Whether we realize it or not, we’re surrounded by integrated media planning.

With 91% of businesses leveraging video and consumers preferring video over all other forms of content, you can’t afford to miss out.

Here’s a startling reality: while 88% of marketers believe AI and automation are essential for meeting customer expectations, they’re only using about 56% of the tools they buy.

In the first few years of business, small companies come up against many different problems. And – you’ve probably guessed it – some are harder than others to overcome. According to Shopify, the average annual business rate of business failure from 2019 to 2023 (for companies started only half a decade ago) is a scarily small 12.1%. This means that between 2018 and now, starting a small business hasn’t been the easiest task; if anything, it tells us that maintaining a business is a hell of a lot harder than starting one.

As a content professional with almost a decade in the game, I have been a part of several content marketing teams and projects.

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

Over at Masters in Marketing, Caroline, Laura, and I have interviewed some very bright minds from some very bold brands. We’re talking Liquid Death, New Balance, Oatly.

As a content marketer, I‘ve always been ready to team up to boost a brand’s vibe and reach. When one of my freelance clients needed some brand growth on a budget, I was pumped to jump into the influencer marketing game.

I went to a psychic when I was 22. She told me I was “about to take a long journey across the Atlantic.”

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

Just when it looks like I can‘t possibly write anything else about AI, I arrive with another blog post on the subject.

Over the past five years, I’ve been creating content for some of the most successful content-first brands. And if there's one thing that all their content marketing strategies have in common, it is a solid content gap analysis.

As a marketer and pop-culture fanatic, I am fascinated by celebrity marketing. I love seeing a new ad or social media campaign featuring the biggest pop stars and actors and observing how their brand aligns (or doesn't) with the company they endorse.

Zoom backgrounds have been my lifesaver since I started scheduling remote meetings. With these backgrounds, my video stays on, and I don’t have to worry if my living room is a mess.

By mid-December, my Instagram feed is overflowing with my friends' Spotify Wrapped playlists.

It’s hard to ignore the fact that video is now a leading trend for marketing teams. I mean, even LinkedIn has jumped on the bandwagon by prioritizing video content (now, whether or not you agree with that, it is a conversation for another day, but I digress).

Over the past three years, I’ve written over 200 marketing content pieces from blog posts to guides to landing pages. Over that time, I’ve witnessed more and more brands investing not just in new content, but in content optimization.

In the early days of my career as a content marketer, I wish I had access to the meeting agenda examples to have today. Back then, I was managing a team that was fairly new to me, and I hated the idea of conducting meetings.

Faced with an urgent need to brush up my spreadsheet skills, I went online and searched for the best Excel resources available. I discovered a lot of amazing options, both free and paid.

“Teamwork makes the dream work,” is one of my favorite teamwork quotes. Seriously, I’ve said this quote in the office and on Zoom. I’ve even set it as my Slack status. Turns out John C. Maxwell said it in 2002.

It’s officially the holiday season. If the majority of your workforce is hybrid or remote, like we are at HubSpot, that means it’s time to come up with a few virtual holiday party ideas for your team.

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