2025 is upon us, and a new year brings new trends and new challenges. If you‘re a brand looking to leverage social media video this year, you may not know what to expect but don’t worry.

I, your resident content creator and social media expert, have the expertise you need to prepare for social media video marketing in 2025. I also have stats from HubSpot’s handy-dandy Social Media Trends Report, which includes data from 1,000+ social media marketers.

In other words, you‘ve come to the right blog. Let’s get started by answering a burning question.

Is social media video marketing effective in 2025?

The short answer? Absolutely. Our data shows the top three social media platforms for driving site traffic, social media engagement, and audience growth are all video platforms —specifically, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Instagram shines the brightest, with our survey showing the majority of marketers say it’s the best for driving site traffic (28%), social media engagement (25%), and audience growth (23%).

YouTube ranks second in boosting site traffic and third in social media engagement and audience growth. Meanwhile, TikTok ranks third in site traffic but second in both social media engagement and audience growth.

With this data in mind, according to our survey, it’s no surprise that TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are the top social media platforms for short-form videos and will see more investments from marketers than the other platforms in 2025.

4 Top Social Media Video Trends to Watch in 2025

I meticulously combed through our Social Media Trends report for the latest trends, and here’s what I found.

1. Brands will prioritize partnering with smaller influencers to create social media videos.

Here’s my hot take: Influencer marketing will always be among the top strategies for marketers.

They’re the new generation of celebrities but are more relatable and accessible than their predecessors. As such,…

It’s rare that a B2B marketer is funny on LinkedIn. 

And not “posted a meme about ChatGPT taking over my job” funny. 

I mean genuinely, “I would watch this content in my free time” kind of humor. 

And she’s got 20K followers (and some viral videos with 4M+ views) to prove it.

Today’s expert tells us to stop obsessing over high-performing content, and why your buyer persona is bingeing Selling Sunset, too.

Heike Young

Head of content, social, & integrated marketing, Microsoft

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Lesson 1: Your goal shouldn’t be high-performing content. Period. 

When Young walked into a conference room during her first day at Microsoft (this may have been virtual, but for the sake of the story let’s picture the Mad Men office), she told her team that her goal isn’t to create high-performing content. 

Her goal is to change minds.

Every time her team creates a piece of content, she asks herself: “What can we create that’s actually going to change the hearts and minds of our audience? And that’s a heady task.”

Here’s an example that hits home for us: At HubSpot, we’ve hit millions of views each year on one post alone — “The Top Movie Quotes of All Time.” 

(Yep. About as far from a product conversion as you can get.) 

But this year we took another look at that post and said, “Does it matter that it attracts millions of views if it has nothing to do with… well, HubSpot?” 

So we (finally) retired the post. (I suggested a Viking funeral, but we settled on a 301 redirect.)

This is Young’s motto and driving motivation behind all of her work. She says, “We hope it performs well, but really our goal is to create influence and to change how people think and act — and for our brand to grow when they do.”

There’s a bonus to this lesson: Creating content that changes minds means writing, recording, and posting content that is provocative and unique. And that’s the only type of content that will cut through the noise, anyway. 

As Young puts it: “Bold POVs are pretty much the only content left that resonates.”

Lesson 2: Your B2B buyer is the same person who’s bingeing Selling Sunset.

A couple of years ago, Young took comedy classes in LA at Upright Citizens Brigade, which touts past students like Amy Poehler, Kate McKinnon, and Nick Kroll. 

And she’s now bringing that comedy to her LinkedIn videos, some of which have amassed millions of views. 

Why? 

Because her B2B audience is still made up of people. And people like to laugh. 

“There’s this idea that is really important to me, which is content that moves with the culture. The same person who approves the PO for your SaaS company also binges Selling Sunset or does Twitch live streams at night.”

She adds, “In B2B, we’ve gotten into this habit of acting like people are so different. You know, they come to work and put on their work outfit and suddenly their standards for content or entertainment are different.”

Her remark reminded me of Severance: There is the buttoned-up, professional B2B audience, and then there are the people we get dinner with and watch movies with and call our friends.  

This artificial separation doesn’t just make our marketing feel stiff — it makes it ineffective.

Young says, “I personally want to create content that is informed by the culture at large and moves at that speed versus content that feels like it was sealed in a time capsule from 2001.”

Lesson 3: Employee-generated content matters now more than ever. 

Young is going all-in on personality-led content in 2025. 

Why? Because, as she told me, personality-led content can be the core differentiator for your brand: “Anybody can answer a bunch of questions. Nobody can clone your people.” 

(Take that, AI!) 

In her current role, she’s really focused on employee-generated content, and empowering her team to create content on behalf of Microsoft. 

And she’s walking the walk, too. Which is why, about a year ago, she started posting her own videos on LinkedIn. 

She told me, as a leader, she’d been missing the opportunity to create content. To her, it was important to get some skin in the game. “And I also really wanted to bet on myself.”

Sure, it can be hella awkward to post that first awkwardly edited iPhone video of yourself and getting seven likes on it.

But you never know where it could lead.

Coming full-circle to our first lesson, Young adds: “It’s important to change people’s minds around deeper topics, to have deeper conversations, and just to resonate more deeply. Surface-level, basic, one-on-one style answering questions — that’s not really the path forward.”

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Lingering Questions

This Week’s Question

As a marketing thought leader, how do you see AI influencing strategic thinking and the creative process in brand building? — Lise Lozelle, senior director of communications and engagement, Best Buddies International

This Week’s Answer

Young: AI is effective as a thought partner. Ask it to poke holes in your strategy and play devil’s advocate. Also ask it to find additional research and data points you haven’t considered. Those workflows can make your original ideas even stronger.

All of that being said, I believe human creativity is more critical than ever, and I love seeing human fingerprints on the content I personally consume. For instance, I’ve recently been swooning over all the tiny creative details in Severance.

I believe some AI-related changes in marketing will happen faster than we expect, and others will happen more slowly. Only time will tell what falls into which category. So I’m leaning into AI where it’s useful for me, and not forcing it where it doesn’t seem helpful.

Next Week’s Question

Young asks: What’s a piece of marketing advice you would have given earlier in your career, but you would no longer give, due to how marketing has changed?

I’m fortunate to work on exciting marketing campaigns for fantastic Nickelodeon and Paramount+ titles. But I never forget that customer experience and marketing go hand-in-hand — everything I plan and execute is to fulfill customer wants and needs.

After all, Fluent Support stated that 89% of companies will compete primarily on customer experience by 2025. Brands can’t just focus on creating an amazing product and marketing it well. They also need to close the loop with positive CX.

Marketing plays a critical role in defining, communicating, and managing the customer experience. In this post, I’ll walk through how customer experience and marketing intersect, who owns customer experience, and the marketing best practices for supporting an organization’s CX.

Table of Contents

The Significance of Customer Experience

Delivering experiences that delight customers takes a planned, proactive, and holistic strategy that spans the customer journey and lifecycle.

Rightpoint pointed out that customer-centricity, deep customer understanding, journey mapping, cross-functional collaboration, feedback loop, and employee empowerment are the key elements of a winning CX strategy.

Customer experience does not stop after the sale — in fact, some of the most powerful opportunities to create loyalty are experiences with service and support after the sale.

HubSpot’s Flywheel model offers a modern view of how companies can evolve by putting customer experience at the center of the organization’s focus.

The “delight” stage powers the “attract” stage of the inbound methodology because customers talk to others about their experiences, and word-of-mouth recommendations are one of the most powerful ways to attract new customers. I know I personally will make a purchase if even one of my friends or family members recommends it to me.

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In HubSpot’s 2024 State of Customer Service Report, we discovered many essential insights about customer experience, some of which I’ve detailed below:

• 55% of respondents say AI-powered chatbots are effective, and they prefer such self-service channels when seeking customer service.
• 77% of service teams are using AI and getting excellent results.
• 92% of service teams say AI improves their response time, improves CSAT (86%), and is essential to meeting business and customer needs.
• Service teams who have adopted AI say it has resolved 11-30% of their support volume.
• Leaders of organizations with collaborative service and sales teams are 76% more likely to claim their customer service strategy was effective in 2023.
• Leaders of organizations with collaborative service and marketing teams are 69% more likely to claim their customer service strategy was effective in 2023.

Ultimately, what it means to provide an exceptional customer experience is continually evolving, and marketing will need to work with sales and services teams to ensure they’re always keeping CX top-of-mind.

Why Customer Experience and Marketing Go Hand-in-Hand

You may be wondering, “Is customer experience part of marketing?” I get it — I felt that way, too.

Historically, customer experience has been strictly viewed as a priority for sales and service teams. But, there is a massive impact when marketing includes customer experience as a top goal.

1. Brand Promise and Follow-Through

Marketing builds a strategy that defines compelling brand messages and promises, and customers who invest in the brand trust that the marketing is authentic.

Customer experience can actually follow through on these promises, encouraging brand transparency and improved customer loyalty.

2. Customer Journey

The customer journey begins with marketing and continues through the customer experience. These are part of the same cycle and, thus, cannot exist without the other.

For instance, I work in title marketing for Paramount+ shows and movies. A large part of my job is ensuring we effectively promote the title across key touchpoints, from social to digital to out-of-home.

However, once we build awareness and gain acquisitions, retention is still hugely important, as we want the customers who signed up for Paramount+ to stick with us. This is where customer experience can play a huge role.

3. Revenue Growth

When CX becomes fundamental to marketing, the impact on revenue is massive. I found in my research that brands integrating these two elements see faster revenue growth (5.1x) compared to competitors with poor customer interactions.

4. Customer Loyalty

Along with revenue growth, companies that incorporate marketing and customer experience also see a huge increase in customer loyalty. 75% of customers remain loyal to brands with excellent customer support.

In addition, 77% of customers are more inclined to recommend a brand to others following a positive customer experience. In my opinion, customer experience is the new marketing — this symbiosis leads to enhanced customer retention and brand reputation.

5. Hyper-Personalization

In a crowded marketplace, I easily get tired of seeing the same marketing efforts repeated. Now, marketing can utilize AI to predict customer behavior, desires, and needs more accurately, which leads to a better customer experience.

For instance, many streaming services track users’ viewing patterns to recommend genres or titles. This combines targeted marketing with improved customer experience — I spend less time scrolling when great movies are suggested upfront — for a seamless, customer-forward brand.

Who owns customer experience?

Contrary to popular belief, customer experience is not owned by a single person or department. It should always be the shared responsibility of the entire company, although each team may support it in different ways.

For instance, some companies have a Chief Customer Officer (CCO) overseeing CX. However, this isn’t as universal as it should be; thus, customer experience is often managed cross-functionally by teams like marketing, sales, and operations.

The advent of digital marketing gives marketers the tools to interact with buyers at the individual level — through channels and touchpoints at every stage of the lifecycle. In turn, customer experience becomes important for the success of digital marketing.

While the entire organization is responsible for experience delivery, marketing is often best positioned to listen to, analyze, and advocate for customer needs. By delivering reliable, fact-based insights about customer experience, marketing helps overcome the siloing of departments, which is a major detractor to a consistent CX approach.

Let‘s explore the current marketing best practices for supporting an organization’s customer experience strategy.

1. Listen to customers at scale — and share their insights.

Conversations data: Marketing that meaningfully impacts the audience requires understanding customer experience and marketing analytics and interpretation of conversational data. Data is not only used for targeting marketing campaigns but also for improving the customer experience.

Segmentation: Digital marketing automation platforms make it easy to track and act upon data. Data such as customer history, behaviors, and interests make it possible to develop segments to target customers better, and they also provide insights on how to deliver a more satisfactory experience.

KPIs: Key performance indicators such as conversion rate, churn, retention rate, and patient satisfaction scores should be identified, monitored, and tracked in a manner that is highly visible to all teams. These shared insights drive change and reinforce progress, identify areas for improvement, and support a culture in which everyone is responsible for delivering an exceptional experience.

2. Know the voice of the customer.

Direct customer feedback is foundational for understanding and improving experiences. My team at Paramount continues to use traditional research methods, such as satisfaction surveys, focus groups, and interviews. These play a pivotal role in assessing satisfaction and capturing the voice of the customer.

However, digital technologies are providing new ways to supplement this information. Tools such as social listening, live chat, and website analytics provide opportunities to keep a pulse on customer feedback in real time.

Additionally, sales and service delivery teams can capture customer feedback through observation, field reports, and complaint logs. Regardless of method, following a journey or experience map can ensure effectively capturing feedback about the holistic experience rather than siloed stages.

HubSpot offers customer journey map templates, which help organizations outline the customer journey across several phases, such as lead nurturing, customer churn, and future state. I love how interactive these templates are, providing thought-provoking questions to get marketers into customers’ brains.

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Ultimately, marketing’s role is to work across departments and stages of the lifecycle to consolidate feedback, identify themes, and use the voice of the customer to bring about change.

3. Collaborate cross-functionally to foster change.

Unfortunately, it’s common for marketing teams to take responsibility for attracting prospects and generating leads but then have little involvement after qualified leads are handed to sales, leading to a disjointed customer experience.

Instead, we can bring the results of listening at scale to collaborate on making business processes more customer-centered. When marketing develops insights about customers, this knowledge gives teams a common objective basis for working together on changes to improve the customer experience.

