What Will Influencer Marketing Look Like in 2020?

Have you ever purchased something because a well-known person you admire used the product or service?

I’m guilty of this — in fact, I recently bought myself a new waterski because a professional water skier and micro-influencer, Whitney McClintock, shared a video on Instagram of herself using the ski.

I was in the market for a new ski and followed Whitney for quite some time. I figured since she used this particular ski, I should too — if Whitney promotes it, why wouldn’t I love it?

You might be thinking, “Slightly questionable logic, Kristen.” Maybe.

But, did Whitney’s post get me to buy the ski? Oh, yeah. (And I do love my new ski for those of you wondering.)

This is just one example of a tactic used by businesses across virtually every industry called influencer marketing.

Examples of these channels include social media, blogs, columns, digital and print ads, and television. Influencer marketing is increasingly more popular among businesses these days because traditional advertising has become less effective in attracting leads and customers.

Influencer marketing works because it uses tactics like word-of-mouth marketing and social proof, which are now critical aspects of any successful marketing strategy. Customers trust their peers, friends, and people they admire more than the companies selling the products and services they buy and use.

Before we dive into the different types of influencers, let’s review the difference between a brand influencer and a brand ambassador, as they’re often confused terms.  

Brand Influencer vs. Brand Ambassador

A brand influencer refers to someone who has a following within a specific niche that they engage with regularly. Because of this, they have the power to impact their purchase decisions. The major types of brand influencers include micro-influencer, celebrity influencer, blog influencer, social media influencer, and key opinion leader. (We'll define each type later on.)

For example, social media influencer @leximars has worked with Lulus in the past to share different outfits and styles on her Instagram account featuring their clothing and accessories. Lexi tags Lulus in her posts so her followers can learn more about the brand, follow them on Instagram, or click their website link to shop for specific products they see on Lexi’s page.

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A brand ambassador is hired by a business to work under contract to help them achieve specific goals: increase brand awareness and boost conversions and sales. A brand ambassador’s contract is typically long-term (several months or even years). During that time, they represent the brand and the lifestyle associated with it and have deep knowledge about the business’s products or services. They don’t necessarily need to be an influencer before becoming an ambassador.

For example, Quest Nutrition’s brand ambassador program requires all interested individuals to apply to their program. Quest looks for individuals who embody their brand, are positive spokespeople for their products, create social media posts to promote their products, and live the Quest lifestyle.

Anyone who fits their criteria can apply and has the potential of being accepted. Applicants aren’t required to have a highly successful YouTube account, thousands of followers on Instagram, or a popular blog to become a brand ambassador.

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In this article, we’re going to focus on brand influencers. However, before we dive into the various types of brand influencers, let’s take a look at some important statistics that prove working with an influencer is effective in helping you reach your marketing goals.

Statistics That Show the Value of Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is an investment — to get it right, you have to devote time to ensure you find the right influencer to promote content that appeals to your target audience. You also have to spend money and/ or resources to reward the influencer, run various campaigns with the influencer, and more depending on your specific marketing goals.

Luckily, there are many statistics that prove influencer marketing is a worthwhile time and monetary investment as well as show you which metrics are impacted by influencer marketing.

• 80% of marketers say influencer marketing is effective, and 89% say it works just as well (if not better) than other marketing channels.
• 71% of marketers say the quality of customers and traffic from influencer marketing is better than other sources.
• 49% of consumers today depend on influencer recommendations for their purchase decisions. 60% say they've been influenced by a recommendation when shopping in-store.
• Google searches for "influencer marketing" grew 1500% in the last three years.
• 48% of marketers working with influencers say audience relationship is the most valuable factor when considering which influencer to collaborate with.
• Influencer marketing strategies focused on branding or engagements generate 8x ROI.
• The top three goals of influencer marketing for businesses include increasing brand awareness (85%), reaching new audiences (71%), and generating sales and conversions (64%).

1. Micro-Influencer

Micro-influencers — like Whitney — have a relatively modest following of thousands or tens of thousands of people within their niche. They create relevant content for their audience and communicate with them via social media platforms, blogs, other written publications, websites, and forums.

Due to the size of their following and the type of content they create, they typically have high engagement rates. Having a smaller audience allows micro-influencers to bond with the people who follow them more regularly (as compared to a celebrity with millions of fans) via their channel. This makes them appealing to work with for businesses looking to develop personal relationships among their target audience.

How to Work With a Micro-Influencer

Micro-influencers can be established on a variety of channels. So, once you've chosen the micro-influencer you’re going to work with, you can have them write a post about your service, share an online review, or post a picture on Instagram with one of your products. Due to the manageable size of their base of followers, they’ll be able to engage with your target audience on the content they share about your products and brand.

This way, they can answer any questions the audience members may have about your products, communicate their experience with your products, and direct audience members to your website or customer support team if necessary.

Micro-Influencer Example

@sydneyloveleigh is an Instagram micro-influencer who shares content about health, fitness, and travel. She works with an athletic clothing brand, Nuxactive, to promote their products and brand awareness among her 21.4K followers. Sydney fits Nuxactive’s brand image and lifestyle, and her Instagram page has thousands of followers who fit the profile of their target audience — this is what makes her a great micro-influencer for Nuxactive.  

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In her bio, Sydney shares a code for her followers to use at check out (so Nuxactive can track Sydney’s success promoting their brand), she links to their Instagram page in all of her promotional posts, and interacts with her followers on these posts by responding to their comments and questions and liking their messages.

2. Celebrity Influencer

Celebrity influencers are famous people with large followings — typically in the millions — who are known across many industries. They’re widely recognized and, therefore, have the potential to be very successful in influencing your target audience.

Even if your target audience doesn’t overlap with all of your celebrity influencer’s fans, having them promote and/ or use your product or service is a powerful form of social proof. Since celebrities are so well known, they’re effective at reaching multiple audiences across various channels.

How to Work With a Celebrity Influencer

Since celebrities are so well-known, there are many ways to work with them. You may focus on social media, print or online ads, TV commercials, blogs, or other written publications.

You can ask the celebrity to pose for pictures promoting your products, explain why their audience members would love your products or services, provide coupons and discount codes, or write reviews telling audience members why they stand by your brand. You may even sponsor an event the celebrity is hosting or attending.

Celebrity Influencer Example

Amazon sponsored Khloe Kardashian’s baby shower — with 93.7 million followers on Instagram, a reality TV show, several entrepreneurial endeavors, and a famous family, it’s safe to say many of Amazon’s customers recognize Khloe. By sponsoring her baby shower, they were able to feature their wide range of baby registry and maternity products.

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In addition to Amazon publicizing the fact they sponsored the event, Khloe also shared a post on Instagram thanking Amazon for making the party planning and baby registry creation processes so simple. She tagged Amazon in the post and shared a link to her baby registry for her fans (and Amazon’s target audience) to review and shop on their site.

