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Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Guide

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Media monitoring helps organizations stay informed about what’s being said across online news, print, broadcast, podcasts, and other media channels. Whether you're tracking brand mentions, measuring PR performance, monitoring competitors, or identifying emerging trends, our expert guides, best practices, and industry insights will help you build a smarter media monitoring strategy and make more informed communications decisions.

Discover expert media monitoring guides, best practices, and industry insights to track brand mentions, monitor competitors, and stay ahead of the news.

Media Monitoring: Guides, Best Practices & Industry Insights

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.

Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?

The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

How do customers interact with my newly launched product?

How do I increase the productivity of my employees?

How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?

We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.

So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.

But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!

But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.

We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.

Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

AI adoption is no longer the challenge—trusted context is. Most organizations have AI tools, but many still rely on disconnected, stale, or unverified data, limiting the quality and trustworthiness of AI-generated outputs. Meltwater MCP brings trusted, real-time intelligence into AI assistants.

Your Best Context is Already in the Room

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIn to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

What Is Data Analytics?
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.
Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.
Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

Over the past two months, the coronavirus pandemic has developed into what UN Secretary-General António Guterres described as the “greatest test”  the global community has faced since World War II. Indeed, news of the situation has largely been bleak: On Wednesday, April 15th, the total number of recorded Covid-19 cases has surpassed two million globally with over 130,000 deaths. Furthermore, recent statistics show that the virus has already spread to 210 states, while the UK, Brazil and Russia have become the latest countries facing major outbreaks.

Nevertheless, recent news also suggest glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel. Several countries that were hit hardest have now overcome the peak of the virus, while others show signs of success in ‘flattening the curve’ of new daily infections. In Asia, China and South Korea, and Taiwan have now been able to contain the spread of the virus and are getting busy restarting the economy. In Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the country would cautiously start lifting the lockdown measures, with Spain and Italy announcing similar steps of allowing a fraction of non-essential workers to return to work and small businesses to reopen. The USA, which has been hit hardest by the pandemic, is also showing signs that social distancing and other measures have been successful in reducing new infections.

With these positive developments in mind, businesses are naturally looking forward to the prospects of reopening and returning to ‘normalcy’. This hope in a quick V-shaped snapback or recovery, however, may be wrongly placed.  Just like World War II reshuffled the global power-deck and ushered in major social change, many experts have warned that the coronavirus pandemic will similarly bring about a ‘new normal’ in which governments and businesses alike will be challenged to adapt to an unprecedented post-pandemic reality. As such it is vital for businesses and organizations to understand how the business landscape will change and consider various strategies in overcoming these challenges. 

By tracking relevant news and analysing key trends on social media, we can shed some light on critical forecasts for the near and long-term future and uncover key strategies that can help businesses overcome this crisis and adapt to imminent change.

Until Vaccines Are Developed, COVID-19 is Here to Stay.

To plan for the near future, it is important to understand how long the coronavirus will continue to pose a threat to society. One possible answer to this question can be found in the article “How the Pandemic Will End” written by Ed Yong, a science journalist at The Atlantic. Since its publication on March 25th, the article has been shared over one million times on Twitter and Facebook and received widespread praise by several high profile people, including former US President Barack Obama, who holds the most followed account on Twitter (115 Million Followers). Yong provides an overview of the likely scenarios the world will be facing in the coming months and argues that the only viable endgame to the pandemic is to “play whack-a-mole with the coronavirus” suppressing it until a vaccine can be produced”. This process, he believes, would be long and complicated and could take up to 18-24 months, during which new waves of outbreaks are likely to arise. In his most recent article “Our Pandemic Summer” which is also gaining significant media traction (Over fifty thousand shares since April 15th), Yong highlights several challenges to restarting businesses in the near future, including that rushing to reopen without proper measures could lead to a false sense of security in employers. As such it is imperative that businesses approach the reopening of their operations in a steady and methodical way. 

