What is an editorial calendar?

Editorial Calendar Benefits

Who should use an editorial calendar?

How to Create an Editorial Calendar

Editorial Calendar Examples and Templates

Whether you’re managing a blog, podcast, email newsletter, or a dozen social accounts, an editorial calendar gives you visibility into your content pipeline. It helps you spot gaps, plan ahead, and keep your team aligned, especially when multiple people are creating or reviewing content.

There’s no one-size-fits-all format. I’ve used everything from simple spreadsheets to full-blown project management tools, depending on the size of the team and complexity of the strategy. What matters most is that it fits your workflow and makes it easier to stay consistent.

Before you choose a format or tool, take a step back and think about how you’ll actually use your editorial calendar. Here are a few key questions I like to consider:

How often are you publishing content? Daily blog posts? Weekly newsletters? Quarterly campaigns? Your cadence will impact how much detail you need to include.

What kinds of content are you managing? If you’re juggling blog posts, videos, and social media, your calendar should make it easy to see what’s going where and when.

Who needs access? If it’s just you, a simple spreadsheet might work. But if you’re collaborating with writers, designers, and approvers, you’ll want something more dynamic.

What stages does your content go through? Outlining, writing, editing, design, approvals — map out your workflow so your calendar reflects the real steps behind every piece of content.

How do you and your team like to work? Some teams prefer a visual board. Others want color-coded spreadsheets or deadline-driven timelines. Go with the system that supports your actual habits, not just the fanciest software.

You’ll revisit some of these questions later when we walk through how to build your calendar. But if you’re already nodding along, you’re off to a strong start.

Editorial Calendar Benefits

I’ve never built a perfect editorial calendar on the first try. It always takes a little trial and error to find the right structure, cadence, and tools for the team.

But once it clicks, it takes your content from scattered and reactive to strategic and consistent. Here are a few of the biggest benefits I’ve seen (both for myself and the teams I work with).

Improves content quality and consistency.

I used to write content week by week, and while it technically worked, it was exhausting. Once I started planning ahead with an editorial calendar, I could focus on quality instead of scrambling. It helped me batch ideas, build a real strategy, and stay consistent without burning out.

More chances to innovate.

Some of my best content ideas have come from looking at a calendar and realizing, “We’ve never tried XYZ.” When you can zoom out and actually see your content plan, it’s easier to identify patterns, avoid repetition, and carve out space to experiment — whether that’s testing a new format or tying a campaign to a trend.

Supports accountability.

I’ve worked on teams where no one knew who owned what and content just stalled. Now, I always include clear owners and deadlines in every calendar I create. It keeps things moving, reduces bottlenecks, and helps every contributor feel more in control of their piece of the puzzle.

Streamlines processes.

Every team I’ve worked with has had slightly different workflows. Editorial calendars have helped me translate those processes into something visual and actionable. I map out every step, from draft to review to publish, so nothing gets lost and everyone knows where things stand.

Better teamwork.

When your content plan is stuck in someone’s head (or hidden in an inbox), collaboration becomes a guessing game. I’ve found that even a basic shared calendar creates more transparency, which leads to better feedback, fewer missed handoffs, and smoother cross-functional work.

Improves your team experience.

According to a recent study, 56% of marketers are worried about burnout in their current role.

I’ve seen firsthand how chaotic content planning can wear a team down. But when there’s a clear calendar in place, things feel calmer. There’s less stress, fewer fire drills, and more room for creativity — all of which adds up to a better experience for everyone involved.

Offers clearer data insights.

Editorial calendars aren’t just for scheduling — they’re also a record of what’s been done. I use mine to track content performance over time, spot what’s working, and adjust accordingly. It’s helped me make more informed decisions and show clients exactly how their content is driving results.

Who should use an editorial calendar?

If you’re publishing content regularly, even if it’s just a few posts a month, you need an editorial calendar. I’ve seen solo creators, startups, and global teams all benefit from having one place to plan, align, and stay on track.