Simply put, we marketers can support the customer experience by creating meaningful, valuable content for the buyer journey and identifying buyer segments and personas to target.

Additionally, the insights from listening at scale can have a much broader impact when shared and used as a springboard to identify bottlenecks, solve problems, and redesign processes in customer-focused ways. I recommend that marketing teams create workshops or brainstorming sessions cross-departmentally to generate solutions and obtain buy-in for change.

Of course, it’s difficult for marketing to bring about change without executive buy-in. One way they can engage and obtain support from executive teams is to calculate the ROI of improvements to the customer experience.

Satisfaction and Net Promoter Score (likelihood to recommend) are two popular KPIs. Others include churn rate, resolution time, or conversion rates.

4. Invest in automation.

Consider both marketing and service automation software to create an ideal customer experience. Marketing automation facilitates an improved customer experience by providing clients with the right information at the right time.

For instance, automation drastically shortens follow-up time. This is critical because the average response time for customer service chat is 2 minutes, but customers expect replies within 45 seconds to feel satisfied.

Marketing automation not only improves the overall customer experience but is also critical to lead generation. Therefore, organizations can benefit from investing in automation software like HubSpot’s Marketing and Service Hubs.

Marketing Hub helps businesses attract, engage, and convert leads through marketing tools, including email marketing, social media management, analytics & reporting, and lead management, all of which enable teams to manage marketing campaigns effectively.

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Service Hub focuses on improving customer support and retention through tools like a help desk and ticketing system, knowledge base, omnichannel support, and AI-powered assistance, all of which help manage customer conversations and improve satisfaction.

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Together, they create a seamless customer journey from lead attraction to retention. Since both share a centralized HubSpot CRM, marketing and service teams can access the same customer data to inform next steps more easily.

These teams can also utilize shared insights to inform their separate goals. For example, marketers can use Service Hub insights, such as common customer pain points, to create more targeted marketing campaigns. On the other hand, service teams can use Marketing Hub data, such as buyer personas, to offer customized support.

There is no end to the insights teams can share when investing in both Marketing and Service Hubs. This symbiosis offers the perfect opportunity for marketing teams to prioritize the customer experience since the customer service information and data are readily available.

Experience the Power of Customer Experience

Ultimately, to create an exceptional customer experience, I believe companies need collaboration from all three of the organization’s departments — marketing, sales, and service.

However, the responsibility can fall on marketers to lead the way by ensuring that when collecting research for marketing efforts, they share those results with sales and service and remain open to their feedback.

Check out The Ultimate Guide to Sales and Marketing to help integrate a stronger partnership between these teams at your own company.

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

As a former journalist, I spent years digging through social media feeds to write juicy stories. Now, as HubSpot’s go-to for all things social, I stay ahead of every single trend. Literally, nothing flies under my radar.

On top of that, as a millennial who grew up online, this isn’t just what I do — it’s what I live.

So, if you’re a marketer trying to pick the right platform to grow your brand, get leads, and drive traffic, you’re in the right place.

I’ve broken it all down: social media types, top platforms, and the pros and cons of each. By the end, you’ll know exactly where to focus and what to skip. Let’s dive in.

The list of social media platforms is growing, and well-known platforms like Facebook are constantly evolving and adding new features.

With a greater and greater need for a social presence and an overwhelming amount of platform choices, it can be hard to pick which social channels to use.

You might not want to spread yourself too thin by managing a channel on every imaginable platform, but you don’t want to miss great brand awareness opportunities.

1. Social Networking

Social networking is possibly the most traditional form of social media, and most social media platforms fall under the social networking category. So, you’ll likely see at least one of the aforementioned platforms (*cough, cough* X) pop up again later in this post.

Platforms like Facebook, X, and LinkedIn are often called “networking” platforms because they allow user accounts to interact (network) in various ways.

Professional Uses

Facebook

Many brands and businesses are leveraging social media direct messaging (DMs) for customer service.

In fact, our 2025 State of Marketing Report shows that 20.45% of marketers are increasing or maintaining their investment in social media DMs for customer service.

Facebook Messenger is a great platform for this strategy as it allows you to respond to messages from your brand’s Facebook followers.

Plus, as a fellow consumer, I can assure you it leaves a great impression on your customers when you respond promptly to their DMs.

There have been many times when I’ve slid into a business’ DM because I needed an update on an order, more information about a product, or troubleshooting. Now, most businesses add chatbots to respond to customers inquiries:

And, when the business responds back with helpful information, I always make a note to keep buying from them.

However, using direct messages benefits not only customers but also companies. For instance, Hyundai permanently integrated Meta’s Messenger into its customer service after a successful test phase. The results showed:

• A sales rate four times higher than other channels
• A conversion rate five times higher through Messenger compared to other channels
• A 13% reduction in cost per lead using Messenger

If you’re a small business, like a restaurant, I recommend a platform like Facebook as a great place to start your social strategy. With Facebook, you can build a business profile with links to your website and details about your menu.

I’m especially fond of Facebook’s community feature, which you can also leverage to create a community page for customers to ask questions or rave about your products and services.

In fact, we found that businesses that leverage social media communities will see excellent results in their marketing strategy.

According to our survey, 90% of marketers say building an active online community is crucial to a successful social media strategy.

I’m not surprised, considering our Consumer Trends survey found that 20% of social media users joined an online community in the past three months, and 22% actively participated in one.

One of the best Facebook groups I’m in is run by Kat Sullivan, who saw a gap in how group creators engaged with members.

Kat openly shares insights from working with business owners and agencies, while members contribute by discussing entrepreneurship, dissecting online monetization, and sharing interesting marketing case studies.

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LinkedIn

LinkedIn emphasizes career-related networking, and, for years, I only ever used LinkedIn when searching for jobs or to help friends find opportunities. It turns out, however, that LinkedIn is very beneficial for businesses.

For companies looking to offer a professional service, such as B2B or publishing companies, LinkedIn is another excellent way to grow a following.

What I love about LinkedIn is how it evolved — it’s no longer just a stiff corporate platform. Brands like Semrush and Hootsuite have nailed the balance between professionalism and humor while staying true to their niche. It’s a genius way to get people to resonate with your content, love it, and keep coming back for more.

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According to our survey, LinkedIn is among the top five social media platforms yielding the highest ROI for marketers.

Furthermore, of the marketers who currently leverage LinkedIn in their strategy, 26.16% plan to increase their investment in 2025.

Brands looking to build an audience of professionals from a particular industry can create a business profile there, categorize it with an industry type, and then use posts and messaging to publish updates. They can also use messaging and comment features to interact with their audiences or users who comment on their posts.

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Besides organic traffic, let’s not forget LinkedIn advertising options. Jaimon Hancock, Founder & Digital Strategist at Adalystic Marketing, shared how LinkedIn ads can work wonders for B2B clients:

“For a B2B client facing high competition and rising CPCs, we saw an opportunity to improve LinkedIn ad performance. To boost engagement and lower costs, we layered in LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads, promoting content from an individual’s profile instead of the company page. This approach made the campaign feel more organic and authentic. One of our top posts featured an executive accepting an industry award, subtly boosting credibility without pushing sales.”

The results are impressive:

• 50% lower cost per conversion.
• 5x higher click-through rate (CTR).
• 75% lower CPC.
• Meaningful engagement in the comments.

X (formerly Twitter)

An X account could be helpful to companies in a broad spectrum of industries, from entertainment to e-commerce. This platform similarly allows you to create a profile where you can list and link company information.

You can then use X to post about company updates, tag companies or customers in posts, repost positive customer tweets, and respond to customer questions via posts or direct messages.

One of my favorite X features I think marketers should look into is Spaces, which allows users to create live audio chat rooms and talk amongst each other.

Companies will often use Spaces to host Q&As, interview thought leaders, or keep audiences informed about the latest happenings with the brand or industry.

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On all three social networks, users can easily communicate with others through simple actions like tagging, hashtagging, commenting, private messaging, reacting to posts, and re-sharing content.

Aside from social interaction, feeds on common social networking platforms are designed to show off a mix of text and visuals rather than one primary content type.

This flexibility makes it easy to begin a social strategy on social networking platforms because you can experiment with different forms of content before branching out to platforms that require more specific content types. For those who want to dabble in video or graphics, these platforms could be a great place to test this new content.

With the growth of video marketing, many have begun to launch more advanced features like Facebook Stories and X’s live streams. They also started encouraging native video and photo uploads more heavily.

Recently, Facebook adjusted its algorithms to favor live video and image uploads. This has caused these types of native content to gain greater user engagement.

And no, Reels aren’t just for Instagram anymore. Facebook now has its own Reels section, mixing all kinds of videos based on its algorithm. And looking at the numbers, they’re outperforming images and text content by far.

The best example is the Northwoods Folk Facebook page. She’s a nature-inspired influencer who shares practical tips and tricks. Let’s take a look at her photo content, which typically got around 20–30 likes with minimal engagement:

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And then we have reels:

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This speaks a lot about the changes happening on platforms and how Facebook has also gone in the video direction.

If you’re unsure where to start, check out our beginner’s guides for Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

I’ll be honest, the beginner guide for X was published before the platform rebranded from Twitter; however, much of the information still applies today.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

• Those interested in posting links may have more difficulty getting engagement than uploading photos and videos.
• Some platforms, like Facebook, put individual user posts higher than business posts in newsfeeds.
• Facebook may not be the right platform for your business if you’re looking to target younger consumers like Gen Z, who are more likely to use TikTok, X, or Snapchat.

2. Photo Sharing

Photo-sharing social media platforms are exactly as they sound — they’re platforms where sharing images is the name of the game. I remember the days when Instagram was the most prominent photo-sharing platform.

But that was then, and this is now, so if you’re wondering why Instagram isn’t mentioned here — don’t worry! I’ll have more on that when I get to the video platforms.

Professional Uses

Pinterest

One of the biggest platforms that specialize in photo sharing is Pinterest. Pinterest is a “visual discovery engine” for users looking for cooking, style, home decor, and general visual inspiration.

Personally, I’ve been using Pinterest for over 10 years and, like most users, I interact with other accounts on the platform through tags, likes, comments, or direct messages.

In the early days, Pinterest wasn’t as synonymous with brands and companies as it is now. Here’s how it looked:

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It was more so about crafting virtual vision boards based on aesthetics.

However, brands, companies, and creators find it useful when they want to take photographs, display content, and update followers about their food, goods, or products.

Pinterest is well-suited for e-commerce companies, such as those that sell home goods and businesses that would like a place to share crisp standalone product images with links.

The platform offers a photo-based feed with posts that can include a photo and a short description.

In the last few years, Pinterest has also shifted to include more video content to compete with platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok. However, the platform still remains a place for users to share their favorite photos.

Here’s a little look at my Pinterest feed.

The platform also allows all users to link directly to websites or product landing pages in posts. I especially love Pinterest‘s Explore page and can see a lot of opportunities for brands there. The Explore page updates daily and operates almost like an old-school blog, with the ability to scroll to see the previous days’ themes as well.

It features boards curated by celebrities, creators, and brands sharing images their followers would be interested in. And, of course, there are opportunities for consumers to shop.

I clicked on the board called Pinterest Predicts: Dolled up 2025 and was shown different trends expected to take over this season, along with links to buy them.

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Before starting on a platform like Pinterest, you’ll want to determine whether your goal is to gain brand awareness or link-based or e-commerce traffic.

BeReal

If you haven’t heard of BeReal, I don’t blame you. It’s a fairly new app that launched in 2020 and is pretty popular among Gen Z users.

The app’s main feature is that it allows users to share a photo of themselves and their immediate surroundings during a randomly selected two-minute window every day.

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The idea of BeReal is to step away from the overly filtered and curated content users often see on other platforms. Just be real. Get it?

With the app’s premise being candid and unfiltered, how can brands leverage BeReal? The best way I could think of is to use the app to build trust with your audience and only share behind-the-scenes candids.

However, that can be difficult, given users are only given a random two-minute window to post.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• These kinds of platforms help with brand awareness. Approximately 80% of Pinterest users say they’ve learned about products or services on the app.
• Pinterest provides an outlet for showing off visual content or product shots.

Cons

• Upkeep on these platforms might require a photo budget or dedicated production time.
• Some platforms require you to post from a mobile app.
• BeReal is most popular with Gen Z users, and there is no opportunity for e-commerce or paid content on the app.

3. Video Sharing

Video has been the dominant type of content marketing over the last few years, and it has no sign of slowing down — especially short-form video.

17.13% of the marketers whose companies are currently leveraging short-form videos say they will increase their investments in 2025.

Adding a video platform to your social strategy could make your brand look relevant and keep you up to speed with your competitors. Video can be helpful to a wide range of industries. While a restaurant could have a vlog with cooking tips, a technology company might focus its video strategy on product demos.

Professional Uses

YouTube & Vimeo

YouTube offers both short-form and long-form capabilities.

Regarding short-form video uses, YouTube Shorts can be a platform your business uses to post product demos, explainer videos, and more.

If you want to get interactive, you can also host live-stream Q&As to answer consumer questions and build community.

When it comes to long-form videos, YouTube is one of the leading platforms. Compared to competing video-sharing platforms like Vimeo, YouTube has an extensive audience base and better SEO capabilities.

