Monthly Archives: November 2022

In 2020, I looked up more recipes than I ever have. Mostly Italian if you’re wondering.

I also spent a lot of time watching videos on YouTube, letting the autoplay feature take me down a rabbit hole of videos covering all kinds of topics.

Most consumers were doing the same thing.

So, what should marketers expect on YouTube in 2021? Read on and find out.

Consumers want videos that reflect their daily life.

If 2020 showed marketers anything, it was the necessity for agility and authenticity.

Every marketer had to shift their priorities and deliver marketing collateral that reflected the time we were all living through.

YouTube data from July 2019 to July 2020 shows a 215% increase in daily uploads for content with “self-care” in the title. From the viewer’s side, TV screen watch time went up over 180% for videos relating to well-being, such as fitness, meditation, and yoga.

Now, in 2021, consumers are still seeking out content that reflects their current state of mind.

This isn’t to say that your brand should start a “30 Days of Yoga” series. It’s to highlight how closely tied current events are to the type of content we consume. If you stay in tune with how your audience is feeling and the type of content they’re seeking out, you can embed it into your YouTube strategy.

“Viewers really want content that not only educates them but also engages them. Our new style is putting big stock in the authenticity and personality of its presenters,” said Jamal Meneide, associate video producer/editor and on-screen talent for HubSpot’s YouTube Channel.

Brands must now pay attention to the social climate and general consumer feelings, and incorporate these elements into the content.

Not sure how to keep your finger on the pulse? Jump to this section to learn how to research YouTube trends.

Short-form video is growing in popularity.

In September 2020, YouTube launched “Shorts” in India, a new short-form video platform on YouTube. It’s now making Shorts available in the US, as of March 2021.

Similar to other short-form platforms, videos on Shorts are formatted vertically to be viewed on a phone. Although it’s still in beta, users can create 15-second clips, edit them with several tools and add music from YouTube’s music library.

According to a Search Engine Journal article, Shorts already gained steam, gaining over 3.5 billion daily views. But why would YouTube, a platform known for long-form content invest in this strategy? Meneide has a theory.

“YouTube is trying to compete with TikTok, which is evident in their play to introduce ‘Shorts.’ For a time, it felt like there was a pendulum swing toward really long, unedited content,” said Meneide.

“While this is still prevalent,” he adds, “it seems like we’ve swung back the other way with short to mid-length content really killing it. Viewers want easily consumable, entertaining content that won’t be as demanding on their time.”

This is an opportunity for brands to experiment with short-form content on YouTube and see what audiences are responding to.

One strategy is using Shorts to create teasers for your upcoming videos or create condensed, shareable versions of your long-form videos.

But long-form videos aren’t going anywhere.

Even with the push toward shorter videos, consumers still enjoy the traditional long-form approach.

In June 2020, YouTube reported that 46% of survey respondents said they were more likely to watch videos over 20 minutes long than they were six months ago.

Some YouTubers creators credit long-form video content for their engagement rates, and they’ve got data on their side.

A 2019 Pixability study found that branded videos over 10 minutes long had higher engagement than shorter videos.

But length won’t be enough to keep your audience’s attention.

“Driving music and animation also play a big part in building engagement. Whenever you see animation as a viewer, you know it’s either reinforcing a key concept or adding to a joke,” said Meneide.

“In either case, you’ve been delighted by that extra visual we decided to throw in. With music, we can shift the tone and mood of a video – from driving hip hop beats, to chill jazz.”

He adds that music creates a sonic bed for the viewer to situate themselves on, inviting the audience to lean in as you speed things up or sit back and relax as you slow things down.

“These kinds of stylistic and production choices are ones that many large channels on YouTube have decided to make,” Meneide said. “While content with a more ‘homemade’ feeling still crushes it, there is also an audience who wants to see well-produced, highly engaging content.”

Marketers will start leveraging audio ads.