Here are a few groups I’ve worked with who really benefit from having editorial calendars.

Public Relations

PR professionals are constantly juggling media outreach, press releases, thought leadership, and campaign tie-ins. I’ve worked with PR teams who use editorial calendars to align messaging across channels and make sure every opportunity gets the visibility it deserves without stepping on anyone’s toes.

Newspapers/Magazines and Other News Outlets

Editorial calendars have long been a staple in newsrooms, and for good reason. These teams juggle constant deadlines, multiple contributors, and a mix of evergreen and time-sensitive content.

As HubSpot blogger Erica Santiago puts it, “I used to write for a newspaper in my early career as a journalist. I needed an editorial calendar to track when my work would get published or when I had to publish another contributor.”

That kind of visibility is just as important today, especially for digital media teams managing fast-moving content pipelines.

Corporate Communications Teams

In corporate settings, I’ve seen comms teams use calendars to keep internal and external messaging organized. From executive updates to employee newsletters to crisis communications, an editorial calendar helps make sure the right content goes out at the right time, and gets approved by the right people first.

Content Creators

Whether you’re managing a blog, podcast, YouTube channel, or all of the above, having an editorial calendar can take your workflow from messy to manageable. I always recommend creators build a simple system to plan ahead, stay consistent, and keep content aligned with their goals.

Social Media Managers and Coordinators

I’ve worked as a social media manager, and I can tell you … without an editorial calendar, things unravel fast. Between platform deadlines, post approvals, and asset coordination, it’s way too easy to lose track.

I used calendars to map everything out by date, platform, and campaign. It helped me stay ahead, keep messaging consistent, and make space for reactive posts without sacrificing the big picture.

How to Create an Editorial Calendar

There’s no one right way to build an editorial calendar. It really depends on your team, your tools, and your workflow. But over the years, I’ve found a few consistent steps that make the process smoother, whether I’m building a calendar from scratch or cleaning up a messy one.

1. Define your target audience and content themes.

Before you add a single date to a calendar, get clear on who you're creating content for and why. When I onboard a new client, this is always my first step. I look at personas, customer journey stages, and what types of content have worked well in the past. From there, I build out core themes and topics to guide planning.

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If you don’t take the time to understand your audience, your content plan won’t have much direction. I’ve seen teams waste time creating high-effort pieces that never land — not because the content was bad, but because it wasn’t what their audience needed. Getting this part right helps you choose the right topics, timing, and tone from day one.

2. Outline content goals and KPIs.

Your calendar should reflect your strategy, not just your to-do list. I always align the calendar with broader goals and metrics, like improving organic traffic or increasing newsletter engagement. That way, every post has a purpose, and it’s easier to measure what’s working.

3. Choose a format for your editorial calendar.

I’ve used everything from Google Sheets to Asana to custom Notion boards. What matters most is picking a format your team will actually use. Before locking anything in, I always ask:

How do you like to work?

What tools are you already using?

Who needs to see or contribute to the calendar?

The goal is to reduce friction, not add another layer of complexity.

4 Types of Editorial Calendars

Before you choose a format, it’s worth understanding your options and the tradeoffs that come with each one. Like I said before, I’ve used everything from spreadsheets to full-scale editorial tools, and each setup has its strengths (and limitations).

Below, I’ll walk through the most common types I’ve worked with and break down the pros and cons of each.

Editorial Calendar Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets are simple, flexible, and easy to share — especially for small teams or solo marketers. I’ve built plenty of calendars in Google Sheets and Excel when clients didn’t need anything fancy.

Source

Pros

Easy to set up and customize.

Great for organizing post details and deadlines.

No learning curve.

Cons

Harder to visualize your schedule at a glance.

Not ideal for collaboration or content reviews.

Content Calendar

A content calendar is a more visual version of a spreadsheet. It shows what’s going live and when, with more context like channels, post types, or campaign tags.

Source

Pros

Helps map content over time.

Easy to scan and spot gaps.