3. Blog Influencer

A blog influencer is someone who writes for their established blog and has thousands, or millions, of subscribers and readers. Their reach and influence set them apart from other bloggers (meaning, they aren’t just writing for themselves or a very small group of people).

How to Work With a Blog Influencer

To collaborate with a blog influencer, you may write a guest post for their blog, ask to be mentioned in one of their posts, or sponsor a post about one of your products or services. If you sponsor a post on the influencer’s blog, you can also provide images of your products for them to share as well.

Blog Influencer Example

A popular lifestyle blog influencer is Hannah Bronfman of HBFIT. Hannah writes about health, beauty, fitness, and creating a life that makes you happy and feel good. Between her blog subscribers, social media following, ads, the book she wrote, and the app she created, Hannah has millions of audience members and fans who keep up with her life.

Her blog features a variety of product, gym, and spa reviews. She collaborated with Face Gym, a local facial studio, on a sponsored blog post about their services and facial treatments.

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Hannah included information about the unique studio, facial experience, why her audience members would love the services Face Gym offers, as well as a coupon code for their first visit.

There are also pictures of Face Gym and the services they offer in Hannah’s blog post to give audience members a better idea of what to expect from the studio in terms of services and atmosphere.

4. Social Media Influencer

Social media influencers are well-recognized on social platforms, such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter, and are followed by thousands or even millions of people. Social media influencers share content about a wide range of topics such as health, workouts, cars, diet, outdoor activities, travel, fashion, art, beauty, and interior design.

How to Work With a Social Media Influencer

Once you find a social media influencer with an established image that works for your brand, posts content you feel complements your products or services, and has followers who are also members of your target audience, you can determine what type of content you’re going to have them promote.

If the influencer is on Instagram, you may have them post a picture with your product and tag your social account. If they’re on Facebook, you can ask them to share a live video of them opening your product and if they’re on Twitter, you can have them write a brief statement about your product and pair it with a picture of them holding it. On YouTube, you may have the influencer share a video of them using your product while explaining the reasons why they love it.

On any social media platform, you can also have an influencer host a contest or giveaway with your products or share coupon codes.

Social Media Influencer Example

Joy Bauer is a nutritionist, health expert for The Today Show, and Twitter Influencer. Her 157K followers and fans on Twitter consist of health-conscious, nutrition-focused individuals who enjoy learning about Joy’s healthy recipes, lifestyle, and diet tips.

Joy worked with La Croix on a sponsored Twitter post featuring a twist on one of their sparkling water drinks. The post directs audience members to a family-friendly recipe on Joy’s website promoting the sparkling water and recipe with images, nutrition information, preparation time, and an anecdote about why Joy loves it.

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La Croix identified Joy as an expert in her field with a following of people who fit their target audience. The company worked with Joy to develop this sponsored post featuring professional photos of the product and a recipe that exemplifies the ways customers can put a fun spin on a simple beverage.

5. Key Opinion Leader

Key opinion leaders (KOLs) are high-level experts on a specialized topic within a particular field. For example, a KOL might specialize in makeup application, the Paleo lifestyle, or Bikram yoga. If your business is looking to attract audience members in a very specialized field, a KOL is a great option — due to their expert knowledge on a certain topic, KOLs are trusted contributors in their industries and have followings of people who are also invested in those subjects.

How to Work With a KOL

KOLS, like micro and celebrity influencers, are present on many channels, such as social media, blogs, other written publications (like academic journals), and ads. Therefore, your business has many options for how you decide to work with a KOL.

You might have them review one of your products on YouTube, mention you in their column, write a blog post about your brand, share a post about your product on Instagram, or pose with your product for a print or digital advertisement.

KOL Example

Kandee Johnson is a makeup influencer with over 3.9 subscribers on YouTube and over 1.8 million followers on Instagram. She’s a makeup artist pro — her expert knowledge on makeup application makes her a key opinion leader in the makeup and cosmetic industry. Kandee shares thousands of makeup tutorials, makeup tips and tricks, and product reviews on YouTube and Instagram.

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She has shared sponsored content for Boxy Charm — a subscription service that provides customers with a box of several new beauty products every month — promoting their service, as well as her favorite products in the box, among her millions of followers and fans.

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Boxy Charm’s target audience includes lovers of beauty products, cosmetics, and makeup which works with Kandee’s huge base of followers. They had Kandee share a post with one of their boxes, describe which products inside she was most excited about, and tag them in her post.

Now that we’ve covered the different types of influencers your business can work with, let’s review how to find these influencers so they can begin helping you reach your target audience.

How to Find Influencers

Identifying the right influencer to work with might seem like a daunting task — so, we’ve put together this list of ways you can use to find the right person to help you improve your brand awareness and reach.

Google Search

The most straightforward way to go about an influencer search is with the help of Google (or any search engine). Remember an influencer is already creating content in your field and reaching your target audience. So, a Google search for industry-related terms and keywords will surface experts in those areas.

Review articles related to various topics in your field, conduct individual searches for people you’ve heard of or know are already high impact contributors, and scan industry-specific sites and web pages for influencers.

Social Media

You can also search for influencers on various social media platforms. Whether or not you’re going for a social media influencer, most influencers will likely have some sort of social media presence — their profiles serve as a great way to learn more about them.

On social, search for keywords and phrases, specific users, hashtags, and tagged audience members on specific posts (brands and social users may have tagged influencers you could potentially work within posts). Don’t forget to look in the comments sections of high-traffic posts related to your industry or type of work as influencers may have posted comments and interacted with members of your target audience there. You can even get some ideas from influencer posts on your competitor’s accounts.

Referrals

Use your current network (professional and personal) to obtain referrals. Look for KOLs on LinkedIn and ask your team if they’ve recently followed any micro-influencers on social who regularly post content that’s compatible with your brand and image. If you’ve worked with any influencers in the past, ask them if they’re willing to connect your business with other influencers they know as well.

Blogs

Reading blogs is another great way to locate influencers — that is, both the blog authors and their sources. Scan for the people mentioned in the blogs. Perhaps the blogger is reviewing their work, mentioned a quote from them, or asked them to contribute to the piece.

Additionally, themed publications (business, art, beauty, or fashion) often do expert round-ups where they feature dozens of influencers. You can research the individual further to determine if they’re a good fit for your business.

Influencer Software

Due to the rising popularity of influencer marketing, various technology and software have emerged to help businesses identify influencers and measure their success.

Two of the most popular options include BuzzStream and BuzzSumo.

BuzzStream allows users to research influencers. As a user, you also can build profiles, review the influencer interactions, measure their success through engagement metrics, and review their contact history.

BuzzSumo allows you to identify key influencers that are popular among your target audience. It also allows you to analyze which types of content perform best for influencers and review the content of your competitors.

Talent Agencies and Agents

If you’re looking to hire a specific celebrity influencer, it’s unlikely you’re going to be able to send them a direct email or give them a call (although that’d be pretty cool). Instead, you’ll probably have to go through a talent agency or work with an agent to determine whether or not that celebrity is willing to work with your brand and for what price.

