74 Social Commerce Stats Marketers Should Know in 2021 Everyone wants a personalized and custom experience online, so it’s no wonder that social commerce has taken over the online shopping world. Channels like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and WhatsApp already have thousands of businesses marketing on their platforms, and many have adopted shopping and payment functions that allow people to buy a product or service directly on the platforms. While social commerce is relatively new, it falls under the larger umbrella of eCommerce sales, which are expected to reach $4.2 trillion this year. As a result, the revenue potential is high, and it's attracting the attention of marketers across a variety of industries. Whether you're looking for information to boost your social media shop or shape your online strategy, read on to discover social commerce stats that will help you understand the current market and learn best practices for attracting buyers and growing your business. Social Commerce Stats for 2021 General Social Commerce Stats Social Commerce Stats by Demographic Social Commerce Purchasing Stats Social Commerce Stats by Platform Social Commerce Stats for Business General Social Commerce Stats 35.9% of internet users in the US will make at least one social commerce purchase in 2021. (Insider Intelligence, 2021) US social commerce sales will surpass $36 billion in 2021, with more than 35% growth. (Insider Intelligence, 2021) Chinese retail social commerce sales will reach $351.65 billion in 2021. (Insider Intelligence, 2021) ...

You Don't Have to Be a Great Writer to Write a Great Blog When I started HubSpot, I was a trained engineer with little writing experience. In the early days of the company, I could not create software. Instead, I spent a lot of time writing articles for our Marketing Blog. As an inexperienced writer, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it performed. Today, the blog has over 500,000 subscribers and over 10M new visitors each month. The success of the blog convinced me that I suppressed brilliant writing skills for the last 20 years! My excitement led me to send a Thank You note to my eighth-grade teacher, Tom Brown, who helped me learn to write. Emboldened with my newfound writing confidence, I wrote the Inbound Marketing Book with my co-founder Dharmesh Shah. When we submitted the final draft to a professional editor, I was confident she would send it back with minimal edits and high praise. Wrong. The document she returned had more red lines than anything I had ever seen in my life. After many weeks of language crafting, we got it close to perfect. Upon its release in 2014, it was ranked #200 out of the 8 million books currently available on Amazon — a list led by notable writers such as Dan Brown and Stephen King. I learned that you do not have to be a great writer to have a great book. The same goes for blogs. Non-writers can develop new skills and...

The Leader's Guide to Effective Change Management We're reminded daily about how change is coming, and to succeed in business, we must remain agile. That all makes sense in theory, but in practical application, to change how you operate or serve customers is no small feat. At IMPACT, we've gone through quite a bit of change, going from a small core team to a good-sized agency. After struggling to implement a change to our client onboarding process, we decided to take a step back and re-evaluate our approach to change management. Below, I'll share with you the key change management models and tools we reviewed, and how you can avoid becoming another statistic. Why is change management important? A 2019 Gartner study revealed that most chief human resources officers are unhappy with the speed of change implementation in their organizations. Why is that? Well, 80% of companies manage change from the top-down, according to the study. With this approach, leadership makes the calls, creates the plan, and sends instructions for company-wide rollout. While it may seem like the quickest way to implement change, it's not the best solution in the long term. Many times, leadership blames employees for unsuccessful changes. However, the data suggests that most employees possess the skills and willingness to undergo organizational changes. The issue lies in deciding who is part of the strategizing, decision-making, and implementation part of change management. Today, companies are much more complex and for changes to be effective, they require...

Social Commerce: What It Is & How to Use It in 2021 Recently, I set an iPhone time limit on my social media use to "45 minutes". I figured 45 minutes would be more than enough. Almost an hour? In between working at HubSpot, catching up with friends, and attending exercise classes, I had no doubt 45 minutes would be plenty of social media consumption. Unfortunately, I learned pretty quickly that I actually spend 45 minutes on social media before I even get to work in the morning. I know I'm not alone. In fact, the average daily social media use of internet users worldwide amounts to 145 minutes per day. With all that social media consumption, it makes sense that more businesses are turning to social media to market to their audiences. But marketing is just one aspect of the buyer's journey -- what about sales? Can that be done within social media platforms, as well? It's actually now entirely possible for businesses to sell products and services natively within social media sites. Here, we're going to explore that very concept -- known as social commerce -- and take a look at some impressive examples of social commerce, so you can consider trying it for your own company. Additionally, we'll list some of the most popular social commerce platforms available today, so you can decide which one could give you the highest ROI. Since many businesses are marketing on these social media sites already, it makes...

