Choices are hard.

And when it comes to choosing the right format for your next blog post, there’s quite the smorgasbord to choose from. Perhaps how-to posts are your forte. Or maybe you just can’t resist the list. But just because you have a signature format, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily right for the topic you’re blogging about.

Aah … decisions, decisions. 

It’s okay though! We’re here to help you through it. So in this post, I’m going to break down some of the most popular blog post types and formats to help you determine which one is right for the blog idea you’ve got milling around in that head of yours.

That said, keep in mind that some posts may even straddle two or more formats. I’ve written thought leadership posts that could also probably be classified as list posts. And if I’d added a SlideShare to them? They would’ve straddled three! 

The point is to recognize that there isn’t just one type of blog post you can create — and some formats are much more suitable for certain ideas than others. Another thing to consider is that a lot of times, it will all boil down to the angle you take on a topic. For example, if I wanted to write a post about social media, there is probably a different angle I could take that would work for each of the following formats. It will all depend on the angle I decide to take.

1. The How-To Post

Format: Step-by-step guide that tells your readers how to do something. 

This is one of the most common blog post formats for business bloggers. It makes perfect sense, considering how-to posts are inherently educational and great for generating traffic from organic search. Use how-to posts when your topic has to do with educating your audience about how to do something they might not know how to do.

Oftentimes, how-to posts can also be strengthened by supporting visual components for concepts that lend themselves to visual explanations, like an instructional video or a visual aid. 

Download a Free How-To Blog Post Template Here

Examples:

• How to Write a Great Email Signature [+ Professional Examples]
• How to Create a Social Media Report [Free Template]
• How to Write a Blog Post: A Step-by-Step Guide [+ Free Blog Post Templates]

2. The Listicle

Format: List of similar items or content. 

Another very popular blog post format, the list post (commonly referred to as a “listicle”), is characterized by content organized in a list. List posts are easily recognizable by their titles, since they usually include a number in headline, and they’re great formats for beginner bloggers since they’re very formulaic. Unfortunately, it’s for this reason that listicles have gotten a bad rap, and are often perceived as low quality pieces of content … probably because there are indeed a lot of crappy list posts out there.

But when done right, lists posts are great for posts that seek to aggregate tips, tactics, or ideas under a certain topic, and they can result in high-quality content. Plus, people love ’em! To learn about how to create a high-quality list post, check out this post. (Bonus: It also happens to be a great example of a list post in and of itself, in addition to the few below.)

Download a Free Listicle Blog Post Template Here

Examples:

• 10 Ways to Make Your Blog Post Interactive
• 10 Social Media Calendars, Tools, & Templates to Plan Your Content
• 12 of the Best Marketing Techniques for 2020

3. The Curated Post 

Format: Highlights and curates (usually external) content around a certain theme.

Another post that has historically (yet undeservingly) gotten a bad rap is the curated post. Although it’s sometimes perceived as lazy and unoriginal, curated content can actually be extremely helpful to readers, since the research component of them can be very time consuming, and the end result is a compilation of helpful resources all in one place.

The curated post is ideal for aggregating content such as industry examples, statistics, quotations, and videos — among other things. It’s also great for building relationships with the other bloggers and businesses you highlight within your curated content.

Examples:

• 15 Phenomenal TED Talks You Need to Watch Today
• 43 Messaging App Stats That Marketers Should Know
• 15 Examples of Brilliant Homepage Design

4. The Thought Leadership Post 

Format: Original data or opinions intended to make the reader think.

One of the more difficult types of posts to write, thought leadership-style posts usually take the form of pontification about things like where the industry is headed or industry trends that seem to be emerging and what they mean.

For this reason, they’re not really the type of post you can just decide to write at the drop of a hat, like, “I’m going to write a thought leadership post today!” Rather, they’re usually the result of thoughtful examination of things you’ve noticed or have been thinking about over time, and they tend to be speculative and sometimes controversial in nature. They also tend to spark some great discussions!

Examples:

• Predictive SEO: How HubSpot Saves Traffic We Haven’t Lost Yet
• Can B2C Marketing Succeed on LinkedIn?
• How Our Marketing Team Used Sprint Planning While Working Remotely

5. The Fun Post

Format: Entertainment.

Because who doesn’t love to laugh, smile, or be amazed? Content whose main purpose is to entertain does have a place in your content mix, and it can be very refreshing to your audience — as long as it’s in moderation.

These types of posts are great for publishing during holidays, the end of the day, the end of the week, and other times when your audience is burnt out, winding down, or could use a break from some of the more, um, intellectual content on the web. Just make sure you stay true to the focus of your blog overall by ensuring the concept of your fun post has a relevant tie-in. For more on the benefits of entertaining content, here’s why you should publish content for entertainment value alone every once in a while.

Examples:

• The 20 Best Sales Movies of All Time [Updated for 2020]
• 15 Fun, Weird, & Unexpected Interview Questions (With Sample Answers)
• 26 of the Funniest Tweets About Social Media We’ve Ever Seen

6. The ‘What’ Post

Format: Explanation of a concept.

The ‘what’ post is perfect for introductory-style content geared toward a beginner audience. In general, the ‘what’ post serves to introduce and explain a concept, whether it be an industry trend, tactic, or tool; and it typically highlights what it is and why you should care. Linking to or including a call-to-action for more in-depth, intermediate content (like an ebook or another blog post) about the topic at the end of the post is a great best practice for ‘what’ posts.

Download a Free “What Is” Blog Post Template Here

Examples:

• What Is Context Marketing, and Why It Matters [Quick Guide]
• What Is a Blog, & Why Should You Create One
• What is the Purpose of Marketing? [FAQ]

7. The ‘Why’ Post 

Format: Explanation of why a concept is important.

These posts are great when you’re trying to call attention to and emphasize the importance or significance of a certain topic, whether it be a trend, a tool, or a concept in general. Given their nature, these types of posts tend to be pretty introductory as well. In these posts, it’s smart to back up your why argument with supporting examples, facts, and statistics that will help convince the reader the topic is something they should care about. Think about it as something of a persuasive article.

Examples:

• Why Marketers Should Implement User-Generated Content: 23 Stats to Know
• Why HubSpot’s Director of Analytics Wants You to Make Data More Human
  
• Why Buying Email Lists Is Always a Bad Idea (And How to Build Yours for Free)

8. The Feature Story

Format: Mimicks the style of a human interest story, detailing concepts and ideas of specific market interest.

This type of post is great for topics, people, or trends that are worth more in-depth, detailed research and commentary. One of the more journalistic types of blog posts, these articles tend to be hard to define in a blanket statement and more of a “you’ll know it when you see it” kind of post.

Examples: 

• I Downloaded My Facebook Data and It Got Weird Fast
• HubSpot’s Marketing Team Worked Remotely for One Week. Here’s What We Learned.
• The Death of the Third-Party Cookie: What Marketers Need to Know

9. The FAQ Post 

Format: Question and answer (Q&A) format.

The FAQ post is another format that’s great for beginner bloggers, considering the Q&A format is a built in template. These posts are great for addressing common questions your audience has, grouped under a specific topic.

A great way to generate posts like these is to ask your sales and services departments — the people who are talking to prospective and current customers all the time — to write down any common questions they hear. You can also collect questions you get from blog and social media commentary, as well as attendee questions during webinars. These questions are great fodder for Q&A type posts, and as a result, they can become great resources for your sales and services teams as well.

Examples: 

• The Definition of SEO in 100 Words or Less [FAQs]
• Answers to 18 SEO Questions You Were Too Afraid to Ask
• Answers to the 19 Most Frequently Asked Questions About A/B Testing

10. The Interview Post 

Format: Quoted perspectives of a third party. May also manifest in Q&A format.

Similar to Q&A formatted posts — since these posts may also be formatted as Q&As — is the interview post. Fantastic for introducing the perspective of a third party on a particular topic, interview posts are also great for developing relationships with the industry experts or influencers you interview. They also open up the opportunity for greater reach, especially if the interviewee shares the resulting post with their networks.

Examples:

• How to Rise Above Marketing Mediocrity, According to Ann Handley
• How to Implement Affordable AI in 3 Steps, According to the Marketing AI Institute Director
• 2020 Social Media Trends, According to HubSpot’s Social Media Professor

11. The SlideShare Post

Format: Features an embedded SlideShare presentation.

Posts that are built around a specific SlideShare presentation do require a little bit more time investment and design savvy than the average text-based post, but the results are usually worth it. Content that lends itself well (but isn’t limited) to SlideShare presentations include the curation of visual examples, quotes, charts, quick takeaways, and general storytelling. SlideShare-focused posts also make great social media fodder, since visual content is so shareable and social friendly (Hint: LinkedIn also owns SlideShare 😉 )

Examples:

• The HubSpot Culture Code: Creating a Company We Love
• 21 Hidden LinkedIn Hacks Revealed [SlideShare]
• 10 of the World’s Best Storytellers [SlideShare]

12. The Infographic Post 

Format: Features an embedded infographic.

