A whopping number of emails hit your subscribers’ inboxes each day. With so much competition for attention, it’s inevitable that a percentage of your subscriber list will lose interest in and stop engaging with your email marketing campaigns. It may not seem like a huge deal, but as a great percentage of your list stops engaging, the greater the risk you run of damaging your sender reputation and your email deliverability rates.

So, how can you address this issue? By creating special re-engagement emails targeted directly at your “inactive” subscribers.

Re-engagement emails play a vital role in the email lifecycle

Marketing Sherpa reports that, on average, marketers lose 25% of their email list each year (simply to attrition). Therefore, list retention should be an absolute must for all email marketers.

When done well, re-engagement emails can reduce list churn rates and boost incremental engagement. In terms of deliverability, re-engaging your inactive subscribers can enhance or at least help you maintain inbox placement rates for your emails. Often, if your overall engagement levels drop significantly, ISPs are more likely to consider you a low-quality sender, block, and make your engagement problems even worse.

So what does an effective re-engagement email look like? Here are 10 examples to inspire your next campaign effort.

10 Re-engagement Email Examples to Woo the Inactive Subscribers

1. Lowe’s

This re-engagement email draws attention to the improvements in their products since the last subscriber engagement. They have tactfully highlighted how more than 5 million members are using their services. Social sharing buttons are clearly visible in the email footer — hoping to push more engagement in other channels as well.

2. Animoto

Animoto sends out a simple question: Do you still want to hear from us? Their focus is on allowing subscribers to update their email preferences through a prominent CTA button that directs them to a preference center.

3. BirchBox

We all love surprises. BirchBox makes use of that emotional instinct in their re-engagement emails. They provide subscribers with two interesting options — a very rewarding way to re-engage!

4. Grammarly

Grammarly re-engages inactive subscribers by presenting them with a “Wrinkle in Time” badge. The prominent CTA button ‘GO’ tempts the users to use their service again. They also promote their premium version at the bottom of the email and hint at a special price as well.

5. Path

Path is a photo-editing app that showcases all their new features to entice inactive subscribers. The ‘Update Now’ CTA stands out and drives engagements by pushing subscribers to update their app.

6. ReturnPath

ReturnPath builds a brief background for the re-engagement and allows the subscriber to choose the types of communications they wish to receive. They demonstrate how the preference center works and end the email with two cute illustrations accompanied with related CTA buttons for options for engagement.

7. SurfStitch

This re-engagement email attempts to feature everything that an inactive subscriber might have missed. They include a provision for the subscriber to adjust email frequency. And they don’t miss out on this opportunity to remind subscribers of their value propositions at the bottom (free express delivery, return policy, and customer service).

8. Urban Outfitters

This re-engagement email by Urban Outfitters is a perfect blend of humor and emotional appeal. It’s brand-appropriate, and likely stands out very well from their normal marketing emails.

9. Paul Mitchell

Paul Mitchell starts off their re-engagement email with an emotional ‘We hate goodbyes,’ informing the subscriber that it’s the last email to them. They include their products in a sad or worried face and drive readers prominently to a CTA to stay subscribed.

10. Asthma Foundation

Non-profit organizations can use re-engagement emails effectively as well — especially when it comes to convincing previous donors to demonstrate their generosity once more. This email by the Asthma Foundation deftly illustrates asthma triggers and quickly goes into persuasion mode to get the subscriber to make another contribution.

 

Get ready to re-engage.

Subscriber inactivity is a fact of life. How you handle it makes all the difference. Take these subscribers as an opportunity to try new content and innovative approaches to see how you can bring your old customers back and get you new sales.

Last Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-to-2 to repeal regulations of internet service providers. Those regulations fell under a general title: net neutrality.

If you have questions — you’re certainly not alone.

How did this happen? What was the case for repealing net neutrality in the first place? And what, exactly, has the FCC voted to dismantle?

Normally, this is the part where I would say, “Relax — I’ve got you covered.” But for the sake of transparency, I’ll be honest. I’m not particularly relaxed — or happy, for that matter — about this decision.

And while I will, as always, answer some of the most common questions about the vote as clearly as possible, know this: It’s not easy for me to neutrally — no pun intended — report on the matter.

Perhaps the answers to these questions will provide some insights as to why.

1. What is net neutrality?

Net Neutrality is a collection of regulations that prevent internet service providers (ISPs) — like Xfinity, Spectrum, or Verizon, for example — from altering internet speeds or censoring online content. In other words, it allows free speech on the internet, without corporations deciding which sites or applications are allowed or blocked.

Net neutrality originally took effect in 2015, when the FCC approved net neutrality after years of debate, which included two rejections of earlier versions of rules and regulations. The tipping point came when Title II of the Communications Act — I’ll explain that in more detail in a bit — which essentially laid the legal groundwork to bar ISPs from obstructing online information and access.

The post-net-neutrality web came to be known as the “open internet”: a web where, as Free Press phrased it, users could “share and access information of their choosing without interference.”

2. What is Title II?

Here’s where the legal aspect of net neutrality really comes into play — but please note that this blog post is not legal advice and instead provides background information to help you better understand the background of and the vote to repeal net neutrality.

When we talk about the repeal of net neutrality, we’re really talking about a reversal of Title II of the Communications Act. In 1934, the Act was first passed to regulate mass media communication — at that time, it was things like “wire and radio“.

The Title II section of the Act was written to regulate “common carriers” like utility providers of electricity and telephone landlines. And when efforts were made to enforce net neutrality, the turning point came when ISPs were reclassified as “common carriers” regulated under Title II. It’s quite lengthy and can be read in full here, but using that reclassification as a foundation, the Open Internet Order went into effect, making the below, pivotal declaration (among many others):

” … carefully-tailored rules to protect Internet openness will allow investment and innovation to continue to flourish. … today we adopt carefully-tailored rules that would prevent specific practices we know are harmful to Internet openness— blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization—as well as a strong standard of conduct designed to prevent the deployment of new practices that would harm Internet openness. We also enhance our transparency rule to ensure that consumers are fully informed as to whether the services they purchase are delivering what they expect.”

But last Thursday, the FCC voted to repeal this regulation and oversight, which will reverse things like:

• The inability of ISPs to block or charge extra for select online content.
• The delivery of high-speed internet as a utility — like the aforementioned electricity and telephone landlines.

3. What are the arguments for net neutrality?

Fair Competition

They say that competition is good for the consumer — it provides the public with various pricing and provider options from companies both large and small.

As you may have noticed, in most U.S. regions, there isn’t much competition — if any — for ISPs or cable providers. Here in Boston, the market is largely monopolized by Xfinity, and in others, it might be Spectrum or Verizon. There’s very little room — again, if any — for smaller players, and without net neutrality, that same issue will extend to streaming content providers.

Take the Washington Post’s example of Hulu and Netflix (the latter of which expressly dissented the repeal). While those two (large) companies will still be able to compete fairly, mostly due to their respective abilities to pay the post-repeal fees required for faster content delivery fees — smaller players will have too high a barrier to enter the market.

