Marketers and third-party cookies -- can you name a better combo?

A few years ago, you really couldn’t. But with Google phasing out third-party cookies in 2024, marketers are busy searching for new strategies to collect user data.

While 2024 might seem far down the road, over half of marketers say their company is already exploring alternative targeting solutions.

And that isn’t surprising, because 85% of marketers say their marketing activities are reliant on third-party cookies to some degree, and 77% say Google phasing out third-party cookies will make marketing more difficult for them.

So let’s look into exactly which solutions marketers are turning towards as a replacement for third-party cookies and the unexpected impact it has on marketing budgets.

Which Third-Party Targeting Alternatives Are Marketers Exploring

Of the 54% of marketers who say their company is exploring alternative targeting solutions, more than half are looking into using social media for targeted ads as a replacement for third-party cookies. Collecting first-party data from their customers is another top strategy, as is Google Topics API.

Let’s take a quick look at each of these.

Using Social Media for Targeted Ads

Social media offer advanced targeting tools to get your ads in front of your target audience.

With the rise in popularity of social shopping, tapping into platforms like Instagram is a powerful way to reach consumers - especially Gen Z and Millennials:

Collecting First-Party Data from Your Customers

First-party data is collected directly from your customers, but how exactly do you get it and what do you do once you have it?

First-party data can be collected from many sources - your website, surveys, email, SMS, a CRM like HubSpot, and more.

Once you have first-party data, use it to gain high-quality insights about your audience and create a personalized experience for them.

Considering over half of marketers don’t know basic demographic information on their target audience, among other critical data points, shifting to a first-party approach may end up working to your benefit.

Google Topics API (Privacy Sandbox)

Though not released to the public yet, more than half of marketers looking for alternatives to third-party cookies are checking out Google Topics API. In a nutshell, it will categorize the sites people visit into various topics. Those categories are then used to show relevant ads.

For example, someone who often visits websites related to sports might be shown an ad for a live sports streaming service, all without info on the specific site they visited being tracked and shared with advertisers. Users can also control which topics they are associated with.

Universal Identifiers

A universal ID is a unique user ID that allows companies to identify users across different websites and devices. It functions similarly to third-party cookies, with a few key advantages:

• Universal ID offers cross-device tracking, creating a more seamless experience and reducing data loss
• Universal ID eliminates duplicate information, meaning more accurate sample sizes
• Universal ID solutions can be created with first-party data, offering targeting while respecting privacy

Despite just over 1 in 3 marketers exploring alternatives to third-party cookies looking into universal IDs, it is new, growing, and definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Contextual Advertising

All of the solutions we’ve mentioned so far still rely on user data and targeting. Contextual advertising is all about putting ads in the right places. For example, placing ads for a pair of headphones on a blog dedicated to music production.

In other words, the ads are displayed based on the content being shown, not by tracking the user’s past behavior.

Marketing Budgets are Increasing to Accommodate Data Privacy Changes

While the disappearance of third-party cookies means your marketing strategy will have to change, it’s also an opportunity to develop more accurate targeting methods that respect consumer privacy.

If that isn’t motivation enough, data privacy changes are causing marketing budgets to grow. Almost half (48%) of marketers say their budget has changed to compensate for data privacy changes this year, with 71% of them reporting an increase in their marketing budget.

This means you might be getting some extra budget to explore some of these alternatives and see what works best for your marketing strategy.

And it might actually make your data strategy better - over 30% of marketers in our survey say data privacy changes have had a positive impact on their overall marketing strategy.

We did some extra research and found that a growing budget is just one of the three ways data privacy changes are benefitting marketers – follow the link to find out how else marketers are seeing a positive impact.

What’s Next for Data Privacy Changes

A big challenge in dealing with data privacy changes is that they are actively developing.

We know regulations are tightening and consumers are becoming more concerned about how their personal information is used.

But how data privacy changes will actually impact marketers and which solutions will become the industry standard is still up in the air.

The best thing you can do is prepare for a privacy-first future by exploring new targeting solutions and implementing them into your future planning.

This is a major change, but keep in mind that all marketers are facing the same challenge. Some will be more prepared than others -- and the marketers most ready to adapt when the time comes will see the best results.

When it comes to marketing, almost nothing is more important than having high-quality data on your target audience. So it’s no surprise that data privacy changes limiting marketers’ visibility into what their customers are up to is a huge threat.

But what if I told you data privacy changes are actually having a positive impact on marketers?

I get it - you’re probably used to hearing about how the loss of third-party cookies, GDPR, and iOS privacy changes spell certain doom for the marketing industry - but our survey shows that isn’t true.

Out of over 1,000 marketers impacted by data privacy changes, 32% say they’ve had a positive impact on their marketing strategy over the past year, while just 10% say privacy changes had a negative effect.

At the same time, 58% of marketers report a neutral impact, which is understandable since Google’s changes are now delayed till 2024, and the impact of other privacy changes might not be fully apparent yet.

But the big question is, why are marketers seeing positive impacts from privacy changes? Let’s dive into our data to find out.

3 Ways Privacy Changes Are Helping Marketers

1. Marketing Budgets are Increasing to Accommodate Data Privacy Changes

Both government regulators and consumers are demanding data privacy changes, and marketers have no choice but to get with the times.

Luckily, marketers are being given the budget they need to explore alternative tracking and targeting solutions.

Almost half (48%) of marketers say their budget has changed to compensate for data privacy changes this year, with 71% of them reporting an increase in their marketing budget.

What's interesting is that these alternative solutions are potentially even more accurate and effective than those marketers currently use, which brings us to the 2nd benefit of data privacy changes.

2. New Data Solutions Are Better

Are the tools marketers currently use really that effective? It turns out most marketers are missing critical information on their target audience - just 42% know their basic demographic information, and even less know their shopping habits, purchase history, and which channels they consume content/media on.Alternatives like collecting first-party data, on the other hand, can be used to gain high-quality insights and deliver a highly personalized experience to your customers.

Since first-party data is collected directly from your customers, it is highly accurate and unique to your company - but for customers to give you their personal information, they need to trust you first.

3. More Trust = Better Data

Our consumer trends survey shows that close to half (45%) of consumers distrust companies with their website behavior/cookie data.

Data privacy changes can make consumers feel safer sharing their personal information, so they’ll be more willing to trust marketers with it. As one marketer in our survey put it:

“When it comes to marketing, it's all about hitting your target audience. Phasing out third-party cookies for Google makes customers more likely to trust them. That trust should translate into more reliable information that I use to target my audience through google.”

Currently, distrustful consumers leave marketers with poor or incomplete data on their target audience. Data privacy changes will allow marketers to get higher-quality data while respecting consumers’ privacy, mutually benefitting both parties.

What’s Next for Data Privacy Changes

Adapting to data privacy changes is challenging because regulations and public opinion around data privacy are actively developing.

The most important thing marketers can do is explore new tracking and targeting solutions so they are ready to adapt their data strategy when the time comes. After all, our research shows that data-driven and agile marketers will win in 2023.

With a purchasing power of more than $340 billion, Gen Z is expected to shake up the retail industry.

Although many in Gen Z are earning their first paychecks, entering college, or just joining the workforce, studies show that the generation shops and spends money much differently than its millennial predecessor.

While millennials and past generations were more loyal to brands, Gen Z is more interested in buying products that will give them the best value based on their price. Gen Zers also admit to being more impulsive in their shopping habits than older generations.

A Breakdown of Generation Z’s Spending Habits

When it comes to the total share of spending, Gen Z accounts for an estimated five percent in the U.S., according to Afterpay’s 2021 Next Gen Index. However, that number is expected to grow by 10% by 2030, as most will enter the workforce.

With every age group, generation Z’s spending habits declined at the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the Afterpay report reveals that Gen Z recovered faster than older generations.

So what are they doing right now? Well, they’re shopping more online — and we’ve got the data to prove it.

To learn more about the latest purchasing habits between generations, download our free 2022 U.S. Consumer Trends Report

Online shopping allows Gen Z to discover products from new or small companies they wouldn’t find in person.

Gen Z is leading the trend, with 74% of those 18-24 choosing mobile first for shopping. The number one place Gen Z lives online is YouTube. It’s where they spend their time but also where nearly half (47%) research products they’re interested in purchasing, according to the report. Instagram comes next, followed by Snapchat, then TikTok.

Additionally, this generation is most passionate about buying products from brands that align with their values. We found that 45% of Gen Z have boycotted a business, and 36% enjoy buying products that display their social and political beliefs. Gen Z has the most affirmative opinion on the matter: 51% agree with companies taking a stance. A recent Forbes interview by Jeff Fromm and Arizona University students perfectly captured this sentiment.

Another thing we can expect from Gen Z is their reliance on influencers to recommend products.

According to our data, influencer recommendations win out for Gen Z, with 55% of that generation surveyed saying recommendations from influencers are one of the most important factors in their purchase decision. Across generations, only 30% consider influencer recommendations as one of the most critical factors in their purchase decisions.

To help brands market to Gen Z when they reach full purchasing power, here’s what we expect them to invest in over the next year.

5 Things Gen Z Will Spend Money On

According to a 2021 Consumer Culture Report by 5WPR, Gen Z is prioritizing electronics, technology, health, and wellness.

Conversely, Millennials and those from older generations prioritize travel and experiences, home goods, and furniture.

Based on additional research, we also found that Gen Z pays special attention to small businesses. They are also willing to wait for a good discount before purchasing and take advantage of buy-now-pay-later purchasing options.

Let’s dive into each category below.

1. Electronics and Technology

Gen Z occasionally splurges on technological experiences, such as video games, that help them have fun. In fact, Newzoo reports there will be 2.95 billion gamers worldwide by the end of 2022 — with a steady growth average of 5.6% year-on-year (YoY) increase.

While you might worry that Gen Z isn't worth marketing to because they won't splurge on your products, this age group certainly can be persuaded to make larger purchases that offer fun experiences or improve their daily lives.

But, even though they will invest in higher-priced products, Gen Z will still need thorough convincing before pulling out their wallets. It's vital for brands targeting Gen Z to create content demonstrating why the age group needs their product, how the product could solve daily boredom or woes, and why it's better than a competitor's.

For example, although some consumers might consider Fitbit fitness trackers frivolous, this brand does a great job explaining why its product can be a necessary tool to use within a fitness routine.

Image Source

On social media, Fitbit gives facts about why walking and cardio – two activities the bracelet can track – are important to health. And in a November blog post, Fitbit more deeply connected its product to health needs by discussing how its reporting software could help people communicate better with their doctors.

While Fitbit doesn't claim its product is necessary for health, the brand shows audiences how the product can help them track their fitness needs and progress.

When a pessimistic or budget-conscious Gen-Z member researches Fitbit, they might find its content informative and helpful. From there, if they're interested in a healthier lifestyle, they might realize that Fitbit is a credible brand that could help them with their fitness needs.

2. Discounted Goods

Eighty percent of Gen Z surveyed in 5WPR’s report say they will wait for an item to go on sale before buying it.

Why is Gen Z so conscientious about their spending habits? Mounting research suggests that the age groups' thoughts on money link directly to the economic era they were raised in.

While millennials grew up in more stable financial times, most of Gen Z's earliest memories took place during the U.S. recession. Much of this generation grew up in highly budgeted households or saw how economic troubles impacted their families.

Meanwhile, a large percentage of millennials and those in other age groups can recollect times when their economy was booming.

Organizations, including the Pew Research Center, say these eras have psychologically molded how each generation thinks differently about money. While researchers believe millennials and Gen Z are money conscious, with the goal of avoiding financial instability, millennials are considered to be "more optimistic" about future finances.

As Gen Z ages, studies and purchasing behaviors hint that they haven't been able to shake their financial instability concerns. Research shows that the offering needs to be so valuable to them that they can justify purchasing and investing in a product or service.

A recent Business Insider report revealed that a logo regarding clothing doesn't easily persuade Gen Z. In fact, unlike other generations, brand loyalty is one of the last things they think about when making a purchasing decision. What the generation does focus on is price and value.

In the report, a 20-year-old named Amanda Chermin explained, "I can't afford nicer brands of clothes – I like to save and would rather have money in the bank than be broke."

Instead of splurging on the hottest brand from New York Fashion Week, the age group is more likely to purchase cheaper clothing that's either not from a name brand, on clearance, or re-sold.

Or they’ll buy now and pay later (BNPL).

Millennials are the leaders of the BNPL model but Gen Z is growing the fastest, accounting for 14% of users on Afterpay in the U.S.

80% of Gen Zers who use the software spend it on fashion. However, wellness, beauty, and recreation are other top categories.

Although they aren't loyal to the same stores and brands millennials zoned in on, Gen Z still feels pressure to buy and wear clothing that's considered good quality or fashionable. Aside from purchasing affordable clothing, the need to look their best has also led to many in Gen Z to invest in clothing rental services or try-before-you-buy shopping experiences.

Although Gen Z is expected to spend less money on clothing than other generations, researchers believe they still feel pressure to look good in front of their peers. These pressures, which might stem from social media, school, work, or social environments, will still drive the age group to clothing stores or ecommerce sites. While retail marketers should expect shifts in spending behaviors from this generation, Gen Z will still buy clothing that looks good on them, is good quality, and is affordable.

The themes related to clothing purchases are important to remember — even if you aren't marketing clothing products. As we've established, Gen Zers are always looking for a good bargain and won't use just a brand name to justify a purchase.

Regardless of how popular or well-known your brand is, you'll still need to highlight why your products are better than cheaper versions from competitors.

Although your logo might not persuade Gen Z to buy your product, you can still use authentic brand trust and popularity to your advantage. Although Gen Z is budget-conscious, they also care about what their peers think of them. This means they might still need to splurge on a product, such as a clothing item if they know that people in their age group have it.

If you're marketing to Gen Z, consider asking popular influencers or happy young adult customers to discuss your product on social media. An authentic product review will not only build a sense of brand trust, but will also show Gen Z audiences that the product is popular and used by people they follow.

From there, a Gen Z member might research or purchase a product simply because it's more popular or has better reviews than a cheaper alternative.

3. Health and Wellness

Gen Z mental health is an increasingly popular topic because the mental wellness of younger populations will inform healthcare trends, workforce needs, and future generations’ well-being.

Health and wellness is the second-highest category Gen Z spends on, according to 5WPR’s 2021 consumer report mentioned earlier.

This group seems to be the leader in the wellness movement building over the past few years, which promotes awareness surrounding mental health, ethical food sourcing, and other related wellness issues.

For instance, WSL reported that Gen Zers are more likely to use natural remedies than traditional medications, seven points higher than Millennials. They’re also less likely to eat fast food.

The article also highlights how Gen Z invests more (5% to be exact) in wellness than Millennials, a data point reflected in 5WPR’s 2021 Consumer Culture Report.

4. Small Businesses

According to the 2021 Afterpay Next Gen Index, small business spending has increased more than 260% for Gen Z on Afterpay, 80% higher than Millennials.

This conscious effort likely stems partly from the recent pandemic, as many small businesses struggled to survive. Just look at the growth of Small Business Saturday as an example.

According to our State of Consumer Report, 60% of Gen Zers chose a product based on it being made by a small business in the past three months.

Most were driven by the ability to build a strong bond between consumers and contribute to the local economy.

Another interesting reveal is that consumers are more willing to share their data with small businesses in exchange for discounts and deals. Another caveat is that brands must share how the information will be used.

This is great news for small businesses figuring out how to reach Gen Z consumers. It’s an invitation to be more transparent about your business and not be afraid to show what’s happening behind the scenes.

5. Education

Another key component of generation Z’s spending habits is education.

While millennials are among the most highly educated age groups, Gen Z is on track to have the highest level of education.

In 2020, the Pew Research Center reported that college enrollment is more likely in Gen Zers than Millennials and Gen Xers at a comparable age. They’re also more likely to have a college-educated parent.

At this point, Gen Z's shown themselves to start saving for college at a much younger age than millennials.

As members of the generation enroll in college or begin to spend their own money, news outlets have predicted and reported bursts in school-related purchases fueled by Gen Z shoppers.

Aside from purchasing supplies, Gen Z is also likely to invest in courses or educational programs to advance their future earnings.

From 2019 to 2020, Gen Z learners watched 50% more hours of educational content on LinkedIn. They spend 12% more time honing hard skills on LinkedIn Learning than the average learner on the platform.

Many researchers believe that Gen Z's interest in academia is rooted in their need for financial stability. Many in the age group believe that a good education will lead to a great job with high pay.

As a marketer, it's important to keep Gen Z's budgeting and educational goals in mind. This generation wants to learn new things, is saving for college, and prioritizes investments that better their future. You'll need to convince them that your product is worth buying – even when they're putting most of their money into a college fund.

As you create your product promotions or campaigns, consider how your product could help or benefit the experiences of someone planning for college, college students, or young professionals.

If your product isn't specifically geared toward education, your campaigns could zone in on how it could improve a college or work-life experience.

For example, if you're marketing furniture, you could create a promotion highlighting products that fit in an apartment or dorm room. Or, if you market a clothing company, you could highlight clothing items that could be worn in a job interview in a blog post on your website.

Aside from creating content that links your product to career interests or academics, you can also lean into Gen Z's need to learn new things by developing educational content that teaches audiences about your industry.

After viewing your educational content, audiences might want to learn more about your product and develop a stronger trust in your brand. Later, if they're interested in buying a product related to your brand's industry, they might consider your brand first.

If you want to leverage educational content, keep the age range of your audience in mind. While younger members of Gen Z might be primarily interested in B2C brand content due to their college or high-school age, Gen Zers entering internships or the workforce might value educational B2B content that can show them how to get ahead in their industry.

How to Market to Gen Z Based on their Spending Habits

Based on the research noted above, Gen Z is less likely to splurge on frivolous products or brand names. As a marketer, hearing about these mounting studies might make you nervous.

But, in the long run, the consumer trend of putting value first shouldn't scare or shock you. It should motivate you to ask, "How can I provide better value to my customers?"

Although Gen Z might seem more budget-conscious, this doesn’t mean they won’t buy anything from you. Many of your most frugal prospects will still buy, invest in, or splurge on your brand's offerings if they seem valuable, help them solve pain points, or provide a positive, memorable experience.

Ultimately, bettering your brand, focusing on the customer experience, and promoting positive company reviews will go a long way with Gen Z and all other audiences.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in July 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

What makes a blog post bad? The most pervasive problem we find is poor flow. The post jumps from one idea to the next or the post reads like a stream of consciousness – except it’s not a stylistic choice.

One way to prevent this is by creating an outline for your blog post.

Below is my method for outlining posts and organizing my thoughts to create a cohesive, logical piece.

Table of Contents

• How to Write a Blog Post Outline
• Outlining Tips from HubSpot Bloggers
• Blog Post Outline Example

1. Write down as many distinct takeaways from the article as you can.

Start with a brain dump.

Write down all the things you want your readers to get out of the article. These won't always be the main sections of your article – it's just all the things you want your readers to know by the end of reading your post.

This is the only time in the whole process you're not worried about organization – just let your ideas flow naturally. You need to get out all of your wild and crazy ideas now so they won't muck up your post later in the process.

For example, say my article is on using images to generate leaders on Twitter, I'd probably want readers to know:

• What sets a good image apart from a bad one on Twitter
• Where they can find images to use legally
• How they can create images on their own
• What sizes they need to make images
• How often they should tweet images
• How to actually upload an image to Twitter
• How they can generate a lead on Twitter
• How long their tweet should be with the image in it
• What results they should expect to get

Notice how these are really unfiltered and all over the place. That's OK. We'll rein it all in in the next step.

2. Break up those takeaways into larger sections.

Now, we'll take that jumble of ideas and place them into overarching sections.

Think of it like sorting laundry – each thought belongs to a different pile. From your brainstorm, you should come up with a few big themes.

Sometimes, one of your brainstorming bullets will be a theme in itself, but usually, several bullets will fall under one overarching theme. You may also realize that there's a theme that you may not have any bullets for, but the post definitely calls for it.

Many recommend sticking to three or four large sections, but it really depends on what type of post you're writing. If you're writing a comprehensive guide, you might need more.

If it's a quick how-to post, fewer sections would be ideal.

Using the same example, here’s how I’d bucket my ideas into the following buckets:

1. Intro
2. Crafting a Twitter Image Lead Gen Strategy
   • How they can generate a lead on Twitter
   •  
   • How often they should tweet images
3. How to Create the Perfect Lead Gen Tweet
   • How long their tweet should be with the image in it
   • How to actually upload an image to Twitter
   • What sizes they need to make images
   • How they can create images on their own
   • Where they can find images to use legally
   • What sets a good image apart from a bad one on Twitter
4. Measuring Your Strategy's Success
   • What results they should expect to get

3. Fill out the remaining sections.

At this point, your outline may still look bare in some areas.

You may have some sections with multiple bullet points and some without any. Now's the time to fill in those gaps.

What did you miss in your initial brainstorm? Thinking about what's missing is always hard, but it will help improve your final post significantly.

During this step, conduct some competitive research to see what other publications have covered on the topic and what readers are responding to.

Below shows how my outline evolved. I italicized all the things I added, and the outline is becoming closer and closer to being a post:

1. Intro
   • Images work really well on Twitter (find study)
2. Crafting a Twitter Image Lead Gen Strategy
   • How they can generate a lead on Twitter
   • How often they should tweet images
3. How to Create the Perfect Lead Gen Tweet
   • How long their tweet should be with the image in it
   • How to actually upload an image to Twitter
   • What sizes they need to make images
   • How they can create images on their own
   • Where they can find images to use legally
   • What sets a good image apart from a bad one on Twitter
   • Should you tag people in images
   • Should you use photo collages
   • What colors you should use to stand out
4. Measuring Your Strategy's Success
   • What results they should expect to get
   • Which metrics to look at
   • How to find them in your analytics
   • How to adjust the above to get better results

Essentially, you're re-doing the second step, but in a more focused manner.

4. Revise, remove, and reorganize details in each section.

Now comes the fun part: editing your outline.

You've already done the hard part of actually thinking of your ideas. Now, you're tightening up your outline to include only the most relevant information, revising the sub-bullets to actually make sense, and reorganizing the sub-bullets to tell the most logical story.

First, let me show you what I'd cut – shown in bold.

1. Intro
   • Images work really well on Twitter (find study)
2. Crafting a Twitter Image Lead Gen Strategy
   • • How to generate a lead on Twitter
     • How often they should tweet images

1. How to Create the Perfect Lead Gen Tweet
   • How long their tweet should be with the image in it
   • How to actually upload an image to Twitter (This is a pretty basic step that someone would already know if they're reading this post.)
   • What sizes they need to make images
   • How they can create images on their own
   • Where they can find images to use legally 
   • What sets a good image apart from a bad one on Twitter
   • Should you tag people in images
   • Should you use photo collages
   • What colors you should use to stand out (Don't believe there's hard data on this, just speculation. Let's cut it.)
2. Measuring Your Strategy's Success
   • What results they should expect to get (The study in the first part should cover this bullet point.)
   • Which metrics to look at
   • How to find them in your analytics
   • How to adjust the above to get better results

Next, we'll reorganize the remainder of the sub-bullets and rework them to sound like actual takeaways. We'll also turn some of the sub-bullets into sub-sub-bullets. Here's what this outline looks like now:

1. Intro
   • • Images tend to work really well on Twitter (find study)
2. Crafting a Twitter Image Lead Gen Strategy
   • How to generate a lead on Twitter
   • How lead generation fits in with the rest of your Twitter strategy
3. How to Create the Perfect Lead Gen Tweet
   • Creating it on your own
   • Finding images to use legally
   • Sizing images for Twitter
   • Tagging people in images
   • Using Photo Collages
   • How long the tweet should be with the image in
   • How to choose the right image
   • Optimizing the image for Twitter
   • Optimizing the rest of your tweet
4. Measuring Your Strategy's Success
   • Which metrics to look at
   • How to find them in your analytics
   • How to adjust your strategy to get better results

Ta-da! A much more comprehensive outline that makes your post easy to write.

