Monthly Archives: July 2024

As a business, focus and alignment are everything.

There are so many things you can do to move the needle, but which ones should you act on? With so many people working on so many projects, how do you keep everyone moving in the same direction?

Unlocking these answers is the difference between disconnected work efforts and forward progress to achieve your mission.

As we continue to scale, we need to encourage self-motivation and execute on more cross-functional work to help our customers drive growth.

But let’s face it — autonomy without alignment leads to chaos.

That’s where the OGP framework comes in. Your strategy is only as good as how you execute against it. And having a framework to enable aligned execution is critical.

Ours allows us to continue providing autonomy with clear alignment on priorities from the top.

The OGP Framework

OGP stands for Objectives, Goals, and Plays. 

Before you start identifying your OGPs, you have to understand your mission, your values, and align on the strategy that guides you.

Think of it as your operating system. These are the elements that will inform your Objectives and help you understand what success looks like at each milestone.

And all of this is driven by who you serve — your customers, your buyer persona, the people you’re ultimately solving for.

Our executive team uses the following slide to drive our OGPs from the top:

Mission: What is our big-picture vision?
Values: What beliefs and principles drive the way we work?
Strategy: How are we going to reach our vision?
Strategic Objectives: What long-term, company-wide bets are we making over the next ~3 years
Goals: How will we accomplish our objectives at the functional level over the next 12-18 months?
Plays: How will we achieve our goals at the team level through specific deliverables over the next 3-6 months?

Your Mission and Values don’t change very often (if at all). They stay pretty consistent year to year.

Your Strategy and Strategic Objectives change roughly every three years. Each year at HubSpot, we review our Objectives from the previous year and decide whether we’re going to keep them consistent for the upcoming year.

On the other hand, your Goals and Plays get updated more frequently. We update our Goals every year and revisit our Plays on a half-yearly or quarterly basis.

More on OGPs

Alignment starts with an understanding of our long-term strategy, and our Strategic Objectives are determined at the executive level.

We choose to stack rank our Objectives to provide clear prioritization for the whole business. For example, we have seven Strategic Objectives for 2025, and we have them organized by order of importance.

Why? To make sure our teams have a clear sense of priorities and guidance on how to make necessary trade-offs.

Each Objective has a certain amount of Goals associated with it. We like to categorize our Goals based on priority:

Priority 0 (P0): Critical to achieving Strategic Objective (likely fails without). There are fewer of these (~5 per Objective). They are often highly cross-functional, and these goals are reviewed by our C-suite on a monthly basis to ensure progress and remove any blockers.
Priority 1 (P1): Important to driving progress toward Strategic Objective. There are more of these (~20 per Objective). They are often specific to one function, and these goals are reviewed by our functional leaders on a monthly basis to ensure progress and remove any blockers.

Then, there are Plays that roll up into each Goal. These are associated with the “how” — the specifics around what you’re going to do to accomplish your Goals.

Sounds like a lot of work, right? It is, but trust me — it’s worth it.

An important way to keep things running smoothly is through accountability. One critical way we’re holding people accountable is through our refreshed DRI model.

The DRI Model

In the OGP framework, the DRI (or Directly Responsible Individual) is the one person responsible for moving a Strategic Objective forward. They set the vision for the objective, define the success metrics and work to be done, align cross-functional teams, and navigate any blockers that arise.

Accountability and transparency are the keys to understanding whether we’re actually executing our strategy throughout the year.

We use mechanisms — like Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and monthly reports — to create space for status updates, address blockers proactively, and ensure we’re hitting our milestones.

So, there you have it. Just pop some ideas onto a few slides, and you can check strategic planning off your list!

…not so fast.

OGPs are a means to an end. They can help create focus, but true alignment comes from doing the hard work of thinking, planning, and communicating.

For us, the strategic direction is set by the executive team, but the execution of that strategy is very bottoms-up. Every VP is working with their directors, managers, and individual contributors to solve the “how” of each goal.

This is where the alignment from the top meets the autonomy of functional experts — and this is where the power of OGPs comes from.

How We Make OGPs Work For Us

At the core of strategic planning at HubSpot, we set out to identify the most important problems to solve for our customers. This allows us to focus our energy on the work that matters and align our teams on the work to be done.

The HEART of Success

What really works for us throughout this whole process is this: Direction and clarity about our priorities comes from the executive level, but the whole company is involved in the “how.”

Everyone at HubSpot is an important part of strategic planning.

Our Goal Drivers are collaborating with their teams to write memos that outline why their goals are important, how we’re going to achieve them, and what resources are needed to be successful.

And our executive leaders are setting direction at the highest view.

That’s how we create focus and alignment at every level of organization.

How We Continue to Evolve

Our approach to strategic planning evolves every year. It’s important that we tweak our framework based on new learnings and feedback from our employees.

We’re constantly using data to hold ourselves accountable to the strategy we laid out as a company. For example, we conduct eNPS surveys and interviews with people around the business to understand where we’re excelling and where we’re coming up short.

It’s comforting to slap an “approved” framework onto your business. It gives you a lot of confidence, but you can’t just stop there. You need to figure out what works for you as the industry grows and your customer needs evolve.

Focus doesn’t just happen. It’s a byproduct of shared vision. And vision comes from talking, sharing, looking at data, and updating assumptions.

