Tuesday, December 14, 2021

278 Social Media Holidays for Your 2022 Content Calendar [+Template]

Do you celebrate International Cat Day, Pizza Day, or Talk Like a Pirate Day?

There are a plethora of observance days worldwide during which marketers can share content relevant to their industries, get involved in a movement, or simply generate more awareness. But odds are, you probably don't acknowledge these days until you see your favorite brand posting about it.

→ Free Download: Social Media Calendar Template [Access Now]

These social media "holidays" are a fun way to connect with new and existing followers who share an affinity for a specific food, fictional character, or pet.

While we don't suggest sharing content on social media and then adding an irrelevant holiday hashtag to it, these holidays can be a chance to promote your brand in a relevant way. Not doing so could cause you to miss valuable opportunities where your brand can join the conversations taking place among members of your target audience.

To help you plan for trending holidays, we created a list that you can bookmark, as well as a downloadable calendar so you can receive automatic reminders.

Downloadable Holiday Calendar

To help you keep track of all these unique holidays, here's a Social Media Holiday Google Calendar.

Aside from 2022 holidays, we've also set dates on the calendar to repeat annually — either on the exact date they occur or the weekday they occur within the month.

Want to finish out your 2022 calendar with some upcoming holiday posts? Tap the + symbol in the lower right-hand corner of the calendar below to add it to your own Google calendar.

social media holiday calendar templateUse the Above Template to Plan Out Your Social Media Holiday Posts

National & Global Holiday Calendar: 2022

The list isn't exhaustive (there are a lot of food-specific holidays out there), and these dates and hashtags may still be subject to change. But this is a great starting point for social media marketers who want to learn more about what's trending and how they can plan their content in a way that will be fun and engaging on social platforms.


January 2022 Social Media Holidays

iowa state athletics national sticker day social media holiday tweet

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February 2022 Social Media Holidays

zach covey national weather persons day social media holiday tweet

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March 2022 Social Media Holidays

national park service national day of unplugging social media holiday tweet

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April 2022 Social Media Holidays

christina alexandria national siblings day social media holiday tweet

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May 2022 Social Media Holidays

violet the Newfy world password day social media holiday tweet

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June 2022 Social Media Holidays

Alex bowman National Donut Day social media holiday tweet

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July 2022 Social Media Holidays

Stadium Give Something Away Day Social Media Holiday Tweet

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August 2022 Social Media Holidays

Wienerschnitzel National Lemonade Day Social Media Holiday Tweet

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September 2022 Social Media Holidays

Gaeilge @ Colaiste Naomh Caoimhin EDL 2021 Social Media Holiday Tweet

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October 2022 Social Media Holidays

The Beatles 4ever World vegetarian Day Social Media Holiday Tweet

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November 2022 Social Media Holidays

Nickelodeon STEM day Social Media Holiday Tweet

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December 2022 Social Media Holidays

Nobel Prize Day Globalnews.ca Social Media HolidayTweet

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Sources: National Day Calendar, Sprout Social, TrackMaven, Holiday Insights, Brownielocks, National Peace Corps Association, Sparkflow, There's a Day for That

While it's not important to celebrate every single social media holiday, being aware of the holidays can help you brainstorm ideas for your marketing and implement fun, themed posts into your social media content calendar.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in January 2017 but is updated annually for comprehensiveness. The most recent update of this post was November 2021.

social media content calendar


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Monday, December 13, 2021

New Product Development Process: Everything You Need to Know

Bringing a new product to life can be challenging. You know that you have an idea that can bring value to a target market, but you aren’t exactly sure how to bring your product to that market.

This process can become especially difficult if you’ve never done it before, as you may not even know where to begin. Thankfully, a blueprint exists in the new product development process, which is a strategy that will help you bring your ideas to life. Read on to discover how it’s done.

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New Product Development Process

New product development refers to the process that goes into bringing a new product to market, from brainstorming an idea to understanding if it fits into the market, ironing it out to prototyping to final commercialization.

Although it can be a rather lengthy process that sometimes requires iteration, it’s all done to ensure that your product is the best it can be before it reaches your customers and solves their needs in the best possible way.

Let’s discuss the different stages involved in new product development.

new product development process steps

1. Idea Generation

The new product development process begins with idea generation, where you brainstorm an idea (or ideas) that will help you solve an existing customer problem in a new and innovative way. As you’re coming up with ideas that will help you solve customer needs, it’s important to have a robust understanding of your target market and the pain points they have that you want to solve.

Your initial idea generation stage can be as simple as saying “What if we did this?” and then they become more ROBUST during the research stage.

2. Research

Once you’ve developed a product idea, the next step is conducting research to FLESH IT OUT. There are various steps you can take to do this, like:

  • Market research to understand the current sentiment in your industry and if there are any holes that your product will fit into, and if there will even be demand for it.
  • Competitor analysis to understand if customers think there are things your competitors' products or services lack that you can incorporate into your product to better fit your target market's needs.

During this stage, you can also get early feedback from customers about what they think of your ideas before coming up with a final definition for your product. One of the best ways to get this feedback is through surveys, where you can easily and quickly collect information from existing customers. A high-quality tool like Lucky Orange can help you create these surveys, and with it, you can ask multiple choice questions about types of products they may be interested in, or more open-ended questions that give you more insight into customer opinions.

This stage may include a bit of iteration because your research may tell you that you need to refine your original ideas and adjust your research scope before moving on to the next stage.

3. Planning

The third stage is planning, where you formulate a final product idea/definition based on your initial idea and research and begin coming up with your plans to bring it to life.

When you define your final product, you’ll want to begin planning for what you’ll need in order to create it. For example, if you’re creating a physical product, you’ll need to source the necessary materials or find production partners that will assist in manufacturing.

Planning also involves coming up with a marketing strategy that will help you effectively market when your product is completed, pricing models that make sense for your product, and that your customers will pay.

It’s also critical to identify the teams that will be involved in your product development process that will help bring it to market, from the marketing teams that will promote your product to any possible external partners that will assist with production.

4. Prototyping

The prototyping phase is when you come up with a sample product that is a mockup of what will be created during mass production.