Similar to the SlideShare post, the infographic post is also one that is high commitment and high reward. Infographics, when done well, are very sharable and likely to generate inbound links, but you do need some design chops to pull them off — or the money to outsource their creation to a designer. Infographics are great for compiling data and statistics in a visual way. They’re also great for organizing information in a timeline format, or presenting visual tips.

Download a Free Infographic Blog Post Template Here

Examples:

• The State of Content Marketing 2020 [Infographic]
• Are You an Intelligent Marketer? [Infographic]
• 9 Ways to Make a Resume Employers Will Hate [Infographic]

13. The Newsjack

Format: Capitalizes on something in the news in a timely manner.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, newsjacking refers to the practice of leveraging the popularity of a news story to support your sales and marketing goals. It requires the careful monitoring of news, and when done correctly, a newsjack post will relevantly tie the news to your industry in a timely fashion.

To identify and capitalize on newsjacking opportunities, load up your RSS reader with a combination of popular news publications and popular industry publications — anywhere you could potentially discover news relevant to what your audience cares about. Never jacked the news before? Check out these four simple newsjack formulas to follow.

Download a Free Newsjacking Blog Post Template Here

Examples: 

• 68% of Americans Still Get Their News on Social Media, Even If They Don’t Trust It
• How Small Businesses Can Take Advantage of the Australian Stimulus Package
• Deals Closed Rise Significantly as May Comes to an End [COVID-19 Benchmark Data]

14. The Comparison Post

Format: Compares two things to help the reader make a decision.

In the Consideration Stage of the buyer’s journey, your buyer persona might be comparing two different solutions to address their problem. In the Decision Stage of the buyer’s journey, your buyer persona may have already decided on the type of solution they want to buy, but they’re looking to compare competitors to decide which one is the right provider for them. 

In either scenario, you can weigh in with your blog content and provide helpful information as they make a decision. Comparison posts that are not overly biased and contain situational breakdowns have the potential to provide a lot of value for your audience.

This type of blog post is also high-intent at decision-making turning poitns, so you want to do a good job and provide opportunities for conversion.

Examples:

• Ebooks vs. Whitepapers: Which One Should You Choose?
• Optimize or Advertise? Comparing Organic vs. Paid Social Media
• Account-Based Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing: What’s the Difference?

As you may have noticed, there’s even a ton of overlap among the most common blog types and formats. What matters is that you understand why your reader would land on the post, what they’d be looking for, and how you can best provide value once they arrive. 

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

This post is a part of Made @ HubSpot, an internal thought leadership series through which we extract lessons from experiments conducted by our very own HubSpotters.

At the end of 2019, the Education Partner Program team at HubSpot had the challenging opportunity of deciding our priorities for the coming year.

The HubSpot Education Partner Program — or EPP — is a community of educators who teach at colleges and universities worldwide that receive free software and support from HubSpot to train the next generation of marketing, sales, and service professionals.

Supporting and empowering these students and professors is crucial in maintaining a healthy HubSpot ecosystem of future clients and users.

Like most teams at HubSpot, we focus maniacally on how to create a positive experience for those who rely on our program – in this case, university professors. To ensure that we were creating such experiences, we first had to identify what novel problems and pain points this audience faces.

Click here to learn more about the Education Partner Program and how you can join.

Identifying Our Audience’s Pain Points

The EPP’s focus is on college students who need to enter the working world with the tools and methodologies they need to help a business grow. We care deeply, and invest heavily in, business education.

Although HubSpot Academy serves thousands of learners across the world, the EPP focuses on education within college and universities. Our team would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge and adapt to the educational inequity that pervades higher education in the US.

Specifically, we wanted to address the problems below that these issues bring to light:

1. Students need to have experience applying the skills they learn in class to find employment after graduation.

Often, this means they pursue (sometimes unpaid) internships in expensive cities, which can add financial strain to an already expensive college experience.

If HubSpot could find a way that would allow students to contribute virtually to helping solve a real business challenge in their course – all with the added safety net of their instructor being there to answer questions – we prime them for success. Subsequently, if they put this work on their resume, these students demonstrate a work experience that they might have otherwise been unable to find.

2. Educators have a mandate to prepare their students for real business challenges, but this can introduce so many unwelcome variables in the classroom.

Educations only have so many businesses in their rolodex that are open to working with students in their personal or professional network. On top of that, awkward conversations about expectations and due dates on deliverables can turn professors off from the experience completely.

At HubSpot, we have over 78,000 customers, all of whom are hoping to grow their business using our software and many of which could use some help and fresh eyes when approaching new projects. However, we recognized that it wasn’t enough to simply offer our customers; we needed a way for both our customers and our professors to hold themselves accountable to creating fruitful relationships and learning experiences for the students they work with.

3. HubSpot customers don’t always have the bandwidth to complete their many projects.

Although the visible impact of the Education Partner Program is the support we lend professors, we also intend to embedding ourselves deeper into the company and work across the many teams at HubSpot that want their best for our users. As a small team of three, it’s important for us to make a large splash where we can. Working with other teams – and specifically, our Customer Success Team – to help HubSpot customers is mutually beneficial. We wanted to find a solution for our educators while also finding one for our customers. We needed to create safeguards that made sure that business didn’t exploit students’ free labor while making it easy (and pleasant) for a Customer to work with an Educator, and vice versa.

And so, in 2020, we decided to focus on …. applied learning.

Providing a Solution Through Applied Learning

Applied learning is the practice of alternating classroom learning with pre-approved practical, meaningful, and creative contributions of labor in a community or external organization, in a field related to a student’s academic and career goals. Has a HubSpot Customer not updated their lead-generation workflow since the early 2010s? Perhaps some students could come in and provide some suggestions. Does a HubSpot Customer not have the bandwidth to create engaging blog articles to promote their product or service? Have students in a Digital Marketing class provide some articles as their capstone assignment!

As higher education shifted to virtual or hybrid models in 2020, we had a unique value proposition to provide our educators with the opportunity to enhance their students’ employable skills while also providing free work for our customers — many of whom were adapting to the challenges of conducting business almost entirely online and could use the help.

Here’s how we did it.

1. We partnered with the best-in-class software for creating new applied opportunities in the classroom, Riipen.

We first explored what providers already had a foothold in this space. Riipen, a technology platform that facilitates micro-experiential learning opportunities by connecting students with industry partners through in-course assignments or competitions designed by instructors, came far ahead of any other options.

2. We tested, and then tested some more.

Shortly after we decided to work with Riipen, we enlisted some of our most engaged Education Partners and customers to test out the marketplace to see if this was something we could expand to the hundreds more professors in our network.

After a bit of research and conversation, we partnered with (and are eternally grateful for) Tim Marshall at Baldwin Wallace College and Elaine Young and Champlain College. These two educators’ students worked with six diverse HubSpot customers (three each), with much success.

• CAPA The Global Education Network (Boston, MA, USA): Students worked to develop lead-nurturing workflows to promote and encourage study abroad to freshmen college students.
• The Woods (Norway, ME, USA): Students worked to boost online ads and an ecommerce platform for a luxury treehouse in Maine.
• Run Away Travel (Miami, FL, USA): Students created marketing collateral and content for an all-inclusive travel agency.
• Cosmic Booth (Orlando, FL, USA): Students created marketing collateral and content for a commercial photo booth rental business.
• ETTCH (Dublin, Ireland): Students created marketing collateral and content for an educational company that design tools for children coping with anxiety and low self-confidence.
• AirWorks (Boston, MA, USA): Students doubled the amount of pillar pages for an AI start-up.

My colleagues and I attended final presentations that students made to their employers and were impressed with the level of preparation and professionalism from everyone involved.

The Woods saw tremendous growth (500%) in their apparel sales. Run Away Travel and ETTCH in particular had some great feedback on the maturity of the students and the innovative content they provided their businesses.

Given the success of the pilot program, we decided to continue our partnership with Riipen and create even more connections between our customers and educators.

3. We promoted our program internally and collaborated with other teams.

There were several considerations we took into account as we planned to launch our partnership with Riipen at scale.

We needed to make sure that our educators weren’t left without a HubSpot customer to pair with — and vice versa. This meant that our biggest obstacle was going both too fast or too slow in rolling this out. We needed to make sure we were recruiting at an even pace on both sides of the marketplace. For example, if we pressed the gas on recruiting educators to join, we could end up with more educators than we have customers. The opposite also applied. Since we could control the stream of educators who knew about and could sign up for this program, we also had to do the same for our customers.

Enter the Customer Success team at HubSpot. We relied on the Customer Success Managers, or CSMs, to hand-pick “good fit” businesses for this opportunity. We shared the “what” and “why” of our applied learning program through an internal “Applied Learning Resource Center” with small, actionable steps for CSMs that wanted their customers to participate in the program. CSMs then introduced me personally to businesses they considered a good match. We also built out public-facing pages for educators and customers that outlined the goals and responsibilities of each should they participate in the program.

