Monthly Archives: November 2022

It’s no secret that website design trends (and best practices) have changed dramatically since the internet’s debut. Reflecting on nostalgic websites and comparing them to their present-day counterparts is an excellent way to understand why updating your site is so necessary. 

With the help of the Wayback Machine, we can see what our favorite websites looked like in years past.  Whether you’re planning a website redesign and could use some inspiration, or you’d enjoy reflecting on nostalgic websites, we’ve rounded up 32 sites to peruse.

1) Google

While Google essentially maintains its branding with its colorful logo and whitespace on the homepage, there are other aspects of the site that look entirely different today. In the 1990s, Google had unique offerings underneath the search bar. Today, the company leans into creating a personalized homepage for users by bookmarking their frequently visited websites.

2) Apple

Apple always takes a product-centric approach to its homepage. Even in 2001, you’ll notice that the company’s items were the website’s primary focus. In 2022, Apple chooses to keep branding minimal yet distinctive. It features just one product to make the center focus of the homepage. The current homepage is also a testament to compelling copy; in just three adjectives, Apple paints a complete picture of why you should get an iPad.

3) Microsoft

In 2000, Microsoft’s website was clunky and over-complicated. The abundance of words on the website and lack of whitespace made for an overwhelming user experience. Today, Microsoft’s site takes a cue from Apple and centers on its products. The site, as a result, is less dizzying and more digestible for visitors.

4) Mashable

Once upon a time, Mashable had a gradient background — not to mention a serious lack of imagery. Now, the site balances visuals with text. The company branding also no longer takes center stage and focuses on featured stories.

5) HubSpot

In 2006, the tech and marketing world was focused heavily on surviving and succeeding in a web 2.0 world. Small businesses were popping up worldwide, and HubSpot’s website was focused on showing how the product could add value for these companies. Today, HubSpot still caters to small businesses but also medium and enterprise corporations. Now, our website focuses more on the product and features a lot more color than it initially did.

6) BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed was created to help users find their favorite things, including movies, music, fashion, ideas, and technology. The site still achieves this with a more visual and interactive approach. Today, the website balances images and text more seamlessly, but the site’s overall feel is still intact.

7) The White House

In 2000, Bill Clinton was the President of the United States, Al Gore was Vice President, and the White House’s website had a very different look and feel. Then, the website featured a Declaration of Independence-esque script font and didn’t emphasize imagery — or storytelling, considering the text just welcomed visitors to the page. When you visit the site today, you’ll notice a large image and copy that focuses on current initiatives. We also love how the refreshed site focuses on accessibility with options to change the text contrast and size. 

8) TED

Though TED’s 2003 website still looks outdated by today’s standards, it was ahead of its time, with most of the homepage featuring visual content. In 2022, their site still features various images but also balances copy — and there’s only one main image above the fold. The site’s overall feel today is less cramped and overwhelming than it was in years past.

9) Skype

In the early 2000s, Skype’s homepage featured several colors and lacked hierarchy. (And who knew the video call platform once had a red logo?) Today, Microsoft owns Skype, and the latter takes a cue from the larger organization’s look and feel. The site features whitespace, excellent visual hierarchy, and offers a compelling image of the product in action.

10) AOL

In 2000, AOL’s site had a variety of colors that weren’t cohesive, ultimately making the site appear messy. Today, the site features enough whitespace to balance the amount of copy and imagery it has. We’re also fond of the site’s new font, as it’s visually appealing and easy to read.

11) Ask

Ask Jeeves rebranded as Ask. In 2000, the site lacked whitespace and featured a character — part of the site’s unique branding. Since dropping the second half of the name, there’s no longer a character on the site’s homepage. Today, the site looks much more like a news or publication site than a platform to ask questions and get quick answers.

12) Blockbuster

Remember the good old days of going to Blockbuster to pick out your movie and grab a few snacks? We sure do. What Blockbuster’s 1996 site lacked in hierarchy, it made up for in personality. Today, Blockbuster’s site is out of commission — and features a cheeky note that the company is working on rewinding your movie.

13) Coca-Cola

We’ll give it to Coca-Cola: Their branding is timeless. Coca-Cola’s website from 2000 doesn’t look too shabby compared to many of the outdated websites on this list.  The brand understood the importance of visual content and simplicity in 2000, and they still do today. In 2022, their site focuses more on imagery and features less red than in the past, but it still feels cohesive with the rest of their branding.

14) Pepsi

Pepsi’s site in 2000 was cluttered, lacked visual hierarchy, and had too much going on. Today, we’re huge fans of Pepsi’s nostalgic homepage. It features a font that’s easy to read, plus the site doesn’t feel too cluttered. The company has also since moved its menu to the top of the page and cut back on how many tabs there are which is much better from a user experience standpoint. 

15) Macy’s

While Macy’s 2000 website doesn’t conform to today’s standards, we appreciate how cohesive the colors are. Interestingly, products aren’t at the forefront of Macy’s nostalgic site. Today, however, the Macy’s website tells an extremely different story. The website has a neatly organized menu and excellent visual hierarchy.

16) Amazon

In 1999, Amazon’s website was highly text-heavy, making it dizzying to look at. The vertical menu was also cluttered and difficult to digest. Today, Amazon’s menu appears on the top of the page, and the site seems significantly less overwhelming despite the fact that it still advertises various products. 