This prototype is often referred to as a minimum viable product (MVP), which is a basic version of your tool, still similar to your final product, that will help you get a sense of how it functions and identify any areas that need to be improved.

You may make multiple prototypes and go back and forth between this stage and the testing stage before you have a finalized prototype.

5. Testing

Before launching your product you need to test it to ensure it will work as advertised and effectively solve your customer needs. So, during this stage, you’ll share your prototypes with target audiences and ask for actionable feedback on how the product works.  

Essentially, you want your product to be used in situations that are similar to real-world use cases so you know exactly what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes the results of your testing will require you to go back and make changes to your prototype, as mentioned above.

Once you feel as though your prototype is finished and ready to solve your customer needs, you’ll begin product development.

6. Product Development

This stage involves creating the final product that will be commercialized once completed. You’ll use the insights gained from testing your MVP to make final touches to your prototype, and begin mass production.

Depending on your type of business, you’ll likely have a different process for product development. For example, if you’re a SaaS business, your internal software development or programming teams will likely work to finalize code. If you create a physical product, you may outsource labor for certain components and assemble final products in your warehouse.

Whichever your process is, your planning stage should’ve helped you identify how your product development will go.

7. Commercialization

The final stage of your new product development process is commercialization, where you introduce your products to market. This is the culmination of your brainstorming, research, iteration, where your audiences can finally make use of what you created.

You’ll enact your marketing plans to make your audiences aware of your new product, and enact campaigns that will entice them to become customers.

Although this is the final stage, many businesses launch their products and, over time, return to make improvements to their products based on customer feedback and market changes to ensure they’re always providing the best possible customer experience.

From Brainstorming To Reality

When you complete your new product development process, you’ll have brought your brainstorming ideas to fruition, and created a real product or service that solves a customer need. If you find success, you’ll have created a valuable strategy to replicate that will help you continuously innovate and create new products, giving customers the delightful experiences they desire.

Product Marketing Kit


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8 New Social Media Platforms Marketers Should Watch in 2022

According to 2021 2ubSpot Blog Research, most marketers search for new or emerging social media platforms on a weekly or monthly.

When you visit the App Store or Google Play and search "social media," there are hundreds of apps to choose from. But, as the pool of social platforms grows, will any of them really change the game for marketers this year?

Download Now: Social Media Trends in 2022 [Free Report]

The truth is, probably so. The year 2020 changed the way we did just about everything — including socializing. Social distancing became a familiar part of our lives leaving a void for personalized communication we used to have in-person.

Nevertheless, humans are adaptable, and several new social networking sites have emerged in the last twelve months to recreate the communities we've had to abandon abruptly.

2022 Social Media Trends

The hottest social media trends thus far are audio-based social networking and live streaming.

Live streaming video (32%) was the second-highest trend social media marketers invested in this year, behind short-form video content. The survey also revealed that streaming performed better than expected for 52% of social media marketers surveyed.

This comes at a time when platforms like Twitch and Discord are rising and expanding beyond gaming.

As for audio, Stephanie Morgan, social media expert and founder of the marketing agency Social Lock, sees a bright future for this new type of community.

"Audio-based social networking is a relatively new concept, but it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon," she says.

HubSpot Blog Research found that 65% of social media marketers ranked live audio chat rooms among the top three most effective social media formats.

Watching the growth of young, promising social channels will help you determine which are worth joining and which aren't worth your time.

And, if you do end up joining a hot new social channel early on, you may have more time to pick up on what promotional content works there. This will put you ahead of competitors that launch their accounts later and might struggle to come up with creative post ideas.

To help you stay on the cutting edge of social media, we've compiled a list of eight young social platforms that you might want to put on your radar this year. These platforms have all gained a large user base, interest from investors, or news buzz in recent months.

For each platform, we'll walk you through how it works, its user base, why it might be promising to marketers later on, and how you should approach it today.

1. Twitch

Year Launched: 2011

Number of Users: 140 million monthly active users

Twitch is a live streaming platform that allows creators to interact with their audience in real time. Its leading traffic driver comes from video game enthusiasts.

homepage of new social media platform twitch

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Players can record themselves playing popular games like Fortnite and Minecraft while the audience watches and engages. Some creators also offer exclusive content to those who choose a paid subscription plan.

In addition to game content, you’ll find videos and live stream relating to cooking, music, and just about anything on this social network. Twitch also offers interactive live shows, from esports events to festivals to its 30 million average daily visitors.

The audience on Twitch skews young, with 70% of its viewers between 16 and 34 years old. From a brand perspective, it’s a great community-building platform where marketers can connect on a personal level with their target audience.

From Q&As to behind-the-scenes content, there are various ways brands can engage their audience.

According to 2021 HubSpot Blog Research, 75% of B2B social media marketers plan to increase their investment in Twitch compared to 28% of B2C marketers.

Similar to influencers on other social networks, streamers can make a living on Twitch through subscriptions, ads, and donations.

Brands can choose from a variety of ad placements, including the homepage carousel and live broadcast integrations. They can also sponsor specific streamers whose viewers are highly engaged.

new social media platform discord and its ad options

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As Twitch’s audience diversifies and expands beyond gaming, this makes it easier for brands to find their way in. In addition, brands aren’t limited to working with streamers on the platform. They can build their own presence through a branded account and features like emote, which are emoticons you can use on the platform.

2. Discord

Year Launched: 2015

Number of Users: Over 100 million monthly active users

What once was a gaming platform has now evolved into an expansive chat app.

Here’s how it works: The platform operates on servers, which are community groups that allow video, audio, and text chatting. Every user can build their own server or join one created by another member.

new social media platform: discord

When it first launched, Discord was popular among gamers who wanted a platform to stream games and connect with the broader gaming community. After raising $100 million in funding in 2020, Discord announced plans to expand beyond this community.

In a blog post, co-founder and CEO Jason Citron shared that its users wanted this change.

"Games are what brought many of you on the platform, and we’ll always be grateful for that," wrote Citron. "As time passed, a lot of you realized, and vocalized, that you simply wanted a place designed to hang out and talk in the comfort of your own communities and friends."

The brand underwent a brand redesign and reframed its messaging to make it a platform for all.