With strict quarantine and stay-at-home orders enacted by governments around the world, many companies have adopted remote-work policies to keep operations running. This has been particularly apparent within social media coverage: With over 220,000  combined mentions since the beginning of March, the hashtags #workfromhome and #workingfromhome have surged and are some of the most used keywords during the pandemic. With the development of a viable vaccine still many months away, it is unlikely that many big businesses are able to have their employees back in the office at full capacity soon and without strict measures. In fact, many experts and professionals believe that working from from home could remain even after the crisis has passed as many companies were pleasantly surprised to find that online-only operations have worked well. Global Workplace Analytics predicted that 30 percent of people will work from home multiple days per week within a couple of years, while research and advisory firm Gartner noted that there has been a surge in demand by companies asking to put remote work solutions in place. As one Gartner analyst summarised it: “It’s an old-school mentality to think you have to have a presence in an office and [...] once people adjust to working from home, they actually do more work”.

Reading Tip: Does Working From Home Work for PR and Marketing Agencies?

If working from home is to become a stable part of operations for businesses, employers will be forced to think about adopting new and innovative processes and technologies to try and make up for benefits of working in a shared office space. Social media coverage suggests that this is already happening: With over 20,000 mentions between 1 March to 15 April, the hashtag #futureofwork has been trending during the pandemic, with viral posts showing that several tech companies have focused on the development of innovative tools to be used for work, including Holographic teleconferencing to make up for the loss of face-to-face interactions when working remotely. While these technologies are still in development, companies, for now, are increasingly turning to video call services such as Zoom, Skype, and Google Hangouts for internal communication. 

In particular, Zoom has had a remarkable boost in popularity during the crisis. Since the beginning of March, Zoom has been mentioned in over 630,000 posts on Twitter and Facebook, which is significantly higher than Skype’s 200,000 and Google Hangouts’ 25,000 mentions. With the top hashtags including #workfromhome, #wfh and #webinar, it suggests that Zoom has become a stable part of work for many employees’. This surge in popularity however didn’t come without criticism, spikes in coverage at the beginning of April showed that social media users had picked up on news revealing serious security and privacy issues as Zoom didn’t use end-to-end encryption for its video calls, which resulted in numerous incidents where hackers and trolls were able to disrupt private video calls. In response, governments from India, Taiwan and Singapore as well as major companies like Tesla, Google, and Siemens have recently banned its employees from using Zoom. While Zoom itself has promised to fix the issues and even hired the ex-security chief of Facebook to help, this story suggests that privacy has become of increased importance for businesses in their quest to create and incorporate new technologies into their operations.  

During a pandemic, strong measures around safety are, of course, key for businesses to restart operations. Naturally, implementing social distancing in the office, conducting routine temperature checks, and providing disinfectants and facemasks are essential to keeping employees safe. But these measures alone will not be sufficient to overcome the new challenges of the post-pandemic world and businesses with more traditional business models will be forced to make more structural changes to stay afloat. Creating a more agile business model through digitization or pursuing strategies to cater to emerging demands will be key for future survival.

Several experts have argued that those companies that are fast-tracking digital transformation will be the ones staying ahead of the competition. Many recent events, such as Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference going virtual, suggest that some companies are already moving in that direction. McDonald’s, for example, has been working on its digital transformation even before the Covid-19 Pandemic emerged. Its efforts to stay agile and integrate technology into daily business operations has paid off as it was particularly well prepared to weather and adapt to the coronavirus outbreak. During the height of the coronavirus outbreak in China, its food franchises have implemented no-contact delivery services to ensure the safety of both customers and employees. The installation of digital kiosks in its stores also helped to make ordering food more efficient and limit person-to-person interaction. It has also continued to develop and improve its mobile app to provide more customer-friendly services and is using big-data analysis to determine the peak business hours and learn customer habits.