Applied Learning in Times of Uncertainty

While we at HubSpot have always been excited about the prospect of matching customers with educators so that students can gain job-ready skills, these times of economic uncertainty have brought a new sense of urgency. When we experience fundamental changes to how we work and learn, we have to question how we can better prepare ourselves and others to respond to new challenges. The practice of remote-friendly learning has become the new normal for most colleges and universities worldwide, opening the horizons of what virtual leadership and project management looks like when it happens from your kitchen or bedroom desk.

The project-based learnings students undertake with Riipen are always completely virtual experiences. Thus, they’re more flexible and obtainable to a new group of students who could never commit to the tradition 9-5, in-office internship experience.

We have a long way to go to scale this from the highly-personalized, one-on-one outreach we have now to a more automated, self-identifying, opt-in process for customers and educators. Fall 2020 will present some interesting challenges as we prepare to launch this to our Education Partner Community during a time when many are questioning the ability to offer virtual learning — much less virtual applied learning opportunities.

We seek to create 15 more matches between Educators and our Customers (and even more in the Spring) and are confident that we can hit this number. Ultimately, we want to create opportunities for students to graduate with the skills and experiences they need to feel confident in interviews and at their workplaces.

Our partnership with Riipen is a major step in empowering these students and in building a customer base that appreciates the perspectives that these students bring.

Click here to learn more about the Education Partner Program and how you can join.

When it comes to content, sometimes old school can be a good thing (namely, when it comes to old-school rap or Throwback Thursday on Instagram). But when it comes to your company’s public relations strategy, being old school isn’t advantageous for your business or your brand.

Ten years ago, people still relied on morning papers for news. Today, the vast majority of your company’s customers and prospects scan headlines on Twitter or see what’s trending in their Facebook feed.

People now have control over where, when, and how they consume information. As a result, public relations is no longer about feeding into a traditional news cycle; it’s about providing relevant content when, where, and how your prospects, influencers, and customers will consume it.

Sounds pretty hopeless, right? Wrong. While relationship-building still helps you get into popular publications, we now have the opportunity to quit playing the waiting game and generate our own buzz. By turning your PR strategy into an inbound one, you create opportunities that weren’t there before and carve out a place for your company, building meaningful mindshare with your target audiences in the process.

One of the most crucial updates to make to your PR strategy is to think of opportunities to connect to the audiences you care about — including, but not limited to, reporters. And that starts with press releases. In this post, we’ll discuss:

• What Is a Press Release?
• Types of Press Releases
• Sample Press Release Format
• How to Write a Press Release
• Press Release Examples
• Tips for Publishing Press Releases

What Is a Press Release / News Release?

A regular cadence of meaningful news can help a company stand out and build mindshare with journalists over time. That’s where the press release (or news announcement) comes in.

A press release is an official announcement (written or recorded) that an organization issues to the news media and beyond. Whether we call it a “press release,” a “press statement,” a “news release,” or a “media release,” we’re always talking about the same basic thing.

While the heading should contain action verbs, the first paragraph should answer the “who,” “what,” “why,” and “where.” The press release should also contain understandable language and a quote.

Most press releases are succinct at just a page long — two pages, tops. Ultimately, companies want to provide enough information so that news outlets have sufficient material for publishing their own stories about whatever the company is announcing in the release.

And while it may be tempting to craft a press release that embellishes your company’s accomplishments or twists the facts to make a story sound more intriguing to the media, remember: Press releases live in the public domain, which means your customers and prospective customers can see them. So instead of thinking of a press release solely as a ticket to earning news coverage, you should also think of it as a valuable piece of marketing content.

While there’s no cut-and-dried formula for what a press release should include, here are a few types of occasions to help you carve out a focus for your press release and determine what content would help you broadcast your news in the best way:

New Product Launches

The product launch type of press release is valuable to get the word out about the new solutions your organization is offering to consumers. This release will emphasize the product’s specs, pricing, availability, and any other details that may be valuable to consumers.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Organizational change is noteworthy enough to warrant a press release, especially for informing current and future stakeholders about the growth and trajectory of a company. To announce an acquisition or merger, include details about all organizations involved, information about the merger or acquisition, and quotes from the leadership teams.

Product Updates

Similar to a new product launch, product updates and expansions are also ripe for promotion. Explain what the change is, why it was made, and how it benefits the user.

Events

Press releases are an important component of event marketing to attract promotion from news outlets and other media sources. You’ll want to include what the event is about, who should consider attending, when and where it will be held, pricing, and any other necessary details.

Grand Openings

Whether you opened up a new office, relocated, or are opening for the first time, announce the details with a grand opening press release. Announce the date and location the grand opening will be held, who is involved, how the grand opening is being celebrated, and the reason for the move (if applicable).

New Partnerships

Similar to mergers and acquisitions, a press release announcing new partnerships is a mutually beneficial marketing tactic. To effectively execute this type of release, be sure to write a summary about each company, why the partnership was created, who benefits, and any additional important details for current and future stakeholders.

Rebranding

Rebranding is a difficult thing for any business to do, and it can occasionally result in confusion and awkwardness. One way to make the transition smoother is by announcing the rebrand with a press release, including details on what is changing, the reason for making the change, dates the changes go into effect, and quotes from the leadership team.

Executive Promotions/Hiring

Executives often serve as faces of the company, and a press release functions to kick off this role. It may include biographical information to establish their credibility along with a photo and other pertinent details.

Awards

When it comes to business excellence, it’s okay to brag. Press releases about awards and accomplishments serve to cement your organization as an authority in your space. Such a press release includes information about the company and why they were given the award, information about the award itself, and details about the ceremony (if applicable).

Sample Press Release Format

When formatting a press-release, you want to write it in a newsy, straightforward way so a journalist who might write about it can imagine it as an article on their news site.

As noted above, you’ll want your format to include traditional press-release items like your contact information, the words “For immediate release,” a note about your location, and a quick bio about your company. Having specific spots for those elements will prevent you from needing to mention it in your body copy so you can focus on discussing the news at hand.

You also might want to include “###” or another signifier to show the journalist that the release has ended. In the past, this prevented busy journalists from waiting or flipping the page for more information when there was no more news. However, this tradition is still adopted and highly-respected today.

When it comes to formatting the body copy and headline, click here or scroll down for writing tips.

In this example, Catbrella Inc., a fictitious ad agency which just gained its 10th Twitter follower after two years of paid social media efforts, announces its achievement in a press release.

*Disclaimer: HubSpot is entirely responsible for the silliness of this faux announcement.

The key to keeping your PR strategy new school is forgetting preconceived notions of what public relations is and instead focusing on creating highly remarkable content. Traditional press releases can still be really valuable when executed well, so instead of ditching releases as a tactic, give them a modern makeover to make them more useful for your marketing.

Think about how you’ve used inbound methods to transform your marketing strategies to be more personalized, approachable, and build relationships. Those same principles apply to your PR strategy: Create content to craft your own story and use tactful outreach to get reporters and analysts familiar with your brand.

Press Release Examples

Many people think press releases have to be chock full of buzzwords and branded terms. “Big data,” anyone? Five-syllable words you have to look up on Thesaurus.com? Quotes from every executive on the planet that go on for pages? We’ve seen it all. Unfortunately, so have reporters — and they are not fans.

Instead of stuffing your next release with industry jargon, take a page out of our book (okay fine, ebook), The Newsworthy Guide to Inbound Public Relations, and brainstorm some creative approaches for your next announcement. Can you include new data? A remarkable graphic or video? A shareable SlideShare? If so, a creative angle can help carry your content and increase the likelihood of social sharing.

Now, to get you thinking on the right track, take a look at some creative press release examples below, the type of news each one is reporting on, and what makes the release unique:

ŠKODA at the World Rally Championship

Type of press release: Event

Škoda, a car manufacturer based in the Czech Republic, recently showed off its sponsored racing team in two big places: at the 2017 World Rally Championship, and in a sleek, image-based press release reporting on the event.

The news release, shown above, doesn’t have any trouble aligning the look and feel of the Škoda brand with the press release itself — which is a crucial aspect of any company’s press content. The release opens with a large feature image of one of its vehicles in the same vibrant green that covers the business’s website. The press release also begins with three helpful bullet points summarizing the news for readers, and ends the release with a couple of captioned actions shots to give reporters more context around the event.

ScribbleLive Acquires New Company

Type of press release: Acquisition

Yes, a video press release! This news item from ScribbleLive gave reporters nearly everything they’d need to republish this story, all in a thorough two-minute video about the company’s latest acquisition.

ScribbleLive opens the video press release above with the company’s logo and a clear header stating the news. This allowed the company’s CEO to jump right into his commentary on the acquisition, giving reporters plenty of quotable material on the state of the industry and why this merger was so important to them.