What’s great about YouTube’s long-form format is that you can create content series — episodes that are either standalone or built on each other.

When your audience knows a new video will drop every two days, let’s say it keeps them coming back and makes them more loyal. Just like how people eagerly wait for the next episode of their favorite TV show, it’s pretty much the same with this.

As for educational videos, my favorite is the Ahrefs series hosted by Sam Oh, covering everything from blogging to all things marketing and SEO:

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Janelle Warner, co-director and marketing advisor at Born Social, shared how YouTube played a crucial role in their campaign’s success:

“I vividly remember the day we launched the influencer component — it was like a wildfire spreading across social media. The top tech YouTuber we partnered with did an unboxing video that got over 2 million views in the first week. The comments were incredibly positive, with people tagging friends and saying they needed to get this product. It demonstrated the power of tapping into established, trusted voices in your industry.”

However, it wasn’t just YouTube that contributed to this success — it was a multi-pronged approach. A combination of influencer marketing, engaging video content, and targeted ads.

• By partnering with popular tech influencers, they reached a highly engaged audience and built credibility.
• Their video ads showcased the product’s features in an entertaining way, encouraging views and shares.
• Targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram helped them focus on their ideal audience.

Over 500,000 engagements, 100 million video views, a 20% increase in website traffic, and a 400% return on ad spend in just 3 months. What a result!

So YouTube definitely has amazing opportunities for advertisers and monetization, while Vimeo offers viewers the perk of no pre-roll ads. For a longer list of similarities and differences, check out this head-to-head piece where we compare the business capabilities of Vimeo and YouTube.

Instagram

To compete with TikTok, Instagram has shifted away from being a photo-sharing app.

While users can still post photos on Instagram, the platform mainly promotes reels and video stories. It’s also worth mentioning that Instagram video posts are more than twice as likely to generate engagement than image posts (kinda similar to what we’ve seen with Facebook above).

And when you figure out how to serve up content your audience can’t get enough of, you can get tons of views overnight (literally!).

Best proof? One and only Duolingo:

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Another example of how powerful shorts and reels can be came from Karen Etchells, Digital Marketing Strategist at Innovast Digital Marketing.

She embedded vertical videos in blog posts, then repurposed those videos as YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Facebook, and TikTok clips to reach a wider audience.

YouTube Shorts alone led to a 2x boost in site visits from video searches. They saw a huge jump in engagement and overall visibility — a 73% increase in search engine traffic.

TikTok

I’m going to revisit TikTok again later in this post because it also falls under another category of social media platforms. However, it is still a video-sharing channel.

What I love about TikTok in terms of marketing is that it’s a very diverse app with many marketing opportunities.

Yes, you can post short-form demos and explainers, like on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, but TikTok has more opportunities to build community with your audience.

This is because the app is a breeding ground for new viral trends anyone can take part in, and the app provides many ways for audiences to interact via liking, commenting, repurposing sounds, and stitching — the ability to respond to someone’s video by filming your own.

For example, check out how the Chicago Bulls mascot, Benny the Bull, responded to the NBA using Stitch:

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P.S. No offense to any teams, but this video is going down as one of the most legendary stitches ever.

Let’s dive into TikTok’s interactive opportunities.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

• Video content, particularly long-form, might take more time and money to create.
• Vimeo and YouTube require more backend tasks, like SEO.
• Instagram does not have long-form video capabilities
• TikTok appeals to a younger audience known to distrust brands, so you will likely have to invest in influencer marketing to gain traction on the platform.

4. Interactive Media

Apps like Snapchat and TikTok allow users to share photos and videos and have various unique interactive and highly experimental features.

These two apps include AR/VR filters, musical overlays, and interactive games. Their audience base is also predominantly Gen-Z.

Professional Uses

Snapchat

Brands with large followings might consider publishing Snapchat Stories or videos curated by fans. Without a high-budget or giant online following, it might be difficult for a company just starting out on social media to leverage Snapchat.

Brands and influencers on Snapchat tend to cater their content to the platforms’ younger audiences. For example, on Snapchat, you might see stories that present beauty tutorials, wellness tips, news, or trendy new products.

While major brands, like VICE and BuzzFeed, have become Snapchat Discover partners, the average business can still create a Snapchat business account that users can search for and friend.

This account allows you to publish temporary stories like individual accounts. However, those with a business account can also purchase ad space.

For example, Clarins boosted its sales with Snap Ads, Collection Ads, Dynamic Ads, and UGC content.

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They optimized their Snapchat strategy, driving a 114% increase in website actions and a 67% return on ad spend from new audiences. Their efforts led to a 275% rise in incremental sales and an 83% increase in Snapchat ad spend, proving the effectiveness of the whole strategy.

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If you’ve set up your Snapchat account and need further help, check out this guide to getting started on Snapchat.

TikTok

When TikTok first rose to prominence in 2020, it was mainly an app-based platform catering to a Gen Z market that wanted little to do with brands.

Since then, TikTok has grown to shift its focus to longer-form content, and brands are much more aware of how to leverage the channel.

In fact, about a quarter of marketers in our Social Media Marketing survey say TikTok yields the highest ROI compared to other social media platforms.

What’s wild about TikTok is that some videos can get millions of views, while the next one might get stuck at 200. But, speaking from experience, don’t give up because TikTok really rewards creativity and consistency.

The key to TikTok is to invest in influencer and creator marketing. Build a partnership with a creator who aligns with your brand’s values and can introduce your products and services to their audience.

We mostly come across two types of influencer collabs on TikTok:

1. Subtle, non-pushy marketing. For example, check out how Zach King promotes Mr. Nova’s ice creams without even saying a word about it.

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2. Direct influencer marketing. We see this one all the time. Influencers actively promote a product or service, often showcasing it, discussing its features, or giving a review.

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But, influencer marketing also gives room for experimentation. We often take risks, try something new, and just pray it works.

Austin Benton, Marketing Consultant at Gotham Artists, was brave enough, and it paid off. Here’s what he did:

“Instead of paying influencers for traditional sponsored posts, we sent PR packages to 20 micro-influencers (10K-50K followers) with a challenge: film an unboxing and reaction video, and if your post gets 500+ likes, we’ll send you an exclusive mystery VIP package.

This small tweak made a huge difference because it turned the campaign into a game rather than just another product promotion. Influencers were naturally more excited to post, and their followers got curious about both the product and the “mystery reward,” which drove engagement through the roof.”

312% increase in sales and a 270% boost in engagement within six weeks. Impressive results!

Austin also said that after launching the challenge, they encouraged customers to post unboxing videos for a chance to win a year’s supply of the product, which created massive FOMO and boosted UGC.

They ran retargeting ads featuring viral videos, resulting in a 5.4x return on ad spend (ROAS).

Pros and Cons

Pros

• These platforms are very creative and experimental.
• They have young audiences, which can help brands better target Gen-Z.

Cons

• Producing regular content could be expensive and time-consuming.
• Business accounts aren’t promoted up-front on the Snapchat interface. You may want to promote your channel on your website or other social channels because users must search for you with your Snapcode or username.
• Snapchat is limited to mobile and isn’t as easy to use as other platforms.
• You will most likely have to invest in influencer marketing to gain traction on TikTok, and finding a creator aligned with your business may be difficult.

Pro tip: You should try to correctly estimate the time and money that might go into keeping these accounts up-to-date and relevant.

If you’re unsure how short video ads can benefit your business, remember that short-form videos have the highest ROI compared to other video formats.

5. Blogging/Community

Tumblr and Reddit allow users to post about exciting niche topics, like memes, events, politics, and pop culture.

When users publish a post, these platforms allow others to share it or add it to the conversation with their commentary.

Professional Uses

Both blogging and community-building platforms could be helpful to those who want to encourage discussion around very niche industries or topics.

For example, on these platforms, you might see discussions about anything from alternative health to machine learning.

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By blogging, you can write posts about your company’s industry topics and link them to your product or site.

While many people have a blog on their website, platforms like Tumblr might be great to use if you haven’t set this feature up — or just want to see what others in your industry are blogging about.

With a discussion site like Reddit, you could share a link or a post about a specific topic on a discussion board related to your industry and see how users respond. You could also start your board if a topic you’re looking to encourage discussion on doesn’t have one yet.

These two platforms specifically encourage web chatter and post shares from users who care about the same topics.

Both also allow users to follow you or subscribe to your blogs or Reddit boards so your content can appear on their feeds. Here’s an example of what Reddit’s feed looks like.

Other users can up-vote or down-vote when someone publishes something on Reddit. Up-voting makes a post show up higher in Reddit feeds, while down-voting does the opposite.

On Tumblr, the feeds are organized by time. However, a post can show up higher when it is re-shared by other users. When a user shares or interacts with your Tumblr content, they give it a note.

When they reshare, they can post a comment with the post that gets added to a thread.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Both platforms allow you to share text posts, photos, and videos about your business, brand, or individual thoughts.
• These platforms enable you to start conversations about a topic.
• Both platforms allow linking to outside websites.

Cons

• Longer blog posts might take time to craft or write.
• Getting downvoted on Reddit or having no reaction from Tumblr users means your posts may go unseen.
• Your audience might be too niche or limited to just those on the specific platform you use.

6. Microblogging

Microblogging refers to posting short blogs that are meant for quick audience interaction. Both Threads and X fall under this category as they allow users to post blog content with very limited character counts.

Professional Uses

For years, companies have used X to post quick updates regarding their products and services or to engage with their audience in a humorous or relatable way. For example, Wendy’s will often post content like below to humorously entice their audience.

The same can be said about Threads, though the platform has only been around since July 2023.

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Both platforms allow users to upload mini blogs, photos, and videos to engage audiences. So, really the possibilities are endless in terms of how to use the platform.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• If you have a great sense of humor (like whoever runs Wendy’s social media), you have a great chance of entertaining audiences and raising brand awareness on microblogs.
• Microblogs are very versatile in terms of the kind of content you can post.

Cons

7. Private Community

One of the best ways to build a loyal customer base is through platforms like Discord and Slack. They give you a direct line to your audience — share exclusive content, start conversations, build trust, and turn followers into a tight-knit community.

Professional Uses

Discord

You can use Discord as a virtual focus group where you can engage with your consumers directly to understand their habits, concerns, and needs.

B2B brands and SaaS companies can benefit from Discord if they play it right.

For instance, Midjourney used the platform’s engaged community to fuel growth. Their app, which lets users create AI-generated images, has turned into a hub for creativity and collaboration.

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The numbers speak for themselves:

• 1 million users in just three months after private testing
• Thousands of new users daily at its peak
• Installed on 7 million servers
• The server hit a cap of 1 million users.

I also have a Discord server, and I use a content creator to engage with my followers, keep up with the latest happenings in my niche, and build community.

Few things are more frustrating and terrifying to me than when I post something on social media that is meant for my friends, followers, or my target audience, and it “leaves the neighborhood.” By that, I mean the post leaves its intended audience and takes on a life of its own.

Discord is a voice and chat platform where users join conversation servers, often through exclusive invites, and talk to other members about niche topics.

Slack

Slack has gone from just a basic team communication channel to a powerhouse for all sorts of fields, like SEO, marketing, and more. There are many free groups like BigSEO, but you usually need to sign up or request access (which is actually great since it helps keep spam out).

There are also some paid channels. For example, the DO link building community by Digital Olympus offers both free and paid options to connect SaaS editors and SEO experts with exclusive access, collaboration opportunities, and even mentorship.

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So, some channels are definitely worth paying for. Of course, it’s necessary to do a little research, see user experiences, and understand what benefits you can gain before deciding to give a paid channel a chance.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Like I said, private community platforms are excellent for community building with your followers and like-minded individuals. You can foster community and stay tapped into your audience.

Cons

• Discord doesn’t have features for native advertising, and it’s only really helpful if you already have a stable audience who wants to be in the community with you. So, you may have to focus on building your brand’s following before investing in Discord.
• Slack has a message limitation — it allows you to search the last 10,000 messages only. So, if you‘re trying to search for something older than that, you won’t be able to find it.

From TikTok to LinkedIn: Where should you be?!

Every platform has its benefits, but definitely not equally for everyone.

That’s why before you start building a community anywhere, figure out where your audience actually is.

For B2C, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook will always be a solid bet. On the other hand, for B2B, LinkedIn, X, and communities like Slack or Discord might work.

Of course, there are no hard and fast rules. A SaaS company can absolutely share quick tutorials on TikTok or Instagram. The trick is knowing who you’re targeting and giving them the content “they’re hungry for.”

And yes, as the internet evolves and so do the types of content people prefer, I’m glad you’re still reading this. It means that despite the flood of video content, some people still love a good, old text post.

Keep up with trends, but stay true to yourself. That’s the recipe for success.

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

Why Prescriptive Sales Wins: From Solution Selling to Strategic Outcomes

Clients don’t buy solutions—they buy results. A sales approach that positions your product or service as “the solution” assumes the client understands their problem. It also assumes that you fully understand the problem. Today, top performers lead the conversation by redefining the client’s problem, based on what you and the client learned from your discovery diagnosis.

If you are lucky enough that your industry has not been commoditized, then you must explain what you can offer to deliver your client’s strategic goals. You will need to explain how they should approach the decision. If your industry has been commoditized, then your solution is one of dozens or hundreds.