2. Catering to New Demands - Uber’s move from ride-sharing to labour-sharing

The post-pandemic economy in many countries will likely look very different than before and certain industries will struggle and may not survive if they don’t cater their businesses model to new demands. Several studies are already predicting which sectors consumers will turn to. In Southeast Asia for example sectors expected to benefit from increased consumer spending are likely healthcare, pharmaceutical, consumer electronics, logistics, sports/body wellness and education. As such, brands may need to actively look how to tap into these sectors. 

A great example of a company catering to new demand has been Uber. With social distancing measures in place, sharing closed spaces such as cars with strangers is and will be avoided by many people around the world in the near and long-term future. Consequently, demand for ride-hailing companies like Uber has dived significantly, with reports showing that journeys managed by the Uber app in the US have fallen by 94%. However, the company has found a new way to adapt its operations to this new business environment. Earlier in April, it announced the launch of ‘Work Hub’, to help drivers find alternative gig work as demand for rides has plummeted. Through the Work Hub, Uber drivers can connect with three Uber platforms: Uber Eats (food deliveries), Uber Freight (trucking), and Uber Works (blue-collar temp shifts)”. Drivers are even allowed to respond to openings of several external companies looking to hire, including McDonald's, PepsiCo, UPS, and 7-Eleven. Forbes wrote that the move from ride-sharing to labour-sharing could mark the beginning of Uber’s long-term expansion into all kinds of work, which is likely to be in high demand in a post-COVID-19 economy: “By moving into general casual and temporary work with its Work Hub, Uber is signalling the direction that the rest of the gig economy is likely to travel in the medium- and long-term”. 

Looking ahead: Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

The coronavirus pandemic has ushered in a time of unprecedented uncertainty. It is difficult to determine exactly what the future holds and how the world will look like when we come out of this. No doubt many businesses and economies will struggle, already we are seeing record new unemployment claims in the USA, while China has reported its first GDP decline in Q1 since 1992. Nevertheless, what the crisis has shown is that governments which acted quickly and decisively and used innovative solutions to confront the threat were able to prevent the loss of countless lives and stop their economies from spiraling into disaster. It is imperative that businesses do the same by continuing to look ahead, adapt to new realities, and keep a can-do attitude. 

The Road to Recovery: Strategies for the Post-COVID 19 Era

How Has Covid-19 Changed the Future of Marketing? 7 Expert Opinions

It’s no secret that we live in an increasingly digital world, but the COIVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend exponentially. According to Social Media Today, people have spent 20% more time in apps during this pandemic than they did during the same time period last year.

A similar study by DataReportal revealed that 4.57 billion people now use the internet, a 7% YoY increase. 

In addition to spending more time online and in apps, consumers’ online attitudes, behaviors, and purchasing habits have changed. According to Accenture, one of the new buying behaviors that has developed during this  “new normal” is that people are spending more online. 

So, what do these shifts in consumer behavior and attention mean for us marketers? How do we adapt in the long term? What changes need to be made to marketing strategies in the short term? And, how do you join the online conversation in an appropriate way? 

In this blog, we will hear seven industry experts’ answers to these questions as we explore how this pandemic has affected the future of the marketing industry.

Jenn Herman, Social Media and Instagram Marketing Expert, JennsTrends

Kate Adams, Vice President of Marketing, Drift

Connor Cirillo, Head of Conversational Marketing, HubSpot

Mark Kilens, Vice President of Content and Community, Drift

Lilach Bullock, Content Marketing and Social Media Expert

Michelle Garrett, Founder of Garrett Public Relations

Let’s take a look at what they had to say...

Jenn Herman, Social Media and Instagram Marketing Expert, JennsTrends 

Q: Will brands need to re-adjust their marketing strategy over the long-term in addition to the short-term changes we’re currently seeing? 

Jenn Herman: Some brands may and others may not. What COVID has taught many companies is that you have to be online to have those communications with your audience. And the longer this stretches out, the more this online and virtual connection becomes a part of our normal means of communicating. We'll likely see more companies offering online tutorials or virtual trainings or saving money on expensive live events in lieu of an online broadcast. For those companies that were already using social media strategically and consistently to connect with their audiences, they won't have to evolve very much to meet this demand and shift. But, for those brands that weren't relying on social media as a consistent means of communication, they are definitely going to have to examine their social media strategies to determine how they can be more effective. 