5. Include links to your examples and/or data.

This is purely a time-saving trick.

After you've fully fleshed out and then trimmed your outline, you should look for examples and data to support these claims.

Once you find a source to support your arguments, just add them as a note underneath the section. That way, when you go to write it, you don’t have to go digging.

6. Nail your working title.

Now that your outline is fleshed out, you can create a headline that summarizes the purpose of your article into something action-driven and eye-catching.

Some components of a great title include:

• Numbers
• Action verbs
• Descriptive adjectives

The goal here is to have a title that gives you a very clear idea of what the whole piece is about. You can make it sound catchy later.  

Review my final outline in the next section.

Blog Post Outline Example

1. Intro
   • • Images tend to work really well on Twitter
2. Crafting a Twitter Image Lead Gen Strategy
   • Reference Anchorman line: "Come and see how good I look."
   • How to generate a lead on Twitter
   • How lead generation fits in with the rest of your Twitter strategy
3. How to Create the Perfect Lead Gen Tweet
   • Creating it on your own
   • Finding images to use legally
   • Sizing images for Twitter
   • Tagging people in images
   • Using Photo Collages
   • How long the tweet should be with the image in
   • How to choose the right image
   • Optimizing the image for Twitter
   • Optimizing the rest of your tweet
4. Measuring Your Strategy's Success
   • Which metrics to look at
   • How to find them in your analytics
   • How to adjust your strategy to get better results

Outlining Tips from HubSpot Bloggers

In addition to the steps outlined above, our HubSpot writers are sharing additional tips they’ve collected over the years.

If you’re struggling to think of sections for your blog posts, Senior Marketing Manager Basha Coleman suggests checking the “People Also Ask” section on the Google SERPS.

This section will have questions related to your initial search query. Take our example article. When you Google “using images to generate leads on twitter,” these are the questions that come up in the People Also Ask search feature.

After a quick search, you learn more about common questions from readers and can include them in your article.

Karla Cook Hesterberg, senior marketing manager of the HubSpot Blog Network, recommends putting yourself in the reader’s shoes.

“Organize your structure based on what you think that person is going to be scrolling to find and put the most important/relevant info up front,” she said.

By leveraging these solid tips, writing your actual post should be a breeze.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in May 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

The creator economy has seen exceptional growth over the last few years and will only grow more in the future. So, what does that mean for brands, and how can marketers leverage this booming economy? To answer this question, I spoke to a couple of HubSpot's marketing experts and researched the creator economy's size, growth, and the changes we can expect down the line.

Here's everything marketers need to know, starting with how the creator economy has grown over time.

How the Creator Economy Has Grown Over the Years

The exact size of the creator economy can vary, depending on who you ask. While statistics show 50 million people are contributing to the creator economy, a recent report by Linktree said there are about 200 million people as of 2022. One reason for the discrepancy could be how the numbers are calculated.

For example, there may only be 50 million content creators contributing to the creator economy. Still, the economy also consists of consumers, entrepreneurs, companies, platforms, and advertisers who keep the economy growing.

Either way, there is no doubt the creator economy is incredibly profitable. As of 2022, the creator economy market size is estimated at $104.2 billion, more than double its value since 2019.

Here are some other interesting facts about the creator economy's size:

• In 2022, an average of 2.67 million concurrent viewers watched Twitch streams on over 95,000 live channels.
• There are 7.5 million active sellers on Etsy. Remember, creators who make and sell physical goods online are also a part of the creator economy.
• YouTube has over 2.6 billion users worldwide.

So now you know how massive the creator economy is, but how much has it grown over the last few years? Let's explore.

How the Creator Economy Has Grown Over the Years

In a study published in August 2022, Adobe found the creator economy has grown by over 165 million people globally in the last two years — an increase of 119%. According to the study, creators make up about 23% of people, meaning almost 1 in 4 people worldwide are contributing to the creator economy.

Adobe notes the creator economy saw significant growth in 2020 — the year over 1 in 2 creators (52%) began posting social content, according to the study.

Image source: Adobe

The creator economy has grown, but how has that contributed to change? To get more insight, I spoke to Senior Marketing Manager at HubSpot Creators Andrèa Hudson. Hudson says the key chain she has noticed over the last five years is that brands are now focusing on the power of creators to drive impact.

"We've gone from an 'influencer' strategy to a 'creator' strategy, which means that the creator is actually a part of the marketing mix," Hudson said. "This requires a significant amount of understanding what motivates creators, how omnichannel campaigns can bring creators even further into the fold, and why creators are an integral piece of the puzzle."

Another significant change in the creator economy is its accessibility, according to HubSpot Director of New Media Kyle Denhoff.

"The barriers to creating a media product have dropped significantly," Denhoff said. "When we talk about creators, obviously there are folks that can produce something right from their phone and post it on social media — but we're also talking to independent writers, podcasters, and YouTubers who are building digital media products."

Denhoff said, "It's much easier for them to set up a home studio with lighting, audio, and great camera quality — and the tools and cost of those tools have gone down in the last couple of years. So it's easier than ever for folks to create these independent media products and get up and running."

Denhoff also says creators who may typically work for larger companies can now branch out and carve their niche in the creator economy.

"So, they were writers for The Atlantic or writers for Digiday," Denhoff said. "They had built up a profile as an expert … at that media company, and because they were already so good at their job, they had an existing audience — and now they've branched off to create their own independent media products and generate revenue as a solo entrepreneur."

An example of this phenomenon, according to Denhoff, would be The Atlantic writer Derrick Thompson who went on to host his podcast, Plain English.

Why the Creator Economy is Growing

A massive boost to the creator economy came at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when many people found themselves stuck at home or needing more income due to budget cuts and layoffs. People turned to platforms like TikTok and Twitch to ease their cabin fever during a lockdown or to earn extra income after layoffs.

However, both Denhoff and Hudson say other factors contribute to the creator economy's growth.

Aside from increased affordability, Denhoff also said another reason the creator economy is growing is how platforms cater to creators.

"The platforms where people post their content have built more tools and functionality capabilities for creators," he said. "So, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, etc., are offering them more options."

Many of those options include opportunities to make more money.

"Twitter is starting to test a little bit with offering a newsletter option, and I think there is a 'super follower' option to monetize," Denhoff said. "On YouTube, YouTubers can set up paid subscriptions … there are opportunities for people to go on these channels, product the content for the audience, and make money off that."

Speaking of money, Hudson said one of the main factors contributing to growth is "the investment dollars from companies to creators."

"Whether this is an indirect play or a direct play, the Creator economy market has reached over $104 billion in revenue in 2022, and brands will be forced to allocate spending to this sector if they plan to evolve with the future of business media," Hudson said. "Creators are operating businesses; they are finding multiple ways to generate revenue by diversifying their distribution channels."

Another factor, Hudson said, is that the pandemic forced media outlets to take on a creator-first approach and adapt marketing campaigns to a new landscape.

"Even large-scale media networks were made to report live from wherever they were, mostly their homes, and most community-focused platforms introduced a live option to tune in," Hudson recalled. "During this time, you'd be hard-pressed to find a social media platform that wasn't creator-first with their focus on driving engagement through live feeds and social media. The only place to go was to the internet; everything else was closed with no open date in sight."

How the Creator Economy Could Change in the Future

So what does the future hold for the creator economy? As the creator economy continues to expand, I believe the following will happen:

Niche content will continue to thrive.

I'll never forget when a content creator went viral on TikTok for reviewing bathroom sinks around New York City. That's when I realized today's consumers love niche content specifically tailored to their interests. And with content creation becoming more accessible, content creators with unique stories will continue to crop up.

This will also allow brands to find creators and micro-influencers who can introduce them to a new audience.

Community-centric marketing will grow.

Niche content goes hand-in-hand with community-based platforms like Twitch, Discord, and Reddit because audiences want to connect with other people who share their interests — and community-based platforms allow for connection.

As a result, the creator economy will likely focus more on establishing and maintaining a sense of community in the future.

Influencers will become more integral to businesses.

As the creator economy continues to focus on niche content and community engagement, brands will have difficulty connecting with audiences within digital spaces — because people want to communicate with other people, not brands.

To combat this, brands must collaborate with influencers with an established and engaged audience. Denhoff said brands should look to invest in long-term partnerships with creators — going beyond one-time paid advertisements on a creator's platform.

"One of the things [HubSpot] has started to do is invest in independent creators to help them do what they do well," he said.

Denhoff says that investment includes providing creators with financial value, distributing their content across HubSpot's brand channels, and cross-promoting their content across HubSpot networks. He says this partnership will allow creators to grow and reach stability while introducing brands to a new audience.

"I think marketers just have to start to think through how they can partner with creators and how they can provide more value to creators to have a true partnership instead of just a paid transaction," Denhoff said.

In summary, the creator economy isn't going away anytime soon, and it will continue to amass more revenue while focusing on creators and their niche communities. Suppose marketers want to leverage this economy to their advantage (and they should!). In that case, they will need to form long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships with influencers and creators to reach their audience.

56% of surveyed consumers have made a purchase from a company after reading their blog and 10% of marketers who use blogging say it generates the biggest return on investment. If you're writing a blog for a business, those stats make blog SEO a pretty big deal.

Even if you're blogging just for fun, SEO can help you boost your message and connect with more engaged readers.

But what is blog SEO? And how can you optimize your blog for search engines? Get ready for an in-depth exploration into the world of keywords, backlinks, and content optimization.

Start reading, or click a topic below to jump to the section you're looking for:

What is blog SEO?

Blog SEO is the practice of creating and updating a blog to improve search engine rankings. This approach usually includes keyword research, link building, image optimization, and content writing.

When you optimize your web pages — including your blog posts — you're making your website more visible to people who are using search engines (like Google) to find your product or service. But does your blog content really help your business organically rank on search engines?

Why does blogging improve search engine optimization?

Google and other search engines use ranking factors to figure out what results come up for each search query. It also decides how to rank those results. Blogging can help you optimize your site for important Google ranking factors like:

Organic Click-Through Rate

Blogging helps you create relevant content for more keywords than other kinds of pages do, which can improve your organic clicks.

For example, a person who clicks on a landing page usually has transactional intent. This means that person is clicking because they're ready to convert.

But people search online for many different reasons. And a blog has the potential to answer navigational, informational, and transactional search queries. Creating content for more types of search can increase clicks to your pages, which can improve your SEO.

Index Coverage

Google can't rank a page that it hasn't indexed. Indexing means a search engine finds content and adds it to its index. Later, the page can be retrieved and displayed in the SERP when a user searches for keywords related to the indexed page.

So, it's important to create relevant and link-worthy content to encourage Google to crawl your site pages. One way to do this is to constantly add fresh content to your site. A blog gives you a reason to post new content to your site on a regular basis, which encourages more frequent indexing.

Backlinks

When other websites link to pages on your website it shows search engines that your content is useful and authoritative. Backlinks are a sort of peer review system online. If your blog gets backlinks from respected sites, it's more likely that your website will rank in search results.

Because blog posts are likely to educate or inform users, they tend to attract more quality backlinks.

Internal Links

When you link from one page on your site to another, you're creating a clear path for users to follow. Internal links can also make it easier for people to find the content on your site they're looking for. These links also help search engine crawlers figure out the organization of your site.

A blog creates more site pages that you can link to internally. It also gives you a chance to direct site traffic to other pages that can help your users.

For example, say you run a lawn maintenance company and offer lawn mowing services. Someone searching for a lawn mower wouldn't find your services online because that's not what they're looking for (yet).

But say you write blogs about the best lawnmowers, lawn mowing challenges, or pest control for lawns. Those posts make your website easier to find. And if someone looking for lawn mowers decides they want an easier option, they could be a good candidate for your services. You can help them visit other pages on your site through internal links.

These are just a few of the many reasons that blogging is good for SEO. Blogging lets you share useful information with your audience. It can draw new customers and engage current customers. Creating a blog can help you build trust, boost sales and leads, and improve your search engine optimization.

What is blog SEO strategy?

Blog SEO strategy is a comprehensive plan to improve organic search results. This plan might include competitive research, keyword lists, or an optimization proposal.

Search engines make frequent updates. Business goals can change quickly too. But it can take an average of three to six months for a post to rank on Google. Without a strategy, you might find yourself investing in your blog but not seeing a boost in SEO.

A strategy can help you measure whether your ideas and efforts are effective. It can also help you make the most of your team's time and resources. This post can help you develop your SEO strategy if you're not sure where to start.

Blog SEO Best Practices

1. Identify the target audience for your blog.

No matter what industry your blog targets, you’ll want to find and speak to the primary audience that will be reading your content. Understanding who your audience is and what you want them to do when they click on your article will help guide your blog strategy.

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Buyer personas are an effective way to target readers using their buying behaviors, demographics, and psychographics. Without this insight, you could be producing grammatically correct and accurate content that few people will click on because it doesn’t speak to them on a personal level.

2. Conduct keyword research.

Now that you’ve selected your target audience and prepared a buyer persona, it’s time to find out what content your readers want to consume. Keyword research can be a heavy task to take on if you don’t begin with a strategy. Therefore, I recommend starting with the topics your blog will cover, then expand or contract your scope from there. For an in-depth tutorial, check out our how-to guide on keyword research.

3. Add visuals.

Search engines like Google value visuals for certain keywords. Images and videos are among the most common visual elements that appear on the search engine results page.

In order to achieve a coveted spot in an image pack or a video snippet, you’ll want to design creative graphics, use original photos and videos, and add descriptive alt text to every visual element within your blog post.

Alt text is a major factor that determines whether or not your image or video appears in the SERP and how highly it appears. Alt text is also important for screen readers so that visually impaired individuals have a positive experience consuming content on your blog site.

4. Write a catchy title.

The title of your blog post is the first element a reader will see when they come across your article, and it heavily influences whether they’ll click or keep scrolling. A catchy title uses data, asks a question, or leads with curiosity to pique the reader’s interest.

According to Coscheduler’s Headline Analyzer, the elements of a catchy title include power, emotional, uncommon, and common words. In the right proportions, these types of words in a blog title will grab your readers’ attention and keep them on the page.

Here’s an example of a catchy title with a Coschedule Headline Analyzer Score of 87:

The Perfect Dress Has 3 Elements According to This Popular Fashion Expert

• Highlighted in yellow are common words. They’re familiar to the reader and don’t stray too far from other titles that may appear in the SERP.
• "Expert" is an emotional word, according to Coschedule. In this example, the word expert builds trust with the reader and tells them that this article has an authoritative point of view.
• Purple words are power words — this means they capture the readers’ attention and get them curious about the topic.
• Another element in this title is the number three. This signals to the reader that they’ll learn a specific amount of facts about the perfect dress.

5. Include an enticing CTA.

What’s a blog post without a call to action? The purpose of a CTA is to lead your reader to the next step in their journey through your blog. The key to a great CTA is that it’s relevant to the topic of your existing blog post and flows naturally with the rest of the content. Whether you’re selling a product, offering a newsletter subscription, or wanting the reader to consume more of your content, you’ll need an enticing CTA on every blog post you publish.

CTAs come in all types of formats, so get creative and experiment with them. Buttons, hyperlinks, and widgets are some of the most common CTAs, and they all have different purposes. For instance, you should add a bold, visible CTA like a button if you want the reader to make a purchase. On the other hand, you can easily get a reader to check out another blog post by providing a hyperlink to it at the conclusion of the current article.

6. Focus on the reader's experience.

Any great writer or SEO will tell you that the reader experience is the most important part of a blog post. The reader experience includes several factors like readability, formatting, and page speed. That means you’ll want to write content that’s clear, comprehensive of your topic, and accurate according to the latest data and trends.

Organizing the content using headings and subheadings is important as well because it helps the reader scan the content quickly to find the information they need. Finally, on-page elements like images and videos have an impact on page speed. Keep image file sizes low (250 KB is a good starting point) and limit the number of videos you embed on a single page.

By focusing on what the reader wants to know and organizing the post to achieve that goal, you’ll be on your way to publishing an article optimized for the search engine.

Factors That Affect Blog SEO

Although it's clear blog content does contribute to your SEO, Google's many algorithm updates can make publishing the right kind of blog content tricky if you don’t know where to start. Some blog ranking factors have stood the test of time while others are considered "old-school." Here are a few of the top-ranking factors that can, directly and indirectly, affect blog SEO.

1. Dwell Time

Although dwell time is an indirect ranking factor for Google, it's a critical factor in the user experience — and we know that user experience is king when it comes to SEO.

Dwell time is the length of time a reader spends on a page on your blog site. From the moment a visitor clicks on your site in the SERP, to the moment they exit the page is considered dwell time.

This metric indirectly tells search engines like Google how valuable your content is to the reader. It makes sense that the longer they spend on the page, the more relevant it is to them.

However, there’s a reason this metric is an indirect indicator for SEO — it’s completely subjective. The search engine algorithms don’t know your content strategy.

Your blog could be focused on short-form content that takes just a minute or two to read. You might also include pertinent information at the beginning of your blog posts to give the best reader experience, which means less time spent on the page.

So yes, dwell time can affect SEO, but don’t manipulate your content to change this metric if it doesn’t make sense for your content strategy. HubSpot allows you to publish quality content with a free blog maker that widens your brand’s reach and grows your audience.

2. Page Speed

We mentioned earlier that visual elements on your blog can affect page speed, but that isn’t the only thing that can move this needle. Unnecessary code and overuse of plugins can also contribute to a sluggish blog site.

Removing junk code can help your pages load faster, thus improving page speed. If you’re not sure how to find and remove junk code, check out HTML-Cleaner. It’s an easy-to-use tool that doesn't require coding knowledge. It simply shows you the unnecessary code and lets you remove it with the click of a button.

I also recommend taking an inventory of your blog site plugins. Decide which ones you need to keep your blog running day-to-day and which ones were installed as a fix for a temporary issue. Plugins that affect the front end of your site are a threat to page speed, and odds are, you can uninstall more of these plugins than you think to increase your overall site speed.

3. Mobile Responsiveness

More than half of Google’s search traffic in the United States comes from mobile devices. On an individual level, your blog site might follow that same trend. There’s no way around it — optimizing your blog site for mobile is a factor that will affect your SEO metrics.

But what exactly does it mean to optimize a website for mobile? The industry rule of thumb is to keep things simple. Most pre-made site themes these days are already mobile-friendly, so all you’ll need to do is tweak a CTA button here and enlarge a font size there.

Then, keep an eye on how your site is performing on mobile by taking a look at your Google Analytics dashboard and running a mobile site speed test regularly.

4. Index Date

Search engines aim to provide the most relevant and accurate information available. A factor search engines use when determining what’s relevant and accurate is the date a search engine indexes the content.

You might be wondering: Is the date the content was indexed the same as the date it was published?

The answer: yes and no. If a blog post is published for the first time, it’s likely that a Google crawler will index that post the same day you publish it. But content can be backdated for several legitimate reasons, too, like archiving information or updating a sentence or two.

One way to positively affect this SEO factor is to implement a historical optimization strategy. This strategy works well on blogs that have been established for a few years and have a fair amount of content already.

By updating these older posts with new perspectives and data, you’ll be able to significantly impact your blog SEO without creating a lot of net new content. Site crawlers will reindex the page — taking into account the updated content — and give it another opportunity to compete in the SERP. It’s truly a win-win.

5. Recent Data

Recent data, another indirect ranking factor of SEO, should be included in blog posts. Recent data gives visitors relevant and accurate information which makes for a positive reader experience.

When you include a link to a credible site that has original, up-to-date data, you’re telling the search engine that this site is helpful and relevant to your readers (which is a plus for that other site). You’re also telling the search engine that this type of data is in some way related to the content you publish. Over time, your readers will come to appreciate the content which can be confirmed using other metrics like increased time on page or lower bounce rate.

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Pro tip: As a rule of thumb, take time to understand what each of these factors does, but don’t try to implement them all at once. They each serve a specific purpose and should be used to meet a specific SEO goal for your blog. Listen to HubSpot's Matt Barby and Victor Pan take on this topic in this podcast episode.

1. Choose blog topics with keyword research.

Your blog topics should start with your customers' most important questions and concerns. But if you want those customers to find your content, you need to use the same keywords that they use to find answers. You can find these words with keyword research.

Keyword research can also help you find new topics to write about and grab the interest of new audiences.

As you search for the right keywords for your blog, think about search intent. While some people are searching for your products to use right away, others may be at a different point in the buyer journey. So, it's a good idea to have a mix of focus keywords.

Keyword tools can help you find and narrow down your list of keywords so that you're writing the right blogs for your target audience.

2. Write a compelling blog post title.

Writing titles is tough. Many blog writers spend time writing a blog post then quickly add a title when they're done and hope for the best. But blog titles have a bigger impact than you might think.

First, titles tell your audience what to expect from your post. If your blog title is a smart and catchy question that your post doesn't answer, you'll have a lot of unhappy readers.

Next, your blog title is what makes searchers want to read your post. It doesn't matter how well-written and researched a blog post is if the title doesn't spark interest.

Title Tag

Finally, titles are essential for blog SEO. This is a place to feature your keywords in an authentic way. Google calls this the "title tag" in a search result.

Be sure to include your keyword within the first 60 characters of your title, which is just about where Google cuts titles off on the SERP. Technically, Google measures by pixel width, not character count. It recently increased the pixel width for organic search results from approximately 500 pixels to 600 pixels, which translates to around 60 characters.

Long title tag? When you have a lengthy headline, it's a good idea to get your keyword in the beginning since it might get cut off in SERPs toward the end, which can take a toll on your post's perceived relevance.

In the example below, we had a long title that went over 65 characters, so we placed the keyword near the front.

It's also important to look at the SERP results for your keyword when you're writing your post titles. This research will help you understand the most popular results for your keywords. It will also give you a better sense of what searchers are hoping to find when they click on your post.

As you write your blog titles, use words that have emotional appeal. You might want to add numbers or statistics to emphasize a point. Avoid salesy language or your post might seem like spam. These title tips offer more advice for creating great blog titles.

3. Outline your blog post with SEO in mind.

If you're used to writing blog posts from your imagination with a free flow of ideas, blog SEO might sound like a challenge. But anyone can create great SEO writing with a strong outline.

An outline can help you organize your ideas around your target keywords. It can also give you a space to figure out the best spot to include the features that make a blog post great like:

• Videos
• Statistics
• Quotes
• Internal and external links

The outline is an important creative step where you decide the angle and goal of your blog post. You already have a great post title, so your next step is to outline how your post will cover the topic. You can create a detailed outline or a quick overview, whichever is best for you.

That said, an outline is a great space to write each of your headers. Writing these during your outline can make the process of drafting your blog go more smoothly.

