Marketing

3 Ways To Improve Any Ad in Minutes

Phill Agnew — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

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

Back in 2015, I worked for a medium-sized British software company. My job was to increase the number of leads we generated from our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts.

To help, I was handed around £5,000 and asked to create a few click-worthy Facebook ads.

Feeling a little short on inspiration, I Googled "best ads of all time."

Here’s what I saw.

The "Think small." ad is considered the best ad of the 20th century (Ad Age). It’s tremendous. It broke the norms for newspaper advertising with an overwhelming amount of white space that caught attention and challenged the industry norms, showcasing the car’s unusually small design as a benefit, not a drawback.

But it didn’t help me come up with a lead magnet Facebook ad. My ideas were lousy.

Turns out, staring at great ads didn’t help me create great ads.

Instead, I should have learned the psychology behind great ads, which can provide simple tips anyone can use to make an ad more effective.

In the eight years since, I’ve interviewed dozens of ad experts on Nudge and now have three scientifically proven tactics I use whenever I’m creating an ad.

So, time to stop staring at the Volkswagen, and instead try following this simple advice.

Scientifically Proven Tactics for Creating an Ad (With Examples)

1. Create scarcity.

Back in 2019, KFC Australia ran a promotion. Chips for $1 across Australia.

To promote the offer, KFC devised a giant Facebook experiment. They created 90 different promotional messages, including creative copy like:

The Colonel has never been so generous, chips for a dollar.

Loved from Perth to Brisbane. They’re just $1.

Australia’s favorite chips for just $1.

All 90 different variations were published on Facebook ads in one mammoth experiment to see which was most effective.

Each of the ads was shown to thousands of Aussies, and the KFC team measured how many clicks each individual ad received.

The ad that won was deceivingly simple. It read:

"Chips for $1. Limited to four per customer."

Out of all 90 variations, this got the most clicks and drove the most sales. But why? KFC was limiting the promotion. KFC restricted the amount customers could buy.

So, why did it drive sales?

It’s due to scarcity.

By limiting the amount available, KFC made the chips seem like a scarce resource. We’re wired to prefer scarce resources over abundant resources.

When we read that the chips are limited to four per customer, we quickly assume the deal must be good — why else would KFC limit it?

This experiment shows that scarcity will often beat the most creative ad slogans.

So, with the ad you’re creating, try to add a bit of scarcity. Perhaps limit the amount a customer can buy. Maybe you should display low stock levels or a limited-time offer.

Do it ethically and truthfully and you’ll probably create a better ad.

2. Leave a letter out.

In a 2020 study by Leo Burnett, Mike Treharne, and Richard Shotton (cited in Richard’s book), participants were shown ads with brand names containing missing letters, for example, "HS_C."

It was obvious to readers that the bank was HSBC, but by removing one letter, the ad became more engaging. And thus more effective.

Shotton, Treharne, and Burnett found that brand names with missing letters were 14% more memorable.

This is due to the generation effect.

By removing one of the letters from the brand name, the viewer is forced to think to find the answer.

It’s not hard. Everyone in the study knew that the bank was HSBC, but that extra bit of engagement made the ad more effective.

The charity Cancer Research UK has applied this exact principle in some of their ads.

They ran this major billboard campaign.

It takes viewers just a second to discover the answer is OBESITY. But that extra bit of engagement made the ad more memorable.

The American Red Cross has found a smart way to apply this same bias.

They removed the letters A, B, and O from their ad to highlight the need for those blood types and create a memorable ad.

The jumbled slogan forces the viewer to pay attention and makes the ad more effective.

In the lab, it’s shown to boost memorability.

And I reckon, it’s worth testing out yourself in your ads.

Try using incomplete brand names in your marketing materials, introduce quizzes or puzzles in your ad design, or test an interactive ad format that requires some form of user input.

It’s proven to make your ad more memorable.

What Makes an Ad Memorable?

3. Ask a question.

Rohini Ahluwalia and Robert Burnkrant in their 2004 study showed several hundred participants dozens of different ads.

Ahluwalia and Burnkrant wanted to see if certain types of language made for more effective advertising copy.

They found that ads with questions in the copy were rated 14% more favorably than ads without a question.

Simply adding a question mark made the ad more engaging.

The two researchers hypothesized that audiences feel more connected to an ad when it poses a question.

The questions engage the audience, making the ad more effective.

A few years back I tested this exact Nudge ad.

I ran two Reddit ads.

The first ad (the control) had no question attached.

It said, "Ditch boring business podcasts. Try Nudge." Next to that copy, I put a few of my 5-star reviews.

The second ad was identical to the first, except, I added a question.

"Bored of boring business podcasts? Try Nudge."

I found that Ahluwalia and Burnkrant’s finding was real.

The ad with the question was 17% more effective than the control ad.

It drove far more people to my podcast and resulted in many more listeners.

A 17% improvement from changing just two words and adding a question mark is impressive. It shows that questions engage viewers — and they make an ad more effective.

These three tips won’t help you create an award-winning ad. They won’t spark the same creativity behind Volkswagen's "Think small." campaign.

But they will improve your ads. And, they’re simple, actionable steps you can use on any ad to nudge it that bit closer to perfection.

This blog is part of Phill Agnew’s Marketing Cheat Sheet series where he reveals scientifically proven tips to help you improve your marketing. To learn more, listen to his podcast Nudge, a proud member of the HubSpot Podcast Network.

The Top Types of AI-Generated Content in Marketing [New Data, Examples & Tips]

ttaylor@hubspot.com (Tristen Taylor) — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Advancements in artificial intelligence have transformed content creation from a tedious chore into a smooth and efficient process.

With AI handling many manual tasks, marketers need to understand AI-generated marketing content and its benefits to choose the right tools and strategies for their goals.

In this blog post, I’ll dive deeper into the top AI-generated marketing content types, using data from HubSpot’s State of AI survey, which includes insights from over 1,062 U.S. marketers.

I'll also share AI-generated content examples and tips so you can see its potential in action. By leveraging these insights, you can enhance your content strategy and gain a competitive edge.

Table of Contents

Top Content Types for Generative AI
AI-Generated Marketing Content in 2024
AI-Generated Content Marketing Pros and Cons
AI-Generated Content Marketing Tips

1. Emails and Newsletters (47%)

46% of marketers regularly use AI to produce marketing content, including emails.

Catching your customers' attention through email subject lines is a challenge in itself, and it is even trickier to get them to click open. With the help of AI, marketers can improve their strategy through:

Timing optimization: AI tools can suggest the best time of the day and day of the week to send a particular email based on when the recipient is most likely to engage with the email. This can improve open rates, click-through rates (CTR), and conversions.
Subject line generation: AI can generate effective and catchy subject lines by analyzing past email campaigns, and the subject line's performance. If these tools can create grabby subjects, it could increase open rates.
A/B testing: AI can be used to conduct A/B testing, where two different versions of the same email are sent to a random portion of the audience, and performance is measured. Based on the results of this testing, the best-performing email variant can then be sent to the rest of the audience, to maximize desired metrics.

Here’s an AI-generated email example I created using HubSpot’s AI Email Writer:

2. Social Media Posts (46% for Text-Based, 46% for Video/Audio)

The most popular use for marketers leveraging AI for content is for social media posts, and with good reason.

Social media marketers have to make content their audience will enjoy, and using a content assistant makes managing a social media calendar much easier. Marketers can use AI for social media posts:

Content Creation: AI tools can help generate content ideas, suggest topics, and even write headlines for social media posts. In fact, 43% of surveyed marketers use AI for content creation. Check this AI-generated Facebook post:

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Scheduling and Posting: AI-powered social media scheduling tools can help you automatically post your content at the most effective times and even optimize your content for specific social media platforms.
Audience Analytics: AI can help you better understand your audience through data analysis. This information can then be used to craft more effective and relevant social media posts.

3. Long-Form Content — Blogs, Articles, etc. (46%)

46% of marketing professionals found artificial intelligence tools helpful for writing blog posts. As a writer myself, one of the first thoughts I had when introduced to AI was how it could improve my writing process.

Some of the best uses for AI writing generators in blog posts are:

Efficiency: Marketers can save time and resources by automating various aspects of blog post creation, such as topic generation, research, and even drafting. In fact, 41% of survey respondents use AI to create blog post outlines. This technology can also reduce the time spent on menial tasks like formatting, proofreading, and optimizing content for A1 SEO.
Personalization: AI can analyze customer behavior, preferences, and browsing history to help target blog content to specific audiences. Personalizing blog posts can make the content more relevant to the audience, potentially increasing engagement and conversion rates.

For those looking to improve their blog content creation, look no further than HubSpot's content assistant. This platform feature is a suite of free, AI-powered features that help you ideate, create, and share remarkable content—in a flash.

Furthermore, to make your content creation process even better, HubSpot also has a free Blog Ideas Generator to help you generate engaging content ideas.

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Get started with HubSpot's AI tools

Did you know you can even build a blog post in 10 minutes or less with the help of AI? Here's how.

AI-Generated Marketing Content in 2024

In 2024, AI‘s advancements and its growing presence in marketing is shaking up the marketing industry.

Yet, it’s crucial to navigate the ethical and regulatory challenges to ensure this transformation benefits everyone — businesses and consumers alike.

First off, the market for AI in marketing is booming. A Precedence Research report shows that the global AI market is expected to hit $2.6 billion by 2032, with an annual growth rate of 19%.

This surge is largely thanks to the rising use of generative AI tools, which are now key to creating personalized and scalable content.

On the tech front, AI models like GPT-4 have made leaps in understanding and producing human-like text. This means businesses can now automate content creation across social media, blogs, and email marketing without losing quality.

McKinsey notes that companies aren't just cutting costs but also seeing significant revenue growth from using AI in marketing and sales.

Recent headlines showcase AI's practical wins in marketing.

For instance, HubSpot's 2024 State of Marketing report reveals that marketers are saving 3 hours per content piece and 2.5 hours per day overall.

Moreover, Coca-Cola's AI-generated personalized ads have notably increased reach and consumer engagement, proving the real-world benefits of AI-driven marketing.

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But it's not all smooth sailing.

This rapid adoption of AI brings challenges, especially around data privacy, intellectual property, and the accuracy of AI-generated content.

Our survey found that while half use AI for specific tasks, 46% feel overwhelmed by integrating AI into their workflow.

Six in ten AI-using marketers are wary of biases, plagiarism, or misalignment with brand values. This cautious stance highlights the need to balance AI’s advantages with maintaining brand integrity.

The regulatory landscape is also shifting to keep up with AI. The European Union's proposed AI Act aims to regulate high-risk AI applications, including those in marketing, to ensure ethical practices and protect consumers.

This regulatory push is vital for maintaining trust and preventing AI misuse.

Personally, I find the future of AI-generated marketing content both exciting and complex. AI offers unmatched efficiency and personalization, but it also demands a careful balance of innovation and ethics.

As businesses adopt AI, focusing on transparency, quality control, and human oversight is crucial to harness its potential while avoiding pitfalls.

AI-Generated Content Marketing Pros and Cons

Pro: Efficiency and Scalability

AI-generated content marketing supercharges efficiency and scalability.

With AI tools, you can churn out a huge volume of content in a fraction of the time it would take a human. This is gold for businesses needing a consistent online presence across multiple platforms.

I’ve seen firsthand how AI can generate personalized email campaigns, social media posts, and blog articles quickly and efficiently.

This efficiency frees up my marketing team to focus on strategy and creativity instead of getting bogged down by the grind of content creation.

Automating routine tasks lets us scale our content efforts without expanding our team, which is a massive cost-saving measure.

Con: Quality and Authenticity Concerns

AI-generated content often gets a side-eye for its quality and authenticity.

Even the most advanced AI models can produce content that misses the mark on nuanced understanding and emotional depth, making it feel generic or disconnected.

86% of marketers who use AI to create written content make edits to the content that AI produces, according to the 2024 State of AI in Marketing.

Likewise, I make a point to carefully review and edit whenever my team and I use AI-generated content.

Pro: Personalization

From my perspective, delivering personalized content is the true game-changer in marketing. It allows brands to provide a more relevant and engaging customer experience, which in turn boosts loyalty and sales.

In fact, 72% of marketers who use AI and automation report that it significantly enhances their ability to personalize customer experiences.

Furthermore, 7 in 10 marketers using these technologies believe that AI improves the overall customer experience.

For example, AI can analyze a user's browsing history, past purchases, and interaction patterns to recommend products or craft personalized marketing messages.

This level of insight allows brands to connect with customers on a more intimate level, delivering content that feels tailored and relevant.

Con: Ethical and Privacy Issues

However, AI in content marketing also stirs up ethical and privacy concerns.

AI systems need loads of data to work well, which can lead to data privacy and security issues. There's also the risk of misusing AI-generated content, like creating deepfakes or spreading misinformation.

We must navigate these challenges by implementing robust data protection measures and adhering to ethical guidelines.

Regulations like the European Union’s proposed AI Act and California's Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) impose strict data privacy rules.

This ensures consumers have more control over their personal information, thereby impacting how we use AI in marketing.

Pro: Cost-Effectiveness

The cost-effectiveness of AI in content marketing is a major advantage for marketing teams.

Automating content creation reduces the need for a large team of writers and editors, significantly cutting labor costs.

In fact, 34% of marketers agree on this point. With these savings, resources can be reallocated more efficiently, allowing investment in other critical areas like product development and customer service.

Moreover, AI tools help optimize marketing campaigns, leading to a better return on investment. Nearly 68% of leaders who invested in AI have reported a positive ROI on their investment.

This is particularly beneficial for startups and SMEs looking to maximize their marketing budget.

Con: Greater Dependence on Technology

Over-reliance on AI for content creation can lead to a dependence on technology.

This might stifle critical thinking and creativity in your marketing strategies. If AI systems glitch or produce subpar content, it can disrupt our marketing efforts.

My hot take? While AI is a powerful tool, it should complement—not replace—human creativity and judgment.

We need a balanced approach, leveraging AI for efficiency while ensuring human oversight and creative input remain integral to the content creation process.

Pro: Enhanced Data-Driven Insights

AI-generated content marketing offers superior data-driven insights.

AI tools analyze vast amounts of data to identify trends and behaviors that might not be immediately obvious. These insights inform more effective marketing strategies and allow for precise audience targeting.

I’ve seen how using AI for data analysis provides us with a comprehensive understanding of customer behavior, enabling the creation of highly relevant content that resonates with audiences.

AI can analyze social media interactions and website analytics to predict content performance and tailor our marketing efforts accordingly.

Moreover, AI tools can monitor and analyze our marketing campaigns in real time, allowing for rapid adjustments and optimization based on the latest data insights.

This ensures our marketing strategies stay effective and relevant.

AI-Generated Content Marketing Tips

Treat AI as a collaborator.

As I mentioned before, AI isn't here to replace human creativity — it’s here to enhance it.

Using AI for tasks like keyword research, trend analysis, and content distribution strategies frees up your time for creative work that sets your brand apart.

This collaboration boosts efficiency while maintaining your brand's unique human touch. For instance, I use AI tools like GPT-4 for initial content drafts and data analysis.

Like this:

AI quickly generates trending topics and keywords, which I then tailor to our brand’s voice and add my personal touch. This balances efficiency and creativity, keeping my content authentic and engaging.

Create unique, non-replicable content.

AI-generated drafts are just a starting point. Your final content should reflect our brand’s unique voice and insights, ensuring it stands out and offers real value.

In practice, I use AI to create outlines and drafts, but I always personalize them with my own experiences and viewpoints.

For example, if AI provides an overview of a topic, I enhance it with my analysis, case studies, or SME interviews. This approach differentiates my client's content and builds trust with our audience.

Automate SEO management and content distribution.

For SEO management, I use tools like Clearscope and SurferSEO to quickly identify high-potential keywords and optimize content. These tools provide real-time performance insights, showing me what works and what doesn’t.

Then, by continuously monitoring and adjusting our strategy, my client maintains a strong online presence without getting bogged down in SEO minutiae.

Plus, AI's ability to adapt to changing algorithms ensures our approach stays effective and up-to-date.

On the distribution side, I rely on AI tools to ensure my content reaches the right audience at the right time for maximum impact.

For instance, CoSchedule schedules posts, distributes content across platforms, and optimizes timing based on audience activity.

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This way, I maintain a consistent posting schedule without the manual hassle, boosting my client's engagement and reach.

Use creative AI prompts.

When I'm stuck, using AI prompts often jumpstarts my creative process.

AI might suggest a unique angle on a trending topic or generate a list of related subjects I hadn’t considered.

Think of these AI-generated prompts as a starting point to spark new ideas and overcome writer’s block. While AI can’t replicate human creativity, it can provide the inspiration we need.

Prompts are a two-way street, so you must input effective prompts to get high-quality outputs. Try these:

Trending topics: “Analyze how remote work has transformed team collaboration in the tech industry, focusing on both positive and negative aspects. Include real-world examples of tech companies that have successfully implemented remote work policies, as well as challenges they faced.”
Unique angles: “Investigate the connection between sustainable business practices and brand loyalty among Gen Z consumers. Examine the specific values and expectations of Gen Z regarding sustainability, and how brands can authentically meet these demands.”
Related subjects: “Examine how AI is transforming customer service through improved efficiency and customer satisfaction. Discuss various AI applications such as chatbots, virtual assistants, and predictive analytics. Highlight the key advantages.”

Use AI for Dynamic Content Optimization

Dynamic content optimization involves constantly tweaking your content based on real-time data.

I’ve found HubSpot's AI tools incredibly useful for this—the tool provides insights into how different audience segments interact with our content.

For example, HubSpot‘s analytics revealed that our readers prefer blog posts with case studies and real-life examples. So, I started adding more of these elements, and engagement shot up.

HubSpot’s AI also helps with A/B testing content variations, refining my client’s strategy for the best performance.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in May 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

6 Steps to Create an Outstanding Marketing Plan [Free Templates]

Rebecca Riserbato — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Without planning, marketing can get messy. It’s hard to estimate budget for projects, hiring, and outsourcing over the course of a year — especially if you don't have a marketing plan, email schedule, or social media marketing plan template.

To make creating your plan easier, I've put together a list of what to include. I’ve also compiled a few different strategic marketing plan templates where you can easily fill in the blanks.

In this article, we're going to discuss:

What should a marketing plan include?
Marketing Plan Timeline
How to Create a Marketing Plan
HubSpot’s Free Marketing Plan Template
One-Page Marketing Plan Template
Simple Marketing Plan Generated by AI
Strategy-specific Marketing Plan Templates

What should a marketing plan include? [Marketing Plan Outline]

A marketing plan is a roadmap that businesses like yours use to organize, execute, and track their marketing strategy over a given period.

The marketing plan outline we discuss will help you create an effective plan that easily generates buy-in from stakeholders.

Download This Marketing Plan Outline for Free

Marketing plans can get quite granular depending on your industry and how big your digital presence is. This is true whether you're selling to consumers (B2C) or other businesses (B2B).

Despite these nuances, here are the essentials I’ve found should be present in every marketing plan or marketing planner template:

Business Summary

In a marketing plan, a business summary is exactly what it sounds like — a summary of the organization.

It gives all stakeholders a refresher on your company before delving into the more strategic components of your plan. It also gives them something easily accessible to refer to if they have questions during their review.

At a minimum, most business summaries include:

Company name
Location
Mission statement

Our marketing plan outline also includes information on marketing leadership, which is especially helpful for companies with large marketing teams.

SWOT Analysis

Your marketing plan's business summary should also include a SWOT analysis. This summarizes your business's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT).

Creating a SWOT analysis is an important strategic exercise (and call me a marketing nerd, but I find it fun). It gives everyone involved a clear picture of the environment your business is working in and how it is doing within it.

It’s like a quick therapy or wellness check-up for business. You see where you’re at and perhaps even get to vent a bit before taking steps to improve things.

Including a SWOT in your marketing plan reminds readers of what circumstances are being considered in your strategy.

Pro Tip: In my experience, it’s good to have stakeholders from every section of the business contribute to creating your SWOT analysis so that nothing is overlooked.

To become truly accurate, it requires thorough market research, data analysis, and competitive analysis.

Revisit your SWOT every time you work on your marketing plan, as your audience and competition will inevitably evolve.

Business Initiatives

What is your marketing team working on? What do you want to work on?

Document them in your marketing plan under business initiatives. This section sets the tone for the rest of the document and its strategies.

Be careful not to get bogged down by big-picture company initiatives (i.e., opening a new location in X city or recruiting new talent via the Y platform), which you'd normally find in a business plan.

This section should outline the projects specific to marketing. You‘ll also describe those projects’ goals, which will be measured.

Every initiative should follow the SMART framework for goals — meaning they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

For example, a broad goal might be, “Increase my Facebook following.” But a SMART version could be, “Increase my Facebook following by 30% by June.” See the difference?

Target Market

Next, consider your target market, or the audience you are trying to reach with your marketing messages. This includes your industries and buyer personas.

Industries

If you’re B2B, you’ll want to include a description of the industries your customers typically work in or those where your products or services are used. If you’re B2C, you can disregard this section.

Buyer Personas

A buyer persona is a semi-fictional description of your ideal customer. It focuses on traits like:

Age
Location
Title
Goals
Personal challenges
Pains
Triggering event

It’s a more specific characterization of your target market or the types of people you want to work with.

This section of your marketing plan should just be a brief summary of your greater buyer persona document to remind readers who your initiatives are speaking to.

Competitive Analysis

Your buyer persona has choices regarding solving their problems, the types of solutions they consider, and the providers that can administer those solutions.

A competitive analysis will detail the companies or brands you’re up against, which should be considered in your marketing strategies.

Consider who your competition is, what they do well, and where the gaps are that you can fill. This can include:

Positioning
Market Share
Offerings
Pricing

Our marketing plan template includes space to list the specific products you compete with. You can also include other facets of the other company’s strategy, such as their blogging efforts or customer service reputation.

Keep this part of your plan simple. Your full competitive analysis should be done separately.

Here are a few competitive analysis templates to get started.

Market Strategy

I know what you’re thinking, isn’t this whole plan our marketing strategy? And you’re right to a degree, but this section focuses more on outlining what a brand needs established to go to market.

In our full-length marketing plan outline, the market strategy section contains the “seven Ps of marketing” (or the “extended marketing mix”):

Product
Price
Place
Promotion
People
Process
Physical Evidence

(Note: You'll learn more about these seven sub-components inside our free marketing plan template, which you can download here.)

But it doesn’t simply list these details.

The market strategy in your marketing plan is where all the pieces come together. Your market strategy describes how your company should present itself in the market, keeping in mind its SWOT, competitors, consumers, and goals.

For example, if you found that one of your competitors employs stronger social media marketing strategies, you might add “We'll post 3 times per week on our social media profiles” under “Promotion.”

Budget

When I created my first marketing plan, I confused the marketing budget section with my product's price and other financials. That’s what “price” in your market strategy is for.

This section describes how much money the business has allotted for the marketing team to pursue the initiatives and goals outlined in the elements above.

Depending on how many individual expenses you have, you may want to itemize your budget for clarity. Example marketing expenses include:

Outsourcing costs to a marketing agency and/or other providers
Marketing software
Paid promotions
Events (those you'll host and/or attend)

Remember, your marketing plan only includes a summary of the costs. Keep a separate document or Excel sheet to help you calculate your budget much more effectively. Here’s a marketing budget template to get started.

Marketing Channels

Your marketing plan should also include a list of your marketing channels.

While your company might sell the product using certain ad space, your marketing channels are where you'll publish the content. This content educates your buyers, generates leads, and spreads brand awareness.

If you publish (or intend to publish) on social media, this is the place to discuss it. (We’ll explore social media marketing plan templates that will help you get more granular a little later.)

Our template focuses on digital platforms (websites and social media), but you can include other mediums, such as newspapers and radio ads, if necessary.

With social media as an example, use the marketing channels section of your marketing plan to map out which social networks you want to launch a business page on. You should also highlight what you‘ll use this social network for and how you’ll measure your success.

If you also have a blog, it might be smart to leverage content marketing tools and repurpose long-form content into smaller social media posts. This helps drive extra traffic to your website and maximize ROI. But be sure to mention it in this section.

Part of this section's purpose is to prove to your superiors, both inside and outside the marketing department, that these channels will serve to grow the business.

Marketing Technology

Last but certainly not least, your marketing plan should include an overview of the tools in your marketing technology (MarTech) stack.

These are the tools that help you achieve the goals you outlined in the previous sections. Since all types of marketing software usually need a generous investment from your company’s leadership, connecting them to a potential ROI for your business is essential.

For each tool, describe what you’ll use it for, and be sure it’s consistent with the strategies you’ve outlined elsewhere in your marketing plan.

For instance, we wouldn't recommend listing an advertising management tool if you didn’t list “PPC Advertising” under “Marketing Channels.” This may raise eyebrows.

Pro tip: If you’re going for a unified marketing solution that accomplishes many goals, still do your due diligence. Describe all of the ways you’ll use the software and why it’s the best option.

When discussing marketing analytics software, specify what metrics you’ll track with it, why those metrics are necessary, and how it will benefit your overall marketing strategy.

Marketing Plan Timeline

Rolling out a new marketing plan is a big lift. To ensure smooth project progress, create a timeline that maps out each project's schedule.

A marketing plan timeline allows your team to view all projects, campaigns, events, and other related tasks in one place — along with their deadlines.

This ensures everyone on your team knows what’s due when and what’s up next in the pipeline.

Typically, these plans cover marketing efforts for the entire year, but some companies may operate bi-annually or quarterly.

Once you’ve completed your analysis, research, and goal setting, it’s time to set deadlines for your assignments. From new content initiatives to product launches, everything will need a deadline. Take into account any holidays or events taking place over the course of the year.

While setting deadlines for the entire year may seem daunting, start by estimating how long you think each task will take. Then, set a deadline accordingly. Track the time it actually takes for you to complete similar types of projects.

Once you’ve completed a few of them, you can set more accurate deadlines.

For each project, you’ll want to build in time for:

Brainstorming: This is the first phase where your idea comes to life in a project outline. Decide what you want to achieve and which stakeholders must be involved to meet your goal. Set a due date and set up any necessary meetings.
Planning: This can include determining the project’s scope, determining its budget, finalizing deadlines, and determining who is working on each task. It also includes mapping out any campaigns needed for each project (social media, PR, sales promotions, landing pages, events, etc.).
Execution: This third phase is all about your project launch. Decide on a date to launch and monitor the progress of the project. Set up a system for tracking metrics and KPIs.
Analysis: In this final phase, you will analyze all of your performance data to see whether or not your marketing efforts paid off. Did you meet your goals? Did you complete your projects on time and within budget?

Pro tip: All projects and their deadlines should be in a central location where your team can access them. This may be a calendar like HubSpot's tool, shared document, or project management tool.

With the outline mentioned above, here’s how you should go about creating your marketing plan.

1. Research, research, research.

The first step in creating a marketing plan is conducting market research. This is where I gather all the data and insights to complete SWOT and competitor analyses.

Additionally, I need a good picture of the current market. How do I compare to my competitors? What are they missing? What can I offer that'll give me a competitive advantage? Doing a competitor analysis can help.

Answering questions like this should help you figure out what your customer wants, which brings us to step number two.

2. Define and refine your target audience.

Who are you trying to market to? Who buys your product or service?

If your company already has buyer personas, this step means you should review and refine your

current personas. But if you don't, you should create one.

Your buyer persona should include demographic information such as age, gender, and income, as well as psychographic information such as pain points and goals.

What drives your audience? What problems do they have that your product or service can fix?

Once you have this information written out, it'll help you define your goals, which brings us to step three.

3. Define your SMART goals.

My mother always used to tell me, “You can't go somewhere unless you have a road map.”

For someone geographically challenged, like me, that was literal advice. But it can also be applied metaphorically to marketing.

You can't improve your ROI unless you know your goals.

After you've figured out your current situation and know your audience, you can begin to define your SMART goals.

SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. This means that all your goals should be specific and include a time frame for which you want to complete them.

For example, your goal could be to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in three months.

Before you start any tactic, write them out. Then, you can begin to analyze which tactics will help you achieve that goal. That brings us to step number four.

4. Analyze your tactics.

What tactics will help you achieve your goals? What are the right channels and action items to focus on?

This is where you figure that out.

If your goal is to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in three months, your tactics may include hosting a giveaway, responding to every comment, and posting three times a week.

Once you know your goals, brainstorming several tactics to achieve them should be easy.

That said, you may not be able to pursue every tactic on your list (unless you have an unlimited budget, which, if so, jealous). This brings us to step number five.

5. Set your budget.

Before you can begin implementing any of the ideas that you've come up with in the steps above, you have to know your budget.

For example, your tactics might include social media advertising. However, if you don't have the budget for that, then you might not be able to achieve your goals.

While you‘re writing out your tactics, be sure to note an estimated budget. You can include the time it’ll take to complete each tactic in addition to the assets you might need to purchase, such as ad space.

6. Document it.

With all our information in hand, now you need to document it. Next, we’ll talk through three different templates you can follow:

HubSpot’s Free Marketing Plan Template
A One-Page Marketing Plan Template
An AI-generated Marketing Plan Template

HubSpot’s Free Marketing Plan Template

To help you get started with your marketing plan, HubSpot has a free marketing plan template ( (or marketing planner template):

Download your marketing plan template here.

Who’s it right for?: Anyone! But especially businesses whose marketing efforts are focused online.

What I like: The template is an easy-to-use, editable word document. It opens automatically in Microsoft Word (or your word processing software of choice), and you can click right into each field to make changes.

It also includes all of the essential elements we discussed earlier:

Business Summary (with SWOT Analysis)
Business Initiatives
Target Market (with buyer personas and competitive analysis)
Market Strategy
Budget
Marketing Channels
Marketing Technology

While focused on digital methods, it can be easily edited to include more methods like traditional media as well.

Let’s take a look at what each section may look like completed using the template.

Business Summary

Include your company name, a list of the individuals responsible for enacting the different stages of your plan, and a brief mission statement.

Business Initiatives

This is where you document what your business is focusing on from a marketing perspective. They are the projects that every other strategy feeds into.

Target Market

Outline your target audience(s) that your efforts will reach. You can include a brief overview of your industry and buyer personas.

Budget

This is an overview of the money you’ll spend to help you meet your marketing goals. Create a good estimate of how much you'll spend on each facet of your marketing program.

Marketing Channels

List the channels you’ll use to achieve your marketing goals. Describe why you're using each channel and what you want to accomplish so everyone is on the same page.

One-Page Marketing Plan Template

As you may have gathered, a marketing plan covers a lot of information, but it doesn’t have to be a long document. And frankly, sometimes you don’t want it to be.

When you have to share information with busy stakeholders or need information at a glance,

a one-page marketing plan can be the right solution.

Marketing agency Llama Lead Gen has a free one-page PDF template that includes everything we discussed earlier.

Who’s it right for?: This is a great solution for small businesses that want to organize their thoughts, businesses just getting off the ground, or any organization just looking for a quick “cheat sheet” on their marketing plan.

What I like: It also includes a one-page template for summarizing your customer journey and buyer personas.

Simple Marketing Plan Template Generated by AI

Like all good things, creating a marketing plan takes a lot of time and effort. If you're strapped for time or short-handed, give our new AI-powered Marketing Plan Generator a try.

Try our free Marketing Plan Generator here.

This tool simplifies yearly planning by asking prompted questions to help guide your process.

Who’s it right for? Businesses short on time or those new to creating marketing plans need something to get them started and use as a jumping-off point.

What I like: Once you input all the information, the tool will produce a table (shown in the image below) that you can use to guide your processes.

It includes your company marketing priorities and suggests other relevant initiatives based on the goals you enter.

How to get the most out of the generator: Our AI marketing plan generator does a lot of formal formatting for you, but the quality it delivers is only as good as the information you give it to work off. Before you use the generator, sit down and flesh out your:

Marketing mission statement: This is what your marketing is focused on for the year.
Strategy: What are you doing to reach your goals?
Marketing Initiatives (i.e., brand awareness or building a high-quality pipeline)
Target Goals (i.e, generating 100 leads per week)
Metrics

These are all things the tool will ask you about, and it’s better to give them some thought than just make it up at that moment.

Pro Tip: If the tool doesn’t seem to work as planned, clear your browser's cache or access it in incognito mode. That should do the trick.

Strategy-specific Marketing Plan Templates

Marketing is a broad umbrella that covers specialties like email marketing, content marketing, and search engine marketing.

In the next sections, we will break down three of the most common strategy-specific marketing plans you may need:

Marketing Campaign Plan
Digital Marketing Plan
Product Marketing Plan
Social Media Marketing Plan

We will also share templates to help you create them.

Marketing Campaign Plan Template

Your marketing plan is a high-level view of the different marketing strategies you’ll use to meet your business objectives. A marketing campaign template, on the other hand, is a focused plan to help achieve those goals.

For example, if your marketing initiative is to generate more qualified boost revenue at your clothing store, your marketing campaign may be a sale called the “Summer Sale Spectacular.”

A marketing campaign template should include the following key components:

Campaign Overview
Campaign Strategy
Timeline and Milestones
Budget & Resources
Campaign Creative & Assets
Promotion and Distribution
Metrics & Analytics
Team Roles & Responsibilities

Pro Tip: HubSpot has a free editable template with all of these elements for you. Let’s go a little deeper into each of them. We’ll also share examples of what these sections may look like in the template.

Campaign Overview

Your overview serves as an introductory guide to your campaign, giving a quick understanding of its purpose, target audience, and key metrics.

Providing a comprehensive overview helps ensure that everyone involved understands the goals and objectives clearly.

Example:

Campaign Strategy

This is your roadmap for executing the campaign and ensures stakeholders have a comprehensive understanding of how the campaign will be implemented.

This section should encompass your value proposition, competitive analysis, messaging and positioning, marketing channels, and required tools.

Example:

Timeline and Milestones

From pre-launch hype to post-launch evaluation, this section of your marketing campaign plan estimates how long it will take to set up, run, and complete your campaign. It should include your start and end dates as well as major milestones.

Example:

Budget & Resources

Here, you provide an overview of the finances and necessary resources for the campaign.

Identify the budget you’ll need to run your campaign and how it will be distributed. This could include the amount you’ll spend on creating content or ad placements in different areas.

Having these numbers also helps you later when you quantify your campaign's success, like ROI.

Campaign Creative & Assets

This section focuses on the marketing campaign's visual and messaging elements. It encompasses various aspects, including design elements, branding guidelines, tone of voice, and creative direction.

Identify the content you’ll create and distribute during your campaigns — like blog posts, video ads, or email newsletters. Brainstorm content ideas to find relevant topics, set up outlines or creative briefs. Then, add them to your content calendar to establish clear workflows.

This is also where you’ll describe what the marketing campaign will look like and how you’ll use design elements to attract your audience.

Example:

Promotion and Distribution

Here’s where you identify the channels you’ll use to enact your marketing campaign to reach your audience.

Maybe you run a social media campaign on X to raise brand awareness. Or you launch a direct mail campaign to notify your audience of upcoming sales.

Example:

Metrics & Analytics

By leveraging the power of data, you can unlock a deeper understanding of your campaign's impact, identify areas for improvement, and align your marketing efforts for greater success.

In this section, identify the metrics you will use to measure the results of your campaign when it ends (e.g., conversion rates, sales, sign-ups, etc.).

Example:

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Lastly, use this section to identify teams and people who will be involved in enacting your marketing plan from start to finish, such as those responsible for creating your marketing assets, budgets, or analyzing metrics once campaigns are complete.

By clearly defining team roles and responsibilities, everyone can contribute their expertise and work cohesively to achieve the campaign's goals and objectives, ensuring a successful and impactful execution.

Example:

How to get the most out of this template: This template comes filled out with an example of a marketing campaign done right. Read through this thoroughly before filling it out to understand the caliber of detail you should include.

Still getting your feet wet with marketing campaigns? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Marketing Campaigns to dive in.

Digital Marketing Plan Template

A digital marketing plan is similar to a marketing campaign plan. But, as the name suggests, it’s tailored to the campaigns that you run online.

Let’s review the key components of a digital marketing plan template to help you meet your goals.

Objectives: The goals for your digital marketing and what you hope to accomplish, like driving more traffic to your website. Maybe you want to drive more traffic to your website, or
Budget: Identify the cost of running your digital marketing campaign and how the money will be distributed. For example, ad placement on different social media sites costs money, as does creating your assets.
Target audience: Which audience segments are you hoping to reach with this campaign? Identifying the audiences you want to reach with your digital marketing is essential, as different channels house different audience segments.
Channels: Identifies the channels that are central to your digital marketing campaign.
Timeline: Explain the length of time your digital campaigns will run, from how long it should take to create your assets to the campaign's final day.

Miro has a free digital marketing plan template to help you outline and document these elements.

Product Marketing Plan Template

Product marketing is a totally different beast from general marketing. So, having a dedicated product marketing plan is essential.

Allie Konchar, Partner & Head of Client Success at Omniscient and former HubSpotter described it best, “Unless you have devoted superfans [like Apple], most people aren’t waiting with their wallets out, ready to buy your next new product. You need product marketing campaigns to hype up your audience.”

To help, we’ve created the Ultimate Product Marketing Go-To-Market Kit, a collection of templates to help your team align on and execute your next product launch.

How to get the most out of these templates: Product marketing is a cross-functional department. Because of this, each template in the kit has its own unique purpose, but “they are best utilized in tandem,” as Stefan Groschupf, founder and CEO of several tech companies including Datameer, explains.

He described how each template should be used:

Product Launch Planning Template: Create tasks that need to be completed for the product launch, provide progress updates, and plan social media and PR messaging
Product Update Email Templates: Internally communicate product updates and changes to your team
Product Roadmap Template: Create a schedule of all the tasks that will be addressed and who will be handling them
Product Lifecycle Mapping Template: Keep track of your product’s lifecycle stages
Product Classification Template: Classify your product and align all teams on product vision, marketing plan, and sales strategy
SWOT Analysis Template: Determine your product’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and weaknesses, as well as conduct market research on the competition
Sales Plan Template: Outline and communicate sales strategy to stakeholders.

Collaborate with your template across each department to complete these templates. This helps ensure the alignment and buy-in needed to execute a successful product marketing strategy.

Social Media Marketing Plan Templates

As your marketing department grows, so will your presence on social media. And, as your social media presence grows, so will your need to measure and plan what types of content you want to publish across each network.

If you're looking for a way to deepen your social media marketing strategy — even further than the marketing plan template above — the following collection of social media marketing plan templates is perfect for you:

Download 10 free Social Media Marketing Planning Templates here.

Let‘s review each template and what you’ll find in each one.

1. Social Media Reporting Templates

If you plan to implement social media in your marketing plan, these reporting templates can help you track your progress. It includes things like total traffic, top posts, channel performance, follower growth, and top landing pages.

What I like: This social media marketing template is actually a collection of templates. It’s a slide deck of editable charts and graphs you can use to report on your social media performance to your team.

2. Social Media Marketing Proposal

With this template, you can create an entire social media marketing proposal. This will outline the social media goals, the scope of the work, and the tactics you plan to implement.

What I like: This proposal can double as a deep dive into the marketing channel section of your marketing plan. It's relatively straightforward and contains all the essential sections of a proposal.

3. Social Media Editorial Calendar

Use this template to organize your social media editorial calendar at a high level. While each platform rightfully calls for its own calendar, having a cumulative document lets your team know what’s going live on any given day “at a glance.”

What I like: This calendar makes tracking activity across every social media platform easy since each platform is assigned a specific color.

4. Facebook Live Schedule

You’ll find a tab dedicated to Facebook Live in our Facebook content calendar template. This template will help you organize what live events you want to do and when.

What I like: Once you've decided on dates, you can color-code your Facebook calendar and coordinate with your editorial calendar. That way, everyone can see what lives are running in relation to other campaigns.

5. Instagram Content Calendar and Inspiration Log

Using Instagram regularly? Do you want to increase your following? With this template organize and plan future Instagram posts.

What I like: This is more than just a content calendar. You can use this doc to collaborate with your team on messaging, landing pages linked in your bio, and campaign rollouts.

6. Hashtag Holidays

If you're going to use social media in your marketing plan, you can use hashtag holidays to show personality, stay relevant, and reach new audiences.

What I like: These holidays are a fun way to fill out your social media publishing schedule. With this template, you'll get a list of the most common hashtag holidays for the year.

7. Social Media Audit

Conducting a social media audit? This template can help you gather the right analytics. Tracking the results of your marketing efforts is key to determining ROI.

What I like: Use this template to track your social media campaigns to determine what worked and what didn't. From there, you can allocate funds for the strategies that deliver desired results.

8. Social Media Image Sizes

With this template, your team can have the latest social media image sizes handy. This template includes image sizes for all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and X.

What I like: Having a resource like this handy for your team helps ensure any content you create will be optimized for the platform it’s going on. It will be correctly sized so no content will get cut off or poorly displayed.

9. Social Media Software RFP Questions

This template lists questions to help you decide which social media management platform your business should use.

What I like: Once you decide on the social media tactics you'll implement in your marketing plan, this template can help you determine which tool will be best for making them happen.

10. Paid Social Media Template

With this template, you can organize your annual and monthly budget for your paid social media calendar.

What I like: All you need to do is plug in your numbers, and the formulas will do the work for you. I recommend using this in conjunction with your marketing plan budget to ensure you are not overspending and funds are allocated appropriately.

Set your marketing planning process up for success.

A marketing plan is crucial to your greater marketing results, but don’t let this importance intimidate you.

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just getting started, with all of the marketing plan templates, examples, and advice shared, you have everything you need to set your marketing planning process up for success.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in December 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Behind Viral Food Brands: Do Trends Matter in CPG Design?

Cyan Zhong — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 21:00:00 GMT

Graza. Fishwife. Brightland.

If you’ve never heard of them, just walk into a local specialty store — you’re guaranteed to spot some of these brands, with packaging so aesthetically pleasing they make you feel like walking inside an Instagram feed.

Gander helped build the Graza brand from scratch, an olive oil that comes in a squeeze bottle. Source: GoPuff

Marked by bright colors, bold fonts, and creative illustrations, this style of packaging is now moving beyond specialty stores and into big retail aisles.

“If you walk into almost every major retail chain grocery store in the US, there would be at least one product that we designed, if not two.”

That was Mike McVicar, co-founder of Gander, a Brooklyn-based design studio behind Graza, Magic Spoon, and a dozen of other “viral” brands.

I tracked him down after obsessing over Gander’s visual style, and asked him about the latest trends in packaging design.

Except he’s not a fan of following trends or virality — not surprising for a die-hard creative.

“We get all the time that our work is trendy and that we've set a certain visual tone with our work, but we don’t intentionally do that,” Mike confessed. “It can feel limiting and annoying sometimes.”

But he still shared his take on why we’re seeing this phenomenon.

The Design Pendulum

Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, good design wasn’t a priority for consumer packaged goods (CPG).

Packages with call-outs and stickers that scream “33% less fat” were the mainstream, a style that Mike endearingly described as “over the top, ugly, and kind of extra.”

When the 2010s rolled around, branding design went to the other extreme — the blanding trend.

Packages became minimalistic and generic, often featuring sans serif fonts and pastel colors.

And now with the rise of social shopping, many brands are catering to the dopamine-charged, color-forward Instagram aesthetic.

It’s also a renaissance of the Y2K style, with bold colors and playful textures.

“The pendulum has swung toward ‘it can be fun again!’” Mike said.

Big brands love this trend, too.

From Jell-O to 7UP, they’re redesigning to dial up the dopamine, and creating a visual identity that spreads fun and joy.

The Downside to A Trending Style

The problem with this trend?

It has led some companies to prioritize “doing it for the ‘gram" when they come to Gander.

“You find brands that just have very decorative design, or only feel interesting aesthetically. It won't pay off for them in the long run, or even in the short run,” Mike said.

It’s problematic for brands to emulate what everyone else is doing, or recreating a trend, because:

You’re assuming that someone else's solution is your solution
You’ll be easily replaceable
You’re not focusing on communicating your own brand values and differentiation to customers

He also doesn’t believe the current dopamine packaging trend will stay for that much longer.

It’s a pendulum, after all.

Differentiate Brands Through Design

Back in 2015, Gander worked on the rebranding for Banza, a pasta made from chickpeas.

Contrary to the popular style on the pasta aisle back then (think Barilla’s simplistic blue packaging), Gander went for a bright and expressive style.

Source: Gander

Banza was one of the early brands to make a bold statement with packaging, which impacted the food industry as a whole.

“Our ethos was to take an alternative food, and turn it into a brand that has subverted what was expected for gluten-free pasta,” Mike said.

And it worked.

Banza went from anonymity to one of the top pasta brands in the US. It’s now in 25k retail locations nationally, including Target, Walmart and Costco.

Since then, Gander’s helped many other CPG brands get on big retail shelves. Graza, whose design they helped build from scratch, hit $48m+ in revenue and can be found in 13k+ locations.

Looking back at their big wins, Mike gave three simple tips for any brand who want to stand out through design:

Start with your story and history as a brand, instead of following trends blindly;
Understand who your customer is, what kind of world they live in aesthetically, and what’s pleasing to them;
Look at your competition, and see what opportunities align with your product and company that others aren’t doing yet.

What Else Is Trending in CPG Design?

As anti-trend as he is, Mike did get excited about one particular trend — the inclusion of “next-level delicious food photography” on packages.

The “bleh” to “yum” transformation. Source: AdWeek

You’d think it’s a no-brainer, but a decade ago, it wasn’t mainstream to put high-quality food photography on the packages.

“It never prints right, it doesn't look that great, and the investment of creating something really good can be difficult for small brands,” Mike said.

But the tide has shifted.

Influenced by social media, younger consumers prefer packaging that actually stir up their appetite, and major food brands are trying to make their products look extra tasty.

Now that's a trend we can all get behind.

Martha Stewart, $400K Fighter Jets, and Comedy Writers: How Liquid Death Wins at Anti-Marketing, According to Liquid Death's VP

Caroline Forsey — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:48:17 GMT

When considering who to learn from in the marketing space, one brand stands out: Liquid Death.

They've mastered the art of turning healthy beverages into a sought-after brand, making them ideal marketing mentors.

But they've done more than reinvent water — in many ways, they've reinvented marketing, as well.

I spoke with Greg Fass, Liquid Death's VP of Marketing, to learn how he's cultivated an anti-marketing approach, why some of his favorite campaigns involve Tony Hawk and Martha Stewart, and his belief that Liquid Death's success comes down to understanding people aren't “brainless consumers of products”.

How Liquid Death Wins at Anti-Marketing — And What You Can Learn from Them

1. Don't overcomplicate your target audience.

Most target personas are awfully specific: “Marketing Melvin likes long walks on the beach, reading true-crime thrillers, watching videos on TikTok, and is interested in budget-friendly ways to grow his e-commerce startup.”

And there's power in identifying a few key characteristics of your buyer – but it's also inherently limiting.

Fass believes there are plenty of reasons why someone might connect with your brand.

For instance, Fass believes his target audience could be any of the following:

Someone who likes entertainment and humor
Someone who appreciates the sustainability angle (i.e. “bringing death to plastic”)
Someone who acknowledges that Liquid Death is the reason their child is finally excited to drink water
A sober-curious individual who wants to have a fun-looking drink while at a party
People who like skulls

I'll add one just for fun: Thirsty people.

Granted, water arguably has the biggest demographic of any product out there. But his point still holds true: Get too hyper-focused on building up your 'target persona' and you could be missing out on all the different reasons someone might connect with your brand first – and your product second.

2. People aren't brainless consumers.

Here's a fun fact: At Liquid Death, they don't use the word consumer. Ever.

Instead, they have a team called “human insights”.

Fass is proud to work against the mindset that people are just “brainless consumers” whose sole purpose on Earth is to consume products. (Yep – that's a direct quote.)

Instead, he says, “At Liquid Death, I'm proud that we think of our audiences as people. And when you think of them as humans, you understand they'll get a piece of copy that isn't straightforward, or jokes other brands are afraid to make. They're intelligent, and have a sense of humor.”

It's a philosophy that has served them well. Just consider the commercial where Martha Stewart is a serial killer chopping off hands to make candles — not exactly something that would go over well in a standard marketing pitch.

Liquid Death has done more than reinvent the better-for-you beverage category — they've reinvented marketing, as well.

Embracing their anti-marketing approach can help you discover fresh and novel ways of connecting better with, well, other humans.

3. People will buy your product if you can make them laugh.

A Liquid Death marketing meeting sounds like the beginning of a very odd joke: The lead singer of a punk band, an ex-Onion writer, a co-creator of adult cartoon Mr. Pickles, and a former competitive snowboarder all walk into a conference room.

Fass says it resembles an SNL writers room more than a marketing department.

“We're not just a brand that's a funny brand,” Fass tells me. “We put out true comedy. That's the bar for us. I'm proud to work on projects that compete with real entertainment that exists on the internet, because that's why most people are on the internet in the first place. Not to buy a product.”

You've got to hand it to them: It's not easy to create a hilarious ad for water or iced tea. But it works because Liquid Death's content isn't really about the product. The product is an aside to grandiosity and playfulness. That's what they're selling.

Like their recent campaign where a fan could win a $400K fighter jet along with six months of free hangar space (pilot not included); or Ozzy Ozbourne reminding youths not to snort Liquid Death's new hydration powder.

For Fass, it's simple: "When you can make someone laugh, they're more likely to give your product a try."

4. Don't post if you don't have anything worthwhile to say.

Fass hates the conventional wisdom that you should "always be posting." For Fass, an obsession with quantity can very quickly diminish good content.

At Liquid Death, they won't post for two weeks if they don't feel they have anything worthwhile to say.

"There's celebrities and hilarious meme accounts on social media — that's why people are on there," he says, "The bar on social is very high. So you need to be competing at that highest level with everything you do."

He also tells me he can't believe when big brands push aside social as a "nice-to-have" or something for the interns to lead.

"You should be putting your top brains in creative on social," he fervently believes. "There's a feeling like, 'Well, it's just social.' At Liquid Death, social is a major priority for our entire brand and creative team."

5. Humor comes down to tension.

Fass believes there's a certain comedic science behind Liquid Death's success, and it's relatively simple: Tension.

In other words — two things that shouldn't go together, but do.

Case-in-point: A healthy beverage with a skull on it; e.l.f. Cosmetics and black metal corpse paint; plush sea creature stuffed animals that have been heavily mutilated by single-use plastic.

The preorders and waiting is over. Cutie Polluties are ready to ship to your home to become your new best friend! Plastic pollution has never been cuter! Order yours today! Portion of profits go to help kill plastic pollution. pic.twitter.com/SVTpSVvswT
— Liquid Death (@LiquidDeath) December 17, 2021

You get my drift.

“What it comes down to is we have these ideas that other people would never try,” Fass says. “They'd think, 'no way a client would ever approve of this', or 'our CEO will shut it down'. Those ideas never get to see the light of day — but at Liquid Death, we've created a culture where we celebrate those ideas and go forward with them.”

And you know,“ he adds with a grin, ”Sometimes we end up winning the internet that day."

21 of the Best Free Google Sheets Templates for 2024

Caroline Forsey — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:47:46 GMT

Google Sheets templates help you create better spreadsheets while saving you valuable time. And it’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I love a good formula to keep manual math to a minimum (and, therefore, data as accurate as possible).

So, what do Google Sheets templates do? Short of reading minds, a template knows what you need and offers it with minimal manual input, giving you the ability to focus on more important things — like analyzing and translating the data itself.

In this post, I’m touching on the most important templates you’ll need to efficiently use Google Sheets for business — including templates for project management, reporting, people management, and customer tracking.

You’ll explore:

Why should you use Google Sheets templates for business?
How to Find Templates in Google Sheets
Helpful Google Sheets Templates

Let’s get started.

Why should you use Google Sheets templates for business?

Google Sheets templates are valuable business tools that can be used by teams of any size. Whether you’re a business just starting out or an established enterprise firm, using Google Sheets templates is highly beneficial.

Even if not a primary business tool, they can supplement other tools. For instance, you might use a free CRM to track customer information, then use a Google Sheets invoice template to quickly create invoices for each customer.

Let’s explore the top benefits of using Google Sheets templates for business.

Google Sheets templates are free to use.

Google Sheets templates are free and cover a wide variety of needs without forcing anyone to spend big bucks on a subscription to Excel or other platforms. When you sign up for a Google Workspace account, you get immediate access to these templates.

Google Sheets templates make collaboration easy.

What I love about Google Workspace and Google Sheets templates, in particular, is how they allow your team to collaborate seamlessly and easily. By clicking the “Share” button at the top right-hand corner of a document, you can give team members access to the file.

You can also limit the collaboration aspect to commenting or viewing only and limit people’s ability to download, print, or copy the document.

Adapting these settings provides a great option for sensitive documents that only a few people should edit.

Google Sheets templates are intuitive to use.

Using a Google Sheets template doesn’t require much experience with spreadsheets. You don’t need to know advanced formulas and functions to make them work for you.

All you have to do is plug in your numbers and populate the fields. The document will generate a report or calculate a total based on the built-in fields.

Google Sheets templates are customizable.

Using a Google Sheets template doesn’t mean that you’re stuck with its look and feel. You can easily change the fields, the colors, and the fonts using Google Sheets’ built-in tools to give your sheets a brand-specific look and feel.

There’s no data loss.

Another great benefit of using Google Sheets templates? Unless a freak accident happens with Google’s servers, it’s nearly impossible to lose data.

Google Sheets stores everything in the cloud, including a version history of the document. You can always revert to a previous version if something happens.

If your laptop crashes or you lose an internet connection, Google Sheets simply freezes the copy until you’re online again. You’ll still want to take a few precautions, such as enabling offline editing and downloading a copy of important documents to your local drive.

How to Find Templates in Google Sheets

Ready to find a few templates that you can start using right now for your business? There are two common ways you can find and use free Google Sheets templates.

1. Google’s Built-In Template Gallery

On your browser, go to Google Sheets. Click Template Gallery at the top right. Explore the templates to find the right one for you.

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You’ll find different templates for your personal, work, project management, and education needs. Here's an example of what the Personal template library looks like.

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2. Add-Ons

Another way to find free templates in Google Sheets is to download and install the Vertex42 add-on. Here’s how.

Open an existing Google sheet, or type “sheets.new” into your address bar to create a new one.
On the top left menu, go to Extensions, then Add-ons, then Get add-ons.

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Type “Vertex42” into the search bar, and click enter.
Install the add-on.

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To access the templates, click on Extensions, then Template Gallery for Sheets.
From there, click Browse Templates.

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Here, you will find templates that can help with almost everything you need — creating an invoice, an income/expense tracker, or a dashboard to manage your projects.

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Let’s look at some of the free Google Sheets templates you may find useful for your business.

Google Sheets Templates

Whether you send invoices to clients, track website analytics, or create expense reports, you probably work with spreadsheets, which can feel frustrating or tedious when you’re under a time crunch.

Fortunately, Google Sheets offers a wide variety of pre-built templates, allowing you to more quickly and effectively create reports and analyze data. Here are some of the best Google Sheets templates you can start using now.

Google Sheets Templates for Finances
Google Sheets Templates for Reporting and Analytics
Google Sheets Templates for Customers
Google Sheets Templates for Project Management
Google Sheets Templates for Leading a Team

Google Sheets Templates for Finances

One of the most common ways to use spreadsheets is as a tool for bookkeeping and invoicing. Here are some of my favorite ready-to-go templates that save you time and make it easy to:

Invoice clients.
Maintain an annual business budget.
Generate financial statements.
Create expense reports.
Generate purchase reports.

Best of all? You don’t have to create or choose any formulas that will help you calculate this data.

1. Invoices

If you’re a freelancer or work for a small business, this invoice template simplifies the process of using invoices to bill clients for services.

It provides space for all the necessary information and looks more professional than a plain spreadsheet. Plus, the template is customizable, so you can create a theme that aligns well with your brand image.

Click here to use this template.

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Best for: Freelancers and small businesses.

2. Annual Business Budget

More in-depth than it initially appears, this template has tabs for setup, income, expenses, and summary at the bottom, and each includes several subcategories. It’s a good option if your budget requires a lot of customization and many moving parts.

Click here to use this template.

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What we like: This budget template provides all the essentials while allowing you to customize it to fit your business’ needs.

3. Financial Statements

The financial statements template is an all-in-one resource to keep track of business transactions, profits, and losses. If you work for or own a small business and need to manage your finances, this template makes the process easier and less prone to human error.

Click here to use this template.

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Best for: Tracking how your small business is doing.

4. Expense Report

Knowing how much you spend is essential for running a successful business. But it’s often easy to forget to record these expenses with the amount of work you have to do every day. This simple expense report template makes it easy to record all expenses — yours and those of your employees.

Click here to use this template.

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What we like: This template makes it easy to hold you and your team accountable for your expenses.

5. Purchase Order

This template is a lifesaver for professionals in charge of tracking orders, saving time, and avoiding the headaches that come with monitoring supplies or shipments.

Click here to use this template.

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What we like: This template is simple and straightforward for all purchasing needs.

Google Sheet Templates for Reporting and Analytics

Reporting dashboards are typically built into a wide variety of software products, such as Marketing Hub. However, if you don’t have the budget, you can easily create one using a Google Sheets template.

The below templates automatically gather data from Google Analytics, putting the information in a highly digestible, visual format that you can share.

6. Website Traffic Dashboard

If you analyze website traffic with Google Analytics, this template is a fantastic supplemental tool to pull that data into an organized report. Better still, you can use the dashboard template with the Supermetrics Google Sheets add-on to monitor and analyze data from PPC, SEO, social media, and website analytics.

Click here to use this template.

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Best for: Collecting and analyzing website traffic to see your strengths and areas for improvement.

7. Website Paid Traffic Report

If you’re looking for a way to demonstrate paid ads’ influence on your business, this template makes analyzing and reporting on paid traffic relatively seamless. It automatically collects data on your paid sources from Google Analytics and provides a clean chart with important information, including PPC’s percentage of goal conversions, total traffic, and bounce rate.

You can also adjust the template to compare different periods, different channels, or segments.

Click here to use this template.

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Best for: Companies using Google Analytics who want reports on their paid advertisements.

Google Sheet Templates for Customers

If you don’t have access to a CRM yet or your business is still growing, you can use spreadsheets to track customer information and see your growth. The Google Sheets templates below give you a CRM and a sales dashboard without paying the cost typically needed for such software.

However, as your business starts to grow and you earn more customers, you’ll want to switch over to a dedicated CRM.

8. CRM

CRMs help you organize contacts and automate an effective sales and marketing process. However, if you’re a small company just starting out, you might not feel ready to implement a fully established CRM.

This CRM template is a great place to get your feet wet, saving data automatically so you never lose information. Plus, you can share with coworkers, which helps encourage collaboration between your sales and marketing departments.

Click here to use this template.

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Best for: Small businesses to keep all customer data in one place.

9. Sales Dashboard

This template helps salespeople manage their leads, sales, and revenue all in one place, with multiple tabs feeding your data into a main dashboard. Plus, it features an “instructions” tab to get you up to speed on using the sheet.

Click here to use this template.

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Best for: Individual sales reps to track their leads and sales.

10. Sales Operations Dashboard

This template contains all the pre-built dashboards a sales manager, analyst, or operations specialist needs to monitor performance and maximize revenue. You can use this template to gain full visibility into your sales pipeline, set and track sales targets, and compare sales KPIs across monthly, quarterly, and yearly periods.

Want to supercharge your dashboard? Connect it to your live HubSpot sales data using the Coefficient add-on for Google Sheets. You’ll always have real-time charts and sales metrics to make better decisions.

Click here to use this template.

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What we like: This is the perfect way for small businesses to keep track of their sales.

Google Sheet Templates for Project Management

Google Sheets project management templates offer cost-effective alternatives to buying project management software.

You can use them to keep track of your project timeline, create Gantt charts, build product roadmaps, and even generate action lists that you can color-code and categorize.

Pro tip: If you’re managing multiple projects, simply duplicate the initial tab and keep all projects in a single spreadsheet.

11. Project Timeline

Whether this is your first significant project or you’ve been managing projects for years, this timeline template is a valuable tool for organizing each project step, allowing you to visually break up a daunting project into smaller pieces.

Click here to use this template.

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What we like: This template provides everything you need to plan and organize any project.

12. Project Tracking

If you’re juggling many projects simultaneously, this project-tracking template takes project management to the next level, enabling you to organize your tasks into categories by date, deliverables, status, cost, and hours.

Most project managers create budgets for each of their projects outside of the general business budget. This project budget template offers a simple yet effective option to quickly estimate how much revenue a project might generate and how much it would cost.

While other Google Sheets budget templates might have more detail to them, this spreadsheet is great for focusing on the essentials.

Click here to use this template.

No matter what your job is, using a suitable spreadsheet simplifies the process and makes it a more enjoyable experience.

So what are you waiting for? Get started with using these free Google Sheets templates to save time and effort, and download ten additional ones to exponentially improve your productivity.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

21 Brand Style Guide Examples I Love (for Visual Inspiration)

kcook@hubspot.com (Karla Hesterberg) — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:45:32 GMT

Developing a consistent brand starts with creating a brand style guide. These branding rule books help graphic designers, marketers, web developers, community managers, and even product packaging departments present a unified vision of the brand to the public.

The best brands stick in our brains because their presence is defined by the repetition of the same logo, fonts, colors, and images. Once we see them enough, they become instantly recognizable. All of this is possible when each member of your team adheres to a cohesive brand style guide.

So, what is a brand style guide? In this article, I'll go over the elements of a style guide and share some amazing examples of them in action to help inspire your next branding project or website redesign.

Table of Contents

What are brand guidelines?
The Elements of a Brand Style Guide
Brand Style Guide Examples
Branding Guidelines Tips

Picture the most recognizable brands you can think of.

Chances are, you've learned to recognize them due to one of the following reasons:

There's a written or visual consistency across the messaging.
The same brand colors are reflected across every asset.
The language sounds familiar.
It‘s all very organized and, while not rigid, it’s cohesive.

But before you sit down to create your branding guidelines, I'd recommend taking a step back and define your brand’s mission statement and buyer personas.

These strategic elements will help you dive into the tactical components of your brand style guide later.

Brand Guidelines Mission Statement

To me, your mission statement is the compass of your brand style guide. It‘s an action-oriented statement declaring your organization’s purpose.

This statement ensures that all your content is working toward the same goal and connecting with your audience. It can also guide your blog and paid content, ad copy, visual media, and slogan.

Pro tip: You can either include your mission statement within your style guide, create a separate document for reference, or distill your mission statement into a slogan that you can place at the head of your document.

Brand Guidelines Buyer Persona

A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer. It includes details on your customer's job title, age, gender, and professional challenges — therefore stipulating for whom your brand publishes content.

Your buyer persona guides your blog content, ad copy, and visual media, which can attract valuable leads and customers to your business.

Pro tip: Download our free resource below on how to create your own style guide with brand guidelines templates to follow. Creating a consistent style guide isn't easy, but with these tools you can build an unforgettable one with ease.

The Elements of a Brand Style Guide

A brand style guide encompasses much more than just a logo (although that’s important, too). It visually encompasses everything your brand is about — down to your business' purpose.

Here are some key elements that I believe make or break a brand style guide.

Logo

Your logo might seem like the simplest aspect of your branding guidelines, but in reality, I‘d argue it’s one of the most complex and most important parts.

In your guide, you should:

Include a visual of your logo.
Explain the design details of your logo.
Describe how your logo can be used by external and internal publishers.

You should also include wrong usages — i.e, you might advise against rotating the design or curving the font. That way, whether you or someone else is publishing information about your company, your logo looks consistent everywhere.

Pro tip: If your brand is well-known and many outlets publish information about you, you also might want to provide an entire document outlining acceptable use policies for your logo.

Color Palette

In my opinion, the color palette is probably one of the most distinctive and recognizable parts of a company’s branding guidelines.

It’s the group of colors your company uses to design its brand assets, guiding every piece of visual content created.

These color combinations often follow HEX or RGB color codes, and govern your logo, web design, printed ads, and event collateral.

Pro tip: A brand color palette should not only include your primary color, but also a wide variety of secondary, tertiary, and neutral colors. This will allow you to come up with more dynamic and varied designs in the content creation stage.

If you don’t define an array of options, you can run the risk of having your team create content with random secondary colors, which can look inconsistent.

Typography

Typography is a visual element of your brand style guide that goes beyond the font you use in your company logo. It supports your brand’s design down to the links and copy on your website — even your tagline.

I recommend specifying a primary and secondary font, with a mixture of serifs and font weights for different use cases.

Remember, the goal of your branding guidelines is to empower your people and external stakeholders to create consistent but varied collateral on behalf of your brand. You don’t want to limit them with a single font option.

For instance, HubSpot’s primary font is Lexend Deca (sans-serif), while our secondary font is Queens (serif). They’re both integrated in our very own Content Hub, and our design tool, Canva, where we can use them to create assets.

Pro tip: Don’t forget that typography also plays a major role in your website's user experience. You want to make sure it is visually appealing while also being accessible and easy to read.

Imagery and Iconography

You may be able to only include your logo, colors, and fonts in your guidelines.

However, if you’d like to create a stronger style guide, consider including approved imagery, pre-designed icons, and custom symbols for your company to use across your website and print collateral.

If your budget is smaller, you can recommend photographic styles (i.e candid versus staged, etcetera), and then direct content creators to your preferred stock photo provider (i.e. Shutterstock, Unsplash).

Alternatively, you can commission a company photoshoot at a studio and make the resulting photography available for creative use.

Pro tip:Symbols and icons can also be a great addition to your branding guidelines. As with photos, you can always find free icons online and recommend what to use versus what not to use (e.g., outlines only vs. full color).

You can also commission custom icons from a freelance graphic designer.

Brand Voice

If your company visuals are the flesh and bones of your style guide, I'm going to say your brand voice is the beating heart.

The importance of your brand voice can’t be overstated.

Maybe you want your company’s personality to be friendly and casual, or you may prefer a more distant and formal voice.

Whether you’re publishing your branding guidelines online or creating an internal presentation, consider making the guidelines themselves a branded document.

Ensure the published document follows your established brand voice, uses the symbols and imagery you’ve created, and employs the colors and typography that makes your brand feel like you.

Insights from HubSpot's Creative Team

When our Creative team rolled out a visual identity refresh for the HubSpot brand, we all received access to a branded playbook that summarized all the changes and described how we should represent HubSpot online moving forward.

Not only was I a huge fan of the refresh, but also of the way it was presented to our team in a branded document.

You can do the same, regardless of your budget. Our Creative team actually used a free tool, Google Slides — so it’s totally doable for a small or freelance brand!

2. Name your brand's colors.

You’ve already chosen your color palette — why not go as far as naming the colors?

Giving your colors unique names (aside from “blue” or “orange”) can help you tie the tactical elements of your branding into an overall theme or ethos.

Not to mention that it’s awesome to be able to refer to company colors by a unique name. Imagine if we called Solaris, HubSpot’s primary brand color, “HubSpot Orange” — that simply doesn’t have the same ring.

Insights from HubSpot's Creative Team

In our visual identity refresh, our Creative team brightened and intensified our color palette, then renamed the individual hues.

They wrote, “Every color, tint, and shade is based on central themes. [...] Whether it’s a subway line in Paris, or a flower-lined street in Japan, the secondary color names are a veritable tour of important cultural and geographical touchstones from HubSpotters all over the world.”

Think about what makes your brand unique, and why you chose the colors that you did. For instance, if you work at a law firm that specializes in car accident cases, you might choose red as one of the brand colors and call it “Stop Light.”

3. Create easy-to-use branded templates.

Alongside your branding guidelines should be templates to empower your team to easily design branded assets, even if they’re not designers.

Insights from HubSpot's Creative Team

At HubSpot, we keep all of our templates in our team’s Canva account. There, anyone (myself included) can edit pre-made designs for any number of use cases.

As a writer on the HubSpot blog, I have to create graphics to supplement the information I’m sharing.

The branded templates made by our Creative team have made my work a great deal easier, and I can imagine that it’s the same for our Social Media team.

Not everyone is a designer, but with templates, you can ensure your brand looks professional no matter who creates an asset.

4. Ensure your branding is optimized for all channels.

Your branding guidelines should include different specifications for different channels.

Or, alternatively, you should have assets and designs that can be adjusted for various channels and mediums. Not only for sizing purposes, but for accessibility purposes, too.

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For instance, if you primarily market your brand over Instagram and on your website, then your branding should have web accessible colors, as well as Instagram-friendly designs and sizes.

However, you don’t want to significantly change your branding from channel to channel. It should work relatively well no matter where you’re marketing your brand.

Build a Memorable Style Guide of Your Own

Once you build your unique brand style guide, customers will recognize your brand and associate it with all the visual cues you want them to.

I hope you were inspired by our list of amazing brand style guides and wish you luck in creating a timeless style of your own.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

What is a Competitive Analysis — and How Do You Conduct One?

cwhite@hubspot.com (Christine White) — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:42:56 GMT

Every time I work with a new brand, my first order of business is to conduct a competitive analysis.

A competitive analysis report helps me understand the brand’s position in the market, map competitors’ strengths/weaknesses, and discover growth opportunities.

In this article, I’ll break down the exact steps I follow to conduct competitor analysis and identify ways to one-up top brands in the market.

We’ll cover:

What is competitive analysis?
What is competitive market research?
Competitive Analysis in Marketing
How To Conduct Competitive Analysis in 5 Steps
How to Do a Competitive Analysis (the Extended Cut)
Competitive Product Analysis
Competitive Analysis Example
Competitive Analysis Templates
Competitive Analysis FAQs

Competitive analysis gives you a clearer picture of the market landscape to make informed decisions for your growth.

That said, you have to remember that competitive analysis is an opportunity to learn from others. It isn’t:

Copying successful competitors to the T.
Trying to undercut others’ pricing.
A one-and-done exercise.

Let’s look at how this exercise can help your business before breaking down my 5-step competitive analysis framework.

4 Reasons to Perform Competitive Analysis

If you’re on the fence about investing time and effort in analyzing your competitors, know that it gives you a complete picture of the market and where you stand in it.

Here are four main reasons why I perform a competitive analysis exercise whenever working with a brand for the first time:

Identify your differentiators. Think of competitor analysis as a chance to reflect on your own business and discover what sets you apart from the crowd. And if you’re only starting out, it helps you brainstorm the best opportunities to differentiate your business.
Find competitors’ strengths. What are your competitors doing right to drive their growth? Analyzing the ins and outs of an industry leader will tell you what they did well to reach the top position in the market.
Set benchmarks for success. A competitor analysis gives you a realistic idea of mapping your progress with success metrics. While every business has its own path to success, you can always look at a competitor’s trajectory to assess whether you’re on the right track.
Get closer to your target audience. A good competitor analysis framework zooms in on your audience. It gives you a pulse of your customers by evaluating what they like, dislike, prefer, and complain about when reviewing competing brands.

The bottom line: Whether you’re starting a new business or revamping an existing one, a competitive analysis eliminates guesswork and gives you concrete information to build your business strategy.

What is competitive market research?

Competitive market research is a vital exercise that goes beyond merely comparing products or services. It involves an in-depth analysis of the market metrics that distinguish your offerings from those of your competitors.

A thorough market research doesn't just highlight these differences but leverages them, laying a solid foundation for a sales and marketing strategy that truly differentiates your business in a bustling market.

In the next section, we’ll explore the nuts and bolts of conducting a detailed competitive analysis tailored to your brand.

Essential Aspects to Cover in Competitive Analysis Research

Before we walk through our step-by-step process for conducting competitor analysis, let’s look at the main aspects to include for every competitor:

Overview. A summary of the company — where it’s located, target market, and target audience.
Primary offering. A breakdown of what they sell and how they compare against your brand.
Pricing strategy. A comparison of their pricing for different products with your pricing.
Positioning. An analysis of their core messaging to see how they position themselves.
Customer feedback: A curation of what customers have to say about the brand.

Now, it’s time to learn how to conduct a competitive analysis with an example to contextualize each step.

Competitive Analysis in Marketing

Every brand can benefit from regular competitor analysis. By performing a competitor analysis, you'll be able to:

Identify gaps in the market.
Develop new products and services.
Uncover market trends.
Market and sell more effectively.

As you can see, learning any of these four components will lead your brand down the path of achievement.

Next, let's dive into some steps you can take to conduct a comprehensive competitive analysis.

How to Conduct Competitive Analysis in 5 Quick Steps

As a content marketer, I’ve performed a competitive analysis for several brands to improve their messaging, plan their marketing strategy, and explore new channels. Here are the five steps I follow to analyze competitors.

1. Identify and categorize all competitors.

The first step is a simple yet strategic one. You have to identify all possible competitors in your industry, even the lesser-known ones. The goal here is to be aware of all the players in the market instead of arbitrarily choosing to ignore a few.

As you find more and more competitors, categorize them into these buckets:

Direct competitors. These brands offer the same product/service as you to the same target audience. People will often compare you to these brands when making a buying decision. For example, Arcade and Storylane are direct competitors in the demo automation category.
Indirect competitors. These businesses solve the same problem but with a different solution. They present opportunities for you to expand your offering. For example, Scribe and Whatfix solve the problem of documentation + internal training, but in different ways.
Legacy competitors. These are established companies operating in your industry for several years. They have a solid reputation in the market and are a trusted name among customers. For example, Ahrefs is a legacy competitor in the SEO industry.
Emerging competitors. These are new players in the market with an innovative business model and unique value propositions that pose a threat to existing brands. For example, ChatGPT came in as a disruptor in the conversational AI space and outperformed several brands.

Here’s a competitive matrix classifying brands in the community and housing space:

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Testing It Out

To help you understand each step clearly, we’ll use the example of Trello and create a competitor analysis report using these steps.

Here’s a table of the main competitors for Trello:

able of the main competitors for Trello:

Type of competitors	Competitor names
Direct competitors	Asana, Basecamp, Monday.com, MeisterTask
Indirect competitors	Slack, Notion, Coda
Legacy competitors	Microsoft Project, Jira
Disruptor competitors	ClickUp, Airtable

2. Determine each competitor’s market position.

Once you know all your competitors, start analyzing their position in the market. This step will help you understand where you currently stand in terms of market share and customer satisfaction. It’ll also reveal the big guns in your industry — the leading competitors to prioritize in your analysis report.

Plus, visualizing the market landscape will tell you what’s missing in the current state. You can find gaps and opportunities for your brand to thrive even in a saturated market.

To map competitors’ market positions, create a graph with two factors: market presence (Y-axis) and customer satisfaction (X-axis). Then, place competitors in each of these quadrants:

Niche. These are brands with a low market share but rank high on customer satisfaction. They’re likely targeting a specific segment of the audience and doing it well.
Contenders. These brands rank low on customer satisfaction but have a good market presence. They might be new entrants with a strong sales and marketing strategy.
Leaders. These brands own a big market share and have highly satisfied customers. They’re the dominant players with a solid reputation among your audience.
High performers. These are another category of new entrants scoring high on customer satisfaction but with a low market share. They’re a good alternative for people not looking to buy from big brands.

This visualization will tell you exactly how crowded the market is. But it’ll also highlight ways to gain momentum and compete with existing brands.

Testing It Out

Here’s a market landscape grid by G2 documenting all of Trello’s competitors in the project management space. For a leading brand like Trello, the goal would be to look at top brands in two quadrants: “Leaders” and “High Performers.”

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3. Extensively benchmark key competitors.

Step 2 will narrow down your focus from dozens of competitors to the few most important ones to target. Now, it’s time to examine each competitor thoroughly and prepare a benchmarking report.

Remember that this exercise isn’t meant to find shortcomings in every competitor. You have to objectively determine both the good and bad aspects of each brand.

Here are the core factors to consider when benchmarking competitors:

Quality. Assess the quality of products/services for each competitor. You can compare product features to see what’s giving them an edge over you. You can also evaluate customer reviews to understand what users have to say about the quality of their offering.
Price. Document the price points for every competitor to understand their pricing tactics. You can also interview their customers to find the value for money from users’ perspectives.
Customer service. Check how they deliver support — through chat, phone, email, knowledge base, and more. You can also find customer ratings on different third-party platforms.
Brand reputation. You should also compare each competitor’s reputation in the market to understand how people perceive the brand. Look out for anything critical people say about specific competitors.
Financial health. If possible, look for performance indicators to assess a brand's financial progress. You can find data on metrics like revenue growth and profit margins.

This benchmarking exercise will involve a combination of primary and secondary research. Invest enough time in this step to ensure that your competitive analysis is completely airtight.

Check out this example of a competitor benchmarking report for workforce intelligence tools:

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Testing It Out

Here’s how I benchmarked Asana based on these criteria using the information I could find:

Criteria	Asana
Quality	100+ integrations Automation rules AI features for project management Highly praised for user-friendly interface
Price	Offers a free tier and paid plans starting from $10.99/month per user. Advanced features and integrations are available at higher price points.
Customer Service	Live chat Phone support Ticket-based support Tutorials in Asana Academy Knowledge base and community forum
Brand Reputation	Considered one of the best project management tools, with a slightly more robust feature set compared to competitors.

4. Deep dive into their marketing strategy.

While the first few steps will tell you what you can improve in your core product or service, you also need to find how competitors market their products.

You need to deep-dive into their marketing strategies to learn how they approach buyers. I analyze every marketing channel, then note my observations on how they speak to their audience and highlight their brand personality.

Here are a few key marketing channels to explore:

Website. Analyze the website structure and copy to understand their positioning and brand voice.
Email. Subscribe to emails to learn their cadence, copywriting style, content covered, and other aspects.
Paid ads. Use tools like Ahrefs and Semrush to find if any competitor is running paid ads on search engines.
Thought leadership. Follow a brand’s thought leadership efforts with content assets like podcasts, webinars, courses, and more.
Digital PR. Explore whether a brand is investing in digital PR to build buzz around its business and analyze its strategy.
Social media. See how actively brands use different social channels and what kind of content is working best for them.
Partnerships. Analyze high-value partnerships to see if brands work closely with any companies and mutually benefit each other.

You can create a detailed document capturing every detail of a competitor’s marketing strategy. This will give you the right direction to plan your marketing efforts.

5. Perform a SWOT analysis.

The final step in a competitive analysis exercise is creating a SWOT analysis matrix for each company. This means you‘ll take note of your competitor’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Think of it as the final step to consolidate all your research and answer these questions:

What is your competitor doing well?
Where do they have an advantage over your brand?
What is the weakest area for your competitor?
Where does your brand have the advantage over your competitor?
In what areas would you consider this competitor a threat?
Are there opportunities in the market that your competitor has identified?

You can use tools like Miro to visualize this data. Once you visually present this data, you’ll get a clearer idea of where you can outgrow each competitor.

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Testing It Out

Here’s a SWOT analysis matrix I created for Asana as a competitor of Trello:

To run a complete and effective competitive analysis, use these ten templates, which range in purpose from sales to marketing to product strategy.

Featured Resource: 10 Competitive Analysis Templates

Download Now

1. Determine who your competitors are.

First, you‘ll need to figure out who you’re competing with to compare the data accurately. What works in a business like yours may not work for your brand. Divide your “competitors” into two categories: direct and indirect.

Keep these brands on your radar since they could shift positions at any time and cross over into the direct competitor zone. Using our example, Stitch Fix could start a workout line, which would certainly change things for Fabletics.

This is also one of the reasons why you‘ll want to routinely run a competitor analysis. The market can and will shift at any time, and if you’re not constantly scoping it out, you won‘t be aware of these changes until it’s too late.

2. Determine what products your competitors offer.

You‘ll want to analyze your competitor’s complete product line and the quality of the products or services they're offering. You should also take note of their pricing and any discounts they're offering customers.

Some questions to consider include:

Are they a low-cost or high-cost provider?
Are they working mainly on volume sales or one-off purchases?
What is their market share?
What are the characteristics and needs of their ideal customers?
Are they using different pricing strategies for online purchases versus brick-and-mortar?
How does the company differentiate itself from its competitors?
How do they distribute their products/services?

3. Research your competitors' sales tactics and results.

Running a sales analysis of your competitors can be a bit tricky.

You'll want to track down the answers to questions such as:

What does the sales process look like?
What channels are they selling through?
Do they have multiple locations, and how does this give them an advantage?
Are they expanding? Scaling down?
Do they have partner reselling programs?
What are their customers' reasons for not buying? For ending their relationship with the company?
What are their revenues each year? What about total sales volume?
Do they regularly discount their products or services?
How involved is a salesperson in the process?

These helpful pieces of information will give you an idea of how competitive the sales process is and what information you need to prepare your sales reps with to compete during the final buy stage.

For publicly held companies, you can find annual reports online, but you'll have to do some sleuthing to find this info from privately owned businesses.

You could find some of this information by searching through your CRM and reaching out to those customers who mentioned they were considering your competitor.

Find out what made them choose your product or service over others out there.

When a competitor is identified, have your sales team dive deeper by asking why they are considering switching to your product. If you've already lost the deal, be sure to follow up with the prospect to determine why you lost to your competitor.

4. Take a look at your competitors' pricing, as well as any perks they offer.

There are a few major factors that go into correctly pricing your product — and one major one is understanding how much your competitors are charging for a similar product or service.

If you feel your product offers superior features compared to those of a competitor, you might consider making your product or service more expensive than industry standards.

However, if you do that, you'll want to ensure your sales reps are ready to explain why your product is worth the additional cost.

Alternatively, perhaps you feel there‘s a gap in your industry for affordable products. If that’s the case, you might aim to charge less than competitors and appeal to prospects who aren't looking to break the bank for a high-quality product.

Of course, other factors go into correctly pricing a product, but it‘s critical you stay on top of industry pricing to ensure you’re pricing your product in a way that feels reasonable to prospects.