Discord does not do ads on the platform currently, making it a solely organic play for brands. Startup investment platform Otis had had great success in this arena.

In a Digiday article, Otis’ head of marketing, Cam Lay, shared that they’ve built a strong community of 600+ members by sharing tips and regularly engaging with users.

They also leverage their community to get feedback and gain insights into how their audience feels about their products and services.

Discord offers brands a fantastic opportunity to build brand loyalty and trust. To be successful on a platform like this, brands must be invested in their audience and willing to play the long game.

3. TikTok

Year Launched: 2017 (Founded in 2016)

Number of Users: 1 billion monthly active users

In 2018, the lip-syncing app, Musical.ly merged with a similar one-year-old app called TikTok. Today, it’ now more popular in app stores than other prominent social media platforms and is expected to reach 1.5 billion in 2022.

For those who remember Vine or Musical.ly, TikTok is like a mix of the two.

The platform allows you to film short videos that play on a repetitive loop just like Vine. But, like Musical.ly or Snapchat, you can add fun effects, AR filters, text, and musical overlays to zest things up. Like similar video platforms, it has been primarily adopted by users under 30 years old.

Once you make a video, the app also allows you to optimize it by adding hashtags to make it easier to find via search.

One way hashtags have been embraced on TikTok is through its "Discover" tab. This area of the platform allows you to sift through trending hashtags and join in on the fun. When you post a video that responds to a challenge, you can include the corresponding hashtag so those following the challenge can see your videos.

Along with being widely discussed by publications including the New York Times and Digiday, the app has also gained notoriety from comedians like Jimmy Fallon. Here's a clip from The Tonight Show where he talks about the app and tells fans to compete in his #tumbleweed challenge:

In addition to being fun and entertaining, the app is "leaking into brand territory," according to Krystal Wu, HubSpot's former social media community manager. She explained that more brands are on the platform, adding that, "The Washington Post is on TikTok and they are pretty popular too."

The Washington Post, as she mentioned, has already gained over 1 million followers.

You would expect the newspaper to post content with a more serious or investigative tone. However, the Post shows off a lighter, behind-the-scenes look at its newsroom.

In this example, one of its journalists struggles to walk up the stairs to the sounds of MGMT's "Electric Feel":

Brands like Guess have also started to experiment with TikTok.

To highlight its new line of denim clothing, Guess launched the #inMyDenim challenge encouraging users to publish videos of themselves wearing Guess denim with Bebe Rexha's song, "I'm a Mess." playing in the background.

At the moment, fashion, publishing, and entertainment companies are starting to play with TikTok. As the platform grows, we might see it expand to other industries that are able to get creative and visual with their marketing tactics.

In 2021, 46% of social media marketers surveyed in a HubSpot Blog Research study revealed that Tiktok offers high ROI, ranking third behind Instagram and YouTube. For that reason, 93% of marketers who leverage TikTok plan to increase their investment or continue investing the same amount in 2022.

While you might not want to focus all of your social media resources on TikTok just yet, it's a great time to familiarize yourself with the app and start experimenting with a few fun videos.

You could also try to brainstorm a few challenges or video ideas that could align well with your brand and the platform's young audience. If you see any brands that are in a similar space as you, follow them for some added inspiration.

4. Clubhouse

Year Launched: 2020

Number of Users: 10 million active weekly users

Unlike traditional social media sites Facebook or Twitter which provide an asynchronous platform for communicating and sharing content, Clubhouse leverages synchronous, audio-only connectivity between the audience and the speakers.

new social media platform: clubhouse

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It’s not quite a podcast, but a more personal way to share information with your audience who can talk back to you in real-time.

You might be wondering "What actually happens in Clubhouse?" And the truth is: It’s a little bit of everything. Topics like starting a business from top venture capitalists, relationship discussions hosted by celebrities, and even comedy clubs by up-and-coming comedians all find their way in front of live audiences.

Part of the sudden uproar about this new social media network stemmed from the way it contradicted every other social platform available today.

It was invite-only — the antithesis of how we’ve come to understand and leverage social media. The developers of the app said they wanted to get Clubhouse just right before releasing it to the public, but users already part of the in-group served as gatekeepers to thousands of conversations happening daily.

Clubhouse website homepage featuring a yellow wave emoji and App Store download.

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How can Clubhouse work for marketers and brands? That’s yet to be determined, but professionals are experimenting right now. The race to crack the code on Clubhouse is a fast one as content creators are building their audiences quickly in hopes of securing monetization opportunities when they become available.

Not sure how to leverage it? Consider hosting an informal focus group, starting a conversation about a high-traffic blog article your company has published or contributing to a conversation hosted by a thought leader in your industry.

5. Twitter Spaces

Year Launched: 2020

Number of Users: Unspecified

Similar to Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces is a beta version of the app’s newest audio feature. This voice chat alternative to the social platform’s traditional 280 character tweets is open to anyone with an iOS device, but only a select group of people chosen by Twitter can create their own space to start a conversation.

new social media platform twitter spaces

While the app is similar in nature to Clubhouse, Twitter is venturing into this new audio-only territory to discover opportunities and threats in this type of community. Clubhouse has addressed its challenges with enforcing community standards – an opportunity Twitter wants to figure out to make the platform safe for everyone.

Morgan predicts some promising insights about the newest audio-only social network by Twitter,

"Spaces will be a great feature on Twitter because it’s already a dialogue-friendly, majority non-visual platform," she says.

She anticipates that hosting live discussions, training sessions, and customer Q&As could be a few use cases for businesses to utilize Twitter Spaces once it is released to the public.

6. Caffeine

Year Launched: Founded in 2016 and unveiled in 2018

Number of Users: Unspecified

Caffeine.tv, a platform built by ex-Apple designers, allows you to create live broadcasts for friends and followers. The broadcasts show up in a feed where you can give an emoji reaction or respond with comments.

new social media platform caffeine.tv's streaming app interface

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Along with live video broadcasts, you can also stream your computer or TV screens as you play video games. This makes Caffeine a possible competitor to the slightly older game-streaming service, Twitch.tv. Similar to Twitch, which offers you money for high views or subscriptions, Caffeine has launched a monetization program that rewards engaging broadcasters.