If you’re not doing that work upfront, don’t bother with OGPs or any other goal-setting framework. None of them will work.

Give It a Try

In our culture code, we talk about hiring people with HEART (Humble, Effective, Adaptable, Remarkable, Transparent). We define effective as people who get sh*t done and take ownership for their success. You might also call this autonomy.

And in an autonomous culture, people can only thrive when they have a clear direction on where the company is going. This is where so many companies end up wasting top talent.

Focus and alignment are everything — and our framework is an incredibly valuable tool to keep employees focused on the path forward.

This post was adapted from MSPOTs: the Secret to Focus and Alignment, and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Post Content

I don’t like boring newsletters any more than you do. So whether you want to become an SEO expert fast or stay on top of changing Insta algorithms, here are 23 free marketing newsletters that you’ll actually look forward to opening.

Table of Contents

HubSpot Newsletters
Best Free Marketing Newsletters
Best Free Social Media Newsletters
Best Free SEO Newsletters
Best Free Newsletters About Newsletters
Best Email Deliverability Newsletters
Best Creator-focused Newsletters

HubSpot Newsletters

1. The Hustle

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I’ve been a Hustle subscriber since before I started working at HubSpot. So it’s not just professional allegiance when I say that it more than lives up to its promise to be “your five-minute brief on business and tech news.”

It’s a newsletter powerhouse that doesn’t take its readership for granted. Hustle Managing Editor Ben Berkley tells me that his favorite recurring section is Weird Patents, which “captures the entrepreneurial spirit at the heart of our audience.” Absurd visuals guaranteed.

Editor: Ben Berkley

Frequency: Six days a week (we give Ben a break on Saturdays)

The longer Sunday stories are an extra-special treat for your inbox. My recent fav was about the cat-and-mouse game that is buying Hermès bags, and it’s a wild ride.

Cost: Free

Best for: Anyone who wants to sound more interesting when they’re talking about business.

Popularity: 2M+ subscribers

Sample subject line: ✨ Is Disney losing its magic?

RIYL: weird business stories, interesting people with big ideas, wordplay

Sign me up!

2. Masters in Marketing

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Masters in Marketing relaunched in June 2024 with the goal of sharing untold marketing stories, first-hand advice, and curated marketing trends. And frankly, we’re killing it.

So far, we’ve talked to the CEOs of Oatly and Liquid Death, Moz’s Chima Mmeje, and a GM at Microsoft. I just took a look at our planning spreadsheet, and we’ve got a fun few months ahead. Come join us.

Authors: Caroline Forsey and <ahem> yours truly. Yes, this is shameless self-promotion. Yes, it’s also a good newsletter.

Frequency: Every Tuesday

Cost: For you? Free.

Best for: Digital marketers, early- and mid-career marketers eyeing leadership positions.

Popularity: 350K+ subscribers

Sample subject line: 🕯️How Liquid Death reinvented marketing

RIYL: marketing stories and advice you haven’t already heard a hundred times

Sign me up!

3. Trends

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HubSpotter Cyan Zhong is like your chronically online friend who’s always the first to spot trends. Case in point: She tracked down the label designer of the Wirecutter-recommended Graza olive oil to talk about product design trends.

Subscribe for the latest data-backed business trends, research insights, and industry analyses. Stay for the fun.

Author: Cyan Zhong

Frequency: Every Tuesday

Cost: Free

Best for: Anyone who wants to stay ahead of the curve or build better businesses.

Popularity: 350K+ subscribers

Sample subject line: How Media Leaders Will Make AI Work in 2024, from HubSpot’s VP of Media

RIYL: internet rabbit holes, actionable business ideas, trendy niches

Sign me up!

You won’t find us gatekeeping. The newsletter platform — and other marketing tools — that we use here at HubSpot is available for your own use.

Best Free Marketing Newsletters

Heavy hitters in the “general” category include Marketing Brew, tl;dr Marketing, and Lenny’s Newsletter.

There’s a good chance you’re already subscribed to one or more of those, so here are six more we like:

4. The Black Guy in Marketing

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The Black Guy in Marketing is “a resource for diverse professionals who are the first, the only, or just trying to break through at work.”

Author Andrew McCaskill tackles well-worn topics like AI, total compensation, and networking, but with a perspective I haven’t seen in any other newsletter.

For instance, the newsletter on networking has stats from recent studies, offers four actionable networking strategies, and talks about opportunities and challenges specific to professionals of color.

Author: Andrew McCaskill, a self-described “culture analyst, inclusion champion, and marketing executive.”

Frequency: Monthly, and it’s on LinkedIn — not your inbox.

Cost: Free

Best for: Although the newsletter is largely written for Black marketers at any career level, McCaskill has written issues on Pride, Latino marketers, and more.

Popularity: Nearly 13K subscribers

Sample subject line: “White People Love Pastries!” & The Case for Building a Diverse Professional Network

RIYL: LinkedIn, career advice, fresh takes

Sign me up!

5. Kevan Lee

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Kevan Lee’s self-titled newsletter is a pastel oasis in a neon world.

A newsletter about startup marketing suggests an appetite for the hardcore, but Lee’s “playbooks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the startup marketing world” have a gentle and accessible vibe.