The press release also segments the video the same way a written press release would, breaking up the CEO’s commentary by the question he’s answering. This makes it easy for viewers to jump through the video and find the information they’re most interested in hearing about.

And, being on YouTube, a press release in this format allows reporters to embed the news content directly on their site, making ScribbleLive’s news that much easier to share.

Peapod’s New Headquarters

Type of press release: Opening a new office

When you open a new headquarters, it can be hard to figure out what to say. People just want to get a look at the new digs! In the above press release by Peapod, an online grocery service, the company puts photos of its new office right at the top, immediately showing readers what makes this news so significant for Peapod.

The release even singles out a quote by the Mayor of Chicago just below the headline, hinting to reporters who are writing about Peapod’s new HQ that this is the remark Peapod is most interested in sharing with readers.

Check out the boilerplate text at the bottom of the above press release. “About [company]” text can too easily blend in with the actual news text, making the piece seem longer than it really is. By isolating this copy in a dark gray box, Peapod provides a smoother reading experience and ensures the story itself doesn’t get lost in an intimidatingly long wall of text.

HubSpot’s New Product Announcements

Type of press release: New product launches

When you’re launching products or services, the information is often best expressed in written form. But when all you’re doing is writing about your new offering’s price and features, it can be difficult for others to refer to and report on it later. We at HubSpot know the challenge well.

The graphic above helped us to supplement our own product announcement — written by our fantastic Communications Manager, Ellie Botelho — with details that needed a visual aid. Using a combination of colors and shapes, this graphic allowed us to reveal important relationships between products, as well as their respective prices and when they’ll be available. (Interested one of our products? Take note! ^)

We’ve also crafted this comprehensive, easy-to-follow press release template complete with a promotional plan and considerations for your next announcement. We use these same guidelines when writing and formatting our releases here at HubSpot, and created a faux, sample release to illustrate what content goes where and why.

Tips for Publishing Press Releases

Writing a press release is really only half the battle. Once you’re finished with production, it’ll be time to focus on distribution.

Of course, we’re all familiar with the traditional distribution levers we can pull, which include publishing the press release on our website/blog, as well as sharing the press release with our followers/subscribers via social media and email. But for ensuring a press release gets the maximum amount of distribution possible, here are some tips you can follow.

1. Reach out to specific journalists.

Instead of blasting a press release out to every journalist you can find an email address for, focus on a few journalists who have experience covering your industry (and company, hopefully) and send them personalized messages. Connect the dots. Show why what you wrote connects to what they write.

2. Don’t be afraid to go offline.

Most journalists have mountains of emails (and press releases) to sort through. Try sending your release through snail mail or another offline channel to differentiate yourself.

3. Send the release to top journalists the day before.

Give journalists some time to craft a story around your press release by sending it to them — under embargo — the day before it officially goes live. (FYI “under embargo” just means they aren’t allowed to share the information in the press release until the time you specify.)

4. To avoid competition, don’t publish your release on the hour.

If you’re publishing your press release on a distribution service like PR Newswire or Business Wire, avoid publishing it on the hour (e.g., 1 p.m., or 3 p.m., or 5 p.m.). The reason? Most companies schedule their releases to go out on the hour, which means if your release goes out on the hour too, it’s more likely to get lost in the shuffle. Instead, try going with a more distinct time (e.g., 1:12 p.m., or 3:18 p.m., or 5:22 p.m.).

5. Share your media coverage.

If all goes according to plan, and your press release gets picked up by the media, your job still isn’t finished. To keep the buzz going, you can release a “second wave” of distribution by sharing the specific stories that news outlets write based on your press release.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in November 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

If asked you to list the most valuable things you own, how would you answer? I guess this would be another way of asking the infamous “What would you grab if your house was on fire?” question.

For me, I’d grab an old keepsake box filled with things from my childhood, my engagement ring, my phone and computer (for pictures and writings!), and an old Iowa sweatshirt of my dad’s.

But I’d also have to say that my identity, social security number, credit cards, and bank accounts are valuable to me.

While these things can’t exactly burn down in a fire, they can be stolen … and if I were to ask a computer hacker what they thought my most valuable possessions were, they’d probably quote the intangible.

That’s why we’ve compiled this guide on cybersecurity. Below, we’ll talk about why you should care about cybersecurity, how to secure your and your customer’s digital data, and what resources to follow to stay up-to-date with emerging tech.

Personal data is incredibly valuable. Hackers know it, and businesses know it. That’s why both go to great lengths to collect it — albeit one following a much more legal and moral avenue to do so.

Unfortunately, as technology and data collection practices progress, so do the methods that hackers follow to steal data. As business owners, we have a special responsibility to protect our customers’ data and be transparent with our practices.

Why You Should Care About Cybersecurity

In the first half of 2019, data breaches exposed over 4 billion records. Moreover, a recent study found that hackers attack every 39 seconds — that adds up to, on average, 2,244 attacks per day.

Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are especially at risk. You might see corporations like Target and Sears topping the headlines as top data breach victims, but it’s actually SMBs that hackers prefer to target.

Why? They have more — and more valuable — digital assets than your average consumer but less security than a larger enterprise-level company … placing them right in a “hackers’ cybersecurity sweet spot.”

Security breaches are frustrating and frightening for both businesses and consumers. Studies show that, after a company data breach, many consumers take a break from shopping at that business — and some consumers quit altogether.

But cybersecurity is about more than just avoiding a PR nightmare. Investing in cybersecurity builds trust with your customers. It encourages transparency and reduces friction as customers become advocates for your brand.

“Everyone has a role in helping to protect customers’ data. Here at HubSpot, every employee is empowered to solve for customer needs in a safe and secure way. We want to harness everyone’s energy to provide a platform that customers trust to correctly and safely store their data.” — Chris McLellan, HubSpot Chief Security Officer

Keep your business ahead of the tech curve with the tips, systems & recommended resources in our guide to staying current on emerging tech.

Cybersecurity Terms to Know

Cybersecurity is a very intimidating topic, not unlike cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. It can be hard to understand, and, frankly, it sounds kind of ominous and complicated.

But fear not. We’re here to break this topic down into digestible pieces that you can rebuild into your own cybersecurity strategy. Bookmark this post to keep this handy glossary at your fingertips.

Here’s a comprehensive list of general cybersecurity terms you should know.

Authentication

Authentication is the process of verifying who you are. Your passwords authenticate that you really are the person who should have the corresponding username. When you show your ID (e.g., driver’s license, etc), the fact that your picture generally looks like you is a way of authenticating that the name, age, and address on the ID belong to you. Many organizations use two-factor authentication, which we cover later.

Backup

A backup refers to the process of transferring important data to a secure location like a cloud storage system or an external hard drive. Backups let you recover your systems to a healthy state in case of a cyber attack or system crash.

Data Breach

A data breach refers to the moment a hacker gains unauthorized entry or access to a company’s or an individual’s data.

Digital Certificate

A digital certificate, also known as an identity certificate or public key certificate, is a type of passcode used to securely exchange data over the internet. It’s essentially a digital file embedded in a device or piece of hardware that provides authentication when it sends and receives data to and from another device or server.

Encryption

Encryption is the practice of using codes and ciphers to encrypt data. When data is encrypted, a computer uses a key to turn the data into unintelligible gibberish. Only a recipient with the correct key is able to decrypt the data. If an attacker gets access to strongly encrypted data but doesn’t have the key, they aren’t able to see the unencrypted version.

HTTP and HTTPS

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is how web browsers communicate. You’ll probably see an http:// or https:// in front of the websites you visit. HTTP and HTTPS are the same, except HTTPS encrypts all data sent between you and the web server — hence the “S” for security. Today, nearly all websites use HTTPS to improve the privacy of your data.

Vulnerability

A vulnerability is a place of weakness that a hacker might exploit when launching a cyber attack. Vulnerabilities might be software bugs that need to be patched, or a password reset process that can be triggered by unauthorized people. Defensive cybersecurity measures (like the ones we talk about later) help ensure data is protected by putting layers of protections between attackers and the things they’re trying to do or access.

A cyber attack is a deliberate and typically malicious intent to capture, modify, or erase private data. Cyber attacks are committed by external security hackers and, sometimes, unintentionally by compromised users or employees. These cyber attacks are committed for a variety of reasons. The majority are looking for ransom, while some are simply launched for fun.

Here are the four most common cyber threats.

1. Password Guessing (Brute Force) Attack

A password guessing (or “credential stuffing”) attack is when an attacker continually attempts to guess usernames and passwords. This attack will often use known username and password combinations from past data breaches. An attacker is successful when people use weak passwords or use the password between different systems (e.g., when your Facebook and Twitter password are the same, etc). Your best defense against this kind of attack is using strong passwords and avoiding using the same password in multiple places as well as using two factor authentication, as we talk about later.)

2. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack

A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is when a hacker floods a network or system with a ton of activity (such as messages, requests, or web traffic) in order to paralyze it. This is typically done using botnets, which are groups of internet-connected devices (e.g., laptops, light bulbs, game consoles, servers, etc) infected by viruses that allow a hacker to harness them into performing many kinds of attacks.