The company hasn't specified user numbers yet, but its Crunchbase profile reveals that it has over $290 million in investments so far.

Aside from investor interest, the platform is starting to make waves. Back in 2019, the platform was used to broadcast the 2019 X Games in Aspen. In 2021, the Ultimate Rap League and musician Drake used the app to stream the rapper’s birthday event.

Caffeine's success so far demonstrates how live video and video platforms are gaining quick adoption from younger audiences, especially in the Gen-Z age group. If the app continues to gain interest, marketers might consider using it to show off their brand through a variety of strategies, like behind-the-scenes content, Q&As, or other live videos.

This platform could also be useful to marketers in a wide variety of industries, including news, entertainment, gaming, and sports.

If live-streaming could help your company spread awareness of a product, it might be a good time to familiarize yourself with both Caffeine and Twitch.

As you learn more about the platforms, be sure to determine if your audience is actually using either of them and what they're using them for. You should also check out what similar brands are doing if you find any with active accounts.

If you have an idea for a live stream that seems too out of the ordinary for Facebook or Instagram, Caffeine could be an interesting place to test it. Because the platform is new, there might not be many norms or rules associated with what content works or doesn't work just yet.

7. Instagram Reels

Year Launched: 2020

Number of Users: Unspecified

We can’t deny that TikTok changed the game for social media since its debut in 2017. It’s still on our list this year as the platform continues to reinvent itself and expand into new audiences.

In 2019, Facebook took notice of the TikTok trend and responded with Lasso, but ended the effort to make room for Instagram Reels.

Instagram Reels shown on three separate phone screens

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Reels is now in direct competition with TikTok, offering a similar video creation functionality. Instagram users can create videos adorned with special effects, music, and transitions notorious for keeping users in a loop.

How can reels work for your business? Everything from sharing product releases to how-to guides, Reels can be an engaging method for brands to make a presence with the Gen Z audience. If you’re not sure how to start, The Social Impact has some fun and informative examples of how to use Reels.

Not sure how to leverage this new Instagram feature? Start with your brand. Reels are a fun type of content that can display your brand’s personality. You don’t need fancy camera equipment or a director to publish content that has the viral factor.

If your team simply doesn’t have the capacity to produce this content yet, consider tapping an industry influencer to create reels on your behalf.

8. Houseparty

Year Launched: 2016

Number of Users: 20 million+

Houseparty is a group video messaging app that allows video chats that can host eight users at a time. To make things more fun for everyone in the chat, you can use video filters, stickers, and other fun effects while a live conversation is in session.

House party website homepage featuring a yellow and red background, yellow waving emoji and tagline.

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While the app itself has been around for a few years, it has gone through a few evolutions and recently gained large bumps in interest and users. The app first started as Meerkat, but rebranded itself to Houseparty and revamped its features. Since then, Houseparty has climbed app store charts and risen from 1 million to 50 million users in 2020.

Although the app does offer ad space, marketers of the future might use it in other creative ways. For example, a small makeup company might sponsor a "houseparty" where an influencer can answer beauty questions and show attendees how to use one of their new beauty products.

Although it might sound promising, still keep in mind that this app has a number of big-name competitors, including Snapchat and Zoom.

This app might also take added time and creativity. If you don't have time to host a houseparty or can't think of one that would effectively market your product, you might want to prioritize other platforms first.

How to Navigate The New Social Media Landscape

A marketer who discovers a hot new social channel first can become an expert on posting engaging content before their competitors even sign up.

But, while it's important for marketers to keep interesting platforms on their radar, the first priority should still be to focus time, effort, and resources on the platforms that are already thriving.

To make sure you're balancing your time between new and old channels accordingly, focus on growing and refining strategies on the successful platforms, then timebox an hour or so once a month to look into newer platforms.

If you find a platform like TikTok, that's both relatively new and has a fast-growing user base, brainstorm, and schedule a few experimental posts.

Be sure to use experimentation time wisely and on the right platforms. While TikTok is a great place to experiment and doesn't seem like it's going anywhere soon, there's always a chance that an extremely niche platform, like Clubhouse, could get overshadowed by a larger competitor – Twitter Spaces.

When you're determining which platforms are worth watching or experimenting on, here are six questions your team should ask themselves:

  • What are its active user numbers? Big numbers could mean that the platform is gaining momentum and that you have even more chances to engage with a large pool of users.
  • Are publications or thought leaders talking about it? If a platform doesn't specify exact numbers, but a lot of people, prominent figures, or news publications are discussing it -- it might be promising.
  • Do older platforms have a similar tool and a bigger user base? If an older platform does the same thing, people might hesitate to adopt a newer platform. For example, marketers primarily use Stories on Instagram as opposed to Snapchat. Although Snapchat pioneered the story, the Instagram interface and experience are things that a lot more people know, understand, and trust.
  • Will my audiences understand how to use the platform? Will my audiences understand how to use the platform? It might be challenging to get a less tech-savvy person to join Snapchat or TikTok, but they might love a platform like Facebook or Twitter because the interfaces might be easier to understand. Pick platforms that your audience can easily use and enjoy.
  • Will audiences even be interested in the platform? Will audiences even be interested in the platform? While a tech novice might not enjoy TikTok, a teenager might get bored on a platform like Facebook. In fact, younger people prefer visual apps like TikTok and Instagram. While you want to pay attention to the level of adaptability, you also should pay attention to how your audience wants to consume media.
  • What type of content or post could we use to promote our brand on the platform? You should always make a plan of action when considering or launching a social platform. If you can't come up with any interesting ways to market your specific product on a niche platform, you might want to hold off on making an account. On the other hand, experimenting with different posting strategies could allow your brand to look creative and cool to the platform's audience.

Should you follow the social media trends of 2022?

Consumer behavior changes quickly in the digital space, and businesses that adapt to social media trends could see success.

If you keep an eye on this kind of marketing research and tailor it to your target audience, you can craft a stellar social media plan that drives awareness and shows your brand in a creative light.

Remember, every trend won’t work to achieve your goals, so don’t venture into this new social media landscape without the most up-to-date data.

