As much as we hate to admit it, sometimes the headline of your blog post can be even more important than the article itself.

Think about how many headlines you read every day while searching online or checking social media. What makes you actually click on the article and read it? Usually, it’s the headline — which is why it’s so important to spend time coming up with a good one.

It’s easy to let all of that overwhelm you and just settle for a “good enough” headline. But that’s not how you’re going to be able to grow your blog. Before you publish a new post, you need to come up with a compelling headline that catches the reader’s eye — otherwise your post may not get read at all.

There’s a certain science to writing a great headline. Some headline templates or formulas tend to work better than others. For example, research shows that informative headlines like lists (that start with a number), how-to titles, and guides tend to get more readers and shares.

Want help in quickly writing an attractive headline? Create your own using the templates and ideas in the infographic below from IntNetworkPlus. First, pick one of the six headline templates; then, mix and match from the adjectives, verbs, phrases, and calls-to-action below to create unique, compelling titles that readers will want to click on.

At NASA, one of the world’s leading space associations, social media marketing and rocket science combine in a way that could shock even the most weathered social marketer. The organization manages more than 500 social accounts. Imagine what their analytics must look like!

From broad agency accounts to specific accounts dedicated to certain NASA missions, their social media isn’t selling products or services, but rather inspiration.

NASA has nailed down an elusive social media success around an incredibly complicated and naturally curious topic. Even with so many different accounts, NASA has managed to create meaningful connections with followers and spread a consistent message.

Although not directly marketing for profit, NASA has developed a strong social media marketing strategy that B2B brands and all marketers can learn from and use in their own content and campaigns.

How to Tell Your B2B Brand Story

If there’s one thing NASA knows—besides the mysteries of space, it’s their own voice. They have cultivated a brand image and tone that is based on history, exciting developments, generating buzz, some professionalism and a nerdy sense of humor.

In an environment where voice can vary from platform to platform, this is quite the accomplishment. From quick Twitter quips to informative Instagrams and straightforward Tumblr posts, NASA sprinkles their updates and science lessons with pop culture, striking images and conversational language. This tone complements their mission and still relates to the average follower.

To follow NASA’s lead, B2B companies first need to find their voice. This means fully understanding your company, its intention with customers and its future goals.

For example, if you want your brand to be community-oriented, write like a community leader who cares. If you want your brand to be strictly professional, keep your tone clinical and simple.

The point of even giving your brand a voice is to humanize your company. A personal way of conversing as a brand allows you to participate in conversations naturally with followers.

Find your voice by asking yourself the following questions:

• What do I want to accomplish with my social content?
  Maybe you want to educate or promote. This answer will guide the voice of your content.
• What tones complement the voice I want?
  A tone is an expression of language that supports your overall voice, so find a few that are good for your brand.
• What emotions are you trying to evoke in your customer?
  Identifying the emotional connection can help nail down the voice you are looking for.

Once you’ve established your voice, you can begin to develop your story. NASA has the advantage of having a built-in story of exploration and discovery, but you can also find the story you want to tell by using themes and hierarchies within your content.

Telling a multi-channel story, as NASA does across the many social platforms, all connects back to your central goal. A story, regardless of the form it takes or how it is presented, should be specific in nature and relate to the interests and needs of your customer.

Sell the Value, Not the Product

Sometimes marketers can get lost in the microscopic focus of selling a specific product or service. Boasting the features of something and harping on its shiny new elements is an easy trap to fall into. But in the long term, it’s not about the minutiae of a single aspect of what you offer.

It’s important to take a step back and present the value of your company in a macro sense. For NASA, they have the ability to share information about an up close photo of the surface of Mars or an infinite photo of Saturn’s rings, which is literally a zooming in and out of their content. But from a deeper level, they are trying to inspire their followers and generate genuine interest in their missions and work.

Their move to post a photo of dwarf planet Pluto before the official press release of the New Horizons’ results was an impressive show of giving followers excitement and capitalizing on anticipation.

They knew the value of NASA is providing these fresh facts to a public with curiosity about the universe. Companies can also deliver social content of a similar vein by discussing the ways their product or service solves problems, avoids issues or brings certain emotions to customers’ lives.

Think about how your customers’ lives will be improved by making a purchase with you. Pinpoint a before and after effect to really determine the value of your product or service.

You can also use the tactic of value and authenticity in generating leads, improving sales and affecting the company as a whole.

Involve Customers in Your Content

Another strength of NASA’s social media marketing is to not just engage with followers, but to give them the opportunity to be a part of the social movement. B2B companies should also take user-generated content as a viable component of social strategy.

The NASA program, called NASA Socials, gets followers involved in learning about and sharing information on the organization’s missions, people and programs. The program hosts events where social followers gather to get a behind-the-scenes look at labs and projects, hear from engineers and astronauts, and can meet fellow NASA enthusiasts.

The content these fans create at the event also gives them the understanding they need to make shareable content in the future. When the fans tell the story, NASA’s story becomes more powerful.

In a way, this is an even stronger tactic for companies because of the importance and reliability of brand advocacy and loyalty. Testimonials, first-person accounts and user-contributed content tell a more convincing and credible story.

Here are a few specific ways you can involve your customers in telling your story:

• Free Trial
  Offering your product or service for no cost for a short period of time gets customers comfortable with your company. You can also build in the stipulation that they must share their story on social media to receive the free trial.
• Case Study
  The most traditional, but one of the most effective, forms of using your customers’ experiences to your benefit is to tell their story in your branding. A case study is proof positive your product or service has performed well in a real setting.
• Community Forums
  For hyper-specialized industries, it’s good to provide a forum for professionals to gather and discuss your product and new industry trends. You can use the ideas and opinions from the forum for social and blog content fodder.
• Guest Posts
  Asking a customer to write a guest post for your blog or to collaborate on content shows a dedication to a partnership and presents your company from a perspective with some weight.

Getting your customers involved also shows you consider their input and are working to create an inclusive community. Customers who are part of a like-minded group will have more positive feelings about a company, increasing their word-of-mouth marketing and your sales.

Infinity and Beyond

NASA has infused their social content with originality, narrative and community. They take their mission in connecting with an interested public as seriously as an astronaut on a mission in space. They use their background in rocket science to good use in an unlikely place.

B2B companies should take away important lessons from the visuals, language and content NASA generates. They don’t have to emulate the famous association, but can be inspired by both their images of planets and stars and their brilliant approach to inbound and social media marketing.

  

You’ve probably wished at some point that you had a pocket translator that could give you the real meaning behind a client’s vague, inoperative feedback. It shouldn’t feel like a high-stakes guessing game, right?

So while these tips won’t turn you into a mind reader (sorry!), they will help you uncover the actionable feedback behind your client’s most confusing comments.

The Guide to Translating Unhelpful Client Feedback

1) “I like it, but we were really hoping for something completely different.”

You’re probably thinking: How is it possible that the client likes your work, but also wants you to change everything about it? This kind of gear-shifting feedback indicates that somewhere along the way, you and your client stopped being on the same page. Maybe the project began on a shaky foundation without any solid directives, or maybe the client’s goals shifted, and they didn’t keep you in the loop. To prevent the project from going down in flames, you should schedule some time with the client to realign on the underlying goals of the project.

Ask the client to clearly explain which components of the project seem off base to them and why. Extract as much specific information as possible, and don’t be afraid to press your client for more details.

2) “I’m not really sure what I want, but I’ll know it when I see it.”

This type of feedback can seem frustratingly vague, but take it as an opportunity to dig deeper. When a client fails to provide specifics about their goals for a project, it most likely means that they don’t know exactly how to express their vision to you, or they don’t fully realize that they need to tell you what they want. Talking about design concepts may be second nature to you, but try to remember that it can be challenging for most people to turn a fuzzy idea into a specific request.

Help your client find some clarity by asking questions that get at the core of their project’s objectives, and force them to identify some tangible design preferences. For example, have them point out a few specific things they like about their current marketing materials and a few things they don’t like. Show them some examples of your past work, and ask them if anything in particular catches their eye.