Additionally, take a look at any perks your competitors offer and how you might match those perks to compete. For instance, perhaps your competitors offer a major referral discount or a month-long free trial version.

These perks could be the reason you‘re losing customers, so if it feels reasonable for your brand, consider where you might match those perks — or provide some unique perks of your own if competitors don’t offer any.

5. Ensure you're meeting competitive shipping costs.

Did you know expensive shipping is the number one reason for cart abandonment?

Nowadays, free shipping is a major perk that can attract consumers to choose one brand over another. If you work in an industry where shipping is a major factor — like e-commerce — you‘ll want to take a look at competitors’ shipping costs and ensure you're meeting (if not exceeding) those prices.

If most of your competitors offer free shipping, you‘ll want to look into the option for your own company. If free shipping isn’t a practical option for your business, consider how you might differentiate in other ways — including loyalty programs, holiday discounts, or giveaways on social media.

6. Analyze how your competitors market their products.

Analyzing your competitor's website is the fastest way to gauge their marketing efforts. This is a great way to see how accessible and engaging their assets are, and if you can, try experimenting with A/B testing your landing pages or website as well. Take note of any of the following items and copy down the specific URL for future reference:

Do they have a blog?
Are they creating whitepapers or e-books?
Do they post videos or webinars?
Do they have a podcast?
Are they using static visual content such as infographics and cartoons?
What about slide decks?
Do they have a FAQs section?
Are there featured articles?
Do you see press releases?
Do they have a media kit?
What about case studies?
Do they publish buying guides and data sheets?
What online and offline advertising campaigns are they running?

7. Take note of your competition's content strategy.

Then, take a look at the quantity of these items. Do they have several hundred blog posts or a small handful? Are there five white papers and just one e-book?

Next, determine the frequency of these content assets. Are they publishing something new each week or once a month? How often does a new e-book or case study come out?

Chances are, if you come across a robust archive of content, your competitor has been publishing regularly. Depending on the topics they're discussing, this content may help you hone in on their lead-generating strategies.

From there, you should move on to evaluating the quality of their content. After all, if the quality is lacking, it won‘t matter how often they post since their target audience won’t find much value in it.

Choose a small handful of samples to review instead of tackling every single piece to make the process more manageable.

Your sampler should include content pieces covering a variety of topics, so you'll have a fairly complete picture of what your competitor shares with their target audience.

When analyzing your competitor's content, consider the following questions:

How accurate is their content?
Are spelling or grammar errors present?
How in-depth does their content go? (Is it at the introductory level that just scratches the surface, or does it include more advanced topics with high-level ideas?)
What tone do they use?
Is the content structured for readability? (Are they using bullet points, bold headings, and numbered lists?)
Is their content free and available to anyone, or do their readers need to opt in?
Who is writing their content? (In-house team? One person? Multiple contributors?)
Is there a visible byline or bio attached to their articles?

As you continue to scan the content, pay attention to the photos and imagery your competitors are using.

Do you quickly scroll past generic stock photos, or are you impressed by custom illustrations and images? If they're using stock photos, do they at least have overlays of text quotes or calls-to-action that are specific to their business?

If their photos are custom, are they sourced from outside graphic professionals, or do they appear to be done in-house?

When you have a solid understanding of your competitor‘s content marketing strategy, it’s time to find out if it's truly working for them.

8. Learn what technology stack your competitors use.

Understanding what types of technology your competitors use can be critical for helping your own company reduce friction and increase momentum within your organization.

For instance, perhaps you‘ve seen positive reviews about a competitor’s customer service — as you're conducting research, you learn the customer uses powerful customer service software you haven't been taking advantage of.

This information should arm you with the opportunity to outperform your competitors' processes.

To figure out which software your competitors use, type the company's URL into Built With, an effective tool for unveiling what technology your competitors' site runs on, along with third-party plugins ranging from analytics systems to CRMs.

Alternatively, you might consider looking at competitors' job listings, particularly for engineer or web developer roles. The job listing will likely mention which tools a candidate needs to be familiar with — a creative way to gain intel into the technology your competitors use.

9. Analyze the level of engagement on your competitor's content.

To gauge how engaging your competitor‘s content is to their readers, you’ll need to see how their target audience responds to what they're posting.

Check the average number of comments, shares, and likes on your competitor's content and find out if:

Certain topics resonate better than others.
The comments are negative, positive, or mixed.
People are tweeting about specific topics more than others.
Readers respond better to Facebook updates about certain content.
Don't forget to note if your competitor categorizes their content using tags and if they have social media follow and share buttons attached to each piece of content.

10. Observe how they promote their marketing content.

From engagement, you‘ll move right along to your competitor’s content promotion strategy.

Keyword density in the copy itself
Image ALT text tags
Use of internal linking

The following questions can also help you prioritize and focus on what to pay attention to:

Which keywords are your competitors focusing on that you still haven't tapped into?
What content of theirs is highly shared and linked to? How does your content compare?
Which social media platforms are your target audience using?
What other sites are linking back to your competitor's site but not yours?
Who else is sharing what your competitors are publishing?
Who is referring traffic to your competitor's site?
For the keywords you want to focus on, what is the difficulty level? There are several free (and paid) tools that will give you a comprehensive evaluation of your competitor's search engine optimization.

11. Look at their social media presence, strategies, and go-to platforms.

The last area you‘ll want to evaluate when it comes to marketing is your competitor’s social media presence and engagement rates.

How does your competition drive engagement with their brand through social media? Do you see social sharing buttons with each article? Does your competitor have links to their social media channels in the header, footer, or somewhere else? Are these clearly visible? Do they use calls-to-action with these buttons?

If your competitors are using a social network that you may not be on, it's worth learning more about how that platform may be able to help your business, too.

To determine if a new social media platform is worth your time, check your competitor's engagement rates on those sites. First, visit the following sites to see if your competition has an account on these platforms:

Facebook.
Twitter.
Instagram.
Snapchat.
LinkedIn.
YouTube.
Pinterest.

Then, take note of the following quantitative items from each platform:

Number of fans/followers.
Posting frequency and consistency.
Content engagement. (Are users leaving comments or sharing their posts?)
Content virality. (How many shares, repins, and retweets do their posts get?)

With the same critical eye you used to gauge your competition's content marketing strategy, take a fine-toothed comb to analyze their social media strategy.

What kind of content are they posting? Are they more focused on driving people to landing pages, resulting in new leads? Or are they posting visual content to promote engagement and brand awareness?

How much of this content is original? Do they share curated content from other sources? Are these sources regular contributors? What is the overall tone of the content?

How does your competition interact with its followers? How frequently do their followers interact with their content?

After you collect this data, generate an overall grade for the quality of your competitor's content. This will help you compare the rest of your competitors using a similar grading scale.

12. Perform a SWOT Analysis to learn their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

As you evaluate each component in your competitor analysis (business, sales, and marketing), get into the habit of performing a simplified SWOT analysis at the same time.

This means you‘ll take note of your competitor’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats any time you assess an overall grade.

Some questions to get you started include:

What is your competitor doing well? (Products, content marketing, social
Where does your competitor have the advantage over your brand?
What is the weakest area for your competitor?
Where does your brand have the advantage over your competitor?
What could they do better with?
In what areas would you consider this competitor a threat?
Are there opportunities in the market that your competitor has identified?

You‘ll be able to compare their weaknesses against your strengths and vice versa. By doing this, you can better position your company, and you’ll start to uncover areas for improvement within your own brand.

Competitive Product Analysis

Product analysis drills down to discover key differences and similarities in products that share the same general market.

If you have a competitor selling products in a similar market niche to your own — you want to ensure that you aren’t losing market share to the competition.

Leveraging the example above, we can drill down and discover some of the key differentiators in product offerings.

1. Assess your current product pricing.

The first step in any product analysis is to assess current pricing.

Nintendo offers three models of its Switch console: The smaller lite version is priced at $199, the standard version is $299, and the new OLED version is $349.

Sony, meanwhile, offers two versions of its PlayStation 5 console: The standard edition costs $499, and the digital version, which doesn’t include a disc drive, is $399.

2. Compare key features.

Next is a comparison of key features. In the case of our console example, this means comparing features like processing power, memory, and hard drive space.

Feature	PS5 Standard	Nintendo Switch
Hard drive space	825 GB	32 GB
RAM	16 GB	4 GB
USB ports	4 ports	1 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0
Ethernet connection	Gigabit	None

3. Pinpoint differentiators.

With basic features compared, it’s time to dive deeper with differentiators. While a glance at the chart above seems to indicate that the PS5 is outperforming its competition, this data only tells part of the story.

Here’s why: The big selling point of the standard and OLED Switch models is that they can be played as either handheld consoles or docked with a base station connected to a TV. What’s more, this “switching” happens seamlessly, allowing players to play whenever, wherever.

The Playstation offering, meanwhile, has leaned into market-exclusive games that are only available on its system to help differentiate them from their competitors.

4. Identify market gaps.

The last step in a competitive product analysis is looking for gaps in the market that could help your company get ahead.

When it comes to the console market, one potential opportunity gaining traction is the delivery of games via cloud-based services rather than physical hardware.

Companies like Nvidia and Google have already made inroads in this space, and if they can overcome issues with bandwidth and latency, it could change the market at scale.

Competitive Analysis Example

How do you stack up against the competition? Where are you similar, and what sets you apart? This is the goal of competitive analysis.

By understanding where your brand and competitors overlap and diverge, you’re better positioned to make strategic decisions that can help grow your brand.

Of course, it’s one thing to understand the benefits of competitive analysis, and it’s another to actually carry out an analysis that yields actionable results. Don’t worry — we’ve got you covered with a quick example.

Sony vs. Nintendo: Not all fun and games.

Let’s take a look at popular gaming system companies Sony and Nintendo.

Sony’s newest offering — the Playstation 5 — recently hit the market but has been plagued by supply shortages.

Nintendo’s Switch console, meanwhile, has been around for several years but remains a consistent seller, especially among teens and children.

This scenario is familiar for many companies on both sides of the coin; some have introduced new products designed to compete with established market leaders, while others are looking to ensure that reliable sales don’t fall.

Using some of the steps listed above, here’s a quick competitive analysis example.

1. Determine who your competitors are.

In our example, it’s Sony vs Nintendo, but it’s also worth considering Microsoft’s Xbox, which occupies the same general market vertical.

This is critical for effective analysis; even if you’re focused on specific competitors and how they compare, it’s worth considering other similar market offerings.

2. Determine what products your competitors offer.

PlayStation offers two PS5 versions, digital and standard, at different price points, while Nintendo offers three versions of its console.

Both companies also sell peripherals — for example, Sony sells virtual reality (VR) add-ons, while Nintendo sells gaming peripherals such as steering wheels, tennis rackets, and differing controller configurations.

3. Research your competitors' sales tactics and results.

When it comes to sales tactics and marketing, Sony and Nintendo have very different approaches.

In part thanks to the recent semiconductor shortage, Sony has driven up demand via scarcity — very low volumes of PS5 consoles remain available. Nintendo, meanwhile, has adopted a broader approach by targeting families as its primary customer base.

This effort is bolstered by the Switch Lite product line, which is smaller and less expensive, making it a popular choice for children.

The numbers tell the tale: Through September 2021, Nintendo sold 14.3 million consoles, while Sony sold 7.8 million.

4. Take a look at your competitors' pricing, as well as any perks they offer.

Sony has the higher price point: Their standard PS5 sells for $499, while Nintendo’s most expensive offering comes in at $349. Both offer robust digital marketplaces and the ability to easily download new games or services.

Here, the key differentiators are flexibility and fidelity. The Switch is flexible — users can dock it with their television and play it like a standard console or pick it up and take it anywhere as a handheld gaming system.

The PS5, meanwhile, has superior graphics hardware and processing power for gamers who want the highest-fidelity experience.

5. Analyze how your competitors market their products.

If you compare the marketing efforts of Nintendo and Sony, the difference is immediately apparent: Sony’s ads feature realistic in-game footage and speak to the exclusive nature of their game titles.

The company has managed to secure deals with several high-profile game developers for exclusive access to new and existing IPs.

Nintendo, meanwhile, uses brightly lit ads showing happy families playing together or children using their smaller Switches while traveling.

6. Analyze the level of engagement on your competitor's content.

Engagement helps drive sales and encourage repeat purchases.

While there are several ways to measure engagement, social media is one of the most straightforward: In general, more followers equates to more engagement and greater market impact.

When it comes to our example, Sony enjoys a significant lead over Nintendo: While the official Playstation Facebook page has 38 million followers, Nintendo has just 5 million.

Competitive Analysis Templates

Competitive analysis is complex, especially when you’re assessing multiple companies and products simultaneously.

To help streamline the process, we’ve created 10 free templates that make it possible to see how you stack up against the competition — and what you can do to increase market share.

Let’s break down our SWOT analysis template. Here’s what it looks like:

Download Free Templates

Strengths. Identify your strengths. These may include specific pieces of intellectual property, products that are unique to the market, or a workforce that outperforms the competition.

Weaknesses. Here, it’s worth considering potential issues around pricing, leadership, staff turnover, and new competitors in the market.

Opportunities. This part of the SWOT analysis can focus on new market niches, evolving consumer preferences, or new technologies being developed by your company.

Threats. These might include new taxes or regulations on existing products or an increasing number of similar products in the same market space that could negatively affect your overall share.

Competitive Analysis: FAQs

What is a competitive analysis framework?

A competitive analysis framework is a structured approach used to evaluate potential competitors and understand their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

This framework serves as a guide for businesses to identify competitive advantages, understand market positioning, and inform strategic decisions.

Depending on the industry and the company's objectives, this framework might focus on areas like product features, market share, pricing, customer feedback, and more.

How do you do a good competitive analysis?

Conducting a thorough competitive analysis involves several steps:

Identify competitors. Start by listing key competitors in your market, both direct and indirect.
Evaluate their products/services. Analyze what they're selling and how it compares to your offerings.
Analyze market position. Determine their market share, brand perception, and unique value proposition.
Check their marketing strategies. Observe their advertising, content marketing, PR efforts, and online presence.
Assess their financial health. If available, review financial statements, annual reports, or investor presentations.
Gather customer feedback. Reviews, testimonials, and surveys can give insights into competitor strengths and weaknesses.
Regularly review and update. The market evolves, and competitors change strategies, so it's vital to keep your analysis current.

What are the 5 parts of a competitive analysis?

The five key components of a competitive analysis include:

Company overview. A brief snapshot of the competitor, including its history, size, and mission.
Product/service analysis. An examination of their key products or services and how they compare to yours.
Marketing strategy. Insights into their promotional tactics, target audience, and unique selling propositions.
Operational analysis. An understanding of their supply chain, distribution, and customer service practices.
Strengths and weaknesses. A clear breakdown of where the competitor excels and where they might be vulnerable.

What are the 3 C's in a competitive analysis?

The 3 C's refer to a strategic model that considers three main factors when understanding the broader business environment:

Company. Understanding your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Customers. Knowing who your target audience is, what they value, and how they behave.
Competitors. Analyzing direct and indirect competitors to determine market dynamics and potential threats.

Is SWOT analysis a competitive analysis?

Yes, SWOT analysis is a type of competitive analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It is a strategic planning tool used to identify and analyze these four elements of a business.

While a SWOT analysis can be focused internally on a company‘s own attributes, when used as a competitive analysis tool, it assesses a competitor’s SWOT to understand where your business has advantages or might be vulnerable.

How does your business stack up?

Before you accurately compare your competition, you need to establish a baseline. This also helps when it comes time to perform a SWOT analysis.

Take an objective look at your business, sales, and marketing reports through the same metrics you use to evaluate your competition. Record this information just like you would with a competitor and use this as your baseline to compare across the board.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published prior to July 2018 but has been updated for comprehensiveness.

35 Vision And Mission Statement Examples That Will Inspire Your Buyers

lkolowich@hubspot.com (Lindsay Kolowich Cox) — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:38:21 GMT

Why do you choose to buy products and services from certain brands even when cheaper options exist? It often comes down to a compelling brand mission — like these 35 mission statement examples.

Brands use a mission statement to express their values. As consumers, we like to patronize businesses that have values we believe in.

A strong mission statement makes it easy for consumers to understand your values and feel confident purchasing from you.

Still, loyalty doesn’t happen overnight. Building brand loyalty, like creating mission and vision statements, takes time. You may just find the inspiration that you need in someone else’s mission statement, so we’ve gathered 35 example mission statements to help make your research easy.

If you’re in a bit of a time crunch, use this table of contents to find precisely what you’re looking for to inspire the development of your company’s mission.

Table of Contents

What is a mission statement?
How to Write a Mission Statement
What is a vision statement?
Mission vs Vision Statements
Mission and Vision Statement Template
Best Mission Statement Examples
Best Vision Statements Examples

What is a mission statement?

A mission statement is a simple statement about the goals, values, and objectives of an organization. A mission statement summarizes why a business exists and helps a company respond to change and make decisions that align with its vision.

This brief description helps customers, employees, and leadership understand the organization’s top priorities.

An effective mission statement will naturally change over time. As a company grows, it may reach its early goals, and they’ll change. It’s important to revise mission statements as needed to reflect the business’s new culture as it achieves its goals and develops new targets.

What makes a good mission statement?

A great mission statement combines physical, emotional, and logical elements into one exceptional customer (and employee) experience that you value as much as they do. A good mission statement will not only explain your brand’s purpose but will also foster a connection with customers.

When your brand creates a genuine connection with customers and employees, they’ll stay loyal to your company, thereby increasing your overall profitability.

Mission statements also help you stand out in the marketplace, differentiating your brand from the competition.

I’ve personally observed that there’s more brand recognition for companies when consumers think they have an important mission.

When wearing a pair of TOMS shoes, I’ve noticed that people comment more on my shoes than when I’m wearing Converse or Nike shoes (which are both more well-known brands). TOMS famously created the One for One® model, where they vowed to donate one pair of shoes for every one purchased.

A memorable company mission makes your product more noteworthy.

What are the three parts of a mission statement?

Your mission statement should clearly express what your brand does, how it does it, and why the brand does it. You can quickly sum this up in your mission statement by providing the following:

Brand purpose. What does your product or service do or aim to offer and for whom?
Brand values. What does your company stand for? For example, are you environmentally conscious and provide a more sustainable solution to solve a problem? Values are what make your company unique.
Brand goals. What does your company accomplish for customers? Why should they purchase from you instead of other competitors?

With these three components, you can create a mission that is unique to your brand and resonates with potential customers. Next, we’ll guide you step by step on how to write a proper mission statement to build on as your company evolves.

How to Write a Mission Statement

You understand the importance of a well-crafted mission statement that effectively summarizes a company’s purpose, but how do you write one? Let’s look at the steps to write a good mission statement, and then we’ll dive into mission statement examples to inspire your creativity.

Explain your company’s product or service offering.
Identify the company’s core values.
Connect how your company’s offering aligns with your values.
Condense these statements into one.
Refine your mission statement.

1. Explain your company’s product or service offering.

A good mission statement helps prospects understand what your company does in a literal sense. This means explaining your offering in basic, clear terms. Your explanation should answer the most basic questions like:

Are you selling a product or service?
Why would customers buy it?
How does your offering solve for the customer?

Record your answers and focus on how your product or service brings value to your buyer personas, otherwise known as your target audience.

2. Identify the company’s core values.

Now, this is where you can start thinking bigger. You didn’t just make a product or service at random. Instead, you’re most likely motivated by a set of core values. This is particularly important for socially conscious businesses and brands that care about well-being.

Core values are deeply ingrained principles that guide a company’s actions. Take HubSpot’s culture code, HEART, for example:

Humble.
Empathetic.
Adaptable.
Remarkable.
Transparent.

These are principles that not only company employees respect but are principles that our customers appreciate as well. By identifying core values that hold meaning on personal and organizational levels, you’ll have an appealing set to add to your mission statement.

3. Connect how your company’s offering aligns with your values.

So, how can your company offering serve your core values? You need to draw a connection between the two in a way that makes sense to the public.

For example, if one of your core values centers on innovation, you want to frame your product or service as pushing boundaries and explaining how it helps customers innovate their lives or business practices. Essentially, you’re taking the literal benefit of the offering and expanding it to serve a higher purpose.

4. Condense these statements into one.

A mission statement can be as short as a single sentence or as long as a paragraph, but it’s meant to be a short summary of your company’s purpose. You need to state the what, who, and why of your company:

What — The company offering.
Who — Who you’re selling to.
Why — The core values you do it for.

Condense this to be between one and three sentences long. At this stage of development, it’s often helpful to write several mission statement drafts to help process ideas and experiment.

Once you have successfully conveyed your brand’s message, it’s time to refine and perfect your mission statement.

5. Refine your mission statement.

Above all, your mission statement stands as a marketing asset that is meant to be:

Clear.
Concise.
Free of fluff.

Your mission statement should clearly outline the purpose of your company offering, capture the company spirit, and show the common goals the company is working to achieve.

Have other team members or advisors read your mission statement draft and make adjustments if needed according to their recommendations. This is normally a slow process for brands, and I’ll share ideas and company mission statement examples in a moment to help inspire creativity in the writing process.

What is a vision statement?

A vision statement is aspirational and expresses your brand’s plan or “vision” for the future and potential impact on the world. They often serve as a guide for a brand’s future goals and explain why customers and employees should stick around for the long haul.

What makes a good vision statement?

A good vision statement should be bold and ambitious. It’s meant to be an inspirational, big-picture declaration of what your company strives to be in the future. It gives customers a peek into your company’s trajectory and builds customer loyalty by allowing them to align their support with your vision because they believe in the future of your brand as well.

What are the three parts of a vision statement?

Your company vision is meant to be inspirational while also aligning with the company’s mission. A vision statement should have the following characteristics:

Aspirational and ambitious. Have a lofty outlook for what you want your business to accomplish? Here’s the place to put it. Your vision statement should be aspirational and showcase how your business will grow in the future.
Practical and achievable. While your statement should be ambitious, it shouldn’t be impossible. Set a goal that is both challenging and practical.
General. Your vision should be broad enough to encompass all of your brand’s overall goals. Think of it as an umbrella for your mission statement and company objectives to nest under.

Both mission and vision statements are often combined into one comprehensive “mission statement” to define the organization’s reason for existing and its outlook for internal and external audiences — like employees, partners, board members, consumers, and shareholders.

The difference between mission and vision statements lies in the purpose they serve.

Mission Statement vs. Vision Statement

A mission statement clarifies what the company wants to achieve, who they want to support, and why they want to support them. On the other hand, a vision statement describes where the company wants a community, or the world, to be as a result of the company’s services.

Thus, a mission statement is a roadmap for the company’s vision statement.

A mission statement is a literal quote stating what a brand or company is setting out to do. This lets the public know the product and service it offers, who it makes it for, and why it’s doing it. A vision statement is a brand looking toward the future and saying what it hopes to achieve through its mission statement. This is more conceptual, as it’s a glimpse into what the brand can become in the eyes of the consumer and the value it will bring in the long term.

In summary, the main differences between a mission statement and a vision statement are:

Mission statements describe the current purpose a company serves. The company’s function, target audience, and key offerings are elements that are often mentioned in a mission statement.
Vision statements are a look into a company’s future or what its overarching vision is. The same elements from the mission statement can be included in a vision statement, but they’ll be described in the future tense.

Now that we know what they are, let’s dive into some useful examples of each across different industries.

Mission and Vision Statement Template

Free Guide:100 Mission Statement Templates & Examples

Need more examples to build your mission statement? Download our free overview of mission statements — complete with 100 templates and examples to help you develop a stand-out mission statement.

Write a mission statement with these useful templates, like the example below:

1. Life Is Good: To spread the power of optimism.

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The Life is Good brand is about more than spreading optimism — although, with uplifting T-shirt slogans like “Seas The Day” and “Forecast: Mostly Sunny,” it’s hard not to crack a smile.

There are tons of T-shirt companies in the world, but Life is Good’s mission sets itself apart with a mission statement that goes beyond fun clothing: to spread the power of optimism.

This mission is perhaps a little unexpected if you’re not familiar with the company’s public charity: How will a T-shirt company help spread optimism? Life is Good answers that question below the fold, where the mission is explained in more detail using a video and with links to the company’s community and the Life is Good Playmaker Project page.

What we like: Life is Good has a lofty, yet specific, mission statement. It’s a hard-to-balance combination.

2. sweetgreen: Building healthier communities by connecting people to real food.

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Notice that sweetgreen’s mission is positioned to align with your values — not just written as something the brand believes.

The language lets us know the company is all about connecting its growing network of farmers growing healthy, local ingredients with us — the customer — because we’re the ones who want more locally grown, healthy food options.

The mission to connect people is what makes this statement so strong. And, that promise has gone beyond sweetgreen’s website and walls of its food shops: The team has made strides in the communities where it’s opened stores as well. Primarily, it offers education to young kids on healthy eating, fitness, sustainability, and where food comes from.

What we like: Inclusive language is built into this statement.

3. Patagonia: Patagonia is in business to save our home planet.

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A previous vision of Patagonia’s mission statement was “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”

Patagonia’s mission statement spotlights the company’s commitment to helping the environment and saving the earth. The people behind the brand believe that among the most direct ways to limit ecological impacts is with goods that last for generations or can be recycled so the materials in them stay in use.

In the name of this cause, the company donates time, services, and at least 1% of its sales to hundreds of environmental groups worldwide.

If your company has a similar focus on growing your business and giving back, think about talking about both the benefits you bring to customers and the value you want to bring to a greater cause in your mission statement.

What we like: This mission statement example from Patagonia succinctly combines their products and activism into one memorable sentence.

4. American Express: Become essential to our customers by providing differentiated products and services to help them achieve their aspirations.

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The tweet above is from Simon Sinek, and it’s one that we repeat here at HubSpot all the time. American Express sets itself apart from other credit card companies in its list of values, with an ode to excellent customer service, which is something it’s famous for.

We especially love the emphasis on teamwork and supporting employees so that the people inside the organization can be in the best position to support their customers.

What we like: The emphasis on teamwork and supporting employees so that the people inside the organization can be in the best position to support their customers.

5. Warby Parker: To inspire and impact the world with vision, purpose, and style.

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In one sentence, the brand takes us to the root of why it was founded while also revealing its vision for a better future.

The longer-form version of the mission reads: “We’re constantly asking ourselves how we can do more and make a greater impact — and that starts by reimagining everything that a company and industry can be. We want to demonstrate that a business can scale, be profitable, and do good in the world — without charging a premium for it. And we’ve learned that it takes creativity, empathy, and innovation to achieve that goal.”

The mission statement’s success all comes down to spot-on word choice.

What we like: Warby Parker doesn’t hold back on letting its unique personality shine through.

6. InvisionApp: Transform the way people work together by helping them collaborate better. Faster. On everything. From anywhere.

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This mission statement from InvisionApp is:

Brief.
Authentic.
Business babble-free.

As a result, it makes the folks at InvisionApp seem trustworthy and genuine.

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Cradles to Crayons divided its mission and model into three sections that read like a game plan:

The Need.
The Mission.
The Model.

The “rule of three” is a powerful rhetorical device called a tricolon that’s usually used in speechwriting to help make an idea more memorable. A tricolon is a series of three parallel elements of roughly the same length — think, “I came; I saw; I conquered.”

What we like: This mission statement begins by feeling very detailed but zooms out to encompass the overall wellbeing of its target audience.

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A previous version of Invisible Children’s mission statement was “Partners with local peacebuilders across central Africa to end violent conflict through locally-led solutions.”

Invisible Children is a nonprofit organization that raises awareness around the violence affecting communities across Central Africa, and the company takes a confident, decisive tone in its mission.

The most valuable quality of this mission statement is that it has an end goal. Many companies’ visions and missions are intentionally left open-ended so that the business might always be needed by the community. But Invisible Children wants to “end” violent conflict facing African families with local solutions.

It’s an admirable mission that all businesses — not just nonprofits — can learn from when motivating customers.

I’ve personally volunteered for Invisible Children, and I’ve seen firsthand this mission statement isn’t something that sits on their website gathering dust. It’s understood by every individual at every level of the organization, from youth volunteers to leadership.

What we like: You don’t need to ask yourself, “What does Invisible Children do again?” when looking at their work. A clear, visible line can be drawn from every social media post, fundraising effort, and public campaign to this mission statement.

17. TED: Spread ideas, foster community, and create impact.

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We’ve all seen TED Talks online before. Well, the company happens to have one of the most concise mission statements out there.

TED, which stands for “Technology Education and Design,” has a succinct mission statement that starts with “Spread ideas.”

Sometimes, the best way to get an audience to remember you is to zoom out as far as your business’s vision can go. What do you really care about?

TED has recorded some of the most famous presentations globally. Then, it hones in on what great ideas can do — foster community and create impact.

What we like: This mission statement shines through in every Talk you’ve seen the company publish on the internet.

18. Microsoft: To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

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Microsoft is one of the most well-known technology companies in the world. It makes gadgets for work, play, and creative purposes on a worldwide scale, and its mission statement reflects that. Through its product offering and pricing, it can empower every person and organization.

What we like: This statement encompasses both the organizations and the individuals that use Microsoft products.

19. Disney: To entertain, inform, and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling.

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Disney’s mission statement goes beyond providing ordinary entertainment. It intends to tell stories and drive creativity that inspires future generations through its work.

What we like: This is an exceptional mission statement because it goes beyond giving consumers programs to watch, but ones that excite and change the way people see themselves and the world around them.

20. Meta: Giving people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.

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Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is a major social media organization with a concise vision statement. It provides a platform to stay in touch with loved ones and potentially connect to people around the world.

What we like: This is a concise mission statement, but it still manages to encompass two enormous points: the company’s origin (Facebook) and the future of the internet.

21. Vista Equity Partners: By providing technology expertise, operational guidance, and capital for sustainable growth, we empower organizations across all industries to stay ahead in the digital economy.

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Many businesses sell a clear and easy-to-understand product or service, but other companies need to combine branding with product education. This means that some mission statements need to not only communicate how a brand does business but also make it easy to see what it’s selling.

Vista Equity Partners is a leading technology brand that supports a wide range of people, technologies, and products. In its mission statement, it clarifies what its company offers and why. It does this using the terms its audience uses most often to describe how it can help.

What we like: This mission statement creates a skillful balance of product education and audience identification.

22. Dunkin’: Everything we do is about you. We strive to keep you at your best, and we remain loyal to you, your tastes, and your time. That’s what America runs on.

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Dunkin’ (previously Dunkin’ Donuts) has a mission that goes beyond remaining a large coffee chain. Rather, the brand wants to be the consummate leader in the coffee and donut industry. It wants to become a place known for fun, food, and recreation.

This example touches on the evolution of the company. Depending on your age, Dunkin’ makes you think of donuts and a “cheat day” from your healthy eating goals. I think of Saturday mornings from my childhood when my parents would occasionally surprise us with donuts for breakfast.

“Donuts” was dropped from the company’s name in 2019, helping Dunkin’ keep up with changing consumer trends and embrace the popularity of their coffee.

What we like: This example looks to the future while also giving a nod to its necessary evolution.

23. **Nike: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. *If you have a body, you are an athlete.**

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The Nike mission statement includes a unique element: an asterisk and a footnote expanding on their language choice.

It's concise yet answers a question that they know the athletic industry struggles to answer: What defines an athlete? It manages to simultaneously be informative and bring inspiration to their branding.

What we like: This mission statement articulates the target audience with very specific yet inclusive language.

24. Starbucks: To inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.

While the idea of paying $3 for a cup of coffee seems normal now, Starbucks had to fight to justify its prices when they were a new brand. They positioned themselves on the market as being another place to gather locally, one that didn’t revolve around alcohol.

The Starbucks mission statement touches on this subtly with the use of the word “neighborhood.” It’s a concise statement that speaks to their founding principles and, of course, includes their flagship product: a quality cup of coffee.

What we like: Good mission statements use emotional language, and the Starbucks mission statement does that well with the terms “inspire,” “nurture,” and “human spirit.”

25. Google: Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Google has become so synonymous with modern life that its brand name has become a verb. It’s estimated that there are 99,000 Google searches every second, and the search engine is only one of its products.

8. AllHere: Connecting All Families with the Right Support at the Right Time.

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Attendance is a big challenge for schools and families, especially with students in middle and high school. AllHere offers AI services like mobile messaging to overcome administrative and communication challenges. This helps students, parents, and teachers get the support they need for student success.

What we like: This vision statement emphasizes that this challenge is bigger than individual habits. It’s an empowering vision of an educational system that works for everyone.

9. Southwest: To be the world’s most loved, most efficient, and most profitable airline.

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Southwest Airlines is an international airline that strives to serve its flyers with a smile. Its vision statement is unique because it sees itself not just excelling in profit but outstanding customer service, too. Its vision is possible through its strategy and can lead its employees to be at the level they work toward.

What we like: Southwest gets it right — by being well-loved and efficient, they can become the most profitable airline. Putting customers first makes a business successful.

10. Supergoop!: Change the way the world thinks about sunscreen.

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For a vision statement to excite, but not overwhelm, it should be both broad and specific. Company mission statement examples like the one above from Supergoop! show that it may be tricky, but it’s also possible to balance those two extremes.

This vision says that sunscreen is important AND that sunscreen is more than sunscreen. This simple statement helps the audience think more about what its products are and what they should expect from those products. It’s about education, awareness, and quality.

What we like: This vision statement keeps the tone positive, bright, and direct.

Inspire Through Brand Values

It was Anna Lappé who said, “Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” Conscious consumerism is an economic trend that brands should pay attention to. Consumers are certainly paying attention.

Now that you understand the power of a great mission statement and you have these mission statement examples to learn from, you’re ready to take this step in your own brand.

Brand values play a much more significant role in customer loyalty than you think. Showing that your business understands its audience — and can appeal to them on an emotional level — could be the decision point for a customer’s next purchase.

We hope you found some insight from these mission statement examples and that they help you brainstorm your inspiring vision and mission statements for your business.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

How to Write a Memo [Template, Examples & HubSpotter Tips]

Sam Lauron — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:25:05 GMT

A memo is the best way to share news when you have a significant update or important win within your company.

Unlike an email, your memo will go out to your entire department or everyone at the company, so knowing how to format a memo is just as important as what you write. No pressure. (Well, maybe some pressure…)

Before writing a memo, I take some time to hype myself up. This bit of internal communication will be read by my peers, my boss, and likely my boss’s boss. Getting the language right is essential, and every word counts.

In this post, I’ll share my experience writing memos and tips from my HubSpot peers. From there, I’ll showcase stellar memo examples and a template to help you create your own. Let’s dive in!

Best Practices for Formatting a Memo

Business Memo Template

Memo Examples

Memos are shared to inform readers about new information and have applications for different communities and businesses.

Communities can use memos to tell people within it about public safety guidelines, promote various events, and raise awareness on subjects that affect their lives.

Businesses can use memos to relay information involving newly updated policies, changes in procedure, important milestones, or necessary employee actions, such as attending an upcoming meeting or convention.

I often find myself writing memos when there are significant changes to my program at HubSpot. Perhaps we’re implementing a new workflow, reorganizing the structure of our team, or sharing insights from a project we just completed. Memos denote importance, so I only write them when I have important updates to share that impact multiple stakeholders.

Below, we’ll explore when memos are necessary. But first, let’s discuss how to write a memo.

You can put together a memo in a few short steps. To give you an idea of how each step is formatted, I’ll write an example memo and break it down for each step. My example memo will be an internal announcement for a writing training session.

1. Write a heading.

No matter what kind of memo you’re writing, you’ll need to include a heading. This section should include who the memo is for (whether an individual or department), the date, who the memo is from, and a subject line.

Your subject line should be short, attention-grabbing, and give readers a general idea of what the memo is about.

“The headings you use should be descriptive enough that your readers can infer what they'll get in each section,” suggests Kaitlin Milliken, senior program manager at HubSpot. “Cut the cute language and keep your headings very tactical.”

Make sure the tone of your title matches the seriousness of the subject matter and your organization’s communication style. A witty opener won’t be right for every memo.

Testing It Out

Here’s how this would look for my example memo about a writing training session:

2. Write an introduction.

Remember, you want your memo to be brief and information-packed. Your introduction should be an efficient use of space. It should highlight the issue or problem and the solution you decided to move forward with.

"The beginning of any memo should state a clear purpose of what the memo will cover,” says Karla Hesterberg, director of content marketing at HubSpot. “Depending on the subject, this could be as simple as an overview of a statement that establishes the need for a new investment. The more simple and straightforward, the better."

That’s a reality that I personally struggle with. As a writer, I want to include those eloquent phrases and thoughtful transitions that sound great when read aloud. However, I need to take a different approach to writing memos.

My introduction should just summarize the purpose of the memo in two to three sentences.

Testing It Out

Using Hesterberg’s tip, here’s how I’d write the introduction for my memo:

3. Provide background on the issue.

Remember, memos go out to a wide group of employees. Not everyone reading your memo will have the same background that you do as a writer. You’ll need a section to explain any necessary context that folks need to know before going forward.

So, what do you put in? I asked Basha Coleman, one of the best memo writers on my team. Coleman is a principal marketing manager on HubSpot’s audience development team.

Coleman says she includes a section at the top of her memos that cover the following:

The situation
The impact of the situation
Recommended solutions

“This gives stakeholders the need-to-know info right away in case they don’t have time to read the whole memo at once,” Coleman says.

Beyond that, I like to link to other important documents that provide context on a topic.

That could be a related memo from a different team with more information, a news article that you're directly responding to, or a relevant dashboard that showcases the issue.

You don’t want this section to be long. However, if folks are interested in learning more, you’ve just given them the power to do so.

Testing It Out

4. Outline action items and timeline (optional).

Depending on the purpose of your memo, you may have action items for employees to complete or provide a timeline of when changes will take place.

For example, they may need to complete a task or provide information by a certain deadline.

This section should include the following:

When employees can expect changes to go into effect.
What changes have already been made and what to expect in the future.
Deadlines they need to adhere to.

When developing a timeline, avoid just creating a paragraph with dates interspersed throughout.

“Don’t be afraid to use visual cues in your memo, like tables, heading colors to display hierarchy of information, charts, and graphs. These can keep a memo brief and skimmable,” suggests Coleman.

Milliken agrees. In a recent memo on building a thought leadership program, she included tables that laid out each step her team would take, more details about what was needed, and when it would occur.

“I also included an infographic of a pipeline to show the stages of the project and how long each would take proportionally,” she says. “This makes it easier to visualize a timetable than just skimming chunks of text.”

Testing It Out

Here’s a sample table I created to demonstrate.

If no action is needed on the employee’s behalf, you can leave this section out.

5. Justify any reasoning.

If you’re communicating a request or anything new that could ruffle some feathers, you can make your case by offering a rationale as to why your announcement or request is so important.

“Think about your target audience and try to anticipate areas where they might ask questions, have concerns, or need more clarity,” says Hesterberg. “Try to re-read as someone who doesn't have all the context you have to identify areas you need to build up.”

Remember, as the memo writer, you’re an expert on the subject. You may need to ask a manager or a peer to review your memo with a skeptical eye. Where do they have questions? What needs additional justification?

From there, you can strengthen your case. This often includes featuring statistics as to why it’s critical and urgent to make a change.

“Keep in mind that data is super powerful but must be presented in a way that enhances the narrative rather than confusing it,” says Amanda Sellers, a blog strategy manager at HubSpot.

For example, the phrase “58.97% met the benchmark and 10.26% far exceeded the benchmark” is clunky. Instead, Sellers suggests writing,”Our strategy is working nearly 70% of the time."

The first example is unwieldy, Sellers notes, referring to a methodology that a broader audience is less likely to care about.

Meanwhile, “the second audience demonstrates the more important thing: why that methodology was important and what you can take from it,” Sellers explains.

Testing It Out

To justify the importance of the quarterly writing training session, especially in conjunction with AI tools, I’d add this data point in my memo:

6. Soften any blows (optional).

If you’re making a big change that could be seen as controversial or making bold statements where people might feel slighted, you can soften this with a well-placed caveat.

For example, with the rise of AI, you might be communicating a new company policy related to using AI.

You could soften the blow by sharing that it hasn't been an issue for most people, but it’s important to have a clear policy in place for handling it.

Testing It Out

Let’s say my memo took a different position regarding AI for writing. Here’s how I’d format my memo to soften the blow:

7. Include a closing statement.

Your closing statement will include any information you’d like to reinforce. Are there any specific contacts readers should reach out to for questions? If so, include them here.

“A conclusion that just reiterates your main points is boring and likely to be skipped,” Milliken says. “End on your most compelling points. You can either reassert urgency or discuss the resources you need to be successful.”

Milliken often closes on the support her team requires to find success. That could be additional financial resources, a champion within leadership, or more time to establish the change.

Testing It Out

8. Review and proofread before sending

This step may seem like a no-brainer, but it‘s important to review your document before sending it out. Memos are meant to inform readers of upcoming changes and relay important information.

You don’t want to risk causing confusion with a typo or misstatement.

“Memos often have a broad audience, so you'll want to craft a narrative that is easily understood no matter who is reading it,” says Sellers. “That means telling a persuasive story, getting to the point quickly, anticipating questions, and cutting jargon to find the simplest way of saying something.”

Testing It Out

Ask a coworker to review your memo or use an editing tool like Grammarly or Hemingway to review and proofread.

Here’s an example of Grammarly editing my memo and making suggestions for improvement:

9. Create any audio or video aids,

Once the memo is written, I like to give it one last pass. What would make the message even more clear? Should I work with creative to build an infographic? Should I amplify the document over our email channels?

Now that I’ve invested the time, I want to make sure my message is heard.

Coleman often creates a recording with a deck, highlighting the most important points in the document.

“Including video summaries of my memos with Loom is helpful for accessibility and busy stakeholders who like to listen to updates while working on other tasks,” she notes.

10. Communicate urgency (if necessary).

The last important tip? Up the urgency. If your memo pitches something new or timely, you want to explain why the change is urgent and the importance of moving now.

“The best way to do this is to explain what we’re at risk of losing if we don’t take action here,” says Hesterberg.

For pitch memos, Hesterberg suggests telling readers why this problem is important and why people should care. For explanatory memos, she recommends explaining what the information in the memo will be used for.

Testing It Out

Here’s how I’d add urgency to my memo about the training session:

Types of Memos

Now you know how to write a memo, but before you start banging away at your keyboard, it’s helpful to know the types of memos that are out there.

1. Request Memo

In a nutshell, request memos are exactly what they sound like: memos that are designed to make a request and get a positive response.

When writing request memos, focus on using persuasive language and, where possible, stats or numbers to highlight why a “yes” is the right answer.

Some sample uses of request memos might be to request a new purchase from your company or authorization for professional learning or volunteer opportunities.

When writing request memos, be clear in your request, state any costs, share why it’s important, and keep emotion and personal feelings out of the request.

2. Informative Memo

You might see these called announcement memos as well, and they make up the bulk of most memos I’ve seen. The goal of informative memos is to communicate new information to your audience.

Sample uses of informative memos might include changes in policy, company news, new processes, or even new staff members.

Ultimately, you can think of an informative memo as a clear, concise way to share announcements with your audience and provide any justification necessary for the new information.

3. Confirmation Memo

You can think of confirmation memos as a paper trail to make sure key stakeholders have a record of discussions.

Sample uses of confirmation memos are documenting conversations, so you have justification should it ever be called into question, clarifying anything that has ambiguity to avoid misunderstanding down the road.

When writing confirmation memos, specificity and clarity should be your number one goal.

4. Directive Memo

Directive memos are largely self-explanatory. When you need to communicate how to do something to your audience, you might write a directive memo offering detailed instructions that are easy to follow.

Sample uses of directive memos include sharing how to implement a new process, comply with new requirements, or even complete necessary tasks.

When to Write a Memo

As you’ve seen with the types of memos above, most memos are designed to communicate new information. However, memo purposes stretch far and wide.

“Memos serve a variety of purposes, but generally speaking, they either pitch or propose something new, consolidate information into one place for the sake of alignment, or explain or clarify information about a project or program,” says Hesterberg.

You might write a memo in the following scenarios:

You have a new policy, and you need to explain it to your audience.
Sharing important company updates and information.
Announcing new staff members or promotions.
Confirming details of a discussion to get everyone on the same page and create a paper trail.
Teach or tell people how to do something.
Requesting something and justifying why it matters.

There are lots of possibilities out there. In a nutshell, if you have something you need to share, a memo might be the answer.

Best Practices for Formatting a Memo

Now that you know when to write a memo, what types of memos there are, and what elements to include in your memo, I have a few parting tips. To sum it up, here are a few best practices for formatting a memo.

Cater to your audience.

Before you start writing your memo, consider who your audience is. Understanding who will read your memo will help you tailor your message, tone, and CTA for that audience.

Pamela Bump, head of content growth at HubSpot, suggests considering the following questions.

"Are the leaders you're writing for busy executives who want a quick one-pager focused on the most need-to-know information?” she says. “Or are the readers more inquisitive and interested in soaking in all the information they can get?”

Make it skimmable.

HubSpot’s Kaitlin Milliken recalls a time when she wrote a memo that wasn’t skimmable.

"When I was asked to write my first memo, I created a document with huge walls of text,” she says. “My manager gave me great feedback, encouraging me to use charts and graphs throughout the document. That makes total sense to me now. No one wants to read a huge string of lengthy paragraphs, but they'll definitely skim a table.”

To make your memo easier to read, use headings and separate paragraphs to break up new thoughts or talking points. You can also add tables and graphs to create a visual break when it makes sense.

Milliken adds, "Bullet points are your friend. They create breaking points throughout your document and keep information easy to digest.”

Be mindful of length.

The length of your memo depends on the type you’re writing. Generally speaking, a memo is one or two paragraphs long. But the length can vary if you’re writing an informative memo versus a request memo.

If your audience is interested in learning, an informative memo can provide more detail, while a request memo should be brief and to the point.

“If you're unsure, go for a shorter 1-2 page document, but link it to another page or dashboard with further data, context, or information that they can dig into if they choose,” Bump suggests.

Now that you’ve learned what goes into a memo, here's an easy-to-follow business memo template with examples of how to use them to serve different needs as guidance.

Business Memo Template

MEMORANDUM

TO:

FROM:

DATE:

SUBJECT:

I'm writing to inform you that [reason for writing memo].

As our company continues to grow … [evidence or reason to support your opening paragraph].

Please let me know if you have any questions. In the meantime, I'd appreciate your cooperation as [official business information] takes place.

Business Memo Template Format

The business memo template format is designed to effectively communicate your message. A memo should disseminate the necessary information in a way that is easy for a mass number of employees to digest.

An accurate subject line will alert them that this memo is relevant to them specifically. And beginning with an executive summary allows recipients to understand the general message before they dive deeper into the details.

The background information offers context to the message, and the overview and timeline should answer questions that are likely to come up.

Header

In your header, you‘ll want to clearly label your content “Memorandum” so your readers know exactly what they’re receiving. As previously mentioned, you‘ll want to include “TO”, “FROM”, “DATE”, and “SUBJECT.”

This information is relevant for providing content, like who you’re addressing and why.

Paragraph One

In the first paragraph, you‘ll want to quickly and clearly state the purpose of your memo. You might begin your sentence with the phrase, “I’m writing to inform you … “ or ”I'm writing to request ... ”

A memo is meant to be short, clear, and to the point. You'll want to deliver your most critical information upfront and then use subsequent paragraphs as opportunities to dive into more detail.

Paragraph Two

In the second paragraph, you‘ll want to provide context or supporting evidence. For instance, let’s say your memo informs the company of an internal reorganization.

If this is the case, paragraph two should say something like, “As our company continues to grow, we've decided it makes more sense to separate our video production team from our content team.

This way, those teams can focus more on their individual goals.”

Paragraph Three

In the third paragraph, you‘ll want to include your specific request of each employee — if you’re planning a team outing, this is the space you'd include, “Please RSVP with dietary restrictions,” or “Please email me with questions.”

On the contrary, if you‘re informing staff of upcoming construction to the building, you might say, “I’d appreciate your cooperation during this time.”

Even if you don't expect any specific action from employees, it’s helpful to include how you hope they'll handle the news and whether you expect them to do something in response to the memo.

Downloadable Memo Template

Want to see the above memo format in its final form? Download HubSpot's free business memo templates, shown below.

The document gives you a framework that sorts your memorandum into subtopics to help employees better digest the information and understand what's expected of them after reading it.

Download This Template

Memo Examples

Different industries or situations will require slightly different memos. Certain ones will need to be longer or shorter, others may not have a timeline, and some will have extensive background information.

The format of your memo should change to fit the message you want your employees to receive.

Launch Delay Memo

The objective of this memo is to announce that the launch of a product will be delayed. The introduction includes the new date, so a timeline or long overview isn’t necessary.

This format of this memo could be applied to other situations where a simple, but important, change is occurring.

What I Like: The launch memo provides readers with insight into product launch delays, which can alleviate some frustration that customers or employees may otherwise feel if they were not informed.

Other date changes, promotions, milestones, or product announcements could also utilize this format.

Building Update Memo

There are logistical aspects of a business that concern your employees but don’t necessarily involve their work. This memo depicts an example of a kitchen remodel in the office. It’s a bit of an inconvenience but not one of a large magnitude.

What I Like: This memo demonstrates a business's understanding of the impact that renovations can have on employees and shows respect and consideration for their needs.

This memo format could be applied to other building updates, work-from-home days, or other widespread but minor announcements.

Community Memo

Celebrations, events, theme days, or other fun things for your employees can also be communicated through memos. Community memos like this example are generally shorter because they don’t require much background information or many details.

What I Like: This memo has clear directions on where to find the event taking place, something which would’ve been less effective if it only included the floor number.

Memos of this nature should include a summary, date, and location at a minimum.

Persuasion Memo

Persuasion memos are used to encourage readers to take action regarding an event or proposition, like voting or petitioning.

What We Like: This persuasion memo prioritizes giving the reader information to learn on their own and make a decision based on their findings.

The main components of the persuasion memo should include an overview of the task at hand, context to learn more about it, and a call to action that emphasizes the impact the reader can potentially make.

Write Your Memos To the Point

The main difference between a memo and just an email is not the level of complexity. It’s the size of the audience.

A memo can be simple or intricate as long as it effectively communicates your message and is relevant to the receiving group of employees. And, the message itself should be clear and concise, no matter which memo format you use.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

13 YouTube Description Templates That Have Helped Our Videos Go Viral

esantiago@hubspot.com (Erica Santiago) — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:23:27 GMT

With 2.5 billion active users, YouTube is an undeniably important channel for your marketing efforts. Knowing how to optimize your YouTube channel can help you increase your chances of discoverability and reach more people.

As both a YouTuber and HubSpot‘s resident creator economy expert, I know a lot about YouTube and how to go viral on the platform. So, believe me when I say it’s not just keywords you have to think about.

Creating engaging YouTube descriptions is one of the most important tactics for optimizing your YouTube channel. We'll discuss creating compelling descriptions for your YouTube channel and videos here.

YouTube Channel Descriptions

YouTube channel descriptions are a little like the About Page of a website. It appears under the “About” tab of your channel's YouTube page.

Your YouTube channel description conveys to potential viewers what your content will cover, including the issues you tackle and the communities you serve. You'll be able to add this when setting up your YouTube channel.

Take a look at my YouTube channel's description as an example. Notice how I introduce myself, state the kind of content viewers can expect, and reference my target audience.

I also have links to other platforms connected to my channel, such as Instagram, X, TikTok, and my website.

As YouTube creators, our primary goal is to attract and turn viewers into subscribers, often using the channel description. With that in mind, use keywords your intended audience would use to search for your content.

See how “anime” is used multiple times in my channel's description.

YouTube Video Descriptions

Every YouTube video includes a description that can be found under the viewport of the video.

It's crucial that each of your YouTube videos include a unique description to increase the likelihood of your video being found when someone is searching for a particular topic.

As a YouTube content creator, I always craft my video descriptions knowing they can attract and convert an audience. So, I always optimize my video descriptions for SEO — and you should, too.

Keep reading if you‘re unsure how to start crafting compelling YouTube descriptions. I’ll explore tactics you can employ and provide templates to ensure you have everything you need to excel on YouTube.

1. Use YouTube description templates. [Free Prompts]

HubSpot compiled several YouTube video description templates to help your business provide context to your viewers, rank better in search, organize your team, and link to relevant web pages on your site.

Download These Templates for Free

2. Explain your content.

My colleague, Caroline Forsey, spoke with Eric Peters, a Senior Growth Product Manager on HubSpot's Academy team, to explore the best tactics for writing YouTube descriptions.

He said, “[YouTube descriptions] are one of the primary ways YouTube knows what your video is about. Include links, additional resources, links to other videos and playlists, etc. Make sure the description box is easy to read.”

Peters explained that your YouTube video description and closed captioning should incorporate keywords into your description.

It also helps with accessibility for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Hence, adding closed captioning to your videos is essential for accessibility.

For instance, take a look at one of HubSpot Marketing's YouTube video descriptions:

A YouTube description differs from a web page meta description. Content creators explain the entire video in a YouTube description and even link to external resources.

Peters says:

“You get 5,000 characters total, so make use of it. YouTube creators use asterisks or all-caps to differentiate titles from body copy because it's all plain text.

Consider writing up a text version of the key points from the video, or even copying the transcription and paste it into the description.”

Most of my most recent YouTube videos consist of interviews from my podcast.

So, I‘ll often save time by writing out the description I’d use for my podcast episode that would appear on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, then copying and pasting the same description into YouTube.

I‘d then tweak it to include more keywords or important links to other platforms. I’ll also customize my YouTube video description with the bold, italic, or strikethrough options at the bottom of the description box.

For information, click here.

3. Include a call-to-action (CTA).

Your YouTube description is a fantastic opportunity to ask viewers to continue engaging with your channel or find additional resources to help them learn more about a topic of interest.

For instance, let's say I create a brief “How to Add Filters to Instagram” YouTube video, but I also have an in-depth “How to Use Instagram for Marketing” blog post. Why not link it in the description?

Most likely, anyone watching my Instagram video on YouTube would be equally grateful for the opportunity to learn more through a blog post.

Perhaps I simply want to ask viewers to subscribe, turn on notifications, or share my content with their networks. These are all acceptable CTA's for a description.

Personally, I always include a call to action in my YouTube video descriptions, telling viewers to follow my other social media accounts, subscribe to my blog, or listen to my corresponding podcasts on other platforms.

Experience has shown me it's best practice to format the description so that the most critical information is first.

Peters advises, “The first 200 characters are above the 'more' fold on the description box, so if you want your CTA/link to be seen by most people, keep it within the first 200 characters.”

After the first 200 characters, the text will be cut off, and viewers must click “Show more” to see the rest. I know I don‘t always click "Show more" when watching a video, so your audience likely won’t either.

Therefore, you must count your first 200 characters.

4. Add your personality.

A YouTube description should be fun and demonstrate your brand's personality with a unique voice. Unlike traditional forms of advertising, this is an opportunity for you to instill creativity and humor into your content.

Brian Dean's YouTube channel is an excellent example of this. His YouTube descriptions often mirror the way he speaks. I enjoy his descriptions because they are candid and casual, and he makes it feel like he's writing to a friend.

Consider checking out HubSpot Academy's comprehensive YouTube Marketing course to learn more about using YouTube for marketing purposes.

5. Use timestamps to make videos scannable.

Including timestamps in your video description can make your video more user-friendly and help your content rank well on search engines.

YouTube video timestamps appear within search results, improving user retention by directing users to the most relevant portions of videos from SERPs.

Users can search for keywords in your video's description and click on a thumbnail on the SERP to view the portion of your video that answers their search query.

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YouTube Channel Description Examples

Every YouTube channel description should allude to a specific niche or central theme. You want to tell your audience what they will learn from your channel.

This will give them a reason to tune in to your channel, subscribe to it, and continue learning from you and your videos.

Additionally, when you add your niche to your YouTube description, your audience can more easily find you in a sea of potentially similar creators.

1. Wes McDowell

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Wes McDowell 's YouTube channel targets viewers in the digital marketing niche. The channel description mentions its mission: teaching small business owners digital marketing strategies they can use to grow their businesses.

The description also lists topics the channel will feature in its videos, invites viewers to subscribe, and describes its benefits.

Why I Love It

This YouTube channel description is clear and direct. It details what viewers will get when they come to the channel. This description also describes the marketing strategies and techniques viewers will learn.

Clarity goes a long way in making a channel easily searchable and rankable on YouTube.

2. Yoga With Adriene

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Yoga With Adriene‘s YouTube channel description highlights one of the channel’s main values: inclusion.

The channel description mentions that everyone is invited to participate and learn more about yoga through her videos, regardless of their skill level.

The description also recommends videos that beginners can watch to become familiar with the content.

Why I Love It

This channel description is an excellent example of how a company‘s mission can be useful for video content. The description gives subscribers a glimpse into Yoga with Adriene’s values, creating a connection with the viewer.

This angle is helpful for ranking on YouTube because it's aligned with morals and values that subscribers can easily identify with.

I started watching Yoga with Adriene‘s videos partially because the channel description convinced me they’d be great for beginners (and they are!).

3. Wild Wonderful Off-Grid

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Wild Wonderful Off-Grid 's YouTube channel description positions the channel within a niche by using the keywords “off-grid,” “self-reliant,” and “building our own home” to appeal to viewers who are interested in living off-the-grid.

The description also invites viewers to visit their online store and social media profiles.

Why I Love It

This YouTube channel description establishes a niche, describes the channel's content, provides background information about the creators, and encourages subscribers and viewers to participate further in their brand.

I also love how the description also directs their audience to other aspects of their business, such as their store and social media platforms, which fosters value for their subscribers.

4. The Pals

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The Pals‘ YouTube channel description introduces the channel’s creators, lists the video games the channel will highlight, and provides each creator's personal YouTube channel and Roblox username.

Why I Love It

This YouTube channel description focuses on the entertainment the channel provides.

The description targets subscribers seeking gaming knowledge and mentions the creators' journeys to set the channel apart from others in the same niche and genre.

5. Florian Gadsby

Isa-Welly's YouTube channel description immediately emphasizes her Registered Nutritional Therapist and Wellbeing Coach credentials before going into the purpose of her platform and what viewers can expect.

What I Love: I love that Isa Welly establishes trust with her audience by highlighting her professional experience. The bio is also very short and to the point, reducing the chances of confusion and keeping the reader's attention.

9. Sundas Khalid

Sundas Khalid 's YouTube channel description starts with a friendly “Hey!” before explaining who she is and what she does: “I am Sundas, and I help you succeed in the data science and tech fields.”

The description then dives into her background as a self-taught data scientist.

It also highlights her achievements as someone with 10 years of experience across two prominent companies where she was a high performer at each.

What I Love: I love Sundas Khalid because she relates to her audience by using a friendly tone and explaining that she is self-taught and from a non-tech background.

Her approach shows she creates content for viewers who may have little to no experience in the tech field but want to break into the industry or sharpen their knowledge.

I especially like how she includes a disclaimer at the end, letting readers know her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of the company she works for. It's a great example of transparency while separating your work and creativity.

10. Matte Wolfe

What Matte Wolfe's description lacks in words it makes up for in key links. Wolfe's YouTube channel includes links to his blog, Twitter (now X) account, and his AI tools database.

What I Love: Wolfe's channel description is a great model for how less is more, especially if your channel covers a broad spectrum of topics within your niche.

Just make sure you use the extra space saved in your channel to highlight important links, such as to your blog, social media channels, or business.

YouTube Channel Description Templates

Now that we've covered the basics look at a few templates you can use to craft a compelling YouTube description.

1. Playful YouTube Channel Description Template

You might create a playful, easy-going channel ‘About Me’ description, like this one:

Hi, I'm [Name]. This is my channel about increasing your sales, effectively targeting your audience, and growing an email list that you can use to grow your business.

If you're a marketer who wants to learn marketing strategies to get [result, i.e., more traffic to your site], subscribe to my channel.

My channel publishes videos that focus on storytelling content that connects X, shows you how to infuse your authenticity in your brand, and gives you a marketing strategy that feels organic.

If that sounds like it could be helpful for you, please join me!

2. Third-Person YouTube Channel Description Template

Alternatively, you can craft a YouTube description that describes what your company does from a third-person point of view, like this one:

[Company] is the worldwide leader in X, Y, and Z. Since [year], [Company] has been on a mission to [insert company vision or purpose here].

To learn more about [Company], its values, and its [company offering], subscribe to our channel to stay informed.

3. Niche YouTube Channel Description Template

Tell your subscribers what you're all about and describe your niche when writing your YouTube channel description.

[Name] and [Name] have nuanced discussions about dating, their lifestyle, and relationships. They discuss current topics that affect modern dating and how to maneuver relationship patterns. You can purchase [Name] and [Name]'s [product] to learn more about improving your knowledge of relationships.

4. Inviting YouTube Channel Description Template

Building a relationship with your followers is one of the most important things you can do as a content creator. This template invites them to join you as you grow your brand.

This channel gives everything you need to know about gaming, including the latest equipment reviews, new game reviews, and once-a-week live streams. Watch as I, [name], try to beat my high score in the latest release of [insert game name here].

5. Personal YouTube Channel Description Template

Don't be afraid to be vulnerable with your audience. Adding personal touches to your YouTube channel description, like the template below, can help you become more authentic.

This is a personal journey of how I became a painter. Learn about what paints I purchase, the tools I use, and the techniques I learned during school. Art is my passion, and I express my love for [insert passion] through it.

6. Straight-forward YouTube Channel Description Template

Tell your audience exactly what they can expect from your channel by using this template:

This channel gives pop culture commentary through a [political ideology] political lens. We make commentary on books and current events. We also upload a new video every Wednesday and Friday.

YouTube Video Description Examples

A helpful video description can spike your audience's interest, resulting in longer watch times, better view counts, and even new subscribers.

Plus, it can help with YouTube SEO, allowing YouTube's algorithm to understand your content and suggest it to new users, further boosting your YouTube metrics.

1. “5 Best Coding Languages for Beginners 2021” by nicole . young

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The description of nicole . young's YouTube video, "5 Best Coding Languages for Beginners 2021," hooks the viewer by posing a question that will be answered in the video.

The video description also includes a benefit the viewer will gain from watching the video.

Why I Love It

In this video description, the creator summarizes the video‘s title and specifies the target audience. The text will help audiences (and YouTube) understand the video’s content.

This creator understands that the channel description is prime real estate for contact information, social media handles, and calls to action, persuading viewers to stick around.

2. “How to Write Counterpoint - Music Composition” by Music Matters

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The description of Music Matters's YouTube video, "How to Write Counterpoint - Music Composition,“ uses keywords such as ”writing counterpoint,“ ”music composition lesson,“ and ”understanding counterpoint" to appeal to audiences that are interested in learning the music composition technique.

The description also includes timestamps that viewers can use to skip to the portion of the video that addresses the specific topic they want to learn about.

Why I Love It

This YouTube video description uses keywords to appeal to a niche audience. The specificity makes it easily searchable on YouTube. Using keywords to make each video search-friendly will drive traffic to your video's specific content.

3. “How to Create a 90-Day Plan for your Business (+ Free Workbook)” by Anna Clark

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The description of Anna Clark's YouTube video, "How to Create a 90-Day Plan for your Business (+ Free Workbook)," includes links to the creator's website, courses, newsletter, and social media accounts, and a workbook that viewers can download and complete as they watch the video.

Why I Love It

It's good to involve your viewers in other aspects of your business. The interaction and engagement you earn will help you rank against other active channels.

Directing your viewers to other resources for your business will also help your YouTube channel drive traffic to your website, increasing your authority in your business niche.

4. “How To Create An Email Sales Funnel” by Wishpond

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The description of Wishpond's YouTube video, "How To Create An Email Sales Funnel," hooks the viewer by stating that the video is the fourth installment in a series and linking to the previous video.

The video description also incentivizes viewers to learn more about the company.

Why I Love It

This description segments the video as a section of a more extensive series. If subscribers learn that you provide similar content on your channel, they will be more inclined to watch your other videos.

The description also lets viewers know there's a free demo of the service. If you sell different products or services in your business, link them in the description.

5. “How to Outline Your Novel - Part 2” by Writing with Jenna Moreci

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The description of Writing with Jenna Moreci's YouTube video, "How to Outline Your Novel - Part 2," hooks the viewer by stating that the video is the second installment in a series and linking to the previous video.

The video description also lets viewers learn more about the creator's products.

Why We Love It

This video description is excellent because it lets viewers know what's coming next. Inserting a “new segment” in your YouTube series lets viewers anticipate your next video.

6. “Microgreens Growing: Materials and Beginner's Guide” by Epic Gardening

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The video description tells viewers about the creator's experience with microgreens, lists the supplies the creator mentions in the video, and lists ways that viewers can support the creator beyond watching their video.

Why I Love It

The creator provides a list of products used in the video. The viewers can research the products or purchase them immediately through the links.

7. “Budgeting for Beginners - How to Make a Budget From Scratch 2021” by Debt Free Millennials

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Debt Free Millennials' YouTube video, "Budgeting for Beginners - How to Make a Budget From Scratch 2021," teaches viewers to create a budget.

The description gives viewers an overview of the topics covered in the video and invites them to sign up for products and services through affiliated links.

It also includes links to the creator's Instagram, Facebook group, and website so viewers can connect with the creator through different social platforms.

Why I Love It

I love that the creator has created a sense of community and togetherness. If you include your social media links in your YouTube video description, subscribers will follow you on multiple platforms to remain engaged with your content.

The content creator invites them to return for new videos and share their experiences on social media.

8. “FINALLY be consistent on social media” by Jade Beason

Jade Beason‘s video gives viewers tips and strategies for staying consistent on social media as a creator or business owner. Her video’s description is simple and captures who and what the video is intended for:

“Watch this video if you're struggling to post consistently on social media!

If you want to learn new content creation tips, content creation hacks, how to be consistent on social media or how to create consistent content on social media, this video is for you.”

What I Love: Since Beason‘s video description is so short, it leaves plenty of room for her to list other important information, and that’s what she does.

As viewers read through the description, they‘ll find information about further learning, additional resources, Beason’s equipment, and free guides.

Even better, it's all neatly organized into sections.

9. “The Roadmap To Making Your First $1M In SaaS (How I Did It)” by Alex Heiden

Alex Heiden‘s video documents part of his journey of trying to profit off B2B SaaS. The video’s description details how he organizes his goals and the tools he uses.

What I Love: Heiden‘s description is detailed in summarizing the video’s point. He has included chapters, which are great for SEO and helps YouTube rank the video higher in search results.

10. “Easiest Online Business To Make $100,000+ In 2024” by Jensen Tung

Jensen Tung‘s video discusses the easiest online business to start to make $100,000. The video’s title is self-explanatory, so it's not as necessary for Tung to have the video summary at the top of the description.

So, he moved it toward the bottom and used the rest of the space to provide information on his gear, newsletter, crucial links, and other endeavors.

What I Love: Tung prioritizes the most important information in his video description, and, in this case, it‘s not the video’s summary — it's the links and information to his other projects that views may not have been able to find as easily otherwise.

YouTube Video Description Templates

A YouTube video description is descriptive text that includes but is not limited to keywords, themes, and special concepts/guests that the content creator wants their viewers to know.

The YouTube video description increases visibility through SEO, views, and subscriptions. In each video description, the content creator will encourage their viewers to “Like,” “Share,” and “Subscribe” to their content.

An effective video description will be persuasive and informative, prompting the audience to tune in regularly.

1. Simple YouTube Video Description Template

Rather than writing a lengthy summary of your video, keep your descriptions detailed enough to let the viewer know what to expect, yet concise enough so they don't lose interest.

Listen to how our CEO explains the difference between X and Y, and learn best practices for implementing your own strategy.

Learn more about X and Y in our course: [course link].

2. Social Media YouTube Video Description Template

You can use a YouTube channel description like this one to help new viewers connect with you on your other channels and social media platforms:

Hi there! New to [name of channel]? If so, here's what you need to know: I like [interests related to channel] a LOT, so I use this channel to explore X, Y, and Z to help you [desired result for viewer].

Where else you can find me:

INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/[accountname]

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/[accountname]

LIFESTYLE CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/[accountname]

Join our growing community for new videos every Tuesday and Friday!

BUSINESS INQUIRIES

Please contact [PR representative] at [email or phone number].

3. Search-Friendly YouTube Video Description Template

YouTube increases visibility within keyword searches and relevant content. As a result, videos should have buzzwords in video and channel descriptions.

If you want to craft a description that explains what your video is about and incorporates a keyword description, try this:

Hey there! This lesson is part of a free online course. Take the full course here: www.company.com/course1.

Some people are unsure what X is — at its most basic, X is [brief definition of keyword]. In this video, you‘ll learn how to X, Y, and Z, to ensure you’re able to grow your brand online.

In addition, we'll explain how you can avoid doing A. Sometimes, A is all it takes to lose a customer.

4. Teaser YouTube Video Description Template.

Use your video descriptions as an opportunity to let your viewers know when to expect new content from you, like this template:

Join the “musical nerds” on a mission to improve our musical understanding. We upload every Wednesday and Thursday. We will have Q&A sessions to answer all of your beginner questions on Wednesdays starting next week.

5. Transparent YouTube Video Description Template

Transparency is key to gaining the trust of your audience. This template is an excellent example of how to let your viewers know when you are using affiliate links in your descriptions.

What‘s up, guys? In this video, we’ll talk about an everyday makeup look you can do in 10 minutes. I‘m not an early riser, but just like anyone, I still want to look good for the day. I’ll list the products I used in this video.

Please subscribe if you are feeling my vibe. I post content weekly, and you can always find me on Insta! I'll drop my social media handles below.

**All opinions are my own. This video isn‘t sponsored. I’m sent products for my consideration, and I earn a small percentage from sales through affiliated links. Clicking on affiliated links doesn't cost you anything.**

6. Engaging YouTube Video Description Template

Engaging with your audience is essential for building community with them. Here, this description encourages viewers to leave suggestions in the comments section to be featured in future videos.

Hi, everyone! We‘re the Science Kidz! Today, we are experimenting to find out which popcorn brand leaves behind the least number of kernels. Will it be Orville Redenbacher’s or Act II?

Every week, we do a new experiment as part of our initiative to highlight STEM careers in Savannah, Georgia. If you have an experiment you want to see The Science Kidz try, leave a comment below. You never know — we could pick yours!

Follow me on Instagram for more experiment ideas, and tag us in some of the experiments you do with your friends!

7. Sponsored YouTube Video Description Templates

Disclosing paid sponsorships or product placements doesn‘t have to be super jargon-heavy. A template like this can help you be candid with your audience without straying from your brand’s voice and sounding like a robot.

Hey, y‘all! Today, we’ll be rebuilding a 454 Chevy Big Block motor. We‘ll be adding 200 horses to bring the motor up to 680 horsepower. I hope y’all are ready to dive into business with Motor Boyz.

This episode is sponsored by Husky tools, and we'll be using their latest impact and driver tools to rebuild the 454. We would like to thank Anderson Auto for donating the 1972 C10 to be our frame once the motor is rebuilt and completed.

1. Use templates.

Once you have your brand voice down, create a template for your video descriptions to help save you time when uploading. If you're having trouble making a template on your own, use HubSpot's YouTube templates to get some inspiration.

2. Be clear and concise.

When writing a description for a YouTube video, you should aim for simplicity. Make sure all the essential information is above the fold. That way, you can ensure potential viewers know what your video is about as they search for what they need.

3. Connect with subscribers.

Use your YouTube descriptions to help new viewers connect with you on your other channels and social media platforms. In doing this, you can increase your cross-promote content more easily and boost engagement and discoverability.

Just make sure to put your social media links toward the end of your descriptions since there are more important details to keep above the fold.

4. Create a niche.

Whether you‘re writing a description for your channel or a video, you’ll want to define your niche. Start by introducing yourself or your brand, then highlight what you offer and what makes you unique.

Be sure to incorporate relevant keywords used to search for content in your niche so your target audience has a better chance of finding you.

5. Show your journey.

You may want to create a channel description asking viewers to join you on a journey you document on your YouTube channel. For instance, if your YouTube channel focuses on streaming video game content, you may invite subscribers to watch you as you attempt to win the game.

Therefore, mentioning a goal for your channel can help you gain new subscribers eager to come along for the ride as you pursue a goal.

6. Be more personal.

Create a sense of community with your channel by being more personal with your audience. When writing your descriptions, consider including personal touches, such as telling a story, using relatable language, or speaking directly to the viewer.

By offering an emotional appeal, you and your content will come off as more authentic, helping you create a stronger connection with your subscribers.

7. Create anticipation for new content.

A content creator must build excitement for the next video — a sense of urgency and anticipation for their audience. A YouTuber can create giveaways, conduct polls, and invite special guests to participate in the videos to maintain the channel's success.

8. Make it search-friendly.

We have all done it: Having parts of an idea and hoping Google will fill in the blanks by completing the search with the rest of our thoughts.

As a content creator, you need to own each video's related tag, including misspellings, to help refine the content under your channel. The YouTube videos must be centered around keywords, maximizing your SEO for Google and YouTube searches.

9. Lead viewers to other resources.

When crafting your descriptions, consider linking to related content that viewers might find interesting or helpful. For example, if you have a blog, you can link to a blog post that goes more in-depth on the topic you're discussing. This will help provide additional context to the viewer and bring more traffic to your website.

10. Incorporate keywords.

Use keywords in your descriptions to increase the visibility of your YouTube channel and videos. In order to determine which keywords you should target, you‘ll need to conduct keyword research.

When crafting your description, don’t repeat the same keywords too much. Instead, insert them in a way that sounds natural. This will keep it easy to read and help you avoid keyword stuffing.

11. Tease a new initiative.

A new video is upcoming, and you need to send a teaser to your audience that will create buzz leading up to the release of the latest content. A video teaser can be uploaded to YouTube Shorts to increase anticipation.

12. Be transparent.

Authenticity sells. Viewers know when you aren‘t being transparent with them, so just be honest. If you have affiliate partners, gifted products, or sponsorships, don’t try to hide it.

Be honest with your viewers and write a disclaimer in your description.

As a YouTuber, engaging with your audience and building their trust is essential. If you lose that trust, it can be hard to win it back.

13. Maintain engagement.

Keeping your audience engaged is crucial for getting them to return for more content. When writing your video description, use a strong hook that grabs your audience's attention and makes them want to watch.

Be sure to break down the video into sections and include timestamps for each one. This allows viewers to jump to specific parts of the video so they remain interested.

14. Plug your products.

Any time you mention or use one of your products or services in a video, you should always include a link in your description. Doing this prompts the audience to try your product or service for themselves.

Offering a discount code may also encourage potential customers to leap.

15. Test out different formats.

If your videos aren't reaching your expectations, try experimenting with different description formats and templates.

Maybe your descriptions are too long, and they get cut off on certain devices, or perhaps there are better keywords you can optimize for. Testing out different descriptions will help give you a better idea of what works best for your brand.

Download these YouTube description templates and help your video go viral.

These must-have YouTube video and channel description templates can help you reduce the time it takes to upload and optimize your YouTube videos, getting them out to your audience quickly and with less effort.

Be sure to customize the text to enhance the reading experience because you want to be as helpful as possible for your audience.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

27 of the Best Professional Bio Examples I've Ever Seen [+ Templates]

lkolowich@hubspot.com (Lindsay Kolowich Cox) — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:22:11 GMT

As a writer, I have to let readers and potential clients know my expertise, my skills, and why they should work with me or be interested in what I say. So, a professional bio is a must in my industry.

Though I'm definitely familiar with professional bios, I can admit they can be challenging. What do I include? What do readers need to know?

As daunting as writing a professional bio can be, professional bios are crucial when applying for jobs, seeking new clients, or networking. A professional bio also gives the world a brief snapshot of you and your professional ideals.

If you‘re at a loss for how to write a professional bio that packs a punch, I’ve got you covered. In this journey, tools like HubSpot’s user-friendly drag-and-drop website builder can be instrumental in showcasing your professional bio online with ease and style.

I will walk you through how to write a professional bio that you can proudly publish, provide professional bio templates, and show you the best professional bio examples you can get inspiration from.

What is a professional bio?

Professional Bio Templates

How to Write a Professional Bio

Best Professional Bio Examples

How to Write a Short Bio

Purpose of Professional Bios

A bio tells an audience about who you are, what you've done, and what you can do. It can help potential employers, fans, or customers understand your personality and what you stand for.

Writing a bio without a clear starting point is challenging — believe me, I've tried. To ease the process, here are some templates I put together to get you started.

Professional Bio Templates

I‘ve found it’s best to keep your professional bio honest and to the point. Too long of a bio, and you risk losing your audience's attention. After all, audiences will only read a web page for less than a minute before clicking elsewhere.

And honesty is key because most consumers and clients won‘t invest in someone or something if it doesn’t seem trustworthy. In fact, 67% of consumers say they must trust a brand before investing in its products or services.

So, how do you write one that will effectively market you and your brand? You use a professional bio template.

By sticking to a predetermined format, you must fill in the blanks with your most relevant career information. These bio templates will guide you on where you should place your:

Name
Occupation or job title
Passions and goals
Skill set and expertise
Education
Work history
Location

Of course, while there is no one-size-fits-all template for a professional bio, these templates are a quick way to start building your long or short bio before customizing it.

But before choosing your bio template, there are some key elements to include to ensure yours is effective.

For example, say you're looking for a job. Your professional bio should give recruiters a peek at your career accomplishments and experience.

What if you've recently published a book or are applying for a grant? In those situations, highlight organizations you support or include catchy anecdotes.

And if you’re a recent graduate? A well-written professional bio helps you communicate how your life experience makes you the best candidate for the roles you seek.

Bottom line: Tailoring your professional bio to your goals and who you want to reach will make it more effective.

To structure your professional bio to stay true to these objectives, try our 80+ downloadable professional bio templates — for both short- and long-form bios — to start creating a bio that hits the mark.

Download free, editable short and long professional bio templates.

What should a professional bio say?

No one wants to work with a clone — your professional bio should be as unique as you.

When writing your bio, include important professional roles and achievements. Add your passions, interests, and how you bring your values to your work. Finally, your bio should let readers know you and reflect your personality.

Here are the elements I recommend including when writing a professional bio:

Professional Roles and Achievements

It's essential to highlight your career roles and achievements in your bio. This can include your current position, previous roles, and notable accomplishments. It will help establish your expertise and credibility and start your bio on the right note.

Passions and Interests

This might be less essential, but it will help humanize you. Remember: Bios are shared via an impersonal medium, like a screen, and can sometimes feel distant if we don't take the proper steps.

Share your passions and interests, whether or not they relate to your work or industry. That way, you can show enthusiasm and dedication outside your professional life.

Plus, you could find common ground with readers — which is always beneficial.

Take a look at this short bio by HubSpot staff writer Erica Santiago.

Her bio mentions her other hobbies, interests, and experiences — whether they tie directly to HubSpot or not.

"I want readers to know I'm a real person with a story," she explains when asked about her bio. "If I have similar hobbies and interests as them, I may have the same concerns, too. So, they'll know I'm just as invested in these topics as they are."

"Plus," she adds, "I'm always happy to talk about my cats at any given moment. You never know when a fellow cat mom could be reading."

Values and Work Approach

Your values can sometimes show your work ethic more effectively than your career path. It can also help you endear yourself to employers and colleagues who want to work with people with similar values.

So don‘t be shy: Share how you incorporate your values into your work. Whether it’s a commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction, or ethical decision-making, explain what drives you and be enthusiastic about it.

Your Personality

Remember: Your bio should always include a taste of your personality! Your sense of humor, creativity, or collaborative nature could all give readers a sense of who you are. This helps readers connect with you on a more personal level.

Remember to tailor your bio for different platforms and audiences. Also, keep it concise and impactful while highlighting the most relevant information in each context.

First-Person Bio vs. Third-Person Bio

While first-person bios are common, third-person bios can be more effective in formal situations.

Your decision to write your professional bio in the first or third person depends on your desire to leave a more personable or assertive impression.

Both approaches work, provided you tailor them to your goals and audience. What’s important is to be clear and tell your story in a way that connects with your reader.

How to Write a First-Person Bio

Writing in the first person can be a great way to connect with your audience when building a personal brand. When you write a first-person bio, use "I" or "me" to make yourself relatable and approachable.

Here's one way I’d write a first-person bio:

"I'm a freelance writer specializing in small business content. I've worked with companies in a variety of industries like home care to fine leather goods."

Speaking in the first person here connects you with a client or brand based on your experience and opinions. Put another way, writing a first-person bio is like telling your story to your audience.

Here are a few tips to make your first-person bio great:

Don’t start every sentence with "I."

Showing instead of telling is a great approach.

Let’s say you’re a writer who wants to create a short professional bio. Instead of saying, "I love to write," you can say, "Writer. Bad but enthusiastic dancer."

This portrays your writing skill, shows your personality outside of writing as a dancer, and includes a little sense of humor, which is essential for a writer.

Remember, you know yourself better than anyone.

Adding a back story to your bio helps create context for the roles and successes you write about. Think of it like a case study about who you were, what you are now, and the process that got you to your current position.

Focus on valuable details.

Quick facts about you can showcase your identity and values. For example, if you're writing a bio for LinkedIn, think about how to tie your hobby into what you do.

Let's say Animal Crossing is your hobby. Does it align with your career aspirations? It can be a great addition to your bio if you want to pursue a video game career.

However, if your interests lie elsewhere, including a more relevant hobby is better.

How to Write a Third-Person Bio

Third-person bios sound more authoritative and objective. So, if you’re job searching in a formal industry, applying for grants, or trying to get published, you may want to stick to the third person.