Having sat through onboarding sessions for salespeople, I’ve noticed that the solution is often presented as being better than the alternatives. I want you to love your solution, but if you believe that it will ensure you win your prospective client, you are setting yourself up for failure. You may find that your clients are not particularly impressed by features and benefits, so you must offer them something they value more. Let’s explore the changes salespeople must make to compete at a strategic level. Most salespeople haven’t yet recognized this shift, so you can get ahead of the curve by changing your approach now.

The Shift from Selling Solutions to Driving Strategic Outcomes

Move from “solution” to “strategic outcome.” I sold light industry temporary labor to very large clients. Over time, the industry was commoditized. At some point, I recognized that no one really wanted light industrial labor. To get a better understanding of my clients’ perspectives and priorities, I had a number of conversations about what they really wanted—and it sure wasn’t temps. Instead, the clients told me that they wanted flexibility and lower labor costs; some wanted to hire the employees who showed up every day.

Over time, we decided to lead conversations by talking about the strategic outcomes our clients wanted. Our competitors kept talking about their solutions, in this case, their temps. This meant their only play was claiming that they had better temps than we did, which was a lie. Even so, they weren’t able to capture the clients’ attention or prove that they understood the big picture. We were playing chess, and my competitors were playing checkers.

Why Features and Benefits No Longer Win Deals

Shift from features and benefits to transformation. Your clients and mine are not impressed by features and benefits. They want a transformation from poor results to the better results they need. After discovery, you are better off talking about the client’s desired outcomes and how what you sell can deliver them. This pushes the conversation from a transactional level to a strategic level. You can be certain that your decision-makers and their stakeholders expect you to ensure they get the better results they need, and some part of that includes your solution. The sales conversation is the variable that wins or loses the client. When you focus your conversation on context, root causes, and strategic outcomes, you set yourself up for success.

Reactive versus Prescriptive Sales: What Top Performers Do Differently

Transition from reactive to prescriptive: In the past, many salespeople reacted to their prospects, clients, and contacts. They waited for the contact to express a need, ask a question, or identify a problem. This is too passive for the 21st century, when salespeople must drive the conversation if they want to be effective.

The legacy approach places the burden on the client to diagnose their problem. This is unlikely to happen because companies often fail to understand how trends and threats affect them. They also struggle to see the root causes of their problems. Waiting for clients to identify what they need also undercuts a key part of your value proposition. Top performers know that their advice, guidance, insights, and questions create a collaborative process for diagnosing the problem. This fits perfectly with a conversation about the client’s strategic outcomes.

To differentiate yourself in competitive, high-stakes B2B environments, put your experience and knowledge to work. Take the lead and educate your clients about things they might not be able to see.

What This Sounds Like in Practice

I like to use an executive briefing to begin the sales conversation. This approach allows you to frame the conversation around strategic outcomes. It also helps you present yourself like an authority and expert.

Your executive briefing should include the main opportunities and challenges in the client’s industry. Outline these using bullet points and include data to support your position. Then, you lead the sales conversation by walking your contacts through the briefing.

Here are the three steps in this process.

1. Open by introducing your briefing and asking to share it. Say, “Can I share a few key trends and insights we have noticed in your industry? Here is what we are seeing.” As you explain the trends, say, “We are helping our clients to maintain or improve their profitability.”
2. Now that you’ve established the context, say, “The current strategies are not working in their environment. Can I share what is working now?”
3. Then, take a strategic outlook by saying something like, “A lot of your industry is just over a year behind the top competitors. But you can overtake them if it is important for you.”

Why This Works:

• Focusing on strategic outcomes makes you a trusted authority—not a vendor.
• Grounding your solution in context and outlining the risks of the status quo create urgency.
• Your knowledge and experience builds a preference for you based on your insight instead of price.

Why This Is a Critical Evolution

This change mirrors the broader movement from:

• Discovery → Diagnosis
• Solution → Strategy
• Problem → Future Outcomes

Today’s buyers need someone who can tell them what they should do next, not do just what they asked for.

Imagine a weighted balance scale: on one side is brand visibility; the other, lead generation. Your job as a content marketer is to use gated and ungated content to successfully balance both goals.

With gated content, users arrive at your website and see a CTA or pop-up that offers them access to content in exchange for their information. This could be their email address in exchange for a content offer — and a way of generating leads for your business.

Ungated content requires no exchange of information, and it has more SEO value — giving you brand visibility.

Here, we’ll explore what gated content is and dive into best practices and examples.

Table of Contents

It’s important to note that gated content for inbound marketing is free and not hidden behind a paywall. Users need to submit their information — not their credit card number — to access the content.

Now, you might be wondering, “Why would I hide my content from my audience?”

Typically, the goal of gated content is to generate leads. Gated content isn‘t used for brand awareness or visibility campaigns because the nature of hidden content doesn’t allow for high traffic.

Below, let’s discuss the pros and cons of gated versus ungated content.

Gated content is usually protected by a paywall, which allows the publisher to require users to sign up or pay for access.

Pros and Cons of Gated Content

Gated content generates leads you can nurture into prospects, whereas ungated content is meant to increase traffic and improve audience trust.

Both types of content are valuable to your content marketing strategy, as long as you’re finding the right balance for your business goals.

After reading this list, you might be wondering, “How do I know if I should gate my content?”

Well, it all depends on your priorities — brand visibility or lead generation.

Additionally, consider the type of content. Longer-form content like an ebook is well-suited to gated content, while most shorter-form content like blog posts are better off ungated.

Once you‘ve decided to create gated content, you’re probably curious about how to get started. Let’s review some best practices below.

1. Create content for each stage in the buyer’s journey.

When a prospect goes through the buyer‘s journey, they’ll go through three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision.

Here’s a quick rundown of each stage:

During each stage, your audience needs content that meets them where they are.

For instance, visitors in the awareness stage are probably interested in reading an ebook. On the other hand, a visitor in the decision stage might prefer a product demo or webinar.

That‘s why it’s important to design content offers for each stage of the buyer’s journey. If your gated content aligns with their stage in the journey, your audience is more likely to convert.

2. Complete a competitive analysis.

Once you‘ve brainstormed some content ideas for each stage of the buyer’s journey, it’s time to conduct a competitive analysis.

In a competitive analysis, you’ll research the types of content your competitors offer. activities.

Pay attention to what content is gated versus ungated — this will give you an idea of what types of content are valuable enough to place behind a gate.

3. Provide incentive.

As an inbound marketer, you know that providing value is of the utmost importance.

Your content offer shouldn’t be a quick blog post. Instead, your gated content should provide actionable, valuable content.

Just as importantly, your gated content should be relevant to your audience.

When your content provides true value, it gives your audience an incentive to fill out that form and give you their contact information.

4. Build a strong landing page.

When a user clicks on a CTA for a content offer, they’re usually led to a landing page. So, one of the best practices for gated content is to build a strong landing page (we’ve got 41 examples if you need some inspo).

For example, HubSpot’s State of Marketing report landing page contains a strong headline, compelling copy, and a sneak preview of some of the key findings.

Once you decide to download, the form is simple and fast.

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The technical steps for gating your content will vary depending on your CMS. But chances are, your landing page will include a form where visitors can input their contact details in exchange for your content offer. It’s important that your form is straightforward, easy to use, and user-friendly.

HubSpot offers a free online form builder that enables you to create and customize forms with a drag-and-drop form maker.

5. Segment your audience.

Once your audience has downloaded your gated content and you receive their email address, it’s time to segment your email lists.

This will help you develop targeted and effective email marketing campaigns.

Additionally, segmenting your audience means you can send nurturing emails to move those leads to prospects.

6. Measure the analytics.

When you’ve decided to gate a certain piece of content, you can track conversions and measure your analytics.

As with any marketing strategy, measuring your success is extremely important. This data will help you understand your audience better and improve your content strategy.

Now that you know some best practices for creating gated content, let’s look at types of content and examples of what this will look like in action.

Gated Content Examples

There’s lots of ways you can build gated content landing pages — here’s five of the most common types of content that businesses gate.

1. White Papers, Case Studies, and Other Reports

White papers, case studies, and other reports are great examples of gated content because they can provide targeted value to your audience.

A white paper is an authoritative, in-depth report on a specific topic; case studies look at a specific use case; and other reports might not fall into either category but still use a text-heavy, longer-form format. (Think: HubSpot’s State of Marketing report.)

All three of these content types can position your brand as an industry expert. And when you‘re a trusted expert, people want to know what you have to say — which means you’ll get more downloads and conversions.

Usually, offers are long-form content that are interesting and valuable to your audience, like this one from IMO Health about high-quality medical data and research.

Pro tip: Give your audience a taste of the content. The above example includes a few key learnings that prove its value and entice its audience to fill out the form.

StrataBeat’s 2025 B2B SEO Performance Report is a good example of a gated report. The landing page clearly states what the product is, and the description — “Unlock superior SEO performance with insights from an analysis of 300 B2B SaaS websites” — emphasizes high-quality data and even includes the size of the study.

There’s also a graphic of the report, which suggests a beautifully designed, thoughtfully produced content offer. The CTA, “Get the report and boost your SEO results,” promises that providing your information will be worth your while, and you can see all six information fields you need to fill out.

2. Ebooks

An ebook is another popular type of gated content. Unlike a white paper, an ebook is usually a shorter guide on a specific topic.

Ebooks can also establish your brand authority and build trust with your audience. They are usually used in the awareness and consideration stages of the buyer’s journey.

IMO Health also has multiple gated ebooks that require your contact information before you can hit that “download” button.

This one, entitled AI in healthcare: 6 solutions driving efficiency and innovation, includes a few bullet points of what you’ll learn, ensuring that it finds the right audience.

Pro tip: Tell your readers how long the ebook is so they know what they’re getting into. IMO Health, above, includes the read time just below the title.

3. Templates

One of my favorite forms of gated content is the template. Providing a template is a tactical, actionable piece of content.

The perceived value of a template is much higher than that of an ebook and a white paper, which means your audience is more likely to input their contact information to receive it.

Templates are a great gated content offer for folks in the consideration and decision stage of the buyer’s journey.

SlidesGo, which publishes free templates for PowerPoint and Google Slides, gates much of its premium content:

Pro tip: You can still preview all of the slides in the template, so users know exactly what they’re getting when they hand over their email address.

4. Webinars

With a webinar, you‘ll educate your audience to learn more about a topic. You’ll develop trust, build relationships, and, hopefully, inspire.

For prospects in the decision stage of the buyer’s journey, webinars make an excellent gated content offer.

Again, webinars have a high perceived value, which makes your audience more likely to fill out that form.

5. Quizzes

If you’re a person who wears makeup and you’ve been on Instagram or TikTok in the past couple years, you’ve probably been targeted by Il Makiage, a cosmetics company with a particularly large range of foundation shades.

After enticing you with before-and-after pics of models (whose perfect skin somehow looks even more perfect after Il Makiage foundation), the makeup company promises that its “PowerMatch algorithm” will find a shade that perfectly matches your skin tone—no in-store swatching required.

After you’ve devoted several minutes of your time — which is a lot in a world where 30-second videos rule — Il Makiage asks for your contact info before revealing your foundation color.

Pro tip: Putting the ask after the quiz means that the user has already invested their time and is more likely to fork over their email. (And I can tell you from personal experience that it’s really hard to walk away from the promise of perfect skin.)

Gated vs. Ungated Content

With gated content, it’s important to provide your audience with interesting and relevant offers. Ultimately, gated content should be targeted and help you generate leads. Remember that scale from the beginning: You’ll want to find a balance between brand visibility and lead gen, so gate wisely — and with your audience’s needs in mind.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

I’ve spent decades analyzing shifts in marketing, but the rise of AI agents is the most disruptive one yet. These systems are quickly taking over the user journey — but unlike humans, they evaluate structured data, analyze backend specifications, and make decisions in milliseconds.

Major players are already taking note and adapting. For example, Adobe recently introduced AI agents that brands can use to help consumers navigate through their websites. Businesses can then enable personalized marketing based on real-time user behavior and unique customer attributes.

From a practical perspective, however, what does it actually look like when AI agents take over key stages of the user journey? And, what does that mean for marketers? To find out, I put three leading AI agent-powered tools to the test by assigning them real marketing tasks. Here’s what happened and what every marketer needs to do next.

What are AI agents, and why are they important in marketing?

AI agents are autonomous systems that research, analyze, and take action on behalf of users. Unlike traditional AI-powered tools that assist with isolated tasks, AI agents actively manage workflows, interact with software, and execute complex processes — without direct human input.

In marketing, these agents are quickly becoming the new gatekeepers, deciding which brands, products, and services get surfaced and used. Instead of persuading consumers directly with creative campaigns or paid advertising, marketers must now optimize for AI-driven decision-making. So, brand content needs to be structured, clear, and machine-readable.

3 Real-World Examples of AI Agents in Marketing

AI agents are already changing how marketing works. Here’s how three leading tools are taking over research, onboarding, and execution — and what that looks like from a user perspective.

1. Gemini Deep Research: the End of Customer Discovery

What’s one of the most overlooked changes in marketing? The customer research and discovery phase is slowly vanishing. That’s not because customers are skipping it, but because AI agents are doing it for them.