In November 2020, YouTube introduced audio ads, a new way for brands to reach consumers.

It was a surprising announcement, given that the platform is known for video content. However, according to a Think With Google article, over two billion people go to YouTube for music.

The article also reported a 100% increase in watch time for live music performance between July 2019 and July 2020. This sets the stage for marketers to include YouTube as an ad platform for their audio content.

How To Research YouTube Trends

We’ve covered a few YouTube trends for 2021, but marketers need to know how to identify trends as they come.

“On the HubSpot YouTube team, we’re always looking at trends, which we corroborate with monthly search volume and keyword research to help define our content strategy,” Meneide said. “We want to serve our audience content that they’re looking for when they’re looking for it, and being sensitive to when a topic bubbles up is key to the process.”

Your first resource is Google Trends, a free online resource that is updated with real-time data on the popularity of certain topics and search terms on YouTube.

You can also rely on tools like VidIQ and TubeBuddy to determine which ideas are worth pursuing. A good rule of thumb, according to Meneide is asking what big “how” or “why” questions you can answer for your viewers.

Then, you have keyword research – this tells you what consumers are searching for and if it’s worth your time and resources.

For instance, let’s say your brand wants to cover the latest tech apps in your next video. You go to Google Keyword Planner and find out that it has a monthly search volume of about 100. This may indicate that while there is some interest, it’s not high enough to warrant a whole video.

It’s also important to look at the news and see what topics are trending. However, know the difference between something that’s just in the news cycle and a trend worth incorporating into your YouTube strategy.

One way to decipher between the two is asking, “How far does this reach, and will it matter in a few weeks or months?”

“Hopping onto news can be just as explosive for growth or your marketing strategy as trends, but makes it a bit harder when you’re always relying on the latest, ‘hottest’ news piece to inform your content strategy,” Meneide said. “By focusing on longtail trends, you can ride out a wave of sustained interest in a topic, rather than capturing what could potentially be a fleeting interest.”

As we navigate through this year, more trends will likely pop up and might inform your YouTube strategy. What’s most important is being flexible and knowing when something is worth exploring further.

According to Hubspot Blog Research, 44% of marketers currently leverage TikTok.

As the short-form video platform continues to grow, some brands are struggling to figure out where they fit in. In fact, a 2022 report by InVideo shows that around 50% of brands like Google and IKEA still aren’t leveraging the platform.

In this article, we’ll cover the top TikTok trends at a brand marketing level, how to find trends on the platform, and tips for joining them.

Top TikTok Trends

1. More businesses are exploring the platform.

According to HubSpot Blog Research, TikTok is the number one platform marketers are increasing their investments in for 2022.

For a long time, businesses didn’t take TikTok seriously. They saw it as a platform for Gen-Z to make short, funny videos.

However, when its popularity (and user growth) peaked in 2020, businesses gave it a second look.

Today, marketers say it’s the fourth most effective social media platform behind Instagram, FB, and YouTube. That puts it ahead of established platforms like Twitter and Pinterest.

What makes TikTok special is its ability to build community. In fact, 78% of users agree that the best brands on TikTok are ones that work together with users, according to TikTok’s 2021 “What’s Next” report.

The report also found 67% of users feel inspired to shop even when they weren’t originally planning to.

Brands are starting to realize that while users may first go on the platform for funny videos, they stay for the authenticity and community building – which are great pillars for brand loyalty.

2. TikTok users are consuming less of other content.

What would you do with your audience’s undivided attention?

According to Kantar research, 46% of users engage with content on the platform without any other distractions.

More specifically, 41% of Gen Z TikTok users say they listen to fewer podcasts after joining TikTok and 33% say they watch less TV.

This is an incredible opportunity for social media marketers to capitalize on this attention to reel in their audience and drive more engagement.

3. Sounds are more important than hashtags.

On no other social media platform does sound play such a pivotal role.