4. Use keywords strategically throughout the blog post.

Now it's time to incorporate your keywords into your blog post. But where is the best place to include these terms so you rank high in search results?

There are two more essential places where you should try to include your keywords: headers & body and URL.

Headers & Body

Mention your keyword at a normal cadence throughout the body of your post and in the headers. That means including your keywords in your copy, but only in a natural, reader-friendly way. Don't go overboard at the risk of being penalized for keyword stuffing.

Before you start writing a new blog post, you'll think about how to incorporate your keywords into your headers and post. That's a smart idea, but it shouldn't be your only focus, nor even your primary focus.

Whenever you create content, your primary focus should be on what matters to your audience, not how many times you can include a keyword or keyword phrase in that content.

Focus on being helpful and answering whatever question your customer might've asked to arrive on your post. Do that, and you'll naturally optimize for important keywords, anyway.

URL

Search engines also look at your URL to figure out what your post is about, and it's one of the first things it'll crawl on a page.

You have a huge opportunity to optimize your URLs on every post you publish, as every post lives on its unique URL — so make sure you include your one to two keywords in it.

In the example below, we created the URL using the keyword "positioning-statement" because we want to rank for it.

As you write, keep in mind that your copy matters a great deal for click-through rates. This is because it should satisfy your readers' intent — the more engaging, the better.

5. Make sure your blog post covers your topic completely.

Blog SEO is more than including focus and supporting keywords in your post. You'll want to make each post as comprehensive as possible to make sure it answers your readers' questions.

But what does comprehensive mean? For some, it's a matter of word count. According to HubSpot research, a blog post should be about 2,100-2,400 words long for SEO.

It's easier for longer content to rank, but not every post needs to be 2000+ words. What's most important is meeting your users' needs and expectations with your post.

A few ways to create the best blogs for your audience include:

• Checking out your buyer personas
• Research your topic on and offline
• Talk to customers and experts about your topic
• Stick to your topic as you write
• Write in a consistent voice
• Double-check facts and statistics

This article is a great place to start if you want more tips on how to write a great blog post.

6. Add SEO-optimized images and videos.

Blog posts shouldn't only contain text — they should also include images and other media that help explain and support your content.

Images make your blog posts more exciting and easy to understand. They help your readers engage, improve recall of important facts, and make your site more accessible. Videos and GIFs are other interesting and useful additions to your blog posts. They make your content more visual, interactive, and memorable.

To use images and other media with SEO in mind, there are a few important things to remember.

File size matters. Too-large images and GIFs can slow down your page speed, which can impact ranking. It's also important that your image dimensions are consistent for a professional look.

Choose the right kind of content for your brand voice. Funny GIFs are a great choice for some blogs, but if they don't feel right to your audience they can have a negative impact.

Ideally, your images should make it easier to understand difficult topics or new information. This will boost your SEO and create a better on-page experience. Check out this post for more image SEO tips.

7. Include image alt text.

Search engines don't simply look for images. Rather, they look for images with image alt text.

You may be wondering why this is. Since search engines can't "see" images the same way humans can, an image's alt text tells the search engine what an image is about. This ultimately helps those images rank on the search engine's images results page.

Image alt text also makes for a better user experience (UX). It displays inside the image container when an image can't be found or displayed. Technically, alt text is an attribute that can be added to an image tag in HTML.

Here's what a complete image tag might look like:

When you incorporate image alt text, an image's name in your blog may go from something like, "IMG23940" to something accurate and descriptive such as "puppies playing in a basket."

Image alt text should be descriptive in a helpful way — meaning, it should provide the search engine with context to index the image if it's in a blog article related to a similar topic.

To provide more context, here's a list of things to be sure you keep in mind when creating alt text for your blog's images:

• Describe the image
• Leave out "image of... "— start with the image description instead
• Be specific in your description
• Keep it under 125 characters
• Use your keywords (but avoid keyword stuffing)

Pro tip: Think about adding a Chrome extension like Arel="noopener" target="_blank" hrefs that allows you to quickly review alt text data for existing images. HubSpot customers can use the SEO Panel. It will recognize whether or not you have optimized your images.

8. Link to related blog posts.

You may have heard that backlinks influence how high your blog site can rank in the SERP, and that’s true — backlinks show how trustworthy your site is based on how many other relevant sites link back to yours. But backlinks aren’t the end-all-be-all to link building. Linking to and from your own blog posts can have a positive impact on how well your blog site ranks, too.

Inbound links to your content help show search engines the validity or relevancy of your content. The same goes for linking internally to other pages on your website. If you've written about a topic that's mentioned in your blog post on another blog post, ebook, or web page, it's a best practice to link to that page.

(You might've noticed that I've been doing that from time to time throughout this blog post when I think it's helpful for our readers.) Not only will internal linking help keep visitors on your website, but it also surfaces your other relevant and authoritative pages to search engines.

For example, if your blog is about fashion, you might cover fabrics as a topic. Adding a hyperlink from a blog post about cotton to a post about the proper way to mix fabrics can help both of those posts become more visible to readers who search these keywords.

The search engines will also have one more entry point to the post about cotton when you hyperlink it in the post about mixing fabrics. This means the post about cotton fabric, and any updates you make to it will be recognized by site crawlers faster. It could even see a boost in the SERP as a result.

HubSpot customers: The SEO Panel automatically suggests linking to other internal resources on your website.

You can think of this as solving for your SEO while also helping your visitors get more information from your content.

9. Optimize the meta description.

A meta description is additional text that appears in SERPs that lets readers know what the link is about. The meta description gives searchers the information they need to determine whether or not your content is what they're looking for and ultimately helps them decide if they'll click or not.

The maximum length of this meta description is greater than it once was — now around 300 characters — suggesting it wants to give readers more insight into what each result will give them.

So, in addition to being reader-friendly (compelling and relevant), your meta description should include the long-tail keyword for which you are trying to rank.

In the following example, I searched for "email newsletter examples."

The term is bolded in the meta description, helping readers make the connection between the intent of their search term and this result.

In this example I searched for the term "HTML space."

You see the terms "space" and "HTML" bolded, indicating that Google knows there's a semantic connection between "HTML space" and the words "space" and "HTML" in the meta description.

Note: Nowadays, it's not guaranteed that your meta description is always pulled into SERPs as it once was. As you can see in the above image, Google pulls in other parts of your blog post that includes the keywords searched, presumably to give searchers optimal context around how the result matches their specific query.

Let me show you another example. Below are two different search queries delivering two different snippets of text on Google SERPs. The first is a result of the query "no index no follow," and it pulls in an explanation of the term "noindex.":

The second is a result of the query "noindex nofollow," and pulls in the first instance of these specific keywords coming up in the body of the blog post:

While there's not much you can do to influence what text gets pulled in, you should continue to optimize this metadata, as well as your post, so search engines display the best content from the article. By creating reader-friendly content with natural keyword inclusion, you'll make it easier for Google to prove your post's relevancy in SERPs for you.

10. Review metrics regularly.

Google's free Search Console contains reports that help you understand how users search for and discover your content. These reports help you analyze clicks from Google Search — it's useful to determine which keywords people are using to find your blog content.

You can learn how to use Google Search Console by checking out Google's performance reports page.

If you're interested in optimizing your best-performing older blog posts for traffic and leads like we've been doing since 2015, this tool can help you find low-hanging fruit.

Remember, many content marketers struggle with optimizing their blog posts for search. The truth is, your blog posts won't start ranking immediately. It takes time to build up search authority.

But, when you publish blog posts frequently and consistently optimize them for search while maintaining an intent-based reader experience, you'll reap the rewards in the form of traffic and leads long-term.

Now, let's take a look at these blog SEO tips that you can take advantage of to enhance your content's searchability.

Note: This list doesn't cover every SEO rule under the sun. Rather, the following tips are the on-page factors to get you started with an SEO strategy for your blog.

1. Use 1–2 long-tail keywords.

Optimizing your blog posts for keywords isn’t about incorporating as many keywords into your posts as possible. Nowadays, this actually hurts your SEO because search engines consider this keyword stuffing (as in, including keywords as much as possible with the sole purpose of ranking highly in organic search).

It also doesn't make for a good reader experience — a ranking factor that search engines now prioritize to ensure you're answering the intent of your visitors. Therefore, you should use keywords in your content in a way that doesn't feel unnatural or forced.

A good rule of thumb is to focus on one or two long-tail keywords per blog post. While you can use more than one keyword in a single post, keep the focus of the post narrow enough to allow you to spend time optimizing for just one or two keywords.

You may be wondering: Why long-tail keywords?

These longer, often question-based keywords keep your post focused on the specific goals of your audience. For example, the long-tail keyword "how to write a blog post" is much more impactful in terms of SEO than the short keyword "blog post".

Website visitors searching long-tail keywords are more likely to read the whole post and then seek more information from you. In other words, they'll help you generate the right type of traffic — visitors who convert.

2. Create SEO personas.

Most businesses have buyer personas, but you can make your blog even more searchable and relevant with SEO personas.

This strategy isn't just for boosting SEO visibility. It can help you focus your time and resources on the traffic that can boost your business. This is a data-driven strategy that can help you understand the keyword themes and search habits of your target audience.

Once you understand these details, it will be easier to choose which topics to prioritize in your blog SEO strategy. As you create your SEO personas, you'll want to answer questions like:

• How does your target audience use social media?
• How do your ideal users respond to paid advertising?
• Do they take part in groups, forums, or message boards online?

These details can help you understand how your users search and what types of content they'll respond to online. This can help you boost traffic, leads, and conversions while also optimizing for SEO.

This presentation from Rory Hope at INBOUND 22 shares how you can use your social media data to create SEO personas for your blog.

3. Consider mobile devices.

We learned earlier that more people use search engines from their mobile phones than from a computer. According to HubSpot Research, 64% of SEO marketers say that mobile optimization is an effective investment.

And for all those valuable queries on mobile devices, Google displays the mobile-friendly results first. This is yet another example of Google heavily favoring mobile-friendly websites — which has been true ever since the company updated its algorithm in April 2015.

(HubSpot customers: Breathe easy. All content created on HubSpot's platform is automatically responsive to mobile devices.)

So, how do you keep your blog mobile-friendly? By using responsive design. Websites that are responsive to mobile allow blog pages to have just one URL instead of two — one for desktop and one for mobile, respectively. This helps your post's SEO because any inbound links that come back to your site won't be divided between the separate URLs.

As a result, you'll centralize the SEO power you gain from these links, helping Google more easily recognize your post's value and rank it accordingly.

Pro tip: What search engines value is constantly changing. Be sure you're keeping on top of these changes by subscribing to Google's official blog.

4. Make the most of the SEO tools and features in your CMS.

The right CMS can help you improve blog SEO. Whether you're building a new blog post or updating site pages, the more built-in features you have the easier it will be to optimize for SEO.

SEO is complex, so the features you'll need will depend on your level of expertise and how often you post to your blog.

For example, the HubSpot CMS has robust SEO features that can help you build or optimize your blog. If your site already has a lot of blog posts, a tool that can scan live pages for recommendations is a must-have. If you're just starting to blog, alt text popup prompts could be more useful for you.

Another challenge bloggers struggle with is finding post topics. The HubSpot SEO tool can give you suggestions with competition, popularity, and relevance in mind. It also gives you access to monthly search keyword data. This can help you understand how specific topics can increase your organic traffic. This tool offers detailed reports so you can track your results and update your SEO strategy quickly.

CMS integrations are also important. For example, HubSpot's page publishing tools connect to Google Search Console. This makes it easy for you to see your top search queries, impressions, click-through rate, and more for every page on your site.

5. Focus on readability.

One of the most common beginner blog mistakes is assuming that the people who land on your blog will read it thoroughly. Instead, most readers are looking for a quick answer to a question. When they find your post, their goal is to find what they're looking for.

Readable content is easy to consume and quick to skim. It's also a delight to read — offering clear answers and a logical path from question to answer. Readability improves the chances that your readers will engage with your content. It helps you make sure that they'll look to your blog as an authority in your industry.

Besides improving the user experience on your blog, readability impacts SEO by making it easier for Google to crawl your posts. It also increases the potential that users will find your blog with voice searches.

There are many ways that you can improve readability. Vocabulary choices, sentence and paragraph length, and the structure of your blog posts can all make your posts more readable. A few strategies to improve readability include:

• Use short and simple words
• Write short sentences
• Limit jargon, adjectives, and adverbs

Tools like Hemingway Editor offer a score that can help you understand how easy your copy is to read and how to improve it.

You can also make your blogs easier to consume by adding useful images and videos or choosing colors and fonts that are easy on the eyes.

6. Limit topic tags.

Topic tags can help organize your blog content, but if you overuse them, they can actually be harmful. If you have too many similar tags, you may get penalized by search engines for having duplicate content.

Think of it this way, when you create a topic tag (which is simple if you're a HubSpot user, as seen here), you also create a new site page where the content from those topic tags will appear.

If you use too many similar tags for the same content, it appears to search engines as if you're showing the content multiple times throughout your website. For example, topic tags like "blogging," "blog," and "blog posts" are too similar to one another to be used on the same post.

If you're worried that your current blog posts have too many similar tags, take some time to clean them up. Choose about 15–25 topic tags that you think are important to your blog and that aren't too similar to one another. Then only tag your posts with those keywords. That way, you won't have to worry about duplicate content.

Here at HubSpot, we use a Search Insights Report to map specific MSV-driven keyword ideas to a content topic each quarter. The process helps us target a handful of posts in a set number of topics throughout the year for a systematic approach to SEO and content creation.

7. Create user-friendly URLs.

Before you publish your blog post, take a careful look at its URL structure. Is it long, filled with stop-words, or unrelated to the post’s topic? If so, you might want to rewrite it before it goes live.

The URL structure of your web pages (which are different from the specific URLs of your posts) should make it easy for your visitors to understand the structure of your website and the content they're about to see. Search engines favor web page URLs that make it easier for them and website visitors to understand the content on the page.

This differentiation is baked into the HubSpot blogs' respective URL structures. If I decided to go to the Marketing section from this main page, I would be taken to the URL http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing.

If we want to read the Sales section, all we have to do is change where it says "marketing" in the URL to "sales":

http://blog.hubspot.com/sales.

This URL structure helps me understand that "/marketing" and "/sales" are smaller sections — called subdirectories — within the larger blog.

What if there's a specific article we want to read, such as "How to Do Keyword Research: A Beginner's Guide"?

Its URL structure — http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-do-keyword-research-ht — denotes that it's an article from the Marketing section of the blog.

In this way, URL structure acts as a categorization system for readers, letting them know where they are on the website and how to access new site pages. Search engines appreciate this, as it makes it easier for them to identify exactly what information searchers will access on different parts of your blog or website.

Pro tip: Don’t change your blog post URL after it's been published — that’s the easiest way to press the metaphorical "reset" button on your SEO efforts for that post. If your URL is less descriptive than you’d like or it no longer follows your brand or style guidelines, your best bet is to leave it as is. Instead, change the title of the post using the guidelines we covered earlier.

8. Organize by topic cluster.

The way most blogs are currently structured (including our own blogs, until very recently), bloggers and SEOs have worked to create individual blog posts that rank for specific keywords.

This makes things unorganized and difficult for blog visitors to find the exact information they need. It also results in your URLs competing against one another in search engine rankings when you produce multiple blog posts about similar topics.

Here's what our blog architecture used to look like using this old playbook:

Now, to rank in search and best answer the new types of queries searchers are submitting, the solution is the topic cluster model.

For this model to work, choose the broad topics for which you want to rank. Then, create content based on specific keywords related to that topic that all link to each other to establish broader search engine authority.

This is what our blog infrastructure looks like now, with the topic cluster model. Specific topics are surrounded by blog posts related to the greater topic, connected to other URLs in the cluster with hyperlinks:

This model uses a more deliberate site architecture to organize and link URLs together to help more pages on your site rank in Google — and to help searchers find information on your site more easily. This architecture consists of three components — pillar content, cluster content, and hyperlinks:

We know this is a fairly new concept, so for more details, check out our research on the topic or take our SEO training.

9. Optimize for SERP features.

There are more than just organic page results on Google. Instead, each search engine results page (SERP) includes a range of different features to help users find what they're looking for. For example, the People also ask feature highlights questions that relate to the users' initial search request, like in the example below:

There are many different types of SERP features. Other popular SERP features include:

• Featured snippets: These often appear at the top of search results pages. They usually highlight a section from within a blog post to answer a specific search request.
• Image packs: This is a group of images from blog posts or websites that match a search request.
• Local pack: These highlight local answers to search requests.
• Things to know: This feature usually appears on broad searches. It highlights other information that could help the user refine their search.
• Review snippets: This rich snippet is an excerpt of a specific review, and may include information from a range of reviewers.
• Recipe snippets: This is a group of recipes from blog posts or websites that match a search request.

There are a few ways that you can improve your chances of getting SERP features to improve SEO for your blog.

First, write clear, well-structured, and useful content that responds to keywords in your niche. Be sure to answer specific questions within each post that relate to your blog topic.

Next, take a look at competitor examples for tips and ideas. It's also a good idea to optimize your images and videos with alt text to improve their chances of appearing for relevant searches.

Finally, learn about structured data and apply it to the formatting of your blog posts. For example, these instructions from Google outline how to format a recipe with structured data.

This HubSpot Academy lesson can help you with rich SERP results. Or listen to this podcast to learn how to win featured snippets:

10. Publish evergreen content.

When planning and writing your blog articles, make sure it's evergreen content. Meaning, the content is about topics that will remain relevant and valuable over a long period of time (with only minor changes or updates). Let's look at a few reasons why evergreen content is so important:

• It'll help you rank over time, not just in the near future.
• It contributes to steady amounts of traffic coming to your blog (and website) long after it’s been published.
• It'll help you generate leads over time as a result of the traffic it continually generates.

All blog content — whether it's a long-form article, how-to guide, FAQ, tutorial, and so on — should be evergreen. Even the images you use in these posts should be evergreen. Check out this blog post for some examples of and ideas for evergreen content on your blog.

11. Update existing content.

To improve your SEO, you may assume you need to create new blog content. Although that's partially true, you should also focus a great deal of your time and energy on your existing blog content. Specifically, repurposing and updating your current content, as well as removing your outdated content.

This is because it takes a lot longer for a completely new piece of content to settle on the search engine results page (SERP) and gain authority, whereas you could update a piece of content and reap the benefits fairly immediately in comparison.

Not only will your updated content rank on the SERP faster, improving your number of visitors and leads, it also takes a lot less time and fewer resources to update an existing piece of content rather than create a brand new article.

Additionally, updating and repurposing some of your most successful pieces of content extends its lifespan so you can achieve the best results over a longer period of time (especially if it's evergreen content).

The final step entails removing outdated content that's no longer relevant to your audience. Although your goal is to ensure your content is evergreen, some of it is bound to become outdated over time. This includes statistics, product information (if you have any listed in your blogs — as your products and business evolve), or information that changes across your industry over time.

If you want even more SEO tips, check out these resources:

• HubSpot SEO team tips
• Technical SEO tips

Create Blog Content Your Readers (and Search Engines) Will Love

We don't expect you to incorporate each of these SEO best practices into your content strategy right away. But, as your website grows, so should your goals on search engines. Once you figure out the goals and intent of your ideal readers, you'll be on track to deliver relevant content that will climb the ranks of the SERP.

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

Whether you want that job promotion or to sidestep into a new field, you'll need to commit to learning new skills. One of the best ways you can do that is by taking free online courses.

Blog posts and podcasts are great starting points for exploring a particular topic. But online business courses will provide you with the time and space you need to explore a topic in depth and truly master a new skill. Plus, most courses are made up of on-demand videos and exercises that you can progress through at your own pace.

Below, we've gathered the best free online business courses. These cover the main business skills you'll need to advance in today's rapidly changing workplace — from digital marketing and coding to selling, managing conflicts, and more. Keep reading to become an expert in whatever subject you feel can best help you succeed.

If you'd prefer, click on one of the following topics to jump straight to courses regarding that topic in particular:

• Best Free Online Courses Overall
• Fundamental Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Email Marketing
• SEM
• Sales
• Ecommerce
• Coding
• Personal & Professional Development
• Design
• Business & Finance
• Writing
• Communication
• Entrepreneurship
• Humanities
• Languages

Free Online Courses

Learning new skills can be both time-consuming and challenging. In fact, according to Josh Kaufman, international bestselling author of The Personal MBA, it takes 20 hours to go from knowing nothing about a particular subject to being pretty good at it. Of course, if you want to become an expert, that takes even longer.

Online courses allow you to get a head-start on the fundamental skills you need to grow in your career or switch to a new field. Here are the absolute best ones:

• Fundamental Marketing: Inbound Marketing Certification by HubSpot Academy
• Content Marketing: Content Marketing Certification by HubSpot Academy
• Social Media Marketing: Social Media Marketing Course by HubSpot Academy
• Email Marketing: Cold Email Masterclass by Mailshake
• SEM: Google Ads by Google Skillshop
• Sales: Inbound Sales Certification by HubSpot Academy
• Ecommerce: How to Start a Dropshipping Business by Shopify Academy
• Coding: Intro to HTML and CSS by Udacity
• Personal & Professional Development: Conquering the Fear of Public Speaking by Udemy
• Design: Graphic Design Course by HubSpot Academy
• Business & Finance: The Fundamentals of Business by Smartly
• Writing: Good with Words: Writing and Editing by University of Michigan
• Communication: Communication Skills - Persuasion and Motivation by Alison
• Entrepreneurship: How to Build a Startup by Udacity
• Humanities: Introduction to Digital Humanities by Harvard University
• Languages: Basic Spanish 1: Getting Started by the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia

Ready to start developing your skills? Let’s take a look at the best courses below.

Free Fundamental Marketing Courses

1. Inbound Marketing Certification by HubSpot Academy

Length: 4-5 Hours

From attracting leads to engaging prospects and delighting customers, this course covers the fundamentals of what inbound marketing is all about. It’s ideal for new graduates who’d like to go into marketing or for any experienced professional who’s considering shifting into a marketing career. It will give you the foundational knowledge you need to move into any marketing job.

Recommended for:

• New marketing professionals
• Experienced non-marketing professionals shifting into marketing

2. Build Your Web Presence by Google Digital Garage

Length: 30-60 Minutes

Learn the basics of websites, local business listings, review sites, social media, mobile apps, and more. This course is a helpful introduction to making your business visible online without delving too deeply into the specifics. We recommend it for small business owners and marketers just starting out in their careers.

Recommended for:

• Small business owners
• New marketing professionals at small businesses

3. Google Analytics for Beginners by Google Analytics Academy

Length: 4-6 Hours

This course shows new Google Analytics users how to create an account, implement a tracking code, and set up data filters. You'll learn how to navigate the Google Analytics interface and reports, and set up dashboards and shortcuts. We recommend this course for both beginner and advanced marketers who need a refresher on Google Analytics or need more advanced instruction.

Recommended for:

• Marketing professionals at every level

Free Content Marketing Courses

4. Content Marketing Certification by HubSpot Academy

Length: 6-7 Hours

Power your business with remarkable content. This course will teach you how storytelling, content creation, repurposing, and promotion come together to build a content marketing machine that grows your business, and your career. While every professional will benefit from taking the content marketing certification course, it’s especially recommended for new content writers and content managers.