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

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Which Marketing Channels Will Brands Prioritize in 2022 [New HubSpot Blog Data]

Even though Field of Dreams is one of my favorite movies, the saying “If you build it, they will come” sadly doesn’t apply to content marketing. Too often, we forget that content marketing consists of two separate words — content and marketing. Creating content is usually the most fulfilling and enjoyable part of a marketer’s job but distributing that content is just as important.

After all, if no one sees your content, they definitely won’t come.

This is why it’s important to understand marketing channels and which ones you should use to leverage your content marketing goals. In short, marketing channels are the different tools and platforms you use to communicate with your target audience. So, while the decision to use specific channels should come from your audience insights, it’s essential to understand different channels’ value.

To learn more about the marketing channels that are being used by businesses today, the HubSpot Blog surveyed more than 1,000 global marketing professionals working in B2B and B2C companies to find out the channels they leverage. In this post, we’ll discuss the findings that will help you understand how to amplify your reach, resonance, and revenue, all while prioritizing what matters most: your customers.

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Top B2B Marketing Channels

According to HubSpot data, the top channels used by B2B marketers are social media, websites and blogs, and email marketing (as shown in the image below).

top b2b marketing channels

Social media is the top-used digital marketing channel likely because of LinkedIn (which is reported as their most effective channel). It’s filled with business-minded individuals, which is exactly who you want to reach as a business-to-business marketer.

B2B marketers likely focus significant effort on website and blogging channels because buyers often rely on websites before making purchasing decisions, so a website is a great way to convey information to people involved in B2B sales.

SEO is one of B2B marketers’ primary marketing strategies, likely because of the popularity of websites. Using keywords that are hyper-related to your business helps you draw customers to your website, as they can search for keywords directly related to what you offer and come upon your site in SERPs. Considering that search engines are the primary source of discovery for new products and services and people make 97,105 searches on Google per second, SEO has significant implications for businesses using the strategy for advertising.

 

Email is a powerful channel for B2B marketers because it helps share educational content with customers. In fact, 40% of B2B marketers say that newsletters are critical to success. When sending emails, subscriber segmentation and message personalization are the most effective strategies.

In 2022, you can expect B2B marketers to continue their investments in blogs and email marketing and increase their investments in social media.

Top B2C Marketing Channels

B2C marketers invest in the same top channels as B2B marketers, but the order is different: social media, email marketing, then websites and blogs. However, despite using similar channels, B2C marketing is typically focused on offering enjoyable content and quick solutions than B2B desire to build long-lasting business relationships with their customers. 

top b2c marketing channelsThe focus on social media likely centers around the fact that 3.6 billion people worldwide were using social media in 2020, and Statista predicts this number will grow to 4.41 billion in 2025. Given this, B2C customers are likely already on social media. When using social media, the trends that marketers typically choose to leverage are short-form video content and influencer marketing.

 

While you may only associate email marketing with newsletters, you can use it for B2C-type content like personalized communications, time-relevant notifications like product launches and sales, and cart abandonment emails for reminders. Also, email is an owned media channel — nobody is dictating when, how, and why you can contact your prospects (but keep in mind that customers will unsubscribe from oversaturation).

When it comes to websites and blogging, the two work hand in hand; blogging helps you generate brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, convert leads, and, most importantly, establish yourself as a source of authority. When you create your blogs with SEO tactics in mind, you’re even more likely to meet your marketing needs as you’ll surface in SERPs when customers make queries related to your business content.

Like B2B marketers, B2C marketers will continue their investments in websites/blogs and email marketing and increase their investments in social media.

Omni-Channel Marketing

While it may seem best to focus your efforts and investments on one single marketing channel, that strategy no longer suffices. In fact, HubSpot research shows that 92% of marketers leverage more than one channel, and 81% leverage more than three.

number of channels marketers leverage

Neil Patel, CMO & co-Founder of NP Digital, champions this tip and says that marketing is shifting its focus: “All good channels eventually get saturated. In 2022, brands will prioritize all channels and go more omni-channel...It’s the only way to stay competitive.”

A strategy that many marketers leverage with omni-channel marketing is content repurposing, with 82% of social media marketers repurposing content across various social channels. This practice, however, is more popular for B2C companies than B2B companies.

Video Marketing

If you’ve yet to consider video marketing, now is the time to do so. Video can boost conversions, improve ROI, and help you build relationships with audience members. Video is the top media format marketers leverage their strategies. In addition, 69% of consumers prefer to learn about what a brand offers through video.

When creating video, short-form content takes the cake for both B2B and B2C marketers, and they plan to increase investments in the strategy for 2022 (29% of marketers even plan to leverage it for the first time). When sharing video, the most popular channels are Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, with Instagram being among the most effective video marketing channels.

 

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is when a business partners with a relevant, popular creator in their industry to put out advertisements or specific pieces of content. It’s a valuable marketing channel, and 71% of marketers say that the quality of traffic generated from influencer marketing is better than other ad formats. Leveraging influencers to meet your marketing goals can be beneficial in terms of generating brand awareness, as well as increasing social proof.

Consumers trust marketers less and less, and they shy away from sales-to-drive leads type content. Instead, they trust influencers, as they view them as a person like themselves, especially when they share common interests. The content that influencers create is a form of user-generated content, a.k.a word-of-mouth marketing.

53.6% of B2B marketers and 59.5% of B2C marketers who use the strategy say it is effective. Your competitors are already sharing this high-trust and high-return content with their audiences, and you should be too. A bonus is the return on investment (ROI) for influencer marketing, with every one dollar spent totaling $5.78 ROI.  Marketers will also continue using the channel in 2022, with 87% planning to continue investing the same or increasing their investments.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engines are also one of the highest converting marketing channels, and HubSpot data found that 56% of marketers say that it is effective in helping them meet their goals.

This means that optimizing all of your business’ existing channels will likely bring traffic and increase conversions. While a website may be your first thought when optimizing for SEO, this also applies to your YouTube channel, Google Maps Google My Business profile, your blog, and even your podcast episodes.