For instance, when you write a third-person bio, you may start with:

"Jasmine Montgomery is a Senior Hiring Manager at L’Oreal based in New York. She recruits across several business units to connect with the brightest talent from around the globe."

By only using your name and pronouns to speak about yourself here, you are letting your title and skill set speak for themselves.

These bios create distance between the subject of the bio (you) and the reader through a third person. This person could be anyone, but they usually speak in a tone emphasizing their expertise.

This makes third-person bios feel aloof or overly formal sometimes.

Ideally, your third-person bio should sound friendly but polished, like a message from a close colleague at work. Here are a few tips on how to write a great third-person bio.

Write from the perspective of someone you know and trust.

It can be challenging to write about yourself, so try to see yourself from the perspective of your favorite person at work or a mentor you trust. This can help you write from a position of authority without feeling self-conscious.

Show the reader why they should trust your opinion.

A professional bio often reflects a specific industry or niche. With this in mind, your text should include relevant details that professionals in your industry know. Avoid jargon whenever you can.

Remember, you're telling a story.

If you want a third-person bio, but you're used to writing in first-person, it may help to write it the most comfortable way for you.

Your professional bio is an essential piece of writing, so edit it carefully. Edit your writing from both points of view and see which works best for your target audience.

Here's how to write a professional bio, step by step.

If you’re anything like me, you probably don't think about your professional bio until you’re asked to "send one over via email."

You have one afternoon to come up with it, so you scramble together a bio that ends up reading like this:

"Rodney Erickson is a content marketing professional at HubSpot, a CRM platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers.

Previously, Rodney worked as a marketing manager for a tech software startup. He graduated with honors from Columbia University with a dual degree in Business Administration and Creative Writing."

To be fair, in certain contexts, your professional bio needs to be more formal, like Mr. Erickson's up there. But there are also cases where writing a personable and conversational bio is good.

Whether you choose the formal or casual route, use the following steps to create a perfect bio.

1. Create an 'About' page for your website or profile.

You need an online space to keep your professional bio. Here are a few to consider (some of these you might already have in place):

As you'll see in the professional bio examples below, the length and tone of your bio will differ depending on the platforms you use.

Instagram, for example, allows only 150 characters of bio space, whereas you can write as much as you want on your website or Facebook Business page.

2. Begin writing your bio with your first and last name.

If your readers remember nothing else about your bio, they should remember your name. Therefore, it's a good idea for your first and last name to be the first two words of your professional bio.

Even if your name is printed above this bio (hint: it should), this is a rare moment where it's okay to be redundant.

For example, if I were writing my bio, I might start it like this:

Lindsay Kolowich

Lindsay Kolowich is a Senior Marketing Manager at HubSpot.

3. Mention any associated brand name you might use.

Will your professional bio represent you or a business you work for? Ensure you mention the brand you associate with in your bio. If you're a freelancer, you may have a personal business name or pseudonym you advertise to your clients.

Here are a few examples:

Lindsay Kolowich Marketing.
SEO Lindsay.
Kolowich Consulting.
Content by Kolowich (what do you think ... too cheesy?).

Maybe you founded your own company and want its name to be separate from your real name. Keep it simple like this: "Lindsay Kolowich is the founder and CEO of Kolowich Consulting."

4. State your current position and what you do.

Whether you're the author of a novel or a mid-level specialist, use the following few lines of your bio to describe what you do in that position. Refrain from assuming your audience knows what your job title entails.

Make your primary responsibilities known so readers can know you and understand what you offer to your industry.

5. Include at least one professional accomplishment.

Just as a business touts its client successes through case studies, your professional bio should let your audience know what you've achieved.

What have you done for yourself — as well as for others — that makes you a valuable player in your industry?

6. Describe your values and how they inform your career.

Why do you do what you do? What might make your contribution to the market different from your colleagues? What are the values that make your business a worthwhile investment to others?

Create a professional bio that answers these questions.

7. Briefly tell your readers who you are outside of work.

Transition from describing your values in work to defining who you are outside of work. This may include:

Your family.
Your hometown.
Sports you play.
Hobbies and interests.
Favorite music and travel destinations.
Side hustles you're working on.

People like connecting with other people. The more transparent you are about who you are personally, the more likable you'll be to people reading about you.

8. Use humor or a personal story to add flavor to your professional bio.

End your professional bio on a good or, more specifically, a funny note. By leaving your audience with something quirky or unique, you can ensure they'll leave your website with a pleasant impression of you.

Following the steps above when writing your bio is important, but take your time with one section. People consume lots of information daily. So ensure your bio hooks 'em in the first line, and you won’t lose them.

(P.S. Want to boost your professional brand? Take one of HubSpot Academy's free certification courses. In just one weekend, you can add a line to your resume and bio that over 60,000 marketers covet.)

Why Good Bios Are Important for a Professional

You may think, "How many people read professional bios, anyway?"

The answer: A lot. Though there's no way to tell who is reading it, you want it catchy. Your professional bio will delight the right people coming across it on multiple platforms.

Professional bios can live on your LinkedIn profile, company website, guest posts, speaker profiles, Twitter bio, Instagram bio, and many other places.

And most importantly, it‘s the tool you can leverage most when you’re networking.

Bottom line? People will read your professional bio. Whether they remember it or it makes them care about you is a matter of how well you present yourself to your intended audience.

So, what does a top-notch professional bio look like? Let‘s review a few sample bios for professionals like you and me. Then, we’ll cover bio examples from some of the best people in the industry.

Short Sample Bios

Your bio doesn't have to be complicated. Here are five samples to glean inspiration from.

Example 1: Friendly Sample Bio

"Hey! My name is Ryan, and I'm a marketing specialist passionate about digital advertising. I have five years of experience managing various online campaigns and improving brand visibility for clients across multiple verticals. I love analyzing consumer behavior and leveraging data-driven strategies to maximize ROI. Outside work, I enjoy traveling, taking funny photos, and exploring new hiking trails."

Example 2: Mid-Career Sample Bio

"Jennifer Patel is a versatile graphic designer known for her creative approach and attention to detail. With a background in visual arts and eight years of experience, Jennifer has worked on diverse projects ranging from logo designs to website layouts. Her ability to understand and translate client needs into visually striking designs sets her apart. Jennifer finds inspiration in nature, music, and pop culture."

Example 3: Sales Sample Bio

"I'm a seasoned sales executive with a track record of exceeding targets and building strong client relationships. With a background in B2B sales, I've built a natural ability to understand customer needs and consistently exceed quota every month. I pride myself in my communication skills and strategic approaches, which have helped me thrive in highly competitive markets such as SaaS sales. Outside work, I enjoy playing basketball and volunteering at local charities."

Example 4: HR Sample Bio

"I am a dedicated human resources professional with a passion for fostering a positive workplace culture and facilitating employee development. With eight years of experience in talent acquisition and HR operations, I've played a key role in building high-performing teams. I'm known for my strong interpersonal skills and ability to create inclusive and supportive work environments. In my free time, I enjoy practicing yoga and exploring new culinary experiences."

Example 5: Software Engineer Sample Bio

"David Chang is a senior software engineer specializing in backend development. With a strong background in computer science and six years of experience, David has successfully built scalable and efficient solutions for complex technical challenges. He is well-versed in various programming languages and frameworks like C++, Java, and Ruby on Rails. In his spare time, David enjoys reading science fiction novels and playing the guitar."

Below, we've curated some of the best professional bio examples we've ever seen on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the various places you might describe yourself.

Check 'em out and use them as inspiration when crafting your own.

1. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Author

Bio Platform: Personal Website

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie begins her professional bio with an invitation to her roots.

In a few paragraphs, she describes when and where she was born, her family, her education, her honorary degrees, and the depth of her work, which has been translated into 30 languages and several publications.

Along with her notable writing career, Chimamanda highlights her annual creative writing workshop, which introduces readers to a well-rounded view of who she is as a professional.

From there, her bio seamlessly flows into her recent work and a glimpse into how and where she spends her personal time — the United States and Nigeria.

Finally, Chimamanda’s bio ends with a call to action to read a more detailed biography, giving the reader a choice to read the information available about her life and career.

Why I Like It

It’s written in the third person, allowing it to show authority.
It provides a brief but engaging account of Chimamanda’s life and experiences.
Mentioning her honorary doctorate degrees makes readers know Chimamanda is one of the best writers in the world.

2. Chime Mmeje: SEO Content Writer

Bio Platform: LinkedIn

A bio with a hook will keep you reading. Chima Mmeje is a freelance SEO copywriter who's "extremely good at one thing" — helping companies rank for their target keywords.

She can keep readers engaged by leading with a powerful hook that aligns with her target audience’s marketing needs.

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What comes next is a unique differentiator in Chima’s professional bio. Instead of listing accolades, Chima shares a few wins secured for clients.

This nifty section does two things: it builds the readers’ confidence in Chima’s ability to deliver results, and it’s a practical way for Chima to name-drop some clients in her professional bio.

In the body of the professional bio, Chima briefly lists the processes that can help potential clients get a bird's-eye view of what they can expect.

The simple call to action "Drop a message is a casual invitation to learn more about Chima's services.

Why I Like It

There’s clarity about who Chima serves.
The hook is bold, catchy, and compels anyone to read further.
Including client results makes clients visualize what they can expect.

3. DJ Nexus: DJ

Bio Platform: Facebook

This New England-based DJ has single-handedly captured the Likes of over 2,000 people in and beyond Boston, MA. And even if you don‘t listen to the type of music he produces, it’s hard not to read his compelling Facebook bio.

For instance, consider his tagline, under "About" — "Quiet during the day. QUITE LOUD at night!" DJ Nexus tells you when he works awesomely. I got goosebumps just imagining a dance club where he might play music.

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DJ Nexus's bio brilliance doesn't stop there.

DJ Nexus links his Facebook account to his personal website, where he has the space to tell the whole story of his background. Here's a preview:

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In this story, DJ Nexus describes how he got his name, including information about a company he founded before going to college.

This is a terrific lesson for professional bios: Customers want to learn about you. Consider how you might also lead your visitors off your Facebook page and onto your website to learn more about who you are.

Why I Like It

The eight compelling words in the bio pack a punch and grab attention.
The bio shows that DJ Nexus is great at his craft.

4. Lena Axelsson: Marriage & Family Therapist

Bio Platform: Industry Website

No matter where it lives, your professional bio does not differ from any other persuasive copy. One common mistake people make is thinking of it as its own beast, separate from other writing pieces.

If you think about it that way, you’d likely write a painfully uninteresting bio.

When you sit to write your professional bio, don’t watch that cursor blinking on the screen. Instead, think about how you would introduce a blog post. You don't dive right into the meat of the thing, do you? No. You start with an introduction.

The best bios are often concise (around 200–300 words), so you don't have a lot of room to play around.

But a single sentence that sets the stage for your reader and provides a context for your accomplishments could make the rest of your bio more persuasive.

Take Lena Axelsson‘s bio, for instance. She’s a marriage and family therapist — a job where empathy and compassion are a big part of the job description.

That's why she opens her bio with a great introductory sentence: "When human beings experience trauma or severe life stressors, it is not uncommon for their lives to unravel."

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Then, she goes into why she's passionate about her job, how she helps her clients, and how she caters her approach to each patient. The necessary educational information is left for the end after the reader has been hooked.

Your bio doesn‘t have to be super serious, nor does it have to start with a joke. This bio shows how you can capture your reader’s attention by being empathetic and how that empathy shapes a valuable professional.

Why We Like It

It summarizes Lena’s background as a therapist, including her approach to therapy.
The tone of the bio is professional and informative rather than overly personal or casual.
The bio focuses on Lena’s audience. This lets readers know that Lena wants to help.

5. Mark Levy: Branding Firm Founder

Bio Platform: Personal Website

Mark Levy is a small business owner. While the professional bio on his website takes a traditional approach, it still speaks to Mark’s audience.

What I love about his bio is the way he‘s set it up: On his business' "About" page, he‘s listed two biographies, which he’s labeled "Mark Levy's Biography #1" and "Mark Levy's Biography #2."

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Click here to see the full version.

The first biography is a "short version," which includes a combination of bullet points listing his credentials and a few brief paragraphs.

The second is the "long version," which is even more interesting than the first. Why? It reads like a story — a compelling one, at that. In fact, it gets hilarious in some parts.

The second sentence of the bio reads: "He was frightened of public school, loved playing baseball and football, ran home to watch ape films on the 4:30 Movie, listened to The Jam and The Buzzcocks, and read magic trick books."

Here's another excerpt from the middle:

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Of course, the fantastic copywriting isn't surprising, given that Mark wrote several books. But the conversational tone and entertaining copy let his quirky personality (and great writing skills) shine.

Why I Like It

Mark's funny and approachable personality shows all over his bio.
Mark writes his bio in the third person, which positions him as an expert.
It uses storytelling to humanize Mark and pull the reader into Mark's world.

6. Audra Simpson: Political Anthropologist

Bio Platform: Personal Website

With a classic take on the professional bio, Audra Simpson crafts an overview of her career in just a couple of paragraphs.

She emphasizes the "why" behind her work in the first half of her bio before transitioning to the way she carries out that work in practice.

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The second half of her bio combines her body of work and the awards she’s won. This subtle timeline gives readers a picture of her experience in political anthropology without listing her resume in detail.

Why I Like It

Audra's bio shows how experts can succinctly discuss their years of experience in a few words.
It proves Audra is an expert political anthropologist.
It shows Audra’s interests, giving readers a sense of what she likes as a professional.

7. Marie Mikhail: Professional Recruiter

Bio Platform: LinkedIn

Marie Mikhail checks nearly every box that makes an excellent bio.

A professional recruiter, she expresses her "passion for recruiting" in the first sentence, while using that sentence to hook her profile visitors into a brief story of her background.

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But there are a lot of recruiters out there, and Marie knows that.

So, to differentiate herself, she closes the first paragraph of her bio by explaining that she likes "getting people excited about the things [she's] excited about."

It's a well-put value proposition that sets her apart from the rest of the HR industry.

Marie concludes her bio with a smooth mix of professional skills, like her Spanish fluency, and personal interests, such as podcasting and Star Wars (she mentions the latter with just the right amount of humor).

Why I Like It

Straight off the bat, Marie uses a story to share her experiences of how she began as a recruiter.
It provides a subtle pitch for readers to check out her podcast.
The bio exudes Maries approachable, fun, and playful personality.

8. Wonbo Woo: Executive Producer

Bio Platform: Personal Website

Wonbo Woo is the executive producer of WIRED's video content and has several impressive credits to his name. What does this mean for his professional bio? He has to prioritize.

With this in mind, Wonbo opens his bio with the most eye-catching details first (if the image below is hard to read, click it to see the full copy).

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Not only does Wonbo's bio start strong, but he also takes readers on a suspenseful journey through some of his most harrowing assignments — where he was when news broke and how he responded. You can see this quality below.

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The accomplished journalist concludes his gripping bio as strong as it began. He mentions his experience with the states and countries he‘s visited in his career. Overall, it’s a fantastically concise bio for as much detail as it holds.

Why We Like It

The first sentence of the bio leads with authority and instantly gets the reader’s attention.
The bio dives into the many exceptional projects Wonbo Woo has executed.
Wonbo Woo uses lots of specificity to pass points across, like WIRED's YouTube channel nearly quadrupled subscribers (+375%) and views (+391%), publishing over 100 videos annually with over a million views each.

9. Chris Burkard: Freelance Photographer

Bio Platform: LinkedIn

When writing your bio, you don‘t want to boast while showcasing your accomplishments. Chris Burkard’s LinkedIn bio does this well.

Written in third-person, his bio tells a fluid story, starting with his ultimate mission — "capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with nature" — before diving into more tangible accolades (giving a TED Talk, publishing books, etc.).

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Best of all, rather than using his bio as an opportunity to brag, he instead ties his talents into how he hopes to help others, writing, "Through social media, Chris strives to share his vision … and inspire [his followers] to explore for themselves."

I wouldn‘t necessarily be inclined to follow Chris if his bio had simply read, "I post beautiful images." But images that inspire me to travel? Now that’s something I can get behind.

Last, he ends on a humble, sweet note: "He is happiest with his wife Breanne raising their two sons." So inject personal information into your bio — it makes you seem approachable.

Why I Like It

It highlights Chris’s achievement without bragging.
The last sentence portrays Chris as a responsible man who loves his family.
The well-written bio speaks to nature lovers who like the outdoors, surfing, and more. This gives them reasons to follow Chris.

10. Lisa Quine: Creative Consultant

Bio Platform: Portfolio Website

Creative professionals who specialize in visual art may find it challenging to balance the writing of their bio and displaying of their portfolio. Not Lisa Quine. Lisa has an exceptional balance of her professional bio and creative work.

Throughout her bio, you'll notice the number of murals she's completed and a brief timeline of her career. This helps her paint the picture of who she is as a professional.

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Why I Like It

Lisa’s bio checks the box on nearly all of our recommendations for a great bio. She begins with her full name, her location, and what she does best.
Lisa gets creative by mentioning the brands she’s worked with and highlighting some of her favorite projects.
Written in the third person, this bio invites the reader behind a metaphorical door to meet Lisa as a professional, traveler, learner, wife, and mother.

11. Nancy Twine: Hair Care Founder

Bio Platform: Company Website

As Founder and CEO of Briogeo — a popular natural hair care line that's received rave reviews in publications such as Allure and InStyle — there are undoubtedly plenty of accolades Twine could boast about.

But she starts her bio from a humbler place, stating: "Nancy Twine is no newcomer to the beauty-sphere — in fact, she made her first foray into the world of natural product formulation at the ripe age of five."

The rest of her bio similarly focuses on Twine's strengths as someone who’s able to take hair care "back to basics."

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Similarly, you might use your personal bio as an opportunity to highlight your bigger purpose or vision. As Twine shows, sometimes it's best to keep it simple and let your message resonate with the right audience.

Why I Like It

The bio explains why Twine started her company and what ultimately drives her.
It uses the founder’s story to connect with its audience.
Using a video further shows the face behind the brand and helps Twine connect with her audience.

12. Trinity Mouzon: Wellness Brand Founder

Bio Platform: Personal Website

From the first sentence, I gravitated toward Mouzon‘s bio: "I’m obsessed with leveling the playing field."

Mouzon effectively grips the reader's attention with this introduction and then dives into some of her impressive accomplishments — including a brand now sold at Urban Outfitters and Target.

The language used throughout Mouzon's bio is authentic, real, and honest.

For instance, in the second paragraph, she admits:

"While building a brand may have looked effortless from the outside, starting a business at age 23 with no resources or funding quickly forced me to realize that early-stage entrepreneurship was anything but transparent."

Why We Like It

It tells a story and quickly transitions into how Trinity built her brand.
This bio highlights Trinity's impressive background, including how she can help her readers start and scale their businesses.
Focusing on the reader lets Trinity show that a good bio can convert new readers into leads and customers.

13. Alberto "Beto" Perez: Co-Founder of Zumba Fitness

Bio Platform: LinkedIn

As an avid Zumba fan, I was excited to include this one. Perez styles his LinkedIn bio as a short story, starting with his background as a hard-working teen who held three jobs by age 14.

His bio tells the fun and fascinating origin story of Zumba, in which Perez, an aerobics teacher in Florida at the time, forgot his music for class and used a Latin music cassette tape instead ... "And it was an instant hit!"

His bio continues:

"Shortly after he was connected to Alberto Periman and Alberto Aghion, and Zumba was officially created ... What started as a dream now has 15 million people in more than 200,000 locations in 186 countries who take Zumba classes every week."

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Learn how to write your professional bio with more free tips, templates, and inspiring examples.

Why I Like It

Perez tells the story of his business, rather than list out his accomplishments.
The bio positions Perez as both relatable and inspirational.

14. Ann Handley: Writer and Marketer

Bio Platform: Personal Website

If you‘re a marketer, you’ve likely heard of Ann Handley. Her list of credentials is lengthy, and if she wanted to, she could go on and on about her accomplishments.

But when people list their accomplishments in their bios, they risk sounding slightly egotistical.

Sure, you might impress a handful of people with all those laurels, but many people who read your bio will end up feeling either intimidated or annoyed. Think about it: Is that how you want most readers to feel when they read your bio?

To minimize the egoism that comes with talking about yourself, think about how you can list out your accomplishments without sounding like you‘re bragging. Ann does this really well, choosing a tone in her bio that’s more approachable.

Best of all, Ann focuses on her readers' challenges and motivations, rather than her own.

For instance, she writes, "Ann Handley writes and speaks about how businesses can escape marketing mediocrity to achieve tangible results. >And she will inspire you to do work you're proud of."

Follow the link, and you‘ll see the page dedicated to a fuller bio, which she’s divided into two parts: a "short version" (literally a bulleted list of key facts) and a "long version," which includes traditional paragraphs.

There's something in there for everyone.

Why I Like It

The last section of the bio shows Ann’s warm personality — "Ann lives in Boston, where she is Mom to creatures two- and four-legged."
Written in the third person, this bio has lots of proof (like followers), which shows Ann is a terrific marketing leader.

How to Write a Short Bio

If you're posting a bio on a social media account or sending a quick blurb to a client, you want to keep it short and sweet while showcasing your accomplishments.

To get started, use these best practices for writing your short professional bio:

1. Introduce yourself.

Your introduction is your first impression, so always begin by telling people who you are. You may start with a greeting like, "Hello, my name is" or "Hi! Let me first introduce myself …" when sending your bio as a message.

If you’re writing a bio for an online platform, stating your name at the beginning works as well.

Leading with your name — even as a question — is important for recognition and building relationships.

2. State what you do.

Give people an idea of what you do daily and where you work. Your job title is how the people put you into context and consider whether your profession relates to their industry.

So detail your most relevant work in your short bios, like CEO, professor, and author.

Take a cue from Angela Duckworth, who specifies what she does in her LinkedIn bio:

Even if you're a freelancer with a broad focus, you can keep it general while specifying the type of contract work you do.

If your specialty is writing, your title could be "Freelance Writer," or if it's Help Desk or Information Technology, you may use "Freelance IT Specialist."

3. Add key skills or areas of expertise.

If you send a bio to a client or potential employer, highlight your most valuable skills. For instance, if your expertise is in social media marketing and content creation, like Ivanka Dekoning, list these skills.

Here, Dekoning showcases her experience so potential connections immediately see if they have what they're looking for — and you can show this too.

4. Include a personal mission statement.

What do you hope to achieve through your work? Why do you do what you do? Answering these questions can help give your bio’s mission statement some direction.

For instance, Farmer Bea has a goal of helping to raise awareness about all things bees.

So give an honest answer about your goals or mission so you can add color to your professional purpose.

5. Celebrate your wins.

Your short bio can be a proud showcase of your accomplishments, so add one to two successes you've achieved through your skills or mission.

For instance, if you got recognition from industry leaders like Art Critic Jerry Saltz, you can list your wins like his:

So whether they're awards you won, publications you featured in, or companies you worked with, be sure to spotlight any major achievements.

6. Provide your contact information.

People who visit your profile or receive your message already know your social media account. But to take business off the app, include your email address, website, or any other professional profiles where they can reach you.

Political Commentator and Sports Correspondent, Angela Rye, shows a great example of this in her short professional bio on Instagram:

After listing her name, job titles, and contact information, Rye includes a Linktree to their website where you can read a longer version of the professional bio:

This lets Raye detail her values more in-depth and how she shows them through her work. So before diving into your long professional bio, begin with a short bio to tease who you are, what you care about, and what you can do for others.

7. Show them your personality.

Don’t be afraid to add a bit of charisma to your short professional bio. "Professional" doesn’t have to mean plain. You can best portray your personality through:

A joke. "Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once. At least that’s what I learned when I created…"
Mention a hobby. "I’ll be honest: for me, tennis is life — Go Nadal!"
A fun fact. "Every year, I watch 100 new films! I’m a cinephile and love every movie genre."
A few emojis related to your interests. "🎶🤖🎾🎬🎭"

Whichever way you choose to get personal, give people a glimpse into who you are as an individual.

When writing a short bio, it can be tempting to pack in as much relevant information about yourself as possible — but this isn’t the most effective approach.

Instead, focus on including the details that you and your audience care about most and leave out the fluff.

Let's dive into a few examples of short professional bios.

1. Tristen Taylor: Marketing Manager

Bio Platform: Blog Byline

Tristen Taylor is a Marketing Manager here at HubSpot. She's written content for HubSpot's Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service blogs; her blog author bio is one of my favorites.

What I love most about Tristen's bio is that it’s a great example of how to deliver information about yourself that is relevant to your work while also sharing fun details that audiences will find relatable.

Her bio reads:

"Building from her experience with GoCo.io and Southwest Airlines, Tristen's work has been recognized by Marketing Brew and BLACK@INBOUND. She lives in Washington, DC, attending anime conventions and painting in her free time."

It works because, at HubSpot, our blog authors prefer to make themselves friendly and approachable — while letting their content and experience speak for themselves.

It helps that authors' social media accounts are located right below our names and above our pictures. This lets folks click the LinkedIn button and go to the author's LinkedIn page.

(You can read this blog post to learn how to create social media buttons and add them to your website.)

Why I Like It

It's short and simple.
It succinctly explains her expertise and work experience.
It includes her interests and hobbies, such as attending anime conventions and painting.

2. Lianna Patch: Copywriter

Bio Platform: Blog Byline

Lianna Patch is a rockstar copywriter who has written for popular publications like Copy Hackers. What’s striking about Lianna’s bio is that it sums up everything you want in a copywriter.

I mean, see the first sentence of her bio — "Lianna’s greatest dream is to make your customers pause, smile, and click (in that order)."

The second sentence shows how she executes the first. It reads, "She does this through irresistible emails and shockingly effective landing pages." And finally, the last sentence is a call to action for interested people to reach her.

Why We Like It

It's punchy and welcoming.
It shows the outcome companies can get by working with her.
It has a call-to-action (CTA).

3. Precious Oboidhe: Content Strategist and Writer

Bio Platform: Blog Byline

I don't check out an author's byline unless the post is interesting. My guess is you do the same. And most times, you do this because you may be interested in working with the writer.

This is where a short bio that speaks to your needs comes in. An example? An example? Precious' bio that shows off his skills as a freelance content strategist and writer.

Why I Like It

It states that Precious is for hire, causing interested prospects to contact him.
It includes his website, where prospects can learn more about him.
People can connect with Precious on social media to learn more about his work.

4. Rebecca Bollwitt: Writer

Bio platform: Instagram

Instagram is a notoriously difficult platform on which to write a good bio. Similar to Twitter, you don't have room for a professional bio that includes everything about you.

And because Instagram is primarily a mobile app, many viewers read about you passively on their mobile devices.

Instagram's limited bio space requires you to highlight just your most important qualities. Blogging icon Rebecca Bollwitt does just this in her own Instagram bio excellently.

Rebecca's brand name is Miss604, and she cleverly uses emojis in her Instagram bio to tell visitors what makes her a valuable content creator. See the screenshot below:

Starting with a laptop emoji, Miss604 says she's been a Vancouver blogger since 2004. I haven’t even looked at her pictures yet, and her bio introduction has already sucked me in.

The rest of her bio follows suit, breaking up the text with an appropriate emoji and a perfect collection of nouns to tell me who she is as a person.

She even links out to her husband's Instagram account after the heart emoji (an adorable addition) and assures her followers that all of her pictures are authentically hers.

Take a lesson from Miss604 and show your personal side. Branding yourself as a professional shouldn’t involve discarding many things that make you human. Often, your most personal attributes make for the best professional bio content.

Why I Like It

Using emojis gives off Rebecca as a friendly person.
Rebecca highlights her most important qualities in a few words.

5. Megan Gilmore: Cookbook Author

Bio Platform: Instagram

Megan Gilmore is a best-selling cookbook author. She often posts healthy recipes on her Instagram page and inspires her followers to learn not to sacrifice taste for the sake of health.

Image Source

You can glean most of this information immediately from her Instagram bio, which is short and to the point: "Gluten-free recipes and meal plans."

Gilmore further includes a CTA link within her Instagram bio that leads followers to free, ready-to-use recipes. You might think, "Why would she do that since it discourages people from buying her book?"

But that couldn't be further from the truth.

By giving her followers the chance to try out her recipes, she's slowly turning leads into customers. After I tried a few of her Instagram recipes and loved them, I bought her book, knowing I'd like more of what she offered.

Why I Like It

The bio is short and direct.
The CTA link includes an invitation for people to join her newsletter. Meaning, she can build her email list.

6. Bea Dixon: Feminine Care Founder

Bio Platform: Instagram

Bea Dixon, Founder and CEO of The Honey Pot Company, efficiently uses the space on her Instagram profile to highlight who she is as a well-rounded human — not just a businesswoman.

For instance, while she highlights her girl boss attitude with a tiara emoji, she equally calls attention to her fashion interests (Free People), her pets, Boss and Sadie, and her love for ramen noodles.

Consider how you might also highlight your interests, hobbies, or passions outside of the 9-to-5. If people are reading your bio, they're interested in getting to know the full you.

Why We Like It

It shows who Bea is outside work.
It includes a CTA that lets people check out everything Bea offers.

7. Tammy Hembrow: Instagram Influencer

Bio Platform: Instagram

Tammy Hembrow is a founder, fitness model, Instagram Influencer, and entrepreneur. These are a lot to fit into one Instagram profile. And this is where a summary of what you do and where people can find you take center stage.

Tammy shows in her bio that she's a founder; she links to her app, mentions her YouTube channel, which has almost two million subscribers, and has a link for people to learn more about her and what she does.

If you wear many hats like Tammy, be sure to mention your biggest traffic driver in your Instagram profile and include a link to all you do.

Why I Like It

It shows Tammy's core channel besides Instagram — YouTube.
It includes a CTA that lets people learn more about what Tammy does.
It links out to other pages owned by Tammy.

8. Dr. Cody: Chiropractor

Bio Platform: Instagram

Dr. Cody is a Sydney-based chiropractor. Like Tammy, Dr. Cody brilliantly uses the limited space on his Instagram profile to convey vital info to his audience.

At first glance, including location in his bio may look like a waste of limited space. But here’s the thing: Dr. Cody’s job has to be done in person as a chiropractor. By including his location, he immediately calls out those he serves.

Adding his TikTok account with almost three million followers is another excellent move.

Why I Like It

No one gets three million followers by doing a poor job. By including 2.9M+ TikTok followers in his bio, Dr. Cody instantly proves his expertise to his audience.
Including his TikTok handle is a subtle pitch for people to follow his account on TikTok.
The CTA link is great for those who want to learn more about Dr. Cody’s offers.

9. Larry Kim: Founder

Bio Platform: Twitter

Forget about words for a moment. Looking at Larry’s bio, you immediately know what he prioritizes above all else — his family.

When you get into the bio, you see that besides the companies Larry founded and publications he writes for, he re-emphasizes his love for family by mentioning his kids.

This could endear people to him. And don’t forget the inclusion of “Christian” — this instantly shows what he stands for.

Why I Like It

It shows what Larry takes seriously besides work — his family and his faith.
The popular publications give people a reason to follow Larry.

10. Dharmesh Shah: Founder and CTO

Bio Platform: Twitter

Dharmesh Shah is the co-founder and CTO of HubSpot. Dharmesh’s bio is exciting because it has social proof, gives people a reason to follow him, and shows what people can expect.

His bio shows social proof by mentioning he’s the founder of a popular software company. This gives people a "why" to follow him. Plus, by mentioning the favorite topics he talks about, he instantly qualifies those he wants as followers.

Why We Like It

It shows what followers can expect.
Dharmesh’s warm smile is welcoming, and his personal mission is inviting.
It calls attention to Dharmesh’s business — HubSpot.

11. Lily Ugbaja: Content Strategist

Bio Platform: Twitter

Look no further than Lily's if you want inspiration for a Twitter bio packed with social proof.

Lily is a content strategist and writer for popular companies like HubSpot, WordPress, and more. When you read Lily's bio, the second sentence grabs your attention immediately because it shows the result you can get by working with her.

That aside, she includes brands she's worked with, including a popular content marketing agency known for doing excellent work. This gives Lily the instant credibility she needs to attract prospects who want to win with content.

Why I Like It

It has catchy social proof elements.
It contains a CTA encouraging people to subscribe to her newsletter.

12. Ian Anderson Gray: Marketer

Bio Platform: Twitter

Details matter, especially when there’s a cap on the number of words you can use to express yourself.

For instance, the funny and impactful bio of Ian Anderson on his Twitter page reads:

"Dad & Husband. Confident Live® Marketing Podcast 🎧 & Show 🎥 Helping you level up your impact, authority & profits through the power of Confident Live Video."

What more do you need to know?

Ian doesn't take his bio too seriously but uses every character to highlight everything about him.

He includes his skills as a marketer and podcast host, who he is outside work as a dad, and what he can help you do. His smiles also give the bio a sense of humor and realness.

Consider how you might showcase your uniqueness in just a few words, particularly for a social media account that already restricts word count.

Why I Like It

It highlights everything about Ian in a few words.
It includes a CTA to check out Ian’s podcast.
It shows Ian’s fun personality, an important trait for podcast hosts.

13. Van Jones: Political Commentator, Author, and Lawyer

Bio Platform: Twitter

Someone known for various talents and skills may find it difficult to capture who they are in a professional bio. The feat is nearly impossible when limited to just over 100 characters on Twitter.

But Van Jones effortlessly explains who he is and why it matters to everyone who visits his Twitter profile.

Image Source

He starts his professional bio with a token of personalization and prioritization of his values. By mentioning that he is a dad first, we recognize what’s important to him in his long list of successes.

As I've shown in other bios, sharing who we are outside of work makes us more personable and should find its way into your bio, if possible.

What’s great about Van's Twitter bio is his ability to link valuable offerings to his readers. He invites us to check out his latest book and has his website magiclabsmedia.com linked at the top.

Why I Like It

It includes a CTA.
It shows Van’s personality and what he cares about.
It shows one of Van’s accomplishments as a 3X NYT bestseller.

Create Your Own Professional Bio

While I can admit professional bios can be challenging, I‘ve learned they’re crucial to career growth.

I encourage you to take stock of your accomplishments, career path, and hobbies, and use the strategies and examples above to craft a bio that reflects your best professional self.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in November 2019 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

10 Creative Company Profile Examples to Inspire You [+ 12 Templates]

esantiago@hubspot.com (Erica Santiago) — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:11:18 GMT

As a content creator, I know brand identity is everything. My audience wants to know what makes me different, why I create content, why they should trust the information I put out, and why I might promote a product or service.

The same is true for companies. In addition to the information above, people who find your company online want to know about your mission, vision, and how you can help them solve their problems.

The best way to convey all this and establish a solid brand identity is to do what I did with my own website — create a profile. In my case, it's a creator profile, but for you, it'd be a company profile.

Not sure what a company profile is or how to create one? Don't worry — I got you covered with a breakdown of everything you need to know about building a company profile.

What a Company Profile is
How to Write a Company Profile
Company Overview Template
Company Profile Examples
Company Description Examples
What is a company profile template?
How to Use a Company Profile Template
Company Profile Templates

A company profile serves multiple purposes, but two of its primary goals are to connect with customers and attract investors for funding opportunities.

Why Company Profiles Are Important

As you can see on my profile, company profiles go beyond a regular About page. My profile details how I started, why I create content, and my journey to finally starting the blog.

A simple About page would typically only include a brief overview of who the company is and a point of contact.

Your company profile would show your company's beginnings and why you continue to serve customers. Essentially, it humanizes your brand. Additionally, a company profile:

1. Differentiates Your Brand

According to my profile, my brand‘s story started with my sister’s Sailor Moon VHS tapes. Those tapes eventually led me to create content centered around anime and different “nerdy” entertainment aspects.

My brand's story is unlike any other, and the same goes for yours. No two companies have the same founding story or reason for existing.

Your history and values are integral parts of your brand positioning strategy, and a company profile is where you can mention this information without feeling like you‘re talking someone’s ear off.

2. Can Justify a Higher Price Point.

A company profile is a perfect opportunity to show the work that goes on behind the scenes, thus justifying why your prices may be higher than others in your industry.

For example, luxury fashion house Prada's company profile emphasizes the company uses raw materials that are meticulously sourced and exclusively produced for the fashion house.

This creates a sense that you're paying more for higher-quality items. It also explains why I can never afford them.

3. Builds Your Reputation.

My content creator profile emphasizes that I‘ve been an anime fan since childhood and shows how I developed my skills for years as a journalist. My audience knows I’m an experienced creator who also happens to be a total nerd.

My audience trusts I‘ll provide quality content rooted in my passion for the medium. It’s a reputation I hold dearly.

Think about what you want your company's reputation to be. Is your company the one that started as a small family-owned shop that grew into a billion-dollar enterprise? Or is it a company that upholds sustainability and puts ethics at the forefront of its brand?

You can build your reputation through marketing, service, and sales campaigns, but it all begins with a well-curated profile.

You didn‘t think I’d tell you what a company profile is and not tell you how to write one, did you? Have no fear, here are 11 steps to guide you on how to write your company profile.

1. Start with a company profile template.

Download the Free Company Profile Templates

No need to start from scratch. HubSpot has six free company profile templates for organizing and sharing your profile. Download these templates for free and follow the next steps in this article.

2. State the purpose of the company profile.

Your statement must align with what you‘re trying to accomplish. Let’s say your goal is to attract investors. In that case, you should include:

Your business's performance
The value of the products you sell
The company's revenue

On the other hand, if you want to attract customers, it's best to add the company values to your profile.

The purpose of a company profile should act as your guide throughout the process, so take your time on it.

3. Decide on the format or style.

Have you ever clicked off a page because its format or style was too jarring or difficult to navigate? If so, you know first-hand how important the proper style and format is to a company profile.

When designing your profile, consider your audience. For example, it‘s best to stick to the traditional format for an accounting firm. That is, list the company’s achievements and awards.

On the other hand, if you're in a fashion or social media marketing firm, you should be creative and visual.

I love the homepage for Dept, a marketing technology company with an innovative and visual homepage that aligns with its offers and shows off its creativity.

Don't be afraid to experiment or go wild with your ideas as long as they resonate with your target audience.

4. Tell your story & be authentic.

A million other businesses sell what you‘re selling, but no one else shares your story. Your story is what makes you unique. Don’t just write numbers and dates; let your prospects know who you are.

Be vulnerable and tell them why you started your business.

For example, one of my favorite brands, Thursday, is very candid about why it started selling boots. Thursday's profile says:

“Thursday was built out of our own frustration. Clunky work boots or delicate fashion boots? Cheap shoes that fall apart after a few wears, or incredibly overpriced shoes? It didn't seem right that we had to make these trade-offs. There had to be another option.”

What inspired you? Share the bad and the good – it mustn't be glamorous. It only has to be authentic.

5. Add your company's mission statement.

If you don't have a mission statement, it‘s time to craft one. Writing a mission statement for your company isn’t as scary as it sounds, and there is no need to overthink it.

When crafting a mission statement, I think about these three questions:

Who you serve – your target consumer
How do you do it – what product or service do you provide to solve their problems?
What makes you different – why should your consumers buy from you or trust you over your competitors?

Let your answers guide your statement.

6. Write your company's history.

Growing up, I always thought history was boring — but that‘s not always the case regarding a company’s history. As I said, every company has a unique story, and detailing your rich history is a great way to stand out.

Just ensure you recount your story chronologically; otherwise, it will confuse your readers. You can do it in a paragraph or a timeline format if it shows a flow.

Another tip is to remember that less can be more. As tempting as it is to share all your milestones, stick to the major ones to avoid overwhelming the reader.

7. Describe the products and services you offer.

The next step is to describe what your company offers. You can choose a few of your best products or services and give an in-depth description or simply list everything your business offers.

8. Name the awards your company has received.

If you have received any awards or recognition, add them to your profile and describe them. They showcase your company's values and give the community a reason to trust you.

9. Add your customer's testimonials.

Your customers may take everything you say with a grain of salt, but they will believe other customers who have used your products. This is an excellent way to promote your business without having your products or services come off as hard-sell.

If you‘re a B2C business, simply include some of your customer’s best quotes tied with your best value products. If you're a B2B business, have a testimonial from the most prominent client on your profile.

Hedley & Bennett, a restaurant wear company, features customer reviews and testimonials on its homepage.

10. Include a call to action.

While not mandatory, I strongly suggest a call to action because it can only help. It can urge people to book an appointment, make a purchase, etc.

Think about what you want the readers to do after reading the profile — visit your branch, check out your website, or call you? Simply include it at the end of your profile. This brings us to our last step.

Pro Tip: If you're using our CMS, dropping in a personalized CTA is easy.

Get started with HubSpot's CTA tool.

11. Add your company's contact information.

Okay, so you bared your company‘s soul via your company profile, and readers have more enthusiasm for your business and want to work with you — now what?

Well, the next step would be to contact you, but they can’t do that if your information isn't easy to spot.

Include in your profile all the possible ways your prospects can reach you. This may include but is not limited to social media profiles, websites, phone numbers, fax, email, and physical address.

Make sure it's visible to anyone who reads your company profile.

Company Overview Template

Now that we have gone through all the necessary steps you need to create a company profile, it's time to put all that into action. Here is a simple company overview template that will help you get started.

Our Story

[Company name] was founded in [Year], and we have accomplished so much over the years. To create a world where [ the solution your business solves] has always been our goal.

Our Founder and CEO [Name] was inspired to start this company by [ one or two sources of inspiration].

At [Company Name], we encourage our community to [ a positive statement about your brand].

Meet our Team

[Photo] [Name] [Job Title]

Our Mission, Vision & Values

Mission

Our goal is to provide our customers with the best [ service or product] at the best possible market price without compromising quality.

Vision

To be the most reliable [ service or product] provider and enhance [what your product or service does].

Core values

[List your company's core values]

What Our Customers Are Saying

[Insert customer's testimonials]

Contact Information

Location

Website URL

Social Media Pages

Cell Number

Company Profile Examples

1. Starbucks

Starbucks' company profile has it all — its mission, background story, products, store atmosphere, and even folklore regarding the name. Best of all, they manage to pull off sounding genuine and grandiose.

I don't know many other coffee stores that could claim that their mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit.”

Starbucks' company profile is a fantastic example of a store with a common household product: coffee. Starbucks managed to stand out from the competition through its mission and values.

2. Wales Bonner

If your company has an exciting and intellectual history, you might consider creating a profile like Wales Bonner’s.

It begins with an impactful statement:

“Wales Bonner proposes a distinct notion of cultural luxury that infuses European heritage with an Afro-Atlantic spirit. Launched by Grace Wales Bonner following her graduation from Central Saint Martins in 2014, the label is informed by broad cultural research and embraces a multiplicity of perspectives.”

After sharing the brand’s intellectual background, it describes the owner’s journey in building the company, starting from when she was a college student, as well as the accolades she has received through her ingenuity in design.

With a good balance of image and text, the timeline serves as a reminder of Wales Bonner’s stability and growth.

3. Diehl Group Architects

Look at Diehl Group Architects' company profile for both cleanliness and ease of use.

The web page uses clickable boxes to separate topics, allowing users to choose which subject to learn more about. Additionally, the entire design mirrors the company‘s purpose, including the page’s background, which displays a floor plan.

4. Bloomberg

Consumers use video as an integral part of their journey with brands, so you might consider using a compelling video to convey your company’s story as Bloomberg does in its company profile.

Bloomberg‘s profile proves the company knows its audience because it offers quick statistics and links to other site areas, such as Careers and Tech. While other businesses might do well in providing a creative, long-form story, Bloomberg’s typical demographic is likely more analytical.

5. Nike

You can instantly understand Nike's two primary purposes — fitness, people, and inclusion.

When you land on its website, you're greeted by a bold statement: "Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.”

The asterisk implies, "If you have a body, you are an athlete.” As you scroll, you'll see information on its internal diversity and inclusion initiative, global community impact, and sustainable business program, with very little mention of its products.

Nike's company profile portrays a larger, grander vision, compelling an audience to believe in its brand before purchasing a product.

6. Seattle Cider

Seattle Cider Company‘s profile is minimal and engages viewers through compelling animations that demonstrate the company’s cider selection.

The page flows seamlessly and provides critical information regarding the product before displaying the company's mission and values.

This profile is an excellent example of a company that understands its users' concerns (in this case, quality ingredients) and addresses those issues while still displaying personality and flair.

7. Delta

Delta‘s page is well-organized by topic and showcases the company’s values, including efforts to engage with the community and promote sustainability.

It includes brief meta-descriptions below each category, and the design allows users to click through to learn more. Delta’s company profile is simple and uncluttered but includes all the necessary information to demonstrate its uniqueness.

8. Roam Loud

Roam Loud’s company profile is a great example and inspiration for any brand with a personal story.

It’s simple yet effective, starting with a friendly greeting, “Hey there!” and ending with a list of values. In between, the founder clearly states why she created her brand and why its existence is important to her and prospective buyers.

9. MAD Architects

MAD Architects‘ company profile is an excellent example of simplicity and informativeness.

The profile isn’t shy about the firm’s accomplishments and lets readers dive deeper into the firm's exhibitions, lectures, awards, and publications, all visible on different tabs on the same page.

By leaning into a strong brand voice and giving details about its service, customers have the information they need to decide for themselves.

If your business is a leader in your field, consider creating one similar to MAD Architects.

10. Topicals

Topicals is a skincare company that provides products and education to help people target and learn about flare-ups. It has a one-of-a-kind about us page that is interactive and provides a fun experience for site visitors.

When you land on the page, you immediately see multiple interactive cards, the first of which describes its mission.

Once you’re done reading about its purpose, you can learn more about the company by clicking on the other cards or simply selecting the information that is most relevant to your needs.

Examples of Company Descriptions

Here are some examples of company descriptions that enhance their organizations' company profile.

1. HubSpot

On HubSpot‘s profile page, you’ll find a brief description of the company’s mission and what it does. In just a few words, HubSpot explains that the company's goal is to help businesses grow through its specialized inbound software.

2. H&H Wealth

On the “Why Zaneilia” page of its website, the founder of H&H Wealth briefly introduces what she believes in and encourages her customers to walk the journey with her.

She also makes a promise to her clients, setting expectations and the tone for the service she’ll deliver, helping her and her business come across as a partner rather than a vendor.

3. Dope Coffee

Dope Coffee aims to bridge the gap between coffee, hip hop, and culture to uplift the Black community. Its website describes the company's history and mission.

Still, a single line sticks out as a powerful and impactful description of its business to take inspiration from: “We are Dope Coffee Company, and we are changing the world one cup of coffee at a time.”

4. Authentique Agency

Authentique Agency provides the perfect amount of information upfront to describe what it is and its mission and values — leveraging the power of identity in brand campaigns that reflect cultural identities rather than erasing them.

I also love the use if the term "code switching," which is a term women of color like myself know too well. This shows Authentique Agency understands and relates to its audience.

It’s a great example of how to quickly and succinctly convey your message to site visitors.

5. The Cru

The Cru is a service that connects members with like-minded women to fuel personal and professional growth. It uses an “Our Story” page as a company profile, where the founder details how she formed the organization and how she owns “Cru” (a play on the word “crew”).

This summary is a testament to the value of the service. The “letter from the founder” style also feels personal and welcoming.

6. Carol H. Williams

Carol H. Williams, an advertising agency, doesn’t have an “about” page or a formal company description. However, it displays a snapshot of what the company is all about on its “Team” page.

It emphasizes its core values and uses trendy language (“#squadgoals”) to establish that it keeps up with the current trends.

7. Cafe Con Libros

Cafe Con Libros doesn’t have an about us page.

Still, it does have a company description that clearly explains its mission and values in two short sentences: “Cafe con Libros (coffee with books) is an Intersectional Feminist community bookstore and coffee shop.

Through our choice of books, programming, and great coffee, we endeavor to create a vibrant community space where everyone, specifically womxn -identified folx, feel centered, affirmed, and celebrated.”

8. Custom Collaborative

Custom Collaborative helps no/low-income immigrant women build entrepreneurship skills that help them succeed in a sustainable fashion.

Its About Us page features essential need-to-know information for anyone looking to them for support, interested in donating to the cause, or simply looking to learn more about the business.

What is a company profile template?

A company profile template is a pre-designed framework a company can use to display important information, such as the company name, logo, history, and mission statement.

Users can swap out texts and images to tailor the template to their brand. However, startups should be careful about being overly reliant on templates.

You want your company to stand out amongst the competition and for your company profile to adhere to your unique branding. So, if you use a template, make sure you adjust it enough to make it unique to your brand.

How to Use a Company Profile Template

I‘m a very thorough person, so of course, I’m going to leave you with some additional company profile template ideas and how to use a template. Just click the link below and follow along for a breakdown of the different sections within a profile.

Download These Templates for Free

No matter the template, make sure your profile includes the following:

Company name
Established date
Physical address per location
Contact information

About Us / Our Story / Our Beginning

In this part of the company profile, you will need to include a brief introduction to your company, including where, when, and by whom the company was founded, the company‘s mission statement, and/or the company’s vision and purpose.

You don't necessarily have to include products or services in this section yet, but focus on your bigger meaning and how you stand out from competitors instead. Tell your story in a compelling way.

For instance, HubSpot starts its About Us section with, “More than ten years ago, we had a vision — an inbound world.” HubSpot doesn't mention its products until further down the page.

So what does a good business plan look like? And how do you write one that’s both viable and convincing? I’ll walk you through the ideal business plan format along with some examples to help you get started.

Table of Contents

Business Plan Types
Business Plan Format
Sample Business Plan: Section by Section
Sample Business Plan Templates
Top Business Plan Examples

Business Plan Types

Ultimately, the format of your business plan will vary based on your goals for that plan. I’ve added this quick review of different business plan types that achieve differing goals.

For a more detailed exploration of business plan types, you can check out this post.

1. Startups

Startup business plans are for proposing new business ideas. If you’re planning to start a small business, preparing a business plan is crucial. The plan should include all the major factors of your business.

You can check out this guide for more detailed business plan inspiration.

2. Feasibility Studies

Feasibility business plans focus on that business's product or service. Feasibility plans are sometimes added to startup business plans. They can also be a new business plan for an already thriving organization.

3. Internal Use

You can use internal business plans to share goals, strategies, or performance updates with stakeholders. In my opinion, internal business plans are useful for alignment and building support for ambitious goals.

4. Strategic Initiatives

A strategic business plan is another business plan that's often shared internally. This plan covers long-term business objectives that might not have been included in the startup business plan.

5. Business Acquisition or Repositioning

When a business is moving forward with an acquisition or repositioning, it may need extra structure and support. These types of business plans expand on a company's acquisition or repositioning strategy.

6. Growth

Growth sometimes just happens as a business continues operations. But more often, a business needs to create a structure with specific targets to meet set goals for expansion. This business plan type can help a business focus on short-term growth goals and align resources with those goals.

Business Plan Format

I’m going to focus on a startup business plan that needs to be detailed and research-backed as well as compelling enough to convince investors to offer funding. In my experience, the most comprehensive and convincing business plans contain the following sections.

Executive Summary

This all-important introduction to your business plan sets the tone and includes the company description as well as what you will be exchanging for money — whether that’s product lines, services, or product-service hybrids.

Market Opportunity

Information about gaps in your industry’s market and how you plan to fill them, focused on demand and potential for growth.

Competitive Landscape Analysis

An overview of your competitors that includes consideration of their strengths and how you’ll manage them, their weaknesses and how you’ll capitalize on them, and how you can differentiate your offerings in the industry.

Target Audience

Descriptions of your ideal customers, their various problems that you can solve, and your customer acquisition strategy.

Marketing Strategy

This section details how you will market your brand to achieve specific goals, the channels and tactics you’ll utilize to reach those goals, and the metrics you’ll be using to measure your progress.

Key Features and Benefits

This is where you’ll use plain language to emphasize the value of your product/service, how it solves the problems of your target audiences, and how you’ll scale up over time.

Pricing and Revenue

This section describes your pricing strategy and plans for building revenue streams that fit your audiences while achieving your business goals.

Financials

This is the final section, communicating with investors that your business idea is worth investing in via profit/loss statements, cash flow statements, and balance sheets to prove viability.

Sample Business Plan: Section by Section

Okay, so now that we have a format established, I’ll give you more specific details about each section along with examples. Truthfully, I wish I’d had this resource to help me flesh out those first business plans long ago.

1. Executive Summary

I’d say the executive summary is the most important section of the entire business plan. It is essentially an overview of and introduction to your entire project.

Write this in such a way that it grabs your readers' attention and guides them through the rest of the business plan. This is important because a business plan can be dozens or hundreds of pages long.

There are two main elements I’d recommend including in your executive summary: your company description and your products and services.

Company Description

This is the perfect space to highlight your company’s mission statement and goals, a brief overview of your history and leadership, and your top accomplishments as a business.

Tell potential investors who you are and why what you do matters. Naturally, they’re going to want to know who they’re getting into business with up front. This is a great opportunity to showcase your impact.

Need some extra help firming up your business goals? I’d recommend HubSpot Academy’s free course to help you set meaningful goals that matter most for your business.

Products and Services

Here, you will incorporate an overview of your offerings. This doesn’t have to be extensive, as it is just a chance to introduce your industry and overall purpose as a business. I recommend including snippets of information about your financial projections and competitive advantage here as well.

Keep in mind that you'll cover many of these topics in more detail later on in the business plan. The executive summary should be clear and brief, only including the most important takeaways.

Executive Summary Business Plan Examples

This example was created with HubSpot’s business plan template. What makes this executive summary good is that it tells potential investors a short story while still covering all of the most important details.

Example 1:

Our Mission

Maria’s Gluten Free Bagels offers gluten-free bagels, along with various toppings, other gluten-free breakfast sandwich items, and coffee. The facility is entirely gluten free. Our team expects to catch the interest of gluten-free, celiac, or health-conscious community members who are seeking an enjoyable cafe to socialize. Due to a lack of gluten-free bagel products in the food industry currently, we expect mild competition and are confident we will be able to build a strong market position.

The Company and Management

Maria’s Gluten Free Bagels was founded in 2010 by Maria Jones, who first began selling her gluten-free bagels online from her home, using social media to spread the word. In 2012 she bought a retail location in Hamilton, MA, which now employs four full-time employees and six part-time employees. Prior to her bagel shop, Maria was a chef in New York and has extensive experience in the food industry.

Along with Maria Jones, Gluten Free Bagel Shop has a board of advisors. The advisors are:

Jeni King, partner at Winding Communications, Ltd.
Henry Wilson, president of Blue Robin, LLP.

Our Product

We offer gluten-free products ranging from bagels and cream cheese to blueberry muffins, coffee, and pastries. Our customers are health-conscious, community-oriented people who enjoy gluten-free products. We will create a welcoming, warm environment with opportunities for open mic nights, poetry readings, and other community functions. We will focus on creating an environment in which someone feels comfortable meeting a friend for lunch, or working remotely.

Our Competitive Advantages

While there are other coffee shops and cafes in the North Shore region, there are none that offer purely gluten-free options. This restricts those suffering from gluten-free illnesses or simply those with a gluten-free preference. This will be our primary selling point. Additionally, our market research [see Section 3] has shown a demand for a community-oriented coffee and bagel shop in the town of Hamilton, MA.

Financial Considerations

Our sales projections for the first year are $400,000. We project a 15% growth rate over the next two years. By year three, we project 61% gross margins.

We will have four full-time employees. The salary for each employee will be $50,000.

Start-up Financing Requirements

We are seeking to raise $125,000 in startup to finance year one. The owner has invested $50,000 to meet working capital requirements, and will use a loan of $100,000 to supplement the rest.

Example 2:

Marianne and Keith Bean have been involved with the food industry for several years. They opened their first restaurant in Antlers, Oklahoma in 1981, and their second in Hugo in 1988. Although praised for the quality of many of the items on their menu, they have attained a special notoriety for their desserts. After years of requests for their flavored whipped cream toppings, they have decided to pursue marketing these products separately from the restaurants.

Marianne and Keith Bean have developed several recipes for flavored whipped cream topping. They include chocolate, raspberry, cinnamon almond, and strawberry. These flavored dessert toppings have been used in the setting of their two restaurants over the past 18 years, and have been produced in large quantities. The estimated shelf life of the product is 21 days at refrigeration temperatures and up to six months when frozen. The Beans intend to market this product in its frozen state in 8 and 12-ounce plastic tubs. They also intend to have the products available in six ounce pressurized cans. Special attention has been given to developing an attractive label that will stress the gourmet/specialty nature of the products.

Distribution of Fancy's Foods Whipped Dream product will begin in the local southeastern Oklahoma area. The Beans have an established name and reputation in this area, and product introduction should encounter little resistance.

Financial analyses show that the company will have both a positive cash flow and profit in the first year. The expected return on equity in the first year is 10.88%

Tips for Writing Your Executive Summary

Start with a strong introduction of your company that showcases your mission and impact, then outline the products and services you provide.
Clearly define a problem, explain how your product solves that problem, and show why the market needs your business.
Be sure to highlight your value proposition, market opportunity, and growth potential.
Keep it concise and support ideas with data.
Customize your summary to your audience. For example, you might emphasize finances and return on investment for venture capitalists, whereas you might emphasize community benefits and minimal environmental impact for progressive nonprofits.

For more guidance, check out our tips for writing an effective executive summary.

2. Market Opportunity

This is where you'll detail the opportunity in the market. Ask and answer: Where is the gap in the current industry, and how will my product fill that gap?

To get a thorough understanding of the market opportunity, you'll want to conduct a TAM, SAM, SOM analysis, a SWOT analysis, and perform market research on your industry to get some insights for this section. More specifically, here’s what I’d include.

The size of the market
Current or potential market share
Trends in the industry and consumer behavior
Where the gap is
What caused the gap
How you intend to fill it

Market Opportunity Business Plan Example

I like this example because it uses critical data to underline the size of the potential market and what part of that market this service hopes to capture.

Example:The market for Doggie Pause is all of the dog owners in the metropolitan area and surrounding areas of the city. We believe that this is going to be 2/3 of the population, and we have a goal of gaining a 50% market share. We have a target of a 20% yearly profit increase as the business continues.

Tips for Writing Your Market Opportunity Section

Focus on demand and potential for growth.
Use market research, surveys, and industry trend data to support your market forecast and projections.
Add a review of regulation shifts, tech advances, and consumer behavior changes.
Refer to reliable sources.
Showcase how your business can make the most of this opportunity.

3. Competitive Landscape Analysis

Since we’re already speaking of market share, you‘ll also need to create a section that shares details on who the top competitors are. After all, your customers likely have more than one brand to choose from, and you’ll want to understand exactly why they might choose one over another.

My favorite part of performing a competitive analysis is that it can help you uncover the following:

Industry trends that other brands may not be utilizing.
Strengths in your competition that may be obstacles to handle.
Weaknesses in your competition that may help you develop selling points.
The unique proposition you bring to the market that may resonate with customers.

Competitive Landscape Business Plan Example

I like how the competitive landscape section of this business plan shows a clear outline of who the top competitors are. It also highlights specific industry knowledge and the importance of location. This demonstrates useful experience in the industry, helping to build trust in your ability to execute your business plan.

Example:

Competitive Environment

Currently, there are four primary competitors in the Greater Omaha Area: Pinot’s Palette Lakeside (franchise partner), Village Canvas and Cabernet, The Corky Canvas, and Twisted Vine Collective. The first three competitors are in Omaha and the fourth is located in Papillion.

Despite the competition, all locations have both public and private events. Each location has a few sold-out painting events each month. The Omaha locations are in new, popular retail locations, while the existing Papillion location is in a downtown business district.

There is an opportunity to take advantage of the environment and open a studio in a well-traveled or growing area. Pinot’s Palette La Vista will differentiate itself from its competitors by offering a premium experience in a high-growth, influential location.

Tips for Writing Your Competitive Landscape

Complete in-depth research, then emphasize your most important findings.
Compare your unique selling proposition (USP) to your direct and indirect competitors.
Show a clear and realistic plan for product and brand differentiation.
Look for specific advantages and barriers in the competitive landscape. Then, highlight how that information could impact your business.
Outline growth opportunities from a competitive perspective.
Add customer feedback and insights to support your competitive analysis.

4. Target Audience

Use this section to describe who your customer segments are in detail. What is the demographic and psychographic information of your audience? I’d recommend building a buyer persona to get in the mindset of your ideal customers and be clear about why you're targeting them. Here are some questions I’d ask myself:

What demographics will most likely need/buy your product or service?
What are the psychographics of this audience? (Desires, triggering events, etc.)
Why are your offerings valuable to them?

Target Audience Business Plan Example

I like the example below because it uses in-depth research to draw conclusions about audience priorities. It also analyzes how to create the right content for this audience.

Example:

The Audience

Recognize that audiences are often already aware of important issues. Outreach materials should:

Emphasize a pollution-prevention practice
Tell audience a little about how to prevent pollution
Tell audience where they can obtain information about prevention.

Message Content

Focus the content for outreach materials on cost savings, such as when and where pollution prevention is as cheap as or cheaper than traditional techniques. Include facts and figures.
Emphasize how easy it is to do the right thing and the impacts of not engaging in pollution prevention.
Stress benefits such as efficiency or better relations with government, for businesses not primarily concerned with public image.

Tips for Writing Your Target Audience Section

Include details on the size and growth potential of your target audience.
Figure out and refine the pain points for your target audience, then show why your product is a useful solution.
Describe your targeted customer acquisition strategy in detail.
Share anticipated challenges your business may face in acquiring customers and how you plan to address them.
Add case studies, testimonials, and other data to support your target audience ideas.
Remember to consider niche audiences and segments of your target audience in your business plan.

5. Marketing Strategy

Here, you‘ll discuss how you’ll acquire new customers with your marketing strategy. I think it’s helpful to have a marketing plan built out in advance to make this part of your business plan easier. I’d suggest including these details:

Your brand positioning vision and how you'll cultivate it.
The goal targets you aim to achieve.
The metrics you'll use to measure success.
The channels and distribution tactics you'll use.

Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example

This business plan example includes the marketing strategy for the town of Gawler. In my opinion, it works because it offers a comprehensive picture of how they plan to use digital marketing to promote the community.

Example:

Image Source

Tips for Writing Your Marketing Strategy

Include a section about how you believe your brand vision will appeal to customers.
Add the budget and resources you'll need to put your plan in place.
Outline strategies for specific marketing segments.
Connect strategies to earlier sections like target audience and competitive analysis.
Review how your marketing strategy will scale with the growth of your business.
Cover a range of channels and tactics to highlight your ability to adapt your plan in the face of change.

6. Key Features and Benefits

At some point in your business plan, you‘ll need to review the key features and benefits of your products and/or services.

Laying these out can give readers an idea of how you’re positioning yourself in the market and the messaging you're likely to use. It can even help potential investors gain better insight into your business model.

Key Features and Benefits Business Plan Example

In my opinion, the example below does a great job outlining products and services for this business, along with why these qualities will attract the audience.

Example:

Products and Services

The ArtSphere is expanding its offerings. Our primary focus is now on offering art instruction classes. We will tailor our classes according to market segment and time of day, providing instructional opportunities during the morning and mid-day, after-school sessions, and evening classes.

We will have a wide range of art supplies available to complement student sessions as well as for sale to the general public.

Additionally, the owners will continue to show and sell their own work in the Gallery, as well as produce commission portraits and other work.

Tips for Writing Your Key Features and Benefits

Emphasize why and how your product or service offers value to customers.
Use metrics and testimonials to support the ideas in this section.
Talk about how your products and services have the potential to scale.
Think about including a product roadmap.
Focus on customer needs, and how the features and benefits you are sharing meet those needs.
Offer proof of concept for your ideas, like case studies or pilot program feedback.
Proofread this section carefully, and remove any jargon or complex language.

7. Pricing and Revenue

This is where you'll discuss your cost structure and various revenue streams. Your pricing strategy must be solid enough to turn a profit while staying competitive in the industry. For this reason, here’s what I’d might outline in this section:

The specific pricing breakdowns per product or service.
Why your pricing is higher or lower than your competition's.
(If higher) Why customers would be willing to pay more.
(If lower) How you're able to offer your products or services at a lower cost.
When you expect to break even, what margins do you expect, etc?

Pricing and Revenue Business Plan Example

I like how this business plan example begins with an overview of the business revenue model, then shows proposed pricing for key products.

Example:

Financial Overview

Revenue Model

Plum generates revenue through the sale of our Plum hardware products, including Plum Lightpad Dimmer, Plum Smart Plug, and Plum Duplex Outlet.

All Plum hardware products are strategically priced at a level that places them significantly below competing products [which retail for an average of $200 or higher] making Plum an accessible home automation option for a broader range of consumer budgets.

Plum Lightpad Dimmer: COGS: $21Wholesale $39Retail: $79

Plum Smart Plug: COGS: $24Wholesale: $43Retail: $84

Tips for Writing Your Pricing and Revenue Section

Get specific about your pricing strategy. Specifically, how you connect that strategy to customer needs and product value.
If you are asking a premium price, share unique features or innovations that justify that price point.
Show how you plan to communicate pricing to customers.
Create an overview of every revenue stream for your business and how each stream adds to your business model as a whole.
Share plans to develop new revenue streams in the future.
Show how and whether pricing will vary by customer segment and how pricing aligns with marketing strategies.
Restate your value proposition and explain how it aligns with your revenue model.

8. Financials

To me, this section is particularly informative for investors and leadership teams to figure out funding strategies, investment opportunities, and more. While some business plans might include more or less information, according to Forbes you'll want to include three main details:

Profit/Loss Statement. This answers the question of whether your business is currently profitable.
Cash Flow Statement. This details exactly how much cash is incoming and outgoing to give insight into how much cash a business has on hand.
Balance Sheet. This outlines assets, liabilities, and equity, which gives insight into how much a business is worth.

Financials Business Plan Example

This balance sheet is a great example of the level of detail you’ll need to include in the financials section of your business plan.

Example:

Assets

Current Assets

1000 Cash

1010 Checking 583,961

1020 Savings 224,600

1030 Petty Cash 89,840

Total Cash - 898,402

1100 Accounts Receivable - 3,593,607

1200 Work in Process - 589,791

1300 Other Current Assets

1310 Prepaid Rent 164,593

1320 Prepaid Liability Insurance 109,728

Total Other Current Assets - 274,321

Total Current Assets - 5,356,121

Tips for Writing Your Financials Section

Growth potential is important in this section too. Using your data, create a forecast of financial performance in the next three to five years.
Include any data that supports your projections to assure investors of the credibility of your proposal.
Add a break-even analysis to show that your business plan is financially practical. This information can also help you pivot quickly as your business grows.
Consider adding a section that reviews potential risks and how sensitive your plan is to changes in the market.
Triple-check all financial information in your plan for accuracy.
Show how any proposed funding needs align with your plans for growth.

Sample Business Plan Templates

Now that you know what‘s included and how to format a business plan, let’s review some of my favorite templates.

1. HubSpot's One-Page Business Plan

Download a free, editable one-page business plan template.

The business plan linked above was created here at HubSpot and is perfect for businesses of any size — no matter how many strategies we still have to develop.

Fields such as Company Description, Required Funding, and Implementation Timeline give this one-page business plan a framework for how to build your brand and what tasks to keep track of as you grow.

Then, as the business matures, you can expand on your original business plan with a new iteration of the above document.

Why I Like It

This one-page business plan is a fantastic choice for the new business owner who doesn’t have the time or resources to draft a full-blown business plan. It includes all the essential sections in an accessible, bullet-point-friendly format. That way, you can get the broad strokes down before honing in on the details.

2. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

We also created a business plan template for entrepreneurs.

Download a free, editable one-page business plan template.

The template is designed as a guide and checklist for starting your own business. You’ll learn what to include in each section of your business plan and how to do it.

This is a fantastic template for an existing business that’s strategically shifting directions. If your company has been around for a while, and you’re looking to improve your bottom line or revitalize your strategy, this is an excellent template to use and follow.

5. BPlan’s Free Business Plan Template

8. Panda Doc’s Free Business Plan Template

PandaDoc’s free business plan template is one of the more detailed and fleshed-out sample business plans on this list. It describes what you should include in each section, so you don't have to come up with everything from scratch.

Once you fill it out, you’ll fully understand your business’ nitty-gritty details and how all of its moving parts should work together to contribute to its success.

Why I Like It

This template has two things I love: comprehensiveness and in-depth instructions. Plus, it’s synced with PandaDoc’s e-signature software so that you and other stakeholders can sign it with ease. For that reason, I especially love it for those starting a business with a partner or with a board of directors.

9. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers several free business plan templates that can be used to inspire your own plan.

Before you get started, you can decide what type of business plan you need — a traditional or lean start-up plan.

Then, you can review the format for both of those plans and view examples of what they might look like.

Why I Like It

We love both of the SBA’s templates because of their versatility. You can choose between two options and use the existing content in the templates to flesh out your own plan. Plus, if needed, you can get a free business counselor to help you along the way.

Top Business Plan Examples

I’ve compiled some completed business plan samples to help you get an idea of how to customize a plan for your business.

I chose different types of business plan ideas to expand your imagination. Some are extensive, while others are fairly simple.

Let’s take a look.

1. LiveFlow

One of the major business expenses is marketing. How you handle your marketing reflects your company’s revenue.

I included this business plan to show you how you can ensure your marketing team is aligned with your overall business plan to get results. The plan also shows you how to track even the smallest metrics of your campaigns, like ROI and payback periods instead of just focusing on big metrics like gross and revenue.

Fintech startup, LiveFlow, allows users to sync real-time data from its accounting services, payment platforms, and banks into custom reports. This eliminates the task of pulling reports together manually, saving teams time and helping automate workflows.

“Using this framework over a traditional marketing plan will help you set a profitable marketing strategy taking things like CAC, LTV, Payback period, and P&L into consideration,” explains LiveFlow co-founder, Lasse Kalkar.

Why I Like It

When it came to including marketing strategy in its business plan, LiveFlow created a separate marketing profit and loss statement (P&L) to track how well the company was doing with its marketing initiatives.

This is a great approach, allowing businesses to focus on where their marketing dollars are making the most impact. Having this information handy will enable you to build out your business plan’s marketing section with confidence. LiveFlow has shared the template here. You can test it for yourself.

2. Lula Body

Brooklyn Business owner and Pilates instructor, Tara Kashyap, saw a need in her community for a Pilates, tissue, and bodywork studio. In response, she opened Lula Body in Crown Heights.

Pictured above is a hypothetical pricing and revenue statement based on Lula Body’s business plan. As you can see, Kashyap breaks down the cost of classes, start-up expenses, monthly expenses, and her monthly sales projection.

Everything from equipment costs to loan interest is included in the expenses to give the most accurate picture of operating costs and revenue.

If you’re seeking outside funding for your business, you’ll want to make sure this section of your business plan is as thorough as possible.

Why I Like It

This is a good business plan example for service-based businesses such as gyms, boxing classes, dancing studios, etc. For starters, the plan shows how to budget for the business loan and what to focus on buying first.

Everything is well presented, including what to charge the customers in different scenarios and the expected revenue. This is a good foundation from which business performance can be evaluated with time.

3. Patagonia

Sometimes all you need is a solid mission statement and core values to guide you on how to go about everything. You do this by creating a business plan revolving around how to fulfill your statement best.

For example, Patagonia is an eco-friendly company, so their plan discusses how to make the best environmentally friendly products without causing harm.

A good mission statement should not only resonate with consumers but should also serve as a core value compass for employees as well.

Why I Like It

Patagonia has one of the most compelling mission statements I’ve seen:

“Together, let’s prioritize purpose over profit and protect this wondrous planet, our only home.”

It reels you in from the start, and the environmentally friendly theme continues throughout the rest of the statement.

This mission goes on to explain that they are out to “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to protect nature.”

Their mission statement is compelling and detailed, with each section outlining how they will accomplish their goal.

You should. Without an annual marketing plan, things can get messy — and it's nearly impossible to put a number on your budget for the projects, hiring, and outsourcing over the course of a year if you don't have a plan.

To make your plan's creation easier, we've put together a list of what to include in your plan and a few different planning templates where you can easily fill in the blanks.

To start, let's dive into how to create a marketing plan and then take a look at what a high-level marketing plan has inside.

In this article, we're going to discuss:

What a High-Level Marketing Plan Includes
How to Create a Marketing Plan
Marketing Plan Templates You Can Use
Simplified Marketing Plan Template
Plus — Social Media Plan Templates

Marketing Plan Outline

Download This Marketing Plan Outline for Free

The above marketing plan outline will help you create an effective plan that easily generates buy-in from stakeholders and effectively guides your marketing efforts.

Marketing plans can get quite granular to reflect the industry you're in, whether you're selling to consumers (B2C) or other businesses (B2B), and how big your digital presence is. Nonetheless, here are the elements every effective marketing plan includes:

1. Business Summary

In a marketing plan, your business summary is exactly what it sounds like: a summary of the organization. It's essential to include this information so that all stakeholders, including your direct reports, learn about your company in detail before delving into the more strategic components of your plan.

Even if you’re presenting this plan to people who’ve been in the company for a while, it doesn’t hurt to get everyone on the same page.

Most business summaries include:

The company name
Where it's headquartered
Its mission statement

Our marketing plan outline also includes information on marketing leadership, which is especially helpful for companies with large marketing teams.

2. SWOT Analysis

Your marketing plan's business summary also includes a SWOT analysis, which covers your business's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It’s essential to include this information so you can create targeted strategies that help you capitalize on your strengths and improve upon your weaknesses.

In my experience, you need a lot of patience when doing a SWOT analysis; it requires market research and competitive analysis to become truly accurate. I tend to revisit this section periodically, adjusting it as I discover more information about my own business and competition.

3. Business Initiatives

The business initiatives element of a marketing plan helps you segment the various goals of your department. Be careful not to include big-picture company initiatives, which you'd normally find in a business plan. This section should outline the projects that are specific to marketing. You'll also describe the goals of those projects and how those goals will be measured.

Every initiative should follow the SMART method for goal-making. They should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, a broad goal might be something like, "Increase my Facebook following." But a SMART-ified version of this goal could be, "Increase my Facebook following by 30% by June." See the difference?

4. Customer Analysis

In this part of the marketing plan outline, you get plenty of space to share all the data you collected during your market research. If your company has already done a thorough market research study, this section of your marketing plan might be easier to put together. Either way, try to do your research before synthesizing it in a shareable document like this one.

Ultimately, this element of your marketing plan will help you describe the industry you're selling to and your buyer persona. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional description of your ideal customer, focusing on traits like:

Age
Location
Title
Goals
Personal challenges
Pains
Triggering event

5. Competitor Analysis

Including a competitive analysis is essential when creating a marketing plan. Your buyer persona has choices when it comes to solving their problems, choices in both the types of solutions they consider and the providers that can administer those solutions. In your market research, you should consider your competition, what they do well, and where the gaps are that you can potentially fill. This can include:

Positioning
Market share
Offerings
Pricing

Our marketing plan template includes space to list out the specific products you compete with, as well as other facets of the other company’s strategy, such as their blogging efforts or customer service reputation. Keep this part of your plan simple — your full competitive analysis should be done separately. Here are a few competitive analysis templates to get started.

6. Market Strategy

Your market strategy uses the information included in the above sections to describe how your company should approach the market.

For instance, when I'm filling out this section, I always pull insights from my SWOT analysis, my competitive analysis, and my general market research. This helps me write targeted, effective descriptions of my strategies.

Here's an example: if you found that one of your competitors employs stronger social media marketing strategies, you might add "We'll post 3 times per week on our social media profiles" under "Promotion."

In our full-length marketing plan outline, the market strategy section contains the "seven Ps of marketing" (or the “extended marketing mix”):

Product
Price
Place
Promotion
People
Process
Physical Evidence

(You'll learn more about these seven sub-components inside our free marketing plan template, which you can download below.)

7. Budget

When I created my first marketing plan, I made the mistake of confusing the marketing budget section of my plan with my product's price and other financials.

Here's a better way to think of this section: it should describe how much money the business has allotted the marketing team to pursue the initiatives and goals outlined in the elements above.

Depending on how many individual expenses you have, you should consider itemizing this budget by what specifically you'll spend your budget on. Example marketing expenses include:

Outsourcing costs to a marketing agency and/or other providers
Marketing software
Paid promotions
Events (those you'll host and/or attend)

Knowing the budget and doing analysis on the marketing channels you want to invest in, you should be able to come up with a plan for how much budget to invest in which tactics based on expected ROI. From there, you'll be able to come up with financial projections for the year. These won't be 100% accurate but can help with executive planning.

Remember: Your marketing plan only includes a summary of the costs. We recommend keeping a separate document or Excel sheet to help you calculate your budget much more effectively. Here’s a marketing budget template to get started.

8. Marketing Channels

Your marketing plan should also include a list of your marketing channels. While your company might promote the product itself using certain ad space, your marketing channels are where you'll publish the content that educates your buyers, generates leads, and spreads awareness of your brand.

If you publish (or intend to publish) on social media, this is the place to talk about it. Use the Marketing Channels section of your marketing plan to map out which social networks you want to launch a business page on, what you'll use this social network for, and how you'll measure your success on this network.

Part of this section's purpose is to prove to your superiors, both inside and outside the marketing department, that these channels will serve to grow the business.

Businesses with extensive social media presences might even consider elaborating on their social strategy in a separate social media plan template.

9. Marketing Technology

Last, but certainly not least, your marketing plan should include an overview of the tools you'll include in your marketing technology (MarTech) stack. These are the tools that will help you achieve the goals you outlined in the previous sections. Since all types of marketing software usually need a generous investment from your company’s leadership, it’s essential to connect them to a potential ROI for your business.

For each tool, describe what exactly you’ll use it for, and be sure that it’s a strategy that you’ve mentioned elsewhere. For instance, we wouldn't recommend listing an advertising management tool if you didn’t list “PPC Advertising” under “Marketing Channels.”

If you’re going for a unified marketing solution, however, you must pinpoint exactly what you’ll use it for, why it’s a better option compared to other software dedicated to specific channels, and in what areas would this type of solution help you the most. As for marketing analytics software, make sure to specify what metrics you’ll track with it, why, and how it will benefit your overall marketing strategy.

1. Conduct a situation analysis.

The first step I take when creating a marketing plan is conducting a SWOT analysis. It helps me uncover the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing my business.

Additionally, I need a good picture of the current market. How do I compare to my competitors? Doing a competitor analysis can help.

In doing so, I can identify the gaps (and opportunities) in a competitor's approach. What are they missing? What can I offer that'll give me a competitive advantage?

Answering questions like this should help you figure out what your customer wants, which brings us to step number two.

2. Define your target audience.

If your company already has buyer personas, this step might just mean you have to refine your current personas.

But if you don't have a buyer persona, you should create one. To do this, you might have to conduct market research.

Your buyer persona should include demographic information such as age, gender, and income. However, it will also include psychographic information such as pain points and goals. What drives your audience? What problems do they have that your product or service can fix?

Once you have this information written out, it'll help you define your goals, which brings us to step number three.

3. Write SMART goals.

My mother always used to tell me, "You can't go somewhere unless you have a road map." Now, for me, someone who's geographically challenged, that was literal advice.

However, it can also be applied metaphorically to marketing. You can't improve your ROI unless you know what your goals are.

After you've figured out your current situation and know your audience, you can begin to define your SMART goals.

SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. This means that all your goals should be specific and include a time frame for which you want to complete them.

For example, your goal could be to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in three months. Depending on your overall marketing goals, this should be relevant and attainable. Additionally, this goal is specific, measurable, and time-bound.

Before you start any tactic, you should write out your goals. Then, you can begin to analyze which tactics will help you achieve that goal. That brings us to step number four.

4. Analyze your tactics.

At this point, you've written down your goals based on your target audience and current situation.

Now, you have to figure out what tactics will help you achieve your goals. Plus, what are the right channels and action items to focus on?

For example, if your goal is to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in three months, your tactics might include hosting a giveaway, responding to every comment, and posting three times on Instagram per week.

Once you know your goals, brainstorming several tactics to achieve them should be easy. That said, you may not be able to pursue every tactic on your list (unless you have an unlimited budget, which, if so, jealous) — which brings us to step number five.

5. Set your budget.

Before you can begin implementing any of the ideas that you've come up with in the steps above, you have to know your budget.

For example, your tactics might include social media advertising. However, if you don't have the budget for that, then you might not be able to achieve your goals.

While you're writing out your tactics, be sure to note an estimated budget. You can include the time it'll take to complete each tactic in addition to the assets you might need to purchase, such as ad space.

Now that you know how to create your marketing plan, let's dive into creating a marketing campaign outline that will help you reach the goals outlined plan.

Marketing Plan Timeline

Rolling out a new marketing plan is a big lift. To make sure things are running smoothly with all of your projects, you'll want to create a timeline that maps out when each project is happening.

A marketing plan timeline allows your team to view all projects, campaigns, events, and other related tasks in one place — along with their deadlines. This ensures everyone on your team knows what’s due, when it’s due, and what’s up next in the pipeline. Typically these plans cover marketing efforts for the entire year, but some companies may operate on a bi-annual or quarterly basis.

Once you’ve completed your analysis, research, and set goals, it’s time to set deadlines for your assignments. From new blog posts and content initiatives to product launches, everything will need a deadline. Take into account any holidays or events taking place over the course of the year.

While setting deadlines for the entire year may seem daunting, start by estimating how long you think each task will take and set a deadline accordingly. Track the time it actually takes for you to complete similar types of projects. Once you’ve completed a few of them, you’ll have a better idea of how long each takes and will be able to set more accurate deadlines.

