If you’re like us, you prefer fun jobs over tedious tasks. (Actually, if you were into tedium, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog in the first place.) That’s why you’re going to love social media automation tools. Social media automation tools allow you to automate boring, time-consuming tasks so you can get back to…
How a Bottom-Up Budget Can Transform Your Company From Bottom to Top
The first time I managed a marketing budget, I was handed a dollar figure and asked to accomplish X, Y, and Z with it. The following year, I was asked to do more with a slightly smaller budget. Sound familiar? While this top-down approach is common, it isn’t the only way to budget. The opposite…
What Are Social Media KPIs? 25 Examples + How to Track Them
Social media KPIs (or key performance indicators) are data-based measures of your progress toward important business goals. Understanding which KPIs matter and how to track them allows you to build and refine an effective social media strategy that supports organizational success. Bonus: Get a free social media report template to easily track and measure performance against…
5 CMO Communication Strategies to Secure CEO Buy-in
As I‘ve moved up in my marketing career, I’ve realized how important it is to be on the same page as the CEO. In this recent episode of Marketing Against the Grain, we explore this topic and offer tips for enhancing your communications with executive leadership. Here are five actionable insights that CMOs and marketing…
Instagram Automation: What You Should Automate + Tools [2024]
Instagram automation: Should you try it? Will it get you in trouble with the algorithms, or will it help grow your audience? The answer is: It depends. There are perfectly legitimate ways to automate Instagram posts. But there are also shady tools that can result in warnings about automated behavior. Here, we’ll show you how…
I Tested 6 AI Tools for Graphic Design, Here Are My Favorites
Graphic design has come a long way since I started in the arts nearly a decade and a half ago. Improvements in tools like Photoshop or my personal favorite, Procreate, from then to now have helped remove creative roadblocks and speed up the design process. Then, user-friendly design tools like Canva have made design more…
How to Level Up as a Marketer in the AI Era (The Right Way)
I can’t lie — I’ve been feeling a little AI-fatigued lately. But the reason everyone’s still talking about AI is because it’s not going away anytime soon. The reality is it’s changing the way we work as marketers. Our State of AI report shows that more than half of marketers (60%) are using AI tools…
How to Create an Effective Facebook Ads Strategy in 2024
Facebook is a dominant force in social media advertising. Most marketers say it consistently delivers a better ROI than any other social media platform. As a chief content curator, I’ve created many Facebook ads, and I can attest to this. The platform’s sophisticated targeting options make it an incredibly effective tool for reaching my audience….