Let’s dive into how you can create an influencer marketing strategy for your business. This strategy will allow you to manage all aspects of your relationship with an influencer. It’ll also ensure they’re successful in helping you achieve your campaign goals.

1. Determine your campaign goals.

The first step is to create goals for your influencer marketing strategy — these will help you measure the success of your campaign. Think about your objectives in terms of SMART goals.

When working to develop influencer marketing SMART goals, there are three factors to keep in mind: reach, relevance, and resonance. These will help you focus your goals on the different aspects of influencer marketing.

Use a free template to determine your SMART goals.

• Reach is the ability to deliver content to your target audience through an influencer — it helps you improve brand and product awareness. For example, how many people on Instagram are actually seeing the content an influencer is posting about your product?

• Relevance is the level of connection your audience feels to your brand, product, or service due to the work of an influencer — it’ll help you enhance brand loyalty. For example, if your audience sees a celebrity they love and admire with your product, they might begin to feel a strong connection to it, too.
• Resonance is the ability to drive audience members to a specific action because of an influencer’s content — it’s all about impact and memorability. Resonance helps you increase your follower count, drive traffic to your site, and boost conversions. For example, if your audience reads a blog post written by an influencer about your product, they may click on the link in the blog post that directs them to your website so they can buy it.

2. Define your campaign audience.

Regardless of which type of influencer you work with, your target audience will remain the same. Different influencers may have different ways of connecting with your audience, but your business’s overall marketing goals and buyer personas don’t change.

Before moving forward with your influencer marketing strategy, work with your marketing team to develop and learn about your buyer personas. This will help you identify the exact type of customer you’re going after and, therefore, help you determine what type of influencer and content will appeal most to them to ensure your target audience is aligned with that of the influencer.  

Learn how to build buyer personas for your business.

3. Set your budget and choose your influencer type.

Based on our review of the five major types of influencers, you should be able to determine which type will work best for your business’s goals and target audience. You should also consider your budget.

For example, if you’re a startup with a low budget, you might choose to work with a micro-influencer. If you’re a mid-sized company with more resources, you might choose to bring on a celebrity influencer or work with a KOL who’s highly-regarded in their industry.

Here are some more details on the average cost of influencers based on the type of work they do. Note that these numbers aren’t set in stone for every influencer.

• Micro-influencer: $80-500 per piece of content
• Celebrity influencer: $3,000-$500,000+ per piece of content (Selena Gomez makes up to $550,000 per Instagram post.)
• Blog influencer: $400-$5,500 per blog post
• Social media influencer: $100-$550,000+ per social post
• KOL: $500-$5,000+ per piece of content

4. Choose your influencer and review his or her work.

Once you’ve determined the type of influencer you want to work with, it’s time to identify the right influencer for your company. We already discussed how to find an influencer, so, let’s cover some other important things to consider when finding an influencer that's a good fit for your business.

Ask yourself (and the influencer!) the following questions:

• Does this influencer and his or her lifestyle fit my brand image?
• Have they worked with any of my competitors?
• Who is this influencer’s current audience?
• Is my target audience active on the platform/channel primarily used by this influencer?
• Does working with this influencer make sense for my budget?
• Has this influencer actually used any of my products or services before? Are they a customer?
• Does this person have a personality I want to work with?
• What will this influencer expect from me?

5. Develop your campaign messaging for your influencer.

Once you’ve chosen an influencer, it's time to plug them into your campaign. Work with your marketing team to develop your campaign messaging and determine what content your influencer should (and should not) publish.

Be sure to share your brand guidelines — including details about your brand voice, tag lines, and language to avoid — with your influencer so they can remain on-brand with their content. Remember, whether an influencer posts about your product or service one time or 100 times, they're still representing your brand and business. Ensure they have the tools to do so accurately.

In this stage, you should also determine whether your influencer will be creating content for your campaign on their own or if you'll be providing the content for them to post.

Lastly, be sure to discuss how they’re going to help you boost traffic with their content and which target metrics you can expect per post or piece of content.

6. Finalize campaign expectations with your influencer.

Finally, review all of the expectations you have for them in addition to any expectations they have for you. Remember your chosen influencer may have worked with other brands before yours — meaning, they may already have their own processes in place for the way they do business.

Additionally, their expectations are going to differ depending on the type of influencer they are. For example, a micro-influencer is going to have different expectations for the way you communicate with them versus a celebrity. A micro-influencer may speak directly with you whereas a celebrity may have an agent communicate on their behalf.

Lastly, you’ll want to ensure these expectations are written, agreed upon, and signed by both you and the influencer — you can organize all of this information through an influencer contract. This will help you avoid any issues and discrepancies down the road.

To help get the ball rolling, here are some examples of the expectations to review:

• How this influencer will be paid or rewarded (money, swag, discounts, coupon codes, etc.)
• How long you’ll be working together
• How you and the influencer will be communicating with each other
• Any other terms of contract necessary for your specific business to review

6. Reward your influencer.

Influencers don't work for free. You’ll need to reward them for their work — discuss the form of payment when you review expectations together as mentioned in the above step. There are several ways you can reward an influencer. Here are some examples.

• Money (payment prior to or after the content is created and shared, depending on your agreement)
• Swag (such as clothing, accessories, or product samples)
• Free product
• Access to discount codes and coupons
• Promotion on your website, blog, and/or social media platforms

7. Measure your campaign results.

Lastly, you must measure your influencer marketing strategy results. This is how you’ll determine the level of success you’ve had in reaching your audience with the help of the influencer. You should refer back to the SMART goals you set (as well as influencer marketing metrics) to help you determine whether or not you’ve achieved your objectives.

Here's more detail on which metrics you’ll want to keep an eye on when measuring your influencer marketing strategy success:

• Engagement: Keep an eye on all engagement involving content shared by the influencer about your brand and products. Engagement includes various interactions such as Likes, shares, Comments, Retweets, Mentions, Direct Messages, and Reposts on channels like social media, blogs, and forums.
• Reach: Determine your reach, or how many people are actually seeing the content your influencer is sharing about your brand, by looking at your overall number of views.
• Resonance: Learn about the level of resonance — or the actions that were completed — by your audience members after they consume and/ or interact with the influencer's content involving your brand.
• Brand Awareness: Measure your brand awareness among the audience members of your influencer as they begin sharing content related to your brand. There are quantitative — such as direct traffic and social engagement — and qualitative — such as social listening and awareness surveys — ways to measure your brand awareness.
• Clicks: Review the number of clicks on the content the influencer shares about your brand, whether it’s a direct link to your website, a CTA, a social media giveaway, or a signup form.
• Conversions: Calculate your conversions (the number of leads who become customers) as a result of your influencer marketing strategy. You can calculate conversions on your website or through URLs (such as discount/ checkout codes found on the influencer’s social media account or blog) by dividing your conversions by your overall number of visitors.
• Return on Investment (ROI): Calculate the return on your influencer marketing investment by dividing the return (or benefit) by the cost of the influencer marketing investment.
• Follower Count: Track the increase and decrease of your number of social media followers or blog subscribers over time to see whether or not the influencer is helping you boost your follower and/ or subscriber count.