For each project, you’ll want to build in time for:

Brainstorming: This is the first phase where your idea comes to life in a project outline. Decide what you want to achieve and which stakeholders need to be involved to meet your goal. Set a due date and set up any necessary meetings.
Planning: This can include determining the project’s scope, figuring out how much budget will be allocated for it, finalizing deadlines and who is working on each task. Map out any campaigns needed for each project (social media, PR, sales promotions, landing pages, events, etc.).
Execution: This third phase is all about your project launch. Decide on a date to launch and monitor the progress of the project. Set up a system for tracking metrics and KPIs.
Analysis: In this final phase you will analyze all of your performance data to see whether or not your marketing efforts paid off. Did you meet your goals? Did you complete your projects on time and within budget?

Pro Tip

All projects and their deadlines should be in a central location where your team can access them whether that’s a calendar like HubSpot's tool, shared document, or project management tool.

One-Page Marketing Plan Template

Download your marketing plan template here.

Marketing Campaign Template

Your marketing plan is a high-level view of the different marketing strategies you’ll use to meet your business objectives. A marketing campaign template is a focused plan that will help achieve those marketing goals.

A marketing campaign template should include the following key components:

Goals and KPIs: Identify the end goal for each of the individual campaigns you’ll run and the metrics you will use to measure the results of your campaign when it ends. For example, conversion rates, sales, sign-ups, etc.
Channels: Identify the different channels you’ll use to enact your marketing campaign to reach your audience. Maybe you run a social media campaign on Twitter to raise brand awareness or a direct mail campaign to notify your audience of upcoming sales.
Budget: Identify the budget you’ll need to run your campaign and how it will be distributed, like the amount you’ll spend on creating content or ad placements in different areas. Having these numbers also helps you later on when you quantify the success of your campaign, like ROI.
Content: Identify the type of content you’ll create and distribute during your campaigns—for example, blog posts, video ads, email newsletters, etc. Brainstorm content ideas to find relevant topics and set up outlines or creative briefs, then add them to your content calendar to establish clear workflows.
Teams and DRIs: Identify the teams and people that will be part of enacting your marketing plan from start to finish, like those responsible for creating your marketing assets, budgets, or analyzing metrics once campaigns are complete.
Design: Identify what your marketing campaigns will look like and how you’ll use design elements to attract your audience. It’s important to note that your design should directly relate to the purpose of your campaign.

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Digital Marketing Plan Template

A digital marketing plan is similar to a marketing campaign plan, but, as the name suggests, it’s tailored to the campaigns that you run online. Let’s go over the key components of a digital marketing plan template to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

Objectives: The goals for your digital marketing and what you’re hoping to accomplish, like driving more traffic to your website. Maybe you want to drive more traffic to your website, or
Budget: Identify how much it will cost to run your digital marketing campaign and how the money will be distributed. For example, ad placement on different social media sites costs money, and so does creating your assets.
Target audience: Which segments of your audience are you hoping to reach with this campaign? It’s essential to identify the audiences you want to reach with your digital marketing, as different channels house different audience segments.
Channels: Identifies the channels that are central to your digital marketing campaign.
Timeline: Explains the length of time your digital campaigns will run, from how long it should take to create your assets to the final day of the campaign.

Many people use social media in their digital campaigns, and below we’ll discuss some ideas you can use for inspiration.

Social Media Marketing Plan Templates

As your marketing department grows, so will your presence on social media. And as your social media presence grows, so will your need to measure, plan, and re-plan what types of content you want to publish across each network.

Download 10 social media reporting templates here.

In the above collection of marketing plan templates, you'll get to fill in the following contents (and more) to suit your company:

Annual social media budget tracking
Weekly social media themes
Required social media image dimension key
Pie chart on social media traffic sorted by platform
Social media post calendar and publish time

These holidays are a great way to fill out your social media publishing schedule. With this template, you'll get a list of all the hashtag holidays for the year. Once you've come up with content ideas, you can add them to your social media calendar.

Simple Marketing Plan Template

Of course, this type of planning takes a lot of time and effort. So if you're strapped for time before the holidays, give our new Marketing Plan Generator a try.

This tool simplifies yearly planning by asking prompted questions to help guide your process. You’ll be asked to input information about:

Try our free Marketing Plan Generator here.

Your annual marketing mission statement, which is what your marketing is focused on for the year.
The strategy that you’ll take with your marketing throughout the year to accomplish your marketing goals.
Three main marketing initiatives that you’ll focus on during the year (i.e., brand awareness or building a high-quality pipeline) metrics you’ll use to measure your success.
Your target goals for those marketing initiatives like generating 100 leads per week.
Marketing initiatives that are not aligned with your current strategy to stay focused on your goals and activities that will help you be successful.

Once you input all information, the tool will spit out a table (as shown in the image below) that you can use to guide your processes.

Pro Tip: If the tool doesn't work, clear your browser's cache or access it in incognito mode.

Start the Marketing Planning Process Today

The best way to set up your marketing plan for the year is to start with quick wins first, that way you can ramp up fast and set yourself (and your team) up to hit more challenging goals and take on more sophisticated projects by Q4. So, what do you say? Are you ready to give it a spin?

Editor's note: This post was originally published in December 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

How to Make a QR Code in 5 Easy Steps

cwainwright@hubspot.com (Corey Wainwright) — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 19:01:16 GMT

Whether I'm walking into a restaurant, or passing by an advertisement through a windowpane, I seem to run into QR codes just about anywhere these days. I feel like this is the case for everyone now that 45% of shoppers claim to use marketing-related QR codes.

There's no denying the popularity and convenience of the QR code. But, what exactly is it, and how can you create one for your next marketing campaign?

Keep reading to learn the magic behind QR codes and how to create your own.

QR codes typically look like this:

Not every QR code is shaped like a perfect square. Sometimes they have unique patterns, colors, and logos displayed inside. You'll find them in non-digital spaces like direct mail, signage, billboards, and even TV shows where you can scan the code on the screen using your phone.

Both barcodes and QR codes can be scanned using a laser or a smartphone as long as the tool being used has the correct capabilities of reading vertical and horizontal data. Although most smartphones scan QR codes automatically, many won't scan barcodes so easily — you'll need a special app for that.

Does the rise of QR codes mean traditional barcodes are a thing of the past? Of course not. Traditional barcodes are still a common way for businesses to identify consumer packaged goods (CPGs) and manage their product inventory.

However, there are several differences between barcodes and QR codes — both in their uses and their characteristics. Below are three important differences.

QR Codes Are Shaped Differently

Barcodes are typically rectangular, which requires scanning devices to read the barcode's data horizontally. QR codes are often square-shaped, displaying their data vertically and horizontally.

QR Codes Hold Different Data

QR codes are often used differently than barcodes. Barcodes hold key product information at the point of sale, such as the price and name of the manufacturer. QR codes offer more passive and intangible information, such as location data and URLs to promotions and product landing pages.

QR Codes Hold More Data

Due to a QR code's square shape, it can hold much more data compared to a barcode. QR codes can hold hundreds of times more encrypted characters than a barcode can.

We learned a little bit about how barcodes and QR codes differ, but how exactly do QR codes work?

Let's say a consumer sees a QR code. They can take out their mobile device, download a free QR code scanning app, or simply use their phone's camera, and scan the QR code to gain more information about what they saw.

If you wanted to create, say, a bus stop advertisement promoting your podcast, you could display a QR code on that printed ad that brings people right to your iTunes page when they scan it with their phones. Pretty simple, right?

The QR code creation process is pretty straightforward, regardless of the device you're using. Here's how to get started.

How to Create a QR Code on Any Device

Step 1: Access a QR code generator on any browser.

Using any browser on any operating system, head to a QR code maker. We'll be using qr-code-generator.com for this tutorial. Keep in mind that you don't necessarily need to use this tool; you can choose any web-based QR code generator. If you need some ideas, check out our list.

Step 2: Insert your URL into the generator.

For most QR codes, you'll want to redirect users to a URL. In that case, enter the URL in the tool. You can also choose from other content types, including contact cards, PDFs, and MP3s. At the bottom, you also have the option of creating QR codes for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files. The exact content options will vary by tool.

After you select the content type, a field or form will appear where you can enter the information that corresponds with your campaign. For instance, if you want your QR code to save contact information, you'll see a set of fields where you can enter your email address, subject line, and associated message.

Once you enter your URL or upload your file, it will immediately create a QR code that's ready for download. However, we recommend customizing it to strengthen your brand identity.

Step 3: If applicable, customize your QR code.

The fun part of creating QR codes is customizing the design of the codes to fit your brand. Want your code to contain your logo? Go for it. Want it to reflect your website's design scheme? No problem.

The front-end generator on qr-code-generator.com offers limited frame, shape, and color options that allow you to customize your QR code. If you want more options, we highly encourage you to sign up on the website and edit your QR code through the tool's creator portal.

Here's one example of how you can customize your QR code once you sign up for a QR Code Generator account:

Keep in mind that not every QR code maker offers these design options either before or after signing up. Depending on the QR code you're looking to generate, you might find some tools limited in their functionality.

Step 4: Download your QR code.

If you're just trying to quickly create a QR code, don't worry about signing up. Instead, click the Download button.

Your download will start immediately, but the website will try to trick you into signing up. Ignore this message unless you truly want to sign up. At the top, you'll see a message that says your QR code is getting created and that you shouldn't refresh the window. A pop-up download window will come up within 2 minutes.

Step 5: Use your QR code for marketing and promotion.

A QR code won't be able to do its job unless people see it. So make sure you add the code to any materials that will help you market your business. This could include displaying it in print ads, on clothing, or in physical locations where people can take out their phones to scan it. Scroll down for more tips on properly displaying a QR code.

As for how you'll add the JPG or vector file to print collateral, you can do so with a variety of tools, including:

Canva: Canva is an online design tool that lets you import JPG files and add them to your design. It offers flier and brochure templates for easy creation.
BeFunky: BeFunky is a similar tool to Canva and also allows you to add JPG files to a design. It also offers templates for you to choose from.
Adobe Illustrator and InDesign: If you're a more advanced user, you can use a dedicated graphic design tool to add your QR code to pamphlets and brochures. Illustrator is a good fit for one-page designs; InDesign is a better fit for multi-page brochures.

If you're on a mobile device, good news: You can easily create a QR code that you can share with colleagues and prospects on-the-go. You'll need the Google Chrome app to do so.

How to Create a QR Code on Android

Creating a QR code on an Android device is simple with the Chrome app. You can only make QR codes for URLs, but this is a handy tool for when you need to quickly share product pages or blog posts with someone.

Here are the steps:

Download the Google Chrome app from the Google Play Store.
Navigate to the URL you want to share.
Click the three vertical dots (⋮) on the top toolbar.

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On the pop-up, select QR Code.

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Either click Download at the bottom or hold your phone up for someone to scan the code.

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Note: The interface may look a little different depending on your version of Chrome.

How to Create a QR Code on iOS

Just like in Android, you can easily make QR Codes on any iPhone or iPad. Here's how:

Download the Google Chrome app from the App Store. Note: You can't create QR Codes from the Google search app, only the Chrome app.
Navigate to the URL you want to share.
Tap the Share button on the upper right-hand corner.

Select Create QR Code.

Either hold it up for someone to scan or tap Share. This option will allow you to print your QR code, save the image to your camera roll, or save it to your files.

How to Create a QR Code for Desktop Using Chrome

Creating a QR code with Chrome on desktop is just as easy as it is on Android and iOS. Here's how to do it:

Open Chrome on your desktop.
Go to the URL you want to share.
For Linux, Windows, and Mac computer users, navigate to the right-hand side of the address bar, click Share.

Select Create QR code.
For Chromebook users, navigate to the address bar and then QR code.
Either copy the QR link, download the QR code, or scan the QR code with a camera on another device.

Note: If you click Copy, Google Chrome will add it to your clipboard as an image. Pretty handy for quickly pasting the code into a design tool such as Canva or Photoshop.

How to Create a QR Code on Microsoft Edge

Creating a QR code on Microsoft Edge is super straightforward — almost as straightforward as creating one on Chrome. It allows you to quickly share URLs with others and to save the QR code both on your device and on the browser itself.

Follow these steps to create a QR code using Microsoft Edge:

Open Microsoft Edge on your device.
Navigate to the URL that you want to share using the QR code.
Right-click anywhere on the page.
Select Create QR code for this page from the drop-down menu.

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All done! A QR code will be displayed on the screen. You can either hold the device up for someone to scan the code or download the QR code to your laptop.

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Bonus: The QR code is now permanently created for that page. If you want to access it in the future, simply click the “QR code” icon on the right-most side of the address bar.

By following these steps, you can easily create a QR code using Microsoft Edge, allowing you to easily share URLs with others or conveniently save the code for future use.

How to Use QR Codes (And How Not to)

Now that you see how simple the QR code creation process can be, let's talk about some best practices that'll increase the likelihood that your QR code actually gets used.

Display your QR code where it's convenient for people to scan.

Put QR codes in places where scanning them is easy and there's enough time for the consumer to scan the code. While you may often see QR codes on billboards and TV commercials, they're not exactly the most user-friendly locations. It's a safety hazard to entice people to pull out their phones while driving to scan a code, and a 30-second commercial might not be enough time for someone to find their phone and scan the TV.

Instead, think of places where consumers have the time and ability to scan the code. Places with a strong Wi-Fi connection will help, too.

Optimize the QR's destination page for mobile devices.

Mobile-optimize the page to which you're sending people. Consumers will be using their phones when scanning the QR code, so they should arrive at a page with a positive mobile experience.

Include a CTA that prompts people to scan your QR code.

Offer a call-to-action (CTA) with the code — that is to say, tell people what they're supposed to do when they see the code, and what they'll receive if they scan it. Not everyone knows exactly what a QR code is, and those that do won't be motivated to scan it unless they're sure there's something worthwhile on the other side.

Don't limit your QR code to one mobile scanner.

Don't require a special QR code scanner. Your QR code should be app-agnostic so anyone can scan your code with any reader. A lower barrier to entry makes success more likely for you and the user.

Use your QR code to make someone's life easier.

Don't use a QR code just for the sake of using one. For instance, it's common for marketers to think, "How can I bridge the offline experience with the online experience? Uhhh ... QR code!" That's not wrong, but it's not always right, either.

If you have content that makes sense to deliver to a mobile user, and you have an appropriate channel to do it (see use #1 at the beginning of this section), it's more likely your QR code will drive results.

Earlier, we showed you an example of how to create your own QR code, but you don't have to create it from scratch. A QR code generator can speed up the process (and take a lot of math out of it, too.)

There are tons of QR code generators out there. The best ones give you many customizable options for using your QR code, and compatibility with just about all mobile QR code reader apps.

Other things to look for when choosing a QR code generator are whether you can track and analyze performance in real-time and design a code that's unique to your brand.

QR Code Generator Hub is the only dynamic QR Code Generator that is free and unlimited. You can make unlimited QR Codes, with unlimited scans and edits, entirely free. Their advanced paid functionality, including robust tracking and analytics, are also offered at a flat price that does not depend on volume or use.

QR Code Best Practices

1. Sign up for an account on a QR code generator website.

One significant pitfall to making a QR code is that you can't edit the data it contains once you print it. But by signing up for an account, you can edit this data. This is especially important if you expect to use a lot of QR codes in your marketing strategy.

With a free membership to QR code generators like qr-code-generator.com, you can print a dynamic QR code, scan it, and pull up an editable form where you can modify the data your visitors will receive when they scan the QR code themselves. You can also track performance analytics, which we'll cover below, and create a new customized version of your code.

2. Customize your QR code.

QR codes can be boring to look at, but not if you customize them as much as possible. If you sign up for an account on a QR code generator website, you can customize your QR code further — adjusting the colors, adding a logo, creating social options, and more.

Keep in mind, however, that some customizations can make it more difficult for QR code scanning apps and smartphone cameras to properly read the code. To cover your bases, it's a good idea to generate two versions of your QR code — one plain version and another with your preferred design.

Speaking of this...

3. Test the QR code to make sure it scans.

Don't forget to check to see if the QR code reads correctly, and be sure to try more than one QR code reader. A good place to start is the free tool Google Lens, which takes a picture and then tells you what link or item it "reads to."

Another great free tool is the app QR Code Reader, which automatically takes you to whatever it "reads." Most smartphones these days include a built-in QR code reader, so you should test to make sure your code is readable there, as well.

4. Track and analyze performance.

Just like any marketing campaign, you should follow up on any collateral or campaigns using QR codes to see whether they're actually working. How much traffic comes from each specific code? Are people scanning your code but not redeeming their offer once they get to the landing page? Or are they not even compelled enough to scan your QR code in the first place?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you troubleshoot and adjust poorly performing QR codes to more closely mirror those that work well.

I recommend you include a UTM tracking code on your URL so you can better measure performance. This is particularly important if you use closed-loop marketing analytics or if you perform more in-depth reporting on your campaigns.

Create Your QR Code Today

Now it's your turn! You've spent enough time scanning QR codes, why not make your own? Follow the steps in this article and use one of the free QR code generators we've recommended to put your business, project, or event out there in the real world.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

The Social Media Content Calendar Template Every Marketer Needs [Free Template]

bcoleman@hubspot.com (Basha Coleman) — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 18:57:12 GMT

Have you been on a time crunch to create social media content?

Most of us have, and it’s a stressful position to be in because creating content right before it needs to be published is less likely to meet the needs of your audience, and you miss out on creative special topics and events you can plan for in advance.

Now…what if I said you never had to rush to make content again? In this guide, I’ll share the best social media content calendar template and a step-by-step guide explaining how to use it.

Use the Above Template to Plan Out Your Social Media Posts

Why do I need a social media calendar?

Flori Needle, a HubSpot Blog writer, was a social media manager before working at HubSpot. She focused on Instagram and struggled to create a schedule for herself. She told me, “I found myself creating Instagram posts last minute because I didn’t know how to plan my strategy in advance.”

After some testing, she figured out a strategy but said having a plan before posting would’ve made all the difference and lessened the time she spent in trial and error.

That’s why a social media content calendar is so helpful — you can keep track of deadlines, better manage your individual duties or content creation team, and create transparency with stakeholders who rely on your social media publishing schedule.

Creating a great content calendar is more than just adding a few Instagram post ideas to your Google calendar. Let's dive deeper into the benefits of having a social media calendar.

1. Better Organization

A content calendar keeps you and your team organized, which is essential when managing multiple social media channels.

Rather than coming up with content ideas on the fly, you can plan your content around your organization's needs. It can also provide more time for creating content about trending topics and upcoming holidays and events. For instance, if your company has a big event coming up, a content calendar will help you strategize how to promote it in advance.

Best of all, a social media calendar keeps everyone on your team informed on when content will be published. When I know what’s going live and when it avoids miscommunications and confusion down the road.

Pro tip: I know good content ideas can’t always come on command — even if you set time aside specifically for this task. But a topic generator might be just enough to kickstart your creative juices. Even better, you can take it a step further and use these topics to generate blog posts, which can be repurposed into a series of social media posts.

2. Easier Scalability

Another benefit to having a social media calendar is that it can help you scale your content production without overwhelming your marketing team. By planning content in advance, you can pace production around your team's bandwidth and other duties your department is responsible for.

As you scale, I recommend tracking post analytics to see how your content performs. Keeping an eye on your metrics will help you and your teams determine what content engages your audience the most.

3. Higher Quality Content

Lastly, using a social media calendar ensures your team has plenty of time to do their best work.

Planning your posts in advance also gives you time to check your work for typos or mistakes and helps your team create a cohesive and consistent brand image because you have more time to strategize and work on valuable campaigns.

Perfecting your social media content calendar shouldn’t feel like a chore. Below, I’ll walk you through the essential components of any social media content calendar that will give you the foundation to organize your social media strategy at a tactical level.

Key

An easy-to-read key helps your stakeholders understand the information in your calendar.

As long as your key is clear, just about anyone in your organization can view your social media content calendar and understand exactly what's happening on all platforms.

URLs and UTM Parameters

URLs and UTM parameters are similar, but they're not the same. URLs are the links you'll want to share from your website (or even another website if you are curating content) on your social media platforms.

A UTM parameter is an extension of your URL. It's a string of tracking code appended to the end of a URL, and it helps social media marketers track how well their posts drive traffic to their websites. By tracking and analyzing UTM parameters, you'll see what content meets your conversion goals and what content drives the most engagement on social media platforms. You can use a UTM generator to make this process easier.

Date and Time

Including dates and times in your social media calendar is helpful for your planning but also for stakeholders and other teams that rely on your social media content.

When teammates can view your calendar and identify exactly when a post was or will be scheduled, they can quickly proceed with their workflow, which is beneficial for you, too. AKA, you won't be interrupted to give status updates about every Tweet on the docket for the day.

Message

Transparency and context are invaluable when it comes to social media content calendars. Giving a brief synopsis of the message or even sharing the caption for a post can go a long way in helping others within and outside your team understand what the intent of the post will be.

Pro tip: If you're adding a video to your social media content calendar that isn't finished, consider adding a short Loom video that gives an overview of what the video will be about. You only have to make the Loom once, so you won’t have to re-record your explanation every time someone has a question.

Campaign

It's too late to start tracking metrics once your campaign is over. Instead, start tracking your social media campaigns in your content calendar. You can make this prescriptive by having a dropdown list of predetermined campaign names, or if your campaigns are few and far between, simply copy and paste the names next to the corresponding content.

Pro tip:Align your campaign name with the campaign section of your UTM parameter for seamless tracking.

Image

Your social media content calendar will become just another spreadsheet without some imagery. Since much of your social media content will probably be visual, add a thumbnail-sized version of the image you'll included in the published post. Coupled with the message, stakeholders who view the calendar images will have a pretty good idea of what will be shared and when.

To make editing your images for each platform easier, check out this cheat sheet for ideal image dimensions on each platform.

Before creating your social media content calendar, it’s essential to take a step back, look at the big picture, and plan. Here’s how.

Step 1: Identify your goals.

The first step to building your social media content calendar is identifying your goals, which will determine how often you post, who will be involved in the content creation process, and which channels you’ll want to use.

If you're not sure where to start with setting up your social media goals, we cover that here.

Step 2: Align your team.

With your goals etched in stone, it's time to align your team toward these goals. Social media content creation is a tall order, especially for lean marketing teams, so don't short yourself on resources — especially talent.

One thing we know to be true today is that video content is taking over just about every major social platform. That means you'll want to have on-camera talent dedicated to producing video content to meet the needs of your social media calendar.

If you can, find a content creator who is well-versed in short-form written content, video content, and audio content to keep your content production moving quickly and prevent bottlenecks.

Step 3: Consider diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are topics to consider when developing your social calendar, especially considering that consumers care, more than ever, that the brands they support are committed to diversity and inclusion.

You'll want to ensure your content reflects and respects the values and experiences of your audience. Moreover, the faces, voices, and stories you share on social networks should be representative of your audience and the larger community where your business operates.

This isn't something that can happen by accident, so you'll want to plan for diversity and inclusion as you develop your content calendar. If you'd like some guidance on creating diverse and inclusive content, check out our original research on the topic.

Step 4: Set up UTM tracking.

One of the most important parts of a social media calendar is actually the part you don't see — tracking. And the easiest way to track how your social media content is performing is to use UTM parameters.

Yes, this is the second time I’ve mentioned UTM parameters, but for good reason. Can you imagine the nightmare of manually sorting through your campaign traffic to determine where each viewer came from or who engaged with your content? I don’t want to do that, and I’d imagine you don’t either.

UTM codes are simple to set up and use. Once you've got them in place for each link on your social media posts, you can review your social media content metrics.

Step 5: Create an analysis tracker in your calendar.

For stakeholders who want to stay abreast of how well your social media content is, create a tab that shows clicks, views, engagements, and other metrics you plan to track to deem your content a success. Tracking analytics can be as simple or detailed as your team prefers.

For a full list of metrics to track and tools to do it, take a look at this year's Ultimate Guide to Social Media Analytics.

To expedite the process of creating a social media content calendar, download this free template that’s ready for you to fill out.

1. Complete a social media audit across all platforms.

Before creating a social media content calendar, I recommend a complete social media audit. Ask yourself questions like:

Which social media platforms are you on?
Which platforms are you not on, but your competitors are?
Which platforms get the most versus least engagement?
Which content formats do you use most often and least often?
Which types of posts get the most versus least engagement?

Auditing your social media presence will help you decide how to move forward as you create your social media content calendar. For instance, you may be on TikTok, but maybe you find it’s the platform where you get the least engagement and even fewer leads. That may mean it’s time to de-prioritize TikTok from your lineup and invest more time in a better-fitting platform.

Spend some time perusing your social media analytics to answer these questions. It’s essential to back your conclusions with data instead of a gut instinct. Our social media report template is an excellent way to keep track of your findings.

Featured Resource: Social Media Report Template

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2. Pick the top 3-5 social media platforms you’ll use.

Believe it or not, you don’t need to be on all the social media platforms to get a high social media ROI. Instead, you should focus on your target audience and those with the highest ROI — not only because this will save your team effort and time, but it will result in a much more manageable social media content calendar.

Every social channel is different, and the content you post on each one should appeal to the layout of the platform and the users who use it. Imagine having to post on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Tumblr — that is… a lot. Instead, choose the top three to five platforms that, based on your social media audit, yield the highest ROI for your business.

As you choose your platforms, you might also want to pay attention to trends and growing channels. Even if you’re a marketer at a small B2B business, it won’t hurt to test out a platform before all your competitors do.

Featured Resource: Social Media Trends Report

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If you're a seasoned marketer or have a large team, you may find that using all of the popular channels and even experimenting with a new one could be beneficial to the goals you set in step one. However, if you're a team of one, or your team is already stretched thin, it's OK to start with a few social channels and work your way up to more.

3. Choose your social media content formats and post types.

You’re now armed with the social media platforms to pursue. But which social media content types will you post? Will you post mainly videos, images, or text-based updates? Will you post informative, relatable, or funny content?

As always, we recommend choosing a mixture of content types to maximize your ROI. Plus, it will ensure that you’re serving content that addresses different segments of your audience while increasing your level of reach.

For example, my mom is addicted to Instagram Reels. I once took a peek at her screen time report and was astonished. But, a majority of her generation spends the most time engaging with images, photos, and infographics. Most businesses have outliers like my mom, so a diversified strategy helps you meet varied preferences.

It's also essential to account for your team’s resources. If you have dedicated social media managers who can create content in-house, you have more leeway with your choices. But if you only have a generalist marketer on staff (or if you’re that generalist marketer!), consider what is most realistic in terms of content creation, or ask for a budget to hire a freelance content creator.

4. Create social media content templates, lazy hashtags, and lazy copy.

As you build out your content calendar (hopefully after downloading a free social media content calendar template!), remember that the purpose of your calendar is to make posting as easy and painless as possible. In pursuit of that, take some time to create content templates, list the hashtags you’ll use most often, and even create “lazy” copy for you or your coworkers to use.

I find it helpful to store templates in an online bank, such as Google Drive, or a tool like Canva, where I can quickly edit a template and adjust it to create a new post. Generally, you want to have various customizable image templates.

Featured Resource: 150+ Content Creation Templates

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Don’t forget to keep your most-used hashtags easily accessible for easy copying and pasting, along with lazy copy that only needs to be customized from post to post. As you draft your templates, always keep your brand voice in mind. Whether you’re serious and corporate, or open and friendly, you want every post to embody your company’s branding.

5. Fill in your social media holidays, events, and campaigns.

What is a social media content calendar that doesn’t show your forethought and planning? Well, it’s still a content calendar — just not a very useful one! As you build out your social media content calendar, identify the holidays and events you’ll be participating in and note any campaigns you may have planned for the future.

If you’re attending an event or a conference, you should plan to broadcast that on your social media channels. Or if you’re doing a virtual event like a webinar, you should plan a series of posts around that, too. Or if you’d like to create a holiday post or a paid social campaign — the possibilities are endless. You should plan for each upcoming event with at least a month’s advance notice.

Pro tip: You don’t need to create a campaign for every single holiday. Most marketers plan for three main occasions: Winter/End of Year holidays, Black Friday, and Halloween.

6. Determine a social media posting schedule.

It’s time to get into the most useful part of your content calendar: Determining your posting schedule. Your calendar should have a “Time” column that will allow you to proactively keep track of this information.

Different social media platforms require various posting times. By creating different tabs for each platform or color coding posts for different channels, you can easily fill in publish times. Consider also syncing publishing times to your calendar to get timely reminders.

We recently surveyed 1000+ social media marketers to get their take on the best times to post on social media.

Here’s a quick of overview of the best times to post on each platform based on our findings:

Instagram: 6 PM - 9 PM, 12 PM - 3 PM, and 3 PM - 6 PM
Facebook: 6 PM - 9 PM and 12 PM - 3 PM
X (formerly Twitter): 9 AM - 12 PM and 12 PM - 3 PM
LinkedIn: 9 AM - 12 PM, 12 - 3 PM, or 3 - 6 PM
YouTube: 6 PM - 9 PM
TikTok: 6 PM - 9 PM, 3 PM - 6 PM, and 12 PM - 3 PM

Keep in mind that there is no one size fits all solution (sorry, wish I had better news). For example, SproutSocial says the best time to post on Instagram is between 9 AM and 1 PM, and Hootsuite says 9 AM is the best time overall.

These differences don’t mean anyone is wrong; it just ties back to what I mentioned above about your audience: you should tailor the times you post content to your own business.

To pick your schedule, take a look at our research for each social media platform you'll use use to get a sense of the posting cadence best practices. Then, compare that to the bandwidth on your team and the goals you want to achieve. Remember: the goal of a social media calendar is to create and publish a sustainable stream of content to your audience — it's a marathon, not a race.

7. Schedule posts using a social media tool.

Publishing updates on multiple platforms, with different campaigns and holidays, at different times and days, can quickly get overwhelming. I recommend integrating your social media calendar template with a social media management tool.

It'll help you schedule posts well in advance of publication, limiting manual work. Paired with the social media templates you’ve already created, you’ll enjoy a much more expedited publishing process, which is especially useful if you’re a generalist or are the sole social media manager in your team.

Try HubSpot’s social media management software for free.

Many tools allow you to cross-post across different social media channels. This can be useful, but I recommend being cautious: what might work on LinkedIn might not work on Facebook, and vice versa. Since each platform serves a specific audience segment, you want to ensure your posts are tailored to each one.

8. Monitor your social media posts’ success metrics.

Once your social media posting schedule has matured and you have a backlog of posts to analyze, it’s time to delve deeply into your social media metrics and learn what worked, what didn’t work, and what you should change moving forward.

Hopping from platform to platform and looking at their individual analytics dashboards can be a good place to start. But as you continue scaling your marketing efforts, you should consider investing in social media analytics software to compile all of your engagement data for you. Try HubSpot’s social media analytics software for free.

As you analyze your success, link it to your company’s bottom line. How many leads did you earn? How many of those leads turned into sales? How much money did you spend on paid social media versus how much revenue did you generate? Here’s a guide on measuring social media marketing ROI to help you answer these questions.

Social Media Content Calendar

If you don't have time to create your social media content calendar from scratch, start with HubSpot's free social media content calendar template.

This calendar has everything you need to plan your social media content, coordinate campaigns, grow reach and engagement, scale posting schedule, and boost productivity. Download it now, and follow along with the steps below.

Featured Resource: Social Media Content Calendar Template

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Our template includes everything you need to scale your social media marketing efforts. You’ll gain access to:

Social Media Content Schedule: See each of your individual posts and draft individual messages and images for each one.
Monthly Planning Calendar: See your upcoming social posts for the month in a user-friendly, big-picture format.
Content Repository: List out all of the content you’ll be sharing with your followers, from blog posts to offers to website pages.
Platform-Specific Tabs: Plan out your updates for each specific platform, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more.

Below, I'll dive deeper into how to use the template.

Social Media Content Calendar Template Tutorial

In the following subsections, I'll show you how to fill out each of the tabs in this template — Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Step 1: Review the Monthly Planning Calendar tab.

The Monthly Planning Calendar tab is a snapshot of your monthly social media campaigns. It'll help you coordinate with other stakeholders and keep all the moving parts in order. Here's what it looks like:

There are three sections to note when you edit this template. First, the color-coding key. Each color represents a type of content or campaign you might coordinate, like ebooks, webinars, blog posts, product launches, etc. Though only some of these might be relevant to you, they're just the beginning of what you may want to include here — so be sure to add and remove categories that align with your own types of content.

The other two sections to edit are the Month and Year at the top of the calendar, and the cells below each day of the week. In those cells, you should enter the type of content you'll be promoting that day and color-code it to align with the campaign it's supporting.

Instead of deleting all the content in this spreadsheet each month, I recommend copying this worksheet twelve times over to have a separate sheet for each month. (If that gets too overwhelming, you can always save those tabs as a separate workbook.)

Step 2: Populate your first social channel in the calendar.

Now, let's get to the social media content part of the calendar. For the sake of this blog post, we'll use Twitter as an example, but these steps will work for each social channel tab in the template.

Let's say you want to add some tweets to your scheduling template. Scroll over to the Twitter Updates tab in the content calendar spreadsheet, where you'll see this:

Day, Date, & Time

The first four columns, Day, Date, Time, and Date & Time, are there for your convenience, and if you choose to use a third-party app for pre-scheduling your tweets (like HubSpot's Social Media Management Software), then these columns will be useful. For now, just fill in the date for when you'll post on Twitter, and the times you want them to go out. The Date & Time column will automatically change based on what you type in the previous two columns.

Message

Now, let's move over to the Message column. Here, input the copy you'd like to appear in your tweet, bearing in mind you should cap it at 217 characters to allow enough room for a link. (Read this blog post for a full character count guide.) This spreadsheet will auto-calculate the number of characters you've entered to keep you on point, turning yellow and eventually red as you approach 240 characters.

I find this to be one of the most useful parts of the template because it helps you make edits in real-time and ensures you’re being as clear and concise as possible in your captions (to the benefit of your audience).

Link

After you've composed your tweet, paste the URL you'd like to include in your tweet in the Link column. Be sure to include UTM parameters so you'll know whether these tweets are driving traffic, leads, and customers. This is an important step to remember if you'd like to demonstrate ROI from social media. You can also use the Campaign column to add an associated campaign which helps with more detailed tracking and reporting.

Image

Finally, in the Image column, attach the tweet's image (if you have one). For Twitter, we recommend images that are 1200 x 670 pixels.

(Click here for a full cheat sheet of social media image sizes.)

If you're having trouble attaching your image to the spreadsheet, follow these steps:

Step 1: Click on the cell where you'd like to place your image.

Step 2: Click Insert in the top row, then click the Image button, and finally, click Image in cell to choose your image.

Step 3: In the Insert image window, choose the option your photo will come from. In this example, we uploaded an image from our computer.

Step 4: You'll now see the image appear in the cell.

Pro Tip: This process is just for organizational purposes. If you decide to upload the spreadsheet to your social media publishing software, it will not attach — you'll have to do that manually. If you're a HubSpot customer, you can find details on how to bulk upload your Twitter content to the HubSpot Social Publishing Tool in the downloaded template.

Don't Forget to Interact With Your Followers

Whether you use this spreadsheet to plan your content or upload it to a third-party app, you'll still need to supplement these updates with on-the-fly content. Breaking news hits? Whip up a quick update to share it with your network. Did someone in your network tweet something interesting? Give it a retweet with some commentary. Got a fascinating comment on one of your updates? Respond with a "thank you" for their interaction.

Coming up with and scheduling your social media content in advance is a huge time-saver, but it should go without saying that you still need to monitor and add to your social presence throughout the day.

I encourage you to experiment with your social media publishing. This template provides publishing dates and times for each social network, but you may find those are way too many updates for you to fill, or perhaps too infrequent for your booming social presence. If this is the case, you should adjust your social media publishing frequency as needed.

Now that you've got the ins and outs of a social media content calendar, download the one below for free and start planning your content.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

How to Write Content that Generative AI Search Engines Will Cite, According to Experts

Stephanie Trovato — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

There’s no doubt that in the last few months, you’ve run into Google’s new AI search tool. Often, the tool provides a helpful summary (though sometimes it’s laughably wrong).

While the tools themselves are evolving every day, it seems generative AI search engines aren’t going anywhere. Since Google launched its AI search, it’s already made leaps in relevance and accuracy.

I’m a big fan of not having to scroll through a page of results to find a quick answer, so I’m excited to see how it continues to evolve.

But as a writer, I’m curious to discover what this will mean for the future of digital content. How will this affect the type of work we do, and how will we need to adapt our writing for AI-driven search?

In this article, we’ll explore the insights we already have about writing for generative AI and raise questions we still need answered.

Table of Contents

How AI Search Has Changed Content Marketing
How to Write for AI Search
7 Helpful Tips on Writing for AI Search

How AI Search Has Changed Content Marketing

1. New Information Retrieval

AI-powered generative engines have majorly shifted how users are retrieving the information they’re searching for.

Instead of providing sources for the user to read, generative engines are providing summaries to answer questions in less time.

Recently, I was trying to plan a movie date with a friend to see A Quiet Place: Day One. She was about to leave on vacation, and I wanted to see if the movie would be in theaters when she got back.

I searched “how long are movies usually in theaters.”

I got an answer without clicking on a single page.

2. Less Spam

Earlier this year, major search engines like Google started cracking down on what they considered spam or unoriginal content — many of which were AI-generated.

AI search engines don’t respond well to spammy content and, instead, are looking for high authority, highly structured articles that the bots can easily scan.

As a result, it seems that quality is above quantity when it comes to what’s most important with your content (though many argue that was already the case).

Let’s talk about one of my favorite examples: recipe blogs.

In the past, if I wanted to find a pad thai recipe through Google, a lengthy article using the phrase “pad thai recipe” dozens of times would rank highest.

I’d scroll through long personal anecdotes I didn’t care about with no tips for actually cooking the dish.

Now, the top recipe is from Recipe Tin.

I still have to scroll before getting to the recipe. However, the content focuses on genuinely helpful tips. Nagi, the writer, discusses what makes pad thai authentic, her brand recommendations for ingredients, and techniques.

This information helps me cook the dish better.

I don’t have to parse through spammy content. I get real tips that I know came from a human.

Image Source

And to clarify: This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use AI to support your content creation. It just means you need to make sure the content is beneficial to readers.

3. Lower Web Traffic

As AI-generated answers start popping up on search engines, websites have seen lower levels of web traffic overall. Top-ranked websites have seen traffic dips as significant as 10%.

This makes sense, given that many users are stopping at the summary instead of proceeding on. This adjustment means the goal of content might not be to rank highly but, instead, to be used by AI and cited in summaries.

I’m not immune to this, even as a content creator. I considered running a half marathon and wanted to see what a training plan might be.

I could Google to see what experts suggest. Instead, I shared a little bit about my skill level and constraints. Then ChatGPT made me a plan.

That was an easy experience that took way less time than searching for an answer.

4. A change in traffic source.

The above point has a bit of nuance. Most content can expect a dip in traffic, but for content that’s highly visible to large language models (LLMs), you could see an increase in engagement by upwards of 40%.

That’s because the goal of writing for AI search is to be cited as a source. When you’re cited in a summary on Google AI Search, users can easily click on your content to learn more.

My HubSpot editor, Kaitln Milliken, recently had her dog spayed and directly benefitted from AI search. She looked up “how do I take care of my dog after she’s spayed.”

“The AI overview had some helpful tips out the gate, but I wanted to learn more,” Milliken says. “I clicked on the articles in the overview first — partially because it was easy, but also because I trusted that these sources had authority.”

5. De-emphasis on SEO.

What makes an article great for search engines is a bit different than what makes an article great for AI bots.

Whereas SEO is focused on keywords, backlinks, and searchability, generative engine optimization (GEO) emphasizes highly structured articles with lots of sources. This guide on GEO can be a helpful resource as you learn the differences.

How to Write for AI Search

Now that you understand the way AI search has changed the content landscape, let’s look at a step-by-step guide for writing for AI search.

I also asked Kaitlin Milliken, who assigned hundreds of articles a year from the HubSpot blog, for her perspective.

Step 1. Find original ideas with high search traffic.

If I’m tasked with writing a blog and I don’t receive a brief, I’ll start by trying to find an original idea around a topic.

In an ideal world, I’d discover a topic with high search traffic and low competition, but often, I settle for making sure that there’s plenty of traffic driven to the topic.

If I receive a brief and the topic isn’t original, I try to find a unique spin on it. Is there a way I can introduce new information here? Can I tie together two topics that haven’t been related to one another before?

Milliken says that today’s search landscape focuses on EEAT, or expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness.

While AI can give general best practices, the content that performs best has insight that can only be learned through lived, human experience.

“We know what search terms people want to know, so that’s always on our assignment docket. However, I need the writer to bring a unique, trustworthy perspective to the piece,” she says.

She describes a hypothetical blog post about solving customer service.

“Let’s say you’re the writer and you work in customer service. What’s the de-escalation tip that you use regularly? Then, give me an anecdote about why it works. A bot can’t do that. That’s what readers actually want,” Milliken says.

Step 2. Research, research, research.

Then, I start by digging into research. I’ll focus on finding primary sources with statistics and data that add credibility to my piece.

You can’t always control the ideas you’re writing about, but you can make sure there’s new and fresh information in it to set your article above the rest and provide a comprehensive answer to AI search bots.

“At HubSpot, we’ve noticed that original data from surveys we conduct rank well in our search landscape. We want our writers to use this data plus whatever the latest data online might be. That bolsters trustworthiness, which reads well in AI search,” Milliken says.

Step 3. Organize your content clearly.

The key to writing for AI search is a great structure. When I research first, I can organize my content clearly without having to go back and rewrite.

I’ll start by identifying H2s and then find spots where I can use lists. Often, there are parts of the article that lend themselves to lists, so I take some time to organize the list items before I start writing.

Want an example? Take a look at the article you’re reading. I have subheadings and organized lists throughout.

Step 4. Ask experts.

A significant way to set yourself apart from AI bots that are scanning your content is by including novel, expert information. This is a best practice for SEO, too, and it helps to boost your article’s credibility.

Send some emails to experts asking for their opinions, tips, or advice. Your readers will love hearing directly from folks with deep knowledge of the topic they’re reading about, and AI bots will be more likely to cite your content.

That’s part of the reason I asked Milliken to share her insights for this piece.

Step 5. Use unique and clear language.

Finally, avoid literary clichés and overused words. Instead, focus on straightforward language.

This is an important editing step, too — cut out all the fluff and unnecessary complexity. AI engines favor content that is both unique and easy to understand. Clear messaging makes it easier for them to generate solid summaries.

Step 6. Measure your content’s performance.

HubSpot is making it easy to see how your content is performing with the AI Search Grader microapp. This is one of the first tools on the market that can help you track how your content is performing on AI search engines.

7 Helpful Tips on Writing for AI Search

A lot of AI search best practices are still emerging, but some rules of thumb for AI search writing are becoming clear. Here are seven tips for writing for AI search.

1. Provide comprehensive coverage.

Generative engines prefer content that offers a comprehensive overview and answers potential follow-up questions, so take time to cover topics thoroughly and from multiple angles.

Keep in mind what the AI bot is trying to do — find a way to fully answer the user’s query with a useful and relevant summary. The more comprehensive you are in your content, the easier it is for the AI bot to do its job.

2. Cite your sources.

Credibility seems to be a major determinant of what AI bots are using to fuel their responses, so citing your sources is an absolute must.

Use primary sources and statistics whenever possible, and make sure to include links to where the information came from.

3. Lean on industry experts.

Novel, human information seems to be frequently picked up by AI bots, so be sure to incorporate expert opinions and advice into your content.

Google isn’t penalizing AI-written content, but it is penalizing content that isn’t rich in information. Use the expertise of SMEs to make sure your content stands out to both readers and AI bots.

4. Emphasize scannability.

Structure and scannability seem to be two of the most important factors in whether or not your content is optimized for AI search. That means you need to:

Incorporate lists whenever possible
Limit large chunks of text
Prioritize H2s and H3s that guide the reader through the text

It’s also suspected that AI bots have a few preferred patterns of text. This isn’t verified yet, but I recommend experimenting with various formats and structures.

5. Write conversationally

AI summaries are written conversationally, so it’s helpful to the bot if its original sources are written conversationally, too.

Avoid industry jargon whenever possible and keep your writing to a 7th-grade reading level in most cases. You want your content to be easy to read for both your users and AI bots.

Leigh McKenzie, an SEO expert, shares his insights on this tip.

“Writing in a more conversational manner is becoming increasingly valuable. In an era where automated content can often sound robotic, we crave authenticity,” McKenzie says.

“Content that includes anecdotes, personal statements, and real-life problem-solving resonates more with readers, and I believe we will see a continued shift towards this style.”

6. Use AI writing tools

Writing tools can help you reach greater visibility through SEO and GEO.

Tracking your metrics can show you if your content is being used by generating engines, and microapps can suggest improvements for search engine visibility and even grade GEO.

7. Keep up to date on AI search information

AI search best practices are constantly evolving. While these recommendations are emerging as ways to improve your AI search performance, it’s best to keep an eye on AI search engine updates.

McKenzie stats that keeping up with new information on AI search is incredibly important when it comes to keeping your digital content up-to-date.

“From my experience, the biggest takeaway in navigating the generative SEO landscape is the importance of adaptability. SEO is not static, and being flexible and open to new strategies is crucial for success,” McKenzie says.

Writing for Bots and for Humans

Whenever there’s a shift in the digital content landscape, I get excited. I love learning new things and, with something as game-changing as AI, there’s a lot to discover.

Test formats. Play with expert quotes. Use different kinds of structures. Now’s the time to get really creative and see what works.

AI changes so much every day, so I’m excited to see how digital content changes in the next year or two. Will we still be using SERPs? Will we only be searching through AI engines?

I’m not sure — but I’m excited to see what happens.

Pros and Cons of Community Management

esantiago@hubspot.com (Erica Santiago) — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Over the last few weeks, I‘ve been writing extensively about community management, what it is, and why it’s essential.

If, after reading my posts and doing your own research, you still need to figure out if it's worth investing in, perhaps a quick pros and cons list will help you come to a decision.

Let's dive into the pros and cons of community management.

The Pros of Community Management

1. Customer Loyalty

When you create a community around your brand, you‘re fostering a space where your audience feels seen and heard.

Furthermore, you’re creating a space where they can speak candidly to your brand (or representatives), give feedback, get support, and share ideas with other like-minded consumers.

All this deepens the trust between you and your consumers, and 81% of consumers need to trust a brand to consider buying. So, essentially:

Community builds trust, and trust builds customer loyalty.

2. Reliable Feedback Loop

As I said earlier, by creating a community around your brand, you are also creating a space for consumers to give feedback in real time.

“You’ll get a bird’s eye view of what’s working and what’s not, what people love and what they’d like to change, and you can use that insight to improve your product or service,” says Erica Finley, HubSpot's Principal Marketing Manager of Community. “Creating a feedback loop ensures that your fans and detractors feel heard and empowered to effect change.”

3. Increased Brand Visibility

There are so many types of marketing strategies, but word-of-mouth marketing is still a tried-and-true method that becomes more effective when paired with community management.

“Word of mouth has never been more powerful, and seeing real-life use cases, being able to ask questions, and hearing earnest reactions to products and services are no longer just 'nice-to-haves,'” Finley says.

Placing a part of your brand‘s visibility in the hands of consumers in your community by letting them lead discussions can seem intimidating. Still, Finley says it’s inevitable, so why not join in?

“You’re yielding some of your power,” she says, “but these conversations are happening anyway, so you may as well carve out dedicated spaces that folks can lean into for inspiration, advice, entertainment, and more.”

More people will speak positively about your brand and recommend it to others if it provides added value or makes them feel respected and heard. So, naturally, community management will lead to more brand visibility.

The Cons of Community Management

1. Requires a Unique Set of Skills

Community management is a very dynamic initiative that requires many different skills, which can be challenging for managers or for brands looking to hire someone for a community management role.

“Community managers need to be good at many different things,” Finley explains. “They are often mediators for community conflicts and may be required to draft crisis comms.”

Finley says they must also be curious and adept at conducting research online and via people-centric methods such as focus groups. And that's not all.

“Community managers are content creators who may be called to create entire calendars based on a specific persona or theme,” she says. “They are public speakers who often serve as emcees and facilitators for community events. The list goes on!”

2. Likely Won't See Results Overnight

There‘s no magic wand you can wave to create a thriving, dedicated community of loyal consumers in just one day. Community building takes time and dedication, so you’ll need to be patient regarding results.

Focus on building your brand and creating rapport with your consumers, then consider your community management goals long-term.

3. Heavy Commitment

Community building is tough, and it only gets more difficult as the community grows.

“More often than not, community teams are small, and sometimes, they’re a team of one,” Finley says. “As your community grows, it becomes more and more difficult to respond to each message, nurture your members, think proactively about your roadmap, and report back on your success.”

So, both brands and community managers must be prepared to invest time, effort, and resources into growing their communities, listening to community members, and staying up to date on conversations surrounding the brand.

“Look for helpers in the community who can be your eyes and ears when you’re not around, and consider automating tasks that don’t require a human touch,” she says.

So, with its pros and cons, is community management worth investing in? In my opinion, absolutely. Communities bring trust, visibility, and loyalty to your brand, and the only real drawbacks are that they require patience and commitment.

However, with a clear long-term goal and proper delegation, the pros will absolutely outweigh the cons.

The Top 22 AI Tools for Marketers

Bryan Grover — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

AI is a hot topic amongst marketers in 2024 — and for good reason. According to our State of AI report, 95% of respondents say that using AI tools for marketing helps them spend less time on manual tasks and more time on the most important parts of their role.

Luckily, even if you are unfamiliar with AI, it’s never too late to familiarize yourself with the many AI tools for marketers.

As a content marketer, I’m personally grateful for the many ways AI tools have simplified my tedious, time-consuming tasks like outlining content creation, researching SEO, email marketing, and more.

Still, not every AI tool is created equal, which is why I’ve scoured the internet to create this list of the best 22 AI tools marketers should use to make their lives easier.

Table of Contents

The Benefits of Using AI in Marketing
22 AI Tools for Marketing You Should Know About
My Top Marketing AI Tool Picks

The Benefits of Using AI in Marketing

OpenAI’s ChatGPT took the world by storm in November 2022 and had millions of users within weeks.

After the huge splash from the release of ChatGPT, there is little doubt that AI is impacting marketing jobs already. Research from the University of Pennsylvania estimates that “19% of workers may see at least 50% of their tasks impacted."

The key word in that statement, though, is impacted.

In my experience, this means that marketers who learn to leverage AI-powered tools will see better results from their campaigns and diversify their skills.

I already use AI tools in my workflow. That doesn’t mean AI is writing my articles (this piece is 100% human!).

However, drafting routine emails, improving the quality of images, turning long posts into social copy, and researching new topics often involve an AI assist.

Beyond that, we’ve had teammates who use AI to help them leverage skillsets they don’t already have. I asked HubSpot’s Kaitlin Milliken for an example.

“We had a huge project where we changed images on pages from .png to .webp files on thousands of web pages. I knew this would take forever to do manually, so I leveraged AI to help me create a Python script that could run the conversion,” says Milliken, who is a senior program manager at the company.

“I don’t even know how to code in Python!”

Today’s AI tools still have a huge growth potential. Still, those already available can significantly reduce the time it takes to complete tasks and reduce the lift for completing complex tasks, all while running 24/7 with no downtime.

22 AI Tools for Marketing You Should Know About

I’ve often found that most marketers understand the content generation capabilities of AI.

However, they're unfamiliar with other tasks it can simplify and automate for them. I love using AI for content creation, but I never found content writing that boring to begin with.

Marketing tasks that I personally find more mundane are creating emails and email templates, repurposing content, taking customer service requests, and making press releases.

So, I set out to identify AI tools that could help with more than just content marketing but rather the nitty gritty of my everyday life as a marketer.

So, without further ado, here is the list I compiled of AI marketing tools that cover just about every “boring” marketing task you could imagine.

1. HubSpot

Try out HubSpot's AI for free.

Price: Free
Best for: Creating content
What it does: Hubspot’s AI Assistant is a suite of AI-powered features that help you plan, create, and share remarkable content quickly.

Creating content isn’t easy, and creating content that supports an entire organization can be extremely time-consuming.

Our AI Assistant makes content creation simpler. It integrates with all of your HubSpot tools to generate and share quality content.

I like to use HubSpot’s AI Assistants tool to write blog posts, marketing emails, landing pages, and more, along with conversation intelligence — all without needing to switch between different tools.

Maybe I’m biased, but HubSpot’s AI Assistant is my top pick for a content-generation AI tool on this list. It’s free, it’s quick, and it requires little to no training.

What I love: HubSpot’s AI Assistants can help you create SEO-optimized content, from blog ideas enhanced with SEO data to generating SEO-optimized outlines, content, and meta descriptions.

2. Campaign Assistant

Try out Campaign Assistant for free.

Price: Free
Best for: Creating engaging copy
What it does: Generates engaging landing pages, marketing emails, and ad copy for Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

My favorite feature of Campaign Assistant is its ability to provide a brief description of a campaign goal, target audience, and desired tone.

Campaign Assistant can also swiftly generate captivating copy for a variety of marketing assets, so you can scale your marketing campaigns more efficiently.

The seamless integration with HubSpot ensures that with just a click, a new landing page or marketing email is instantly set up in your account, embedded with the AI-crafted copy, which speeds up your process even further.

What I love: You can use Campaign Assistant to generate engaging copy in your preferred language.

2. Jasper.ai

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Price: Plans start at $40 per month.
Best for: Content creation and ideation
What it does: Jasper.ai’s platform is capable of just about everything you’d hope a good writing assistant should do, short of going on a coffee run.

Jasper.ai’s easy-to-use interface can help you generate ideas, craft first drafts, and edit final posts. Their available templates cover social, PPC, blogging, and more.

What I love: I love that Jasper.ai takes over the boring task of reviewing writing for tone and intention. It does take practice to insert prompts that get the result you’re looking for, but Jasper.ai is an excellent tool for conquering the blank page.

Remember: As with so many of the other AI content tools on the market, Jasper is based on GPT-3. Its ability to write naturally will only improve with time.

3. Howler AI

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Price: $8,000 per month
Best for: Targeted campaigns for press releases
What it does: Sifts through a database of journalists to find those that fit your industry and niche based on what they’ve written or published about before.

Is there any marketing task that is more tedious than trying to identify a journal to send press releases to? On top of that, journalists’ inboxes are stuffed with pitches, so you’ll likely need a lot of follow-up communication.

I like that Howler.AI increases the chances that your email won’t end up in the trash by optimizing it to a specific journal. Likewise, a hyper-targeted approach can ensure you align with the journalists’ existing audience.

For all these reasons and more, Howler.AI is my top pick for an AI tool to address press releases and their follow-up emails.

It’s pretty pricey, but if you’re in an industry that deals heavily with press releases, this tool can save you an enormous amount of time.

What I love: Howler AI can help you write and perfect your pitch to help you generate interest.

4. Bardeen.ai

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Price: Free forever plan; Professional plan starts at $10/month.
Best for: AI marketing automation
What it does: Bardeen helps streamline your workflow with AI, whether you need to keep your CRM clean and updated, personalize outreach campaigns, or synchronize data across various tools your internal team uses.

Bardeen is an AI automation tool that optimizes workflows. With Bardeen.ai, automation is now as simple as texting a friend.

I love Bardeen’s ability to integrate with other CRMs like HubSpot and over 100 other integrations, which makes it easy to automate numerous processes and boost productivity.

What I love: Bardeen is a useful solution for companies of all sizes looking to optimize their marketing and sales automation efforts. Getting started is easy, with thousands of ready-to-use automation templates to choose from.

5. LiveChatAI

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Price: Free versions are available. Plans start at $39 per month.
Best for: AI chatbot for customer support queries
What it does: Create a custom AI chatbot trained with your own data to manage your conversations.

If you want to allocate your business focus to different areas to be more productive, you can let LiveChatAI deal with customer support.

This software allows you to meet customer inquiries efficiently by training your AI chatbot with your data. You can both generate leads or manage efficient support operations easily.

I appreciate LiveChatAI’s easy integration with WhatsApp and Slackleading, which allows you to conduct conversations on different platforms.

Plus, if you are eager to improve your AI actions, you can use possibilities like Make.com, Open API, and webhook.

What I love: LiveChatAI allows you to combine AI support with human support and include human-agent support whenever your customer needs into the process automatically.

6. involve.me

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Price: Plans start at $29 per month.
Best for: Lead generation
What it does: Creates all kinds of embeddable forms, surveys, and quizzes with AI.

Marketers need to create online quizzes, forms, or surveys to gather data (like email addresses or customer feedback), organize events, or engage with audiences.

In the past, this required coding skills. Now, it‘s possible to create these tools by simply writing a brief prompt of your goals for the online form.

Involve.me will then generate the form instantly, incorporating your website’s branding, including colors, logo, and font.

Once the form is generated, users have the option to choose from several branded designs and can also customize the form using the no-code drag-and-drop editor.

I’ve had a lot of success with creating surveys and quizzes as a way to generate leads, and involve.me makes it easy to put them up on your website.

With its low price and simple integration, involve.me is my top pick for those who need an AI tool to build forms.

What I love: involve.me also offers AI features for personalization based on user input and generates detailed reports from extensive open feedback provided by users via the form. This can save hundreds of hours when dealing with a large amount of data.

7. 6Sense Revenue AI for Marketing

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Price: Free versions are available. Pricing is available upon inquiry.
Best for: Account targeting and prioritization
What it does: Leverages AI to analyze audience data to glean visibility into anonymous buying team research to prioritize accounts and to help focus resources.

I’ve found that when only a small fraction of a total addressable market is buying at any given time, having insight into who is actually looking can turn marketing from guesswork into a predictable pipeline.

Long a contender in the intent data space, 6Sense now has AI sifting through the massive amount of intent data to surface actionable insights. That way, your team is focusing on the highest-value activities at any given time.

What I love: 6Sense can help you match buying signals to accounts across devices and channels.

8. Adverity

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Price: Plans start at $500 per month.
Best for: Data analytics
What it does: Centralizes all marketing data from various sources, including campaigns across all channels, where it can be easily analyzed.

If you’re a marketer like me, then you will never have enough data. Adverity gives a single-pane view into your marketing analytics, so your team surface can identify trends and insights to empower you to make more informed decisions.

I like that Adverity has data governance built into the platform. This can help you ensure that your information is complete and high-quality. You can also maintain complete control of your data all from one place.

What I love: Adverity has pre-built connectors and no-code templates that allow you to use the platform without coding expertise.

9. Predis.ai

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Price: Plans start at $29 per month.
Best for: Social media content generation
What it does: Generates all types of social media content with AI.

With Predis.ai, users can give a small text input and generate a complete branded social media post, including the creative, caption, and hashtags.

I love that Predis.ai can generate branded posts, carousels, reels, videos, and memes with AI in seconds.

Users can publish or schedule the content to their favorite social media platforms with built-in integration with top platforms and content scheduler.

I think this AI tool is best for business owners, social media managers, and agencies looking to save time in generating content.

With its ease-of-use and ability to create tons of different content, Predis.ai wins my pick for a social media AI tool.

What I love: It is able to reduce the time required to make content by half. Built-in AI chat feature helps to generate text. Users can set posting targets and stay consistent on social media.

10.Flick’s AI Social Media Marketing Assistant

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Price: 7-day free trial with plans starting at £11 per month
Best for: Social media content creation and ideation
What it does: Everything you would want from a social media manager in seconds, including content creation, ideas, scheduling, and more.

With Flick’s AI Social Media Marketing Assistant, you will get access to a powerful AI marketing tool specifically designed to help you streamline the brainstorming, writing, content creation, and planning process for social media.

I like that Flick’s AI Assistant can help you brainstorm content ideas, generate the most on-brand captions for your accounts based on your Brand Info, and transform long-form content into bite-size captions.

You can also supply AI-generated images if you don’t have imagery, auto-generate hashtags completely based on your captions, and schedules out content for you, all in a single click.

What I love: Provide the AI Assistant with your website URL, and it will generate content based on your brand voice, audience, language, and more.

11. Drift

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Price: Plans start at $2,500 per month.
Best for: Conversational marketing
What it does: Turns the choose-your-own-adventure chatbot experience into an interactive support and lead generation tool.

Drift has trained its AI to answer human questions and integrated it into its chatbot experience.

This way, if a person has a question that is not featured in the chosen path, users will still get an answer or otherwise be routed directly to a person.

I currently use Drift on my own website because it is an amazing AI chatbot tool that can be helpful for screening customers visiting my site, while increasing quote requests.

You do have to set up Drift with the questions and answers you want it to ask, so the more complicated your industry, the more complicated the set up will be.

Drift is my top pick if you need an AI chatbot assistant.

What I love: Drift’s AI features can help give a VIP experience to key accounts or relieve overburdened support teams from answering simple questions that the bot can handle.

12. Zapier

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Pricing: Free plans are available. Paid plans start at $19 a month.
Best for: Text parsing
What it does: Connect your apps to automated workflows, saving your team time so you can focus on growth.

Zapier is designed to help you scale your business by automating time-intensive tasks. For marketers, that could include sending contacts to email lists and kicking off important workflows.

I like that Zapier can also turn text-based input — whether that’s emails, Slack messages, Tweets, or a form — into data and answer simple questions. Whether routing hand raisers from a “Contact Us” form or lead routing, Zapier can drastically cut down on manual work.

What I love: With automated text analysis, marketing teams can also parse huge amounts of text and acquire valuable insights from customer feedback that people might miss.

13. Brand24

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Price: Plans start at $69 per month.
Best for: Social listening and sentiment analysis
What it does: Sifts through massive amounts of information generated on public platforms, whether that’s social media or forums. Provides organizations with a dashboard that analyzes everything from mentions, the volume of discussion, and overall brand sentiment.

Customers today expect brands to respond quickly on social media.

The trouble is, if an organization is present across every major social media platform, there’s simply too much data to keep track of every comment, mention, and trending topic — and spot the signal through the noise.

I think Brand24 is a great pick for businesses that need help identifying conversations that your community management, evangelists, or social media teams should be paying attention to.

What I love: Brand24 insights can help you identify ways to improve your marketing campaign and even the product itself.

14. MarketMuse

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Price: Free. Paid plans start at $149 per month.
Best for: Content strategy and planning
What it does: Analyzes your website and uncovers top opportunities in search, helping surface gaps in your content.

Depending on how long your content engine has been running, the volume of content existing on your website could make auditing a time suck. MarketMuse can help you focus on what matters: creating better content your audience wants.

I like to use MarketMuse for identifying blogs and content I have that fits keywords I need to target. This narrows down which blogs I should refresh and invest more time into.

What I love: MarketMuse can help you find keywords that match your content. You’ll also see ways to optimize your content for search engine result pages.

15. Semrush

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Price: Plans start at $119.95 per month.
Best for: Search Engine Optimization
What it does: Helps generate content and ensure your writing is optimized for SEO.

Semrush has long been a top contender for managing keyword targeting for SEO and paid campaigns. Now, they’ve integrated AI in the form of The SEO Writing Assistant (SWA), making an already powerful platform even more robust.

I personally use Semrush to build backlinks (a truly time-consuming marketing task) and for analyzing my competitor’s seo strategies.

If you lack the budget for a product like BrightEdge, I think Semrush is a great substitute for those who need an AI SEO tool.

What I love: SWA is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s like a personal writing assistant who can ensure your writing is targeted toward achieving the best results in search.

16. Crayon

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Price: Pricing is available upon request.
Best for: Competitive intelligence
What it does: Automatically gathers and organizes data from millions of sources to help you track industry trends.

Similar to Semrush, Crayon has been a leader in their field for years. They’ve recently integrated AI to help sort through millions of data points from sources across the web to help you gain a better competitive advantage.

Crayon’s AI and machine learning integrations help make sense of what information is important about your competitors and what’s just noise.

I like that Crayon keeps track of SEC filings, pricing updates, and messaging pivots while summarizing the important information in an easy-to-share format.

What I love: You can take a deep dive into competitors. Crayon assesses your competitors’ digital footprints to provide a view of the competitive landscape.

17. Lavender

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Price: Pricing starts at $29 per month.
Best for: Email training
What it does: Plugs directly into your email platform of choice and suggests how to improve email content to drive more replies.

If you’re looking to optimize your emails, Lavender can help. Whether you’re writing an internal memo or a pitch for journalists, Lavender can compose the text for you — or just help you optimize your message.

Lavender can also help your sales teams. Account executives and sales development representatives can craft personalized emails to hook prospects.

I love the email feature because writing sales collateral is a time consuming part of my job and Lavender can reduce the time I spend.

What I love: Lavender gathers prospect news, data, and insights so you can craft a personalized, timely message to close deals.

18. Braze

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Price: Pricing is available upon request.
Best for: Customer intelligence
What it does: Integrates with all your data sources (CRM, MAP, etc.) and looks for signals that a customer might be at risk for churn or shows interest in potential upsell opportunities. Suggests potential messaging strategies to use based on that same data.

Many organizations have been laser-focused on customer retention.

Braze helps even the smallest teams save thousands of hours sifting through data to understand what their customers need, whether that’s an additional feature or more engagement from their account managers.

Sometimes, the signals related to churn are difficult to see. I love that Braze can help your sales team re-engage prospects with marketing content, customer support, and more.

What I love: Braze can also help marketing create personalized offers using data. You can also A/B test your campaigns to see how they impact sales.

19. Axiom.ai

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Pricing: Plans start at $15 a month.
Best for: Automation of repetitive tasks
What it does: Automates scraping and interacts with websites in simple ways that previously required a person.

Unlike the process flow automation offered by tools like Zapier, Axiom.ai falls into a category known as Robotic Process Automation.

Axiom.ai can scrape data and automate simple tasks. Your team can gather data from Google Trends, automate website actions, and build bots.

Axiom.ai can take on the brunt of mundane marketing tasks, and with its low price point it gets my vote as the top AI tool for automation.

What I love: Axiom can scrape websites for data, extract information, or perform other simple user interface actions.

20. Hemingway

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Pricing: $19.99
Best for: Content editing
What it does: Analyze your content and suggest where you could make it clearer, more concise, or improve your diction.

As Strunk and White suggest, you should omit needless words when writing. The only question that we sometimes have is, which ones?

Hemingway uses AI and machine learning to identify opportunities at a sentence level that can make your writing that much stronger.

What I love: Hemingway gives you a readability score so you can assess your overall performance.

21. Grammarly

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Pricing: Free basic tool or $12 USD a month for Premium
Best for: Content editing, grammar, and AI writing
What it does: Spell-checks, grammar checks, offers different tones for writing, and more.

Grammarly is like a more grown-up Hemingway, with more features and a convenient plug-in for different browser types.

I have been a long-time user of Grammarly, and if there’s one AI tool you need on this list for content marketing, it’s this one.

The reason I’ve stuck with Grammarly for so long is because their grammar and spell check really are the best in the industry.

If you want to sound and look professional on your blog, your writing really should be as close to 100% error-free as possible.

I originally started with the free Grammarly version which made a difference in my writing, but the upgrade to Premium has been worth it for me.

That's because I can now get suggestions in Google Docs, as well as take advantage of the AI content creator tool.

What I love: Grammarly gives you professional writing-level grammar, spelling, and tone suggestions.

22. CallRail’s Conversation Intelligence

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Pricing: $85/month
Best for: Call recording, transcription, and summaries
What it does: Analyze all your calls, all the time, turning your conversations into easy-to-act-on data.

Leveraging a robust AI trained with more than 650,000 hours of vocal data, Conversation Intelligence effortlessly transcribes and examines all your incoming and outgoing phone conversations with precision.

It almost matches human expertise.

This results in enhanced keyword detection, more precise auto-tagging, improved lead categorization, and refined sentiment analysis, freeing your team from countless hours of manual tasks.

What I love: CallRail's conversation intelligence creates action-based analytics to determine the best way to interact with your customers and leads.

My Top Marketing AI Tool Picks

As a recap, here are my top seven AI tools marketing teams should have if they perform these functions:

Content writing:Grammarly. It’s a must-have for ensuring your writing is top-notch and error-free.
AI chatbots:Drift. This is a straightforward chatbot AI technology that can win you leads.
Content creation: HubSpot’s AI Assistant. It’s a free and easy-to-use AI content generation tool.
Press releases:Howler.AI. This tool is pricey but could potentially replace a corporate communications position by automating press releases and follow up.
Building forms:Involve.me. The tool creates forms that actually convert with ease.
Social media:Predis.ai You can customize social media templates and automate your tasks.
Automation:Axiom.ai. It takes on the brunt of mundane marketing tasks with a low price point.

Going Beyond ChatGPT

If you use AI ethically and with the right guidelines in place, it’s no different than any other tool. Whatever your marketing needs, there’s an AI tool out there that exists to make your job easier.

In the meantime, move past just using ChatGPT and try out other AI tools that take away boring marketing tasks so you can focus on doing what you truly love.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in May 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

The Best Forum Software for Creating an Online Community in 2024

Isabelle Hahn — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Forums provide the opportunity to build an online community that allows your audience to connect in a place where they know their interests are shared.

More work, communication, and socialization are being done online than ever, so having the best forum software to reach your community goals is a must.

Online communities are particularly beneficial for businesses because they allow customers to interact with each other in a smaller circle than they could via social media, which increases engagement and brand affinity.

To help you reach and build your community using a forum, I', going to take you through the best forum software on the market.

1. WordPress (With Plugin)

Price: Free (plus the cost of hosting)

Using a multipurpose platform like a CMS to power your online community allows you to access many different software options in the form of plugins and applications.

For instance, you might use the bbPress plugin to create multisite forums and maintain them from one dashboard within your WordPress site. This is a great option if you want to set up a regular website and forum together.

WordPress offers many options, all of which provide the basic forum features you need, plus plenty of useful extras.

Higher Logic Vanilla has an abundance of features — one of the most notable being the intuitive dashboard that lets you manage every aspect of your community forum.

This software allows you to view stats, manage users, and use an advanced editor that recognizes HTML, BBCode, and Markdown.

Additionally, it allows you to adjust the permissions of forums or members to control access.

The software enables customers to submit, view, and vote on ideas to drive innovation for your business or use the Q&A option to connect with and help each other get more out of your products or services.

Best of all, Higher Logic Vanilla offers an onboarding process with useful checklists, training materials, and help from one of their support reps.

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I've found that many users love Higher Logic Vanilla's ability to create categories and groups so they can segment their forums. Other users praise its design functionality and how user-friendly the software is.

That said, some users say they'd like for it to have more email tools and features for personalization.

Best for: Integrating your site's learning management system, ticketing tool, or marketing platform, and more with your community to create a more delightful experience.

Price: Varies for forum size/data needs, but starts at $45/month for 65 online visitors

IP Board was a very popular forum software that has since expanded to Invision Community, which includes a forum application in addition to its other offerings.

According to the Invision Community website, the forums module powers thousands of message boards around the web, and Invision Community has many other community management apps to help you interact with your audience.

What I Like: The software allows your users to take control of their own online communities, which you can monitor at your discretion.

For instance, Invision Community lets users create and manage their own communities, called "Clubs," which are fully integrated with your website.

These clubs have designated Club Leaders who can add new forums, calendars, or galleries to the community.

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9. Flarum

Price: Free

Flaurm has a streamlined design that is extremely easy to navigate. Forums using this software are fully responsive, and features include smooth animations and available swipe features for mobile optimization.

What I Like: Flarum was built by the developers of esoTalk and FluxBB, two of the fastest forum platforms, and has great performance reviews.

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10. MyBB

Price: Free

MyBB is a free and open-source forum software that powers thousands of communities.

It features hundreds of plugins and themes for customization, and the forum users will help you establish your own community. Users have also contributed to the translations available for the software's content.

Now, forums are available in over 30 languages to help you grow a more global community.

Best for: Businesses who want to build a global and accessible community.

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Users appreciate that MyBB is open-source and user-friendly. They also appreciate the helpful tools and various plug-ins available.

11. Gainsight

Price: Variable based on your needs

Gainsight (formerly inSided) is a full-featured Community Platform aimed at Customer Success and Community professionals looking to increase engagement, advocacy, and effectively gather product feedback.

It has a killer combination of a customer community platform, a knowledge base, and in-app support.

What I Like: What sets it apart from other platforms is its integrations with software like Zendesk, Salesforce, Mixpanel, and Gainsight, so you can connect your community to your entire tech stack and create a 360-degree view of your customers.

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Ways to Build Your Community Using Forum Software

People notice when brands listen to and converse with their customers, and they especially notice when brands foster their own communities. How?

Through the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Customers who view themselves as valued members of your community are much more likely to talk about your brand to their friends.

Here's how you can build a strong community using your forum software.

1. Spread the word.

Nobody will join your online community if they don't know it exists. Spread the word about your new forum by including CTAs to join your forum in email newsletters or social posts.

Ask your brand ambassadors or loyal fans to start posting about the forum, and post content on the forum so when other users join, you already have an established presence on the channel.

2. Listen to and check on your community regularly.

Reviewing your forum and responding to what your audience has to say is a crucial part of community building.

Your customers are far less likely to continue to interact and engage on your forum if they feel as though they are being ignored. Responding to their feedback shows your users that you value their opinions and care about their experiences with your product.

Additionally, it's your job to make sure everything is running smoothly on your forum. Checking on your community regularly will help you dissolve any service escalations, and give people the support they are seeking.

3. Foster a helpful discourse.

A forum should be a safe place for your customers, prospects, employees, fans, and audience to interact, ask, and answer questions.

By establishing a helpful ethos early on or creating community guidelines that prioritize patience and kindness within responses, your community will grow without the need to constantly monitor it 24/7.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in June 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

27 Case Study Examples Every Marketer Should See

Caroline Forsey — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Putting together a compelling case study is one of the most powerful strategies for showcasing your product and attracting future customers. But it's not easy to create case studies that your audience can’t wait to read.

In this post, I’ll go over the definition of a case study and the best examples to inspire you.

Table of Contents

What is a case study?
Marketing Case Study Examples
Digital Marketing Case Study Examples

A case study proves how your product has helped other companies by demonstrating real-life results. Not only that, but marketing case studies with solutions typically contain quotes from the customer.

This means that they’re not just ads where you praise your own product. Rather, other companies are praising your company — and there’s no stronger marketing material than a verbal recommendation or testimonial.

A great case study also has research and stats to back up points made about a project's results.

There are several ways to use case studies in your marketing strategy.

From featuring them on your website to including them in a sales presentation, a case study is a strong, persuasive tool that shows customers why they should work with you — straight from another customer.

Writing one from scratch is hard, though, which is why we’ve created a collection of case study templates for you to get started.

There’s no better way to generate more leads than by writing case studies. However, without case study examples from which to draw inspiration, it can be difficult to write impactful studies that convince visitors to submit a form.

Marketing Case Study Examples

To help you create an attractive and high-converting case study, we've put together a list of some of our favorites. This list includes famous case studies in marketing, technology, and business.

These studies can show you how to frame your company's offers in a way that is useful to your audience. So, look, and let these examples inspire your next brilliant case study design.

These marketing case studies with solutions show the value proposition of each product. They also show how each company benefited in both the short and long term using quantitative data.

In other words, you don’t get just nice statements, like “this company helped us a lot.” You see actual change within the firm through numbers and figures.

You can put your learnings into action with HubSpot's Free Case Study Templates. Available as custom designs and text-based documents, you can upload these templates to your CMS or send them to prospects as you see fit.

Download These Free Case Study Templates

1. "How Handled Scaled from Zero to 121 Locations with the Help of HubSpot," by HubSpot

What's interesting about this case study is the way it leads with the customer.

That reflects a major HubSpot cornerstone, which is to always solve for the customer first. The copy leads with a brief description of why the CEO of Handled founded the company and why he thought they could benefit from a CRM.

I like that the case study also opens up with one key data point about Handled’s success using HubSpot, namely that it grew to 121 locations.

Notice that this case study uses mixed media. Yes, there is a short video, but it’s elaborated upon in the other text on the page.

So, while your case studies can use one or the other, don’t be afraid to combine written copy with visuals to emphasize the project’s success.

Key Learnings from the HubSpot Case Study Example

Give the case study a personal touch by focusing on the CEO rather than the company itself.
Use multimedia to engage website visitors as they read the case study.

2. "Rozum Robotics intensifies its PR game with Awario," by Awario

In this case study, Awario greets the user with a summary straight away — so if you’re feeling up to reading the entire case study, you can scan the snapshot and understand how the company serves its customers.

The case study then includes jump links to several sections, such as “Company Profile,” “Rozum Robotics' Pains,” “Challenge,” “Solution,” and “Results and Improvements.”

The sparse copy and prominent headings show you don’t need a lot of elaborate information to show the value of your products and services.

Like the other case study examples on this list, it includes visuals and quotes to show the effectiveness of the company’s efforts. The case study ends with a bulleted list that shows the results.

Key Learnings from the Awario Robotics Case Study Example

Create a table of contents to make your case study easier to navigate.
Include a bulleted list of the results you achieved for your client.

3. "Chevrolet DTU," by Carol H. Williams

If you’ve worked with a well-known company, use only the name in the title — like Carol H. Williams, one of the nation’s top advertising agencies, does here.

The “DTU,” stands for “Discover the Unexpected.” It generates interest because you want to find out what the initials mean.

I like how they kept my interest by using a mixture of headings, images, and videos to describe the challenges, objectives, and solutions of the project.

The case study closes with a summary of the key achievements that Chevrolet’s DTU Journalism Fellows reached during the project.

Key Learnings from the Carol H. Williams Case Study Example

If you’ve worked with a big brand before, consider only using the name in the title — just enough to pique interest.
Use a mixture of headings and subheadings to guide users through the case study.

4. "The Met," by Fantasy

What’s the best way to showcase the responsiveness and user interface of a website?

Probably by diving right into it with a series of simple showcases — which is exactly what Fantasy does on their case study page for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

They keep the page simple, inviting you to review their redesign of the Met’s website feature-by-feature.

Each section is simple, showing a single piece of the new website's interface so that users aren’t overwhelmed with information and can focus on what matters most.

If you‘re more interested in text, you can read the objective for each feature. Fantasy understands that, as a potential customer, this is all you need to know. Scrolling further, you’re greeted with a simple “Contact Us” CTA.

Key Learnings from the Fantasy Case Study Example

You don’t have to write a ton of text to create a great case study. Focus on the solution you delivered itself.
Include a CTA at the bottom inviting visitors to contact you.

5. "Embracing first-party data: 3 success stories from HubSpot," by Think with Google

Google takes a different approach to text-focused case studies by choosing three different companies to highlight.

The case study is clean and easily scannable. It has sections for each company, with quotes and headers that clarify the way these three distinct stories connect. The simple format also uses colors and text that align with the Google brand.

I like the focus on data in this case study. That’s a differentiator! This case study is less than a thousand words, but it's packed with useful data points.

Data-driven insights quickly and clearly show the value of leveraging first-party data while prioritizing consumer privacy.

Key Learnings from the Think with Google Case Study Example

A case study doesn’t need to be long or complex to be powerful.
Clear data points are an effective way to prove value.

6. "Better Experiences for All," by Herman Miller

Herman Miller sells sleek, utilitarian furniture with no frills and extreme functionality, and that ethos extends to its case study page for a hospital in Dubai.

What first attracted me to this case study was the beautiful video at the top and the clean user experience. User experience matters a lot in a case study. It determines whether users will keep reading or leave.

Another notable aspect of this case study is that the video includes closed-captioning for greater accessibility, and users have the option of expanding the CC and searching through the text.

Herman Miller’s case study also offers an impressive amount of information packed in just a few brief paragraphs for those wanting to understand the nuances of their strategy.

It closes out with a quote from their client and, most importantly, the list of furniture products that the hospital purchased from the brand.

Key Learnings from the Herman Miller Case Study Example

Close out with a list of products that users can buy after reading the case study.
Include accessibility features such as closed captioning and night mode to make your case study more user-friendly.

7. "Capital One on AWS," by Amazon

Do you work continuously with your clients? Consider structuring your case study page like Amazon did in this stellar case study example.

Instead of just featuring one article about Capital One and how it benefited from using AWS, Amazon features a series of articles that you can then access if you’re interested in reading more.

It goes all the way back to 2016, all with different stories that feature Capital One’s achievements using AWS.

This may look unattainable for a small firm, but you don’t have to go to extreme measures and do it for every single one of your clients.

You could choose the one you most wish to focus on and establish a contact both on your side and your client’s for coming up with the content.

Check in every year and write a new piece. These don’t have to be long, either — five hundred to eight hundred words will do.

Key Learnings from the Amazon AWS Case Study Example

Write a new article each year featuring one of your clients, then include links to those articles in one big case study page.
Consider including external articles that emphasize your client’s success in their industry.

8. "HackReactor teaches the world to code #withAsana," by Asana

While Asana‘s case study design looks text-heavy, there’s a good reason. It reads like a creative story, told entirely from the customer's perspective.

For instance, Asana knows you won't trust its word alone on why this product is useful. So, they let Tony Phillips, HackReactor CEO, tell you instead:

“We take in a lot of information. Our brains are awful at storage but very good at thinking; you really start to want some third party to store your information so you can do something with it.”

Asana features frequent quotes from Phillips to break up the wall of text and humanize the case study. It reads like an in-depth interview and captivates the reader through creative storytelling.

Even more, Asana includes in-depth detail about how HackReactor uses Asana. This includes how they build templates and workflows:

“There's a huge differentiator between Asana and other tools, and that’s the very easy API access. Even if Asana isn’t the perfect fit for a workflow, someone like me— a relatively mediocre software engineer—can add functionality via the API to build a custom solution that helps a team get more done.”

Key Learnings from the Asana Example

Include quotes from your client throughout the case study.
Provide extensive detail on how your client worked with you or used your product.

