Marketing plans provide a framework to funnel customers from awareness to decision to purchase.

When it comes to software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings, these plans must account for the recurring nature of SaaS solutions. There's a special focus on retention and referral over purchase and loyalty.

Here’s what you need to know about SaaS marketing plans, what sets them apart from traditional frameworks, and how your company can create a plan that drives revenue.

Table of Contents

• What is a SaaS marketing plan?
• What Makes SaaS Marketing Different
• Why SaaS Marketing Plans Matter
• How to Create a SaaS Marketing Plan
• The Four Core Tenets of a SaaS Marketing Plan
• SaaS Marketing Plan Best Practices

What Makes SaaS Marketing Different

SaaS marketing is different because you’re selling an ongoing, subscription-based service. Unlike a traditional product with a single purchase point, customers pay for SaaS solutions monthly or yearly.

As a result, traditional and SaaS marketing have differing aims. A traditional marketing plan aims to convert prospects into buyers who purchase product(s) in a single transaction. If these customers are happy with the products, they may return for additional transactions.

SaaS marketing plans aim to turn interested parties into subscribers willing to sign on for month-to-month or yearly plans. You'll want buyers to renew these plans when they come to term and refer other customers to your service.

Put simply, traditional plans focus on per-transaction revenue. SaaS plans prioritize revenue over time.

Why SaaS Marketing Plans Matter

These plans matter for several reasons.

First, a solid marketing plan helps create a clear picture of your target market. What are they looking for in SaaS solutions? How much are they willing to spend? What would keep them coming back?

Next is the improved utilization of time and resources. Plans offer a data-driven framework to help SaaS companies create campaigns that align with customer expectations.

In turn, businesses can streamline the process of engagement, active interest, and conversion. This means less time and money spent per customer. Budget can then be spent on improving SaaS offerings and retention over time.

Finally, marketing plans offer a blueprint for developing and maintaining customer relationships. From directly connecting with customers to creating customized offers, you'll want to find ways to increase customer satisfaction. This increases the chances of SaaS renewal when terms are up.

1. Pinpoint your buyer personas.

The first step in creating a SaaS marketing plan is identifying buyer personas. These personas are idealized, hypothetical versions of customers that help you define marketing strategies.

For example, a buyer persona for your CRM SaaS tool might be an HR leader at a midsize enterprise. They may currently struggle with fragmented benefit and payroll processes across their organization.

By defining these key pain points and how your solution solves them, you can create marketing copy that speaks to your ideal audience.

2. Research the competition.

Next up is researching the competition. The more you know about what other SaaS providers are doing, the better prepared you are to outperform. Integrating this information into your marketing plan helps ensure that campaigns aren’t treading on ground already covered by your competition.

3. Identify key goals.

Key goals help you measure the success of your marketing plan. These goals should be SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.

Let’s say you’re looking to boost SaaS sales.

• You decide to prioritize the number of new, unique visitors to your site that fit your buyer persona. This accounts for the “S.”
• For measurement, you track traffic sources to determine where they’re coming from and how they were referred to your site.
• Achievability requires the use of analytics and data-tracking tools.
• Setting realistic goals means looking at your closest competitor to see what their market share looks like.

Finally, it’s critical to define a set period for measurement. Once the period ends, compare current measurements to past data and see if there has been any improvement.

4. Choose your channels.

How and where you connect with prospects matters and is an essential part of your marketing plan. Here, research on your customer base informs the ideal channel combination.

Consider the impact of demographics. While 64% of Baby Boomers preferred email communication, just 22% said that social media was their go-to channel. For Gen Z, meanwhile, social media came first for 46%. This speaks to the need for channel marketing that aligns with target audience expectations.

5. Set your budget.

Next is setting your budget. Each channel comes with an associated cost, and the more quickly you want the results, the more you have to spend. As a result, it’s worth sitting down with marketing, sales, and finance teams to create a budget. This should provide enough room to finish the job without breaking the bank.

6. Measure your progress.

No marketing plan is complete without a clear description of what you’re measuring, how often you’re measuring it, and what results you want to see. By defining metrics before you start, you’re better prepared to ensure that outcomes align with expectations.

7. Test, test, test.

Finally, make sure your marketing plan builds in time for both initial and ongoing tests.

These tests can be straightforward A/B analyses to see which of the two campaigns offers better performance. They can also take the form of more in-depth user sentiment surveys and social media analysis.

The Four Core Tenets of a SaaS Marketing Plan

1. Goal Setting

For growth to be lasting, it must be backed by clear goals and an operational framework.

When it comes to a marketing plan, this takes two distinct pieces. The first is aligning your marketing and sales teams. The second is giving them the resources that they need to be successful.

Marketing and Sales Alignment

If you haven‘t done so yet, it’s time to establish a revenue or lead commitment based on your goals. Then, lock these goals in with a service-level agreement between your marketing and sales teams.

From here, define how many marketing-qualified leads must be delivered to sales in a given month. Then, decide what percentage of those will become sales-qualified, then opportunities, then customers.

These metrics allow you to determine how many account executives you'll need for the sales team. It will also help you determine how many visitors the marketing team needs to generate to hit its goals.

Marketing Budget

There are many different fields of thought when it comes to setting a budget.

According to Delloite, Marketing will comprise roughly 13.6% of a company’s total budget in 2023. Businesses under five typically spend 12-20% of their revenue on marketing.

Whatever model you choose, it's important to ensure you set aside the resources to hit your goals.

2. Tactics

Audience Targeting and Segmentation

You likely have already spent ample time gaining an understanding of your audience. If you haven't yet, document this information in buyer personas. This understanding will be the foundation of every decision you make moving forward.

Even if you have already done this, revisit them to ensure they're still accurate. In fact, doing this was one of the critical factors that enabled us to double our blog leads.

Keep the Content Flowing

In 2023, inbound marketing is table stakes for SaaS companies. Of course, for content to be successful, the strategy must be high-value to break through.

In your marketing plan, look at some examples of successful content to get the creative juices flowing. Then define the key topics and content types and how they relate to your ongoing initiatives.

Paid Content Promotion and Retargeting

Numerous SaaS companies have seen success with various types of paid advertising. The channels that make the most sense for your business need to be tested. When done correctly, it's possible to lower cost-per-lead and -acquisition.

Develop Full Email Conversion Paths for Each Persona

Recognizing that as your lead velocity and team scale, the importance of marketing automation will grow. This means that effective lead nurturing must be prioritized at the top of the funnel and in your free trial or post-demo stage.

Approach this by creating nurture streams and experiences for each buyer persona. This allows you to resell your value proposition and offer them information to re-engage.

In some instances, these campaigns can even run for a full year, with an email cadence of 1, 4, 7, 14, 21, 30, and 45 days, and then every two weeks after that.

3. Resources

It‘s time to assess the resources you’ll need to hit your growth goals. This includes the following.

In-house or Outsourced

First, ask what will be done in-house and what will be outsourced to an agency. Companies are increasingly turning to agencies for staff, executives, and freelancers for content creation.

Marketing Team Structure

If the team is going to be built in-house, specialize your team by funnel stage. In doing so, prioritize the top of the funnel first, as investments in these leads make everything else possible downstream.

4. Evaluation

Of course, any good marketing plan will include how it will be measured. Here are the key metrics you should look to when gauging the marketing success of your SaaS.

MQL Velocity

MQL velocity has been called “the most important metric in SaaS.” By looking at MQL velocity, you can see forward-looking insights beyond a traditional pipeline report.

SaaS Metrics

As the business scales, the core metrics you focus on will become less relevant as your user base expands. Here's one of my favorite graphics representing this evolution.

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SaaS Marketing Plan Best Practices

Best practices are important in avoiding pitfalls and helping your SaaS marketing plan succeed. Let’s explore a few below.

1. Ditching Discounts

Discounts often seem like a win-win: Customers get a better deal, and you get new clients.

The problem? Discounted rates on SaaS products can bring in customers that are outside your target audience. Once their discounted rate ends, they often churn to other providers that offer similar discounts.

Instead of competing on lower prices, compete on performance: What do you offer that other businesses don’t? What sets you apart?

2. Reading Reviews

The more you know about what users want, the better. As a result, it’s worth reading SaaS review sites to glean information about user pain points. It’s also a good idea to submit your solution for review.

While specific feedback may be hard to hear, it offers the opportunity to improve your product and generate more revenue.

3. Offering Payment Options

Choice helps keep clients. While some customers may prefer year-long contracts paid month-to-month, some are willing to pay more per month for shorter terms.

Others prefer to pay up-front for a year of service (or more) if paying in full helps bring the price down. Offering multiple options helps you cast a wider customer net.

4. Talking Truth

Never exaggerate your capabilities or lie about features. This means that if you have a new feature in the pipeline that should go live in two months, leave it out of the marketing plan.

Here’s why: Long-term relationships depend on trust. If you make promises you can’t keep, customers will go somewhere else.

5. Increasing Subscription Costs

It may seem counterintuitive, but raising your costs can actually increase your customer base.

Here’s why: Customers are willing to pay more for best-in-class services. If you can show how your SaaS product addresses their pain points, you can charge higher prices while growing your customer base.

Making the Most of SaaS Marketing

Creating a comprehensive SaaS marketing plan can be daunting, but having a clear strategy at the outset will set you up for success.

Now, it’s time to get started.

Whether you’re a blogger, editorial writer, journalist, or any other type of writer, there are a number of different WordPress themes that allow you to share your content with the visitors on your website.

Newspaper WordPress themes — despite their name — work for all types of writing. No matter your content type, the layout you’re looking for, or the design you envision for your website, there are hundreds of newspaper themes to choose from. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of our 25 favorite newspaper themes for 2023 to help you find one that meets your needs.

Each of the following themes contains a description and a few key takeaways to help you efficiently determine which option or options might work for your own website. If you don’t see a theme listed below of interest, you can always check out the WordPress theme library for more options.

1. JNews

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JNews offers a complete solution for creating news, magazine, and other publishing websites on WordPress. It comes with many essential features for publishers, including push notifications, truncated content for mobile, pay-to-submit functionality, and lots more.

JNews is also built for performance and customization, meaning you can build a unique website for your business that keeps SEO and page speed considerations top of mind.

What we like: JNews offers revenue-generating functionality like ad placements and restricted content, it has built-in systems for podcasters, video-makers, and more, and it offers a wide selection of premade layouts and designs.

Pricing: $59

2. News Pro Theme

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News Pro is a great newspaper theme for content-heavy websites. This theme formats your articles, photos, audio, and videos in a way that works for the story you’re telling and for your website visitors.

The simple navigation options also keep your content organized to ensure a great user experience. Additionally, if you’re already a WP Engine hosting plan user, you get free access to all other StudioPress themes.

What we like: It’s ideal for content-heavy websites with simple navigation. WP Engine hosting plan users get access to all StudioPress themes.

Pricing: $20 per month

3. Foxiz

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Foxiz offers a WordPress theme that is perfect for all kinds of publishing websites, such as newspapers, magazines, and blogs. Its publishing tools make it easy to use for any industry. The theme is compatible with a variety of SEO plugins to make your website search engine friendly and stand out from the competition.

Easily adapt the framework for all your website needs and combine the theme with the top marketing tools to generate leads and conversions.

What we like: Foxiz is built with mobile-first in mind, has a drag-and-drop builder for ease of use, and provides comprehensive documentation to answer all your website-building questions.

Pricing: $59

4. Pixwell

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Pixwell provides a multifunctional and modern WordPress theme for newspapers, magazines, and blogs. The theme is designed for large sites and is easily customizable. There are hundreds of options for styles, elements, typography, color, and more. Core web vitals ensure your website is optimized for speed.

What we like: It’s ready for core web vitals to optimize speed and minimize the need for unnecessary plugins. It has hundreds of customization options and a unique function that allows your website visitors to bookmark interesting posts for later.

Pricing: $59

5. Newspaper

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Newspaper is a WordPress theme created for writing articles and blogs in a newspaper template. The theme has several different layout options in their gallery suited for a wide range of blog types. There are also over 50 unique demos you can install in one click to help get you started designing your website and adding your written content.

What we like: Newspaper is created for articles and blogs, featuring a variety of layout options in their gallery. It also has 50 demos for immediate installation.

Pricing: $5

6. Voice

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Voice is a clean and simple theme ideal for news and magazines. The theme has formatting features created for both news articles and editorial content. Voice has a wide variety of layout, color, and font options to customize your site.

There are options to set multiple authors on a single post as well as add a “related posts” section at the bottom of specific articles or pieces for visitors to continue reading on your site.

What we like: This theme is ideal for news and magazines. You can add multiple authors per post and related post sections.

Pricing: $69

7. Noozbeat

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Noozebeat is a fully responsive theme, meaning visitors can move seamlessly from desktop to mobile to tablet while on your site.

It’s designed for magazines and news articles and gives you the option to add advertising space, pages for your featured posts, and custom widgets to enhance your site’s user experience.

What we like: The theme is fully responsive. It was created for news articles and magazines and offers custom widgets.

Pricing: $34 yearly or a $174 one-time purchase

8. Hive

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Hive is a WordPress theme built for bloggers. There are a number of customizable typography options to make your written content look unique and fit your style.

Adaptive layouts make your website interactive and exciting to look at — with these, you can mix and match your written content with different fonts, styles, images, and more.

What we like: Hive was built for bloggers. It provides great custom typography options and adaptive layouts.

Pricing: $75 yearly or a $112 one-time purchase

9. Felt

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Felt is a WordPress theme ideal for publishing magazine-style content. The theme allows you to implement slideshows and carousels that automatically move visitors through a number of different images on your site. The theme also has built-in SEO features that will help you organically rank and reach more people.

What we like: This theme is ideal for digital magazines with the option to implement slideshows and carousels. It also includes automatic SEO features.

Pricing: $75 yearly or a $95 one-time purchase

10. Wonderwall

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Wonderwall is a great theme option if you’re a writer for a lifestyle blog or digital magazine. There are formatting options to display banner ads on your site and add a built-in newsletter subscription widget to quickly grow your number of readers. There are also a total of nine different customizable homepage layouts to choose from for your digital publication.

What we like: Wonderwall was created for lifestyle blogs and digital magazines. It features banner ad display options and nine customizable homepage layouts.

Pricing: $59

11. SmartMag

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SmartMag is a multi-purpose WordPress writing theme suited for online magazines, newspapers, blogs, and review sites. The theme has a drag-and-drop page builder that allows you to easily test your content in different areas of your site, try different formats, and create your website without the need for any coding.

There is also the option to add multi-content slideshows to enhance the visual elements of your website and even help you generate more ad views.

What we like: SmartMag is a multi-purpose writing theme with a drag-and-drop page builder and multi-content slideshows.

Pricing: $59

12. GoodLife

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GoodLife is a newspaper and magazine theme with five different types of article and post layouts to choose from based on your content type. There are also gallery pages for those of you looking to display your photo and video content in a unique way.

The theme is SEO-focused, so your website will be more likely to rank organically for certain key phrases and terms.

What we like: GoodLife was created for newspapers and magazines, featuring five different article and post layouts. It’s also an SEO-focused theme.

Pricing: $89

13. ColorMag

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ColorMag is a magazine and blogging WordPress theme that comes with a layout for easily organizing and pairing your written content with your photos and videos. There are a number of ways to create specific pages and post types for featured and highlighted articles so they stand out to your readers and visitors.

ColorMag also has a dedicated support team ready to help you if you stumble upon any issues while designing your site.

What we like: This magazine and blogging theme has featured and highlighted post types and pages. Their dedicated support team is there to help you.

Pricing: Free

14. The Voux

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The Voux is ideal for digital magazines with layouts tailored to galleries, articles, and online shopping. You can set your images in a “lightbox,” so they take up the entire width of your page and stand out with a black background for your website visitors.

You can also set Image Hotspots and Shoppable Images so visitors and customers can click on certain items in your images to learn more about them, see their prices, and purchase them.

What we like: This theme was built for magazines. It offers gallery image layout options with lightboxes along with Image Hotspots and Shoppable Images.

Pricing: $89

15. NewStar

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NewStar is a newspaper and magazine WordPress theme that features a one-click import tool so you can quickly select the features and layouts you want for your site and implement them immediately.

The theme offers a customizable Article Teaser so you can get your readers excited about continuing to read your piece, as well as neatly list multiple articles on one page. There is also plenty of ad space available in moveable banners throughout several different locations on your site.

What we like: Ideal for newspapers and magazines, NewStar features customizable article teasers. It also conveniently has a one-click feature import tool.

Pricing: $69

16. MagPlus

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If you’re writing for a blog or magazine, MagPlus could be a great WordPress theme option for you. The theme has a Live Customizer so you can edit your website’s page designs, update their content and appearance, and see what your changes look like in real time.

MagPlus is a lightweight theme, so it’s speedy and efficient for your visitors. There are also 25 different layout options to help you customize the look of your site.

What we like: Created for blogs and magazines, MagPlus features a Live Customizer and 25 customizable page layout options.

Pricing: $59

17. Soledad

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Soledad is a multi-purpose WordPress theme, meaning you can use it for your blog, newspaper, magazine, and other content. The theme has dozens of layouts that allow you to mix your magazine and blog content or completely separate your images, videos, and blogs.

Soledad also has a White Label Tool that allows you to remove all of the Soledad logos throughout your site and replace them with your own so your theme is branded.

What we like: Soledad is a multi-purpose writing theme. You can mix and match your written content with videos and images and use the White Label Tool to brand your site.

Pricing: $59

18. Gridlove

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Gridlove is a WordPress theme tailored to newspapers and magazines. With no coding knowledge required, anyone can easily get started building their website with one of the hundreds of customizable, pre-made layouts and templates, as well as their drag-and-drop page builder.

The theme offers a flexible homepage in which you can feature any number of articles and other types of content.

What we like: Tailored to newspapers and magazines, this theme doesn’t require any coding knowledge. It comes with hundreds of customizable layouts and templates so you can easily design your site the way you want.

Pricing: $69

19. Sahifa

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Customizable and user-friendly, the drag-and-drop features for building your website are multifaceted. It offers a wide range of services including:

• Admin panels.
• Translation capabilities.
• Buddypress.
• One-click import.

These are just a few of the features, but there are dozens for you to explore.

What we like: Sahifa has a multifaceted drag-and-drop system, is easily translated, and provides a clean and modern approach to web design.

Pricing: $59

20. Astra

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Astra is a highly customizable, multi-purpose WordPress theme featuring an easy-to-use system. No coding is involved. Every bit of this theme is drag and drop. This provides ease of use while still offering some pretty amazing features, in our opinion.

It offers a variety of templates suitable for content-heavy sites, ranging from newspapers to blogs. There is a little something for everyone with the Astra theme.

What we like: Astra offers pre-built newspaper, magazine, and blog templates. It seamlessly integrates with your favorite tools and provides self-hosted Google fonts.

Pricing: $47 for pro

21. Valenti

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Valenti is a comprehensive, responsive WordPress blog, news, and magazine review theme. With Valenti Drag & Drop Builder, users can create a unique homepage and easily modify it at any time.

As a review theme, Valenti offers a powerful, integrated reviews system and widget add-ons to create an interactive experience for your website. The featured image of a post can also be paired with Valenti’s unique mega menu system. Valenti also comes with bbPress and BuddyPress integrations.

What we like: Valenti is integrated with WooCommerce and is responsive and retina ready.

Pricing: $59

22. Jarida

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Jarida is a responsive and clean WordPress theme for blogs, magazines, and news outlets. With full customization and a thoughtful design, this theme offers unique functionalities. It’s retina-ready with multiple custom page designs and templates that are simple to import. Jarida offers a clean, formal interface to take care of your web design needs.

What we like: Jarida is ideal for news websites and blogs. It features unlimited review criteria along with a responsive and clean interface.

Pricing: $99

23. 15Zine

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Rated the #1 magazine WordPress theme on ThemeForest, 15Zine offers a bright and inventive look into the magazine template builders for WordPress. Offering easy image attachmen and multiple theme templates, 15Zine provides a comprehensive platform designed to simplify the process of creating your magazine website.

What we like: 15Zine is a simple-to-use design with its drag-and-drop interface — no coding skills needed! Its retina-ready templates will make your website shine.

Pricing: $59

24. SeedProd

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SeedProd is a drag-and-drop WordPress theme providing excellent ease of use. The builder also contains customizable features for the more experienced web designer.

Expert-level integration with your favorite tools and mobile-ready, this WordPress theme has everything the beginner or intermediate user could need. Being able to make several different landing pages is easier than ever with SeedProd.

What we like: SeedProd provides a drag-and-drop interface and customizable themes. It seamlessly integrates with your favorite third-party email providers and provides spam protection.

Pricing: $31.60 yearly for basic

25. Divi

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Divi simplifies the process of creating websites by allowing newcomers and existing website owners alike to create or edit a customized website with ease. Divi’s visual editor and hundreds of pre-made designs make it accessible to just about anyone.

With the modules built into the templates and customization tools, you can build amazing hover effects to transform Divi’s modules into entertaining and interactive features. Catering to many different styles of website templates and all walks of experience, Divi is really raising the bar for traditional WordPress themes.

What we like: Customizable modules make website creation simple for all experience levels. Its drag-and-drop features allow you to create advanced page effects.

Pricing: $70 a year or a $199 one-time purchase

Back To You

These 25 WordPress newspaper themes are built to help you share all types of written content with your website visitors and customers. Whether you’re writing for a blog, magazine, review site, or newspaper, there is a writing theme tailored to your needs.

Get started and pick a theme listed above based on the type of writing you do, install it on your WordPress website, and start adding and sharing your content.

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

Responding to major events like a pandemic or recession requires marketers to use real-time data to keep up with consumer demands, attitudes, and behaviors. However, marketing according to data points alone isn't enough to get meaningful customer engagement with your business—that's the job of a buyer persona. 

There are many factors of customer behavior you'll need to create a buyer persona that can't be siphoned from a demographic survey alone. Combining different research methods to form a detailed buyer persona is the way to go.

In this post, we show you the research-driven method of creating buyer personas. In just a few thoughtful steps, you'll walk away with consumer stories and profiles that represent your customer base.

Before we dive into the buyer persona-creation process, let's pause to understand the impact of well-developed buyer personas on your business (most specifically, your marketing efforts).

Why are buyer personas important to your business?

1. Buyer personas inform product development.

Extensive research into your target customer isn't limited to marketing functions. These insights have a place in the research and development phase of your product development process.

Understanding what your ideal customer experiences on a day-to-day basis can inspire innovative improvements to your product.

Say, for example, you run a company that sells kitchen utensils and your buyer persona research tells you that your ideal customer lives in the South where grilling is common throughout the year. This could present an opportunity to develop and offer grilling utensils or improve your kitchen utensils so that they work in both indoor and outdoor cooking environments.

2. Buyer personas enable the optimization of demand generation, lead generation, and lead nurturing content. 

Do you know whether your buyer persona is more responsive to text messages compared to emails? One way to find out is through buyer persona research. Understanding how your ideal customer prefers to receive communication can influence your demand generation strategies.

A preference for SMS communication among your target audience can lend itself to an SMS lead nurturing campaign over an email one. On the other hand, you may be able to justify entire website changes based on the data points you discover for your buyer personas. 

3. Buyer personas tailor the messaging of your product to the target audience.

Buyer personas help you understand your customers (and prospective customers) better. This makes it easier for you to tailor your content, messaging, product development, and services to meet the specific needs, behaviors, and concerns of your target audience.

For example, you may know your target buyers are caregivers, but do you know the type of care they provide most often? What is the typical background of your ideal buyer? To fully understand what makes your best customers tick, it's critical to develop detailed personas for your business.

The strongest buyer personas are based on market research and insights you gather from your actual customer base (through surveys, interviews, etc.).

Depending on your business, you could have as few as one or two personas or as many as 10 or 20. But if you’re new to personas, start small. You can always develop more personas later if you need them.

For example, this could include professionals who are too advanced for your product or service, students who are only engaging with your content for research/ knowledge, or potential customers who are just too expensive to acquire. 

The potential customers may be too expensive because of a low average sale price, their propensity to churn, or their unlikeliness to purchase again from your company. Having this knowledge is valuable because it helps you narrow down your strategic execution so that your inputs directly contribute to your results.

How can buyer personas be used in marketing?

At the most basic level, developing personas allows you to create content and messaging that appeals to your target audience. It also enables you to target or personalize your marketing for different segments of your audience.

For example, instead of sending the same lead nurturing emails to everyone in your database, you can segment by buyer persona and tailor your messaging to what you know about those different personas.

Furthermore, when combined with lifecycle stage (i.e. how far along someone is in your sales cycle), buyer personas also allow you to map out and create highly targeted content. (You can learn more about how to do that by downloading our Content Mapping Template.)

And if you take the time to also create negative personas, you’ll have the added advantage of being able to segment out the "bad apples” from the rest of your contacts. This can help you achieve a lower cost-per-lead and cost-per-customer — and, therefore, see higher sales productivity.

Types of Buyer Personas

While developing your personas, you may ask yourself, "What are the different types of buyer personas?" From there, it'd be simple to adjust one for your business — right?

Well, that's not exactly how it works. There isn't a set list of universally recognized buyer personas to choose from, nor is there a standard for the number of personas you need. This is because each business (no matter how many competitors they have) is unique. For that reason, their buyer personas should be unique to them, too.

That’s why identifying and creating your different buyer personas can, at times, be slightly challenging. This is why we recommend using HubSpot's Make My Persona generator (as well as HubSpot's persona templates) to simplify the process of creating different personas.

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Just like buyer personas are unique to each company, so is their name for them. You may see buyer personas referred to as “customer personas", "marketing personas", "audience personas", or "target persona”. Each of these carry the same meaning but will look unique within your company.

In general, companies may have the same, or similar, categories for their buyer personas (e.g. a marketer, an HR rep, an IT manager, etc.). But the different personas your business has and the number of them your business requires will be tailored to who your target audience includes and what you offer your customers.

What goes into persona development?

Now that we’ve discussed the importance of buyer personas and the different types, let’s explore the nuances of developing your buyer personas.

Before you begin creating your buyer personas, you need to identify the people on your team who will have a role in its development. Who should create your buyer persona? Frankly, any customer-facing team member should be a part of the process. While that sounds like you’ll have too many cooks in the kitchen, it’s important you select one representative from each department. Each department has unique experiences with the customers that will serve as valuable information in identifying your target audience.

When building your team, start with representatives from sales and marketing. Sales employees directly communicate with customers. Your marketing staff can conclude and create data based on information about your customers. Additionally, your team should include an executive leader who ensures that the brand mission and values are upheld through every step of development.

Persona development teams need sales, marketing, and executive members. You’ll find these individuals in almost every business, which leads to the question,“What type of business needs to create buyer personas?” Answer: all of them. Every business needs customers or clients. As long as this concept is true, buyer personas should be a staple in every business, regardless of the industry.

While developing buyer personas is crucial, it’s equally important that your business regularly reviews and updates them. Take the time to do this annually. It might feel like a tedious task. However, identifying your target audience is the first step to securing these buyers as future and repeating customers.

Now, are you ready to start creating your buyer personas?

How to Create a Buyer Persona In 4 Steps

Buyer personas can be created through research, surveys, and interviews — all with a mix of customers, prospects, and those outside your contacts database who might align with your target audience.
Here are some practical methods for gathering the information you need to develop personas. You can also further your knowledge on this topic through the free HubSpot Academy course.

• Look through your contacts database to uncover trends about how certain leads or customers find and consume your content.
• Use form fields that capture important persona information when creating forms to use on your website. For example, if all of your personas vary based on company size, ask each lead for information about company size on your forms.
• Consider your sales team's feedback on the leads they're interacting with most. What generalizations can they make about the different types of customers you serve best?
• Interview customers and prospects to discover what they like about your product or service.

Now, how can you use the above research to create your personas?

Once you've gone through the research process, you'll have a lot of meaty, raw data about your potential and current customers. But what do you do with it? How do you distill all of it so it's easy for everyone to understand all the information you've gathered?

The next step is to use your research to identify patterns and commonalities from the answers to your interview questions, develop at least one primary persona, and share that persona with the rest of the company.

Use our free, downloadable persona template to organize the information you've gathered about your persona(s). Then share these slides with the rest of your company so everyone can benefit from your research and develop an in-depth understanding of the person (or people) they're targeting every day at work.

Here's how to work through the steps involved in creating your buyer personas in more detail.

1. Fill in your persona's basic demographic information.

Ask demographic-based questions over the phone, in person, or with online surveys. (Some people are more comfortable disclosing personal information like this.)

It's also helpful to include some descriptive buzzwords and mannerisms of your persona you may have picked up on during your conversations to make it easier for people on your team to identify certain personas when talking to prospects.

Here's an example of how you might complete Section 1 in your template for one of your personas:

Download this Template

2. Share what you've learned about your persona's motivations.

This is where you'll distill the information you learned from asking "why" during those interviews. What keeps your persona up at night? Who do they want to be? Most importantly, tie that all together by telling people how your company can help them.

Download this Template

3. Help your sales team prepare for conversations with your persona.

Include some real quotes from your interviews that exemplify what your personas are concerned about, who they are, and what they want. Then create a list of the objections they might raise so your sales team is prepared to address those during their conversations with prospects.

Download this Template

4. Craft messaging for your persona.

Tell people how to talk about your products/ services with your persona. This includes the nitty-gritty vocabulary you should use, as well as a more general elevator pitch that positions your solution in a way that resonates with your persona.

This will help you ensure everyone in your company is speaking the same language when they're having conversations with leads and customers.

Download this Template

Finally, make sure you give your persona a name (e.g., Finance Manager Margie, IT Ian, or Landscaper Larry), so everyone internally refers to each persona the same way, allowing for cross-team consistency.

And if you're a HubSpot customer, add your persona to Marketing Hub by following this step-by-step setup guide.

How to Find Interviewees for Researching Buyer Personas

One of the most critical steps to establishing your buyer persona(s) is finding some people to speak with to understand, well, who your buyer persona is.

That means you'll have to conduct some interviews to get to know what drives your target audience. But how do you find those interviewees? There are a few sources you should tap into:

1. Use your current customers.

Your existing customer base is the perfect place to start your interviews because they've already purchased your product and engaged with your company. At least some of them are likely to exemplify your target persona(s).