In terms of measuring the success of the influencer’s work, BuzzStream and BuzzSumo both have analytics tools built into the software to help you measure the success of the influencer’s work. These types of software are especially helpful in allowing you to determine ROI from your influencer marketing strategy, which is known to be the most difficult metric to measure when working with an influencer for businesses.

Google Analytics is great if you want to track overall traffic directed to your website and the number of leads converted. The software provides you with a deep look at acquisition, behavior, and conversions related to an influencer and your visitors.

For example, if you ask the influencer to conduct a giveaway or contest, look at the number of people who participated. If you give the influencer a discount code for audience members to use at checkout, look at how many people used it and, therefore, made a purchase thanks to their content. If you provide the influencer with specific URLs with tags to specific posts or landing pages, track their performance by looking at the number of leads directed to those pages via the given URLs.

Now, onto measuring influencer marketing success on social media. HubSpot’s Social Tool can help you pull specific engagement-related data, like reach and interactions, from various platforms. Additionally, the respective social platforms you’re using may have analytics tools built-in as well, such as Twitter Analytics and Instagram Insights.  

Do you still need some inspiration for your influencer marketing strategy? Let’s look at three successful strategies implemented by major companies.

Influencer Marketing Examples

There are many successful influencer marketing campaigns your business can look to for guidance when trying to think of ways to reach your target audience. Here are a few examples:

1. Hydro Flask and Andrea Hannemann, Social Media Influencer

Andrea Hannemann, more commonly known as @earthyandy, is a social media influencer based in Hawaii.

Her account, which has over one million followers, depicts her life — she’s a vegan, earth-conscious, and outdoorsy mom and wife. She has an affinity for clean eating and cooking as well as plant-based foods and products. Andrea regularly posts beautiful pictures and videos of her lifestyle and diet (which her kids and husband participate in) and receives hundreds of thousands of interactions on her posts.

Andrea was featured in a video sponsored by Hydro Flask, which she posted on her Instagram page, showing the ways in which the reusable, insulated, and functional water bottle fits into her life. The post was also a giveaway and received close to 400,000 likes and over 40,000 comments.

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Hydro Flask was able to identify a social media influencer who’s lifestyle and content fit their branding and image and conduct a highly successful giveaway. The post increased their brand awareness among Andrea’s one million followers.

It also helped move traffic from Andrea’s page to the Hydro Flask Instagram page, as her post included several links taking audience members directly there to learn more about the company.

2. Nespresso and George Clooney, Celebrity Influencer

Nespresso teamed up with George Clooney, a globally-recognized celebrity, and brought him on as a celebrity influencer for their Cup Above campaign. Nespresso was able to identify the actor as someone who’s known by the general public and fits their sophisticated, elegant, and high-end image.

Nespresso now has print ads, digital ads, social media posts, and television commercials starring George.

3. Capital One and Kiersten Rich, Blogger

Kiersten Rich, better known as Kiki, is a popular travel blogger. Her blog, The Blonde Abroad, has over one million subscribers. She also has a large presence on Instagram thanks to the success of her blog’s unique content.

Capital One sponsored several of Kiki’s blog posts detailing the benefits of using their travel rewards credit card, the Venture Card. Kiki travels hundreds of thousands of miles every year, has over one million blog subscribers, and half a million followers on Instagram. Capital One knew they could improve both their brand and product awareness among their target audience with her help.

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Capital One had Kiki collaborate on the different blog posts about the Venture Card which include several pictures of her travels. They also had her create a personal video explaining why her travel enthusiast fans and followers would also love the Venture Card.

How Influencer Marketing Will Change in 2020

Innovative industries are continuously changing; influencer marketing is no different. Influencers and marketers alike are finding new ways to reach audiences and promote products, so much so that the industry is projected to reach up to $10 million by 2020.

As we move into the new year, there are five key ways that influencer marketing will be changing. Make note of these changes as you adapt your marketing strategy.

1. Micro-influencers will have a greater impact. 

Micro-influencers may seem like the smallest players in the influencer marketing game, but they pack the biggest punch. In a recent study, 82% of respondents said they were "highly likely to follow a micro-influencers’ recommendation".

Micro-influencers also discuss potential products and services more than the average consumer — 22.2x more weekly conversations.

Micro-influencers tend to have smaller followings than, say, celebrity or blog influencers. But this smaller following leads to higher engagement and greater trust. Because of this, micro-influencers will likely have more influence than celebrities in 2020.

2. Influencer activity will extend beyond Instagram.

Almost 90% of businesses cite Instagram as the most important channel for influencer marketing, so we won't be seeing that channel fade into the background anytime soon. Instead, in 2020, it will be joined by a few up-and-coming influencer channels, especially those that prioritize video capabilities. (Remember, Instagram only allows one minute of video.)

In 2020, keep an eye out for influencer marketing on YouTube, Tik Tok, Snapchat, and Pinterest, especially if your audience leans more towards Generation Z. (For example, check out this MAC Cosmetics campaign on Tik Tok.)

3. Influencer regulations will become stricter.

In 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) developed rules surrounding influencer-brand relationships. These guidelines state that "if there is a “material connection” between an endorser and an advertiser – in other words, a connection that might affect the weight or credibility that consumers give the endorsement – that connection should be clearly and conspicuously disclosed".

In early November, the FTC released a new set of guidelines to further encourage transparent marketing practices. Influencers now carry the responsibility for being familiar with and following these guidelines, meaning that, in 2020, more businesses will likely enter the influencer marketing game.

4. Employees and customers will become influencers.

We've talked about the power of marketing through your customers, but have you considered how powerful your customers could be as influencers? Customers are people who already know about, like, and own your product; this makes for an easy transition from customer advocacy to customer influence.

The same goes for your employees — people who've invested time and creativity into growing your business. This factor alone gives your staff genuine credibility. As people who are already engaged with the development of your product or service, employees can be natural advocates. In 2020, we'll likely see the rise of these two parties as brand influencers.

5. Businesses will invest in long-term relationships, not one-off campaigns.

You've read about it in this guide — it can be tough and expensive to identify and connect with the right influencer. In the past, brands usually hired influencers for one-time campaigns. As we move into 2020, however, we'll likely see brands building long-term relationships instead.

Not only does this effort save time, energy, and money for marketers, but it also allows the influencer to build trust with and make a greater impact on a brand's audience. Long-term relationships with influencers also increase credibility for whatever product or service the influencer is marketing.

Kickstart Your Influencer Marketing Strategy

Influencer marketing has become increasingly popular for brands to invest in. With the rise of word-of-mouth marketing and social proof, it’s a great way to connect with audience members, enhance brand awareness, and boost conversions. By identifying the type of influencer best suited for your business and developing an influencer marketing strategy, you’ll improve your reach among potential customers.