9. "Rips Sewed, Brand Love Reaped," by Amp Agency

Amp Agency's Patagonia marketing strategy aimed to appeal to a new audience through guerrilla marketing efforts and a coast-to-coast road trip.

Their case study page effectively conveys a voyager theme, complete with real photos of Patagonia customers from across the U.S. and a map of the expedition.

I liked Amp Agency‘s storytelling approach best. It captures viewers’ attention from start to finish simply because it's an intriguing and unique approach to marketing.

Key Learnings from the Amp Agency Example

Open up with a summary that communicates who your client is and why they reached out to you.
Like in the other case study examples, you’ll want to close out with a quantitative list of your achievements.

10. "NetApp," by Evisort

Evisort opens up its NetApp case study with an at-a-glance overview of the client.

It’s imperative to always focus on the client in your case study — not on your amazing product and equally amazing team. By opening up with a snapshot of the client’s company, Evisort places the focus on the client.

This case study example checks all the boxes for a great case study that’s informative, thorough, and compelling. It includes quotes from the client and details about the challenges NetApp faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It closes out with a quote from the client and with a link to download the case study in PDF format, which is incredibly important if you want your case study to be accessible in a wider variety of formats.

Key Learnings from the Evisort Example

Place the focus immediately on your client by including a snapshot of their company.
Mention challenging eras, such as a pandemic or recession, to show how your company can help your client succeed even during difficult times.

11. "Copernicus Land Monitoring – CLC+ Core," by Cloudflight

Including highly specialized information in your case study is an effective way to show prospects that you’re not just trying to get their business.

You’re deep within their industry, too, and willing to learn everything you need to learn to create a solution that works specifically for them.

Cloudflight does a splendid job at that in its Copernicus Land Monitoring case study. While the information may be difficult to read at first glance, it will capture the interest of prospects who are in the environmental industry.

It thus shows Cloudflight’s value as a partner much more effectively than a general case study would.

The page is comprehensive and ends with a compelling call-to-action:

“Looking for a solution that automates, and enhances your Big Data system? Are you struggling with large datasets and accessibility? We would be happy to advise and support you!”

The clean, whitespace-heavy page is an effective example of using a case study to capture future leads.

Key Learnings from the Cloudflight Case Study Example

Don’t be afraid to get technical in your explanation of what you did for your client.
Include a snapshot of the sales representative prospects should contact, especially if you have different sales reps for different industries, as Cloudflight does.

12. "Valvoline Increases Coupon Send Rate by 76% with Textel’s MMS Picture Texting," by Textel

If you’re targeting large enterprises with a long purchasing cycle, you’ll want to include a wealth of information in an easily transferable format.

That’s what Textel does here in its PDF case study for Valvoline. It greets the user with an eye-catching headline that shows the value of using Textel. Valvoline saw a significant return on investment from using the platform.

I like the smart decision of highlighting the client’s quote by putting it in green font and doing the same thing for the client’s results because it helps the reader quickly connect the two pieces of information.

If you’re in a hurry, you can also take a look at the “At a Glance” column to get the key facts of the case study, starting with information about Valvoline.

Key Learnings from the Textel Case Study Example

Include your client’s ROI right in the title of the case study.
Add an “At a Glance” column to your case study PDF to make it easy to get insights without needing to read all the text.

13. "Hunt Club and Happeo — a tech-enabled love story," by Happeo

In this blog-post-like case study, Happeo opens with a quote from the client, then dives into a compelling heading: “Technology at the forefront of Hunt Club's strategy.”

Say you’re investigating Happeo as a solution and consider your firm to be technology-driven. This approach would spark your curiosity about why the client chose to work with Happeo.

It also effectively communicates the software’s value proposition without sounding like it’s coming from an in-house marketing team.

Every paragraph is a quote written from the customer’s perspective.

Later down the page, the case study also dives into “the features that changed the game for Hunt Club,” giving Happeo a chance to highlight some of the platform’s most salient features.

Key Learnings from the Happeo Case Study Example

Consider writing the entirety of the case study from the perspective of the customer.
Include a list of the features that convinced your client to go with you.

14. "Red Sox Season Campaign," by CTP Boston

What‘s great about CTP’s case study page for their Red Sox Season Campaign is their combination of video, images, and text.

A video automatically begins playing when you visit the page, and as you scroll, you'll see more embedded videos of Red Sox players, a compilation of print ads, and social media images you can click to enlarge.

At the bottom, it says, “Find out how we can do something similar for your brand.”

The page is clean, cohesive, and aesthetically pleasing. It invites viewers to appreciate the well-roundedness of CTP’s campaign for Boston’s beloved baseball team.

Key Learnings from the CTP Case Study Example

Include a video in the heading of the case study.
Close with a call-to-action that makes leads want to turn into prospects.

15. "Acoustic," by Genuine

Sometimes, simplicity is key. Genuine’s case study for Acoustic is straightforward and minimal, with just a few short paragraphs, including “Reimagining the B2B website experience,” “Speaking to marketers 1:1,” and “Inventing Together.”

After the core of the case study, we then see a quote from Acoustic’s CMO and the results Genuine achieved for the company.

The simplicity of the page allows the reader to focus on both the visual aspects and the copy. The page displays Genuine's brand personality while offering the viewer all the information they need.

Key Learnings from the CTP Case Study Example

You don’t need to write a lot to create a great case study. Keep it simple.
Always include quantifiable data to illustrate the results you achieved for your client.

16. "Using Apptio Targetprocess Automated Rules in Wargaming," by Apptio

Apptio’s case study for Wargaming summarizes three key pieces of information right at the beginning: the goals, the obstacles, and the results.

Readers then have the opportunity to continue reading — or they can walk away right then with the information they need. This case study also excels in keeping the human interest factor by formatting the information like an interview.

The piece is well-organized and uses compelling headers to keep the reader engaged. Despite its length, Apptio‘s case study is appealing enough to keep the viewer’s attention.

Every Apptio case study ends with a “recommendation for other companies” section, where the client can give advice for other companies that are looking for a similar solution but aren’t sure how to get started.

Key Learnings from the Apptio Case Study Example

Put your client in an advisory role by giving them the opportunity to give recommendations to other companies that are reading the case study.
Include the takeaways from the case study right at the beginning, so prospects quickly get what they need.

17. "Biobot Customer Success Story: Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida," by Biobot

Like some of the other top examples in this list, Biobot opens its case study with a quote from its client, which captures the value proposition of working with Biobot.

It mentions the COVID pandemic and goes into detail about the challenges the client faced during this time.

This case study is structured more like a news article than a traditional case study.

This format can work in more formal industries where decision-makers need to see in-depth information about the case. Be sure to test different methods and measure engagement.

Key Learnings from the Biobot Case Study Example

Mention environmental, public health, or economic emergencies and how you helped your client get past such difficult times.
Feel free to write the case study like a normal blog post, but be sure to test different methods to find the one that best works for you.

18. "Discovering Cost Savings With Efficient Decision Making," by Gartner

You don't always need a ton of text or a video to convey your message — sometimes, you just need a few paragraphs and bullet points. I like these in Gartner’s case study.

Gartner does a fantastic job of quickly providing the fundamental statistics a potential customer would need to know, without boggling down their readers with dense paragraphs.

The case study closes with a shaded box that summarizes the impact that Gartner had on its client. It includes a quote and a call-to-action to “Learn More.”

Key Learnings from the Gartner Case Study Example

Keep the case study short.
Include a call-to-action at the bottom that takes the reader to a page that most relates to them.

19. "Bringing an Operator to the Game," by Redapt

This case study example by Redapt is another great demonstration of the power of summarizing your case study’s takeaways right at the start of the study.

Redapt includes three easy-to-scan columns: “The problem,” “the solution,” and “the outcome.” However, its most notable feature is a section titled “Moment of clarity,” which shows why this particular project was difficult or challenging.

The section is shaded in green, making it impossible to miss. Redapt does the same thing for each case study.

In the same way, you should highlight the “turning point” for both you and your client when you were working toward a solution.

Key Learnings from the Redapt Case Study Example

Highlight the turning point for both you and your client during the solution-seeking process.
Use the same structure (including the same headings) for your case studies to make them easy to scan and read.

20. "Virtual Call Center Sees 300% Boost In Contact Rate," by Convoso

Convoso’s PDF case study for Digital Market Media immediately mentions the results that the client achieved and takes advantage of white space.

On the second page, the case study presents more influential results. It’s colorful and engaging and closes with a spread that prompts readers to request a demo.

Key Learnings from the Convoso Case Study Example

List the results of your work right at the beginning of the case study.
Use color to differentiate your case study from others. Convoso’s example is one of the most colorful ones on this list.

Digital Marketing Case Study Examples

21. "How Fractl Earned Links from 931 Unique Domains for Porch.com in a Single Year," by Fractl

Fractl uses both text and graphic design in their Porch.com case study to immerse the viewer in a more interesting user experience.

For instance, as you scroll, you'll see the results are illustrated in an infographic-design form as well as the text itself.

Further down the page, they use icons like a heart and a circle to illustrate their pitch angles and graphs to showcase their results.

Rather than writing which publications have mentioned Porch.com during Fractl’s campaign, they incorporated the media outlets’ icons for further visual diversity.

Key Learnings from the Fractl Case Study Example

Let pictures speak for you by incorporating graphs, logos, and icons all throughout the case study.
Start the case study by stating the key results, like Fractl does, instead of putting the results all the way at the bottom.

22. "In-Depth Performance Marketing Case Study," by Switch

Switch is an international marketing agency based in Malta that knocks it out of the park with this case study.

Its biggest challenge is effectively communicating what it did for its client without ever revealing the client’s name. It also effectively keeps non-marketers in the loop by including a glossary of terms on page 4.

The PDF case study reads like a compelling research article, including titles like “In-Depth Performance Marketing Case Study,” “Scenario,” and “Approach,” so that readers get a high-level overview of what the client needed and why they approached Switch.

It also includes a different page for each strategy. For instance, if you’d only be interested in hiring Switch for optimizing your Facebook ads, you can skip to page 10 to see how they did it.

The PDF is fourteen pages long but features big fonts and plenty of white space, so viewers can easily skim it in only a few minutes.

Key Learnings from the Switch Case Study Example

If you want to go into specialized information, include a glossary of terms so that non-specialists can easily understand.
Close with a CTA page in your case study PDF and include contact information for prospective clients.

23. "Money Keywords Digital Marketing Case Study," by Cognism

Cognism wrote one of the most in-depth case studies I’ve seen. Most case studies are often brief.

However, Cognism went deep into how it executed its strategy to showcase expertise and popularize its strategy.

The case study identified key issues with Cognism’s SEO that caused them to lose SERP rankings and had seasonal traffic decline.

Cognism’s case study introduces their unique idea of solving SEO challenges with money keywords. These are high-intent keywords that attract ready-to-buy visitors.

By introducing such ideas and spreading them, Cognism tried to improve brand awareness among its audience.

Cognism also talked about its backlink strategy, detailing how it targeted high-authority websites and tracked their progress each quarter.

They used guest blogging, leveraged outreach, and created linkable content to improve SERP rankings and boost domain authority.

They also gave examples of tools like HockeyStack, which helped with data visualization and used metrics like demo requests, generated deals, and revenue as outcomes.

Key Learnings from the Cognism Case Study Example

Use a table of contents to make your content more scannable and readable.
Talk about your process in detail to promote your ideas in your niche and gain authority.
Don’t be afraid to provide details on how you helped your client achieve their goals, including the tools you leveraged.

24. “How SimpleLegal Grew Traffic 515% by Embracing the Quirks of Vertical SaaS” by Animalz

Animalz is one of the leading content marketing agencies for B2B SaaS companies. The company uses a wide range of content strategies to deal with their client’s unique challenges.

While many agencies focus on new content, Animalz increased SimplyLegal’s online presence by focusing its efforts on its existing content, updating it with fresh content, and following the latest SEO practices.

This strategy, known as content refreshing, increased their traffic by 515%.

In their case study, Animalz created graphs to show how they increased organic traffic for each article they updated.

I liked how they explained their content marketing techniques by drawing different diagrams. This way, their content was more digestible than text-only case studies.

Key Learnings from the Animalz Case Study Example

Use graphs to show the difference between previous and old results for readability.
Use different types of diagrams to explain new concepts, such as refreshing content.
Split up the takeaways of your case studies into bite-sized sections.
Always use visuals and images to enrich the case study experience, especially if it’s a comprehensive case study.

25. “Paid Social and Search Campaign for Passenger” by The Social Shepherd

The Social Shepherd is an award-winning social agency. They used a more methodical approach to their case study for an ethical clothing brand, Passenger.

The agency outlined the client goals like improving scale spend, maintaining a 10x ROAS, and adapting to current assets by working on direct-response copy for paid ads.

Next, the agency showed steps they took to meet these goals, such as optimizing paid and organic media campaigns.

Similarly, they promoted their client’s expansion from the U.K. into different markets (e.g., Europe and America), thereby proving their expertise in attracting global audiences.

Key Learnings from the Social Shepherd Case Study Example

Outline client goals to present clear objectives for readers.
Promote your work by listing your achievements, such as any awards you won for the project or the goals you met.

26. “LinkedIn Advertising Case Study” By Directive Consulting

Directive Consulting’s case study for TigerConnect’s ad campaign provides a clear narrative of the latter’s challenge, strategy, and results.

The case study begins with an engaging headline that highlights a key achievement — a 31% increase in paid leads.

A brief overview is then used to explain the context of what TigerConnect does and how it helps companies in the healthcare sector.

The case study outlines the service Directive Consulting offered — PPC Management. I like how Directive Consulting used quantifiable metrics to show results.

The challenge section describes the initial problem of targeting audiences with low-volume keywords, prompting the need for a fresh approach.

The strategy section explains Directive’s approach, which is to use LinkedIn and implement account-based marketing (ABM).

Finally, the result section caps the case study with in-depth stats, showcasing the increase in paid leads, visits, and cost-per-acquisition.

Key Learnings from the Directive Consulting Case Study Example

Give relevant context in the client overview section. This gives readers essential background information on the client.
Offer a step-by-step breakdown of the strategy, including initial actions and subsequent adjustments. This helps readers understand the reasoning behind each decision.

27. “Vena Solutions Case Study” By Siege Media

Siege Media’s case study for Vena Solutions illustrates how the former increased the latter’s organic blog traffic by over 100%.

Like all the engaging case studies, it starts with a compelling title and headline to highlight their achievement. A brief client overview lets you know what Vena Solution does.

The case study lists the services offered: digital PR and content marketing. It also outlines the challenge of creating high-ranking content and earning high-authority links, which can be tricky for certain keywords.

The results show clear metrics, such as link placements and traffic increases, via graphs. The case study also adds a carousel to slide between different graphs.

The growth summary explains Siege Media’s approach to creating top-funnel and shareable content by emphasizing stats-based posts.

This way, these articles can gain links from reputable sources. The case study also gave examples, such as “SaaS Statistics” and Remote Work Statistics.”

Key Learnings from the Vena Solutions Case Study Example

Give a growth summary to highlight your achievements.
Provide specific examples to drive the point home.
Let the visuals speak by including examples of the actual work you did for your client — which is especially useful for branding and marketing agencies.
Always close out with your achievements and how they impacted your client.

Start creating your case study today.

Now that you have excellent examples of case studies, think about a topic you'd like to write about that highlights what you did for a customer.

Before you do this, think critically about the elements to include in the case study.

Personally, I like case studies that go beyond text. Images from external websites or tools like those used in the Animalz case study are fantastic.

However, nothing beats videos like the HubSpot case study above. Where possible, get your customer on video because that’s always more believable.

Doing these equips you with a library of customer success stories, which is the most persuasive marketing material you could ever have.

The outcome is a strong portfolio of case studies, which helps you entice prospects to give you their business.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

How to Deliver Customer Experiences That Increase Conversions

sonia@soniaethompson.com (Sonia Thompson) — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

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

I’ve been an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant for seven years. My entry into this space was heavily influenced by my lifelong experiences as a frustrated consumer.

Several components of my identity make me different from what is often considered to be "mainstream." And as a result, brands didn’t often serve me well because of the things that make me different.

Some Consumers Consistently Have Less Than Ideal Customer Experiences

I conducted a research study for a client in 2022 to understand how consumers of hotels and bed and breakfasts think about belonging.

Here’s what a few consumers who are part of underrepresented and underserved communities had to say about their subpar customer experiences:

"People with food allergies and restrictions should have an opportunity to get everything that they paid for."
"I wish they realized that larger people want to travel and feel as though our money is as important as straight-sized individuals. Oftentimes, larger guests will find themselves with tiny towels, hard-to-reach items, not much space between furniture."
"I’ve stayed at numerous places where there was nothing to eat on the menu for me (vegan) and staff was not open to making adjustments."
"I need grab bars in the shower."
"People are allergic to feathers."

This frustration doesn’t just exist for some hospitality industry consumers. It often impacts people across the board who are part of underrepresented communities. Historically, brands have done a poor job of serving these communities well.

A comprehensive study commissioned by beauty retailer Sephora showed that 2 out of 5, or 40%, of retail shoppers, have personally experienced unfair treatment based on their race or skin color.

Numerous studies show that women are subjected to the "pink tax," where they are charged (and sometimes taxed, in the case of feminine care products) more for similar products such as razors, toys, and dry cleaning than men are.

One study showed women are charged 48% more for shampoo, even though the ingredients are similar. Another study showed that the pink tax costs women an extra $1,351 annually and more than $100,000 throughout a lifetime.

These less-than-ideal experiences for consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities lead to frustration and much lower conversions with the brands they have these substandard experiences with.

When people are frustrated or feel like they are treated like an afterthought, they don’t convert, don’t make repeat purchases, and don’t achieve success at the same rate as others.

In this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, I do a deep dive into factors that influence your customers’ success and conversions that you should be aware of so you can fix them.

There’s a simple solution to increase conversions throughout the customer experience you deliver for all the people you want to serve.

Eliminate identity-based friction.

Here’s how to do it.

How to Deliver Conversion-Boosting Customer Experiences

1. Acknowledge the many ways consumers can be different.

Differences are common.

From the standpoint of consumers who have the problem your brand solves, there are a myriad of identities and ways in which they can be different that will have an impact on the customer experience your brand delivers.

Take the time to go through an exercise evaluating all the different ways your ideal customer could be different.

Here’s a list of common dimensions of diversity that impact the way a consumer experiences your brand, and ultimately whether or not they convert.

Once you find the different identities of the consumers you want to serve, the next step is to understand how their needs differ.

This free customer journey map template from HubSpot can help you identify how the journeys of various consumers could differ based on their identities.

Simply acknowledging that not all the customers you serve have the same need helps you expand your way of operating.

For instance, say you own a hotel and did this exercise. If the results highlighted that some of your ideal customers will be allergic to feathers, you might make different choices about the type of bedding you offer. As a result, you could deliver a high-quality and safe experience for all your guests.

Taylor Loren is a marketer who recently launched a content marketing strategy playbook. I loved seeing a callout on her sales page highlighting that the course was built with neurodivergent brains in mind.

The product offering was made to deliver a more inclusive experience because Loren first identified that neurodivergent people are a part of her ideal customer base.

2. Don’t "other" people.

No one likes to feel othered, or like they aren’t part of a group because of their differences. I often remind clients that not everyone has a great relationship with what makes them different, so they often don’t want to be reminded of this when they’re trying to engage with a brand.

Remember, belonging is the goal. The more people feel like they belong with you, the higher your conversion rates will be.

When people feel cast aside or like they aren’t "normal" they are less likely to take action to continue engaging with a brand that makes them feel that way. People who feel othered are less likely to convert.

Instead of labeling things that may make some consumers feel frustrated or upset, enable customers to find what they need without making them feel like something is wrong with them.

Some retail brands have stopped ‘othering’ shoppers who need a larger size by eliminating the "plus-sized" label from the shopping experience.

Here’s an example of a brand using the plus-sized label in a way that ‘others’ people and delivers a substandard customer experience.

Here’s an example of a brand that allows shoppers to find what they need without ‘othering’ them, thus delivering a more positive customer experience that makes more people feel like they belong.

In this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, I explored the concept of "normal" and how marketers should use it to deliver remarkable customer experiences for all the people they serve.

3. Don’t force people to ‘raise their hands’ to acknowledge their differences.

I spoke at a conference earlier this year, and my session was just before lunchtime. After it was over, I went to the buffet lunch that was set up for the attendees and noticed there weren’t any labels on the food from a food allergy standpoint.

So, I went and asked one of the servers if they could let me know which items were safe, and a few minutes later, someone brought out a prepared plate from the chef full of gluten-free items, including dishes that weren’t included at the buffet.

When I sat down to eat it, the woman next to me heard me talking about my experience of having to wait to get gluten-free food. She told me she was also gluten-free for health reasons. However, she added that she opted to guess which foods in the buffet were gluten-free because she didn’t want to say anything.

It is important to recognize that not everyone who has an identity that makes them different wants to raise their hand and tell the world about the specific needs they have.

Here’s a clip in which famed producer Shonda Rhimes shares about a time when she decided against "raising her hand" to express her need for a special accommodation, even though it could negatively impact her safety.

When working to improve your conversions by eliminating identity-based friction in the customer experience you deliver, take the time to ensure that consumers don’t have to raise their hands to acknowledge their differences and get what they need from you.

Make it so that you’ve included a way for people to easily get their questions answered, get the accommodations they need, or self-identify what will work best for them in their experience without having to detail their personal information to a stranger.

During a research study I conducted for a client, one consumer explained that brands make her feel like she belongs "When I don’t have to ask for accommodation because they are already available."

In this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, I walk you through my Inclusive Customer Experience Spectrum to help you identify how to deliver experiences that convert a higher number of customers.

Better Customer Experiences Lead to Higher Conversions

You can increase conversions for your brand. It results from delivering better customer experiences for all the people you serve, including those from underrepresented and underserved communities.

Start by identifying how the people you serve are different. Then, design experiences that make all of your ideal customers feel like they belong with your brand, no matter their identity.

The Ultimate Guide to Email Design and 13 Best Practices

krbaker@hubspot.com (Kristen Baker) — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

As a new marketing assistant, I once created an email campaign for our biggest product launch. Despite spending hours crafting the seemingly “perfect” message, the next day's analytics showed dismal open and click-through rates.

The problem? I had neglected the design, resulting in a cluttered mess with no clear call-to-action. This harsh wake-up call taught me that in email marketing, design is as crucial as content.

This experience set me on a path to mastering email design. I learned that effective emails require a balance of engaging copy and visually appealing design that guides readers to action.

In this blog post, I've explored email design best practices, covering everything from attention-grabbing subject lines to responsive design.

Why Email Design Matters

With email users expected to reach 4.7 billion by 2026, mastering email design is crucial for reaching and converting your target audience.

Email recipients often scan information and abandon emails that don‘t offer them value or simply appear to be too dense.

That’s why having great email design is so important — it’ll help you capture the attention of, and engage, your email recipients.

Your email design should be attention-grabbing, aesthetically-pleasing, and on-brand, among other things — let's dive into those things next with these 13 best practices for email design.

1. Craft a strong subject line.

Your email subject line is the first thing anyone sees when you send them an email. It’s the brief statement that’s supposed to pique the interest of your recipients. It should capture their attention so they want to open your email and continue reading.

Here’s what a subject line looks like in your email inbox:

Here’s what a subject line looks like in your mobile device’s email inbox:

A great subject line will have these characteristics:

Grab the attention of your readers in as few words as possible (remember: less is more).
Provide value for the recipient that makes them want to open the email.
Summarize what recipients are going to read and/ or see once they open the email.

2. Write an attention-grabbing pre-header.

Your email pre-header is a preview of what the email is about, similar to the meta description of a web page. It’s the second thing recipients see.

Rather than rewriting the first sentence of your email, you can customize the pre-header to provide an inside look into what your recipients are about to read in your message.

Here’s what a pre-header looks like in your email inbox:

Here’s what a pre-header looks like in your mobile device’s email inbox:

3. Be concise.

How many times throughout the day do you find yourself opening an email thinking, I can’t wait to sit down and take the next 5-10 minutes to really dive into this email from Business X!

If you're anything like me, your answer is likely rarely or never.

Give email recipients the information they want and need from you without getting into the weeds. This will show them you value their time which has the potential to help you improve email subscriber retainment.

4. Keep your email on-brand.

When your email recipients open your message, they should know the email was sent from your company. Meaning your email should be branded.

To keep your email on-brand, consider using the following tactics:

Use a tone in your emails that complements your other content and marketing materials (like your website and social media).
Incorporate the same colors and fonts that you use in your other branding and marketing materials.
Include your logo, a link to your website, links to your social media accounts, and calls-to-action (CTAs) that are relevant to your products or services. This is a great way to increase brand awareness while also boost conversions.

5. Use the layout to enhance your email’s user experience.

Nobody wants to read a cluttered and unorganized email — this makes recipients feel overwhelmed and can lead to increased abandonment.

Instead, organize your layout with user experience (UX) in mind — meaning, leave empty/white space and strategically place your written and visual content so it’s organized and easy to consume and navigate.

6. Personalize every email.

When you customize an email and tailor it to your recipient, it'll feel more thoughtful, professional, and personal.

Email personalization also helps you humanize your brand. This touch helps you foster a relationship between your business and email recipients and boost retention rates.

Beyond just using a recipient's name, personalization is a crucial aspect of email marketing. I asked Nura Busleiman, the head of email marketing operations for the lifecycle team at MarketerHire, how to go beyond using a recipient's name:

"The most important thing is to understand where in the customer journey your lead is. If they are just getting to know you, they might need different information than someone who already bought your product or service.”

Busleiman’s advice highlights the importance of tailoring your email content to each recipient's specific stage in the customer journey:

“Understanding their journey will lead you to better emails and results, of course. Your contact needs to understand why they are receiving that email at that moment and what they are expected to do.”

This level of personalization ensures that your emails are not only relevant but also provide clear value to the reader, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.

7. Incorporate unique visual content.

If recipients open an email and only see paragraphs of information, it’s likely going to be difficult to hold their attention and keep them interested in your message.

Rather, incorporate on-brand and engaging images, videos, GIFs, animations, etc. to break up the written content and create a memorable experience.

And speaking of incorporating creative and unique visual content in your emails, let’s talk emojis.

8. Don’t be afraid to use emojis. 🧡

At first, emojis may seem like an unnecessary or unprofessional addition to an email. While this may be a fair assumption, it’s actually untrue in a number of scenarios.

In fact, when you add emojis to your email subject line and/ or email copy, you can increase your open and click-through rates.

But remember: When using emojis for marketing purposes, make sure you know the meaning and connotation of the specific one(s) you incorporate. 😃

9. Use a responsive design.

A responsive design means your email changes format to fit the screen it’s being viewed on, whether it's on a desktop, laptop, or mobile device. Recipients will be able to read your emails with ease no matter where or how they’re viewing them.

By incorporating a responsive design, you'll be able to enhance UX and improve email retention across all devices.

10. Optimize your email with CTAs.

Calls-to-action (CTAs) are used to convert your email recipients. For instance, you can use a CTA to get recipients to follow you on social media, visit your website, chat with a sales rep, or become paying customers.

CTAs should be visible, enticing, and clearly show why they’re valuable to click. Additionally, you might choose to personalize your CTAs to tailor them towards specific recipients — this tactic has been proven to increase conversions.

11. Add an “unsubscribe” button.

Email marketing is highly effective as long as you’re providing relevant content to your recipients.

The unfortunate but true reality of email marketing is that your recipients and customers change over time — especially as your business grows and evolves. Therefore, your content may not always be relevant to certain audience members.

For this reason, allow your recipients to leave (or unsubscribe from your emails) on a good note so they can remember your business in a positive light — who knows, they may need your email content, products, or services again in the future.

To do this, simplify their lives with an easy-to-use and visible "unsubscribe” button.

In addition to offering a better experience for users, you're actually required by law to add that unsubscribe button.

According to the Federal Trade Commission and CAN-SPAM Act, you’re legally required to include a “clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt-out of getting emails from you in the future.”

Meaning, that unsubscribe button isn’t an option.

(If you need some inspiration, check out these effective unsubscribe pages.)

12. A/B test your design.

Similar to most marketing efforts, email design is an iterative process. You might determine you need to make changes and updates to get the most out of your email design.

But what elements should you focus on when A/B testing? Here Busleiman shares her insights once more:

“Usually, CTAs placed above the fold (visible without scrolling) generally see higher click-through rates. What I do recommend anyway is to always try to talk as your audience talks, understand their customer journey, and show them images that they can find familiar. You can also A/B test attributes such as voice and tone. Don't make assumptions, just experiments!”

Busleiman’s advice highlights several key areas for A/B testing:

CTA placement. Testing the position of your call-to-action, especially above the fold, can significantly improve click-through rates.
Language and tone. Experimenting with different ways of speaking to your audience can help you find the most effective communication style.
Imagery. Testing various images that resonate with your audience's experiences can improve engagement.
Voice and tone. Even subtle changes in how you express your message can make a big difference.

Pro tip: Remember, the goal of A/B testing is to let data guide your decisions rather than relying on assumptions. By consistently testing these elements, you can continually refine your email design for maximum impact.

13. Design an email signature.

Great email signature design is another way you can establish a professional and personal feel over email.

Email signatures shouldn't just include your name — they should contain other defining and memorable characteristics about you, your role, contact information, and company.

Here are some specifics you can include in your email signature:

First and last name
Contact information (and secondary contact information)
Job Title / Role
Company Name
Link to your meeting calendar
Social media links (e.g. LinkedIn profile)
Pronouns
Photo
Industry disclaimer or legal requirements

Creating a professional email signature doesn't have to be complicated. You can easily design one using HubSpot's free email signature generator, which helps you incorporate all these elements seamlessly.

A great way to streamline the process of working on and incorporate all 13 of the above best practices is to use email design tools and software.

In fact, many of the best practices we reviewed will come up naturally while you’re designing, writing, and planning your messages with email design software.

While these best practices provide a solid foundation, sometimes seeing real-world examples can offer additional insights.

Take a look at our collection of innovative email newsletter designs for more ideas on how to apply these principles creatively.

Email Design Tools

There are a number of email design tools with a wide range of capabilities (some completely unrelated to email design!). Here are some popular examples.

1. HubSpot

HubSpot’s Email Marketing software allows you to create, design, personalize, and optimize all of your emails.

You don’t need any IT or coding knowledge, and you can easily customize mobile-friendly emails. The software allows you to A/B test emails to determine which designs work best.

Additionally, it includes an AI-generated email feature that can significantly enhance your productivity.

2. BEEPro

As a BEEPro user, you can design responsive emails in just minutes.

Smart design tools provide you with a quick way to format your emails and ensure your layout complements your content.

You can also customize and save various email design templates so your messaging and branding is consistent.

3. MailChimp

With over 100 templates offered, MailChimp allows you to customize your email design for your target audience.

If you’re someone who does have coding experience, and you want to take your design a step further, MailChimp offers you the ability to code your template too.

4. Stripo

Stripo requires no HTML knowledge to create and design professional email templates. All of their pre-made templates are responsive so readers can easily view them via any device.

You can also sync your current email service provider (ESP) with the software to access all of your email and contact information from a central location.

5. Chamaileon

As a collaborative email builder, Chamaileon gives you the ability to invite members of your team to collaborate on your designs.

The software ensures your emails will have a responsive design and automatically comes with over 100 pre-made templates to customize for specific recipients.

While these tools can help you create visually appealing emails, it's also valuable to see how other successful companies are designing their emails. For inspiration and ideas, check out our curated list of effective email marketing examples.

These real-world examples can help you understand how to apply design principles and best practices to your own email campaigns.

Email Design Examples

Let’s take a look at some successful email designs to inspire your work.

HubSpot Marketing Blog

HubSpot used to send emails to Marketing Blog subscribers every day. These included a few blog marketing-related articles to read and learn from. If recipients chose, they could also subscribe to HubSpot’s Sales Blog and Service Blog emails.

The emails were branded so readers immediately know who the email is from and what it will include. To make the daily emails engaging and unique, they included previews of the articles and an occasional quiz.

Starbucks Rewards

Starbucks customers and members may have seen this email, or something similar, in their inbox before:

The email complements Starbucks’ marketing and branding, and there’s plenty of white space separating the written information from the engaging imagery. And the CTA that recipients can click on to activate the offer is clearly placed.

Vital Proteins Email Design

Although Vital Proteins' email design contains many images and a lot of information, it’s neatly organized so it doesn’t feel overwhelming to recipients. The email’s colors, font, and visuals are on-brand and feature the company’s products.

There's an obvious CTA that redirects recipients to their Instagram page — in turn, this type of CTA helps the company increase their follower count and brand awareness on the social platform.

Grow Better With Really Good Email Design

Email design is an art form that masterfully blends visual appeal, strategic planning, and psychological principles. It's a crucial skill that deserves continuous refinement to achieve better results from your email marketing campaigns.

I'm particularly excited about the impact of personalization, which pushed me to explore creative ways to tailor emails beyond just using names.

For example, the potential of emojis to boost open rates challenged my preconceptions, and is something I’ll start experimenting with in subject lines.

Armed with these insights, you can now craft emails that not only reach your audience but also resonate deeply with them.

Remember, great email design is an ongoing process. As email continues to evolve, so too will design best practices. Stay curious, keep experimenting, and most importantly, always prioritize your audience's experience.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in August 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Future-Proof Your Website: 3 Must-Have AI Tactics for Marketing Leaders

kbodnar@hubspot.com (Kipp Bodnar and Kieran Flanagan) — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Which AI tactics will keep your site relevant and engaging as website strategies shift from broad audience capture to hyper-personalization?

The days of designing websites solely for broad audience capture and search engine optimization are well behind us. The future now lies in hyper-personalization, where websites cater to the specific needs and preferences of each visitor.

AI is at the forefront of this transformation, providing advanced tools and insights to create more relevant and engaging websites based on individual user data.

While the sheer volume of AI technologies — and the speed at which they’re evolving — might feel overwhelming, it’s critical for marketing leaders to stay current with these advancements.

In our recent Marketing Against the Grain episode, Kieran and I discuss three high-impact AI strategies for optimizing your website, along with emerging tools and examples, to get you started today. Let’s dive in.

High-Impact AI Strategies for Optimizing Your Website

1. Integrate AI chat ASAP.

One essential (and obvious) strategy that many marketers still overlook is integrating AI chat. AI chatbots are key for curating a seamless user journey by giving users exactly what they need.

These bots don’t get annoyed, nor do they get offended. They guide impatient visitors around your site, answer questions, and personalize interactions, making it easy for users to find what they want, without the hassle of endless clicking.

During the episode, we explored the AI voice chatbot on Hume AI’s website. What stood out to us was how the chatbot effortlessly navigated us through the site based on our verbal requests — completely eliminating the need for typing or clicking.

"Why would I ever click through the pages when I can just start this anonymous conversation with a bot and have it do all the work for me?" says Kieran. "It’s like going into a high-end store and having someone immediately assist you."

AI chat tools like Hume act as virtual concierges, streamlining the overall user journey by providing a direct pathway to the information they seek. This is crucial for optimizing your website, making it more intuitive, efficient, and ultimately, more satisfying for your users.

2. Lean into AI video experimentation.

AI video tools are game-changers for making your website more hyper-personalized and globally accessible.

Imagine greeting each visitor with a video in their native language or with a custom message tailored to their specific interests based on user data. This creates a better experience for everyone, whether they're local — or halfway across the world.

Tools HeyGen and InfinityAI offer cutting-edge creative potential that you don’t want to miss out on. And while there’s still room for improvement, as a marketing leader, you should be experimenting and exploring these tools now.

As Sam Altman from OpenAI said during his interview with 20VC, there are two types of companies: those who are building for what AI can do today, and those building for what it will be able to do in the future.

Our advice: position your company in the latter category and start testing new video advancements now to stay ahead in the long term.

3. Improve multimodality with AI-generated audio.

Think about the best salesperson in your company — it’s often the founder. But founders lack the time to continuously create content for marketing campaigns, product releases, and sales initiatives.

This is where AI-generated audio comes in, providing a new level of authenticity and personalization for your website.

For example, AI audio tools like Character.AI or Delphi AI can replicate the voices of key figures like founders, celebrities, or influencers (with proper consent and licensing), delivering personalized messages or testimonials to your audience.

Additionally, AI-generated audio tools can streamline the creation of high-volume content like product demos, explainer videos, and personalized sales pitches, saving your creative team valuable time and resources.

"Websites are going to be much more multimodal in the future than they are now," Kieran emphasizes. Integrating AI-generated audio is essential for future-proofing your website, making it more dynamic and aligning with shifting user expectations for a more immersive and interactive online experience.

To watch our entire discussion about website optimization in an era of AI, check out the full episode of Marketing Against the Grain below:

This blog series is in partnership with Marketing Against the Grain, the video podcast. It digs deeper into ideas shared by marketing leaders Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (SVP, Marketing at HubSpot) as they unpack growth strategies and learn from standout founders and peers.

The Best Free Business Budget Templates in 2024

Paige Bennett — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Business budgets are a source of truth for your income and expenses. That includes all the money you spend — from A/B testing your marketing campaigns to your monthly office rent.

In my roles, I’ve needed to create budgets for whole projects and smaller writing projects.

While organizing the numbers may sound difficult, I’ve found that using a business budget template makes the process simple. Plus, there are thousands of business budget templates for you to choose from.

In this article, I’ll share seven budget templates that can help organize your finances. But first, you’ll learn about different types of business budgets and how to create one.

Table of Contents

What is a business budget?
Types of Budgets for a Business
How to Create a Business Budget
How to Manage a Business Budget
Why is a Budget Important for a Business?
Best Free Business Budget Templates

The business budget follows a set template, which you can fill in with estimated revenues, plus any recurring or expected business expenses.

For example, say your business is planning a website redesign. You'd need to break down the costs by category: software, content and design, testing, and more.

Having a clear breakdown will help you estimate how much each category will cost and compare it with the actual costs.

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Business budgets aren’t one size fits all. In fact, there are many different types of budgets that serve various purposes.

Let’s dive into some commonly used budgets:

Master Budget

Think of a master budget as the superhero of budgets.

It brings together all the individual budgets from different parts of your company into one big, consolidated plan. It covers everything from sales and production to marketing and finances.

It includes details like projected revenues, expenses, and profitability for each department or business unit. It also considers important financial aspects like cash flow and capital expenditures. The budget even creates a balance sheet to show the organization's financial position.

The master budget acts as a guide for decision-making, helps with strategic planning, and gives a clear picture of the overall financial health and performance of your company. It's like the master plan that ties everything together and helps the organization move in the right direction.

Operating Budget

Your operating budget helps your company figure out how much money it expects to make and spend during a specific period, usually a year. It not only predicts the revenue your business will bring in but also outlines expenses it will need to cover, like salaries, rent, bills, and other operational costs.

By comparing your actual expenses and revenue to the budgeted amounts, your company can see how it's performing and make adjustments if needed. It helps keep things in check, allowing your business to make wise financial decisions and stay on track with its goals.

Cash Budget

A cash budget estimates the cash inflows and outflows of your business over a specific period, typically a month, quarter, or year. It provides a detailed projection of cash sources and uses, including revenue, expenses, and financing activities.

The cash budget helps you effectively manage your cash flow, plan for cash shortages or surpluses, evaluate the need for external financing and make informed decisions about resource allocation.

By utilizing a cash budget, your business can ensure it has enough cash on hand to meet its financial obligations, navigate fluctuations, and seize growth opportunities.

Static Budget

A static budget is a financial plan that remains unchanged, regardless of actual sales or production volumes.

It’s typically created at the beginning of a budget period and doesn’t account for any fluctuations or changes in business conditions. It also assumes that all variables, such as sales, expenses, and production levels, will remain the same throughout the budget period.

While a static budget provides a baseline for comparison, it may not be realistic for businesses with fluctuating sales volumes or variable expenses.

Departmental Budget

A departmental budget focuses on the financial aspects of a specific department within your company, such as sales, marketing, or human resources.

When creating a departmental budget, you may look at revenue sources like departmental sales, grants, and other sources of income. On the expense side, you consider costs such as salaries, supplies, equipment, and any other expenses unique to that department.

The goal of a departmental budget is to help the department manage its finances wisely. It acts as a guide for making decisions and allocating resources effectively. By comparing the actual numbers to the budgeted amounts, department heads can see if they're on track or if adjustments need to be made.

Capital Budget

A capital budget is all about planning for big investments in the long term. It focuses on deciding where to spend money on things like upgrading equipment, maintaining facilities, developing new products, and hiring new employees.

The budget looks at the costs of buying new stuff, upgrading existing things, and even considers depreciation, which is when something loses value over time. It also considers the return on investment, like how much money these investments might bring in or how they could save costs in the future.

The budget also looks at different ways to finance these investments, whether it‘s through loans, leases, or other options. It’s all about making smart decisions for the future, evaluating cash flow, and choosing investments that will help the company grow and succeed.

Labor Budget

A labor budget helps you plan and manage the costs related to your employees. It involves figuring out how much your business will spend on wages, salaries, benefits, and other labor-related expenses.

To create a labor budget, you‘ll need to consider factors like how much work needs to be done, how many folks you’ll need to get it done, and how much it'll all cost. This can help your business forecast and control labor-related expenses and ensure adequate staffing levels.

By having a labor budget in place, your business can monitor and analyze your labor costs to make informed decisions and optimize your resources effectively.

Project Budget

A project budget is a financial plan for a specific project.

Let‘s say you have an exciting new project you want to tackle. A project budget helps you figure out how much money you’ll need and how it will be allocated. It covers everything from personnel to equipment and materials — basically, anything you'll need to make the project happen.

By creating a project budget, you can make sure the project is doable from a financial standpoint. It helps you keep track of how much you planned to spend versus how much you actually spend as you go along.

That way, you have a clear idea of whether you're staying on track or if there are any financial challenges that need attention.

How to Create a Business Budget

While creating a business budget can be straightforward, the process may be more complex for larger companies with multiple revenue streams and expenses.

No matter the size of your business, here are the basic steps to creating a business budget.

1. Gather financial data.

Before you create a business budget, it’s important to gather insights from your past financial data. By looking at income statements, expense reports, and sales data, you can spot trends, learn from past experiences, and see where you can make improvements.

Going through your financial history helps you paint an accurate picture of your income and expenses. So, when you start creating your budget, you can set achievable targets and make sure your estimates match what's actually been happening in your business.

Besides past financials, consider new expenses. For instance, if your business is looking to try a new marketing channel, you’d need to document your goals for that channel. Afterward, walk backward to figure out how much you need to achieve those goals and include it in your budget.

2. Find a template or make a spreadsheet.

There are many free or paid budget templates online. You can start with an existing budget template. We list a few helpful templates below.

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You may also opt to make a spreadsheet with custom rows and columns based on your business.

3. Fill in revenues.

Once you have your template, start by listing all the sources of your business’ income. With a budget, you’re planning for the future, so you’ll also need to forecast revenue streams based on previous months or years.

For a new small business budget, you’ll rely on your market research to estimate early revenue for your company. If you’re trying out new channels, consider using industry benchmarks to gauge the revenue to expect.

When you estimate your revenue, you're essentially figuring out how much money you have to work with. This helps you decide where to allocate your resources and which expenses you can fund.

4. Subtract fixed costs for the time period.

Fixed costs are the recurring costs you have during each month, quarter, or year. Examples include insurance, rent for office space, website hosting, and internet.

The key thing to remember about fixed costs is that they stay relatively stable, regardless of changes in business activity. Even if your sales decrease or production slows down, these costs remain the same.

However, it's important to note that fixed costs can still change over the long term, such as when renegotiating lease agreements or adjusting employee salaries.

5. Consider variable costs.

Variable costs will change from time to time. Unlike fixed costs, variable costs increase or decrease as the level of production or sales changes.

Examples include raw materials needed to manufacture your products, packaging and shipping costs, utility bills, advertising costs, office supplies, and new software or technology.

You may always need to pay some variable costs, like utility bills. However, you can shift how much you spend toward other expenses, like advertising costs, when you have a lower-than-average estimated income.

6. Set aside time for business budget planning.

Unexpected expenses might come up, or you might want to save to expand your business. Either way, review your budget after including all expenses, fixed costs, and variable costs.

Once completed, you can determine how much money you can save. It’s wise to create multiple savings accounts. One should be used for emergencies. The other holds money that can be spent on the business to drive growth.

7. Conduct budget reviews.

Every budget requires periodic reviews. Regular reviews let you know what’s working and respond to changes in your financial outlook.

When doing a budget review, compare your estimated budget to your actual spend. This lets you know how to make better revenue and expense projections.

There is no rule stating when you should conduct your budget review. However, I'd recommend you do it monthly, quarterly, and yearly.

Monthly reviews: Check your estimated versus actual spend. Look for items whose actual spend surpasses the estimated cost. Consider cost-cutting measures for such items when forecasting your expenses for the next month.
Quarterly reviews: Use this review to identify month-over-month budget estimates and actual spend for three months. Use the insights to determine what you should spend less or more on and forecast better for the next quarter.
Yearly reviews: This review lets you assess your projections for the year. If they were accurate, double down on it. If otherwise, reflect on what didn’t work and use what you’ve learned to make better long-term financial projections for the next year.

How to Manage a Business Budget

There are a few key components to managing a healthy business budget.

Budget Preparation

The process all starts with properly preparing and planning the budget at the beginning of each month, quarter, or year.

You can also create multiple budgets, some short-term and some long-term. During this stage, you will also set spending limits and create a system to regularly monitor the budget.

Budget Monitoring

In larger businesses, you might delegate budget tracking to multiple supervisors.

But even if you’re a one-person show, keep a close eye on your budget.

That means setting a time in your schedule each day or week to review the budget and track actual income and expenses. Be sure to compare the actual numbers to the estimates.

Budget Forecasting

With regular budget tracking, you always know how your business is doing.

Check in regularly to determine how you are doing in terms of revenue and where you have losses. Find where you can minimize expenses and how you can move more money into savings.

Why is a Budget Important for a Business?

A budget is crucial for businesses. Without one, you could easily be drowning in expenses or unexpected costs.

The business budget helps with several operations. You can use a business budget to keep track of your finances, save money to help you grow the business or pay bonuses in the future, and prepare for unexpected expenses or emergencies.

You can also review your budget to determine when to take the next leap for your business. For example, you might be dreaming of a larger office building or the latest software, but you want to make sure you have a healthy net revenue before you make the purchase.

Best Free Business Budget Templates

1. Marketing Budget Template

Best for: Companies executing multiple initiatives across several marketing channels

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Knowing how to manage a marketing budget can be a challenge, but with helpful free templates like this marketing budget template bundle, you can track everything from advertising expenses to events and more.

I like this bundle because it is comprehensive and has eight free business budget templates. There are templates for:

Branding and creative budget.
Product marketing budget.
Paid advertising budget.
Public relations budget.
Web design budget.
Content budget.
Event budget.

The master budget template brings everything together and serves as your single source of truth. It consolidates the different budgets into a massive, company-wide budget sheet. Having a specific template for each initiative can help teams keep track of spending and plan for growth.

2. Project Budget Template

Best for: In-house teams seeking buy-in for complex projects

Every new project comes with expenses.

This free business budget template will help your team calculate the total cost once you enter your labor, material, and fixed costs. You can easily spot if you're going over budget midway through a project so you can adjust.

This template is especially useful for small companies that are reporting budgets to clients and for in-house teams getting buy-in for complex projects.

3. Free Business Budget Template

Best for: Businesses of all types executing a minimal number of initiatives

Sometimes, you may need to document a simple budget for a few initiatives. In such cases, this free business budget template, which works in Google Sheets and Excel, may be ideal. I like the idea of Google Sheets because it lets others collaborate and comment on the budget.

These business budget templates feature cells for entering your expenses, category, and budget. Afterward, the spreadsheet uses the data to create your total estimated budget.

4. Small Business Budget Template

Best for: Small businesses and new startups

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For small businesses, it can be hard to find the time to draw up a budget, but it’s crucial to help keep the business in good health. This is why I like the budget template that Capterra created specifically for small businesses.

This business budget template works with Excel. I like this template because it helps you take inventory of your income and track your monthly expenses. The small business budget template from Capterra includes:

Operating income.
Non-operating income.
Fixed cost.
Variable cost.

The business expense section of the template is excellent for tracking employee expenses.

The business budget section of the template helps you track your estimated versus actual income. Over time, this information helps you predict the income to expect so you can plan your expenses and have the funds to execute.

To use the business budget template, start by inputting your estimated projections. Once you get the actual figures, input them, and the sheet will calculate the rest automatically.

For the business expense template, you simply input the description and associated cost to get the total cost.

5. Startup Budget Template

Best for: New business owners and startups

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Sometimes, you may not have previous numbers to rely on to create profit and expense estimates. Trust me, I have been there, and that’s where Gusto’s budget template helps.

If you are a startup, this budget template will help you draw up a budget before your business is officially on the market. You can track all the expenses you need to get your business up and running, estimate your first revenues, and determine where to pinch pennies.

Gusto’s business budget template has sections for entering:

Expense.
Expense category.
Budget.
Padding.
Estimated budget.

6. Company Budget Template

Best for: Companies and small businesses with multiple departments

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If you want to keep track of every penny, use this template from TemplateLab to draw up a detailed budget. I like this template because it’s comprehensive, lists expenses like fixed costs, employee costs, and variable costs.

The expense analysis section of the template also includes pie and bar charts to show your expenditure visually. This business template is useful for small businesses that want to keep track of expenses in one document.

7. Administrative Budget Template

Best for: Companies and small businesses with multiple departments and vast tech stack

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If you operate your business in-office or work remotely with lots of tools, it may be helpful to keep track of your administrative budget separately.

I like this business budget template from Zapier because it lets you account for administrative expenses like:

Rent.
Depreciation.
Insurance.
Training and development.
Communication.
Marketing tools.
Sales tools.
Accounting fees.

Tracking these expenses separately helps you know if you’re overspending on certain elements of your business. It also lets you cut down on what you can do without and save some of your revenue.

Testing It Out

To show you how easy it is to use these templates, I’ll test out the marketing budget template.

Once you download the template, you’ll see the first sheet, showing you how to use it.

What I like about this template: Once I scroll through the sheet, there are populated figures, which I can easily replace. For instance, to enter my content budget, I just need to follow the instructions of filling in my projected expenses.

After each month, I can revisit the template to enter my actual expenses. This lets me know if my projections are right.

A nice inclusion in this template is the year-to-date summary, which continuously updates as I input or delete figures. The graph is also a brilliant touch, as it gives me a virtual overview of where I am spending more.

Following the same process, I can create a product marketing budget, paid advertising budget, public relations budget, etc.

When I finish these individual budgets, I can then populate my master marketing budget with insights from all initiatives. Easy peasy!

Create a business budget to help your company grow.

Making your first business budget can be daunting, especially if you have several revenue streams and expenses. Using a budget template can make getting started easy. And, once you get it set up, these templates are simple to replicate.

With little planning and regular monitoring, you can plan for the future of your business.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in September 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

How to Write a Case Study: Bookmarkable Guide & Template

brbecker@hubspot.com (Braden Becker) — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Earning the trust of prospective customers can be a major challenge. Before you can expect to earn their business, you’ll need to demonstrate your ability to deliver on the promises of your product or service. The best way to win new business is with cold, hard proof.

A great way to prove your worth is through a compelling case study. HubSpot’s 2024 State of Marketing report found that case studies are so captivating that they were the fifth most commonly used type of content that marketers relied on.

That statistic still holds true in Forbes Advisor’s 2024 study, which adds that 78% of B2B businesses report using case studies and customer stories because they are “crucial for demonstrating real-world value.”

Having written these ever more frequently over the past ten years, I hope to serve as your guide through a process that can feel daunting, but I promise is worth the effort. Below, I'll walk you through what a case study is, how to prepare for writing one, what to include in it, and how it can be an effective tactic.

Table of Contents

Case Study Definition
Why Write a Case Study?
How Long Should a Case Study Be?
Case Study Templates
How to Write a Case Study
Case Study Format
Business Case Study Examples

Case Study Definition

A case study is coverage of a specific challenge a business has faced, and the solution they've chosen to solve it. Case studies can vary greatly in length and focus on several details related to the initial challenge and applied solution, and can be presented in various forms like a video, white paper, blog post, etc.

In professional settings, it‘s common for a case study to tell the story of a successful business partnership between a vendor and a client.

Perhaps the success you’re highlighting is in the number of leads your client generated, customers closed, or revenue gained. Any one of these key performance indicators (KPIs) are examples of your company's services in action.

When done correctly, these examples of your work can chronicle the positive impact your business has on existing or previous customers, helping you attract new clients.

Why write a case study?

I know, it sounds like a huge endeavor — is it really worth it?

The truth is that while case studies are a huge undertaking, they are powerful marketing tools that allow you to demonstrate the value of your product to potential customers using real-world examples.

Here are a few reasons why you should write case studies.

1. Explain complex topics or concepts.

Case studies give you the space to break down complex concepts, ideas, and strategies, showing how they can be applied in a practical way.

You can use real-world examples, like an existing client, and use their story to create a compelling narrative that demonstrates how your product solved their issue. Most importantly, it explains how those strategies can be repeated to help other customers get similar, successful results.

2. Show expertise.

Case studies are a great way to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise on a given topic or industry. This is where you get the opportunity to show off your problem-solving skills and how you’ve generated successful outcomes for clients you’ve worked with.

3. Build trust and credibility.

In addition to showing off the attributes above, case studies are an excellent way to build credibility. They’re often filled with data and thoroughly researched, which shows readers you’ve done your homework.

A robust case study instills confidence in the solutions you present because the reader has now vicariously experienced the problem — and they followed, step-by-step, what it took to solve it. These elements work together, enabling you to build trust with potential customers.

4. Create social proof.

Using existing clients that have seen success working with your brand builds social proof.

People are more likely to choose your brand if they know that others have found success working with you. Case studies do just that — put your success on display for potential customers to see.

All of these attributes play together like an orchestra to help you gain more clients. Afterward, the case study acts as a reference. You can pull quotes from customers that were featured in these studies to repurpose them in other marketing content.

How long should a case study be?

Now that you’re more acquainted with the benefits of producing a case study, let’s explore how long these documents should be.

The length of a case study will vary depending on the complexity of the project or topic discussed. However, as a general guideline, case studies typically range from 500 to 1,500 words.

Whatever length you choose, it should provide a clear understanding of the challenge, the solution you implemented, and the results achieved.

This may be easier said than done, but it‘s important to strike a balance between providing enough detail to make the case study informative and concise enough to keep the reader’s interest.

The primary goal here is to effectively communicate the key points and takeaways of the case study. It’s worth noting that this shouldn’t be a wall of text. Make it attractive to dive into by using headings, subheadings, bullet points, charts, and other graphics to break up the content and make it more scannable for readers.

I’ve also seen more and more brands incorporate video elements into case studies listed on their site for a more engaging experience, which is highly recommended given that video is currently the best performing marketing content format.

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Ultimately, the length of your case study should be determined by the amount of information necessary to convey the story and its impact without becoming too long. Next, let’s look at some templates to take the guesswork out of creating one.

Case Study Templates

To help you arm your prospects with information they can trust, I've put together a step-by-step guide on how to create effective case studies for your business with free case study templates to help you create your own.

To make things even more actionable for you, I’ll highlight some useful templates that serve different needs.

But remember, there are endless possibilities when it comes to demonstrating the work your business has done, and various audiences will have various reactions to what your business does.

I can get you started — but never count out the creatives on your team with fresh ideas.

1. General Case Study Template

Starting off with a straightforward, generic template can be a great foundation for your case study. With this first template, your business can elaborate on any solution provided to a satisfied customer — from their background to what led to them doing business with you, and the results they’ve seen.

Along with the simplistic design of this template, each section is clearly distinct and outlines the type of information or direction to take to tell you and your customer’s story better.

And for added benefit, when you download this template you’ll find bracket prompts for ideation and instructions to follow as you fill it in, which is incredibly helpful.

2. Data-Driven Case Study Template

For those looking to show off objective and numeric solutions, HubSpot’s Data-Driven template is a great template to work with.

It’s structured to highlight the most notable achievement metrics that a specific customer has seen with your product and/or service.

As you work through this template, you’ll find similar bracketed prompts and sections as the generic template — but with more eye-catching visual cues for your customer’s success points to be properly showcased.

3. Product-Specific Case Study Template

Do you have a specific product or service that you’re trying to sell, but not enough reviews or success stories? This Product-Specific case study template will help.

This template relies less on metrics, and more on highlighting the customer’s experience and satisfaction.

As you follow the template instructions, you’ll be prompted to speak more about the benefits of the specific product, rather than your team’s process for working with the customer.

4. Bold Social Media Business Case Study Template

You can find templates that represent different niches, industries, or strategies that your business has found success in — like a bold social media business case study template.

In this template, you can tell the story of how your social media marketing strategy has helped you or your client through collaboration or sale of your service.

Customize it to reflect the different marketing channels used in your business and show off how well your business has been able to boost traffic, engagement, follows, and more.

5. Lead Generation Business Case Study Template

It’s important to note that not every case study has to be the product of a sale or customer story, sometimes they can be informative lessons that your own business has experienced.

A great example of this is the Lead Generation Business case study template.

If you’re looking to share operational successes regarding how your team has improved processes or content, you should include the stories of different team members involved, how the solution was found, and how it has made a difference in the work your business does.

Now that I’ve discussed different templates and ideas for how to use them, let’s break down how to create your own case study with one.

1. Get started with case study templates.

Telling your customer's story is a delicate process — you need to highlight their success while naturally incorporating your business into their story.

If you're just getting started with case studies, I do recommend that you download HubSpot's Case Study Templates to kickstart the process if you haven’t already.

2. Determine the case study's objective.

All business case studies are designed to demonstrate the value of your services, but they can focus on several different client objectives.

Your first step when writing a case study is to determine the objective or goal of the subject you're featuring. In other words, what will the client succeed in doing by the end of the piece?

The client objective you focus on will depend on what you want to prove to your future customers as a result of publishing this case study.

For example, your case study could focus on one of the following client objectives:

Complying with government regulation.
Lowering business costs.
Becoming profitable.
Generating more leads.
Closing on more customers.
Generating more revenue.
Expanding into a new market.
Becoming more sustainable or energy-efficient.

3. Establish a case study medium.

Next, you‘ll determine the medium in which you’ll create the case study. In other words, how will you tell this story?

Case studies certainly don't have to be simple, text-based one-pagers. Using different media in your case study can allow you to promote your final piece on different channels.

For example, while a written case study might just live on your website and get featured in a Facebook post, you can post an infographic case study on Pinterest and a video case study on your YouTube channel for maximum impact.

Here are some different case study mediums to consider and ways to benefit from them:

Written Case Study

Consider writing your case study in the form of an ebook and converting it to a downloadable PDF. Then, gate the PDF behind a landing page and form that your readers fill out before downloading the piece. This enables your case study to generate leads for your business.

Video Case Study

Plan on meeting with the client and shooting an interview. Seeing the subject, in person, talk about the service you provided them can go a long way in the eyes of your potential customers. Plus, you can create cross-channel posts with the video, or take still images from the video to use with any social media account.

Infographic Case Study

Use the long, vertical format of an infographic to tell your success story from top to bottom.

As you progress down the infographic, emphasize major KPIs using bigger text and charts that show the successes your client has had since working with you.

Pro tip: Make the top of your infographic visually interesting to attract clicks. Don’t be afraid to front-load a particularly interesting statistic or detail — there’s no such thing as wasting it if nobody was reading it, right? Lead with something your target audience will find juicy.

Podcast Case Study

Podcasts are a platform for you to have a candid conversation with your client. This type of case study can sound more real and human to your audience — they'll know the partnership between you and your client was a genuine success.

4. Find the right case study candidate.

Writing about your previous projects requires more than picking a client and telling a story — you’ll need that client’s participation.

You’ll need permission, quotes, and a plan to make it as easy on them as possible. To start, here are a few things to look for in potential candidates.

Product Knowledge

It helps to select a customer who's well-versed in the logistics of your product or service. That way, they can better speak to the value of what you offer in a way that makes sense and sounds good to future customers.

Remarkable Results

Clients that have seen the best results are going to make the strongest case studies. If their own businesses have seen an exemplary ROI from your product or service, they're more likely to convey the enthusiasm that you want your prospects to feel, too.

One part of this step is to choose clients who have experienced an unexpected level of success from your product or service.

When you‘ve provided non-traditional customers — in industries that you don’t usually work with, for example — with positive results, it can help to remove doubts from prospects.

This can widen your appeal and attract more and varied clients.

Recognizable Names

While small companies can have powerful stories, bigger or more notable brands tend to lend their credibility to your own.

In fact, 89% of consumers say they'll buy from a brand they already recognize over a competitor, especially if they already follow them on social media.

Pro tip: It can be intimidating to revisit older clients, especially big names, and especially if they moved on with another company. But listen — if you did good work for them and saw results, you can be proud of that and they can be honest about what worked. Don’t be afraid to ask for their support with your case study.

Switchers

Customers that came to you after working with a competitor often have captivating highs and lows that make for a great story.

Switchers can help highlight your competitive advantages and might even sway decisions in your favor if you have prospects on the fence.

5. Contact your candidate for permission to write about them.

To get the case study candidate involved, you have to set the stage for clear and open communication.

That means outlining expectations and a timeline right away — not having a plan in place before you call your candidate is one of the biggest culprits in delayed case study creation.

Most importantly, having a plan lined up helps in getting your subject‘s approval.

When first reaching out to your case study candidate, provide them with the case study’s objective and format — both of which you will have come up with in steps #2 and #3 above.

To get this initial permission from your subject, put yourself in their shoes — what would they want out of this case study?

Although you‘re writing this for your own company’s benefit, your subject is far more interested in the benefit it has for them, so make the deal sweet.

Benefits to Offer Your Case Study Candidate

Here are four potential benefits you can promise your case study candidate to gain their approval.

Product Discount

This is a more tangible incentive you can offer your case study candidate, especially if they're a current customer of yours.

If they agree to be your subject, offer them a product discount — or a free trial of another product — as a thank you for their help creating your case study.

The bigger the scope and size of the study, the more you can make the case to your finance department to justify larger gifts and get more buy-in.

Brand Exposure

Explain to your subject how and to whom this case study will be exposed.

This exposure can help increase their own brand awareness both in and beyond their own industry.

In the B2B sector, brand awareness can be hard to collect outside one‘s own market, making case studies particularly useful to a client looking to expand their name’s reach.

Employee Exposure

Allow your subject to provide quotes with credits back to specific employees.

When this is an option for them, their brand isn't the only thing expanding its reach — their employees can get their name out there, too.

This presents your subject with networking and career development opportunities they might not have otherwise.

Backlinks and Website Traffic

Backlinks are a benefit sure to resonate with your subject‘s marketing team. When you publish your case study on your website, make sure that your study links back to your subject’s website. This is known as a “backlink.”

If your reader clicks the link in your case study, it takes your reader to the subject's website. Essentially, this small gesture gives them additional website traffic from visitors who have read your case study.

Additionally, a backlink from you increases your subject's page authority in the eyes of Google, which is growing in difficulty as AI infiltrates the internet.

This helps them rank more highly in search engine results. Landing higher on the SERP enables them to collect more traffic from searchers who are looking for information about your subject’s industry.

Once you know what you’re going to offer your candidate, go ahead and contact them to see if they are interested in featuring in a customer success story, with the promise of more details to follow.

6. Ensure you have all the resources you need to proceed before you get a response.

Now it’s time to prepare the resources needed for if — when! — they agree to participate. At the very least, you’ll need a case study release form and a success story letter.

Let's break those two down.

Case Study Release Form

This document can vary, depending on factors like the size of your business, the nature of your work, and what you intend to do with the case study once it is completed.

You’ll need permission to use any brand names and to share the project information publicly.

You should typically aim to include the following in your Case Study Release Form:

A clear explanation of why you are creating this case study and how it will be used.
A statement defining the information and potentially trademarked information you expect to be able to include about the company — things like names, logos, job titles, and pictures.
An explanation of what you would expect from the participant beyond the completion of the case study. For example, is this customer willing to act as a reference or share feedback? Do you have permission to pass contact information along for these purposes?
A note about compensation.

Success Story Letter

This document serves as an outline for the entire case study process so your subject better understands the entire process they would be opting into.

You'll want to be sure to define the details outlined in your Case Study Release Form within your Success Story Letter. There are many details you’ll need to think about so that you can clearly explain what the process will be like.

7. Define the process you want to follow with the client.

Before you can begin the case study, you have to have a clear outline of the case study process with your client. An example of an effective outline would include the following information.

The Acceptance

First, you‘ll need to receive internal approval from the company’s marketing team.

Once approved, the Release Form should be signed and returned to you. It's also a good time to determine a timeline that meets the needs and capabilities of both teams.

The Questionnaire

To ensure that you have a productive interview — which is one of the best ways to collect information for the case study — you'll want to ask the participant to complete a questionnaire before this conversation.

That will provide your team with the necessary foundation to organize the interview, and get the most out of it.

The Interview

Once the questionnaire is completed, someone on your team should reach out to the participant to schedule a 30- to 60-minute interview.

This should include a series of custom questions related to the customer's experience with your product or service.

The Draft Review

After the case study is composed, you'll want to send a draft to the customer, allowing an opportunity to give you feedback and edits.

The Final Approval

Once any necessary edits are completed, send a revised copy of the case study to the customer for final approval.

Once the case study goes live — on your website or elsewhere — it‘s best to contact the customer with a link to the page where the case study lives.

Don’t be afraid to ask your participants to share these links with their own networks, as it not only demonstrates your ability to deliver positive results and impressive growth, as well.

8. Download a case study email template.

You’ve gathered your resources, and soon your candidate will get to explore the exciting details of participating in your case study.

The case study release form communicates what you'll need from your chosen subject, and your success story letter outlines the process in its entirety.

Hopefully by now they’ve replied that they are interested in working with you on a customer success story. It’s time to send your case study email!

To give you an idea of what that might look like, check out this sample email.

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9. Ensure you're asking the right questions.

Before you execute the questionnaire and actual interview, make sure you're setting yourself up for success. A strong case study results from being prepared to ask the right questions.

Here are a few examples to get you started:

What are your goals?
What challenges were you experiencing before purchasing our product or service?
What made our product or service stand out against our competitors?
What did your decision-making process look like?
How have you benefited from using our product or service? (Where applicable, always ask for data.)

Keep in mind that the questionnaire is designed to help you gain insights into what sort of strong, success-focused questions to ask during the actual interview.

And once you get to that stage, I recommend that you follow the “Golden Rule of Interviewing.” Sounds fancy, right? It's actually quite simple — ask open-ended questions.

If you‘re looking to craft a compelling story, "yes" or "no" answers won’t provide the details you need. Focus on questions that invite elaboration, such as, “Can you describe ...?” or, “Tell me about ...”

In terms of the interview structure, I recommend categorizing the questions in a way that the answers flow into six specific sections that will mirror a successful case study format. Combined, they'll allow you to gather enough information to put together a rich, comprehensive study.

Open with the customer's business.

The goal of this section is to generate a better understanding of the company's current challenges and goals, plus how they fit into the landscape of their industry. Sample questions might include:

How long have you been in business?
How many employees do you have?
What are some of the objectives of your department at this time?

Cite a problem or pain point.

To tell a compelling story, you need context that helps match the customer's needs with your solution. Sample questions might include:

What challenges and objectives led you to look for a solution?
What might have happened if you did not identify a solution?
Did you explore other solutions before this that did not work out? If so, what happened?

Discuss the decision process.

Exploring how the customer decided to work with you helps to guide potential customers through their own decision-making processes.

Sample questions might include:

How did you hear about our product or service?
Who was involved in the selection process?
What was most important to you when evaluating your options?

Explain how a solution was implemented.

The focus here should be placed on the customer's experience during the onboarding process. Sample questions might include:

How long did it take to get up and running?
Did that meet your expectations?
Who was involved in the process?

Explain how the solution works.

The goal of this section is to better understand how the customer is using your product or service. Sample questions might include:

Is there a particular aspect of the product or service that you rely on most?
Who is using the product or service?

End with the results.

In this section, you want to uncover impressive measurable outcomes — the more numbers, the better. Sample questions might include:

How is the product or service helping you save time and increase productivity?
In what ways does that enhance your competitive advantage?
How much have you increased metrics X, Y, and Z?

It’s a smart idea to send a copy of your interview questions to your subject ahead of time so they can prepare strong answers and collect the numerical data you need from them.

10. Lay out your case study format.

When it comes time to take all of the information you‘ve collected and actually turn it into something useful, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. I always do, but I also know that it works out in the end, so I just jump on in and work it through.

So where should you start? What should you include? What's the best way to structure it?

It‘s important to first understand that there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to the ways you can present a case study.

They can be very visual, which you’ll see in some of the examples we've included below, and can sometimes be communicated through video or photos with a bit of accompanying text.

Here are the sections I’d suggest, and I'll cover these in more detail after #11 below:

Title. Keep it short. Develop a succinct but interesting project name you can give the work you did with your subject.
Subtitle. Use this copy to briefly elaborate on the accomplishment. What was done? The case study itself will explain how you got there.
Executive Summary. A 2-4 sentence summary of the entire story. You'll want to follow it with 2-3 bullet points that display metrics showcasing success.
About the Subject. An introduction to the person or company you served, which can be pulled from a LinkedIn Business profile or client website.
Challenges and Objectives. A 2-3 paragraph description of the customer's challenges, before using your product or service. This section should also include the goals or objectives the customer set out to achieve.
How Product/Service Helped. A 2-3 paragraph section that describes how your product or service provided a solution to their problem.
Results. A 2-3 paragraph testimonial that proves how your product or service specifically benefited the person or company and helped achieve its goals. Include numbers to quantify your contributions.
Supporting Visuals or Quotes. Pick one or two powerful quotes that you would feature at the bottom of the sections above, as well as a visual that supports the story you are telling.
Future Plans. Everyone likes an epilogue. Comment on what's ahead for your case study subject, whether or not those plans involve you.
Call-to-Action (CTA). Not every case study needs a CTA, but putting a passive one at the end of your case study can encourage your readers to take an action on your website after learning about the work you've done.

When laying out your case study, focus on conveying the information you've gathered in the most clear and concise way possible.

Make it easy to scan and comprehend, and be sure to provide an attractive call-to-action at the bottom — that should provide readers an opportunity to learn more about your product or service.

11. Publish and promote your case study.

Once you‘ve completed your case study, it’s time to publish and promote it.

Some case study formats have pretty obvious promotional outlets — a video case study can go on YouTube, just as an infographic case study can go on Pinterest.

But there are still other ways to publish and promote your case study. Here are a couple of ideas.

Lead Gen in a Blog Post

As stated earlier, written case studies make terrific lead-generators if you convert them into a downloadable format, like a PDF.

To generate leads from your case study, consider writing a blog post that tells an abbreviated story of your client‘s success and asking readers to fill out a form with their name and email address if they’d like to read the rest in your PDF.

Then, promote this blog post on social media, through a Facebook post or a tweet.

Published as a Page on Your Website

As a growing business, you might need to display your case study out in the open to gain the trust of your target audience.

Rather than gating it behind a landing page, publish your case study to its own page on your website, and direct people to it from your homepage with a “Case Studies” or “Testimonials” button along your homepage's top navigation bar.

1. Title

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The title is one of the most important parts of your case study. It should draw readers in while succinctly describing the potential benefits of working with your company. To that end, your title should:

State the name of your customer. Right away, the reader must learn which company used your products and services. This is especially important if your customer has a recognizable brand. If you work with individuals and not companies, you may omit the name and go with professional titles: “A Marketer…”, “A CFO…”, and so forth.
State which product your customer used. Even if you only offer one product or service, or if your company name is the same as your product name, you should still include the name of your solution. That way, readers who are not familiar with your business can become aware of what you sell.
Allude to the results achieved. You don’t necessarily need to provide hard numbers, but the title needs to represent the benefits, quickly. That way, if a reader doesn’t stay to read, they can walk away with the most essential information: Your product works.

The example above, “Crunch Fitness Increases Leads and Signups With HubSpot,” achieves all three — without being wordy. Keeping your title short and sweet is essential.

2. Subtitle

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Your subtitle is another essential part of your case study — don’t skip it, even if you think you’ve done the work with the title.

In this section, include a brief summary of the challenges your customer was facing before they began to use your products and services. Then, drive the point home by reiterating the benefits your customer experienced by working with you.

The above example reads:

“Crunch Fitness was franchising rapidly when COVID-19 forced fitness clubs around the world to close their doors. But the company stayed agile by using HubSpot to increase leads and free trial signups.”

Pro tip: I like that the case study team expressed the urgency of the problem — opening more locations in the midst of a pandemic — and placed the focus on the customer’s ability to stay agile.

3. Executive Summary

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The executive summary should provide a snapshot of your customer, their challenges, and the benefits they enjoyed from working with you.

Think it’s too much? Think again — the purpose of the case study is to emphasize, again and again, how well your product works.

The good news is that depending on your design, the executive summary can be mixed with the subtitle or with the “About the Company” section. Many times, this section doesn’t need an explicit “Executive Summary” subheading. You do need, however, to provide a convenient snapshot for readers to scan.

In the above example, ADP included information about its customer in a scannable bullet-point format, then provided two sections: “Business Challenge” and “How ADP Helped.”

Pro tip: Sometimes keeping it simple sells better than too much detail. I love how simple and easy the format is to follow for those who are unfamiliar with ADP or its typical customer.

4. About the Company

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Readers need to know and understand who your customer is.

This is important for several reasons:

It helps your reader potentially relate to your customer.
It defines your ideal client profile (which is essential to deter poor-fit prospects who might have reached out without knowing they were a poor fit).
It gives your customer an indirect boon by subtly promoting their products and services.

Feel free to keep this section as simple as possible. You can simply copy and paste information from the company’s LinkedIn, use a quote directly from your customer, or take a more creative storytelling approach.

In the above example, HubSpot included one paragraph of description for Crunch Fitness and a few bullet points. Below, ADP tells the story of its customer using an engaging, personable technique that effectively draws readers in.

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5. Challenges and Objectives

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The challenges and objectives section of your case study is the place to lay out, in detail, the difficulties your customer faced prior to working with you — and what they hoped to achieve when they enlisted your help.

In this section, you can be as brief or as descriptive as you’d like, but remember to stress the urgency of the situation. Don’t understate how much your customer needed your solution — but of course don’t exaggerate and lie, either.

Provide contextual information as necessary. For instance, the pandemic and societal factors may have contributed to the urgency of the need.

Take the above example from design consultancy IDEO:

“To succeed in today’s knowledge economy means you can never stop learning. But educational opportunities for adults have become difficult to access in the United States, just when they’re needed most. Employers are demanding fresh skills faster than Americans can acquire them, and that’s leaving many behind.

To counter this trend, IDEO helped the city of South Bend and the Drucker Institute launch Bendable, a community-powered platform that connects people with opportunities to learn with and from each other. Free to all, Bendable is sponsored and run by the city’s library system.”

Pro tip: Lay out the challenge, what your customer wants to do about it, and how you made it possible. IDEO mentions the difficulties the United States faces at large, the efforts its customer is taking to address these issues, and the steps IDEO took to help them make it happen.

6. How Product/Service Helped

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This is where you get your product or service to shine. Cover the specific benefits that your customer enjoyed and the features they gleaned the most use out of.

You can also go into detail about how you worked with and for your customer.

Maybe you met several times before choosing the right solution, or you consulted with external agencies to create the best package for them.

Whatever the case may be, try to illustrate how easy and pain-free it is to work with the representatives at your company. After all, potential customers aren’t looking to just purchase a product. They’re looking for a dependable provider that will strive to exceed their expectations.

In the above example, IDEO describes how it partnered with research institutes and spoke with learners to create Bendable, a free educational platform.

Pro Tip: Show your proactivity and thoroughness. IDEO did a great job to make potential customers feel that they might do something similar for other clients.

7. Results

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The results are essential, and the best part is that you don’t need to write the entirety of the case study before sharing them. Like HubSpot, IDEO, and ADP, you can include the results right below the subtitle or executive summary.

Use data and numbers to substantiate the success of your efforts, but if you don’t have numbers, you can provide quotes from your customers.

I can’t overstate the importance of the results. In fact, if you wanted to create a short case study, you could include your title, challenge, solution (how your product helped), and result.

8. Supporting Visuals or Quotes

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Let your customer speak for themselves by including quotes from the representatives who directly interfaced with your company.

Visuals can also help, even if they’re stock images. On one side, they can help you convey your customer’s industry, and on the other, they can indirectly convey your successes. For instance, a picture of a happy professional — even if they’re not your customer — will communicate that your product can lead to a happy client.

In this example from IDEO, we see a man standing in a boat. IDEO’s customer is neither the man pictured nor the manufacturer of the boat, but rather Conservation International, an environmental organization.

Pro tip: Break up blocks of text to keep your potential customer’s interest. Walls of text get boring quickly. The boat imagery referred to above provides a visually pleasing pattern interrupt to the page, while still conveying what the case study is about.

9. Future Plans

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This is optional, but including future plans can help you close on a more positive, personable note than if you were to simply include a quote or the results.

In this space, you can show that your product will remain in your customer’s tech stack for years to come, or that your services will continue to be instrumental to your customer’s success.

Alternatively, if you work only on time-bound projects, you can allude to the positive impact your customer will continue to see, even years after the end of the contract.

10. Call-to-Action (CTA)

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Not every case study needs a CTA, but I’d still encourage it. Putting one at the end of your case study will encourage your readers to take an action on your website after learning about the work you've done.

It will also make it easier for them to reach out, if they’re ready to start immediately. You don’t want to lose business just because they have to scroll all the way back up to reach out to your team.

Business Case Study Examples

You drove the results, made the connection, set the expectations, used the questionnaire to conduct a successful interview, and boiled down your findings into a compelling story.

And after all of that, you're left with a little piece of sales enabling gold — a case study.

To show you what a well-executed final product looks like, have a look at some of these marketing case study examples.

1. “Shopify Uses HubSpot CRM to Transform High Volume Sales Organization,” by HubSpot

What's interesting about this case study is the way it leads with the customer. This reflects a major HubSpot value, which is to always solve for the customer first.

The copy leads with a brief description of why Shopify uses HubSpot, and it’s accompanied by a short video and some basic statistics on the company.

Notice that this case study uses mixed media. Yes, there is a short video, but it‘s elaborated upon in the additional text on the page.

So, while case studies can use one or the other, don’t be afraid to combine written copy with visuals to emphasize the project's success.

2. “New England Journal of Medicine,” by Corey McPherson Nash

When branding and design studio Corey McPherson Nash showcases its work, it makes sense for it to be visual — after all, that‘s what they do.

So in building the case study for the studio’s work on the New England Journal of Medicine‘s integrated advertising campaign — a project that included the goal of promoting the client’s digital presence — Corey McPherson Nash showed its audience what it did, rather than purely telling it.

Pro tip: Catch eyes by letting targeted visuals do the talking. Notice that the case study above does include some light written copy — which includes the major points I‘ve suggested — but the visuals allow users to really absorb the studio’s services.

3. “Designing the Future of Urban Farming,” by IDEO

Here's a design company that knows how to lead with simplicity in its case studies. As soon as the visitor arrives at the page, he or she is greeted with a big, bold photo, and two very simple columns of text — “The Challenge” and “The Outcome.”

Immediately, IDEO has communicated two of the case study‘s major pillars. While that’s great — the company created a solution for vertical farming startup INFARM‘s challenge — it doesn’t stop there.

As the user scrolls down, those pillars are elaborated upon with comprehensive copy that outlines what that process looked like, replete with quotes and additional visuals.

4. “Secure Wi-Fi Wins Big for Tournament,” by WatchGuard

Then, there are the cases when visuals can tell almost the entire story — when executed correctly.

Network security provider WatchGuard can do that through this video, which tells the story of how its services enhanced the attendee and vendor experience at the Windmill Ultimate Frisbee tournament.

5. Freshbooks’ “How Zachary Uses Projects and Profitability Tools to Save $2K/Month”

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In the case study above, Freshbooks uses photos, videos, and helpful stats to tell the story of how a small business owner is able to use Freshbooks’ profitability tools to get a handle on ROI on his clients and projects. They do an excellent job of lining up the problem, solution, and results right off the bat.

Pro tip: Widen your portfolio of case studies by covering businesses of different sizes and in various stages of growth. This can help you attract more prospects to keep your pipeline full and your employees working even when you’re not in the middle of large projects.

6. Small Desk Plant Business Ups Sales by 30% With Trello

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This case study from Trello on Desk Plants is straightforward and easy to understand. It begins by explaining the background of the company that decided to use it, what its goals were, and how it planned to use Trello to help them.

It then goes on to discuss how the software was implemented and what tasks and teams benefited from it. Towards the end, it explains the sales results that came from implementing the software and includes quotes from decision-makers at the company that implemented it.

7. Facebook's Mercedes Benz Success Story

Facebook's Success Stories page hosts a number of well-designed and easy-to-understand case studies that visually and editorially get to the bottom line quickly.

Each study begins with key stats that draw the reader in. Then it's organized by highlighting a problem or goal in the introduction, the process the company took to reach its goals, and the results. Then, in the end, Facebook notes the tools used in the case study.

Showcasing Your Work

You work hard at what you do. Now, it's time to show it to the world — and more importantly, to potential customers — with a great case study.

Before you show off the projects that make you the proudest, I hope you follow these important steps that will help you effectively communicate that work and leave all parties feeling great about it.

Editor's Note: This blog post was originally published in February 2017 but was updated for comprehensiveness and freshness.