Even on topics like OKR templates, product versus brand differentiation, and account-based marketing, you’ll find fun reads and useful advice regardless of your marketing niche.

Author: Kevan Lee

Frequency: Every Monday

Cost: Free, with an upgrade option for $7/month or $70/year. The paid version includes access to Lee’s personal Notion workspace, discounts, and more.

Best for: People who are “into startup marketing and brand-building.”

Popularity: Unknown

Sample subject line: Bad ideas: How to brainstorm headlines, strategies, solutions, and more.

RIYL: startups, advice columns, self-titled albums

Sign me up!

6. Marketing Examples

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Marketing Examples does exactly what it says on the tin: Each newsletter includes six examples of great marketing.

Author Harry Dry breaks that down into three short examples, two copywriting tips, and one favorite tweet. Truly a something-for-everyone newsletter, Dry’s marketing examples span social media, ads, content, SEO, and sales.

And it’s just plain fun to read. This recent opening line wouldn’t be out of place in a hardboiled detective novel: “The story starts in California. 1981.”

Author: Harry Dry

Frequency: Every Monday

Cost: Free

Best for: Marketers at any level in their career; curious non-marketers.

Popularity: 130K subscribers

Sample subject line: The marketing genius of Lil Nas X

RIYL: success stories, marketing inspo, digital marketing

Sign me up!

7. Marketing Millennials

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Marketing Millennials casts a wide net, covering product positioning, success stories, email open rates, and more.

The bouncy tone will be familiar to anybody who spends too much time online, but behind all the “marketing bestie!”s and “LOL”s is a newsletter packed with timely features and legit marketing advice.

Author: Professor Millennial, aka Daniel Murray

Frequency: Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday

Cost: Free

Best for: Millennial marketers; Gen X and Boomer marketers still perplexed by millennials.

Popularity: 100K+ subscribers

Sample subject line: 🔥 You’re Doing Positioning WRONG.

RIYL: the word “bestie,” pop culture references, a sense of community

Sign me up!

8. Stand the F*ck Out

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With a name like this, it could’ve easily been the shock jock of marketing newsletters, but Stand the F*ck Out brings style and substance to the table, er, inbox. Each email contains one “super-practical” tip, and author Louis Grenier’s tone no-nonsense tone is straightforward but never boring.

Author: Louis Grenier, “a recovering Frenchman who helps marketers stand the f*ck out”

Frequency: Daily, Monday – Friday

Cost: Free

Best for: Freelance marketers, in-house marketers, and creative business owners.

Popularity: 13K+ subscribers

Sample subject line: 3 IRRATIONAL messages that stand the f*ck out | STFO 🤘

RIYL: swearing, contrarianism, lots of real-world marketing examples, Lady Gaga

Sign me up!

9. Why We Buy 🧠

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🧠 Why We Buy claims it will teach you buyer psychology in three minutes a week.

Short, punchy emails describe concepts like confirmation bias with real-world examples. Author Katelyn Bourgoin follows that up with actual science, data, and conversations with experts.

The best part: She also tells you how to apply each concept.

Author: Katelyn Bourgoin, “The Buyer Psychologist”

Frequency: Weekly

Cost: Free

Best for: Anybody who wants a fun, accessible deep dive into concepts like the empathy gap, the pratfall effect, expectancy theory, and more.

Popularity: 62K+ subscribers

Sample subject line: The BIG question 🧠 Why We Buy

RIYL: psych 101 class, GIFs, practical advice, science-based knowledge

Sign me up!

Best Free Social Media Newsletters

10. Future Social

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Future Social, a favorite of the social media managers I spoke to, delivers “award-winning case studies, theoretical social strategies, and follow-the-bouncing-ball content breakdowns to help build the best social.”

With more than 100 emails in the archive, you can catch up on trust-building, real-time influencer marketing, and so, so much more.

Author: Jack Appleby

Frequency: Weekly

Cost: Free

Best for: Social media managers and strategists; influencers and solopreneurs; digital marketers interested in social media even if it’s not their full-time job.

Popularity: 70K+ subscribers

Sample subject line: The Sesame Street Twitter Strategy: We should all be authentically Elmo.

RIYL: TikTok, #brands, impressing your boss who doesn’t use social media

Sign me up!

11. ICYMI

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ICYMI is an essential subscription for the social media manager who’s doing three jobs at once and doesn’t have time to read about every update to Instagram algorithms or new Threads features. Each newsletter has plenty of “pro insights to make you better at your job” in just a few minutes a week.

Author: Lia Haberman

Frequency: Every Friday

Cost: The free version includes a weekly email plus access to the ICYMI events database.

Upgrade for $6/month or $60/year, and get two bonus newsletters each month plus an invitation to the ICYMI Slack channel and access to social resources and reports.

Best for: Social media and audience engagement folks who want personable, highly skimmable roundups of relevant news and updates to all the major social media platforms. It’s a favorite among HubSpotters.

Popularity: 22K+ subscribers

Sample subject line: ICYMI: 5 Brands Taking a Social-First Approach

RIYL: social-first marketing, platform updates, recaps

Sign me up!

12. Link in Bio

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A wise marketer once told me, “Viral is an outcome, not a strategy.”