To get to the bottom of what they want, try starting a discussion about what they don’t want. Are there any particular colors that turn their stomachs? Any fonts that cause headaches?

This might seem uncomfortable at first, but it’s a conversation you need to have before moving forward.

3) “I don’t think our target audience is going to like it.”

It’s safe to assume that your client knows their target audience better than you do, but it can be frustrating to receive unspecific feedback that doesn’t explain why they feel a project is off-brand. If a client seems concerned that a project won’t truly resonate with the right people, ask them to give you some more background on who they’re trying to connect with.

How old is their target demographic? What is their income bracket? Nail down the basics and then dive into specifics: Where does their target demographic like to shop? What do they do for fun? Where do they hang out online? If your client’s business has created buyer personas for their business, ask to discuss them. Buyer personas can be a valuable treasure trove of information about who a company’s intended audience is and what kind of content they will respond to.

4) “Can you make it feel more playful and bubbly?”

Abstract concepts without solid examples and clear instructions are the bane of any agency professional’s existence, and they’re also a sign your project could be headed for disaster. Wishy-washy language simply isn’t capable of holding up the entire weight of your project. It can lead to a problematic lack of alignment on where the project is headed and cause frustration for everyone involved. Your interpretation of “bubbly” could potentially be disastrously different from what the client thinks “bubbly” should be.

When a client starts throwing around a laundry list of adjectives, it’s up to you to find the substance underneath the fluff. Request an example of a design the client thinks is “playful” and “bubbly,” and ask what individual characteristics convey the desired feeling. The client obviously has a specific vision in mind, and it’s your job to figure it out. 

5) “Our CEO came up with a color scheme that we want you to use instead.”

Feedback like this can be a red flag that the client doesn’t quite trust your expertise yet, but don’t let your ego suffer. If a client blindsides you with an abrupt change, it usually means that they’ve been holding it in for a while. Don’t hesitate to ask the client where the change is coming from, and try to keep an open mind about their motivations. It’s possible that they haven’t been happy with the direction of the project and didn’t know how to break it to you.

Respect the suggestion, but don’t be afraid to push back and state the case for your own work, especially if it seems like the client might be headed towards catastrophe without you. If the CEO’s proposed color scheme is puke green and highlighter yellow, explain why that might not be the best choice. Never shut down a client’s suggestion without explaining why you don’t think it would work and most importantly, presenting a better alternative.

6) “It doesn’t look quite finished. It just needs something else to make it really pop.”

The client feels that the current project doesn’t fully match up with the vision in their head, but they don’t have any real idea how to describe it. No matter how many questions you ask, you can never seem to get any specifics from the client. If you’re not careful, you’ll soon find yourself caught in a messy web of tweaks and revisions.

A perpetually dissatisfied client needs some clear expectations set, so remind them of the project’s original plan. Gently explain to them that you’re happy to make changes within the scope of the project, but you need actionable requests.

7) “The project has to capture everything about our brand’s identity — our history, our future, and what we stand for as a company.”

When a client starts asking you to cram every idea under the sun into a single project, it’s a sign that they’re getting overambitious and might be in need of a reality check.

To be successful, a project needs a singular, attainable goal. Projects that try to accomplish too much tend to suffer, since they’ll never fully live up to the client’s inflated expectations. Tame expectations by bringing the client’s focus back to a single, over-arching goal. Use questions that lead the client toward a distilled version of their vision: If this project could accomplish one thing, what would it be? What will be the one indicator that this project was successful?

8) “Can you just change the color quickly? It shouldn’t take any time.”

A client who frequently asks for “quick” favors on a project might be trying to squeeze some free hours out of you, or they may not completely realize that what you do takes time and energy — it can’t be rushed along. 

It’s best to be firm when a client starts to ask for little requests and changes outside the original scope of the project. If you give into one seemingly simple request, you can bet that another will follow. It’s perfectly acceptable to remind the client of your contract’s original terms and point out that the new request falls outside of scope. If they continue to insist that the change is small and won’t take you a long time, provide them with a time/price estimate for the work, and break it down into the steps it will take you to get it done. This will help them see that your work isn’t as simple as they think, and they’ll hopefully start to value your time more. 

9) “Just do whatever you want.”

Contrary to popular belief, designers are not mind readers, nor are they magically capable of spinning up the perfect project without guidance. At first this feedback can seem like an exciting invitation to experiment, but make no mistake: Starting a project without solid expectations and objectives will only lead to pain down the line for both you and the client.

Even if they don’t seem open at first, convince your client to sit down and discuss the project in depth. The client might think they don’t need to be involved at all in the creation process and that they hired a designer to avoid making any executive decisions. Make it clear that you need guidelines to proceed.

10) “I like it.”

Hearing that a client likes your work can feel awesome, but is it helpful? No. Does it give you any guidance on how to move forward with the project? No. 

Even though it’s validating, vague and opinion-based feedback like this doesn’t actually advance the project. For starters, you don’t have any idea what exactly the client likes about the current version. “I like it” doesn’t necessarily mean, “I like each individual element.” You could move forward thinking that the client is infatuated with the bright red color scheme you used, but it turns out that they were actually more excited about the font.

Don’t proceed blindly. When a client says, “I like it,” you need to pinpoint what specific elements they like about it. This will allow you to proceed with the project with a better understanding of their precise preferences. 

11) *silence*

The absolute worst feedback a client can give you is no feedback at all. Silence is not an invitation to keep going on the current path. It’s an indicator you’re dealing with a big communication problem that needs to be addressed.

If a client stops offering comments or communicating regularly, reach out and make it clear that you need feedback to work. Some clients might not understand right away that their feedback is needed on more than just the final proof, so explain that they need to be more involved throughout the process.

Back when I was in business school, just a wee lass interning for a consulting firm, one of my first assignments was to deliver a presentation on the value of social media. I had to prove why something like Twitter was actually of any use in this industry, and explain how we would leverage it to promote our company.

At the time, it was a bit of a tall order. And my presentation was met with a lot of the questions and objections:

• “My line of work is too boring.”
• “I don’t have anything meaningful to contribute.”
• “The people we want to reach aren’t on Twitter.”

Since then, businesses have certainly warmed up to the platform — and some of them have managed to establish a really impressive presence. But there are still a lot of small- to mid-size companies that continue to question the platform’s fit for their businesses.

Some continue to automatically push content to Twitter directly from Facebook — a big no-no in social media automation — while others start an account, only to abandon it a few weeks later.

For those folks, I’ve put together a list of 10 brands that are tweeting out thoughtful insights on some of the most unexpected topics, from bricks to car mats. Despite the unusual products and services they’ve been tasked with marketing, they are finding unique ways to use the platform … and you should take note. (And to learn more about how to succeed on Twitter, download our introductory guide to Twitter for business.)

10 Unexpected Companies to Follow for Twitter Inspiration

1) NYC Sanitation

They say that New York is the place to get the best of everything, and the city’s Department of Sanitation is no exception.

The word “sanitation” doesn’t exactly paint the prettiest mental picture, but the department uses creative images to take away some of the ickier connotations associated with it. For example, check out this graphic they put together to promote their food waste reduction initiative:

These businesses must now separate food scraps (aka organic waste) from other waste. Info: https://t.co/qUSnUGmYYm http://pic.twitter.com/HRsVGOBJnT

— NYC Sanitation (@NYCSanitation)
July 19, 2016

We’d consider this a strong post for a few reasons. For one, tweets with images tend to receive 150% more retweets than those without. Not to mention, the image communicates information in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the user with details — an important factor to consider when creating content for users who might be quickly skimming through their feeds.

NYC Sanitation is also careful not to come off as too authoritative on Twitter, which can be tricky for a local government office. It’s able to establish itself as a source of information, rather than a domineering force, and uses the platform for its own version of customer service.

Check out this exchange with a local resident seeking advice on how to store her compostable scraps before collection day:

@SarRCox Yes! Try putting them in the fridge. Or, line bin w/paper towel or newspaper. Can also use paper towel/newspaper between layers.