To test this, I used Google’s Gemini Deep Research, part of the Gemini 2.0 Suite, and asked it a simple question: How do I add a chatbot to HubSpot’s website? Instead of giving me a list of links or summaries, Gemini scanned 37 websites, synthesized the steps into a single tutorial, and delivered it in a format I could instantly use. No ads, no searching, no clicking around.

This change is subtle — but it means that if you’re still optimizing solely for human eyes, you’re risking irrelevance. AI agents don’t browse your blog or evaluate your brand voice; they look for verifiable information and clear, objective reliability. Even a superior product can be overlooked if your content isn’t presented in a way that agents can parse and evaluate.

How to Stay Ahead

• Format your content for extractability by using structured headers, ordered steps, and scannable product summaries.
• Create citation-worthy documentation by ensuring your product information is clean, factual, and consistently described across all digital properties.
• Choose product clarity over cleverness by skipping branded language or marketing jargon in favor of clear answers to functional product questions.

2. Google Stream Realtime: the AI Onboarding Partner

While Gemini Deep Research is reshaping how product information is discovered and gathered, Google Stream Realtime, part of Google AI Studio, is changing the way users learn to use a product.

Continuing with my experiment to add a chatbot to HubSpot’s website, I tested Stream to see how it would assist me in navigating the setup process. Instead of directing me to a help article, Stream observed my screen, analyzed my actions, and provided real-time, step-by-step guidance. Every recommendation was context-aware, adapting to exactly where I was in the process.

What stood out was that Stream doesn’t just react to inputs — it anticipates needs. As I navigated the interface, Stream learned how I was interacting with different elements and adjusted its guidance accordingly. This creates a continuous feedback loop where Stream teaches users while learning from their behavior. Onboarding then becomes more efficient and personalized.

How to Stay Ahead

• Clearly define and map out user journeys that follow a predictable structure and design flow, so AI agents can walk users through each step without confusion.
• Label interface elements clearly and consistently by making buttons, menus, and actions machine-readable with standard, unambiguous language.
• Provide structured help content like tooltips, walkthroughs, or embedded tutorials that AI agents can surface instantly when guiding users through your product.

3. Claude AI: Extending agent capabilities through tool integration

Claude AI, developed by Anthropic, represents the next step in AI agent capabilities through its Model Context Protocol (MCP), which allows the agent to utilize external tools and operate with greater independence.

For example, you can give Claude access to tools like Brave Search, productivity apps, or CRMs through secure connections. Once authorized, it can pull reports, generate content, trigger workflows, or even connect data across platforms — all without the user lifting a finger.

During the experiment, I found it particularly exciting that the agent doesn’t hand off tasks to the user — it completes them on the user’s behalf. This means your product needs to be accessible by both human users and AI operations.

How to Stay Ahead

• Build clear, well-documented APIs (like Hubspot’s API Guides) so agents like Claude can understand and act on your product’s capabilities.
• Use secure authentication tools like OAuth to allow safe agent access without compromising user trust or requiring constant credential re-entry.

• Structure your product and data for automation by creating well-defined actions, clear data models, and reliable feedback mechanisms that enable agents to trigger, complete, and validate key operations.

Adapting to Agents

AI Agents don’t scroll through your website, engage with your ads, or respond to emotional storytelling. Instead, they look for structured information and gather those insights for a human user.

Cutting-edge companies will restructure their approach to marketing so they resonate with AI gatekeepers and get their offerings in front of human decision-makers. If you haven’t begun experimenting with AI agents, it’s time to dive in, or you might just get left behind.

To learn more about how AI agents are reshaping your marketing strategy, check out the full episode of Marketing Against the Grain below:

This blog series is in partnership with Marketing Against the Grain, the video podcast. It digs deeper into ideas shared by marketing leaders Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (SVP, Marketing at HubSpot) as they unpack growth strategies and learn from standout founders and peers.

Throughout my marketing career, I’ve worked with a handful of small businesses and startups — each one scrappy, fast-moving, and trying to do more with less. I’ve seen firsthand how hard it can be to get the word out when you’re short on time, budget, or a full-time marketing team.

But I’ve also seen how much impact the right strategy can make. When small business marketing clicks, it’s like turning on a light. Suddenly, you’re not just reaching people — you’re connecting with the right ones.

In this guide, I’ll share the tips, tools, and lessons that have helped small businesses grow without burning out. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to refresh your marketing strategy, these ideas are built to help you stand out and scale up using an inbound marketing approach that attracts customers by being helpful, not pushy.

Table of Contents

What is small business marketing?

Let’s take a step back for a second and talk about what small business marketing really is.

At its core, small business marketing is the process of promoting your products or services to attract, engage, and retain customers. It‘s about making sure the right people know who you are, what you offer, and why they should care. Whether you’re promoting a product, service, or your own expertise, your job is to reach the right people and give them a reason to trust you.

In every small business I’ve worked with, the approach looked a little different. Some focused on email, others relied on events or word of mouth.

The point is: there’s no one-size-fits-all playbook. The key is figuring out what works for you — and doubling down.

A recent study by SimpleTexting found that 75% of small businesses have a marketing plan, and those with a structured plan are 6.7 times more likely to report success than those without one. So yeah, having a plan matters.

The tips below come from real-world experience — things I’ve seen work across lean startups, solo teams, and growing companies. Think of them as your starting point. When the basics are in place, every strategy you layer on top will work harder for you.

Before you dive into marketing, it’s worth slowing down to set yourself up right. I’ve seen so many small businesses burn time and money trying to promote a product or service without a clear plan — and end up frustrated when nothing sticks.

The truth is, your marketing won’t work if your foundation is shaky. This section covers the steps I’ve found most helpful to get in place before you start promoting — so that when you do, your message lands and your time pays off.

1. Define your target audience.

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen small businesses make is trying to market to everyone. It spreads your message thin — and rarely connects. Instead, narrow your focus. Who’s the best-fit customer? What are they struggling with? Where do they spend time online?

When I started working with my first fintech startup, they described their target audience as “people who need help with HR stuff.” Not only was that way too broad, but it didn’t reflect who was actually buying. So we looked at who had converted recently and dug into what their day-to-day looked like.

Turns out, most of them were overworked finance managers at healthcare companies — not HR leads. They were the ones feeling the pain of messy payroll systems and were actively looking for a fix. That small shift in perspective helped us change our messaging, rework the website, and even adjust which channels we were showing up on.

The more specific you can get, the easier everything else becomes — ads perform better, content gets more engagement, and your leads are actually qualified. It doesn’t have to be complicated: start with your current customers. Who do you love working with? Who seems to “get it” fastest? That’s a great place to begin.

Try jotting down a few details about your ideal customer:

• What job title or industry are they in?
• What’s stressing them out at work?
• What’s happening right before they find you?

Once you’ve got that, give them a name. Not a real one — just a persona you can picture when you’re writing or building campaigns. It sounds simple, but it works.

If you want help building out a full persona, HubSpot’s free persona generator is a great tool for organizing your thoughts.

Download Free Buyer Persona Templates

2. Clarify your value proposition.

This is one of those things that feels obvious — but often gets missed. If someone lands on your homepage or social profile, would they immediately know who you help, what you help them do, and why they should care?

One company I worked with had an entire paragraph on the homepage describing “a better way to manage internal processes.” It sounded fancy, but it didn’t really mean anything. So we rewrote it to say: “Spot payroll errors before they cost you. Automate your internal audit process with AI.”

Suddenly, it clicked. Demo requests went up. Prospects finally got what we did.

Writing a strong value prop isn’t about sounding smart — it’s about being clear. Don’t hide behind buzzwords. Lead with outcomes. Use the language your best customers already use when they describe why they chose you.

If you’re feeling stuck, try answering these questions:

• Who’s this for?
• What problem are you solving?
• Why are you different or better?

Still not sure? Try filling in this prompt::

“We help [target audience] achieve [value] without [pain point].”

For example, when filled in, it should sound something like: “We help busy HR teams automate payroll audits without manual spreadsheets.”

Whether it’s your pricing, your process, your values, or your customer service, that difference should be easy to spot across your homepage, email campaigns, and social content.

Pro tip: If you’re still not sure where to start, try answering this: What would your happiest customer say about working with you?

3. Determine your brand identity and visuals.

You don’t need a fancy visual identity to get started — but you do need to show up consistently. When your Instagram looks nothing like your website, and your emails feel like they were written by a totally different person, it creates friction. And friction costs trust.

I recently helped an early-stage SaaS client settle on a simple color palette, two clean fonts, and a brand voice that matched how their sales team talked. Nothing groundbreaking — but it made everything feel way more polished. And will save them hours of decision-making down the line.

Just keep it simple:

• Choose 2 colors you’ll use across your site and social channels.
• Pick 1-2 fonts (you can find tons of free Google Fonts).
• Decide how you want to sound: Friendly? Witty? Reassuring?

Pro tip: Make a one-page “brand cheat sheet” and share it with anyone writing or designing for your business. It’ll keep things consistent without needing a 30-slide brand book.

4. Map your customer journey.

Before you spend money on ads or start writing blog posts, take a minute to zoom out. How does someone go from not knowing you exist… to becoming a loyal customer?

Think about what your customer needs to see, hear, or feel at each stage — from awareness to decision. What’s missing? What’s working?

At a company I recently worked with, we realized our content was driving solid traffic, but leads weren’t converting. People were reading blog posts and even signing up for our newsletter, but they weren’t taking the next step. So we walked through the journey from their perspective.

Unsurprisingly, we found a gap. We hadn’t clearly explained what would happen next. There were no nudges, no case studies, no middle-of-funnel content. We were assuming people were ready to buy — when in reality, they still had questions.

So we created a short email sequence that followed up with educational content, added a “Who It’s For” section to our homepage, and made our CTA buttons more specific. Those small changes helped fill the gaps and move people closer to converting.

To get started, try sketching out a simple version of your current customer journey:

• How they find you (search, referrals, social, etc.).
• What convinces them to trust you.
• What triggers them to convert (book, buy, subscribe).
• What happens after they do.

Even the act of writing it out can help you spot small moments where people are falling through the cracks — and give you ideas to fix them and effectively plan your go-to-market (GTM) strategy.

5. Choose your core marketing channels.

When you’re a small team, trying to show up everywhere is a fast track to burnout. You don’t need to be on every social platform or chase every trend — you just need to be in the right places for your audience.

At a startup I worked with, we initially tried it all: Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, newsletters, blog posts… even a podcast idea got thrown around. But once we looked at where actual leads were coming from, it was clear that 90% of our best-fit customers were engaging through LinkedIn and email. So we cut the rest and focused on doing those two things really well. Engagement went up. So did sanity.

Start with what you know:

• Where does your audience spend time online?
• Where do you already have some traction?
• What can you realistically maintain with your current bandwidth?

For example, if you’re a visual brand (like beauty or lifestyle), Instagram or Pinterest might make sense. If you’re selling to other businesses, LinkedIn and email might work better. If you’re trying to rank for long-tail keywords, SEO and blogging should be your focus.

Once you know your top 1–2 channels, build a simple rhythm — then commit to it for a few months. Test, tweak, and then consider layering on more.

6. Build a functional, mobile-friendly website.

Your website doesn’t need to be fancy. But it does need to be clear, fast, and easy to navigate — especially on mobile. Most of your visitors are going to land on your site, scroll for a few seconds, and decide whether to keep going. You want that moment to work in your favor.

I recently helped launch a new site for a customer loyalty company who didn’t have the budget for a full design team. We used a clean, mobile-friendly template, added clear messaging to the homepage, and made sure the most important buttons were easy to find. It wasn’t flashy — but it was professional and it converted.

The best way to start is to start simple. At a minimum, make sure your website:

• Loads fast (especially on mobile).
• Explains what you do in the first few seconds.
• Has a clear next step (like a contact form or sign-up button).
• Includes basic pages: Home, About, Services or Product, and Contact.

If you‘re short on time or budget, HubSpot’s starter bundle lets you build a clean, mobile-friendly site using drag-and-drop templates with zero coding required.

Pro tip: After you publish, view your site on your phone. If you have to pinch, scroll sideways, or dig to find info, it’s time to clean things up.

7. Set up basic lead capture on your site.

Getting people to your website is a big win. But if they leave without a trace, you’re missing out on future customers. That’s why you need a simple way to capture leads — before you start pouring time and money into promotion.

At one startup I worked with, we were running a solid SEO strategy. Blog traffic was climbing, but conversions were flat. So we added a short lead magnet content offer to the most popular posts: a downloadable checklist that matched the topic. Visitors could enter their email to get it, and boom — we started collecting warm leads without changing much else.

Lead capture doesn’t have to be complicated. You just need:

• A short form (name + email is often enough).
• A clear reason to sign up (newsletter, discount, guide, early access).
• A simple way to deliver the follow-up (email tool or automation).

If you’re not sure what to offer, think about what would be genuinely helpful for someone visiting your site. A guide, a calculator, a checklist — anything that makes their life easier.

If you’re looking for tools to help, HubSpot’s free form builder is a great place to start. And if you’re keeping things simple, even just embedding a basic form at the bottom of your homepage, blog posts, or landing pages can be surprisingly effective.