Recommended for:

• New content marketers, content writers, and content managers
• Experienced non-marketing professionals moving into a content marketing role

5. Viral Marketing and How to Create Contagious Content by Coursera

Length: 4-5 Hours

Ever wondered why some things become popular, while other things don't? This course explains how things catch on, and can help you apply those ideas to become a more effective marketer. This is a good course to take if you feel your marketing efforts aren’t yielding the results you want or aren’t becoming as widespread as you’d like.

While individual contributors would benefit from taking this course, marketing managers who have a hand on ideation and strategy would most benefit from the knowledge they gain.

Recommended for:

• Mid- and senior-level marketers with a hand on strategy and ideation
• Brand managers of all levels

6. Online Video Marketing Course by HubSpot Academy

Length: 2 Hours

This online video marketing training will teach you how to get started with online video marketing to better attract, engage, and delight your audience. It’s an excellent course for individual contributors with a hand on video creation and content creation. Managers would also benefit from taking the first course, “How to Create a Successful Video Marketing Strategy,” if they’ve not yet established a video marketing strategy.

Recommended for:

• Video and content marketers getting started with video marketing
• Marketing managers who want to start a video marketing strategy

Free Social Media Marketing Courses

7. Social Media Marketing Course by HubSpot Academy

Length: 4-5 Hours

This course provides you with everything you need to build a social media strategy — including tools to help you attract new customers, build loyalty, and shape a positive conversation around your business. It’s a great fit for marketers of all levels who need a strong foundation on social media marketing.

Recommended for:

• Marketers of all levels delving into social media marketing
• Business owners who want to create a social media marketing strategy

Once you’ve completed this overarching social media marketing course, you can then jump into the following channel-specific courses.

• Facebook Marketing (~1.5 Hours): Facebook is a huge platform, ripe with marketing opportunity. Learn how to develop an effective marketing strategy using Facebook that covers all the bases.
• Twitter for Business Marketing (~2 Hours): You know Twitter beyond the basics, and now it's time to bump it up a notch. In this course, you'll learn the advancements in building and launching a successful Twitter marketing strategy.
• Instagram Marketing (~2.5 Hours): An Instagram marketing and advertising strategy is one of the most powerful ways to connect with customers and drive marketing impact. This course takes you from the beginning to the end of planning an Instagram marketing strategy.
• YouTube Marketing (1.5-2 Hours): HubSpot's course in YouTube Marketing is an in-depth, expansive set of tools and lessons that offer successful strategies to grow a monetized, optimized YouTube channel. It’s ideal for social media managers and anyone who would be creating videos for your company’s YouTube channel.

8. Introduction to Social Media Strategy by Skillshare

Length: 30-60 Minutes

Whether you're looking to foster brand awareness, increase website traffic, or drive sales, this course can teach you how to craft a social media strategy to achieve your goals on Facebook and Twitter. From finding your voice to buying paid advertising, this course walks you through a proven process for creating custom social strategies. It’s ideal for new marketers who need a quick refresher or overview.

Note: Skillshare offers community members free access to its courses for 14 days — you'll need to sign up as a member to access the class for free.

Recommended for:

• Marketers of all levels delving into social media marketing
• Business owners who want to create a social media marketing strategy

9. Video Storytelling for Social Media by Social Creators

Length: 5 Days

This crash course is set up like a challenge. The goal? Help you make high-quality videos with your iPhone or Android device so you can start vlogging and share engaging videos on your social media accounts. It’s ideal if you’re planning to market your brand or business over video-based channels such as Instagram or TikTok, and it’s specially a good fit if you don’t want to spend money on expensive video gear.

Recommended for:

• Video marketers and content creators wanting to create storytelling videos
• Freelance bloggers and content creators wanting to create more videos

10. How to Create an Instagram Content Plan by Later

Length: 1-1.5 Hours

This video series is a great introduction to the Instagram world. You'll learn how to gain more followers, build a community, and create content that drives true engagement. It’s ideal for you if you’re interested in finding influencer partners on Instagram and build a visual identity.

Recommended for:

• Marketers at small businesses without an Instagram strategy
• Freelance bloggers and online content creators

11. Free Social Media Analytics Course for Beginners by Quintly

Length: 10-11 Hours

This class will cover the basic principles of social media analytics, and is helpful both for beginners and for marketers who want to refresh their knowledge. It aims to help anybody involved in social media analytics, whether you're working for a brand, an agency, or the media. We highly recommend this course for new social media marketing managers who don’t know how to measure analytics for their company’s social channels.

Recommended for:

• New social media marketing managers who are unfamiliar with social media analytics
• Any marketer who’s interested in specializing in social media marketing

12. Twitter Flight School by Twitter

Length: Various

Twitter Flight School isn’t so much as a course as it is a school for both advanced and beginner Twitter marketers. Whether you're a social media coordinator or the director of social media marketing at an enterprise firm, Twitter Flight School’s courses will help you build the knowledge and skills you need to scale and improve your Twitter marketing strategy.

The courses have been designed to help you level up your expertise with advertising on Twitter, so that you can succeed. We don’t recommend it if you’re not planning to extensively use Twitter as a marketing channel.

Recommended for:

• New and experienced social media professionals who are planning to use Twitter extensively
• Any marketer or professional who wants to specialize in Twitter marketing

Free Email Marketing Courses

13. Cold Email Masterclass by Mailshake

Length: Self-Paced

Whether you use cold emails to connect with influencers, build your personal brand, find mentors, or grow your network, there's no underestimating their power. Sujan Patel reveals eight lessons that will show you how to turn theory into practice, tapping into existing cold email best practices and deploying them in a way that's both efficient and effective.

It’s not applicable just to cold emails, either. You can use the course to learn email writing best practices that will serve you as you market to leads and prospects who’ve subscribed to your email list.

Recommended for:

• Any marketer or professional who’s planning to email leads or other professionals in their network
• Any professional who wants to improve their cold emailing skills

14. Email Marketing Certification by HubSpot Academy

Length: ~3.5 Hours

Email marketing is a necessity to learn. By completing HubSpot's course, you'll walk away with expansive knowledge in all things email marketing, from templates to testing, as well as a certification to add to your resume. This is an excellent follow-up to the Cold Email Masterclass, allowing you to specialize specifically in email marketing. You’ll learn to segment your user base and optimize email deliverability rates.

Recommended for:

• Marketers of all levels who are planning to do email marketing

Free SEM Courses

15. Google Ads by Google Skillshop

Length: Various

If you don't know where to start with Google's ad products, Google’s Skillshop for Google Ads may be for you. You'll figure out where to get started in mini, bite-sized lessons or jump straight into the certification process. Topics include programmatic ads, search ads, discovery ads, and video ads. If you already have experience with Google Ads, you can forgo taking the courses and instead apply your existing knowledge using a series of exercises.

Recommended for:

• Marketers of all levels who want to further their knowledge or practice their existing Google Ads knowledge
• Business owners who want to learn how to set up Google Ads

16. SEO Certification Course by HubSpot Academy

Length: 2-3 Hours

Interested in building traffic, but unsure about a successful strategy? Our SEO crash course eliminates the pains of navigating a concrete SEO strategy and provides you with the tools to implement a winning one. Because it starts from a basic starting point, we recommend it for beginner marketers only. If you’ve been in a digital marketing role for a few years, chances are you’re familiar with most of this information.

Recommended for:

• New marketers who want to learn the basics of SEO and improve their SEO skills
• Experienced non-marketing professionals who want to learn SEO

Free Sales Courses

17. Inbound Sales Certification by HubSpot Academy

Length: 2-2.5 Hours

In this certification course, you'll learn how to grow your sales pipeline, close more leads, and grow your career. It’s ideal for new sales professionals or experienced salespeople who need a refresher or formal training in core sales skills.

Recommended for:

• New and aspiring salespeople
• Experienced sales professionals who need a refresher in sales fundamentals

Once you complete this initial certification, you can then dive into more specific topics such as sales enablement and management training.

• Sales Enablement Certification (Length: 4-5 Hours): In this self-paced online course and exam, you'll learn how to align marketing and sales for optimal efficiency. You’ll learn to bridge the gap between marketing and sales teams with strategies and tactics from sales leaders.
• Sales Management Training (Length: 3 Hours): Learn how to define your target market, create a scalable sales process, and build training, coaching, hiring, and on-boarding programs to help your sales team grow.

18. The Art of Sales: Mastering the Selling Process Specialization by Northwestern University

Length: 6 Months

This course is designed to make you more effective and efficient as you pursue your sales goals. Understand how to stand out in the crowd, attract customers, and build support for initiatives within your company. Plus, the most important art in sales is knowing how to get a "yes." This course teaches this, as well as methods to improve efficiency as a salesperson.

Recommended for:

• Sales managers who want to improve the performance of their sales team
• Experienced salespeople looking to level-up their skills

19. The SMART Sales System by SalesScripter

Length: 16-18 Hours

This program is designed to give you a strategy-backed process. It covers building a value proposition, asking the right questions, closing more effectively, and more. You'll sell more, and even better — selling will become more fun. After you’ve watched all of the videos in the training course, you’ll have an overview of the most important topics in sales.

Recommended for:

• New sales professionals trying to get a high-level overview of the most important sales topics
• Sales managers who want to level-up their team

Free Ecommerce Courses

20. How to Start a Dropshipping Business by Shopify Academy

Length: 1.5-2 Hours

Dropshipping is a business model where you don’t keep any products in stock at your own warehouses, but rather ship them directly from the manufacturers’ or suppliers’ warehouses. It’s one of the best ways to start an ecommerce business with few overhead and startup costs. In this course, Corey Ferreira shares his methods for finding a product to sell, testing its popularity, and building an unforgettable brand.

Recommended for:

• Anyone who’d like to start an ecommerce business with a dropshipping model

21. Product Photography for Ecommerce by Shopify Academy

Length: 2 Hours

In this course, you'll learn how to set up your own home studio and take product photos with your smartphone or digital SLR. This is an ideal course for anyone who’s planning to sell the products they make in their online store. If you’re starting a dropshipping business, you can skip taking this course.

Recommended for:

• Ecommerce sellers who need photos of the products they sell
• Marketers at small ecommerce businesses

22. Ecommerce Marketing Training by HubSpot Academy

Length: 30-60 Minutes

If you work for an ecommerce business and want to implement an inbound marketing strategy, this is a good course for you. In this short crash course, you'll learn the basics of selling more online, and how that fits into an inbound strategy. We recommend taking this course once you’ve got the basics down, such as how to run a dropshipping business.

Recommended for:

• Ecommerce sellers who want to grow their business

23. Email Marketing for Ecommerce by MailChimp

Length: ~30 Minutes

Learn how to use automation, optimization, and personalization to boost your business through email. Once you’ve got the leads from your ecommerce website, it’s time to nurture them through email marketing. This course will run through the entire process. Due to its inclusion of advanced marketing topics such as A/B testing and segmentation, we recommend it for experienced marketers at an ecommerce retailer.

Recommended for:

• Experienced marketers working at ecommerce businesses
• Freelance marketers with ecommerce clients

Free Coding & Developer Courses

24. Intro to HTML and CSS by Udacity

Length: ~3 Weeks

In this course, you'll learn the fundamentals of HTML and CSS, two core web development languages, along with best practices and professional problem-solving techniques using Developer Tools. This online coding lesson offers easy-to-follow instructions, interactive quizzes, and a tested curriculum that can help anyone learn how to code.

Recommended for:

• Marketers, salespeople, and freelancers wanting to learn HTML and CSS

Udacity offers a variety of other courses that can teach you to code. Once you’ve covered HTML and CSS, you can then dive into:

• Intro to JavaScript (Length: ~2 Weeks): After HTML and CSS, JavaScript is an essential language to learn if you’re planning to create high-performing websites. Udacity’s Intro to JavaScript course will cover all the basics you need to know.
• Intro to Python Programming (Length: ~5 Weeks): Get to grips with key computer science concepts in this introductory Python course. You'll learn by doing, and will build your own search engine and social network.
• Self-Driving Fundamentals: Featuring Apollo (Length: ~4 Weeks): Through this course, you'll be able to identify key parts of self-driving cars and get to know Apollo architecture. You'll be able to utilize Apollo HD Map, localization, perception, prediction, planning, and control, and start the learning path of building a self-driving car. We recommend taking this course for fun.

25. Learn Java by Codecademy

Length: 25 Hours

Codecademy offers an excellent repository of coding courses. If you didn’t like Udemy’s HTML and CSS class, we highly recommend learning it from Codeacademy instead. One of the languages you can learn is Java, which can be used to create web applications, software-as-a-service products, and mobile apps.

Because it’s a more advanced programming topic, we only recommend it if you’re planning to start a computer science career or develop your own web app or SaaS.

Recommended for:

• Any professional who’s interested in shifting into a developer role or code their own app

26. Introduction to iOS App Development, Xcode, and Interface Builder by Devslopes

Length: 10-15 Hours

This iPhone app development course will give you all you need to create your very own iOS app from the ground up. You’ll specifically learn how to create an app using XCode, Apple’s iOS app builder, and Interface Builder, which is a feature within Xcode. With clear video tutorials that are easy to follow, this course will get you up-to-date with the latest in iPhone app development trends.

Recommended for:

• Any professional who’s interested in coding their own iOS app

27. Algorithms, Part I by Princeton University

Length: ~53 Hours

This course by Princeton University covers the essential information that every serious programmer needs to know about algorithms and data structures, with emphasis on applications and scientific performance analysis of Java implementations. Because algorithms are a more advanced coding topic, we only recommend it if you’re planning to shift into a programming career. If that doesn’t sound like you, start with Udemy’s HTML and CSS course instead.

Recommended for:

• Any professional who’s interested in shifting into a programming career

28. Machine Learning by Stanford University

Length: ~60 Hours

The description of this course reads, “Machine learning is the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed.” In other words, machine learning allows computers to act based on prior user input. Speech recognition and self-driving cars are examples of machine learning. If you want to create a web or mobile application that uses machine learning to improve the user experience, we recommend this course. This is an advanced coding topic that’s only recommended for current programmers.

Recommended for:

• Programmers who want to get foundational knowledge in machine learning

Free Personal & Professional Development Courses

29. Conquering the Fear of Public Speaking by Udemy

Length: 30-60 Minutes

We all fear public speaking — or, at the very least, feel a measure of anxiety whenever we have to give a speech or a presentation. This course will teach you techniques to overcome the fear of public speaking, as well as how to avoid feeling nervous before speaking publicly. It’s a short course, too.

Recommended for:

• Anyone who wants to overcome the fear of public speaking

30. Learning How to Learn: Powerful Mental Tools to Help You Master Tough Subjects by Deep Teaching Solutions

Length: ~15 Hours

Whether you’re a student or a young professional, learning how to digest and access information is a key skill to succeed at both school and work. This delightfully “meta” course teaches you how to learn new subjects and retain information.

Recommended for:

• Students of all levels who want to get better at retaining information
• Professionals of all levels who want to learn how to retain information

31. Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills by University of Michigan

Length: ~17 Hours

In this course created by the University of Michigan, you'll learn about and practice four key steps to a successful negotiation. While negotiation skills may be most often used at work, and specifically during a sales call or prior to signing an employment contract, it can also be used in your day-to-day and personal interactions.

Recommended for:

• Professionals of all levels

32. The Manager's Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Managing People at Work by University of London

Length: ~29 Hours

This course gives you a practical guide to managing people at work. It doesn't matter whether you are a first-time manager in a shop or a middle manager in an office environment — the same skills apply to every workplace.

Recommended for:

• Mid- to senior-level professionals moving into a managerial role

33. Career Success Specialization by University of California, Irvine

Length: ~2 Hours / Week (11 Months)

This series of courses will teach you project management skills, communication skills, time management skills, and financial skills — all of which are needed to succeed in today’s workforce. You’ll also learn business writing and negotiation skills. We recommend it for new graduates or anyone who’s still in college.

Recommended for:

• New college grads or current college students

34. The Science of Happiness by University of California, Berkeley

Length: 4-5 Hours / Week (11 Weeks)

Feeling down because of the pandemic? We’re right there with you. This course by UC Berkeley will walk you through the concept of happiness from a scientific and psychological standpoint, and give you practical tips for boosting happiness when you’re feeling blue.

Recommended for:

• Anyone who’d like to improve their happiness in work and life

35. The Science of Wellbeing by Yale University

Length: ~19 Hours

The purpose of this course is to not only learn what psychological research says about what makes us happy, but also to put those strategies into practice. It’s an excellent follow-up to UC Berkeley’s course above. It’ll help you rewire the way you think about happiness.

Recommended for:

• Anyone who’d like to improve their happiness in work and life

Free Design Courses

36. Graphic Design Course by HubSpot Academy

Length: 30-60 Minutes

Need to become a graphic designer in less than an hour? This course by HubSpot Academy offers basic concepts in graphic design to create designs that accurately represent your brand. You can then translate these concepts to any tool of your choosing, including Adobe Illustrator, Canva, and even PowerPoint.

Recommended for:

• Non-design professionals who need to learn the basics of graphic design

37. Learn Adobe Illustrator From Scratch by EduOnix

Length: 10-11 Hours

Adobe Illustrator is one of the best tools you can use for your graphic design projects. In this course by EduOnix, you’’ll learn how to master Adobe Illustrator with real world examples. We only recommend it if you have an active Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.

Recommended for:

• Designers who need to learn how to use Adobe Illustrator quickly

Free Business & Finance Courses

38. The Fundamental of Business by Smartly

Length: 2-3 Hours / Week (6-8 Weeks)

Designed with input from business professors, Smartly's Fundamentals of Business course combines a self-guided software approach with collaborative online case studies and group projects. It's a flexible yet structured course for the modern professional who wants to learn the basics of business.

Recommended for:

• Early-career professionals who want to start a business or move into executive roles

31. Stock Market Investing for Beginners by Udemy

Length: 1.5-2 Hours

Learn the basics of the stock market through comprehensive, interesting, and fun lectures. This is an essential course for anyone who’d like to invest and diversify their portfolio.

Recommended for:

• Anyone who wants to start investing

32. Corporate Finance by New York University

Length: Self-Paced

New York University’s Corporate Finance course is a big-picture class. It looks at the financial principles that govern how businesses raise funds, invest those funds in assets and projects, and return those funds to investors. This would be a helpful course for both entrepreneurs and professionals considering starting a career in corporate finance.

Recommended for:

• Entrepreneurs
• Professionals moving into executive roles
• Professionals interested in shifting into corporate finance

Free Writing Online Courses

33. Good with Words: Writing and Editing by University of Michigan

Length: 18-20 Hours

Good with Words: Writing and Editing prepares you to write strong prose from a grammatical, technical, and syntactical standpoint. This is an excellent option for anyone who’d like to strengthen their writing skills without necessarily diving into additional topics such as marketing or essay writing. It’s a great foundational course for any type of writing discipline, including fiction writing.

To take this course for free, click the “Enroll for Free” button. In the pop-up, click “Audit the course.” This will give you the option to view the course materials without paying for the certificate.

Recommended for:

• Any professional who writes emails, social posts, articles, and web pages in their role

34. Business Blogging by HubSpot Academy

Length: 2 Hours

Business blogging is more than just writing and publishing content in the hopes you'll attract customers. In this course, you'll learn how to craft a blogging strategy that drives business growth, create quality blog content that customers love, and build a guest blogging strategy that's powered by SEO.

Recommended for:

• Mid- to senior-level marketers who have a hand on their company’s marketing strategy

Free Communication Online Courses

35. Communication Skills - Persuasion and Motivation by NPTEL

Length: 1.5-3 Hours

This course will introduce you to essential communication skills that aid persuasion, guide you through the differences between persuasion and manipulation, and show you how to use strong communication to motivate the people around you. These abilities will be a great boost for both your professional and personal relationships.

Recommended for:

• Anyone who’d like to improve their communication skills

36. Conflict Management Specialization by University of California, Irvine

Length: 4 Months

With this series of courses by the University of California Irvine, you’ll learn listening skills, verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and how to assemble a conflict management plan likely to yield positive resolutions. While anyone would benefit from taking this course, it’s specially recommended for professionals in people-management roles.

Recommended for:

• Mid- to senior-level professionals who manage teams or other people
• Anyone who’d like to improve their conflict management skills

Free Entrepreneurship Online Courses

37. How to Build a Startup by Udacity

Length: ~1 Month

In this course, Steve Blank provides insight into the key steps needed to build a successful start-up. You’ll learn the various types of business models, the parts of a value proposition, the concept of customer segmentation, and more. This is a top-to-bottom course that will give you the foundations you need for starting a business.

Recommended for:

• First-time entrepreneurs

38. Business Strategy Specialization by University of Virginia

Length: ~6 Months

Develop your ability to think strategically, analyze your competition, recommend a positioning strategy, and create value. In this course, you'll explore the underlying theory and foundation of a successful business strategy, and gain the tools you need to understand that strategy.

Recommended for:

• Entrepreneurs with an existing business they’d like to grow

39. Marketing Fundamentals: Who Is Your Customer? by Babson College

Length: 3-4 Weeks

Marketing Fundamentals: Who Is Your Customer? will help you discover how to acquire the right customers and grow your startup business. While it’s branded as a marketing course, it’s designed for entrepreneurs who don’t know how to begin marketing their new product or service, and who want to understand their target market. That said, it’s also a great course to take if you’re interested in going into marketing.

Recommended for:

• Entrepreneurs without a marketing background
• Professionals with an interest in marketing

Free Humanities Online Courses

40. Introduction to Digital Humanities by Harvard University

Length: ~7 Weeks

The term “humanities” encompasses a wide variety of disciplines and fields. Regardless of your favorite humanities subject, learning how to carry out research and visualize the subject using digital tools is essential if you’d like to progress in your career.

Recommended for:

• Any professional who carries out research in the humanities

41. Modern Masterpieces of World Literature by Harvard University

Length: ~8 Weeks

Explore some of the world’s most salient literary masterpieces in Harvard’s Modern Masterpieces of World Literature course. You’ll get a taste not only of the English literary tradition, but of others around the globe, too.

Recommended for:

• Any professional who’s interested in global literature

42. Global History Lab by Princeton University

Length: ~3 Months

If you’re in need of a history course, consider Princeton University’s Global History Lab. We recommend it for beginners who want an overview of history from the 14th century up until now. While the course is sometimes archived, you may be able to access it live and discuss the course materials with other current students.

Recommended for:

• Any professional who’s interested in history

43. Gender and Sexuality: Applications in Society by the University of British Columbia

Length: ~6 Weeks

If you’re interested in studying gender from a theoretical and epistemological standpoint, Gender and Sexuality: Applications in Society is the course you need to take. It will give you an overarching overview of gender and sexuality through a variety of perspectives and lenses.

Recommended for:

• Any professional who’s interested in gender and sexuality

Free Language Online Courses

44. Basic strongish 1: Getting Started by the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia

Length: ~7 Weeks

Learning a new language is always a worthwhile investment, especially if you’re a global marketer or salesperson. This basic strongish course by the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia will help you establish a foundation for further learning.

Recommended for:

• Any professional who’s planning to use strongish at work or for leisure

45. Mandarin Chinese Level 1 by MandarinX

Length: ~6 Weeks

If you’re planning to expand your business into the Asian market, then learning Mandarin is key, given that Mandarin is the most spoken language in Asia. It’s also a popular language for business. Mandarin Chinese Level 1 will give you the foundation you need to take more advanced Mandarin courses.