The 8 Best Free Flowchart Templates [+ Examples]

Aimee del Principe — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Once upon a time at university, I used flowcharts to map out my research processes so they could be clearly understood and repeated during peer review. Lately, I’ve been using flowcharts to organize an instructional book on floral design. Today, I’ll be exploring flowcharts as they pertain to the business sector.

Flowchart templates help people easily map out business processes, improve workflows, and even clarify organizational structures. Any industry can make smart use of flowcharts for business, and templates make that work go even faster.

Bulleted lists, Word documents, or even presentations can help convey a process, but they don’t offer the same level of visual clarity and readability that a flowchart does. This is especially true if you’re trying to map out different steps or stages.

So let’s answer the main questions first: what is a flowchart, and what can you use it for?

Table of Contents

What Is a Flowchart?
Flowchart Templates for Business
Flowchart Examples for Business
Free Flowchart Templates

Flowcharts are ideal for outlining processes, which are the backbone of a strong business. A clear, repeatable process has two major hurdles to successful implementation in any business: first, the development of that process, and second, getting buy-in from stakeholders on that process. (Good luck, right?)

The best way to overcome both of these potential roadblocks is to transparently and logically outline a process.

Many businesses use flowcharts to manage this, as flowcharts visually outline a process roadmap for a full-scope understanding. They can also be easily digested by employees who need to know and follow the process.

In a business, flowcharts can be used for any of the following purposes:

Team and organizational alignment. An organizational structure diagram clarifies who reports to whom in your team.
Data management. A data flow diagram will help you understand how information progresses through your business up until deletion.
Sales process mapping. Creating a sales process flowchart can help you shorten the sales cycle and increase revenue.
Email nurturing. Email campaigns are famously dependent on workflows, which are a type of flowchart that decides who to enroll in a campaign and when.
Customer journey mapping. A customer journey flowchart shows how customers find you and what their experience is like at your business.
Customer or employee onboarding. A customer onboarding process flow can help you define what messaging to send and when during your customer’s first interactions with your business.
A/B testing. When designing an A/B test, you’ll typically use a flowchart to figure out how many versions you’ll test and the potential results you’ll get.

These roles are often noted in a key on the flowchart for quick reference.

Who should use this flowchart? Project managers looking to keep track of various tasks and their outcomes.

What I like about this flowchart template: The task flowchart visually depicts how various contributions to a product support the end result. Each stakeholder can see how their tasks impact the flow of the project.

Pro tip: The shapes can also represent different types of actions, like back-end development of a new element and then front-end testing of those elements to create a QA process.

4. Complex Flowchart Template

Download this Template

For a flowchart that doesn’t need gridlines or different shapes, this template is the best solution. It offers the option for multiple endpoints depending on which steps are taken throughout the process. Then it uses simple yes or no answers to drive you toward the endpoint.

Who should use this flowchart? Teams looking to manage processes that could have various endpoints or projects that have multiple steps and stakeholders involved.

What I like about this flowchart template: Complex processes can be difficult to keep track of. This flowchart template creates an intuitive visual for multi-step processes. This makes it easier to figure out if and when you should move forward.

5. Circular Flowchart Template

Download this Template

The circular flowchart template changes things up with a different shape, but it also offers a different path structure. It helps you outline both short and long processes, with different outcomes depending on the number of steps required.

Who should use this flowchart? Social media managers, product marketers, and content strategists may find that this template suits their needs.

What I like about this flowchart template: This template has a cleaner appearance than some of the more complex flowcharts and may be better for visual learners.

6. Linear Flowchart Template

Download this Template

A linear flowchart template is a solution for when there’s only one optimal result. Every step of the process will either lead someone to that outcome or result in the process simply ending.

Who should use this flowchart? Email marketing specialists and sales teams can benefit from this template because there’s typically one goal: to earn one more subscriber or earn one more customer.

What I like about this flowchart template: With one singular goal, this flowchart format has a clear beginning and end, making it easy to outline a simple process.

Pro tip: This linear flow can be as long as you’d like it to be. I’ve personally received over 30 emails from the same source trying to get me to opt into their offer. They really hope that I will buy, and I really hope, for their sake, that they automate.

7. Tree Flowchart Template

Download this Template

A tree-style flowchart template makes the most sense for situations where there are multiple choices and when each option has a clear and distinct next step.

Who should use this flowchart? For businesses, this flowchart would be perfect for the support department — which can use this template to map out responses from automated chat support or a phone tree.

What I like about this flowchart template: Each action has a clear next step and a predetermined outcome, but you can add more than two options — which is often not applicable to other flowcharts.

8. Organizational Flowchart Template

Download this Template

The final flowchart businesses might want to use is an organizational flowchart (or org chart) template. This is an essential chart that shows who reports to whom and helps all employees understand their position in the business.

Who should use this flowchart? Company and department heads use this template to outline the chain of command in an area of the business. Human Resources teams can also use it to inform team structure and organizational decisions.

What I like about this flowchart template: Users can see team structure at-a-glance and can quickly find who they need to go to for their project or to have their questions answered.

Pro tip: As people take on additional roles and report to various departments, these traditional org charts may not be flexible enough to represent reality. It may just represent a starting point that can help workers get oriented.

Now that I’ve shared the best flowchart templates, it’s time to look at them in action!

Flowchart Examples for Business

1. Basic Process Flowchart Example

This template visualizes how a user visiting a company's landing page could convert and become a lead. Notice how there are two potential final outcomes, but because of this chart’s simplicity, you can add as many outcomes as you want. With a flowchart like this, it’s important to have clear, defined goals in mind.

2. Swimlane Flowchart Example

In the example above, the swimlanes are divided by department to illustrate the process of the customer journey. This is exceedingly important for determining which teams need to interact with a customer and when.

Without a swimlane flowchart outlining these roles, your customers’ experience with your company can seem haphazard and poorly planned.

3. Task Flowchart Example

In the example above, the different shapes represent the start of, end of, and actions taken during the process of viewing a landing page. This task flowchart example follows an “if this, then that” format. It shows the various outcomes that could occur when a potential customer visits a landing page.

4. Complex Flowchart Example

The above hiring visual is an example of a complex flowchart with many events and potential outcomes. It offers two potential outcomes at every stage. Then it shows with clarity what happens as a candidate moves forward. The colors also make it clear which final outcomes are positive or negative.

5. Circular Flowchart Example

In the example above, a circular flowchart offers a decision-making framework.

Here, it’s used to help a social media manager figure out which site to post content on. It includes specific, targeted questions that define the assets the social media manager needs to create and which social platforms these assets are best suited for.

6. Linear Flowchart Example

As I mentioned earlier, linear flowcharts can be used for processes that have only one desired outcome. In the above example, it’s for an email nurturing sequence. In the image, the process ends whether someone signs up for an event or not.

A time-bound (or finite) email nurturing sequence is especially a good fit for these types of flowcharts. For continuous email marketing campaigns, you might need a more agile flowchart where you can determine when to move a subscriber to another email list.

7. Tree Flowchart Example

In this tree flowchart example, a business depicts the choices and next steps a caller can take when contacting them by phone. Notice that there are many endpoints for the customer depending on their previous action.

A flowchart like this is useful if you’re trying to outline a process with different branches. For instance, you might create a landing page flowchart that determines which form or CTA is depicted to a customer based on their previous activity on your website.

8. Organizational Flowchart Example

While not exactly procedural, this visualization helps those within the company quickly understand who reports to whom and who handles what.

The best part of this example is that it can be as detailed or as simple as you’d like it to be; you can delve down to your junior individual contributors or simply outline your leadership map.

Free Flowchart Templates

Flowchart templates are incredibly useful for solving business problems and simplifying processes. That said, some issues need more custom solutions.

I’ve gathered up some free and paid flowchart templates, tools and software to try out — we’ll look at the free ones first.

The software and adjustable templates I’ve hunted down can even help your team connect and work together on flowcharts. They make it simple to create unique and easy-to-read flowcharts that fit a variety of needs — including mine!

I’ll be using demos of the free tools below to establish information flows for my instructional book about floristry. Hopefully we’ll both learn something new.

Free Flowchart Templates, Tools, and Software

1. Miro

Pricing: Free, with paid options for extended features and enterprises.

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Who Should Use This Tool?

Teams that use flowcharts for a wide variety of users and stakeholders. This tool is also helpful for teams that create flow charts collaboratively or want to include multiple flowcharts in a single document.

What I Like About It

Miro offers tools to build and plan complex flowcharts for teams. Besides visual whiteboard tools, Miro also offers templates for strategy mapping, workflows, UX design, and more. I personally loved the digital sticky note feature that makes it easy to add comments to in-progress flowcharts like the one I created above.

2. Draw.io

Pricing: Free

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Who Should Use This Tool?

This tool is popular with users who want diagramming software for immediate business application. This flowchart tool also includes customizable templates. I used it to create the flowchart below that maps out how to arrange a dozen red roses.

What I Like About It

This open-source technology is simple and quick to use for practical flowcharts and process mapping. It creates process diagrams for modeling, databases, networks, wireframes, and more. It also offers tons of customization options, but I didn’t find it overwhelming to use.

3. Zen Flowchart

Pricing: Free, with paid options for extended features.

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Who Should Use This Tool?

Casual users and enterprise companies looking for web-based flowchart software.

The free option is limited to 20 elements, so I was able to whip up a simple flowchart for deciding how to choose which style centerpieces to create for an event. I didn’t find the arrows to be intuitive, but it does have icons to choose from, which was a fun touch.

What I Like About It

Zen Flowchart is simple to use with a wide range of features. You can create mind maps, wireframes, or whiteboards with this drag-and-drop tool. The simple workspace helps limit distractions so you can focus on your business process. This flowchart tool also has features for collaboration and real-time commenting.

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Who Should Use This Tool?

Visio is an intuitive flowchart tool for Microsoft 365 users.

What I Like About It

This flowchart tool can help you create complex flowcharts or simple diagrams. The interface and styling are familiar to many business users, which can help speed up the process of visualizing complex ideas. It also offers themes to improve the look of your flowcharts.

Visio also comes with hundreds of templates for a range of industry needs. It also makes it simple to import data from Excel, Access, and other Microsoft sources.

Using Business Flowchart Templates

Business flowchart templates are the fastest and easiest way to build flowcharts, even faster than tools that take some time to learn to make something custom. From among the free tools I tested today, here are my takeaways.

I can easily say that Cacoo was my favorite. They have far more intuitive arrows that connect to auto-docks around the shapes, keeping lines tight and clean.
Draw.io felt a bit like Photoshop to me, but not nearly as overwhelming. Professional graphic designers might like that one as well as Lucidchart for the familiar, double-paneled interface.
I would put Miro and Zen Flowchart in the same category of being easy for beginners to try out, but I think Miro edges out Zen Flowchart in terms of what you get for free. Zen Flowchart works well, but the free version is truly just for small projects — 20 elements isn’t much to work with.

All the templates I discussed earlier in this post are downloadable and completely customizable when it comes to shape, format, color, and imagery inside Google Slides.

They will help you better illustrate and communicate processes in your company quickly and intuitively — without having to invest in or learn new software.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

SEO Writing: 13 Tips on Writing Blog Posts That Rank on Google

Courtney Feairheller — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

I’ve written hundreds of blogs as a content marketer, but I’m still susceptible to the amateur mistake of thinking about writing for SEO only after a blog is already written.

However, I’ve found that it’s a lot easier to think of SEO as the bookends of your blog and to let it inform what you should write as well as optimize when you’re done.

In fact, whenever I’ve consulted my SEO marketing software before writing a blog, it’s given me insight into what questions my audience is asking, how I can simplify things, and what kind of outline I should follow. SEO content writing doesn’t need to be boring or feel like it was written by a robot, either.

Read further to get tips on how to incorporate SEO in your blog writing while still creating interesting, useful content.

Table of Contents

Why is SEO content writing important?
The Basics of SEO Content Writing
Tips on How To Incorporate SEO in Your Writing

Why is SEO content writing important?

Without SEO, your content is less likely to rank highly on search engines. Ranking lower may hinder your ability to attract and engage with your target audience. It may also make your content seem less credible and authoritative.

A 2024 First Page Sage study found that the clickthrough rate for websites in position one on the SERP is 39.8%. This number drops drastically to 18.7% for websites in position two and then down to 1.6% for websites in position 10. When you get to page two of Google, that number gets even lower.

This means that if your website is not on the first page, there’s a small chance consumers will find your website organically. Fewer visits to your site mean fewer opportunities to generate leads and, ultimately, revenue.

Your next best option is investing in advertising to get those users to your site. But that costs money, and if you’re on a tight budget, why not invest time in SEO writing? It’s free and will likely bring you traffic for much longer than a campaign would.

SEO also addresses the top five issues that marketers currently face (see pictured below). By doing sufficient SEO research, you should be able to generate new ideas for your blogs, increase engagement, attract traffic, reach your audience, and generate leads.

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The Basics of SEO Content Writing

When getting started with SEO content writing, it’s important to understand the basics. Here are some fundamental principles to follow when incorporating SEO into your writing.

Keyword Optimization

Keyword optimization is all about strategically using relevant keywords and phrases in your content to boost its visibility and ranking.

This aspect of SEO is super important because it helps search engines better understand your content, thereby increasing the chances of it appearing in relevant search queries and attracting organic traffic.

To select the best keywords, you’ll need to research and identify what exactly your target audience is looking for and align it with your content’s topic. Finding the right balance between incorporating keywords in a way that makes sense to readers and satisfies search engine algorithms is key.

I’ll go more in-depth about how to find keywords and how to disperse them throughout your content in the tips section.

User Intent

User intent refers to the motivation or purpose behind a user's search query. It’s all about figuring out what they really want to discover when typing something into a search engine.

There are generally four types of user intent:

Informational intent. When someone is seeking information or answers to their questions. They may be looking for definitions, explanations, how-to guides, or research materials.
Navigational intent. When someone is searching for a specific website or brand. They already know what they want to find and are using a search engine to navigate to a particular webpage.
Transactional intent. When someone is ready to take action, such as making a purchase, subscribing to a service, or booking an appointment.
Commercial intent. When someone is researching products or services with the intention to buy later. They are comparing products, reading reviews, and looking for the best deals before making a decision.

By understanding user intent, you can create content that aligns with what people are looking for and boost your chances of showing up in search results. Each industry and niche also changes your user intent.

For example, SEO for lawyers will be a lot different compared to SEO for marketers. It's all about giving people what they need and providing them with a good search experience.

Readability

Writing for SEO isn’t just about what you write. It’s also about how you write. It isn’t enough to just place keywords into your content and call it a day. You need to consider how your audience’s experience will be when they read it.

This is where readability comes in.

Readability is all about striking the right balance between optimizing for search engines and ensuring that your content is enjoyable and valuable to human readers.

In addition to optimizing your content with keywords and internal links, you’ll want to focus on user experience. Write in a reader-friendly manner by using clear and concise language and avoiding jargon. You’ll also want to utilize headings and make your content more scannable (more on that below).

When writing and editing your content, ask yourself: Is this easy to understand? Does this have a logical flow? Is this engaging? If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” you may need to make some changes.

Historical Optimization

Every SEO writer knows that an evergreen blog post will never be completely finished, even after it’s been published. Thanks to algorithm updates and competitors targeting the same keywords, search results are always changing.

That’s why it’s important to have a content update strategy in place to ensure your older web content remains fresh and relevant in search engine rankings. This practice is called historical optimization.

To figure out which blog posts you need to update, assess your older content by conducting a content audit to find underperforming or outdated pieces. Then, determine how to improve the piece.

This usually involves refreshing the content by adding new information, removing outdated information, optimizing keywords, and improving formatting and readability.

1. Start with keyword research.

It’s estimated that Google processes over 70,000 search queries a second. Staggering, right?

If you want to cut through SERP clutter and outrank your competitors, you need to target the specific keywords and phrases your potential customers are searching for. Otherwise, how else will they find your content and website?

Start with a keyword research tool. Sites like Ahrefs and Google Keyword Planner give you details on what users are searching for and how popular those queries are.

For an inside look into how Ahrefs can aid you in your SEO keyword research and beyond, check out our case study and exclusive interview here.

Google Trends can also give you a feel for what keywords are popular at any given time. If you see searches steadily declining over time for a specific keyword, you know that’s probably not the right keyword to target for your marketing. The opposite is true for rising trends.

If you’re ever running low on keyword ideas, get inspiration from your competition. Use competitive intelligence tools to see what keywords their domains currently rank for. If these keywords are relevant to your business, consider using them too.

However, keep in mind that the most obvious keywords don’t always align with your strategy. Additionally, your focus keywords will evolve over time as trends shift, terminology changes, or your product/service line grows.

Be sure to conduct keyword research periodically to ensure you’re still focusing on the right keywords for your target audience and not missing out on vital ranking opportunities.

2. Use headings to your benefit.

Headers help Google’s web crawlers understand your blog post and the sections within it.

Think of the crawlers as readers who are skimming your blog. They want an overview of what your article will cover. That’s your H1. Then, your H2s, H3s, and H4s break down the subtopics within the piece.

So, your subheaders should reflect the content in the body and include high-intent keywords. When you use the right keywords, meaning the ones your target audience is using, you have a much higher chance of ranking on the SERP.

3. Optimize your content for featured snippets.

Featured snippets on Google are the most direct answers to search queries. For instance, if I were to search, “How do you write a blog post?” Google might use a featured snippet to show the best answer.

To earn a featured snippet on Google, you'll need to answer the question thoroughly and succinctly.

For instance, if the search term is “How to screenshot on Mac,” you can put “How to Take a Screenshot on a MacBook Computer” as your H1 or H2, followed by the steps in a numbered or bulleted list.

Once you’ve done that, be sure to include part of the question in your answer. Using the example above, you would start the paragraph with the following: “To take a screenshot on your MacBook, here are the steps…”

Additionally, start each sentence with an actionable verb, like “click” and “select.”

If the keyword for which you want to capture the featured snippet requires a definition, write an answer that’s no more than 58 words.

4. Write for humans, not search engines.

With all these SEO guidelines, it can be easy to forget that when a user searches on Google, they are looking for an answer. The best way for you to improve your chances of ranking is by writing high-quality blog posts.

What does that look like? Thorough answers, scannable sections, organized subheaders, and visual aids.

Keep your buyer personas, their motivations, challenges, and interests in mind. It’s also important to choose topics that will resonate with your potential customers and address their pain points.

While some SEO tools can help on the technical side of your site, you can also opt to use content writing SEO tools to help you write correct, concise, and human-friendly content that will rank well and engage readers.

Different tools also measure content engagement, allowing you to see how long people are spending on a page, whether or not they're visiting multiple pages, or how far people are scrolling down your site.

Pro tip: Writing can be difficult when keeping all of these variables in mind. One way to simplify the process is to organize your main thoughts. Then, use them as a prompt for an AI tool, like HubSpot’s free AI blog writer.

You can then go through that draft and add the personal touches and optimizations that make it fun for humans to read.

5. Optimize your title.

Even with a great, SEO-friendly post body, a bad headline could hurt you in the SERP.

To title your post with SEO in mind, write something compelling that also incorporates your main keyword. Here are a few tips:

Incorporate numbers. (“5 Ways to Rock a Matte Lipstick.”)
Include your offer in the title. (“How to Write a Cover Letter [+ Free Template]”)
Add a teaser. (“We Tried the New [Insert App Name] App: Here's What Happened”)

Check out this blog on SEO to gather more ideas on title optimization.

6. Include keywords in your meta description.

Are you adding meta descriptions to your post? If your answer is “no,” then you‘re probably not getting as much traffic as you could. Let’s get into why they're important.

By now, we‘ve talked about a couple of the ways a blog post can communicate with Google: subheaders, keywords, and snippets. However, that’s not an exhaustive list.

Meta descriptions are another area Google crawls to determine search rankings. Meta descriptions are the one- to three-sentence descriptions you'll find underneath the title of a result.

Use meta descriptions to sum up what your post is about, and remember to:

Keep it short.
Use one to two keywords.
Make it compelling. After all, there are going to be other posts similar to yours so you’ll want your description to stand above the rest.

Most content management systems (CMS) have meta description boxes built-in, so you likely won't have to look far to use the function.

7. Answer the questions no one else will

In his bestselling book “They Ask, You Answer,” Content Marketer Marcus Sheridan and Inbound speaker explains that answering avoided questions is “an approach to communication, company culture, and the way we sell as a business.

It starts with an obsession: “What is my customer thinking?” And when I say “obsession,” I really mean that. It extends past “What are they thinking?” to “What are they searching, asking, feeling, and fearing?” Some companies think they understand these questions, but the fact is most do not.”

These “taboo” questions might be pricing, how much your product costs, industry tips, and secrets no one wants to get out, or basically anything that your industry is avoiding writing about. The benefit to answering these kinds of questions is they are untapped SEO opportunities.

I saw this in real time on a client’s website, which I helped with. The company didn’t want to discuss how much their service costs in case competitors decided to underbid them. I pushed the idea of a pricing calculator instead — to let people put in their information and what they’re looking for to get a price range.

Their quote requests skyrocketed. No competitor was willing to even give a price range on services, so my client generated SEO traffic to capture new leads.

Consider writing an entire blog that addresses a topic your industry doesn’t want customers to know about to see what kind of traffic you can generate.

8. Resist the urge to keyword stuff.

The goal is to make your page fully optimized, not overbearing. Find natural fits for keyword additions, but don't force them to the point where your content is illegible.

For example, if your keywords are “account-based marketing,” “startups,” and “sales,” avoid a meta description like this: “Sales for account-based marketing startups.”

Instead, try focusing on one or two keywords to make the description more natural: “Are you looking for killer strategies to boost your account-based marketing game? Discover our research-backed techniques in this post.”

With this approach, you‘re still using keywords, but you’re not oversaturating the post. Remember, your goal is to solve for your audience. If your users have a poor reading experience, that will signal to Google that your post may not be meeting their needs.

9. Link to high-authority websites.

As you build out your blog post, don’t be afraid to link externally.

Linking to reputable websites not only offers blog readers additional reading material to expand their knowledge, but it also shows search engines that you’ve done your research.

Nothing strengthens a blog post like research-backed statistics from influential websites. Compelling stats help you build a more convincing and concrete argument that will help you gain trust from your readers.

10. Aim for scannable, longer posts.

In an age of short attention spans, you would think shorter blog posts are the way to go. But in fact, search engines like Google actually prefer longer, in-depth blog posts.

Think about it: the more content on the page, the more clues search engines have to figure out what your blog is about. At HubSpot, we’ve found that the ideal length is between 2,100 and 2,400 words.

The downside to longer blogs is that they may overwhelm your readers. One way to combat that is by breaking down your content into bite-size, scannable chunks.

Don’t forget about bullet points – they’re great attention grabbers and easily digestible, especially on mobile devices.

Turn a long-winded sentence into two and keep your paragraphs to three sentences or less.

Pro tip: Need help fine-tuning? Check out Hubspot's AI Paragraph Rewriter tool for effortless refinement.

11. Link to other posts on your site.

Linking to other pages or blog posts on your website helps search engines create an accurate sitemap. It also helps your audience discover more of your content and get to know you as a trustworthy, credible source of information.

On the user side, Internal links to other valuable content keep readers on your site longer, reducing bounce rate and increasing your potential for a conversion. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

When linking to any pages on your website or even outside sources, use natural language for your anchor text. Avoid using spammy or generic calls to action, such as “top-rated cheap laptops” or “click here.”

Instead, use descriptive keywords that give readers a sense of what they will find when they click on the hyperlink, like “Download your SEO guide.”

Never force-feed links to your top web pages, featured products, or discounted items. Include links that enhance the points made in your posts and naturally tie in with the subject matter.

12. Avoid AI-generated blogs and content.

It’s no secret that AI has come a long way, and that means more and more blogs are generating entire blogs written by artificial intelligence.

However, AI is not so advanced that both humans and search engines can’t identify a blog written by AI. This means that AI-generated content is getting flagged by search engines and hurting your SEO.

Instead of having AI generate entire blogs for you, instead use AI as a tool to speed up your creation process and to check for SEO. For example, you can have AI create an outline for you based on search engine results so you have a starting point for your writing.

You can also ask for SEO assistance by inputting content you’ve written and asking AI tools to check it for optimization.

I wouldn’t let any AI tool be your sole SEO checker because you will definitely still want a human touch, but it can be a great place to begin optimizing. Check out this list of AI SEO tools to get started.

13. Feature a FAQ section in your blog

Search engines reward content that gives them direct, easy-to-identify answers to frequently asked questions.

For example, Google has a “Quick Answers” section at the top of their page that will link to blogs with authority that are answering questions. A great way to take advantage of this in your blog is by clearly posing questions with the answers right underneath.

Remember, you want to answer concisely and optimize questions for SEO as well. Adding FAQ sections can also be an easy way to refresh an old blog and update it to improve SEO.

Get Started with SEO Writing

There are a lot of tips and tricks to optimize your blog to get better SEO results.

Still, SEO can be overwhelming for a lot of content writers and small businesses because it’s more of a marathon than a sprint.

Consistently putting out helpful, authoritative blogs that are fully optimized is your best bet for making the first page.

One thing I love about SEO is that it’s an algorithm, so it’s fair to everyone. If you follow the rules, there’s no reason why your blog shouldn’t perform exceptionally well.

Remember, SEO criteria are an ever-changing beast, what works one year will not work the next.

Subscribe to HubSpot’s Marketing blog to get the latest information about what Google and other search engines are requiring to make the first page.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

The 22 Best Video Editing Apps for 2024

Sophia Bernazzani Barron — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Video is an effective and ever-growing form of marketing. 64% of marketers credit marketing videos on Instagram with the highest engagement. It seems that users can’t get enough: 91% of people watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.

The problem with video is that it’s creative and skillful. You might need a pro, but you may also need to prove its ROI before you get the budget for it. Luckily, in 2024, there are amazing video apps that every beginner video marketer can get to grips with.

Trust me, these apps are so easy to use; even I, a total beginner, have created videos with thousands of impressions across social media channels. I’ve received great engagement, and importantly, I feel good about them! In this article, I’ve rounded up some of my favorite, tried and trusted video editing apps.

Table of Contents

What are the best video editing apps?
Best Video Editing Apps
Editing Apps for Videos: Features to Look For
How I Tested the Best Video-Making Apps
Top Free Video Editing Software
Best Video Editing Apps for YouTube
Video Editing Apps for Android

What are the best video editing apps?

Every editing app will be different, but there are a few features you’ll want to look for. Because most apps will have a free and paid version, it’s important to know what’s essential and what might be worth an upgrade.

Editing Apps for Videos: Features to Look For

In my experience, there are some key features that make video editing easier.

Here’s what I look out for and why.

Scrubbing Through the Video as You Edit

When editing, I go back and forth through the video to replay sections, especially when I’ve made a cut. Most video editors allow you to drag and drop the slider across the timeline bar.

Choosing an Aspect Ratio

You may need different aspect ratios for your video. Different platforms serve different types of video.

TikTok, for example, is a portrait with an aspect ratio of 9:16. This aspect ratio will work for social media channels in stories or YouTube Shorts.

You might need a landscape video for YouTube (16:9) or something else for your website or other medium.

Wherever you post, you need a tool to export video in your desired ratio for maximum impact.

Adding Transitions

Transitions help you move through your story in a visually appealing way. You can move from one scene to another with a transition.

While transitions can be achieved with some clever editing, good video tools will often come with transitions that you can add with a few clicks, like a fade in/out, for example.

Exporting Quality Video

Look for tools with at least 480p quality and high-definition exports of up to 4k.

Adding Music

You probably don’t need me to convince you that there’s a trend for music in videos, but you might be pleased to know that 81% of marketers say music enhances video engagement.

Your favorite video editing app wants to include music functionality so you can add music from stock or your library.

How I Tested the Best Video-Making Apps

I started creating videos as part of my marketing strategy. I found that I enjoyed it, and that is, in part, thanks to these video-making apps that made the process approachable and easy enough.

When I started, I had no video editing skills and was a total beginner. I’m still no pro, but I have managed to get videos out there that have received tens of thousands of views and, better, resulted in an engaged comment section and satisfied viewers.

When testing video apps for myself, I decided that I needed an app that:

Made video editing easy
Wasn’t overwhelming
Had some version of the features listed above for free

I tested eight video apps. The following solutions can help you make video magic — whether your video is meant for Instagram, YouTube, or a similar channel where your audience is hungry for content. Some tools may even offer premium or extra features like video asset management, graphic design tools, and more.

Next, I’m sharing what I loved about them, the pros and cons of each and who I’d recommend them for.

1. Clip Creator

Clip Creator is a free AI-powered editing app that can be used directly within your browser. All you need is a HubSpot account.

You simply prompt the AI using text, provide any information you want to include in your video, and choose a style and a template. The AI does the rest.

You can preview a template before choosing it, and once the AI has generated the video, you have creative license to edit it to your liking. You can edit text, fonts, sizes, styles, images, and more.

The free account allows you 10 videos.

You can easily add soundtracks to your video, and unlike most other video-making apps, you can download your videos for free without a watermark using ClipCreator.

Why I Love Clip Creator

I created a video with absolutely zero video skills. I started with the AI generator.

I entered this basic text as a prompt: “I want to create a video that teaches people about the importance of good video editing for a Gen Z Audience and the impact that high-quality video can have on engagement. Our research shows that 52% of Gen Z prefer high production over a relatable video.”

Next, I needed to pick a tone. I chose informative since it fits the video’s purpose.

The video returned was nine slides long and included the stats I provided and placeholder images. The editor was then very easy for me to use, so I could tweak the video exactly as I wanted it before generating my final video, complete with a royalty-free soundtrack (I could’ve added my own soundtrack if I wanted to).

Pros

Easy to use
Landscape and portrait templates
Describe a video, choose a tone, and the AI will create the video for you
Download your videos for free without a watermark

Cons

AI-generated videos and templates might be too restrictive for highly skilled editors

2. CapCut

Price: Starts at free | Platforms: iOS,Android, Desktop

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I’ve been using CapCut for the longest time. It was a natural progression for me to record and edit in this app because I started recording and editing videos in TikTok, and that’s what I got used to. The CapCut editor is the most similar to the TikTok editor.

Plus, unlike the TikTok editor, you can download your videos without the TikTok watermark, so they can be easily repurposed. Instead of a watermark, CapCut adds a short video with their logo, but you can delete this.

Why I Love CapCut

The free version already has everything you need to edit a great video. I didn’t upgrade for years! It has body and photo effects that are completely free to use.

The filters are also really good. You can also remove the background of your video automatically with just one click. You can reduce the noise of your video, stabilize it, and more for free!

I eventually upgraded my CapCut subscription and now happily pay for it. Their paid-for editing features, like new elements, were too much for me to resist.

The app is super user-friendly. Even if it’s your first time using it, it won’t be hard, trust me. I have used CapCut on the go, on my mobile, and on my desktop. I love it!

One of the best features is that it can automatically generate captions for your video. You just click generate and then choose a template to display the captions/subtitles you like.

When you’re ready to take your video editing, or your style, to the next level, you can unlock so many new paid-for features.

Pros

The free version has all the features needed for editing a great video
It doesn’t take much time to download the finished output
It has a ratio option to choose the right size depending on where you’ll upload the video
It integrates with TikTok. You can upload a video from CapCut directly to TikTok
You can download the finished output without watermarks
Try for free, online, in your browser

Cons

If you use the remove background option, it doesn’t perfectly remove the background, so you still have to fix it. You can brush off the edges to make it look good.
The auto caption feature does not always provide the correct text, so you must check and read the captions thoroughly. Around 80% are correct, and 20% need editing.
If you go to templates, you will find a lot of slick edits that are totally free to use (you might be familiar with these if you’re a TikTok user). However, you cannot remove the watermark once you use the templates.

Best for: Beginner marketers and any TikTok creators

3. InShot

Price: Starts at free | Platforms: iOS, Android

Sometimes, you just want to edit a video — no fancy collages and no splicing. For that, there‘s InShot, a handy app that lets you trim, speed up, or add music and filters to video. It’s pretty fundamental, but with that comes a high ease of use.

You can also add a background if you like, though I think it's pretty cool to overlap images.

InShot was my preferred video editing app for Instagram stories for quite a while.

I probably used it consistently for a year. Because I was editing Instagram stories, I often used this app on my mobile phone and found it easy to use.

Why I Love InShot

The tracking feature is helpful. You can add a sticker or some text and have it stick to an element. If you add text of someone’s name, for example, you can have that track the person's face or body. It can be useful for blurring items or people, too.

The app can automatically detect the face or object you want to cover or track and follow their movements within the video. It’s very easy and seamless.

In its music feature, if you tap “effect,” you’ll see various sound effects such as ambient sounds, like a coffee shop or streets, vehicle sounds, etc. You also don’t have to download a sound effect to add fun to your video.

Pros

It's a great app for beginners and marketers who don’t have a lot of time for intensive video editing
Video effects and stickers are good and add some personality to the video very easily
Built-in music library with royalty-free options
You can add voiceovers and your music
The app has a 4.8-star rating on the Apple Store and over 1M ratings

Cons

There's no desktop app available
Filters and stickers are only available with a paid subscription. You don’t know which ones are free or paid until you’ve tried to add them.
Autocaptions are paid, or you can watch a video to unlock it, but this is limited to one-minute videos.
Your video will be watermarked unless you upgrade to the paid version

Best for: Instagram creators or busy editors on the go who don't want intensive editing.

4. Wondershare Filmora

Price: Starts at free on mobile | Platforms: iOS, Android, macOS, Windows

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Wondershare Filmora (formerly Wondershare Video Editor) is the perfect option if you want to start with basic video editing functionality with the opportunity to get more advanced as you go. The app is perfect for Instagram but can create audience-ready videos for numerous platforms.

Filmora is available for Windows and Mac computers, whereas the company's FilmoraGo mobile app is free to download for both iOS and Android devices.

Filmora's “Easy Mode” strips away the complexity so you can drag and drop video clips, add some music, and produce a finished video in a matter of minutes. The FilmoraGo app has many of these features, plus an Effect Store where you can incorporate preset intros, themes, and transitions into your video creation.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, you're right: The free version of Wondershare Filmora adds a watermark to your videos that you can only remove through upgrading to their paid service.

Why I Love Wondershare Filmora

For the last year, I’ve been editing short videos that are often quite noisy. I record, edit, and upload videos of my cycling adventures to platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

Wondershare Filmora has an AI Denoiser, which is brilliant! If your video has background noises, this feature is a lifesaver. With just one click, you can remove background noises. The AI detector is smart enough to detect background noise from vocals, too.

You might know Filmora’s Smart CutOut feature. This feature allows you to replace the sky, turning the dullest videos into cheerful summer days. You can use this feature to transport your video background pretty much anywhere.

Pros

This app is a powerful option for both beginner and advanced video editors
The desktop version offers multi-track editing and more traditional video editing capabilities
The mobile version includes easy-to-use effects, stickers, and filters
You can layer music and different sounds in the mobile app
It has the audio stretch feature which takes the pressure off finding the perfect audio
Relatively affordable (starting at less than $50 per year for Filmora X, and free for the mobile app) compared to competitors such as Adobe

Cons

The desktop apps are not free, but a trial is available
If you want the 1080P quality of your video, you have to upgrade to a premium plan
Unless you upgrade to a premium plan, videos are watermarked with the Wondershare branding

Best for: Instagram users looking for basic video editing functionality with a goal to improve editing skills.

5. Wideo

Price: Starts at $19.99 per month on the yearly subscription

Animated videos have become more popular over the last few years because of their high engagement and convenience. Wideo helps anyone interested in this type of content edit great animated videos regardless of their editing skill level. Its easy-to-use interface makes it a great option for beginners and advanced editors.

They offer a vast library of video templates to make video creation easier and faster. You can add animations to your live shot videos or create a whole narrative using their animations library.

Why I Love Wideo

This is a free app to try (no credit card required), so you’ve got nothing to lose with Wideo. As soon as you log in, Wideo will offer templates that make that first edit super easy, which is ideal for beginners.

There’s a template for just about everything, but if you can’t find exactly what you want, then you can always start with an existing template and tweak it. You can also start with a blank template.

Pros

Easy to use
Templates make video creation faster
I think you’ll be inspired by the templates; there’s a lot to choose from, which might help you realize just how much you can do with video
You don’t have to download your video to upload it somewhere; you can embed it with code
Free tools for video creation like storyboard generator, color palette generator, text-to-speech, and blog to video

Cons

Download is only available on paid plans (starting at $19.99 per month on the yearly subscription)
Watermark on videos unless you pay to remove them
There is a 1 min video length limit on the free plan

Best for: Animated videos and explainer videos

6. PowerDirector

Price: Free | Platforms: Android, Windows, macOS

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This robust video editor has a suite of creative design tools for Android and desktop users. Developed by CyberLink, the app can help you create 4K-quality videos from footage taken with numerous devices.

Special features include motion tracking, which helps you focus on specific subjects in each frame; video collages, which help you piece together numerous photos into a motion video; and video stabilization, allowing you to remove moments of “shaky camera” in your footage.

PowerDirector can also help you add voiceovers and creative sound effects using chroma key.

Similarly to InVideo, PowerDirector has several AI features that help speed up the creation process. It comes with speech-to-text, object detection, and a restoration assistant that automatically detects and corrects unwanted background noise.

Many of PowerDirector's features are completely free in the Android app. For a more advanced suite of editing tools, you can invest in one of CyberLink's paid products starting at $99.

Why I Love PowerDirector

PowerDirector has a lot of AI features that make video editing easy, which is perfect for beginners like me.

I tried the AI sticker, and it’s pretty fun! You can generate stickers using the AI or turn your own media into a sticker. Naturally, there are limitations to what you can do for free, and you’ll hit your limit at five stickers with a free plan.

There are animated motion graphics that you can just drag and drop into your video, so you’ve got stylistic items within the video with no need for extensive video editing skills.

Finally, there’s a voice changer, and you can add a wide range of voices.

Pros

Powerful features such as green screen editing, motion graphics, and keyframe controls
Incredibly low price compared to competitors such as Adobe
Multi-track editing and timelines
The company constantly adds new graphics and templates for users to choose from
Easily make an artistic video without extensive video editing skills

Cons

Some users have reported that it can be buggy
Simple features, like adjusting the video’s brightness or contrast, are not free
If you’re using the free version and accidentally add a paid element to your video, you cannot download it. You have to go through the video, find the paid element, and manually remove it
Watermark cannot be removed unless you upgrade to a premium plan

Best for: Beginner video editors who want stylistic videos

7. KineMaster

Price: Free | Platforms: iOS, Android, ChromeOS

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KineMaster is a super-versatile video editing tool that allows you to edit videos on “multiple layers.” What does that mean?

Content creators can add an unlimited amount of text overlays, images, audio, and even free handwriting onto their footage for the artistic detail they or their brand needs. You can also blend multiple pieces of footage and use double-exposures to customize the background in a load of creative ways.

For simpler editing tasks, of course, this app offers intuitive trimming and splitting features to make your video progress just the way you want it to.

Why I Love KineMaster

Upon creating the video, you’re required to pick an aspect ratio. This is helpful for beginner video creators because you might not think about it otherwise. Selecting the video ratio upfront means you don’t have to adjust the size of your video to fit the tool you’ll be using to upload it. Working this way is more seamless overall.

KineMaster has an audio mixer and an auto-volume feature to adjust your video’s voiceover and sound. This helps to balance the sound. I found this helpful, particularly for videos where the voice needed to be louder than background sounds.

Pros

Powerful features such as multi-track editing, layers, and blending modes
Over 3M reviews on Google Play and an average rating of 4.5 stars
You can share on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook straight from the app
4K exports available
Easy to use

Cons

Your video will be watermarked with the KineMaster branding if you don’t upgrade to Premium
Editing on the mobile app is limited to landscape
Limited access to assets on the free version

Best for: Video editors who are ready to pay for an app and want more stylistic features

8. HitFilm

Price: Starts at free | Platforms: Windows, macOS

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HitFilm Express is a free video editing and visual effects software — which means you can use it to add more than 180 special effects to your videos, including 3D editing.

Possibly the coolest HitFilm feature is its wealth of tutorial videos — users can practice applying special visual effects in movie tutorials based on Star Wars, Westworld, and more.

Of course, upgrading to HitFilm Pro grants access to more visual effects, better high-resolution and 3D rendering, and better audio syncing between audio and video files. It costs $300, but if you're not ready to invest fully, HitFilm Express users can purchase lower-cost expansions to use more tools in their software.

To see the complete list of differences between HitFilm Free and Pro, check out their “Compare Versions” section.

Why I Love HitFilm

What stands out most about HitFilm is definitely the 3D editing. You need the expertise to do this. It’s not easy, but it is cool.

You can also achieve a cinematic aesthetic with its lighting and lens flares.

Like InShot, it has motion tracking that is perfect if you want to add effects on moving objects.

Pros

Powerful capabilities such as mask rendering, export queues, and unlimited tracks and transitions
3D effects
Built-in voice recorder for easy voiceovers
Has been described as a mix of Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro

Cons

Beginners may experience a learning curve
No mobile app
You’ll have to learn how to use this to maximize its editing capabilities
Some users have reported crashing issues

Best for: Skilled editors or people looking to get serious about video editing

Instagram Video Editing Apps

The following apps allow you to edit and quickly upload beautiful videos to Instagram. None of these apps are limited to Instagram but are known for their support of this social network.

1. Magisto

Price: Starts at free | Platforms: iOS, Android, Online

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Video automation is here — in the form of the Magisto video editor.

Owned by Vimeo, Magisto allows you to make incredible videos without ever leaving your smartphone in three easy steps.

First, you‘ll choose your video editing style (the type of story you’re telling), then you‘ll choose the photos and video clips you’d like included, and lastly, you‘ll pick your music from Magisto’s built-in music library.

Using artificial intelligence (AI), this intuitive app helps organize your footage in a video that best delivers the message you have in mind. Why not stop at the free version? Upgrade to Premium or Professional for a small monthly fee and make longer movies with more of your own content.

Pros

Easy-to-use templates for hassle-free creation
Intuitive, beginner-friendly interface
Online version available for creating both on Windows and macOS laptops
Professional and Business plans come with a free Vimeo Pro subscription

Cons

The “Created with Magisto” watermark will be visible unless you upgrade to premium
No multi-track editing or 4K exporting
Ideal for very short social media videos (< 3 minutes long)
Stock videos are only accessible with a Professional plan

2. InVideo

Price: Starts at Free | Platforms: iOS, Android

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If you’ve already got a script to work with, InVideo just might be the best option for quickly uploading Instagram videos. This platform comes with over 5,000 templates to choose from, 8M stock images, and music — but where InVideo really shines is its AI tools.

Not only can you use it to generate a script, if you already have one, you can take advantage of its AI text-to-video tool. This feature allows you to create videos based on the script you upload. Like Wondershare, the free version adds a watermark to your videos.

Pros

The AI tools save users time creating videos
You can upload your own music or use its royalty-free options.
Comes with step-by-step tutorials for creating videos for YouTube and Instagram
This app is easy to use for beginners.

Cons

Can’t export videos with the free version, but you can share a link
Script-to-video media suggestions aren’t always the perfect match, so you’ll need to make adjustments

Best Video Editing Apps for YouTube

Although the video editing services below do not offer mobile versions, they offer easy-to-learn functionality at minimal cost. These apps are the best for sitting at your computer and editing amazing video content for your YouTube channel.

1. Blender

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux

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The open-source program Blender is more than just a video editor: It’s a full-blown 3D animation suite, which allows for modeling, rendering, motion tracking, and more.

On the video editing side, there are a ton of features, including transitions, speed control, filters, adjustment layers, and more. There are also 32 slots available for adding video clips, audio clips, images, and effects, which means you can produce some incredibly complex video.

For the amateur video editor, all the options can be a bit overwhelming. But if you're looking to produce truly professional-quality video — without having to deal with watermarks — Blender is a solid option.

The best part: “You are free to use Blender for any purpose, including commercially or for education,” according to its website. For the fine print, check out its licensing info.

Pros

Blender has a long history of use across multiple platforms
You can render, model, sculpt, and animate using this app

Cons

There's a steep learning curve for beginners

2. Lightworks

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

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Like Blender, Lightworks is definitely on the more advanced (and powerful) end of the video editing software spectrum. In fact, it‘s a program that’s been used to edit some well-known and award-winning films, including Pulp Fiction, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The King’s Speech.

There are two different licenses you can choose from with Lightworks: “Free” and “Pro.” (The latter of which, as you might have guessed, requires that you cough up some cash.) The main difference between the two licenses is that the Pro version offers more features, including stereoscopic output and advanced project sharing.

But the free version is still quite powerful, providing 100+ effects and supporting multicam editing.

Pros

Like Blender, Lightworks has a long history of use across multiple platforms
You can access royalty-free videos and audio from the desktop app
You can export up to 4K
Multi-track editing and timelines, even in the free version
You can buy a lifetime license for $437.99 and never worry about renewing a subscription

Cons

There's an extremely steep learning curve for beginners
Limited options for creating titles and subtitles
Users have reported formatting issues when importing video clips

3. Movavi Video Editor

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows, macOS

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If you are a novice in video making, the Movavi Video Editor is a nice option for beginners just starting out. This software provides a simple, intuitive interface as well as powerful video editing tools that make it easy to add titles, filters, transitions, and effects packs.

With the Movavi Video Editor, you have the choice between two modes of video creation: automatic and manual. The automatic mode allows you to create personalized, themed movies in just five easy steps.

Upload your photos and videos, choose a template from the collection provided, add a soundtrack, preview your video, and export it in any format you desire or share it directly online.

Manual mode offers a multi-track editing space where you can add up to 99 tracks for video, audio, and titles. The timeline is customizable for more accurate editing, and the drag-and-drop controls make it easy to maneuver and customize each element.

Pros

Chroma-key, synchronization, sound autocorrect, keyframing, and motion tracking
Video rendering speed and 4k processing

Cons

Watermark with a free version
The trial version has functional limitations and is available for seven days only

4. Shotcut

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux

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Shotcut is another open-source video software — and it‘s completely free. It’s possible to use Shotcut to create professional-looking videos, but the interface is tricky. Perhaps that's because it was originally developed for the Linux platform, which looks and feels very different from the typical Windows or Mac UX.

With dedication — and time spent in the Shotcut frequently asked questions and how-to guide sections — it's possible to use this software to create and export high-quality videos, completely for free.

Pros

It's completely free—you never have to upgrade, ever
The diverse list of features rivals those of paid apps

Cons

Shotcut could be difficult to get the hang of at first
Some users find the UI difficult to navigate
It’s less intuitive compared to other apps, such as Premiere Pro and FinalCut, even for experienced editors

5. VSDC Free Video Editor

Price: Free | Platforms: Windows Only

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In experienced hands, the VSDC Free Video Editor can produce professional-looking videos.

In addition to supporting nearly every major video format, the program offers advanced video effects, including object transformation and color correction, as well as advanced audio effects like volume correction and sound normalization.

And unlike WeVideo, the VSDC Free Video Editor is truly free. You can use the program's full feature set without dealing with pesky watermarks.

Unfortunately, there is one catch. If you want technical support, you need to pay. (And because there is a bit of a learning curve, there‘s a good chance you’ll need assistance.) Support for the VSDC Free Video Editor costs $9.99 for one month and $14.99 for one year.

Pros

The free version is packed with typically premium features such as masking, blending modes, and 4K exports
You can share your video directly from the app to YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms

Cons

You have to pay for support if you’re using the free version
Not as user-friendly as other alternatives
Users have reported a steep learning curve

Video Editing Apps for Android

These video editing apps are particularly appealing for Android mobile users, though some are compatible with more than just the Android operating system.

1. VideoShow

Price: Free | Platforms: Android, iOS

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VideoShow allows you to edit video content in many creative ways beyond cutting and pasting scenes together.

The award-winning app, which has more than 400 million users, allows you to include text overlays, stickers, music, filters, and sound effects in your footage.

Because of these features, it lends itself to video producers who want to add a bit more creativity to a vlog series, where the video is primarily of one person speaking directly to the camera.

Pros

Easy-to-use yet powerful, with HD exports available for free users
Expansive music library

Cons

Your video will be watermarked with VideoShow branding if you’re not on the paid version
You can’t export the video without upgrading to the paid version

2. Quik

Price: Free | Platforms: Android, iOS, macOS, Windows

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Quik is a video editing tool developed by GoPro, making it the software of choice for people who are editing footage from their GoPro camera. But yes, it can edit content from any source.

The app can manage up to 75 photos and video clips in one project, and can even comb through this content to help you make smart editing decisions based on what the app detects in the footage.

From timelapses to panoramic pieces, Quik can manipulate your media in lots of creative ways. The app has more than 20 preset themes to choose from and supports eight common file types.

Pros

Easy-to-use and intuitive app
Automatically imports photos from your camera

Cons

This software no longer receives updates from its manufacturer
You only have access to the cloud when you upgrade to GoPro PLUS

3. VivaVideo

Price: Free | Platforms: iOS, Android

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VivaVideo makes professional-level edits easy for content creators. Free for all mobile devices, the app allows you to trim, merge, speed up, slow down, and reverse clips and images in a short amount of time.

The app also comes with a simple collage- and slideshow-maker and offers a variety of camera lenses to capture new, edit-ready footage directly in the app.

Pros

Fun on-trend filters, templates, and effects
Expansive music library with hundreds of clips to choose from
Multi-track editing allows you to layer voice clips and music

Cons

The five-minute time limit for videos

With most people working from home, the importance of video can’t be overstated. But unless you get the right app for video editing, you’ll run the risk of publishing videos that look unprofessional and unpolished.

With these apps, you’ll be sure to create a video that attracts, converts, and delights your audience. The sooner you download one, the sooner you can sharpen your audio/video creation skills and attract more people to your brand.

Create Better Videos for a Higher ROI

Online video content isn‘t just watched more — it’s expected more.

Luckily, you have the video editing tools to help you delight your audience and improve conversion rates across your social media accounts.

Grab the guide below to make the video learning curve easier and to jumpstart your video marketing efforts.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

ChatGPT for SEO: Everything We Know So Far

Anna Rubkiewicz — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Everyone knows that ChatGPT can generate content on nearly any topic you can imagine (some information might be made up, but that’s a story for a different article).

So, while I’m not a fan of using it to create articles, I must say that I’m impressed with how helpful it can be for SEO.

In this post, I put together different ways you can use ChatGPT to improve your search rankings – whether it’s through keyword improvements, proper linking, or other tactics. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

How to Use ChatGPT for SEO
Benefits of ChatGPT for SEO
Limitations of Using ChatGPT for SEO
Tips for Improving SEO With ChatGPT

How to Use ChatGPT for SEO

What exactly is this AI tool capable of? Here are some of the most impactful ways you can use ChatGPT for SEO.

1. Classify keywords by intent.

Correctly understanding your readers’ intent is key to ranking high in Google. After all, if they land on a page and see that the content doesn’t relate to them, they’ll leave your site, negatively affecting your SEO efforts.

So, how can you make sure you apply each keyword to the right landing page or blog post? ChatGPT can give you a hand.

To give you an example, a while back, I worked with a company that wanted to verify how much of their existing content targeted readers at the top and bottom of the funnel. I downloaded the keywords from the brand’s Google Search Console and asked ChatGPT the following prompt:

“Classify the SEO keywords in the Excel spreadsheet by intent. Categorize them into informational, navigational, transactional, general, and commercial categories. Next, generate a pie chart showing the percentages of each intent type.”

Here’s what I got.

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As you can see, ChatGPT can give you a quick, high-level understanding of what types of phrases are bringing in organic traffic.

Now, as AI isn’t an oracle, I did go back to the Excel file and verified the automatic intent categories for phrases that were in the top 10 in SERP. While ChatGPT didn’t get 100% of them right, it did a decent job overall.

2. Come up with a potential topic for each keyword.

What I like about ChatGPT is that it’s a good idea generator. If you have a list of keywords that fit your offer, you can ask it to suggest topic ideas for blog posts.

Let’s take the keyword “data management consultant” to see what ChatGPT will suggest. To make it easier, I’m going to give it a bit of context on what the topic idea is for:

“I run a software agency and would like to rank for the term “data management consultant.” Data consultancy is one of my company's services. Please suggest three topic ideas for a blog post we could write.”.

Here’s the output:

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Notice how I’ve asked just for three topics, and ChatGPT gave me that and some more? When you use ChatGPT for content generation ideas, you should always treat it as a starting point.

If you like any of the suggested topics, you can review what other brands that rank in the top 10 search results are writing on – and how you can do better.

3. Suggest content clusters.

If you’ve been reading the HubSpot Blog for a while, you’ve probably noticed how strongly we advocate for content clusters as an SEO-boosting strategy.

Yet, it’s not always easy to choose clusters, let alone decide what articles to create for each of them.

While this is a strategic decision that shouldn’t be left to ChatGPT without any oversight, the AI engine could help point you in the right direction.

Here’s an example of a prompt I used and the results I received:

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These results and suggestions can be a good starting point as far as cluster topic and structure are concerned.

However, remember to verify the cluster’s SEO potential in a dedicated tool – ChatGPT doesn’t have access to search or keyword difficulty data.

4. Write meta descriptions.

To many, meta descriptions often seem like an unimportant detail, especially since they’re not officially a ranking factor. Still, as they provide a summary of what’s on your website, they’re a great opportunity to persuade a prospect to visit your site.

Ensuring that at least your key landing pages have a meta will positively impact SEO as they tend to improve CTRs and reduce bounce rates.

I often turn to ChatGPT for creating meta descriptions. I asked ChatGPT to write one for a HubSpot article I wrote.

Here’s the prompt that I used:

“Create an SEO meta description of no more than 120 characters for the following article https://blog.hubspot.com/service/chat-gpt-customer-service. Include the primary keyword ‘ChatGPT customer service,’ along with a call to action.”

Here is the result:

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You can follow this approach with all your landing pages and articles. It will save you an awful lot of time.

5. Optimize keywords.

I write a lot of SEO content. While my main focus is on creating high-quality pieces packed with unique insights that help prospects tackle their problems, I never ignore SEO.

But, the more keywords you want to rank for, the more time-consuming it is to optimize your article for them.

Unless you ask ChatGPT for help.

That’s what copywriter and digital marketer John Paul Hernandez, does.

"I do a few things with ChatGPT to improve SEO optimization. One of them is asking the AI to insert keywords within my human-written article. It's not perfect, but it gives me an idea of keyword placements to save me time during my final edit.”

Let’s see it in action. I asked ChatGPT to optimize a few paragraphs of the same article I used previously. Here is the prompt:

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As requested, it came up with a list of LSI and NLP keywords. Here it is:

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Then, it incorporated them into the draft:

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I think it did a pretty good job. While it might not be perfect, it gives you a good idea of where you could place the keywords.

6. Create catchy headings.

Sometimes when you write content, you get stuck. The heading or title that you wrote isn’t as appealing as you’d like it to be. Sometimes, changing one word can make a big difference.

Instead of spending hours trying to come up with a more catchy title or heading, you can turn to ChatGPT. Here’s an example:

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Here is the result:

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You don’t have to use the ChatGPT title as is — you can simply borrow that one word or phrase you like and edit it into your original title. For instance, I quite like the phrase “supercharge productivity,” so I would work that into my title.

7. Suggest a content structure to cover a topic in detail.

I never start writing an article without creating an outline. It helps structure my research and ensure I cover a topic in detail.

While I like having a quick look at what the competition wrote to get a good idea of the expected standard, I never simply copy their structure. I come up with my own outline. Or I ask ChatGPT for assistance.

Let’s see what it can do.

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This is the output:

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I must say – this is a really comprehensive outline. It’s a good starting point that can guide my research, and it took ChatGPT 30 seconds to create it. Good job!

Benefits of ChatGPT for SEO

Why should you consider using ChatGPT for search engine optimization? Here are a few reasons.

Saves Time

If I were to pick one benefit of using ChatGPT for SEO, it would undoubtedly be saving time. The AI tool can come up with an answer in just seconds. And the better your prompt (i.e., the more detailed), the better the result.

At first, when ChatGPT launched, I was a bit skeptical and treated it like competition. But the more I use it, the more I appreciate how much time it could save me – you just have to know how to use it.

I recently read an article by Eric Holtzclaw, who talks about how using ChatGPT has helped him save 40 hours of work and $7,500 in costs. He uses it for research and SEO optimization.

To make the most of generative AI like ChatGPT (genAI), you need to decide which tasks you will do, and which can be automated.

Boosts Productivity

Saving time also means that you can dedicate your attention to other parts of your SEO work that need a human touch.

For example, ChatGPT could suggest an article outline and then check your human-written piece for correct SEO keyword use.

Similarly, you could have it check your URL structure in bulk, and decide on an action plan based on its findings.

As someone who began working in SEO before the start of the AI era, I truly recognize it as a productivity game-changer.

Helps Analyze Data and Draw Conclusions

Many SEOs don’t have a technical background, meaning they might not be the biggest experts when it comes to writing regular expressions (RegEx) or using complex Excel formulas.

At the same time, sourcing and analyzing information from different sources lies at the heart of their work.

ChatGPT can help out with both. You can ask it to create RegEx formulas for your website analytics tools, or Excel formulas, by giving it a prompt that specifies the end goal.

For example, you could upload an Excel file and ask it to match keywords that have a search volume of 500 or higher with URLs where you use these keywords but have a CTR lower than 5%. This would show you pages that are currently underperforming and require some work.

Limitations of Using ChatGPT for SEO

There are two types of ChatGPT SEO limitations – those that stem from AI shortcomings as a whole, and those that depend on whether you’re using a free or paid version. Let’s take a deeper dive into this.

It can’t generate truly creative, unique content.

When ChatGPT was launched, brands went crazy for it. Many writers got laid off as companies began using it to create content at scale. I lost a couple of clients because they decided to switch to ChatGPT – a decision I believe was wrong.

While GPT is a great assistant, at least for now, its capability is limited to producing copycat content. This is no longer acceptable; people want to read helpful, unique content written by experts, not AI.

You can use AI to edit your content and make it sound more polished, but relying on it to write an entire article from scratch is not recommended.

Here is proof that readers prefer content written by humans. You can see that from the first month, human content generated more views than its AI counterpart.

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You can’t remove the human from the loop.

ChatGPT shouldn’t be a replacement for human competencies anywhere – not just in content. Some areas like search engine data analysis will let you automate the majority of the work, while others will call for more human supervision.

The bottom line, though, is that you can’t fully entrust anything to AI without regularly verifying the output.

For example, let me refer back to content cluster topic suggestions. Some of the AI-generated ideas might seem promising, but once you pop them into an SEO tool to check search potential, you’ll see that the main term only gets 10 or 20 visits a month.

So, while helpful, remember that “it still takes time to use AI.”

There’s a risk of AI hallucinations.

A few months ago, I wrote an article about different ways to use ChatGPT. To test its abilities, I asked it to create an article on perfume-making, featuring tips from beauty experts.

It generated one and even included citations from experts. However, when I asked about their source, it provided a list of links that weren’t working.

In short, it appears that ChatGPT fabricated quotations and sources. This is a striking example of AI hallucinations – you can’t fully trust it; you always have to verify the results yourself.

There are differences in capabilities between paid and free ChatGPT.

Finally, let’s discuss the limitations that relate to the version you’re using. There are some differences in the Plus (paid) and Free plan, and I decided to ask about them straight from the source. Here’s what I got:

You can probably get even more out of the paid plan if you use custom GPTs available through the ChatGPT marketplace.

Tips for Improving SEO With ChatGPT

1. Write formulas and build custom functions in Google Sheets.

You can use ChatGPT to write formulas and build custom functions for SEO in Google Sheets – it will help you automate workflows and enhance efficiency.

This tip comes from Vishal Dave, senior digital marketer at Meetanshi.

“You can ask ChatGPT to ‘Create a Google Sheets function to get PageSpeed Insights score of a URL.’ It will provide an app script code. Go to Google Sheets > Extensions > App Scripts and create a new script. Paste the app script code into the editor and replace the API key placeholder with your PageSpeed Insights API key. Then save the function.”

Now, you’ll be able to use the custom ‘=pagespeedinsights(URL)’ function to get PageSpeed insights score directly in your Google Sheets. You can use it to build a visual page speed report using conditional formatting.

Dave adds that marketers can also use ChatGPT to fetch HTML tags, build custom integrations, check HTTP response codes, etc. It seems like it can be of great help when it comes to technical SEO.

2. Improve content structuring and formatting.

Content structure has a significant impact on SEO. It’s important to balance making content engaging to the reader while not ignoring Google recommendations.

You can use ChatGPT to outline and format blog posts to increase their readability and make them SEO-friendly.

Here is how Casey Meraz, CEO at Juris Digital, approaches this task:

“We started by feeding the AI a detailed brief, which included the key topics, target keywords, and user intent behind the search terms. This step ensured that the AI understood the context and purpose of the content.”

They instantly noticed a consistent use of headings and subheadings. Structuring content with clear, keyword-rich headings improved their on-page SEO and readability.

“In one campaign, we restructured 50 existing articles using ChatGPT for headline generation and internal linking suggestions. The result was a 35% increase in organic traffic within three months. We also saw a 20% improvement in time on page, which indicates that better-structured content kept users engaged longer,” says Meraz.

Juris Digital also used ChatGPT to create content that met Google's featured snippet criteria.

They applied formatting techniques suggested by ChatGPT, including the use of bullet points, numbered lists, and concise summaries at the beginning of articles.

This strategy led to several of their clients’ pages earning featured snippets. One of their clients experienced a 15% spike in CTR after implementing these changes, which they directly attributed to enhanced content structuring and formatting.

3. Generate ideas for internal linking.

Since ChatGPT does a good job of analyzing semantic relationships between phrases and can put them into categories, it can also suggest ideas for internal links.

That’s what Derrick Askew, founder of Savvy Gents, Inc., did for an ecommerce client he worked with.

“By using AI to generate related keyword phrases and content topics, we built a comprehensive internal linking strategy that connected relevant pages more organically.”

By boosting the site’s topical relevance and interconnectedness between different URLs, Askew wanted to make it easier for search engines to crawl and understand the site’s content.

He told me that after implementing this strategy, the ecommerce company saw a 37% increase in organic traffic within four months. This approach gave Askew proof that ChatGPT can help drive traffic and user engagement.

4. Analyze your competitors’ content.

Not everyone realizes this, but ChatGPT can help you run a thorough content gap analysis. You can ask it to review the content on your identified competitors’ sites and tell you which keywords and topics yours doesn’t rank for yet.

Kevin Watts, founder and president at Raincross, told me how they used this capability to understand why their competitors frequently had their content appear in featured snippets, and why they didn’t.

“Using ChatGPT, we generated a list of potential questions and longer-tail keywords our audience was searching for. We then created new content focused on these queries, formatted specifically for featured snippets (e.g., concise answers in bullet points or tables).”

Within three months, this approach has helped Raincross boost its featured snippet appearances by 35%.

Watts also says that the optimized pages received an average organic traffic boost of 28%. This clearly illustrates how ChatGPT ideas can be used to get tangible SEO results.

Some brands, like The Annuity Expert, also use AI to run a granular, semantic content analysis. Shawn Plummer, the company’s CEO, decided to ask ChatGPT for some ideas as to why their website’s content wasn’t ranking highly in Google.

“I provided ChatGPT with a competitor’s content and used the prompt: ‘Create a semantic analysis of this content: [copy-paste content URL of competitor].’” As a result, Plummer received an extract of key entities and concepts, which highlighted some areas that made their competitor’s content rank higher in search.

Plummer then decided to cross-reference the findings from this analysis with their own content.

“I gave it the prompt: ‘Compare your semantic analysis to the competitor's article to my article [my URL]. Are they semantically close?’ This comparison revealed the semantic gaps in our content”, he says.

To dive even deeper, Plummer suggests using a follow-up prompt: “Create a table listing common semantic concepts/entities and those missing from our article."

He says that, ever since they’ve started using this method, the company saves a lot of time and gets more intricate insights than by using traditional analytics tools.

As for the SEO results from ChatGPT-inspired changes, Plummer said that they “saw a 25% improvement in our content's ranking for target keywords.”

Pro tip: Not sure who to shortlist as your competitors for your content gap analysis? Use ChatSpot to get a list of the top ten competitors in under ten seconds. All you need to do is add your domain.

5. Optimize content for voice search.

This might be one of ChatGPT’s lesser-known SEO capabilities, but it’s an extremely powerful one.

Optimizing content for voice search can not only help meet legal accessibility requirements but also secure interest from those who don’t engage in text-based browsing.

“Given the rise of virtual assistants like Siri and Google Now, focusing on voice search has become essential for enhancing local SEO,” says Rex Liu, chief revenue officer at GoSite.

Liu adds that while working with local businesses, the company used ChatGPT to generate conversational content that aligns with how customers speak.

They prompted ChatGPT with questions that indicated high intent, such as “Where can I find a reliable plumber near me?” They then built content around these conversational queries, improving the chances of appearing in voice search results.

“This particular strategy was applied to a local home services business. Over three months, the implementation led to a 20% increase in click-through rates from voice search and a 17% rise in local customer inquiries.”

Liu says these results underline the importance of matching questions with conversational search habits.

6. Boost your website accessibility.

Some of you might not know it, but accessibility matters for SEO. While Google doesn’t have a specific ranking factor for it, it values user experience. The more accessible your website is, the better the experience for the user.

This is something that Guy Leon, founder and CEO of betterweb.ai, recognizes, so they use ChatGPT to enhance inclusiveness.

“Working with a client’s e-commerce site, we used ChatGPT to rewrite image alt texts and implement semantic HTML. This ensured that screen readers could properly interpret the content. Additionally, ChatGPT helped us identify and adjust areas of poor color contrast to meet accessibility standards.

The outcome was striking: within four months, the client saw a 35% increase in organic traffic, a 40% boost in visitor engagement, and a notable uptick in mobile traffic by 53%”.

Not only did this help their client meet legal accessibility criteria, but it also enhanced their page‘s load speed and search rankings.

By integrating web accessibility with SEO using ChatGPT, bettwerweb.ai transformed their client’s user experience and significantly improved the site's performance metrics.

ChatGPT Has a Great Analytical Skill for SEO

If we look at all the ways ChatGPT can help with SEO, we can safely assume that it will become a long-term companion for marketing teams.

That said, you need to be smart about how you use it — the quality of the insights depends on your prompt and its informational value.

Also, remember that ChatGPT can’t make decisions or craft entire SEO strategies. It’s a tool, and, as such, it will always be prone to error.

That’s why, while I encourage you to use ChatGPT for SEO, I also strongly recommend verifying all of its output before you use it for decision-making.

50 Small Business Marketing Ideas for 2024

kboyarsky@hubspot.com (Katherine Boyarsky) — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Whether you’re launching a new business or already running one, you probably already know that a small business marketing strategy with a strong online presence is essential.

Creating a strategy to boost your online presence may feel overwhelming, but if you’re a small business owner with little experience in online marketing, I’ve got you covered.

As the former head of marketing for two small businesses, I’ve learned that ecommerce isn’t going anywhere. In fact, one estimate has projected the number of global e-commerce customers to grow to two and a half billion by 2028.

I can help you build and optimize your small business marketing strategy using inbound marketing, setting you up to attract new clients and grow your business.

To that end, I’ve collected over 50 small business marketing ideas to help you get started strong and then keep growing. Come back again and again as your marketing strategies develop for deeper details and more information.

Table of Contents

Small Business Marketing Strategies
What To Do Before Marketing Your Small Business
What To Do Before Marketing Your Small Business
Online Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
Online Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
Small Business Advertising Ideas
Small Business Advertising Ideas

Small Business Marketing Strategies

Marketing is meant to raise brand awareness and build a pipeline of qualified leads that turn into sales.

But getting the word out can be challenging when running a small business. You’ll likely have less visibility and fewer resources (like budget or time).

However, several strategies can help you scale your small business marketing efforts. Whether you’re struggling with a limited budget, a smaller team, or a lack of strategic direction, a marketing plan appropriate for your business can guide you as you scale.

The strategies below can help you generate awareness and revenue for your organization.

1. Build a functional and attractive website.

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First and foremost, build up your little corner of the internet. This can be a full, traditional website, a simple one-page landing spot that sells one product, or it can even be a social media page if you know that’s where your customers are.

Getting your business online is mission critical in order to build everything else around it. Your searchers need a place to land! Be sure to use high-quality photos to look professional and check regularly that everything functions properly.

The more interconnective your nest, the more options you’ll have as you grow without having to start from zero each time.

HubSpot’s Starter Bundle is a really smart way to start because everything you need — including their drag-and-drop website builder — is already included at one low price, and it scales when you’re ready.

2. Create email campaigns — and automate them.

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Email campaigns are powerful tools for marketing your business, especially if you can automate an ongoing series of follow-up emails to save yourself time (money).

A few ways to collect email addresses that you can market to include an opt-in form on your website, a link to the opt-in form on your emailed receipts, blog CTAs (calls-to-action), and in-person sign-up sheets.

If speed is of the essence, you can build an email list faster by running a promotion for a percentage off your products or services, or doing a giveaway where entering the contest requires their email address.

Be aware of and stay in compliance with laws in your region about information privacy and giving people the choice to opt in or out of email correspondence.

3. Pay for the right advertising.

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Facebook Ads, Pinterest Ads, YouTube Ads — advertise wherever your target audience hangs out online. Google Ads are another great option to bring in website traffic from people who are already searching for what you offer.

Be sure to keep tabs on which ones are performing the best for you so you can make informed decisions about future ad spend.

I’ve seen a handcraft business that got zero return on Google Ads, no sales on their Etsy store from Etsy Ads, but made sale after sale from Pinterest traffic.

4. Build your social media presence.

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Again, we’re always trying to meet potential clients and customers where they are.

I definitely suggest adding one channel at a time, so you can focus on doing it well — otherwise it will be wasted effort on top of a place to drop the ball if your community reaches out to you and you’re not there to answer.

It’s better to create quality content, build a following, and solidify your brand in one channel than spread yourself too thin trying to juggle them all.

This is especially true if you have a technical learning curve to overcome in using the apps. The top social platforms for sales in 2024 are Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

5. Work with influencers.

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This is becoming ever more effective because people trust the social media influencers they follow to give them a trustworthy perspective in terms they understand.

Influencers have a built-in audience ready to hear about what the world has to offer, and you benefit from open minds that are hearing your message like friends and family.

You don’t need to bag the big ones or break the bank. Working with microinfluencers who have followers ranging from 10k and 100k can be incredibly lucrative in terms of boosting sales, traffic, and email signups.

Sometimes all they ask for is a free product, sometimes they have contracts and compensation expectations that you’ll need to consider carefully.

But one trusted recommendation in 10k, 50k, or 100k ears can make a real difference for your business.

6. Run attractive promotions.

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As mentioned above, running promotions on products or services can bring in both sales and marketing opportunities in the form of email signups, followers, shares, and likes.

Everybody wants something, and most just want a quality product at a reasonable price. But there are those that will be waiting for a sale or to stack your smaller promos with larger ones for the best deal.

Let them win!

Their win is yours, too, especially if they are delighted enough with the price and product that they’re willing to write positive reviews or tell their friends.

7. Thoughtfully manage your reviews.

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Speaking of reviews, it’s important to stay on top of them when they come in, so keep a daily rotation or setup alerts on every channel where customers can contact you.

When you interact with positive reviews, it delights customers who take the time to mention you or find you online to leave comments.

Remember that negative reviews are opportunities to display integrity and good character — and sell to the next reader.

Always aim to solve the problem or delight the fan. People will see how you treat your customers, and it will inform their decision on whether to become one themselves.

8. Seek lucrative local partnerships.

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What you do offline is important, too. Every connection you make is an opportunity for collaboration, and there’s nothing more valuable than a supportive community.

This is even more true when they can offer insight into your local population or put you in touch with customers, clients, or other businesses nearby who could really benefit from working with you directly.

There is a great deal of potential value in attending networking events and being seen at local events, trade shows, or markets.

9. Optimize opportunistically — and optimistically.

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The truth is that marketing never ends — it runs in cycles unique to your industry.

Inevitably, when you nail down the cycles and figure out how to best use them to your advantage, something will change. Google will update and suddenly all of your SEO will need to be re-optimized.

A law will change and you’ll need to update your website settings to stay in compliance. A global pandemic will come and turn everything on its head for better (ecommerce) or worse (brick-and-mortar).

You will always be optimizing, so do your best to take it on as a happy challenge. Study your metrics, make the smartest adjustments you can, and always be ready to pivot.

1. Know your audience.

A key mistake is thinking that “anyone” is your buyer. Larger companies may be able to appeal to a wide market, but they say “the riches are in the niches” for a reason.

You’ll have the most leverage as a small business owner if you choose a niche. To develop a niche and appeal to buyers within it, you must understand their pains, problems, triggering events, and priorities.

What is pushing them to make a purchasing decision? What does it look like if they succeed? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you craft messaging that resonates and makes a compelling case for your solution.

As SMB Marketing Consultant Tabitha Naylor explains:

“Developing a customer persona helps frame your marketing messages for a specific audience. It ensures you’re speaking to your ideal customer’s needs, goals, and preferred channels for content consumption.”

To get started, consider your existing customers and who you’d like to work with. Then, create a buyer persona to get into your ideal client’s head.

Download Free Buyer Persona Templates

2. Emphasize your value proposition.

If there’s no difference between you and your competition, there’s no reason why a buyer would be compelled to work with you.

Your value proposition will differentiate you from others in your space and convince your prospects that you’re the provider to choose.

What do you do better than anyone in the industry? Conveying this effectively will help you make a compelling argument.

3. Stay focused on singular goals and objectives.

If you’re exploring the world of marketing, you may have noticed that there are a gazillion directions you can pursue. It’s tempting to do it all at once, crafting a complicated marketing machine in the hopes that you’ll cover all your bases.

Unfortunately, this approach often leads to much more biting off than you can chew. Instead, my experience has taught me that it’s essential to identify where your most significant impact will be.

Where is the most prominent blind spot in your marketing prohibiting your growth?

Set a performance goal around that one key area, and focus all your resources on the activities and tactics to help you achieve that one goal.

Then, once you’ve made progress in that area, you can expand your efforts or pivot to other initiatives.

4. Capitalize on short-term plays.

Start scrappy. As you scale, seeing ROI sooner rather than later is critical. This will give you the momentum and cash flow toward larger projects, long-term plays, and more sustainable growth models.

Tactics that take time to build (such as SEO) generally aren’t a great starting point because they can take a long time to drive noticeable returns.

Of course, if you have the resources to invest longer term, then that can work — but remember not to put all your eggs in that basket. Instead, identify the short-term plays that could pay off quickly.

For example, if you have evidence that people are taking to Google with purchasing intent for your particular solution, you may find that paid ads will give you that short-term ROI.

5. Double down on what works.

Pay attention to the data once you’ve experimented with a few options and gotten a few initiatives up and running.

Time and time again, I’ve discovered that data can offer invaluable insight into what’s working — and what isn’t. Then, as you scale, you can use those data-driven insights to double down on proven revenue-generation methods.

6. Understand the power of existing customers.

On average, acquiring a new customer costs five times more than upselling to an existing one. You shouldn’t stop marketing to someone just because they’ve already purchased.

To the contrary, identify opportunities for repeat purchases, upselling, and cross-selling. Your existing customers have already purchased, which means they know, like, and trust you.

If you’ve provided a good experience, you’ve given them a reason to do business with you again. Even if the need doesn’t arise (i.e., one-and-done purchases with no upsell opportunities), you should still delight your customers.

After all, word of mouth is a powerful (and free) promotional tool.

7. Use free promotional tools.

Speaking of free promotional tools, it’s important to note that since you’ve committed to a limited goal and scope, there’s no need to inflate your overhead with gadgets.

In my experience, it’s best to use free promotional tools wherever possible. Only commit to paid tools if you know they will drastically improve existing operations or performance.

Here’s a list of marketing tools (some free, some paid) that may be useful.

8. Create a website to own your online presence.

A professional-looking website is one of the most important assets you can create for your small business.

This is where you show who you are, what you offer, your location, and how a potential customer can contact you. It is a marketing channel you will always own.

In addition to being a place to send traffic from advertising and other marketing initiatives, it can generate organic traffic.

Your website isn’t just a simple brochure, either. With an understanding of how to convert traffic and turn those leads into customers, you can turn your site into a 24/7 salesperson.

Business Researcher Jennifer Dublino notes that a website can be an incredibly powerful tool for any small business, sharing:

“By presenting clear, consistent and easy-to-find information, your website can help you earn repeat business and foster customer loyalty.”

To get started, consider checking out HubSpot’s CMS — one of the best website-building tools on the market.

9. Consider blogging to attract prospects to your website.

Blogging is a great way to generate organic traffic, particularly for those prospects who have not yet reached a purchasing decision. In addition, it can establish credibility in your space and position you as a thought leader.

To start a blog, you can use an inexpensive or free website tool to make a simple site. These tools even offer templates you can use to get started right away.

Once you start writing, you can add calls-to-action (CTAs) to your posts, encouraging your visitors to subscribe to your blog or receive emails.

Even if you only publish once a week, it will improve your website’s visibility online and help educate your potential customers on why they should trust your company. You can also check out this beginner’s writing guide if you plan to write the posts yourself.

It can take some work, but a blog is a great way to start collecting leads and offering potential customers who aren’t yet ready to buy a way to learn more about you and your industry.

Download Free Blog Post Templates

10. Promote yourself on social media.

With billions of potential customers using various platforms daily, social media is a powerful business tool. Social media marketing can help you engage with potential customers, build brand awareness, and promote your products.

After all, why wouldn’t you want to be seen where your potential customers spend their time?

Download the Free Social Media Content Calendar Template

11. Collaborate with influencers to create brand awareness.

Influencer marketing is currently one of the top marketing trends. Collaborating with influencers in your niche is a surefire way to get your business in front of your audience's eyes.

Not only do influencers understand your niche, they also have a knack for storytelling. That means they’ll be able to tell your business’s story and sell your brand to your appropriate audience — perhaps more effectively than you are.

12. Create short-form video content.

I’ve learned firsthand that a good small business marketing strategy has to include more than just written content. In 2022, 44% of social media marketers focused on creating video content for TikTok.

Whether you focus on TikTok or other short-form video platforms like YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook, adding short-form video content to your marketing strategy mix can be a great way to connect and engage with your audience.

These short-form videos are quick and shareable, empowering you to quickly get your product or service to the right audience — and their friends.

13. Stick to a social media posting schedule.

We all want our businesses to go viral — but you shouldn’t just post once and cross your fingers. Instead, the best marketers stick to a consistent schedule for creating and publishing content.

Notably, that doesn’t mean posting every day just for the sake of posting. Of social media marketers, 83% agree that it’s better to post at a lower frequency with higher-quality content than to share lower-quality, less relevant posts daily.

Instead, take the time to create engaging, thoughtful content. Then, use a social media content calendar to make a regular posting schedule and schedule your posts for the optimal times.

14. Invest in ads.

It takes a while to build organic traffic.

So, in the short term, pay-to-play tactics that target buyers with high intent can be a great way to jump-start other objectives. That may be why 80% of brands use some form of paid advertisement.

If your target audience searches the web for your product or solution, Google Ads is likely a good option. If they aren’t, social media ads may be a better bet.

In general, people on social media have less buying intent — but with highly targeted ads and enough impressions, you’ll gain the interest of your audience.

Download the Free Advertising Planning Kit

15. Make sure you’re capturing web prospects’ information.

So far, we’ve been talking a lot about visibility and traffic. But how does all this help drive revenue? A straightforward way to start generating leads or customers from your website is to implement a conversion tool.

A simple, free option is HubSpot Marketing Free. This tool lets you add a pop-up widget to your website to collect potential customers’ email addresses.

From there, you can send out promotions and offers, ultimately converting those leads into paying customers. You can also implement any of these 26 conversion tools to help you optimize your website and use it to drive leads.

16. Use email marketing to nurture leads.

Of course, just because you’ve converted website traffic into leads doesn’t mean those leads are ready to buy. It’s essential to ensure your business stays top of mind for those leads so they’ll eventually move closer to a purchasing decision.

Email marketing is a great way to do that; 73% of millennials prefer communications from businesses to come via email, and this strategy offers an easy, free, and scalable way to communicate with new and existing customers.

Once you have an email marketing tool in place (many are inexpensive or even free), experiment with emailing out newsletters (perhaps even linking to your sleek new blog posts) and other promotions to your database of leads.

Business writer Jamie Johnson says it best:

“For small businesses without a sizable marketing budget, email marketing can drive impressive results…[businesses can] use email to connect with their audience, build credibility in their industry, and increase sales.”

I know that as a small business owner, you probably don’t have much free time to devote to digital marketing. As such, you may consider using marketing automation to make this process even more accessible.

To start planning your email marketing strategy, check out this guide and template from HubSpot.

17. Manage relationships with a CRM.

Email marketing works best when you’re sending personalized, targeted emails.

You’ll want to use a customer database or customer relationship management (CRM) system to do that. Your CRM stores information about your leads, prospects, and customers, helping you keep track of customer interactions and identify sales opportunities more effectively.

Not sure where to start? HubSpot has one of the best CRMs out there (and, best of all, it’s free).

18. Lean into word of mouth as a promotion channel.

As I mentioned earlier, delighting customers can significantly impact your business. After all, delighted customers will likely come back — and tell their friends about you, too.

If you provide a great experience, your customers will be more inclined to leave you a positive review, give testimonials, and refer their friends.

While word of mouth sometimes happens naturally, measuring customer satisfaction and proactively encouraging customers to spread the word can help you make the most of this promotional channel.

19. Connect with other local businesses.

Another powerful way to expand as a small business is to connect with other local business owners in your community.