Free Speech

This point might be the one that you’ve heard about the most. As we noted above, the Open Internet Order barred ISPs from censoring certain content, websites, or applications as they see fit. Now, those regulations will no longer be enforced.

And while such ISPs as Comcast promised to maintain net neutrality …

Comcast supports Net Neutrality. We won’t block, slow or throttle your data. https://t.co/BZKkzYRfRU http://pic.twitter.com/UF68eFtv2H

— Comcast (@comcast)
July 13, 2017

… since last Thursday’s vote, certain key pieces of its previous written commitment have been deleted from its website.

Here’s what @comcast removed from their Net Neutrality page. They no longer promise to:

-Not throttle back the speed at which content comes to you
-Not prioritize Internet traffic or create paid fast lanes
-Make internet accessible to low income familieshttps://t.co/tRoOTyATYk http://pic.twitter.com/LqhnwwYSGv

— Jon Henshaw (@henshaw)
December 14, 2017

4. What are the arguments against net neutrality?

Regulation = “Micro-Managing” = Restricted Innovation

Those in favor of repealing net neutrality, like FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, argued that such regulations were accomplishing little more than “micromanaging the internet.” And by classifying ISPs as utilities, net neutrality opponents say, it stifles their abilities to innovate.

By removing regulations, opponents argue, ISPs will be free to “catalyze innovation,” according to statements from Verizon. And while supporters of net neutrality argue that its reversal will actually minimize competition, its opponents say that it will help boost it — by way of the freedom to build better networks and charge accordingly for access to them.

“We are helping consumers and promoting competition,” Chairman Pai stated prior to the vote. “Broadband providers will have more incentive to build networks, especially to underserved areas.”

However, this innovation may simply come in the form of the ISPs’ freedom to charge more for higher speeds, which potentially holds serious repercussions for businesses that rely on such in order to operate — and further increases barriers to entry for smaller and emerging companies. That could actually minimize competition, as opposed to the Chairman’s arguments, and the higher cost could be passed onto the consumer.

There Was Nothing Wrong With the Internet Prior to Net Neutrality

This one is fairly intuitive. Net neutrality opponents have argued that since the internet worked just fine prior to the 2015 regulations, it will continue to operate normally and satisfactorily without it now.

In a blog post published the day prior to the FCC vote, Comcast Senior Executive Vice President David Cohen wrote that “there is a lot of misinformation that this is the ‘end of the world as we know it’ for the Internet.”

In other words, supporters of net neutrality are overreacting to its repeal — and should stop treating it as something, in the words of Commissioner Brendan Carr, “apocalyptic.”

5. Is net neutrality dead for good?

Not yet, exactly — here’s what happens next.

First, it was discovered that public comments in support of the repeal were fabricated, with plagiarizers leaving pro-reversal comments under the names of people who are no longer alive.

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has compiled a database that allows users to find out if names of their relatives or loved ones were used in this manner — as was the case for designer Morgan Knutson. And while these findings alone most likely can’t invalidate the FCC’s vote, they could support congressional efforts to maintain net neutrality.

And about those efforts: Over a dozen senators, including Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, are working to present a Congressional Review Act — the process that allows Congress to counter regulatory rulings from federal agencies — that would nullify the FCC’s vote. It’s worth noting, too, that if such an Act did reverse the vote, the FCC would not be able to act to repeal net neutrality again.

In sum, the FCC’s vote has carved a very clear, accessible path for the aforementioned changes to become a reality — but they haven’t gone into effect yet.

And as for what the vote means for small-to-midsize businesses, as we mentioned before, there may be repercussions as a result of the potential for more steeply-priced access to the high-speed internet that so many of us rely on. But until these changes actually take effect and regulations are officially dismantled — pending the Congressional Review Act — it’s too soon to tell.

As always, I’m open to your take on the matter. Feel free to reach out to me with your thoughts and questions on Twitter.

Featured image credit: “We Love Net Neutrality action at Verizon with Light Panels – Photos by Alex Garland” by Backbone Campaign is licensed under CC BY 2.0 / Cropped from original

As marketers, we spend a lot of time planning, writing, and experimenting with content to grow our audience and get prospects into our sales reps’ pipeline. But that doesn’t mean well-crafted content stops playing a role when we hand those prospects over to sales.

Did you know that reps spend about 15% of their day leaving voicemails? And only 20% of all sales emails are ever opened. This means 80-85% of sales outreach efforts are going unnoticed by those prospects you’ve worked so hard to capture with content.

In fact, research shows that decision makers touch at least five pieces of content before they buy. But only 20% of salespeople actually use content to engage prospects and clients. For marketers, this leaves us with a big question: how do we leverage the content we’ve created to help salespeople bridge the gap, engage more prospects, and close the deal?

Bitly’s and HubSpot’s marketing teams both put significant effort into sales enablement, which is why they teamed up to generate a resource on the subject: 30 Ways Sales Can Leverage Content Marketing to Close Deals. Click here to get the full-length ebook, or read on for some quick tips.

Use Content to Land the First Sales Conversation

You only get one shot at a first impression, and content can help you say more in a short window of time. Whether you’re the one landing the first sales call or helping a rep land it, leveraging personalized content can help start that important conversation.

For example, Mobile application NoWait used personalized content as the foundation of their product launch. NoWait’s product allows diners to remotely add their name to a restaurant’s waitlist. Since the company wanted to target the CEOs of restaurant chains, they segmented out the top 30 to target with highly customized content.

The company loaded up personalized videos on iPads and sent them to these CEOs in customized packaging. To date, the app is used in more than half of the companies they targeted.

Here are some other ideas you can try out using content to land that first sales call:

• Build custom landing pages that populate the prospect’s name, company logo, and value props catered to their business needs.
• Host a live workshop that walks through industry best practices and helps troubleshoot common issues.
• Read up on the latest blog posts from your target companies’ blogs. Follow up on a recent content pieces with additional tips and tricks they can leverage.

Here’s an example of a personalized email HubSpot recently sent to some of our contacts database to re-engage them with our content: 

  

Use Content to Get Past the “No”

If a prospect isn’t receptive to initial conversations about your product, it isn’t game over just yet. There are still ways to continue the conversation.

Leveraging content also doesn’t mean just leverage your own content. In “no” situations, you can turn the tables and talk to the prospects about their content instead.

The most enticing sales emails are those that follow up on a personalized action.

For example, consider a sales rep who had emailed you a few times, but you never got around to replying them. After a few emails that went without a response, imagine that they followed up by citing a piece you had written for your brand.

For example:

“I saw that you recently published a piece on the Bitly blog about tracking the ROI of influencer marketing. Is this something your marketing team is interested in exploring and learning more about?”

This is a real example of an email sent to Bitly’s own senior content and community manager, Denise Chan. The sales rep then went on to suggest a follow-up call to discuss some strategies we were currently trying as well as suggestions on how to improve on our tactics.

Content is a valuable tool for nurturing prospects when they’re not quite ready to purchase or aren’t fully convinced yet.