Pro tip: Place your lead capture form where people are already engaging — like at the bottom of blog posts or on your “About” page. These visitors are more likely to convert than someone landing on your homepage cold.

8. Set up a CRM to manage contacts and leads.

If you‘re still tracking leads in a spreadsheet, I get it — I’ve done it too. But it gets messy fast. Once people start signing up, emailing you, or showing interest, it’s way too easy to lose track of who’s who, what stage they’re in, or when you last followed up.

That’s where a CRM system comes in. It helps you stay organized, see your pipeline at a glance, and keep track of every customer interaction in one place. Even if you’re a team of one, having a CRM early makes it way easier to scale later.

At one company I worked with, we didn’t implement a CRM until we already had a few dozen warm leads — and we regretted waiting. Once we switched to HubSpot’s CRM, we could actually track which leads were converting, which emails were working, and who needed a follow-up. Our team felt more focused, and nothing slipped through the cracks.

There are tons of options out there, but HubSpot’s CRM is an easy (and free) one to start with. It’s built for small businesses and integrates seamlessly with tools like email marketing, forms, and lead scoring — so you’re not scraping everything together later.

The earlier you get this in place, the easier it’ll be to stay on top of your growth … trust me.

Small Business Marketing Strategies

With your foundation in place, now it’s time to put your message into the world. This is where you’ll start creating content, building relationships, and finding new ways to reach the right people.

The strategies below are the ones I’ve seen work best across early-stage startups and small teams. Some help you lay the groundwork. Others are about showing up consistently or expanding your reach. You don’t need to tackle all of them — just pick a few that feel doable, test what works, and build from there.

Get set up.

These are the basics — the things that help you build a marketing engine that won’t fall apart under pressure. This is about creating content that earns trust, setting up tools that track your impact, and laying the groundwork for more consistent growth.

1. Create foundational content for your website.

If your website is the digital front door of your business, your content is what gets people to step inside — and stick around. I’ve seen so many small teams launch a site that’s technically live … but missing the pieces that actually build trust.

Foundational content is the stuff people look for when they’re trying to decide if you’re legit. Be honest, how many times have you googled, “Is [company] a scam”?

In order to make sure no one’s doing that when they land on your website, try to include:

• A clear explanation of what you do and who it’s for.
• An FAQ that handles common objections.
• A pricing or “How It Works” page (even a simple one).
• A story about why you started the business or what makes you different.

One small business I worked with didn’t have a pricing page for months because they were still “figuring things out.” But prospects kept bouncing because they couldn’t tell if it was even worth booking a call. Once we added a “Pricing starting at…” section and a visual breakdown of the plan tiers, conversions nearly doubled.

Don’t wait for it to be perfect. Start with the basics. Then update as you go. Take it from me, a perfectionist.

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2. Start a blog and optimize posts for search engines.

I’ll be honest: blogging takes time. But when it’s done well, it becomes one of the most sustainable ways to bring in new traffic over the long term — without paying for every click.

Remember that fintech startup I worked with? Well, we launched a blog with just two goals: answer real customer questions and rank for high-intent keywords. We didn’t post weekly or follow a strict calendar in the beginning. Instead, we focused on a few solid pieces that hit the mark. Those posts consistently brought in qualified leads, months after publishing.

The key? Think about what your ideal customer is googling right before they need you. Start there. You don’t need dozens of posts — just a few that are relevant, helpful, and optimized.

Pro tip: Use resources like Ahrefs, Semrush or HubSpot’s free SEO tools to find keywords your audience is searching for. Then build your posts around those topics, using clear headlines, simple structure, and real examples whenever you can.

Download Free Blog Post Templates

3. Track performance with website analytics.

If you’re not tracking what’s working, you’re basically marketing in the dark. And I’ve seen it happen — teams spend hours on blog posts or landing pages without ever checking whether anyone’s actually reading, clicking, or converting.

Website analytics help you understand what’s landing with your audience and where people are dropping off. You don’t need to be a data wizard — just look for simple signals:

• Which pages are getting the most traffic?
• Where are visitors coming from?
• What’s converting … and what’s not?

At one company I worked with, we discovered that our “About” page was one of the most visited — but it didn’t have a single CTA. We added a short sentence and a button to download a free report, and just like that, it became a top-performing lead source.

Pro tip: Set a reminder once a month to check your top 5 pages. See what’s performing—and build on it. With HubSpot, you can track traffic, leads, and even which CTAs are converting—right from your dashboard.

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4. Build and segment your email list.

Your email list might just be your most valuable marketing asset — but only if you build it right from the start. I’ve worked with small teams who skipped this step and ended up with a messy spreadsheet of contacts, no clear opt-ins, and no idea who wanted what. It’s fixable, but trust me, it’s much easier to do it right the first time.

The good news? You don’t need thousands of subscribers. You just need the right people — and a system to keep them organized. That’s where segmentation comes into your email marketing strategy.

Start with the basics:

• One list for leads who downloaded a resource or signed up on your site.
• One for existing customers.
• One for anyone who’s requested a demo or contacted sales.

Even simple tags like “lead,” “customer,” or “inactive” can help you personalize messages and track performance later on.

At one early-stage company, we used these basic tags to trigger tailored emails—like onboarding tips for new customers, blog content for leads, and re-engagement emails for people who hadn’t opened in a while. Click-through rates jumped, and sales started asking for more campaigns because they could see the lift.

Pro tip: Most CRMs will let you segment your list automatically based on actions—like downloads, page views, or email engagement. Set those rules early, and you’ll thank yourself later.

Connect with customers.

Once your systems are in place, it’s time to put them to work. This next batch of strategies is all about showing up for your audience in ways that build trust and keep your business top of mind. Whether someone’s just discovered you or already joined your list, these tips will help you stay connected—and turn interest into action.

5. Set up automated email campaigns.

You don’t need to manually follow up with every new lead. In fact, one of the biggest time-savers I’ve used at small businesses is simple email marketing automation. A few well-timed emails can do a lot of heavy lifting — nurturing new contacts, sharing helpful info, and guiding them toward a decision.

At one startup I worked with, we created a three-part welcome sequence that went out automatically when someone downloaded a guide. The first email said thanks and linked to the content. The second introduced a customer story. The third offered a soft call to book a demo. It took an afternoon to set up — and brought in dozens of qualified leads every month.

You don’t need a huge workflow to get started. Just think about what someone needs to know after they sign up:

• Do they need a nudge to take the next step?
• Would a testimonial or resource help build trust?
• Can you answer a question before they ask it?

Pro tip: Tools like HubSpot’s email automation make it easy to build these sequences with drag-and-drop workflows without coding or stress.

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6. Use personalized emails to nurture leads.

Automation is great for saving time — but it’s even more powerful when it feels personal. Just because an email is triggered automatically doesn’t mean it has to sound like a robot wrote it.

That’s why segmenting your email list early (like we talked about above) is such a smart move. It gives you a head start on sending the right message to the right people without starting from scratch every time.

Once someone joins your list, the goal isn’t just to stay in touch — it’s to stay relevant. Generic emails get ignored. But personalized ones? They can make someone feel like you get them.

I’ve seen small teams double their email click-through rates just by segmenting leads based on where they signed up or what content they downloaded. It doesn’t require fancy tools — just a little forethought.

For example, if someone downloads a guide on payroll compliance, don’t immediately send them your latest product announcement. Instead, follow up with a helpful blog post or short checklist on that same topic. Keep the thread going.

Here’s what’s worked well for me:

• Use their name (but sparingly — once or twice max).
• Reference the action they took .
• Offer something that matches their interests.
• Keep it short and human like something you’d actually send.

Pro tip: Even a good free CRM lets you trigger personalized emails based on behaviors, like which page someone visited or what they clicked. You don’t need a giant list to make it feel personal.

7. Offer discounts or exclusive content in exchange for sign-ups.

Sometimes, people need a little extra motivation to join your list — and that’s where a good lead magnet comes in. Whether it’s a one-time discount, a downloadable resource, or early access to something new, giving your audience a clear reason to subscribe can make a big difference.

I’ve seen this work especially well for early-stage startups. One client offered a “10% off your first plan” discount for users who signed up through a specific landing page. Another gave away a free onboarding checklist that aligned with their product. Both doubled their conversion rates almost overnight — just by giving people something valuable up front.

Think about what would feel like a win for your ideal customer, is it:

• A helpful checklist or resource that solves a quick pain point?
• A discount code or first-purchase incentive?
• Exclusive access to new features or content?

Pro tip: Keep it simple and relevant. A small, useful freebie often works better than a big, vague promise. And make sure the follow-up email delivers right away. Nobody wants to dig around their inbox to find what they signed up for.

8. Establish a consistent social media presence.

Speaking of offering a discount, freebie, or lead magnet to grow your email list, social media is one of the best places to share it. But for those promos to work, your audience actually needs to see them — and that’s where consistency comes in.

Regular posting can significantly boost your brand’s visibility, especially when you consistently post at the right times. In fact, businesses that post consistently on social media see a 50% increase in visibility and a 30% boost in organic reach. ​

I’ve worked with plenty of small teams who post when they remember, then feel frustrated when it doesn’t drive results. The truth is, consistency matters more than frequency or follower count.

When I helped one B2B SaaS startup streamline their social strategy, we set a cadence of three posts per week on LinkedIn — much easier than posting every day, but still consistent. And instead of diluting content to spread it thinner, we focused on making each post count. That rhythm was manageable, and it worked.

Here are some tips if you’re just getting started:

• Choose 1–2 platforms where your audience already spends time.
• Commit to a schedule you can actually maintain.
• Focus on quality, not quantity.

And don’t overthink it. A quick product feature, a customer win, or even a trending meme can go a long way if your audience can relate.

Pro tip: HubSpot’s social media tools can help you plan and schedule posts in advance, so you can show up consistently without babysitting every platform. Our free social media content calendar can also help you get organized and started quickly.

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9. Use social platforms for service and customer interaction.

Posting regularly builds visibility — but what really earns trust is how you show up when people reach out. Social media isn’t just a content channel; it’s a two-way street.

I’ve seen small businesses turn a single DM or comment into a long-term customer — just by replying quickly and helpfully. At one company, we set a simple rule: respond to every comment, mention, and direct message within 24 hours. It wasn’t always easy, but it paid off. Prospects felt seen, and existing customers knew we had their back.

If someone tags your brand, asks a question, or shares a piece of feedback, that’s not a distraction — it’s an opportunity.

A few simple habits go a long way:

• Like or reply to every customer comment or shout-out.
• Answer questions publicly when possible (others are watching, too).
• Use replies as a source of content inspiration — your audience is telling you what they care about.

Pro tip: HubSpot’s Social Inbox tool can centralize all your social DMs, mentions, and interactions so you’re not toggling between apps. And the faster you reply, the more the algorithm tends to reward you—another reason to stay active.

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Grow your reach.

Once you’ve built a solid foundation and started engaging with your audience, it’s time to think a little bigger. The strategies I’m about to share are all about expanding your visibility — reaching new people who haven’t heard of you yet, but should.

You don’t need a huge budget or a viral moment to grow your reach. What you do need is a little creativity and a willingness to test what works.

10. Work with influencers or micro-creators in your niche.

You don’t need to collaborate with celebrities to see results from influencer marketing. In fact, I’ve seen micro-influencers — creators with 1,000 to 50,000 followers — drive better outcomes for small businesses than big-name partnerships. Their audiences are more engaged, and their recommendations feel more genuine.

And the numbers back that up. According to a recent report, micro-influencers on Instagram see an average engagement rate of 3.86% — compared to just 1.21% for mega-influencers. That kind of connection makes a real impact, especially when you’re trying to grow on a budget.

One client I worked with partnered with a few niche creators in the HR and operations space. Instead of a huge campaign, we sent each one a sneak peek of our tool, let them test it, and asked them to share their honest take. A handful of Instagram stories and LinkedIn shout-outs later, we saw a steady uptick in demos booked—and even better, we built relationships we could tap into again later.

Here’s what I’ve found works well:

• Find creators who already speak to your target audience
• Focus on relevance and authenticity, not follower count
• Let them tell your story in their voice—it comes across more naturally

Micro-influencers are often more open to creative or non-cash partnerships, like offering free access to your product, an affiliate link, or co-branded content. It doesn’t have to be a massive spend to be effective. You never know until you ask!

Pro tip: Download HubSpot’s free Influencer Marketing Guide to get started with your partnerships.

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11. Encourage user-generated content and customer shout-outs.

There’s nothing quite as powerful — or budget-friendly — as having your customers talk about you. Whether it’s a tagged Instagram post, a product review, or a casual shout-out in a LinkedIn comment, user-generated content (UGC) builds trust in a way no paid ad ever could.

That said, I know not every business has a lineup of customers ready to post. Especially in the early days, you might need to get a little creative. I’ve worked with startups who hired UGC creators — freelancers who record short, natural-feeling videos that look just like a real customer review. These aren’t high-production ads — they’re simple, relatable clips that work great for paid social, landing pages, and organic posts.

For one B2B SaaS client, we hired a UGC creator to simulate a first-time user experience with our platform. The video was short, honest, and shot on an iPhone — and it outperformed our polished explainer video 3 to 1 on click-throughs.