To build a thriving organic presence online, consider implementing the pillar-cluster model into your blog (35% of B2B and 59% of B2C marketers report it as an effective strategy). By doing this, you’ll create a single pillar page that provides a high-level overview of a topic and hyperlinks to cluster pages that delve into the topic’s subtopics — signaling to Google that your pillar page is an authority on the topic.

Other SEO tactics that marketers report as effective include using a search insights report, optimizing photos or videos for visual search engines, and optimizing load speed.

Podcast Marketing

55% of the U.S. population aged 12 and above listened to podcasts, and 37% listened in the last month for an average of six hours per week. The demand for audio content has exploded, so it’s worth considering podcasts to meet your audience where they already are.

Not only is demand high, but podcasts and their hosts can help you develop a unique relationship with your audience as episodes feel conversational and share a more human side of your business.

Podcasts also create more opportunities for interaction, as customers aren’t restricted to listening while staring at their phone screen. For example, your ideal listener can play an episode in their car during their morning commute, while walking their dog, and while they’re cleaning their house.

Featured Resource:How To Start a Podcast For Your Business

According to researchers in the neuroscience field, storytelling is one of the best ways to capture attention and resonate with consumer emotions. The human brain is programmed to crave, seek out, and respond to a well-crafted narrative — that’ll never change.

Only 1 in 3 marketers reported leveraging podcasts or other audio content in their strategies, but 53% of those that do say that it is the most effective media format they use. In addition, 51% of those who already use the channel will invest more in 2022, and 26% of marketers plan to leverage it for the first time in the upcoming year.

Word of Mouth Marketing

70% of consumers say that trusting a brand is more important today than ever before. Unfortunately, consumers also trust brands and the paid content they create less than ever before. So, what’s a marketer to do when the very people they need to persuade don’t trust them? They need to rely on their customers’ recommendations of their brand to inspire other customers to make purchases, also known as word-of-mouth marketing.

People trust other consumers over marketers because marketers have an agenda. They promote their products and services to generate sales, but customers will only rave about a product or service if it truly benefits them. If you’re skeptical, consider the following research findings:

  • Consumers report that a person like themselves (another consumer) is 14% more credible than a brand employee.
  • 39% of consumers build trust in a brand from peer-to-peer conversations than from a brand’s paid advertising.
  • 9 out of 10 consumers read reviews when making purchasing decisions.

Word-of-mouth marketing doesn’t just have to be a face-to-face conversation, though. For example, satisfied customers will post about you online, tell their roommates they like your service, and leave positive reviews on your product pages. Only one of those examples involves an actual, in-person conversation, but they all include consumers vouching for your brands’ credibility and authenticity to inspire others to purchase your products.

You can encourage this type of marketing by creating a customer experience that meets your audience’s needs and providing top-notch customer service. In other words, you need to serve your customers’ needs before your own.

Over To You

Different marketing channels bring various benefits, but most businesses can find a way to use different channels in their marketing strategies to meet business goals.

After all, your audience is likely diverse and spread out, so using different channels creates multiple points of contact, which, in turn, will help you nurture leads and increase conversions.

Marketing Plan Template

 


Which Marketing Channels Will Brands Prioritize in 2022 [New HubSpot Blog Data] was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns
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Friday, December 10, 2021

The Ultimate Guide to Product Marketing in 2021

During the 1950s, Volkswagen sold a bus. Although now considered a classic vehicle, the bus remains an icon for the car company decades later.

The cool part? Volkswagen announced their new VW Bus — it’s electric and features sleek, modern styling. Volkswagen’s marketing for the vehicle is eye-catching, unique, and fun, and it complements the original “hippie” vibe the company was once known for.

volkswagen bus example of product marketing

Image Source

Volkswagen also released a TV commercial for the bus that’s clever, minimalist, and on-brand. It introduces the new vehicle with the song The Sound of Silence playing in the background (hint: electric cars are silent) and ends with a short message on the screen for viewers to read: “Introducing a new era of electric driving.”

→ Download Now: Free Product Marketing Kit [Free Templates]

This sentiment touches on the fact Volkswagen is contributing to society’s interest in electric, eco-friendly vehicles. It also relates to this being a new era for the bus.

So, who works on this type of marketing? Who helps create content that excites consumers about new and updated products, like the Volkswagen bus? Who encourages consumers to buy? Product marketers.

What makes product marketing unique? How is it different from conventional marketing? Let's unpack the differences.

Product Marketing vs. Conventional Marketing

Product marketing is strategic whereas conventional marketing is all-encompassing.

Product marketing is considered a component of conventional marketing. In fact, if you look at the seven Ps of marketing, you’ll see product marketing is one of the most important aspects of a business’s marketing efforts.

Product marketing is focused on driving demand for and adoption of a product among existing customers. It’s focused on the steps people take to purchase your product so product marketers can build campaigns to support this work.

Product marketing is about understanding a specific product’s audience on a deep level and developing that product’s positioning and messaging to appeal to that audience. It covers the launch and execution side of a product in addition to the marketing strategy for the product — which is why the work of a product marketer lies at the center of a business’s marketing, sales, and product teams.

product marketing venn diagram marketing sales product

Conventional marketing is focused on broader topics under the umbrella of marketing such as lead generation, SEO, and anything related to acquiring and converting new leads and customers. It’s about promoting the company and brand as a whole, including the products that are sold. These marketers make sure there’s a consistent, on-brand message behind all of the company’s content.

Why is product marketing important?

Product marketing is a critical part of any business’s marketing strategy. Without it, your product won’t achieve its maximum potential among your target audience. To understand its importance, let’s look at the goals of product marketing.

Product Marketing Goals

  • Understand your customers better.

When you implement a product marketing strategy, your target audience can see the value of having that specific product in their lives. Understanding how many customers gravitate to your product lets you conduct customer research.

  • Target your buyer personas effectively.

Alongside understanding your customers in general, you can figure out the type of buyer persona to target for the future. Knowing the exact needs of your target can help you when innovating your product to better suit their needs.

  • Learn about your competitors (products and marketing tactics).

When you market your product, you can compare your strategy and results to those of your competitors. What features and benefits of their products are making a statement within the market? What ideas haven’t they explored? What does their product offer that yours doesn’t? You can use this research to your advantage when crafting your product marketing strategy.