Use Content to Build Relationships with Customers

The average business loses around 20% of its customers each year by failing to attend to customer relationships. And it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. Make sure you’re not forgetting upsells and additional sales in your sales engagement process.

Nurture customer relationships by sending content regularly throughout different stages of the customer life cycle. Or try inviting prospects and customers to create content or your next product with you.

Lays’ “Do Us A Flavor” contest is a really fun example of how crowdsourcing can both nurture relationships and improve your product. “Do Us A Flavor” was a year-long social media campaign which invited customers to help choose the next flavor of chip the company would create.

Crowd-sourced contests make customers more engaged and invested because they feel like they’re being heard and they played a hand in creating the product.

The “Do Us A Flavor” contest drove over 14.4 million public submissions, Lay’s brand’s ad awareness increased by 2%, and purchase intent increased by 1%.

Turn Your Customers into Evangelists

Go further with your marketing by turning customers into brand advocates. Then use those brand advocates to help your sales team close additional deals through case studies and referrals.

For example, ClassPass often runs referral deals that include benefits for both the new and current customer:

 

Think about brands you’re loyal to. What makes you so passionate about the product that you’d want to take the extra step to tweet about them or forward a piece of content you received in your inbox?

Chances are it’s because you trust the brand, you feel valued, or you have an emotional connection with the product.

Start nurturing your customer relationships by trying these techniques:

• Create a referral program that offers an incentive to customers who share your product by word-of-mouth.
• Open a forum, Slack group, or regular Twitter chat that gives your customers a sense of community.
• Open opportunities for customers to contribute to your blog or submit video content to showcase their expertise of the product.

Show Your Sales Team What You’ve Got: Sales Digests

Since sales reps spend most of their days in meetings or on calls, they don’t have much time to search for the most recent content marketing has put together.

Bring the content to the reps right into their inboxes. Repurpose the content from your marketing newsletter into a monthly or weekly sales digest. You can also include general industry content from other publications or companies for a different perspective.

 

Round up the top performing posts and include:

1. Key takeaways and talking points to use in a conversation
2. Target audience that would be interested in the piece
3. Features or products mentioned in the content piece

A Video Can Say a Thousand Words

In a recent survey, 43% of people reported that they want to see more video content from marketers. And more than half of marketing professionals worldwide cite video as the type of content that drives the highest ROI for them.

Video can be a powerful piece of supporting material at any stage of the sales conversation.

If you’re sending that first email, include a short 30 second video that explains what your product does and why you need to hop on a call to chat more.

If you’ve just wrapped up that first call, follow up with some video case studies and testimonials to keep your prospect excited about the product.

You can also encourage different members of your product and customer success teams to live stream on Facebook and Twitter. Research shows that visual content makes information stick. Win a permanent place in your prospects’ minds and hearts by weaving video content into your communication plan.

Don’t forget personalization! Use a tool like Vidyard to personalize your video messages for your prospects like HubSpot did in this example:

 

Automate Rep Follow-Through

A recent study found that companies who reach out to leads within an hour of first contact are seven times more likely to have meaningful conversations with decision makers than those who waited even sixty minutes.

But for most companies, it’s not possible for sales reps to keep up that level of outreach. That’s where email drip templates come in handy.

Draft together a few different sets of email drips that either trigger automatically or can be triggered manually by a sales rep.

Here are some examples to get you started:

• Send prospects a follow-up email with a short video demo right after they fill out a demo request. This keeps them engaged while they wait for a sales rep to reach out and schedule a meeting.
• A persona-based email drip for sales reps to send after their first conversation. Tailor the content depending on whether the recipient is a contributor or a decision maker.

Ready to do more with content?

We’ve covered 7 ways you can help your sales team leverage content to close deals, but do you want more where that came from? Don’t worry, Bitly and HubSpot put together 23 more tips for you to use in your own sales in marketing strategy in this guide, “30 Ways Sales Can Leverage Content to Close Deals.” Download now and get started. 

The days remaining in 2017 are few, and 2018 is just around the corner — things you undoubtedly know already.

But here’s something you may have forgotten about: There’s not much time left to finish up your holiday shopping. (Gasp! We know.)

Maybe you’re a marketer looking to complete your wish list. Or, maybe you’ve got a team of marketers you want to make smile.

To help you out, I’ve searched the internet far and wide (it’s kind of what I do), and found you some of this year’s best gifts for marketers.

Without further ado …

17 Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Your Favorite Marketers

1) Send a Starbucks eGift Card

Once upon a time, Starbucks offered a Tweet a Coffee program, which was retired after testing it in beta. I tried it for the first time earlier this season when Emily Maxie, B2B tech marketer at Very said something nice about our social media tool. I was really thrilled and just wanted to do something nice in return. Tweeting a coffee was an easy, hassle-free way to surprise co-marketing partners, customers, or others. Plus, it was almost instantaneous, so it was a savior for last-minute shoppers.

@emilymaxie, @meghkeaney just tweeted you a coffee! Redeem it now. https://t.co/0X3XIAVK4E

— Tweetacoffee (@Tweetacoffee)
November 21, 2013

Although that program has been retired, there’s still a good alternative: Send a Starbucks eGift Card. Just add a personal message and the amount you’d like to give, enter an email address, and hit “send.”

Where to get it: Starbucks

Cost: Buyer’s choice

2) Blogging Fuel Mug

As comedic writer Dave Barry once explained, “It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity.”

Not only is this mug a good way to keep your favorite marketer sufficiently caffeinated, but its message is also on point. Around here, at least, our marketers love creativity — but we also love precision. And, we love the written word. So when this mug came across our radar …

Source: Amazon

… we knew it had to make this list.

Where to get it: Amazon

Cost: $14.95 + $4.95 shipping

3) “Eat. Sleep. Blog.” T-Shirt

This is a pretty great gig we all have. Sure, there are seemingly unattainable lead goals and endless writing deadlines. But think about it for a moment: Every day, we get to get up and figure out how to capture people’s fascination. It’s an amazing job.

This shirt summarizes that sentiment nicely.

Source: Amazon

Oh, and it’s really comfortable for blogging.

Where to get it: Amazon

Cost: $17.39

4) HubSpot Fleece-Lined Winter Hat

We’re not sure how the weather looks in your neck of the woods, but around the holiday season, it starts to get cold where HubSpot is headquartered, in Boston.

It’s sweater weather. Hat weather. Fleece-lined hat weather, to be specific.

Luckily, HubSpot has a hat for that.

And while you’re at it, check out these other last-minute gifts from the HubSpot Shop:

• Sprocket zippered hoodie
• HubSpot Camelbak water bottle
• HubSpot dog collar

Where to get it: HubSpot Shop

Cost: $15

5) “But First, Coffee.” T-Shirt

It’s best to wear your priorities on your sleeve … er … torso. This cozy T-shirt puts your working style out in the open. In fact, it may double as a signal for the best way to bribe you for extra work.

Don’t work in a jeans-friendly office? Nothing a blazer and nice pants can’t fix (she writes as if she has actual fashion sense.)