Whether you’re working with real customers or hired creators, the goal is the same: help people see themselves in the story you’re telling.

Try this:

• Ask happy customers to tag you or share a quick video.
• Offer a small incentive (gift card, feature, shout-out).
• Hire a UGC creator to model the customer journey if you’re just getting started.

Pro tip: Even a handful of videos or testimonials can be repurposed across social, landing pages, and ads. And if you’re not sure where to find UGC creators, platforms like Upwork or Fiverr are great starting points.

12. Collaborate with other businesses for co-marketing opportunities.

One of the fastest (and most underrated) ways to expand your reach is to partner with another business that shares your audience — but doesn’t compete with you.

I’ve seen this work incredibly well for small teams, especially when budgets are tight. One salestech platform I worked with partnered with a CRM company to co-host a webinar on streamlining sales processes. They promoted it to both of their email lists, shared the content across social media, and followed up with a joint blog recap. The result? Double the visibility, double the leads, and half the work.

You don’t have to do anything elaborate. Some ideas I’ve seen work:

• Run a co-hosted event or webinar.
• Create a bundled offer or promo code swap.
• Write a guest post or feature each other in newsletters.
• Do a simple Instagram or LinkedIn Live together.

Pro tip: Pick a strategic partner whose audience overlaps with yours but solves a different problem. That way, you’re adding value without stepping on toes, and your content feels like a win for everyone involved.

13. Incorporate short-form video into your content mix.

Short-form video is another one of the fastest ways to get discovered — and the good news is, you don’t need a studio setup or a big production budget to get started.

Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts reward content that’s real, relatable, and quick to consume. Whether it’s hopping on a trending audio clip or sharing a behind-the-scenes moment, short videos can punch way above their weight.

One early-stage SaaS company I worked with posted a quick video using a trending sound to show a “before and after” of their product in action. It was shot on an iPhone in under 10 minutes and ended up driving more traffic than a full week of paid ads.

You don’t have to be a creator to try this. Some of the best-performing videos are simple, helpful, or funny takes that speak directly to your audience. Just stay authentic, and don’t be afraid to experiment.

A few simple video ideas to try:

• Use trending audio to highlight a relatable customer pain point.
• Share a quick product tip or FAQ using green screen mode.
• Record a founder reaction to a recent stat or headline.
• Show the transformation your product delivers.

Pro tip: Repurpose what you already have. Take a blog post, FAQ, or stat you’ve shared elsewhere and turn it into a 15-second script. Tools like HubSpot’s free Clip Creator make it even easier to get started.

14. Experiment with webinars, ebooks, or downloadable content.

Long-form content might not be the flashiest tactic, but when it’s done right, it can generate leads for months. Webinars, guides, checklists, and reports give you a way to go deeper on topics your audience cares about — and collect email addresses while you’re at it.

At one company I worked with, we ran a survey to gather fresh data on B2B sales teams. Once we had the results, we turned them into a gated report, a blog post highlighting the key takeaways, and a series of quick-hit tips based on the insights.

We also repurposed stats and quotes into social posts, and hosted a follow-up webinar to walk through the findings live. That single project gave us a full month of content — and filled our pipeline with leads who were already engaged.

And you don’t need a research budget to get started. You can get scrappy:

• Ask your audience 3–5 questions with a free tool like Typeform.
• Host a casual, no-fluff webinar with a customer or partner.
• Package up your top blog posts into a downloadable PDF.
• Turn internal templates or checklists into lead magnets.

Pro tip: Evergreen content like webinars and guides can keep generating leads long after launch — if you make it easy to find. Add it to your homepage, link to it in blog posts, and promote it on social regularly (not just once). On that note…

15. Repurpose your best-performing content across channels.

If you’ve already put in the work to create a webinar, guide, or tip-packed blog post, don’t let it be a one-and-done. Some of the most effective content strategies I’ve seen aren’t about producing more — they’re about squeezing every last drop of value out of what you already have, especially when resources are scarce.

That AI sales survey I mentioned? Like I said before, we spun it into a full campaign. The gated report turned into a blog post, which turned into a carousel for LinkedIn, which turned into a short video script. We even used snippets for an email nurture sequence. Same story, five formats.

Here are a few ideas to get more mileage from what you’ve already made:

• Turn blog posts into short-form videos or carousel posts.
• Break up long webinars into 15–30 second video clips.
• Pull key stats or quotes into graphics or caption-style images.
• Convert your most popular email into a blog or LinkedIn post.

Pro tip: Not sure what to repurpose first? Start with your top-performing blog post or most-clicked email. Then use a tool like HubSpot’s free Campaign Assistant and Content Remix to quickly spin it into social posts, ad copy, and more, so your best ideas keep working behind the scenes.

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So far, we’ve walked through what to do before marketing your business, how to lay a strong foundation, and the strategies that help you connect with your audience and start building momentum.

Now it’s time to take things further with digital marketing tactics that help you scale that momentum. These aren’t massive campaigns or big-budget bets. They’re small, proven moves you can layer into your routine to stay visible, build trust, and convert more of the traffic and attention you’re already earning.

Whether you’re just getting started or looking to sharpen your day-to-day execution, these tips are designed to help you get the most out of your efforts — without getting overwhelmed.

1. Request and showcase customer testimonials or reviews.

When people are on the fence about trying something new, a good review can tip the scale. And for small businesses, social proof is one of the most powerful trust signals you can have.

I’ve worked with small businesses where one strong testimonial on the homepage or a LinkedIn shout-out from a happy customer made more impact than weeks of ad spend. People want to hear from real people — not just brands.

If you don’t have many reviews yet, that’s totally normal. You can start by reaching out to happy customers directly. A quick email with a specific ask — like a Google review, LinkedIn blurb, or quote for your site — can go a long way. Just make it easy for them to say yes.

Places to showcase testimonials:

• Your homepage or pricing page.
• A dedicated reviews or testimonial page.
• Social media posts or Stories.
• Case studies or customer spotlight emails.

Pro tip: If you already have great feedback buried in emails or support chats, ask permission to repurpose it. And if you want to automate requests, tools like HubSpot’s Service Hub can help you send follow-ups at just the right time.

2. Set up and optimize your Google Business Profile (and other business pages).

When someone searches for your business — or even just what you offer — your business profiles across platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook are often the first thing they’ll see. These listings act as digital storefronts, especially for local businesses.

And they’re powerful. A well-optimized Google Business Profile can boost your local SEO, make your business easier to find on Maps, and help build trust through reviews and photos. Yelp and Facebook offer similar benefits, especially when people are comparing options in your area.

At a previous company, we helped a client claim and optimize all three profiles. Once they added real photos, consistent hours, a strong description, and started requesting reviews, they saw an increase in website clicks and direct messages almost immediately.

Here’s what to include across platforms:

• Your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) — make sure it’s consistent everywhere.
• A short description that includes relevant keywords.
• High-quality photos of your space, team, or product.
• Updated hours, services, and links to your site.

Customer reviews — and replies!

You can get started here:

Pro tip: Once you’ve set these up, share the links with happy customers and ask them to leave a quick review like we talked about above. These platforms can also be great sources of discovery, especially when paired with active social media accounts like Instagram or Pinterest.

3. Develop a referral program or loyalty incentive.

Word of mouth is great, but when you give happy customers a reason to spread the word, that’s when things really start to scale. A referral or loyalty program turns your best customers into your best marketers.

I’ve seen this work especially well for service-based businesses and subscription products. One SaaS company I worked with offered a $100 Amazon gift card for every successful referral, and it led to dozens of warm leads from people who already trusted the brand.

And not only have I seen it work, but I’ve done it myself! Just a few weeks ago I referred a friend to my favorite food delivery app and we both got $25 in credits for our next order. If that’s not a win-win-win, I don’t know what is!

Not sure where to start? Try one of these:

• Offer a discount or credit for every referred customer.
• Create a simple form where people can submit referrals.
• Send loyal customers a thank you gift (even something small can spark goodwill).
• Promote the program in your email footer, checkout page, or post-purchase flow.

Pro tip: The best referral programs should feel like everyone’s a winner. Keep the ask simple, the reward clear, and the follow-through fast. You can build one right inside HubSpot’s Marketing Hub, too.

4. Lean into word of mouth by delighting your customers.

A formal referral program can definitely spark action — but organic word of mouth is just as powerful, and often even more credible. The best part? You don’t always have to ask. When people genuinely love what you do, they’ll tell others all on their own.

I’ve seen this firsthand. At one company, we were still in the early stages of building a referral engine, but because our onboarding and customer support were so strong, users were already sharing us in Slack groups and tagging us on LinkedIn. It wasn’t fancy — it was just thoughtful, responsive service that made people feel taken care of.

You don’t need to roll out a massive retention campaign. Sometimes, the smallest details leave the biggest impression.

Here are a few simple ways to encourage word of mouth:

• Surprise customers with a small thank you or extra value.
• Give them a shout-out on social or in your newsletter.
• Make post-purchase check-ins part of your flow.
• Ask for feedback and show how you’re using it.

Pro tip: Pay attention to the moments that often get skipped — onboarding, support emails, post-purchase follow-ups. That’s where delight lives. And when people feel delighted, they talk.

5. Bring in freelancers to help you scale.

If you’re feeling stretched thin or you’re stuck on a project that’s outside your wheelhouse, bringing in a freelancer can make all the difference. Whether it’s content writing, design, SEO, or web development, hiring a specialist for a project (or even just a few hours) can help you move faster without hiring a full team.

As a freelance writer myself, I’ve supported dozens of small businesses that didn’t have the time or bandwidth to create content in-house. Sometimes that meant ghostwriting blog posts, and other times it was helping launch a new email campaign or tightening up web copy.

I’ve also been on the other side, working with freelance designers and SEO specialists to fill in skill gaps and move things forward faster for my own projects. You don’t need to do it all yourself.

Some things freelancers can help with:

• Website design or updates.
• Blog content and SEO optimization.
• Email campaigns and automation.
• Paid ad copy and creative assets.

Pro tip: Don’t wait until you’re overwhelmed to bring in help. Start by identifying one area that’s slowing you down or keeping you stuck, and then hire a freelancer to help you move it forward. Even a small win (like getting your blog backlog cleared or landing page refreshed) can create momentum and free up your time to focus on what you do best.

Should you outsource marketing for your small business?

If bringing in a freelancer for a single project can help you gain momentum, you might be wondering: Should I outsource more? Maybe even all of it?

It’s a question I’ve seen a lot of small business owners ask — especially once marketing starts pulling you away from the work you actually want to be doing. And honestly, it makes sense. According to a recent report, 37% of small businesses are outsourcing at least one business process, and digital marketing is one of the most common areas they hand off.

I’ve worked with scrappy teams who outsourced everything from blog writing to paid ad management so they could stay focused on product and customers. I’ve also seen founders keep things in-house until they nailed their messaging — then brought in experts to help scale. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. It really comes down to your goals, your bandwidth, and your budget.

If any of these sound like you, it might be time to outsource:

• You’re spending way too much time on marketing tasks you don’t love (or fully understand).
• You have great ideas, but no time to execute them.
• You’ve hit a plateau and need a fresh outside perspective.
• You’re ready to grow, but not quite ready to hire a full team.

The good news is: Outsourcing doesn’t mean giving up control. It means adding capacity. The same study found that 59% of businesses outsource to reduce costs, and 57% say it helps increase focus and productivity. In other words, outsourcing isn’t a shortcut — it’s actually a growth hack.

Pro tip: Start small. Pick one area that’s slowing you down and test the waters. Whether it’s SEO, content, or ads, the right partner can help you get results faster and give you room to breathe.

Advertising can feel like a big leap — especially when you’re working with a tight budget. But you don’t need a massive ad spend to make an impact. Some of the most effective small business ads I’ve seen were simple, low-cost experiments that helped validate messaging, reach new audiences, or give a nudge to content that was already working.

This section is all about lightweight, modern ways to promote your business — without burning through your budget or your energy. These ideas are built to help you test, learn, and build confidence in what works before you scale anything up.

1. Try PPC ads on Google and Bing.

If your customers are already searching for what you offer, pay-per-click (PPC) ads can be one of the fastest ways to get in front of them. These ads show up at the top of search results — and when done right, they can bring in high-quality leads who are ready to take action.

I’ve seen small businesses test search ads with just $10 or $20 a day — starting with branded keywords or super-specific phrases — and end up finding a repeatable, profitable growth channel. Once those early conversions came in, it became a lot easier to justify scaling up.

And the channel’s still going strong. According to a recent Statista report, paid search in the United States alone will amount to an estimated 455.9 billion U.S. dollars this year. Why? Because it works. Especially when you start small and optimize along the way.

A few smart ways to start:

• Target long-tail keywords to keep costs low.
• Write ad copy that matches the language people are already using to find you.
• Create a dedicated landing page instead of sending traffic to your homepage.

I’d recommend reading through this Ultimate Guide to PPC. Then, use the PPC planning template in this kit to create an optimized campaign.

Pro tip: Use UTM parameters or free PPC tools like HubSpot Ads Software to track which campaigns are actually converting. Don’t just look at clicks — optimize for what drives real results.

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2. Run targeted social media ads.

If search ads help you capture demand, social ads are all about creating it. They’re a great way to reach people who may not be actively looking for your product, but who are the right fit once it’s on their radar.

