Best practices for answer engine optimization (AEO) marketing teams can't ignore A few months back, I was having a bit of a professional identity crisis. And it’s all thanks to answer engine optimization (AEO) and AEO best practices. Before 2024, I spent the better part of a decade focused on topping search engine result pages — and, frankly, I was great at it. I knew the ins and outs of keywords, schema, and even technical SEO aspects like site speed. But with the rise of AI, those skills were slowly becoming less urgent, for lack of a better word. (Cue marketer existential panic.) Search and consumer behavior have changed dramatically. While traditional search engines still dominate, people increasingly turn to AI tools like ChatGPT to answer their questions. Heck, with 79% of those who already use AI for search believing it offers a better experience than traditional search engines, even Google has introduced AI overviews to stay competitive. But what about all my SEO glory? This shift demands a new approach. Unfortunately, AEO is generally a mystery to businesses and marketers alike. HubSpot is no exception, but we’re finding our way. We’ve been researching and experimenting with how we produce and format content for AI and loop marketing for almost a year. In this article, I’ll share some of the most critical AEO best practices we’ve uncovered. Table of Contents TLDR What is answer engine optimization (AEO)? Why Answer Engine Optimization Matters Now More...

AI email marketing analytics: 5 performance metrics every marketer should track for revenue growth Email marketing analytics have evolved far beyond open rates and click-throughs. Today’s AI-powered analytics can predict which subscribers are most likely to convert, optimize send times for maximum engagement, and track every dollar of revenue back to specific campaigns. The difference between good and great email marketing often comes down to which metrics you track (and, more importantly, how you act on them). AI email marketing analytics transforms raw data into actionable insights, helping you understand what happened, why it happened, and what’s likely to happen next. Tools like HubSpot Marketing Hub have made this sophisticated analysis accessible through native dashboards and reporting features that automatically surface patterns human analysts might miss. Whether analyzing predictive engagement scores or tracking complex revenue attribution paths, these AI-driven insights help you make smarter decisions faster. In this guide, I’ll explore five essential AI-powered metrics directly impacting your bottom line. Plus, you’ll learn what AI email marketing analytics tools to use and, most importantly, how to use these insights to create email campaigns that consistently drive revenue growth. Table of Contents What is AI email marketing analytics? Pricing Comparison of AI Tools for Social Media Marketing AI Email Marketing Analytics Tools AI Email Marketing Metrics to Track How to Build AI Email Analytics Dashboards Your Team Will Actually Use Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About AI Email Analytics What is...

How to create AI prompts that eliminate bias and increase conversions AI usage is on the rise, especially in marketing. Data from HubSpot’s AI Trends in Marketing report showed that 74% of marketing professionals use AI for their work. With so many marketers using AI, it is important to acknowledge and solve for its known limitations, particularly the biases that are baked into it. As an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant, I am trained to recognize bias when I encounter it. Whenever I review materials and campaigns for clients, I evaluate whether bias, cultural insensitivity, or inappropriate messages have crept into the communications. But, most of the marketers I’ve come across either don’t yet have this skillset or are actively working on developing it. Many often don’t pick up on biases AI produces, which could prove detrimental to marketing efforts and brand reputation if published in the market. To help you use AI more responsibly and effectively, I’ve created some prompts to help you cut out bias. Let’s dive in. The Fundamental Question for Converting More Customers Before we get into actual prompts, it's useful to ensure you are grounded in the fundamental question consumers (especially those from underrepresented and underserved communities) are asking. As consumers evaluate whether or not your brand is right for them, they are seeking to answer this question, either consciously or subconsciously: Is this product for someone like me? Every part of your customer journey serves as an input to producing an answer...

B2C vs. B2B marketing with AI: The industry trends every marketer should know The beauty of freelancing for most of my decade-long career is that I’ve worked on both sides of the B2B and B2C marketing coin. One week, I’m helping a B2B SaaS brand rewrite a whitepaper. The next, I’m deep in campaign planning for a B2C real estate brand. It’s a front-row seat to how marketing works across different verticals. Now, with AI, everything has changed. I’ve heard it in interviews with marketing leads, seen it in the tools people reach for, and felt it in the way teams are organizing their workflows. In this article, I’ll share what I’ve observed, backed by insights from our State of AI in Marketing 2025 report, to compare how B2C and B2B marketers are each leveraging AI and where they’re headed next. Table of Contents How B2C vs B2B Brands Use AI for Content Creation Top AI Tools Leveraged by B2C vs B2B Brands How B2C vs. B2B Leaders Feel About AI Is B2C or B2B embracing AI more quickly?  How B2C vs B2B Brands Use AI for Content Creation Although the use cases of AI are as varied as they come, one thing is clear: AI has become nearly synonymous with content creation. But the way it shows up in B2C versus B2B contexts reveals both strong similarities and subtle differences. And the data from our report makes this very clear. 1. Content...

AI avatars are already here, and these are the trends I’m most bullish on As the founder of AI newsletter Mindstream, I'm constantly thinking about scale, especially when it comes to content. For me, video was the bottleneck. I wanted to show up consistently, but I didn’t want to spend hours filming, editing, or setting up gear. That’s what led me to explore AI avatars. At first, avatars were just an experimental shortcut for businesses. But over time, they became something more: a flexible way to keep things personal without needing to be physically present. Today, savvy teams are already leveraging avatars. Here are six high-impact ways I’ve seen businesses leverage avatars, along with tools that make it easy to get started. 6 Ways Businesses Are Leveraging AI Avatars 1. Short-form Content Creation at Scale Creating video used to be slow and frustrating, especially for small businesses with cash-strapped teams. It took forever to film, edit, subtitle, and polish something enough to actually post it. Now, AI avatars are changing the game. Now, you can write a script and let the tools do the rest. I’ve tested Argil, which is specifically built for short-form creators. Once the avatar is in place, it adds captions automatically and even suggests relevant B-roll based on the topic. I noticed the tool still needed reviewing and tweaking, but I didn’t need to start from scratch. I believe this shift will make daily video publishing possible for teams of any size. What used to...