— NYC Sanitation (@NYCSanitation)
June 30, 2016

What also strikes us about NYC Sanitation is its ability to illustrate its widespread presence in the community. The department uses Twitter to join existing conversations about something everyone is talking about — without coming off as patronizing or cliché. For example, take this screen capture of a Pokémon Go creature next to a collection bin:

Look who was by a DSNY Organics Collection bin! Learn about organics collection: https://t.co/VSBvvyJ5zb #PokémonGo http://pic.twitter.com/eFapY94L4q

— NYC Sanitation (@NYCSanitation)
July 14, 2016

It shows that there are simple ways for any brand — even one that’s known for trash pickup — to participate in a larger dialogue.

Takeaways for marketers:

• Use images to share key information in a readable format (so people don’t skim past it).
• Don’t be afraid to use Twitter for customer service — your followers expect it.
• Think about how your business relates to something everyone is talking about, then join the conversation.

2) Pine Street Inn

I’ve always had tremendous respect for the number of marketing challenges faced by nonprofits, but with the right efforts, these issues can be overcome. Pine Street Inn, a Boston-based shelter and provider of services to the city’s homeless population, has commanded a Twitter presence with some great takeaways for NPO marketers.

To start, we can’t help but notice how infrequently Pine Street Inn tweets about donation requests. Instead, the organization chooses to indirectly encourage volunteerism or material contributions by giving serious props to corporations and individuals who help out:

It was lovely working with @RueLaLa interns this morning – Thank you for volunteering with us! #endhomelessness http://pic.twitter.com/US77ki7A7E

— Pine Street Inn (@PineStreetInn)
July 26, 2016

It also uses Twitter as a place to share success stories of its past residents or clients. Updates like that show the impact of fundraising, so that followers know exactly how donation dollars are put to use:

GOOD NEWS: Congratulations to Roberta who is moving out of shelter and into housing! Read more here: https://t.co/lLw9lvB76K

— Pine Street Inn (@PineStreetInn)
July 20, 2016

By populating Twitter with this kind of diverse content, followers aren’t as likely to tune out tweets that do pertain to donations. That’s a principle applicable to for-profit businesses, too: When you avoid saturating Twitter with sales pitches, your audience is less likely to ignore them (or unfollow you).

Plus, remember the love Pine Street Inn tweets for its volunteers? According to Nonprofit Tech for Good, those folks make double the fiscal donations as non-volunteers.

Takeaways for marketers:

• Don’t bombard followers with requests for donations, sign-ups, or sales.
• Use images and stories to show how much you value your customers’ business and support, and how it’s making an impact.
• Give props to your customers, followers, or volunteers — they’ll notice, and often reciprocate.

3) WeatherTech

WeatherTech, a maker of weather-proof car mats, is using Twitter to show how nifty (and definitely multi-purpose) automotive accessories can be.

For those of us who are more accident-prone than others — myself included — it might not always be so obvious how helpful a floormat can be after something as routine as grocery shopping. But using tweets like this one, WeatherTech is able to say, “Hey, you! Yeah, the one who spills things in the car. It happens. We’re here to help.”

If you’re having a not so eggcellent start to the week, here’s hoping it turns sunny side up soon! #WTfamily http://pic.twitter.com/dP2AUJXK9n

— WeatherTech (@WeatherTech)
August 1, 2016

WeatherTech also does a good job of working seasonality into its tweets. When something is deemed “seasonal or limited,” writes Mark Macdonald, people are inspired to get it while they can. For that reason, it’s generally a best practice to align your tweets with the time of year. WeatherTech follows that concept with photos to show how its custom-fit car mats come in handy during the summer, when road trips — as well as the sand and food that come with them — reign supreme:

A day at the beach, stays at the beach with WeatherTech. Get the custom-fit protection for your vehicle. http://pic.twitter.com/uPSvPQOwUF

— WeatherTech (@WeatherTech)
July 15, 2016

Another tactic that WeatherTech isn’t afraid to use? Tweeting with cute animals. (Yes, we’re serious.) When a brand is able to connect a bland subject with something adorable, people typically pay attention. (Think: The Budweiser puppy or Heinz’s stampede of wiener dogs.) WeatherTech combines this idea with the seasonality of its tweets in posts like this one:

The Dog Days of summer are here! What do you do to beat the heat? #dogdays http://pic.twitter.com/oMPvjVw6IP

— WeatherTech (@WeatherTech)
July 13, 2016

And this one:

You ask him to wipe his paws at the door & he never listens! Thank goodness for easy to clean WeatherTech doormats! http://pic.twitter.com/aTzl5InfxX

— WeatherTech (@WeatherTech)
June 28, 2016

Takeaways for marketers:

• Show the different (counter-intuitive) ways your products can be used.
• Keep tweets seasonal: how are your products are used during a specific time of year?
• Use cute animals — even better if they’re interacting with your products.

4) Scotch

When was the last time you identified an office supply as “cellophane tape”? Over the years, Scotch Tape has become one of those brand names people use for generic terms — just like Chapstick or Kleenex. But despite the fact that it’s a household name, there are two factors to consider here:

1. Tape isn’t typically a lengthy conversation topic.
2. The brand makes more than just tape.

Scotch has used Twitter to address both items. For example, this tweet visually represents how Scotch products can be applied in many scenarios, like moving:

Why is moving so stressful? Because we improvise. Here are some pro tips from @YouMoveMe. https://t.co/t8wPvdZmLX http://pic.twitter.com/2oPjgOPAej

— Scotch (@ScotchProducts)
July 21, 2016

What makes this tweet effective is how it includes multiple pieces of information in a small, digestible format. With one post, Scotch has accomplished three-in-one communication: The practicality of its products, a link to its website, and a positive customer review.

Scotch also plays into people’s love for visual statistics by incorporating visual content — like this micro-infographic — into their publishing mix:

90% surveyed use their junk drawer a few times a week. Could you survive without one? https://t.co/XaZNqsdYcE http://pic.twitter.com/4JaJarfcFH

— Scotch (@ScotchProducts)
July 1, 2016

Here, Scotch is not only catering to the fact that readers tend to pay closer attention to information-carrying images than they do to plain text on a page, but this post also ties in a relatable element: Honestly, who doesn’t have Scotch Tape in their junk drawer? And tweets that are relatable have been shown to get more engagement.

Let’s do a deeper dive into some of these images, as well as how Scotch curates them to promote its brand. Take a closer look at the colors used in the previous and following image. Do they remind you of anything?

Make beautiful signs for your summertime events with our free, custom-designed printables. https://t.co/qvTvZLRN3E http://pic.twitter.com/oPv0Y4Xd2v

— Scotch (@ScotchProducts)
July 26, 2016

If you answered, “The Scotch logo,” you get an A+. Scotch has achieved consistency by incorporating the color palette associated with its brand into what it shares on social media. And since 80% of consumers say that color boosts their recognition of a brand, these images keep the brand recognizable, even when depicting something other than Scotch’s chief product offering.

Takeaways for marketers:

• Again, use images to communicate information, like statistics. If you can include multiple pieces of information in one image without crowding it with text, even better.
• Make your tweets relatable.
• Maintain brand consistency in the images you tweet (e.g., by making the dominant colors the same as those in your logo).

5) TigerChef

It’s no secret that B2B marketers can borrow techniques from their B2C peers. TigerChef, a restaurant supplier, follows that advice by taking advantage of what it has in common with the general public: An obsession with food.

For example, food trucks have been an infatuation-du-jour for a few years now. TigerChef recognizes that growth and uses it to create blog content. Then, it uses Twitter to direct visitors there, like in this tweet:

Is opening a #foodtruck on your bucket list? Our #blog has all you need to know to get started! #dreambig https://t.co/cB19wu4xh5

— TigerChef (@TigerChef)
July 20, 2016

Check out the language used above: It’s geared toward a target audience. TigerChef makes products primarily for chefs and restaurant owners, both seasoned and aspiring. With this tweet, the brand is able to attract two types of culinary professionals: Pros who have been buying these supplies for a while and want to explore the food truck market, and industry newcomers who are starting out there.