So, begin developing your business’s plans for incorporating influencers in your marketing tactics today so they can help you build new and lasting relationships among your target audience.

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

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How to Find your Dream Job in 2020

I remember sitting in my career class in college listening to my professor tell us how long it can take for job seekers to land a position.

“Sometimes you’re completely qualified for the opportunities you apply for, yet it can take several months to receive an offer,” he'd said.

He wasn’t kidding. I started applying for my first job six months prior to graduation, and it took me that entire time period to identify, interview for, and receive an offer I was truly excited about accepting.

The search for my second job took me close to nine months from the moment I decided it was time to start searching for a new role to my first day at HubSpot.

Long story short, searching for a new job isn’t always an easy process. It can be stressful, time-consuming, and difficult. But, no fear — that's why we've created this guide. Follow along, and the process will feel significantly less intimidating no matter your industry, job experience, or career goals.

Depending on your specific situation, you may not need to walk through each of the following steps. This list is here to simply guide you through the beginning stages of your job hunt, so feel free to modify it as needed.

1. Consider your personality.

Your personality reveals a lot about yourself, such as what you enjoy doing, what makes you happy, and how you like to communicate — even the types of jobs you’d likely succeed in. There are a number of ways to incorporate your personality traits and characteristics in your job search.

Take one of the many online personality tests to learn more about your specific traits and discover types of work those traits would make you an ideal fit for. This is also helpful when thinking about the type of work environment you’d be most productive in.

Your personality helps you narrow your search in other ways, too — for example, if your results come back with details about you being shy, introspective, and reserved, research ideal jobs for introverts.

2. Think about your skill set.

Your skill set is a list of your abilities — such as problem-solving, decision-making, and the ability to work under pressure. In addition to using your skillset to help you determine the type of job you'd be good at, it's often something listed on a resume — so, listing your skills is a useful exercise for that reason as well.

If you need more guidance, you can learn more about your specific skill set and how it plays a part in the type of career you’d be an ideal fit for by taking a career aptitude test.

3. Reflect on your background.

Your previous work experience and education — or your background — can also help you determine a career path you’d be suited for.

For example, I studied journalism in college and worked at a local news station after graduation. However, after a year, I decided I wanted to leave the industry. My background — which was writing and content-focused — made me an ideal candidate for a position on the HubSpot Blog.

If your background doesn’t align with your newfound career interests, that’s OK, too! However, this may require a little more research on your end about how you can transition to a new career. You may need to go back to school for a master's degree, get a certification of some kind, or work in an entry-level position in your new field of interest.

4. Brainstorm your career goals.

Brainstorm your personal and career goals to help you determine the ideal next step for you. Think about things like work-life balance, salary, and your goals for the next 5-10 years. This will help you narrow down your search — different industries and positions have a range of standards when it comes to factors like flexibility, culture, and career growth.

5. Create a list of your dream companies.

Whether or not you’re sure about a specific opportunity, create a list of your dream companies you think you'd enjoy working for. This is a great way to keep track of opportunities at the companies you’re most interested in and remain goal-oriented.

You can then tailor your cover letter as well as career highlights and skillset on your resume to fit the requirements and expectations of specific opportunities at your top-choice companies.

6. Consider companies similar to your dream companies.

Consider companies comparable to those on your list of top picks, too. For example, if your goal is to work in the marketing at Nike, consider applying for a similar position at a newer, growing company in the same industry like NOBULL.

By being open-minded and realistic about how you’re going to reach your end-goal (such as working at Nike), you'll avoid locking yourself into one, narrow career path option all while gaining valuable experience along the way.

7. Network professionally.

Whether you’re looking to stay in your current industry or pave a completely new path in another, professional networking is critical. These days, over 70% of offers job seekers receive are a result of networking.

Networking can help you get your foot in the door at a company of interest, gain a new and valuable reference in the industry, and determine whether or not you really want to move into a specific role.

8. Clean up your social media accounts.

Today, recruiters, hiring teams, and department leaders at virtually every company will take the time to research candidates online, including on social media platforms, prior to determining whether or not they want to request an interview.

This means you'll want to ensure your social media accounts are private or remove pictures, videos, and/or comments that may lead a hiring manager to believe you aren't a good fit for outreach. After all, the last thing you'd want is for the hiring manager at your dream company to disregard your experience due to something they find on your Instagram or Facebook profile.

9. Update your LinkedIn profile.

Did you know there are over 660 million LinkedIn users? Included in that impressive number are job seekers, businesses and recruiters looking to fill positions, as well as people who are content with their current roles. 

With all of this exposure, it's important to make sure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date and accurately represents your current and past experiences. Be sure to describe — in detail — information about your current and past roles, promotions, notable mentions, education, awards, and anything else you feel is worth sharing. Initiate and accept Connections to expand your network to receive endorsements for your skills, experiences, and traits.

No matter if you're in need of a new role, members of your professional network as well as recruiters, hiring managers, and employers will be able to view your LinkedIn profile and reach out to you if they choose. Who knows — maybe you didn't even realize you were missing out on applying to your dream job. 

Learn how to use LinkedIn for professional networking, business, and marketing.

10. Prepare your resume.

Prepare your resume at the beginning of your job search to ensure your latest and most relevant work experience is available to recruiters and hiring managers for review.

Without a strong and recently updated resume, the companies you apply to won’t have reason to take you seriously. Additionally, pay attention to the details when it comes to your resume including font and which skills of yours you choose to share with specific companies — this is how you’re going to make an impactful first impression that sticks with hiring managers as they review the resumes of other applicants.

Note: When in doubt, try updating your resume with a template to achieve a professional look and feel sure to blow hiring managers away.

How to Find a Job You Love

Now that we’ve reviewed which steps to take in the first stages of your job search, you might be wondering how to find a job you're truly passionate about — one you love. That's why we’ve compiled this collection of tips and tricks to help you do just that.

1. Use job search sites.

Today, job search sites, or job search engines, are one of the most common ways to find a new position. These sites provide you with valuable information about companies and positions including location, industry, salary, necessary qualifications, culture, and more.

Other benefits to using a job search site include the ability to upload your resume and cover letter for quick and easy application submission. They also provide you with the option to receive an alert when a new opportunity, that fits criteria you share, becomes available.