  • Ensure the marketing, product, and sales teams are all on the same page.

Making your product offering abundantly clear for both buyers and your employees is mutually beneficial. Every team working together in your business can have a better understanding of the purpose of the product and better communicate that in their operations.

  • Position the product appropriately in the market.

In product marketing, you want your product, brand image and tone to be consistent and evoke the right feelings intended for your audience. When you brainstorm your brand positioning, some questions to consider are:

1. Is this product suitable for today’s market?
2. How is this product different from our competitors'?
3. Is there a way to further differentiate this product from our competitors' offerings?
4. Are there any products we’ve sold in the past that we wouldn’t market or sell again? If so, why not?

  • Boost revenue and improve sales.

There are also questions you, as a product marketer, will have to ask yourself and reflect on in regards to your product. Asking yourself these questions will help you ensure your product is a success among customers.

1. Is this product suitable for today’s market?
2. Is this product appropriate for our customers today?
3. How is this product unique from similar products of our competitor’s?
4. Is there a way to further differentiate this product from those of our competitor’s?
5. Are there any products we’ve sold in the past that we wouldn’t market or sell ever again now that we look back? Is so, why not?

As you can see, product marketing requires you to look at your products from a strategic perspective to ensure they’re successful among customers in your current market.

Now, let’s take a look at the specific responsibilities you have as a product marketer (or product marketing manager).

Your responsibilities as a product marketer may vary slightly based on industry, company, products, and company size and resources. If you’re working for a startup, you may be a product marketer who also helps create the content the broader marketing team produces due to limited resources and budget. As the business grows, you may move onto a team whose sole job is product marketing.

Let’s take a look at six common product marketing responsibilities.

1. Identify the buyer personas and target audience for your product.

You must identify the buyer personas and audience for your product so you can target customers in a way that’s convincing and makes them want to make a purchase. This will allow you to tailor your product and its features to solve the challenges your audience is facing.

Pro tip: Use templates to create buyer personas for your business. Having a tangible outline of who you’re catering to can help align different teams in your business, and better position your product in the marketplace.

buyer persona templates hubspot free resource

2. Successfully create, manage and carry out your product marketing strategy.

A product marketing strategy (which we’ll review shortly) allows you to create, build, and execute content and campaigns — this supports the steps that will lead your buyer personas and customers to make a purchase.

3. Work with and enable sales to attract the right customers for your new product.

As a product marketer, you have to maintain a direct relationship with sales. You’ll work with sales to identify and attract the right customers for the product at hand and provide sales enablement materials to reps to ensure they understand the product inside and out, along with all of its features.

This way, you and your teams are on the same page in terms of what’s being shared with customers, allowing you to provide a consistent, on-brand experience for anyone who comes in contact with the product.

4. Determine your product’s positioning in the market.

One of the most important parts of your job is determining the product’s positioning in the market. Think about this process in terms of storytelling — your positioning requires you to create and tell the story of your product.

As a product marketer, you’ll work with the broader marketing team and the product team to tell this story by answering critical questions like:

  • Why was this product made?
  • Who is this product made for?
  • What challenges does this product resolve?
  • What makes this product unique?

5. Ensure your product meets the needs of your target audience.

You must also make sure your product meets the needs of your customers and target audience. Through the research conducted to determine your buyer persona’s and target audience, you should have uncovered the pain points and challenges you’re working to solve with your product.

If your product doesn’t meet the needs of your customers, they’ll have no reason to make the purchase or choose your product over your competitor’s.

6. Keep your product relevant over time.

Your product needs to stay relevant over time. As needs, expectations, and challenges change and evolve, it’s your job to make sure your product marketing strategy, and the products themselves, remain relevant among customers.

This means you may have to manage slight changes in your product marketing strategy (which we’ll discuss next), or updates and modifications to the product itself (you’ll likely work with the product team, who actually creates the product, to do this).

Now, let’s take a look at five steps that can help you optimize your product marketing strategy.

1. Define your product’s target audience and buyer personas.

One of the main roles you have as a product marketer is to define a specific target audience and create buyer personas for the product being sold (different products will likely have different target audiences). This is the first step to marketing your product.

By understanding your customers and their needs, challenges, and pain points, you’ll be able to ensure all aspects of your product marketing strategy (as in, the rest of the steps we’ll define below) are tailored to that target customer and persona. This way, the product and the marketing content that’s created for the product will resonate with your audience.

2. Determine the positioning and messaging to set your product apart.

After performing your customer research and learning about your audience, you’ll have identified their needs, challenges, and pain points. From here, you can think about how to highlight the ways your product resolves those challenges for your customers.

However, that doesn't necessarily mean you’ve differentiated yourself from your competitors. After all, they are your competitors because they solve the needs of your customers in a similar way to your company.

The key to setting your product apart is positioning (which we touched on earlier) and messaging. Positioning and messaging answers key questions your customers might have about your product and what makes it unique and then turns those answers into the main points behind your product’s marketing strategy.

It’s your job as the product marketer to ensure your customers and audience know the answers to these questions and don't have to dig around for (or make assumptions about) them.

Examples of questions you’ll need to answer to develop your product’s positioning and messaging include:

  • What specifically makes our product unique?
  • Why is our product better than our competitors’?
  • Why are our product’s features ideal for our target audience?
  • What will our customers get out of our product that they cannot get from our competitors’ products?
  • Why should our customers trust and invest in us and our product?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you can compile these responses into one, impactful, and shareable statement that captures your positioning and messaging as a whole. To do this, follow these steps:

  • Turn the answers to the positioning and messaging questions into an elevator pitch.
  • Use action words to excite your customers.
  • Ensure the tone of your statement captures the tone of your brand.
  • Focus on the benefit of your product as a whole (not just one specific feature).

Pro Tip: As product marketers, you should ensure the sales, product, and (the broader) marketing teams are also aware of your positioning and messaging around the product so they too can communicate the same information to prospects and current customers.

This allows you to ensure the entire company is consistent in the content and information they share about your product. Additionally, you can provide this information to your support team if you think it’s necessary, as they may be fielding support calls and working with your customers who’ve already invested in the product.