3. Malware Attack

Malware refers to all types of malicious software used by hackers to infiltrate computers and networks and collect susceptible private data. Types of malware include:

• Keyloggers, which track everything a person types on their keyboard. Keyloggers are usually used to capture passwords and other private information, such as social security numbers.
• Ransomware, which encrypts data and holds it hostage, forcing users to pay a ransom in order to unlock and regain access to their data.
• Spyware, which monitors and “spies” on user activity on behalf of a hacker.

Furthermore, malware can be delivered via:

• Trojan horses, which infect computers through a seemingly benign entry point, often disguised as a legitimate application or other piece of software.
• Viruses, which corrupt, erase, modify, or capture data and, at times, physically damage computers. Viruses can spread from computer to computer, including when they are unintentionally installed by compromised users.
• Worms, which are designed to self-replicate and autonomously spread through all connected computers that are susceptible to the same vulnerabilities. .

4. Phishing Attack

A phishing attack is when hackers try to trick people into doing something. Phishing scams can be delivered through a seemingly legitimate download, link, or message. It’s a very common type of cyber attack — over 75% of organizations fell victim to phishing in 2018. Phishing is typically done over email or through a fake website; it’s also known as spoofing. Additionally, spear phishing refers to when a hacker focuses on attacking a particular person or company, instead of creating more general-purpose spams.

Cybersecurity Best Practices: How to Secure Your Data

Cybersecurity can’t be boiled down into a 1-2-3-step process. Securing your data involves a mix of best practices and defensive cybersecurity techniques. Dedicating time and resources to both is the best way to secure your — and your customers’ — data.

Defensive Cybersecurity Solutions

All businesses should invest in preventative cybersecurity solutions. Implementing these systems and adopting good cybersecurity habits (which we discuss next) will protect your network and computers from outside threats.

Here’s a list of six defensive cybersecurity systems and software options that can prevent cyber attacks — and the inevitable headache that follows. Consider combining these solutions to cover all your digital bases.

Antivirus Software

Antivirus software is the digital equivalent of taking that vitamin C boost during flu season. It’s a preventative measure that monitors for bugs. The job of antivirus software is to detect viruses on your computer and remove them, much like vitamin C does when bad things enter your immune system. (Spoken like a true medical professional …) Antivirus software also alerts you to potentially unsafe web pages and software.

Learn more: McAfee, Norton. or Panda (for free)

Firewall

A firewall is a digital wall that keeps malicious users and software out of your computer. It uses a filter that assesses the safety and legitimacy of everything that wants to enter your computer; it’s like an invisible judge that sits between you and the internet. Firewalls are both software and hardware-based.

Learn more: McAfee LiveSafe or Kaspersky Internet Security

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Single sign-on (SSO) is a centralized authentication service through which one login is used to access an entire platform of accounts and software. If you’ve ever used your Google account to sign up or into an account, you’ve used SSO. Enterprises and corporations use SSO to allow employees access to internal applications that contain proprietary data.

Learn more: Okta or LastPass

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a login process that requires a username or pin number and access to an external device or account, such as an email address, phone number, or security software. 2FA requires users to confirm their identity through both and, because of that, is far more secure than single factor authentication.

Learn more: Duo

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A virtual private network (VPN) creates a “tunnel” through which your data travels when entering and exiting a web server. That tunnel encrypts and protects your data so that it can’t be read (or spied on) by hackers or malicious software. While a VPN protects against spyware, it can’t prevent viruses from entering your computer through seemingly legitimate channels, like phishing or even a fake VPN link. Because of this, VPNs should be combined with other defensive cybersecurity measures in order to protect your data.

Learn more: Cisco’s AnyConnect or Palo Alto Networks’ GlobalProtect

Cybersecurity Tips for Business

Defensive cybersecurity solutions won’t work unless you do. To ensure your business and customer data is protected, adopt these good cybersecurity habits across your organization.

Require strong credentials.

Require both your employees and users (if applicable) to create strong passwords. This can be done by implementing a character minimum as well as requiring a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. More complicated passwords are harder to guess by both individuals and bots. Also, require that passwords be changed regularly.

Control and monitor employee activity.

Within your business, only give access to important data to authorized employees who need it for their job. Prohibit data from sharing outside the organization, require permission for external software downloads, and encourage employees to lock their computers and accounts whenever not in use.

Know your network.

With the rise of the Internet of Things, IoT devices are popping up on company networks like crazy. These devices, which are not under company management, can introduce risk as they’re often unsecured and run vulnerable software that can be exploited by hackers and provide a direct pathway into an internal network.

“Make sure you have visibility into all the IoT devices on your network. Everything on your corporate network should be identified, properly categorized, and controlled. By knowing what devices are on your network, controlling how they connect to it, and monitoring them for suspicious activities, you’ll drastically reduce the landscape attackers are playing on.” — Nick Duda, Principal Security Officer at HubSpot

Read about how HubSpot gains device visibility and automates security management in this case study compiled by security software ForeScout.

Download patches and updates regularly.

Software vendors regularly release updates that address and fix vulnerabilities. Keep your software safe by updating it on a consistent basis. Consider configuring your software to update automatically so you never forget.

Make it easy for employees to escalate issues.

If your employee comes across a phishing email or compromised web page, you want to know immediately. Set up a system for receiving these issues from employees by dedicating an inbox to these notifications or creating a form that people can fill out.

Cybersecurity Tips for Individuals

Cyber threats can affect you as an individual consumer and internet user, too. Adopt these good habits to protect your personal data and avoid cyber attacks.

Mix up your passwords.

Using the same password for all your important accounts is the digital equivalent of leaving a spare key under your front doormat. A recent study found that over 80% of data breaches were a result of weak or stolen passwords. Even if a business or software account doesn’t require a strong password, always choose one that has a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols and change it regularly.

Monitor your bank accounts and credit frequently.

Review your statements, credit reports, and other critical data on a regular basis and report any suspicious activity. Additionally, only release your social security number when absolutely necessary.

Be intentional online.

Keep an eye out for phishing emails or illegitimate downloads. If a link or website looks fishy (ha — get it?), it probably is. Look for bad spelling and grammar, suspicious URLs, and mismatched email addresses. Lastly, download antivirus and security software to alert you of potential and known malware sources.

Back up your data regularly.

This habit is good for businesses and individuals to master — data can be compromised for both parties. Consider backups on both cloud and physical locations, such as a hard drive or thumb drive.

Cybersecurity Resources

To learn more about cybersecurity and how to better equip your business and team, tap into the resources below. Check out some of the most popular cybersecurity podcasts and cybersecurity blogs, too.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

NIST is a government agency that promotes excellence in science and industry. It also contains a Cybersecurity department and routinely publishes guides that standards.

Bookmark: The Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC) for security best practices, called NIST Special Publications (SPs).

The Center for Internet Security (CIS)

CIS is a global, non-profit security resource and IT community used and trusted by experts in the field.

Bookmark: The CIS Top 20 Critical Security Controls, which is a prioritized set of best practices created to stop the most pervasive and dangerous threats of today. It was developed by leading security experts from around the world and is refined and validated every year.

Cybrary

Cybrary is an online cybersecurity education resource. It offers mostly free, full-length educational videos, certifications, and more for all kinds of cybersecurity topics and specializations.

Signing Off … Securely

Cyber attacks may be intimidating, but cybersecurity as a topic doesn’t have to be. It’s imperative to be prepared and armed, especially if you’re handling others’ data. Businesses should dedicate time and resources to protecting their computers, servers, networks, and software and should stay up-to-date with emerging tech. Handling data with care only makes your business more trustworthy and transparent — and your customers more loyal.

Note: Any legal information in this content is not the same as legal advice, where an attorney applies the law to your specific circumstances, so we insist that you consult an attorney if you’d like advice on your interpretation of this information or its accuracy. In a nutshell, you may not rely on this as legal advice or as a recommendation of any particular legal understanding.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in February 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

For many marketers, ranking on page one of Google is the ultimate sign that your piece of content has made it. 

Every SEO strategy ever devised aims to get you there. If you’re lucky enough to land a high ranking, you’ll enjoy a pretty big advantage over competitors when it comes to finding new customers. At least that’s the prevailing belief among modern marketers and SEO specialists.

But — just how valuable is a page-one ranking?

Teknicks surveyed more than 1,000 internet users using a representative sampling method to uncover their Google search behavior and find out how far they’d go to find what they’re looking for online.

Answers were predictably varied, but they allowed us to draw some pretty clear SERP statistics and conclusions.

For starters, marketers who say the first page is the only page that matters aren’t exactly wrong.

However, simply making page one might not be good enough — more than 43% of survey respondents said they wouldn’t be very likely to scroll down the page to see additional results. If you’re going to aim high, you might as well aim for the very top.