That person probably subscribed to Rachel Karten’s Link In Bio, “a newsletter about working in social media, creating clever content, and making sure your boss never asks you to ‘go viral.’”

The free version of this email is limited to every-other-week interviews, but the interviews are so in-depth and relevant that you’ll still be thinking about them during the off weeks.

Author: Rachel Karten, who previously led the social media teams at Bon Appétit and Epicurious.

Frequency: Every other week.

Cost: The free subscription sends out every-other-week interviews “with people who actually press post.”

There’s also an upgrade option for $8/month or $80/year, which adds a Discord invite and a weekly Logged On email (sample subject line: How to Build a Content Calendar).

Karten also comps a number of paid subscriptions for students or others who can’t swing the fees.

Best for: Social media managers at any level in their career.

Popularity: Unknown

Sample subject line: This Politician is Very Good at Social Media

RIYL: case studies, pop culture, social media inspo

Sign me up!

Best Free SEO Newsletters

I tried guesstimating how many SEO newsletters are floating around the ethernet right now, but I am not confident I count that high.

It’s a lot. Which makes sense — SEO is a rapidly evolving field, and it’s essential for any digital marketer to stay informed.

But even if you live, breathe, and eat SEO, it’s impossible to consume even a fraction of these newsletters.

Here’s three winners — one for experts, one for newbies, one for those of us somewhere in the middle:

13. SEOFOMO

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SEOFOMO is to SEOs what ICYMI is to social media managers. Each newsletter includes brief recaps of SEO news and updates as well as free SEO resources, trends, and tools. If your job title includes “SEO,” add this one to your inbox.

Author: Aleyda Solis

Frequency: Weekly

Cost: Free

Best for: Pro SEOs — when I asked HubSpot SEOs for their favs, SEOFOMO came up every time. “She’s amazing,” said one HubSpotter of Aleyda Solis.

Popularity: 33K+ subscribers

Sample subject line: 🍿 Google Leaks, AIO Updates, Impact & More

RIYL: search news, search updates, search trends

Sign me up!

14. SEO for the Rest of Us

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If your job doesn’t have “SEO” in the title, or if you’re just new to the world of search engine optimization, SEO for the Rest of Us is the newsletter you want in your inbox.

Author Brendan Hufford means it when he says “SEO for beginners.” The emails are explanatory but never patronizing, and he even provides worksheets designed to give you immediate hands-on experience.

Author: Brendan Hufford, a SaaS SEO consultant who also has 10 years of classroom teaching experience.

Cost: Free

Best for: Digital marketers who aren’t SEO experts but want to understand how it works.

Popularity: 2.4K subscribers

Sample subject line: If SEO is NOT a numbers game…?

RIYL: pop culture GIFs, doing homework for extra credit, atomic age design

Sign me up!

15. WTF is SEO?

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“Enjoyable” is a lofty goal in technical fields like SEO, but WTF is SEO? cranks out consistently enjoyable reads every Monday.

“A newsletter about search strategies for news publishers” somewhat undersells the community-building that’s central to WTF is SEO?’s ethos, with regular mailbag and AMA-style features among the more-typical newsletter fare.

Even if you’re not strictly a news publisher, there’s plenty here to learn and to love.

Authors: Jessie Willms and Shelby Blackley, who also host hour-long community calls for subscribers.

Frequency: Every Monday

Cost: Free

Best for: News publishers who want a one-stop shop for SEO news roundups, deep dives and how-tos, and interviews.

Popularity: Unknown

Sample subject line: Half the world votes in 2024. Our guide to election SEO

RIYL: a sense of community; current events and timely topics; long, thoughtful emails

Sign me up!

Best Free Newsletters About Newsletters

Let’s get meta. Newsletters about newsletters is another crowded category with a frankly overwhelming number of options. (Also overwhelming: Writing subject lines. Here’s 100 that we actually clicked.)

If you’re starting your own newsletter, we have a few great resources for you, like this ultimate email newsletter guide and our fav newsletter examples.

Here’s four great newsletter newsletters:

16. 9 Things Sunday

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Emily Ryan’s weekly newsletter is a sweet Sunday tidbit for your inbox. Filled with “fun, useful email tips and more cool things from around the net,” 9 Things Sunday collects ideas, inspo, and advice into a skimmable numbered list that you’ll look forward to every week.

Author: Emily Ryan, founder of Westfield Creative

Frequency: Every Sunday

Cost: Free

Best for: Email marketers, especially (but not exclusively) those who use Mailchimp.

Popularity: Unknown

Sample subject line: 8 Things Sunday 📫🙊

RIYL: Mailchimp, numbered lists, email tips

Sign me up!

17. Email Love

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If your role is more creative than technical — or if you just want a break from SEO and social algorithms — Email Love belongs in your inbox.

It’s a “newsletter crafted for marketers, designers, coders, and anyone keen on exceptional email design, content ideas, news, and interviews,” and every issue is packed full of beautiful design and creative inspo.

Better yet, author Andy King writes a brief explanation of why the design works, so you can incorporate your favorite elements into your own work.

Author: Andy King, who describes his role as “curator”

Frequency: Once or twice weekly

Cost: Free

Best for: Newsletter writers and marketers in search of design and content inspiration.