I’ve seen small businesses run incredibly effective campaigns on low budgets, especially when they used content that had already performed well organically. Think: a how-to video, a product demo, or a customer quote that got traction on Instagram or LinkedIn.

Starting with content that’s already working and boosting it means you’re not guessing what will land — you’re just amplifying it.

Social ad spend is projected to hit $219.8 billion globally this year, and small businesses make up a big part of that. Why? Because social ads are flexible, easy to test, and can be highly targeted.

To make the most of your budget:

• Focus on one platform where your audience is active.
• Test one variable at a time (headline, image, CTA).
• Use retargeting to stay in front of people who’ve already interacted with your brand.

Pro tip: Pull your best-performing organic posts and turn them into ad tests. If it worked once, it’s likely to work again — with a bigger audience behind it.

3. Offer discounts, coupons, or incentives.

Earlier, we talked about offering a freebie or discount to encourage email sign-ups. This takes that idea a step further, using strategic incentives to turn interest into actual purchases.

Whether it’s a limited-time promo, a seasonal coupon, or a simple “10% off your first order,” incentives give people a reason to act now instead of waiting. I’ve worked with businesses that saw real results by pairing a small discount with a clear next step — like redeeming it in a follow-up email or applying it on a landing page.

In fact, 62% of U.S. consumers say they actively search for promo codes or coupons when shopping online, according to a recent eMarketer report. I mean, I know I do.

A few ways to test this:

• Add a “new subscriber” promo code to your email welcome series.
• Promote a weekend flash sale on social to drive urgency.
• Create a custom landing page tied to a specific campaign or audience segment.

Pro tip: Your incentive doesn’t always have to be a discount. Early access, free shipping, or even a bonus download can be just as effective when aligned with your brand and audience.

4. Sponsor your products on marketplaces like Amazon and Etsy.

If you’re selling a physical product, marketplaces like Amazon’s sponsored products, Etsy Ads, and even eBay can be a great way to reach people who are already in buying mode. And while simply listing your products is a good start, sponsoring them gives you a serious visibility boost — especially in crowded categories.

I’ve seen a lot of small businesses test this approach by putting a small daily budget behind one or two of their best-selling products. It’s a lightweight way to increase visibility and drive conversions on platforms where people are actively searching. And because these ads run inside the marketplace, they often feel more native and less disruptive to shoppers.

Sponsoring your products on these platforms puts you in front of customers who are already searching for something like what you offer. It’s a way to compete without needing to drive all the traffic yourself.

Here are a few tips to get started:

• Start by promoting your best-selling or most-reviewed product.
• Use keywords customers are already searching for.
• Monitor your return on ad spend (ROAS) and adjust your bids accordingly.

Pro tip: Marketplace ads can also be a helpful testing ground. If a product performs well there, it might be a sign to feature it more prominently on your website or in your email campaigns.

5. Advertise with local organizations or community partners.

If your business serves a specific city or region, don’t overlook the value of local advertising. Whether it’s your neighborhood chamber of commerce, a community newsletter, or a local events page, there are plenty of low-cost ways to show up in the places your customers already trust.

I’ve seen small businesses partner with local coworking spaces, sponsor niche meetups, or run simple shoutouts in community-driven newsletters — all for far less than a big digital ad campaign. And because these placements are hyper-targeted, they often lead to stronger relationships and better word of mouth.

Here are a few ideas to try:

• Reach out to your chamber of commerce about advertising or listing opportunities.
• Sponsor a small local event or community meetup related to your niche.
• Partner with another business to promote each other in email newsletters or on social.

Pro tip: Local doesn’t have to mean offline. Many community-based publications and groups now have email lists, social channels, or Slack groups where your audience is already hanging out. Meet them where they are — and keep it personal!

6. Test and experiment to see what works.

No matter how many best practices you follow, the truth is: every business is different.

What works for one company might totally flop for another — and that’s okay. The key is to treat your marketing like a series of small, low-risk experiments.

I’ve seen small businesses unlock major growth by simply trying something new — a new channel, a different CTA, a reworked headline. Sometimes it fails. But sometimes it’s the thing that changes everything. The point isn’t to get it perfect. It’s to learn what works for your audience, your offer, and your brand. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them.

A few ways to start small:

• Test two different headlines in a social ad.
• Try a limited-time offer and track response.
• Swap out the CTA on your homepage and watch what happens.

Pro tip: Keep a simple spreadsheet or dashboard where you track what you tested, what changed, and what you learned. Over time, those small learnings add up and help you build a strategy rooted in what actually works for your business.

Download the Free Advertising Planning Kit

Small Business Marketing Tools & Resources

You’ve got the ideas — now it’s time to bring them to life. Whether you’re planning content, sending emails, or building your first website, the right marketing tools can make it a whole lot easier to stay consistent and get things done.

I’ve tested dozens of tools across startups and small teams, and these are the ones I keep coming back to. They’re simple, budget-friendly, and powerful enough to help you build real momentum — without adding complexity or cost.

1. Canva

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Canva is hands-down one of my favorite small business marketing tools. I’ve been using Canva for years and I still recommend it to almost every small business I work with. It’s one of the easiest ways to create polished, professional-looking content without needing a designer (or any real design skills at all).

Whether I’m putting together a blog header, a social post, or a slide deck, Canva is my go-to. The drag-and-drop interface is super intuitive, and the templates make it easy to stay on-brand without starting from scratch every time. I’ve even used it to build mockups for landing pages and marketing emails.

It’s especially great for small teams or solo founders who want their brand to look put-together without blowing the budget — or spending hours in Photoshop. If you’re just getting started, it’s one of the most beginner-friendly tools out there. Plus, their free version is great too!

2. Wix

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I’ve used Wix a few times over the years to help small businesses get a website up and running — and it’s one of the easiest ways to launch something that looks clean and professional without hiring a developer.

There’s a bit of a learning curve if you’ve never built a site before, but it’s pretty quick to pick up. The drag-and-drop editor gives you a lot of flexibility, and there are tons of templates you can customize for different industries and use cases. I’ve used it to help teams launch everything from one-page lead capture sites to more detailed product pages.

One thing I appreciate is that Wix also offers the option to get direct support or design help from their team. That’s a nice safety net if you run into something tricky or want a bit more polish. If you’re looking for a solid “set it and forget it” website option, this is a great place to start.

3. Hubspot Marketing Hub

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I personally believe that if you’re looking for an all-in-one platform to manage email, automation, forms, and more, HubSpot’s Marketing Hub is the best. I’ve used it with small teams that needed to get serious about marketing without stitching together a bunch of tools, and it made a huge difference. And that’s my honest opinion!

The email editor is easy to use, and like I said earlier, you can segment your list, build workflows, and track results without needing a developer or a full-time ops person. I especially love the way it integrates with HubSpot CRM so you’re not just sending emails into the void — you’re actually tracking what happens after someone clicks.

One team I worked with used HubSpot to launch their first email newsletter and lead nurture flow. It was intuitive enough for them to set up quickly, but powerful enough to scale as they grew. If you’re planning to grow your list and need more than the basics, this is definitely something worth exploring.

4. Later

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If you’re trying to stay consistent on social media — and not just post when you remember to — Later is one of the most approachable scheduling tools I’ve used. It’s especially great for visual planning, which makes it a nice fit for platforms like Instagram and Pinterest.

I’ve used Later to plan and schedule content across multiple channels, and it’s helped me (and clients) stay organized without needing to log in and post manually every day. The drag-and-drop calendar makes it easy to see how your content is spaced out, and I like that it includes link-in-bio functionality and basic analytics in the free plan.

If you’re building your presence on social media and want a low-lift way to stay consistent, Later is a great starting point. You can plan ahead, track what’s working, and keep your content on brand — even if it’s just you running the show.

5. Google Analytics & Search Console

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Technically two tools, but these are some of the first things I set up anytime I launch a new website. They’re free, surprisingly powerful, and give you a clearer picture of what’s actually happening when people visit your site.

Google Analytics (GA4) helps you understand how people are engaging with your content — what pages they’re visiting, how long they stay, where they drop off, and what’s driving conversions. If you’ve ever wondered “Is anyone actually reading this?” or “Which blog post is bringing in traffic?” GA4 has your answers.

Search Console, on the other hand, gives you insight into how your site appears in Google search results. I use it to see what keywords I’m ranking for, what pages are getting impressions, and where there are opportunities to improve SEO. It’s also great for spotting technical issues that could affect your visibility.

If you’re investing time into content or SEO, these tools are essential. They help you stop guessing and start optimizing.

Start Marketing Your Business Today

If you’ve made it this far, take that as your cue to get started (or keep going). I’ve worked with a lot of small businesses and startups over the years, and I’ve seen how much impact even the smallest marketing effort can make.

Sometimes it’s one blog post that starts bringing in search traffic. Or a one-page site that helps convert that first customer. Or a welcome email that turns into a real relationship. You don’t need a perfect strategy to start — you just need a place to begin.

Whether it’s publishing your first post, testing a new tool, or finally organizing your contacts, each small move helps build momentum. And that momentum matters.

The effort you put in today will keep paying off long after the post goes live.

Good luck — you’ve got this!

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in February 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Most salespeople treat discovery like an interrogation. The only thing missing is the light over the contact’s head and the duct tape holding them to their chair.

In the modern sales conversation, discovery is not gathering data—it’s about creating value as you uncover the root of the client’s strategic problems. The future of sales is here. In this new world, you may blunder by asking questions that you should already know how to answer. When you ask basic questions about your contact’s industry and their company, you signal that you haven’t done your research.

Modern discovery is not about asking the old and outdated questions from decades ago. Stop asking your contacts, “What keeps you up at night?” or “What problem are you trying to solve?” Prove your expertise and value by asking questions that help the client discover what they need to be able to make a rare decision, and get right on their first attempt.

There are a few key replacements you need to make in your discovery conversation to earn your client’s trust and prove your value.

Replace Qualification with Diagnosis

My favorite rule about qualifying prospective clients is that you should look for companies that buy what you are selling. If you sell tires, don’t waste your time calling a local pet store chain to ask them if they’ve considered how tires could improve their business. Following this rule means you are focusing on a narrow range of industries. There is no excuse to not know about the threats and difficulties they are facing, and the opportunities there for the taking. When you set a meeting with a client, you do your research on them, so by the time you walk in the door, you already know the answers to the questions that legacy salespeople will ask.

The worst way to open a sales conversation is by trying to qualify the client. By the time you set a first meeting with a contact, you should have a good idea about their potential problems and challenges. Part of this is based on your research and part of it on your experience with similar clients. This client should already be qualified. Your job is to diagnose their problem. That should be the main purpose of every question you ask.

Let’s compare the experience from the buyer’s perspective. Imagine you booked a meeting with a client, then asked them outdated questions about their budget and how serious they are about buying soon. There is no context for them to answer these questions because you haven’t diagnosed their problem to be able to understand its impact on their business or the scale of the appropriate solution. Salespeople who have been in their industry for some time will have an advantage when it comes to a diagnosis because they can ask about problems they know their clients are facing. These questions often help the client better understand their position and the root causes of their issues.

By contrast, ineffective salespeople believe discovery is about explaining how their solution is exactly what the client needs. Instead of a diagnosis, they frame their offering so it fits with the clients’ budget, timeline, and other superficial details that gloss over the actual challenges they are facing.

When you diagnose the problem using modern techniques, you can diagnose the entire problem, including its root cause and other important factors. Without providing a diagnosis and a greater understanding of the problem’s root cause, you may lose deals you should have won. And, if you win a deal but don’t fully understand the client’s problem, you might not be able to deliver. That’s the fastest way to destroy your credibility and damage your company’s reputation.

Replace Information Gathering with Insight Sharing

You may have to ask a number of questions during discovery, but most of your sales conversation should be spent sharing insights with your clients. Decision makers and stakeholders need to spend time with you to learn about the trends in the industry. To do this level of discovery right, you need to take your time explaining these threats and opportunities, and ask about how your client is experiencing them. This will give you both a chance to fully diagnose the problem and come up with an effective solution.

In a recent pursuit, 12 senior leaders spent two and a half hours in discovery with me. They asked a large number of questions. The person sitting next to me furiously typed up the insights I was sharing until I told him that I had a copy of everything, including the information he needed.

The major change in the 21st century is that our clients are spending time gathering the information they need, but they get to a point where they need your expertise. This same client asked me for another two-and-half-hour meeting two weeks later. I couldn’t calculate the huge amount of money they spent on those five-plus hours.

Replace Checklist Questions with Collaboration

It is okay to have a list of hard-hitting questions, but the goal should be to help the client learn something about how their business relates to the larger environment. Good questions cause a contact to blurt out, “That is a great question!” They are open-ended and get your client talking. Open-ended questions can help you and your contacts better understand the context of their problem. In the process, they will probably explain something important about how they do things that you couldn’t find through research.

Discovery is the best opportunity to collaborate with your prospective client. When you share valuable information with your contacts, you ensure you create value for the time your contacts give you.

Making these three replacements will help you make the most of discovery. This conversation is your chance to demonstrate your expertise, educate your contacts, and learn the key details you cannot get from research. Effective discovery is a win for you and your prospective client.