Don't just talk to people who love your product and want to spend an hour gushing about you (as good as that feels). Customers who are unhappy with your product will show other patterns that will help you form a solid understanding of your personas.

For example, you might find that some of your less happy customers have bigger teams and need greater collaboration functionality from your product. Or, you may find they find your product too technical and difficult to use. In both cases, you learn something about your product and what your customers' challenges are.

Another benefit of interviewing current customers is that you may not need to offer them an incentive (e.g., gift cards). Customers often like being heard. Interviewing them gives them a chance to tell you about their world, their challenges, and what they think of your product.

Customers also like to have an impact on the products they use. So, as you involve them in interviews like this, you may find they become even more loyal to your company. When you reach out to customers, be clear that your goal is to get their feedback and that it’s highly valued by your team.

2. Use your prospects.

Be sure to also interview people who have not purchased your product and don't know much about your brand. Your current prospects and leads are great options because you already have their contact information.

Use the data you do have about them (i.e., anything you've collected through lead generation forms or website analytics) to figure out who might fit into your target personas. Tools such as Enlyft can also help you create custom buyer persona profiles and match your prospects to them to make it easier to find the people you need to talk to.

3. Use your referrals.

You'll probably also need to rely on some referrals to talk to people who may fit into your target personas, particularly if you're heading into new markets or don't have any leads or customers yet.

Use your network (coworkers, existing customers, social media contacts, etc.) to find people you'd like to interview and be introduced to. It may be tough to get a large volume of people this way, but you'll likely get some very high-quality interviews out of it.

If you don't know where to start, try searching on LinkedIn for people who may fit into your target personas and see which results have any connections in common with you. Then, reach out to your common connections for introductions.

4. Use third-party networks.

For interviewees who are completely removed from your company, there are a few third-party networks you can recruit from. Craigslist allows you to post ads for people interested in any job, and UserTesting.com allows you to run remote user testing (with some follow-up questions).

You'll have less control over sessions run through UserTesting.com, but it's a great resource for quick user testing recruiting.

Now that you know how to identify interviewees, let's look at some tips for recruiting them.

Tips for Recruiting Buyer Persona Interviewees

As you reach out to potential buyer persona interviewees, here are a few ideas to improve your response rates.

1. Use incentives.

While you may not need them in all scenarios (e.g., customers who already want to talk to you), incentives give people a reason to participate in an interview if they don't have a relationship with you. A simple gift card is an easy option.

2. Be clear that this isn't a sales call.

This is especially important when dealing with non-customers. Be clear that you're doing research and just want to learn from them. You are not getting them to commit to a one-hour sales call. You're getting them to commit to telling you about their lives, jobs, and challenges.

3. Make it easy to say yes.

Take care of everything for your potential interviewee. Suggest times but be flexible. Allow them to pick a time right off the bat and send a calendar invitation with a reminder to block off their time.

4. Decide how many people you need to interview.

Unfortunately, the answer is, it depends. Start with at least three to five interviews for each persona you're creating. If you already know a lot about your persona, that may be enough. You may need to do multiple interviews with each category of interviewees (customers, prospects, people who don't know your company).

The rule of thumb is when you start accurately predicting what your interviewee is going to say, it's probably time to stop. Through these interviews, you'll naturally start to notice patterns.

Once you start expecting and predicting what your interviewee will say, that means you've interviewed enough people to find and internalize these patterns.

5. Determine which questions you'll ask interviewees.

It's time to conduct the interview! After the normal small talk and thank you's, it's time to jump into your questions. There are several categories of questions you'll want to ask in persona interviews to create a complete persona profile.

Buyer Persona Examples

Let's go over some examples of completed buyer personas to get a better understanding of what they look like.

B2B Buyer Persona Example

The image below is a B2B buyer persona for someone who works in HR. The persona paints a clear picture of the target customer's struggles and how the business can best meet those needs. In this case, HR recruiting tools streamline processes, make recruiting easier, and help HR expertly manage their overall job duties.

B2C Buyer Persona Example

The image below is a B2C buyer persona for a music streaming service.

Based on this persona, a streaming service would want to ensure that it has a mobile app that’s user-friendly, sends new music notifications, and makes it easy for users to discover new music related to their interests and share content with friends.

Create Your Buyer Personas

Create your buyer personas to understand your target customers on a deeper level and ensure everyone on your team knows how to best target, support, and work with your customers. This will help you improve reach, boost conversions, and increase loyalty.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in May 2015 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Have you ever sat paralyzed, trying to craft the perfect text message? Well, one experiment from Google AI may provide the perfect solution. The team’s AI-powered Magic Compose provides multiple sample texts, so you just have to choose the right one. You can already join the waitlist to try it out.

This year, we’ve seen an explosion of AI tools — with the rise of Chat GPT and pending developments in AI search. Google is one of the major players looking to bring the power of AI directly to your fingertips.

In this post, we’ll explore Google AI, its progress, and how the company’s innovations could impact the future.

What is Google AI, anyway?

Announced in 2017, Google AI is a division of the tech company that focuses on artificial intelligence. The group aims to build tools that make AI accessible.

That builds upon the company’s core mission “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

The company published a look back on its 2018 research efforts on the Google AI blog, where it painted an extensive picture of where it has made the most progress within this realm of technology.

At the time, the company wrote, “Some consumers don't directly feel that impact of AI, even when it carries out tasks that have become an integral part of day-to-day life for so many — shedding light on common misconceptions within this category of tech.”

In the five years since, AI adoption has accelerated. Google AI remains on the cutting edge of research and application.

Google published a look back at the AI announcements made at the 2023 I/O conference. From text-to-video generation to universal translator dubbing, Google’s dive into AI technology is resulting in huge advancements.

Let’s explore how the company’s focus areas have developed, adapting to today’s AI landscape.

Generative AI

With the advent of ChatGPT, the focus of AI has shifted into a world where generative AI tools are widely available to consumers.

AI technology is no longer a distant concept, invisibly built into the tools consumers use. Now, AI is set to become available for a far wider set of tasks and capabilities.

Technologists across the globe are fighting to stay at the cutting edge of these advancements, including Google.

At the 2023 Google I/O Conference, Google unveiled PaLM 2, its largest AI language model to date. The model features highly advanced speed and capability, powering the company’s search experiments and 25 other products.

Developers also launched a new capability called “chain-of-thought prompting.” This allows PaLM 2 to do more complex problem-solving.

With chain-of-thought prompting, language models can break down tough problems into multiple, less difficult steps. Programs can then tackle more complex problems than a standard prompting method.

Case Study: Gemini

Perhaps even more exciting was the announcement of progress in Gemini, Google’s other foundational AI technology. Instead of just text, Gemini takes a multi-modal approach.

With Gemini, users could have the AI interpret text, video, and audio. The program will also be able to generate text and image responses, giving Google a leg up over its text-based competitors.

Gemini, which has not yet been debuted to the public, could help create virtual assistants, chatbots, and educational tools.

If you’re looking to get started with generative AI today, start with HubSpot.

Our content assistant will enable content creators to generate copy for everything from blogs to emails and landing pages. Or, you can use ChatSpot to send follow-up emails, create reports, and manage leads.

Get started with content assistant today.

A Renewed Focus on AI's Ethics and Mission

Google opened its 2018 report with the importance of ethics and mission-driven purposes within AI. Within the realm of AI ethics, Google spoke to training AI to “avoid creating or reinforcing unfair bias.”

Within the broader scope of building ethical AI, Google also emphasized building technology that has a social impact.

To that end, Google launched a course on Machine Learning Fairness and its AI Impact Challenge, in which developers can submit proposals for AI projects that “help address societal challenges.”

Now, in 2023, Google is revealing the exact impact AI can have on these challenges.

For example, traffic engineers are using Google AI to improve traffic flow in cities such as Bangalore and Rio de Janeiro. The models are making traffic lights and traffic flow far more efficient.

Similarly, Google’s FloodHub feature has been expanded to 80 countries in an effort to make flooding more predictable so those affected can better plan and mitigate the impact of flooding.

Throughout all these exciting updates, Google re-emphasized its commitment to a responsible approach to AI and its incorporation into its products.

For example, the DeepMind team is a unit within Google specifically brought together to ensure safety and responsibility in the building of Google AI capabilities.

Case Study: Chirp

To explore ethical and accessible AI use, let’s explore Chirp. Google’s family of AI-powered speech models, Chirp, was trained on 12 million hours of speech.

Image Source

The program can automatically recognize over 100+ languages. Of course, the model can understand popular languages like English and Mandarin. Developers also ensured under-resourced languages were included in the AI training.

According to Google AI, Chirp can perform automatic speech recognition in Amharic, Cebuano, and Assamese. The wide range of languages allows more people to speak directly to their technology.

This technology can now help people with different lingual backgrounds, even if they don’t speak English.

Assistive Technology

Much of Google's AI research has focused on broadening the prevalence of technology that assists users with the execution of day-to-day tasks.

Applications can aid in people’s personal and professional lives — usually in a way that reduces the amount of time spent on mundane tasks.

Case in point: Google's Smart Compose tool. Launched in 2018, this feature uses machine-taught AI to predict how someone might finish a sentence with suggested text in an email composition.

Image Source

Tools like Smart Compose reinforce that everyone should have access to and benefit from AI.

The company has built upon that message with a suite of advanced tools. These experiments can help people do more than generate text. You can generate new content to supplement the skills that you already have.

Case Study: Imagen, Phenaki, and MusicLM

In the past, images and videos required advanced training.

You’d need to take art classes, download special software, and gather the tools needed to create something new. Not every person has the access or ability to make something visually compelling.

Then, AI tools made all the difference.

Imagen and Phenaki are two Google tools that allow people to generate content based on text descriptions. Just type in what you want to create and let AI do the rest. The user just needs to learn how to write accurate prompts.

If you want to see the power of these tools in action, check out I/O Flip. The art in this digital card game, which features Google’s Mascot, was all generated by AI.

Image Source

MusicLM also harnesses the power of generative AI. Now, anyone can make up to 20 seconds of music without any formal training. Just describe the mood you’re looking for and new synthetic sounds will be generated.

The Future of Search

If you’re using ChatGPT, you can ask it a question.

For example, I may ask, “Why is exercise part of a healthy lifestyle?” The system will give me a list of the benefits of exercising.

However, when I ask for recent statistics, the system is stumped. That’s because ChatGPT-3.5 is trained on information from 2021. The AI does not have access to more recent information.

That’s where Google’s Bard chatbot shines. This tool is able to pull information directly from the web, giving it access to more recent information.

When I asked Bard for recent exercise stats, it was able to send me relevant information.

Google plans to expand these capabilities beyond a chat-style interface. Soon, AI will change how we search for information.

Case Study: AI-Powered Search

Google plans to expand the availability and functionality of Bard, making it available to 120 countries across 40 languages.

Bard will also be expanded directly into Google search results, with an AI pop-up included alongside traditional results to answer a user’s search query.

In the future, you’ll be able to type a specific query into Google’s search bar. Generative AI will write an answer within a few paragraphs. It will also provide links with more information that you can click on.

From there, you’ll be able to ask a follow-up question or click on a suggested followup generated by AI.

Image Source

Innovation in the World of AI

Innovation in AI is driving groundbreaking advancements across industries.

Google is just one major player shaping the future. Soon, how we search, the way we interact with technology, and what we can create will be augmented with artificial intelligence.

Can we please come up with some better terminology for the concept of "link bait"? For me, it conjures up thoughts of those evil bait-and-switch advertising schemes.

But I'm going to say it loud and proud — "Not all link bait is bad!" There is a right and wrong way to use link bait, and, when done correctly, marketers can drive more traffic to their content without alienating their audience

Here, we'll cover what link baiting entails, its benefits, and how to do it the right way. Let's dive in.

Table of Contents

What is link bait?

The Benefits of Link Baiting

How to Do Link Bait Correctly

Whether link baiting is good or bad depends on how it's executed, along with the intentions behind it. For instance, it can quickly go awry when marketers use deceptive tactics to drive clicks to content that lacks genuine value.

For Matt Cutts, former Engineer at Google, link bait is "something interesting enough to catch people’s attention, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing."

Again, the key is to combine link baiting with high-quality, valuable, and credible content. You want people to click on your blog and read until the last sentence.

Brian Clark of Copyblogger believes that link bait is "just a sexy term for high-quality content that benefits the reader," even if he does admit that the term is pretty "inelegant." And I'm sure most experts would agree.

Let's talk about why link bait is so effective, how it can benefit your marketing, and how you can approach creating top-notch link bait content that your readers love and value.

The Benefits of Link Baiting

Link bait content can be extremely beneficial to your marketing. Here are three powerful reasons why:

1. Increased search rankings.

Because link bait content is so interesting, it's usually very effective for generating inbound links (remember, it's called link bait for a reason). After all, people are way more likely to link back to something if they find it interesting.

As a result, link bait content is extremely powerful for boosting your website's off-page SEO, which we know is the most influential way to increase your organic search rankings.

As you're creating content you predict will make great link bait, be sure you're optimizing it using the keywords you want to rank for in search. This will help you leverage your link bait content to boost your rankings for the keywords you want to get found for in search.

2. More traffic and conversion opportunities.

Because link bait content is interesting, there's usually a level of virality to it. As a result, link bait content is also usually a major traffic driver.

The more traffic you generate to your blog or website, the more visitors you have the opportunity to convert into leads and customers. So, make sure your blog is optimized for conversion: use calls-to-action for your top marketing offers on every blog post as well as in your blog's top/sidebar(s). 

As a bonus, because link bait content has the tendency to rank well in search, the traffic it generates is usually very sustainable. Searchers will continue to stumble upon your link bait content long after it was originally published. 

3. Exposure to new audiences.

Remember how we talked about how link-bait content is usually very sharable? Because this is so, link bait has a lot of potential to expose your business and your content to entirely new audiences you might not have reached otherwise. Thus, it helps you grow the top of your funnel, expanding your reach and attracting new blog readers.

How to Do Link Bait Correctly

As we mentioned earlier, what any given marketer considers to be link bait is going to vary from business to business, industry to industry, and audience to audience.

The key is to experiment with ideas you suspect will be successful for your particular blog, regularly conduct analyses like the one I did above, and learn from what tends to work as link bait for you.

And just like setting out to create something that will definitely absolutely "go viral" is unrealistic, setting out to create link bait is never a given. The best you can do is emulate the qualities of content that have typically led to tons of inbound links and traffic for you in the past.

Here are some ideas to get you going, each accompanied by successful link bait examples from the HubSpot blog:

1. Original, Striking Data

Publishing original data is not only a great tactic for earning media coverage – it can also make great link bait fodder.

If you're a business that has access to original data that you can analyze to expose, add to, or refute an industry topic or trend, take advantage of it! If not, maybe there's an opportunity to partner with a research firm instead.

HubSpot examples:

• When Is the Best Time to Post on Instagram in 2023? [Cheat Sheet]
• Top Shopping Trends of 2023 & How They've Changed [New Data]
• Research Finds Customer Loyalty Isn't What It Used to Be [2023 Data]
• Email Signature Essentials: Key Statistics to Know for 2023
• Which Social Media Channels Are Gaining and Losing Steam? [New Consumer and Platform Data]

2. Controversial Content

Who doesn't love a little heated debate? Controversial content usually garners a lot of attention, so if you have an opinion on a controversial issue, you might have some link bait fodder on your hands.

Your content doesn't even have to be centered around a radical opinion to leverage the power of controversy, either; it could just present a bit of data that refutes a common assumption your audience might have.

Just don't go overboard with the controversy (you do still want to be likeable, right?), and don't be controversial just for the sake of being controversial. Make sure you're passionate about the stance you're taking, and always try to lean on data to back up your claims, like the post below does.

HubSpot examples:

• Is Instagram Dying?
• Why AI Isn’t Replacing Our Jobs — Or Search Engines — According to Jasper’s Head of Enterprise Marketing
• Should I (or My Business) Be on Threads?
• 5 Marketing Trends That Might Not Survive in 2023
• 63% of B2B Companies Don't Generate Leads From Social Media [New Data]

3. Being the Most Comprehensive (Or First) Resource on a Popular Topic

Taking a topic you know performs well on your blog and publishing the most comprehensive post about it on the web (or at least attempting to) can make for a great link bait win.

Is there a popular topic in your industry that few have written about (or written about well) where you see an opportunity? Jump on it! Even better if you can be one of the first to produce comprehensive content on a trending topic.

HubSpot examples:

• How to Make an Ad: A 15-Step Guide [+Expert Tips]
• How to Run Facebook Ads: Step-by-Step Guide
• The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Pinterest for Marketing
• How to Use Instagram: A Beginner's Guide
• Podcast SEO 101: How to Rank Higher

4. Visual Content

Visual content is all the rage in marketing these days, especially when it comes to social media marketing. It's no wonder why it makes excellent link bait content.

Visual content doesn't have to take the form of infographics to be link bait-friendly. Sometimes posts that compile a list of awesome visuals (like the example below) can work out just as well. Other types of visual link-bait content you can create include cartoons or content/concept visualizations .

HubSpot examples:

• 37 of the Best Website Designs to Inspire You in 2023
• 48 Call-to-Action Examples You Can't Help But Click
• Landing Page Design Examples to Inspire Your Own in 2023
• 30 Brilliant Marketing Email Campaign Examples [+ Template]
• 17 Examples of Creative Facebook Page Cover Photos

5. Content That's Creative, Entertaining, or Fun

This content goes far because it's usually easy to consume, great fodder for sharing, quick to scan, requires little thought (on your readers' end), and well ... it's FUN! Think music videos or just content that leverages pop culture references or emerging, mainstreamed trends, like our example below.

HubSpot examples:

• How Duolingo Struck Social Media Gold with Unhinged Content
• The Marketing Power of $17 Smoothies
• How Shopify, Canva, and HubSpot are Excelling on Threads, and How You Can, Too
• Why Your ChatGPT Prompts Aren’t Working (And How to Fix Them)
• Memejacking: The Complete Guide to Creating Memes for Marketing

6. A Title People Simply Can't Help Themselves From Clicking (Accompanied by Awesome Content)

Don't gloss over the text within those parentheses. The important thing to remember is that your content must live up to its title; otherwise, it won't achieve link bait status. If your title is overly sensational and hyperbolic, yet the content it alludes to is barely average, you'll undermine your credibility and lose readers' interest in your content altogether.

HubSpot examples:

• 15 Things People Absolutely Hate About Your Website
• The Meme-ification of Barbie
• Why We Removed 3,000 Pieces of Outdated Content From the HubSpot Blog
• The Ridiculously Successful Way to Introduce Yourself Over Email
• How to Lose a Negotiation in 7 Easy Steps

Back to You

By now, you should be pretty convinced that link bait isn't always some evil, black-hat marketing tactic you need to avoid like the plague. But that doesn't mean all link bait is high quality, or that you can't abuse it. After all, link bait had to get its bad rap from somewhere, right?

Before you set off to create a piece of content you think will make great link bait, make sure your answer to the question, "Will my audience still find this valuable?" is "Absolutely!" And remember, there is such a thing as 'entertainment value,' too.

Furthermore, think of your blog as a well-balanced diet. If you feed your blog readers the same diet of lean meat, hearty grains, and nutritious vegetables all the time and deny them any sort of dessert (or variety), they might also start looking for a new chef.

So go ahead — give your readers some candy every once in a while. Just don't give them too much, or their teeth will rot.

In today‘s world, brands have to generate their own buzz. Consumers aren’t waiting for the daily newspaper anymore to get their news. Instead, they're scanning headlines on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

One way to control the narrative surrounding your brand is through press releases. Whether it's sharing a new product release or changes in your organizational structure, a regular cadence of meaningful news can help a company stand out and build mindshare with journalists over time.

In this post, we'll discuss:

• What is a press release?
• Benefits of Press Releases
• Types of Press Releases
• Sample Press Release Format
• How to Write a Press Release
• Press Release Template
• Press Release Examples
• Tips for Publishing Press Releases

What is a press release/news release?

A press release is an official statement (written or recorded) that an organization issues to the news media and beyond. Whether we call it a “press release,” a “press statement,” a “news release,” or a “media release,” we're always talking about the same basic thing.

While the heading should contain action verbs, the first paragraph should answer the “who,” “what,” “why,” and “where.” The press release should also contain understandable language and a quote.

Most press releases are succinct at just a page long – two pages tops. Ultimately, companies want to provide enough information so that news outlets have sufficient material for publishing their own stories about whatever the company is announcing in the release.

One thing to remember is that press releases live in the public domain, which means your stakeholders and customers can see them.

So, instead of thinking of a press release solely as a ticket to earning news coverage, consider it as a valuable piece of marketing content.

Benefits of Press Releases

Aside from helping your company generate media coverage, press releases offer several benefits.

• Brand exposure: Press releases can help create brand awareness by sharing your company's news, updates, or achievements. This exposure can attract potential customers and increase brand recognition.
• SEO benefits: Press releases distributed online can improve your search engine rankings. Including relevant keywords and links in your press release can help boost your website's visibility in search results.
• Investor and stakeholder communication: Press releases are an effective way to communicate with investors, shareholders, and other stakeholders, keeping them informed about significant company announcements, financial results, or strategic initiatives.
• Crisis management: When you’re stuck in a challenging situation, a well-crafted press release can help control the narrative, provide accurate information, and manage public perception.

While there's no cut-and-dried formula for what a press release should include, here are a few types of occasions to help you carve out a focus for your press release and determine what content would help you broadcast your news in the best way:

Product Launches

The product launch type of press release is valuable to get the word out about the new solutions your organization is offering to consumers.

It should emphasize the product's specs, pricing, availability, and any other details that may be valuable to consumers.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Organizational change is noteworthy enough to warrant a press release, especially for informing current and future stakeholders about the growth and trajectory of a company.

To announce an acquisition or merger, include details about all organizations involved, information about the merger or acquisition, and quotes from the leadership teams.

Product Updates

Similar to a new product launch, product updates and expansions are also ripe for promotion. Explain what the change is, why it was made, and how it benefits the user.

Events

Press releases are an important component of event marketing to attract promotion from news outlets and other media sources.

You'll want to include:

• What the event is about
• Who should consider attending
• When and where it will be held
• Pricing

Grand Openings

Whether you opened up a new office, relocated, or are opening for the first time, announce the details with a grand opening press release.

Announce the date and location the grand opening will be held, who is involved, how the grand opening is being celebrated, and the reason for the move (if applicable).

New Partnerships

Similar to mergers and acquisitions, a press release announcing new partnerships is a mutually beneficial marketing tactic.

To effectively execute this type of release, be sure to write a summary about each company, why the partnership was created, who benefits, and any additional important details for current and future stakeholders.

Rebranding

Rebranding is a difficult thing for any business to do, and it can occasionally result in confusion and awkwardness.

One way to make the transition smoother is by announcing the rebrand with a press release, including details on what is changing, the reason for making the change, dates the changes go into effect, and quotes from the leadership team.

Executive Team Changes

Executives often serve as faces of the company, and a press release functions to kick off this role.

It may include biographical information to establish their credibility along with a photo and other pertinent details.

Awards

When it comes to business excellence, it's OK to brag. Press releases about awards and accomplishments serve to cement your organization as an authority in your space.

Such a press release includes information about the company and why they were given the award, information about the award itself, and details about the ceremony (if applicable).

When formatting a press release, you want to write it in a newsy, straightforward way so a journalist who might write about it can imagine it as an article on their news site.

To start, here are the basics every press release should include:

• Your contact information located on the top left corner
• The phrase “For immediate release” located on the top right
• A headline that quickly explains the announcement
• Your business location in the first sentence of the press release
• A quick bio about your company at the end of your press release.

You also might want to include “###” or another signifier to show the journalist that the release has ended. In the past, this prevented busy journalists from waiting or flipping the page for more information when there was no more news. However, this tradition is still adopted and highly-respected today.

Now, onto the body of your press release:

• Your first paragraph should state what the announcement while providing some context around your business and what it does.
• The next two to three paragraphs should include quotes from a company spokesperson or business executive to explain the “why” behind this announcement.
• Your last paragraph should be an “About Us” section that explains what your company is and what it offers.

In this example, Catbrella Inc., a fictitious ad agency that just gained its 10th Twitter follower after two years of paid social media efforts, announces its achievement in a press release.

*Disclaimer: HubSpot is entirely responsible for the silliness of this faux announcement.

Writing a press release to break important company news can help businesses grow better, but doing it right is just as important. Here's how to write a press release, like the one above, step-by-step.

1. Write a compelling headline.

You‘ve got your announcement in mind, and now it’s time to get it down in words to share with your community, industry, and followers.

Just like writing the perfect blog post title, setting up your press release for success starts with your headline. You only have one line to work with, which can seem scary, but consider your words carefully to make your headline captivating.

Here are some tips to make your headline stand out:

• Use action verbs.
• Be specific.
• Keep it short.

Most importantly, make it interesting: Keep in mind that reporters get dozens, if not hundreds, of releases each day, so invest the time to write a compelling headline.

Consumers, on the other hand, see news stories all over their timelines. As such, your headline needs to be interesting enough to reel them in.

2. Add more context with a subheadline.

While your headline is meant to draw readers in, your subheadline gives readers a better idea of the news you’re sharing.

When crafting your subheadline, aim to encapsulate your press release in one sentence. Make sure it supports the headline you crafted to entice people to keep reading.

3. Convey the news value to the press.

If you want your press release to be newsworthy, you have to give readers a reason to care.

A good way to ensure this is by using the reverse pyramid formula when writing your press release: Going from the most important information to the least important.

While the first paragraph of your release should explain the who, what, where, the second paragraph should cover the why.

Reporters don‘t have a ton of time to sift through details and fluffy background information — they just need the facts that’ll help them tell your story to someone else from a position of authority.

There shouldn't be any new, crucial information covered after these sections because the readers could potentially miss them.

4. Offer a tempting quote.

Once you‘ve set the scene, it’s time to bring your details to life with a quote that reporters can use for context around your announcement and help paint a picture of how your news affects the given industry, customer base, and landscape.

Ideally, quotes will be from key stakeholders in your company including your executive team, project leads, or those directly impacted by your announcement.

Quoting key figures and authorities underlines the importance of your development. The chosen quote should shape your narrative and emphasize the core of the announcement.

Don't ask everyone in your office for a comment or feel compelled to quote all 25 people included in the acquisition. Pick one or two critical spokespeople and focus the quotes around their unique perspective.

5. Provide valuable background information on the subject.

In this last paragraph, keep in mind that the reader should already have key details they need regarding your announcement.

Offer details here that strengthen your narrative, like creative or noteworthy ways your company developed the project or announcement at hand. Or, when applicable, comment on the future implications of your announcement.

Another good way to add value to your press release is by using newsjacking. A process of relating your press release to something currently going on to make it more valuable to the journalist and reader.

6. Summarize the “who” and the “what” in a boilerplate.

Twitter is chock-full of reporters lamenting press releases or pitches that don't clearly explain what the company does or what the announcement is actually about.

Describe what your company does in clear, plain language and include a link to your company's website early on.

If you cite data, include a reference link for the data source, and make sure every name in the release has an associated title and company as well.

7. Include contact information.

Make it easier for journalists to reach out to your company by providing your media contact information. This allows them to quickly get in touch with you to get additional details, schedule an interview, or request accompanying visuals or materials.

It can also help streamline the communication process and increase the likelihood of receiving media coverage or engaging in further dialogue with journalists or relevant stakeholders.

When giving your contact information, be sure to include:

• Your contact person’s name
• Email address
• Phone number

8. Proofread before publishing.

As with any other thing you write, you should always proofread your press release before sending it out to the media. You want to present your company in the best light possible, and typos can distract from your message.

Take the time to do one final read through before publishing. Better yet, have an editor or colleague look at it. This gives you the opportunity to tweak sentences, fix any confusing parts, double-check the formatting, and ensure that it’s easy to read and understand.

To keep yourself honest on this front, ask a colleague to read the release without context and ask them to relay the information back to you. If they can't recall the who, what, or why get back to the drawing board.

Press Release Templates

Now, it’s finally time to write your press release. How do you even begin? Use the templates below to guide your press release creation process. Each document has placeholders for the critical information you need to include, depending on the announcement you’re making.

1. New Product Press Release Template

Download This Press Release Template for Free

Adding a new product to your existing lineup is always an exciting development, one that you should announce the moment you’re ready to generate interest, jumpstart sales, and get early signups. This press release template from HubSpot allows you to do just that in a succinct manner, while still advertising the benefits and features that you’re offering customers.

You can also share when the product will be available, how much it costs, and where to find more information. This sort of critical intel is essential to drive early qualified leads.

2. Startup Fundraising Press Release Template

Download This Press Release Template for Free

Use this template to announce a new round of fundraising for your business. You can include a quote from your investor and one from your representative, as well as the reasons for why you’re fundraising.

Fundraising is one of the most critical things you need to do for your startup, regardless of which stage your company is in — whether you’re still in the developing stages or at a more mature level. You might already have a few rounds of funding under your belt, but if you’re delving into a new round, the public should know.

Using this press release template will not only help you build buzz around your company, but help you attract the attention of angel investors looking for new, growing startups to invest in.

3. New Partnership Press Release Template

Download This Press Release Template for Free

If you’re partnering with another business to offer an improved product or a new integration, use this press release template. You get space to describe the new benefits and features customers will enjoy, as well as direct quotes from your and your partner’s representatives.

A partnership announcement will generate excitement for your mutual collaboration and allow you to attach your name to another leading company (and vice versa, for your partner). Note: If you’re merging or acquiring another company, we have a different template for that — download it here with the rest of the kit.

4. Momentum or Milestone Press Release Template

Download This Press Release Template for Free

Milestones are absolutely worth announcing — especially if you’re a public company or planning to seek funding from investors. Use this template to share your milestone, why it’s important, and which successes you’ve recently experienced. In addition, you can share direct quotes from your executives and directors about the positive impact of the momentum you’re seeing.

Not sure what a milestone press release can look like? Here's one example from HubSpot.

5. New Executive Hire Press Release Template

Download This Press Release Template for Free

Whether you’ve recently hired a new Chief Marketing Officer or on-boarded another high-level executive to your Board of Directors, it’s essential to announce these major changes. It not only helps the public get to know your leadership team, but helps your own company experience the excitement of having a new executive on their side. Plus, it can be an excellent morale booster for your new hire.