Q: What does this pandemic mean for your social media strategy?   

Jenn Herman: If your strategy has been casual at best, or if you didn't even have one, you're definitely going to want to change that. You'll need to determine WHY you really want to use social media first of all. Are you looking for brand awareness? Are you looking to build relationships and conversations? Are you looking to increase sales? Your goals may be one or more of these but until you know what you want to achieve with social media efforts, nothing you do will get you there. Once you know your "why", you can start figuring out your "how". If your goal is to increase online sales, that's great. But that doesn't mean every post is a sales promotion. Far from it. You'll need a mix of content that offers value to the audience (tutorials and tips). You'll need some fun "fluff" content meant purely to keep engagement (likes, etc.) up. You'll need trust-building content with stories about your brand, your employees, your product choices, etc. And then you can throw in the sales pitch. But if you don't have all the different pieces of content that keep your engagement up and serve your audience, they'll never see nor take action on those promotional posts you keep forcing out there. 

Q: What does this mean for the marketing industry as a whole?  

Jenn Herman: Marketers have to stop "marketing" and start talking. We've all seen how every commercial on tv right now is a generic intro of soft music followed by "in these unprecedented times" and "we're here for you" in some slight variation. But they're all the same. And people are over it. The brands that come out on social media and talk real and honest are those that are most likely to survive. The ones celebrating moms who are doing everything they did before and now 10 times more work—they're content is getting praise and getting shared. The more that brands can embrace the reality of what their audience is experiencing and create content and ads that speak to that reality, the more success they'll have overall, especially on social media. 

Kate Adams, Vice President of Marketing, Drift 

Q: How has COVID-19 changed the future of events?

Kate Adams: One thing I am trying to do now is create a bulletproof plan so that we don’t have to go through a giant revision in the future. There won’t be any in-person events planned for the rest of the year and beyond. 

When talking about the number of events, it’s a paradigm of quality and quantity. Event exhaustion happens in these giant five-day webinars. You have to figure out how to make it different to get attention. Why do I have to be here or listen to the on-demand version? 

And it’s not going to be all COVID-19 related content! We are looking at this shift as our new normal; this is just how it will be. So, we will double down on the things that are definitely going to happen, and capitalize on the things that can happen, create and craft messaging around different buyers, and create a sense of urgency within our messaging.

Q: How has COVID-19 changed the way marketers work? 

Kate Adams: We are seeing people find new buyers for their solutions. For example, webinar solutions and platforms now have field marketers inquiring about their services. This probably would never have happened pre-COVID. 

People are also trying to figure out how to pivot according to this new buyer persona and understand all of the different new use cases for their solutions. This is because people are using their products, like webinar platforms, in ways we can’t imagine—and couldn't have a few months ago. 

Now the question is: Do we double down on these new personas or stay on the path we’ve always been on? You’ll also want to know if this is healthy, recurring revenue you see from these new buyer personas before making any type of decision. 

The stories marketers should be looking for are likely in your data, but if you aren't’ digging them up, you are missing out on an opportunity that will allow you to not only survive but also thrive. 

Q: Any examples of brands you have seen done a good job?

Kate Adams: Direct to consumer brand, Uber, had a commercial for not using their ride-sharing. That was an interesting play. There was no benefit for them to do that, and they used that as an opportunity to show empathy and show overall good in the world.

Amazon has shown how they care for their employees and how to keep them safe, by even showing the insides of their logistics facilities, which they wouldn’t probably do normally. From a brand perspective, it’s a different way of telling a story about how you are responding to COVID-19.

 Q: What effect do you believe COVID-19 will have on the marketing industry?

Connor Cirillo: While a lot of behavior will go back to normal at some point, content consumption likely won't go down. More people consuming more content over more time means more opportunity for brands. Prospects are hungry for helpful content that helps them be a better professional or person. 