And if you think page two is good enough, you might want to reconsider this search engine traffic statistic: roughly 56% said they would rather try a different search query or engine than click on the second page of search results. That’s a lot of traffic to miss out on.

And as for clicks? Pages two and three get just 5.59% combined. The percentage of Google traffic by results page decreases drastically with every new page you click on.

So what do these SERP statistics mean for you?

What Marketers Can Learn About Keywords, Rankings, and Users

When you know how far people are willing to search, you have a better idea of what your goals should be. Getting to page one on Google is far from easy. In fact, it requires a huge investment of time, and potentially money (depending on the keyword you want to rank for). 

For instance, let’s say a marketer knows that only the top three results for a particular term attract users. If they’re nowhere near that ranking, then they should put some budget toward paid search or social (if applicable).

Of course, such a big investment of time and money doesn’t make sense for certain keywords, since the value of Google result positioning varies. An easy way to calculate a keyword’s traffic value is to multiply its earnings per click by the number of searches that incorporate it and then multiply that by the click-through rate. Just don’t expect that value to remain constant.

It’s also worth noting that keywords shouldn’t be the main focus of your content strategy. Google’s algorithm is constantly evolving thanks to machine learning. As it does, keywords are becoming less integral to a high ranking.

This makes sense — keywords were useful during the early days of search, but computers have evolved to more effectively interpret human speech. So go ahead and write naturally, incorporating keywords only where it makes sense.

The BERT update, for instance, helps Google process words in relation to the rest of the sentence, rather than one at a time in order. For example, the search query “Can you get driver’s license renewed for someone else?” forces BERT to acknowledge “for someone” changes the meaning of the query. 

This is especially important considering how often people use voice-controlled devices like Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri. In fact, over 25% of our respondents have conducted a voice search, and we expect that percentage to increase in the coming years. To make page one, you should focus on answering these questions and securing featured or Google rich snippets.

And if you’re wondering why we’re only talking about Google search results statistics, it’s because the search engine has cornered roughly 92% of the total search market.

Does that mean Google search stats are the only ones that matter? No, but we think it’s safe to assume that Google search behavior is representative of broader user behavior.

So let’s talk about how you can capitalize on said behavior by getting to page one.

1. Start With a Question

On the basis of the Google search statistics our data provided (and corroborating stats from around the web), we’d recommend starting your SEO journey with a question: Should I even aim for page one?

To answer this, you’ll need to have a general idea of where you’re starting. If you already have a fairly robust content marketing program, you may not be that far away. But maybe you haven’t heavily invested in content yet. That doesn’t mean you can’t start — just don’t plan on reaching search results stardom overnight.

You should also evaluate the competitiveness of the keyword you want to rank for and be realistic about your chances for success. Depending on how competitive the term is, you might want to focus on other discovery avenues such as voice discovery (and no, we can’t emphasize this enough). 

You might also conduct an eye-tracking study for your term to find out where a user’s gaze typically goes when results appear. It might land on one of the top three results, but it might also drift down the page.

That said, if you’re going to attempt a page-one ranking, you should still aim for the top even if users scroll down (more on that in a moment).

2. Try Pivoting to a PPC Strategy  

If you don’t see yourself on the first page anytime soon — or ever, you can pursue plenty of other avenues. Put some budget toward paid search, which can be even more effective than organic search results. 

Roughly 35% of our respondents weren’t sure whether they could distinguish between an ad and an organic search result, and people who click on ads deliberately intend to make a purchase. And the top three advertising spots get 46% of the clicks on the page. 

However, you may have a shot at achieving success on the first page organically. How? Let’s dive into that, next. 

3. Play the Long Game

To land a high ranking for a fairly competitive term across all channels that your customers are using, you’re going to need to put in the time. Here’s what to focus on:

• Get your FAQ page optimized. An SEO friendly FAQ page can be a great way to increase your rankings and CTR. Just don’t overdo it: The primary purpose of this page is customer support, so be sure it adds value. You can then mark up that content using FAQ schema and be eligible to have a rich result.
• Focus on link building. Search engine algorithms are driven by links, which is why link building is critical to SEO. Build highly resourceful content, develop relationships with other site owners, and work on getting links on their pages to your best content. Pro tip: Focus on quality over quantity.
• Be relevant. You should be creating content consistently, and that content should be fresh. Regularly update old blog posts and pay attention to current events. The news can be a great source of inspiration, and building content around trending topics enhances its visibility.

Search engines want to give their users the best experience possible because they want those users to keep searching. Google search query statistics show that the tech giant’s algorithm is constantly improving, leading users to more relevant results and more useful content. 

People want to find what they’re looking for fast. If you want them to find you, make sure your strategy is constantly evolving, as well. The moment you stop trying is the moment you slide onto page two.

For some reason, whenever I hear the words “marketing automation,” I think of the “Transformers” movie with Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox.

It makes me think of the Autobots doing all our marketing — which would be pretty cool.

But today, we’re not going to be talking about the robots from Cybertron.

Instead, let’s focus on how marketing automation can benefit your business. Marketing automation is the process of making systems or processes occur automatically within a software.

Essentially, marketing automation can help streamline your marketing efforts and make your department more efficient.

In today’s post, let’s review the top benefits of marketing automation.

1. Efficiency.

First and foremost, marketing automation makes your entire department more efficient. You can potentially reduce staffing costs while freeing up your team’s time to work on more important, strategic projects.

Instead of manually posting on social media every day, marketing automation software can automate that process.

This means that your team can do more creative work, like planning and brainstorming for upcoming campaigns and projects.

Additionally, working in an automation platform will make your team’s tasks easier. Your staff can post on social media, create an email nurturing campaign, post a blog, or create a landing page all in the same software. Ultimately, this saves your team time when you’re creating campaigns.

2. Marketing and sales alignment.

If you combine your sales and marketing automation efforts by using the same software, you’ll be able to align company goals and efforts.

Essentially, it’ll make the process of going from marketing qualified lead to sales qualified lead that much easier.

In fact, marketing automation can lead to a 14.5% increase in sales productivity and a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead.

Plus, it can also help you generate more leads and increase sales. Your marketing team will spend more time strategizing ways to increase conversion rate, while your sales team increases productivity. It’s a win-win.

3. Increase conversion rate.

Speaking of increasing conversion rates, marketing automation can also make your team more effective.

Marketing automation software can help you increase your conversion rate and manage your leads more efficiently.

Your marketing automation software will track your leads and you can even use it to retarget your website visitors who don’t convert, increasing your CRO.

Again, marketing automation should give your team more time to analyze your marketing strategy and consider how to get visitors to convert.

4. Accurate reporting.

Reporting your analytics can seem like a daunting process, but with marketing automation platforms, it doesn’t have to be.

You should be able to use your software to generate automated reports. All of a sudden, a cumbersome task is simplified.

Additionally, marketing automation platforms can give you a high-level overview of your overall process. This will help you see complications and friction points. With accurate, streamlined reporting you can see where things are going wrong.

Do leads drop off during your lead nurturing email campaigns? Or is it during your sales process? Either way, accurate analytics will help you spot those points and fix them in a timely manner.

5. Personalized marketing strategy.

As your team spends more time creating instead of doing manual data entry, marketing automation software will allow them to create more personalized content through its segmentation capabilities and reporting.

With marketing automation, you can target your persona on multiple channels. You can target them on social media, with search ads, or through email campaigns.

How does marketing automation facilitate this?

Well, marketing automation turns your web visitors into leads and once you know who your leads are, you can segment them by behavior or characteristics.

The entire lead nurturing process should be personalized — did someone read a post about sales conferences? Maybe your lead nurturing email invites them to a sales conference your team is hosting.

This way your leads get personalized messaging and you can track their engagement. This will also help with lead scoring.

6. Lead scoring.

Marketing automation software can set up lead scoring for your team which will notify your sales team when a lead goes from marketing qualified lead to a sales qualified lead.

Again, this speaks to the better alignment between your marketing and sales teams. Plus, it automates the process, which makes it easier and in real-time. This means no time is wasted and your sales team can reach out to prospects immediately.

7. Data management.

Not to repeat myself, but marketing automation platforms will keep track of your leads and their engagement with your site.

That means that managing your data is easier than ever. Plus, it keeps your data up to date automatically.

8. Scalable processes.

Whenever you set up your marketing systems and processes, it’s important to keep scale in mind. Can this process grow with your company? If it’s not scalable, then it will be hard for your company to expand.

Marketing automation will help you create processes that are scalable. The more manual a process is and the more it depends on one person, the harder it’ll be to scale when the team grows.

9. Lead nurturing.

Last but not least, marketing automation makes lead nurturing possible. Marketing automation software is the place you’ll create drip email campaigns and track their success.

Without lead nurturing, you’ll have a harder time converting leads to sales prospects.

Now, it’s not just me who promotes marketing automation. Optimus Prime actually believes that marketing automation is one of the best ways to create a marketing program that will grow with your company. Plus, it can even align other departments like sales and customer service.