Where to get it: Skreened

Cost: $29.99

6) Mophie Smartphone Case

A few years ago, a group of HubSpotters got these cases while working long hours at the INBOUND. But they’re not just any cases — they’re Mophie smartphone cases.

Mophie is a smartphone cover that also doubles as extra battery life.

Source: Mophie

They’re a little clunkier than the standard phone case, but they can extend your phone’s life by 100% or more. If you know a marketer who is often working on the road.

Where to get it: Mophie

Cost: About $100, depending on variety

7) Book Cover Laptop Case

Rumor has it writer Jorge Louis Borges used to sleep surrounded by books. He’d crawl into bed with stacks of them on either side. His last scent before sleep would be that of open pages and intricately worded lines.

Source: Twelve South

This isn’t quite as poetic, but it’s close.

This laptop cover would be a good fit for the bookworm on your team.

Where to get it: TwelveSouth

Cost: About $80

8) Subscription to a Streaming Music Service

Okay, so music may not make you smarter, but it does make you happier. And isn’t delight what we’re really after here?

Many marketers already listen to streaming music while they work, but without a subscription, that streaming music is typically limited or interrupted by commercials.

Buying your marketing friend a subscription to a streaming music can get rid of all the commercial interruptions and just leave them with good working music. We’re inbound marketers — thus, we hate commercial interruptions.

Here are a few options:

• Pandora: $54.89
• Spotify: $9.99/month for Premium
• Apple Music: Plans start at $4.99/month
• Google Play Music: Plans start at $9.99/month

9) @TwitterName Necklace

It might be a bit excessive, but it’s also kind of awesome. Here’s a gift for the social media strategist who has single-handedly grown your company’s Twitter following from 15 to 500 and beyond.

Source: Etsy

If jewelry isn’t the right gift, there are also a range of social media coasters.

Where to get it: Etsy

Cost: $43.99

10) 1Password

Welcome to secure accounts on the internet. Your password must be 15 characters long with at least two capital letters, three symbols, two numbers, and at least one variation of the Jabberwocky poem.

Nope, that won’t work. And it can’t be the same as any password you’ve used since junior high school.

If you could spare the marketer in your life this frustration, wouldn’t it be a happier new year? Take a look at the 1Password app. It will create and store all of your passwords securely and enable you to log into your accounts with one click.

Where to get it: 1Password

Cost: Plans start at $2.99/month

11) 99U Essays: Manage Your Day-to-Day

One of my favorite books, this collection of essays from 99U, focuses on how to develop a habit of creativity in your work and personal life. It gives you tips on how to put your creative work first and fend off a stream of endless emails, texts, and other interruptions.

Source: 99U

With an average 4.4-star rating on Amazon, this book offers concrete ideas for getting more out of your daily routine and finding the right moments for creative, complex work.

Where to get it: Amazon

Cost: $10.99

12) Freelancer Tools From WriterAccess or Zerys

While they don’t do gift cards, you could help a freelancer’s life easier with tools from WriterAccess of Zerys. Create a gift certificate yourself and wrap it up in a bow: Good for one day of reprieve from creating content.

Where to get it: Zerys or Writer Access

Cost: Varies

13) Premium Versions of Productivity Apps

Marketers use all sorts of freemium tools to organize their time and plan campaigns. Find out what online apps your marketer uses to make his or her day-to-day easier with access to all the bells and whistles for a year.

Here’s a breakdown of some popular ones:

• Evernote: Evernote is a repository for just about anything: ideas, articles, documents, photos, marketing examples. You can use the tool on your phone, desktop, and tablet, so it goes where you go. The big benefit of Evernote is how searchable it is. You can search documents or even the words in a picture to quickly retrieve your content again. The premium version gets you more storage, better search, and an interesting presentation mode. Cost: $69.99/year
• Dropbox or Box: We all could use a little space. Help your marketer out by upgrading their Dropbox or Box accounts to a pro version. Cost: Varies
• Feedly Pro: When Google Reader closed its doors, Feedly was widely adopted as the replacement RSS reader. Feedly Pro is a more powerful version of Feedly with one-click integrations, custom sharing URLs, and full support. Cost: Plans start at $5.41/month

14) Noise-Cancelling Headphones

Can you really put a price on peace and quiet? Turns out, Bose can: At a minimum, it’s about $180. Yikes.

But if you can get over the price, this is an amazing gift for anyone who needs to focus throughout the day. Noise-cancelling headphones put your marketers in their own cozy and uninterrupted lead-generating world.

Whether they listen to Mozart or Modest Mouse, these headphones give marketers a chance to block out everything but the work ahead of them.

Where to get them: Bose

Cost: Models start at $179.95

15) Class Reimbursement

For intellectually curious marketers, think about giving them the combo-gift of classes plus the time to learn a new skill.

There are a number of low-cost and free online classes and tutorials out there for people looking to code (Codecademy), design (Skillshare), or acquire other relevant skills. The trouble is finding the time.

If you really want to thrill a marketer on your team this season, give them the classes plus an approved block of time each week to dedicate to the lessons. Wrap it up in one package.

Where to get it: Check out Code Academy and Skillshare, plus your local continuing ed classes. Then, help your favorite marketer figure out how to make the class time possible.

Cost: Varies

16) INBOUND Tickets

Surprise! It’s not too early to buy tickets for INBOUND 2018.

INBOUND is an industry event like no other. Of course, I would say that, because as a HubSpotter, it is the center of my life in August and September. But as it turns out, others think so, too.

Darby Tinch of Mohawk Home said, “This was by far the best conference I’ve attended in a very long time. Not only was it the recharge I needed professionally but also on a personal level. It has been a long time since I’ve been this excited about my career. I cannot wait until [the next] INBOUND!”

Where to get it: INBOUND

Cost: Tickets will be available at a special early bird price in January.

17) Donation in the Marketer’s Name or Honor

If none of the above seems like a fit, consider a donation in your marketer’s name or honor. Donations are a personal thing, so be sure you have a sense of the issues your marketer cares about. But once you do, a gift in his or her honor can be really meaningful.

Where to get it: Because the donation should reflect the gift recipient and there are so many nonprofits we care about here at HubSpot, I’m going to leave the door open here and not make any specific suggestions. Talk to the gift recipient and see what they care most about.

Cost: Whatever amount you see fit.

There’s your starter list. There are dozens more ideas out there: subscriptions to magazines or journals, lunch from a local restaurant, or a plethora of other gift certificates anyone would love.

Disclaimer: This blog post is not legal advice for your company to use in complying with EU data privacy laws like the GDPR. Instead, it provides background information to help you better understand the GDPR. This legal information 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.

If your line of work involves, well, the internet — chances are, you’ve heard about the General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR).

You’ve most likely also heard about the ways it will impact your work — especially if you’re a marketer. After all, in marketing, our responsibilities largely boil down to outreach and building an audience, and sometimes, that involves obtaining, storing, and processing the personal data of users who come across our content.

But if you’re not based in the EU and think the GDPR won’t affect you — think again. If you market your products to people in the EU or monitor the behavior of people in the EU — even if you’re based outside of the EU — the GDPR will apply to you.