Brands that are creating value up-front are building loyal audiences. That loyalty will pay off long-term, even if the audience isn't in a position to buy right now. In general, brands will need to rethink how they attract prospects. Helpful and human content will become a staple for that. It doesn't have to be studio-quality either, which is an interesting shift. We're now more forgiving and empathetic to "being human" than we used to be. When getting started, it can be as low-budget as a good webcam and hitting "record". Loom is a tool I use often to do this, but there are several other Loom alternatives as well that do the same thing.

This evolution will bleed into marketing as a whole. The great brands that emerge and take off in the next few years will do so because they're human. In this pandemic, we've come to value empathy and honesty. 

Look at the social media channels you're using and your tone there. Are you talking like your customer does? Do they know why they should build a relationship with your brand? To do that, brands will need a 360-degree view of their audience. There are a ton of CRMs — including HubSpot — to help see and orchestrate your channels together. 

Now is the time to figure out how you'll use emerging channels, too. People are using messaging channels (SMS, Messenger, and WhatsApp) more than ever before. If you can design great conversations and add value there, then your audience will want to hear from you. For this, I love a tool like Twilio.

Q: Q: What effect do you believe COVID-19 will have on the marketing industry? 

Joe Pulizzi: The most innovative brands will be focusing on building audiences for long-term success. So yes, brands must alter their strategies to focus on delivering valuable communications to their customers on a consistent basis (not just touting products). This could be a podcast, video series, blog, event series, etc.

Brands have learned the hard way during this pandemic that customer relationships matter. That means we communicate value consistently...we focus on helping customers first...whatever it takes. Hopefully, if done well, they'll buy what we have to offer.

Joe Pulizzi: Strategy means choosing. So, for social, a strategy means killing off channels that don't provide real value. It means choosing which channels we are best suited for and which channels we have no business being a part of. Just like our products, if they really aren't of value, we stop producing them. This is the same with social media.

I see more brands focusing on one or two channels they excel at and discarding the others or simply using them as customer service or feedback channels.

Joe Pulizzi: I believe we are about to see a movement toward marketing as a profit center. Instead of the traditional cost center that most organizations view marketing as the new marketing department will be in charge of creating and growing different audience segments. Those audiences will be able to generate many different kinds of revenue, from selling core products to increasing loyalty, to event sponsorship programs and paid subscriber relationships. Companies like Red Bull, Amazon, and Arrow Electronics are already doing this. More will follow.

Mark Kilens, Vice President of Content and Community, Drift 

Q: What effect do you believe COVID-19 will have on the marketing industry?

Mark Kilens: We are now seeing this movement into a knowledge-based economy. As a marketer, you have to make sure your website is recognized and maintained in a way that it is the most important asset that you own. How people pay attention and engage with websites is changing and it is critical to understand. 

Some important questions you should be asking yourself are: How do you attract someone to your business these days? How do you then build an ongoing relationship with online tools? My answer to these is building that one-to-one relationship, through real-time engagement, creating helpful content, and being empathic and genuine. As a brand, you need to go back to your personas and how they have changed. Re-do them. Do some persona research and the “who”, should be redone and updated. 

So how do you do it in a one-to-one way? Live chat, live video, and virtual events. Also partnerships with businesses in your space, community building. Long term community building in the digital world is super important. 

Q: What does this pandemic mean for a marketing team’s social media strategy?

Mark Kilens: On social media, your tone as a brand has shifted. Now it’s about knowing that everyone is going through something different and being respectful of that. You have to be compassionate these days. Not talking so much about you. It should be 50% about other people. 

Q: How does this change the marketing industry as a whole? 

Mark Kilens: Marketers need to be more selfless. Shifting marketing to be more of servant leadership. It's an opportunity to think about the “who” again and focusing less on you, and thinking more about the value. How do you as a marketer help someone see value with your solution or content? That's a marketing job. It’s much more about education and relationships.  