Recommended for:

• Any professional who’s planning to use Mandarin at work or for leisure

46. Getting Started with French 1 by The Open University

Length: ~6 Weeks

Have you been wanting to learn French? Getting Started with French 1 will teach you the basic phrases you need to interact with others in a French-speaking environment. We highly recommend taking all of the courses in this series as a precursor for more advanced language study.

Recommended for:

• Any professional who’s planning to use French at work or for leisure

Free Online Courses FAQ

Have questions about taking an online course? We’ve got you covered.

What courses are available free online?

All the courses listed on this page are available for free online, including:

• Inbound Marketing Certification by HubSpot Academy
• Online Video Marketing Course by HubSpot Academy
• Cold Email Masterclass by Mailshake
• How to Start a Dropshipping Business by Shopify Academy
• Intro to HTML and CSS by Udacity

Simply sign up on each platform and begin learning! We recommend you check out each provider’s full catalog to learn which courses are available for free.

What online courses are in demand?

Coding and other technical online courses are overall in high demand, which is attributable to the exponential growth rate of technical fields. Software developer jobs, for example, are projected to grow an average of 25% between 2021 and 2031. That’s 20% higher than the average of all roles combined.

However, in-demand courses vary by field. For instance, if you’re looking to jumpstart a marketing career, then an SEO course is the best choice, as it’s one of the most in-demand skills in marketing.

Which certificate course is best?

The best certificate course ultimately depends on what you want to do. We recommend starting with a general certification course, then narrowing it down after you find out what you’d like to specialize in.

For instance, if you’re looking to get into social media marketing, you can pursue a digital marketing certification course, so that you understand the basics of digital marketing. Once you’ve mastered it, you can then get social media certified.

What is the best free online course platform?

For career-focused courses, we recommend HubSpot Academy or Coursera. For theoretical university-based courses, we recommend edX.

Where can I get free courses with a free certificate?

You can access free courses with a free certificate on HubSpot Academy and Google Skillshop. Most online course providers, such as Coursera and edX, charge for a certificate, but it varies by individual course.

Is an online certificate worth anything?

Yes! An online certificate is highly worthwhile. It will not only help your resume stand out, but it will ensure you’re adequately prepared to complete tasks at your desired role. Not only that, but getting an online certificate takes effort and consistency — two key attributes that will make you desirable to any employer.

Can you get a job with an online course?

You can get a job with an online course, but it’s important that you obtain a certification at the end of the course, built a portfolio of work, and showcase your newly learned skills with personal projects.

More and more employers are opening their hiring doors to candidates from non-traditional backgrounds — indeed, for most roles, a bachelor’s degree isn’t essential. If you leverage the wealth of online courses at your disposal, you can build a breadth of work that would rival that of any other candidates.

Learning is an investment that continues to pay.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

That’s never been truer than it is today. With new technologies emerging at breakneck speeds, there's a palpable pressure to continuously upskill.

We hope you found the online business courses you need for the next step in your career — whether you're looking for a promotion or a sidestep into an entirely new field.

Whatever your reason, learning new skills will give you a competitive advantage in today's rapidly changing workplace. Plus, the more you invest in your learning, the better you'll grow.

If you're looking for one single place to learn how to take your career to the next level and/or grow your business, check out HubSpot Academy. It contains tons of free certified courses on everything from inbound and content marketing to social media and sales.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Reading sample business plans is essential when you’re writing your own. As you explore business plan examples from real companies and brands, you’ll learn how to write one that gets your business off on the right foot, convinces investors to provide funding, and ensures your venture is sustainable for the long term.

But what does a business plan look like? And how do you write one that is viable and convincing? Let's review the ideal business plan formal, then take a look at business plan samples you can use to inspire your own.

Business Plan Format

Ask any successful sports coach how they win so many games, and they’ll tell you they have a unique plan for every single game. The same logic applies to business. If you want to build a thriving company that can pull ahead of the competition, you need to prepare for battle before breaking into a market.

Business plans guide you along the rocky journey of growing a company. Referencing one will keep you on the path toward success. And if your business plan is compelling enough, it can also convince investors to give you funding.

With so much at stake, you might be wondering, "Where do I start? How should I format this?"

Typically, a business plan is a document that will detail how a company will achieve its goals.

Most business plans include the following sections:

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary is arguably the most important section of the entire business plan. Essentially, it's the overview or introduction, written in a way to grab readers' attention and guide them through the rest of the business plan (which may be dozens or hundreds of pages long).

Most executive summaries include:

• Mission statement
• Company history and leadership
• Competitive advantage overview
• Financial projections
• Company goals

However, many of these topics will be covered in more detail later on in the business plan, so keep the executive summary clear and brief, including only the most important take-aways.

If you’re planning to start or expand a small business, preparing a business plan is still very crucial. The plan should include all the major factors of your business. You can check out this small business pdf to get an idea of how to create one for your business.

Check out our tips for writing an effective executive summary for more guidance.

2. Market Opportunity

This is where you'll detail the opportunity in the market. Where is the gap in the current industry, and how will your product fill that gap?

In this section, you might include:

• The size of the market
• Current or potential market share
• Trends in the industry and consumer behavior
• Where the gap is
• What caused the gap
• How you intend to fill it

To get a thorough understanding of the market opportunity, you'll want to conduct a TAM, SAM, and SOM analysis and perform market research on your industry. You may also benefit from creating a SWOT analysis to identify some of the insights for this section.

3. Competitive Landscape

Speaking of market share, you'll need to create a section that shares details on who the top competitors are. After all, your customers likely have more than one provider to choose from, and you'll want to understand exactly why they might choose one over another. Performing a competitive analysis can help you uncover:

• Industry trends that other providers may not be utilizing
• Strengths in your competition that may be obstacles to handle
• Weaknesses in your competition that may help you develop selling points
• The unique proposition you bring to the market that may resonate with customers

4. Target Audience

This section will describe who your customer segments are in detail. What is the demographic and psychographic information of your audience?

If your immediate answer is "everyone," you'll need to dig deeper. Ask yourself:

• What demographics will most likely need/buy your product or service?
• What are the psychographics of this audience? (Desires, triggering events, etc.)
• Why are your offerings valuable to them?

It can be helpful to build a buyer persona to get in the mindset of your ideal customers and be crystal clear on why you're targeting them.

5. Marketing Strategy

Here, you'll discuss how you'll acquire new customers with your marketing strategy. You might consider including information on:

• The brand positioning vision and how you'll cultivate it
• The goal targets you aim to achieve
• The metrics you'll use to measure success
• The channels and distribution tactics you'll use

It can help to already have a marketing plan built out to help you inform this component of your business plan.

6. Key Features and Benefits

At some point in your business plan, you'll review the key features and benefits of your products and/or services. Laying these out can give readers an idea of how you're positioning yourself in the market and the messaging you're likely to use. It can even help them gain better insight into your business model.

7. Pricing and Revenue

This is where you'll discuss your cost structure and various revenue streams. Your pricing strategy must be solid enough to turn a profit while staying competitive in the industry. For this reason, you might outline:

• The specific pricing breakdowns per product or service
• Why your pricing is higher or lower than your competition's
• (If higher) Why customers would be willing to pay more
• (If lower) How you're able to offer your products or services at a lower cost
• When you expect to break even, what margins do you expect, etc?

8. Financials

This section is particularly informative for investors and leadership teams to determine funding strategies, investment opportunities, etc. According to Forbes, you'll want to include three main things:

• Profit/Loss Statement - This answers the question of whether your business is currently profitable.
• Cash Flow Statement - This details exactly how much cash is incoming and outgoing to provide insight into how much cash a business has on hand.
• Balance Sheet - This outlines assets, liabilities, and equity, which gives insight into how much a business is worth.

While some business plans might include more or less information, these are the key details you'll want to include.

Keep in mind that each of these sections will be formatted differently. Some may be in paragraph format, while others will be in charts.

Sample Business Plan Templates

Now that you know what's included and how to format a business plan, let's review some templates.

1. HubSpot's One-Page Business Plan

Download a free, editable one-page business plan template.

The business plan linked above was created here at HubSpot and is perfect for businesses of any size — no matter how many strategies we still have to develop.

Fields such as Company Description, Required Funding, and Implementation Timeline gives this one-page business plan a framework for how to build your brand and what tasks to keep track of as you grow. Then, as the business matures, you can expand on your original business plan with a new iteration of the above document.

Why We Like It

This one-page business plan is a fantastic choice for the new business owner who doesn’t have the time or resources to draft a full-blown business plan. It includes all the essential sections in an accessible, bullet-point-friendly format. That way, you can get the broad strokes down before honing in on the details.

2. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

We also created a business plan template for entrepreneurs.

Download a free, editable one-page business plan template.

The template is designed as a guide and checklist for starting your own business. You’ll learn what to include in each section of your business plan and how to do it. There’s also a list for you to check off when you finish each section of your business plan.

Strong game plans help coaches win games and help businesses rocket to the top of their industries. So if you dedicate the time and effort required to write a viable and convincing business plan, you’ll boost your chances of success and even dominance in your market.

Why We Like It

This business plan kit is essential for the budding entrepreneur who needs a more extensive document to share with investors and other stakeholders. It not only includes sections for your executive summary, product line, market analysis, marketing plan, and sales plan, but it also provides hands-on guidance for filling out those sections.

3. LiveFlow’s Financial Planning Template with built-in automation

This free template from LiveFlow aims to make it easy for businesses to create a financial plan and track their progress on a monthly basis. The P&L Budget versus Actual format allows users to track their revenue, cost of sales, operating expenses, operating profit margin, net profit, and more.

The summary dashboard aggregates all of the data put into the financial plan sheet and will automatically update when changes are made. Instead of wasting hours manually importing your data to your spreadsheet, LiveFlow can also help you to automatically connect your accounting and banking data directly to your spreadsheet, so your numbers are always up-to-date.

With the dashboard, you can view your runway, cash balance, burn rate, gross margins, and other metrics. Having a simple way to track everything in one place will make it easier to complete the financials section of your business plan.

Why We Like It

This is a fantastic template to track performance and alignment internally and to create a dependable process for documenting financial information across the business. It’s highly versatile and beginner-friendly. It’s especially useful if you don’t have an accountant on the team. (We always recommend you do, but for new businesses, having one might not be possible.)

4. ThoughtCo’s Sample Business Plan

If you want to reference an actual business plan while writing your own, ThoughtCo’s got you covered. It created a fictional company called Acme Management Technology and wrote an entire business plan for it.

Using its sample business plan as a guide while filling out your own will help you catch and include small yet important details in your business plan that you otherwise might not have noticed.

Why We Like It

This is a fantastic template for an existing business that’s strategically shifting directions. If your company has been around for a while, and you’re looking to improve your bottom line or revitalize your strategy, this is an excellent template to use and follow.

5. BPlan’s Free Business Plan Template

One of the more financially oriented sample business plans in this list, BPlan’s free business plan template dedicates many of its pages to your business’ financial plan and financial statements.

After filling this business plan out, your company will truly understand its financial health and the steps you need to take to maintain or improve it.

Why We Like It

We absolutely love this business plan template because of its ease-of-use and hands-on instructions (in addition to its finance-centric components). If you feel overwhelmed by the thought of writing an entire business plan, consider using this template to help you with the process.

6. Harvard Business Review’s “How to Write a Winning Business Plan”

Most sample business plans teach you what to include in your business plan, but this Harvard Business Review article will take your business plan to the next level — it teaches you the why and how behind writing a business plan.

With the guidance of Stanley Rich and Richard Gumpert, co-authors of “Business Plans That Win: Lessons From the MIT Enterprise Forum”, you'll learn how to write a convincing business plan that emphasizes the market demand for your product or service. You’ll also learn the financial benefits investors can reap from putting money into your venture rather than trying to sell them on how great your product or service is.

Why We Like It

This business plan guide focuses less on the individual parts of a business plan, and more on the overarching goal of writing one. For that reason, it’s one of our favorites to supplement any template you choose to use. Harvard Business Review’s guide is instrumental for both new and seasoned business owners.

7. HubSpot’s Complete Guide to Starting a Business

If you’re an entrepreneur, you know writing a business plan is one of the most challenging first steps to starting a business. Fortunately, with HubSpot's comprehensive guide to starting a business, you'll learn how to map out all the details by understanding what to include in your business plan and why it’s important to include them. The guide also fleshes out an entire sample business plan for you.

If you need further guidance on starting a business, HubSpot's guide can teach you how to make your business legal, choose and register your business name, and fund your business. It will also give small business tax information and provide marketing, sales, and service tips.

Why We Like It

This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process of starting a business, in addition to writing your business plan, with a high level of exactitude and detail. So if you’re in the midst of starting your business, this is an excellent guide for you. It also offers other resources you might need, such as market analysis templates.

8. Panda Doc’s Free Business Plan Template

PandaDoc’s free business plan template is one of the more detailed and fleshed-out sample business plans on this list. It describes what you should include in each section, so you don't have to come up with everything from scratch.

Once you fill it out, you’ll fully understand your business’ nitty-gritty details and how all of its moving parts should work together to contribute to its success.

Why We Like It

This template provides two things we love: comprehensiveness and in-depth instructions. Plus, it’s synced with PandaDoc’s e-signature software so that you and other stakeholders can sign it with ease. For that reason, we especially love it for those starting a business with a partner or with a board of directors.

9. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers several free business plan templates that can be used to inspire your own plan. Before you get started, you can decide what type of business plan you need — a traditional or lean start-up plan.

Then, you can review the format for both of those plans and view examples of what they might look like.

Why We Like It

We love both of the SBA’s templates because of their versatility. You can choose between two options and use the existing content in the templates to flesh out your own plan. Plus, if needed, you can get a free business counselor to help you along the way!

Top Business Plan Examples

Here are some completed business plan samples to get an idea of how to customize a plan for your business. We’ve chosen different types of business plan ideas to expand your imagination. Some are extensive, while others are fairly simple.

Take a look.

1. LiveFlow

One of the major business expenses is marketing. How you handle your marketing reflects your company’s revenue. We included this business plan to show you how you can ensure your marketing team is aligned with your overall business plan to get results. The plan also shows you how to track even the smallest metrics of your campaigns, like ROI and payback periods instead of just focusing on big metrics like gross and revenue.

Fintech startup, LiveFlow, allows users to sync real-time data from its accounting services, payment platforms, and banks into custom reports. This eliminates the task of pulling reports together manually, saving teams time and helping automate workflows.

When it came to including marketing strategy into its business plan, LiveFlow created a separate marketing profit and loss statement (P&L) to track how well the company was doing with its marketing initiatives. This is a great approach, allowing businesses to focus on where their marketing dollars are making the most impact.

“Using this framework over a traditional marketing plan will help you set a profitable marketing strategy taking things like CAC, LTV, Payback period, and P&L into consideration,” explains LiveFlow co-founder, Lasse Kalkar.

Having this information handy will enable you to build out your business plan’s marketing section with confidence. LiveFlow has shared the template here. You can test it for yourself.

2. Lula Body

This is a good business plan example for service-based businesses such as gyms, boxing classes, dancing studios, etc. For starters, the plan shows how to budget for the business loan and what to focus on buying first. Everything is well presented, including what to charge the customers in different scenarios and the expected revenue. This is a good foundation from which business performance can be evaluated with time.

Brooklyn Business owner and Pilates instructor, Tara Kashyap, saw a need in her community for a pilates, tissue, and bodywork studio. In response, she opened Lula Body in Crown Heights.

Pictured above is a hypothetical pricing and revenue statement based on Lula Body’s business plan. As you can see, Kashyap breaks down the cost of classes, start-up expenses, monthly expenses, and her monthly sales projection. Everything from equipment costs to loan interest is included in the expenses to give the most accurate picture of operating costs and revenue.

If you’re seeking outside funding for your business, you’ll want to make sure this section of your business plan is as thorough as possible.

3. Patagonia

Sometimes all you need is a solid mission statement and core value to guide you on how to go about everything. You do this by creating a business plan revolving around how to fulfill your statement best. For example, Patagonia is an eco-friendly company, so their plan discusses how to make the best environmentally friendly products without causing harm.

A good mission statement should not only resonate with consumers but should also serve as a core value compass for employees as well.

Outdoor clothing retailer, Patagonia, has one of the most compelling mission statements we’ve seen:

“We’re in business to save our home planet.”

It reels you in right from the start, and the environmentally friendly theme continues throughout the rest of their statement.

The page-length open letter goes on to explain that they are out to “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to protect nature.”

Their mission statement is compelling and detailed, with each section outlining how they will accomplish their goal.

4. Vesta Home Automation

This is the kind of business plan you need when applying for business funds. It clearly illustrates the expected future of the company and how the business has been coming along over the years.

This executive summary for a smart home device startup is part of a business plan created by students at Mount Royal University. While it lacks some of the sleek visuals of the templates above, their executive summary does a great job of demonstrating how invested they are in the business.

Right away, they mention they’ve invested $200,000 into the company already, which shows investors they have skin in the game and aren’t just looking for someone else to foot the bill.

5. NALB Creative Center

This fictional business plan for an art supply store includes everything one might need in a business plan: an executive summary, a company summary, a list of services, a market analysis summary, and more. Due to its comprehensiveness, it’s an excellent example to follow if you’re opening a brick-and-mortar store and need to get external funding to start your business.

One of its most notable sections is its market analysis summary, which includes an overview of the population growth in the business’ target geographical area, as well as a breakdown of the types of potential customers they expect to welcome at the store. This sort of granular insight is essential for understanding and communicating your business’s growth potential. Plus, it lays a strong foundation for creating relevant and useful buyer personas.

It’s essential to keep this information up-to-date as your market and target buyer changes. For that reason, you should carry out market research as often as possible to ensure that you’re targeting the correct audience and sharing accurate information with your investors.

6. Curriculum Companion Suites (CSS)

If you’re looking for a SaaS business plan example, look no further than this business plan for a fictional educational software company called Curriculum Companion Suites. Like the business plan for the NALB Creative Center, it includes plenty of information for prospective investors and other key stakeholders in the business.

One of the most notable features of this business plan is the executive summary, which includes an overview of the product, market, and mission. The first two are essential for software companies because the product offering is so often at the forefront of the company’s strategy. Without that information being immediately available to investors and executives, then you risk writing an unfocused business plan.

It’s also essential to front-load your company’s mission if it explains your “Why?” In other words, why do you do what you do, and why should stakeholders care? This is an important section to include if you feel that your mission will drive interest in the business and its offerings.

7. Culina Sample Business Plan

Culina's sample business plan is an excellent example of how to lay out your business plan so that it flows naturally, engages readers, and provides the critical information investors and stakeholders need. You can also use this template as a guide while you're gathering important details. After looking at this sample, you'll have a better understanding of the data and research you need to do for your own business plan.

8. Plum Sample Business Plan

This is one of my favorite sample business plans because you can see how implementing visuals can help tell your brand's story. The images in this plan are cutting edge, which makes sense for an innovative company like Plum. When creating your own business plan, make sure the pictures and design you use make sense for your branding.

Additionally, the financial charts included are an excellent guide if you're not sure what financial information to include.

9. LiveShopBuy Sample Business Plan

With this business plan, the focus is the investment opportunity. This is an excellent template to use if you're going to use your business plan to seek funding. The investment opportunity section is placed right up front and is several pages long. Then, it goes into more detail about the company and its key services.

Get Started Writing Your Business Plan

When you're first getting started on your business plan, it can be daunting. The business world moves fast, and it’s full of ambitious companies scrambling to gain the majority of their industry’s market share.

That's why it's important to make sure you understand the value your business provides and can communicate that through a properly formatted business plan.

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

Promoting a local business isn’t easy these days. Whether it’s because of oversaturation or complicated search engine algorithms, it’s all too easy to feel like no one will find your business in the local search results.

Luckily, using business directory websites is an easy way to improve your local SEO. All you have to do is list your business in online business directories such as Yellow Pages, Manta, and more. This is called building citations, and it’s a critical piece of a local marketing strategy.

Today, Google is inserting itself between consumer and local business websites much more often. For proof, you need to look no further than Google My Business, Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), featured snippets, and most importantly, local packs.

By building citations, you can make sure that you appear in these local packs when people look for businesses like yours in their area. Business directories may seem like a thing of the past, but they’re a great way to grow your presence online.

You can improve visibility by listing your local business' NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) on directories, online business listing sites, and citation sites. Aside from improving your local SEO, these can also improve your rankings on search engines because the listings usually link back to your site.

Make sure your company listing has the following information once you add it to a directory:

• Consistent NAP. If you add or update your business on multiple business listing sites, make sure you're providing the same company information across each directory.
• A link to your website. Backlinks — also known as inbound links — are crucial to your company website's Domain Rating. Consider adding a tracking link at the end of this URL as well, so you can see how much traffic your website specifically gets from the business directories that are linking to it.
• A company description. Make sure you have a detailed description of your business that reflects your organization's mission, culture, and values.
• Multimedia. Give company searchers a visual taste of your business with a picture or video of your office, your employees, or your daily business operations.

There are plenty of location-specific and industry-specific business listing sites where you can submit your data. To start promoting your local business, however, you should start with the big sites and work your way toward the more niche directories.

First, let’s go over the top free business directories.

Online Directories for Local Businesses

When it comes to listing your business online, you aren't limited to just using the free sites above. We've compiled the best directories on the web to list your business. 

1. Google My Business (Domain Rating = 98)
   
   
2. Facebook Pages (Domain Rating = 100)
3. Instagram for Business (Domain Rating = 99)
4. LinkedIn Company Directory (Domain Rating = 98)
5. Apple Maps (Domain Rating = 97)
6. Yelp (Domain Rating = 95)
7. Bing (Domain Rating = 93)
8. HubSpot's Solutions Directory (Domain Rating = 93)
9. Better Business Bureau (Domain Rating = 93)
10. MapQuest (Domain Rating = 91)
11. Foursquare (Domain Rating = 91)
12. Angi, FKA Angie’s List ( Domain Rating = 91)
13. Thumbtack (Domain Rating = 90)
14. Yellow Pages (Domain Rating = 90)
15. Nextdoor (Domain Rating = 89)
16. Manta (Domain Rating = 87)
17. Merchant Circle (Domain Rating = 85)
18. YellowBook.com (Domain Rating = 81)
19. ChamberofCommerce.com (Domain Rating = 81)
20. Dun & Bradstreet Business Directory (Domain Rating = 79)
21. Brownbook.net (Domain Rating = 79)
22. Local.com (Domain Rating = 78)
23. Turbify (Domain Rating = 78)
24. EZlocal (Domain Rating = 77)
25. eLocal.com (Domain Rating = 77)
26. EBusinessPages (Domain Rating = 76)
27. City Squares (Domain Rating = 75)
28. BOTW (Domain Rating = 74)
29. iBegin (Domain Rating = 73)
30. Neustar Localeze (Domain Rating = 73)
31. Spoke (Domain Rating = 73)
32. GoLocal247 (Domain Rating = 73)
33. Call Up Contact (Domain Rating = 73)
34. n49.com (Domain Rating = 73)
35. Cybo (Domain Rating = 73)
36. Just Landed (Domain Rating = 72)
37. Tuugo.us (Domain Rating = 72)
38. Lacartes (Domain Rating = 72)
39. City Local Pro (Domain Rating = 72)
40. Yellow.Place (Domain Rating - 72)
41. Hub.biz (Domain Rating = 72)
42. Cylex US (Domain Rating = 72)
43. Fyple.com (Domain Rating = 68)
44. Opendi.us (Domain Rating = 67)
45. ExpressBusinessDirectory.com (Domain Rating = 66)
46. My Huckleberry (Domain Rating = 65)
47. Bizhwy.com (Domain Rating = 65)
48. USdirectory.com (Domain Rating = 58)
49. Finduslocal.com (Domain Rating = 56)
    
    

Methodology

We used a few parameters to decide which directories would make it onto the list.