So, how prepared are marketers for the GDPR? (Spoiler alert: The answer is “not very.”) And for those who are, what are they doing to prepare for May 2018, when the GDPR comes into force?

To understand that, we’ll go over how consumers view the GDPR, which informs the way marketers should be thinking about it. Then, we’ll dive into the ways businesses are preparing.

Consumers Agree the GDPR Is a Good Thing

Among EU consumers, data privacy laws are well-received — especially the GDPR. It’s interesting to note that this feedback comes from an audience outside of the U.S., where data breaches have been making headlines for years — most recently, two of the more noteworthy incidents came from Equifax and Uber. 

That reinforces the idea that U.S.-based companies should still be highly concerned with this European Regulation. Data security is a global issue — and in this age, it’s easy to observe what’s happening in other countries.

Here’s where regulations like the GDPR become the marketer’s responsibility. In a recent webinar led by BetterCloud, digital security expert Jodi Daniels spoke to the importance of GDPR as a brand awareness issue. Calling it a “big competitive advantage,” she noted that complying with and prioritizing data security laws sends the message to users that you care about their safety.

That concern and transparency is something that a growing number of consumers will not only expect, but demand. In fact, we found that 91% of consumers expect companies they work with to be completely transparent about how, exactly, their data is being used — which can cause hesitation in submitting data.

But that’s just the beginning. Even if a company is completely transparent about the use of personal data, less than a quarter of consumers would still find them “very trustworthy” — and half would find them “somewhat trustworthy.”

In other words, when it comes to truly earning the trust of consumers, marketers and their businesses certainly have their work cut out for them — and we suspect that much of this sentiment is the result of the recent data breaches we mentioned earlier. GDPR compliance is a big, crucial step.

So, what are some of the ways in which businesses are preparing for this Regulation that will take effect in roughly six months?

Marketers Are Not Well-Prepared for the GDPR

Yes, you read the above information correctly: Less than half of the business leaders and marketers we surveyed are even aware of the GDPR. And as for how much preparatory knowledge they have about the Regulation in general — well, that’s not looking too encouraging, either.

But not all hope is lost. There is some preparation underway, and for the most part, companies (about half of those represented by those we surveyed) are addressing the GDPR by updating their contracts and data protection policies, many of whom are working with their vendors to do the same.

However, what’s less encouraging is that 22% of our survey participants admitted that, at the time of taking the survey, they hadn’t started doing anything yet to prepare for the GDPR.

That lack of preparation could be the indirect result of the fear that some marketers seem to have of the GDPR’s impact on their businesses. Over half of them, for example, expect to see their email marketing lists shrink.

That expectation could stem from the GDPR’s inclusion of “right to erasure,” which is essentially the right of an individual to request that all personal data about him or herself is erased by the “controller” of that data (i.e., the organization that collected the data) with undue delay in certain circumstances. And given that option, 59% of European consumers say — they would take it. 

Finally, it seems that marketers and business leaders are largely preparing to change the ways they collect consumer data. Email opt-ins and sales-related calling practices will largely be impacted, many expect, and marketing teams will continue to grow their focus on such outreach tools as social media and traffic-building content and SEO strategies.

Simply put, consumers in Europe view the GDPR with a highly positive sentiment, and marketers need to respond in kind. As transparency becomes even more valued, companies can view it, in part, as a vehicle of brand awareness — one that will now be dictated by strict rules.

If you still have questions, we’ll continue to follow the GDPR closely in the months leading up to May 2018, when it comes into force. In the meantime, visit our checklist to help businesses work on their GDPR compliance.

With 2.2 billion active users, it might seem like turning followers into paying customers on Facebook would be easy. At least a few of those users will want what you’re selling … right? Unfortunately, targeting a local market on Facebook is a little more challenging than that.

Building a local Facebook marketing strategy is challenging, but extremely rewarding when executed correctly. Here are nine proven Facebook marketing tactics you can use to drive foot traffic, build brand awareness, and increase revenue potential.

9 Tactics for Your Local Facebook Marketing Strategy

1. Share Reviews

Standing out can be difficult when you’re surrounded by hundreds of other businesses all vying for attention. The key often lies in using social proof. People trust businesses that can prove what they say is true — especially if that proof comes from a customer.

Here are two review tactics we use:

• Share screenshots of positive reviews from other social sites.
• Ask customers to share the experience they’ve had with your business.

Screenshot positive reviews on sites like Yelp and Google+, and then share them on your Facebook page. Tag the reviewer’s business in your post with a sincere “Thank you,”, or just happily boast that you have the best customers. Sharing screenshots of emails from happy customers works too, just be sure you ask permission first.

If you’re just starting out and your business doesn’t have any reviews yet, give your audience an incentive to leave positive feedback. Ask your followers how their last experience was at your business. Offer a product giveaway to the first five people that leave a comment describing why they love your company. Even if you don’t get an official Facebook review, someone will probably comment on their experience. That’s social proof.

2. Create an Event

Having a live band perform at your restaurant this weekend or throwing a big sale at your retail store? Facebook events are a great way to notify your followers and generate some buzz for your business. Even if people can’t attend in person, it shows that your business is actively engaged with the community.

Creating an event on your Facebook page is easy. First, navigate to the “Events” tab.

Select the blue “Create Event” button.

Fill in the details:

• Date and time
• Event category
• Event keywords
• A link to the ticketing website

Finally, add a compelling photo, and you’re good to go.

A few tips to improve the reach of your Facebook event:

• Add directions or a map to make it easy for people to find your event.
• Invite up to 500 people.
• Share your event and/or promote it as an ad.

3. Use Groups

Groups offer a wide variety of local Facebook marketing advantages. Some of the best include:

• Listing and selling products
• Building a community
• Establishing expertise
• Networking
• Offering great customer service

The possibilities for creating and managing a group on Facebook are only limited by your imagination. Groups are the perfect place to create a controlled community within your target audience. As the admin of the group, you can approve or reject all posts, accept or block members, and direct the commentary.

Groups allow you to build a micro-community that is hyper-focused on the subject of your choosing. For example, a business that sells laptop cases could create an entire Facebook group centered around laptop cases and their various uses, the best kinds, how to determine product quality, and humorous customer stories.

4. Share Local Content

One thing that’s consistent across Facebook is that people love to celebrate local pride. Align your business with famous events, history, people, landmarks, sayings, and other nuances that are part of your city’s identity. Share content from local organizations that captures the essence of your locale and will interest to your audience.

These are examples of good local content topics:

• 13 Things Keeping Austin Weird
• How Boston’s “R”-less Accent Became So Famous
• The Best Festivals to Attend this Summer in San Diego

Make your Facebook page an extension of the culture and traditions surrounding your location.

5. Mention Local Businesses, Events, and Groups

If you’re looking for ways to build engagement and gain traction, tag accounts that share content which aligns with your audience’s interests. As with all things on social media, tagging can be overdone, so don’t start tagging pages in every post. Rather, choose the ones that will have the greatest impact and provide value to your audience.