88% of people on TikTok report that the sound on the platform is central to the overall app experience, according to TikTok’s “What’s Next” report.

The report also revealed that sounds saw 47% higher video view rates on 2021 from the “For You” page when compared to hashtags.

Furthermore, Invideo’s TikTok Brand Marketing Report found that 80% of the top videos had music, with upbeat songs being the most popular TikTok music choice by far.

With this in mind, brands should prioritize the use of sounds when posting on the platform. While hashtags are effective in helping you reach your target audience, choosing the right sound will likely be more effective.

How to Find TikTok Trends

1. The “Discover” Tab

One of the best ways to find trends on Tiktok is through the “Discover” tab.

On this tab, you can scroll through popular sounds, hashtags, and topics along with a preview of the top videos within the category.

You can also see how many videos fall within that category, which gives you an insight into which trends are rising and which ones have already blown up.

2. The “For You” Page

TikTok’s “For You” page is like Instagram’s Explore page. It looks different for every user based on the content they engage with the most.

With that said, it’s also where trending topics make their rounds.

If a video has hundreds of thousands of likes or views, it’s worth digging a bit to see if it’s related to a particular trend. Your first step should be checking the sound, located on the bottom left corner of the video.

Once you click on it, you’ll see the name of the song, the number of videos that use it, and scroll to see the videos that feature it. With all this information, you’ll know how popular a sound is and how other users are leveraging it.

3. The “Search” Tab

TikTok’s search tab is another great way to discover new trends.

Before you start typing in the search bar, TikTok auto-populates suggested searches based on trending topics.

All you have to do is then click on relevant searches and see what videos have been created surrounding these topics.

4. The #TrendAlert Hashtag

Now, let’s say you leverage all the strategies mentioned above and you’re still struggling to identify trends.

Well, there are a ton of users on TikTok who are already on top of it. All you have to do is follow them or the hashtag #TrendAlert.

@strategisewithcare
#socialmediamanageruk
#trendalert
#contentcreatortips
#smallbusinesstips_
#trendpredictions
#trendingnow
#tiktoktips
#trendalert2022
#contentideas
♬ original sound – Betelgeusethestar

As shown in the video, you can leverage this hashtag to discover new trends and how to use them.

How to Do TikTok Trends

1. Jump in early.

The thing about trends is that they come and go very quickly. If you don’t jump in early, you might miss the boat altogether.

So, as soon as you identify a TikTok trend you want to participate in, start brainstorming some ideas.

Keep in mind that you don’t need fancy videography to succeed on the platform. Often, all it takes is some creative thinking, good lighting, some lip-syncing skills, and a phone.

Authenticity is essential on a platform like TikTok. If you keep that at the forefront, your odds of success are that much higher.

2. Find a relatable angle.

On TikTok, you only have up to three minutes to make an impression but a good chunk of videos that go viral are 30 seconds or less.

This means you have a short ramp-up period to get viewers to stop and watch your video. One way to do this? Create relatable content.

@thelipbar I mean… it’s hard to resist our
#fastface makeup system 😍
#thelipbar
#easymakeup
#vegan
#vegancosmetics
#fyp
#foryou
♬ original sound – Makayla

Think about the challenges your audience faces on a day-to-day. That’s a great place to get inspiration from.

You can also get inspired by your competitors and the content they’re creating.

3. Know when to bow out.

Every day, there’s a new TikTok trend.

With this in mind, not every trend is worth joining in. This could be because it doesn’t align with your brand voice and values, or because you missed the boat.

Whatever the reason, avoid joining trends long after they’ve peaked. At that point, users may be over the trend and actively avoid it. It can also make your brand seem out of touch.

TikTok trends are always evolving. If you leverage the tools mentioned here, you can join the trends as they happen and reach an ever-growing audience.

Whether you’re creating a new content campaign, launching a YouTube series, or revising your social strategy, you’re going to be asked the same question by leadership before getting their support: “How will this impact our company’s bottom line?”