There are a number of popular job search sites, used by millions of people around the world, with these capabilities (and more). Here are six of the most common to get you started:

• Indeed provides you with access to new job listings, company reviews, and accurate salary information. The site also allows you to post your resume so recruiters and employers can easily reach out.
• CareerBuilder gives you the opportunity to search for a new job based on specific criteria including your experience, location, or skill set. Upload your resume so employers can recruit you. The site will also review your profile and recommend jobs to help you find the right match.
• Monster allows you to upload your resume for a free assessment to ensure everything looks perfect. The site has a variety of other resources such as opportunities to receive professional interview advice as well as to access to the latest — and most popular — job listings, salary information, and company reviews.
• LinkedIn isn’t just a professional networking site — it’s also a job search site. The platform will take you through a series of steps to help you begin and narrow your job hunt. You can view position openings while employers can read your resume, view your LinkedIn profile, and Connect. 
• Craigslist is a straightforward and simplistic job search site. Employers post their latest job listings and you can sift through them by location and/or one of the site’s 20+ industry types.
• Glassdoor gives you access to job listings, employee reviews, interview tips, salary information, and more. You can post your resume so hiring managers can contact you directly and the site includes a feature in which you can view interview questions specific companies tend to ask — which is a great interview prep technique. 

2. Check company websites for openings of interest.

Maybe you heard about an opening at your dream company or an opportunity at a specific business of interest that you want to learn more about. If this is the case, go directly to the website of the given company you're interested in to review their career opportunities and job descriptions. If they provide a career newsletter that sends new job openings, subscribe to that, too.

Rather than looking for positions that meet more general criteria, this is a great option for those who know they want a specific company's name on their resume or culture to be a part of.

3. Craft unique cover letters.

Your cover letter accompanies your resume to persuade employers into believing you're worth their time and consideration so they bring you in for an interview. Your cover letters should describe why you're be a great fit for the position you apply for. And when paired with your resume, a recruiter should understand why you're qualified for the opportunity.

Save time and use templates to craft your perfect cover letter.

Now, you may be thinking: Not all companies require cover letters.

And that's true — some companies openly say cover letters are your choice. If this is the case, it's up to your discretion as to whether or not you want to send one in. (Personally, I always choose to take the time to tell potential employers about the reasons why I am taking their hiring process and a specific opportunity seriously, but that's just my prerogative.) If you send in a cover letter, ensure it’s concise, well-written, and helps you stand out among other applicants.

4. Prepare for every interview.

Needless to say, nailing your interview is a critical component to receiving a job offer. Although interviews are often high-pressure experiences for job-seekers, thoroughly preparing for them is a great way to relieve some of the stress.

To help you prepare, review the following commonly-asked interview questions and consider your responses.

• Tell me about yourself.
• What are the reasons for leaving your last job?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• What motivates you?
• What makes you unique?
• What is your greatest weakness?

You can also use other resources for interview prep like the Search Interview Questions feature on Glassdoor or blogs about the job search process in a specific industry.

5. Determine the most important parts of a position to you and look for them in your search.

What's important to you in a company and position?

Is it flexibility in terms of work hours?

Do you require the ability to work remotely full or part-time, or do you want to go into an office every day?

Do you care about the size of the team you'll be on?

Think about these types of questions when determining which opportunities to apply for so you can ensure the company and position are right for you — and vice versa — before spending time on the application.

For example, if a top-rated workplace culture is important to your application process, review the websites of the companies you're considering to learn about their culture-related initiatives. Take a look at HubSpot to understand what I mean — HubSpot's unique Culture Code is explained on their career page as well as in many other locations throughout the company website and Blog. This allows applicants and to learn about the importance of workplace culture to the company and its employees as well as how it plays a part in the interview and hiring processes.

6. Think about how you'll manage an offer.

The final part of your hunt for the perfect position is also the most exciting — accepting an offer!

Once you receive a job offer, be sure to get all of the details about the position, including salary, benefits, and expected start date (along with any other important details).

Remember, it’s normal — and often expected — to ask for some time to consider an offer upon receipt so you have the opportunity to think about and review it in detail before officially accepting it. If you ask, a hiring manager may give you a day, two days, or even a full work week to make a decision.

Don’t be afraid to decline an offer if the specific opportunity isn’t the right fit for you. Other offers will come around — be patient and wait for the one that makes you excited.

Also, you may choose to negotiate your starting salary upon receiving your offer. There are professional and realistic ways to negotiate your salary that you can follow to ensure the process goes smoothly.

Lastly, give your current employer two weeks’ notice — this will allow them to begin searching for your replacement if necessary or at least provide them with a cushion in terms of time to make any necessary adjustments.

How to Find a Remote Job

Today, remote work has become increasingly popular. With technology that allows you to collaborate with team members in real-time from anywhere in the world, instant message, and meet via video chat, remote work has become a more common perk offered by businesses across all industries.

Whether you're looking for a position that's part of full-time remote, there's an option for you. So, let's take a look at how you can find your dream remote position.

Note: When searching for a remote job, you can follow most of the same steps that you would if you were looking for a non-remote job — as we reviewed above. However, instead of using the job sites we mentioned earlier, you'll want to use job sites specifically created for posting and identifying remote opportunities.

But before you review those sites, take some time to think about the pros and cons of a remote position.

Pros and Cons of Remote Work

Now, it's important to remember that depending on your point of view, work style, career goals, and preferences, you may find some of the following points to be under the incorrect column in your eyes — that's totally fine ... it's all a matter of perspective.

Pros of Remote Work	Cons of Remote Work
Flexible hours	Lack of office space or work-related events to attend with colleagues
Ability to work from anywhere	More distractions
No commute	Possibility of feeling lonely or unmotivated
Increases employee retention and loyalty (by providing this option for employees upon being hired or later in one’s career)	Little work-day structure
Increases size of talent pool which is a positive for businesses looking for the best possible candidates	Can make team communication difficult

Remote Job Search Sites

Now, back to those job search sites specific for remote opportunities we mentioned— here are a few of the most popular options for you to pull from.

Note: If you're looking for a part-time remote position, you might want to focus on applying for freelance opportunities.

• AngelList is a startup community. The site includes a job finder in which users can search specifically for remote work in the world of startups. There are also a number of articles published on AngelList's Blog which provide insight into remote work, remote culture, and related opportunities for users to learn from and use for inspiration.
• FlexJobs lists a wide range of flexible (hence their name) opportunities on their site including part and full-time positions that are either partially or completely remote. As a job seeker, you have the support of the company's trained researchers who work to identify and screen these positions to ensure they're legitimate and worthwhile (no matter if you are entry level or an executive).
• WeWorkRemotely offers a wide range of categories and industries for job seekers to browse and learn about remote opportunities. They have a number of resources on their site for users to educate themselves with as well as determine which specific type of remote positions would be ideal for their career goals.

Begin Your Job Search

Starting the job search process can be overwhelming at times. So, remember to use job search sites to narrow your search and take advantage of the wide array of resources available to job seekers today to help identify the right opportunities for you. Then, prepare for your interviews and remember to be patient — that dream job of yours might just be around the corner.

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

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Beyond the Editorial Calendar: New Rules of Content Strategy for 2020

I was playing with my nephew at the park recently, watching him run from the swings to the jungle gym to the slide.

He laughed as he tried to climb up the slide instead of going down, and he skipped the paved walkway in favor of the large field of grass leading back to my car.