Tagging is another great way to support local marketing efforts. Build hype for an event your company is hosting using a Facebook live video, or showcase company culture with a group photo at the next conference you attend. One word of caution: if you decide to try Facebook live, write a script. The last thing you want to do is live-stream without a plan.

In addition to page tags, groups can also be tagged. This is especially effective when you’re attending industry events or working on collaborations. Athletic wear brands, such as Puma, do an exceptional job promoting their collaborations on Facebook.

6. Tag Locations & Events

I’m not talking about tagging your latest check-in at Olive Garden, I’m talking about event marketing, company outings, and business development trips. Manning a booth at Comic-Con? Post a group picture that tags the event and location. Taking the team out for someone’s Birthday lunch? Tag the location and upload a boomerang. Checking out your latest digital billboard downtown? Tag the location and upload a picture.

Add some variety to your Facebook page by tagging locations and show off your company’s personality at the same time.

7. Run a Contest

Everybody likes to win things. There are many different ways to run a Facebook contest. The two most popular include hosting a promotion on a Facebook app or on your Page’s Timeline.

Pay close attention to Facebook’s content rules because disregarding them could get your contest shutdown. Here are just a few things you can’t do:

• You can’t require participants to share a page or post on your Timeline to enter
• You can’t require participants to like a page to enter
• You can’t require participants to tag themselves in pictures to enter

The list goes on. Review a thorough breakdown of what you can and can’t do when running a Facebook contest here. Helpful hint: even though you can’t require page likes, photo tagging, and timeline posting, you can still encourage the audience to complete those actions.

8. Encourage Foot Traffic

Retail companies often struggle to make Facebook work in their favor. The biggest problem is getting people online to come into the store. Here are a few tips to start turning Facebook followers into foot traffic that have revenue potential:

• Create polls and contests centered on popular products and their uses
• Run regular in-store events your customers are interested in
• Promote in-store coupons, giveaways, and sweepstakes
• Build a shop directly on Facebook where your customers can purchase your products
• Align your page with causes your audience cares about

Think of Facebook as your marketing email and your store as the landing page. In order to get people from the digital universe to visit your physical business, you need to have a compelling message and offer they can’t refuse. For example, if there’s a large sales conference in town you could create a set of Facebook ads that are focused on the area surrounding the conference center and targets sales professionals over the age of 21. Offer a lunch discount and provide all the details they need to make a quick meal grab before heading to their next session.

9. On-Site Promotion of Your Facebook Page

Try to convert the foot traffic your business attracts into online brand advocates. Use signage, receipts, business cards, flyers, coupons and more to ask for page likes, check-ins, reviews, and posts on your Facebook Timeline.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Give away a $200 gift card that requires participants to post a picture taken in front of a branded mural, sign, or display that tags your Facebook page.
• Offer a 20% off discount for everyone who checks-in at your store on a Wednesday.

Executing successful Facebook local marketing tactics requires consistent testing and experimentation. What works for a retail business might not work for a restaurant, and vice versa.

Take the time to figure out what your audience responds to the best and what generates the most business for your company through Facebook. Successful Facebook local marketing can take time. Be patient, detail oriented and persistent.

 

 

I remember talking with an acquaintance a few years back who had recently graduated from college about how she envisioned her career progressing. Here’s how she broke down the steps:

1. Get a job.
2. Master that job.
3. Manage other people doing that job.
4. “Run sh*t” (her exact words).

I find that this is often how management is perceived by individual contributors (myself included before I became a manager). “Running sh*t” sounds pretty awesome, right? And I felt confident that once I was handed this ultimate power, I would become a new enlightened version of my individual contributor self. The vision for my team would be revealed to me! I would know exactly how to execute on said vision! I would coach my team to success and would be positively drowning in progress and praise!

Today, I’m cringe-laughing as I write these sentences. The perception I had of management turned out to be quite different than the brass tacks realities. Spoiler: I did not ascend to a higher plane of enlightenment when my title changed. I was still myself, with all my faults, and dealing with a totally new set of challenges.

Don’t get me wrong — for all the missteps and pitfalls and uncomfortable realizations, being a manager is easily the best job I’ve ever had. The phrase “the best hardest job” that often gets applied to parenting also holds for management in my opinion. The fulfillment I get from watching my team learn, grow, and ultimately kick ass is second to none.

This post is not intended to dissuade anyone from management. Instead, it’s an attempt to provide a glimpse into the not-so-glamorous parts of “running sh*t” that don’t get talked about as often as the pros. It’s my hope that this information can help people considering management make a fully informed decision — and let current managers know that if they’re experiencing any of the things on this list, they’re not alone.

10 Hard Truths About Management No One Tells You

1) Management can be lonely.

When you’re an individual contributor on a team, you have a built-in support system. You’re naturally grouped with people who do the same thing you do, or if not, at least have deep context into your work. And this network comes in handy when you need a sounding board, a brainstorm partner, or just someone to vent to.

But when you’re the manager of a team, there’s by definition only one of you. There’s no one else in the same role who you can turn to when you’re stuck, or confused, or frustrated — and that can sometimes leave you feeling lonely.

This isn’t to say that it’s impossible to find support as a manager. The key word is “find.” As a manager, you have to intentionally seek out fellow leaders and actively build a support network (and I guarantee that you will need it).

2) You stop practicing your craft.

You probably got your job as a manager because you were particularly good at whatever you were doing as an individual contributor … but in your new role, you actually stop doing that thing. The manager’s role is to help their team execute their craft particularly well. And because you’re playing an enablement role instead of actually doing the work, your skills are probably going to get a bit rusty.

For example, content is my craft, but I haven’t actively been in the weeds for a few years now. A peek at entry-level content creation jobs reveals that employers are now looking for video and design skills in addition to writing … of which I have neither. I could probably get a job as a manager of a content team, but as a creator? Maybe not.

This is why I think it’s dangerous to think of management as a promotion — it’s actually a totally different job. When you take a step towards management, you take a step away from your functional area of expertise. It’s a trade-off that I’ve been personally very happy with, but a trade-off nonetheless.

3) GSD turns into GTD.

At HubSpot, we’re fond of the acronym GSD, which stands for “get sh*t done.” We love people who love to cross things off a to-do list.

But considering that managers are enablers of people who execute tasks instead of executing those tasks themselves, “GSD” really doesn’t fit anymore. Instead, I think “GTD” more appropriately describes the work of managers, where “T” has two meanings:

1. Get Thinking Done
2. Get Talking Done

The first definition of “GTD” refers to strategic planning, which requires quite a bit of reflection and rumination. The second definition refers to enabling team members through coaching, providing feedback, and training. Neither of these “GTD” modes lend themselves to crossing items off a to-do list.

I’ve often heard new managers accustomed to executing tasks fast and furious remark that they feel like they’re not “doing anything” in their new role. This isn’t true — their work is just as vital and important — but it happens on a more ongoing cadence and isn’t neatly completed at the end of a day or week.

4) You don’t get as much feedback.

As an individual contributor, you (hopefully) get feedback on a timely and consistent basis. Do something awesome, and you’ll get near instant validation. Fumble on a project, and you’ll get constructive criticism soon after.