17) Yahoo

In 1999, Yahoo’s website focused mainly on text and featured no imagery. Today, a very different story is told when you visit the platform’s site. Because Yahoo is a news site, there are images to accompany every story, plus a summary of what you can expect when you read the piece. We’re also a fan of the trending column on the right side of the site, as it makes it easy for users to understand what’s in the news at a glance.

18) Tumblr

In its infancy, Tumblr referred to blogs as Tumblelogs and had a text-centric website. Today, if you visit Tumblr while not logged in, you’ll see a mock dashboard that shows visitors what theirs could look like if they create an account. Today’s Tumblr site is also significantly more image-focused.

19) Pinterest

Remember when Pinterest was invite-only? As you can see from the screengrab of the 2010 Pinterest site, the platform had a completely different logo and a less sleek appearance. If you visit Pinterest today, you can create an account instantly — no request necessary. In addition, the platform features a live image that changes yet loads quickly. The copy is simple yet compelling.

20) Reddit

In 2005, Reddit was all about text. Reddit is still more text-focused than most modern sites. However, it does feature a balance of images. We like how the font Reddit uses today is still semi-nostalgic but is easier to read than it has been in the past. The site is also more visually compelling as it appears more like a news site.

21) Barnes & Noble

You’re probably starting to notice a theme at this point: The websites of years past were text-focused. Barnes & Noble is no exception. In 2000, the bookseller had a dense, visually unappealing vertical menu. The images took a long time to load — if they did. There’s also a lack of visual hierarchy, so it’s difficult for visitors to decide where to look. Today, the company’s site is significantly more digestible. It balances whitespace with imagery and text, and the designers cleaned the menu up.

22) Dunkin’

We’ll hand it to Dunkin’: They’ve stayed true to their signature color scheme for decades. This screengrab from their site in the 2000s is one of our favorites on this list. It’s shockingly minimalistic and features an image that wasn’t standard for the time. Today, Dunkin’ has plenty of whitespace, features cohesive branding, and balances graphics with the copy. The website also has an easy-to-follow menu and includes the company’s striking pink and orange colors. 

23) Starbucks

In 2000, Starbucks got a few things right: Their menu is straightforward, and they featured images on their site, though they didn’t load. (Psst: These plugins can help ensure your content loads quickly if you have a “heavy” page so your website avoids a similar fate.) You’ll also notice their consistent logo. In 2022, Starbucks effortlessly offers a pop of color on its site without overwhelming visitors. The site features Starbucks’ signature font and includes an image promoting a recent collaboration with another company. The image itself also feels on-brand. We also want to call out Starbucks’ sparse yet effective navigation at the top of the page.

24) Walmart

For its time, Walmart’s site in 2002 was quite successful. It featured images and text which still dominate the website today. In addition, it had a better visual hierarchy than some of the other examples we’ve investigated. Similar to Dunkin’, one thing that Walmart does incredibly well is translating its famous color scheme to its site. In 2022, Walmart’s website has plenty of imagery and concise copy that enhances the graphics.

25) Target

There are also plenty of things Target got right in 2004. For one, the brand used its well-known color scheme. The site features images, too, and its branding is still largely the same. In 2022, Target’s site puts a much larger emphasis on visuals than it does on text. The branding is minimal yet effective, and the site features a simple menu that expands when visitors click on it. 

26) The New York Times 

We’re impressed: While New York Times has reworked its website since 2000, the website is remarkably similar. Even in 2000, figuring out where to direct attention was easy. The New York Times scores major points because its 2022 website resembles a newspaper. It features visual hierarchy, balances images with copy well, and we like how the font is distinctive yet easy to read. 

27) Lay’s

In 2008, Lay’s website was green and featured very poor text color contrast. This makes it difficult for people to read the copy. Luckily, Lay’s has since reworked its site. Today, it’s still colorful but features better contrast. You’ll also notice the site has plenty of Lay’s illustrious yellow. The 2022 site seems far more on-brand than it has in the past. 

28) McDonald’s

In 2001, McDonald’s website featured a red background and yellow text, which wasn’t exactly optimal for readers. Now, McDonald’s site is minimalist. It features few colors aside from the brand’s distinct yellow and offers a variety of options for visitors to select from on the menu section. However, the menu isn’t overwhelming because the rest of the website is so straightforward. The brand also taps its signature font for the 2022 website. 

29) Sephora

Sephora’s website in the early 2000s featured a balance of images and text. For its time, it was an example of a compelling website design. Today, the site adheres to modern web design trends. It has large images that are visually appealing and includes  straightforward copy. 

30) Netflix

In 2005, Netflix featured an image-focused homepage, which is quite different from today. In 2022, copy is the star of the show on Netflix’s homepage. The company also cleverly places a call to action at the center, so you’ll provide your email address and get started. In both 2004 and 2022, the main focus of the homepage was a call to action, which is noteworthy. We like the image in the background, which the text overlays as it features shows and movies you can enjoy with a Netflix subscription.

31) eBay

In the early 2000s, there was a lack of hierarchy on eBay’s site, which made it tricky for visitors to understand where to begin. This is also detrimental from a user experience standpoint. That has since changed, however. In 2022, eBay has a carousel above the fold on its site. It features a few products and promotions the company is currently offering. The site also features more whitespace than in the past, and the menu is paired back by comparison.

32) Burger King

In 2006, Burger King did feature a primary image on their site. The menu was also at the top of the site, but the font was difficult to read. In 2022, Today, Burger King features a neutral background and keeps the focus on its imagery. Copy is sparse yet effective. In addition, the company uses a font that offers a pop of personality yet is readable.