That can be a difficult question to answer — which is why it’s critical you know your key performance indicators (KPIs) to:

a) measure the success of your program, and

b) receive executive buy-in — which is typically a prerequisite for getting the budget and resources you need to successfully launch any new paid marketing program.

There are so many different KPIs any marketer might use to measure success, including sales, web traffic, follower growth, conversion rate, or brand awareness. But which ones matter most to leadership? In other words: Which ones should you focus on if you’re seeking executive approval?

Here, we spoke with executives at LinkedIn, G2, and HubSpot to uncover which KPIs matter most to them in 2023. 

Coming Soon: Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader [Click Here to Add to Google Calendar]

What KPIs Matter Most to Execs in 2023

1. Reach and leads.

If you work backwards from your company’s primary goal — of increasing revenue — then it makes sense that reaching new audiences and converting those audiences into qualified leads for sales would be two of the top KPIs that matter most to marketing leaders.

As Jordan DiPietro, HubSpot’s VP of Marketing, told me, “As a marketing leader, it’s important to choose a KPI that is most aligned with your company’s overarching business objectives — it could be a revenue metric, it could be a reach metric, or in the case of HubSpot Media, it could be both! The important thing is that your KPIs and the action plans associated with those KPIs are ones that can be directly connected to the KPIs of the business.”

For instance, DiPietro told me the two KPIs his team focuses on are overall reach (visits, opens, listeners, and views) and leads (net new contacts driven from media content).

He says, “Our reach KPI is indicative of the fact that HubSpot wants to grow top-of-the-funnel awareness for the business. Our media team does this by increasing the reach of our blog content, newsletters, podcast network, and YouTube network.”

He adds, “Our revenue KPI is indicative of the the fact that HubSpot is a SaaS business — so we want to generate leads that can be shared with the sales team in order to turn those leads into qualified leads, and then into satisfied customers.”

When deciding which KPIs to focus on — whether you’re a marketing leader or individual contributor looking for buy-in — you’ll want to consider which metrics will directly connect to your organization’s broader goals. For instance, if your company is hoping to improve its customer retention, then you’ll want to focus your marketing efforts on KPIs like brand sentiment and churn rate.

But perhaps most importantly — don’t choose too many KPIs. As DiPietro told me, “In terms of secondary KPIs, keep it simple. I’ve noticed that sometimes marketing teams can get too distracted by measuring and tracking and not focused enough on actual impact. So I think it’s fair to have a main KPI, and then I limit it at two sub-metrics.”

DiPietro provides two examples of this. In one, let’s say you’re running a newsletter company that relies on advertising. In this situation, your main KPI is likely ad revenue, and your two sub-metrics might be subscriber growth and unique opens.

Alternatively, if you have a subscription business, your main KPI might be overall revenue, and your two sub-metrics could be LTV: CAC and renewal rate.

DiPietro advises, “Whatever type of marketing organization you’re leading — a SaaS team, a content team, a web strategy team, a media team — ensure you stay connected to the objectives of the business, ensure your KPI is laser-focused, and limit sub-metrics to two per KPI to avoid diluting your impact.”

2. Number of marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and conversions to sales.

Ultimately, marketers are only one part of the equation. Which means marketers can only pay attention to the KPIs they can control: Namely, leads and conversions.

As Robin Izsak-Tseng, G2’s VP of Revenue Marketing, puts it, “Though most marketing teams have goals around pipeline, the fact is, marketing doesn’t open pipeline — sales does. Marketing’s role is to create awareness, demand, and inbound interest in your solution. There are factors outside of marketing’s control (changes in sales processes, for example), which can cause wild fluctuation in pipeline production.”

Rather than focusing on pipeline, Izsak-Tseng suggests marketers focus on two primary metrics: MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads), and conversions.