5 SEO Success Stories to Inspire Your 2021 Strategy Search engine optimization (SEO) may seem like a straightforward concept. You pick keywords related to your business, create content with those keywords, and you’re set to watch your site grow — a simple three-step process, right? Nope. While those are fundamental elements of SEO, it can actually be quite challenging to create a strategy that helps you drive traffic and enough of it to meet your overall business goals. It can be difficult to get your feet off the ground. Thankfully, there are various tools specifically designed to help you with SEO, build domain authority, and achieve high ROI. In this post, we’ll hear inspiring stories from HubSpot clients that have used our SEO tools to achieve business success. 5 SEO Success Stories To Inspire Your 2021 Strategy 1. Ironpaper Ironpaper is a digital marketing agency that helps their B2B clients grow. They worked with one of their clients, Goddard, to achieve significant success using HubSpot’s SEO tools. Jonathan Franchell, CEO and Founder of Ironpaper, says, “While Goddard fills a real need for their customers by designing medical devices, historically they’ve struggled to find quality leads that could use their services. Instead, their website attracted a lot of spam and unqualified contacts.” Ironpaper began making critical SEO updates with HubSpot tools on Goddard’s site, focusing on internal linking, content strategy with business-relevant keywords, and technical SEO issues like broken links and meta tags. Over an eight-month campaign, Ironpaper helped Goddard...

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How To Download & Repurpose Your Facebook Live Content Your brand's team went on Facebook Live and now the live has ended. Instead of leaving that footage to collect dust in your video library, you can repurpose it. Think of live content like an item of clothing in your closet. You wouldn't wear a shirt once and throw it out, right? That's because you know you can style it in many different ways depending on the look and feel you're going for. Live content follows the same idea. You may think that once your live Facebook video has ended, it's no longer usable. But in fact, you can use that same video to produce 10 more pieces of content. It's all about reframing it to fit your goals. With that in mind, let's dive into how to download your live videos on Facebook and extend their shelf life. Can you download Facebook Live videos? Yes, you can download Facebook Live videos but only on a computer. Facebook does not currently allow users to download their live videos to their phones or other mobile devices. The first thing you can do after downloading your video is share it on your timeline for followers who may have missed the live session. You can then use a transcription app, like Descript, to get a written version of the content, adding to your audio and visual formats. From there, you can brainstorm ways to extend the video's shelf life. The main benefit...

11 Webinar Etiquette Tips for Presenters & Attendees Now that we're spending more time than ever at home on our computers, it's a great time to brush up on webinar etiquette. Webinars give brands the chance to connect directly with their audiences. On the flip side, consumers get to increase their knowledge on a topic. It's a win-win when done correctly, but not all webinars go smoothly. I once attended a webinar on email automation tips that was actually a full product demo. Yikes. Then, you have situations where the presenter is late, or the attendees are having a little too much fun in the chatroom.It doesn't exactly make for the best experience for either side. So let's find out how presenters and attendees can contribute to more productive webinars. 1. Set the tone. Every webinar format is different. For example, some are education-based, with the presenter only engaging with the audience for questions. In other cases, the setting is more interactive. That said, let your audience know what you expect of them early on. Send a reminder email to your attendees a few days before the webinar and include a section on guidelines. Be sure to answers the following questions: Are attendees expected to have their cameras and microphones on or off? Is participation encouraged? If so, how? Is there any prep work? You can also remind your attendees of these instructions at the beginning of the webinar, as people are logging on....

Are Blogs Dead in 2021? We Asked 10 Marketing Experts It seems we all have an obsession with killing things off. Every couple of years, we revisit something and place it on the chopping block. In the new millennium, we had the Y2K computer scare. In 2012, we feared the world would end and we would all just poof. When technology took a more important role in our lives, we assumed all print publications would go bankrupt. Now, with the rise of video and podcasts, it's blogging's turn to feel the heat. I reached out to marketers with backgrounds in product marketing, SEO, YouTube, podcasting, and more and asked them, "Are Blogs dead? " Here's what they said. In all fairness, this question surrounding blogs is not without reason. Google Trends shows that in the last five years, the interest in blogs has steadily declined worldwide. Image Source In the U.S. within the same five-year span, podcasts have risen in popularity and surpassed blogs in searches. Image Source However, marketers still consider blogging a top marketing channel. Ross Simmonds, a B2B marketer and the founder of the content marketing agency Foundation, says blogging has helped his clients triple their traffic and accelerate their sales close rates. "At Foundation, blogging with intent has helped us generate millions of dollars in the pipeline for both us and our clients," says Simmonds. "It's also armed us with the ability to elevate our brand's position in the market and, most importantly,...

7 Examples of Influencer Marketing on YouTube In a 2019 MediaKix report, 71% of marketers agreed that the quality of customers or traffic from influencer marketing was better than other marketing channels. So, we know influencer marketing can be a very profitable marketing strategy. If you have been thinking about using this tactic but are unsure where to start, consider YouTube. Unlike other platforms that are usually restricted by time (think TikTok and Instagram), YouTube celebrates long-form content. This creates space for influencers to deep dive into topics and give detailed reviews on products and services. Beyond that, engagement rates on YouTube are the highest when compared to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, according to a 2020 Influencer Marketing Hub report. Now that consumers are turning more to YouTube for uplifting content, this gives brands a huge opportunity to leverage the power of influencers on a platform known for high engagement. So, what type of videos can influencers and brands collaborate on? Let's go through seven examples. 1. Day-in-the-Life Vlogs One of the most natural ways influencers incorporate sponsored products into their YouTube videos is through day-in-the-life vlogs. Usually done with a morning or daily routine video, the influencer will take viewers through their day and mention the product or service as part of their ritual. In this video, Natalie Barbu gives her audience a peek into her daily routine, emphasizing her planning process. She covers the benefits of software like Asana...