My personal social media is full of four main things: family, friends, food, and UGC. And as I type this, I hear the former saying, “Uh, what is UGC?”

I mourned a little the day Duo, Duolingo’s mascot, died. And, I rejoiced when the company brought him back, saying the neon-green owl faked his own death. That’s the power of social media marketing. Brands have the opportunity to tell stories in creative formats that can win our attention.

A few years ago, I was working with a startup that had just launched their website. We were proud of it — it looked clean, had great product shots, and ticked all the branding boxes. But after the first month, we realized something was off: barely any leads were coming in. Traffic was decent, but conversions were almost nonexistent.

When actor Tom Holland made the late-night rounds last October to talk about his new company, BERO Brewing, he said that he'd “find myself in these boardrooms” surrounded by experts spouting unfamiliar terms.

The AI model races are heating up. Right on the heels of DeepSeek-R1’s release, the industry is reeling from yet another powerful AI model hitting the market. I test drove the latest iteration of Alibaba’s Qwen models — Qwen 2.5.

As a content marketer, I’m always on the hunt for effective ways to deliver content that will result in more customers and conversions. Video has grown into an essential marketing platform, and social media is rewarding those who prioritize a live approach. I’ve narrowed down the top live video stats to give you and your teams a better picture of what’s trending this year in live video marketing.

Imagine trying to describe a giraffe to someone whose never seen one.

I fly Southwest Airlines almost exclusively, and one thing I’ve noticed about Southwest is that their branding is on point.

Conversion funnels are a fundamental concept in sales and marketing. Personally, I like to visualize the funnel as that big scary slide you wanted to try as a kid. You saw your friends whizzing down, which sparked your interest. You watched how much fun they were having, doing your research. And then the benefits of having fun outweighed your fear, so you climbed up and flew down.

When Liquid Death, the edgy, death-metal-themed water brand that took American social media by storm, announced it was pulling out of the UK market, marketing Twitter(X) erupted with hot takes.

Who wouldn’t want their own personal executive assistant? Sounds pretty awesome, right?

As a marketer, I know that a marketing strategy is essential to nurture future clients, improve my business’s bottom line, and increase the ROI of my efforts. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy — 74% of small and medium businesses say they lack confidence in their marketing strategies.

In TikTok’s early days of mostly dance challenges and lip-syncing exchanges, Shola West, a Gen Z career advocate, speaker and educator, spotted a gap.

For my company’s video marketing campaigns, Facebook is a natural choice. As the second-most widely used social media, the company inspires confidence and excels in audience targeting, reach, and cost efficiency. However, it does take some strategy to make sure your videos land.

Creating a social media strategy in today’s ever-changing digital landscape can be overwhelming. But here's what I learned: It’s also absolutely essential.

To industry outsiders, social media management is a fun and carefree job, but those of us who have had boots on the ground know differently.

As a social media marketer or someone trying to build your social media presence, you know that it isn’t enough just to post new content — the times you post also play a crucial role. But trying to determine the best times to post to social media can sometimes feel like throwing a bunch of content at the wall and hoping something sticks.

All I have to show from my college days is a questionably long Facebook album titled “For the Nights I'll Never Remember, and the People I'll Never Forget.”

In the 2025 HubSpot State of Marketing Report, we found that short-form video remains king. It‘s the top-performing content marketers are using, and it’s set to grow in 2025.

As a content marketer and general marketing enthusiast, I’ve read countless physical books on digital marketing. Unfortunately, physically printed digital marketing books can quickly become obsolete, which is why I’ve turned to digital marketing ebooks.

I often find raw data overwhelming — endless rows of numbers can be hard to decipher. That's why I love data visualization; it transforms complex figures into clear, intuitive charts that help me quickly spot trends and understand the story behind the numbers.

AI agents are like the backstage crew at the concerts we attend: Operating independently on the backend to deliver a smooth experience on the user end.

Creating a marketing project timeline template where everyone knows what they're working on (and when it's due) can help ward off campaign scope creep and nail those important deadlines.

I spend an embarrassing amount of time on Reddit. As a content strategist for B2B SaaS companies, Reddit marketing should be the last thing on my mind — Redditors have a sixth sense for marketing and a hair-trigger for downvotes.