It suddenly struck me that park designers are really smart people, because they manage to entertain children of all ages for hours at a time.

What if I, as a marketer at Atlassian, could delight my audience the same way? Could I hold a reader's attention from channel to channel, or from tweet to article to video?

And, if this is possible, do the current frameworks and approaches to the buyer's journey help ... or impede me? Here, I'm going to explore why our current editorial strategy is limited, and how we can refine it for better results in 2020.

Evolution of the Funnel

We're all familiar with the traditional linear funnel. At its most basic level, there are three phases -- awareness, consideration, and decision.

Let's say we know we need content for each phase, so we decide to make three pieces for awareness, two pieces for consideration, and one piece for decision. That's a total of six pieces of content, so we divide that over six months and say we're going to publish one piece of content per month.

Now, of course, we know the buyer's journey is much more complicated than that. Over the last several years, we've moved from the linear funnel to the looping decision journey, which has four phases -- awareness, consideration, purchase, and up-selling (or cross-selling).

Since we've added a phase, we whip out our calendars and throw another two pieces of content on the calendar, creating eight pieces of content over the next eight months.

But again, we know that our buyers won't travel down a neat, linear path, even if we think we've cleverly turned that path into a circle.

Recently, I realized we need a new model -- one that allows our audiences to move up, down, and sideways, like a jungle gym, rather than forcing them to follow a linear path.

However, the "jungle gym model" has some problems. For instance, there's only two objectives when playing on a jungle gym: to scramble to the top as quickly as possible, or to travel horizontally across the rungs without touching the ground below.

So, once again, I'm forcing my audience down a specific, narrow journey that I want them to take. Even though I'm allowing them to enter however they choose, eventually, I'm making them fit into a journey that has one result: a purchase.

 

And I want to move them through that journey as fast as possible so I can secure their business.

There's still something missing from a "jungle gym" approach. Instead, I have a different proposal. Let's dive into that now.

A New Model to Fit the New Customers' Journey

Ultimately, times have changed, and marketers are no longer in charge. Customers are.

They want to enter and exit and travel forwards and backwards and up and down however, and whenever, they choose.

They want to consume content whenever, wherever, and however they please.

The marketer's job is no longer about rushing a prospect through the funnel to a purchase. Instead, it's about educating and empowering the customer to choose and implement their own solutions.

We need to build a content playground for this new journey. Traditionally, the "ideal" customer journey was one that resulted in the fastest purchase with the fewest number of touch-points. But today, the ideal journey is the one that offers the right content, in the right place, at the right time, with the most seamless transition between assets and channels.

So, how do we go about building a content playground?

How to Build a Content Playground

First, we need to step away from calendar-driven goals, like publishing once per month, or filling up a campaign schedule. Instead, we need to think about the ideas and stories we want to address at three content depths.

Conceptual: These are the overarching themes, and should be limited to 3-5 core ideas. These are theoretical and philosophical in nature, with a much more abstract application. These ideas are the foundation on which to build strategic and tactical ideas. When creating content at this level, the author shouldn't be too concerned about the "how". Instead, focus on the "what" and the "why" of the idea. The conceptual level will focus on high-level and aspirational outcomes. If there's measurement available, that's great, but at this level, it's unlikely.

Strategic: This level focuses more on the processes, tools, and key knowledge components that must be included to make the conceptual ideas a reality. This level should focus on tangible outcomes that can be measured in the long-run. Content should focus on equipping the audience to do their own research, give them frameworks and criteria for success, and help them envision the impact that conceptual ideas can have in their specific organization.

Tactical: This is the nitty-gritty "how" level, where the rubber meets the road. If you want to achieve the high-level outcomes described in the conceptual level, and you've put in the place the processes and tools at the strategic level, what are the daily tasks, habits, and conversations that need to happen? This content should be prescriptive in nature, and offer step-by-step instructions and links to specific exercises to help the audience implement the conceptual and strategic ideas.

A New Distribution Framework for 2020

Once you have your narratives laid out, it's time to consider where and how you will share and host your content. Instead of jumping straight into the calendar to schedule social posts or go-live dates for landing pages, you need to think about the formats and channels that make sense for each narrative. In many cases, the same narrative can take many forms.

Here are some questions you'll want to consider when choosing a distribution method:

Determine the asset type: Will this be written, audio, or visual content? Will it be short-form or long-form? Think beyond a blog post or landing page, and consider alternative options like a contributed 3rd-party byline, interview (written, pre-recorded or live video), live speaking engagement, webinar, podcast, ebook, case study, or testimonial (internal or customer, written or video).

Choose a distribution channel: Distributions channels are a mix of paid, owned, and earned channels. Some channels are a place to host content (content can live in multiple places), while others are a place to share content (content can be shared in multiple channels). These channels are quite fluid, and sometimes the place to host and share is the same, i.e. SlideShare, LinkedIn, or Facebook. All offer a place for the content to live in the long-run and allow the audience to engage, follow, and curate for their community.

Consider your metrics: Some types of content and channels are best-suited to solve the "awareness" or "reach" problem, while others are used to increase engagement. All assets and all channels do NOT need to accomplish all things at all times! You can create an ebook that you publish on SlideShare with the goal of reaching more people (i.e. get featured on the SlideShare homepage) and creating engagement by driving traffic to more content on your website.

The type of asset and channel mix will differ based on reach and engagement goals. This is especially true for social media assets. Most marketers treat social channels as a one-way broadcast and focus on the click-through rate to their website. However, your social followers don't want to click through to gain value, and platforms want to keep viewers in the feed.

To create content specifically geared towards social platforms, our job is to provide a mix of content that creates value and engagement in-feed, with a success metric attached to social metrics like re-tweets or shares, likes, comments, answering poll questions, or clicking through to an image gallery.

These steps should allow you to fill out a table for each narrative and distribution channel, and I've included an example below:

How to Create Content: Bottom Up, Top Down, or Free-for-All?

The answer is -- yes. While it's great to organize topics underneath a larger narrative theme and attempt to assign an asset type and a distribution channel, sometimes content fits into multiple buckets.

And, sometimes, what you end up with isn't what you set out to create. Additionally, some content has long legs, leading to a longer shelf life, which could enable you to do multiple spin-off assets and channels. Ultimately, these are meant to be frameworks, not rigid categories for every piece of content or idea that might result in content.

Again, the goal is to create a seamless, delightful journey for your audience. Focus on creating deep, high-quality content, building a long-lasting relationship with your audience, and influencing at every touch-point. The days of simply following an editorial calendar are over. It's time to build a content playground.

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5 Ways HubSpot Managers Keep Teams Motivated Before the Holidays

The holidays can be a magical time of the year when you're surrounded by family, friends, good food, great parties, and fun traditions.

If you're a manager, you might be excited to get some much-needed rest and relaxation or family time. But, at the same time, you might be wondering how you're going to wrap up all your end-of-year projects while you and your team's minds start to wander off with holiday cheer.