Use this template to do just that. You have space to share direct quotes and specific examples of why your newest executive is such a great fit for your company.

Looking for more? The kit below includes all of the above press release templates, plus more templates based on the type of announcement your company wants to make.

Download This Press Release Template for Free

This template kit also offers creative replacements for the traditional press release and a guide on how to create a comprehensive promotional plan. You'll have exactly what you need to drive brand awareness and stand out among your competitors.

Press Release Examples

Many people think press releases have to be chock full of buzzwords and branded terms.

“Big data,” anyone? Five-syllable words you have to look up on Thesaurus.com? Quotes from every executive on the planet that go on for pages? We've seen it all. Unfortunately, so have reporters – and they are not fans.

Instead of stuffing your next release with industry jargon, take a page out of our book (OK fine, ebook), The Newsworthy Guide to Inbound Public Relations, and brainstorm some creative approaches for your next announcement.

Can you include new data? A remarkable graphic or video? A shareable SlideShare? If so, a creative angle can help carry your content and increase the likelihood of social sharing.

Now, to get you thinking on the right track, take a look at some creative press release examples below, the type of news each one is reporting on, and what makes the release unique:

1. Microsoft

Type of press release: Acquisition

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The first thing that stands out in this press release is the headline. It tells a full story without being too long: It covers who's involved (Microsoft and Activision), what's happening (an acquisition), and why it matters (to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone).

Throughout the press release, you get quotes from leaders in both organizations, helping explain the benefit of this acquisition and how it will move the industry forward.

Toward the bottom of the press release, you get additional context surrounding each company's market share and how this acquisition will impact the industry.

2. Flourish

Type of press release: Team and office expansion

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Organizational changes can seem relatively boring. One way to generate some interest is to include visual elements to add more dimension to the story.

In this press release announcing a team and office expansion, venture capital firm Flourish shares photos of some new hires right at the top, immediately drawing readers in.

The release dives into the reason behind the expansion and the key areas of focus moving forward. Then, we get a quick bio for each hire featured in the image, which can help build excitement surrounding the brand's future.

The key takeaway here is: Don't be afraid to use visual elements in your press release, as they can help draw readers in.

3. SuperCom

Type of press release: Event

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As the shortest press release in the bunch, SuperCom shows that less is often more.

In this release, security solutions company SuperCom announced its participation in an upcoming conference.

When it comes to events, the most important details are date and location. As long as you have those key pieces, everything else is a bonus.

One thing that would've elevated this release is a quote on who can benefit from attending this event and why, as a way to reel in potential attendees.

4. HubSpot

Type of press release: Program launch

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We've also crafted this comprehensive, easy-to-follow press release template complete with a promotional plan and considerations for your next announcement. We use these same guidelines when writing and formatting our releases here at HubSpot, and created a faux, sample release to illustrate what content goes where and why.

Tips for Publishing Press Releases

Writing a press release is really only half the battle. Once you‘re finished with production, it’ll be time to focus on distribution.

Of course, we're all familiar with the traditional distribution levers we can pull, which include publishing the press release on our website/blog as well as sharing the press release with our followers/subscribers via social media and email.

To get the maximum amount of distribution possible, here are some tips you can follow.

1. Reach out to specific journalists.

Instead of blasting a press release out to every journalist you can find an email address for, focus on a few journalists who have experience covering your industry (and company, hopefully) and send them personalized messages.

Connect the dots. Show why what you wrote connects to what they write.

2. Send the release to top journalists the day before.

Give journalists some time to craft a story around your press release by sending it to them — under embargo — the day before it officially goes live.

“Under embargo” just means they aren't allowed to share the information in the press release until the time you specify.

3. To avoid competition, don't publish your release on the hour.

If you're publishing your press release on a distribution service like PR Newswire or Business Wire, avoid publishing it on the hour (e.g., 1 p.m., or 3 p.m., or 5 p.m.).

The reason? Most companies schedule their releases to go out on the hour, which means if your release goes out on the hour too, it's more likely to get lost in the shuffle.

Instead, try going with a more distinct time (e.g., 1:12 p.m., or 3:18 p.m., or 5:22 p.m.).

4. Share your media coverage.

If all goes according to plan, and your press release gets picked up by the media, your job still isn't finished.

To keep the buzz going, you can release a “second wave” of distribution by sharing the specific stories that news outlets write based on your press release.

You can also share the news on your digital channels, like social media and email, to bring awareness to your announcement.

How To Stand Out In The News

The key to keeping your PR strategy new school is forgetting preconceived notions of what public relations is and instead focusing on creating highly remarkable content. Traditional press releases can still be really valuable when executed well.

Instead of ditching releases as a tactic, give them a modern makeover to make them more useful for your marketing.

Think about how you've used inbound methods to transform your marketing strategies to be more personalized, approachable, and build relationships. Those same principles apply to your PR strategy: Create content to craft your own story and use tactful outreach to get the media familiar with (and excited about) your brand.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in November 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Tired of the same old discussions at the beginning of every meeting? Then this well-curated list of fun and insightful icebreaker games and questions is for you.

To help you get the most value out of your team bonding moments, we’ve compiled a list of the best icebreaker activities and games for the workplace.

Next time you get together with your team, use one of these games, and you’re sure to learn more about your team.

Let’s get into it!

Keep reading, or jump to the best icebreakers for your group:

• Zoom Icebreaker Games
• Icebreaker Games for Meetings
• Quick Icebreaker Games
• Fun Icebreaker Games
• Icebreaker Games for Large Teams
• Icebreaker Games for Small Groups
• Virtual Icebreaker Games for Dispersed Teams
• Would You Rather Icebreaker Games
• Good Icebreakers for Meetings
• Icebreaker Questions
• Choosing the Right Icebreaker Questions and Games for Your Team

Purpose of Icebreakers

Interactions between people who aren’t close can be awkward, which is where icebreakers come in.

Icebreakers are typically used in group settings such as team-building activities, workshops, conferences, and social gatherings.

Icebreaker games serve several important purposes, such as:

• Breaking the ice. Icebreaker games help to break down social barriers and initial awkwardness by providing a structured and fun way for people to introduce themselves and interact with others.
• Building relationships. Icebreaker games promote bonding and relationship-building among participants.
• Energizing the group. Icebreaker games are often used at the beginning of an event to energize participants and create a sense of excitement.
• Encouraging participation. In large group settings, some participants may be hesitant to engage actively. Icebreaker games offer an opportunity for everyone to participate and contribute, ensuring that everyone feels included and welcomed.
• Enhancing communication skills. Icebreaker games can improve communication skills. Participants often have to listen carefully to instructions, convey information, and collaborate with others, thereby improving their ability to communicate effectively.
• Creating a memorable experience. Icebreaker games add an element of fun and enjoyment to any gathering. And we all remember moments where we had a lot of fun, didn’t we?

Overall, icebreaker games serve as a valuable tool to foster a sense of community, promote interaction, and create a welcoming environment for teammates to connect and engage with one another.

If done wrong, an icebreaker can turn out to be a waste of time. By choosing one of the icebreakers from our selection below, you can see results and discover a great way to open your event!

Considerations for Using Icebreakers

What do you want to achieve with an icebreaker? Do you want to set the tone for the learning community or lead into course content in engaging ways?

Think of your population in choosing or designing an activity. This includes group size, demographics, levels of knowledge, extent to which they know each other, reasons for being in your group/class/meeting, and more.

For example, larger groups might need a simple activity and new groups may require a low-risk activity.

Think through the activity ahead of time and adapt it accordingly. Will the space you have suffice? Do you have all the needed supplies? Would the activity lead to issues of confidentiality? Does the activity accommodate varying abilities?

Icebreakers do not always go exactly as planned. Flexibility and willingness to learn are part of building a positive and open community.

Let's get started with some of the best icebreakers for teams using Zoom.

Zoom Icebreakers

1. Paint a Picture, Build a Story

Best For: Virtual Fun

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In this icebreaker, playoff your teammates’ artistry and create a scenario of their masterpieces. Gartic Phone gives you a short time frame to sketch pictures based on other players’ prompts — and can result in some hilarious artwork.

The more nonsensical the prompt, the funnier the drawings become. You’ll also get brownie points if you save some of the funniest drawings and share them with the team on Slack afterward.

Instructions

• Go to https://garticphone.com.
• Enter a nickname and choose a character avatar.
• Click "Start."
• Click the "Invite" button and share the link with your colleagues.
• When the game starts, everyone will be prompted to write a fun sentence.
• Everyone will receive someone else’s sentence and have the opportunity to draw it.
• Everyone will receive someone else’s drawing and then guess what the original sentence was.
• Enjoy the hilarious results!

2. Guess That Drawing

Best For: Virtual Fun

Drawasaurus is one of my favorite online drawing games to play with colleagues. Players get to choose from three random prompts to quickly interpret and draw their vision.

Other players can score more points for guessing the word the fastest and take turns going until the timer goes out.

Instructions

• Go to https://www.drawasaurus.org.
• Enter a nickname (don’t worry, this won’t automatically start a game).
• Click "+ Create a Room."
• Set the room as "Private," choose a room name, set a simple password, and choose the maximum number of players.
• Share the link from the URL bar with your colleagues.
• The game will start once everyone designates themselves as "Ready to Play."
• One by one, everyone will choose one word to draw, and the others will get to guess the word.
• The person who guesses correctly the quickest earns the most points. Enjoy!

3. Alphabet Brainstorm

Best For: Virtual Fun

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Thinking off the top of your head is a lot harder said than done in Scattergories. The host of the game can choose from topics as broad as foods and countries or as weird as "Things Granny would say."

Each round, the game will highlight a random letter of the alphabet and let players come up with any noun or phrase that starts with said letter. The best part — players can dispute answers amongst each other to take the win.

This is a perfect icebreaker for your overly competitive colleagues.

Instructions

• Go to https://scattergoriesonline.net/new-game.xhtml.
• Choose the categories you’d like for the game, such as "Animals," "Long words," and "Things with tails."
• Click "Create new game."
• Choose the game letters (most will be pre-chosen), the number of players, and the number of rounds.
• Choose when a round ends (we recommend giving everyone 30 to 60 seconds).
• Under "Who can join," click "Invited friends."
• Copy the link and share it with your colleagues.
• Everyone will have an allotted time to fill out several categories with words that start with a single letter.
• Play all the rounds and see which one of your colleagues has the most expanded vocabulary!

4. Show and Tell

Best For: Team Bonding

A rather straightforward icebreaker, team members can share an object they love over Zoom. Whether it’s a prized collectible or an item that sparks nostalgia, there are plenty of stories waiting to be told.

Instructions

• Let your team know ahead of time that you’ll be doing a show and tell.
• At the start of the meeting, give everyone 5 minutes to find the item that they’d like to show (Option: Have them turn their camera off).
• Start with a random team member or yourself.
• Have everyone popcorn to someone after they show their item, or go alphabetically.
• Enjoy seeing the eclectic items in your team members’ homes!

Quick note: If you've never "popcorned" before, this technique is a simple way to keep a conversation going. When popcorning, the first person to speak will choose the next person to speak in the group. Then they'll "popcorn" to that person by saying something like, "I'll popcorn it to [name]."

5. Bucket List

Best For: Team Bonding

Outside of the workplace, your teammates are people with aspirations and goals you wouldn’t know about from the average coffee chat. Have team members share some bucket list items they want to achieve in the future.

Not only can these be inspirational, but they also open the floor for team members to encourage one another to pursue their dreams, too. It’s a particularly uplifting team bonding activity that will bring your team even closer together.

Instructions

• Start with a random team member or yourself.
• You or your teammate will share one bucket list item.
• Have everyone popcorn to someone after their turn, or go alphabetically.
• Enjoy!

6. Share the Love

Best For: Team Building

While dispersed teams may not have the chance to share a handshake or hug, you can still share the love with each other with this icebreaker.

Say something lovely to another team member, and it could be anything you want as long as it’s respectful and in good judgment.

For each person who receives a kind message, they will be the next one to share a message with a member of the group who hasn’t received one — ensuring everyone gets an equal amount of praise.

Shout them out for their helpfulness in a project, for the energy they bring to the team, or for their lovely smile.

Instructions

• Let your team know ahead of time that you’ll be doing this activity.
• We recommend pre-pairing teammates in a spreadsheet so everyone can come prepared with something to say.
• Start with a random team member or yourself.
• Have everyone popcorn to someone else after their turn, or go alphabetically.
• Enjoy!

7. Arts and Crafts

Best For: Virtual Fun

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Making something with your team can be a great opportunity to learn something new and keep decorative mementos in your space.

Have everyone follow the same instructions to make a craft like simple origami, a drawing, or a painting by a designated instructor in the Zoom call or YouTube tutorial.

Instructions

• Have everyone fill out an interest form for the event.
• Set a date and have folks RSVP so that you can more accurately calculate the price per person in the next step.
• Hire a Zoom arts and crafts instructor from a business such as The Art Studio NY or KraftyLab. Alternatively, have a team member volunteer to teach or find a YouTube video, which will be free.
• We recommend taking 30-60 minutes to complete this activity.
• At the end, have everyone show their work.
• Have fun!

8. What Do We Have in Common?

Best For: Team Bonding

This icebreaker is best suited for new hires who may feel more reserved as they virtually meet the team.

Find common ground and get the conversation going with your team members.

Have a manager or team leader start the conversation by sharing something they have an interest in, like popular TV, music, food, or whatever they love to get everyone thinking.

Popcorn it over to the most enthusiastic team member with that same interest and have them share a new one.

Typical icebreaker questions can get people to say a sentence or two about the subject, but if you’re passionate about it, you’ll see more personality come out from the most unexpected colleagues in the call.

Instructions

• Start with a random team member or yourself.
• You or your teammate will share an interest, such as a TV show or hobby.
• Someone with that same interest should either drop a note in the chat or raise their hand.
• Their turn will begin, and they will share a new interest.
• Enjoy!

9. Name That Tune

Best For: Virtual Fun

Music brings people together, and you’d be surprised to learn how many of your coworkers are raving about the top trending song on TikTok or Spotify.

Take turns whistling, tapping, or even playing an instrument (if you have one) to the tune of a popular song, and have your teammates guess the name.

Figure out who’s a fan of the classics by clapping and stomping to the rhythm of "We Will Rock You" by Queen, or do whatever it takes to help your colleagues recognize your favorite tunes.

Instructions

• Start with a random team member or yourself.
• You or your teammate will hum, whistle, sing, or tap the rhythm of your favorite song.
• Team members should drop their guesses in the chat.
• The correct guesser gets the next turn. If no one guesses correctly, popcorn your turn to someone else.
• Enjoy!

10. Themed Meetings

Best For: Virtual Fun

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Hosting themed meetings is the best icebreaker for the holiday season.

Share a laugh and snap photos of you and your colleagues dressed up as elves with Zoom backgrounds at the North Pole or in your spookiest costumes for Halloween.

Make sure your theme is chosen in good judgment. As some holidays have cultural ties, keep this icebreaker for more commercial holidays.

Instructions

• Let your team know ahead of time that you’ll be doing this activity.
• Share either what costume you’re wearing or something special about your ensemble (such as, "I’ve had this ugly sweater since 1999").
• Have everyone popcorn to someone after their turn, or go alphabetically.
• Enjoy!

12. Guess the Childhood Photo

Best For: Team Bonding

In need of a wholesome icebreaker? In your next Zoom meeting, tell everyone to send the leader a cute (or hilarious) photo from their childhood and randomly throw them all into one slideshow.

When it’s complete, the leader will then share their screen and have the group guess which team member is in each photo. Try not to blush too hard when they get to yours.

Instructions

• Let your team know ahead of time that you’ll be doing this activity.
• Share the presentation a week before the meeting so team members can add their childhood photos.
• At the start of the meeting, share your screen.
• Proceed slide-by-slide and have team members throw their guesses in the chat or write them privately on a notepad.
• At the end, have everyone share which slide belonged to them.
• Enjoy!

13. Zoom Photo Ops

Best For: Team Building

In this icebreaker, you’ll first want to ask everyone involved if they’re comfortable having their photos taken before the meeting begins. I know I’d like a heads-up in case I was wearing an old band shirt instead of my usual business casual outfits.

You can try to get everyone to make silly or scary faces or even try to mimic the Brady Bunch title sequence. There are plenty of poses or facial expressions to capture, especially if you’ve got a kooky team to work with.

Instructions

• Let your team know ahead of time that you’ll be doing this activity.
• At the start of the meeting, give instructions for the pose team members should take (Silly? Spooky? There are many options!).
• Take a screenshot of the Zoom window.
• Share the photo via your team messaging app and pin it for posterity.
• Enjoy the memories!

14. Hobby Webinar

Best For: Virtual Fun

During weekly video chats, you can choose one coworker to teach the team how to engage in a hobby they’re good at — something you don’t need to be in-person to do.

This could range from showing how to do quick origami, do a magic trick, or even giving a pointer or two on couponing from your coworker who always keeps an eye out for the latest deals.

Instructions

• Connect with individual team members to find the most suitable instructor.
• Alternatively, create a running spreadsheet with team members’ names and their hobbies.
• Manually choose an instructor for the upcoming meeting, or pick a name randomly using a tool like this one.
• If supplies are needed, let your team know ahead of time.
• Have the instructor lead the meeting from the start, ideally with a time limit on the activity.
• Enjoy!

Icebreakers Games for Meetings

15. One Word

Best For: In-Person Team Building

The One Word icebreaker allows you to provide initial context into a meeting’s topic and get everyone in the right mindset for discussion.

For instance, let’s say you’re leading a meeting on culture. Tell the groups to describe work culture, or your office culture in particular, in one word. Once they’ve shared with their groups, you can invite them to share their word with the entire room.

This game encourages everyone to think about a certain topic in smaller groups ahead of time, which could increase participation during the meeting.

Instructions

• Divide meeting participants into smaller groups.
• Tell them to think for a minute or two about the meeting’s topic.
• Have everyone share with their group one word that describes the topic, then allow them to popcorn their turn.
• Enjoy the diverse responses!

16. Pop Quiz

Best For: Team Building

To successfully loosen everyone up, you might consider putting a short pop quiz on the board.

If your goal is simply to encourage team bonding, your quiz can be more fun — like, "Match the lyrics with this 80’s song." However, you might also use the Pop Quiz as an opportunity to introduce participants to the meeting’s theme.

If you’re discussing company changes, for instance, maybe you’ll start by quizzing team members on company history facts (e.g., "What year was this company founded?").

Instructions

• We recommend not letting your team members know about this activity ahead of time.
• If you’re on Zoom, post the question in the chat or share it via your screen. If the meeting is in person, write it on the board.
• Allow team members to enter their answers in the chat or write it on a notepad.
• Whoever gets it right may get a small prize or bragging rights.
• Have fun!

17. Birth Map

Best For: In-Person Team Bonding

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This activity is short but delightfully telling — you’ll find out where your team members were born without needing to ask and having everyone take a turn.

You’ll create a physical map where your teammates can place a pin on their birthplace. As the map fills up with pins, people will learn about how diverse their teammates might be.

Instructions

• Place a map and a set of pins at the front of a large conference room before a big meeting.
• As people walk in, ask them to place a pin where they were born or raised.
• Allow some time at the end of the meeting for your colleagues to walk up and look more closely at the map.
• Save the map or take a picture.
• Enjoy the team keepsake!

18. Movie Pitch

Best For: In-Person or Virtual Fun

Perfect for larger groups and movie fanatics, this icebreaker is as crazy as you make it. Divide players into quads and give them 10 minutes to devise the plot of the next award-winning film.

You can give them constraints by choosing genres like horror, action, comedy, thriller, and more.

If your organization is meeting to brainstorm ideas for specific projects, go ahead and incorporate the topic into their movie pitch prompts to get the creative juices flowing.

Instructions

• Divide team members into groups.
• Have every group come up with a plot for the next blockbuster.
• Each group should get a turn to share, and they might even act out parts of the plot.
• Have fun!

19. Stretch Break

Best For: Team Wellness

Maybe the week has been busy for you and your team, or it’s going on your fourth meeting of the day. If this is the case, have everyone take a breather and stretch before the next big meeting begins.

Someone can either lead by example, showcasing some arm and back stretches, or just let everyone freestyle. You’d be surprised how a little movement can wake up and help people get work done.

Instructions

• Designate a team member ahead of time to lead the stretches (or lead them yourself).
• Take 5-10 minutes to go through a round of stretches.
• Enjoy the much-needed break!

20. Rose, Thorn, Bud

Best For: Team Building

In meetings, it can be hard to communicate or understand everyone’s perspective on a project unless everyone has the floor to say what’s on their mind.

With the Rose, Thorn, Bud icebreaker, team members can quickly convey what’s on their minds by sharing three bits of information:

Rose: A recent positive happening, like a personal highlight or win.

Thorn: A challenge or roadblock they need support on.

Bud: An idea for the future they’d like to share or excitement for events in motion.

Instructions

• Make sure you have the right team size for this activity. Less than 10 people would work best, so you can divide everyone into small groups if necessary.
• Start with a random team member or yourself.
• Have everyone popcorn to someone else after their turn, or go alphabetically.
• Enjoy!

21. Frivolous Debate

Best For: In-Person or Virtual Fun

There’s nothing like some lighthearted banter to get everyone warmed up before a meeting.

For this icebreaker, everyone will debate a silly topic and chime in with an equally silly answer and reasoning.

Make a statement like, "Cats are better than dogs," and "Summer is better than winter," or let chaos ensue by declaring that pineapple belongs on pizza (because it does).

Instructions

• Choose a team member ahead of time to share their popular or unpopular opinion.
• Have everyone chime in one by one on whether they agree or disagree.
• Every team member should popcorn their turn, or you can go alphabetically.
• Have fun finding out who agrees with you (and who does not)!

Quick Icebreaker Games

22. Would You Rather

Best For: Team Bonding

A classic game played at summer camps everywhere, "Would You Rather" is an excellent, quick workplace icebreaker.

Next time you’re settling into a meeting or team bonding outing, take turns going around the table and asking each person a "Would You Rather" question.

Here are a few "Would You Rather" questions to get you started; see further down in this post for even more:

• Would you rather only have summer or winter for the rest of your life?
• Would you rather go on a hike or see a movie?
• Would you rather never use social media sites and apps again or never watch another movie or TV show?
• Would you rather have a horrible short-term memory or a horrible long-term memory?

Instructions

• Designate a team member ahead of time to share their "Would You Rather" question.
• Have everyone chime in one by one with their answer.
• Every team member should popcorn their turn, or you can proceed alphabetically.
• Enjoy!

23. Accomplishments Before 18

Best For: Team Bonding

Accomplishments Before 18 is an engaging and unique way to encourage team members to share fun or interesting stories with one another.

Before a meeting, simply go around the room, and ask each person to share one accomplishment they had before they turned 18.

Undoubtedly you’ll get some of lesser importance, like "I bought a skateboard," but you never know what hidden skills you might discover in your colleagues.

Instructions

• Start with a random team member or yourself.
• Have everyone chime in one by one with their answer.
• Every team member should popcorn their turn, or you can proceed alphabetically.
• Enjoy!

24. Two Truths and a Lie

Best For: Team Bonding

One of the more classic icebreakers on the list, Two Truths and a Lie can be used anywhere from family parties to company events.

For instance, I might say, "I once auditioned for the TV show Zoom. I have three brothers. I ziplined in Switzerland once." Coworkers can take turns guessing which is the lie.

Two Truths and a Lie is a fun and engaging game, and more importantly, it can help your team learn facts about one another, so they can begin forming deeper bonds.

Instructions

• Ask each person to brainstorm three "facts" about themselves — two of the facts will be true, and one will be a lie.
• Have team members guess which is the lie.
• Whoever guesses correctly gets bragging rights.
• Enjoy!

25. The Handshake

Best For: In-Person Fun

One of the first ways you get to greet somebody in the workplace is with a handshake.

This icebreaker lets individuals ease up and have a little fun without a hassle. It’s simple — everyone will create a fun, creative handshake.

If you have more time on your hands, have the pairs split up after showing off their super cool shake and make even more creative ones with new partners.

It’s hard to play these games without sharing a laugh, which is something we all could use in the workday.

Instructions

• Divide the group into pairs.
• Have them make the most creative handshake they can in a couple of minutes.
• Have each pair show off their handshake to the group.
• If desired, have everyone rotate partners.
• Have fun!

26. Bad Joke Contest

Best For: In-Person or Virtual Fun

This icebreaker won’t take your team long to complete if you give them a heads-up to prepare. In the Bad Joke Contest, you’ll have everyone recite the corniest joke they can muster and have everyone vote on who was the most cringe-worthy.

Beware, some coworkers have impressively bad dad jokes saved up for these moments, so the competition will be fierce.

Instructions

• Let your team know ahead of time that you’ll be doing this activity.
• Start with a random team member or yourself.
• Have everyone popcorn to someone after they tell their joke, or go alphabetically.
• Have everyone vote on the corniest joke either via Zoom poll or by keeping tabs on a notepad.
• Don’t forget to laugh — or cringe!

The list continues below — read on to find fun icebreaker games, icebreakers for large teams, and more.

Fun Icebreaker Games

27. Tall Tales

Best For: In-Person or Virtual Fun

This icebreaker game will have everyone thinking on their feet. In Tall Tales, each player will make up three sentences to add to a running story. The third sentence has to have a plot twist starting with "suddenly…" before rotating to the next.

Every player will have a chance to put their own spin on the budding story and can even try to throw the next participant for a loop with an improbable situation.

Instructions

• Start with a random team member or yourself.
• Begin with three sentences to set the scene for your story.
• After sharing your three sentences, go to the next person around the table or popcorn it.
• Continue going around until everyone has contributed to the story.
• Enjoy the fun, strange, and creative story your team can make!

28. Say Your Name Backwards

Best For: In-Person Fun

This game is pretty straightforward — or straight backward.

Every player will write their name on a slip of paper backward, fold it, and place it into a bowl. Once all the slips are collected, someone will draw one out of the bowl and read to the rest of the players what’s on the slip.

Whoever can guess their coworker's name correctly gains a point, and whoever has the most points at the end wins.

Instructions

• Hand out slips of paper and writing utensils to everyone.
• Everyone writes their names backward on their paper.
• Then everyone should fold their paper once and place it in a bowl.
• One person reads out the backward names, and everyone else has to guess whose name it is.
• Whoever guesses their coworker’s name correctly first gets the point. Keep a tally of points or have each person keep track of their own.
• The winner is the person with the most points at the end!

29. Jenga

Best For: In-Person Fun

Jenga is considered a classic game for a reason. It’s easy to play and put away. Have your team take turns pulling woodblocks out of your Jenga tower and share a laugh when it all comes toppling down.

Instructions

• Have the Jenga game set up before your meeting begins.
• Take turns removing the wooden blogs from the tower and adding them to the top.
• The game is over when the tower topples down.

30. Frown King or Queen

Best For: In-Person Fun

Make it a competition to see which of your team members has the gnarliest frown, and bestow upon them the title of Frown King or Queen. Bonus points if you actually go out of your way to make a paper crown.

You’d be surprised how hard it is to maintain a frown when surrounded by your favorite colleagues, not to mention how funny they’ll look during the game.

Instructions

• Two team members will compete at a time.
• The first pair stand back-to-back in the middle of the room.
• On the count of three, they will turn to face each other with the gnarliest frown they can muster on their faces.
• They must continue frowning until one person laughs, smiles, or breaks face.
• A new team member will compete with the winner, continuing until there’s only one person left standing. Crown them the Frown King or Queen!
• Enjoy!

31. The Envelope Please!

Best For: In-Person Fun

In this icebreaker game, have everyone write 10 facts about themselves on paper and place them each into their own envelopes. The envelopes are to be shuffled and chosen once at a time by the leader to read aloud to the rest of the group.

The rest of the players will then guess the identity of the envelope in hand — but they must be confident in their answer as each player only has one chance to guess per envelope.

Instructions

• Hand out paper, pens, and envelopes for everyone to write down their 10 facts.
• Once everyone has put their papers in the envelopes, collect and shuffle them.
• One by one, read out the 10 facts and have everyone else guess whose it is.
• Have fun getting to know your coworkers better!

32. Random Talent Show

Best For: In-Person or Virtual Fun

A talent show is one thing, but a random talent show is another. Have your coworkers take turns showing their cool party (or office) tricks.

And let’s face it, you’ve been trying to find the right opportunity to show someone you could lick your elbow for a while now.

Instructions

• Announce at the start of the meeting that you’ll be having a random talent show.
• Start with a random team member or yourself.
• After showing off your talent, popcorn to someone else or ask for a volunteer.
• Have fun sharing your random tricks and skills and learning about your colleagues in this lighthearted "show."

33. Celebrity Impressions

Best For: In-Person Fun

For this icebreaker game, the leader will tape a label to each player’s back with a celebrity or household name.

Once that’s complete, every player will ask each other yes or no questions about their celebrity label's traits, recent news, or talents.

If players can identify their celebrity correctly, they can remove the label from their backs and continue mingling.

Instructions

• Tape a label to each player’s back with a celebrity or household name.
• Players ask each other yes or no questions about their celebrity label's traits, recent news, or talents.
• Once players correctly identify their celebrity, they remove the label from their backs.

34. Quick Portrait Gallery

Best For: In-Person or Virtual Fun

You don’t have to be Picasso to participate in this icebreaker. The instructions are simple. Every group member will be randomly assigned a different person to draw in a couple of minutes.

It’s a fun way to bond and share a giggle here and there over everyone’s work of art.

Instructions

• Every group member is randomly assigned a different person to draw.
• Set a timer for a couple of minutes in which everyone has to draw their person.
• When time is up, everyone shares their portraits with the group — you can even have the other players guess before the artist shares the name of their subject.
• Enjoy the hilarious portrait gallery you’ve created!

35. Sound Ball

Best For: In-Person Fun, Team Wellness

Sound Ball is an imaginative icebreaker that gives everyone a chance to get moving and energized.

In this icebreaker, the leader holds an imaginary ball in their hand and "throws" it to other players, making whatever sound they think would go with that gesture.

Whoever "catches" the ball next must repeat the sound made, then throw the ball to another person making their own unique sound. It sounds wild, but it’s easy to get into the flow of it.

Plus, it’s a great way to get everyone moving if you’ve been sitting too much.