Take Site Redesign Inspiration from These Nostalgic Websites

If you’re seeking inspiration for your site redesign, look at these nostalgic websites to get an idea of how you can rework your landing page. These nostalgic websites prove that by using your unique branding, balancing images and text, and including a clear visual hierarchy, your site will look great for years to come.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. 

With new social media platforms and features popping up every day, ever wonder about the etiquette you should follow?

In this article, we’ll be covering Twitter Spaces etiquette for attendees, hosts, and speakers.

Twitter Spaces Etiquette for Attendees

1. Listen more than you speak.

On Twitter Spaces, everyone has a role to play. The host is there to set the tone and guide the conversation. Speakers are chosen to share their knowledge. Moderators are there to ensure the space remains safe.

As an attendee, your role is to listen and participate upon request.

Too often, attendees will show up to a Twitter Space, ask to speak, then monopolize the entire conversation. This is considered inappropriate and can be deemed disrespectful to the speakers already designated in the Space.

A good rule of thumb is to listen at least 80% of the time and contribute 20% of the time. However, that can vary depending on the topic, the host, and the Space.

With this in mind, allow the host of the Space to set the expectations for that particular session.

2. Stay on task.

If you are chosen to share your thoughts, make sure your comments are relevant to the topic.

Every time you speak during a Space, you have the ability to move the conversation forward or derail it. One trick to make sure you stay on topic is to write notes for the key points you want to address.

When you veer off-topic, not only does it lower your chances of being chosen again to speak but it can also confuse incoming listeners.

On that same note, Twitter Spaces usually run for one hour or less. With this in mind, attendees should keep their comments concise and to the point.

3. Don’t interrupt others.

If you’re invited as a speaker on a Twitter Space, it’s key that you are considerate of others.

Just as you wouldn’t interrupt a co-worker during a Zoom presentation, you shouldn’t interrupt another speaker during a Twitter Space event.

The only time you should jump in is if something’s going wrong — say someone forgot to mute or unmute themselves, loud noises, etc. In that case, you can quickly notify the involved party and reset the conversation.

Twitter Spaces Etiquette for Hosts and Moderators

1. Make sure your background is quiet.

As the host of a Twitter Spaces event, it’s important that your listeners hear you clearly and you’re able to guide the conversation. This will require you to prepare your environment.

Before you start the event, make sure you’re in a quiet room. This will make sure loud noises don’t come through the microphone as you engage your listeners.

Secondly, limit distractions by turning off your devices and notifying your roommates.

2. Welcome listeners.

As a host, you set the tone for the entire event. The first step is welcoming your listeners to the event.

Start by introducing yourself and telling them the agenda for the event. You can also thank users for joining, shouting them out by username.

As people trickle in, you can repeat these key points until you’re ready to officially start.

3. Introduce speakers.

Image Source

If you were attending a webinar, you’d want to know who the presenters are, right? The same concept applies to Twitter Spaces.

Once you’re ready to start the event, share a 30-second short bio on each speaker.

While some listeners may be familiar with your speakers, others may not. Short bios will help listeners understand the value each speaker brings to the conversation.

4. Stay on topic.

This etiquette tip applies to attendees but even more to hosts and speakers.

When attendees join your event, they’re expecting you to cover a particular topic. While it’s normal for conversations to cover unplanned topics, as a host, it’s your responsibility to bring it back around.

For instance, say your event is on email marketing tips and you spend half of the time covering social media. Even if the advice is valuable, it’s not what listeners signed up for. And as a result, it’s not relevant information.

To maintain your audience’s trust and keep them coming back for more, it’s vital that you stick to the agenda.

Now that you have all of these etiquette tips, you’re ready to take on Twitter Spaces.

You’ve created a digital product, put it up on your website and announced it to your audience. But despite the hard work you poured into bringing your online course, ebook, or other digital product to life, it’s not selling. 

When you’re in this situation, it’s tempting to give up. To throw your arms in the air and declare, “nobody wants my product — it was all a waste of time.” That’s the easier option. 

But you created your digital product for a reason. Perhaps you wanted to add a new income stream to your business so you could stop trading time for money. Or maybe you wanted to create a new way for people to work with you at a more affordable price point than your services. 

As the host of Imperfect Action podcast, which is part of the Hubspot Podcast Network, I regularly have listeners write in, asking me why I think nobody is buying their digital product. And in my work as a digital product launch strategist, I’ve helped dozens of clients turn around products that weren’t selling. Most of the time, they’ve been just a few tweaks away from a highly profitable product.

I’ve also been in this sticky situation a few times myself. I’ve had some huge digital product wins — selling $20,000 worth of a $20 Canva template, over $1 million worth of a $197 guide, and $400,000 worth of a $2,000 course. But before each of these success stories came many mistakes and lessons. Using the same strategies I’m sharing in this article, I’ve rescued my own products that weren’t selling and turned them around.

Whether you’ve created a low-ticket digital product or one in the thousands of dollars, these are the most common reasons why it isn’t selling — and how to fix that. 

5 Reasons Your Digital Product Isn’t Selling [+ Solutions]

Reason #1: Your audience doesn’t see the value in your product.

Five years ago, I built a digital product that flopped. My audience kept asking me questions about marketing their businesses on Instagram, so I created an online course about Instagram marketing. Desperate to make it the most valuable course possible, I stuffed it full of content and information. I knew it was valuable, but hardly anyone bought it. 