Domain Rating

Domain rating is a score that’s given to websites to reflect how well they rank on Google based on their backlink profile. The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 100. Domain rating is similar, but not the same as, domain authority.

Our minimum required domain rating for the directories on this list was 50. We gathered the data from Ahrefs in November 2022.

Category

We compiled this list for use by any business. Regardless of your industry or target market, you can submit your business to all of the above directories.

To make it onto this list, the directory had to be categorized as General. The only exception is HubSpot’s solution directory, which is categorized as Marketing/Advertising.

Add Your Local Business to Online Directories

Making sure that you have a presence where your potential customers might find you is critical to any local marketing plan. It’s critical to build citations not only for the added visibility but for the SEO benefits, too. Add your local business to some of these business listings and directories today — and watch your business and customer base grow.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

With how accessible the internet is today, would you believe me if I told you the number of people who go online every day is still increasing?

It is. In fact, there are about 4.9 billion global internet users as of 2021, a 400 million jump from 2020. And although we say it a lot, the way people shop and buy really has changed along with it — meaning offline marketing can’t be your only strategy for driving sales because you need to meet audiences where they’re already spending time: on the internet. 

Marketing has always been about connecting with your audience in the right place and at the right time. Today, that means you need to meet them where they are already spending time: on the internet.

Enter digital marketing — in other words, any form of online marketing.

At HubSpot, we talk a lot about inbound marketing as a really effective way to attract, engage, and delight customers online. But we still get a lot of questions from people all around the world about digital marketing. So, we decided to answer them. Click the links below to jump to each question, or keep reading to see how digital marketing is carried out today.

• What is digital marketing?
• Why is digital marketing important?
• Types of Digital Marketing
• What does a digital marketer do?
• Inbound Marketing vs. Digital Marketing: Which is it?
• Does digital marketing work for all businesses?
• How to Do Digital Marketing
• Digital Marketing Examples

So, how do you define digital marketing today?

A seasoned inbound marketer might say inbound marketing and digital marketing are virtually the same thing, but there are some minor differences. And conversations with marketers and business owners in the U.S., U.K., Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, I've learned a lot about how those small differences are being observed across the world.

How does a business define digital marketing?

At this stage, digital marketing is vital for your business and brand awareness. It seems like every other brand has a website, and if they don't, they at least have a social media presence or digital ad strategy. Digital content and marketing is so common that consumers now expect and rely on it as a way to learn about brands. Because digital marketing has so many possibilities, you can get creative and experiment with a variety of marketing tactics on a budget.

Overall, digital marketing is defined by using numerous digital tactics and channels to connect with customers where they spend much of their time: online. The best digital marketers have a clear picture of how each digital marketing campaign supports their overarching goals. And depending on the goals of their marketing strategy, marketers can support a larger campaign through the free and paid channels at their disposal.

A content marketer, for example, could create a series of blog posts that generate leads from an ebook. A social media marketer might help promote those blogs through paid and organic posts on the business's social media accounts, and the email marketer could create an email campaign to send those who download the ebook more information on the company. We'll talk more about these specific digital marketers in a minute.

There are a few major benefits of digital marketing: 

1. You can focus your efforts on only the prospects most likely to purchase your product or service.

2. It's more cost-effective than outbound marketing methods.

3. Digital marketing evens the playing field within your industry and allows you to compete with bigger brands.

4. Digital marketing is measurable.

5. It’s easier to adapt and change a digital marketing strategy.

6. Digital marketing can improve your conversion rate and the quality of your leads.

7. You can engage audiences at every stage with digital marketing.

Let's dive deeper.

1. You can focus your efforts on only the prospects most likely to purchase your product or service.

If you place an advertisement on TV, in a magazine, or on a billboard, you have limited control over who sees the ad. Of course, you can measure certain demographics — including the magazine's typical readership or the demographic of a certain neighborhood — but it's still largely a shot in the dark.

Digital marketing allows you to identify and target a highly-specific audience with personalized and high-converting marketing messages.

For instance, you might use social media targeting to show ads to a certain audience based on variables like age, gender, location, interests, networks, or behaviors. Alternatively, you might use PPC or SEO strategies to serve ads to users who've shown interest in or searched for specific keywords related to your product, service, or industry. 

Ultimately, digital marketing helps you conduct the research necessary to identify your buyer personas and refine your strategy to ensure you’re reaching prospects most likely to buy.

2. It's more cost-effective than outbound marketing methods.

Digital marketing helps you track day-to-day campaign performance, so you know what channels are performing well and which aren’t, helping you optimize your campaign budgets for high ROI. The same can’t be said for traditional forms of advertising. It doesn’t matter how your billboard performs  — it still costs the same, even if it doesn’t convert. 

Plus, with digital marketing, you have complete control over where you choose to spend your money. Perhaps you spend money on design software to create high-converting Instagram content rather than paying for PPC campaigns. A digital marketing strategy allows you to pivot continuously, ensuring you never waste money on channels that don't perform well.

By and large, digital marketing is a more cost-effective solution and provides unique opportunities to ensure you get the most bang for your buck.

For instance, if you work for a small business with a limited budget, you might try investing in social media, blogging, or SEO – three strategies that can give you high ROI even with minimal spending.

3. Digital marketing evens the playing field within your industry and allows you to compete with bigger brands.

If you work for a small business, it's likely difficult for you to compete with the major brands in your industry, many of which have millions of dollars to invest in campaigns. Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to outrank the big players through strategic digital marketing initiatives.

For instance, you might use long-tail keywords to create high-quality content that ranks on search engines. Search engines don’t care which brand is the biggest, but it does care about prioritizing content that resonates best with target audiences. 

4. Digital marketing is measurable.

While traditional advertising can be helpful for specific goals, its biggest limitation is measurability. This is one of the biggest benefits of digital marketing, as it can give you a start-to-finish view of all the metrics that matter to your company — including impressions, shares, views, clicks, and time on page.

Unlike most offline marketing efforts, digital marketing allows marketers to see accurate results in real-time. If you've ever put an advertisement in a newspaper, you'll know how difficult it is to estimate how many people flipped to that page and paid attention to it. There's no surefire way to know if that ad was responsible for any sales at all.

On the other hand, with digital marketing, you can measure the ROI of pretty much any aspect of your marketing efforts.

Here are some examples:

Website Traffic

With digital marketing, you can see the exact number of people who have viewed your website's homepage in real-time by using digital analytics software available in marketing platforms like HubSpot.

You can also see how many pages they visited, what device they were using, and where they came from, amongst other digital analytics data.

This intelligence helps you prioritize which marketing channels to spend more or less time on based on the number of people those channels drive to your website. For example, if only 10% of your traffic is coming from organic search, you know that you probably need to spend some time on SEO to increase that percentage.

With offline marketing, it can be difficult to tell how people interact with your brand before they interact with a salesperson or make a purchase. With digital marketing, you can identify trends and patterns in people's behavior before they've reached the final stage in their buyer's journey, meaning you can make more informed decisions about how to attract them to your website right at the top of the marketing funnel.

Content Performance and Lead Generation

Imagine you've created a product brochure and posted it through people's letterboxes — that brochure is a form of offline content. The problem is that you have no idea how many people opened your brochure or threw it straight into the trash.

Instead, imagine you have that brochure on your website. You can measure exactly how many people viewed the page it’s on, and you can use a form to collect the contact information of those who downloaded it. It’s twofold: you measure how many people engage with your content and generate qualified leads when people download it.

Attribution Modeling

An effective digital marketing strategy combined with the right tools and technologies allows you to trace all of your sales back to a customer's first digital touchpoint with your business.

We call this attribution modeling, and it allows you to identify trends in the way people research and buy your product, helping you to make more informed decisions about what parts of your marketing strategy deserve more attention, and what parts of your sales cycle need refining.

Connecting the dots between marketing and sales is hugely important. According to LinkedIn, 87% of sales and marketing leaders say collaboration between sales and marketing enables critical business growth, but misalignment between both teams can damage financial performance. If you can improve your customer's journey through the buying cycle by using digital technologies, then it's likely to reflect positively on your business's bottom line.

5. It’s easier to adapt and change a digital marketing strategy.

A lot of work goes into developing a marketing strategy. Generally, you will follow through with that strategy until completion, allow it to take effect, and then judge its results. However, things do not always go according to plan. You may realize halfway through that a calculation was off, an assumption was incorrect, or an audience did not react how they were expected to. Being able to pivot or adjust the strategy along the way is highly beneficial because it prevents you from having to start over completely.

Being able to change your strategy easily is a great benefit of digital marketing. Adapting a digital marketing strategy is a lot easier than other, more traditional forms of marketing, like mailers or billboard advertising. For instance, if an online ad isn’t delivering as expected, you can quickly adjust it or pause it to yield better results.

6. Digital marketing can improve your conversion rate and the quality of your leads.

As digital marketing makes it simpler to measure your marketing efforts, this makes improving your conversion rate simpler as well. Being able to measure the effectiveness of each tactic helps you develop better strategies. Continuously refining your methods improves your conversion rate. Investing in online marketing ensures that everything is optimized for the highest amount of conversions.

Additionally, all leads do not offer the same value for your business. Digital marketing allows you to target a specific audience that will yield higher-quality leads that are more likely to become customers. Connecting your business with the most valuable leads will directly improve your conversion rate.

7. You can engage audiences at every stage with digital marketing.

It’s essential to begin engaging your audience as early as possible. Making a connection at the first stage of the buyer’s journey helps push the lead through the customer funnel. Using digital marketing allows you to accomplish that from start to finish and at every point in between.

Online channels allow you to follow the entire buying journey of your customers. Understanding and analyzing how customers are move and operate is important for converting leads. Digital marketing allows you to track them through that process. And, even if they don’t convert in the early stages, it at least helps ensure they have made a connection with your business.

Here's a quick rundown of some of the most common digital marketing tactics and the channels involved in each one.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

This is the process of optimizing your website to "rank" higher in search engine results pages, thereby increasing the amount of organic (or free) traffic your website receives. The channels that benefit from SEO include websites, blogs, and infographics.

There are a number of ways to approach SEO in order to generate qualified traffic to your website. These include:

• On-page SEO: This type of SEO focuses on all of the content that exists "on the page" when looking at a website. By researching keywords for their search volume and intent (or meaning), you can answer questions for readers and rank higher on the search engine results pages (SERPs) those questions produce.
• Off page SEO: This type of SEO focuses on all of the activity that takes place "off the page" when looking to optimize your website. "What activity not on my own website could affect my ranking?" You might ask. The answer is inbound links, also known as backlinks. The number of publishers that link to you, and the relative "authority" of those publishers, affect how highly you rank for the keywords you care about. By networking with other publishers, writing guest posts on these websites (and linking back to your website), and generating external attention, you can earn the backlinks you need to move your website up on all the right SERPs.
• Technical SEO: This type of SEO focuses on the backend of your website, and how your pages are coded. Image compression, structured data, and CSS file optimization are all forms of technical SEO that can increase your website's loading speed — an important ranking factor in the eyes of search engines like Google.

For a real-life example on how to successfully implement SEO into your digital marketing strategy, check out our case study on Canva here:

2. Content Marketing

This term denotes the creation and promotion of content assets for the purpose of generating brand awareness, traffic growth, lead generation, and customers.

Want to learn and apply content marketing to your business? Check out HubSpot Academy's free content marketing training resource page.

The channels that can play a part in your content marketing strategy include:

• Blog posts: Writing and publishing articles on a company blog helps you demonstrate your industry expertise and generates organic search traffic for your business. This ultimately gives you more opportunities to convert website visitors into leads for your sales team.
• Ebooks and whitepapers: Ebooks, whitepapers, and similar long-form content helps further educate website visitors. It also allows you to exchange content for a reader's contact information, generating leads for your company and moving people through the buyer's journey.
• Infographics: Sometimes, readers want you to show, not tell. Infographics are a form of visual content that helps website visitors visualize a concept you want to help them learn.
• Audio or visual content: Television and radio are popular channels for digital marketing. Creating content that can be shared online as a video or heard on the radio by listeners can greatly broaden your potential audience.

Stumped? Download 150+ content creation templates by clicking below: 

Download These Templates

3. Social Media Marketing

This practice promotes your brand and your content on social media channels to increase brand awareness, drive traffic, and generate leads for your business.

If you're new to social platforms, you can use tools like HubSpot to connect channels like LinkedIn and Facebook in one place. This way, you can easily schedule content for multiple channels at once and monitor analytics from the platform as well.

On top of connecting social accounts for posting purposes, you can also integrate your social media inboxes into HubSpot, so you can get your direct messages in one place.

The channels you can use in social media marketing include:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• Pinterest

Many marketers will use these social media platforms to create a viral campaign. Partnering with a popular content creator or taking part in a trend that resonates with a wide audience is a viral marketing strategy. The purpose is to create something shareworthy in the hopes that it will organically spread across a social media channel.

Don't know how to get started with social media marketing? Download our free social media content calendar to get your social strategy up and running.

Download These Templates

4. Pay Per Click (PPC)

PPC drives traffic to your website by paying a publisher every time your ad is clicked. One of the most common types of PPC is Google Ads, which allows you to pay for top slots on Google's search engine results pages at a price "per click" of the links you place. Other channels where you can use PPC include:

• Paid ads on Facebook: Here, users can pay to customize a video, image post, or slideshow, which Facebook will publish to the news feeds of people who match your business's audience.
• Twitter Ads campaigns: Here, users can pay to place a series of posts or profile badges to the news feeds of a specific audience, all dedicated to accomplishing a specific goal for your business. This goal can be website traffic, more Twitter followers, tweet engagement, or even app downloads.
• Sponsored Messages on LinkedIn: Here, users can pay to send messages directly to specific LinkedIn users based on their industry and background.

PPC can be hard to grasp at first, so we've created a beginner-friendly guide to get you started. Download it below: 

Download This Guide

5. Affiliate Marketing

This is a type of performance-based advertising where you receive a commission for promoting someone else's products or services on your website. Affiliate marketing channels include:

• Hosting video ads through the YouTube Partner Program.
• Posting affiliate links from your social media accounts.

This is part of the relatively new wave of influencer marketing. Creating a campaign using influencers can be a highly effective form of affiliate marketing. Finding the right content creators can take your digital campaign to the next level.

6. Native Advertising

Native advertising refers to advertisements that are primarily content-led and featured on a platform alongside other, non-paid content. BuzzFeed-sponsored posts are a good example, but many people also consider social media advertising to be "native" — Facebook advertising and Instagram advertising, for example.

7. Marketing Automation

Marketing automation refers to the software that automates your basic marketing operations. Many marketing departments can automate repetitive tasks they would otherwise do manually, such as:

• Email newsletters: Email automation doesn't just allow you to automatically send emails to your subscribers. It can also help you shrink and expand your contact list as needed so your newsletters are only going to the people who want to see them in their inboxes.
• Social media post scheduling: If you want to grow your organization's presence on a social network, you need to post frequently. This makes manual posting a bit of an unruly process. Social media scheduling tools push your content to your social media channels for you, so you can spend more time focusing on content strategy.
• Lead-nurturing workflows: Generating leads, and converting those leads into customers, can be a long process.You can automate that process by sending leads specific emails and content once they fit certain criteria, such as when they download and open an ebook.
• Campaign tracking and reporting: Marketing campaigns can include a ton of different people, emails, content, webpages, phone calls, and more. Marketing automation can help you sort everything you work on by the campaign it's serving and then track the performance of that campaign based on the progress all of these components make over time.

8. Email Marketing

Companies use email marketing as a way of communicating with their audiences. Email is often used to promote content, discounts and events, as well as to direct people toward the business's website. The types of emails you might send in an email marketing campaign include:

• Blog subscription newsletters.
• Follow-up emails to website visitors who downloaded something.
• Customer welcome emails.
• Holiday promotions to loyalty program members.
• Tips or similar series emails for customer nurturing.

Learn more about email marketing with our free guide: 

Download This Guide

9. Online PR

Online PR is the practice of securing earned online coverage with digital publications, blogs, and other content-based websites. It's much like traditional PR but in the online space. The channels you can use to maximize your PR efforts include:

• Reporter outreach via social media: Talking to journalists on Twitter, for example, is a great way to develop a relationship with the press that produces earned media opportunities for your company.
• Engaging online reviews of your company: When someone reviews your company online, whether that review is good or bad, your instinct might be not to touch it. On the contrary, engaging company reviews helps you humanize your brand and deliver powerful messaging that protects your reputation.
• Engaging comments on your personal website or blog: Similar to how you'd respond to reviews of your company, responding to the people reading your content is the best way to generate productive conversation around your industry.

If you don't have a dedicated PR team, it can be hard to get started. Luckily, we've got you covered. Download our free PR kit below: 

Download This Guide

10. Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing refers to a marketing methodology wherein you attract, engage, and delight customers at every stage of the buyer's journey. You can use every digital marketing tactic listed above throughout an inbound marketing strategy to create a customer experience that works with the customer, not against them. Here are some classic examples of inbound marketing versus traditional marketing:

• Blogging vs. pop-up ads
• Video marketing vs. commercial advertising
• Email contact lists vs. email spam

11. Sponsored Content

With sponsored content, you, as a brand, pay another company or entity to create and promote content that discusses your brand or service in some way.

One popular type of sponsored content is influencer marketing. With this type of sponsored content, a brand sponsors an influencer in its industry to publish posts or videos related to the company on social media.

Another type of sponsored content could be a blog post or article highlighting a topic, service, or brand.

12. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

When a potential lead is searching for a product or business related to yours, it’s a great opportunity for a promotion. Paid advertising and SEO are two great strategies for promoting your business to capitalize on those future leads. Search engine marketing is another way to increase website traffic by placing paid ads on search engines. The two most popular SEM services are Bing Ads and Google Ads. These paid ads fit seamlessly on the top of search engine results pages, giving instant visibility. This is also an example of effective native advertising.

13. Instant Messaging Marketing

Marketing your products through messaging platforms is a fast way to reach potential leads, even for those who haven’t offered up their cell phone number. It’s a simple way to let your audience know about flash sales, new products, or updates about their orders. If your customers have questions or need more information, it’s also a convenient way for them to connect to customer service. You can send messages directly to a mobile phone via text or on platforms like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.

The digital marketer focuses on each channel's key performance indicators (KPIs) to properly measure performance. For example, a digital marketer in charge of SEO might measure their website's organic traffic. 

At small companies, one person might own many digital channels and tactics described above, while larger companies typically have a specialist focused on one or two brand channels.

Here are some examples of these specialists:

SEO Manager

Main KPIs: Organic traffic

SEO managers work to rank a business on Google SERPs. Using various SEO strategies, this person might work directly with content creators to ensure the content is high-quality and up to Google’s standards, even if the company also posts this content on social media. 

Content Marketing Specialist

Main KPIs: Time on page, overall blog traffic, YouTube channel subscribers

Content marketing specialists are digital content creators. They might keep track of a blogging calendar, or develop a content strategy that includes video. They often work with people in other departments to ensure products and campaigns are supported by promotional content on all digital channels. 

Social Media Manager

Main KPIs: Follows, Impressions, Shares

A social media manager's role depends on each company and industry. But above all, social media managers manage social media by establishing a posting schedule for the company’s written and visual content. They might also work with a content marketing specialist to develop a strategy for which content to share on social media. 

(Note: Per the KPIs above, "impressions" refers to the number of times a business's posts appear on the newsfeed of a user.)

Marketing Automation Coordinator

Main KPIs: Email open rate, campaign click-through rate, lead-generation (conversion) rate

A marketing automation coordinator helps choose and manage the software a marketing team uses to understand customer behavior and measure business growth. Many of the marketing operations described above might be executed separately, so it’s important for there to be someone who can group these activities into individual campaigns and track performance. 

Inbound Marketing vs. Digital Marketing: Which Is It?

Inbound marketing is a methodology that uses digital marketing assets to attract, engage, and delight customers online. Digital marketing, on the other hand, is simply an umbrella term to describe online marketing tactics of any kind, regardless of whether they're considered inbound or outbound.

Digital marketing is often compared to inbound marketing, but it doesn’t differentiate between ‘inbound’ and ‘outbound’ methods. It’s more of an umbrella term for all marketing that involves digital communication, while inbound marketing is more of a strategy.

Digital outbound tactics put a marketing message in front of as many people as possible online — regardless of whether it's relevant or welcomed. For example, the garish banner ads you see on websites that push a product or promotion to people who aren’t necessarily ready to receive it. 

Marketers who employ digital inbound tactics use online content to attract their target customers by providing assets that are helpful to them. One of the simplest yet most powerful inbound digital marketing assets is a blog, which allows your website to capitalize on the terms which your ideal customers are searching for.

Does digital marketing work for all businesses?

Digital marketing can work for any business in any industry. Regardless of what your company sells, digital marketing still involves building buyer personas to identify your audience's needs, and creating valuable online content. However, that's not to say all businesses should implement a digital marketing strategy in the same way.

B2B Digital Marketing

If your company is business-to-business (B2B), your digital marketing efforts are likely centered around online lead generation, with the end goal being for someone to speak to a salesperson. The goal of your marketing strategy might be to attract and convert the highest quality leads for your salespeople via your website and to support digital channels. 

Beyond your website, you'll probably choose to focus your efforts on business-focused channels like LinkedIn, where your demographic is spending their time online.

B2C Digital Marketing

If your company is business-to-consumer (B2C), depending on the price point of your products, it's likely that the goal of your digital marketing efforts is to attract people to your website and have them become customers without ever needing to speak to a salesperson.

You're probably less likely to focus on ‘leads' in their traditional sense and more likely to build an accelerated buyer's journey from when someone lands on your website to when they make a purchase. This can mean that your product features are higher up in the marketing funnel than it might be for a B2B business, and you might need to use stronger calls-to-action to inspire purchases. 

For B2C companies, channels like Instagram and Pinterest are often more valuable than business-focused platforms like LinkedIn.

What types of digital content should I create?

The kind of content you create depends on your audience's needs at different stages in the buyer's journey. You should start by creating buyer personas (use these free templates, or try makemypersona.com) to identify what your audience's goals and challenges are in relation to your business. On a basic level, your online content should aim to help them meet these goals, and overcome their challenges.

Then, you'll need to consider when they're most likely to be ready to consume this content in line with their stage in the buyer's journey. We call this content mapping.

With content mapping, the goal is to target content according to:

1. The characteristics of the person who will be consuming it (that's where buyer personas come in).
2. How close that person is to making a purchase (i.e., their lifecycle stage).

In terms of the format of your content, there are a lot of different things to try. Here are some options we'd recommend using at each stage of the buyer's journey:

Awareness Stage

• Blog posts. Great for increasing your organic traffic when paired with a strong SEO and keyword strategy.
• Infographics. Very shareable, meaning they increase your chances of being found via social media when others share your content. (Check out these free infographic templates to get you started.)
• Short videos. Again, these are very shareable and can help your brand get found by new audiences by hosting them on platforms like YouTube.