At this point, you don't want to lose your stride due to a few days off, but you might be worried that getting too aggressive about deadlines will crush your team's festive spirit.

So, how do you end the year on a high note without looking like a total Grinch?

Source: GIPHY

To develop a good balance between structure and seasonal happiness, it can be helpful to learn how a handful of other managers have handled the same challenge during past holiday seasons.

At HubSpot, a company that makes work culture a priority, our people managers are known for creatively and strategically hitting seasonal goals while still building team morale -- especially during the holiday season.

To help you prevent your team from running into the dreaded holiday slump, while still keeping the workplace bearable before the season, I talked to six seasoned HubSpot people managers from our marketing, sales, and support teams to get their advice.

Here are five ways HubSpot managers keep their teams on track while still embracing the holidays:

How to Avoid a Holiday Slump

1. Break down goals into achievable targets, phases, or quotas.

Rather than struggling to achieve giant goals in a short amount of time, split each goal up into phases or steps within a process. As your team accomplishes each step of the project, they'll feel like they succeeded and grow energetic about conquering the next phase.

"We all have end-of-year deadlines or goals -- and at times -- they can look very daunting. We’ve found it helpful to break them down into smaller targets," says Tara Ryan, a HubSpot CGS Sales Manager.

When it comes to her sales team, Ryan says she uses monthly and weekly quotas as a way to break down major goals:

"Quotas are easier to digest when we break them down into '25% attainment by the end of week one,' '50% attainment by the end of week two,' '75% by week three', and then '100%+ by the end of the month.'"

"The process of breaking down goals allows us to measure our progress on a weekly basis and more chances for us to celebrate team wins," Ryan adds.

When it comes to setting goals, it can also be helpful to get input from your team on what they'd like to accomplish by the end of the year. This will help you create realistic goals as a group and discuss any challenges that your team could run into along the way."

“If I know we’re about to enter into a time where it’s easy to slow down, like the summer or holidays, I try to get my group together to brainstorm what we want to accomplish as a group and vote on one goal," says Caroline Ostrander, a Customer Support Manager.

Like Ryan, Ostrander also embraces the idea of aiming for a limited number of reachable goals, rather than trying to achieve everything all at once.

"One goal helps the team focus and prioritize when we might feel unmotivated. [After the vote], I look for one or two volunteers to lead the charge on the goal and find fun and creative ways to keep it top of mind,” Ostrander explains.

2. Prepare for winter weather hurdles with work-from-home protocols.

At HubSpot's Cambridge, MA headquarters, we're very familiar with winter weather and understand how one big snowstorm can really knock us off of our schedule.

If you live in an area where winter weather can impact your workflow, it's important to stay ahead of this possible hurdle. To prevent a snowstorm or other natural events from causing your team to rush projects before the holidays, come up with a winter protocol for your team.

Larry Rodman, a Customer Support Manager, suggests asking your team members to take their laptops and work devices home with them if there's a possibility that your office might close during a storm.

"Always bring everything you need to work home [at the end of the work day], you never know what the weather will be on any given day," Rodman says.

3. Encourage team members to take time off for the holidays.

As a manager, it's important to remember that your employees have a life outside of work and that most people want to take time off during the holiday season.

Rather than making time off seem like a faux pas, you should recognize it as a seasonal norm and make employees feel comfortable with taking a few days off for themselves.

"Be transparent and empathetic with your team. Make sure they are comfortable taking time off at the holidays," says Marketing Director Amanda Sibley.

Sibley encourages her team to share days they plan to take off on the team marketing calendar. However, to prevent her team from losing steam before the holidays, she clearly communicates her expectations to them.

"I ask for 100% effort until they are off," Sibley says. "I often will say something like, 'It's really important to take time off, so I'm glad you all have chosen a week during the holidays! -- Until then, in order for us all to relax and enjoy family time, we need to be at 100%, so please focus until that time!"

4. Give employees a day or even a few hours for holiday errands.

Even when employees know they have upcoming time off, their minds can still wander as they think about all the holiday errands and planning they need to do before the festivities begin. To prevent these personal distractions at work, consider allowing them a few additional hours off to prep for the holidays ahead of time.

"Give time for those who need it to handle the crazy stuff needed for the holidays," suggests Sibley. "What about a half-day in the middle of the week or in early December to do all their holiday shopping when the crowds are less?"

While this will allow people to get ahead of their errands so they don't worry about them during work, Sibley notes that this strategy will depend on the type of team you're managing and their day-to-day work.

5. Celebrate the holidays -- and your team's accomplishments.

Lastly, but definitely not least, embrace the holiday season, celebrate, and end your year on a high note. After all, you and your team have worked hard to achieve your annual goals.

Holiday or end-of-year celebrations allow your team members to bond, review the year's accomplishments, and show gratitude for one another. As a result, this can be a memorable event that really boosts morale.

When planning a celebration or end-of-year meeting, Ryan suggests asking each of your team members to note one individual or group accomplishment that they're most proud of from the past year.

"This is a great chance to remind the team of all the wins you had together over the last 12 months," says Ryan.

Rodman also says he emphasizes team accomplishments at end-of-year celebrations, explaining that rewarding accomplishments can help to motivate your team even after they return from the holidays.

"This year we're having a team potluck while we watch Snoopy Thanksgiving," Rodman shares.

Along with highlighting accomplishments, you should also use this time to bond with your team.

"Have team members share what their holiday plans and traditions are. During this time, let people enjoy the holidays in a work environment," says Sibley.

With the strategy of having team members share traditions or plans, it allows the group to get to know each other better. This type of icebreaker also invites inclusivity as people who might not celebrate common U.S. holidays might have unique or interesting traditions that they'd like to share.

Aside from icebreakers, the most important goal of these events is to have fun and reward your teammates for a great year of hard work.

"Don’t pretend like the holidays aren’t happening. Celebrate with your team," encourages Social Media Manager Kelly Hendrickson.

"Putting a special lunch or a gift swap on the calendar can help teams know they will have time to celebrate," Hendrickson adds. "Knowing there is a specific time for fun, helps focus that holiday spirit."

Get in the Holiday Spirit

It can be easy to forget about how fun the holidays are when you're thinking about end-of-year deadlines. But, as we've seen from HubSpot managers above, getting in the holiday spirit will benefit your mood and your team. Don't be afraid to embrace the pleasantries of this time of year.

Still feeling like your holiday spirit is three sizes too small? Boost your mood and get inspired by these brilliant holiday marketing campaigns.

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12 Social Media Marketing Predictions From the Pros

Is your marketing ready for the coming changes? Looking for expert insight to help you get your marketing plans on the right track? In this article, 12 marketing experts share their predictions to help you prepare your social media marketing plans for the coming year. #1: Facebook Ad Costs Push Advertisers Off The Platform Facebook […]

The post 12 Social Media Marketing Predictions From the Pros appeared first on Social Media Marketing | Social Media Examiner.

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