Instructions

• The leader holds an imaginary ball and "throws" it to other players, making a sound to accompany their gesture.
• Whoever "catches" the ball next must repeat the sound, then throw the ball to another person making their own unique sound.
• Continue as long as you want, trying to ensure each person gets a turn.

36. Beatboxing

Best For: In-Person Fun

This is probably one of the silliest icebreakers on this list, but it’s definitely worth trying. Have one team member start making a noise you’d hear in a song, like percussion, and have others gradually add to the beat.

Who knows, if the beat sounds good enough, you all could consider making an acapella group.

Instructions

• One team member starts making a noise you’d hear in a song, like percussion.
• Others gradually join in, adding to the beat.
• Once everyone is participating, let the song go for a bit before ending the fun.

37. Just One Lie

Best For: In-Person Fun

This method is an adaptation of the well-known icebreaker "Two Truths and a Lie" to create an activity that can be run throughout a day of meetings or workshops.

Instructions

• Participants mingle and ask each other questions.
• On a stack of Post-its they’re carrying, they will write a person's name on each Post-it along with one fact they learned about them.
• Most answers the participants give will be truthful; they must tell a lie only once.
• The Post-its for each person are then collected together and given to the person whose name is on them.
• Throughout the workshop, have participants read out the facts on their own Post-its and have everyone else guess which is the lie.

38. Human Bingo

Best For: In-Person Fun

Participants mingle and try to find people who match the descriptions in their bingo grid, encouraging conversation and interaction.

Icebreaker Bingo is a great way to bond with large teams because it can include as many people as you want.

You can use a free icebreaker bingo generator and personalize each of the squares on a subject you’re all discussing for the day or for anything everyone can feel included.

Instructions

• Distribute pre-made bingo grids with unique descriptions in each square (e.g., "Has traveled to Europe," "Can play a musical instrument").
• Participants mingle and find others who match the descriptions, writing their names in the corresponding squares.
• The first person to fill a row or the entire grid wins.

39. The Great Wind Blows

Best For: Team Bonding

Participants quickly find new seats based on a statement while one person stands in the middle.

Instructions

• One person stands in the middle and makes a statement starting with "The great wind blows for everyone who..." and completes the sentence with a description (such as "...has a pet," "...likes pizza").
• Anyone to whom the statement applies must find a new seat, including the person in the middle.
• The one left without a seat becomes the new statement maker.

40. Speed Networking

Best For: Team Bonding

Ever heard of or participated in speed dating? This is similar but with your colleagues in a totally platonic way. Participants engage in brief, timed conversations with multiple individuals to meet and learn about each other.

Instructions

• Arrange participants in pairs or small groups.
• Set a timer for a specified duration (e.g., 2 minutes) for each conversation.
• Participants introduce themselves, share a bit about their interests, and ask questions about their partner.
• After the time is up, they rotate to the next person, repeating the process.

41. Beach Ball Toss

Best For: In-Person Fun

Participants answer questions or complete a task related to them after catching a tossed beach ball, encouraging quick thinking and laughter.

Instructions

• Write different icebreaker questions or tasks on a beach ball ahead of time.
• Participants form a circle and toss the ball to each other.
• When someone catches it, they read and answer the question or perform the task facing the hand they caught it with.
• The ball continues circulating, ensuring everyone participates.

42. Emoji Storytelling

Best For: In-Person or Virtual Fun

Participants create a story collaboratively, using emojis as prompts and encouraging creativity and collaboration.

Instructions

• Distribute a list of emojis or display them on a screen.
• Each participant contributes by adding a sentence or two to the story, incorporating one or more of the displayed emojis.
• Encourage the use of imagination and creativity as the story progresses.

43. Human Knot

Best For: Team Building in Person

Participants work together to untangle a "human knot" by holding hands, promoting teamwork and problem-solving.

Instructions

• Participants form a tight circle, randomly holding hands with two different people across the circle.
• Without letting go of hands, they must untangle the knot until they form a circle or a straight line.
• This requires communication and cooperation to solve the problem.

44. Who Am I?

Best For: In-Person Fun

Participants wear sticky notes on their foreheads or backs with the name of a famous person or character written on them. They must ask yes-or-no questions to others to figure out their identity.

Instructions

• Write the names of various famous people or fictional characters on sticky notes and place one on each participant's forehead.
• One by one, participants must ask yes-or-no questions to the others to figure out who they are.
• The goal is to figure out their identity by asking strategic questions. You can limit the number of questions a person can ask for the sake of time.

Icebreaker Games for Large Teams

45. Charades

Best For: In-Person or Virtual Fun

Charades is a game fit for large teams, both in-person and remote. In this icebreaker, players need to communicate with team members to guess a word of a certain category.

Instructions

• Prepare several slips of paper with a single word or use a charades word generator.
• Divide everyone into two teams.
• One player at a time pantomimes (acts out) the word on their paper for their own respective teammates.
• The teammates have to guess what it is within a given time (30 seconds to 1 minute). They get a point for every act they guess correctly.
• Whichever team gets the most points wins.

46. Red Light, Green Light

Best For: In-Person Fun

I bet anyone who watched Squid Games in 2021 is familiar with this game, and if you haven’t, the rules are simple (and the stakes are much, much lower.)

Instructions

• The players in this icebreaker game will line up on one side of a room.
• A designated leader on the other side of the room will be instructed to say either "Red Light" or "Green Light."
• Players in line are to try and walk to the other side of the room when the leader says, "Green Light," but once the leader says, "Red Light," everyone must freeze or be kicked out of the game.
• The first person to make it to the leader wins and gets to be the leader for the next round.

47. Guess Who

Best For: In-Person Fun

Like Charades, Guess Who is a great icebreaker where you can mimic famous people — or even your coworkers.

Instructions

• Have someone write down well-known names on sheets of paper and then hand them off one at a time to a team member.
• They’ll have to act out the behaviors, facial expressions, or even the iconic "I’m flying" scene from Titanic.
• Everyone else will guess who they’re acting out.

48. Hot Take

Best For: In-Person or Virtual Fun

For this ice breaker, everyone can take turns sharing their hot takes and either bond with their coworkers who agree or debate their naysayers.

Of course, you want the topics to be fun and lighthearted, so keep them to topics that aren’t controversial and opt for statements like, "Cheese isn’t all that great."

Instructions

• Start with a random team member or yourself.
• Make a statement about your "hot take" on a lighthearted topic.
• Everyone else can join in supporting you or disagreeing with you.
• Popcorn to the next participant and continue until everyone gets a turn sharing.

49. "Most Likely To ___"

Best For: Team Bonding

Remember those high school superlatives? This is like that but a little less embarrassing.

Instructions

• Have coworkers read through a list of "Most Likely To" titles and assign them to one another.
• During the game, everyone can chime in or give reasons as to why someone deserves the title, and the group consensus will be the final decision.
• It’s important to note that no one will have more than one title to ensure everyone is included.

50. Whisper Down the Lane

Best For: In-Person Fun

Whisper Down the Lane is an icebreaker game where team members form a larger circle and share a random message whispered into the ear of someone to their left.

This game can get funny pretty quickly, as a whisper down the lane can get misinterpreted over and over again.

Instructions

• Everyone stands in a circle, and the person starting the message whispers it in the ear of the person next to them.
• That person then whispers what they heard to the next person, continuing until the message has made it all the way around the circle.
• The last person says what they heard out loud, and you can all laugh at how the message has changed through the course of whispering.

51. Simon Says

Best For: In-Person Fun

Simon Says was invented in the 19th century, but it never stops being fun.

The real trick is for the leader to confuse players by giving fast Simon Says commands, then giving them a command without saying the keywords.

This could work like, "Simon says touch your hips, Simon says hop on one foot, Simon says touch your nose — touch your ears!"

Whoever does the action (like touching your ears) will be booted out of the game because it wasn’t a Simon Says action.

Instructions

• The leader of the group instructs players to do an action beginning with the words "Simon says…" like, "Simon says touch your knees" or "Simon says grab your elbow."
• Whoever doesn’t do the actions proclaimed is booted out of the game.
• The last person in wins!

52. Things in Common

Best For: First Introductions

This simple icebreaker is fit for groups meeting each other for the first time.

Instructions

• All that has to be done is mingle with one another to find some things you have in common and try to form groups based on those attributes.
• Bonus points if you can learn the names of those whom you relate to, and brownie points if you can relay all their names when asked.

53. Team Jigsaw Puzzle Competition

Best For: Team Bonding

For this game, you’ll need to prepare by purchasing two identical jigsaw puzzles. It’s a fun way to foster competition and work on communication and collaboration.

Instructions

• Divide your large group into two teams.
• Set a timer to see which group can work together to make the most progress on their respective puzzles.
• Whoever made it the furthest when time is up wins!

54. Clump

Best For: In-Person Fun

This activity is great for loosening everyone up and creating a frantically fun environment as everyone scrambles to make clumps with a certain number of people.

Instructions

• Have team members walk around and mingle amongst themselves in a large, open space.
• The leader of the icebreaker yells out a random number under 10.
• Every person mingling will then have to quickly form a clump of people with the number called. If someone doesn’t make it into a clump, they’re out.
• Continue until everyone has to exit the mingling space — the last person standing wins!

Icebreaker Games for Small Groups

55. Fun Questions

Best For: In-Person or Virtual Fun

Asking fun questions is an easy and effective icebreaker game. These questions serve two purposes — first, they allow your coworkers to get into a sillier, more creative mindset.

Second, they encourage conversation on topics typically reserved for outside the office, which enables members of your team to get to know one another on a deeper level.

Meg Prater, senior content marketing manager of the HubSpot blog, says:

"When I first started including icebreaker questions in our weekly team stand-up meetings, the experience was … cringeworthy. It felt like exactly what it was: organized fun. But we kept at it. I listened to feedback and tried to incorporate it into better icebreakers."

She continued, "For example, some folks on our team don’t watch a lot of T.V. and felt a little excluded when we’d fall down a rabbit hole of shows we were binging.

Keeping the icebreakers inclusive keeps everyone engaged. Now, our icebreakers can take 15+ minutes to get through and yield some of our biggest laughs and revelations of the week."

Instructions

• To play, simply go around the room and have each person offer an answer to a fun question.
• The questions are up to you, but if you’re stuck, check out this list of icebreaker questions for meetings, teams, and more.

56. Personality Quiz

Best For: Team Bonding

This icebreaker can promote team bonding, and it’s one of the easier options on the list. This game allows your team members to gain a new perspective on their peers, and it's also a fun and easy way to get an interesting conversation started.

Instructions

• Simply choose a brief personality quiz on your phone or computer (if you’re stuck, here’s a list), and pull it up on a projector or send the link to everyone.
• Once everyone has completed the personality assessment, have each colleague mention one thing they agree or disagree with from their results.

57. Who Is It?

Best For: Team Bonding

This game is a simple and great way to get to know surprising new things about your teammates. It can be easily adapted for a virtual setting by having everyone send their fact through the chat or by answering a question in Google Form.

Instructions

• Have everyone write a unique, strange, or unexpected fact about themselves on a piece of paper.
• Then, put the pieces of paper into a hat and mix them around. Pull from the hat and read each fact.
• Allow the team to try and guess who wrote it.
• After they guess, ask the employee who wrote the fact to identify themselves and give any further context if necessary.

58. Marshmallow Challenge

Best For: Team Bonding

Tom Wujec, a business visualization expert, initially presented his Marshmallow Challenge on TED.

To play, you simply divide your team into groups of four and give each group 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and a marshmallow.

Whichever team can build the tallest structure wins — the trick is the marshmallow must be on top.

There are a few reasons this game works as both a great icebreaker and a team-building exercise. First, the most successful teams are groups of people who don’t spend time competing for power.

The game forces your colleagues to work collaboratively when brainstorming potential solutions. Second, the Marshmallow Challenge encourages people to think quickly and offer alternative solutions when their initial idea fails.

With the Marshmallow Challenge, you can strengthen your team’s brainstorming and problem-solving skills, and your team can also have some fun. A win, win.

Instructions

• Divide participants into teams of four.
• Provide each team with one marshmallow, 20 spaghetti noodles, one yard of tape, and one hard of string.
• They have a limited time (e.g., 15 minutes) to construct the tallest freestanding structure using only the materials provided.
• The team with the tallest structure at the end wins.

59. Scavenger Hunt

Best For: In-Person Fun

At HubSpot, we conduct a scavenger hunt for new hires on the first day of their training. It's fun and encourages collaboration, but additionally, it can help employees learn their way around the office.

Fortunately, you can conduct a scavenger hunt for your team even if they‘ve worked at your office for years. A scavenger hunt is also an exceptional opportunity for cross-department interaction.

Consider contacting managers from other departments and creating groups of employees who don’t often get to work together.

Instructions

• Simply split up your team into groups, and give each group a shortlist of items to find. If you work in a smaller space, maybe you can hide some funny items around the office ahead of time.
• The teams have a limited time to find all the items.
• The first team that finishes first wins. You might even offer an incentive for the winning team, like a $50 Amazon gift card.

60. No Smiling

Best For: In-Person Fun

This game is simple and meant to energize your team. This icebreaker can be helpful in new-employee or management training to lighten the pressure of starting a new job.

It can also be helpful as a way of lightening the mood on teams that regularly deal with stressful projects or situations.

Instructions

• Get your colleagues in a circle and ask one volunteer to sit or stand in the middle.
• Tell the volunteer that they can not laugh or smile, regardless of what happens.
• Then have each other colleagues take turns telling the volunteer a work-appropriate joke.
• The goal of the volunteer is to hear a joke from every colleague around the circle, while the goal of the other team members is to make the volunteer laugh.

61. This is Better Than That

Best For: Energizing Your Team

Aside from being a fun team activity, this might be a great energizer for sales employees or others who regularly pitch, market, and sell products.

Instructions

• Ask your team to find four to seven items around the office and bring them to one room. These items could be something they use daily, like a pen or a chair. However, you should encourage them to find items that are odd or unique. This will make the game more challenging.
• Line the items up and split the group into sub-teams. Task each team with picking an item they would use to survive if stranded on a desert island.
• Tell team members that they can’t pick more than one and that they must assume it's the only item they will have on that island. Allow the teams time to deliberate and then ask them to present the item they chose and why.

Virtual Icebreaker Games for Dispersed Teams

62. Choose Your Favorite

Best For: Virtual Fun

For this icebreaker, all you have to do is answer the question about your favorite things. This icebreaker helps your team get to know each other even when they work remotely and can spark conversation on what everyone likes or dislikes.

Instructions

• Choose a different question to ask your team each week.
• Ask your team to choose their favorite movie, song, TV show, etc.
• Make sure everyone has a chance to share.

63. Trivia Game

Best For: Virtual Fun

If you‘re looking for a remote icebreaker that’s more of a game, you can host a trivia game.

Instructions

• Kahoot is a trivia platform you can use for free (hosts up to 10 people). To get started, all you'll need to do is sign up for a free Kahoot account.
• Then, you can choose a featured trivia game to play.
• To run this remotely, you'll want to share your screen with your team.
• Everyone will need to have a separate device to use so they can enter the game and submit their answers.

64. Share an Embarrassing Photo

Best For: Virtual Team Bonding

This is one of my favorite icebreakers because it's a fun way to get to know your team. For this game, have everyone share an embarrassing photo and tell the story behind it. Doing this icebreaker is a great way to build connections remotely.

Instructions

• Have your team members share their screens or send a file to the team leader to share with everyone.
• To make this more interesting, you can have people guess whose photo it is before your team member shares their story.

65. One Word Pulse Check

Best For: Checking In on Your Team

For this icebreaker, have everyone on your team go around and share a word or phrase that represents how they feel that day.

Christina Perricone, former senior content marketing manager on the HubSpot blog, says this is her favorite icebreaker:

"The person sharing gets to decide whether or not to elaborate, and everyone listens without response," Perricone explains.

She says the purpose of the exercise is to give people a chance to release or reveal emotional setbacks, obstacles, wins, highlights, or anything else that might be impacting how they show up to work that day.

"It provides a space for participants to bring their entire self to work, and it gives the team context for how to support that team member that day," Perricone adds.

Instructions

• Have everyone on your team go around and share a word or phrase that represents how they feel that day.

66. Meet my Pet

Best For: Virtual Sharing

Nothing fills a meeting with smiles like photos of colleagues’ furry friends. Those who don’t have any can either make a joke pet (the infamous pet rock) or share a dream pet they would have.

Instructions

• Take turns showing off the cutest pictures and videos of your pet.

67. Let’s Make a Mixtape

Best For: Team Bonding

This icebreaker works by asking your coworkers to choose one of their favorite songs from a certain genre. Not only is it fun at the moment, but then everyone has the chance to discover new artists and tunes they hadn’t heard of before.

Instructions

• Everyone chooses a song and shares it with the group.
• One person compiles either a YouTube or Spotify playlist of everyone’s choices and shares the link with everyone in the group afterward.

68. Emoji Mood Guesser

Best For: Virtual Fun

This is a fun spin on sharing one word about how you feel that day.

Instructions

• With this icebreaker, you ask everyone on your team to drop the most accurate emojis of their current mood or state of mind in a chat box (assuming they’re using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.)
• Everyone can guess what adjective someone is trying to convey and can even share why if they want to.

Would You Rather Icebreaker Games

69. Food Would You Rather Questions

You’d be surprised how passionate some of your coworkers can get over food. When asking "Would You Rather" questions, ask about various savory or sweet food staples and which they would prefer to eat forever.

Example: "Would you rather eat only cake forever or eat pasta forever?"

70. Travel Would You Rather Questions

There are plenty of destinations on your coworkers’ radar. Get to know them a little better by getting to know where they want to go and why.

Example: "Would you rather travel to only island destinations or mountainous destinations?"

71. Talent Would You Rather Questions

Explore more uncommon talents and see which your coworkers would like to have in this type of questionnaire.

Example: "Would you rather your special talent be opera singing or in playing the banjo?"

72. Super Hero Would You Rather Questions

There are hundreds of superheroes from Marvel and DC, and chances are your coworkers are familiar with them, too. Ask which hero they would like to be and why based on their stories or abilities.

Example: "Would you rather be Ironman or Captain America?"

73. Super Power Would You Rather Questions

On a similar note to heroes, find out what powers your coworkers would rather have and why. Bonus points if you ask them whether they’d label themselves as a hero or villain.

Example: "Would you rather have super speed or super strength?"

74. Sport Would You Rather Questions

Your coworkers may be involved in sports outside of work, and maybe they’re fans of different leagues and teams. Ask which sports they’d rather play and see which they’d prefer and why.

Example: "Would you rather play basketball for the rest of your life or football?"

75. Fashion Would You Rather Questions

Even if your coworkers aren’t tuned into NYFW, they’re sure to recognize some of the most popular clothing brands. Ask them which they’d prefer to dress in and why.

Example: "Would you rather wear only Louis Vuitton or Gucci?"

76. TV Would You Rather Questions

With tons of streaming services to choose from, your coworkers are bound to have some favorite TV shows. Ask questions like which shows they’d rather watch or be a part of.

Example: "Would you rather be a cast member in Euphoria or Ozark?"

77. Movie Would You Rather Questions

Movie fanatics across any team or department will enjoy questions about them. Ask coworkers which genres they’d rather watch or which they’d want to be in.

Example: "Would you rather be cast in a comedy movie or an action movie?"

Good Icebreakers for Meetings

Meeting ice breakers can help loosen people up for better idea exchange and connection. Whether your team is in-person, hybrid, or online, these icebreakers can help you bring your meetings to life.

Icebreaker Questions for Virtual Meetings

These questions can help begin conversations, promote engagement, and allow participants to get to know each other better in a virtual meeting setting.

78. What‘s the most interesting thing you’ve learned or experienced recently?

79. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

80. Share one book, movie, or TV show recommendation that you've been enjoying.

81. What‘s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

82. If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?

83. What‘s the most memorable trip you’ve ever taken?

84. Share a time when you had to step out of your comfort zone and how it affected you.

85. What's your favorite way to celebrate a personal achievement or milestone?

86. If you could have a conversation with your future self, what questions would you have?

87. What's your go-to productivity tip or trick when working remotely?

88. Share a fun fact about yourself that others might not know.

89. If you could visit any country in the world, where would you go and why?

90. What's the last thing that made you laugh out loud?

91. Share one goal or intention you have for the upcoming week or month.

92. If you could instantly learn a new skill, what would it be and why?

93. What's your favorite way to unwind or relax after a long day?

94. What‘s the best concert or live event you’ve ever attended?

95. If you could have a conversation with your younger self, what advice would you give?

96. What's your favorite hobby or pastime outside of work?

97. Share a recent accomplishment or something you're proud of.

98. If you could have any job in the world, what would it be and why?

99. What's your favorite way to give back to your community or help others?

100. What‘s the most interesting or challenging project you’ve worked on recently?

101. Share a quote or mantra that inspires you and why it resonates with you.

Icebreaker Questions for Work

These questions can help foster a sense of camaraderie, encourage open communication, and provide insights into one another’s professional experiences and perspectives.

102. What’s one professional skill or area of expertise you would like to develop further?

103. If you could describe your work style in one word, what would it be and why?

104. What’s one project or accomplishment you’re particularly proud of from your time at this company?

105. Share a piece of advice you would give to someone starting in our industry.

106. What’s your favorite aspect of your job, and why does it resonate with you?

107. If you could switch roles with anyone in the company for a day, who would it be and why?

108. What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned from a past work experience?

109. Share a time when you faced a significant challenge at work and how you overcame it.

110. What’s one thing you appreciate about our team or company culture?

111. Do you have a favorite business book or podcast that has influenced your professional growth?

112. If you could attend a professional conference or event anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?

113. What's one thing you think our company or team does really well, and how does it contribute to our success?

114. What's the biggest challenge you see facing our industry in the next few years?

115. If you could implement one positive change or improvement in our workplace, what would it be and why?

Meeting Ice Breakers for Hybrid Teams

As a flexible/hybrid company, HubSpot teams often use icebreakers to begin or set the tone for team meetings.

Keep reading for more fun icebreakers from the teams at HubSpot:

116. Would you rather feel hot all the time or cold all the time?

117. What’s your very first memory?

118. What is a chore that you dread doing?

119. What is your favorite way to eat potatoes?

120. What is something in your closet that you have too much of?

121. What’s the social media platform or app that you use/scroll the most? Which one would you give up?

122. What kinds of activities energize you?

123. What's your splurge morning drink (or food) of choice?

124. Where is one place you’d love to travel to & why?

125. Name a song that, if you listen to it while walking, always makes you feel like you’re the lead character in a movie.

126. What's your favorite thing you've bought this year?

127. What reality competition show do you think you could win?

128. You have to volunteer to present something for your department in 10 minutes and everyone will have to take a turn. Do you volunteer to present first, in the middle, or last?

129. What’s one song you have on repeat lately?

130. If you could have a LEGO set of any one thing, would it be?

131. What is your morning routine?

132. Show one thing on your desk or in your workspace that has personal significance to you.

133. Would you rather always be slightly late or super early?

Icebreaker Questions

Here are some fun icebreaker questions for building connections with friends or team members. Enjoy!

Fun Icebreaker Questions

These questions are designed to be light-hearted and encourage creative thinking, imagination, and personal anecdotes. They can be used in various social settings, such as parties, team-building events, or casual get-togethers, to break the ice and start fun conversations.

134. If you could have any fictional character as your best friend, who would it be and why?

135. What’s the most unusual food combination you’ve ever tried and enjoyed?

136. What’s your favorite ice cream flavor and why?

137. If you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be and why?

138. What's the most interesting piece of trivia you know?

139. What's your favorite holiday tradition?

140. If you could travel back in time, which era would you visit and why?

141. Share a funny or memorable encounter with a celebrity or famous person.

142. What's your favorite board game or card game and why?

143. If you could visit any landmark or tourist attraction in the world, where would you go?

144. What's the most interesting or unusual thing you've ever collected?

145. If you could go back in time and change one moment in your life, what would it be and why?

146. If you could instantly become an expert in any activity or hobby, what would it be?

147. If you were a professional athlete, what sport would you compete in and why?

148. What’s the weirdest or funniest thing that has ever happened to you on a vacation?

149. If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be and what would your superhero name be?

150. What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done or would like to do?

151. If you could live in any fictional universe, which one would you choose and why?

152. Share a memorable childhood toy or game that you loved playing.

153. If you were a character in a movie, who would play your role and why?

Team Building Ice Breaker Questions

These questions can be used during team-building sessions, team meetings, or retreats to promote bonding, encourage open communication, and help team members learn more about each other.

154. What’s your favorite team-building activity or exercise you’ve ever participated in?

155. Share one professional or personal goal you would like to achieve within the next year.

156. If you could swap jobs with someone on the team for a day, who would it be and why?

157. What’s one skill or expertise you bring to the team that others may not be aware of?

158. Share a team success or accomplishment that you’re particularly proud of.

159. What’s your favorite thing about working in a team environment?

160. If you had to describe our team dynamic in three words, what would they be and why?

161. Share one thing you appreciate about a fellow team member’s work or contribution.

162. If our team was a superhero squad, what superpowers would each team member possess?

163. What’s one thing you’ve learned from a fellow team member that has had a positive impact on you?

164. If our team had to solve a mystery, who would play what role in the investigation?

165. Share a time when a team member’s support or assistance made a significant difference in your work.

166. What’s one team-building activity or exercise you would like to try in the future?

167. If our team was a musical band, what instrument would each team member play?

168. Share a valuable lesson you’ve learned from a team project or collaboration.

169. What’s one way our team could improve communication and collaboration?

170. If our team was a famous sports team, which sport would we play and why?

171. Share one fun or interesting fact about yourself that most people on the team don’t know.

172. What’s one team-building activity or exercise you’ve heard about and would like to explore?

173. If our team was a movie, what genre would it be, and who would play each team member?

Choosing the Right Icebreaker Questions and Games for Your Team

Icebreakers are more than just fun and games. It's true, they can improve connection and engagement. But it's also important to think about how specific icebreakers or games might affect your team.

Well-selected icebreakers will create or enhance an inclusive environment. Ideally, they'll help everyone on your team feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. Keep reading for tips on how to choose the best icebreakers for your team.

Find Icebreakers That Work for Different Personality Types

Most teams will have a mix of different personality types. For example, introverts may prefer activities that allow for reflection and sharing at their own pace. But extroverts might be hoping for interactive and energizing games. It's important to balance your approach so that everyone feels included and comfortable.

To do this, support the needs of both groups whenever you can by:

• Offering different participation options
• Setting aside time for individual reflection
• Creating small group discussions
• Encouraging active listening
• Offering appreciation for team members who may be reluctant to participate
• Checking in after icebreakers if you notice anything feels off

It's also a good idea to plan for each activity in advance. This can help other team members feel more comfortable and prepared.

For example, say you're planning to play an online game during a meeting. Test the game in advance to make sure the features are intuitive. If they take some getting used to, share this information with the team. Then, build in extra time for everyone to get used to the software before starting your activity.

Update or Invent Games to Align With Your Team Culture and Interests

Not every game is a fit for the variety of cultural backgrounds, values, and interests on your team. Games that resonate with everyone's cultures and hobbies will be more engaging and enjoyable. They can also create a sense of unity.

So, take the time to learn about your team members' backgrounds, values, and preferences. Get to know their cultural traditions, hobbies, and shared interests. This understanding will help you choose games that are both inclusive and relevant.

Then, customize games or create new icebreakers to fit your team.

Set Specific Goals for Your Icebreakers

While icebreakers can be easy and fun, it's also a good idea to choose games that align with specific team goals. For example, if your team is getting to know each other, you may want to play games that help build trust.

Here are a few more ways to connect team goals to the types of icebreakers and games you choose:

• Improve collaboration: Choose teamwork games, such as Emoji Storytelling, Human Knot, or the Marshmallow Challenge.
• Increase engagement: To boost engagement, ask questions that energize and engage team members, try a Hobby Webinar, or do some speed networking.
• Strengthen communication: Try icebreakers that involve active listening and effective communication such as One Word Pulse Check, Rose, Thorn, Bud, or Charades.
• Build psychological safety: Encourage activities that create a safe space for vulnerability, such as Bucket List or asking relevant icebreaker questions.
• Promote creativity: Start out brainstorming or problem-solving sessions with ice breakers such as Alphabet Brainstorm, Movie Pitch, or Tall Tales.
• Boost morale: Motivate and cheer up your team with icebreakers and games like Share the Love, No Smiling, or Human Bingo.

Depending on the culture of your team, you may want to share icebreaker-specific goals before or after these activities. This can help you offer context to the team, which can further build trust, and gather feedback for the future.

Encourage Active Participation

Get active engagement from your team by creating a safe and inclusive environment. You can create a safe space by:

• Setting clear expectations
• Choosing icebreakers that make sure every team member has a chance to share and feel heard
• Using a variety of icebreakers for different preferences and communication styles
• Managing time effectively, so it's easy for everyone to take part without rushing or falling behind
• Leading by example and participating enthusiastically
• Offering structure and support so it's easy for everyone to join in

Have Fun and Laugh

Icebreakers have the ability to change the energy, create a more relaxed environment, and encourage team members to express themselves in entertaining ways.

Icebreaker activities can seem cringeworthy but are actually a great way to build trust within your team. So incorporate these games into your future meetings and kick off the fun!

The internet is a marvel of modern technology, connecting people and information across the globe. But have you ever wondered how it actually works?

In this blog post, we‘ll break it down into easy-to-understand terms, so that anybody and everybody can grasp how this invention works — and how it’s changed the globe.

How the Internet Began

Nikola Tesla introduced the idea of a “world wireless system” in the 1900s. From there, other visionaries such as Paul Otlet and Vannevar Bush began to build on the idea 1930s and 1940s, with plans of searchable media databases that played as stepping stones paving the way to the modern internet.

M.I.T. scientist J.C.R. Licklider came up with a solution in 1962: an “intergalactic computer network” that would allow for communication on a global scale.

What Licklider described would eventually become the modern internet. However, in order to make it happen, scientists would first need to come up with a new technology: packet switching.

Now, let's dive deeper into how data is transmitted over the internet.

Circuit Switching and Packet Switching

There are two main methods to how we transport data: circuit switching and packet switching. Circuit switching is comparable to taking a train. Data is sent in a continuous connection, much like passengers traveling together in a train carriage.