When you’re a manager, the feedback loop slows thanks to the nature of the GTD grind. Your manager doesn’t have as much visibility into your “thinking” and “talking” work as they do with more task-oriented output, and this means you’ll probably get periodic packages of feedback at certain milestones rather than an ongoing stream.

On the flip side of the equation, it can feel uncomfortable to give your direct manager feedback. To encourage your reports to weigh in on your performance, consider putting anonymous mechanisms in place, or ask them to share their thoughts with your manager.

5) You have to do hard things (and you still have the same feelings).

Giving constructive criticism, conducting performance reviews, resolving conflicts, making sometimes unpopular decisions — managers have to do a lot of things that aren’t exactly a barrel of laughs. And remember when I said I didn’t become a magically different person when I took on a team? I was also surprised to discover that I had the same feelings I did when I was an individual contributor.

Telling someone that they made a mistake or that their work isn’t up to par sucks — manager or not. Personally, I struggle with nerves when delivering constructive criticism. Even if I know a certain piece of feedback will be beneficial to the person long-term, I still have to contend with a pounding heart and sweaty palms when the moment arrives. But, I force myself to get the words out, because I know it’s what I need to do to be effective in my role.

Being a manager means signing up to feel the feelings and do the hard things anyway. Which brings me to a somewhat related point …

6) Management is emotional.

In addition to contending with your own feelings, as a manager, you’re also more frequently on the receiving end of others’ emotions. Work is emotional, and if you have a good relationship with your reports, they’re going to express frustration, stress, worry, anger, and a whole host of other emotions to you. Tears will be shed. Voices will be raised. Eyebrows will be crinkled. Sometimes all at once.

What I didn’t understand before I became a manager is how hard it can be to be the person on the other side of the table in these situations. Because you’re a human with empathy, your reports’ feelings will probably rub off on you to some extent.

On one hand, this is good thing — to foster trust with your employees, you have to put yourself in their shoes and see things from their perspective. But be wary that you don’t go overboard and cross into sponge territory, or start to feel responsible for others’ emotions. Managers have to remain objective to make sound decisions, and you can’t let someone else’s anger or frustration or guilt cloud your view on a situation.

When you feel like you’re crossing into “emotional burnout” zone, have a few coping mechanisms on hand that you can employ in a pinch — and don’t feel guilty about using them. If a walk to clear your head will help you gain perspective and shake off emotional baggage, it’s not a sign that you’re bad at your job; on the contrary, it’s what you need to be good at your job. Don’t forget that.

7) Self-regulation, all day, every day.

I’ve just spent several paragraphs talking about all the emotions managers contend with, both their own and others’. The kicker? You actually need to be far more careful about how you express your feelings as a manager than as an individual contributor.

To understand why, consider the following two scenarios:

Scenario 1: Manager walks into a team meeting, slams the door, and bangs her laptop down on the table. She is visibly upset, with a scowl on her face. “I just heard that our budget is being slashed by 10% next year, which is total BS,” she huffs. “I’m so pissed; I don’t know why we even bother trying. We always have to deal with this crap and I’m fed up. I guess I’ll try to figure out where we can save money … ugh.”

Scenario 2: Manager walks into a team meeting, closes the door, and sits down at the table. She seems calm and serious. “Hi everyone, thanks for joining. Unfortunately, I have some bad news. I just heard from Finance that we need to cut our budget by 10% next year,” she says. “I’ll be honest — I’m frustrated by this and I’d understand if you were too. That said, it’s the reality of the situation, and I think there are some cuts we can make that won’t negatively impact our work. I’ll share my ideas via email and I’d like to hear yours as well.”

This is essentially the same message, but delivered in two completely different ways. How do you think the team members left the meeting feeling in Scenario #1 vs. Scenario #2? Both are likely to be upset, but I’m guessing that the employees in the first situation are going to be a lot less productive and a lot more worried for the rest of the day than their counterparts in the second.

People take their emotional cues from their leaders. This doesn’t mean that managers can’t be authentic with their direct reports — it just means they have to be deliberate about how they express their feeling so as not to create a chain reaction of negativity and stress.

To me, self-regulation means being mindful to not let your own emotion get in the way of delivering a clear message. It’s not easy, but it’s critically important. Pro tip: Invest in a good stress ball or join a gym with punching bags.

8) You spend less time in the spotlight.

As I said above, managers are enablers, not executors. If a project your team worked on was a smashing success, the lion’s share of the credit goes to the executors (as it should!). As the manager, you’re more likely to be clapping on the sidelines than standing in the spotlight, and that can be hard to swallow for people who’ve recently transitioned from an individual contributor role.

This has been one of the parts of management that agrees with me the most — I actually prefer cheering from the sidelines, and get more enjoyment out of watching my team get recognized than getting recognized myself. I’m not here to judge — neither preference is better or worse than the other — but it’s worth asking yourself where you’d rather stand when the praise starts rolling in.

9) You’re the “sh*t umbrella.”

If you want to “run sh*t,” you have to deal with sh*t. I use the term “sh*t umbrella” to describe two essential functions of managers:

1. Protecting your team from distractions so they can focus on execution.
2. Doing the essential drudgery that no one else wants to do.

Let’s start with the first point. One of the reasons I love working at HubSpot is that there are a ton of innovative ideas being discussed at all corners of the company. The downside? At times, these ideas can become distracting or cause confusion. It’s my job to contextualize external information and help triage requests from other departments — sometimes referred to as “blocking and tackling” — so that my team can spend their time actually, you know, doing their jobs.

As for the second scenario — while it’s not good to protect your team from work, it is a good thing to show you’re willing to do the soul-crushing stuff so they don’t have to, at least temporarily. When the buck stops with you, it’s ultimately your responsibility to ensure that what needs to be done gets done — no matter how sh*tty.

10) Your relationships change.

While this one isn’t really a surprise, it can be hard to swallow nonetheless. If your company tends to promote from within, it’s probably a common scenario for people to become managers of their former peers or teammates … and that can be awkward. Because your relation to each other has changed, that means your relationship has to change as well. Peer-to-peer vent sessions and gut checks are suddenly off the table, replaced with formal one-on-one meetings and manager-employee feedback. Even if you’re not directly managing former peers, people have higher expectations of their leaders, which means you have to act accordingly both on and off your team. (Read: shotgunning beers on Friday afternoon might not be the best look anymore).

If you’re currently in this situation, be warned that it will make you feel some feelings (see #1). According to managers I’ve talked to who have been through this, the best way to mitigate the ensuing awkwardness is to address it head on. Clearly setting expectations and creating space for both of you to recalibrate will help you proactively forge the next chapter of your relationship instead of spending time lamenting what you’re leaving behind.

What are your own “hard truths”?

Those are some of the uncomfortable realizations and situations I’ve been through in my relatively short management tenure, and I am not an expert by any others, so I’d love to hear about others’. Tweet me your own “hard truths” or let me know how your perceptions around management have (or have not) changed after reading this post @emmajs24.