3. Set goals for your product.

Next, you’ll want to set goals for your product. These will vary based on your specific product, the type of company you work for, your overall marketing goals, and more — your goals will be specific to your business and situation. However, let’s review some common goals product marketers aim to achieve:

  • Increase revenue
  • Engage with customers
  • Improve market share
  • Gain customers from competitors
  • Boost brand recognition

Pro Tip: Feel free to combine several of these goals or just choose one to focus on — every company and product will have different goals. The key is making sure you view and set these targets in the SMART goal format, meaning they’re specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.

Use a free template to help you create and achieve your SMART goals.

4. Price your product.

As a product marketer, you’ll also have to contribute to the discussion of the price of your product. Depending on the company you work for, you might work with other teams on this part of the strategy, or it might be a job just for you and your fellow product marketers. Either way, you can consider competitive vs. value-based pricing.

Competitive vs. Value-Based Product Pricing

Competitive pricing means you’re basing your product’s price off of the similar products your competitors sell. It’s ideal for companies who have created a product similar to one that several other companies sell.

If you believe your unique features warrant a significantly higher price than those of your competitors’, you might choose to price your product above the other similar products on the market. A good way to evaluate the fairness of the pricing of all of your competitors is by studying financial reports and industry trends.

Value-based pricing allows you to maximize your profit, although it’s a bit more time-consuming to establish in comparison to competitive pricing. It’s ideal for companies selling a product with very few competitors on the market or one with exceptionally new and unique features.

Value-based pricing quantifies your item’s value in a way your customer can relate to their profitability. It allows you to base your product’s price on its value for your customer rather than whatever the market, industry trends, and your competitors say.

5. Launch your product.

Now it’s time for the most important part of your role as a product marketer — not to mention, the most exciting: the launch of the product you’ve been marketing.

There are two main parts to the launch to focus on as a product marketer: the internal launch (what goes on within your company upon product launch) and external launch (what goes on outside of your company, with customers and audience members, upon product launch).

Internal Aspects of a Product Launch

As previously stated, your job as a product marketer entails making sure the entire organization is on the same page about your product. This way, your customers only receive consistent and accurate details about the product.

The marketing, product, and sales teams at your company should be aware of the following information:

  • The product’s benefits
  • Any available product demo information
  • Sales training opportunities on your product and details about how it’s used
  • What the positioning and messaging looks like
  • Who your buyer personas and ideal customers are
  • What the goals for your product include
  • What your product’s features are
  • The pricing of your product
  • How your product is being launched to customers

Now, you might be wondering how to provide this information to marketing, product, and sales. Which channels are ideal for sharing these details with your fellow employees?

Here are a few examples of ways to do this:

External Aspects of a Product Launch

Externally, there are many ways to market your product launch so your current base of customers, prospects, and target audience learn about whatever it is you’re selling.

First, determine where you’re going to focus your product marketing efforts. Here are some examples of channels and places to do this (you might choose several of these or just one to focus on depending on your needs, goals, and resources).

  • Social media
  • In-store
  • Product launch event
  • Blog
  • Website landing page
  • Exclusive product preview (prior to the official launch)
  • Promotional event/ campaign (in-person and/ or online)

On whatever channel you choose to focus your product launch marketing efforts, you should include relevant product information (focused on your positioning and messaging) so prospects and customers can learn all about your product and why they need it. This includes your product’s features, what makes it unique, pricing, demos for customers, training for customers, and any other materials you’ve created and want to share.

Congrats! You’ve just worked through the steps to marketing a product. Remember, this process is one that should be thought about and updated as your products change and evolve so they remain relevant among your customers. (This shouldn’t be an issue as long as you have a member of your team focused on product marketing, considering it’s one of their main responsibilities.)

Let's review four real-life examples of stellar product marketing.

1. Apple

Apple is a household name for leading technology products and software. Not only are its products gorgeously well-designed; it’s also super useful. But Apple's product marketing doesn't focus on the many product features — it markets the user benefits.

product marketing examples: apple

Image Source

Apple doesn't simply list the impressive features of their products; the brand uses those features to tell consumers who they could be and how they could work if they have those products. Apple tells a narrative using its products and encourages people to buy in the process.

2. Billie

Billie is a women's razor brand. In a highly competitive market, Billie has helped its products stand out. How? It established a sharp competitive edge (no pun intended) by doing what no razor brand had done before — show body hair in its advertising.

Not only did this advertising approach get Billie's audience talking about the brand, but they also appreciated the brand's accurate portrayal of women's bodies and body hair. These differentiators were more than enough to set Billie apart from other razor brands and products.

3. Pepsi Cola

As a brand, Pepsi has positioned itself as one with youthful energy and excitement, and this can be seen consistently through its product marketing campaigns.

Pepsi's customers are mainly aged between 13 and 35 years old with modern and active lifestyles, so it only makes sense to hire popular celebrities like Doja Cat for a commercial in a homecoming tailgate.

product marketing examples: pepsi cola

Through highly targeted positioning, repetitive advertising, and consistent branding, Pepsi has become a truly global household name and product.

4. MailChimp

There are dozens of email marketing tools on the market, but MailChimp hasn't been fazed by competition. In fact, the company has risen above its competition by positioning itself as more than an email marketing tool: it's an all-in-one marketing platform that helps businesses grow.

prodcut marketing examples: mailchimp

Like Apple, MailChimp primarily highlights its benefits for the end-user, not just its product features. A recent rebranding and site redesign further drives this narrative home.

Start Marketing Your Products

Product marketing is the process through which a company brings a product to market. Being a product marketer (or product marketing manager) means you’re at the center of your company’s marketing, sales, and product teams.

You’re an integral part to the success of your product, as you create and manage your product’s specific marketing strategy, but you also serve as a liaison between all three of these departments, ensuring everyone is on the same page with your product, it’s features, capabilities, and more. So, start developing your latest product’s marketing strategy to ensure it’s a success among your target audience and customers.

This post was originally published in February 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Product Marketing Kit


The Ultimate Guide to Product Marketing in 2021 was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns
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