That’s because I conflated value with the amount of content inside the course. I thought the more information I squeezed into my course, the more my audience would want it. I thought that a comprehensive course on everything someone could possibly know about Instagram marketing would be perceived as valuable. It wasn’t. 

If you know your product is bursting with value, but you keep hearing “I can’t afford it,” or “I don’t need it,” chances are your audience doesn’t see the same value you do. Usually, that’s because your audience doesn’t want to know more things — there’s already so much free content on the internet. They don’t want to waste their time consuming even more content. Instead, the value to your customers lies in how quickly and easily you can help them solve a problem or achieve a transformation. 

How to fix it: 

Identify the outcome of your digital product — that is, the problem your customers will solve, or the transformation they will achieve.
Tweak your marketing and messaging so it positions your product as the vehicle to achieve this outcome, rather than being a “comprehensive” guide.

If you’re struggling to show the value in your digital product, the below podcast episodes will help: 

Episode 558: Ask Steph: How can I get my potential students to see the value in my online group coaching program?
Episode 511: How to ensure your online course, program or membership delivers the most value

Reason #2: It’s not the right offer for your audience. 

As a podcaster, I kept getting asked, “Steph, how do I launch a podcast?”. After walking several friends through the process, I decided to turn it into a digital product. I thought a group program format would work best as I could help several students at the same time. But when I launched it to my email list, only two people signed up. 

Confused, I surveyed my audience to find out why they didn’t buy. The answers were clear: They didn’t want to launch a podcast in a group program format. They couldn’t commit to attending live calls. They wanted to launch their show in fewer than eight weeks, or they wanted to work through it in their own time, over the next six months. 

If your product isn’t selling, it could be that your assumptions about what your customers want were wrong. The good news is that once you find out where you went wrong, a few tweaks to your product can lead to loads of sales. I took my audience’s feedback on board, turned the group program outline into a self-paced guide, and launched it again. A year later, that product has sold more than 3,800 copies.

How to fix it:

Send your audience a non-buyer survey to find out why they aren’t buying your digital product. You’ll be amazed at what you learn from the question, “Why didn’t you buy?”
If several people give you similar feedback, it’s a sign that you need to either tweak your product, or change the way you’ve positioned it. 

Reason #3: They don’t trust that it’ll work for them.

When your audience is reading your sales page, they’re subconsciously searching for reasons why your digital product won’t work for them. They may believe that their situation is unique, and so they’ll have objections as to why your solution won’t work. Or they might not trust that you can deliver the outcome they want. 

Getting your audience to know you, like you, and trust you enough to buy from you can take a while. Content marketing is the key to this. I’ve had strangers come up to me and tell me they feel like I’m their friend, because they’ve listened to my podcast so much. And sharing social proof (like testimonials and case studies) helps to build trust and overcome objections about why it won’t work for them. 

How to fix it: 

Collect and share social proof from your customers and clients. Ensure that it’s not just about the outcome they achieved, but also tells the story of where they were before they bought your digital product. 
Think of all the reasons a potential buyer would think that it won’t work for them. Show them why it will work for them with real-life examples on your sales page. Listen to episode 529 of Imperfect Action to learn how to write a million dollar sales page.
Start regularly sharing content online. It doesn’t matter whether you start a podcast or a TikTok account, as long as you’re showing up consistently in one place. In episode 559 of Imperfect Action, I coach a student through the process of identifying what content topics will be most effective for her digital product launch.

Reason #4: They don’t know about it.

One of my online courses was consistently getting fewer sales than any of my other products, and I couldn’t figure out why. When I surveyed my email list, I was shocked. More than 75% of my subscribers didn’t even know the course existed. No wonder they weren’t buying it! 

“Build it and they will come,” doesn’t apply to digital products. You could have the most valuable course with perfect messaging and powerful social proof, and still not hit your sales goals because you’re simply not getting it in front of enough people. It might be because you don’t have enough people in your audience yet, or it might be that you’re not promoting it enough online. 

How to fix it: 

Review your website analytics. How many people are visiting your digital product sales page? 
Commit to promoting your product more, and get creative with it. Could you interview past customers about their experience? Could you give your audience 24 hours to test drive the first module? 

Reason #5: There’s no reason why they should buy it right now.

A human tendency is to procrastinate things that evoke negative emotions. Buying your digital product likely brings up negative feelings in your potential customers, too. Spending money on something — no matter how much they want it — might feel painful, and so they’ll delay the pain for as long as possible.

Aside from the pain of spending money, your digital product likely evokes other negative feelings. A workout guide requires them to set their alarm a whole hour earlier and get up while it’s still dark outside. My guide for starting a podcast might bring up a customer’s fear of being judged. So someone will put off buying it until the reasons to act right now outweigh the reasons not to. 

How to fix it:

If your product is available to buy at any time, consider whether the “doors open” and “doors closed” model could work for your business, where you launch it a few times per year rather than allowing purchases at any time. 
Alternatively, consider other limited-time incentives, such as bonuses, to help make your prospect’s decision easier.  

I’m a big proponent of the live launch model as a way to encourage your prospects to buy now, rather than put it off. These are some podcast episodes to help you better understand how that could work for you: 

By creating your digital product and putting it out into the world, you’ve already conquered the hard part. Now you begin the fun part: Understanding why it’s not selling, making changes, and measuring the impact of those changes. You might need to work through more than one of the above strategies before you see measurable results. 

Think of it as an experiment where each tweak you make brings you one step closer to the winning formula. 