Popularity: Unknown

Sample subject line: Warning: This email may brighten up your day ☀️

RIYL: mood boards, Pinterest, typography, email

Sign me up!

18. Inbox Collective

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Dan Oshinsky describes Inbox Collective as “the newsletter for people who make newsletters.” With a minimalist but text-heavy design, it’s not much to look at, but that won’t matter once you dig into interviews with other newsletter writers, growth strategy advice, and some quick hits from Oshkinsky’s own reading list.

Author: Dan Oshinsky, formerly the Director of Newsletters at Buzzfeed and The New Yorker.

Cost: Free

Best for: People who make newsletters. But seriously: It’s also great if you don’t want to subscribe to a dozen newsletters about newsletters — Inbox Collective ticks a lot of boxes, with interviews, industry news and updates, a job board, and expert advice.

Popularity: 10K+ subscribers

Sample subject line: Three secrets I’ve learned about great newsletters

RIYL: real talk, clear advice, making newsletters

Sign me up!

19. Newsletter Operator

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Newsletter Operator is for the money-motivated marketer.

Each email has a lesson that will help you “learn how to grow and monetize your newsletter.” Some of the subject lines would be clickbait (“How To Get Your First 1,000 Newsletter Subscribers In 30 Days”) if they weren’t backed up with deep dives, step-by-step guides, and useful examples.

Author: Matt McGarry (who is, full disclosure, a former HubSpotter, though he left before I started)

Cost: Free

Best for: Solo and small-biz newsletter creators

Popularity: 20K+

Sample subject line: How To Make a “Subscriber Flow” That Will Increase Your Conversion Rate, Open Rate, and CTR

RIYL: technical details, growth strategies, making money

Sign me up!

Best Email Deliverability Newsletters

20. Send It Right

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“Email deliverability” isn’t a topic that inspires a lot of warmth. Lauren Meyer is ready to change that with her new newsletter, Send It Right, which she calls “a newsletter for marketers and email practitioners who want to reach the inboxes — and hearts — of email recipients.”

Meyer’s human-first approach is apparent in the details, like this note about Send It Right’s confirmation email:

“Please … click the link to confirm your interest before I send you more email. I respect your privacy, and you can unsubscribe at any time because sending spam is bad. If you don’t agree, this newsletter isn’t for you.”

Preach.

Author: Lauren Meyer

Frequency: Weekly

Cost: Free

Best for: Early-career email marketers or anybody looking for clear, accessible, step-by-step guidance on email deliverability.

Popularity: Unknown

Sample subject line: How to know if you have a deliverability issue

RIYL: teachers, myth-busting, avoiding spam folders

Sign me up!

21. Spam Resource

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Spam Resource is your no-nonsense, one-stop subscription for the latest in email deliverability. Recent topics include complying with Yahoo! and Google email requirements and how to send email successfully without looking like a spammer.

And if the overabundance of deliverability-related acronyms leaves your head spinning, check out the archives, where Al Iverson decodes DMARC, DKIM, SPF, and more.

Author: Al Iverson, who has now written more than half a million words on email deliverability

Frequency: Every Monday

Cost: Free

Best for: MarTech folks, email senders, and brand marketers who are neck-deep in email deliverability and want guidance.  

Popularity: 1K+ subscribers

Sample subject line: Google sending requirements: What of B2B? + more from Spam Resource

RIYL: email marketing, troubleshooting, hating spam

Sign me up!

I know Al Iverson IRL, so I asked him why he writes a narrowly focused email newsletter.

“Deliverability guidance can slip into an unhappy groove of constantly saying ‘no’ and being endlessly negative. I intentionally wanted to turn from a negative voice to a positive voice.”

Best Creator-focused Newsletters

Digital marketing isn’t just for companies. As any content creator is well aware, marketing yourself takes a lot of time and know-how.

Here’s two newsletters with some marketing gems for content creators:

22. Passionfruit

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Passionfruit is a fully formed online publication for content creators, and its newsletter reflects the depth of expertise and breadth of topics you’d expect from a staff of five (a rarity in the newsletter world).

It delivers “advice from up-and-coming creators and the internet’s most seasoned business leaders” with an eye on the most recent online discourse (which, as of this writing, was brat summer).

The newsletter isn’t exclusively about marketing, but if you’re a content creator, you know that the lines between “marketing” and “everything you do” are pretty blurry.

Authors: Drew Grant, Grace Stanley, Rusama Islam, Steven Asarch, and Rachel Kiley

Cost: Free

Best for: Influencers, content creators, and digital marketers who work with influencers and content creators. Job seekers take note, because newsletters often include a job board.

Popularity: Unknown

Sample subject line: Tik(tok) Tik(tok)…Boom Goes the Creator Economy

RIYL: industry gossip, business advice, monetization, personal branding

Sign me up!

23. The Publish Press

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Where Passionfruit takes a higher industry-level view of creator culture, The Publish Press gets more personal. It stays “up to date with the business of creators” with loads of creator stories about beating the YouTube algorithm, disrupting the pet industry, and more.

Authors: Hannah Doyle and Nathan Graber-Lipperman

Frequency: Three times a week

Cost: Free

Best for: Content creators and influencers.