On the other hand, packet switching is akin to cars on a highway. Data is divided into smaller chunks called packets, which can take different routes to reach their destination. This flexibility allows for more efficient and reliable data transmission.

But circuit and packet switching aren‘t the only way that data is shared, because just like in real life, these modes of transportation can’t intersect, and can experience too high traffic (data packets) on the same highway (channel) to work properly — and may eventually come to a halt.

By the early 1970s, ARPA's packet-switching computer network (the imaginatively named “ARPAnet”) was growing and connecting with other packet-switching computer networks around the world.

But there was one problem: Computers operating on all of these disparate computer networks couldn‘t communicate directly with one another. There wasn’t a single, worldwide internet. Instead, there were a bunch of mini-internets.

To solve this problem, computer scientists developed the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP).

The Introduction of TCP/IP

TCP is responsible for dividing data into packets at one end of a transmission and reassembling those packets at the other end.

IP, in comparison, is responsible for the formatting and addressing of the data packets being sent. That‘s why each host computer on the internet needs an IP address: a unique, numerical label that distinguishes one host from another. Without IP addresses, data packets wouldn’t be able to get to their proper destinations.

When implemented together, TCP/IP is the communication language of the internet, and it was the key to making the internet a truly worldwide network.

Modern TCP/IP networks use four distinct layers in order to transmit data, and that data always moves from one layer to the next.

1. The application layer: responsible for interfacing with computer applications such as web browsers and email clients.
2. The transport layer: where the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) goes to work dividing data into packets (and, on the receiving end, it reassembles that data).
3. The internet layer: where the Internet Protocol (IP) assigns address information and determines the route the data will take.
4. The network layer: physical hardware actually carries the data via wire, fiber, radio etc.

And to ensure we're all on the same page here, let me make this quick simile: Sending data across a TCP/IP network is like sending a letter through the mail via the postal service.

• In the application layer, you‘re writing the actual letter that you’re going to send.

• In the transport layer, you're packaging that letter in an envelope.

• In the internet layer, you're writing the address of the recipient on the envelope, as well as your return address.

• And finally, in the network layer, you're putting the letter in the mail so postal workers can deliver it.

The TCP/IP breakthrough in the ‘70s meant that scientists in the ’80s got to have a ton of fun sending data to each other across a truly global network. However, there was still a big piece missing from the modern internet we know and love today: the World Wide Web.

How the World Wide Web Came to Be

Up until the '90s, there were no websites, and no World Wide Web to collect them. That all changed with software engineer Tim Berners-Lee, who first proposed the concept of a World Wide Web in 1989. By the end of 1990, he had successfully launched the first web page.

Berners-Lee was on a mission to create a more useful internet — an internet that wasn't simply a network for sending and receiving data, but a “web” of data that anyone on the internet could retrieve. In order to accomplish this, he needed to develop three essential pieces of technology, which are:

1. HyperText Markup Language (HTML): This is the standard protocol for publishing content on the web. It's used to format text and multimedia documents as well as link between documents.
2. Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Just like every computer on the internet gets a unique identifier in the form of an IP address, every resource on the World Wide Web gets a unique identifier in the form of a URI. The most common type of URI is the Uniform Resource Locator, or URL (also known as a “web address”).
3. HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP): HTTP is responsible for requesting and transmitting web pages. When you enter a URL into a web browser, you're actually initiating a HTTP command to go find and retrieve the web page specified by that URL. In relation to a TCP/IP network, HTTP is part of the application layer, as specific applications — namely, web browsers and web servers — use HTTP to communicate with one another.

The World Wide Web as Berners-Lee saw is what we're using, connecting, and learning from to this day. And it makes sense how we're able to look up and find the information we're looking for — just think of the internet like a library of robots.

Internet = Understood

So that‘s how the internet works. Just remember that this is just scratching the surface. If you’re eager to delve deeper into the intricacies of the internet, our friendly robot, Google, is always there to assist you with more information.

By understanding the fundamentals of the internet and its technologies, you can gain a greater appreciation for the power and potential that lies within this incredible tool.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2014 and has since been updated for comprehensiveness.

Many businesses find creating social media strategies overwhelming. So many channels are available, and each platform constantly adds new features you need to learn and integrate into your marketing plan.

If you don’t have a full-time team of social media experts at your disposal, it’s even harder. But the fact is that your online success depends on having a sensible and straightforward strategy that fits your resources and goals.

By the end of this guide, you'll know how to develop a social media strategy to drive traffic and quell that overwhelming feeling you get whenever you open Instagram or Twitter.

Your social media strategy is your master plan for how you create, post, and engage with your social media content.

It encompasses your social content guidelines, posting cadence, social media marketing campaigns, target audience, and engagement strategy that promote your business and brand.

Many companies use social media to connect with customers, provide support, advertise new products and features, and promote special offers.

Check out The State of Social Media in 2023: How You Can Build Communities, Drive Sales, and Go Viral, According to 1,000+ Social Media Managers

Why You Need a Social Media Strategy

According to The State of Social Media in 2023, social media marketers' top three challenges include creating engaging content, creating content that generates leads, and reaching your target audience.

Crafting a social media strategy can help you tackle these challenges and more. Social media strategies equip you to set goals and guardrails, track performance, and tweak your benchmarks over time.

Without a starting point, you can‘t measure what’s working and how to shift your activity to hit your goals.

A social media strategy also helps you set expectations for broader team involvement and get everyone aligned on what they should and shouldn't do on your social networks.

Let's unpack how to start building a social media strategy from scratch.

How to Build a Social Media Strategy From Scratch

1. Define your target audience.

If you haven’t already identified and documented your buyer personas, start by defining the key demographics of the audience you’re trying to reach, such as age, gender, occupation, income, hobbies, and interests.

Defining your target audience helps you create focused advertising that addresses your ideal consumer’s specific needs.

For instance, the below-sponsored tweet by monday.com, a project management platform, highlights the platform’s flexibility and workflow customization feature.

The tweet targets business owners and project managers who may feel limited by other project management software.

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Consider your ideal consumer’s challenges and what problems they're solving daily. Focus on no more than four types of people representing most of your buyers. Don’t get hung up on the exceptions or outliers, or you’ll never get started!

Once you start creating content for your audience, focus on engaging your audience at every level.

Pay close attention to any questions or comments your audience posts, and be quick to address them, as that engagement could make or break a conversion or purchase.

Consumers like feeling like they’re part of a community when they’re on your social media pages. In fact, 1 in 5 social media users joined or participated in an online community in the last three months.

2. Incorporate ecommerce.

As more and more people use social media to discover new products, they’re also finding convenience in shopping for those products directly in the social app they found them in.

80% of social media marketers have found that consumers buy products directly within social apps more often than on brand websites or through third-party resellers.

Translation? If you sell products, social media should be a key part of your ecommerce strategy in 2023.

Most platforms offer built-in ecommerce features like shoppable posts, and 47% of social media marketers are already taking advantage of selling products directly within social media apps.

If you need inspiration for incorporating ecommerce into your social strategy, take a cue from Sephora.

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Whenever the beauty brand shares an image of a product, they use a product tag that links to its shoppable page above.

This makes it easy for its followers to instantly buy something they see on the page without ever having to leave the app.

One critical element of successfully selling on social media is establishing brand trust so users feel comfortable purchasing your products directly on the app.

While Sephora has built an established brand reputation over time, you can build trust in other ways, even if you’re building your social media strategy from scratch.

Focus on sharing customer reviews and testimonials, user-generated content (UGC), and product data to build social proof.

3. Optimize your social channels for search.

Social search is on the rise.

As more people turn to social with their queries instead of search engines, 89% of social media marketers agree that social search is important to their overall social media strategies in 2023.

Nearly 24% of consumers aged 18-54 use social media first to search for brands.

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For marketers, this insight means that your social channels must be optimized for search. Prioritize social SEO if you want your social channels to show up in the results when your audience searches for your brand.

Similar to optimizing for search engines like Google, there are a few ways you can optimize your social presence:

• Include relevant keywords and hashtags in your posts and bio.
• Make sure your username is easy to search for.
• Keep your username consistent across accounts.

4. Focus on a few key social channels.

Most small businesses or social teams don’t have the bandwidth to establish and sustain a quality social media presence on every single channel.

It's also overwhelming to learn the rules of engagement on multiple networks simultaneously.

Focus on the channels that will bring in the highest ROI. For most brands, this will be Instagram.

Instagram has proven to be the best source of ROI, engagement, and quality leads. Additionally, 23% of marketers believe Instagram offers brands the most potential to grow their audiences in 2023.

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If you want to create a strong social media strategy from scratch, start small. Research key networks to learn where your target audience is spending time.

For instance, if your ideal consumers are business professionals, it may be beneficial to post on LinkedIn rather than Instagram.

Focus your effort on building, nurturing, and sustaining a community on the social channels where your target audience spends most of their time before moving on to another channel.

5. Make a plan for customer service.

When putting together your social media strategy, consider how you’ll use your channels for customer service.

Social media is so ingrained in our day-to-day lives that it’s no surprise that people turn to these platforms for everything from brand discovery to customer service.

According to our State of Social Media in 2023 report, 1 in 5 social media users have contacted a brand through DMs for customer service in the past three months.

Whether you create a separate account dedicated to customer service or have an auto-reply set up when people DM you on Instagram, have a plan for how you’ll handle customer support through social media.

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6. Develop a recipe card to guide you.

Social media isn’t an exact science. It doesn't work the same for every business or industry.

To see results for your business, create a recipe card. A recipe card is a posting and engagement schedule that keeps your team on track and helps you post content consistently.

HubSpot has a list of social media tools and templates that you can use to plan your content and create a posting schedule.

Develop a reasonable recipe card, one you can stick to and get your team to follow. Set goals for your posting and engagement frequency, and hold yourself accountable for following your recipe.

7. Measure your results.

There are countless things to track on your social media channels. Start by looking at how much traffic your social accounts drive to your website or blog.

Social media platforms offer tools to help businesses track analytics.

For example, you can use Facebook’s Page Insights, Instagram’s Account Insights, and LinkedIn’s Visitor Analytics to see what people are responding to and look for trends related to topics or keywords that generate the most interest.

Once you get an idea of your average traffic and post-performance, set goals for key metrics and keep a scorecard to measure your progress.

Be sure to choose metrics that are easy to gather because if it’s too time-consuming to track, you won’t be motivated to do it.

Examples of simple metrics include the total number of interactions, traffic to your website, and sales or revenue that can be attributed to social.

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8. Adjust your tactics.

Social media won't start working overnight.

Establishing a following, stabilizing your brand, and seeing the results of your efforts take time. So experiment to find the right combination of channels, content, and messaging that works for your audience.

Keep track of changes in your post views, audience demographics, and post interactions, and make changes as needed.

Over time, you’ll be able to adjust your recipe card, content, and personas based on the information you’re gathering, which will help you fine-tune your strategy and generate more consistent results.

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

If you’ve used newly accessible generative AI tools, you've likely realized how many tasks you can streamline in just seconds.

The right AI  platforms can help you or your business bridge the gap between cutting-edge algorithms and real-world applications, enabling AI systems to mimic human processes like reasoning, learning, and even social intelligence.

But, with so many AI platforms hitting the market, the minutes you save using ChatGPT might be eaten up by hours of vetting which AI platforms and features are right for you. 

In this post, we’ll help by highlighting 19 great AI platforms, organized into these categories:

• Best AI Platforms for Marketers
• Best AI Platforms for Conversational Marketing
• Best AI Platforms for Marketing Analysts & Tech-Savvy Marketers
• Best AI Platforms for Developers

Best AI Platforms for Marketers

HubSpot AI

Get started with HubSpot AI.

HubSpot Marketing Hub offers AI tools including Content Assistant, a content creation tool for bloggers and web copywriters. 

Specifically, Content Assistant can help you generate topic ideas for blogs, create blog outlines, write paragraphs, professional prospecting or marketing emails, and more within a Marketing Hub account. 

HubSpot’s also launched ChatSpot, a free conversational bot that can provide you information about your CRM. With ChatSpot, you can use a chat interface to ask a question or give commands related to your CRM to get a generative AI response. For example, you can ask it to give you contact details, send follow-up emails, pull reports, and create new contact segments.

Key features:

• Generate blog, marketing, and email copy. (Content Assistant)
• Get content topic and tone suggestions. (Content Assistant)
• Command CRM-related tasks (ChatSpot)
• Request auto-generated information related to your CRM (ChatSpot)

Price: HubSpot AI features, in Public Beta and Alpha, are free with additional features available to premium customers. Learn more or sign up here.

OpenAI

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OpenAI, known for its GPT (text generator), Dall-E (image generator), and Whisper (speech recognition) models, also provides businesses with tools and platforms that can be used for streamlining and even site or product features. In fact, you might have interacted with one of OpenAI's GPT integrations on platforms of customers like Stripe, Duolingo, or Morgan Stanley. 

Its OpenAI API enables developers and researchers to explore, experiment, and leverage AI models and frameworks. 

With safety and ethical concerns being common with the evolution of this type of technology, OpenAI claims its tools were built with security and safety mechanisms in mind.

For example, for teachers and other professionals that worry about AI-based plagiarism, OpenAI offers GPT-detection tools. Businesses deploying OpenAI features can also add "moderation endpoints" to their models to monitor, filter, and limit responses to inappropriate queries or language misuse.

Key features:

• GPT: reasoning, creative and technical writing tasks
• Dalle-E: image generation
• Whisper: speech transcription

Price: Detailed pricing is available on this page.

MindMeld

MindMeld is a conversational AI platform that enables businesses to build intelligent and natural language processing (NLP) capabilities, such as chat features or auto-generated reminders, around their workplace applications. 

With MindMeld, organizations can create voice and chat experiences that understand user intent and engage in contextually aware conversations.

MindMeld, which offers models and frameworks compatible with Python, has pre-made conversational AI "blueprints" for business scenarios that virtual assistants or service reps might commonly handle via instant messaging, including online banking support, home assistant tasks, online food ordering, and human resources questions.

Key features:

• Knowledge base creation
• Natural language processing
• Question answering
• Dialogue management
• Conversational AI Blueprints

Pricing: Pricing is available upon request.

Rainbird

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Rainbird is a cloud-based decision-making platform for businesses. It uses a data-first approach, enabling you to import data from external sources or use data from your internal systems. The data is synthesized with its graph-based decision engine called Studio.

With blueprints for revenue assurance, price optimization, liability assessment, and more, you’ll be able to start with a solid foundation. Rainbird also enables integrations with platforms like Microsoft Power Automate.

Key features:

• Graph-based decision engine
• Built-in workflow tool
• Data insights

Pricing: Pricing is available upon request.

Best AI Platforms for Conversational Marketing

Rasa

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Rasa is a conversational AI platform that allows you to customize and adapt your virtual assistant to your business needs. Its open-source nature also enables you to integrate it into existing systems and data sources.

With Rasa's machine learning capabilities, you can train your models to understand and respond accurately to complex user or customer inputs (such as message-based comments or questions). Rasa's natural language processing engine learns from conversations and continuously refines itself, enabling your virtual assistant to provide contextually relevant and personalized responses.

Rasa ChatOps, a combination of Rasa and DevOps practices, lets you deploy and manage your conversational agents across different channels, be it web chat, messaging apps, or voice interfaces. 

Key features:

• Open-source conversational AI
• Machine learning
• Automatic refinement
• ChatOps

Pricing: Pro and Enterprise pricing is available by request..

Wit.ai

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Wit.ai enables people to interact with your products using voice and text. Through this platform, you can create bots people can chat with on their preferred platform — for example, Facebook messenger.

The “Train Your App” feature turns what users say into actions. In order to unlock that capability, you can enter samples (called utterances) of what your users would say. Wit.ai also supports the development of mobile apps, smart home integrations, and wearable devices. However, if you want to use Wit.ai, you will need to sign up through Meta.

Through Wit.ai, you will be able to create your own app.

Key features:

• Voice and text-based conversational AI
• Supports 132 languages
• Tutorials on the site

Pricing: Wit.ai is free.

Dialogflow

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Dialogflow is a Google conversational AI platform with virtual agents. Dialogflow features a visual flow builder which consists of interactive flow visualizations, omnichannel implementation, and natural language understanding (NLU) models that are capable of recognizing intent and context.

Key features:

• Visual flow builder
• Omnichannel implementation
• NLU models

Pricing: Virtual Agent pricing varies, but the 2023 version of CX Agent costs $.007 per text request, $.001 per second of audio in/output. CX Agent with data from June 2020 or earlier costs $20 for every 100 text sessions or $45 for every 100 voice sessions.

Best AI Platforms for Marketing Analysts and/or Marketing Ops

Google Vertex AI

Google Vertex AI enables organizations to build, deploy, and scale machine learning (ML) models. 

The platform's "Model Garden" contains pre-trained and custom models for accelerating ML development, including APIs, foundation models, and open source models. You can also build generative AI apps with the Model Garden and Generative AI Studio features. 

Once you've launched a machine learning model, Vertex's machine learning operations (MLOps) feature lets you scale, manage, and monitor your workloads.

Key features:

• End-to-end ML operations (MLOps) tools
• Data and AI integration
• Low-code and no-code tooling

Price: Tools and features vary in price but range from $.0001 for every 1000 text characters input with no output charge, to $.0010 per 1000 characters input or output. 

DataRobot AI Platform

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Businesses can also use DataRobot's platform  to build, deploy, and manage AI models., while automating complex tasks, like data preparation, feature selection, model selection, and model deployment).

The open, end-to-end AI lifecycle platform, is also designed for multi-cloud operations, offering organizations the flexibility to operate on various public clouds, data centers, or at the edge. 

DataRobot can also unify performance data from any source so organizations can quickly access and analyze the AI lifecycle. 

Additionally, DataRobot AI Platform is modular and extensible, allowing businesses to build upon existing applications, infrastructure, and IT operations systems for streamlined and efficient AI implementation.

Key features:

• Task automation and streamlining features
• Governance features for security
• Multi-cloud operations

Price: Pricing is available upon request.

TensorFlow

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TensorFlow is an open-source software and machine learning model (MLM) library that helps businesses, analysts, developers, and researchers to run, organize, transform and graph data with numerical computations (in simple terms – solving complex math problems with formulas upon formulas). 

In these graphs, or nodes, represent mathematical operations (like complex multiplication, division, exponentiation), while edges represent the exchange of multidimensional data arrays (known as tensors).

With its flexible, open-source architecture and application programming interface (API), TensorFlow lets users build, deploy, and monitor ML-based computations on various devices, including desktops, servers, or mobile devices. Users can also run models across one or more central processing units or CPUs (also thought of as "control centers") and graphic processing units (GPUs), through a unified programming interface.

While this affordable platform can perform many complex tasks, keep in mind that the company recommends having knowledge of Python, C++, or JavaScript, so it might require a steep learning curve for marketing teams without this training. 

However, if you're interested in expanding your skills, you can learn more about Python and other languages on our Website Blog.

Key features:

• Process and load data
• Build and deploy ML models
• Implement ML operations (MLOps)

Price: Free

Microsoft Azure

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Microsoft Azure is a portfolio of AI services tailored to developers and data scientists. You’ll be able to access vision, speech, language, and decision-making AI models through API calls. 

Additionally, you can create your own machine learning models using an AI supercomputing infrastructure, tools such as Jupyter Notebooks or Visual Studio Code, and open-source frameworks like TensorFlow and PyTorch. 

This platform also features knowledge mining, conversational AI, document process automation, machine translation, and speech transcription.

Key features:

• Machine learning
• Knowledge mining
• Conversational AI

Price: Varies based on seats and software needs. Most paid tiers start at $167/month but include free add ons.

Watson Studio

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IBM Watson Studio allows data scientists, developers, and analysts to create and manage AI models. It can be used on IBM Cloud Pack for Data, enabling teams to collaborate and automate AI processes. 

With Watson Studio, users can leverage open source frameworks like PyTorch and TensorFlow, as well as programming languages like Python, R, and Scala. Jupyter notebooks, JupyterLab, and command-line interfaces can also be used for data analysis and visualization.

Key features:

• AutoAI to automatically build model pipelines
• Graphical flow editor to cleanse and shape data
• Open source notebook support

Pricing: Free 'Lite' tier available. Professional add ons start at $1.02 per capacity unit hour/month. (Price does not include tax)

NVIDIA

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NVIDIA offers solutions like cloud and edge computing for various AI workloads including machine learning, deep learning, and data analytics. With its ecosystem comprising graphic processing units (GPUs) and other processing technologies, NVIDIA AI aims to speed up the process of gaining insights. 

One of NVIDIA AI’s proprietary features, called CUDA-X AI, is a collection of libraries, tools, and technologies that could help accelerate development and deployment of applications across multiple domains. 

NVDIA also supports generative AI capabilities that can help marketers and web creators once deployed, like text generation, summarization, chatbots, image creation, and video generation. Other AI capabilities NVIDIA supports include training, data analytics, inference making, generative voice models, transcription, as well as cybersecurity.

Key features:

• Generative AI
• AI training
• Data analytics

Pricing: Pricing is available upon request.

SymphonyAI

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For those whose roles mix marketing, budgeting, retail, or finance tasks, SymphonyAI offers AI solutions for financial tracking, risk management, crime detection and fraud prevention in retail, banking, finance, and insurance industries.

It also offers features to help businesses with regulatory compliance, including identity verification, watch list screening and management, anti-money laundering (or AML) monitoring.

Key features:

• Regulatory compliance features
• Payment fraud prevention and detection
• Financial markets risk management feature for financial trading

Pricing: Pricing available upon request.

Best AI Platforms for Developers

H2O.ai

H2O is an open-source software that provides support for various machine learning tasks, from quick data ingestion and transformation, to advanced model building and model interpretation.

With H2O, users can simultaneously build and evaluate thousands of models across multiple machines. Additionally, H2O offers AutoML capabilities for developers looking to automate the model selection and tuning (or adjusting) machine learning parameters.

Key features:

• Open-source, multi machine capabilities
• Automated ML tasks
• Large language model and generative AI tools.

Pricing: Pricing is available upon request.

PyTorch

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PyTorch is a deep learning framework for building and training neural networks. PyTorch uses a computing mechanism called automatic differentiation to help update and optimize models.

The wide range of pre-trained models and architectures available in PyTorch Hub allows you to jumpstart your projects with transfer learning – an ML technique where a trained task is then remembered and used in other tasks and model development.

The platform is also equipped with educational resources, like tools and libraries of documentation.

Key features:

• Updates, optimizes, and helps develop deep learning models
• Ecosystem of tools and libraries
• Cloud support

Pricing: Free

GitHub

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GitHub has collaborated with OpenAI to develop an AI development tool called GitHub Copilot. Powered by OpenAI's Codex model, a GPT-3 successor that translates natural language into code, GitHub Copilot offers at-scale generative AI capabilities for developers. With GitHub Copilot Voice, you can give natural language prompts.

Key features:

• Chat interface in the editor
• Verbally give natural language prompts

Pricing: Free

OpenCV

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Government institutions, enterprises, and startups have all used OpenCV for its AI vision applications, like computer vision, which can detect product issues or analyze behavior; and face recognition, which can identify people and facial interactions.

For example, the platform’s been used processes like  factory product inspection, medical imaging, security analysis, human-machine interfaces (such as touch screen dashboards on large machinery), camera calibration (such as anti-blur or color stabilization), stereo vision (3D vision), and robotic vision (AI vision specifically used to help robots/machines detect tasks).

How could you use this in marketing? Well, as the world becomes more hybrid, and marketing grows more reliant on first party data, you could leverage it to gather in-store customer behaviors, reactions to products, sentiment analysis of reactions to public ads, or deeper emotional analytics in focus groups or video-call based research where you’re permitted to record.

Additionally, if swag or products produced by your company directly are part of a bigger campaign, these tools could help manufacturers ensure what you send out is on point and detect low-quality issues.

Key features:

• Cloud, local, or edge device deployment
• Computer vision

Pricing: OpenCV is free.

Keras

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A deep learning framework, Keras offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies the complex process of building neural networks. Its intuitive API allows you to quickly define, train, and evaluate models, eliminating the need for low-level coding.

Powered by TensorFlow, an end-to-end open source machine learning platform, Keras provides an extensive library of pre-configured layers, activations, and optimizers that can be customized to suit your specific needs.

Key features:

• Extensive documentation
• Model training, activation, and monitoring
• Deploy anywhere

Pricing: Free

Get Started With an AI Platform

The world of AI is quickly changing and businesses that don’t adapt risk falling behind. AI platforms serve many purposes, from powering chatbots to enabling app-building.

Learn more about how to leverage HubSpot AI products for your business.

Referral traffic is a powerful and often overlooked way to give your website a competitive edge.

In the never-ending quest for more traffic, marketers turn to search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), blogging, and social media marketing.

The problem is that SEO takes time to work, PPC is expensive, Google is oversaturated with blog content, and it’s tricky to prove ROI with social media. That’s where referral traffic comes in.

So, what is referral traffic, and how can you use it to generate more leads? Today, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know — why it’s important and seven steps you can take to improve yours.

What is referral traffic?

Why is referral traffic important?

7 Steps to Generate More Referral Traffic

1. Publish Your Website To Online Directories

2. Get Published On Review Websites

3. Publish Guest Blog Posts

4. Leverage Social Media

5. Comment On Blogs

6. Be Active On Industry Forums

7. Publish Infographics

Next Steps

What is referral traffic?

When visitors land on your website from sites other than the major search engines, that’s referral traffic.

When someone clicks a link on a website or social network, and it takes them to another site, tracking software, such as Google Analytics or HubSpot, counts that visitor as referral traffic.

The originating website is the “referrer” since it refers to traffic from one website to the other.

HubSpot’s marketing analytics tools can provide you with insight into your referral traffic. You can isolate this traffic from other categories and determine your best referral sources.

With this information, you can measure the effectiveness of your strategies to boost referral traffic.

Get started with HubSpot's traffic analytics.

Why is referral traffic important?

Referral traffic is valuable to inbound marketers because it sends potentially qualified visitors to your website. This, in turn, gets your content in front of new people, giving your website the opportunity to convert that visitor into a lead.

Your sales team will take it from there, as they then have the opportunity to convert that lead into a new customer.

That’s not the only reason referral traffic is helpful, however. Referral traffic also has SEO benefits. When someone visits your website from another site, they are usually clicking on a link or completing some type of social activity.

Google and other search engines consider these links and social signals as positive ranking factors — as long as they are coming from trusted websites.

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Sounds pretty good, right? Well, let’s get started on getting you some juicy referral traffic so you can brag about all the hot leads you have rolling in.

7 Steps to Generate More Referral Traffic

Ready to increase your referral traffic? Start with these seven tricks.

1. Publish Your Website To Online Directories

Submitting your website to online directories is one of the easiest ways to get referral traffic, but you don’t want to publish your website to every directory out there.

Instead, focus on the ones that are most relevant to your industry or generate the most traffic. Whether you’re a veterinarian in St. Louis or an assisted living facility in Daytona Beach, Moz has you covered.

It offers a free resource for finding the top directories by category and city.

Once you’ve submitted your website to the top directories for your city and industry, focus on finding directories that can generate some serious traffic. How do you know which directories will accomplish this?

It’s as simple as performing a Google search.

The directories that appear at the top of the search results should, in theory, generate the most traffic.

For example, if you do a search for “personal trainer in Los Angeles,” there are three directories that show up on the first scroll of the search results: Thumbtack, Yelp, and FitnessTrainer. Focus your efforts there to start.

You can’t use SEO to pass up these directories in the search results overnight. What you can do, however, is use these directories to your advantage.

List your website on these directories in order to generate quality traffic and get some free SEO juice.

After all, if someone is looking for a personal trainer in Los Angeles and finds your website via Yelp, that referred visitor is just as valuable to you as them landing directly on your website.

2. Get Published on Review Websites

Review websites are another tried and true tool you can use to increase referral traffic. These visitors have already completed the awareness and consideration stages of the buyer’s journey.

They’ve now reached the decision stage and are comparing vendors or products. What better time to get your product or service in front of them for consideration?

Getting listed on a review website can vary depending on whether you are a B2B or B2C company.

If you perform a search for “St. Louis roofing company reviews,” there are seven websites that you would want to be listed on if you were a roofer: AngiesList, Yelp, BBB, This Old House, Expertise.com, Houzz, and Porch.

By adding your website to these seven directories, you’re increasing the likelihood of your website being found during the decision phase of the buyer’s journey.

The next step, however, is getting those reviews. If you’re operating a respectable roofing company that treats customers fairly you should have no problem standing out from other roofers that have not-so-positive reviews.

B2B businesses will find that it is more difficult to get featured on review websites.

A lot of times, you have to “pay to play,” meaning you will basically have to pay to be featured toward the top of the review listings. For example, if you do a Google search for “top mobile app developers,” the first search result is Clutch.co.

They showcase a list of mobile app development firms with reviews, but if you look closely, you’ll notice that they are “sorted by sponsor.” Essentially these companies are paying to have their website and reviews featured first.

It’s a slick way for Clutch to make money but also maintain its reputation as a respectable source for reviews.

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3. Publish Guest Blog Posts

Guess what? You’re currently looking at step three of seven for increasing your site’s referral traffic. That’s right — you’re reading a guest blog post by Agile & Co, a HubSpot Partner Agency.

Guest blog posts create numerous opportunities to get referral traffic to your website. External links (like the two in this paragraph), author bios, and calls to action (like the one at the bottom of this post) are typically present on most blogs.

If you can get a post featured on a well-known industry website, you’ll benefit from the referral traffic and links coming to your site.

It’s best to focus your efforts on websites that are considered thought leaders in your industry. Since we’re an inbound marketing agency, HubSpot is the perfect place for us to contribute a guest blog post.

I mean, HubSpot literally coined the term inbound marketing.

Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind when guest blogging:

1. Focus on websites related to your industry. No one wants to read about fall fashion trends on a blog about dogs. In most cases, the dog blog wouldn’t even give a fall fashion post an okay.
2. Keep the target audience in mind while writing. Most blogs have strict guidelines in place for guest bloggers.
3. Write content under your own name. You deserve to get credit for your work. Plus, with enough blogging, you can establish yourself as a thought leader in the space.
4. Link to influencers. They will notice and might even help promote your guest blog post, which in return will increase the referral traffic it generates.