Consider partnering with local businesses to create shared discounts, deals, or coupons. You could even livestream with another business owner during a promotional event or coordinate a giveaway.

Then, advertise the promotion or sale on both businesses’ social media channels.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to take it to the next level.

Below, I’ve compiled several tips to help you build on whichever marketing strategies you pursue.

1. Determine your brand’s identity.

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has described a company’s branding as “what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” A consistent brand identity will make you look more professional and help you attract new customers.

Importantly, this isn’t just about your brand name.

Your brand combines your brand name, logo, aesthetic, and the design of all your assets, as well as the values you espouse — an element of brand identity that’s becoming increasingly important to consumers.

As John Williams, award-winning branding and design expert and the founder of logo design company LogoYes, explains:

“Your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services and differentiates your offering from your competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be, and who people perceive you to be.”

2. Identify your buyer persona.

Imagine a customer searching for your product or service. What are their pain points? Where do they live? What is their job? What are their interests?

Creating a buyer persona that tells the story of your ideal customer can help you optimize a website for them. Once you better understand your target customer, you can craft a website that gives them precisely what they want.

3. Design a logo and other assets.

Peruse color palettes with tools like Adobe Color or Coolors to start getting the creative juices flowing. You can then create your palette or choose a premade one.

Once you’ve settled on your colors, I’d recommend checking out Upwork or Freelancer to find someone to design you a logo.

Free and less expensive options are available online if you want to design your logo, but using a freelancer or agency will often give you a higher-quality product.

Plus, going this route will connect you with a designer who you can continue to work with to update your brand assets as your company grows.

4. Build your website with a CMS template.

You'll probably want to build your website if you’re a tech-savvy small business owner. A content management system (CMS) makes the process simple.

Most CMSs offer customizable templates for free or for a small fee. These templates come at various skill levels, from beginner to advanced.

Once you’ve created your website, most CMS platforms will also offer plugins to help you optimize your content for search (look for SEO plugins).

This will help you rank better in Google (which I’ll discuss later).

5. Draw up a go-to-market strategy.

Once you’ve activated all the tools you need to promote your product or service, you must create a promotional plan that aligns with the customer journey.

Consider which content will attract, engage, and delight your prospects and how you will convert those prospects into customers. To help you plan out this process, consider using this template.

6. Hire a freelancer to help you scale your content.

If you need help creating regular blogs or promotional content, consider hiring a freelancer rather than investing in a full-timer.

Try Upwork for a freelance blogger, videographer, or photographer. For larger projects, you could also consider hiring a marketing agency.

7. Consult agencies or freelancers for web design help.

If you aren’t as tech-savvy and would rather have someone else build you a website for your small business, you can use a freelancer or a marketing agency specializing in web design.

This is also an excellent option for businesses with existing websites that need to be updated and revamped for SEO to help improve their Google rankings.

To find a freelancer or marketing consultant, you can use Upwork (filtering by design/creative), Codeable (for WordPress experts), or Freelancer.

8. Track your site with analytics tools.

If you’ve never made a website and aren’t entirely comfortable with the technical elements, many free tools and services can help you get started.

For example, when you create your website, you can use Google Analytics or HubSpot Marketing Free (both free products) to easily track who’s looking at your site.

9. Boost your Google ranking with SEO.

When you search for yourself or your product/service online, is your business among the first pages to come up in the search results page (SERP)? If not, it might be time to invest in SEO.

SEO, or search engine optimization, refers to strategies to improve your ranking on search engines like Google.

There are a lot of factors that play into why a particular site does or doesn’t appear in the top spots on a SERP, from keywords (and their placement on your site) to the length of your content, the quality of your content, how fast your page loads, how often you post content and more.

At the end of the day, sites like Google use a complicated algorithm to find the best, most relevant content to present to the person searching.

For example, if I’m searching for the best salon in Newport, Rhode Island, it wouldn’t be helpful to find a web page of a salon that has closed down and is located in Newport, Kentucky.

It would, however, be helpful for me to find a salon in my area with great Yelp reviews, an easy-to-navigate website, and contact information readily available.

So, what does it take to get your content to the top of the relevant SERPs?

There are three key things to remember: buyer persona research, keyword research, and on-page SEO research.

Once you’ve done this research, check out this comprehensive guide to SEO to learn everything you need to know about structuring your online content in a way that will get your business discovered by the right people.

10. Research keywords opportunities.

Keyword research is an extension of buyer persona research. Once you’ve created your buyer personas, use them to identify the best keywords for your brand.

Then, you can use a tool like KW Finder to find related keywords for your target audience.

Next, do some on-page SEO research and optimization. This is where you put those keywords into all the correct places on your website — like in the meta description, page titles, and H1 tags.

11. Optimize your website for mobile devices.

Today, the majority of Google searches are done on mobile devices. As such, making sure your site looks clean and is easy to navigate when someone enters it on their smartphone is essential.

Plus, some search engines boost your rankings if your site is mobile-friendly, making optimizing your content for mobile all the more critical.

In her comprehensive article, business writer Julie Thompson discusses the importance of responsive mobile web design, arguing that:

“Businesses today must offer customers a seamless mobile experience. A mobile-friendly website can positively impact brand image and sales.”

I know this can sound intimidating. The good news is you don’t have to be a tech expert to build a site that looks good on a smartphone or tablet.

Most CMS platforms (including HubSpot’s) offer mobile-optimized templates that do the work for you!

12. Write optimized blog posts.

Another critical factor in your search engine ranking is your site's blogs and other content. The more often your desired keywords appear in your high-quality and helpful content, the more likely you will end up high on the relevant SERPs.

Blogging is also a great way to establish yourself as an authority on your topic, product, or service. But don’t just write whatever you feel like. Instead, make sure you’re crafting your content with SEO in mind.

If you’re unsure how to start, I found these SEO tips for bloggers particularly helpful. In addition, a WordPress plugin like Yoast can be a helpful tool to keep SEO front and center as you’re writing.

13. Experiment with photo and video content.

According to HubSpot research, more than 50% of consumers want to see brand videos. Additionally, most social media apps, like Facebook and Instagram, are embracing more visual layouts.

Making a few marketing videos for your business is a good idea to keep up with these trends. And this doesn’t have to require a significant investment — these tips can help you produce videos on a budget.

14. Launch business pages on Facebook and Yelp.

If your business is focused on a local area, Facebook, Yelp, and Google’s business features will be critical for you. Positive reviews on these platforms can boost your authority online and help your search ranking.

To start, claim your business on Yelp, register with Google, and create a Facebook business page.

All three of these are free, and once you’re set up, you can customize your profile, add pictures, update your location and hours, and ask for reviews.

In addition, having up-to-date social media accounts will help prospects find and engage with you. Consider creating a Twitter account, learning to use Instagram, and even making a page on Pinterest.

All these platforms can both help customers find you and help you discover new potential customers.

15. Build out your social media strategy.

While Facebook and Yelp are great tools for local searches and reviews, platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter can offer you even more opportunities to share your posts, content, and promotions.

In addition, if your products or services can be purchased online, these platforms will also give customers another way to find you. That said, be sure not to spread yourself too thin by joining too many platforms simultaneously.

To make strategizing easier, I’d recommend looking at this guide to the five types of social media. It offers a helpful overview of the wide range of platforms available today and walks through the main pros and cons.

16. Use social media for customer service.

Once you’ve chosen your social media platforms, be sure to answer any questions your customers or followers ask through comments on your posts or via direct messages. This will help your company look responsive and credible.

If you’re unsure where to start, here are some great examples of how brands have used Twitter for customer service. In addition, if you have the resources, consider hiring a social media manager with community management experience.

On top of posting content regularly, community managers respond to your followers’ questions or concerns.

Are you interested in learning more? We published a guide on what it takes to be a great social media community manager.

17. Build interesting landing pages.

A landing page offers your potential customers a free resource in exchange for filling out a short contact information form.

This can be a great win–win, offering people valuable resources that make them even more interested in buying your full product while giving you access to their contact information.

Of course, for a landing page to be effective, it needs to look enticing.

I’d suggest looking at this guide to creating a landing page to learn more about what makes this strategy successful. Then, consider checking out these free, professionally designed landing page templates.

18. Plan an email marketing strategy.

Once you start posting content regularly and building landing pages, you’ll want to share them with the prospects who seem most interested in learning more about your product.

To do so, you’ll want to start by building out an email marketing strategy.

While you’ll want to be careful not to bombard the people who sign up for your email list with too many emails, it is essential to send enough updates to keep your prospects informed and engaged.

I’ve also found that streamlining an email marketing strategy can be hugely important. For example, this blog post explores how HubSpot’s metrics improved after streamlining.

If you’ve never sent regular newsletters before, you can use HubSpot or a number of other affordable tools to create and send emails with a professionally designed template.

In addition, many of these email tools also offer basic analytics that allow you to track open and click rates.

19. Offer coupons in newsletters or on landing pages.

Including a coupon in your marketing emails can be a great way to engage and delight your audience. Plus, customers might be more willing to pay full price after buying a product or service at a discounted rate.

Similarly, if you offer a subscription service, giving prospects a code for a free trial can also be helpful, enabling them to test it out before committing to a paid version.

20. Share your distribution channels on your website.

Once you have a few social media accounts and a newsletter, connect them to your website so your visitors know where to follow you.

One way to do this is to display all your linked social icons and a newsletter sign-up CTA on all website pages, either in the top right corner or in the footer. This way, they’re visible — but not distracting from any content.

21. Offer a free webinar.

A webinar allows potential customers to sign up for a short online course you host.

These courses are usually between 30 minutes and an hour long, allowing you to provide tips and answer questions about a topic you’re familiar with.

As Kristen McCormick, senior managing editor at the small business advertising firm WordStream, explains:

“If reaching a potential audience in person doesn’t sound like your idea of a good marketing idea, you can always host a webinar. Webinars are a free way to promote your business by providing helpful information to potential interested customers.”

This strategy can help boost your credibility in your field while offering you potential leads and sales opportunities.

22. Try co-marketing.

Is there a local business in your area that isn’t a direct competitor but offers a product or service to a similar target audience?

If so, consider working with them on a co-branded campaign where you promote each other on social media, via email, or in your blog. This way, you’ll help promote your partnering company while their fanbase will learn more about you.

23. Encourage happy customers to share their experiences.

When a happy customer talks about how great your company is on social media or a review site, other people are more likely to try out your product or service.

Even on social media, word of mouth is still a huge factor in someone’s purchasing decision.

For example, if a prospect sees a friend raving about your business on Facebook or if they post a photo of a meal from your restaurant on Instagram, the prospect might be more likely to go themselves.

71% of consumers are more likely to purchase based on social media referrals.

So, if your customers tell you they love your product, encourage them to share the experience on Yelp, Google, or social media.

If you run a brick-and-mortar business, put up signs with your account handles so customers know who to tag if they post a picture of your product.

24. Try out marketing experiments.

Don't be afraid to experiment if you’re interested in a new social platform or marketing trend. If an experiment goes well, you could be ahead of the game, and it never hurts to be a thought leader in your industry.

Keep a solid hypothesis or question in mind when experimenting with a new marketing strategy. This will have you focused on the end goal and reduce the desire to chase the next big thing as it comes along.

In addition, I’ve discovered that it’s essential to prepare the next steps for both good and bad results. Not every experiment will succeed, but you can learn from them either way.

Check out this quick guide to leading a successful marketing experiment for more details.

Now that we’ve covered some marketing strategy basics let’s look into how you can put your advertising dollars to work.

Below are some ideas to help you tackle advertising for a small business.

1. Set up Google My Business.

Creating a free Google My Business profile is a simple first step to helping potential customers find your business. It only takes a few minutes to add your business contact information, business hours, photos, and a list of your services.

Another perk of having a Google business profile is that you don’t need a storefront to create one. Your profile also has analytics to help you better understand how customers connect with your business.

Additionally, you can check out and respond to customer reviews and learn what keywords brought them to your business page.

2. Consider PPC ads with Google & Bing.

Pay-per-click (PPC) ad programs like Google Adwords or Microsoft Advertising can also help drive customers to your business. If you’re working hard on SEO but are still looking for an extra boost, consider PPC advertising.

With this search engine marketing technique, you use Google AdWords or Microsoft Ads to appear as an advertised listing in search results.

Before diving into PPC, you’ll want to ensure your landing page is as optimized as possible. If you pay by the click and those who click on the page don’t convert, you will lose advertising dollars.

To help you get started, I’d recommend reading through this Ultimate Guide to PPC. Then, use this PPC planning template to create an optimized campaign.

There are also a few handy tools and software solutions you can use to edit, track, and report on your campaigns.

3. Run social media ads.

Most major social media platforms offer affordable advertising options that can help you target your posts to a specific audience.

While many small businesses have been advertising on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for years, Instagram allows brands to promote through its Shoppable tool.

Pinterest is another excellent option for small business advertising since Pinterest users say the platform has more influence on their purchasing journey than other platforms.

Indeed, shopping ads on Pinterest drive three times more conversions than competing platforms — so I’d say it’s a channel worth considering!

4. Sponsor products on Etsy & Amazon.

If you’ve already set up shop on Amazon, you can boost your products by participating in Amazon’s sponsored products program.

This cost-per-click ad program generates ads from your product listings and automatically targets them, making it a great option if you’ve never created a campaign.

Similarly, if you sell your wares on Etsy, consider using Etsy Ads to advertise your products. Etsy Ads is another cost-per-click model with a default minimum daily budget of one dollar.

With Etsy Ads, your products will stand out in Etsy Search, category, and marketing pages.

5. Leverage user-generated content.

Some of the best advertising you can get is from existing customers. Happy customers can vouch for your brand and add social proof to your marketing campaigns.

Ask your customers to leave reviews, or if they’ve already created content on social media involving your brand, ask their permission to share it.

6. Develop a referral program.

Speaking of enlisting the help of your existing customers, I’ve also had great success incentivizing customers with a referral program. Offer them a discount, gift, or other perk in exchange for bringing in new customers.

Mark Zuckerberg famously stated, “Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising.”

Referred customers are 18% more loyal than those who aren’t and spend 13% more on purchases. Since these new customers will have been referred to you by someone they know, they’re more likely to have a positive customer experience.

7. Advertise with your local chamber of commerce.

If you have a storefront, advertise with your local chamber of commerce.

Each city is different, but you can typically be featured on local government websites, promoted on their social media channels, and included in their email newsletter for an annual fee.

This can be a great way to get your brand out there and an excellent opportunity to network with fellow small business owners.

Start Marketing Your Business Today

Small business owners looking to track ROI and brand awareness need digital marketing.

Not only is digital marketing a must-have for promoting your products or services, but optimizing your online assets is also critical to your business’s overall success.

You may have a long road ahead to build your online presence, but I’m here to tell you that any steps you can take today to invest in marketing will significantly impact your business long-term.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in September 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

The Ultimate Guide to Community Management [According to Experts Who Do It Daily]

Alana Chinn — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

According to our Social Media Trends Report, 86% of social media marketers say building an active online community is crucial to a successful social media strategy in 2024.

You know what that means? It’s time to get good at community management.

And if you’re like me, you don’t want to just be good at something. You want to excel. You want to build a community that rivals all others.

That’s why I’ve compiled everything you need to know about community management, including practical tips to effectively integrate it into your marketing strategy.

Table of Contents

What is community management? [FS]
Why Community Management Is Important
Community Managers: Who They Are & Why You Need Them
Community Management Types
How to Build a Community Management Strategy
Best Practices for Community Management
Examples of Community Management in Action

Why Your Brand Should Care About Community Management

Gone are the days where people just passively consume content online. Today, people expect to interact with both your content and your brand directly.

As Viktoriia Khutorna, communications specialist at Promova, put it:

“People are likely to go to a company that not only sells at a reasonable price but also communicates humanly, jokes, supports, or honestly admits mistakes and goes to fix them.”

Enter: community management.

Effective community management allows your business to:

Get real-time feedback and gather ideas from your customers.
Provide timely support to fans, customers, and other stakeholders.
Increase brand and product awareness within your target demographic.
Gain deeper insights into your customers’ preferences and expectations.
Build relationships between your brand and your audience.

And the very best community managers know how to create spaces where your brand becomes an integral part of your audiences’ lives.

Why Community Management Is Important

The pay off for building a successful community is pretty big. Here are some of the reasons why:

It builds trust and brand loyalty. Communities give you the space to build a strong rapport with your members through consistent communications and active engagement.
It creates a valuable feedback loop. You get an inside look into your audience’s preferences, needs, and pain points — what they like, what they don’t, what’s working, and what could be improved.
It humanizes your brand. Through real conversations and authenticity, your members feel like they’re interacting with real people (rather than a faceless entity).
It can generate unique user-generated content. From case studies to photos and videos, you can leverage community content on your own marketing channels.
It drives traffic and conversions. Community management is a powerful tool for conversions, and organic interactions with followers create natural opportunities to direct them to your products.

Not convinced? Learn more about the importance of community management here: Why is Community Management Important?

Community Managers: Who They Are & Why You Need Them

According to Joe Kevens, founder of B2B SaaS Reviews, “A community needs to be actively managed to create and sustain the ongoing engagement community members seek.”

He adds: “Without sufficient community management, you run the risk of your community discussions going stale and your user engagement dropping — or losing them from your community altogether.”

This is where a community manager comes in.

What’s the role of a community manager?

James Watts, community expert and founder of teach.io, says that the role of a community manager is “to be the brand’s voice, ears, and heart within the community.”

Community managers wear many hats including:

Developing and implementing strategies for building, growing, and nurturing a community.
Creating engaging content that resonates with the community and measuring success.
Acting as a brand liaison by responding to comments and actively encouraging member participation.
Enforcing community guidelines, ensuring respectful interactions and removing inappropriate content.
Staying current on trends to identify new opportunities for content creation or engagement.

Watts continues, “They're there to welcome and help people, start discussions and address any concerns.”

Ready to hire a community manager? Follow these steps: How to Hire a Community Manager

Community Management Types

The easiest way to look at the different types of community management is using the SPACES model.

This framework organizes community management based on two main elements: 1) their primary function and 2) the focus of the community.

The acronym “SPACES” represents six distinct community management categories:

(S) Support: Empowers members to answer questions and help solve each other’s problems. Best for: Brands with in-depth product lines (e.g., software).
(P) Product: Allows customers to share feedback and ideas about your products and services. Best for: Consumer-oriented companies that rely on user input for growth.
(A) Acquisition: Creates a network for ambassadors and advocates to promote your products and build brand awareness. Best for: Startups and newly-established brands.
(C) Contribution: Encourages users to post content on your behalf or collaborate on projects together. Best for: Media companies and creative industries.
(E) Engagement: Internal engagement communities serve as a hub for employees and partners. Best for: Large organizations with many departments. External engagement communities connect consumers based on a shared interest. Best for: Lifestyle brands and companies with strong brand identities.
(S) Success: Helps customers work together to use your product effectively and achieve desired outcomes. Best for: Service-oriented businesses where product success is tied to continued and proper use.

For a deeper breakdown of each type, I've got you covered: 6 Types of Community Management (+ Tips from the Experts Who Manage Them)

How to Build a Community Management Strategy

This step-by-step guide walks you through everything you need to know about building a community management strategy (with tips from the experts who know their stuff).

But while you’re here, I’ll give you the TL;DR:

Define your objectives: Determine what success looks like. Ask yourself: What do I want to achieve by building and maintaining a community?
Identify your audience: Understand who you want to reach. Ask yourself: What are the needs, behaviors, and characteristics of my target demographic?
Choose the right channels: Meet your community where they are. Ask yourself: Which platforms does my audience use the most?
Set your targets: Quantify your objectives based on time, budget, and resources. Ask yourself: What’s our performance benchmark?
Post regularly and engage with your audience: Create consistent content streams and actively interact. Ask yourself: How can I keep my community lively and my brand top-of-mind?
Measure your results: Outline your most important metrics and how you plan to track them. Ask yourself: What’s the best way to assess our performance and refine our strategy?

For more on this, check out: Building a Community Management Strategy That Actually Creates Connection

Best Practices for Community Management

Effective community management can transform your followers into loyal customers and potential brand advocates.

Here are some quick and dirty best practices to help you run yours seamlessly:

Communicate clear expectations from the start. Set firm rules for contributors around content principles and participation guidelines. This will help you create a safe place for people to interact with each other and your brand.
Get your members involved early (and often). Include your members throughout the process, and build the community with them — not just for them. People will want to invest in something they helped create.
Encourage member-to-member interactions. Give your members a platform to engage with each other. The best communities thrive beyond just you and your brand.
Recognize, incentivize, and reward participation. Show your members that you care about their time and commitment to your brand with regular tokens of appreciation.
Personalize your engagements (and be human). Make your audience feel like they’re talking to a real person in every interaction (because, usually, they are).
Stay true to yourself and your brand. Be as honest, transparent, and authentic. It’s OK to get things wrong sometimes — as long as you own it. That way, you’re building a community based on trust.
Use AI and tech to your advantage. We’re in our AI era. Use the free tools you have at your disposal (HubSpot’s social media management software) to deliver maximum value.
Be attentive and respond promptly. Timeliness is so important. And when you respond quickly and frequently, your audience is more likely to do the same.
Celebrate milestones with your community. Have fun with it! Did you exceed your follower goal? Throw yourselves (and your community) a party. Sharing moments like these creates connection.
Maintain your brand voice at all times. Your brand voice is what makes your business unique and identifiable to your customers, partners, and employees .Consistency is key.
Evolve with the trends. By the time I post this, it’s very possible that a new trend has emerged that changes the way we think about community management. Make sure you’re in the know.
Always be auditing. Pay close attention to how your community is performing. Are people engaged? Are you attracting the right audience? Regularly review your metrics and make improvements accordingly.

Want more? Get the full scoop on best practices here: 12 Community Management Best Practices to Attract Your Biggest Advocates

Examples of Community Management in Action

Spotify Ideas

This community helps Spotify drive product innovations based on the customer experience. Here, Spotify users can submit ideas and recommendations for future Spotify innovations.

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Topicals

The Topicals community is social-forward. They actively engage with their audience on social media. Plus, Topicals uses it as an avenue to help people understand the science behind their products and learn how to use them.

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The Spot

HubSpot’s online community is a great example of audience-centric community management. This community is dedicated to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion among underrepresented professionals.

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These are just a few of many examples. I’ll send you here for deeper insights on these examples (and for more of our favorites): 7 Community Management Examples To Learn From

Your Community Awaits

The power of community management is undeniable.

It humanizes your brand, increases brand awareness, provides valuable customer insights, and fosters trust and loyalty from your members.

If you ask me, these are all vital ingredients for long-term success.

Color Theory 101: Color Wheels, Color Schemes, and Why Everything You Think You Know About Color Might Be Wrong

lbrowning@hubspot.com (Laura M. Browning) — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

When I sat down at my laptop to update this article, I thought I had at least a fifth-grader’s grasp of color wheels.

I certainly didn’t expect to uncover a completely contradictory view of color theory. Nor did I expect this new theory to lead me down an existential rabbit hole and question everything I thought I knew about color.

So let’s take a journey through color theory, both traditional and perceptual (remember that word), with a marketer’s eye toward harmonious color schemes, accessible UX, and eye-catching visuals.

We'll cover the following topics:

Color Theory and Marketing
What is color theory?
Why is color theory important in web design?
Color Theory 101: Traditional Color Theory
Additive & Subtractive Color Theory
Color Theory 201: The Theory of Color Perception
The Meaning of Color
What are the seven types of color schemes?
Examples of Color Schemes
How to Choose a Color Scheme
How to Use Color Palettes
Color Tools

Color Theory and Marketing

Is a picture still worth a thousand words if its color scheme makes you queasy?

We all know that infographics, charts, graphs, and animated GIFs can attract and keep an audience’s attention — but not if you pair neon green with khaki (look up hex codes #02ff00 and #d2c08e if you want proof. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

A working knowledge of color theory and design can help keep readers’ eyes on your content.

We’ll start with traditional color theory, and then we’ll turn everything inside out and explore another way of approaching color and accessibility.

What is color theory?

Let’s start with what it isn’t: Color theory is not a fixed, monolithic body of knowledge.

I’ll use the term “traditional color theory” to refer to the common guidelines and rules that are rooted in the red-yellow-blue model, and also to distinguish it from perception color theory (that word again!).

Those are most relevant to the modern marketer, but color theory has fascinated philosophers, artists, and scientists for many centuries.

Aristotle wrote about color theory around 330 BCE, and the Arab scientist Ibn al-Haytham, the father of modern optics, made significant contributions to color theory in the 9th century, during the Islamic Golden Age.

Traditional color theory is the basis for the primary rules and guidelines that surround color and its use in creating aesthetically pleasing visuals.

Understanding these basics can, according to former HubSpotter Bethany Cartwright, give you a logical structure to create and use color palettes more strategically. The results will let you deliberately evoke a particular emotion, vibe, or aesthetic — essentials for good marketing.

There are many tools to help marketers — even those of us who daydreamed through art class — create compelling visuals. But graphic design requires a little more background knowledge of design principles.

Take selecting the right color combination, for instance. It might seem easy at first, but when you‘re staring down a color wheel, you’re going to wish you had a little more information. In fact, brands of all sizes use color psychology to learn how color influences decision-making and affects design.

Understanding how colors work together, the impact they can have on mood and emotion, and how they change the look and feel of your website is critical if you want to stand out from the crowd — for the right reasons.

Whether your goal is more effective CTAs, higher sales conversions, or just raising your marketing game, the right color choice can highlight specific sections of your website, make it easier for users to navigate, or give them a sense of familiarity from the moment they click through.

But it’s not enough to simply select colors and hope for the best — color theories, moods and schemes, finding the right HTML color codes, and identifying web-accessible colors for products and websites are key to your success.

Read on for our guide to traditional color theory, perception color theory, color wheels, and color schemes for your site.

Color Theory 101: Traditional Color Theory

Let's go back to high school art class for the basics of traditional color theory, starting with primary, secondary, and tertiary colors.

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What are primary colors?

Primary colors can’t be created by combining two or more colors. Cartwright compares them to prime numbers, which can't be created by multiplying two numbers.

There are three primary colors in the traditional color system:

Red
Yellow
Blue

“Think of primary colors as your parent colors, anchoring your design in a general color scheme,” says Cartwright. Any one — or a combination — of these colors can give your brand guardrails when you explore other shades, tones, and tints (we'll talk about those in just a minute).

“When designing or even painting with primary colors, don‘t feel restricted to just the three primary colors listed above,” says Cartwright. “Orange isn’t a primary color, for example, but brands can certainly use orange as their dominant color (as we at HubSpot know quite well).”

Knowing which primary colors create orange is your ticket to identifying colors that might go well with orange — given the right shade, tone, or tint. This brings us to our next type of color ...

What are secondary colors?

Secondary colors are the colors that are formed by combining any two of the three primary colors listed above. In the traditional color theory model above, you can see how each secondary color is supported by two of the three primary colors.

The three secondary colors are orange, purple, and green. You can create each one using two of the three primary colors. Here are the general rules of secondary color creation:

Red + Yellow = Orange
Blue + Red = Purple
Yellow + Blue = Green

Keep in mind that the color mixtures above only work if you use the purest form of each primary color.

This pure form is known as a color‘s hue, and you’ll see how these hues compare to the variants underneath each color in the color wheel below.

What are tertiary colors?

Tertiary colors are created when you mix a primary color with a secondary color.

“From here,” Bethany Cartwright says, “color gets a little more complicated.”

“If you want to learn how the experts choose color in their design, you've got to understand the other components of color.”

“The most important component of tertiary colors is that not every primary color can match with a secondary color to create a tertiary color,” says Cartwright.

For example, red can‘t mix in harmony with green, and blue can’t mix in harmony with orange — both mixtures would result in a slightly brown color (unless, of course, that‘s what you’re looking for).

Instead, tertiary colors are created by mixing a primary color with the secondary color next to it on the traditional color wheel below. There are six tertiary colors in this model:

Red + Purple = Red-Purple (magenta)
Red + Orange = Red-Orange (vermillion)
Blue + Purple = Blue-Purple (violet)
Blue + Green = Blue-Green (teal)
Yellow + Orange = Yellow-Orange (amber)
Yellow + Green = Yellow-Green (chartreuse)

Designers use a color wheel to pick the best and most compatible colors to ensure the combinations achieve the desired visual effect.

The Color Wheel

Now that we’ve identified the 12 main colors in the traditional color wheel, let’s get real: Choosing color combinations, especially on a computer, involves a much wider range than a dozen basic colors.

The color wheel is a circle graph that charts each primary, secondary, and tertiary color, as well as their respective hues, tints, tones, and shades.

Isaac Newton — the same one whose head was apocryphally hit by an apple as he lounged under a tree — is widely considered the first person to develop a color theory based on this color wheel.

And even in 1704, the primary colors were disputed. Whereas Newton (red, green, blue) studied pigments in a lab, the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (yellow, blue) relied on perception and experience.

Using a traditional color wheel helps you choose color schemes by illustrating the relationships between each color on a rainbow scale (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet — ROY G BIV).

When choosing colors for a color scheme, the color wheel gives you opportunities to create brighter, lighter, softer, and darker colors by mixing white, black, and gray with the original colors.

These mixes create the color variants described below:

Hue

“Hue” is what we usually mean when we say the word “color.” All of the primary and secondary colors, for instance, are hues.

Hue identifies the color family — like red, green, or blue — but you need more information to identify a specific color. For instance, sky blue, midnight blue, cornflower blue, and royal blue can’t all be simply described as “blue.”

Hues are important to remember when combining two primary colors to create a secondary color. “If you don‘t use the hues of the two primary colors you’re mixing, you won't generate the hue of the secondary color,” Cartwright says.

This is because a hue has the fewest other colors inside it. By mixing two primary colors that carry other tints, tones, and shades inside them, you're technically adding more than two colors to the mixture, making your final color dependent on the compatibility of more than two colors.

If you mixed the hues of red and blue, for instance, you‘d get purple, right? But mix a tint of red with the hue of blue, and you’ll get a slightly tinted purple in return.

The term “shade” often refers to light and dark versions of the same hue. But a shade is technically the color that you get from adding black to any given hue. The various shades just refer to how much black you're adding.

Tint

A tint is the opposite of a shade, but people don‘t often distinguish between a color’s shade and its tint. Adding white to a color can give you a different tint. So, a color can have a range of both shades and tints.

Tone (or Saturation)

You can also add both white and black to a color to create a tone. Tone and saturation essentially mean the same thing, but “saturation” is more common in digital design. “Tone” will be used more often for painting.

Chroma

Chroma describes how vivid or muted a color appears. The Colour Literacy Project notes that “‘colorfulness’ is often used to describe the vividness or chroma in everyday language.”

Color theory educator Peter Donahue explains chroma as “a measure of how different a color appears from a gray of the same lightness.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Peter Donahue (@art.pete.repeat)

With the basics covered, let's dive into something a little more complicated — additive and subtractive color theory.

Additive & Subtractive Color Theory

If you‘ve played around with color on any computer program, you’ve probably seen a module that listed RGB or CMYK colors with some numbers next to the letters.

Ever wondered what those letters mean?

CMYK

CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). Those also happen to be the colors listed on your ink cartridges for your printer. That's no coincidence.

CMYK is the subtractive color model, so called because you have to subtract colors to get to white. That means the opposite is true — the more colors you add, the closer you get to black.

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Think about printing on a piece of paper. When you first put a sheet in the printer, you‘re typically printing on a white piece of paper. By adding color, you’re blocking the white wavelengths from getting through.

Then, let‘s say you were to print something else over that printed piece of paper. You’ll notice the areas that have been printed twice will have colors closer to black.

“I find it easier to think about CMYK in terms of its corresponding numbers,” says Cartwright. “CMYK works on a scale of 0 to 100. If C=100, M=100, Y=100, and K=100, you end up with black. But, if all four colors equal 0, you end up with true white.”

RGB

RGB color models, on the other hand, are designed for electronic displays like computers.

RGB stands for red, green, and blue, and it’s based on the additive color model of light waves.

This means that the more color you add, the closer you get to white.

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“For computers, RGB is created using scales from 0 to 255. So, black would be R=0, G=0, and B=0. White would be R=255, G=255, and B=255,” says Cartwright.

When you're creating color on a computer, your color module will usually list both RGB and CMYK numbers. In practice, you can use either one to find colors, and the other color model will adjust accordingly.

However, many web programs will only give you the RGB values or a hex code (the code assigned to color for CSS and HTML). So, if you're designing digital images for web design, RGB is probably your best bet for choosing colors.

You can always convert the design to CMYK and make adjustments should you ever need it for printed materials.

Color Theory 201: The Theory of Color Perception

What if everything we thought we knew about color was wrong — or at least outdated?

When I sat down with Peter Donahue, an artist and color theory educator, to talk about color perception theory, I quickly realized that it runs contrary to almost everything else in this article.

That doesn’t mean you have to let go of everything you thought you knew about color theory — and in fact, if you’re using common graphic design tools, you’re likely working in RGB or CMYK color spaces, so it’s useful to understand how they work.

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But — as befitting a subject that has piqued the world’s greatest minds for two millennia — it’s complicated.

To help me understand it, Donahue starts with color meanings or associations. “It’s not the hue that we respond to on an unconscious level,” he tells me.

Even people who can’t see color know that red is associated with passion (in some cultures). It “kind of proves that [color associations or meanings] have nothing to do with the color itself, but the idea of color.”

Perceiving Color

Donahue says that a big part of what he does as an educator is to “unteach people the red-yellow-blue model” and instead use perception science to find color harmonies.

“Perceiving” means that color isn’t a physical property — it’s a complex interaction involving light wavelengths and our brains. It’s something we experience, not something we observe.

Put another way: I perceive my tabby cat as orange because of how light hits his fur and how my eyes and brain interpret that information. He’s not intrinsically orange, because “orange” isn’t a property that exists out in the world.

If your brain is beginning to melt: Welcome. Color is all in your mind, literally. Perceiving color is all about light, rods and cones, and gray matter.

I did an experiment from the Colour Literacy Project to make the abstract a little more tangible.

All four of these circles were originally white. I picked a color — the nice, bright HubSpot orange (#FF5C35, if you’re playing along at home) — and filled it in the top left circle. I stared at the black dot inside the orange circle for 30 seconds, and then looked at the white circle below it.

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When I stared at the white circle, a pale blue emerged. I found the closest match and used it to fill in the top right circle, which you can see above.

But that pale blue only existed because of the way that light activated my entire visual system and how my brain interpreted that data — it’s not something I could take a photo of. Color exists inside my brain, not outside of it.

Using Perceptual Color Theory

Let’s look at how you might use the perceptual model to select, say, new brand colors.

The perceptual model isn’t concerned with what Peter Donahue calls “the traditional hue-first approach,” which he says “offers no guidance in terms of how to manage value or chroma.”

(Chroma, remember, refers to how vivid or muted a color is.)

Adhering to a hue-first approach can have real-world implications, particularly with respect to UX and accessibility.

I asked Donahue what advice he’d give to somebody new to color theory, and he said, “What I really wish [web designers] knew was that traditional color theory actually contributes to inequality when it comes to UX design and accessibility issues.”

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A color wheel based on perception science. On a traditional color wheel, yellow would be opposite purple, green opposite red, and so forth. Donahue, who made the colordisk above, says that the hue intervals on the traditional color wheel aren’t useful in design and accessibility.

That is, because of the way the hues are spaced on a traditional color wheel, you could select colors opposite each other, thinking that they’re complementary, when in fact they could result in poor contrast or muddied visuals.

“The interval of the hues you’re choosing” — that is, how far apart they are on the color wheel — “is the traditional approach.” But Donahue says that “the more recent studies and ideas are all saying [that approach] is completely bogus.”

The idea that these three colors “are inherently harmonious is just false,” he tells me. “Because if you choose those three hues and represent them all as very vivid, chromatic colors, they’re actually very disruptive.”

I tested this — albeit crudely — starting with Canva’s (traditional) color wheel and a cheery red, represented by hex code #e51a25. I then selected a triadic color combination.

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This gave me a green (#25E51A) and blue (#1A25E5). Already, the combination is not giving “brand color” vibes.

I put each of those hex codes into the OKLCH color picker and converter and cranked up the chroma to make them as vivid as the tool allowed. It returned a color palette best described as “headache.”

Pass the Advil.

If you’re picking brand colors, Donahue says to ask yourself what you’re aiming for, like a certain mood or emotion. “Am I going to choose all colors that are deep, meaning they are low in value, but still saturated?”

My best approximation of a triadic color scheme using Donahue’s Colordisk above. Much better.

“Rather than hue, think about the other dimensions, like chroma and value. Plan your color schemes according to these intuitive responses that even somebody who hasn’t studied color theory will be able to respond to.”

“You’ll be much more effective at communicating that mood or emotion than if you were trying to choose certain hues.”

My colleague Ramona Sukhraj echoed this when she told me about helping a friend select brand colors for a new therapy and wellness practice: “What are you trying to make people feel when they walk away from your brand?”

Her friend wanted people to feel “safe and grounded.” She liked orange, but instead of choosing something like the bright HubSpot orange, they went with a more subdued terracotta hue.

Alex Cristache, Director of Digital Design at CurbCutOS, uses the social media platform X for his #MindfulPalettes series. He’ll suggest a color palette and will often note whether it lends itself to a particular industry.

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I was excited to find out how he uses traditional color theory to arrive at those conclusions.

“It doesn’t necessarily come from color theory,” he told me.

“It’s that gut feeling people have because we’re used to associating colors with certain things.”

Peter Donahue recommends using a perceptual color picker like OKLCH color picker and converter. It’s made with digital in mind, and will alert you if you pick a chroma, hue, or lightness that isn’t available on any devices.

Bonus: Playing with the chroma and hue graphs was the easiest way for me to visualize those characteristics.

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The Meaning of Color

Along with varying visual impact, colors also carry different emotional symbolism.

The Colour Literacy Project says that “the way we respond to certain colors is profoundly impacted by both our individual experiences and our past history, as well as our culture.”

This list is a guide for many Western cultures, but if something doesn’t ring true for you — trust your gut.

Red — typically associated with power, passion, or energy, and can help encourage action on your site
Orange — joy and enthusiasm, making it a good choice for positive messaging
Yellow — happiness and intellect, but be wary of overuse
Green — often connected to growth or ambition, green can help give the sense that your brand is on the rise
Blue — tranquility and confidence, depending on the shade — lighter shades provide a sense of peace, darker colors are more confident
Purple — luxury or creativity, especially when used deliberately and sparingly on your site
Black — power and mystery, and using this color can help create necessary negative space
White — safety and innocence, making it a great choice to help streamline your site

“Color psychology varies widely between the Western world and the Eastern world,” notes Cristache, who’s based in Romania.

If your brand moves into other parts of the world, it’s a good idea to research how users will perceive particular colors. For example, while red typically symbolizes passion or power in the United States, it’s considered a color of mourning in South Africa.

And sometimes, entire color schemes are more or less palatable depending on the country and culture. Sukrahj tells me about working on a logo for an India-based company that wanted to use bright magenta and navy.

That combination of colors “doesn’t necessarily land in the U.S.,” she says, “the same way it would in India.” As with everything in marketing: Know your audience.

Let’s examine the seven color schemes in more detail.

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1. Monochromatic

Monochromatic color schemes use a single color with varying shades and tints to produce a consistent look and feel.

Although it lacks color contrast, it’s often very clean and polished. It also allows you to easily change the darkness and lightness of your colors.

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Monochromatic color schemes are often used for charts and graphs, where high contrast isn't necessary.

Check out all the monochromatic colors that fall under the red hue, a primary color.

2. Analogous

Analogous color schemes are formed by pairing one main color with the two colors directly next to it on the color wheel.

You can also add two more colors (found next to the two outside colors) if you want to use a five-color scheme instead of just three colors.

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Analogous structures do not create themes with highly contrasting colors, so they're typically used to create a softer, less contrasting design.

For example, you could use an analogous structure to create a color scheme with autumn or spring colors.

This color scheme is great for warmer (red, oranges, and yellows) or cooler (purples, blues, and greens) color palettes like the one below.

Analogous schemes are often used to design images rather than infographics or bar charts, as all of the elements blend nicely.

3. Complementary

You may have guessed it, but a complementary color scheme is based on two colors directly across from each other on the color wheel and the relevant tints of those colors.

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The complementary color scheme provides the greatest amount of color contrast. Because of this, you should be careful about how you use complementary colors in a scheme.

It's best to use one color predominantly and use the second color as the accent color in your design. The complementary color scheme is also great for charts and graphs. High contrast helps you highlight important points and takeaways.

4. Split Complementary

A split complementary scheme includes one dominant color and the two colors directly adjacent to the dominant color's complement. This creates a more nuanced color palette while still retaining the benefits of contrasting colors.

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The split complementary color scheme can be difficult to balance, because unlike analogous or monochromatic color schemes, the colors used all provide contrast (similar to the complementary scheme).

The positive and negative aspect of the split complementary color model is that you can use any two colors in the scheme and get great contrast ... but that also means it can be tricky to find the right balance between the colors.

As a result, you may end up playing around with this one to find the right combination of contrast.

Alex Cristache echoes the need to play with split complementary schemes, comparing it to programming music on a computer.

“If every drum hits at the perfect millisecond, it just doesn’t feel right. A true drummer will slightly lose a cadence or add a flourish somewhere.”

So don’t be afraid to adjust the scheme to get the color combination you want, even if it’s not perfectly aligned on the color wheel.

When working with a split complementary scheme, he says, “Don’t force the color.”

5. Triadic

Triadic color schemes offer highly contrasting color schemes while retaining the same tone. Triadic color schemes are created by choosing three colors that are equally placed in lines around the color wheel.

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Triad color schemes are useful for creating high contrast between each color in a design, but they can also seem overpowering if all of your colors are chosen from the same point in a line around the color wheel.

To subdue some of your colors in a triadic scheme, you can choose one dominant color and use the others sparingly, or simply subdue the other two colors by choosing a softer tint.

The triadic color scheme looks great in graphics like bar or pie charts because it offers the contrast you need to create comparisons.

6. Square

The square color scheme uses four colors equidistant from each other on the color wheel to create a square or diamond shape.

While this evenly spaced color scheme provides substantial contrast to your design, it’s a good idea to select one dominant color rather than trying to balance all four.

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Square color schemes are great for creating interest across your web designs.

Not sure where to start? Pick your favorite color and work from there to see if this scheme suits your brand or website.

It’s also a good idea to try square schemes against both black and white backgrounds to find the best fit.

7. Rectangle

Also called the tetradic color scheme, the rectangle approach is similar to its square counterpart but offers a more subtle approach to color selection.

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As you can see in the diagram above, while the blue and red shades are quite bold, the green and orange on the other side of the rectangle are more muted, making the bolder shades stand out.

No matter which color scheme you choose, keep in mind what your graphic needs.

If you need to create contrast, then choose a color scheme that gives you that.

On the other hand, if you just need to find the best “versions” of certain colors, then play around with the monochromatic color scheme to find the perfect shades and tints.

Remember, if you build a color scheme with five colors, you don’t have to use all five. Sometimes just choosing two colors from a color scheme looks much better than cramming all five colors together in one graphic.

Designer Alex Cristache uses the seven types of color schemes for his palettes — with a catch. “Once you’re comfortable with the rules — start bending them.”

Now that you’re familiar with color scheme types, let’s take a look at some in the wild.

Examples of Color Schemes

1. Canva

Type: Monochromatic

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The use of blues and purples make this monochromatic blueberry-inspired template stand out. Each shade builds on the next and provides ample contrast despite remaining within the same color family.

2. Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism

Type: Triadic

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As we mentioned earlier, nature is a great way to get inspiration for your color palette. Why? Because mother nature already has it figured out. Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism took advantage of these triadic shades to showcase the region’s natural beauty.

3. Your Daye

Type: Analogous

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Eco-friendly women’s health company Your Daye uses a blend of pastels and earthy tones for its analogous color scheme. The effect is soothing and pleasing to the eye.

Still want more inspiration? We got you. Here are 25 logo color schemes, along with tips from HubSpot’s brand team.

1. Leverage natural inspiration.

Once your site operations are solid, it’s time to start selecting colors.

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Not sure what looks good? Take a look outside. Nature is the best example of colors that complement each other — think green stems and bright blooms of flowering plants, azure skies, and white clouds.

Pulling context from natural colors and combinations is a great way to start building color schemes.

2. Set a mood for your color scheme.

With a few color choices in mind, consider the mood you want your color scheme to set.

If passion and energy are your priorities, lean toward red or brighter yellows. If you’re creating a feeling of peace or tranquility, trend toward lighter blues and greens.

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It’s also worth thinking negatively. This is because negative space — in either black or white — can help keep your design from feeling too cluttered with color.

3. Consider color context.

Consider how colors are perceived in contrast.

In the image below, the middle of each circle is the same size, shape, and color. The only thing that changes is the background color.

Yet, the middle circles appear softer or brighter depending on the contrasting color behind it. You may even notice movement or depth changes based on one color change.

This is because we perceive two-color combinations differently. So, when you're choosing colors for your graphic designs, think about how much contrast you want throughout the design.

For instance, if you were creating a simple bar chart, would you want a dark background with dark bars? Probably not.

You'd likely want a contrast between your bars and the background itself, since you want your viewers to focus on the bars, not the background.

4. Refer to your color wheel.

Next, consider your color wheel and the schemes mentioned above. Select a few different color combinations using schemes such as monochrome, complementary, and triad to see what stands out.

Here, the goal isn’t to find exactly the right colors on the first try and create the perfect design, but rather to get a sense of which scheme naturally resonates with your personal perception and the look of your site.

You may also find that some of your schemes look good in theory but don’t work with your site design. This is part of the process — trial and error will help you find the color palette that highlights your content and improves the user experience.

5. Draft multiple designs.

Draft and apply multiple color designs to your website and see which one(s) stand out. Then, take a step back, wait a few days and check again to see if your favorites have changed.

Here’s why: While many designers go in with a vision of what they want to see and what looks good, the finished product often looks different on digital screens than on physical color wheels. What seemed like a perfect complement or an ideal color pop may end up looking drab or dated.

Don’t be afraid to draft, review, draft again, and throw out what doesn’t work — color, like website creation, is constantly evolving.

Cristache, who’s been working in digital design for 20 years, adds, “The more you work with color, the better you get. There’s no other way around it.”

Pro tip: Use HubSpot's Brand Kit Generator to help. You can generate a color palette for your business, natch. You can also generate free logo designs, favicons and social media icons, and other brand elements.

How to Use Color Palettes

While color schemes provide a framework for working with different colors, you’ll still need to use a color palette — the colors you will select to use for your project.

If you’re stumped about what colors to use, consider using HubSpot’s palette generator to get your creativity flowing.

Here are some best practices to make the most out of your color palette:

1. Work in grayscale.

This may sound counterintuitive, but starting with black and white can help you see exactly how much contrast exists in your design.

Before you add color, lay out elements like text, CTAs, illustrations, photos, and any other design features. The way your design looks in grayscale will determine how well it looks in color.

Without enough light-and-dark contrast, your design will be harder to view, leaving your audience with a less-than-satisfactory user experience. Low-contrast designs are inaccessible for those with vision impairments.

2. Use the 60-30-10 rule.

Often used in home design, the 60-30-10 rule is also useful for website or app design.

60% primary or main color
30% secondary colors
10% accent colors

While you’re not limited to using just three colors, this framework will provide balance and ensure your colors work together seamlessly.

Cristache says, “You cannot work with four accent colors at the same time. Marketing material usually gives you very limited space, right? Be very intentional about how and where you use colors.”

3. Experiment with your palette.

Once you’ve selected colors, experiment to discover which combinations work better together. Consider how copy or type looks on top of your main color (60% is typically used as the background color).

Try not to use your main colors for buttons since you’re already using it everywhere else. Consider one of your accent colors instead.

4. Get feedback or conduct A/B testing.

So you’ve finished your draft. Now it’s time to test it. Before sending your design to market, you’ll want to test how users interact with it. What may look good to you, may be difficult to read for others.

Some things to consider when asking for feedback:

Are the CTAs generating attention?
Are the colors you chose distracting?
Is there enough color contrast?
Is the copy legible?

Getting another set of eyes on your design will help you spot errors or inconsistencies you may have missed in the creation process. Take their feedback in stride and make adjustments where needed.

Put simply? Practice makes perfect. The more you play with color and practice design, the better you get. No one creates a masterpiece the first time around.

Color Tools

There‘s been a lot of theory and practical information to help you understand which colors go best together and why. But when it comes down to choosing colors, it’s always a great idea to have tools that help you work quickly and easily.

Alex Cristache also suggests paying attention to how color is used on other websites.

“Learn from the failures of others before you fail yourself — because a lot of people have failed, and they’re all over the internet. And that’s a really good learning structure.”

There are a number of other tools to help you find and choose colors for your designs.

OKLCH Color Picker & Converter

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If you want to experiment with perceptual color models, OKLCH is an excellent starting point. Just playing with the graphs of color characteristics (like chroma and hue) is a huge help in understanding some of the more complex relationships we’ve talked about here.

Khroma

Khroma is an AI color palette tool trained to your specific tastes.

You begin by selecting 50 (!) colors that you like — it says that such a large sample will keep the AI from suggesting colors you don’t like. You can search by hue, chroma (muted, rich, bright, deep), and even hex and RGB codes.

The tool returns several hundred two-color combinations. Here’s a selection of mine:

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If you select the palette icon in the Khroma toolbar, it will create a four-color palette. Clicking on the information icon on each palette provides the hex and RGB codes as well as a bias percentage that measures how close the palette is to the colors you like.

Fun for days!

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WhoCanUse.com

Accessibility is paramount when creating color palettes, especially for digital marketing materials. WhoCanUse.com isn’t a traditional color picker, but once you have some ideas for a color scheme, it makes solving for accessibility a breeze.

Input hex codes for background and text colors, and it will give you 14 ratings based on different types of colorblindness, vision loss, and even situational events like night shift mode and direct sunlight.

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Adobe Color

Adobe Color (formerly Adobe Kuler) is a popular choice for creating color schemes.

This free online tool allows you to quickly build color schemes based on traditional color theory. Once you‘ve chosen the colors in the scheme you’d like, you can copy and paste the hex or RGB codes into the program you're using.

It also features hundreds of premade color schemes to explore and use in your own designs. If you're an Adobe user, you can easily save your themes to your account.

Illustrator Color Guide

“I spend a lot of time in Adobe Illustrator, and one of my most-used features is the color guide,” says former HubSpotter Bethany Cartwright.

The color guide automatically generates a five-color scheme based on one color of your choice. It will also give you a range of tints and shades for each color in the scheme.

If you switch your main color, the color guide will switch the corresponding colors in that scheme. So if you've chosen a complementary color scheme with blue as the main color, switching it to red will make the complementary color change from orange to green.

Like Adobe Color, Illustrator’s color guide has preset modes to choose the color scheme you want. This helps you pick the right color scheme style within the program you're already using.

After you've created your color scheme, you can save it in the “Color Themes” module to use throughout your project or in the future.

Preset Color Guides

If you‘re not an Adobe user, you’ve probably used Microsoft Office products at least once. All Office products have preset colors you can use to create color schemes. PowerPoint also has color scheme presets that you can use to draw inspiration for your designs.

Where the color schemes are located in PowerPoint depends on which version you use, but once you find the color themes of your document, you can open up the preferences and locate the RGB and hex codes for the colors used.

You can then copy and paste those codes into the program you're using for your design work.

Finding the Right Color Scheme

There's a lot of theory in this post — and some of it is contradictory.

But when it comes to choosing colors, understanding various color theories can do wonders for your design know-how. It can make creating branded visuals easy, especially when using design templates where you can customize colors.

How to Hire a Community Manager

esantiago@hubspot.com (Erica Santiago) — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

So, you want to hire a community manager to help raise brand awareness for your company and better connect with your consumers. There‘s just one problem: You’re not sure how to hire a community manager.

What qualities should you look for when hiring? Where can you find a community manager? Why do you even need one? Well, you‘ve come to the right blog because I’m about to explain all of that and more.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about how to hire a community manager.

Why hire a community manager?

81% of consumers need to trust a brand to consider buying. The primary function of a community manager is to build rapport, trust, and community with a brand's audience.

Naturally, a community manager will help your brand forge trust with your consumers, leading them to purchase your products and services.

“Consumers make decisions based on opinions from people they know, like, and trust,” says Erica Finley, HubSpot‘s Principal Marketing Manager of Community.

She says, "Word of mouth has never been more powerful, and seeing real-life use cases, being able to ask questions, and hearing earnest reactions to products and services are no longer just ’nice-to-haves.'"

According to Finley, community managers “carve out dedicated spaces that folks can lean into for inspiration, advice, entertainment, and more.” And all this occurs while raising brand awareness.

So, now that you know the perks of hiring a community manager, you just need to find one. But where?

Where to find a community manager

The good news is there are multiple places to find great community manager candidates. Here are a few of my favorites:

Community Club. This nonprofit offers an excellent resource for connecting with experienced community managers.

CMX Hub. This website includes a job board where you can post and search for community management positions. It’s especially valuable for finding candidates who are specifically looking to grow in these roles.

LinkedIn. LinkedIn allows you to explore potential community managers' profiles, experiences, and endorsements. You can also post your own job openings and join numerous groups dedicated to community management where professionals discuss industry trends, share advice, and exchange job opportunities.

Facebook Groups. Facebook is home to community management groups, some location-based while others are industry-specific. These groups are excellent for posting job openings, asking for recommendations, and connecting directly with potential hires.

Upwork. Upwork is great if you are looking to hire a community manager on a contract or freelance basis. You can create a job post that outlines the project you're hiring for and the qualifications you need.

Qualities to Look for in a Community Manager

“Community managers are often mediators for community conflicts and may be required to draft crisis communications,” Finley says. “They have to be curious and adept at conducting research, both online and via people-centric methods like focus groups.”

Community managers also sometimes act as content creators and may be called to create entire calendars based on a specific persona or theme concerning the brand.

“They are public speakers who often serve as emcees and facilitators for community events,” she says. “The list goes on/”

In short, community managers must have the following qualities:

Public speaking skills
Conflict and crisis management skills
Curiosity and thorough research skills
A knack for creativity and content creation

How to Write a Community Manager Job Description

All right, the two Ericas (Finley and I) explained why you should hire a community manager, where to find one, and what qualities they should possess. Now, we must dive into writing a community manager job description.

Essentially, your job description should include the following:

Who/what your company is
What your goals are
How a community manager will help achieve said goals
What qualities and experience does the manager need to be successful in the organization

Let's look at this community manager job posting from Scale AI.

Scale AI starts by explaining the company's goal and how the community manager fits into their vision:

“Scale’s Generative AI business unit is nascent and is currently seeing historic levels of growth. As a Community Manager, you will spearhead initiatives that will connect with the thousands of Contributors on our platform.”

In other words, Scale Ai is seeing unprecedented growth and needs a community manager to nurture its growing audience.

Then, the company explains what the community manager will do, such as:

"Collaborate with the Operations, Support, Communications, and Marketing teams to create and execute community engagement campaigns and content.

Develop and execute community engagement strategies to increase participation and satisfaction, including overseeing community platforms like Reddit and Linkedin and managing our internal Slack community.

Be responsible for community support to answer questions, complaints, or comments on our platforms and social media channels.

Organize virtual events to foster a sense of community, monitor community feedback and sentiment to proactively address concerns, and manage and grow our online presence across various platforms.

Finally, the job posting lists the skills and background experience needed to succeed, including:

"Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Finance, or related field and 2+ years Communications, Marketing Operations, Field Operations, Program Management, Project Management, or related experience

Managed the social media presence of a technology product.

Strong and clear communication skills, both verbal and written – able to synthesize complex details into accessible and digestible content.

Ability to analyze quantitative metrics and adapt strategies accordingly.

A strong orientation towards outcomes and a willingness to roll up your sleeves to get the job done.

Passion for creating a positive and engaging community experience."

10 Interview Questions to Ask Community Manager Applicant

Whether you‘re interviewing for community manager positions or you’re looking for a community manager for your organization, here are some interview questions to know:

1. What skills and qualifications do you have to prepare you for this job?

2. How do you measure your success as a community manager?

3. What strategies do you or would you use to strengthen our brand's tie to our community?

4. How would you build our community from the ground up? What strategies would you use?

5. How do you stay up-to-date on the latest best practices in community management?

6. What has been your proudest accomplishment as a community manager?

7. What does community mean to you?

8. Do you have experience using social media to build or maintain a community? Explain.

9. How can you guide members of our community to our website to purchase a product or service?

10. How would you describe your management style?

Whew! We covered a lot in this post about community management, the skills it takes, where to find community managers, and how to create job postings for the role.

Now, you‘re ready to either level up your craft as a community manager or you’re prepared to hire one for your organization.

Either way, good luck!

Community Management vs Social Media Management: What's the Difference?

esantiago@hubspot.com (Erica Santiago) — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

In the age of social media, most brand communities exist mainly online via social media platforms like Reddit, TikTok, Facebook, or X.

So, when you think of community management, you might think the person in charge of that is a social media manager.

However, that may not be the case. There are actually significant differences between social media and community management, though the two can go hand-in-hand. What are those differences? Well, keep reading to find out.

Community Management vs Social Media Management

Here are some key differences between community management and social media management.

1. Different Goals

Community managers aim to boost brand visibility and engagement. They also work extensively toward a long-term goal of crafting a strong, supportive community around the brand—which can take years.

Conversely, social media managers often have sales-related goals and are concerned with social media ROI. They usually create or post content to redirect followers to the brand's website, where they can purchase or perform a specific action.

Social media managers often measure their success by tracking conversion and click-through rates.

2. Different Responsibilities

HubSpot's Principal Marketing Manager of Community, Erica Finley, says, “The biggest distinction between community management and social media management is that community is peer-to-peer and social media is one-to-many.”

She mentions how she used to work for a brand with an excellent social media presence.

“The rapport was great between the brand accounts and the fans, and it created a very positive brand affinity,” she explains.

There was just one problem.

“The drawback, however, was that the fans didn’t have a place to congregate without us — to share their enthusiasm, exchange best practices, ask their questions, and strengthen their networks,” Finley says.

“Giving them a dedicated community space with specific guardrails and special rituals that we developed over time allowed them to flourish personally and professionally.”

In other words, community managers don‘t just manage specific platforms; they create a culture around their brand that benefits the brand and its consumers.

On the other hand, social media managers are mainly concerned with growing a brand’s presence on digital platforms.

3. Different Skills

Social media managers must be knowledgeable about social media trends, strategies, and the current landscape.

They must also be able to track social media metrics as they apply to each platform and use their findings to create or improve a strategy.

Community managers require a different skill set. They must possess excellent interpersonal skills to build and facilitate relationships between the brand and its audience.

Community managers must also be problem solvers who can quickly, professionally, and seamlessly resolve conflict or issues in the brand's community.

4. Different Measures of Success

Social media managers measure their success concerning the company's overall yearly goals.

So, if a company wants to boost sales by the end of the year, a social media manager would check metrics to see if their social media posts convinced people to make a purchase.

If a company wants to boost web traffic, a social media manager will analyze data to see how many website visitors came from platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.

On the other hand, measuring success for a community manager can be less clear.

“Community efforts are not hard to quantify, but there will still be leadership teams who 'don’t get it,” Finley says. “Community isn’t new, but it’s newer and less strictly defined in business settings than sales or digital marketing.”

Community managers often focus less on how their work led to direct sales and more on brand awareness and how often people talk about the brand online (and if the chatter is positive).

Success is measured by how the brand's community grows in the long run and how users interact with the brand.

How Community Managers and Social Media Managers Can Work Together

Community and social media managers can work in tandem to build your brand's representation, bridge the gap between the organization and its target audience, and drive sales.

Social media managers ensure a fun and engaging line of communication via digital platforms, while community managers build rapport. Mix them both, and you have a dream team.

Social media managers can help keep community managers informed about what social media platforms work best when communicating with target consumers and what best practices on those platforms are.

From there, community managers can facilitate space for consumers to engage with the brand, network, and grow.

7 Community Management Examples To Learn From

fneedle@hubspot.com (Flori Needle) — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Community management helps you build trust, loyalty, and connection with your audience. It’s also how you make sure your audience gets the most out of what you offer them.

Given its importance, I understand why engaging with your own communities can feel daunting—you likely don’t want to mess it up.

Not to fear. I did some online digging for this piece and found some excellent community management examples to share with you. They’re great inspiration, and give you an idea of how other brands have cultivated their own successful communities.

Community Management Examples

1. The Spot

The Spot is HubSpot’s online community dedicated to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion among underrepresented professionals. All Black Collective is a community within The Spot for Black professionals.

In the image below, Kyle Foster, Senior Marketing Manager at HubSpot and member of The Spot Community Team, shares a post that asks members what they want to see in the community.

This kind of direct communication is a great example of community management.

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Why I Like This Community Management Example

I think Foster’s ask is a great example of audience-centric community management. He asks for explicit feedback, so any replies are a direct insight into what members want.

Any feedback he puts into action shows members that they’re listened to, their presence in the community is valued, and that community managers want members to get value from being in the community.

The Spot is also advertised as a supportive community for people traditionally left out of conversations, so Foster's post only furthers the community mission by including people in the conversation.

How to Make This Your Own: The Spot’s audience-centric community management strategy bolsters member satisfaction. To do this yourself, I recommend exactly what Foster did: ask your members about their preferences and how you can help them and act on their feedback.

2. Spotify Ideas

Spotify Ideas community is a place for Spotify users to submit ideas and recommendations for future Spotify features.

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This forum is an excellent example of using community management for audience-led growth.

Why I Like This Community Management Example

Spotify's Ideas community is meant to help drive product innovations based on the experience of people who use the product daily.

It also does a great job of generating excitement and encouraging participation with gamification-like rules. Members can vote for and comment on ideas they like, and ideas with more traction and activity are more likely to be sent to Spotify teams to review and incorporate into product updates.

How to Make This Your Own: Spotify is a big brand, so it can create a community specifically for pushing product innovation. I know this isn’t an option for everyone, but you can still create opportunities to solicit feedback about your product or service.

A few methods I recommend are asking for feedback on a website forum (if you have one), sharing feedback surveys in email newsletters, and soliciting feedback in comment sections — these are all ways to get the information you need to drive innovation.

3. Topicals

Topicals is one of my favorite skincare brands.

How to Make This Your Own: Yes, Apple has dedicated fans like no other, but most brands still have loyal supporters (even if it’s a smaller group). I recommend identifying your most loyal customers and creating opportunities for them to support other customers.

If you have the means to create a separate forum for community-led support, you can replicate Apple’s exact strategy.

However, I also recommend something as simple as asking a loyal customer for their top tip and circulating that in your marketing materials or creating case studies/customer stories that spotlight fans and their advice for getting the most out of your product.

6. Popheads

Popheads has a subreddit dedicated to pop music discussions. It occasionally invites artists to the forum to host AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions to interact with fans and generate excitement.

It’s a great example of using exclusivity and engagement as a community management tool.

Why I Like This Community Management Example

Chappell Roan is an artist who did an AMA session on the subreddit.

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Given that she has a large fan base that was likely eager to interact with her and build connections, the exclusivity of an AMA and the potential to have their questions answered drew people in.

The session generated excitement, especially for people who got responses, and also built loyalty as people were likely eager to come back to take advantage of any other exclusive opportunities to interact with famous artists.

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How to Make This Your Own: If you offer something that could benefit from exclusivity, use it to your advantage when cultivating your community. I know that having a budget for celebrities isn’t common, but they’re usually not needed.

For example, you can host exclusive events or opportunities for select members or work with micro-influencers to create unique moments for community engagement.

Hype gets people talking and can encourage people who haven’t been able to take part to do what they can to be chosen next time.

7. Canva Communities

Canvassadors is Canva’s community-led management strategy.

Every community has Canvassadors responsible for moderation, facilitating events, educating members, and inspiring conversation. Canvassadors are elected, which gives them legitimacy among members.

Why I Like This Community Management Example

I like Canva’s approach to community management for the same reason I like Apple’s: it’s a community for Canva users and enthusiasts to talk, help each other out, and get more use out of the platform.

True fans who love the product advocate for it and, since they use it themselves, know how to educate people on how to use it.

How to Make This Your Own: If it makes sense for your brand, my top tip for making Canva’s community-led management strategy your own is creating an ambassador program for your business.

Your ambassadors can act as brand champions, and you can work with them to advocate for your brand, initiate discussions, and build your community.

Over to You

I’ve just reviewed a few great community management examples from brands that I like. Taking inspiration from them is a great way to get started managing your own community.

Pick what you like best from what they’ve done, relate it to your own business, and start engaging; your loyal fans are eager to interact with you.

HubSpot’s SERP Secrets: How The HubSpot Blog Is Combatting SERP Volatility

Meg Prater (she/her) — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

The headlines tell us SEO is dead. The podcast bros tell us AI will make blogs obsolete. Google tells us, “It’s Tuesday, so there’s another algorithm update, suckers.”

If I could boil down the content rhetoric over the last 12-18 months to one phrase, it would be “Evolve or die.”

So we've evolved. And I bet you have to.

My name is Meg, I oversee HubSpot’s full portfolio of English language blogs. And, I’m tired, y’all.

The HubSpot Blog Team is made up of 23 incredibly talented and experienced writers, editors, and strategists. We work with a world-class Content SEO Team. We have the domain authority of being the HubSpot Blog. And … we’ve been challenged to keep up with the rapid pace of the change demanded from us over the last year.

If we’ve found it challenging, I know there are probably a few others feeling the same. So, I thought we’d share some of our playbook with you. It might be similar to yours or it might have a few nuggets you find helpful.

Regardless, it’s rough out there. So the more knowledge sharing we do, the better, right?

In the beginning, there was an update.

The month was March. The year was 2023. The update was Core.

For the uninitiated, Google rolled out an update to its Core Algorithm in March 2023 (what we refer to internally as the “M23 update”). This is nothing new. Google rolls out updates a few times a year. They fix bugs, ensure high-quality SERP results, and move the search-driven world merrily along.

But this algorithm update was different. The impact it had on many publishers would be felt over the following months.

Here’s a snapshot of the organic traffic HubSpot’s blogs saw before the M23 update:

Pre-M23 update: Were we ever this young?

And here’s what things looked like once the M23 update finished rolling out:

Post-M23 update: Trust me, it got worse.

Our Content SEO Team flagged a few areas in which our blog properties were hit hardest:

Page Experience: The blogs were negatively impacted by our technical page experience, specifically page speed and performance.
Content Freshness: Content freshness also negatively impacted our performance, specifically posts that had not been updated in 571+ days.

We have a lot of graphs showing the sharp declines in page experience, but they all look pretty much like this:

This was fun to explain to leadership.

Our Technical SEOs immediately dug into page experience. But what did the Blog Team do?

Well, first we panicked, re-evaluated our career decisions, and pondered the end of the written word as we know it. You know, the sorts of things introverted English majors-turned-marketing-writers do.

Then, we looked at the data, and immediately began to overhaul our approach to content on the Blog. This really hinged on the increasing value Google appeared to be putting on experience-driven content (i.e., the new ‘E’ in E-E-A-T)

Wait, what’s E-E-A-T?

If you work in content, you’re probably familiar with Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines. These are the criteria Google uses to evaluate what content it surfaces to users in the SERPs. The E-E-A-T acronym stands for expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness.

In 2022, Google added an additional ‘E’ for ‘Experience’ to this acronym, and after the M23 update, we felt the effects.

The publishers most impacted by experience-driven content were:

Trying to rank for a wide range of topics.
Providing no evidence the author has proven experience with the topics they’re writing about.
Product reviews/roundups based on what others have said.

The HubSpot Blog was guilty on all counts. Our library spanned hundreds of topics across multiple industries. Our writers were expert researchers and generalists, but they didn't always have direct, lived experience with every single topic they wrote about.

Who was winning in the experience era? It was publishers who:

Provided ample evidence of real experience (like writing in the first person).

Added original images, screenshots, and video.
Included unique anecdotes you wouldn’t have unless you actually tested the thing yourself.

Armed with this information (and more than a little humility), we got to work.

The HubSpot Blog’s E-E-A-T Case Study

Is there anything a marketer loves more than running a case study (except for becoming a moderately successful LinkedIn influencer)? HubSpot Content SEO Strategist Ivelisse Rodriguez E-E-A-T-ified our first blog post based on the E-E-A-T playbook SEO Bianca (Binks) Anderson developed.

Their work (and that of many other unnamed stakeholders) built the framework for how the HubSpot Blog approaches “E-E-A-T-ified” content (i.e., content that’s less susceptible to AIOs and more likely to rank).

The case study focused on E-E-A-Tifying/historically updating our 17 Best Free Website Builders to Check Out in 2024 [+Pros & Cons] blog post.

Why this post? Well, it was a top driver of traffic, leads, and signups for the business, but demand had become volatile after the M23 update:

This is totally fine, right?

And here’s the massive boost in traffic the post enjoyed after Rodriguez’s successful E-E-A-T-ification:

Go on, Ivelisse.

Signups alone increased +251% and CVR followed at +26%. How did Rodriguez do it? Simple, she made (E)xperience Soup. Here’s her recipe:

She infused lived experience with her personal opinions and balanced it all out with an objective observation. Boom, a tasty soup packed with leads, traffic, and signups. Everything a growing marketer needs.

She used this recipe as a framework for structuring the entire piece. Take a look:

Personal Anecdote: “I Can’t count the number of WordPress.com sites I’ve built for fun. It’s easy to sign up, it’s free, and its included domain name is not as ugly (and more recognizable) than others on this list. “Brandname.wordpress.com” has a nice ring to it, right?”
Subjective Opinion: “The themes are modern and mobile-optimized. I was surprised to find that I liked quite a few of the designs. When I’ve used WordPress in the past, I found the themes lackluster, but it seems to have updated its library.”
Objective Observation: “Keep in mind that the site is still in the bare minimum stages. You still need to go into the dashboard and add pages and content. Unfortunately, on the free version, you can’t install plugins, including the HubSpot Wordpress marketing plugin.”

Of course, it’s easier to make (E)xperience Soup when you have experience with the product or subject matter you’re writing about. But how do you take an E-E-A-T-ified approach on a subject you have limited experience in? Let’s take a look at how Rodriguez approached this challenge:

Personal Anecdote: “I was surprised to see that Webflow includes different workspaces, something I didn’t run across in other tools (except CMS Hub, which allows you to have access to different portals). This makes Webflow an excellent choice for large teams where you might have different workspaces depending on permissions or job function.”
Subjective Opinion: “Webflow’s page builder is complicated and the learning curve is steep. While the tool does include a setup checklist, it’s not as simple to follow as others on this list.”
Objective Observation: “You can add HTML elements such as sections, containers, divs, lists, buttons, headings, and so on. The tool does include more technical language, so you’ll encounter terms such as “V Flex,” which refers to a vertical flexbox.”

Rodriguez is transparent about using the product for the first time. She’s also open about what she liked and didn’t like about Webflow’s functionality — something pre-E-E-A-T HubSpot bloggers would never …

The full E-E-A-T treatment for this piece focused on a few areas:

Demoing the products, focusing on a beginner's perspective. Gone are the days where publishers could round up the top product reviews in the SERPs and build upon them for a skyscraper-type listicle. Real-world insight and experience with the products are non-negotiable.
Truncating the list from 17 to seven items, using personal preference and an un-scientific method. We can talk about those Google leaks in another post, but even before that peek behind the curtain, we knew shorter lists would allow us to go deeper into our topics — an important E-E-A-T factor.
Writing the article in first-person point of view, creating (E)xperience soup by mixing in personal anecdotes, subjective opinions, and objective observations.
Incorporating personal opinion and personal experience into the post. Rodriguez states her experience in the first paragraph of the piece. And she’s clear about what she likes and doesn’t like about each product.

The success of Rodriguez’ case study led us to overhaul our approach to blog content. We threw out the organic strategy that worked so well from 2017-2022 and embraced a new HubSpot style that would help us write the best-possible content for our audience and remain competitive in the SERPs.

Don't call it a glow up.

We’re certainly not out of the immensely convoluted Google woods yet. But I’m proud to share that the portion of HubSpot blog posts our team has E-E-A-T-ified over the last nine months have stabilized and, in some instances, seen increases that rival our original case study.

I see you.

Maybe it’s been a minute since someone said this to you, but your written work is so important. Your content strategy is valuable. And the words you string together for email copy, blog posts, and YouTube scripts are appreciated.

Content folks are a scrappy bunch, and I think we’ve all become a bit better over the last year. I’m excited to see us continue to evolve, and I hope to share more of how the HubSpot Blog is changing with you soon.

In-House vs. Outsourced Community Management: What You Need to Know

esantiago@hubspot.com (Erica Santiago) — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

As of 2024, 86% of social media marketers say building an active and engaging online community is critical to a successful social media strategy.

If your company wants to build or expand its social media community, you're probably wondering which approach is better—in-house or outsourced community management.

Fortunately, I have years of experience in both and can give some advice based on what I learned working in-house and later for an outsourced marketing firm.

Here's what you need to know.

Table of Contents:

In-House Community Management

Outsourced Community Management

How to Choose Between In-House and Outsourced Community Management

In-House Community Management

In-house community management is when an internal employee or team manages community relations between a brand and its audience, especially on social media.

For example, when I was a journalist at First Coast News in Jacksonville, I was a part of the team of reporters that managed First Coast Weather Watchers, a Facebook Community page the station started to better connect with its audience.

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As was the rest of my team, I was already an internal employee with First Coast News, so we would be considered in-house community management.

Outsourced Community Management

Outsourced community management is when an organization has its online community managed by an outside source, such as a freelancer or marketing firm.

Before working at HubSpot, I worked for a marketing firm that would write content for clients' web pages.

We also had a team to manage our clients' social media pages and communicate with their community. This would be outsourced community management since our team was employed by the marketing firm rather than the clients.

How to Choose Between In-House and Outsourced Community Management

Here's what I notice most companies consider when deciding between in-house and outsourced community management.

Budget

Let's go back to my TV station example. Most local television news stations have a very tight budget, so it made sense for leadership to keep community management in-house.

In contrast, the companies I worked with at the marketing firm had a bigger budget and could afford to outsource community management. So, when choosing between in-house or community management, consider your budget.

According to ContentFac, outsourcing social media marketing (which includes community management) can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $20,000 per month, with an average of $4,000 to $7,000 per month.

If that sounds like a stretch for your budget, consider hiring in-house.

Expertise

First Coast News easily formed a community management team in-house because we already had the needed expertise.

Most journalists have already honed the skill of connecting with their community and are pretty social media savvy (that's often how they get the scoops for their stories).

On the other hand, my clients at the marketing firm typically consisted of business owners unfamiliar with social media marketing and didn't have the time to build their online communities from scratch. So, they outsourced to my firm.

Ask yourself if any employees or positions within your organization can easily lend themselves to social media community management. Is there anyone who is social media savvy?

Do they know the intricacies of Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, or other platforms?

Can you hire someone to work in-house?

If not, consider outsourcing.

Control

Finally, you will want to consider how much control you will relinquish. Okay, back to the news example. Trust and a positive reputation are gold for any news outlet.

Their audiences need to know the information is accurate, reliable, and coming from a trustworthy source.

Outsourcing our social media community management would have meant entrusting our reputation and our audience's trust to another organization, and those factors were simply too precious for us to gamble with.

So, we stayed in-house.

However, my clients at the marketing firm were not news outlets, and they did not have to strictly adhere to the tenets of journalism. Again, they were not very savvy with social media and could use the extra help to bring their vision to life.

So, they entrusted the firm I was working for with their vision and community management goals. This meant collaborating with writers and marketing managers and trusting our process.

If you're comfortable placing some control in the hands of a marketing firm, freelancer, or outsourced manager, then outsourcing could work for you. If that seems too big of a risk, then consider in-house community management.

Both in-house and outsourced community management have their perks, but it's up to you and your organization to decide which approach is best for the success of community management.

Now that you know the differences between the two approaches and what factors to consider, you're one step closer to deciding which way to go in your online marketing campaign. Good luck!

How to Prove the ROI of Community Management (According to Experts)

cdelprincipe@hubspot.com (Curt del Principe) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

In a perfect world, my car would run on starlight and dreams, fries would taste good reheated, and we would never be asked to prove the ROI of community management.

Unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in — so I reached out to 3 different community management experts and asked how they show the value of their community.

Below, I’ll share their best tips for communicating ROI to your stakeholders. (We’ll tackle the fries thing another day.)

But first, it helps to know what you’re up against…

Table of Contents

Why is it so stinkin’ hard to show the value of community management?
Tips for Proving the ROI of Community Management
Drawing a Line from KPI to ROI

Why is it so stinkin’ hard to show the value of community management?

If you run a community (or have been a part of one) the value is self-evident. So why isn’t it as easily stakeholder-evident, too?

As you take on reporting for your community, you need to keep these challenges in mind.

The benefits aren’t always monetary.

Direct access to your customers is priceless. Unfortunately, that means it’s also hard to put a price tag on it.

And how do you measure the value of a user who didn’t file a support ticket because they found the answer in your community?

The benefits aren’t always visible.

Brand awareness, advocacy, sales acceleration, and increased product usage are all very real, very tangible benefits of a thriving community.

Unfortunately, unless a member comes right out and says it’s because of your community, those benefits are usually happening behind the scenes.

Tracking attribution is tricky.

Even when the benefits are both visible and monetary (like leads, signups, or sales) it can be difficult to show that your community was the interaction that caused that conversion.

It's likely that your members go through several touchpoints (blogs, videos, events, etc.) before even reaching a potential conversion event.

It often spans multiple channels.

Finally, as your community grows, it will likely live on some combination of forums, Slack, social media, etc.

That’s great for growth, but a challenge for analytics.

But hope isn’t lost. Behind every successful community is a leader who figured out how to report on its value. Below, you’ll hear from three experts who’ve done exactly that.

Tips for Proving the ROI of Community Management

Ultimately, the only way to show ROI is to draw a straight line from your community’s actions to the stakeholder’s goals.

Of course, we know from the challenges above that it’s not always that simple in the living. Here are some actionable ways to make that happen.

1. Get buy-in before you build.

Showing a return on investment is a lot easier when your stakeholders understand what the potential value is. Without buy-in, you’re not actually reporting on progress toward that value; you’re trying to justify your existence.

“In theory, if your company is launching a community you already have executive buy-in,” says Jenny Sowyrda, HubSpot’s very own manager of community strategy and operations.

“If you don’t, pause here and go back to find an ally who wants you to have a community,” she adds.

(Seriously. Stop reading and go book a meeting.)

“A very blunt way to say this is that if you aren’t building your community, your customers and prospects are already building one somewhere else,” Sowyrda says.

“And when you don’t manage the community where your brand is being discussed, you lose control of the narrative, you lose direct access to your audience, and you’re going to be running an uphill battle of trying to build trust with a group of people who don’t need you.”

But how do you get that buy-in if you don’t have anything to report on yet? Jenny has your back in our next tip.

2. Start with a small pilot.

“I would call out the importance of experimenting and testing before going all in on a community effort,” says Sowyrda. “Start small and simple and then scale.”

In other words, start with a small pilot that can serve as a proof-of-concept for larger community efforts. That may look like a simple Facebook group, a product forum, or a single, dedicated channel on Discord or Slack.

“This gives you time to identify what your success metrics are, see if there is a positive correlation, and then scale,” she adds.

If you find that positive correlation, you’ve now got the data you need to make your case to leadership. And if you don’t find the correlation, your program is still light enough to try something new.

3. Set clear expectations for timeline.

You’ve presented your pilot and gotten buy-in; the next most important thing to talk about is timeline.

“There are no quick wins in community,” cautions Jenny Sowyrda. “Yet it is such an important part of building a trustworthy and valuable company.”

That may not be immediately clear to business leaders who are used to the relatively fast turnaround of paid ads and traditional marketing. It’s part of your job to set expectations for the timeline — and you need to set them early and repeatedly.

“Make sure your stakeholders know that building a strong community is a marathon, not a sprint,” says Alyssa Martin, community manager at HeyOrca. “It takes time to build trust and advocacy.”

4. Ask stakeholders about their goals and what metrics define success.

While you’re having those initial conversations anyway, go ahead and ask your stakeholders what they care about.

“Get to know them, get to know their pain points,” says Max Pete, community engagement program manager at Square. “What are their goals and what are they looking for in terms of success metrics?”

Another great question is how they define “success”—both in terms of data and outcome. Other questions to consider are:

What metrics do you use to measure your goals?
What would a meaningful impact look like to those goals?
What outcomes do you need to see from this project?

“It is super important to have those early conversations with key stakeholders on what is important data for them,” Max adds. “[Proving ROI is] difficult if you don't know what you should be reporting on.”

5. Approach reporting as problem solving.

One of my absolute favorite takeaways from talking with Max Pete: To approach reporting not as simply presenting data — but as how community helps to solve stakeholder problems.

Now that you know their goals, pain points, and definitions of success, tailor your reporting to tell a story about how the community addresses all of that.

As a bonus, this mindset will also help you focus your reporting on only the most important community management metrics.

6. Connect your community to other teams.

Finally, consider that stakeholder goals aren’t the only way to show value. By connecting your efforts to other team’s goals, your community increases its own ROI.

“I am very biased but I’m pretty sure you can apply community to every element of your business,” Jenny says with a smile.

Max Pete gives the example of using Square’s community reach to bring attention to a new marketing campaign.

“Because our cross-functional partner and I had a common goal of increasing engagement, we came up with a month-long activation campaign for members to participate in the community,” Pete says. “The idea was to drive conversation around specific topics and use a CTA to drive members to read more.”