A key to a successful marketing blog strategy is to keep a pulse on the latest blogging trends. However, that can be difficult if you’re a marketer with several different responsibilities and platforms to manage. Fortunately, I spoke to a few of the blog leaders at HubSpot to get their recommendations on the right blogging trends to leverage in 2023.

From custom graphics to original data and unique content, these blogging trends can help boost your blog’s traffic and conversions.

5 Blogging Trends Marketers Should Leverage

Here are five trends our blog leaders say marketers should incorporate into their blogging strategy.

Custom Graphics

I spoke to HubSpot Blog Manager Clint Fontanella, who says custom graphics are becoming increasingly popular in marketing blogs.

“It doesn’t seem like you can just talk the talk and have great written content alone,” he said. “You need to accompany it with a compelling visual that’s unique and unlike what your competitors are offering. HubSpot has been doing this a lot with its developer content.”

He pointed to one of our own blog posts as an example. The post “How to Use Map in JavaScript” uses several custom HubSpot graphics to illustrate different types of code and how they work.

If you’re not much of a graphic designer — don’t worry! Many online tools like Canva Canva make designing custom graphics simple for even novice designers. Even better, many of Canva’s tools are free!

Interactive Content

Interactive elements allow visitors to engage with your blog in a way that goes beyond just reading it. It gives a more fun and immersive experience that makes your content stand out.

“I definitely have seen this. We actually piloted this type of content when I managed the Service Blog,” Fontanella said. “The best performing one was a ‘Do you know your customers?‘ quiz, but my favorite was a ‘Which customer service rep from The Office are you?’ quiz. We didn’t do much with it in the past, but interactive content is something we are definitely looking at for the future.”

Quizzes are a great type of interactive content because they can serve multiple purposes. For example, you can use them to grow your email list by adding a sign-up form to the quiz. You can also use a quiz to educate users about a product or service you want them to purchase, boosting conversions.

Other forms of interactive content include, but are not limited to:

Calculators like the one featured on NerdWallet
Interactive infographics like this one from the printing company CEWE
Interactive videos like Lenstore’s interactive 24-hour video showing London’s skyline
Interactive webinars using tools like Zoom or GoTo

Legitimacy

One of the most important blogging trends marketers will need to leverage in 2023 is legitimacy — in other words, ensuring your content has valuable and educational components, accordion to HubSpot Managing Editor Jay Fuchs.

“Successful marketing blogging is the art of making your readers see the educational element of your content so clearly that they forget about the promotional one — and that fact is becoming increasingly reflected in both reader preferences and how Google ranks content,” he said.

Fuchs says the key to projecting legitimacy in your blog is ensuring your writing is specific, accurate, and actionable.

“Try to make sure the points you make are supported by meaningful context, detailed examples, thoughtful advice, or perspective on why they matter —all backed by a professional, confident tone,” he said. “Even if you’re not an authority on a particular subject, you need to sound like one — and do what you can to provide the same kind of value that an expert on that topic would offer.”

You can add legitimacy to your post by quoting experts, sourcing data from reputable sources, citing peer-reviewed sources, using relevant examples, or including images to illustrate your point.

Original Data

Another way to add legitimacy to your blog content is to include original data. Original data helps reinforce the information you’re stating in your content. It helps solidify to your audience that your content is factual and backed by research.

“Original data is a massive asset for any blog to have at its disposal — a trend reflected in how well our content that references original HubSpot research like our Sales Strategy and Consumer Trends reports have performed,” said Fuchs.

You can gather original data via surveys, performance analytics, polls, and focus groups.

There are a variety of tools available to help you gather data for your next post, such as:

Mention, a social listening tool that can give insight into what audiences are saying about your brand or agency
Google Trends, a website that analyzes different trending topics across several regions and languages
Google Forms, which is a free online tool for creating surveys

Another great perk to including original data is that it can boost traffic to your blog, according to HubSpot Marketing Blog Editor Martina Bretous.

“While you can always refer to third-party studies, creating original data will help you stand out in your industry,” she said. “Not only will you gain credibility with your audience, but this data will also help your discoverability, as other publications will likely reference yours.”

However, that doesn’t mean you should disregard the importance of third-party data when you need it.

“Original research like that often isn’t accessible for many bloggers, but incorporating data into your content is still incredibly valuable — for both SEO and educational purposes,” Fuchs said. “So even if your organization doesn’t have the resources to generate original data, you shouldn’t skimp on including facts and hard numbers in your blogs. Third-party data is still a big help when putting together effective blog content.”

If you cannot gather original data, remember that data and statistics from reputable sources can be just as valuable. Just make sure to fact-check any information before including it in your content.

Original Topics

Regarding originality, blog content centered around original or niche topics is another trend marketers should consider.

“Original and niche content has never been more important for setting yourself apart from the internet noise,” said HubSpot Senior Manager of Content Meg Prater. “It’s not enough to write organic-only content just to rank. It’s crucial to set yourself apart with high-quality quotes, media, original data, and authoritative insight in order to provide value in the crowded content space.”

This trend will require creativity and social listening, but it’s worth it. For example, one of my favorite pieces I’ve written had to do with Gen Alpha and the future of marketing. The topic was unique and required much research on my part — and it ended up being one of our top-performing blog posts!

Blogging trends are constantly changing, especially in the world of marketing. Thankfully, you’ll be able to get ahead of the curve with the above tips from blog leaders at HubSpot. Which trends do you plan on leveraging in the coming year?