Can include color-coding, keywords, and content stages.

Cons

Doesn’t always reflect workflow or task ownership.

Can be time consuming to set up.

Needs regular updating to stay useful.

Project Management Tool

Project management tools like Asana, Trello, ClickUp, or Notion are great for teams with more complex workflows. I’ve used them to build calendars that also handle briefs, approvals, and publishing checklists all in one place.

Source

Pros

Supports detailed workflows and team collaboration.

Multiple views (calendar, kanban board, list, etc.).

Easy to assign and track progress.

Cons

Can feel overwhelming at first.

Takes setup time and buy-in from the team.

Editorial Calendar Applications

Dedicated platforms like CoSchedule or Monday.com combine scheduling with built-in content planning features. I’ve worked with clients who love these for the analytics and integrations, especially when managing multiple content streams.

Source

Pros

Purpose-built for content teams.

Often includes campaign tracking and performance insights.

Helpful for teams juggling lots of moving parts.

Cons

Can be expensive, depending on your needs.

Some have a learning curve or limited customization.

Whichever format you choose, the most important thing is that it works for you. Once you’ve picked a setup that fits your team and workflow, it’s time to organize your content by channel and make sure everything fits into the bigger picture.

4. Designate your main marketing channels.

Not every piece of content belongs on every platform, and your editorial calendar should reflect that. I always start by mapping out the primary channels I’ll be working with: blog, email, social, YouTube, etc. From there, I assign specific content types or goals to each one.

For example, blog content might focus on long-form SEO, while Instagram is where you experiment with bite-sized tips or video. I like to use color-coding or tags to make channel assignments easy to scan, especially if you're planning cross-channel campaigns.

If you’re working with a team, this step is also a good chance to clarify ownership. Who’s posting? Who’s reviewing? And how do all the moving parts connect?

The more clearly your channels are defined, the easier it becomes to build a content plan that’s focused, strategic, and actually manageable.

5. Assign roles and responsibilities.

One thing I’ve learned the hard way: If roles aren’t clearly defined, content gets stuck. Even small teams run into issues when no one’s quite sure who’s drafting, who’s editing, or who’s responsible for pressing publish.

That’s why I always build ownership into the editorial calendar itself. I’ll assign names to each task, outline review steps, and make sure everyone knows where their role starts and stops. Even something as simple as “Draft > Review > Approve > Publish” helps avoid last-minute confusion.

This also helps streamline collaboration, especially when multiple people are touching the same asset. Clear roles = fewer bottlenecks, better communication, and more content going out on time.

6. Study your competition’s posting frequency.

I’m not saying you need to obsess over what everyone else is doing, but I do think it’s smart to get a sense of the content landscape around you.

When I’m building out a new calendar, I’ll usually scan a few competitors’ blogs and social feeds. How often are they posting? What formats do they lean into? Are there gaps you can fill or time slots they’re ignoring? I’m not looking to copy anyone, I’m looking for patterns and opportunities.

This kind of quick audit can also reveal where you’re over or under-investing. Maybe your competitors post daily on LinkedIn but barely touch YouTube. That might confirm your strategy or inspire a shift.

Either way, it‘s helpful context when you’re building a calendar that’s not just consistent, but competitive.

7. Plan your posts consistently.

Consistency isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s one of the most effective ways to build trust with your audience and drive long-term results. When content goes out on a regular cadence, it’s easier to stay top of mind, build habits, and make your strategy more sustainable over time.

As Carsyn LeClere, former marketing strategist at Blue Frog Marketing, explained:

“Content planning helps provide a better view of all your marketing initiatives and how they play into each other. It‘s important because it ensures you don’t duplicate content efforts, cannibalize a topic, miss any initiatives, or neglect any part of the buyer's journey.”