Lilach Bullock, Content Marketing and Social Media Expert, Speaker

Q: Will brands need to re-adjust their marketing strategy over the long-term in addition to the short-term changes we’re currently seeing?

Lilach Bullock: The COVID-19 crisis has such a huge and far-reaching impact worldwide that it’s not only going to influence marketing strategies right now—but for a long time coming. 

Considering the economic impact of this crisis—and the fact that we don’t know what the future will bring, more so than ever—businesses need to rethink their marketing strategies for the long term. 

This doesn’t mean that you should cut down too much on your marketing budget; rather, you should take a good look at your data and find out what your best channels are and focus your attention on those core channels. However, this depends largely on your industry—some could thrive even in a recession (in which case, they should even consider increasing their marketing budgets), while others will struggle greatly. 

It’s also important to understand that people’s buying habits and spending power have changed as well—and they could very well continue to change as the effects of COVID-19 on our health and the world economy spread now and in the future. This too should impact the way we market our products and services, placing a bigger focus on the products and services that people are likely to buy during these times.

Michelle Garrett, Founder of Garrett Public Relations 

Michelle Garrett: It seems as though COVID-19 is going to change marketing as we know it. The focus on digital must be there. As we’ve seen throughout this crisis, the only reliable way for consumers to shop has been online. So the focus on digital will continue to increase. 

Q: What does this mean for your social media strategy? 

Michelle Garrett: As people were quarantining at home, brands had a captive audience with more time on its hands, meaning that more people than ever have been using social media. I know I’ve seen an uptick in interest from clients when it comes to social—I’m sure that many brands are now understanding more clearly than ever that social is not a “nice to do” marketing element but a MUST. 

Q: What does this mean for the marketing industry as a whole?

Michelle Garrett: Marketers need to move away from “salesy” campaigns to more human, empathic messaging. Many wise marketers were already aware of this pre-COVID, but I think now we see that the old ways weren’t working—and they won’t work in our marketing future. It’s time to shift our thinking toward humans and remember that’s who’s buying our products and services. 

As our world continues to shift, innovation and community building will play an even more important role for marketers. Understanding the data, providing empathy, and listening will be our main objectives in our new online environment. 

As Kate Adams from Drift said, “We are looking at this shift as our new normal; this is just how it will be.”  Marketing teams should be evaluating the long-term implications of this crisis and what they can be doing to thrive in this type of environment. 

In the meantime, Adams also shared some inspiring words for marketers struggling to adapt: "Too many marketers say this pandemic is tough and make excuses for their efforts. In times of adversity, I have done some of my best work. In times of abundance, it doesn't force you out of your comfort zone. I think about this as an opportunity and a challenge. You want us to achieve this pipeline target? Sure thing, let's do it. It's our job as leaders to protect our team and grow our business."

To keep learning how brands are responding to COVID-19, read our most recent blog. Interested in how Meltwater can help your social media, PR or marketing efforts? We’d love to hear from you and learn how we can help.

When a customer opens your email, they usually skim it for relevant information. Subscribers typically read the first line, check out the picture and glance at your Call-to-Action (CTA). That’s why creating a compelling CTA is so important. It’s one of the few items within your email that can draw attention and encourage the reader to act.

What makes one CTA better than another when it comes to affecting your conversion rate? We’re glad you asked. To help distinguish between good and bad calls to action, we’ve created a list of CTAs that sell, and a list that repels. At the end of each list, we explain why they work, or don’t work.

We scoured inboxes and created a list of 50 CTAs that sell, and broke them up by category.

All of the calls to action are descriptive and provide enough information for subscribers to act. You don’t even need to read the entire email to understand its purpose.

Calls to action should encourage an instant reaction. All of the CTAs above use urgent language to do just that. Words like “now,” “today” and “limited time offer” show a need to act immediately.

There are a few traditional calls to action like “shop now” and “read this post,” but the list also has quite a few original ideas too. For example, “Love to share? Please do” isn’t a call to action that you see every day. It’s okay to think out-of-the-box and be creative when you write a call to action.