Popularity: 100K+ subscribers

Sample subject line: BTS of Building a Creator Beverage Brand

RIYL: case studies, game streamers, inside stories

Sign me up!

Use Newsletters to Become a Better Digital Marketer

We all need a little continuing education to stay in peak condition at our jobs.

Subscribe to a few — or all 23 — of these marketing newsletters, commit to reading them, and regale your co-workers with fun facts and brilliant marketing ideas galore.

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

Want to succeed on Instagram but struggling to see success and meet your business goals? For most business owners, the secret ingredient isn’t strategy — it’s time management. You likely know that consistent, frequent posting is key, but that’s now coupled with the need to create more complex content, like Reels.

How does anyone have time to run a business and plan, film, and edit a fun video every single day? We long for the days when a simple, singular photo could give us the engagement we were looking for!

But I have good news, weary creator. Asking you to spend more time isn’t actually the answer (and let’s hear a big sigh of relief for that!). A goal for me as I navigate changes in the online business, digital marketing, and social media worlds is to get crafty and figure out how to make an impact without losing time.

Time is our most valuable resource, and without it, we don’t have much space to enjoy what our work is meant to give us! The “fruits of your labor” are pretty meaningless when you don’t have time to eat.

Over the last few years of navigating the Instagram and video content game, I’ve found a workflow that not only delivers results consistently but also helps me manage my time well. If you’re looking for a way to get better at (or get into) working with the Instagram algorithm without the headache, keep reading.

Save Time by Knowing Your Posting Vision

Trying to make last-minute decisions truly is not my forte. When I sit down at my computer or pull up a social media channel isn’t the best time for me to figure out my posting plan. Beyond a schedule or to-do list, I need to have a library of inspiration to pull from when I’m mapping out my content.

Start a habit of saving posts and videos you see on Instagram that grab your attention. Carve out time when you don’t have the pressure to make any quick decisions and simply scroll around the app for a few minutes, saving whatever sparks inspiration.

If your main feed isn’t serving you the inspiration you’re looking for, don’t be afraid to scroll through the search page or ask the Meta AI feature to show you fresh posts from new-to-you creators. As a helpful assist, if you have a team member, you can grant them separate access to your account to save posts, too.

The goal here isn’t to copy and paste other creators’ ideas, but to get smart about what’s working, and then fully make it your own. For example, I saw a post about the things that spark joy in someone’s life and it had nothing to do with their work.

I felt like that let me get to know them beyond their business in a 10-second video which inspired me to share some behind-the-scenes shots of my own life.

When you tap the ‘flag’ icon that saves a post for you, you can drop it into a collection. I’ve separated and named my collections into categories that help me know why I’ve saved them in the first place, especially since I’ll be coming back to them later on when I’m creating content.

This also means I don’t have to hunt them down or fuss to find them in the mix of a bunch of recipes or home decor ideas.

Turn Your Inspiration into a Plan

You’ve got new ideas swirling around in your head, but now it’s time to pull them out of your Instagram saved collections and plug them into your posting plan.

Dig through what you’ve saved and organize them outside of the app, wherever you like to content plan. My team’s favorite place to batch-work our Instagram posts is on a collaborative board on Notion.

Batchworking your plan here is key because you don’t need to worry about the final product yet and can blaze through creating the general plan for a month’s worth of posts in a very short amount of time. The focus is on the concept, not the finished product.

In my process, I want to lock in on what I want to create so that when it’s time for me to shoot that content, I have a quick checklist of everything I need and don’t waste time overthinking or shooting content I won’t end up using.

I go through each of the ideas dropped into the posting calendar in Notion and give myself whatever info I’ll need to create well. Each post gets its own planning space where I save the audio from the Instagram post and the post’s URL/link.

I drop the ‘hook’ (i.e. the angle of the text/concept that gets a follower to want to read, watch, and find out more.) I also quickly note the context for the caption of the post that is unique to me and my brand.

When you’ve got your plan, hooks, context, and links in place, you’re more likely to follow through with creating content that may be out of your comfort zone. This is the part of the plan that helps you get over the hump of “I just don’t know what to post!”

Trust your plan, because you do know what to post, and now it’s time to create.

Batch-Create Your B-Roll

Your plan is in motion, your ideas are flowing, and now you’re ready to hit the record button and capture your content. This might feel like the most time-consuming part of your process, but I’ve actually found it to be the easiest, most low-key process if done right!

Instead of overthinking your footage, flip the script and remember that it’s your hook and your caption that’ll do the heavy lifting for you.

I like to carve out a little time to capture ‘b-roll’ footage of my life. This is where I get the majority of my content and create videos that I can use for weeks to come. I’ll film short clips on my iPhone of myself doing things like getting ready in the morning, working out or stretching, gardening, meditating, or slicing up my pizza for lunch.

You don’t need to be a cinematographer to captivate your online audience — they’re not there for your camera work!

Consider what your unique b-roll could be. Shoot your daily life, whether it’s working from your desk, packing your work bag, planning your calendar, walking your dog, or watering the plants in your kitchen window. Think about the time you want to put into this part and don’t overspend.

Often, I’ll pick one or two days a week where I know I’ll have my phone out a little more to capture this footage. Beyond that, I don’t have to think about whether or not my life is ‘content-worthy’.