4. Leverage Social Media

According to Social Media Examiner, a whopping 86% of marketers indicated that social media generated more exposure for their business. Additionally, 76% found their website traffic increased as a result of their social media efforts.

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok were the top six social media platforms used by B2C marketers.

However, most B2B marketers ranked LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok as their top social media platforms.

Being active on social media isn’t just for fun — it’s a tactic most marketers are using to get more traffic, leads, and sales. And if you’re not leveraging it, you’re seriously missing out.

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Every time you tweet, share, like, or pin a piece of content, you are creating an opportunity to drive referral traffic to your website. Plus, you’re increasing the likelihood of your content showing up at the top of Google.

76% of marketers using social media reported improved search traffic, and 55% reported improved sales. As mentioned before, referral traffic not only brings more potential customers to your website but also helps with SEO.

5. Comment on Blogs

A question that comes up a lot is, “Does blog commenting help SEO?” Not only can it help with SEO, but it can also generate more referral traffic for your website.

According to Neil Patel, his 240+ comments on blogs have generated close to 4,000 visitors to his website.

Commenting on blogs will definitely increase your referral traffic — just make sure you’re not filling the interwebs with more spam. Here are a couple of tips for the newbie blog commenters out there:

1. Make sure your comments are valuable. No one likes a complainer or bragger. If your comments are negative or promotional in nature, just keep them to yourself.
2. Focus on blogs that allow links in the comments. Remember, you’re trying to get more traffic. In order to do that, you need to add a link to your website
3. If you aren't first, you’re last. Just like search engines, if your link is at the top of the comments list, you’re more likely to generate more clicks and traffic.

6. Be Active on Industry Forums

Online forums are a great source of potential leads and customers but are often overlooked as a marketing tactic for generating traffic.

Similar to blog comments, you should focus your efforts on forums in your niche and always try to add value without sounding too promotional. Here are a couple of steps and tips below for getting the most out of forum marketing:

1. Make sure the forum is active. Don’t waste your time on a forum that hasn’t had a new post for a month.
2. Register using your brand name. You want to make sure people associate your comments with a memorable brand name.
3. Create a signature with a call-to-action link. This is how you’re going to drive traffic to your website.
4. Participate. You’ll want to participate in the areas of the forum where you have the most expertise.
5. Use real-life examples, don’t just offer your advice. Try to provide value using your personal experiences.
6. Share your resources and start a new thread with a link to a resource you think could benefit the group. If you’re proud of a particular piece of content, it’s likely others will enjoy it too.

7. Publish Infographics

When asked to select the social media platforms they want to learn more about, 68% of marketers selected YouTube and Instagram, which are heavy on visuals. The reason is pretty simple.

Humans have attention spans shorter than goldfish, and it’s easier for the brain to consume an image than a bunch of text.

Plus, you’ve probably noticed that an image of a cute puppy gets liked and shared more than a 100+ page industry report.

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The great thing about infographics is they can help people understand complex data with simple visuals.

The goal is to get your infographic shared, liked, and pinned on social networks and have others embed it in their articles (like I’ve done above), thus creating links to your website.

In addition to your own website, there are several websites where you can post an infographic. One of my favorites is Instagram, which 37% of marketers rank, along with Facebook, as the best platform for developing loyalty.

Instagram gives you the option to link your infographic to your website and makes it easy for it to be shared on other platforms.

Next Steps

Once you start receiving additional referral traffic, you’ll want to make sure your website is ready for these new visitors.

Download the FREE eBook below to learn some best practices for ensuring your website is set up to convert visitors into leads for your business.

The average person spends five to six hours on their phones, while the average smartphone user unlocks their device around 150 times. 

What the heck are we doing with our devices all day? Well, when we're not endlessly scrolling the web or social media, we're probably texting.

In 2023, 15 million texts are sent per minute while nearly 70% of people open up a new text message within five minutes of receiving it. With endless stats like this in mind, businesses are presented numerous opportunities and touchpoints to engage their target market through SMS. 

What is SMS marketing?

SMS, an acronym for "Short Message Service," is a communication channel used to send and receive text messages on mobile devices. It allows users to send brief messages, typically 160 characters, to individuals or groups instantly. Text messaging has gained immense popularity due to its simplicity, convenience, and widespread availability across different devices and networks.

On the other hand, MMS, or "Multimedia Message Service", goes beyond simple text and allows users to send multimedia content such as pictures, videos, audio files, and even formatted text. 

SMS marketing allows businesses to connect with their target audience through personalized and timely text messages. It leverages the widespread use of mobile phones and the convenience of SMS to deliver promotional offers, updates, reminders, and other engaging content directly into the palm of the recipients' hands. 

Integrating SMS marketing alongside email and social media allows businesses to strike the right balance when it comes to timing and frequency of their messages.

2023 SMS Marketing Usage Data & Results

Based on the compelling trends from 2023, SMS marketing plays a crucial role for businesses in 2024. 

With 86% of business owners and marketing managers having embraced SMS marketing in the past year, it's clear that it's become an integral part of marketing strategies. What's more, 71% of those who used SMS marketing reported an increase in their 2023 SMS opt-in rates in 2023, highlighting its effectiveness in engaging and capturing the attention of audiences across many industries. 

Think people are bothered by SMS from brands? Think again. Today, the unsubscribe rate for SMS subscribers is less than 5%, demonstrating the high level of engagement and satisfaction. This is in stark contrast to email marketing, where approximately 20% of subscribers leave each year. 

Additionally, incorporating an SMS follow-up to an email has shown to increase open rates by 20-30%, proving the effectiveness of a multi-channel approach. Lastly, SMS advertising also boasts an exceptional return on investment (ROI) of approximately $71 for every dollar spent, exceeding the estimated ROI of email marketing, which stands at around $36 per dollar invested.

AI’s impact on SMS Marketing

Gone are the days of spending hours crafting the perfect SMS message. With AI-powered tools at your disposal, you can now quickly generate personalized and impactful messages that will wow your audience. 

Harnessing the capabilities of AI, you can leverage customer data and insights to create tailored SMS campaigns that resonate with your recipients.

Check out HubSpot's newest AI tools. >>

How to Get Started with SMS Marketing

1. Identify your SMS use case:

The key to achieving success with SMS marketing lies in effective planning. As you prepare to launch your first SMS campaign, it is essential to have a clear idea of the use case you are addressing with your messages.

By aligning your SMS strategy to the various stages of the buyer's journey, you gain a deeper understanding of the purpose behind each message and how it contributes to both your target audience's needs and your business goals. This strategic approach enables you to ensure that every SMS you send serves a specific purpose in guiding your persona towards the desired outcome. 

Consider these common SMS use cases:

Informative:

• Order updates: provide real-time tracking information and keep customers informed about their purchase progress.
• Receipt confirmation: ensure customers have proof of their purchase and create a seamless customer experience.
• Product launches: generate excitement and awareness among customers for a new product.
• Brand announcements: effectively communicate important updates, new initiatives, or significant milestones to your audience.

Promotional:

• Seasonal campaigns: leverage the time-sensitive nature of holidays or specific seasons to drive customer engagement, boost sales, and create a sense of urgency. 
• Loyalty programs: nurture customer relationships, reward loyalty, and promote continued engagement and brand advocacy.
• Event management: effectively communicate event details, updates, and reminders to attendees for a seamless and organized event experience.

Customer Service:

• Timely support: providing quick and convenient assistance to customers.
• Onboarding flows: guide new customers through the process of getting started and ensure successful user adoption.

Sales

• Marketing to sales handoff: seamlessly transfer leads or prospects from the marketing team to the sales team.
• Upsell/Cross sell opportunities:  leverage existing customer relationships to offer additional products or services.

Non-Forbidden Messsage Categories

• If you're using HubSpot’s SMS tools, you should also be aware of use cases that are non-compliant due to the forbidden message categories. These regulations are upheld by most SMS service providers and are outlined by CTIA. 
• If you're sending your SMS messages using HubSpot, be sure to review your use case against the forbidden message categories in order to ensure you don’t run the risk of being filtered or blocked. 

2. Build a compliant consent process

Establishing a robust and compliant consent process is crucial for the success of your SMS campaigns, protecting you from sending messages to inappropriate contacts, which could undermine the effectiveness of your campaign and expose you to the risk of being blocked.

Depending on the specific use case you have chosen, your consent process may vary, but it should incorporate essential elements to ensure compliance and maximize results. In this section we will explore the key inputs that should be addressed in every consent process, empowering you to build a solid foundation for engaging your audience through SMS campaigns.

Gather explicit consent: Obtaining explicit consent is vital when it comes to SMS marketing, setting it apart as a highly effective and engaged channel. Explicit consent is defined as consent given when you ask an individual for permission to send them marketing materials and they agree. The recipient has to manually opt-in to receive your content through written consent, clicking a checkbox on a form, or by confirming through double opt-in. 

Alternatively, implicit consent is defined as consent given when an individual gives you their email address for some business purpose, but has not explicitly stated that they want to receive marketing content from you.

1. Utilize opt-in terminology: Contacts have the option to opt in by using any of the three words: START, UNSTOP, or SUBSCRIBE. These keywords allow individuals to express their interest and willingly join your communication channel.
2. Provide value in exchange for consent: Transparency is key, so it's important to offer your contacts something valuable in exchange for their consent. Clearly communicate the frequency of messages they can expect and define the specific content they will receive, such as order updates, exclusive discounts, or dedicated customer support. By providing this clarity and promising real value, you'll build trust and increase the likelihood of obtaining and retaining consent.
3. Manage contact consent status: Leverage a comprehensive consent management tool to effectively handle and track the consent status of your contacts. This tool should enable you to efficiently manage the consent of your contacts, offering the flexibility to handle consent in bulk or manually as needed.
4. Always offer opt-out: Prioritize giving your contacts the option to opt out of receiving messages.

3. Register your business for SMS.

Before sending SMS messages, it is crucial to register your business with your SMS service provider. While the specific nomenclature may vary across providers (check out HubSpot’s process here), the registration process typically involves following these steps:

1. Register your business: Provide specific details about your business including status, website URL, registration number, and industry. 
2. Provide SMS details: Enter additional information about how your business intends to use SMS and manage consent. Ensuring you have properly outlined your intended use cases and consent process is vital to this step. 
3. Get an SMS number: Generate a phone number that your business will use to send SMS messages. 

4. Set up your first campaign.

Create a list of contacts: Compile a list of contacts who have provided explicit consent to receive your SMS messages. It is crucial that all contacts on the list have willingly opted in to receive SMS communications from your business.

If you need assistance in expanding this list with qualified contacts, consider implementing a low-barrier opt-in method, such as a QR code, on another channel like social media. This allows for easy and seamless engagement, helping you grow your contact list while maintaining compliance with consent requirements.

5. Write Actionable SMS Copy

Remember, when you're messaging someone in their SMS inbox, you could be adding to the many texts they're already receiving from family, friends, and other competitors, so you should ensure that your messaging is valuable, relevant, actionable, and concise so they understand why you're reaching out to them there and seeing enough benefit in your messages to stay subscribed. 

Customize these messages according to the specific stage of the buyer's journey your contacts are in. For optimal targeting, consider segmenting your list into smaller, more focused groups based on the various stages of the buyer's journey. 

SMS Campaign Samples

Re-engagement Campaign:

The SMS copy below reminds users that they're still a member, user, or past customer of a given service and encourages them to re-engage with a brand in some way – ideally by highlighting perks they'll discover when they re-engage.

Event Updates: 

When hosting an in-person or online event, sending event updates can keep your attendees excited, engaged, and in the know before, during, and sometimes even after an event. 

Marketing to Sales Handoff: 

When a prospect converts, these messages can help smoothly introduce them to your sales team incase they choose to buy a product.Customer service feedback:

After a deal is made, keep the customer journey going by following up and seeing how their experience went by sending customer service feedback or survey messages.

Kickstarting & Reporting on SMS Campaigns

Once your messages have been carefully crafted and thoroughly reviewed, it's time to initiate sending them to your contacts! Take the step forward and begin delivering your impactful messages to engage and connect with your audience.

To ensure your campaign's running as planned, analyze key performance indicators such as click-through rate and return on investment (ROI). Monitoring and reporting on these metrics will help you measure the success of your campaign and make data-driven adjustments as needed.

Check out HubSpot's Analytics tools. >>

SMS Marketing Best Practices 

• Say hello! Send a welcome message to any new contact. Clearly state who you are and why you're messaging to provide valuable context. 
• Manage your subscriber lists: Effective contact management is crucial for successful SMS marketing and ensures you're sending the right messages to engaged contacts at the right time.
• Segment different groups: By strategically categorizing your audience into segments, you can tailor your SMS campaigns, ensure message relevancy, and optimize engagement with specific segments of your target market.
• Get to the point: By keeping messages brief, recipients can easily read and action the information across smartphones, watches, and digital assistants like Siri.
• Don’t overdo it: SMS is a high cost communication channel. Make sure you reserve SMS for use cases that are deeply personalized and/or express urgency. 

• Personalize your copy: Tailor SMS communication, recommendations, or offers to individuanamescipients and/or acknowledge their name, preferences, and past interactions, to create a sense of relevance and make a meaningful connection with them
• Incorporate AI: Want to personalize a campaign, but don't have time to write 1000 individual message,es? AI tools, like workflows or tools can bring a new level of efficiency, personalization, and effectiveness to SMS cahigh-cost 
• Avoid forbidden message categories: If sending your SMS messages using HubSpot, never send a message that falls into a forbidden category. 
• Be transparent: Consistently reintroduce your brand, purpose, and message frequency. 
• Offer a way out: Every message should include the option to opt out.

Step into SMS with HubSpot Today

Get started with HubSpot SMS for Marketers today! You can learn more about HubSpot’s SMS tools on our knowledge base. For pricing and packaging details, please visit our Pricing and Services catalog.

Not ready to invest in a new product just yet? Check out our free resource with a plethora of SMS templates you can use across many different business strategies by clicking the banner below. 

When you’re considering a new venture, one of the first things you should do is determine whether there is a valuable market for it.

Imagine putting in months of hard work to realize that there are only 100 people in the U.S. who will potentially buy your product. Knowing this early on will enable you to make educated business decisions and decide what’s worth pursuing.

Discover the methods to calculate your market size and accurately measure your business’ revenue potential.

Keep reading, or jump to the section you’re looking for:

• What is market sizing?
• Market Sizing Terms to Know
• How to Calculate Market Size
• Market Sizing Methods

When market sizing, you're calculating customer numbers to measure the growth potential of your business.

Why is market size important?

There are several reasons why every business should spend time sizing its market:

• Market sizing helps you figure out if your product is a worthy investment. Say you have a great idea for a product but there are only 100 people who would buy it. From there, you can decide if that population size is worth the cost of manufacturing, production, distribution, and more for your product.
• Market sizing helps you estimate profit and potential for growth. If you know how many people your business has the potential to reach, you can estimate how much revenue you can generate. This is valuable for both business owners as well as investors.
• Market size defines who you’re marketing to and what their needs are. No business can succeed without marketing. Knowing your market size is the first step in understanding your target market and their needs.
• Market sizing helps your business make better decisions. Understanding your market landscape, gaps, and opportunities will inform your decision-making. It can also help you set more realistic goals, assign resources, and refine your strategies.
• Market sizing helps your business minimize risk. Starting or expanding a business is inherently risky. Understanding your market can help you anticipate and prepare for challenges.

Market Size vs. Market Value

Market size is the total potential demand for a product or service. This number usually calculates the number of potential customers, units sold, or revenue generated. So, market size is an estimate of the overall market reach.

Market value refers to the financial worth or estimated market capitalization of a company or industry. It’s a measure of perceived value. It can give you an idea of how much a company could sell for in a given market.

In summary, market size focuses on the potential market opportunity, while market value is the financial value of an individual company or an entire market.

Market Sizing Terms to Know

Before diving into how to figure out your market size, there are a few helpful terms you should get to know.

TAM

TAM stands for Total Addressable Market. This number is the maximum potential revenue or customer base that a company could achieve if it were to capture 100% of market share.

SAM

SAM stands for Serviceable Addressable Market. SAM is a part of the TAM that aligns with the company's resources, capabilities, and target customers.

SOM

SOM stands for Serviceable Obtainable Market. SOM is the part of the SAM that a company can get at its current scale. This figure may consider marketing and sales strategies, competitive positioning, and product demand.

Check out this post to learn more about TAM, SAM, and SOM and how to calculate them.

Target Market

A target market is a specific group of customers, industries, or segments that a company focuses on. It's the customer segment that's most likely to show interest, purchase, and appreciate a company's products or services.

Penetration Rate

Penetration rate refers to the percentage of a target market that a company has successfully captured. It shows the level of market share reached by a company in a specific market segment or overall market.

If you're a new business, you can calculate penetration rate by dividing your total customers by the number of potential customers in the target market. Then, multiply the result by 100 to get the percentage.

Learn more about market penetration here.

Market Segmentation

Market segmentation is the process of dividing the total market into distinct groups or segments. Usually, the people in these segments have common characteristics, needs, or behaviors.

Segmenting the market can help you better understand your target customers. It can also help you tailor business strategies, like marketing, to meet specific segment needs.

Value Proposition

A value proposition is the unique benefits that a company offers to its target customers. It differentiates a company's product or service from competitors and creates value for customers.

Understanding the value proposition is crucial in market sizing. This is because it can help you find the specific customer segments that will find the most value in your offer.

Try one of these free value proposition templates to draft your value proposition.

While calculating market size takes only a few steps, it's a crucial process. The steps below will help you understand the potential demand and revenue opportunities for your business.

1. Start with your total addressable market.

You can calculate your TAM by multiplying the total customers in a market by the annual value per customer. But before calculating, make sure you take a look at the tips below:

• Define your product or service. While developing a product can be quick, growing a business around a product is more complex. It's important to clearly understand your product or service and how it solves a problem or meets a need in the market.
• Find your market category. Some products fall within more than one industry or market category. This is the first step that will narrow your TAM. So, think carefully about what you expect customers to compare your offer to.
• Conduct market research. Gather relevant data and information about your potential users. If you're new to market research, check out this free market research kit, with research and planning templates.
• Analyze the competition. Conduct competitive analysis to figure out the market share and unique value of your top competitors.
• Define your total addressable market. With the research and analysis you've pulled together, create a realistic TAM estimate.

2. Find a group of customers to focus on within that target market.

Dig into the tips below to quantify the top customers in your market:

• Create your ideal buyer persona. Use the Make My Persona tool to outline the characteristics, demographics, and behaviors of your ideal customers.
• Segment your target market. Start dividing your target market into distinct segments. You might base segments on factors like age, location, interests, or buying behavior.
• Continue market research. Continue collecting data and insights about each segment. This will help you understand how big each segment is, as well as their needs, preferences, pain points, and purchasing habits. Your ongoing market research might include surveys, interviews, focus groups, or analyzing existing market research.
• Set pricing for your product or service. For some products, pricing is a deciding purchase factor. So, if you haven't already, set pricing or a price range for your products.
• Assess segments of your market and prioritize. Think about each segment's size, growth potential, and competition. It's also a good idea to think about how each segment aligns with your company's capabilities and resources. In short, don't just focus on segments that offer the most attractive opportunities. Make sure they align with your strengths and needs.
• Refine your buyer personas. With your prioritized segments, take another look at your ideal customer profile. This will give you a more useful buyer persona for your marketing and sales strategies.
• Confirm your SAM with market testing. Test your target segments with a product or service pilot group, measuring their responses and feedback.

3. Figure out how many of those customers are likely to buy your product.

This step will narrow your scope more intensely on the customers who need exactly what you have to offer. These are the people who are looking for you or a clear alternative to your competitors. To quantify this group:

• Create a customer journey map. From awareness to purchase, this process can help you map out the ideal customer path. From how you expect customers to discover your products to the blockers that might keep them from clicking buy, this step is useful for market sizing and beyond. Use these customer journey templates if you're new to this process.
• Estimate conversion rates. Use historical data, industry benchmarks, or industry research to estimate conversion rates. This can help you quantify expected numbers of leads, prospects, and customers in each segment.
• Figure out buyer intent. Create a ranking or score for each segment to measure their likelihood of purchasing your product. This can help you prioritize segments with the highest conversion potential.
• Create a SOM estimate with your data. The research above will add credibility to your market size estimate. It can also help guide your growth strategies.

4. Multiply that customer number by estimated penetration rate.

To calculate penetration rate, divide the SOM you calculated above by your TAM, then multiply by 100.

Once you have a calculation for your market size, you'll want to make sure you can trust that number. Keep your market sizing current with these tips:

• Confirm your data is accurate and reliable. As you complete your research, use reliable sources such as industry reports, market studies, or government databases. Also, check to ensure the data you're referencing is up to date.
• Keep up with market growth, seasonality, industry trends, tech advancements, regulatory changes, and economic conditions. These factors can affect both market size and customer demand.
• Review and update your market size estimates regularly. Market conditions change over time. Plan regular reviews of your market size, then update your calculations with new or relevant data.

Market Sizing Methods

There are two simple methods for market sizing your business. These straightforward processes can help you use data to gauge market size.

Top Down Approach

The first is a top-down approach, in which you start by looking at the market as a whole, then refine it to get an accurate market size. That would look like starting from your total addressable market and filtering from there.

Market Sizing Example

Let's say you want to launch a wine company. First, you'd want to figure out how many liquor stores are in the United States — this helps you figure out the total market to which you could theoretically sell your product.

After your research, you discover there are 50,000 liquor stores in the United States. Of that total list, you only want to sell to the New England area — including Massachusetts, Maine, and Rhode Island.

You decide your target market includes the 1,000 liquor stores in the New England area. From here, you conduct research and speak with alcohol distributors to find there's a roughly 40% success rate for wine distribution.

Using this as an example, we'd calculate the market size using the following formula:

1,000 liquor stores x 40% = 400 liquor stores

Then, if you assume each liquor store will result in $20,000, you can figure out potential revenue using the following formula:

400 liquor stores x $20,000 = $8,000,000

This means you stand to make $8 million if you penetrate 40% of the total market in the New England area.

Bottom-Up Approach

A bottom-up approach is the exact opposite – starting small and working your way outward.

This looks like first identifying the number of units you can expect to sell then considering how many sales you anticipate from each buyer and finally the average price per unit.

Market Sizing Example

Using the same wine example – Say you found recent data showing that the average cost of a wine bottle in New England is $10. A survey shows that the average consumer buys one bottle of wine a week, or 48 bottles a year. This means that the average consumer spends $480 per year on wine.

Next, you discover that the number of consumers (or households) you can expect to reach in the New England area is 16,000.

As a result, your market size is 480 x 16,000 = $8,000,000.

It’s important to note that both methods ignore the existence of competitors, customer churn rate, and other factors that impact sales. With this in mind, you'll want to stay conservative when estimating how much of the market size you'll win and use this as a starting point.

How to Leverage Your Market Size

You've your estimated market size — now what?

Market size helps your business answer the following questions:

• How much potential revenue can we earn from this particular market? In other words, is it even worth our time and energy?
• Is the market big enough to interest us?
• Is the market growing? Will there still be opportunities to earn revenue from this market in 3, 5, 10 years?

Market size is a critical number to know when you're looking for funding. Investors are going to need to know how much money they have the potential to make from a given market. Additionally, it's vital to recognize whether the potential revenue you can make outweighs your business' costs.

Once you have market size, you'll also want to consider how saturated the market already is with your competitors' products.

Ultimately, you can't capture the total addressable market (TAM) — some of those people will choose competitors' products over yours. So you'll need to figure out whether you have a shot at earning enough consumers out of the TAM to make this a worthwhile venture.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in April 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. This article was written by a human, but our team uses AI in our editorial process. Check out our full disclosure to learn more about how we use AI.

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a new blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

White authors dominate book publishing, and it can be difficult for people of color to find successful entrepreneurship stories written by founders, CEOs, and marketing executives with similar cultural backgrounds.Penguin Random House, a “Big Five” publisher, reported that 76% of their released books in 2019-2021 were by white contributors. This percentage may correlate with 74% of their staff being white.

Between statements to prioritize DEI efforts and leadership restructuring—like at PRH after their bid to acquire Simon & Schuster was halted—time will tell if publishing houses will make significant strides in diversity across their rosters and workforces.

Learning from someone with lived experiences you can relate to is invaluable and affirming. It's a chance to feel less isolated when creating the blueprints for a company you once thought was an improbable dream.

To learn new avenues for success and strategies to build your business, community, and wealth, here are five must-read books by entrepreneurs of color.

1. This Is Not a T-Shirt: A Brand, a Culture, a Community–a Life in Streetwear by Bobby Hundreds

Image Source

In his memoir, Bobby Hundreds invites us into the behind-the-scenes journey of building his iconic and culture-shifting streetwear brand, The Hundreds. It's an intimate story that starts with a tumultuous upbringing in Southern California as a punk Korean-American outsider and cascades into in-depth anecdotes about emerging as a prominent voice in the industry.

Beyond practical advice and the gripping history of streetwear's global influence on fashion, art, and music, this memoir is a motivating salute for preserving the essence of streetwear and the importance of nurturing the lifeline of a brand–a ride-or-die community.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Review excerpt: “This book is more than just a story of a brand that sold shirts, it shows how in order to build a lasting brand it‘s more than just a cool design or logo, but building a community that will call you out on your BS and support you to the end because you’ve held true to your foundations.”

2. Jefa in Training: The Business Startup Toolkit for Entrepreneurial and Creative Women by Ashley K. Stoyanov Ojeda

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Written in Spanglish, Jefa in Training is a playbook and tool kit for solopreneurs and small businesses in the startup stage. In conversation with Latina immigrants and Hispanic Americans, Ojeda shares first-hand experiences, guest stories, worksheets, and templates to guide women of color to transform their projects into full-fledged businesses.

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Review excerpt: “This book helps you overcome every fear you have that may be holding you back from starting a business. The quotes at the front of every chapter keep you motivated, the worksheets at the end keep you productive, and the tips/stories from other Latina entrepreneurs remind you that your dreams are attainable.”

3. The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage by Daymond John with Daniel Paisner

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Shark Tank star Daymond John had humble beginnings. He sold products on the streets of Queens and turned that hustle into the $6-billion brand FUBU. Through his personal story and those of other hustling visionaries with empires, John shares how ambitious entrepreneurs can turn the desperation of being penniless into a superpower to be more efficient and innovative to achieve greater success.

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5

Review excerpt: “The most comprehensive business book I've read! So many examples of successful entrepreneurs and their journeys to the top. I enjoyed the format of the book with all of the case studies, I really felt like I learned a lot. Daymond is very authentic and I think that is how people relate to him most. He is very approachable and humble and it comes across this way in his book.”

4. It's About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated Into Your Greatest Advantage by Arlan Hamilton with Rachel L. Nelson

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Arlan Hamilton is a Black, gay woman who survived on food stamps and slept on the floor of the San Francisco airport.

Even with no college degree, background in finance, or any contacts in Silicon Valley, her tenacity and hard work propelled her to become a venture capitalist investing in underrepresented and underestimated people like her.

Her book is an unfiltered and inspiring account of staying true to yourself while pursuing success, overcoming obstacles, and staking your claim as an entrepreneur, even if no one like you is breaking into your dream industry.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Review excerpt: “As someone who doesn‘t plan to raise capital as part of my business models, I originally didn’t think this book would apply to me. How wrong I was. From the beginning chapter, I was hooked on Arlan's story, and her innate ability to weave in business advice, truth and pointed (and poignant) realities, as well as real life suggestions to change the narrative.”

5. We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman's Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth and Gaining Economic Power by Rachel Rogers

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Rachel Rogers is on a mission to rewire the way women think about money so they can take charge of their lives, overcome the history of systemic inequality, and secure financial freedom.

While seven figures may sound wildly unattainable, Rogers' book is a practical guide on million-dollar decisions, savvy strategies for making and investing money, and tackling mindsets that limit you.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Review excerpt: “Part autobiography, part roadmap to success, wholly authentic, and 100% relatable - this book is THE new book for women in business. I read a lot of personal development and business books and run my own 6-figure generating business and I can say without hesitation that there is next-level mentorship between these covers.”

No matter your story, success is unlimited, and the path to it differs for everyone. Whether you’re just getting started or have an established company, pick up a book from this list and invest in your business journey by learning from those who endured the highs and lows of entrepreneurship before you.

Some things you think will be simple actually end up getting really complex. Google knows this all too well, which is why Google Calendar has plenty of nifty features to simplify scheduling.

Your Google Calendar comes with your personal Gmail address, and you won't believe how simple it is to use and set up. However, when working at a company with a corporate Google account you suddenly have to find out how best to integrate your personal calendar with your weekly meeting schedule.

Below are some of our favorite tips, tricks, and features available in Google Calendar.

Skip to:

• Using Find a Time
• Enabling World Clock
• Setting Desktop Notifications
• Creating Appointment Schedules

21 Google Calendar Features That'll Make You More Productive

1. Create new calendars for different parts of your life.

When you first start out on Google Calendar, you're given one calendar to start with — it's the one with your name under "My calendars," as shown in the screenshot below.

So, if you want to use your calendar for multiple purposes — like managing your actual schedule, planning periods of focused work time, and scheduling repeating reminders — you only have one place to do it. But when you're only working with one calendar, all of those things get treated equally — meaning you can't quickly and easily pull up the non-repetitive, important tasks you have for the day.

To combat this, just create a new calendar for each part of your life you'd like to keep track of on your Google Calendar.

How to Use This Feature

To create a new calendar, click the little plus sign (+) next to "My calendars," and you'll see the option, "New calendar." Select this option, name your new calendar, give it a description and time zone, and voilà — you've got yourself another calendar.

Pro Tip: You can even color-code each calendar to make it easy for you to pick out what you've got to do each day.

2. Schedule meetings with groups using "Find a time" or "Suggested times."

Do you ever need to arrange a meeting with several people who have busy schedules? It can be really annoying to try to figure out when you're all free. Thankfully, Google Calendar actually has two features that can do the heavy lifting for you: "Suggested times" or "Find a time."

How to Use This Feature

To use either of these two options, first make sure you've added everyone to the event who needs to attend. Then, if you'd like Google to suggest a time for you to meet, simply select the "Suggested times" link below your guests' names. A dropdown window will appear with a list of times when every meeting guest, including you, is available with no conflicts.