As a marketing strategist for over a decade, I've always been fascinated by what makes people click, engage, and ultimately buy. One framework I keep coming back to is the AIDA model.

If I were to ask 10 different B2B marketers what “demand generation” means, I’d get 10 different answers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, like many others, I considered starting a side hustle — an online ecommerce business selling printed stickers. While the venture never materialized, if I were building one today, I’d make sure to create an ecommerce business plan to ensure that my vision had enough stock to be profitable.

I love that I can learn any skill, at any time thanks to the internet. As someone who’s worked in content for nearly a decade, I know firsthand how important it is to stay ahead of social media trends — platforms evolve, algorithms shift, and what worked last year might not work today.

Google’s firm grip on the search engine market is both a dream and a nightmare for marketers like me. With nearly 92% of the worldwide search market share, it’s no surprise that when we talk about the top search engines, Google dominates the conversation.

Fueled by the rise of MySpace and a secret Bollywood fandom, I started teaching myself graphic design as a preteen. But thanks to AI image generators, you no longer have to be a lifelong creative like me to turn your ideas into a visual reality.

Customers don't just mindlessly purchase products or services. It's through customer journey analytics that marketers can understand their journey from discovering a brand, to making a purchase, to potentially becoming brand advocates.

If I was reading a post about request for proposals (RFP), I’d want to get to the point … and fast.

With 2.5 billion active users, YouTube is an undeniably important channel for your marketing efforts. Knowing how to optimize your YouTube descriptions (both channel and video) can help you increase your chances of discoverability and reach more people.

Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.

Whether you’re a new or seasoned social media manager, managing a brand’s social presence can be overwhelming. After all, you’re behind every post and every interaction with potential customers so the pressure is on.

Welcome to Creator Columns, where we bring expert HubSpot Creator voices to the Blogs that inspire and help you grow better.

It should come as no surprise to us marketers that short-form video was the top performing content format in 2024. As video content overtakes text-heavy content formats — whether in the form of live streams, YouTube videos, or Instagram Stories — marketers must include a plan to use in-stream video ads in their strategies.

A Reddit advertising strategy used to be reserved for businesses targeting men. But the tides are turning, and I think it’s time for more brands to consider advertising on Reddit.

As liquor sales stagnated last year for nearly the first time in two decades, one segment of the market actually grew by a whopping 29% YoY: Pickle-flavored spirits.

As a marketer, I’m no stranger to ad managers like Google Ads and Meta Ads. However, I was interested to learn that there’s a third option for ad buying: demand-side platforms (DSP).

If you’re staring at a blank screen (we’ve all been there) trying to figure out how to develop a marketing brief, there are a few questions you can ask yourself to get to the heart of the problems and solutions your campaign will address.

Running content strategy for B2B SaaS companies taught me that a digital marketing strategy for startups can’t just copy enterprise playbooks.

During my time at university, I used flowcharts to map out my research processes so they could be clearly understood and repeated during peer review. Lately, I’ve been using flowchart templates to organize an instructional book on floral design. Today, I’ll be exploring flowcharts as they pertain to the business sector.

From short-form videos to SEO to influencer marketing, today's marketers have more marketing channels to choose from than ever before.

With new AI tools, integrations, and use cases coming out almost daily, I know it can be overwhelming to keep up with how AI is changing business.

Modern marketing is less pushy than yesteryear's — and I love that. It’s less about forcing your message on people and more about helping. However, personality marketing is one strategy that still dances the line between savvy and shady to many, including yours truly.

In addition to running a marketing agency with customers around the globe and a seven-figure local business, today’s master is also a kickboxing champion and MMA fighter — making Jennifer Waters easily the marketer I’d least like to fight.

I was shopping for dog treats recently. My dog has particular tastes, so I turned to Amazon to find what new treats might delight her.

As a marketer who’s familiar with the different marketing tricks brands pull, I’m good at resisting the allure of commercials. That is, until a luxury brand marketing strategy sweeps me off my feet, transforming my casual scroll into an aspirational shopping session (even if I’m just looking through the digital store window).

For most of us, digital forms a significant part of our overall marketing strategies. Consumers and businesses alike are almost always online and on the go, so you want to be able to reach them wherever they are.