I’ve seen this firsthand. Clients who post on a steady, predictable schedule tend to get better results and fewer headaches. Even simple patterns like “newsletter Tuesdays” or “blog Thursdays” give your audience something to look for

Traditional Marketing Metrics	CFO-Focused Revenue Metrics
MQLs	Qualified pipeline sourced
Website traffic	Revenue contribution by channel
CTR / Engagement rate	Marketing ROI (MROI)
Impressions / Reach	CAC and CAC Payback Period
Email open rate	Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Social shares	Pipeline velocity (conversion speed)
Attribution clicks only	Multi-touch revenue attribution

CFO Concern	Marketing Response
“You can't prove ROI.”	“Here’s our sourced pipeline over 3 quarters via HubSpot attribution.”
“What about long sales cycles?”	“We track touchpoints across the entire lifecycle using multi-touch attribution.”
“Channel conflicts?”	“We report both first and W-shaped influence to show shared impact.”
“Offline events?”	“We log event attendance and sales follow-up in CRM for attribution.”
“Dark funnel?”	“We’re tracking anonymous activity via intent tools and matching CRM entries.”

Function	Before (Multiple Tools)	After (Unified Platform)	Functionality Retained
Email Marketing	Mailchimp + ConvertKit	HubSpot Marketing Hub	95%
Social Media	Buffer + Hootsuite + Sprout	HubSpot + Native Integrations	90%
CRM & Sales	Salesforce + Pipedrive	HubSpot CRM	95%
Analytics	Google Analytics + SEMrush	HubSpot + GA4 Integration	85%
Content Creation	Canva + Adobe CC	Canva + HubSpot Templates	90%
Project Management	Asana + Slack	HubSpot Tasks + Slack	80%
Total Annual Cost	$84,000	$42,000	50% Savings

Current State (15+ Tools)	Consolidated State (Unified Platform)
47 potential integration points	8 strategic integrations
12 hours monthly troubleshooting	2 hours monthly maintenance
15 separate user accounts	Single SSO across all functions
Manual data exports weekly	Automated reporting daily
6 different support contacts	Single vendor relationship

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Why is content research important?

How to Do Content Research

Start with competitor research.

Then, use tools to gather data.

Establish authority by answering questions.

Consult the experts for more insight.

Reach out to people internally.

Present the content research.

Further your business goals with content research.

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Examples of How Brands Are Using AI on Instagram

1. Generating Instagram Captions

2. Repurposing Blog Content into Instagram Posts

3. Hopping onto AI-generated Trends Like ChatGPT’s Action Figure Trend

4. Playing with AI to Extend Backgrounds

5. Creating AI Influencers

6. Using AI Analytics to Drive Social Media Strategy

Tips for Using AI in Your Instagram Marketing Strategy

1. Constantly experiment with and refine your AI workflows.

2. Leave the humor to the humans.

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1. Short-form Content Creation at Scale

2. Localized and Translated Content for Global Reach

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6. Internal Communication and Training

AI avatars help you scale for a fraction of the cost.

The essential SEO tutorial for thriving in the age of AI-driven search

SEO Basics

Key Words to Know

1. Content SEO: Write great content.

2. Technical SEO: Improve the technical elements of your website.

3. Sharing and backlinking: Make sure that users can find your website.

4. Keep an eye on AI.

5. Optimize for AIOs.

How to Learn SEO

1. Read and watch reliable resources.

2. Take free courses.

3. Stay on top of the trends.

4. Know how AI works.

5. Study your competitors.

6. Learn by doing.

7. Use SEO tools.

Building an SEO Strategy: Step-by-Step Tutorial

1. Understand search intent.

2. Run a competitor analysis.

3. Improve your own on-page SEO.

Here’s how to prove marketing’s pipeline value & revenue impact to your CFO

Why does pipeline influence reporting matter?

What metrics do CFOs actually care about?

Which attribution models do CFOs prefer?

How to Show Marketing’s Impact to the CFO Step-by-Step

1. Choose your attribution model.

2. Set up your attribution reporting.

2. Create visuals of marketing’s revenue impact.

3. Preempt CFO concerns with finance-ready narratives.

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Secure your marketing budget with buy-in.