"Find a time" is the other way to quickly find a time that works for every guest included on the meeting invitation. To use this feature, choose the tab next to "Event details" called "Find a time," and you'll see everyone's schedules side-by-side for the day of your intended meeting. When you see a time when none of your guests have conflicts, click this line of the calendar to highlight the time and press "Save" at the top of your Calendar.

Pro tip: you can also use a free product like HubSpot Meetings to easily schedule meetings without back-and-forth emails. With HubSpot's Meetings tool, you can send a generic link and ask customers or prospects to choose a time on your calendar that works for them, or choose the sales rep who has the soonest availability.

3. Sync meetings with your CRM.

Use a CRM daily? It can be annoying to back and forth between your Google Calendar and your CRM. Instead, dive into your CRM settings to see if there's an existing integration with Google Calendar.

HubSpot CRM users, you're in luck — it's quick and easy to set up this integration. Learn how to do this here.

4. Sync your calendar with your marketing software.

If you want to make your Google Calendar align even more with your marketing activities, you can integrate it with your marketing software.

For HubSpot customers, you can use Zapier to set up some pretty nifty workflows, such as creating a social media message every time an event starts. Check out this page for more on how you can set up that integration, as well as some ideas for ways you can integrate the two.

5. Hide your event details.

Sometimes, the meetings you host or attend are sensitive in nature. Keep in mind, however, that a closed door isn't the only way for others to know what's going on inside. The event's details in Google Calendar can also reveal more to the rest of the office than you'd like.

To ensure you have as much privacy as you need during more sensitive meetings, set your event to "Private." This makes it so nobody viewing your weekly schedule sees the details of the event — meeting name, attendees, attachments, and so forth. By default, the public label on the event block will simply be, "Busy."

How to Use This Feature

To privatize the details of certain events on your calendar, click the event from your calendar view and select the pencil icon to edit the event's details. In the window that appears, find the briefcase icon just above the event description field.

With the first field set to "Busy," click into the second field and select "Private" from the dropdown, as shown below. Hit the blue "Save" button at the top of your screen and you'll be all set.

6. Add a Google Meet to your event.

Need to easily set up a face-to-face remote meeting? Just click the link to "Add Google Meet," and Google will set up a video call for your event attendees to use. (Learn more about Google Meet here)

7. Add attachments.

I don't know about you, but I often find myself attending meetings that require me to reference a relevant document. Maybe we're all working off one Google Doc, or perhaps we're pouring over an intricate spreadsheet.

Regardless, it's best to make sure all meeting attendees have the materials they need before the meeting begins so they don't have to go hunting in their inboxes for it. Google Calendar can help you do this, allowing you to attach documents directly to the event for guests to open and review.

How to Use This Feature

To attach a document to your event, click on your event block from the calendar view and select the pencil icon to edit the event, as shown below.

Once you're in the event's edit screen, look for a paper clip icon right above the description section, as shown in the screenshot below. Click this icon and a large window will appear where you can upload files to attach directly from your Google Drive.

Pro tip: When you reach the upload window, you can toggle to the "My Drive" tab to attach Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides that already exist in your Google Drive. Or, you can click the "Upload" tab on the far left of the window to attach offline files from your computer.

8. Enable your world clock.

Do you work with teammates who live around the world? You might find it's difficult to figure out what time is appropriate to schedule meetings with them. Fortunately, you can — by enabling "World Clock" in your Google Calendar settings.

How to Use This Feature

To quickly check multiple time zones when arranging meetings, click the gear icon on the top-righthand corner of your calendar view. These are your settings. Then, navigate to the "World clock" section, check the first blue box, and select the time zones you want to see from your calendar view.

Once you've chosen the time zones you want, return to your calendar view and you'll see the following on your Google Calendar's lefthand sidebar:

9. Enable working hours.

Not everyone is a 9-to-5 worker, but they might work quite a bit with those who are. If you have an unconventional work schedule that none of your colleagues seem to remember, this feature is for you.

"Working Hours" is a setting that alerts people if they try to add you to a meeting that lies outside a range of hours set by you in Google Calendar. Hey, it beats having to hit "Decline" and then follow up with the meeting organizer to remind them you're unavailable during that time.

A Google Calendar tipthat John Hall, Co-founder of Calendar, advises people to use is speedy meetings. "Beneath the default meetings duration settings is the option to create Speedy Meetings. Check the box and 30-minute meetings will automatically be scheduled to last 25 minutes while longer meetings will be cut by ten minutes. That way your working hours become more productive since you end meetings sooner and have time to catch up on todos that don't keep you beyond working hours."

How to Use This Feature

To enable specific working hours on your Google Calendar, click the gear icon from your calendar view to access your settings. Navigate to the "Working Hours" section, as shown below. Here, you'll be able to specify when you're in and out of work each day of the week.

10. Email event guests.

Remember the time you tried to email a large group of people about an event? Maybe you were trying to coordinate a team outing — or just let everyone know they should bring their laptops to the all-hands meeting. Regardless, I'll bet it was annoying to figure out who was actually going to the event and ensure you didn't forget anyone.

Well, this Google Calendar feature will come in handy next time.

How to Use This Feature

As long as you've added everyone to the event that needs to go, you can easily email everyone in the group by clicking on the event block from your calendar view and clicking the envelope icon.

Once you click on the envelope icon inside the event block, an email compose box will appear. Simply type in your message, type in the email addresses of the people you want to receive it, and hit send.

11. Add specific meeting locations.

I wish I'd known about this feature the last time I got coffee with someone in downtown Boston. We agreed to meet at Starbucks ... but thanks to the multitude of Starbucks locations in Boston, our conversation went something like this:

"Okay, so let's meet at the one on State Street," I said.

"Oh, the one by the Court House?" he asked.

"Well, it's kinda by the Court House, but further down State Street," I replied.

"Oh, you mean the one by Downtown Crossing?" he clarified.

How to Use This Feature

The logistics of a meeting can get fuzzy without a specific address or conference room. Thankfully, Google Calendar has a feature that'll fix all that. Instead of having the back-and-forth, I could've just sent my friend a calendar invitation with the specific address in the "Where" box. It integrates with Google Maps so it's super easy to figure out where you're meeting and how to get there.

12. Use desktop notifications.

As you probably can tell by now, I love Google Calendar ... but there is one feature of which I am not a fan.

If you have your Google Calendar open as a tab in your browser when it's 10 minutes before your next event, the 10-minute warning interrupts everything you're doing and takes over your screen. Forget about what you were working on -- Google Calendar will suddenly surface its tab with a big pop-up alert coupled with an annoying sound. It's the worst.

Luckily, there's a setting in Google Calendar that you can use to make notifications much less annoying: "Desktop notifications." Rather than interrupting your work, you'll see a much gentler box slide in from the top-righthand corner of your computer screen, displaying the name of the event that's 10 minutes away.

How to Use This Feature

To enable "Desktop notifications" in Google Calendar, click into your settings using the gear icon on the top-righthand corner in your calendar view. Scroll down to "Event settings" and click the "Notifications" box, as shown below.

By default, your notifications might be set as "Alerts," causing each event's 10-minute warning to hijack your computer screen. Instead, select "Desktop notifications," return to your calendar view, and you will have successfully enabled gentler meeting notifications.

13. Change the event notification time.

In the previous tip, you learned how to soften the notifications you receive in advance of a meeting. But did you also know you can change the number of minutes before the event you want to be notified?

How to Use This Feature

By default, Google will notify you 10 minutes before the event's start time. To change this warning time for a particular event, click on the event from your calendar view, and select the pencil icon to edit the event's settings.

In the event details, find the bell icon just below the video conferencing line. Hover your cursor over the box listed "10" and toggle up and down using the small arrow keys that appear to the right to change the number of minutes in advance you want to be notified. As you can see below, you can tell Google to notify you hours, days, or weeks in advance, too.

Pro tip: To the left of the "10," you can change "Notification" to "Email" if you'd rather be told about upcoming meetings via email instead of a desktop notification.

14. Arrange appointment schedules.

Ever thought about incorporating "office hours" so other folks in your company can book time with you? Maybe you're a part-time consultant with limited hours to book meetings, or want to limit the times your team can book time with you to certain times of day.

If any of the above scenarios resonate with you, think about using Google's Appointment schedules.

Google's Appointment schedules allow you carve out specific times of day on your calendar and then share these times with select people via a private calendar link. When these people click the link, they can schedule meetings with you at any of the times you carved out for them.

If your link recipients find a time they like, all they have to do is select it to book a private event with you, including all the information they'd need for the meeting.

How to Use This Feature

To set up your own Appointment slots, start by clicking anywhere in your calendar view to create an event. When the event options appear, click "Appointment schedules," as shown below at the very top of the window. Set the date range of the slots you'd like to open up for appointments, as well as how long each appointment should be by default next to "Slots with duration."

If you'd like more control over your Appointments, click "More Options," and you'll be taken to the window shown below. Click "This calendar's appointment page" for the link you can then share with those whom you're willing to arrange appointments.

15. Browse calendars of interest.

Want to make sure you're keeping track of holidays in other countries, your favorite sports team's schedule, or just the time the sun rises and sets each day? You'll find these calendars (and more) on your Google Calendar's lefthand sidebar.

How to Use This Feature

To browse and add interesting calendars, click the plus sign (+) next to "Add a coworker's calendar." Then, choose "Browse calendars of interest." From there, choose the calendars you'd like to subscribe to.

16. Implement a custom view.

When you first set up your calendar, you'll have the option to view it as a week, month, the next 4 days, or as an agenda. That "4 days" option? You can switch that out with a different interval in your "Custom view" options.

How to Use This Feature

To adjust the number of days you see in your calendar view, click into your settings using the gear icon on the top-righthand corner of your screen. Scroll down to "View options." Click "Set custom view" and select how many days you want to see at one time from your calendar view, as shown below.

You can also make quicker, more general adjustments to your user interface right from your calendar view. Next to your settings' gear icon, you'll see a box that, by default, might say "Week." Click it to reveal a dropdown menu where you can customize your view further, as shown below.

17. Share your calendars with others.

If you're using Google Apps for your company, you can also control who sees your calendar, what they see, and whether they have permissions to edit it. (If you have an assistant, this tip will be very important to remember.) You can also make your calendar public, if you wish.

How to Use This Feature

To change your sharing settings, click on the plus sign (+) next to the preferred calendar and choose "Settings and sharing," as shown below.

Then, you'll be taken to the page shown below. Here, you can choose to do any of the following:

• Make the calendar public.
• Choose to show event details to everyone in your company, or just free/busy information.
• Add someone to your calendar and choose their individual permissions (see all details, make changes to events, hide all details, etc).

When you're done, click the back arrow on the top-lefthand corner of your screen to return to your calendar view. Google will automatically save your new calendar settings.

18. Use keyboard shortcuts.

Are you looking to really streamline your Google Calendar efforts? Google Calendar's got a ton of keyboard shortcuts to use, such as:

• t = Move your calendar view to today
• c = Create an event
• q = Quick Add an event

Check out the full list here.

19. Use quick shortcuts to find a time or jump back to your current time.

Rather than manually scrolling through each month to find a time far in the future, you can type the letter "G" when you're on your Google Calendar to quickly find a date in the future.

Alternatively, if you've scrolled toofar and want to find your way back to the current time with manually scrolling, type the letter "T" to return to the current date/time.

20. Email all invited guests.

I'll admit — I've been guilty of creating events and then missing a recipient or two when I've attempted to email the entire group a friendly reminder, or necessary information to peruse prior to the meeting.

Fortunately, with Google Calendar you don't have to manually type-in every name on the invite. Instead, go to the top of your event and click the Email icon, which enables you to email all your guests from within the calendar itself:

21. Set a "Default Duration" to make shorter meetings, or a "Default Time" to eliminate weekends from your Calendar overview.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the 30-minute or hour-long meetings that consistently deprive you of your ability to get other work accomplished, consider setting a "Default Duration" of 15 or 20-minutes for meetings so that, when you're planning quick check-ins on auto-pilot, you'll ensure you've planned your time efficiently.

Of course, for certain meeting topics, 30-minutes to an hour is necessary. But if the majority of your meetings are "catch ups" or brief 1:1's with colleagues, consider whether you can communicate the major points in 20 minutes or less, and save the more minor details for a follow-up email.

Alternatively, if you're like me, you only use your Google Calendar for the workweek — why, then, do you need the added space of Saturday and Sunday?

A while ago, I clicked the "Week" toggle at the top of my calendar and de-selected "Show weekends" to ensure I felt I could visualize exactly how my workweek was going to look — and saved my weekends for relaxation and more casual plans I could save in my phone if necessary.

Streamline Your Schedule

Google Calendar can start to feel a lot less simple the more events you have on your agenda. Luckily, these hacks and under-the-radar features make your life in Google Calendar much easier to organize.

Ideally, you'll use one (or a few) of these features to ensure you're using Google Calendar to youruniquebenefit and to fit your own lifestyle and work preferences, rather than accepting the default settings.

Editor's note: This article was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Job satisfaction is like a warm, cozy blanket on a cold winter day. It‘s waking up and being excited to go to work. It’s the feeling of achievement and gratification after completing a task. In other words, job satisfaction is the degree of joy and fulfillment a person attains from their selected occupation.

Would you like your workforce to be driven, devoted, and efficient? Then, you need to focus on their job satisfaction. Research has revealed that content, happy employees are likely to remain in the organization, take fewer absences due to illness, and be more efficient.

It falls upon you as a manager to ensure that your team members are satisfied and dedicated to their work. This article will explore five guaranteed ways to boost job satisfaction on your team, backed by data and research so that you can improve productivity, retention, and overall success in your organization.

Table of Contents

• What is job satisfaction?
• Why is job satisfaction important?
• Famous Companies Take On Job Satisfaction
• How to Boost Job Satisfaction
• Job Satisfaction Statistics

What is job satisfaction?

Job satisfaction refers to the overall fulfillment, contentment, and positive emotions an individual experiences towards their job.

It’s influenced by factors such as meaningful work, autonomy, fair compensation, opportunities for growth and development, and work-life balance.

According to a global survey run by LinkedIn and Imperative, 74% of job candidates desire employment where their work matters.

High levels of job satisfaction can lead to increased motivation, and a strong desire to stay with a company.

Overall, job satisfaction is a crucial element in a fulfilling and successful career.

When people feel fulfilled at work, they tend to exhibit greater commitment, motivation, and productivity. Ultimately, this leads to enhanced job performance and organizational achievements.

Why is job satisfaction important?

Picture this: An office full of employees with smiles on their faces, eagerly tackling their work with enthusiasm and energy. It‘s a scene any employer would want to see, and it’s all thanks to job satisfaction.

Here are five of the biggest reasons job satisfaction is important.

1. Boosts Employee Engagement and Productivity

Satisfied employees are more engaged, motivated, and productive.

In fact, a University of Warwick study shows that happy workers are 12% more productive than unhappy ones.

However, according to a Gallup poll, only 34% of US employees are engaged at work, meaning that most workers aren't fully committed to their jobs.

To put it in perspective, companies with engaged employees earn 147% more than their peers. Prioritizing job satisfaction can help companies enjoy these benefits and more.

2. Increases Customer Satisfaction

Employees who are happy in their jobs often provide better customer service.

A Gallup study revealed that employees engaged with work have a greater likelihood of improving customer satisfaction ratings by 10% and boosting sales by 20% compared to those who are disengaged.

3. Promotes a Positive Company Culture

Cultivating a workplace that emphasizes the importance of employee satisfaction and well-being can have widespread effects within an organization.

By valuing and supporting employees, there’s a greater likelihood that they’ll approach colleague and customer interactions with positivity and enthusiasm. The result can be a more collaborative, productive company culture.

4. Reduces Turnover Costs

Employers invest considerable effort and resources in attracting and preparing new staff members. Retaining employees by ensuring job satisfaction can save costs associated with high turnover rates.

In fact, a Gallup study found that replacing an employee can cost up to 200% of their annual salary.

By prioritizing job satisfaction and creating a positive work environment, businesses can retain valuable employees and save on turnover costs.

5. Improves Employee Health and Well-Being

The effects of job satisfaction go beyond employee performance, as it also greatly impacts employee health and well-being.

Some research shows that employees who are satisfied with their jobs are likely to experience less stress and better overall health.

According to a study by the University of Michigan, workers who experience job satisfaction have a lower risk of heart disease compared to dissatisfied team members.

Famous Companies Take On Job Satisfaction

Enhancing job satisfaction is a critical element for organizations to retain high-performing employees, improve productivity, and foster a favorable corporate environment.

Here are three examples of famous companies that have prioritized job satisfaction in their workplace — with success.

Google

Google recognizes that job satisfaction is vital to employee engagement and retention. An array of benefits, such as onsite wellness services, high-quality meals, and access to healthcare, help ensure employee satisfaction.

The company encourages creativity and ownership among employees by providing them with the opportunity to devote 20% of their time to personal projects.

This may result in heightened job satisfaction and a feeling of pride in the organization's offerings.

What we like: Google's focus on employee satisfaction and happiness is a key part of their corporate culture, and it shows.

By offering unique benefits and encouraging creativity, they’ve created a workplace where employees are excited to come each day.

Best for: Organizations seeking to cultivate an environment of ingenuity and inventiveness while also prioritizing the contentment and welfare of their workforce.

Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a global consumer goods company that’s implemented several initiatives to improve job satisfaction for its employees.

One of the company's most notable programs is its “Connect + Develop” open innovation strategy, which encourages employees to collaborate and share ideas with colleagues from different departments and locations.

This approach fosters a sense of teamwork and belonging and offers opportunities for personal and professional growth.

What we like: P&G's focus on collaboration and innovation helps build a positive company culture while also creating a more fulfilling work environment for employees.

P&G has fostered a collaborative work climate where employees share ideas and work towards a shared objective, leading to a workplace where individuals feel appreciated and driven to succeed.

Best for: Companies looking to promote teamwork and collaboration among employees while encouraging innovation and personal growth.

P&G's Connect + Develop program offers a model for building a culture of creativity and collaboration, leading to increased job satisfaction and improved business outcomes.

Adobe

Adobe prioritizes employee engagement and satisfaction by offering a variety of programs and benefits.

One example is their “Life@Adobe” program, which provides employees with a range of resources, such as health and wellness programs, financial counseling, and career development opportunities.

They also encourage a culture of transparency and open communication through employee feedback and regular town hall meetings.

What we like: Adobe shows its commitment to employees' well-being by providing a variety of benefits, including health and wellness and professional development opportunities.

They encourage a culture of openness and communication in the workplace so that employees feel valued and appreciated.

Best for: Organizations that aim to cultivate an environment of open communication and transparency, prioritize employee well-being, and encourage professional growth.

How to Boost Job Satisfaction

1. Give consistent praise, and focus on impact.

Office Vibe's State of Employee Engagement research report found 63% of employees don't feel they get enough praise.

By consistently telling your employees when they‘ve done a good job, you’ll make them feel more proud of their work and provide them with incentives to work harder in the future.

Additionally, as previously stated, employees need to feel like their work matters.

Rather than saying, “Good job on that Facebook campaign,” consider explaining to your employee how her work makes a difference for your team and the company as a whole.

Your employees will feel less dispensable if you focus on how their work relates to long-term company goals.

For instance, you might say, "I'd like to take the time to thank you for the effort you put into your last Facebook campaign.

The campaign helped attract an audience of over 17,000, and 12% of that audience turned out to be quality leads, which is incredible."

With this praise, you‘ve demonstrated to your employee that her work matters to the company’s bottom line and to the future success of your team. This positive reinforcement could go a long way toward increasing her job satisfaction.

2. Offer career development, training, or education opportunities.

Nowadays, career development is no longer just a nice perk.

In fact, a LinkedIn Workplace Learning report found 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career.

By offering career development and actively seeking out opportunities to help your employees grow, you're signaling how much you care about their long-term success.

Training your employees and allowing them to expand their skills will also help your team become more successful long term.

For instance, HubSpot offers master classes, which are classes in which employees teach other employees skills such as video production or SEO.

As employees gain these skills, they can apply them to their roles, making them more well-rounded and innovative.

A Leadership Training program is also a chance for you to prepare your employees to become managers and team leaders down the road. This can reduce turnover and enable your employees to grow with the company.

3. Show you care about your employees’ mental and physical well-being.

Your employees can‘t be satisfied in the workplace if they feel they’re sacrificing their physical or mental well-being.

To boost job satisfaction, it‘s critical you make an effort to show employees that their health matters. Plus, if your employees take the time to recharge throughout the day, they’ll be more productive on the job.

To show you care about your employees' physical well-being, consider how you might incorporate physical activity into the workplace.

It‘s okay if you don’t have the budget to install a gym — simply creating a culture in which it's okay to leave early to catch a workout class can help.

Additionally, it's important you create opportunities to reduce stress and promote mental well-being.

For instance, perhaps you offer flexible hours, so employees can avoid a stressful commute in the morning. Alternatively, you might create lunchtime mindfulness sessions, like Google, Nike, and Apple.

At the very least, take the time to check in with employees and ask them how they're feeling about their workload. If they seem stressed, consider how you might help delegate tasks to help them get back on track.

4. Foster an environment in which coworkers can bond.

The majority of people dedicate more hours to their jobs than to their significant relationships with spouses, children, or friends.

To boost job satisfaction, it's critical you find ways to help your employees connect with one another and form genuine friendships.

To foster workplace connections, consider adding games or activities to your shared space — for instance, you might purchase a ping-pong table or game console to encourage employees to engage with one another.

Alternatively, you might plan weekly “breaks” from work, like Friday happy hour or Monday team lunches.

It‘s also important you plan regular team outings to get outside the office. Your employees are more likely to form authentic friendships outside the office when they don’t feel they need to act as strictly professional.

For instance, you might take them to an arcade or baseball game. A new environment could help employees bond on a deeper level.

Additionally, taking the time to celebrate major milestones in employees’ lives can help them feel appreciated. For example, you could gather a group for a coworker‘s birthday or another coworker’s engagement.

5. Conduct job satisfaction surveys.

You‘ll never know if your strategies are working if you don’t regularly conduct surveys to see how happy and satisfied your employees are. Job satisfaction surveys will help you see areas of improvement you might've otherwise missed.

Additionally, job satisfaction surveys show your employees that you care about how they feel. By allowing them to voice their opinion, you're showing them they are important to the company.

Ensure your survey is anonymous so employees feel comfortable voicing their concerns.

The eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score) is a good tool to measure employee engagement. Alternatively, you might create your own company survey using SurveyMonkey or Google Forms.

Job Satisfaction Statistics

To understand the measurable difference job satisfaction can make for your company, take a look at the following statistics.

• Engagement-driven organizations outperform non-engaging organizations by 202% (Business2Community).
• When employees are given new challenges, they are 83% more likely to stay with their organizations (ReportLinker).
• When it comes to choosing a job, 42% of millennials say learning and development is the most important benefit (Udemy).
• Globally, only 15% of employees are engaged at work (Gallup).
• Over 80% of full-time workers are actively seeking or passively open to new job opportunities (Ajilon).
• 77% of job seekers consider the culture of the workplace before seeking a job there (Business News Daily).
• 92% of employees said they would stay with their jobs longer if their bosses showed more empathy (Businessolver).
• When employees feel they have the chance to use their best strengths and abilities at work, they are 15% less likely to quit their jobs (Gallup).

Invest in your employees’ happiness today.

The level of job satisfaction among employees plays a substantial role in their engagement, retention, and the overall performance of a company.

By implementing these five guaranteed ways to boost job satisfaction on your team, you can improve the workplace environment and create a culture of positivity, creativity, and productivity.

Keep in mind that contented employees are more driven, and the returns on investing in their happiness are significant over time.

Image is an important aspect of brand awareness, which influences whether your potential customers know, like, and trust you. Where publicity is outside a brand's control, public relations (PR) is an effective way to contribute to the conversation.

In this article, we'll define what public relations is and what to expect if choosing it for a career path.

Skip to:

• Public Relations Definition
• Being a PR Professional
• Types of PR
• PR Damage Control

There’s an old saying: “Advertising is what you pay for; publicity is what you pray for.”

Public relations isn’t an easy profession to define. In fact, in 2012, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) accepted a few thousand submissions before finally agreeing on one:

So how can an organization take its beneficial relationship to the public and turn it into good press? Are you really “praying” for something, like the old saying goes, if you’re using a strategic process to get results?

If public relations is a bridge for that relationship, then public relations professionals are the bridge builders. Let's talk about them a little more specifically:

What is a public relations professional?

A public relations professional is in charge of creating and executing a PR strategy, helping a business or individual cultivate a positive reputation through various unpaid or earned channels and formats, including press, social media, and in-person engagements. They also help clients defend their reputations during crises that threaten their credibility.

Working in PR

The path to becoming a PR professional is not linear like one for something in STEM. Instead, PR professionals often come from a variety of backgrounds including communications, political science, business, or journalism.

Despite having disparate backgrounds, most people working in PR are scrappy, problem-solvers who can think of solutions on the fly. They have great written and oral communication skills combined with an eye for detail and strong critical-thinking muscles.

Since all organizations need some form of PR, those looking for a career in the field have options across multiple industries. This makes it easy to choose a niche that interests you most. From tech to government to nonprofits — public relations professionals are in demand.

Public Relations Types

In larger companies, public relations functions are often split into different departments. Below are some of the most common.

Media: Media relations is responsible for fostering favorable relationships with external media like news organizations, blogs, and industry-related organizations.

Community: This department focuses on building a brand’s reputation within a specific community or niche. For example if a company sells camping equipment and hiking gear, it makes sense to form relationships with outdoor enthusiast organizations.

Government: Government relations is responsible for managing the relationship between a brand and a governing body. PR professionals in this role aim to influence politicians and lawmakers to get favorable outcomes for the brand. This could mean influencing certain policies or providing feedback to decision-makers about industry-specific topics.

Investor: Found in publicly traded companies, investor relations departments manage communication between shareholders and analysts.

Internal: Internal relations is responsible for communication between a brand and its employees. This department not only disseminates important company information, but also acts to quell employee dissatisfaction before it hits a public forum.

Production: This department handles one-off projects like new product or service launches, manages communication around a particular product change, or other special marketing campaigns.

In order to understand how all these PR facets work together, you must first consider the two sides of PR: the positive storytelling side and the negative damage-control side.

Positive Public Relations

If an organization is proactive about their image, they will likely be investing in positive public relations where a PR professional helps portray the brand's reputation, idea, product, position, or accomplishments in a positive light.

So, in a sense, you can think of PR professionals as storytellers. Unlike advertisers, who tell stories through paid methods, PR professionals tell their stories through unpaid or earned media.

These unpaid or earned avenues include:

• News and press
• Media outreach
• Social media
• Speaking engagements

Keep in mind that a PR professional isn’t just trying to reach a paying customer ... they're trying to reach everyone.

Example of Positive PR

Let’s say you work for a small interior design company, and your business just won an award: “Best Interior Design Company in Chicago.” A PR specialist might draft a press release and conduct outreach to reporters to write a story about this accomplishment to spread the news to the public.

Along with building a credible reputation for your interior design business, the PR professional is also helping the public receive relevant information about this accolade. If I’m a consumer looking for an interior designer, this announcement could help me, too.

Public relations extends to government, too. PR professionals can execute political campaigns or explain a government’s new policy to the public. In this case, you can see how PR professionals work to maintain a healthy and productive relationship between their client (the government) and the general public, who have a right to hear about new policies.

Damage Control in PR (Negative Public Relations)

PR isn’t just used for positive storytelling. It’s also used to mitigate any damage that could weaken a client’s reputation.

If public discourse around a particular brand has a negative sentiment, perhaps as a result of negative publicity or news, a PR professional's job is to advise the organization on how to proceed.

After all, if conversations are being had, then an organization should share its side of the story. However, how they respond will have an impact on the public's perception. If done poorly, it could make the situation worse.

A PR professional will then be tasked with:

• Crisis communications
• Damage control
• Response and/or apology messaging
• Reputation restoration strategy

Example of Damage Control in PR

In the early 1980s, numerous bottles of Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol product were laced with cyanide by an unknown person, killing seven people. This led to widespread panic and could have resulted in the end of Tylenol products.

Johnson & Johnson took aggressive PR measures to mitigate the damage: First, the company pulled all of its Tylenol products off the shelves and issued a national statement warning consumers not to purchase or use Tylenol. Then, Johnson & Johnson created a new tamper-resistant seal and instructed 2,000 sales personnel to deliver presentations to the medical community to reintroduce these new, safer Tylenol bottles.

This effective PR strategy saved Johnson & Johnson’s reputation as well as their product — in fact, Tylenol shares climbed back up to 24 percent just six weeks after the cyanide crisis.

In the case of Johnson & Johnson, a simple advertising campaign wouldn’t have worked. Instead, PR was necessary: PR professionals were able to spread a story that portrayed Johnson & Johnson as a company that puts consumers ahead of profit. Along with mitigating damage to Johnson & Johnson’s reputation, PR was used to save more people from consuming cyanide-laced Tylenol, and then used to inform the public that Tylenol was safe again. A win-win-win.

PR as an Important Marketing Strategy

In these examples, you can see PR professionals are adept at handling a wide variety of both good and bad circumstances and must address these events so the public and client can maintain a beneficial relationship. PR specialists also play a role in advising management on the best policy decisions or actions to take and conducting programs, such as fundraising or networking events, to help the public understand the organization’s goals.

PR isn’t just used to influence a story after it happens — it’s also used to write that story in the first place.

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

Sorority recruitment has transformed from a secretive process to big social media business.

In the fall of 2021, sorority rush at the University of Alabama took TikTok by storm, effectively becoming RushTok. During that recruitment season, sorority hopefuls posted daily TikTok vlogs sharing everything from their outfits of the day, to what they’re carrying in their bags, documenting the entire process until the sororities made their final selections.

Audiences worldwide quickly became captivated by the process, choosing their favorite recruits to follow and root for. To date, the hashtags #BamaRush and #RushTok have 4B and 2B views, respectively.

Potential new members (PNMs) curated their social media feeds months in advance, hoping to make a good impression. Some PNMs who documented the process via TikTok used the week of events to jumpstart careers as influencers, continuing to deliver (sometimes branded) content to the audiences amassed during recruitment.