As a marketer, you’re always on the hunt for more leads. However, building the best lead generation strategy involves an in-depth understanding of tried-and-tested channels. Then, you’ll need to find the most effective combination of tactics for your unique goals.

In this post, you’ll gain insights into each major channel for B2B lead generation, including social media, PPC, blogging, and email. Best of all, you’ll learn effective strategies and impressive real-world examples for each.

Table of Contents

Social Media Marketing Strategies
PPC Lead Generation Strategies
Blogging Lead Generation Strategies
Email Marketing Lead Generation Strategies
Top 10 Lead Generation Best Practices

What is B2B lead generation?

B2B lead generation is the process of bringing prospective customers to your organization. These leads should be potential buyers who would benefit from your business’ product or service.

The types of leads generated vary by campaign and marketing platform. Disciplined B2B marketers understand the different dynamics, budgets, and expectations typical of each lead generation channel.

Learn more about B2B lead generation in the video below.

Social Media Marketing Strategies

Social media is a critical component of B2B marketing. Social media marketing is typically less expensive than traditional advertising costs and offers broad mileage. In fact, 44% of marketers identified social media as their top channel for acquiring new customers, according to 2022 HubSpot Research.

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Here’s how your team can perfect your social media strategy.

What is the conversion rate of social media?

While there’s no single answer for B2B social media conversion rates, there are some calculated assumptions you can use to gauge efficacy. For B2B companies, social media conversion rates fall around 1.55% on average, according to 2021 research from Ruler Analytics.

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While social media is an important means of generating leads, these platforms have a lower conversion rate compared to other B2B digital channels. Ruler Analytics found that social media had the lowest average conversion rate for B2B companies when compared to paid marketing, organic search, email marketing, and referrals.

Remember: Social media is an important channel for top-of-the-funnel awareness. Even if you see higher conversion rates elsewhere, social media can keep your brand top-of-mind for potential buyers.

To increase conversion rates, focus on promoting helpful content behind lead capture forms. For example, you might promote a downloadable ebook to capture quality leads with an initial offer.

There are two main channels you should focus on:

LinkedIn Ads.
Facebook Lead Ad.

Let’s dive into each of these primary B2B social media channels now.

LinkedIn Ads

It’s no surprise that LinkedIn, the go-to B2B social network, has above-the-board figures when it comes to social media conversion. LinkedIn is the top social media platform for B2B marketers, so it’s a viable channel to pursue.

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However, investing your energy in a channel with high engagement rates doesn’t automatically guarantee success. On LinkedIn, you must:

Target your audience based on buyer persona.
Make sure your ads have a newsworthy, topical angle.
Continuously test CTAs, images, and copy.

Pro tip: LinkedIn can be a helpful platform to display social proof. Consider sharing testimonials or case studies. Potential customers can then see which brands in their network you’ve already helped with your offering.

You can learn more about the nitty-gritty of LinkedIn Ad strategies from this LinkedIn-HubSpot 2-week free course.

Facebook Lead Ads

Ninety-one  percent of B2B buyer searches are carried out on a mobile device, according to 2022 research from Frost & Sullivan. Using Facebook lead ads in your marketing strategy can help you navigate the shift to mobile.

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Facebook lead ads allow your prospects to sign up for offers inside a mobile interface. These ads also allow you to generate leads generation inside the world’s largest social media channel.

Designed to be both targeted to your audience and highly customizable, Meta launched this service in 2015. Customers can now sign up for your offer in just two taps, without leaving the social network.

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Remember: Facebook lead ads aren’t designed to replace your landing pages. While Facebook Lead Ad helps you capture leads inside Facebook, your landing pages are still necessary for capturing leads from organic search and PPC.

For more details, check out this step-by-step procedure on how to create Facebook Lead Ads.

Tip for Running Great Social Media Lead Generation Campaigns

Case 1. Using Scarcity and Exclusivity

Virgin Active South Africa used scarcity (a limited-time offer) to increase the value of their offer. Their slogan — “Is summer ready for you?” — rings of seasonality. The question, along with the related offer, is only for the summer season.

What we like: In addition to seasonal messaging, the accompanying image emphasizes summer fun. The key messages and CTAs are also clearly highlighted.

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Case 2. Giving Before You Get

DigitalMarketer doesn’t sell — it gives something valuable away for free. That’s a compelling deal. By creating a clear value proposition, leads are more likely to share information with DigitalMarketer.

Their image amplifies the message and the CTA is clear but subtle. DigitalMarketer hooks leads through the law of reciprocity, which makes users feel they should return the favor through a later engagement.

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What we love: Digital Marketer’s copy emphasizes how templates can both save time and generate sales. Find ways to demonstrate your value ad to entice leads to your offering.  

Case 3. Finding the Right CTA

Your call-to-action should be enticing and tell readers exactly what will happen when they click. The phrase “Book Now” creates a sense of urgency. The viewer feels like they should book their ticket for the Van Gogh event before time runs out.

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What we love: This ad describes the art installation in the text and shows the experience visually. The viewer can picture the experience in their head when they click “Book Now.”

PPC Lead Generation Strategies

Pay-per-click (PPC) lead generation campaigns focus on a wide range of paid advertising platforms — the most popular being Google AdWords and Display Network. However, you’ll find a wide range of PPC lead generation options outside of Google, including:

B2B review directories or comparison sites.
Trade media display ads.
Social media advertising.
Affiliate marketing.

What is the conversion rate in PPC lead generation?

Adwords conversion rates fall around 2.41% for B2B companies, according to 2021 data from WordStream. Meanwhile, display conversion is averaged at 0.77%. However, rates vary depending on your industry.