Consideration Stage

• Ebooks. Great for lead generation as they're generally more comprehensive than a blog post or infographic, meaning someone is more likely to exchange their contact information to receive it.
• Research reports. Again, this high-value content type is great for lead generation. Research reports and new data for your industry can also work for the awareness stage, though, as they're often picked up by the media or industry press.
• Webinars. As they're a more detailed, interactive form of video content, webinars are an effective consideration stage content format as they offer more comprehensive content than a blog post or short video.

Decision Stage

• Case studies. Having detailed case studies on your website can be an effective form of content for those ready to make a purchasing decision, as it helps you positively influence their decision.
• Testimonials. If case studies aren't a good fit for your business, having short testimonials around your website is a good alternative. For B2C brands, think of testimonials a little more loosely. If you're a clothing brand, these might take the form of photos of how other people styled a shirt or dress, pulled from a branded hashtag where people can contribute.

1. Define your goals.

When you get started with digital marketing, it's critical to identify and define your goals since you’ll craft your strategy with them. For instance, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, you might want to focus on reaching new audiences via social media.

Or maybe you want to increase sales on a specific product — if that's the case, it's more important you focus on SEO and optimizing content to get potential buyers on your website in the first place. Additionally, if sales are your goal, you might test out PPC campaigns to drive traffic through paid ads.

Whatever the case, it's easiest to shape a digital marketing strategy after you've determined your company's biggest goals.

2. Identify your target audience.

We've mentioned this before, but one of the biggest benefits of digital marketing is the opportunity to target specific audiences – however, you can't take advantage of that benefit if you haven't first identified your target audience.

Of course, it's important to note your target audience might vary depending on the channel or goal(s) you have for a specific product or campaign.

For instance, perhaps you've noticed most of your Instagram audience is younger and prefers funny memes and quick videos — but your LinkedIn audience is older professionals looking for more tactical advice. You'll want to vary your content to appeal to these different target audiences.

If you're starting from scratch, feel free to take a look at How to Find Your Target Audience.

3. Establish a budget for each digital channel.

Your budget will depend on the elements of digital marketing you use. 

If you're focusing on inbound techniques like SEO, social media, and content creation for a pre-existing website, the good news is you don't need a big budget at all. You can aim to create high-quality content your audience will want to consume, where the only investment you’ll need is your time.

You can get started by hosting a website and creating content using HubSpot's CMS. For those on a tight budget, you can get started using WordPress hosted on WP Engine, using a simple theme from StudioPress, and building your site without code using the Elementor Website Builder for WordPress.

With outbound techniques like online advertising and purchasing email lists, there is undoubtedly some expense. What it costs comes down to what kind of visibility you want to receive as a result of the advertising.

For example, to implement PPC using Google AdWords, you'll bid against other companies in your industry to appear at the top of Google's search results for keywords associated with your business.Depending on the keyword's competitiveness, this can be reasonably affordable or extremely expensive, which is why it's a good idea to focus on building your organic reach too.

4. Strike a good balance between paid and free digital strategies.

A digital marketing strategy likely needs both paid and free aspects to truly be effective.

For instance, spending time building comprehensive buyer personas to identify your audience’s needs and creating high-quality online content that converts them, you’ll likely see strong results despite minimal ad spend. 

However, if paid advertising is part of your digital strategy, then the results might come even quicker.

Ultimately, aim to build your organic (or 'free') reach using content, SEO, and social media for more long-term, sustainable success.

When in doubt, try both, and iterate on your process as you learn which channels — paid or free – perform best for your brand.

5. Create engaging content.

Once you know your audience and have a budget, it's time to start creating content for the various channels you will use. This content can be social media posts, blog posts, PPC ads, sponsored content, email marketing newsletters, and more.

Of course, any content you create should be interesting and engaging to your audience because the point of marketing content is to increase brand awareness and improve lead generation.

6. Optimize your digital assets for mobile.

Another key component of digital marketing is mobile marketing. In fact, smartphone usage as a whole accounts for 69% of time spent consuming digital media in the U.S., while desktop-based digital media consumption makes up less than half — and the U.S. still isn't mobile's biggest fan compared to other countries.

This means optimize your digital ads, web pages, social media images, and other digital assets for mobile devices is essential. If your company has a mobile app that enables users to engage with your brand or shop for your products, your app falls under the digital marketing umbrella, too.

Those engaging with your company ovia mobile devices need to have the same positive experience as they would on a desktop. This means implementing a mobile-friendly or responsive website design to make browsing user-friendly on mobile devices. It might also mean reducing the length of your lead generation forms to create a hassle-free experience for people downloading your content on the go. As for your social media images, it's important to always have a mobile user in mind when creating them, as image dimensions are smaller on mobile devices and text can be cut-off.

There are lots of ways you can optimize your digital marketing assets for mobile users, and when implementing any digital marketing strategy, it's hugely important to consider how the experience will translate on mobile devices. By ensuring this is always front-of-mind, you'll be creating digital experiences that work for your audience, and consequently achieve the results you're hoping for.

7. Conduct keyword research.

Digital marketing is all about reaching targeted audiences through personalized content — all of which can't happen without effective keyword research.

Conducting keyword research is critical for optimizing your website and content for SEO and ensuring people can find your business through search engines. Additionally, social media keyword research can also help market your products or services on various social channels.

You'll still want to conduct keyword research even if you don't have a full-time SEO strategist. Try creating a list of high-performing keywords related to your products or services, and consider long-tail variations for added opportunities.

8. Iterate based on the analytics you measure.

Finally, to create an effective digital marketing strategy for the long term, it's vital your team learn how to pivot based on analytics.

For instance, perhaps after a couple of months you find your audience isn't as interested in your content on Instagram anymore — but they love what you're creating on Twitter. Sure, this might be an opportunity to re-examine your Instagram strategy as a whole, but it might also be a sign that your audience prefers a different channel to consume branded content.

Alternatively, perhaps you find an older web page isn't getting the traffic it used to. You might consider updating the page or getting rid of it entirely to ensure visitors are finding the freshest, most relevant content for their needs.

Digital marketing provides businesses with incredibly flexible opportunities for continuous growth — but it's up to you to take advantage of them.

I'm ready to try digital marketing. Now what?

If you're already doing digital marketing, you're likely reaching some segments of your audience online. No doubt you can think of some areas of your strategy that could use a little improvement, though.

That's why we created a step-by-step guide to help you build a digital marketing strategy that's truly effective, whether you're a complete beginner or have a little more experience.

Next, let’s look at some examples of digital marketing that will be sure to inspire you.

1. Lego's Rebuild the World Campaign

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This is a great example of a digital marketing campaign because it says something about the brand. In this campaign, Lego takes a stance on important global issues as a way to connect with its audience.

Nowadays, it's becoming increasingly important for companies to discuss global issues and show alignment with their customers in that way. The major play of this campaign is to help share the brand's story and messaging.

Given that 82% of customers shop from brands that share their values, this was a good move for the toy brand.

2. Dove's Reverse Selfie Campaign

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As we continue to learn how social media affects children, especially young girls, Dove decided to send a message. The Reverse Selfie campaign shows the reverse of what a teen girl did to prepare for a selfie and photoshop the picture. The purpose is to increase awareness of how social media can negatively impact self-esteem.

This is an excellent example of what marketing content can look like when you know your audience intimately. By knowing its audience of real women, many of them parents, Dove was able to bring light to an often overlooked consequence of the growth of social media.

3. Jennifer Lopez's #InTheMorningChallenge

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In this social media campaign, Jennifer Lopez created a dance challenge to promote her new song. With this challenge, fans would do the same dance in their pajamas and in dress up clothes.

This was a successful social media campaign as the video had over 16 million views and over 5,000 posts.

Using social media is a great way to engage your audience and get them to participate with your brand one on one.

4. Always' #DayoftheGirl Campaign

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This is another digital campaign focused on emotional marketing. With this campaign, Always asked their own employees what tips they would give to girls. The women offer their valuable insight in a way meant to inspire everyone for International Day of the Girl, an international holiday that occurs annually in October.

Again, this isn't a campaign where the product is mentioned much, but that isn't the point. The point of this digital campaign was to inspire its audience. With that message, they could reach even more people, increase brand awareness, and show their audience that the brand aligns with their values.

Now we’ll look at some examples of different types of digital marketing. 

5. Topicals - Email Marketing

Topicals, a skincare company, uses email marketing as part of a digital marketing strategy. The image below displays a marketing email that advertises a subscribe and save deal, where people get 20% off refills if they choose to subscribe.

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6. Ashley White - Affiliate Marketing

Ashley White is an esthetician who uses affiliate marketing. In her Twitter profile, she includes a link to a personal Linktree page where she shares referral codes and discounts for people that shop with her codes and links. 

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As she markets herself as an ambassador for these companies, the businesses generate brand awareness as someone visiting her Linktree might be inspired to try a new brand (and an influencer recommendation can make this inspiration even more powerful). 

7. Samsonite - Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing is a great example of digital marketing, where brands bid on keywords and showcase ads for their products in SERPs when someone queries a related keyword. 

The image below is an example from Samsonite, where a query for the word “luggage” surfaces various luggage options from known brands that have created ads to feature their products front and center in search results. 

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8. Yes Williamsburg - Sponsored Ad 

Yes Williamsburg uses native advertising within its Instagram feed to share a paid sponsorship with a local Brooklyn business. The Reel is tagged as a paid partnership, but it appears organically in a users feed like a standard post. The ad is also in line with Yes Williamsbug’s usual content of sharing information about unique local businesses for people to try. 

9. HubSpot Blog - Content Offers

Content offers are a form of digital marketing where businesses share helpful content with site visitors that it knows will benefit them. For example, the HubSpot Blog often features content offers and learning material for people to learn more about the blog topic. 

For its blog post 11 Marketing Strategies for Black Owned Businesses, readers that want to know more about developing a marketing strategy can download an ebook for further learning. 

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10. For Keeps Bookstore - Local Business SEO

A search engine optimization strategy for many local businesses is an optimized Google My Business profile to appear in local search results when people look for products or services related to what you offer. 

For Keeps Bookstore, a local bookstore in Atlanta, GA, has optimized its Google My Business profile for local SEO so it appears in queries for “atlanta bookstore.”

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Integrate Digital Marketing Into Your Strategy

Any opportunity where you can connect to your audience is an opportunity to convert a lead or acquire a customer. Digital marketing creates so many more of those opportunities by allowing you to reach prospective buyers through a wide variety of channels. Whether it’s social media platforms, websites, text messages, or any online medium, it’s an invaluable way to promote your business, service, or product.

Editor's Note: This blog post was originally published in September 2019, but was updated for comprehensiveness.

Like a tree falling in the woods, if you plan a product launch without spreading the word — will anyone use it? Will anyone even want it?

Probably not. Whether you're launching something huge, something small, or you're updating a current offering, you'll want to start your preparation well in advance of the launch date with a product launch checklist.

Because there are so many moving parts in this process, bringing your product to market can be intimidating and tricky. To help you, we've come up with a step-by-step checklist for a successful product launch and gathered the best product launch tips from a HubSpot Product Marketer.

1. Learn about your customer.

Whether you call it “market research,” or “customer development” it's key to learn about what drives your customer. Identifying their goals, motivations, and pain points could lead you to developing and marketing a valuable solution.

You don't need to perform years of intense research to learn about your customer. In fact, we suggest just talking to 12 to 15 current or prospective customers.

When speaking to them, pay extra attention when they start sentences with “I wish a product did this function…” or “Why can't products do this?” When they give these statements, respond with questions that go deeper, like “Can you get more specific about that?" If they don't bring up any pain points, ask them a few specific questions that will encourage them to give deeper answers.

These conversations will give you a solid idea of what their biggest pain points are and how you can market a solution to them. Once you learn these key details about your customers, you can develop a buyer persona that your team can focus on serving.

2. Write a positioning statement.

Write out a statement that can clearly and concisely answer these three questions:

• Who is the product for?
• What does the product do?
• Why is it different from other products out there?

If you'd like to go even deeper, create a statement that answers the following questions:

• What is your target audience?
• What segment of the target audience is most likely to buy the product?
• What brand name will you give your product or service?
• What product or service category does your product lie in?
• How is it different from competitors in the same category?
• What evidence or proof do you have to prove that your product is different?

Still need more guidance on how to write a positioning statement? Check out this template.

3. Pitch your positioning to stakeholders.

Once you've established your position statement, present it to stakeholders in your company so they are all on the same page.

If your employees have a hard time buying into the product, your customers might as well. If your team loves it, that might be a great sign that the product launch will go well.

4. Plan your go-to-market strategy.

This is the strategy that you will use to launch and promote your product. While some businesses prefer to build a funnel strategy, others prefer the flywheel approach.

Regardless of which method you choose, this process contains many moving parts. To create an organized strategy for launching your product, it can be helpful to use a template, like this one.

As you create the strategy, also start considering which type of content you'll use to attract a prospective customer's attention during the awareness, consideration, and purchase decision stage. You'll need to produce this content in the next step.

5. Set a goal for the launch.

Before you get started on implementing your strategy, make sure you write down your goals for the launch.

Alex Girard, a Product Marketing Manager at HubSpot, says, "Create specific goals for the launch's success. Keeping these goals in mind will help you focus your efforts on launch tactics that will help you achieve those goals."

For example, the goals of your product launch could be to effectively establish a new product name, build awareness, or create sales opportunities.

One of the best ways to set goals for your launch team is to write them out like SMART goals. A SMART goal is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

6. Create promotional content.

After planning out your go-to-market strategy and writing your SMART goals, start producing content that will support and align with those promotional efforts. This can include blog posts related to your product or industry, demos and tutorials, and landing pages.

Our go-to-market template will also help you determine which content you should create for each phase of your prospective customer's buyer's journey.

7. Prepare your team.

Be sure that your company and key stakeholders are ready for you to launch and begin marketing the product. Communicate with the company through internal presentations, Slack, or email to keep your company updated on your launch plan.

8. Launch the product

Once you've completed all the above steps, you can launch the product.

9. See how well you did in achieving your goals.

After you launch your product, track how the go-to-market strategy is performing. Be prepared to pivot or adjust aspects of your plan if they aren't going smoothly.

Additionally, don't forget about the goals you set before the launch. See how well you did in achieving those goals. If the launch didn't meet expectations, you can rethink your go-to-market strategy and adjust from there.

The cost of launching a new product varies significantly. For instance, an entrepreneur will see vastly different costs for launching a product on Amazon than an enterprise company might see for launching a product in a million-dollar market. 

Let's consider two examples to explore this more closely. 

In the first example, let's say you're an entrepreneur who has invented a design app you're hoping to sell online. You might conduct market research to determine which marketing strategies work best for your goals, which messaging resonates best with your audience, and which design elements appeal to your desired prospects. If you use a few focus groups to determine these answers, you might expect to spend roughly $5,000. 

When you're bringing a new app to the market, you'll need to choose the best go-to marketing strategy for your needs. Regardless of the strategy you choose, they all cost money. For instance, product branding could cost roughly $1,000 if you're paying a designer to help you out, and website design could cost anywhere from $500-$3,000 if you're paying a web designer a one-off fee. 

These fees don't include the cost you need to pay yourself and any employees if this is a full-time job. It also doesn't include the costs of hiring an engineer to update the app's features and ensure the app is running smoothly. 

With this simplified example, you're looking at roughly $8,000. Of course, you can cut some costs if you choose to do any of these tasks yourself, but you might risk creating a subpar customer experience.

On the other end of the spectrum, let's consider a large enterprise company that is launching a new product. Here, you'll likely pay upwards of $30,000 - $50,000 for market research.

Perhaps you'll spend $15,000 on brand positioning and the marketing materials necessary to differentiate yourself against competitors, and you might pay upwards of $30,000 for all the product design and brand packaging. Finally, your marketing team could need a budget of roughly $20,000 for SEO, paid advertising, social, content creation, etc. 

All said and done, launching a product against other enterprise competitors' could cost roughly $125,000. Again, that doesn't include the costs you'll pay your marketing, product development, and engineering teams. 

How to Launch a Product Online

To launch your product online, you'll want to ensure you've followed the steps above. However, there are a few additional steps you'll want to follow to gain traction primarily online. 

1. Figure out the story you want to tell regarding your product's bigger purpose. 

What story do you want to tell across social platforms, landing pages, and email? This is similar to your positioning statement but needs to be geared entirely toward your target audience. Ask questions like, Why should they purchase your product? And How will your product or service make their lives better? 

Communicating cross-functionally ensures the communication materials you use across various online channels align — which is key when it comes to establishing a new product in the marketplace. 

Consider, for instance, how Living Proof announced its new product, Advanced Clean Dry Shampoo, on its Instagram page. The story revolves around a simple nuisance common with most other dry shampoos — How consumers still want that just-washed feeling, even when using a dry shampoo. 

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By focusing on how the product will benefit consumers through storytelling, and using a new hashtag #NoWastedWashes, Living Proof builds excitement and demand for its new product. 

2. Display customer testimonials, case studies, and other social evidence to positively frame your new product. 

Consumers want to see that other consumers have already taken the risk and purchased your new product before doing it themselves. This is where social proof comes into play. 

In the weeks leading up to a product launch, or shortly after it's launch, begin posting customer testimonials, reviews, and case studies to showcase how your new product has already helped other people. Take this a step further and employ influencers to share the word about your product as well, if it's a good fit for your brand. 

Consumers are smart enough to know they shouldn't trust every advertisement they see — but they can trust fellow consumers. So leverage that trust through social proof methods. 

3. Create a social and email campaign. 

Create a full, comprehensive social media campaign to increase interest and awareness of your new product.

Use paid advertising to reach new audiences, create full product explainer videos to use across your social channels, and use email to reach existing customers and provide an exclusive, first look at your new product's features.

Additionally, you might consider hosting a live stream to connect directly with prospects and existing customers and invite experts from your product development team to explain the new features of your product. 

It's important to note — in this stage, you'll want to pay attention to how consumers are interacting with the communication materials regarding your new product. Share concerns and feedback with the product development team — it's important to trust your consumers and use their feedback to strengthen your product. 

4. Have a pre-order option. 

If a consumer is excited to purchase your new product, don't make them wait — provide an option to pre-order the product or service before it's even available. This helps spread out demand while enabling consumers to purchase the product whenever they're feeling most inclined to do so.

Product Launch Best Practices by Industry

1. How to Launch a Digital Product

When launching a digital product, you'll want to begin building anticipation with a strong content marketing strategy. Use blog posts, email marketing, social media, and other channels of distribution to increase interest and demand for your digital product. 

You'll also want to ensure you're leveraging lead generation strategies to reach existing customers and prospects. 

For instance, let's say you're launching an online course on SEO. In the weeks leading up to the launch, you might create SEO-related blog content to send to your email subscribers with an option to join the SEO course's waitlist. This helps you gauge the effectiveness of your marketing materials while reaching an audience that has already demonstrated interest in your brand. 

How to Launch a Product on Amazon

Anyone who's ever shopped on Amazon knows the importance of a good product listing. In the weeks leading up to launch, take the time to create a strong, high-converting product listing — including taking high-resolution photos of your product, writing a description that outlines your product's differentiating features, and using keywords to help your product rank on Amazon. 

Additionally, product reviews are incredibly important on Amazon, so you'll want to ensure you have reviews ready to go before you even launch your product on Amazon. To do this, ensure you've either launched your product on your own website first (which gives you time to earn reviews before launching on Amazon), or send your product to a select group of interested buyers ahead of the full launch, and collect reviews from them. 

Finally, ensure you're ready for an Amazon product launch by checking inventory. You never know how quickly your product might gain traction on the eCommerce superstore, so make sure you have enough products to fulfill Amazon orders quickly. 

Take a look at HubSpot's The Ultimate Guide to Selling on Amazon for more information related to Amazon. 

How to Launch a SaaS Product

To launch a SaaS product, you'll want to start by researching competitors and understanding the marketplace at large.  There's plenty of demand for SaaS products, as the industry is expected to grow by more than 16% by 2026. However, the SaaS industry is also well-saturated, so before launching a SaaS product, you'll want to determine how your product differs from all the others in the industry. 

To create a successful product launch, you'll want to conduct market research and focus groups to determine the true benefits and differentiators of your product. 

Next, you'll want to employ a strong content marketing strategy to increase your website's visibility on search engines and to ensure your business is appearing in search results for topics related to your product. 

Since you aren't launching a physical product, your marketing efforts need to convince businesses that your product can solve their needs. For instance, take a look at how HubSpot positioned the new Operations Hub product.

Additionally, you might want to offer free trials or a freemium option for smaller businesses on lower budgets to test out your offerings before committing. 

For a full SaaS rundown, take a look at HubSpot's Ultimate Guide to Software as a Service (SaaS). 

How to Launch a Food Product

To launch a food product, you'll first need to ensure you're prepared for the costs required to do so — including how much it costs to package and store the product (including packaging, warehousing, and distribution), and how much it costs to sell the product (including branding and digital marketing). 

Next, you'll want to follow federal and state food regulations. For instance, you need to ensure you're following health department rules for food preparation surfaces, refrigeration, and sanitation.

You'll also need to make sure the labeling you use on your product's packaging is accurate, which requires you to send your food product to a lab for analysis and check with your state commerce to see what it requires when it comes to nutrition labels. 

When launching a food product, you'll likely want to hire a food broker. A food broker can foster relationships with national or local grocery stores and will create a promotional plan to help increase sales as soon as your food hits the shelves. 

Typically, a supermarket will test out your product for a few months before determining if there's enough consumer interest to keep it stocked — which is why a food broker can be incredibly useful for using business intelligence and industry knowledge to ensure a successful food product launch. 

Product Launch Tips

To learn the best practices for a successful product launch, I talked to Alex Girard again.

The HubSpot Product Marketing Manager said he had three main tips for a successful product launch:

• Your product positioning should reflect a shift you're seeing in the world, and how your product helps your customers take advantage of that shift.
• Create a recurring schedule for you and the core stakeholders for the launch to check in and ensure you're all on the same page.
• Make sure you keep the product team in the loop on your marketing plans. The product team could have insights that inform your overall marketing campaign.

However, sometimes, external factors might impact your ability to launch a product. When that happens, you might need to delay your launch.

How to Know When to Delay a Product Launch

To understand when, and why, you might hold off on a product launch, Girard told me there are three key reasons why you might want to delay a product launch, including:

• When your product itself isn't ready and you need to change your timeline to create the best customer experience possible.
• If a situation occurs where your current customers are having a less-than-optimal experience with one of your current products. Before launching and promoting a new product, you should make sure your current customers are satisfied with your existing product offering.
• If something occurs on an international, national, state, or local level that requires your audience to readjust their priorities and shift focus away from your company and its product launch. Make sure that when the time comes to launch, your target audience is ready to learn about your new product.

If you're looking for templates to coordinate your team efforts and align your company around your new product's messaging, download our free product marketing kit below.

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

When I was 12 years old, I used to be confused about my cousin's CD collection. Why have CDs when I could go on iTunes and listen to all my favorite songs? This is a perfect example of a product life cycle (PLC) in action.