Now for the not-so-great calls to action. Here’s a list of 10 CTAs that could repel your customers.

Most of the calls to action on this list don’t provide any real information. For example, what does the CTA “continue” mean? Is it encouraging a customer to continue to a website? Is a customer supposed to continue shopping? Or should a subscriber continue on to a brand’s Facebook page? There just isn’t enough information to inspire a customer to act. CTAs play an important role in the UX sphere, helping drive people to their next action but they can't get there when a challenge or obstacle is in the way. In this instance it's a lack of clarity. 

The call to action “Get our custom report” focuses on the business, not the customer. A CTA should focus on the customer. In this case, it’s better to explain how the report helps a customer. For example, “Download now to increase your traffic” defines the value of the report to the customer. By getting specific about what you're offering them in exchange for their action, they can progress to the next stage and feel like they're important to your brand as opposed to another number, while you focus on your business. 

Some of the calls to action are just bad habits. You don’t need to tell customers to “click here” anymore; everyone understands the concept of clicking on a link.

You want customers to act quickly so why would you ever use a CTA that says “get it later?”

You don’t need to write out your entire website address. Instead, just create a CTA that says, “Learn more on our website" and link to it appropriately. This will help you in terms of search results, which factor in the words you hyperlink from various channels. 

Any sell sheet without an effective CTA is missing a huge opportunity. These simple yet targeted phrases or links are directly responsible for encouraging your audience to take the next step toward becoming a buyer of your product. Without a CTA, your sell sheet will amount to little more than an unprofitable writing exercise. Here are some tips that I have developed from my product marketing experiences that will help improve the response rate to your sell sheet:

Put your CTA in the appropriate place on your sell sheet. On a product’s sell sheet, the CTA will typically be included with the company’s information, and with the physical details of the product. It might be included in a list of items, or in a separate text box, or simply lined-up on the bottom of the page.

Keep CTA text short, simple, and actionable

It doesn’t need to be long or complicated. Keep it as simple and attention-grabbing as possible. Your buyers don’t have time to be wasting trying to figure our what to do to get more information about your product.

On the printed version of your sell sheet, make sure that the links are short and easy to follow, not long and complicated. On the PDF version of your sell sheet, make sure that all of the links are live and that readers can click-through. You can even incorporate CTA buttons on PDFs, pop-ups or opt-in pages. 

Don’t just send them to your landing page

On the sell sheets for my books, for example, I simply tell them that my books are available from “B&T” and “Ingram”. Every book buyer at every library, university book store and library, and every bookstore retailer knows exactly what this means, and within minutes can order my books. I also list “Amazon” so that the general public can get more information and buy my books.

I also offer an email address for more information, as well as my publisher’s website address. All very simple and effective. Your users don't have to be a website visitor of yours in order to acquire your products. Plus, it's easier for them to order your product from a third-party sometimes and that's okay. Website traffic isn't the be all and end all if it's not the best place for the user to go to. 

Calls to Action: 50 That Sell and 10 That Repel

As we continue to lead in media intelligence across the globe, we, at Meltwater, are honored to hold an elite place as one of the Top 50 Best Products for Marketers 2020, recently announced by the independent reviewer, G2. 

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Marketing

The Road to Recovery: Strategies for the Post-COVID 19 Era

How Has Covid-19 Changed the Future of Marketing? 7 Expert Opinions

Calls to Action: 50 That Sell and 10 That Repel

Meltwater Named One of the Top 50 Best Products for Marketers in 2020

5 Steps to Building a Nonprofit Campaign

Make Your Presence Felt: The PR and Content Marketing Guide to Productive Events

JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and more double down on tech innovation

How to Connect With Your Audience in the Digital Age

Infographic: Supercharge Your Marketing with Statistics

4 Traits of the Modern Marketer

What Do We Actually Mean by ‘Mobile First’?

The 6 Principles of Persuasive Communication

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