Here’s another key lesson from the B2C camp: Twitter can be used for customer service by B2B brands, too. When this French bakery received a defective product, TigerChef was able to respond more quickly via Twitter and send a free replacement, publicly ending its interaction with the customer on a positive note.

@TigerChef Thank you for your help!

— BonAppetitFrenchBake (@BonApetitFrBkry)
July 26, 2016

Takeaways for marketers:

• If you’re B2B, don’t be afraid to borrow some Twitter best practices from B2C brands. Take something people are obsessed with — like food — and make it relevant to your brand and target audience.

6) Northcot Bricks

In the English language, there are a few human qualities ascribed to a pile of bricks. “Sexy” is not one of them. But at the same time, bricks surround most of us for the majority of the day. That’s something we tend to take for granted.

Northcot, a 90-year-old British brickmaker, uses Twitter to bring that to our attention. (See? You’re never too old to tweet.) The following tweet succeeds in highlighting the beautiful architecture that was achieved using a commonly overlooked product: bricks.

A bit of #brick detailing makes all the difference! @BricksUK @eaglesandrew Northcot’s Stratford Mellow handmade. http://pic.twitter.com/gSqtvGfxs5

— Northcot Brick (@NorthcotBrick)
May 5, 2016

This serves as a good takeaway for businesses who aren’t sure where to begin with Twitter. If you don’t know what to say, think about the ways people interact with your product daily, and might not even realize it.

Northcot has also figured out how to share the social love. Here, the brand tweets its congratulations to an architecture firm:

Congratulations @johnpardey_jpa This excellent project uses Northcot’s Stratford Antique handmade #bricks! @BricksUK https://t.co/IVqikuQEcs

— Northcot Brick (@NorthcotBrick)
July 8, 2016

How does that benefit Northcot? It draws attention to the fact that its bricks were used to create an award-winning design project.

Twitter can be a valuable relationship-building tool in that way, by nurturing and drawing attention to connections with brands that can potentially use and promote a business.

Retweeting other brands can achieve something similar. This retweet shows how other brands and people engage with Northcot. Plus, it shows that the brand isn’t afraid to have fun; it’s a reminder that brickmaking largely consists of playing with clay. And who doesn’t want to do that on a Wednesday afternoon?

Great afternoon with the team @NorthcotBrick having a go at making a handmade brick! http://pic.twitter.com/9E95MdCLh8

— EHSmithArchClay (@EHSmithArchClay)
July 13, 2016

Just be sure not to retweet every tweet that mentions your brand. At that point, it starts to look like you’re showing off.

Takeaways for marketers:

• Even if you think your products are boring, think about how people come across them on a daily basis. Tweet out photos to remind your audience of that.
• Shout out to other brands on Twitter, especially if they used your product to create something notable.
• Retweet other brands, especially if it depicts them interacting with yours.

7) John Deere

Farming equipment never looked so cool. John Deere is one of those brands that has mastered Twitter in a way that makes people look at tractors differently.

For example, here’s a great example of how a branded hashtag can create long-term engagement, when done well. For over three years, users have been uploading images labeled with #DeereSighting (a branded play on words) to show how they interact with John Deere’s products:

In good company. #DeereSighting from Laurcen W. http://pic.twitter.com/BLSIXw7Urc

— John Deere (@JohnDeere)
July 28, 2016

Pile it up. #DeereSighting by Corey B. http://pic.twitter.com/0SO4RG080a

— John Deere (@JohnDeere)
July 26, 2016

Here’s what’s neat about branded hashtags. First, tweets with hashtags get twice the engagement as those without. Let’s say someone has followed John Deere for a while, but hasn’t thought to mention it on social media. Just by clicking #DeereSighting, that person sees how others show their love for John Deere in a fun way.

And remember that image lesson from Scotch — the one that says color boosts brand recognition for a vast majority of consumers? Notice that this picture doesn’t even contain a picture of an actual tractor. It’s a lovely, floral tribute to mothers, but it still carries the identifiable green and yellow colors associated with the iconic John Deere logo:

It’s true that April showers bring May flowers, just in time for mom. #DeereSighting by Niki B. http://pic.twitter.com/wTd9lMLf2L

— John Deere (@JohnDeere)
May 8, 2016

We also noticed that John Deere’s isn’t using Twitter to stray from the farm, so to speak. Rather, it’s paying tribute to what the business is known best for — tractors — and highlighting that legacy in unexpected ways.

In this tweet, the brand is acknowledging the important role that young engineers will play in the company’s future. Tweets like these send a message that says, “We’re adapting to change, but we’re still the reliable brand you’ve always known.”

Intern Spotlight: Michael a @txst Electrical Engineering student, is a Product Engineer Intern this summer in Fargo. http://pic.twitter.com/nHGIsDzUbi

— John Deere (@JohnDeere)
July 20, 2016

Takeaways for marketers:

• Create a branded hashtag that encourages your followers to start a conversation about your products.
• If your business is a bit older, use Twitter to let followers know that you’re adaptable to change, but can still preserve your brand’s legacy.

8) Niagara Conservation

Remember that earlier statistic on hashtags, and how much they can boost engagement? Niagara Conservation, a maker of water-saving toilets, shows that those numbers don’t lie. I personally discovered the brand when someone I follow on Twitter used its very eye-catching hashtag: #WhatTheFlush.

Using the toilet is one of those things that we’re taught not to discuss openly, let alone announce on social media. But in an era where 40% of young adults say they use social media when nature calls, Niagara Conservation has leveraged Twitter in a way that gets people to broadcast their business, along with its environmental and financial implications.

When you’re partying bc it’s the 1st day of summer but then u remember we’re in a soul-sucking drought #WhatTheFlush http://pic.twitter.com/iDRqTRP24U

— Niagara Conservation (@NiagaraCnsvtion)
June 20, 2016

Niagara Conservation achieves a really interesting balance with its tweets. The topics are usually crucial, like natural resource depletion. But the brand is able to effectively use humor to make these subjects more approachable, and even resonate with followers more than they might have otherwise. The drought is a serious problem. Water wastage is a serious problem. And this cat on a toilet isn’t messing around:

Yeah, we’re shocked by how much water your toilet uses too. #HelpSaveWaterhttps://t.co/6CRTJ5cZyF http://pic.twitter.com/Hq4G7vGKuR

— Niagara Conservation (@NiagaraCnsvtion)
July 22, 2016

Another way Niagara Conservation creates a mass appeal is by addressing something everyone wants to do: Save money. (Just look how many articles come up for a search on “how to save money on Twitter.”) That’s another great use for Twitter: To highlight the benefits of your products — like how they can help your budget — in a condensed, digestible format.

Niagara is able to achieve that with the example below. It also avoids a doom-and-gloom approach to the primary intention of its product — to solve a global water shortage — and instead uses a cartoon to illustrate how this special toilet is financially beneficial.

The best parts of your water bill being cut by 60%? Saving the environment AND having extra money for #tacotuesday. http://pic.twitter.com/Dz059hsZUq

— Niagara Conservation (@NiagaraCnsvtion)
July 12, 2016

And by the way, that dancing taco isn’t messing around, either.

Takeaways for marketers:

• Highlight the benefits of your product that most people seek when researching brands, like how it will save them money.
• Inject humor into certain topics to make them more approachable. (Note: Tread lightly, as to avoid coming off as insensitive or offensive.)

9) Roland Berger

Management consulting is one of those lines of work that, when talked about, can quickly cure insomnia. It’s also overrun with stereotypes (I’ll never forget this 1998 Dilbert cartoon that breaks down the word “consult” as a combination of “con” and “insult”).

But Roland Berger, a Munich-based management consulting firm, is using Twitter to reshape the perception of its industry. It uses the platform to answer some of the most common questions about management consulting, like “Why?” — namely, why talented people choose this line of work. And by accompanying their answers with rich colors and visuals — which are said to increase a person’s willingness to read a piece of content by 80% — the firm invites users to engage with them:

Why #consulting? Hear it straight from our people. https://t.co/QWwUsP2yBz

— Roland Berger (@RolandBerger)
June 24, 2016

At risk of sounding like a broken record, it’s worth pointing out the color scheme. The use of blue in these images fits into the brand consistency we keep mentioning, complementing the brand’s logo and creating a sense of cohesiveness throughout its Twitter presence. But there’s a lot of psychology behind color, too. Roland Berger mostly uses blue, which is known to invoke brand trust.