2017 marks the fourth consecutive year Orbit Media Studios has tapped the insights of 1000+ business bloggers to publish a research report on blogging statistics and trends.

In some cases, the annual blogger survey reflects subtle developments, but in others it reveals some significant changes. However, with four years of data in the books, a theme has clearly developed:

“Bloggers are reporting stronger results from content marketing,” says Orbit Media’s co-founder Andy Crestodina.

“When asked to report on the effectiveness of their efforts, almost 30% of respondents reported ‘strong results.’ The vast majority of bloggers are seeing rewards from their efforts and meeting their goals, whatever they might be.”

Each year, Andy delivers the survey’s findings in a meaty post detailing the data and expressing his conclusions. This year, the survey breaks down into 11 questions across three categories:

1. Changes in the blogging process
2. Blog content trends
3. The promotion and measurement tactics business bloggers employ

Andy and I also collaborate each year on an infographic (see below) to present the most interesting findings in simple terms.

At the risk of reducing the suspense, the answer to the headline above (and headline of the infographic), “Are bloggers still getting results?” is …

Yes.

85% claim their blog delivers strong results or some results. The number represents a 6% increase compared to the year prior.

Peruse the infographic below to discover more about the tactics business bloggers used in 2017 and how it compares to years past.

Want some historical context? Last year, HubSpot’s post Which Blogging Tips Get Results? features a summary of Orbit Media’s findings from 2014, 2015 and 2016.

 

The way we ask for recommendations has evolved.

Whereas once upon a time we may have asked a neighbor to recommend a product or service, 47% of millennials now turn to social media for recommendations and reviews before deciding on a purchase.

But these consumers aren’t always going to the social media accounts of brands. Much of the time, they’re visiting the profiles of a special breed of social media personalities: influencers.

Consider this: Close to 40% of Twitter users alone have made a purchase as a result of influencer marketing — and that’s excluding the influence, if you will, of personalities on other channels, like Instagram.

And when we think of influencers, for many of us, A-list personalities and celebrities come to mind. Take Kylie Jenner, for example, who helped catapult the brand Fashion Nova into a favorite online retail brand.

 

#ad Obsessed with my new @fashionnova jeans 🍑Get them at FashionNova.com 😍

A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Dec 27, 2016 at 6:57am PST

Sure, celebrities might significantly help boost your sales and achieve your marketing goals. But let’s face it: most of us can’t afford their price tags. After all, it’s reported that Kylie Jenner gets $400,000 for a single promotional Instagram post.

The good news is that marketers and startup business owners now have another option that will allow them to tap into the power of influencer marketing without putting their ROI in jeopardy.

This option comes in the form of a unique group of social media users collectively known as micro-influencers.

Why Use Micro-Influencers?

At first, opting to use micro-influencers for your marketing campaign may sound counterintuitive. Would it be more beneficial to tap an influencer with millions of followers, as opposed to getting a micro-influencer with just a few thousand followers?

Not necessarily.

That’s because when it comes to influencer marketing, the level of engagement is more crucial. It is one of the key metrics that will help you gauge the effectiveness of your influencer marketing campaign.

In a study done by Markerly, a converse relationship was discovered between the number of followers an influencer has, and the level of engagement each post gets. In other words, as the number of followers increases, the engagement rate decreases.

In its own study, Expercity found that micro-influencers not only generate 22.2X more conversion than the average social media user, but that 74% of them are rather direct in encouraging their followers to buy or try a product or service they’re endorsing. That communicates credibility and transparency, which can help to build a loyal following.

Cost is another reason why many brands are now turning to micro-influencers. According to a study done by Bloglovin’, 97% of micro-influencers charge $500 and below for a sponsored post on Instagram.

Source: Influence

Additionally, 87% micro-influencers charge $500 and below for a sponsored blog post.

Finding the Right Micro-Influencer for Your Business

With so many micro-influencers out there, it’s no surprise that 73% of marketers point to finding the right one as one of their biggest challenges.

Source: Econsultancy

Of course, you can choose to hire an influencer marketing agency to help you find the right micro-influencers for your campaign. But if you want to be more hands-on in finding the right micro-influencer, here are seven questions you’ll need to answer very carefully.

1. What are your goals?

The first thing to consider when finding the right micro-influencer is to look at what you’re aiming to achieve. Do you want to generate more leads for your business? If so, look for micro-influencers that frequently host contests or giveaways on their social media accounts — especially if they involve encouraging their followers to sign up in exchange for free trials, products or access to an exclusive event.

2. Who are the micro-influencer’s followers?

When reviewing the followers of the micro-influencer you want to reach, look at to how well they align with your brand’s buyer personas. Some of the things to consider are:

• Where are the majority of the micro-influencers’ followers based (geographically)?
• Are they mostly male or female?
• Which type of posts resonates with them the most?

3. Is the micro-influencer already a fan?

Working with a micro-influencer that’s already using your product or service has several benefits. For starters, he or she might already be posting about your company and products — so a partnership is more natural and appears more genuine to followers.

Also, micro-influencers who are fans of your products and brand are more likely negotiate lower fees. Some may even be willing to collaborate with you in exchange for some free products or services.

One way to find these micro-influencers is to perform a general search for blog posts mentioning your brand. Since Google ranks sites based on content quality, there’s a good chance that the first two or three results belong to a micro-influencer in your niche.

Another is by using a tool like Gatsby.ai (which has an integration with HubSpot) to your website. Gatsby helps you search through your customer database for micro-influencers that have bought your products, and help you quickly retrieve their information so that you can reach out to them.

4. How engaged is the micro-influencer’s audience?

As I mentioned earlier, a micro-influencer’s engagement rate is one of the key metrics that will help you determine the success (or lack of it) of your influencer marketing campaign.

Review the social media accounts of the micro-influencer to see how many likes, comments, and shares each post gets. Although likes are good, I often recommend that my clients focus more on the number of comments and shares a post receives. That’s because it requires more effort for a follower to leave a comment on or share a post than it is to click on the like button. Often, followers will only leave comments when they find the post compelling enough for them do so.

5. What kind of content does the micro-influencer produce?

Micro-influencers create their posts based on their own brand and image they want to convey to their followers and compare this against the image you want your audience to associate with your brand. There must be alignment between your perceived brand image the micro-influencer’s, in order to ensure that the posts he or she creates for you don’t look like a mismatch. Followers tend not to appreciate that — after all, they follow this micro-influencer for relevant content.

6. Are they working with your competitors?

If you’re seriously considering using influencer marketing, there’s a chance that your competitors are also doing the same. Take some time to review the posts of the micro-influencers you want to work with, and see if they’ve worked with any of your direct or indirect competitors.

If so, how did the audience respond to the post? Was there anything mentioned by the micro-influencer about your competitors’ products that you can leverage?

7. How many platforms do they use?

Although 80% of micro-influencers point to Instagram as their preferred platform for creating and publishing content, many of them are equally active on their own blogs and in other social media channels. Some even have access to traditional media like TV and magazines. The more platforms a micro-influencer can use to promote your content, the better for you.