A major benefit here is that once I’ve spent a day catching little glimpses (and I mean like 10 20-second clips), I load them into a b-roll video folder in my Google Drive and always end up having clips I can re-use for other posts in the following months.

This kind of workflow is the kind that pays off even more as you go, because when you’ve got a library of content to pull from, you can spend way less time creating in the future.

If you want to see how I use the B-roll videos in my posts, here are a few posts for you to check out:

Post 1 | Post 2 | Post 3 | Post 4 | Post 5

Plan Your Drafts for Posting Day

Once your b-roll folder is looking stocked, it’s time to batch-work your video editing. If you’re not a professional video editor like myself, don’t overthink this part because you’ve got everything you need for a successful post!

I like to create my Instagram Reels right in the Instagram app and save them for safekeeping by storing them as a draft. We drop the caption into the post’s space on our Notion board and select a cover photo (also from a folder filled with photos of myself that I fill as often as I can!).

When it’s time to post, I check our publishing schedule and begin my prep. I grab everything I need from Notion, like my caption and cover photo, and then make sure my Reel is formatted correctly with the right audio.

You can optimize your post by adding a location, hashtags, and categories. You’re giving your content the chance to reach people beyond your follower community!

If you’ve followed these steps up to this point, you’re ready to hit ‘publish’ on your own post. Pull your Reel from the drafts, drop in that beautiful caption, optimize it, and share it with the world. Your video is ready, your hook is perfect, and your next month of posts is already waiting for you.

Trust Your Plan So Your Posts Can Do the Rest

A well-worked plan is not about cutting corners and making your work easier, it’s about getting your business and your results further ahead than any last-minute creation could ever do for you.

Creating from a mindset that isn’t in a hurry, isn’t trying to be decisive when you’re overwhelmed, means you’re going to create more posts that help your messages land with your audience.

Showing up on Instagram in a new way doesn’t have to suck all your time, energy, and creative ideas. Start by fueling yourself with inspiration, giving yourself the space to plan, plug in your ideas, and connect the dots for a month (or more) at a time, and you’re creating a process you can learn from.

My ultimate vision is to optimize my process as I go. I want to look at what works and what doesn’t so I can take what isn’t worth my time right off my to-do list.

I believe productivity, especially with a social media presence, can be defined as learning and refining as you go. We have to let our methods evolve as the apps and marketing techniques and digital world evolve, but that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice our time or peace because of it.

Trust your plan and don’t be afraid to boldly tap that ‘publish’ button and see what happens next.

Welcome to “I Tried…,” the series where I try different marketing tools and strategies so you don’t have to. In this series, I document my experience and let you know if a tool or strategy is worth your time.

AI and marketing are becoming like peanut butter and jelly—inseparable.

According to our complete guide to AI in digital marketing, 64% of marketing professionals say they use AI in some form in their jobs. Specifically, 38% say they use it in content creation.

With AI becoming so entrenched in marketing, I became curious about its use in one of the most defining aspects of marketing—brand logos!

After a quick Google search, I found 5 AI logo generators, and I tried them all to see which one is the best and whether I would recommend using AI logo generators at all.

Keep reading to learn what I found:

How I Tested AI Logo Generators

Testing these generators was pretty simple. I thought up a business called Eri’s Cat Cafe because if you know me, then you know I love cats—and I would definitely be the owner of an adorable cat cafe in another universe.

I then entered the name of my cafe into the generators and followed each step to create my logo. I also timed how long it took to generate the logos and took into consideration aesthetics and customization options.

By the end of this blog post, you’ll know which one is my favorite and if I would recommend using an AI logo generator for your organization or business.

5 AI Logo Generators

Here are the five AI logo generators I tested and my experiences with each.

1. Adobe Express Logo Maker (BETA)

Price: Free, but you must sign up for Adobe Express to download the logo.

Using Adobe Express Logo Maker is simple and fast. After entering my business name, industry, and slogan, I simply choose the style I want for my logo. I can choose between:

Elegant
Organic
Bold
Minimal

I chose Organic for my style. From there, Adobe displays various icons I can incorporate into my logo. I could have gone with a coffee-themed icon, but it’s a cat cafe, so I chose two adorable fluffy cats.

Once I chose my icon, I scrolled through various customizable sample logos before settling on one I liked.

Now, it’s time to design. The icon of my choice is incorporated into my logo, and I can move it around the page as I see fit. I can also move the text and change its font and size. By clicking the color tab, I can cycle through different color palettes until I find one I like.

Then, bam! I have my logo. Adobe Express’ Logo Maker is free; however, you must have an account to download your creation.

Pros: Adobe Express’ Logo Maker is simple, user-friendly, and fast. I timed how long it took to design my logo, which only took 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

Cons: The AI logo generator has limited customization capabilities and icons. Therefore, it‘s difficult to really tailor your creation to make it as unique as possible for your brand.

You’re also only allowed to choose one industry for your logo, which can pose a problem if your organization fits into multiple industries.

For example, my fake cat cafe would occupy the restaurant business, as well as pet adoption or animal rental. When creating my logo, I had to choose between an image that emphasized the cat aspect of my business or the restaurant aspect.

2. Designs AI

Price: $49 to download the logo or $19 monthly for a Designs AI subscription.