It’s important to know your industry benchmarks. A good starting point is to ask each PPC vendor for their average conversion ratio across the board. This lets you evaluate your campaign results better.

Should PPC replace organic marketing? No — they complement each other. For instance, many high-value keyword searches have only PPC ads above the fold like this.

In other words, even if you have a good organic ranking, it may be buried under PPC ads.

An Example of an Efficient PPC Lead Generation Channel

Among the PPC platforms mentioned above, B2B review directories and comparison sites can provide a uniquely fresh lead source. Other PPC channels are likely already saturated by big players in your space, the ones with deep pockets.

For instance, in SaaS, a highly competitive industry across verticals, AdWords bidding is highly competitive. To win, you’ll need to target a lot of relevant keywords. Sometimes competitors even bid for keywords against your own brand — like this example, where Netsuite ranks higher for “Intuit Accounting.”

For many SaaS startups and SMBs, having another lead source like B2B review sites provides the option to meet and even surpass monthly lead quotas.

Let’s take a closer look at which popular marketing tools are used for lead generation by such sites. For example, here’s what FinancesOnline, one of the top software review platforms, offers:

Lead generation campaigns: The review site can link directly to a vendor’s sign-up landing page, encouraging people who read your review to try out your free trial next. These campaigns can generate as much as a 24% conversion rate.
Premium placement: In an increasingly commodified SaaS category, like a CRM where features are more standardized than unique, being included in a premium placement can make or break your sales opportunity. You have a much higher chance of attracting new leads if you’re listed among the most popular solutions, as prospects will usually only try out a few products. Make sure you get on such a list, because your competitors are probably already there.
Industry awards: When buyers are comparing your product to your closest competitors, having your product stand out thanks to a featured quality award can have a critical impact on your sales. FinancesOnline, like many other review platforms, can give your product an edge with such awards.

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Look for a third-party online marketplace in your industry, and get in touch with these intermediaries to ensure your product is listed.

Blogging Lead Generation Strategies

Blogging is at the core of content marketing. This strategy focuses on creating content that is interesting or valuable to your defined audience. The goal is to attract and sustain online engagement for leads down the road.

A lot has been said about the benefits of business blogging. Let’s reiterate the major benefits.

You can drive traffic to your website. With the right SEO planning, your blog gives you search presence, linking you to keywords relevant to prospects. Every blog post you write is one additional indexed page that helps get your content on Google.
You can convert traffic to leads. A well-placed CTA in a compelling blog post can direct prospects to your landing page for leads.
You can gain repeat business. A blog can delight existing customers with fresh content for repeat business or referrals.

Blogging also establishes niche authority and places prospects within your sphere of influence. Blogging is a large part of the HubSpot Strategy. Just search “inbound marketing” or its derivatives, and you’ll come across HubSpot consistently.

How effective is blogging in the long run? At HubSpot, about 90% of the leads our marketing team generates each month come from blog posts that were published many months — or sometimes years — ago.

Which content types drive lead generation?

If you’re planning on just writing a blog or only working with video, you’re out of luck. Robust content marketing strategies use a variety of formats to engage their audiences. Video, blogs, and images are among the top media that marketers use.

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When building your content marketing strategy, consider including the following content.

Authoritative posts are blog posts about subjects you’re an expert in. Readers should leave understanding with a better understanding of the topic at hand.
Solid opinion pieces can help you spread brand awareness. However, this shouldn’t just be your ideas and thoughts. Persuading option pieces are backed by data and research.
Original research is commissioned for industry consumption. Focus on questions that have yet to be answered or data sets that need a refresh.
How-tos provide tips and tutorials to address prospects’ problems. By the end, they’ll have their issue resolved and you to thank.
Trending content can help you capitalize on popular topics. Have any headlines and trends been related to your business? Consider a blog post that connects the dots.
Infographics turn information into digestible visual bits for easy consumption. Encourage your audience to share these images where applicable.
Videos on the upswing in content marketing. In fact, 72% of prospects prefer to watch a video over reading about a product. If your company does not have video talent in-house, consider contracting a team to help you produce this content.

Remember: These content types are most effective when they align with your marketing goals. In short, the hard work is still on you — you have to develop topics that are lead magnets to your audience.

Examples of Great B2B Blogging Campaigns

Case 1: Running Your Blog Like a Media Pro

HubSpot is influential when it comes to inbound marketing. But it didn’t happen by accident — HubSpot’s marketing team works hard to run its blog as a media site with a full editorial calendar.

HubSpot’s blog publishes tips, listicles, ideas, inspiration, insights, reports, ebooks, white papers, videos, and more. All of this content relates to inbound methodology across its niche segments in marketing, sales, website, and service. The blog even outperforms entrenched business media like Forbes and CNN Money in SERPs about inbound marketing.

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Case 2: Knowing Your Audience

FreshBooks is clear about its target audience. In fact, the first step to having great content is to know your audience (your “Ideal Customer” personas). For FreshBooks, this means delivering “actionable insights into all aspects of running a small business.”

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Case 3: Leveraging Thought Leaders

Have any die-hard supporters or thought leaders in your base? Have them put their insights and opinions about your industry in your blog posts.

Your thought leader should be writing regular posts to leverage SEO and brand association, both of which can result in more leads down the road.

Email Marketing Lead Generation Strategies

Email is often the bridge between marketing automation and CRM, two cloud solutions most widely used by marketers today. The email opt-in is still the starting point of lead generation and email marketing is the core of lead nurturing.