YouTube, newsletters, and X — the AI workflows that will help you dominate them all Let‘s be honest: if you’re running a business focused on AI tools and you‘re not using AI to grow that business, you’re missing the point entirely. I've been testing AI growth strategies for months now to boost my following across YouTube, X, and my newsletter. These tools aren‘t just speeding up the grunt work. They’re helping me create content that stands out in a sea of generic content. Here are the exact AI-powered workflows, tools, and tips that powered my success. Let's dive in. YouTube Growth Strategies with AI When it comes to growing on YouTube, you need hooks that people feel compelled to click on and content that follows through. While that balance seems tricky, AI can help you get it right. Here’s how AI helped me grow my YouTube channel to over 785,000 subscribers. Thumbnails You can make the most informative, entertaining video of all time. But, if your thumbnail is boring, potential viewers will keep scrolling. Luckily, AI can help you create click-worthy images — no graphic design background required. In the past, I used Stable Diffusion with the Dream Booth add-on to make AI art and add my face to thumbnails. Now, I use Leonardo. This tool has a built-in feature that lets me add my likeness to their system. Now, I can generate thumbnails with my face directly without any extra steps. Here’s another method: ...

AI predictions that will completely change marketing — and life — in 2025 For the past few months, I‘ve been deep in the trenches testing the latest AI models, spending $200 a month on ChatGPT Pro, and building games with AI that would have required entire development teams just months ago. I’ve watched reasoning models solve problems that stump PhD mathematicians. What I’m seeing isn‘t just incremental improvement; it’s a complete phase change. After countless hours testing ChatGPT against Claude, Gemini 2.0, and similar AI competitors, I'm convinced 2025 will be the year AI goes from “cool tool” to “fundamental infrastructure.” Here are my six predictions, as well as tactical steps marketers can take to stay ahead. AI Predictions That Will Change Marketing 1. OpenAI will maintain its lead with major breakthroughs. OpenAI isn’t slowing down. And by the end of 2025, I‘m convinced they’ll be even further ahead of the competition, especially for power users who need the absolute best performance. While the o3 model may be o1 with more compute, the real breakthrough is how it uses reasoning during inference. That’s what sets it apart. I think we'll see something like Orion — a new, larger base model — launched by year’s end. Sam Altman has hinted AGI is coming in 2025, and honestly, by my definition, Pro mode already qualifies as a kind of basic AGI. Once these models combine fast response with deep reasoning, most people will call that AGI, and it will...

How I used ChatGPT-o3 to plan an entire marketing campaign during one plane ride In an hour, ChatGPT-o3 can make you dozens of high-level marketing graphics — the kinds of campaigns that would take some teams weeks to complete. And the graphics aren’t just a first draft starting point. They’re final assets ready to run. I tested this out on a recent flight and managed to create an entire 2025 marketing campaign in about an hour. Brainstorming. Prompt writing. Graphics generation and iteration. ChatGPT has evolved from a simple productivity tool into a high-level creative and strategic partner. The new ChatGPT equation for AI-savvy marketers is this: deep research + your brand standards + o3-generated prompt + in-app editing = full graphics pipeline. I’m going to show you exactly how that looks and offer tips that I found make this process much more effective. Why ChatGPT-o3 Is a Game Changer ChatGPT-o3 was released at the end of 2024, and OpenAI has shared big upgrades in 2025. To me, o3 feels very human, and I’m having a ton of fun with the leap forward in image generation. There’s a tangible magic for marketers. Let’s look at the under-the-radar features of ChatGPT-o3 that should be common knowledge, plus some use cases for 4o image generation. Improved Prompting You’ve probably heard many times that AI is only as good as the prompts you give it. Focus on these two things with o3: self-prompting and context. I think o3 is a fantastic prompt...

I tested 2025's most realistic AI voice tools — here’s what blew me away AI voice technology has been moving fast for a while now. But recently, it feels like we‘ve shifted into a completely different gear. We’re not just talking about smoother narration or cleaner text-to-speech anymore. These tools are starting to sound like actual people, with emotions, personalities, and conversational quirks that can genuinely fool you. I wanted to see how far things had come, so I spent the last few weeks testing six of the most advanced AI voice tools available. Not just to see which one’s “best,” but to understand what they can actually do — where they’re useful now, and where they’re clearly heading next. Here's what I learned and what it means for anyone creating content, building creative campaigns, or just trying to stay ahead of the marketing curve. The Top 6 AI Voice Tools That Actually Matter for Marketers Right Now There are a ton of AI voice tools out there, but most don’t move the needle. These six did. Some are surprisingly usable right now. Others just made me rethink what’s possible. I tested all of them hands-on and tried to break them a little — here’s what stood out. 1. Sesame: The Emotionally Intelligent Conversationalist Source Sesame is a conversational AI voice platform backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital, and Matrix Founders. It focuses on emotionally intelligent dialogue, and it’s one of the few tools that actually delivers...