Evolutionary or revolutionary – How can #chemical companies master the #digital maze? https://t.co/OPD1gJnNkk http://pic.twitter.com/lp2RgkVDB7

— Roland Berger (@RolandBerger)
July 27, 2016

There’s also a clear call-to-action in the tweet below: “Explore our new website.” Using actionable language in Tweets has been known to boost engagement, especially when used with a bold, attention-grabbing image. The word “download,” for example, is particularly effective: when used correctly, it’s shown an 11% increase in clicks.

Evolutionary or revolutionary – How can #chemical companies master the #digital maze? https://t.co/OPD1gJnNkk http://pic.twitter.com/lp2RgkVDB7

— Roland Berger (@RolandBerger)
July 27, 2016

Takeaways for marketers:

• Create myth-busting content about your line of business, then tweet it out with rich colors and visuals.
• Understand the psychology of color, and design your Twitter visuals accordingly.
• Include a clear call-to-action in your tweets.

10) Poo~Pourri

Yes, another toilet-themed brand. I know.

From the beginning, Poo~Pourri has managed to un-taboo poo, especially for its target female audience. That makes its presence on this particular platform imperative, as 21% of online women use Twitter.

#IfYourDayIsBadAlwaysRemember The toilet has it worse. http://pic.twitter.com/Lj4zMfiBCg

— Poo~Pourri (@PooPourri)
July 28, 2016

Since joining Twitter in 2009, Poo~Pourri has achieved a type of brand authenticity that is unapologetically honest and, for its 14,300+ followers, relatable. Just look at this exchange with one follower:

@fun_fresh_ideas Sh*t happens. DM us your address, and we will send you some more! 😉 http://pic.twitter.com/2HiHNEcamG

— Poo~Pourri (@PooPourri)
July 25, 2016

While, the customer above didn’t actually request a product replacement, and the incident described wasn’t the brand’s fault, that didn’t stop Poo~Pourri from going above and beyond to make that customer happy.

Most of Poo~Pourri’s responses to followers are tailored to their recipients in this way. And while many of them are inherently hilarious, they’re also really smart: People who have a personalized customer service experience on Twitter are 83% more likely to be satisfied.

Imagine if Poo~Pourri’s service was limited to phone or email? It’s highly unlikely that the customer would have shared this story through either of those methods, and the brand wouldn’t have been aware of it. So here’s a stellar example of a golden social media rule: An active and involved Twitter presence creates a huge opportunity for brands to delight customers.

Takeaways for marketers:

• Know your audience, and don’t be afraid to start a conversation about something they might be too shy to bring up.
• Even if it’s not your fault, use Twitter to improve a customer’s less-than-positive experience with your products.
• Personalize your Twitter interactions with customers.

What are your favorite brands on Twitter? Share with us in the comments.

As businesses adopt inbound marketing and generate more and more leads, the need for an effective lead nurturing strategy becomes clear very quickly.

After all, 50% of leads aren’t ready to buy at the time of first conversion, so lead nurturing — especially through email — is the smartest way for marketers like us to reach them.

Why is email is the most powerful channel for lead nurturing? Because it’s a one-on-one interaction, and it can be highly personalized based on where a lead is in the buyer’s journey. In terms of engagement, research shows that lead nurturing emails beat out individual email blasts by far.

So, how do you get started with email drip campaigns? Check out the infographic below from Eliv8 for five email drip campaign ideas that’ll help you increase engagement and sales. (And read this post for even more ideas for automated email workflows you can set up to engage and activate the different contacts in your database.)

What other email drip campaign ideas can you add to this list? Share with us in the comments.

From checking Facebook over coffee to ordering the lunch via the Seamless app to replying to customer feedback on Twitter, so much of our world is powered by code. Most companies, even if they’re not in the software business, need some kind technology to help them successfully run their companies.

It’s those marketers who have a basic understanding of a coding language, like HTML, that have a huge opportunity to set themselves apart and drive real value for their businesses through impactful content and campaigns.

For startup marketers looking for simple tools and resources to make themselves an even more effective and efficient marketer, Flatiron School is teaming up with HubSpot next Wednesday to host a webinar that will help startups learn:

• How coding ability can be leveraged in digital marketing
• What resources are available to marketers who want to learn to code
• How can coding abilities can be advantageous within the HubSpot software

Want to tune in? Here are the details:

Who: HubSpot for Startups & Flatiron School

When: August 9th at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT

Click here to register for this live webinar.

“Non-creative behavior is learned.” – George Land

In one of the most frequently cited studies on creativity, NASA-backed researcher George Land evaluated a group of kindergarten-aged children using a simple creativity assessment he’d designed to identity divergent thinking in engineers. 

What he discovered continues to surprise people today.

A staggering 98% of his 5-year-old subjects scored at the genius level in divergent thinking. To see if the results would change with age, Land continued to test the same subjects against the same criteria as they progressed into adulthood, reporting his findings in his 1968 book Breakpoint and Beyond: Mastering the Future Today.

Once the same group reached adulthood, only 2% of the subjects scored at the same genius level they had in childhood. 

So if creative behavior rapidly diminishes as we grow up, is there no hope of recapturing some of the creative genius of our youth?

Many studies support the idea that strengthening our creative muscles is indeed possible. Contrary to popular thought, creativity is a learned process, rather than a fixed personality trait. Certain conscious behaviors and methodical mindsets can increase our ability to approach and solve problems with divergent thinking and improve our creative dexterity. These five research-backed strategies can benefit anyone who feels stuck in a creative rut and is looking for a way out.

5 Research-Backed Methods to Be More Creative

1) Stop typecasting yourself. Use a growth mindset instead.

When children are very young, they begin to unconsciously construct narratives around their perceived personalities that will eventually become calcified aspects of their identities.

For instance, if we notice Jane enjoys talking more than listening, we might label her as “chatty” or “extroverted.” Jane’s parents and teachers will continue to reinforce this specific vision of Jane’s extroversion, and eventually, Jane will come to believe that being a talkative, poor listener is a static part of who she is. She won’t give herself the chance to truly develop her listening skills, and she’ll continue to perform this seemingly fixed personality into adulthood.

Pigeonholing personalities isn’t anyone’s fault. In fact, it’s just the way we’re wired to make ourselves feel more comfortable and at ease with the world. But leaning on the idea that our strengths and traits are permanently anchored to our identities is detrimental to creativity. If we think we’re not capable of creative thinking, we won’t allow ourselves the time and practice needed to build creative skills. Cultivating a more creative mind requires shrugging off these rigid expectations and treating ourselves instead as constant works in progress.

That’s where a growth mindset comes in. In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck writes:

“In the fixed mindset, everything is about the outcome. If you fail—or if you’re not the best—it’s all been wasted. The growth mindset allows people to value what they’re doing regardless of the outcome. They’re tackling problems, charting new courses, working on important issues. Maybe they haven’t found the cure for cancer, but the search was deeply meaningful.”

When you aren’t fixated on results or limited by assumptions of what you’re supposed to be good or bad at, you can approach problems in unconventional ways without the fear of not living up to expectations.

2) Pretend it’s someone else’s problem. 

When a friend or colleague asks for your input on a problem they’re facing, it turns out you’re actually likely to approach the problem more creatively than you would if the problem was your own.

This is what Cornell researchers Evan Polman and Kyle J. Emich assert in their article Decisions for Others Are More Creative Than Decisions for the Self. As part of their psychological study, they divided participants into two groups. Both groups were tasked with drawing an alien — one group was told that they were drawing the alien for a story that they would later write themselves, and the other group was told the alien would be for a story someone else would write.

The participants who thought they were designing an alien for someone else produced much more creative aliens. In this case, creativity was judged by how divergent from animals existing on Earth the aliens were: Did the artists step outside of their knowledge of what existing creatures look like to create something with characteristics not found on Earth?