In college, I took a class on graphic design. One requirement for the class was to have working knowledge of Adobe. Since most of us in the class had no idea how to use Adobe’s expansive design suite, my school invited an implementation partner to visit and show us the ropes.

Someone from the partnering agency came to our class and demonstrated how to use the tools we had for InDesign to maximize our success in the class. I loved this presentation because it was created just for our group — the presenter polled us about what we wanted to learn and delivered relevant information based on that feedback.

I would’ve definitely struggled with using the software had it not been for the agency partner. I loved the experience, and it gave me an understanding of just how amazing implementation partners can be for the companies they support.

Implementation partners work directly with your customers to ensure they’re getting the most out of your product. You can think of an implementation partner in the same way you think about tech support. Often, tech support agents are certified by the company they work for to give actionable solutions for problems.

The difference between tech support and implementation partners is that the latter can benefit from an increase in brand awareness and leads. If you work with them, you can offer their services to those who might need help with your tools past onboarding.

If you offer software that takes time to implement and learn, like a CMS, you might look into working with implementation partners. They would be separate from the onboarding team you already have set in place. Their focus would be to give an in-depth training about your product, designed just for that customer.

You might use implementation partners if you want to offer consumers alternate methods to learn how to use your technology. Implementation partners have the bandwidth parent companies may not have when offering personalized solutions. In other words, a “do-it-for-me” approach is more feasible with partners.

For customers, implementation partners can be a cost-effective solution for selecting and understanding your services. If you charge an onboarding fee some can’t afford, for instance, partners with lower overhead may offer lower prices. This way, you wouldn’t miss out on a customer with a more restrictive budget and can be assured they’re getting a proper onboarding experience.

Additionally, some partners can handle larger customers, and they can meet customer needs as your business scales. For instance, one of HubSpot’s agency partners, IMPACT, specializes in helping large teams acclimate to their software. They offer an interactive training program that’s designed specifically for the business they’re working with.

So, that’s what implementation partners are — now let’s talk about how to work with them.

How to Work With Implementation Partners

The relationship your company has with implementation agencies should be mutually beneficial. The agency can look forward to more work and customers. Additionally, customers will have multiple onboarding options, some at lower costs, to your benefit. Let’s talk about how to maximize your relationship with partners.

1. Set up a program or process for partnerships.

HubSpot has an implementation program called Solutions Partners. Agencies proficient in HubSpot’s offerings can apply to be a partner and have their website listed on the Agencies page. This page is where HubSpot customers go to locate outside help with implementation, social strategy, and more.

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Consider creating a similar program that facilitates focused and organized agreements. You’ll already know what you’re looking for in an agency, as well as what you intend to get out of the partnership.

Keep the purpose of the program in mind during the design process. Choose agencies that honor this goal. In addition, outline what your company can offer the agency. For instance, HubSpot partners can enjoy a website feature, a space for reviews, and the approval from the company as a valued source for onboarding.

2. Identify co-marketing opportunities with prospects.

When you begin to look for prospective partners, identify co-marketing opportunities.

This is because partners can enjoy the chance to win awards for their work. Agencies can display awards, tiers, or badges on their websites as well as company-approved program designs.

Consider similar co-marketing ideas as you search and select partners. Communicate how all parties can benefit. For incentives, you can give awards based on success, offer quotes for webpages, and even launch a new onboarding process.

For example, if there’s an agency in your network that’s pioneered a revolutionary method in onboarding customers, debut a joint campaign to generate more leads and interest in the program.

3. Make sure agencies are well-versed in your product.

This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s critical to partner with agencies whose teams are experts in your product(s). If your company offers a certification course, you can make that a requirement in the application process.

You can also make it a requirement for agencies to have a certain level of success using your offerings. For instance, if you offer a CMS, you can set the expectation that agencies who have at least 500 customers can apply to help SMB customers.

Make sure your method gives agencies a clearly defined way to show their expertise with your product. Look for their knowledge of offerings, mission, and vision, in tandem with their know-how. Remember, agencies should deliver an experience on-par with your company’s own offering.

4. Have an easy application process.

Even though you should be selective with approving partners, it’s important to make your process accessible. Make the application flexible so every interested agency can show their work. You might find a rockstar partnership that way.

For instance, at some companies, all agencies need is proof of previous success and experience with the software. From there, they can expect a short interview period.

An easy application process will also be able to scale as your business grows. A two-step application is easier to manage as your company acquires more leads and broader goals. In addition, agencies that are interested in partnering with your company might be more inclined to apply if the steps are simple.

5. Make sure agencies can deliver highly technical solutions.

Agencies should be well-versed in the product and capable of delivering solutions. Solutions, in this realm, generally come in two forms: Results-driven, and those that are technical.

In the results-driven category, implementation partners need to locate where customers are having problems with the software, then identify solutions. For instance, if a company can’t figure out how to use workflows to organize leads, the agency should be able to identify that, then show customers a fix that maximizes their software.

Fixing that workflow should improve organization between members of the team and drive growth for the customer.

On the other hand, maybe a customer can’t figure out how to download a necessary extension. Agencies should have the know-how to lead customers toward the answer.

If your company offers a certification, consider whether it’s intensive enough for an agency application point. And consider developing a new course that covers the extra material companies should know about in order to be a successful partner.

Alternatively, develop a test or video challenge agencies must complete. At HubSpot, partners specializing in Sales Hub have to upload a video that shows proof of a highly-technical, results-driven solution. Consider developing a case study agencies must complete to apply.

Make sure your method for partnerships accurately demonstrates the agencies’ expertise with your product. For example, a five-question quiz might not be the best route, but an interactive test could be better. A test could tap into each area of your software, and the interactive elements would give agencies the chance to put their own spin on your questions.

Implementation partners are an amazing way to grow the network within your business. You can begin to foster an ecosystem of users with agencies that help onboard customers. Agencies should have the capabilities to adapt to the way your company sells and serves customers — kind of like the gift that keeps on giving.

If you’re interested in starting a partner program, you’re all set to begin. Don’t forget to keep your customers at the core of your planning, and you’ll make extremely valuable partnerships that can help your business grow. Good luck, and happy onboarding.

According to a recent Retail Dive survey, 55% of consumers still prefer to shop in stores because they like to see or test out products before they buy them.

But, if consumers could see or try products virtually from home, would they still need to go to the store before making a purchase?

This question has been asked by companies like Amazon, Warby Parker, and IKEA which have embraced AR product reviews. With these previews, ecommerce visitors can see an item of clothing on a photo of their body, preview what furniture will look like in their bedroom, and even size themselves to ensure they’re buying a product with the best fit.

But is this virtual experience really as effective as a traditional store or fitting room at getting people to buy?

Skeptics might say no. With AR being costly to implement and product viewings only requiring a physical store location, many marketers think that this technology isn’t worth the fuss.

However, as the world grows more and more digital, each new generation is making even more online purchases. They’re also embracing technologies like AR/VR for entertainment or retail purposes.

Not to mention, while holidays like Black Friday cause a burst in foot-traffic, retail businesses are finding it more challenging to keep people coming into stores throughout the rest of the year.

While AR might have been inaccessible to retail marketers in the past, could it be a revenue-generating opportunity at some point in the near future?

To determine if augmented reality was actually a beneficial marketing technology, I asked 300 consumers about their experiences with AR product previews using Lucid survey software.

In the survey, consumers were asked, “Have you ever purchased a product (such as furniture or clothing) after seeing an augmented-reality preview of what it would look like in real life?”

Since the technology is still rather new, you might expect consumers to say they’ve never used an AR product preview. However, you might also be wondering if those who’ve used an AR product preview actually converted.

If you think that the general population hasn’t used this new retail technology, you might be surprised by the result below.

Data Source: Lucid

According to the survey, 52% of consumers have purchased at least one item after seeing an AR preview of how it would look in real life. Over 30% of that group have purchased multiple products after previewing them with AR.

So, what does this mean for small or medium-sized retailers?

Understandably, you might not be able to afford AR technology to highlight your products just yet. However, the fact that more brands are using this feature to influence purchasing decisions means that technology and personalized digital marketing tactics like AR previews will likely become more prominent.

Just because you can’t afford AR now, doesn’t mean you’ll be unable to leverage it in the future. As augmented reality grows more prominent and more valuable to businesses, AR ecommerce tools might become more accessible or competitively priced. This is a theme we’ve seen with the influence of artificial intelligence.

While the technology was pricey and inaccessible to small-to-medium businesses at first, there are now a number of affordable out-of-the-box tools that marketers and businesses can leverage.

Even if you can’t take advantage of the latest marketing technology today, it’s still important to keep up with how other retailers are using it — especially if they’re selling products in a similar category as you.