It’s not just the potential recruits using social media to make an impression — the chapters also use social media as a recruitment tool. Plenty of RushTok videos also showcase highly choreographed dance routines and friendship-based content to woo potential new members.

How RushTok Became A Marketing Engine

What started as engaging content in 2021 has evolved into a powerful marketing engine that brands want in on. As potential new members shared their experiences and gained popularity, they also caught the attention of brands.

Scrolling through the comments of RushTok videos, the accounts of major brands are among those rooting for certain participants. It’s a simple social listening play to garner visibility in the comment section of popular posts during a key social media event.

Beyond social listening, major brands such as Rent the Runway and Amazon, along with local Alabama brands like the Pants Store took things a step further by working with RushTok creators on sponsored content deals.

Last year, cosmetics brand Tarte sent free products to 90 sororities and 100 sorority hopefuls who received high engagement while using the hashtag #RushTok. The move generated valuable social impressions for Tarte.

Image Source

Though college students may not be every company’s target demographic, the RushTok audience spans wider. Users of various age groups and backgrounds have been locked into recruitment content for the past three years and are actively participating in the comments section of RushTok posts alongside various brands.

As RushTok continues to grow, marketers will find more creative ways to get in on the action, and the process will likely continue to introduce audiences to the next generation of creators.

HubSpot's monthly blog traffic flattened in 2017, and the culprit was relying on our intuition to determine our audience's preferences. We pivoted to organic search, which generated most of our traffic and propelled us past the plateau.

In this post, we’ll outline the organic strategy that fueled our traffic boost and essential research insight and tips from SEO experts.

Download this checklist and save it to your desktop to check-off an SEO tip every time you complete it.

1. Spend as much time on the SERPs as you do in tools.

Even though an algorithm dictates a search engine's results page (SERPs) rankings, the algorithm rewards web publishers that craft the best content on the internet.

Because of this, it’s important to understand search intent. To accomplish this, we analyze a keyword's SERP and determine the problems users are trying to solve when searching for this query.

Aja Frost, Director of Global Growth at HubSpot, says, "Yes, tools offer us a ton of information. But that information is often based on incomplete, out-of-date, or biased data sets. I encourage SEOs to combine the insights they're getting from their tools with real-time clues on the SERPs. Every time you decide to target a new keyword, refresh a piece of content, or diagnose a page or section of pages with irregular traffic, take a look at what's coming up for the main queries on Google."

Depending on your goal, Frost says to pay attention to:

• Search features,
• The type of content that's ranking (product pages, listicles, tutorials, etc.),
• The websites that are ranking (databases, businesses, media sites, directories, etc.),
• How far down the page the first organic result appears,
• How your page shows up (title, meta description, date, jump links, schema if applicable, etc.).

When you conduct these kinds of searches, "Don't forget to use an incognito window, frequently clear your cache, cookies, and history, and run your searches on both a desktop and phone," Frost adds.

2. Master the SERP overlap test.

While in SERPs, Frost conducts a SERP overlap test. She says, "I use this test all the time to determine whether to target two-plus queries with a single piece of content."

Now, you might be wondering, what is the SERP overlap test?

Frost details the steps below:

1. Do a quick search in incognito for Keyword A and a separate search for Keyword B.
2. If the SERPs look fairly different (i.e., the top-ranking pages are different, or the first result for Keyword A is the ninth result for Keyword B), Google treats those queries as separate searches with different intent.
3. However, if the SERPs have a lot of overlap, you can treat them as the same query.

3. Aim for the featured snippets in SERPs.

Featured snippets are what search engines use to display an answer to a query directly on the SERP, so a user doesn't need to visit another page to get the answer to their question. Featured snippets can be:

• Paragraph-formatted answers
• Bulleted or numbered lists
• Tables
• Videos
• Interactive accordions
• Short, rich-answer callouts
• Interactive tools and calculators

The image below is an example of a featured snippet for the query “What is inbound marketing?”

As you can imagine, featured snippets impact organic search results, which is why it’s also essential to try and rank with as many featured snippets as possible.

To do so, create posts that answer specific questions users have. The content within your featured snippet must be semantically relevant to the keyword a user searches for. This means that you can’t answer the question of “What is inbound marketing?” with unrelated content as the algorithm knows enough to detect relationships between the keywords and descriptions you give.

Additionally, your blog post should be organized and formatted in a way that lets Google know you've answered a question. For instance, this could mean using specific coding, so your featured snippet stands out on the page.

According to Karla Cook, Content Marketing Director at HubSpot, "Targeting featured snippets with consistently formatted sections has removed some (but definitely not all) of the guesswork when it comes to ranking for featured snippets."

Matthew Howells-Barby, Vice President of Growth at Kraken, has stressed that clean and consistent code is a significant factor in winning snippets.

4. Consider on-page SEO, but not everything you publish has to be search-friendly.

On-page SEO is the process of optimizing a page on your site with front and back-end components that help you rank higher in search engines. These components include:

• High-quality page content
• Page titles
• Headers
• Meta descriptions
• Image alt-text
• Structured markup
• Page URLs
• Internal linking
• Site speed

For this example, let's focus on the copy-oriented elements like high-quality content, page titles, headers, meta descriptions, and image alt-text.

You should prioritize creating optimized page copy to improve your SERP rankings. What you write should include your target keyword, be contextually relevant to your target keyword, and answer questions your users may have. Ultimately, the goal is to indicate to search engines that you've answered questions a user might have about a query.

However, Victor Pan, Principal Marketing Manager of Marketplace Growth at HubSpot, says that not everything you publish has to be search-friendly.

"This could be ad landing pages, thank-you pages, internal sales enablement pages, and login pages. Prioritize optimizing for search when the opportunity is greater than the time invested, and leave the rest on the back burner. Tackle the back burner once you're able to build a process to reduce the amount of time needed to optimize," he adds.

5. Target a variety of high and low-volume keywords.

48% of SEOs responding to our recent Web Traffic & Analytics survey say they target highly competitive keywords, while another 47% say they target keywords with average competition levels.

With an organic search strategy, it's important to target keywords that span an entire buyer's journey, including a variety of high and low-volume keywords.

Braden Becker, SEO Lead at Faire, says, "Broad, early-interest keywords tend to be higher in volume, while later-interest or even purchase-ready keywords tend to be lower in volume because the audience is more specific. Therefore, you shouldn't be afraid to target low-volume keywords if they have a higher likelihood of turning traffic into leads or customers."

According to Frost, it's important to get creative with the high-volume keywords you’re targeting. The HubSpot SEO team conducts in-depth keyword research, first looking for search volume (some as high as 120,000+, others as low as 50).

HubSpot’s SEO Marketing Software includes a content strategy tool that helps you discover topics that matter to you and your audience. You’ll learn keywords’ MSV, relevance, competition, and popularity, helping you identify a range of high and low-volume keywords to target.

Get started with HubSpot's SEO Marketing Software

6. Consider pruning content after long periods of growth.

Pruning your content is the process of reducing the number of indexed pages by deleting old, low-quality content that doesn't add value to your site.

Becker says, "Consider 'pruning' content after long periods of growth. As websites grow and scale, you'll find some content fails to perform as expected. As that pile gets bigger, it can have adverse effects on the rest of your site's speed and performance. Audit your site for pages that aren't driving a certain level of traffic, backlinks, or conversions, and unpublish them."

You can learn more about the content pruning process here.

7. Consolidate website pages using redirects and canonical tags.

When you conduct a site audit, you may find multiple pages containing similar content. If that happens, you should consider consolidating website pages using redirects or canonical tags.

Becker says, "Nobody wants multiple pieces of website content serving the same purpose because it can cause you to cannibalize your traffic in SERPs." To fix this, you can redirect low-performing pages to a page on your site containing related information.

Becker adds, "Besides redirecting, if you have exact duplicates, you may even add a canonical tag from the duplicate to the core page, which keeps the duplicate visible but tells Google to prioritize the core page when ranking your website. Be careful when deciding to canonicalize or redirect — these are delicate decisions and should only be made when it makes perfect sense to."

Google explains more about this process here.

8. Implement a historical optimization strategy.

In 2015, Pam Vaughn, Marketing Fellow at HubSpot, web strategy expert, and former editor of our Marketing Blog,made a revolutionary discovery about HubSpot's organic blog traffic — the overwhelming majority of it came from posts published before that month. In fact, 76% of our monthly blog views came from these old posts.

Today, Vaughn's groundbreaking revelation rings louder than ever — 89% of our monthly blog views come from posts published at least six months prior, and we've developed an entire strategy dedicated to refreshing and republishing these historical pieces of content. We call these types of blog posts updates, and they comprise 35-40% of our editorial calendar.

By refreshing them with new information, SEO tactics, and effectively republishing them as new blog posts, we can build upon their existing organic value and user engagement and double or even triple their traffic. This process also helps us optimize our blog for efficiency, decreasing the amount of new content we have to create while simultaneously increasing our organic traffic and conversions.

Historical optimization isn't for everyone, though. It's a strategy catered for a blog that:

• Generates a significant amount of organic traffic,
• Has a considerable amount of blog subscribers,
• Has social media followers that can supply a surge of traffic, shares, and backlinks to your updates,
• Owns a substantial repository of old posts that are worth refreshing and republishing.

If you have all four of these things, we recommend implementing a historical optimization strategy. To learn about specific types of historical content you should update and the exact process of updating them, check out this blog post written by Pam Vaughn herself.

9. Train your website visitors to search for your brand.

SEO is used to increase the number of unbranded searches for your business.

Pan says, "The logic was that these were potential customers that would not have otherwise converted. This logic is good for a young business, but for mature businesses that have a good relationship with their customers, branded traffic is just as important."

For example, platforms like Amazon have trained their customers searching on Google to append "amazon" to their searches for site-specific results.

Pan says you can encourage and inspire users to do this by becoming the go-to expert on topics related to your brand. Since Amazon is one of the leading shopping sites, customers refer to the platform for their shopping needs. To become an expert, you have to develop page authority.

10. Develop page authority.

Page authority is one of the factors search engines use to determine rankings. For example, if you’re a seasoned blog with a reputation as a go-to industry expert, your site will likely rank higher than pages on a more recent site.

Given this, it’s important to build your brand and authority within your niche. Google’s E-E-A-T framework is a great way to build this type of authority. E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, and here’s a breakdown of its parts:

• Experience relates to having real-world and personal experience with a topic or the content you write about or include on your site.
• Expertise means that you have training, real-world experience, or even verifiable credentials related to the topic or content you write about or include on your site.
• Authoritativeness is your ability to be seen as an authority on the topic or content you write about or include on your site.
• Trustworthiness means your website's content is credible, factual, and true.

According to professionals, trustworthiness and expertise are the most important E-E-A-T factors for showing up in SERPs.

Some great ways to build your reputation and authority are blogging regularly, guest posting on other sites, and simply being active in your industry are valuable ways to build your reputation.

You can also write about tangential topics your customers might be interested in so you always provide them with the most relevant information while signaling to search engines that you write about your industry in-depth.

All of these strategies will give your website authority and indicate to search engines that they need to pay attention to your domain.

11. Leverage the pillar-cluster model.

People rely on Google to provide accurate and relevant answers to their questions, so search engines need to understand every search’s intent and context.

To do this, Google has evolved to recognize topical connections across user queries, monitor similar queries users have made in the past, and surface content that they deem the most authoritative on the topic. To help Google recognize our blog content as a trusted authority, we decided to implement the pillar-cluster model (further explained in the video below).

By creating a single pillar page that provides a high-level overview of a topic and hyperlinks to cluster pages, we effectively signaled to Google that our pillar page is a source of authority on the subject.

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Another benefit of the pillar-cluster model is that it provides site visitors with a better user experience. Not only is it easier for Google to crawl our blog and identify semantic relationships between posts, but it's also easier for our audience to find the content they’re looking for.

12. Create a link-building strategy.

Earning high-quality inbound links from websites and pages with high-authority is crucial for boosting your domain authority. Unfortunately, as nice as it would be, "If you write it, they will link to it” is not a viable SEO tactic.

The primary method we use to earn high-quality links is networking with other sites with a higher domain or page authority and requesting links to our content. We also make sure our content is relevant to the referring website's content.

13. Don’t change URLs.

The inventor of the internet, Tim Berners-Lee, once said, "Cool URIs don't change."

In fact, it's a popular saying — "What makes a cool URI? A cool URI is one which does not change. What sorts of URI change? URIs don't change: people change them."

As a refresher, URI stands for Uniform Resource Identifier and it is meant to identify a resource, whereas a URL gives information about how to locate a resource. For example, a URI would be your name, and a URL would be your home address. Your name simply identifies you, and a address shares where to find you.

Pan says, "URLs, a subset of URI's, should change as little as possible. The history of ‘why a URL changes' is filled with good intentions that often get lost with time, so be sure to add a note the same way you should when you notice traffic anomalies."

Note: You can do this within HubSpot's constantly evolving URL Mapping tool.

14. Compress and optimize your multimedia files.

Compressing multimedia files may not seem like a high priority for your SEO strategy, but it should be. According to Becker, your video, image, and gif file size directly affect your site’s page load speed, which is one of the ten most important ranking factors.

“The bigger an image's file size, the longer it takes your web browser to load that image, which increases your website's loading time as a whole. And the longer your website's loading time, the more likely it is that Google will penalize you,” he says.

The act of compression blends similarly colored pixels into single pixels to reduce the image’s resolution and, in turn, file size. These changes are undetectable to the human eye, as it is more sensitive to details between light and dark than colors.

Compression does not diminish the impact your images will have on your audience, and your pages will load faster. Here’s a guide to resizing and compressing your images without compromising on quality and impact. Some high-quality tools for multimedia file compression are:

• Squoosh
• TinyPNG (supports batch compression)
• You Compress
• Clipchamp

15. Use image alt text.

Search engine crawlers that scan your site can’t understand your images unless they include alt text descriptions. Because of this, adding these descriptions to your pictures is a priority for SEO, as bots will strike against you if they can’t understand what’s on your site pages. Image alt text is also helpful for ranking your site pages in image-based SERPs.

Also, alt text is a best practice for creating an accessible website. Screen readers can pick up on alt text when converting screen elements, ensuring that all of your site visitors have a consistent browsing experience.

All alt-text should be descriptive, contextually relevant to the page content, and short. Consider the following example from Becker:

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Low-quality alt text would read “Baseball player hitting a ball at a baseball field,” while descriptive and contextual alt text would read "David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox batting from home plate at Fenway Park."

16. Leverage CTAs as often as possible.

Optimizing your page to rank in search engines doesn’t do you any good if your pages aren’t optimized to convert visitors. Aim to maximize conversion opportunities by using calls-to-action with content offers relevant to page content and the different stages of the buyer's journey.

The image below is an example of a CTA on our SEO Writing: 12 Tips on Writing Blog Posts That Rank on Google blog post.

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Every page on your site is an opportunity for conversion, so every page on your site should include a CTA that aligns with visitor search intent. Since you can assume that page visitors are there to learn something, CTAs are exciting as they offer more insight and educational information.

17. Form good relationships with your developers and designers.

Hitting your SEO goals isn’t a marketing-specific effort — you’ll also need to collaborate with our developers and designers. Because of this, Frost suggests forming good relationships with these teams.

She says, "Get to know these people, learn their language, figure out what motivates them (usually it's cool projects), and, most importantly, teach them important SEO concepts. This could entice them to come to you before deleting an older page that has 500 backlinks."

18. Conduct a technical SEO audit.

When a search engine bot crawls your site for indexing, it needs to understand what your site is. That refers to content but also how your site is set up. Unorganized websites are difficult to index because contextual relationships are hard to discern, and, as a result, these pages won’t rank in SERPs.

Because of this, your site’s technical set-up is a critical component of SEO. These technical aspects can include, but are not limited to:

• Page speed
• XML site map
• URL structure
• Site architecture
• Pagination

To avoid strikes from bots, we recommend conducting a technical audit of your web pages.

19. Check, double-check, and triple-check your data.

To truly succeed in your SEO strategy, you need to measure your success by checking standard data metrics like organic traffic growth, conversion rate, bounce rate, and keyword rankings.

Becker says, "Growing organic traffic takes time, but it also takes a village. When performing keyword research, traffic analysis, or any performance-related audit, always have more than one source of data to guide you.”

If you see traffic drop in your content management system, check Google Search Console to see which pages that drop has affected. If the decline is concentrated to just a few pages or articles, use a rankings tracker. The smarter your diagnostics are, the better your decisions are in response.

SEO Is An Ever-Evolving Landscape

This post uncovered tactics that helped us devise an SEO strategy that allowed us to shatter a year-long traffic plateau and break monthly traffic records. However, as SEO is continuously changing, it’s entirely possible that these practices could become obsolete one day.

The moral of our blog's story isn't to glom onto these SEO tactics for the rest of your content marketing career; it's to keep adapting, no matter how well you're performing.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Starting your project without a kickoff meeting is like hiking without a map. Sure, you might enjoy some cool trails, but you'll probably get lost without a map and a clear plan.

The same happens when launching projects without a kickoff meeting. Only with solid communication and a plan can you keep your project on track. It’s like a GPS helping you reach your destination.

Let’s learn more about it.

Table of Contents

• What is a kickoff meeting?
• The Benefits of Kickoff Meetings
• 4 Types of Kickoff Meetings
• How to Run a Successful Kickoff Meeting
• 6 Kickoff Meeting Best Practices

What is a kickoff meeting?

A kickoff meeting sets the stage for success by clarifying project goals, defining roles and responsibilities, and outlining the project timeline.

Altogether, this results in smooth project execution. Think of it as the official start of your project — like the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

There are two types of kickoffs — internal and external. Internal kickoffs focus on aligning the internal team, while external kickoffs bring together external stakeholders or partners involved in the project.

The Benefits of Kickoff Meetings

1. Improved Alignment and Communication

The beauty of kickoff meetings? They allow everyone to share their priorities, insights, and plans. This means your team can align and agree on critical elements from the get-go.

Sage Journals conducted a community-based study highlighting the importance of kickoff events for research projects.

These events involve collaborating throughout each meeting stage, building relationships by challenging each other's perspectives, and sharing expertise.

Kickoff meetings are suggested to facilitate dialogue among team members and promote equitable partnerships.

Pro tip: Open up a dialogue to tap into your team’s collective expertise, generate valuable insights, and foster a sense of shared ownership.

2. Streamlined Project Planning and Execution

Kickoffs are like the starting whistle of a game — you assign roles and recognize potential conflicts.

This helps a team save an immense amount of energy and time, allowing you to hit the ground running with a solid project management plan in place.

Heather Negley strengthens this point in her book titled The Salesforce Consultant’s Guide: Tools to Implement or Improve Your Client’s Salesforce Solution:

“The kickoff meeting is one of the most important meetings on a project.

It is the time that the team makes the all-important first impression and talks to the client about their goals for the project. The project methodology is also taught to the client.

“During discovery, the project team conducts business analysis using a variety of techniques to gain an understanding of the current and future processes. Project members write users’ stories to prepare for the build phase.”

3. Clear Milestones and Deadlines

Picture a group of highly motivated individuals coming together to turn a plan into reality.

They meticulously execute each milestone from the planning stage to the final tests, keeping an eye on the clock and communicating openly about their progress.

This level of collaboration ensures a seamless process and timely delivery of the finished product. Jean Kang, strategic program manager at Figma, says:

“Launch your program with a bang by hosting a 30-min kickoff meeting.

• Set goals, introduce team members, and establish an execution plan.
• Define sources of truth for resources, who to go to for what, and the right comms channels (Slack, Intake form, Microsite).
• Share the decision-making framework like DACI, RACI, or RAPID.”

4. Early Feedback

The top five project management tools and techniques most commonly used are the “kickoff meeting,” “progress meetings,” “progress reports,” “requirements analysis,” and “activity list,” according to João Varajão, Gabriela Fernandes, and Hélio Silva.

These methods are vital for project success as they enable teams to receive early feedback and make necessary adjustments in real time, leading to more accurate and efficient project completion.

Pro tip: Use Slido’s emoji cloud to pose simple questions and get feedback by using emojis. With this gamification, you can collect qualitative and quantitative feedback and mitigate any tense and uncomfortable feelings.

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4 Types of Kickoff Meetings

Internal Kickoff Meeting

Best for: Project Team

The internal kickoff is a pivotal meeting that brings together a project team and sets the tone for the larger or upcoming project. It’s commonly called the project kickoff and allows team members to get to know each other.

Goals of an internal kickoff meeting:

• Establish clear communication channels, meeting frequency, and workflows.
• Identify potential bottlenecks and develop a timeline to mitigate them.
• Ensure all team members have the same understanding of project information.
• Align priorities and expectations for the project.

Ideally, an internal kickoff should cover the roles of team members, project background, project framework, and purpose.

Seasonal Kickoff Meeting

Best for: The Ahead Season

A seasonal kickoff helps energize the company for the upcoming season or year and also celebrates the previous year/season’s achievements.

Large companies often conduct a seasonal kickoff meeting at the start of the financial year, a new season, or a new year.

This internal event can be department-specific or for the entire company. It typically lasts for a day, though it can be completed in a few hours.

Goals of seasonal kickoff meeting:

• Strengthen company culture and team confidence.
• Set priorities and goals for the new season.
• Resolve some past issues.
• Motivate everyone for the work ahead.

New Team Kickoff Meeting

Best for: Building Trust in New Team Members

A new team kickoff, also known as the “getting-to-know-you” meeting, ensures proper introductions and alignment among new and current team members.

Typically held off-site, this meeting offers an opportunity for networking, inspiring speeches, collaborative brainstorming, and productive breakout sessions.

By the end of the day, team members leave with a clear understanding of how to work together effectively and achieve their goals.

Goals of new team kickoff meeting:

• Infuse a positive attitude.
• Demonstrate everyone’s roles.
• Decide on meeting frequency, communication channels, and more.
• Build trust and get to know everyone.

External Kickoff Meeting

Best for: Uniting With Clients

Imagine meeting a new client for the first time. You don’t know their work style, their preferences, or their expectations. That’s where an external kickoff comes in.

This meeting brings together the company and the client to align their goals, define the project's scope, and establish a clear line of communication.

During the external kickoff, set expectations for work reviews and determine the best way to collaborate. A formal deck will be a nice addition, too. Explore kickoff meeting deck templates.

Goals of external kickoff meeting:

• Define the project scope.
• Create a project roadmap.
• Identify and engage with project stakeholders.
• Establish protocols for regular status reports.

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How to Run a Successful Kickoff Meeting

If you've never planned a kickoff, the following step-by-step guide will show you exactly how to do it.

1. Prep

Decide on the meeting attendants and the duration of a kickoff. The nitty-gritty details depend on the formality and purpose of a kickoff meeting. Here are some basic factors to consider during the preparation:

• Finalize the invite list.
• Schedule the duration and time, and leave some time for questions.
• Craft an agenda.

You can use this pre-project kickoff checklist.

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Pro tip: Assign a note-taker so that any absent attendees can receive a recap. Also, if the kickoff is being held virtually, record it.

2. Intros

Introducing a new team member or meeting with a client for the first time? Don’t underestimate the value of a warm introduction. Starting off on a positive note can set the tone for a productive and successful meeting.

Example:

“HubSpoters, let’s welcome our newest team member, Sarah! Sarah is a Marketing expert who can’t wait to share her wisdom with us. We’re happy to have you here!

“Sarah, would you like to tell us a bit more about yourself?”

Pro tip: Consider funny icebreaker questions to lighten up the mood. For instance, “Tell us about your worst hair day.” But make sure the responder is comfortable with such questions.

3. Project Purpose

Ensure that everyone on the team is on the same page. They all must know why the project matters and what result they can expect.

Unfortunately, a shocking 74% of employees feel disconnected from their company’s objectives. Actually, they don’t even understand how their work fits into the bigger picture, which is pretty sad. Don’t let your team fall into that statistic.

Instead, take the time to explain your goals to each team member. And most importantly, show them why their role matters in achieving success.

Pro tip: Make sure to have a 1:1 talk with everyone (if possible).

4. Project Plan

Include this super important component in the meeting agenda to allow attendees to dive into the details before the event.

During the kickoff, focus on the primary information that really matters — core deliverables, key milestones, and the project timeline.

Pro tip: Encourage questions during this phase.

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5. Project Scope

Once you’ve outlined the core project plan, clarify what’s in scope and what’s not.

This gets everyone on the same page and prevents any confusion around deliverables and unexpected surprises down the road. Then, clearly define the project’s boundaries.

Pro tip: Include landing pages, resources, objectives, and creative demands in your project scope.

6. Project Roles

Decide on your project roles — who will be the executive sponsor and the main point of contact? Will there be an approver for the project?

This will provide clarity and direction for the team. Remember, a little planning upfront can save a lot of headaches later on.

Pro tip: Share a RACI chart as an action item. It’s a useful project management framework for clarifying roles and responsibilities for specific tasks and deliverables.

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7. Project Updates and Data

We’re all prone to waste a lot of time scouring documents and collecting information. The result? Less time to focus on high-impact work.

Therefore, establish a central source of truth for the project-related information. When team members know where to look to gain the information they need, you can expect more productivity.

Pro tip: Ensure real-time updates, deliverables, milestones, and documents are accessible in an easy-to-locate place. Use Notion, for example, as your central knowledge hub.

8. Questions

After the meeting is wrapped up, don’t leave your team in the dark. Let them ask questions regarding the project. This extra step can lead to greater alignment and insights.

Pro tip: Encourage active participation by dedicating ample time for questions.

9. Kickoff Meeting Agenda

To make this all easier for you to understand, we have crafted a sample kickoff meeting agenda.

Introduction

Allow the meeting attendees to introduce themselves. Lighten things up by asking some fun and inventive questions that are bound to spark a smile or two.

Background Information

• Explain why this project is essential to your team’s goals and the company’s success.
• Share suitable information about previous projects and clients to help the team understand the scope of the project and what’s at stake.

Project Objectives

• Discuss the project scope and objectives in detail.
• Define the metrics to measure the success of the project.

Prominent Tasks & Timeline

• Keep your project on track by outlining a clear timeline with key milestones.
• Define the roles of each team member to ensure everyone knows what’s expected of them.
• Discuss the timeline and milestones in detail, and clarify the responsibilities of each team member.

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Logistics

• Establish clear communication channels and protocols to ensure effective collaboration.
• Share contact information for all team members to facilitate communication and collaboration.
• Agree on reporting tactics and frequency to keep everyone informed and on track.

Possible Assets & Challenges

• Discuss potential opportunities that may arise during the project and brainstorm ways to leverage them.
• Evaluate existing resources and determine if additional resources are needed.

You can also use the Smartsheet template to record attendance and minutes of your project kickoff meeting.

It covers agenda items, action items, follow-up plans, meeting rules, project objectives, roles and responsibilities, and potential issues.

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6 Kickoff Meeting Best Practices

Mastering meetings takes years of practice. Luckily, the last section of our guide will share nuggets of wisdom to further boost your kickoff skills.

1. Exude positive energy.

Ditch the formal attire and leave your cold exterior at the door. Instead, bring your sunny disposition and warmth to the table.

Adrian Neumeyer, Creator at Tactical Project Manager, shares his top five personal tips for achieving a phenomenal kickoff:

According to Neumeyer, the key to a great kickoff is positive energy. By embracing challenges and setbacks with a “can-do” attitude, you can motivate your team and lay the foundation for a successful project.

2. Define goals.

Success means different things for every company and team, so ask yourself what the definition of success is and share it with everyone. Set a measurable goal so that team members can automatically take action and make efforts to achieve it.

Ask team members how the project can be successful, discuss the targets for each metric, and determine how to measure everything.

“A big part of any successful kickoff meeting is defining goals for the entire project. You should take this time to explain why this particular project is important and how it fits into the overall goal or mission of your company.

By doing so, everyone on the team will understand why their work matters — and be more motivated to complete their tasks accordingly,” says Thad Heiges, U.S. government contracts project manager at ANDECO Institute and PMs coach.

3. Keep tabs on how everyone feels.

Sometimes, certain members may feel that the project is veering off course or may be disappointed by the lack of collaboration. Of course, no project manager wants to have disengaged or apathetic team members.

Pro tip: We recommend sharing thoughts and feelings after the meeting to make sure everyone is aligned. If you notice a team member behaves somewhat off, take them on 1:1 as soon as possible to hear and resolve the cause.

Also, consider Stephanie Middaugh’s creative way of getting feedback from teams after events or training.

Stephanie, CEO at Phoenix GTM Consulting, turned a Kahoot! quiz into a survey and found most of the sales team wanted straightforward information.

Middaugh says it’s important to adapt to the current tough times and use various methods to gather feedback.

4. Share assignments in advance.

Share all essential documents with your team before the kickoff.

Instead of sending a dull email with a pile of attachments, organize materials in one knowledge hub. Encourage team members to explore it beforehand, ask questions, and share their thoughts.

5. Support engagement.

Yes, you might be the project manager. But that doesn’t mean that only you should talk during the meetings.

Encourage your team and stakeholders to share their thoughts and ideas. They might surprise you with their brilliant contributions.

Pro tip: Consider giving different team members a chance to run different sections of a kickoff. This not only takes some pressure off you but also makes the meeting more interactive and enjoyable for everyone involved.

6. Send a follow-up email.

Strike while the iron is hot and shoot off a follow-up email within 24 hours of a meeting. Don’t wait until your conversation partner has forgotten all about your interaction.

Use a follow-up template:

Hi everyone,

What a great kickoff meeting we had! I’m lucky to be leading such a fantastic and motivated team. Let’s keep the ball rolling by recapping our discussion and highlighting our next steps.

• Recap. During the meeting, we covered [the project timeline, team roles and responsibilities, and potential roadblocks]. We also brainstormed some creative ideas for our project deliverables and discussed ways to stay on track and communicate effectively. These are: …
• Next steps. Over the next few days, I’ll be sending out detailed action items and assignments based on our discussion. We’ll be scheduling our next team meeting to review our progress and stay connected on [date].

A big thank you to everyone for contributing to our successful kickoff meeting. Our achievements are a team effort.

Best,

Your Name

Finalize Your Kickoff Like a Boss

Boom! You’re now armed with the tools, templates, and frameworks to take charge of your kickoff like a boss. Let your energy and enthusiasm shine through and make everyone feel valued and inspired.