When you’re trapped in your own perspective, you rely only on your own expertise and experiences to approach situations. When you tackle problems on behalf of someone else, you’re more likely to step outside of your usual structured approach and view things in a new way.

So how can you actually put this theory of psychological distance in action? When you find yourself suffering from a creative block, try to detach from your existing knowledge of a situation and pretend you’re working on the problem for someone else. If you don’t attach your whole identity to the task at hand, you’ll be able to think more abstractly and avoid falling back on solutions you’ve already tried before.

3) Expose yourself to more diversity of any kind.

Think of each of your life experiences like a dot that gets stored in your mind. When two of these dots connect, they form a new idea. The more unique dots you have floating around, the more opportunity you have to spontaneously connect two seemingly unrelated things to create something new and unexpected.

This is the case for surrounding yourself with a high volume of diverse people, places, and things throughout your life, increasing the probability for unexpected connections and innovation.

A 2006 study led by Standford professor Marguerite Rigoglioso found that people working in groups with members from different political, economic, and racial backgrounds were more effective creative problem solvers than those working in homogenous groups.

And it wasn’t just that they had different opinions to bring to the table — the study found that when people were asked to work with people who were different than them, they were forced to think about their own opinions from a different perspective, and they had to be prepared to intellectually defend themselves in a new way.

In homogenous groups, members assumed that everyone shared their opinions, so they didn’t expend much effort defending themselves or looking for holes in their own arguments. This ultimately led to much fewer creative outcomes in the homogenous groups.

An easy way to increase the diversity to which you’re exposed on a daily basis is to take up a hobby that challenges you to step outside of your area of expertise, or make some connections with people who don’t work in your field.

If you spend all day working with people who validate your existing mindset without challenging you or forcing you to look at your opinions from a new angle, you’re likely to get stuck in a cycle of the same ideas. Getting an outsider’s perspective can produce valuable creative insights. 

4) Impose restrictions.

While it may seem counterintuitive, introducing a set of boundaries to your next creative endeavor may actually lead to more surprising and out-of-the-box ideas. When you’re required to play by a pre-defined set of rules, your mind is forced out of its comfort zone and pushed to adapt in new ways.

This phenomenon was confirmed by a study from the University of Amsterdam, which found that people exposed to narrowly-defined and restrictive challenges were put in a better mindset for divergent thinking. For the study, the participants were broken up into two groups: One group was presented with a computer game maze with virtually no challenges or obstacles, while the other group was given a complex maze that required much more advanced problem-solving skills to escape. 

After the maze challenge, both groups were given the same word association test as a way to test their creative problem-solving ability. The group that had just completed the maze with more restrictions was significantly more successful at coming up with creative word associations as they had been forced into a creative mindset by the rule-heavy puzzle.

“Tough obstacles can prompt people to open their minds, look at ‘the big picture,’ and make connections between things that are not obviously connected,” wrote Matthew May in the Harvard Business Review.

If you find yourself stuck on your next project, consider warming up with a restrictive challenge. Give yourself some clear rules and see what you’re capable of.

5) Consider alternatives to problems that have already been solved.

When the Wright Brothers set out to design a practical flying machine that could take off in most weather conditions, they focused on three-axis controls and a powerful motor. Their idea obviously really took off, but was it the only way of solving the problem?

Counterfactual thinking is essentially the exercise of discovering alternative solutions to problems that already seem to have obvious answers. Usually once a solution to a particular problem has been found, we assume that the book is closed on the subject. Counterfactual thinking asks the question “what could have been instead?”

Through their research on the subject, professors Kai Epstude and Neal J. Roese were able to prove that this approach to problem solving significantly “enhances performance in creative idea generation tasks.” They found that additive counterfactual thinking — where a person imagines an alternative solution to a problem by incorporating additional elements — leads to more creative responses.

Asking questions that start to deconstruct assumed truths puts your brain in a mindset to break out of your usual patterns and come up with something new. Although it might seem uncomfortable or even silly at first, try to push through it. You’re basically giving your brain permission to question foundational knowledge — which won’t feel natural — but the shove into uncharted territory will spark innovative new insights. 

To add a dose of counterfactual thinking to your own life, consider formulating alternative solutions to famous works in your field. If you’re stuck on a logo design, try sketching out an alternative to a famous logo, such as McDonald’s golden arches, as an exercise to get yourself in a more creative frame of mind. Then, consider the implications for the brand.

Video is one of the most discussed marketing tools around, and certainly one of the most hyped. Cisco estimates that it will comprise 82% of all web traffic by 2020. And as the head of an inbound marketing agency with an in-house video department, I’ve seen first-hand the power of video. Our clients have used it to raise millions in funding, reduce homepage bounce rates by around 80%, and generate more leads than they know what to do with.

I’ve also seen companies foul it up beyond all recognition, wasting time, money, and effort on something that was never, ever going to work. Why?

It’s simple. Many don’t know that if video content is going to capture hearts, minds, stomachs, pituitary glands, and everything else, it can’t just exist – it needs to be done well. Naturally, doing it well isn’t always easy. If you hope to push the boundaries with video content, you’ll need to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons – and that you’re taking the right approach.

Before you even think about commissioning that animation or TV advert, you’ll want to follow these six key steps.

1) Set an objective

A video that doesn’t have a clear business purpose is a video that should never have been made. And no, “my closest business rival made one” isn’t a clear business purpose, and neither is “I have some marketing budget left and I might as well”.

Your video should be designed to add value to the company in some way or another – and to do that, you need to set a specific, defined objective. Want your target audience to fill out a contact form? Invest in your business? Buy a bunch of things? Pledge unquestioning fealty and devotion?

Whatever it is, figure it out before you get moving. A video that doesn’t have a purpose is nothing more than a vanity project.

2) Explain why you need video to achieve it

This one’s fairly self-explanatory. Quality video is expensive, and for good reason. You’re potentially paying for directors, producers, actors, camera operators, runners, animators, state-of-the-art equipment, editing, special effects, music – any combination of the foregoing and more.

Why a video? What can this kind of content achieve that a blog can’t? If there’s a way to achieve comparable results without a video – a print ad, an e-mail marketing campaign, or a light seasoning of PR, for example – you should investigate that instead. A penny saved is a penny that wasn’t wasted on something pointless and terrible.

3) Manage your HiPPOs (highest paid person’s opinion)

Lower-paid employees tend to defer to team members with higher status and salary when decisions have to be made. After all, if they didn’t know what they were doing, would they have ascended to such lofty heights?

The HiPPO – “highest paid person’s opinion” – can be troublesome. Look, your boss may be good at a whole heap of things. They may even be as creative as they think they are. But there’s a good chance that they aren’t part of your target audience, and there’s a near-100% chance that they don’t know anything about video production (most people don’t!).

Don’t get me wrong: it’s a collaborative process and it’s worth listening to anyone who has constructive feedback. But when one voice becomes dominant, it threatens creative integrity and dilutes the potential of your production.

A rampaging HiPPO – and please, don’t ever call your boss this to their face – is a dangerous beast indeed. Respect their counsel, but keep them in check wherever possible.

4) Don’t make decisions by committee

You know the story of the Little Red Hen? Production is often the exact opposite of that: everybody wants to get involved with the baking, and nobody wants anything to do with the results.

Again, this isn’t to say that other people’s voices should go unheeded. But when everyone from the sales manager to the HR director to the CEO to the janitorial team are getting involved, you’ve got a problem on your hands. The process invariably becomes less about the message, and more about not offending anyone – and your video becomes the creative equivalent of a dry saltine.

You can’t afford to make a boring video. You can’t even afford to make a good video. If it’s not going to be unequivocally great, it’s not worth doing. Get the key stakeholders involved – and no one else.

5) Take charge

In the spirit of not making everyone happy, it’s worth taking the initiative when it comes to commissioning your video and driving the production process. The best way to avoid a boring, box-ticking, HR-friendly, glorified PowerPoint presentation is to assume responsibility for it. While you should seek input and advice where appropriate, don’t be afraid to take a little heat for your decisions – as long as they aren’t completely inexplicable and unjustifiable.