Below, I’ll walk you through a few AR strategies that effectively benefit retailers now, or could be a vital product marketing tactic in the future:

3 AR Product Marketing Strategies to Watch in 2020

Mobile Previews on Ecommerce Sites

With this strategy, a mobile ecommerce website visitor can find a product they’re interested in, open a camera when tapping an AR preview button, and then view how the product — such as furniture — will look in the room they’re in. Some ecommerce platforms also allow prospects to see what an accessory such as glasses, will look on their face. If a customer likes what they see in an AR preview, they can exit the preview and make a purchase without setting foot in a store.

With increasing mobile ecommerce, this strategy allows visitors to discover a product through mobile search or an app, visit an ecommerce site, get an idea of what it looks like in real life, and then smoothly purchase it wherever they are. It also eliminates key friction points that could halt a purchase such as going to the store or not finding a product in the right size or color in a physical retail location.

At the moment, we’re already seeing corporations like IKEA, Home Depot, and Amazon embrace AR product previews on mobile sites and apps. But, this strategy might not be totally inaccessible to smaller businesses.

For example, a small bicycle retailer called PureCycles wanted to improve its website’s mobile experience and conversions. With a large catalog of bicycle product shots taken from multiple angles, they created AR previews with Shopify.

PureCycles says its use of virtual previews improved the customer experience on mobile-optimized browsers and allowed customers to answer key questions about their products, such as “Will this bicycle fit in my small apartment?”

Virtual Mirrors

Ever seen a shirt you loved in a clothing store but couldn’t find it in your size? Or, have you ever wanted to test out expensive makeup before buying it? These are two business cases that could call for AR mirrors, often called “virtual” or “magic” mirrors.

With AR mirror technology, you can stand in front of a screen in selfie mode, and see an overlay of how products in the store’s catalog will look on you in the right size or shade.

After your virtual experience, some virtual mirrors will allow you to order the product or send yourself a link for it so you can order it later. This prevents any additional friction related to having to wait until the item comes back in stock.

This virtual process also allows you to see products that the store sells but might not sell in the store due to seasonality or space-related limitations.

This strategy is used by Charlotte Tilbury, a UK-based beauty retailer.

Virtual mirrors, purchased and installed by Holition, line the boutique’s walls. When a customer looks into one, the camera and software scan the measurements and skin tone of their face. From there, the customer taps different makeup items on the screen to see how the products will look on their face. Here’s a quick video demonstration of how the software works:

Social Media Filters

Have you ever launched Instagram or Facebook Stories and noticed new AR filters that allowed you to test out products directly through your app? If not, you’ll definitely see more of this soon.

Recognizing the low-hanging fruit of AR previews in ecommerce, Facebook and Instagram, are actively taking steps to provide more commerce that leverage this technology. For example, in late 2019, Facebook made AR filter ads available in Facebook Ads. These ads allow users to test out products in Facebook Stories and its News Feed.

Here’s an example of what one of these ads might look like:

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Leveraging product-centric AR filters on social media provides the perks of the mobile AR previews without relying on shoppers to actually visit an ecommerce site.

As social media users tap through their friend’s Stories or content, they might notice a Story with an AR product in it or discover and AR preview that they can experience. These types of experiences are much more natural than seeing an influencer posting about a dress or makeup item, visiting the ecommerce site, and then doing added research to see if it’s the right shade.

While social AR previews are still in early phases, platforms like Facebook are already identifying types of retailers that could thrive with these tools. For example, AR features that allow users to preview products via social media could be a game-changer in the world of fashion and beauty. In 2018, this industry already saw a 164% social media revenue increase from paid promotions.

With social media users actively engaging with paid beauty ads, brands that are able to leverage AR on Facebook and Instagram would be able to reach social-media-friendly audiences on popular platforms and allow them to try new products.

One company that’s already leveraging AR to highlight products on social media is Dior, which allows users to try looks from its Fall/Winter fashion line on their Instagram Stories camera.

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As social media and mobile surfing continue to dominate how millennials and Gen Z spend their time, the need to invest in clever mobile advertising, such as AR ads, will also grow. .Although the combination of AR tactics and social media is still new — and not worth blowing your budget on just yet — you should still continue to follow brands and competitors that leverage it in case this technology becomes more accessible in the future.

What AR Success Means for Retailers

While the growth of AR shows how businesses are using new technology to benefit the customer journey, the effectiveness of AR and other retail technologies shows that customers are increasingly looking for digital, personalized, and frictionless shopping experiences.

And this makes sense. More and more, people are using mobile ecommerce stores and online social platforms to find, vet, and ultimately purchase products.

Even if you do have a physical store, you’ll need to embrace highly digital tactics to ensure that you’re gaining brand awareness from people online along with people in your neighborhood.

And while you shouldn’t spend all of your money investing in AR, there are other tactics you can take on to inform your audience about your products or services. These include highlighting your products on social media, launching a small but scalable ecommerce store, or sending customers personalized emails about products they might like based on what they’ve already purchased from your store.

When McDonald’s first opened its doors, they had two items on the menu: burgers and fries. After surveying competitors, the founders saw that in order to stand out as a food company, they had to be different. Instead of offering a multitude of menu options, they decided to hyper-focus on the bestsellers, which catapulted their customer satisfaction.

What McDonalds’ founders did was find white space opportunities in their industry. While other fast food restaurants at the time were offering a diverse menu but lacking in customer service — the McDonald’s team decided to focus on two items so customer service would be at the forefront.

By surveying what was missing from the market, McDonald’s was able to grow into a billion-dollar empire. The founders saw what customers were lacking and turned that industry gap into a success.

But what exactly are white space opportunities, and how can they be an asset to your company? Let’s find out below.

Sometimes, consumers don’t know what they need until, well, they need it, so it’s up to companies to be proactive. White space opportunities help marketers uncover customer needs that haven’t yet been met.

It’s a useful tactic when identifying how to provide the most value to customers. But, because white space opportunities aren’t as obvious as, say, keyword opportunities, it can be hard to know where to start.

Sounds pretty taboo, right? How can businesses uncover value customers are looking for when the customer themselves aren’t sure what they want? However, you may already have the right tools and knowledge at hand — they just need to be shaped for white space opportunities.

Let’s talk about what you can do to find white space for your company.

1. Innovate upon what you offer customers.

One of the best places to start with finding white space is within what you currently offer customers. Think of Apple’s iPod. Apple’s team probably came up with the idea to add a music player to their product stack by looking at what they already produce. Then, they figured out what other forms of entertainment they can make accessible with their resources.

Consider identifying where, in your products, you can spot white space. Ask yourself where customer needs are and aren’t being met. For example, if your blog team comes across a topic with high interest from your followers, but haven’t written about it yet, that’s white space.

Then, you can decide how to innovate: Are you going to write a series of posts about the topic, include subcategories for smaller posts, or turn the topic into an ebook?

2. Target a different audience segment.

If you’re struggling to find where you can innovate for a certain audience, maybe it’s time to shift your focus. Consider targeting a different part of your audience. For instance, if you’re hyper-focused on providing value for your content marketing audience segment, consider the white space you might have for SEO audiences.

Let’s say you’re in charge of a social media marketing agency focused on B2B clients in the technology sphere. Well, there are plenty of those — and yours is getting lost in the shuffle. Time to find white space.

Instead of marketing your company as one focused on B2B clients in technology, you decide to shift your customer base to one that serves B2B developers. While this is still in the technology space, your focus on a different audience segment allows you to reach out to a market that’s not as saturated in your industry.

3. Ask customers how they use your products.

Research how customers fit your offerings into their day-to-day. You might find white space you didn’t know existed.

For instance, if you’re part of a company that focuses on chatbot software, survey your customers and ask them for their stories. Ask them how your services fit into their companies and webpages.

Let’s say you find that customers really enjoy using your chatbots for lead nurturing on ecommerce sites. That’s an area you missed during the initial launch, but knowing this, your team can now work on making chatbots more online shopping-friendly. Maybe you add a way for your customers to demo their products and prices within the chat.

That white space will help you serve your customers and improve their selling strategy.

4. Find where your company is different.

Imagine you’re in charge of an analytics software company. Aware that there’s a countless number of those companies in the market, you’re struggling to find white space.

In your business plan, you recognized that your company is going to be an easy-to-use, intuitive platform. That’s the element that sets you apart from competitors. That’s white space.

A lot of analytics and reporting software is hard to implement. Yours eliminates the struggle of turning numbers into results. Your company is going to be the one that’s user-friendly — even a newbie can find success.

Additionally, you can use this discovery to find the most qualified leads. If your company is struggling to find white space, revisit your business plan. You may uncover the tactic you need to get back on track.

White space can be used to solidify your company’s branding strategy. Maybe you’re struggling to identify where your product fits in the market. If you find a space for innovation, you can use that to strengthen how your company is seen by others.

The McDonald’s founders didn’t have to look far for their opportunities, but things have changed since the 1950s. You might have to dig a little deeper and do some research, but ultimately, your business has something about it that’s attractive to customers. Once you find it, you’ll be able to keep delighting your clients, growing your company, and changing the industry.