For starters, she says marketers should track a blend of metrics, including MQL production, as an indicator of inbound interest. It’s equally critical that marketing leaders pay attention to SAL (sales-accepted leads), since that is another indication of lead quality.

A few other metrics Izsak-Tseng suggest marketing leaders focus on include:

Conversion of total pipeline to revenue: To track how marketing-sourced pipe is performing against pipe sourced by outbound efforts. Since marketing-sourced pipeline is inbound, the conversion to revenue should be consistent and strong.
CAC (customer acquisition cost): Track this over time. Rising costs can indicate diminishing returns on marketing programs — or show that it’s time to explore new markets.

Izsak-Tseng adds, “All of these metrics give growth leaders a view of the full funnel and help us understand marketing’s impact on revenue (not just pipeline). Much of this can also be applied to retention. In 2023, when budgets are likely to be even tighter, teams that are primarily focused on acquisition need to embrace goals around renewals and customer growth. Finding ways to create greater value for your customers and community will protect revenue — especially during uncertain times.”

Considering it costs 5-25X less to retain customers than capture new ones, it’s a good idea to focus on customer retention as a primary KPI. But customer retention isn’t always easy. To satisfy and retain more customers, you’ll need to:

Build trust with your customers. Ensuring your account managers check-in and show support for customers over the course of a year — and not just when it’s time to renew — is critical for demonstrating to your customers that you care about them and their success.
Implement a customer feedback loop. This will help you collect, analyze, and distribute customer reviews and surveys to strengthen areas of your customer experience that aren’t working for your current customers.
Provide a personalized customer experience. Providing each customer with tailor-made solutions and content designed to fit their needs is vital for retention. Your customers don’t want to feel like they fit into a one-size-fits-all approach. Ensuring your organization helps them with their specific challenges and needs is critical.

(P.S. Already a G2 customer? Click here for 20% off eligible HubSpot products, or get started for free.)

3. Return-on-investment (ROI) and brand strength.

During times of economic uncertainty when businesses’ budgets are tight, it’s become increasingly important to be able to demonstrate the ROI of your marketing efforts to your leadership team.

In fact, one-third (33%) of marketing executives, VPs, and directors say that using data to demonstrate the ROI and business value of their efforts became more important in 2022.

Jim Habig, VP of Marketing at LinkedIn, agrees that ROI is important — but he encourages marketers to think full-picture when they’re considering their top KPIs, too.

As he puts it, “It’s paramount that we think about the full funnel when it comes to measurement. Of course, ROI is a slam dunk since it represents how our work directly impacts the bottom line.”

He adds, “But let’s not discount the importance of other measures of long-range brand strength. With only 5% of buyers in-market at any given time, you need to ensure your brand creates pull for decision-makers now and in the future.”

To create a strong brand identity, you’ll want to:

Create a memorable brand voice.
Communicate your consumers’ pain points — and how you can solve for them — effectively.
Demonstrate how you’re different from your competitors.
Broadcast your brand’s mission statement and brand values to build connection with your audience.
Use type, colors, and imagery to represent your brand’s personality.

If you’ve created a brand identity already but need to build brand awareness, consider channels that will help you reach new audiences — like podcasting, or other social media platforms. Alternatively, perhaps you can create a strong co-marketing campaign to build credibility in your industry and generate new leads.

Once you’re investing in brand awareness, you’ll want to measure branded keyword search volume to see how many impressions and search volume your brand is getting. This will help you evaluate your brand awareness efforts over time — if your branded keyword search volume is rising, it’s a sign your brand awareness plays are working.

While this is a strong starting point, you’ll need to do your own research to determine your organization’s goals for 2023, as well as your executive team’s marketing plans in particular. From there, you can determine how your KPIs for a specific marketing campaign or program might fit in.

If you can’t see a strong through-line between your own KPIs and the KPIs of the business, it might be time to reassess where you’re focusing your efforts and whether shifting your strategy might better impact the bottom line — and help achieve buy-in from leadership.