Better to ask forgiveness than permission!

6) Work with Professionals

By this I mean three things:

1. Nobody will blame you for not knowing what you’re doing: you’re not an expert in video production. Just make sure whoever you hire is.
2. You can’t leave everything to your chosen agency or production company. They’ll need information and support, and you should do all you can to provide it. Be responsive and give the process as much time as it deserves.
3. It’s not you against them. Nobody wants to make a bad video, and your production company least of all: they’re in it for the potential case study as much as your money.

A single, seemingly inconsequential decision can harm your video irreparably. It probably won’t, of course, but you’ll be facing hundreds of them throughout the production, and if you want to make something that truly stands out, you’ll give each one the attention it deserves.

That means putting some thought and energy into it, and seeking the advice of your production company wherever appropriate. They don’t push back just to be awkward: they usually do it for very good reason. At no point should you ever give anyone any opportunity to say “I told you so.” It annoys you, it doesn’t help the production, and it’s apt to make people insufferably smug.

Producing the right result

It’s important to note that simply following these steps isn’t an assurance of success. A great production depends on a variety of different factors, some of which you’re completely powerless to affect (it’s always worth remembering that the internet’s most popular video content is often completely inexplicable).

But if you put the requisite effort into it, if you collaborate productively with a qualified agency, and if you give the project the attention and resources it needs, you’ve got every chance of creating a boundary-pushing – hell, boundary-shattering – video.

If your product team is working on the next big thing, there ought to be an equally awesome launch plan in the works to accompany it. 

While some companies are guilty of drafting a press release, crossing their fingers, and hoping that the users will come, there’s actually much more to it than that.

Quite simply: If you have big news, you need a big plan. And that’s where the product launch comes in. From establishing the proper messaging and creating the assets to enabling your sales team and keeping momentum, there’s a lot that goes into putting together a solid product launch plan.

At HubSpot, I work on the product marketing team, and we’re responsible for launching all of HubSpot’s new products. Our experience has shown us that there are three distinct phases of a product launch: pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. Let’s walk through them below.

18 Foolproof Product Launch Tips

Pre-Launch

Before you launch, take the time to get really close to the product. Work with your product team to understand the problem they are trying to solve. Join them as they do users tests. Chat with them about their product philosophy. And most of all, ask a ton of questions — especially if you’re not familiar with the space.

Focus on understanding their vision and becoming a product expert. Outside of the product manager, the marketer launching the product should be the most knowledgeable person at your company about that product.

1) Research the space in-depth.

At most companies, the product manager will own the problem that the product solves. They’ll have a deep understanding of who the end user is and what their unique needs are.

The product marketer’s job is to understand the market. They must be able to answer questions like:

• What’s the larger narrative around this space?
• How do current customers feel about it?
• What do people like and dislike?
• Is it growing and cutting edge or old and getting disrupted?
• What are the leading strategies and tactics in this space?
• What is your company’s unique point of view when it comes to this space?
• How does your new product fit in?

2) Focus on a single buyer persona.

You may not need to reinvent an existing buyer persona, but you should outline who amongst your target audience is a great fit for this new product. What kind of challenges do they have? How do they work? How big is there team? Talk to people who fit this profile to really understand their needs and goals.

If you need help organizing this information, check out these buyer persona templates or this handy tool.

3) Write a mock press release.

At HubSpot, we write a mock press release before we launch a product. We do this very early on in the product’s life to ensure that everyone involved in the launch is aligned on the messaging.

To give you a better sense of how this exercise unfolds, here’s an example: 

But we’re not the only ones practicing this approach. In fact, the folks at Amazon use this exercise, too. The idea is that when you work backwards and start with the press release, it’s easier to put yourself in the customer’s shoes.

If the press release doesn’t sound very interesting or fails to conjure a reaction, it’s likely that there’s more work to be done.

(Need some help getting started here? Check out these free press release templates.)

4) Build your messaging — but don’t marry it.

Messaging or positioning is mostly about refining your product narrative to focus on only the most valuable aspects of the new product via a simple message.

This is tough.

Most product people have the urge to communicate how great individual features are –something you want avoid in launch messaging. At launch, you may only have someone’s attention for a few minutes or seconds, so your messaging needs to be persuasive, simple and unique. It needs to communicate what your product actually does and communicate its high-level value.

You want to get this right, but don’t over commit to messaging. It can (and should) change as you share your messaging with internal folks and customers.

Elements of good position often include:

• A tagline
• The problem it solves
• A list of core features
• The value prop
• A 10-word positioning statement

In the screen shot above you can see some of these elements in action on the HubSpot Ads product page.

5) Share your messaging with everyone.

It’s time to take the messaging you’ve been slaving over and get it in front of your coworkers, customers, and prospects.

This is often the least fun part of a product launch. Mainly because no matter how good your positioning is, it takes time to get the pitch down, and not everyone will get it.

It’s good to start with individuals who may be a little more forgiving and honest before presenting to executives. Use every meeting to pitch people and ask questions. You want to gather as much info as possible here and root out any confusing or bad messages.

6) Get involved in the beta.

Having a group of beta testers evaluate your product before you release it to the public is a really important step. At HubSpot, we release products to a group of folks — our beta testers — that have opted-in to give us feedback in exchange for early access.

If your company does this, make sure you are talking to the customers using the tool in the beta. Capture their stories, review their performance, and validate your value prop with them. This is your opportunity to test your messaging and build real-world proof to support your pitch with an audience that is ready to share feedback.

7) Change your messaging and find the best hook.

After talking to prospects and salespeople, and seeing how beta users use the product, it’s likely that you’ve uncovered a thing or two about your messaging that you might want to adjust. That’s good.

If you’ve done things right, this won’t mean drastic changes, but most likely a tweak to the value prop or tagline.

8) Set ambitious goals.

You need to be deliberate and ambitious with the goals you set, and that can be challenging when you have a new product without benchmarks. To combat that, we ask the question: “If everything went exactly right, what is the highest possible number — whether that be leads, users, etc. — we could achieve?”

This sets a ceiling for your campaign — a number that is realistically almost never achieved.

If I project that the highest possible number of leads the campaign can generate is 500, and I end up with 450, I know we got just about everything right. If I generate 550 leads, it means I probably didn’t do a great job of setting a realistic ceiling. And if we only generate 300 leads, we know some tactics didn’t work at all.

The image below can be a useful slide as part of your go-to-market plan:

9) Take the time to get the market ready.

If you’re launching a new product that enters your company into a new space — potentially a space where your company doesn’t have a ton of authority — start creating content about that space pre-launch.

You’ll want to seed this content for SEO purposes and to establish your company as experts in the market. It’ll also give you a chance to see what kind of content resonates prior to the launch, as well as help you surface any issues.

10) Build compelling creative assets.

At this point, you’re close to launch and it’s time to start building launch assets. But before you start writing emails or building landing pages, think about the customer journey:

• How do people make purchase decisions in your space?
• What do they need before buying?
• Is it a free trial? A demo?
• Is it best for them to talk to a sales person?
• What do they need to know before they get to that point?

Once you’ve answered those questions, outline your conversion path. How will you first get people’s attention? Perhaps it’s and email, that drives people to a landing page, where users are encouraged to fill out a form.

Once you have this, get to work building the actual forms, site pages, videos, social posts, emails and other tactics that will drive users down your funnel and to your conversion point.

(If you’re looking for inspiration, check out this list of the best promotional product videos we’ve ever seen.)

11) Assemble your go-to-market strategy.

All the elements I’ve mentioned should come together in a deck or a doc — something that is clear, complete, and easily shareable.

This is your go-to-market guide: A holistic document of all launch activities, planning, and goals. This can include pricing recommendations, market research, competitive analysis, and any other relevant information you might need.

Launch

This phase is much shorter than pre-launch: it can take a day, or a week — depending on how long you feel you need. As you prepare to move on to the launch, you want to stay focused on the execution and be ready to put out any fires.

12) Choose the right channels.

During the planning phase you should have outlined the channels you want to use to share your message. This is not a “the more the merrier” sort of thing — a mistake new product marketers often make.