How does email marketing hold up today? Actually, it was the best B2B digital marketing channel in 2019, according to a Statista study. 99Firms released its B2B Marketing Statistics report, which showed email marketing is right at the top of digital channels driving leads and revenues for U.S. B2B marketers in 2022.

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The advent of automated lead scoring, predictive analytics, and AI algorithms only reinforces email marketing with laser-focused, personalized touches, and real-time delivery. In short, email marketing is still one of your best tools to engage intent signals, distribute content, and deliver pitches.

What is the conversion rate of email marketing?

You’re looking at two variables when it comes to email marketing:

Open rate.
Click-through rate (CTR).

A GetResponse study puts the overall email open rate average at 82.20% and CTR at 21.69%. The report further divided the figures by location, with North America at a 23.53% open rate and 3.86% CTR.

By industry, internet marketing has a 14.97% open rate and 1.66% CTR, as of 2022.

Meanwhile, Marketing Insider Group puts email marketing conversion into another perspective: You earn $44 for every dollar spent on email marketing. The consensus is, yes, email marketing has one of the highest conversion rates, corroborating the DemandWave findings above.

Which factors influence email marketing conversion?

It takes creativity to brainstorm your content or offer, but with that aside, email marketing is more of a science. You can measure it, analyze it, and improve it. Here are the key factors that affect your email marketing conversion rates:

Value offers. You must have a lead magnet to attract email sign-ups, whether it’s value content, freebies, deals, or anything that is interesting to your audience.
Landing pages. Optimize these pages by having a clear offer of your lead magnet, compelling CTA, permission, and appealing visuals.
Email subject lines. Keep your subjects short, crisp, and compelling with clear benefits to the recipient.
Segmentation. Split your list into sublists for more targeted messages, which will allow you to increase your open and click-through rates.
Analytics. Run analytics to do regular clean-up of your lists and update it as necessary based on past recipient actions.

Examples of Great B2B Email Marketing Campaigns

Case 1: Storytelling

At its core, email marketing is about your message, and here’s where your skill in storytelling can weave magic into a bland topic like a business workshop, captivating the prospect’s interest. 

Perry Marshall, the best-selling author of Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords, is a master of storytelling. He can hook seemingly unrelated subjects together, all leading to his value offer.

Case 2: Use of Humor/Allegory

Email marketing favors the clever, and this message from Grammarly is a great example. To emphasize the benefit of spell-checking software, the email visually alludes to the alphabet. By turning the “A” into rocket exhaust, the brand emphasizes the importance and adventure of your grammar journey.  Grammarly is witty and helps engage readers for those few critical seconds.

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Remember: The use of humor is tricky and can backfire if executed poorly. Make sure any humor or allegory is something everyone can understand.

Case #3: Housekeeping

Email marketing isn’t all about the welcome — some goodbyes are in order, too. Cleaning up your list is one step toward qualifying leads for higher conversions down the funnel. 

Framebridge makes sure its list is updated by sorting out inactive subscribers.

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Pro tip: Breakup emails like the one above are a great way to reengage folks on your list and clean out inactive emails.

The 10 Best Lead Generation Strategies

In this post, we’ve shared best practices for different types of lead generation. Below are best practices that work across channels. Put these best practices into action, and maximize your lead generation.

1. Target the right audience.

Know your buyer personas. In B2B, your audience could be different people in different departments. Often, you don’t have a single audience, but micro-audiences with varying interests and pain points.

2. Create lead magnets.

Develop content or offers that pique the interest of your target audience. The best lead magnets use NLP techniques in marketing, such as, clear, tangible benefit, urgency, exclusivity, social proof, authority, and immediate gratification.

3. Explore new lead channels.

Search, social media, and top media sites are unsurprisingly crowded with high-value sponsorships. You can, however, discover unique PPC channels and similar third-party marketplaces for your industry. Because these sites cater to your customers, they tend to have higher conversion rates and dominate high-value general organic search keywords.

4. Capture the right information.

The rule of thumb is to get only the most basic customer data at the initial stage (e.g., name and email address) and, as you work the lead down the pipeline, ask for a little more data.

5. Score, sort, and segment leads.

Not all leads are valuable and not all have the same value. Based on your metrics, run a lead scoring tool to sort leads into proper segments. This will let you target your micro-audiences with personalized messages and offers. Today’s marketing automation software, like HubSpot, are very powerful and can automate this important process.

6. Blog consistently.

Regularly posting content improves your SEO, authority, brand awareness, industry stickiness, and, generally, your web presence.

7. Integrate organic and PPC.

These two marketing channels complement each other. When executed together, they can fill in the gaps. For example, you can run paid search for any organic keywords for which you’re not ranking highly.

8. Benchmark your conversion rates.

Don’t be content with seeing your rates improve month-to-month or year-to-year. Compare them with the competition. That’s the true picture of your business’ competitiveness.

9. Automate. 

The best marketing automation will put your lead generation into a workflow. The software can then capture leads from your campaign, score them, nurture them throughout the lead pipeline, and qualify them. Then, your leads will be ready for your sales team.

10. Go mobile. 

Mobile marketing is the next battlefield for B2B leads. More business buyers are using their smartphones in the purchase journey. Make sure your forms, emails, websites, and ads are optimized for mobile.

Those are some of the best B2B lead generation campaigns and techniques at your fingertips. Apply or reapply these time-tested techniques and share with us how much they improve your lead volume.