I start by entering my business name and industry into the prompts. Then, I choose a logo category that suits me. Essentially, the category determines the logo‘s primary design focus, which can be an icon, initials, or the business’s name.

I love logos with unique icons, so I clicked the icon category. Then, though optional, I entered my company‘s slogan— “The purrrfect place to be.” I know, I’m so clever.

Now, it’s time to figure out my logo’s style. Designs AI presents users with various sample logo designs in different styles. Users can choose up to five to give the AI an idea of what style to incorporate into a logo.

After choosing a few, it‘s time to select a color. Purple is my favorite color, so let’s go with that.

From there, I get to my favorite part: choosing the symbols! This part ranks Designs AI a bit higher than Adobe Express, in my opinion, because I can select multiple symbols that capture different aspects of my business.

However, whichever logo I pick will only incorporate one of the five symbols. From there, I make a few more stylistic choices and in just a moment I have my logo. 

You can watch my progress by clicking through the photo gallery below.

Pros: Generating a logo with Designs AI only took exactly 3 minutes. It took a little longer than Adobe Express because it has more icons and symbols for me to choose from and slightly more thorough customization options.

I also like that it allows you to download high-quality files of your logo without subscribing, though you still have to pay a one-time fee of $49.

Cons: By now, I have a good idea of the caveat behind using AI logo generators—their customization options are limiting. Thus, it’s hard to create a logo that is truly unique to your brand. And the same goes for Designs AI.

3. Wix

Price: You must subscribe to Wix to download high-quality images of your logo, but you can download it in low resolution for free. Wix subscription plans start as low as $9.59 per month.

My favorite feature of Wix‘s logo generator is its optional chatbot.

The platform allows users to design their logos from scratch using steps similar to those of the previous two AI logo generators, or they can explain their ideas to Wix’s AI logo chatbot.

You can scroll through the images below to see how the chatbot helped design my logo. With the chatbot, it took a little less than 2 minutes to generate my logo.

The results were similar, but I enjoyed the chatbot because it suggested symbols and color schemes I hadn’t considered when I designed my logo manually.

Designing the logo on my own was a similar experience to previous generators, so it wasn’t much to write about. That said, I liked the color scheme and logo I chose a bit better than the chatbots. I even found a cat cafe-themed symbol!

You can click through the images below to see how it works. Without the chatbot, it took about 3 minutes to generate my logo. 

Pros: Both methods generated quick results, and I spent no more than a few minutes using each.

Cons: You can download your logo for free, but it is of poor quality unless you pay for a subscription.

4. Looka

Price: $20 for low-resolution files of your logo to $129 a year for a brand kit with high-quality resolutions.

At this point, I realize that most AI logo generators work the same. With Looka, and almost all other generators on this list, you do the following to generate your logo:

Enter your business name
Select a style or inspo for your logo
Choose your symbols and icons to incorporate
Add your slogan
Pick a generated image to tweak or customize

However, one thing I enjoyed most about Looka was that it has icons of a cat cafe! That’s right. I found icons that encompass both cats and coffee!

So that’s a win. Oh yeah, and I generated my logo in 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

Pros: It has more variety in icons and symbols, at least when it comes to my cat cafe. Looka also provides a comprehensive brand kit (more on that later).

Cons: It works about the same as other generators and has limited customization options.

5. LOGO.com

Price: Free

LOGO.com’s design process differs slightly from that of others on this list. Instead of choosing at least one symbol to include in my logo, I instead must enter keywords. Then, LOGO.com will generate logos based on those keywords.

Naturally, most of the logos generated include some type of cat or coffee symbol. After selecting the logo I want to customize, I can click the icons tab and choose other symbols by typing in keywords. The whole thing took 2 minutes flat. 

Pros: The generator is simple, intuitive, and fast. I can also download a zip file of my logo and its components for free.

Cons: Though I can enter multiple keywords, I can still only choose one type of symbol for my logo.

My Favorite AI Logo Generator

Overall, all these generators work about the same, so it‘s hard to choose my favorite. However, if I had to recommend only one of these, I’d suggest Looka mainly for its brand kit.

For $129, Looka creates an entire brand kit around your logo.

Its brand kit includes 16 downloaded file types for your logo, 2 website drafts, hundreds of products for your logo to be printed on (stickers, mugs, T-shirts, etc.), business cards, email signatures, and more!

Image search

Should your business use an AI logo generator?

If you‘re really committed to using an AI logo generator to save time or money, then I suggest Looka. However, I don’t recommend using an AI logo generator for your logo beyond brainstorming.

Your logo is supposed to be a unique symbol for your brand. When people see your logo, they should automatically connect it to your business because it‘s one of a kind.

For example, when you see the golden M against a red background, you automatically think, “McDonald’s.”

This experiment shows that most AI logo generators work similarly and generate similar results.

If you want a logo that is truly unique to your brand and can‘t be found anywhere else, it’s best to design one from scratch or work with a graphic designer with a keen eye for style.

That said, I can see using an AI log generator to brainstorm concept art for your logo and bringing these images to a designer who can put their own spin on the designs and create something special that makes your brand stand out.

What other marketing tools or methods would you like me to try? Feel free to contact me on X or LinkedIn to let me know what I should try next!