In the end, the collaboration boosted traffic to the marketing campaign while also increasing engagement among the community—a win-win for both teams!

And both of those successes will look great during stakeholder meetings.

Drawing a Line from KPI to ROI

So now you’ve established goals. You’ve set expectations. You’ve defined success. It’s time to choose what metrics will combine all of that into a cohesive story.

We’ll go deeper into how to measure these KPIs in our blog about community management metrics, but for now, here are some options to consider based on what your stakeholders value.

Brand Awareness

Social Mentions

“This is probably one of my favourite ways to prove how a community is building trust,” says HeyOrca’s Alyssa Martin. “Always take screenshots of these posts! It’s great to have to help prove your point.”

Share of Voice

Share of voice compares your portion of brand awareness against competitors. In addition to social mentions, it can include paid ads clicks or keyword traffic.

Referral Rate/Advocacy Rate

If your stakeholders are focused on brand awareness, referral rate is a great metric to highlight. Communities are uniquely effective in turning customers into promoters.

Event Participation Rate

This can refer to in-person events as well as online events like courses or webinars. Community members often have a higher participation rate than non-member audiences.

Conversion/Revenue

Conversion Rate (CVR)

This can be a tricky metric, because communities made up of existing customers may have a lower conversion rate. You’ll have to define what conversion means for those cases.

Community Attributed Leads/Signups/Sales

This is another area where cross-functional campaigns can help. Other teams may already have access to downstream reporting on their own success metrics. If you can show that your community is a source of traffic for those teams, that can help you connect their conversions to your community campaigns.

Cost Per Conversion (CPC)

You’ll need to calculate the total cost of running your community in order to find your CPC. That can be a big ask, but it’s likely worth the effort.

You’ll probably find that community-attributed conversions are much more cost-effective than other forms of marketing.

Customer Service/Customer Support

Traffic to FAQ Pages or Knowledge Base Articles

Remember above when we asked how to show the value of a customer who doesn’t file a support ticket? This is one way.

If you can show that your community is a major source of traffic to self-service resources, it indicates that your community is saving your company money.

Average Response Time

Since you’re spending so much time with your community, you may find that your response time is quicker than officially filed tickets.

Response Rate

While this typically refers to the number of queries that receive a response, Jenny Sowyrda explains that it can also refer to the percentage of responses that come from your company (versus other members).

That can be a good indicator that your members are receiving accurate information from trustworthy sources.

Resolution Rate

This metric is like response rate, but specific to members who bring up issues or complaints.

Product or Company Feedback

Surveys and Polls

Direct access to customer/prospect opinions is one of the unique benefits of community management, and you should be tapping into it often.

“If you want to know what they want, you can just ask them!” says Sowyrda. “If you want to know what they don’t like, they’re probably already telling you (but you can also just ask them!)”

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

You may not know it by name, but you’ve definitely encountered NPS surveys before.

NPS is based on some variation of the question “On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our brand/product/service to a friend or colleague?”

Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis refers to using software to analyze the emotional tone of content. A good community management tool can help you analyze how your members feel about your company, product, or service.

Feature Requests

Your members can be one of the best sources of new ideas for improving your products and services.

And, in return, fulfilling feature requests can be one of the best ways to delight your community members.

Product Feedback

“You can give the microphone to your community and let them speak about their experience and expertise,” says Jenny.

If you follow the tips from our experts, you should be able to quickly narrow down which of these metrics are right for your community.

Soon, you’ll be the expert who’s figured out how to prove the ROI of community management. Next stop, french fries.

Why is Community Management Important?

esantiago@hubspot.com (Erica Santiago) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

If you‘ve seen other posts I’ve written about community management, you know I used to manage a Facebook community for a TV station where I worked as a digital journalist.

My experience gave me first-hand knowledge of why community management is important and why brands should invest in it.

Don't believe me, well consider this: 86% of social media marketers believe having an active community is critical to brands’ success on social media in 2024. Furthermore, 60% say their companies are already building such communities.

Still not convinced? Keep reading, and I‘ll share five reasons community management is integral to marketing based on my experience and that of HubSpot’s Principal Marketing Manager of Community, Erica Finley.

Let's get into it.

My Experience in Community Management

For context, my experience in community management stems from my time as a digital reporter for a television news station called First Coast News.

The station has a popular Facebook Community page called First Coast Weather Watchers, where viewers can speak to the station's meteorologists in real time, discuss local weather, and share interesting photos and videos of weather phenomena.

My responsibilities included engaging with our audience, answering questions, facilitating discussions, keeping the online community safe and welcoming, and gathering user-generated content.

Now that you know my credentials, we‘re ready to learn what I’ve learned!

5 Important Reasons for Community Management

1. Community management builds trust and brand loyalty.

When I managed First Coast News' Facebook community page, I noticed a rapport being built between our audience and our meteorologists.

We often saw the same faces popping up on the page, sharing content, asking questions, and welcoming new members.

And that trust lent to higher viewership for our weather segments and visitors to our website.

“Consumers make decisions based on opinions from people they know, like, and trust,” says Finley. “Word of mouth has never been more powerful, and seeing real-life use cases, being able to ask questions, and hearing earnest reactions to products and services are no longer just 'nice-to-haves.'”

Building trust via dedicated community spaces can be intimidating for companies because it means yielding some power to audience interactions.

Still, Finley says the conversations are happening anyway, so why not join in the fun and use it to your advantage?

“You may as well carve out dedicated spaces that folks can lean into for inspiration, advice, entertainment, and more,” she says.

2. Community management creates a valuable feedback loop.

Finley says that with community management, “You’ll get a bird' s-eye view of what’s working and what’s not, what people love, and what they’d like to change, and you can use that insight to improve your product or service.”

And I can attest to this in my own experience.

One of the things I enjoyed most about managing First Coast Weather Watchers was getting feedback from our audience in real-time.

For example, we noticed our community loved the candid explanations one of the meteorologists gave about weather phenomena and how he'd often post photos of himself analyzing weather patterns with coffee in hand.

So, we took this feedback and added a segment to our weather forecast called “Science with Steve,” which turned out to be a hit with our television viewers.

3. It humanizes your brand.

This all goes back to the first point I made about trust. 81% of consumers need to trust a brand before they consider buying. One of the most tried-and-tested ways to build trust is to humanize your brand.

Replying to consumers, engaging in authentic conversations, and throwing in a little humor when appropriate will show the human side of your business.

According to Kristen Baker, who put together our Ultimate Guide to Social Community Management, these interactions make audiences “feel like they’re interacting with real people rather than a faceless entity.”

An example that comes to mind is DuoLingo's TikTok account.

The account frequently engages with its audience by replying to comments under its videos and trading jokes with its followers.

The company's close relationship with its followers was beneficial when its account mysteriously lost its verification badge.

Followers were so distraught that they made Duolingo trend on TikTok, demanding that its badge be returned. They even came up with theories as to why it was removed in the first place.

Dedicated followers brought visibility to the issue, and after the company had contacted TikTok, the badge was returned.

4. It can generate unique user-generated content.

Another aspect of community management that I enjoyed was the amount of unique user-generated content we received from viewers in the community.

From videos of tornado spouts to photos of a purple sky after intense storms, the station garnered so much unique content that could be found with our competitors.

We'd then share the content on all our social media platforms and include them in our weather segments on TV while shouting out the senders, encouraging more community members to send in content.

So, if you want to gain more UGC for your social media, website, or marketing channels, starting and managing a community around your platform is the way to go.

Still not convinced? A recent HubSpot survey of 500+ marketers found that 92% say user-generated content increases brand awareness of their products.

5. It drives traffic and conversions.

While managing the Facebook community page, I noticed that organically directing our audience to our website was easy.

For example, I'd often post updates saying, “If you want to learn more about why the sky turns purple after a severe storm, go to the First Coast News website.”

As a result, our posts linked in the community would see higher traffic than posts that weren't.

The fact is organic interactions with followers create natural opportunities to direct them to your website, blog, or landing pages.

As social media and digital platforms become more integral to marketing and consumers' experiences, brands must build and leverage online communities to connect with their audiences.

Community management ensures your brand is humanized to your consumers to build trust and a loyal customer base. I see community marketing staying strong for a while, so start building your community now.

6 Types of Online Communities Your Brand Should Consider Investing In This Year

Alana Chinn — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

When I started thinking about the different types of online communities that exist, I felt like the possibilities were endless.

After all, new communities pop up every day. Some are free, some are paid. Some are public, some are exclusive.

However, based on what I know about community management, there’s a smart way to categorize these communities based on your brand’s engagement goals.

Here’s a list of the main types of online communities for your inspiration.

Top 6 Types of Online Communities

Disclaimer: Some communities may overlap across categories or share similarities with each other. For example, a brand community can also be a social community, and vice versa.

However, there are nuances to keep in mind for each type, and I think that makes all of this worthwhile.

OK, now that I got that off my chest, let’s get into the top six.

1. Brand Communities

A brand community is a place where like-minded customers can come together and talk about how much they love what you do, create, or value.

From my perspective, these communities can help you strengthen the relationship between your brand and your biggest supporters. For that reason alone, just about any type of community could be considered a brand community.

How brand communities work:

This community is typically cultivated from the people who follow you on social media and/or actively buy (and enjoy) your products and services.
They have an emotional connection to your brand which inspires brand loyalty and advocacy to other potential customers.
Often, companies who leverage this community type offer incentives for sharing or creating brand-related content (e.g., showing others how to use their favorite products).

Best for: Brands of all sizes and across industries, especially those with a strong brand identity

Example:Canva Design Community (Brand Community for Canva Designers)

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What I like about Canva’s Design Community: I absolutely love Canva, and I’m always looking for inspiration for my next project. This community is easy to join. Plus, I get all the best advice from users who enjoy the platform as much as I do.

2. Social Communities

Naturally, these types of communities live on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly known as Twitter), LinkedIn, and Reddit.

The goal of a social community is to create a virtual gathering space where your followers can chat, have fun, and make connections.

How social communities work:

You’re building engagement around audience interests, your brand campaigns, or industry events. The first example I think of is an interest-based Facebook Group (my millennial is showing).
They can be as big or small as you’d like — from larger interest-based groups (like Nike Run Club), to smaller discussion-based forums (like this Supernote subreddit).
While conversations are generally led by the community members, brands can encourage engagement through user-generated campaigns and targeted conversation starters.

Best for: Brands who have a strong social media presence, emerging businesses who are looking to increase brand awareness

Example: Instant Pot Community (Social Community for Instant Pot Users)

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What I like about the Instant Pot Community: Instant Pots are SO versatile. This community inspires diversity. It allows people from all walks of life to share their favorite recipes with each other — from family recipes to cultural staples.

3. Networking Communities

Be honest, was LinkedIn the first thought that came to mind for this one? It was for me.

LinkedIn is one of the largest professional networks that exists. This makes it a great channel for networking communities — like professional organizations and advisory committees — that promote collaboration.

How networking communities work:

Networking communities are typically discussion-based and designed to help connect members to new opportunities.
You can connect your members with industry professionals for advice, mentorship, or training — as well as people seeking those services if your community holds the expertise.
In addition to LinkedIn, you can use free platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams for virtual meet-ups, real-time forums, or community events.

Best for: National businesses with local hubs, educational institutions, brands in specific niches (e.g., career development)

Example: Chief (Networking Community for Women Executives)

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What I like about Chief: Outside of the fact that Chief supports women in power positions, I like that the network of women executives is vetted. This positions the community as trustworthy which is attractive to prospective members.

4. Content Communities

When I say content communities, think of this blog, forums like Reddit, and chat platforms like Discord. Multimedia communities like YouTube are also in the mix.

Content communities rely on shared contributions from its members. Your favorite subreddit is nothing without threads, and the HubSpot Blog would be nothing without our writers.

How content communities work:

People join content communities because they share a common interest. It could be professional, recreational, or based on lifestyle.
The community thrives off of its members who regularly contribute, consume, and share content.
Guest content opportunities, user-generated content campaigns, and quizzes/polls are all great ways to get members involved and facilitate growth.

Best for: Businesses with limited resources who would benefit from external contributors to round out their content strategy

Example: Chewy (Content Community on YouTube)

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What I like about Chewy’s YouTube Community: Chewy makes great use of the poll feature in YouTube’s Community tab. They ask targeted questions like “What’s on your pet’s summer wish list?” which gives them the insights to tailor their offerings to their customers’ preferences.

5. Support Communities

If you’ve ever contributed to a knowledge base or shared an FAQ, congrats! You’re an important part of a support community.

Support communities are ideal for brands who benefit from offering technical guidance or strategic insights to their customers.

How support communities work:

Support communities are usually focused on peer-to-peer conversations with support from technical experts and customer success specialists.
Resources like how-to articles and discussion forums for common challenges and solutions live in these communities.
They rely on first-hand experience using a particular product or service along with tips, tricks, and best practices from fellow users (or developers).

Best for: Businesses with a dedicated customer support department, technical brands or brands with products and services that require guidance (e.g., SaaS, internet providers, DIY, etc.)

Example:HubSpot Community

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What I like about HubSpot Community: OK, sure, I may be a little biased. But the HubSpot Community is jam-packed with helpful support resources. You can easily join in on top conversations, discover new forums, join community groups, and much more.

6. Learning Communities

Learning communities inspire education and knowledge-building, but they don’t have to strictly be academic.

A lot of these communities are either centered around building a skill (e.g., communication) or a specific topic or area of interest (e.g., candle making).

How learning communities work:

Learning community members are all working toward a common goal — like improving communication skills or getting good at making candles.
The community benefits from people sharing ideas, asking questions, giving feedback, and supporting their peers.
Learning communities are often part of larger communities like brand, social, networking, content, and support.

Best for: Brands of all sizes and across industries, especially those in specialty niches (e.g., cooking/baking) or higher education

Example: CandleScience (Learning Community for Candle Makers)

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What I like about the CandleScience Community: If you can’t tell by now, I’m a candle enthusiast. And I actually make them in my spare time. I love how CandleScience uses their blog as a discussion forum for aspiring chandlers.

Before we wrap up, I highly encourage you to check this out if you’re new to community building: How to Build a Successful Online Community: A Step-by-Step Guide.

Deciding on a community type is one thing, but that will tell you how to really make it shine (with tips from the experts who’ve done just that).

Happy Community Building

Feeling inspired yet?

If I leave you with nothing else, just remember this: Focus on building the type of community that aligns your brand and supports what you want to accomplish.

With the right strategy, you’ll make it easy for your audience to meet you where you are.

6 Community Management Trends To Know in 2024

fneedle@hubspot.com (Flori Needle) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Brands build online communities around their target audiences.

As consumer preferences change and technological advances offer more and more opportunities, community management strategies change alongside them.

In this piece, I’ll go over community management trends to be aware of in 2024 and how you can adapt them for yourself.

Community Management Trends in 2024

1. Hyper-Personalization

A community management trend I’ve noticed most often is hyper-personalization, and I’m not surprised by this:

Consumers' expectations for personalized experiences have reached an all-time high, and this desire has grown within online communities.

Consumers, including myself, want to feel connected to the brands they support, and personalized experiences create a sense of belonging that keeps people coming back for more.

How to Adopt This Trend

My top tip for community managers looking to adopt this trend is to gather information about your ideal members and use that information to create a personalized experience. For example;

Data about your community members behavior, interests, and preferences can help you generate personalized content recommendations and target messaging that is unique to individual users.
You can create personalized onboarding experiences for each member with custom welcome messages, suggestion sections or community spaces to join, and resources to help them get the most out of their experience.

AI can be extremely helpful when providing personalized experiences, and I’ll touch on this below.

2. Leveraging AI in community management.

Community management helps you ensure your community runs as you want it to, enables you to build those relationships with members, and ensures your community is a safe and respectful space for all who use it.

As more and more people eagerly join online communities, it can become understandably more challenging for community managers to keep a pulse on everything.

To supplement their duties, a recent trend in community management is leveraging AI-powered tools as trusty sidekicks.

How to Adopt This Trend

My top tip for using AI as a community management sidekick is to choose a tool that is specific to your exact needs.

Some tasks that AI tools can be helpful for are:

AI tools can scan through the content within your community to detect and remove harmful content in real time to keep communities safe and aligned with your community standards.
AI-powered chatbots can use information about members to offer personalized experiences and direct them to the content most aligned with their interests.
Sentiment analysis tools can monitor conversations and alert human moderators to any issues that need immediate attention.

If you want a general solution, look for community management tools with multiple use cases.

Pro Tip: Whenever I recommend using AI, I have to mention that it’s important to not become overly reliant on it. Use it as a trusty sidekick to bolster your efforts, not as the sole thing responsible for managing your community. Always look over your tool's shoulders to ensure it performs exactly as you want it to.

3. In-person community events.

Online communities help you deepen relationships, but there’s no better way to build relationships than in-person connections.

Jenny Sowyrda, Manager of Community Strategy and Operations at HubSpot, had the same thought and told me, “It seems like 2024 is becoming the year of people wanting to find value in person. I believe that folks are saturated with online content and the curation that comes along with that.”

In-person events are an additional opportunity to offer immersive and interactive experiences that you can’t necessarily build online.

As a result, a community management trend I predict will grow is creating opportunities for in-person connection at in-person events.

How to Adopt This Trend

Sowyrda says, “There’s something fun about going to an in-person event, or meeting folks in person, because you don’t know where the conversation is going to go - you don’t know what you’re going to learn.”

I recommend looking for opportunities where it makes sense to offer in-person elements. They don’t have to be large-scale, expensive experiences — you can choose whatever works best for your budget and ability.

For example, if you’re launching a new product, you can invite a select few members to a small launch party where they can try out your new product.

However you adopt this trend, always make sure your in-person events are focused around building connections and allowing attendees to interact.

4. Niche interest communities.

Consumer desire for increased personalization gives way to this trend, as more niche communities let people join groups hyper-specific to their interests.

And, these more niche communities go a long way in building trust and genuine connection between community members and between you and your community members.

How to Adopt This Trend

Successfully offering niche communities comes from understanding your community members. Do they have any unique interests, hobbies, or identities that align with your brand? Any unique interests can be used to create them.

You can create niche interest communities that are standalone, or even create sub communities within your main community, so long as you share content and offer engagement opportunities that members would expect to find.

This is an extremely general example, but it explains what I mean: if you’re a t-shirt company and you create a niche community for red t-shirt lovers, you want to share red t-shirt related content. Talking about purple t-shirts isn’t of interest to your members.

Pro Tip: Micro-influencers (between 10K and 100K followers) can shine in helping you attract people to your niche communities. They bring marketers the most success because they have a smaller group of more loyal and engaged followers.

If you find an influencer that fits with the niche community you want to create, they likely have a trusted group of followers who are a good fit.

5. Humanizing your brand.

Consumers want the brands and businesses they support to let their personalities shine. They want conversational tones that show there are real people behind the brand that add an air of humanized authenticity that people crave.

I think Viktoriia Khutorna, communications specialist at Promova, puts this well:

“People are likely to go to a company that not only sells at a reasonable price but also communicates humanly, jokes, supports, or honestly admits mistakes and goes to fix them.”

This consumer desire runs over into online communities as well: people want to know that there is a real, human community manager that engages with them.

How to Adopt This Trend

My tip for community managers is to be conversational when you share content with the community and in any interactions you have with members.

Canned responses can be the baseline templates, but further humanize them with each interaction you have.

You can also share behind the scenes content that show the day to day of your brand, display your unique personality and humor

Sharing behind the scenes content is also a great way to humanize your brand.

You could, for example, have a community manager give a behind the scenes look into their day to day as a community manager. It gives a face to a username, and shows members that there is a real human behind the screen.

6. Data security.

A trend we uncovered in our Consumer Trend Surveys is that consumers are more concerned than ever about privacy and data security, and this is relevant for community management as well.

Members expect the communities they’re part of are safe and secure, that information they share about themselves to join the community and while they’re in the community is protected, and any personal data and information is secure.

How to Adopt This Trend

If you’re building your community, I recommend having data and privacy protection measures in place. For example:

If you collect credit card or banking information for subscription payments, it must be stored securely or deleted after one-time payments. I highly recommend using secure payment processors built to help you prioritize financial security.
If you collect personal demographic information (like email or addresses), it needs to be stored securely so bad actors can’t access it.

For whatever kind of data you collect, always let members know you’re collecting it, how you store it, and how you plan to use it. Transparency is key; consumers are more likely to trust you if you give up-front explanations.

Consumer preferences are always changing.

The community management trends I mentioned above are the most recent developments I’ve discovered, and they stem from consumer preferences and technological advancements.

I recommend leveraging those most relevant to your online community and reading the HubSpot Blog to stay on top of evolving trends.

Free vs. Paid Online Communities: Which Is Right for You? [Expert Tips]

fneedle@hubspot.com (Flori Needle) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

A key decision when creating an online community is whether it’ll be free for members to join or if they’ll have to pay to access it. And, the model you choose can have a significant impact on how you end up running your community.

This piece will be all about free vs. paid communities — I’ll explain what each one is, the pros and cons to each model, and dive into expert tips for choosing between the two.

Table of Contents

Free vs. Paid Online Communities
Free Online Community
Paid Online Community
Owned Online Community
Freemium Online Community
How to Choose the Right Community Business Model

Free vs. Paid Online Communities

The two main types of online communities are free and paid. Within each, communities can also be owned and use the freemium model. Let’s start with free vs. paid online communities.

Free Online Community

A free online community is, well, a free-to-join online community.

It can be owned and run by your business (more on owned communities here), like a forum you create on your website or a social media profile you make, like a Facebook Page.

Best For

I recommend free online communities for brands, businesses, or creators and influencers who want to build brand awareness, increase visibility, and attract a large and diverse user base with varying levels of engagement.

Free communities are also excellent ways to learn more about your audiences in an open forum.

Pros of Free Online Communities

Free online communities have low barriers to entry, meaning it’s easier to attract new members and build larger communities with more diverse representation.
You can build brand awareness and platforms your audience might already be on, lessening the work it takes to build a community from scratch.
You can be more hands-off with a free community and let your community members create engagement opportunities for one another.

Cons of Free Online Communities

Low barrier to entry means you might have larger communities that aren’t made up of well-qualified members. I’m part of a few communities but consider myself a casual user rather than a well-qualified lead.
Engagement can be lower because users might join out of curiosity rather than being eager to engage with your business and other community members.
If your free community is on a social media platform, you must follow its rules and have limited creative liberties.

Paid Online Communities

A paid online community is a space you create that members pay to join, usually with monthly subscription fees, to access its content and features.

Most businesses create paid online communities to monetize offers, build loyalty, and deepen relationships with audiences.

The exclusivity of paid communities brings higher engagement and more dedicated users eager to interact with the premium offerings of your community.

Many paid online communities use platforms or tools meant for community building, but you have control over what you do with your community.

You set the rules and guidelines, customize it to your branding, and set prices. Most platforms take a percentage of your earnings.

I think Patreon is a great example of a paid online community platform. Users can offer exclusive content to subscribers and vary offerings with tiered memberships. The two plans it offers take a percentage of membership revenue.

Best For

I recommend paid online communities to those who want more control, guaranteed interest from members, and a steady stream of revenue. They’re also best for those who want to offer exclusive content and services.

Pros of Paid Online Communities

You have complete control over the paid communities you build, from the visuals you use to who can access the content behind your paywalls to the privacy and security measures you use to protect the community.
Members are willing to make a financial investment, so they’re typically more qualified and interested in what you offer. Users are eager to engage, which provides higher-quality engagement and gives you deeper insight into your ideal user.
Membership fees are a source of recurring revenue for your business, and you can monetize the content you’re already used to creating.

Cons of Paid Online Communities

Membership fees can deter people from joining, so paid communities are typically smaller.
Paid communities experience slower growth, and you need to market the community to draw in users.
Paying members want their money's worth and will check in to make sure they’re getting value from your offer. You need to remain committed to providing high-value, exclusive content and keeping members engaged.

As I mentioned above, free and paid online communities are the two main models. Within the two, however, there are also owned and freemium online communities. I’ll discuss the two below.

Owned Online Community

An owned online community is one that you build and manage yourself. You have complete control over your owned community and the content you share, and you can monetize (or not) as you see fit.

This type of community can be as simple as a forum you create on your website or more advanced like a membership website you build or subscription tiers you offer on a community platform site like Patreon.

Be careful to view your social media profiles as an “owned” option. Yes, you create your profiles, but you have to follow the platform rules rather than make your functionality.

Best For

I recommend owned communities for businesses, brands, or creators/influencers looking to create a controlled environment, inspire engagement that helps you meet brand goals, and deepen relationships with members.

Pros of Owned Online Communities

The main pro to owned communities is that you have complete control, like the rules you set for members to follow, the branded color schemes you use, and whether you monetize your community to generate revenue.

You also get deeper insight into your community than you would on non-owned platforms, and you don’t have to compete with the noise of other communities.

Cons of Owned Online Communities

A con of owned online communities is that you create them yourself, which requires time and resources. Organic growth can be limited, and if your community is paid, you must provide ongoing value to keep members engaged.

Freemium Online Community

A freemium online community combines free and paid options. Casual users can stay casual, and people who want more can pay for more.

The paid options typically run on tiered models, where each step up includes the content from the previous tier plus additional exclusive perks.

Best For

I recommend freemium communities to those wanting to attract a large user base with basic offerings and exclusive content for the most interested users.

You’ll attract both those who don’t want to pay and those who do, giving you two separate groups of people to learn about.

Pros of Freemium Online Communities

I think Amy Porterfield, host of Online Marketing Made Easy, gave my teammate Caroline Forsey the best explanation of the benefits of a freemium community:

“When building your online community, your goal is always to leave your followers thinking, ‘If this is what they offer for free, I wonder what their paid content is like?’ So don’t be afraid to give your best stuff away for free.”

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You can continuously build brand awareness and engage with a general audience while also using the draw of premium content to entice interested members to become paid users (revenue generation opportunity).

You can also lower churn rates by downgrading those who cancel subscriptions to basic users that you re-engage and potentially inspire to restart subscriptions.

Cons of Freemium Online Communities

The biggest challenge with freemium communities is finding a clear balance for each tier. You want to engage your free users but not so much that you leave your paid users hanging.

Finding a balance is crucial because your paid members will be waiting for those premium offerings, and users interested in upgrading want to see a key differentiator and value-add for any payments they make.

How to Choose the Right Community Business Model

Now that you know about the different community models, it’s time to decide what works best for you.

To help you through your process, I asked community-building experts to share their top tips for choosing between free and paid communities. Let’s dive in.

Understand the purpose of your community.

In this piece, I discuss how to build an online community in depth, but the first step is determining your goals for starting a community, as these will impact what you create.

So, similarly, one of the most important steps to choosing between free vs paid online communities is understanding why you’re creating a community.

Robel de Jesus, Corporate Communications Group Head at SAFC, agrees with this and told me that this was one of his main considerations when he created an online community at his company.

He said: “At SAFC, when we launched the SAFC Heroes community, our aim was to engage with individuals interested in sustainable business practices and corporate social responsibility. We opted for a free community model because it aligned with our goal to maximize reach and inclusivity, which is essential for fostering widespread engagement and impact.”

He says paid communities are more appropriate for situations where, for example, you’re offering things like exclusive content or networking opportunities, which require more resources and efforts to manage effectively.

Here’s his tip: “Ultimately, the choice between a free or paid community should hinge on the strategic objectives of the community: reach and inclusivity versus exclusivity and specialized value. For brands looking to build a loyal, engaged community, consider how the structure supports your long-term goals and the perceived value you wish to provide to your members.”

Understand your goals for your online community.

Yes, goals and purpose are similar, but I’m separating them because they mean two different things for community building.

Your purpose is why you’re building your community, and your goals are what you’ll accomplish based on that purpose.

“Take it from someone who's built quite a few successful online communities: Creating a thriving online community involves making a key decision right at the outset—should it be free, or should it require a membership fee? The right choice hinges on what you aim to achieve with your community,” says Jonathan Buffard, Digital Marketing Director at Bottom Line Marketing Agency.

A free community might be your best bet if your primary goal is to build engagement, brand awareness, and brand visibility.

You can attract a large number of users because there are no barriers to entry, and community members are eager to interact with people like them.

Buffard says that there are instances where a paid community might make more sense: “If your community acts as a crucial step within your sales funnel, or if it‘s the main product you’re offering, charging a membership fee could be advantageous.”

Before you decide to charge for access, Buffard recommends asking yourself these four critical questions:

What unique benefits does your community offer?
What would you pay for access to such a community?
Could potential members find similar groups for free on social platforms?
What exclusive advantages would they gain by joining yours?

Determine whether your audience is willing to pay.

Your goals for your community are important, but you’ll have trouble reaching them if you don’t consider whether your audience can help you meet them.

Given this, who your audience is plays a significant role in the community model you choose because you need to account for their needs, preferences, and willingness to pay.

For example, if you want to create an exclusive community but your audience doesn’t seem interested in more exclusive offerings, a paid community would be a waste of your time.

You’d likely find more success with a freemium model that lets you attract a large group of non-paying users and a smaller group more willing to pay.

Stefano Lodola, Owner of Think Languages LLC, told me he had to make this assessment during his process: “As someone who runs a language-learning website, I suggest carefully considering your brand‘s value proposition and, most importantly, your target audience’s willingness to pay.”

He adds, “In my case, I cater to language learners who need to see improvement in their language proficiency. A paid community may be more effective for them since they want to have access to useful and exclusive content. Ultimately, it really depends on your goals and objectives and whether it will be sustainable in the long run.”

Consider the level of engagement you’re looking for.

I assume you want to foster engagement within your community, so the level of interaction you want plays a part in the model you choose.

Victor Hsi, Founder of UGC Creator, manages free and paid communities and said engagement is an important factor to consider. He says, “In free communities, most members join without contributing. They might join out of curiosity or to access free information and will likely not be actively participating.”

On the other hand, he says that a community with a subscription fee can “Encourage more active, value-adding participation. For example, by establishing a small $1 subscription fee, members are prompted to make a transaction, which inherently leads to increased commitment and participation in the community.”

He adds, “This simple act of pulling out their credit card and being invested in learning what the community has to offer them often makes members more driven to engage and network within the community.”

Consider how exclusive you want your community to be.

Casey Meraz, Owner & Digital Marketing Expert of Casey Meraz, shares his top tip with me: “When you're deciding between a free or paid online community, think about the level of exclusivity you want to offer.”

Free communities allow for different levels of participation but faster growth.

Meraz says free communities also “Offer accessibility to a wider audience, including those who might be valuable contributors but are not in a position to pay. While free communities might not have the inherent sense of exclusivity, you can still create value through high-quality content and active management.”

Choosing between the two can come down to the exclusivity you want to offer.

You can build a more qualified group of actively engaged members with paid communities since everyone who joins is willing to spend money to reap the benefits. You can create larger communities with free options, but there’s no guarantee that members who join will participate in conversations.

Over to You

Free and paid communities benefit those who use them, but both allow you to meet different goals.

If you leverage the advice from the experts I spoke to, you can pick the model that works best for you and helps you meet your objectives.

6 Types of Community Management (+ Tips from the Experts Who Manage Them)

Alana Chinn — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Jenny Sowyrda, manager of community strategy and operations at HubSpot, shared a great analogy with me about community management:

“As the community manager, you’re hosting a party. At first you have to welcome everyone, take their jackets, and offer them food or a drink.

But once more guests start to arrive, you can make connections amongst guests who have things in common, and you can slowly pull back … to just being in the background.”

Love it.

It’s also worth noting that the party may look a little different based on the types of community management out there. So, let’s review the top six together.

Table of Contents

The SPACES Model
Types of Community Management
Community Management Strategies

The SPACES Model

You can look at community management in many ways, but the easiest one is through the SPACES model.

No need to take my word for it because the experts agree that this is a pretty solid foundation.

“The SPACES model is a fantastic framework to help brands determine how the community can help the business with a specific focus ...” says Christina Garnett, founder and fractional CCO at Pocket CCO.

“... Especially for non-community builders. It helps provide clarity about what the business wants the community to provide,” she continues.

The SPACES model, proposed by CMX, organizes community management strategies based on their primary function and the focus of the community in question.

Sowyrda adds, “The SPACES model makes sense in the fact that you really do have to focus on one thing at a time. It does a good job of highlighting the different ways your company can use a community.”

The acronym “SPACES” represents six distinct community management categories: Support, Product, Acquisition, Contribution, Engagement, and Success.

Now, onto the specifics.

Types of Community Management

Enter: the specifics. Here are the six types of community management to consider based on the SPACES model.

Pro tip: As you start building your community management strategy, Sowyrda recommends focusing on one (or two) of the elements below and mastering those before expanding your approach.

1. Support

Support communities empower members to help each other out by answering questions or solving problems. These communities can be organized as an online forum or discussion board, where members can ask and answer questions.

I’d also recommend offering other support resources like knowledge bases and FAQs, so people can find answers quickly on their own.

Benefits:

Reduced customer support costs
Lower workload for your customer service teams
Quicker resolution of common issues
A greater sense of community among members

Best for: Brands with in-depth product lines, like software or electronics, where users can benefit from sharing tips, tricks, and troubleshooting advice.

Example:Apple Support Community

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What I like about Apple’s Support Community: Honestly, the simplicity of search is really appealing here. You can type in a keyword or ask a question and connect with Apple customers around the world on related support topics.

2. Product (Ideation, Innovation, and Feedback)

Product communities allow you to create a safe space for your customers to provide feedback on your products and services. They can share thoughts on how to improve your products or ideas for innovation.

This way, you’re basically inviting members to participate directly in your product growth and development process.

For example, at HubSpot, Sowyrda explains, “We have communities of product (discussing HubSpot’s products) and communities of practice which are spaces to discuss professional topics.”

Benefits:

Improved product-market fit
Continuous product improvement based on user feedback
Higher user satisfaction
Sense of ownership and loyalty to your brand

Best for: Consumer-oriented software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies where user feedback is crucial for iterative product development.

Example:LEGO Ideas

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What I like about LEGO Ideas: They make it super easy (and fun) for LEGO lovers to submit ideas for new designs. Plus, people can see what winning ideas look like from their fellow customers.

3. Acquisition and Advocacy

Acquisition and advocacy communities are typically networks of ambassadors or advocates who help build awareness around your brand.

Members promote your products and services through word of mouth, affiliate programs, and social media.

Benefits:

Increased brand awareness
Lower customer acquisition costs
Higher conversion rates

Best for: Almost every type of company can benefit from acquisition and advocacy communities, but it’s particularly effective for startups and newly-established brands.

Example:Sephora Squad

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What I like about Sephora Squad: The community isn’t officially live until August 2024, but Sephora is already creating some buzz. If you can get people excited before launch, you’re already one step ahead of your competitors.

4. Content and Contribution

Content and contribution communities encourage users to share content and ideas or participate in collaborative projects.

Contributions can range from guest blog posts and media submissions to involvement in open-source software projects on your website.

Dedicated team members typically curate the user-generated content to ensure it’s appropriate, meets quality standards, and aligns with your community guidelines.

Benefits:

Increased member engagement
A strong sense of ownership among contributors
More valuable content for the entire community

Best for: Media companies, creative industries, and open-source projects that thrive from UGC.

Example:Adobe Lightroom

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What I like about Adobe Lightroom Community: I got this example from one of my best photog friends, and it really is great. You can see exactly how the contributor edited their photo in Lightroom — from start to finish.

5. Engagement (External and Internal)

There are two types of engagement communities: external and internal.

Internal engagement communities bring together a brand’s internal contributors. These communities serve as a hub to share internal news and resources with employees, partners, vendors, or suppliers.

These communities can also help align staff members with the company’s goals and values, improve morale and retention, and enhance collaboration.

By comparison, external engagement communities connect individuals who have a shared interest related to a company or brand. Like if I ran a cookie company and created a community for baking enthusiasts.

Benefits:

External engagement opportunities
A sense of belonging and stronger connections with your brand
Organic increases in brand awareness via word-of-mouth

Best for:

Internal: Beneficial for larger organizations with many departments or teams spread across different regions or countries.
External: Great for lifestyle brands or companies with strong brand identities based on lifestyle or values (e.g., fitness or beauty).

Examples:

Internal: HubSpot’s Slack community, which is a platform for employees to connect, share ideas, and ask questions.
External:Nike Run Club

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What I like about Nike Run Club: This is a smart play for Nike. They emphasize physical activity through their products, and this club allows running-enthusiasts to connect with each other and the Nike brand.

6. Success Community Engagement Management

Success communities are designed to help customers use your product or service, well, successfully. They allow members to achieve desired outcomes by sharing best practices, user experiences, and success stories.

Benefits:

Greater customer satisfaction
Reduced churn rate
Valuable testimonials to attract new members

Best for: SaaS, business-to-business (B2B), and service-oriented businesses where product success is closely tied to continued product use.

Example: Noom Circles

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What I like about Noom Circles: I love how personalized you can get with Noom Circles. You’re matched with communities that reflect your interests (e.g., food, exercise, hobbies, etc.) and the goals you’re working toward.

Community Management Strategies

The strategies you use to analyze your community performance will vary based on the type of community you’re building.

Here are some metrics to consider for each:

Support: Conversation engagement (e.g., posts, comments), quantity of questions asked and answered, reduced customer support calls
Product: New product ideas, new feature adoption, customer satisfaction
Acquisition: Conversion rate, new leads/signups, new customers
Content: Users creating UGC, new and active users, conversation engagement (e.g., posts, comments)
Engagement: Conversation engagement (e.g., posts, comments), new member signups, event attendees
Success: Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer retention, customer satisfaction

Want more? Get the full scoop on community management metrics.

Creating SPACES for Your Communities

Hopefully, this provided some clarity about the different types of communities and what they’re best for. If you’re still having trouble choosing one for your brand, I say start with your audience.

The best communities come to life when your goals align with their needs.

8 Challenges of Scaling Community Management (and How Pros Solve Them)

cdelprincipe@hubspot.com (Curt del Principe) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

You lost that lovin’ feelin’. Fun to hear on the oldies station. Not so fun to hear from your community members.

But that’s the double-edged sword of scaling community management, isn’t it? The better you do, the bigger you get. And the bigger your group gets, the harder it is to do the things that made it so special.

Below, 5 veterans of community management — from Square, Pocket CCO, HeyOrca, and HubSpot — share some challenges you’re likely to face. And how they overcame them.

Real-Life Challenges from Those Who Have Been There

Some of these challenges are unavoidable, and you’ll just have to cross that bridge when you get there.

But sometimes you can save yourself some heartbreak by listening to others who have been where you are.

In either case, you should keep the challenges below in mind at the beginning of your community-building journey, before you even think you need to.

“My opinion on this is that you should try (as much as you can) to set up your community processes to be ready to scale as much as possible from day one,” says Jenny Sowyrda, manager of community strategy and operations at HubSpot.

“If the process you implement won’t scale from 1 member to 100 members, rethink it before you launch it.”

1. Knowing What Members Care About

“When you first launch a community you will feel like you’re talking to yourself,” laughs Sowyrda.

“The blessing in disguise when it comes to this, however, is that you actually have the time to know all of your community members,” she says. “It makes it easy to build relationships with these folks, get feedback from them, and truly build your community with them.”

Treasure that time, because it won’t last forever.

“Once your community starts to scale, you can’t know every community member in your space, and that is the most challenging part,” Jenny says.

The Solution: Build feedback channels from the very beginning.

When your community grows large enough that you don’t know all of the members, proactively seeking feedback becomes crucial.

It’s not enough to simply watch their conversations, because not every member will contribute.

“You can’t exclusively listen to the small vocal minority (who may be your top contributors),” says Sowyrda. “Because you then aren’t representing the lurkers, new members, or folks who [only] occasionally use your community.”

Instead, be proactive right from the start about seeking the opinions of all members through onboarding questionnaires, member surveys, and ongoing polls.

2. Keeping the Vibe

“One major issue when scaling a community is finding a way to grow it without it feeling too noisy and less intimate to already established members,” says Christina Garnett, founder and fractional CCO at Pocket CCO.

“As more people enter the community, it can lose what made it special.”

Max Pete, community engagement program manager at Square, says this is all about connection.

“One of the biggest challenges that comes to mind is losing the sense of connection and bond that you might find in a smaller community,” Pete explains.

“When it gets too big, some of the original things you did to create that connection might not be as scalable which means less time spent on them.”

The Solution: Keep the connection through group accessibility.

“When the Square community was smaller, I had more bandwidth to dedicate to members calls,” Max says.

“But as we grew and more members joined, I had to scale back my calls. One pivot was to offer more group conversations to reach more members at once.”

In addition to group calls, you may consider holding office hours, sharing personal updates, or even an ongoing newsletter about what’s new in the community.

These things can help members feel like they’re still connected to you and each other.

3. Keeping It Friendly, Safe, and Helpful

“A unique challenge that you may start to notice as your community grows is the importance of moderation,” says Alyssa Martin, community manager at HeyOrca.

“For example, as you scale a Facebook Group, you will start to get a few members who may not follow your community guidelines.”

Anyone who has been in a Facebook argument knows Alyssa is making a polite understatement.

“For the most part, the community is incredibly helpful and positive,” she says.

“But, there are always those times when something or someone needs to be removed and it’s important that you’re on top of it.”

If your community devolves into an abusive environment, it will reflect poorly on your brand. Not to mention that it won’t stay a community very long.

The Solution: Keep moderation scaleable with automation and/or empowering member moderators.

“It’s important to make sure you are moderating the conversation and content being posted to maintain a positive, safe environment for your community,” Martin says. “This is a concept I’ve had to put into action myself as the HeyOrca Community grew.”

But as your community grows, so does the volume of content, and you won’t be able to read it all yourself. At that point, you’ll want to consider moderation software or community moderators (or both.)

Many community management tools will offer moderation features that can flag comments for review or removal, or allow community members to flag them for you.

You may also consider empowering select members of the community as moderators themselves.

4. Sharing Ownership of the Community

One of the best and hardest parts of a community is that it doesn’t belong to you alone.

“At the end of the day, your community members should have a stronger say in the direction of your community than you do,” says Jenny Sowyrda. “Because if they don’t feel empowered and stop showing up, you no longer have a community.”

“As I told someone on my team recently, you should be drawing the map of where you want your community to go,” Sowyrda says. “But your community members are very much helping drive the ship.”

But Jenny also shares a word of warning.

“That said, the top priority when it comes to giving external folks ‘authority’ is ensuring you’re protecting member data and not violating the trust you’ve built with community members.”

So, for example, if you choose to use members as moderators, you should limit access to what kinds of data they can see.

The Solution: Be their advocate, not their parent.

“You should position your community team in a way that makes it seem like you are the genie of your company - that you can make anything happen,” she says.

“Once you’ve built that trust, you’ll be able to give them the authority to feel empowered, while knowing you still have control over the community.”

5. Balancing the Needs of Community and Business

Though you need to be an advocate for your community, you can’t forget that you’re also representing a business, too.

“Building a community for a brand, you are kind of the middle man between the brand and the community,” says Qetsiyah Jacobson, community manager at HeyOrca.

Sometimes that means putting the needs of the company first. But sometimes it means giving pushback on behalf of your community — a difficult thing for many new community managers.

“Knowing when to speak up and push against certain ideas or even bring up product ideas your community will love is a bit harder at times,” Qetsiyah adds.

The Solution: Know your stakeholders’ goals, and how your community connects to them.

“This is why it is super important to have those early conversations with key stakeholders on what is important for them,” says Square’s Max Pete. “What are their goals and what are they looking for in terms of success metrics?”

When you know how your community contributes to those goals, you’ll know when and how to advocate on their behalf.

6. Keeping Up With Changes

“It’s not something that you just nail down once,” says Jacobson. “Your community is made out of people and people evolve, they change, and they have moods.”

That means that if you only get feedback occasionally—or worse, only after events or campaigns—you’ll always be behind on what your community wants.

The Solution: Keep your feedback processes ongoing, not occasional.

“You need to constantly narrow down and reiterate what you want your community to be and understand what works,” Jacobson says. “Once you can identify what your community needs you can see where you can fill the gaps.”

“More tactically,” Jenny Sowyrda chimes in. “You should empower your members to share their opinions and they should know where and how they can do that, whether it be office hours, a feedback form, or a direct line of access to the community management team.”

7. Keeping It All Organized

“As our community grew, we were able to invite everyone individually, we knew who they were, and had fostered great relationships with them,” Jenny Sowyrda shares.

“I had their information to mail them some swag and — since in being a community manager you wear 10 hats every day — I was also in charge of packing up the swag and sending it off to them.”

“Somehow in the process of shipping out the swag, the envelopes and thank you cards got switched up and everyone ended up receiving someone else’s thank you card,” Jenny said. “It was the perfect example of wanting to have our human touch, but also being a bit too big to manage it all on my own.”

The Solution: Accept that you’re going to make mistakes (and also maybe try out a task manager!)

“In the end, it ended up being a great ice breaker as folks pinged each other to find out whose mail they had received,” Jenny says.

“And, honestly, I think they enjoyed getting the wrong card more than they would have enjoyed getting the correct one.”

Turning a mixup into a bonding activity is a brilliant way to recover even stronger. But while the mistake worked out in Jenny’s favor, not everyone will be so lucky.

The real luck is that there’s an abundance of free project management tools that can help you keep it all organized.

8. Not Missing Messages in Multiple Inboxes

This one is a little less existential than the others, but no less stressful.

Some of you are already nodding your heads after checking email, then Facebook, then Slack, then LinkedIn, and on and on.

When you first start a community, chances are that you can cruise through all of your messages first thing in the morning.

But when your community gets large enough, making sure you don’t miss any messages across multiple platforms becomes a pain.

The Solution: Consider a shared inbox.

“If you are managing a social media community, I highly recommend finding a tool that allows you to manage your community all from one place,” says Alyssa Martin.

“I like using HeyOrca’s Social Inbox. It allows you to manage your comments and DMs for Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn all in one place. This helps save time, especially if you’re managing multiple social media communities.”

And if your community is on Slack, email, or chat, you might also consider (shameless plug) HubSpot’s free shared inbox.

4 More Tips for Scaling Community from HubSpot’s Own Team

Lastly, Jenny Sowyrda took time to share some tips that aren’t connected to particular challenges.

If you’re just getting started building a community, you should work these tips into your processes now. But if you’re inheriting an existing community, it’s never too late to work them in.

1. Build queues and priority for what to reply to.

While you should try to reply to all messages, not all of them will be equally as urgent. And trying to triage them in the moment risks letting important messages go unanswered.

Lay out what takes priority from the start, and build your workflows to suit.

2. Ensure you are viewing all content to ensure everyone gets a response, but also to ensure you find new members.

A proper welcome helps to ensure that new members will stick around and get engaged. Community management software can help make sure no one gets missed.

3. Document your processes and create processes when you don’t have them.

As a big nerd, I admit I’m a sucker for well-documented procedures. But having a solid process in place helps to avoid mixups like Jenny’s thank-you-card story from above.

4. If you are on a team, ensure you’re communicating everything you’re doing — from engaging with members, to answering questions, to writing content.

“Your community management team should appear as a united presence,” says Sowyrda. “Though everyone can and should have their unique voice.”

Tipping the Scale

If you keep these tips and solutions in mind, you can scale your community without losing the love.

And when your community feels that love, that’s when it grows best.

7 Community Management Tools the Pros Actually Use [Expert Recommendations]

cdelprincipe@hubspot.com (Curt del Principe) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

Having a hard time finding clear info on community management tools? I’m not even a little surprised.

“Community management” covers a wide range of jobs, and they’re not going to have the same software needs.

After all, if you’re running a B2B product support forum you need a different tech stack than someone modding a Bluey fandom on TikTok, right?

To find the right tools, you’d usually have to get a firsthand recommendation from someone who’s done your job. Well, today’s your lucky day — I did that part for you.

I chatted with a range of community management veterans from Square, Pocket CCO, and our very own Community Strategy & Operations team. Below, you’ll find the tools they actually use, along with their top tips for what to look for.

How Experts Choose Community Management Tools
4 Best Community Platforms the Experts Use
3 Best Community Management Tools the Experts Use
Other Tools for Community Management

How Experts Choose Community Management Tools

Since the right tool is going to be specific to the type of community you manage, I first asked the experts for advice on what to look for when picking software.

Here are four actionable tips that any CM can use.

1. DON’T pick based on name recognition.

It’s normal to assume a well-known company must be doing something right, and in many cases, you’d be right. But due to the extremely specific circumstances of your community, this could be a mistake.

“Choosing tech just based on a name alone will set you up for failure,” says Christina Garnett, founder and fractional CCO of Pocket CCO. “Success depends on your goals for the community.”

2. Make a list of must-haves based on community goals.

And speaking of the goals of the community; let those be your compass.

“Define a few non-negotiable features and find the solution that works best for you based on those,” suggests Jenny Sowyrda, manager of Community Strategy & Operations at HubSpot.

And what should be on that list?

“Align your key tools with what success looks like in your community,” Sowyrda says.

In other words, if engagement is your goal, maybe you prioritize a tool with gamification. Or if communication is the goal, then direct messaging should be a must-have.

Always come back to the needs of your community.

“No one tool does everything perfectly, but if you’re committed to solving for the community member, you can make it work!” she adds.

3. #1 on that list should be user experience.

More than any other type of software, it’s important not to get distracted by bells and whistles.

“Community websites are different from other websites in the sense that the colors and pretty things should come second to an intuitive user flow,” says Sowyrda. “So that folks know how to engage with the community.”

Don’t ignore this one. If your community has bad UX, it's not going to be a community for long.

4. #1 on that list should be data analytics.

That’s not a typo. There are two #1 must-have features. Any time three experts agree on something, it’s worth bending the rules a little.

“One thing across all communities is having a tool that easily captures the data that you need to report on is key,” says Max Pete, community engagement program manager at Square.

With robust analytics, you can lean into efforts that drive ROI, and change those that don’t.

Without it, you’re just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks.

4 Best Community Platforms the Experts Use

A community platform lets you build your community right on top of the tools that allow you to manage and measure it.

That differs from other community management software which just plugs into an existing platform. If you’re starting from scratch, these are the tools that’ll help you build and scale your group.

But if you’re looking to manage a pre-existing forum or social media platform, you might want to skip to the next section.

Either way, here are 4 tools that our experts actually use themselves:

1. Khoros

Khoros is customer engagement software that allows you to build, host, and manage an online community. It offers content moderation and member management tools, forums, feedback, etc.

It’s noteworthy that all three of our experts have used Khoros, despite serving different types of communities. That said, there were pros and cons about this tool.

The good and the bad:

“At HubSpot we run our Product Success community on Khoros,” says Jenny Sowyrda. “Khoros is extremely customizable which has enabled us to scale our community without having to migrate.”

“One of my favorite features is how specific you can be when setting up permission types, and their gamification experience is also intuitive and effective,” Sowyrda says.

“The downsides of Khoros are that because it’s so robust, it can feel outdated and clunky (they are working on a more updated UI), which makes it hard to get things done. The front end, similarly, is going to look like a forum community unless you really style it.”

Recommended by: Jenny Sowyrda, Max Pete, Christina Garnett

G2 rating: 4.2 out of 5

Price: Pricing only available through demo

Free trial: No

2. Bettermode

Bettermode touts itself as an “all-in-one community platform” that includes a code-free site builder.

That doesn’t mean you’re stuck using a boring template, though, as the drag-and-drop builder allows you to build a slick site without a dev– and a developer portal that allows you to build a custom app on top.

The experts say:

“Bettermode, on the other hand, is a much more modern frontend [compared to Khoros], which makes it easy for members to navigate,” says Sowyrda.

“The biggest challenge we have with Bettermode at the moment is the analytics tool, but that is something their team is working on.”

So if you’re comparing Khoros and Bettermode, consider tips 3 and 4 above and which is most important to you.

Recommended by: Jenny Sowyrda

G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5

Price: Starts at free, paid plans start at $19/mo. for up to 3 collaborators

Free Trial: Yes, but details are unpublished.

3. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is one of the most highly rated community tools on nearly any list. The ability to host courses, events, and resource libraries make them an excellent choice for education-based, training, or coaching communities.

Their pro tier even offers branded iOS and Android apps, which make it easy to get a service-based business off the ground.

The coolest feature (in my humble opinion) is their own live and on-demand courses about community building— so you’re not alone in figuring it all out.

(The second coolest feature is the integration that automatically adds new members to your HubSpot CRM when someone joins your community. But I may be slightly biased!)

Recommended by: Christina Garnett

G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5

Price: The Community plan starts at $41/mo. when billed annually

Free Trial: 14 days of the Business tier plan

4. Higher Logic Vanilla

If you run a forum-based community, you should definitely be considering Vanilla.

Unlike some tools, which may offer forum features or community features, Vanilla was specifically built for forum communities.

One of their most powerful tools is the federated search tool that can pull answers from internal and external sources.

In other words, your users can see results from your knowledge base, crowdsourced answers, your CRM, and Google, all in one place.

From the expert:

“Vanilla Forums is great if you want a forum-based type of community,” says Christina Garnett. “Comes with a lot of features and the support is great.”

Recommended by: Christina Garnett

G2 rating: 4.3 out of 5

Price: Starts at free, Paid plans appear to start at $24,000/yr. (but details are hard to come by.)

Free trial: No

3 Best Community Management Tools the Experts Use

Unlike the platform builders above, these tools are designed to plug into an existing platform.

This makes them ideal for communities that live on Slack, Discord, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.

These are the ones that have been tried and tested by our expert community managers, and come out on top:

1. Common Room

Common Room is primarily customer intelligence software, but they have tons of features that will make a community manager’s life easier.

The big one is the ability to gather signals from all of your digital touchpoints (think Slack, your CRM, social media, etc.) and use that data to enrich your member profiles.

But it also has tools to automate member verification, flag trending topics within comments, and sync your member lists with your data warehouse.

What the expert thinks:

“If your platform is on Slack or Discord, Common Room can come in handy because of the automation that you can implement such as new member onboarding,” says Max Pete from Square.

“As well as getting access to more data touch points than what Slack offers natively.”

The only downside?

“Their paid plan can get pretty pricey and there's only so much that you can do on their free plan,” says Pete. “So something to keep in mind as you scale.”

Recommended by: Jenny Sowyrda, Max Pete

G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5

Price: Starts at free, Paid plans start at $650/mo. for up to 2 seats and 35k contacts

Free Trial: 14 days of the Team tier plan

2. Talkbase

Talkbase is the only entry on our list to get a full 5 out of 5 on G2.

The software is mainly community analytics, though their action-based add-ons allow you to onboard, organize, and manage your community en masse.

While that may not sound like much at first, Talkbase can gather and track insights from social comments, GitHub requests, forum questions, etc.

Then it allows you to slice and dice that data into community, segment, or member-level insights … then import those insights straight into your CRM.

And, hey, like Common Room it also integrates with HubSpot! (Though I swear that’s a coincidence.)

Recommended by: Max Pete

G2 rating: 5 out of 5

Price: Starts at free, Paid plans start at $20/mo. for up to 2 seats and 2k contacts

Free trial: 21 days of the Growth tier plan

3. Luma

Luma is unlike anything else on our list, in that it’s built specifically for event management. You can send and manage invites and reminders, register and track attendees, and enable ticket sales right from the platform itself.

Plus newsletter and community analysis tools help foster the community aspect of an in-person group.

Why the expert added it:

“If you're running a community with an events component to it, I definitely recommend Luma,” says Max Pete. “Especially if you're using Slack or Discord, this tool allows you to keep track of your community events and keeps everything easy to find for your members.”

Recommended by: Max Pete

G2 rating: Not yet rated

Price: Starts at free, Paid plans start at $59/mo. when billed annually

Free trial: No, but the free plan includes unlimited events and guests

Other Tools for Community Management

If you’re building your community from scratch (or new to community management) there are some other kinds of tools you should consider.

They range from “nice to have” up to “How did I live without this?”

Messaging Services

In order to have a community, your members need to be able to communicate. (See what I did there?)

And if you don’t offer a place for that to happen, they’ll find one of their own.

One of the most popular messaging services for businesses is Slack.

“Slack isn’t a community tool,” says Christina Garnett. “But because so many professionals use it, it becomes an easy and convenient platform if you want professionals as community members.”

Other examples include Discord and Circle.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

At its most basic, a CRM keeps track of all of the interactions between your members and your business.

If there’s a sales, marketing, or support side to your community, you’ll definitely want a CRM to keep it all organized.

Integrating your community management software with a CRM will give you a full 360 degree view of your community and all of the actions they take with regard to your business.

HubSpot’s free CRM also includes live-chat software, meeting scheduler, form builder, help desk tools, and more.

Email Platform

Whether it’s a newsletter, a product update, or an event announcement, at some point you’re going to want to email your members.

And when your community gets big enough, you’re going to wish you had a way to simplify that.

An email platform does exactly that by providing customizable templates, automated follow-ups, and the ability to see who’s opening/reading/clicking on your emails.

HubSpot also offers free email tools with a drag-and-drop editor, A/B testing, and email analytics.

Workflow Integration and Automation

Many community management tools are designed to connect to the rest of your tech stack.

So maybe when a member signs up for a workshop, they’re automatically sent a welcome email, and their profile is updated to match.

But when your software doesn’t play nicely, it can lead to a lot of duplicate work. Workflow automation tools are designed to eliminate that.

The most well-known of these is a tool called Zapier.

Get back to your community.

No matter what kind of community you’re looking to manage, you’re sure to find one of these tools suited to your specific needs.

And if you follow our experts’ tips, you can narrow it down to the exact one. With your search out of the way, you can get back to what you love: Your community.

Community Management Metrics That Actually Help [Expert Interviews]

cdelprincipe@hubspot.com (Curt del Principe) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

They say if you can measure it, you can manage it. So how do you measure a community?

That’s not a rhetorical question. If you want to manage a thriving community, you better figure out which community management metrics actually mean something about your work.

I spoke with a panel of four experts — from CCOs and Directors to program managers in the trenches — and asked what metrics they use themselves.

They also shared their thoughts on reporting upwards (gulp) and which KPIs are just a distraction.

Table of Contents

How to Think about Community Management KPIs
Top Community Management Metrics
Best Community Metrics for Reporting Upwards
The Benefits of Measuring Community Management Metrics

How to Think about Community Management KPIs

Before you jump into the metrics below, pause and think about the twin dangers of data analysis.

1. It’s easy to get misled by the wrong numbers.

In any kind of digital management, you’re more likely to run into the problem of too much data rather than not enough.

“Page views, unique visits, and new members can often be distracting without telling the full picture,” warns Max Pete, community engagement program manager at Square. “For example, say you‘re getting a ton of new members per month, but there’s even more members leaving the community. So while it looks like you‘re in a big growth mode, actually you’re not retaining them.”

To avoid this, keep the goals of your community in mind as you read the list below.

“The metrics you define should be aligned with the business and member goals of your community,” says Jenny Sowyrda, manager of Community Strategy and Operations at HubSpot. “The more you can align your success metrics with what the business cares about, the better off you’ll be.”

2. It’s easy to waste time measuring things you can’t act on — or that you’re not ready for yet.

To dodge this trap, you should also be thinking about what stage of development your community is currently in.

“Depending on the life cycle of the community, I look at foundational, engagement, and impact metrics,” says Christina Garnett, founder and fractional CCO of Pocket CCO. “As a community starts, you will focus on foundational metrics and move out as you mature.”

To illustrate what she means (literally), Christina has shared this fantastic diagram below.

Image Source

While she’s populated it with KPIs that any community could (and should) be monitoring, the exact metrics you fill it with will depend on your community’s needs and goals.

Top Community Management Metrics

Here are the metrics our panel of experts actually use in their own day-to-day jobs.

But note that while each of these KPIs is used by an expert, not every expert uses all of these KPIs.

I bring this up in order to drive home that, once again, it’s important for you to think about which of these metrics actually connect to a goal for your community.

While the panel can point the way, only you can decide which are needed.

Foundational Stage Community Metrics

Community Growth/Membership Growth Rate

In general, a healthy community should be growing. Just how much depends on the type of community, and where you’re at in its lifecycle.

In the beginning, it’s normal to see your growth rate jump up high and then drop down low and back again. Eventually, you’ll want to see it steady out.

When I’ve helped grow newsletter communities, I found it very common to see the growth rate soften after the explosive first few months when promotional efforts were in full swing. But as long as that softer rate remained steady I knew we were still seeing healthy growth.

On the flip side, if this number drops suddenly, it’s a sign you need to investigate your sources of new members.

Formula: (# of current members) - (# of starting members)/ (# of starting members) x 100

Example: (1,500 current members) - (1,200 members at the beginning of the month)/ 1,200 x 100 = 25% growth rate

Churn Rate

This is the exact opposite of your growth rate. Churn rate is the number of members who leave your community in a given period of time.

Obviously, you’ll want this to be as low as possible, but for most communities, it’s unrealistic to aim for a churn rate of zero. People leave a community for all sorts of legitimate reasons outside of your control.

That said, if this number jumps or continuously grows over time, it’s a flashing warning sign that something has gone wrong.

Formula: (# of lost members in a time period)/ (Total # of members at the start of time period time period)x 100

Example: (20 members left this month)/ (400 members to start with)x 100= 5% churn rate

New Members vs Churn Rate

If you want to fill a bucket, you have to pour in more water than what leaks out. Your community is the same way.

Comparing the rate of new membership against your churn rate is a great way to take a glance ahead of your growth rate.

A warning: It is extremely easy to get confused when you’re calculating the difference between rates. To save yourself some stress, calculate them as whole numbers instead of percentages.

In other words, instead of (75% - 25%), just do 75-25.

Formula: (Membership growth rate) - (churn rate) / (churn rate) x 100

Example: (25 growth rate) - (5 churn rate)/ (5 churn rate) x 100 = 400% more new members than churn

Engagement Stage Community Metrics

Active Members

The number of active members you have is a good proxy for the health of your community because communities thrive on activity.

You’ll first have to define what makes a member “active.” Is it posting or commenting? Voting in polls? Attending in-person events? It all depends on the specifics of your community.

Any good community management tool should be able to pull the number of active members and how it changes over time.

Jenny Sowyrda notes that HubSpot tracks this number on a weekly and monthly cadence. You may also wish to calculate the quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) or year-over-year changes (YoY), too.

Some social media platforms famously track this number daily, but that’s likely overkill for most communities.

Just remember that seasonality plays a part in the number of active members, and in how active they are, so don’t get too worried if this number rises and falls over time.

For example, it’s not uncommon for the HubSpot Blog to see weekly readership fall around holidays. As long as it comes back the next week, we don’t sweat it.

Average Posts + Comments per Member

An engaged community member is more likely to stick around, but eventually, your group will get too big to check in on individual members.

Instead, an average of engagements per member can tell you a story about general participation.

Something to be mindful of is that a particularly hot topic or viral post can make this number jump like a frog on hot pavement. When that happens, you’ll need to be ready to explain why it’s falling the next time you report on it.

But pay attention to what caused the spike and you just might have a new content strategy on your hands!

Formula: (# of posts/comments)/(Total # of members)

Example: (120 posts and comments)/(50 members) = 2.4 posts/comments per member

Event Participation Rate

If your community doesn’t offer “events” in the traditional sense, you can probably still benefit from this metric.

Events can mean many things, from in-person conferences to live webinars or even on-demand virtual classes.

Heck, my son attends virtual concerts in Animal Crossing, and you better bet your bottom they’re keeping an eye on participation. (The event organizers, that is. Not the digital doggy DJ.)

Formula: (# of participants)/(Total # of members) x 100

Example: (200 participants)/(450 total members) x 100 = 44.4% participation

Impact Stage Community Metrics

Conversion Rate (CVR)

Conversion is usually talked about in terms of monetization — leads, sales, signups, etc. — but it can refer to a member taking any desired action.

Almost every community will have some sort of conversion event, and you’ll need to define what’s important to yours.

Is it signing up for a demo? Taking a class? Subscribing to a newsletter?

As your community grows, you’ll also want to track conversion rates for different types of actions. Each action will represent a different ROI for your team, brand, or company.

In other words, downloading a whitepaper will likely have a different value to you than signing up for a webinar. Knowing the CVR for each will help you lean into more valuable efforts.

Formula: (# of conversions)/(Total # of members) x 100

Example: (20 conversions)/(200 members) x 100 = 10% conversion rate

Advocacy + Referral Rates

92% of people trust the recommendations of family and friends over any form of advertising, according to a recent Nielsen survey.

Referrals and advocacy are the kind of marketing you can’t buy … but you can earn them by fostering a thriving community.

Not only should you be tracking your overall referral rates, you should also be tracking the referral rates for individual campaigns and events.

You may be surprised to find that campaigns that see low conversion are still super valuable because they drive a lot of word-of-mouth.

Formula: (# of referrals)/(Total # of members) x 100

Example: (10 referrals)/(50 members) x 100 = 20% referral rate

Average Response Time

Response time (and its cousins Response Rate and Resolution Rate) is a metric that will be

important for service or support-based communities.

Simply put, it’s the average time it takes for a representative to respond to a question, request, or ticket.

As your community becomes more advanced, it may also be useful to calculate the average response time by channel or by ticket type.

This can quickly identify choke points in your services, as well as strengths that can be shared with other channels.

Formula: (Total time to respond to questions/tickets)/(Total # of questions/tickets)

Example: (10 mins. + 20 mins. + 15 mins.)/ (3 questions) = 15 min. avg. response time

Response Rate

Just to make things confusing, people will use “response rate” to refer to two different metrics.

The rate at which members respond to a poll or a survey.
The rate at which your reps respond to questions/tickets from members.

Depending on your type of community, both may be worth keeping an eye on. Thankfully, the formula is the same for both. (Whew!)

During our chat, Jenny Sowyrda mentioned that HubSpot also tracks the percentage of responses that come from external sources versus those that come from HubSpotters.

This is a great idea for product-centered communities, where it’s crucial that information comes from trustworthy sources.

Formula: (# of responses)/ (# of queries) x 100

Example: (20 responses)/ (30 queries) x 100 = 66.6% response rate

Resolution Rate

Similar to response rate, resolution rate is based on the number of tickets closed or the number of answers accepted.

That last word is key if you want your community members to feel satisfied.

Don’t count a query or ticket in your resolution rate until the member considers it resolved.

Formula: (# of resolved queries)/ (total # of queries) x 100

Example: (20 resolved queries)/ (25 total queries) x 100 = 80% resolution rate

Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis refers to the process of pulling out the emotional tone of content in order to better understand your community.

It can give an idea of how your members feel about your brand, the success of an event, or how happy they are with your support efforts within the community.

This isn’t really a metric you can calculate, but it is a KPI you should consider. Many good community management tools will include a sentiment analysis feature.

Best Community Metrics for Reporting Upwards

It may seem harsh, but chances are, your boss’s boss isn’t going to look at your reports for more than 60 seconds.

That means you need to limit upward-facing reports to only those metrics that show how your efforts impact broader business goals.

“We align our metrics with what the business cares about,” says Jenny Sowyrda. “Which usually boils down to either making or saving the business money.”

That makes Conversion Rate and Event Participation easy shoe-ins. But what about the rest?

“It is super important to have those early conversations with key stakeholders on what is important data for them,” says Max Pete. “What are their goals and what are they looking for in terms of success metrics?”

In other words, just ask them!

In the meantime, here are some other boss-friendly KPIs they may be interested in:

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Want to know how your community feels about your brand/product/service? Ask them!

Net promoter score is a metric almost any executive will recognize. It’s based on asking your members a question like “On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend the community to a friend or coworker?”

You then bucket your responses as Promoters (9-10), Passives (7-8), and Detractors (0-6). Finally, subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.

Learn more about NPS.

Share of Voice

While Share of Market measures your portion of industry sales, Share of Voice compares your portion of brand awareness.

In other words, when consumers think of your industry, how many of them think of your brand?

It’s usually measured in social mentions, paid ad clicks, or keyword traffic.

As you can imagine, a thriving community full of advocates is a great way to increase your Share of Voice.

Learn more about Share of Voice.

Cost Per Conversion (CPC)

Since communities are gold mines for user-generated content and organic referrals, they’re often more cost-effective than paid marketing campaigns.

The downside? It’s often harder to prove that.

To calculate the CPC of community management, you’ll first need to add up all of the costs associated with running the community. From there, you divide the total expense by the number of conversions attributed to the community.

Now you may be asking, “What if I’m still only tracking foundational stage metrics?”

That’s okay! Christina Garnett recommends being upfront about that during those early stakeholder conversations.

“Setting expectations so leadership knows that KPIs will shift as the community grows is priceless,” she explains.

The Benefits of Measuring Community Management Metrics

Simply put, tracking these metrics will allow you to make decisions that better serve your community and your business.

But data alone isn’t enough. KPIs should always be a starting point for your curiosity in figuring out what works for your community, what doesn’t, and why.

If you do that, you’re almost guaranteed to:

Turn members into advocates by seeing what they love and doing it over and over again.
Thrill your stakeholders by identifying what serves their goals and leaning into those efforts.
Reduce costs by discovering and improving weak points.
Uncover business insights that almost no other type of marketer gets access to.

And if that’s not enough, they’ll also help you prove the ROI of your community to management. But that’s a blog for another day.

Community Management Challenges and How to Overcome Them [Expert Tips]

esantiago@hubspot.com (Erica Santiago) — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

A few years ago, I had to manage a Facebook community for a TV station I was working for as a digital journalist. It was a completely new experience, and there were definitely times I stumbled.

Community management challenges are real and can be hard to navigate if you're new to the field.

Fortunately, I gathered valuable information from experts, including a fellow HubSpotter, so you can be the best community manager you can be and avoid some of my blunders.

If you‘re an organization looking for a community manager, these challenges and their solutions will help you understand the skills to look for when hiring one. Let’s dive in!

Top 8 Community Management Challenges

Here are several community management challenges and how the experts overcome them.

1. Community managers need to be good at many things.

It takes a lot to build and manage a community around a business, so an excellent community manager will need to have a diverse set of skills.

I spoke about this with Hubspot‘s principal marketing of community (and fellow ’Erica'), Erica Finley.

“Community managers often mediate community conflicts and may be required to draft crisis communications,” Finley says. “They must be curious and adept at conducting research online and via people-centric methods like focus groups.”

And community managers aren't just managers.

“They are content creators who may be called to create entire calendars based on a specific persona or theme,” she says. “They are public speakers who often serve as emcees and facilitators for community events.”

If you want to become a community manager, consider diversifying your skills. Some valuable skills to possess would be writing and public speaking. You should also be an adept researcher, content creator, and social media user.

2. Some leadership teams won‘t ’get' what you do.

Community isn’t new, and 86% of social media marketers believe having an active community is critical to a brand’s success. However, community management is pretty new to marketing and less strictly defined in business settings versus sales or digital marketing.

As a result, community managers sometimes encounter marketing leaders who need help understanding their jobs or the value of community management.

“Community pros often have to work harder to prove their value and contribution to the bottom line and should work with other internal teams to illustrate how they amplify their efforts,” Finley explains.

So, track your work and pay close attention to metrics, such as the number of people who visited your company's website after a community page post or the profits that followed a community management initiative or event.

And, like Finley says, work closely with other teams and get them on board with your vision so you can better illustrate your value.

3. Scaling is hard.

Finley explains, “More often than not, community teams are small, and sometimes, they’re a team of one. As your community grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to respond to each message, nurture your members, think proactively about your roadmap, and report back on your success.”

I can relate to this sentiment as a content creator who spent a few years building my platform on YouTube and social media.

It was much easier to foster community with my audience when it was just a handful of people. However, my community eventually grew to thousands of followers across my platforms, and it became harder to nurture my audience and connect with them by replying to comments, liking their posts, or responding to messages.

“Look for helpers in the community that can be your eyes and ears when you’re not around, and lean into automating tasks that don’t require a human touch,” she says.

For example, consider Reddit moderators. Reddit moderators are users who volunteer to monitor subreddits, enforce rules that keep members safe, and ensure the community is peaceful and user-friendly.

Most Reddit communities have at least two to three moderators and will get more as members grow. So, consider tapping into your audience and relying on moderators for your online platforms.

4. Burnout is real.

Growing and maintaining a thriving community for an organization can be rewarding and draining, especially when you're building a community in digital spaces like social media.

As I mentioned earlier, I helped moderate a Facebook community page for the station I worked for. Since the page was easily accessible from my phone, I constantly checked it and flagged issues even when I was supposed to be off the clock.

To no one's surprise but my own, I found myself getting burnt out from constantly moderating, and it became hard to leave the stress of monitoring the group at the office.

“Burnout is real in such a people-centric role,” Finley says. “Community professionals should set proper boundaries and avoid an 'always on' approach to their roles.”

5. Creating an engaging community for a start-up has its hurdles.

Fostering community for a start-up or smaller company often means you‘re building community from the ground up, and that can be difficult because you don’t have many resources or metrics to go off.

You're also laying the groundwork for future community managers who may join your organization.

But there are solutions, according to Harshil Boparai, Community Manager at The Alliance.

“Understanding member's demographics and preferences is paramount—whether they seek career-centric insights, industry updates, networking opportunities, or other content,”she says. “So initiating dialogue during onboarding and establishing a Customer Advisory Board could help align these community objectives.”

6. It can be challenging to keep community members engaged and active.

“I would say this is probably a challenge for most community managers, and always a big goal to have good engagement,”says Emma Buitendag, Community Manager at The Alliance. Even with larger communities, keeping the engagement up can still be challenging."

Buitendag says managers should stay focused with increased numbers of community members. You'll need to keep the momentum going.

“You’ll want to regularly post engaging content, host events like webinars and in-person meetups, and constantly encourage discussions,” she says. “One would think that the bigger the community, the higher the engagement, but you still need to work hard to keep the engagement going, regardless of the size.”

7. Community managers have to know how to handle conflict.

Of course, no community is without its conflicts, and community managers must know how to handle them in a way that reflects positively on their organization.

“So, set out clear community guidelines,” Emma Buitendag says. “It’s very helpful to direct people's attention back to the guidelines if they are breaking the rules. It’s also important that the rules are written down and clear so there is little room for confusion.”

Buiendah also suggests moderating discussions and intervening diplomatically and privately should conflict arise.

“Don’t try to reason with a member on an open platform,” she says. “I always make sure to privately message the person and resolve the issue between us.”

8. The way consumers communicate is constantly evolving.

There was a time when consumers could only reach a company or organization via phone or email. Now, consumers can reach out via social media, direct messages, text, and more.

“The processes involved in community management are constantly changing and evolving, so one key solution is always to be flexible and open to change,” Alliance Community Manager Millie McCaughrean says. “Feedback from members and internal colleagues regularly is paramount to keeping on top of the changes and adapting in the best way possible.”

So consider hosting focus groups and pay close attention to how your audience speaks of your company and how they communicate.

There are no easy jobs in marketing, and that includes community management. The field has its challenges, but they‘re nothing you can’t overcome with the right tips and tricks.

12 Community Management Best Practices to Attract Your Biggest Advocates [From the Experts]

Alana Chinn — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 11:00:00 GMT

If you’re trying to start or grow a community around your brand, these community management best practices might just do the trick.

Good community management requires a little bit of troubleshooting. But you can’t just turn it off and turn it back on (like I do with my almost-10-year old laptop when it freezes).

You took the time to build a strategy to draw people in. Now, let’s work together to get it off the ground — the right way.

Community Management Best Practices

Here are my top 12 best practices for community management, with insights from experts across the industry.

1. Communicate clear expectations from the start.

When you’re managing a community, one of the first things I recommend doing is setting firm rules for all members and contributors.

Without clear guidance, it’s hard to maintain a respectful environment where everyone feels comfortable engaging.

Here are the main elements you’ll want to cover. We’ll use TikTok’s Community Guidelines as an example:

Purpose: Why was the community created? Example: “TikTok is a source of entertainment and enrichment where you can discover, create, and connect with others across the world.”
Content: What types of content are (and are not) allowed? Example: “We do not allow misinformation that may cause significant harm to individuals or society, regardless of intent.”
Participation: What principles guide how members interact? Example: “TikTok has eight guiding community principles: Prevent Harm, Enable Free Expression, Foster Civility, Champion Inclusivity, etc.”
Enforcement: How will these guidelines be enforced? Example: “Content first goes through an automated review process. If content is identified as a potential violation, it will be automatically removed, or flagged for additional review by our moderators.”

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It’s all about creating a safe place for people to interact with each other and your brand. This is easier to accomplish when you outline what that looks like up front.

2. Get your members involved early (and often).

Max Pete, community engagement program manager at Square, says:

“Involve your members early on in the process, and don't stop involving them as you evolve. Always have the ‘build with’ vs. ‘build for’ mentality.”

It’s a lot easier for people to invest in something they helped create. And that second part is so important because you want your community to grow with you (and stick around long term).

Collaborate, ask for input, and let your audience show you how they want to engage with your brand.

3. Encourage member-to-member interactions.

Audience interaction is so important, but a community thrives beyond just you and your brand.

As Joe McElligott, Strategy Director at MG Empower, explains:

“Community isn't solely formed through brand-to-consumer interactions. The interactions among consumers themselves are truly significant elements of a strategy, with the brand serving as the platform or facilitator for these engagements.”

If you’re managing a brand community, give your members the opportunity to build relationships among themselves.

For inspo, Scrub Daddy is really good at this. They’ve created a community of promoters who enjoy posting relatable content to their own audiences about Scrub Daddy products.

And that content often gets a lot of traction — like this TikTok below with 374K likes and 1,550+ comments.

A successful community should be able to hold its own. And this will actually help take some of the pressure off of you, too.

If members are empowered to interact with each other, they’re not only relying on you to drive the conversation. Win-win.

4. Recognize, incentivize, and reward participation.

An important part of community management is showing appreciation for your followers. It shows you value their time and commitment to your brand.

There are many ways to recognize and reward participation. Here are a few steps you can take to show you care:

Send a personal welcome and thank you note to each new member of your community with a token of appreciation for joining.
Keep track of the most active members and then acknowledge their contributions via special mentions or gifts.
Ask members what you can do to make their experience a great one, and reward them for their feedback.

A little effort goes a long way.

5. Personalize your engagements (and be human).

I hate receiving generic responses from brands. Especially when I know there’s a human behind the interaction just waiting to be heard.

Don’t get me wrong, canned responses are great and can be super helpful for teams with limited resources. But that doesn’t mean you can’t show a little personality.

Personally, I like to use a conversational tone in posts and replies to show my audience that they’re talking to a real person. I also address people by their names and try to remember details about every interaction.

But there are many other ways to humanize your brand.

Like this second example from Scrub Daddy when they owned up to making a typo in one of their videos (because, well, it happens).

See the first comment below: “Excuse the typo omg 💀”

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Find a strategy that works for you and be consistent.

6. Stay true to yourself and your brand.

In the spirit of being human, you should also try to be as honest, transparent, and authentic as possible.

Address any negative comments, feedback, or challenges openly and acknowledge mistakes when they happen.

Did you forget to follow up with someone about a product question or concern? Own it, and make things right. Has someone violated your content guidelines? Act swiftly, and acknowledge community concerns.

Being authentic builds trust and can help foster stronger connections with your audience.

7. Use AI and tech to your advantage.

Many community management platforms, including social media, offer features to streamline your workflow. And now that AI is literally everywhere, take advantage of the good things automation has to offer.

You can use social monitoring tools, like HubSpot’s social media management software, to track engagements and respond to comments and messages in real-time.

Or try out some GenAI prompts to help you come up with content ideas related to your audience’s interests.

Use the resources around you to deliver maximum value to your community.

8. Be attentive and respond promptly.

Timeliness is critical in community management.

Make it a priority to address comments, concerns, and questions from your audience as quickly as possible. This shows members you’re active and ready to address their needs.

According to Jan Crewe, a social media community manager at ICUC, responding to incoming comments fast is key for building relationships with your audience.

She says that “this increases the chance of subsequent responses, extending the interaction.” It also allows you to address any pressing issues before they start to snowball.

9. Celebrate milestones with your community.

Your milestones — and those of your community members — are cause for celebration.

For example:

Did you gain a certain number of followers or members? Shout it from the rooftops.
Is it the anniversary of your community launch? I’ll bring the cake, you bring the candles.
One of your members accomplished something big? Let’s all raise a glass!

Sharing moments like these can strengthen the sense of community and deepen the connection people feel to your brand.

10. Maintain your brand voice at all times.

It’s important to keep a consistent brand voice when managing a community.

Your brand voice is what makes your business unique and identifiable to your audience. For example, if your brand is known for being easy-going, this personality should be reflected in all your interactions and content.

(I won’t share another Scrub Daddy example — I think you get the point.)

11. Evolve with the trends.

Community management is constantly evolving. Stay open to learning new ideas and incorporating them into your strategy. You can also expect the best practices on this list to shift as community management trends change.

As a marketer, I try to stay updated on what’s happening across the industry (I’m looking at you The Marketing Millennials) and how those factors affect audience preferences.

I also pay attention to any changes in social media algorithms which ultimately affects how your content is displayed to potential viewers.

This proactive approach allows me to adapt my strategies as needed. And I have a feeling it’ll help you keep your communities engaged and relevant, too.

12. Always be auditing.

Pete is back with one final nugget of advice: “always be auditing.”

He adds, “Community building isn't a one and done type of thing. It takes constant work and is always a work in progress, but that is what makes it fun.”

Your community is like a puppy. You have to feed it, nurture it, pay close attention to it, and invest in it. And if something’s not working, don’t be afraid to take it to the vet … I mean, review your metrics and make improvements.

Do you hear that?

That’s the sound of hundreds … actually … thousands of community advocates engaging with your content and talking about your brand.

I would say good luck, but I already know you’ll handle it like a pro.