Be sure to avoid channels where the audience may not be the right fit. Pick one main channel — an event, a Product Hunt post, or blog post — and use email, social, paid, and other channels to support that main post.

For example, earlier this year HubSpot re-launched Website Grader on Product Hunt. We choose Product Hunt because it serves as a great way for startups and technology companies to introduce new products to a community of product-centric influencers.

17) Revisit your “go-to-market” doc for reporting.

With all the work that’s going into launch, you don’t want to have to retroactively figure out what to report on. If you’ve done a good job with your go-to-market doc, you should be able to create a new slide and fill in your results with real numbers.

Once you’ve had a little more time away from your launch, spend some time to analyze the results. Where did you campaign succeed and fail? What did you not anticipate? What did you learn? Post these to your internal wiki or as a public blog post.

18) Shift your focus on retention.

Now that you’ve successfully launched a new product, shift your attention to retention. Marketing can generally play a bigger role in driving new users, but it’s important to work with your product team to figure out how you can help keep those users around.

This means more ongoing education like post-launch product webinars, as well as sharing case studies and success stories to show your users what they can achieve with your product.

What did I miss here? What sort of product launch lessons have you learned? Share your ideas below.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2013 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

Let’s face it: 2016 (so far) has brought about a number of shocks, surprises, and setbacks for businesses — from stock market instability to events like Brexit. And as a result, it’s likely that many people are likely feeling a little less certain about their strategies than they did a year ago.

Now, I’m not suggesting this heralds the return of the wartime CEO, but a lack of certainty always forces business leaders and marketers to look at ways they can add more predictability to their organisations. They want to increase operational efficiency so no spend goes to waste, but also balance this by investing in sales and growth.

Thankfully there’s an existing playbook marketers can follow to help navigate uncertainty. Below you’ll find five smart ways that marketers can think ahead during times of transition and change.

5 Smart Ways Marketers Can Prepare for Unexpected Changes

1) Double down on testing.

If your competitors are tightening their belts and scaling back marketing investments, use this to your advantage by doubling down on testing. The most effective marketing leaders encourage a culture of testing within their teams and run experiments to A/B test and optimise activity at every stage of the marketing funnel. Doing this helps to improve the operational efficiency across the board.

Using a marginal gains approach you can and should run a number of small tests to see which variants — from website copy to landing page design — perform better.

At HubSpot, the conversion rate optimization (CRO) team continually runs tests to improve upon our existing efforts and identify new solutions for the future. A few recent examples include:

• The historical blog optimization project which increased organic search views of old blog posts by an average of 106%
• A series of technical SEO updates which increased organic traffic by over 50% in just one month.

And the best part? We didn’t need to invest in the creation of new content.

Others may see uncertainty as a reason to pause or cut investments, but you should consider it an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of what moves the needle on your marketing efforts.

If you’re looking for A/B testing inspiration, work your way through these conversion optimization case studies or check out this handy A/B testing checklist.

2) Focus on the value in your value proposition.

In uncertain times, many organisations look to curb spending on nonessential items. This makes clearly communicating the value your product creates to prospects and clients more important than ever.

Developing your product’s value proposition is both part art and science. You need to craft compelling copy, but also test different versions to see which works best. While it can be tempting to focus on product features, always bring it back to the job to be done and what the end-user values most, such as helping them do something faster or better, or by enabling the user to make more money.

Amazon is well known for making developers draft a product’s hypothetical press release and FAQ announcement before even a line of code is written. This helps the company to fully define the product’s value proposition and how it will be pitched to customers.

Here are three examples of very different businesses that effectively communicate their value proposition to give you a better sense of how to approach this:

Stripe

Stripe spells out exactly what its product is, who it is aimed at, and the value it generates. Ecommerce and online payments are notoriously complex industries with high barriers to entry, but Stripe shows how it enables developers to quickly and easily get businesses set up to send and receive money online.

Tortuga Backpacks

The value proposition communicated by Tortuga Backpacks is that its backpacks make traveling easier. This is important to its target persona — urban travelers who value convenience and want to avoid checking their luggage — which adds cost and an unwanted visit to the luggage carousel.

Unbounce

The value proposition here has two clear strands. First up, Unbounce mentions that marketers can use its product to build, publish, and A/B test landing pages — activities that help marketers generate results that create value for their business. Secondly, marketers can achieve this without the help of IT, which highlights how the product saves both time and money.

How do you position your products and services? We recommend partnering with your product and sales leaders to define your product’s “must have” value proposition.

Want to see some more examples of effective value propositions? Take a look at this post, or this one from IMPACT Branding & Design.

3) Invest in predictable lead generation.

All businesses need to sell their products or services so they can generate revenue to grow and invest in the future. But in order to sell effectively and hit quota each month, sales organisations need a pipeline of leads.

To that end, marketing teams run programs that create a consistent pipeline of high volume, quality leads. But what’s the most effective way to generate leads and customers?

For one, investing in the creation of content such as ebooks, webinars, whitepapers, blog posts and more, will help your business attract qualified traffic to your website. This is because content has a compounding impact that increases in value over time, whereas many traditional tactics are quick to lose steam.

Some organisations adopt a blended approach where they use inbound marketing for the majority of their lead generation activity, and occasionally top up their marketing funnel with PPC advertising.

How you approach it will be determined by the unique demands of your organisation, however, the important thing is that there are numbers to prove that the inbound methodology works. Just check out this HubSpot ROI Report.

In short: the businesses best placed to ride out any uncertainty have a pipeline of quality leads that is consistently topped up, as well as a marketing team that knows the right levers to pull to increase lead flow. Investing in predictable lead generation is what leads to predictable sales and revenue growth.

4) Explore new and emerging markets.

If a market becomes less attractive to do business in, then you should rightly look at alternatives.

Entering new markets doesn’t necessarily mean building a bricks and mortar store or opening a shiny new office. You can take the first steps by creating a local market website and launching marketing activity specifically targeted at that market. This nimble and “digital first” approach will enable you to test your hypothesis on whether or not a new market is right for your business at that time.

Tools like Google’s Global Market Finder can show you online search volume as a proxy for potential customer demand for products and services. This coupled with the location data of your customers and leads will help you make more informed decisions about customer demand and where to plan future investments.

Why is this important? Organisations that understand high potential markets can more easily move to overcome changes in the business environment, such as currency fluctuations or economic uncertainty. Strategic marketing leaders know not only where the customers of today are, but more importantly where the customers of tomorrow will be.

5) Make marketing a profit centre.

With marketing becoming more data-driven and trackable, there’s growing consensus that marketing should be viewed as a profit, rather than cost centre. Much marketing activity now directly drives revenue, so it stands to reason that it should be considered an investment in future growth instead of an expense.

When marketing is viewed as a driver of growth, the idea of an annual marketing budget seems at best outdated and at worst a threat to the bottom line. But the reality is many business leaders still see marketing as a discretionary cost that can be topped up or cut each year.

You can take the first steps to making marketing a profit centre within your business by identifying spend which directly drives measurable revenue and looking at the ROI of this activity. If a particular marketing activity generates sales within an acceptable acquisition cost, marketing leaders should have the flexibility to invest more heavily (or perhaps infinitely) in this activity, rather than be constrained by budget.

Positioning marketing as a profit centre is a bold move, but uncertain times calls for new and innovative thinking. Importantly, this approach gives marketing leaders the opportunity to move from functional experts to full business partners and drive growth for the organisation.

In uncertain times, some businesses see a threat and look to consolidate, while others spy an opportunity to move quickly and gain an advantage over the competition. Admittedly, this is something of an oversimplification, but the best way to approach the challenge posed by uncertainty is by focusing on both today and the future. This means striking the elusive balance of increasing operational efficiency to reduce costs, while also investing in the future growth of the business by continuing to spend on marketing, sales, and research and development.

This approach — although easier said than done — can help you lay the groundwork for future success in more certain times. And while the tips we’ve suggested are by no means a one-size-fits-all solution, the important thing is that you and your team start thinking about these things sooner rather than later.

How does your business plan for change or uncertainty? Share your best tips below.