No one wants their product to become “obsolete” and reach the end of its product life cycle. That’s why it’s important to understand what stage your product is in so you can make better marketing and business decisions.

Below, we’ll learn about the product life cycle inside and out. If you’re in a pinch, use the links below to jump straight to what you need:

• What is the product life cycle?
• Breaking Down the Product Life Cycle Theory
• What are the stages of the product life cycle?
• Product Life Cycle Examples
• International Product Life Cycle
• When to Use the Product Life Cycle

In the marketing industry, the typical depiction of the product life cycle only has four main stages — Introduction, Growth, Maturity, and Decline. At HubSpot, we agree that these are vital for a product, but the two stages “Development” and “Decline” aren’t nearly covered enough.

As marketers, it's important to understand how your tactics and strategies change depending on the stage your product is in. Let’s break down each of the six stages of the product life cycle.

Breaking Down the Product Life Cycle Theory

In the late ‘60s, Harvard Business School professor Raymond Vernon developed this marketing theory in response to an economic model that failed to account for trends present in international trade – that’s why it was originally called the international product life cycle theory.

It stated that products developed in an international market had three phases:

• New product
• Maturing product
• Standardized product

Here’s a quick breakdown of his theory.

Vernon theorized a new product would perform best in its country of origin to keep manufacturing and production costs low. Once the product gained demand, companies could begin exporting to other countries and continue building local production plants in each new location.

Having these local plants would offer the flexibility to make changes to the product without incurring huge costs.

The standardized phase would involve an influx of competitors, which would lead the company to focus on driving down production and manufacturing costs to remain competitive. As the market becomes saturated and a new product gets introduced, the company loses its relevance in its home country and shifts gears to create something new, with the cycle beginning again.

Since then, the product life cycle theory has evolved to focus less on geography and more on marketing. Let’s dive into it next.

You can use this template to map out your own product's life cycle phases.

Download the Free Product Life Cycle Template

1. Development

The development stage of the product life cycle is the research phase before a product is introduced to the marketplace. This is when companies bring in investors, develop prototypes, test product effectiveness, and strategize their launch.

In this stage, companies typically spend a lot of money without bringing in any revenue because the product isn't being sold yet.

This phase can last for a long time, depending on the complexity of the product, how new it is, and the competition. For a completely new product, the development stage is particularly difficult because the first pioneer of a product isn’t always as successful as later iterations.

Development Stage Marketing Strategy

While marketing typically begins in the introduction stage, you can begin to build “buzz” around your product by securing the endorsement of established voices in the industry.

You can also publish early (and favorable) consumer research or testimonials. Your marketing goal during this stage is to build upon your brand awareness and establish yourself as an innovative company.

2. Introduction

The introduction stage happens when a product is launched in the marketplace. This is when marketing teams begin building product awareness and targeting potential customers. Typically, when a product is introduced, sales are low and demand builds slowly.

In this phase, marketers focus on advertising and marketing campaigns. They also work on testing distribution channels and building product and brand awareness.

Introduction Stage Marketing Strategy

This is where the fun begins. Now that the product is launched, you can actually promote it using inbound marketing and content marketing.

Education is vital in this stage. If your marketing strategies are successful, the product goes into the next stage — growth.

3. Growth

During the growth stage, consumers have accepted the product in the market and customers are beginning to truly buy in. That means demand and profits are growing, hopefully at a steadily rapid pace.

The growth stage is when the market for the product is expanding and competition begins developing. Potential competitors will see your success and will want in.

Growth Stage Marketing Strategy

During this phase, marketing campaigns often shift from getting customers’ buy-in to establishing a brand presence so consumers choose them over developing competitors. Additionally, as companies grow, they'll begin to open new distribution channels and add more features and support services. In your strategy, you’ll advertise these as well.

4. Maturity

The maturity stage is when the sales begin to level off from the rapid growth period. At this point, companies begin to reduce their prices so they can stay competitive amongst the growing competition.

This is the phase where a company begins to become more efficient and learns from the mistakes made in the introduction and growth stages. Marketing campaigns are typically focused on differentiation rather than awareness. This means that product features might be enhanced, prices might be lowered, and distribution becomes more intensive.

During the maturity stage, products begin to enter the most profitable stage. The cost of production declines while the sales are increasing.

Maturity Stage Marketing Strategy

When your product has become a mature offering, you may feel like you’re “sailing by” because sales are steady and the product has been established. But this is where it’s critical to establish yourself as a leader and differentiate your brand.

Continuously improve upon the product as adoption grows, and let consumers know in your marketing strategy that the product they love is better than it was before. This will protect you during the next stage — saturation.

5. Saturation

During the product saturation stage, competitors have begun to take a portion of the market and products will experience neither growth nor decline in sales.

Typically, this is the point when most consumers are using a product, but there are many competing companies. At this point, you want your product to become the brand preference so you don't enter the decline stage.

Saturation Stage Marketing Strategy

When the market has become saturated, you’ll need to focus on differentiation in features, brand awareness, price, and customer service. Competition is highest at this stage, so it’s critical to leave no doubt regarding the superiority of your product.

If innovation at the product level isn’t possible (because the product only needs minor tweaks at this point), then invest in your customer service and use customer testimonials in your marketing.

6. Decline

Unfortunately, if your product doesn't become the preferred brand in a marketplace, you'll typically experience a decline. Sales will decrease during the heightened competition, which is hard to overcome.

Additionally, new trends emerge as time goes on, just like the CD example I mentioned earlier. If a company is at this stage, it'll either discontinue its product, sell the company, or innovate and iterate on its product in some way.

Decline Stage Marketing Strategy

While companies would want to avoid the decline stage, sometimes there’s no helping it — especially if the entire market reached a decline. In your marketing strategy, you can emphasize the superiority of your solution to successfully get out of this stage.

To extend the product life cycle, successful companies can also implement new advertising strategies, reduce prices, add new features to increase their value proposition, explore new markets, or adjust brand packaging.

The best companies will usually have products at several points in the product life cycle at any given time. Some companies look to other countries to begin the cycle anew.

Now that we’ve gone through stages, let’s review some real-life examples of them in action.

Let’s follow the product life cycle of popular products that have since reached the decline stage.

1. The Typewriter

The typewriter was the first mechanical writing tool — a worthy successor to pen and paper. Ultimately, however, other technologies gained traction and replaced it.

• Development: Before the first commercial typewriter was introduced to the market, the overall idea had been developed for centuries, beginning in 1575.
• Introduction: In the late 1800s, the first commercial typewriters were introduced.
• Growth: The typewriter quickly became an indispensable tool for all forms of writing, becoming widely used in offices, businesses, and private homes.
• Maturity: Typewriters were in the maturity phase for nearly 80 years, because this was the preferred product for typing communications up until the 1980s.
• Saturation: During the saturation stage, typewriters began to face fierce competition with computers in the 1990s.
• Decline: Overall, the typewriter couldn't withstand the competition of new emerging technologies, and eventually the product was discontinued.

2. Vine

Skipping forward to the 21st century, we see the rise and fall of Vine, a short-form video-sharing app that was the source for many memes at its peak but eventually declined due to other platforms.

• Development: Vine was founded in June 2012 and mainly competed with Instagram.
• Introduction: The app was introduced to the public in 2013. Its differentiating factor was its short-form video format — users had only seven seconds to film something that was hilarious, absurd, or a mixture of both.
• Growth: Only two years after its release, Vine had over 200 million active users. Its popularity led to the advent of the phrase “Do it for the Vine.”
• Maturity: Because it was only in the market for a few years, Vine never reached the maturity stage. While adoption was high, it was still a fairly new app.
• Saturation: Vine competed in an already saturated market. Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube were the pre-eminent names in their category, and Vine soon started to decline in use.
• Decline: When Musical.ly was introduced, Vine lost a large amount of its user base and shut down. It was succeeded by Byte, a similar short-form video-sharing platform, but none of these have been able to surpass Tik Tok, which launched months after Vine’s end in 2016.

3. Cable TV

Remember the days of switching TV channels to find what to watch? I do — and they feel distinctly like something of the past. While cable TV is still around, it’s safe to say that it’s nearing the decline stage.

• Development: Cable TV was developed in the first half of the twentieth century. John Walson has been credited with its invention.
• Introduction: The first commercial television system was introduced in 1950, and by 1962, the technology saw the first hints of growth.
• Growth: After a decades-long freeze on cable TV’s development (due to regulatory restrictions), the technology began gaining traction, and by 1980, more than 15 million households had cable.
• Maturity: Cable TV matured around the 1990s. Around seven in ten households had cable.
• Saturation: The start of the 21st century saw an oversaturation of this technology, and it also started to compete with other modern developments such as on-demand services and high-definition TV (HDTV). While the internet was still in its nascent stages, it would soon gain on cable TV as well.
• Decline: From 2015 onwards, cable TV experienced a marked decline. Online video streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu have taken precedence — and this trend is set to continue.

4. Floppy Disk

This relic was once a popular and convenient way to store and share data between computers. I barely understood what they were growing up, and it astounds me to think of the very existence of cloud data sharing and other mass memory storage means.

• Development: The first floppy disk was developed in 1970 by IBM engineers. It was an 8-inch flexible magnetic disk in a square case with 2MB storage capacity.
• Introduction: It was introduced in 1971 and largely became known as the only way to transfer or store data.
• Growth: The floppy disk was majorly used in the 1980s-1990s.
• Maturity: Sold well in the market during the 1990s. Improving with time, it could hold 200MB of storage.
• Saturation: Major competitors emerged at the beginning of the 21st century. The invention of USB cables, external hard disks, and CDs gave people options to store their data.
• Decline: The floppy disk faced a major decline up to Hewlett-Packard stopping production for the disk in 2009. The storage capacity for other products in the market grew to be more efficient.

Not all products need to face the decline stage. Companies can extend the product life cycle with new iterations and stay afloat as long as they have several products at various points of the product life cycle.

International Product Life Cycle

The international product life cycle (IPL) is the cycle a product goes through in international markets. As products begin to mature and companies want to avoid the decline stage, they'll typically begin to explore new markets globally.

When products reach mass production, manufacturing and production shift to other countries as well.

The international product life cycle stages are identical to that of a normal product life cycle. The development stage looks different, however, because local customs and regulations can affect how long it takes to bring the product to a new marketplace.

However, once you lay the groundwork in a new marketplace, your competitors will be sure to follow, and the life cycle stages will continue up until saturation and eventually decline. Your option is to either expand into another market or learn from prior mistakes and innovate before the decline stage rolls around.

Next, we’ll look at when you should use the product life cycle.

When to Use the Product Life Cycle

Businesses use the product life cycle to achieve the following:

• Establish competitive authority. If your product is new and recently introduced to the market, you can advertise it as a new and improved alternative to an existing product. If the product is established, you can vouch for its long history of use in your branding.
• Decide on a pricing strategy. Depending on the life cycle stage your product is in, you’ll choose how to price the product. A new product may be priced lower to entice more buyers, while a product in the growth stage can be priced higher.

• Create a marketing strategy. Your product life cycle stage will determine which strategy to pursue. Maturity and audience knowledgeability play a big role in the type of content you publish on your site and social media profiles.
• Respond before the product begins its decline. There’s no worse feeling than watching your product slowly become obsolete or be displaced by a competing product. By keeping the life cycle stages in mind, you can create a strategy that keeps you ahead of the curve as you reach the saturation and decline stages.

The product life cycle benefits businesses because they can shift their wording and positioning to best market the product at the stage it is in. If your product has recently been introduced and you try to market it as a long-established solution, consumers will see right through it and trust you less as a result.

Keep Your Product’s Life Cycle in Mind

Whether you're developing a brand new product or working with a mature, well-established brand, you can use the product life cycle stages as a guide for your marketing campaigns.

Each stage will dictate how you inform your audience about the product, how you position your brand in the marketplace, and how you decide to move forward after the decline stage.

By keeping your product’s life cycle in mind, you can invest in better marketing campaigns that result in a higher ROI.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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.

There are several reasons why every business should spend time sizing its market:

• It helps you determine if it’s a worthy investment – Say you have a great idea for a product but there are currently 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.

• It helps you estimate maximum total profit – 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.

• 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 Methods

Top Down Approach

The first is a top-down approach, in which you start by looking at the market as a whole, from a bird’s eye view, 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 determine 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 determine 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 determine 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 remain 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 have 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 determine 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.

One of my biggest challenges with working from home is staying focused and completing every task on time. After all, home is where my TV, phone, kitchen, and cats are — it's not exactly set up with productivity in mind. However, that doesn't mean it's impossible to get things done. Fortunately, there are many practical, productive tips to help anyone reach their goals, whether they work from home or in an office.

Here are 15 productivity hacks to keep you focused so you can achieve your goals.

1. Eat breakfast every day.
2. Exercise in the morning.
3. Take time to free-write.
4. Plan the day ahead of time.
5. Take regular breaks.
6. Set a single goal for the day.
7. Don't be afraid to say 'No.'
8. Wake up early.
9. Schedule some self-care.
10. Create deadlines.
11. Work in short bursts.
12. Have a dedicated workspace.
13. Avoid multitasking.
14. Work near natural light.

Best Productivity Hacks for a Successful Day

Here are some great productivity hacks that will set your day up for success.

1. Eat breakfast every day.

Breakfast gives your body the energy it needs to stay alert and focused. Skipping breakfast can result in feeling sluggish in the morning, and you will likely have difficulty concentrating. According to the Harvard Business Review, food (or lack thereof) affects our cognitive performance and decision-making.

"Just about everything we eat is converted by our body into glucose, which provides the energy our brains need to stay alert," psychologist Ron Friedman said. "When we’re running low on glucose, we have a tough time staying focused, and our attention drifts. This explains why it’s hard to concentrate on an empty stomach."

Pro-Tip: Try meal-prepping your breakfast the night before. Overnight oats and yogurt parfaits are easy to make ahead and grab when you're on the go.

2. Exercise in the morning.

Thirty minutes of regular exercise can boost one's overall energy, so it makes sense you'll be more productive during the day after a morning workout. According to Healthline, exercise helps oxygen and nutrients travel to your heart and lungs, which improves your cardiovascular system, stamina, and endurance.

Pro-Tip: Don't overwork yourself. Too much exercise can result in injury, fatigue, depression, and anxiety, according to Everyday Health. Stick to 30 minutes of exercise a day, five days a week, to be safe.

3. Take time to free-write.

You don't have to be a skilled writer to reap the benefits of free writing. Free writing in the morning or before bed can help organize your thoughts, boost creativity, and relieve stress. Writing can also improve your communication skills, making you a more effective leader.

Pro-Tip: Dedicate about 30 minutes to an hour of free writing every morning or every evening. And remember, no one needs to see what you write. So, don't stress about the quality.

4. Plan the day ahead of time.

Write down a detailed plan of your day either the night before or in the morning. Include all your tasks for the day, the order in which you'll complete them, and the time you'll need on each assignment. Having a schedule will keep you on track and lessen the chance of drifting away from your duties or wasting time — because you'll know what you need to do and when you'll need to do it.

Pro-Tip: Get in the habit of keeping and updating a daily planner or calendar. Or make a daily to-do list in the notes app of your phone.

5. Take regular breaks.

It's easy to get so invested in work that you skip lunch or focus to the point of exhaustion. Make sure to schedule moments to step away from your tasks and unwind. Permitting yourself to relax will help clear your mind and return to work with a more precise focus.

Pro-Tip: During those breaks, you can eat lunch, walk, stretch, read a book, meditate, or chat with friends. Make sure your activities leave you feeling refreshed and ready to work when the break is over.

6. Set a single goal for the day.

Think of one goal you want or need to accomplish for the day, and break that goal down into multiple tasks. Allot a certain amount of time to each task. Doing so will help you stay focused and ensure your tasks align with your vision.

Pro-Tip: Always ensure your goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. In other words — establish SMART goals.

7. Don't be afraid to say 'No.'

Setting boundaries is a major key to productivity. Understandably, you may want to be helpful whenever you can, but you won't be able to get things done if you're constantly taking on requests from others. So learn to say 'no' to last-minute requests, impromptu phone calls, and inconvenient plans so you can stay on track.

Pro-Tip: If you have a shareable digital calendar, like Google Calendar, mark off specific days and times you're unavailable for meetings or requests and share it with your colleagues.

8. Wake up early.

You can achieve a lot by simply waking up early in the morning. An early start will give you time to eat a good breakfast, work out, shower, and gear up for the day ahead. You may even complete your tasks earlier, allowing more free time in the evening.

Pro-Tip: If you're not used to waking up early, try easing yourself into the habit. Try going to bed and waking up 20 minutes earlier each day until you've reached your goal time. For example, if you usually wake up at 8:30 a.m. but want to start waking up at 6:30 a.m.— set your alarm for 8:10 a.m. on the first day, then 7:50 a.m. the next morning. Keep setting your alarm earlier and earlier each day until you reach 6:30 a.m.

9. Schedule some self-care.

One of the biggest enemies of productivity is burnout, and the best way to avoid burnout is to make time for self-care. Examples of self-care include:

• Reading your favorite book
• Creating a relaxing nighttime routine before bed
• Journaling
• Exercising
• Going for a walk
• Meditating

Pro-Tip: Try to fit self-care activities into your daily routine so that you'll always have something to look forward to.

10. Create deadlines.

You never want to spend too much time on a task, so it's essential to give yourself a specific amount of time to complete something and a day and time it needs to be done. Doing so will provide a healthy sense of urgency and help you properly manage your time.

Pro-Tip: Audit your time to see how long specific tasks take to complete so that you can create realistic and manageable deadlines.

Productivity Hacks at Work

These hacks will help you stay focused at work.

11. Work in short bursts.

It's hard to stay focused on the same thing for a long time, so make things easier on yourself by working in short bursts. For example, the Pomodoro method is a popular technique for boosting productivity. The Pomodoro method consists of working in 25-minute increments with 5-minute breaks in between each session.

Pro-Tip: If the Pomodoro method doesn't seem to work for you, try adjusting the time increments and breaks to something you're comfortable with.

12. Have a dedicated workspace.

This hack is especially useful if you're working from home or remotely. Create a space that has all the tools you need to be productive and is only used for work. So, avoid having your dedicated workspace in your bedroom or an area used for recreation. You'll need a space that you can leave once you're done with work for the day.

Pro-Tip: Some homes are filled with too many distractions for workspace, so don't be afraid to find areas outside the house to work, such as your local library, shared office space, or coffee shop.

13. Avoid multitasking.

There's a misconception that multitasking is a great way to finish multiple tasks quickly because you're working on various things at once. But in reality, only 2.5% of people can multitask effectively. That's because the human brain can most focus on one task at a time, according to most recent studies.

When we try to multitask, our brains are just bouncing back and forth between different tasks, which can slow performance and result in more mistakes.

Pro-Tip: Group similar tasks together and complete them one-by-one, instead of simultaneously. By grouping similar duties, your mind can quickly shift its focus to the next job on your list.

14. Work near natural light.

Most recent studies show that natural light is key to boosting productivity. One study found that workers in office environments with optimized natural lights reported an 84% drop in symptoms like eyestrain, headaches, and blurred vision. These symptoms are common with prolonged usage of a computer or devices at work — which can hinder productivity.

In other words, natural sunlight contributes to a more comfortable environment. And when you feel better, you'll likely work better, too.

Pro-Tip: Try setting up your workspace near a window or sunny area.

15. Forget about perfectionism.

Focus on getting the job done right rather than perfectly because nothing is ever truly perfect. I'll never forget when I was a journalist and spent too much time writing an article for work. I spent so much time trying to make it "perfect" that I missed my deadline. You should always take pride in your work, but you should also know when to move on to the next thing.

Pro-Tip: Create a short list of things a task must have to be considered complete. Once you check off everything on the list, move on to the next task — even if the first one isn't perfect but still checks every box.

When all else fails, the most significant hack to productivity is patience. There will be days when things don't go as planned, and you don't achieve everything on your to-do list. On those days, be patient with yourself and remember that tomorrow is another opportunity to do better.

The project management field is growing. By 2027, employers will have 88 million PM roles, according to the Project Management Institute. To capitalize on new opportunities, PMs must keep up-to-date with industry trends and insights.

Whether you’re an industry professional or just starting your career, we’ve gathered 8 of the best project management podcasts to help you on your journey. These podcasts cover a wide variety of topics, from company culture to organizational leadership.

Take a deep dive below.

1. Manage This — The Project Management Podcast

• Hosts: Andy Crowe, CEO at Velociteach, and Bill Yates, Executive Vice President at Velociteach
• Length: 30-45 minutes
• Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify

This podcast offers an inside look into every aspect of project management. In each episode, Crowe and Yates share insider intelligence and actionable tips. Recent discussion topics include the challenges of management remotely, reshaping project innovation, and building culture.

What we like: Crowe and Yates invite a variety of subject matter experts onto the show. Conversations range from advice for someone just starting in project management to leadership tips – including how to manage uncertainty.

2. PM Point Of View

• Host: Kendall Lott, President at OSP International LLC
• Length: 1 hour
• Where to listen: Apple Podcasts and Stitcher

This podcast comes from the Project Management Institute of Washington, D.C. Plus, you’ll gather a wide range of perspectives on project management. Host Kendall Lott brings experience from roles in project management and within the C-suite. Guests also come from a variety of backgrounds and industires.

What we like: This podcast offers a wealth of knowledge. Each episode includes actionable tips and advice for PMs of all skill levels.

3. Project Management Happy Hour

• Hosts: Kim Essendrup, Founder of Kolme Group, and Kate Anderson, Senior Product Manager at PayPal
• Length: 35-45 minutes
• Where to listen: Apple Podcasts and the podcast’s website

In each episode, Essendrup and Anderson cover a common problem in project management today. They then dive into practical advice and real-life examples. In addition to industry insights and tips, the hosts offer thoughtful case studies.

What we like: Each episode feels like a casual discussion with your friends. If you’re looking for a podcast that offers honest conversations about real-world issues in project management, then this is the podcast for you.

4. The Digital Project Manager Podcast

• Host: Galen Low, Co-Founder and Community Lead
• Length: 45-55 minutes
• Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and the podcast’s website

The Digital Project Manager Podcast provides inspiration, how-to guides, tips, tricks, tools, actionable advice, and thoughtful stories. Episodes cover everything under the project management umbrella — including managing budgets and expectations, setting benchmarks, and the factors driving digital transformation.

What we like: Host Galen Low goes beyond just discussing industry trends. He connects with guests and offers actionable advice that will help you through every aspect of project management.

5. The Biker PM

• Host: Anthoney Pavelich, Project Manager and Consultant
• Length: 25-35 minutes
• Where to listen: Spotify

The Biker PM is the perfect project management podcast for small businesses. Host Anthoney Pavelich brings on entrepreneurs and small business owners to discuss the project management challenges they face. Here, they dissect what worked, what didn't work, and how to navigate new startups.

What we like: Discussions on The Biker PM can benefit any small business owner or entrepreneur who needs guidance on how to avoid project management pitfalls.

6. Projectified

• Host: Steve Hendershot, Journalist, Founder, and Chief Creative Officer
• Length: 20 minutes
• Where to listen: Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Created by the Project Management Institute, this podcast is for people who lead strategic initiatives that deliver value to their organizations. Guests include both senior and rising project managers, business leaders in Fortune 500 companies and startups, best-selling authors, top researchers, and a wide range of leading-edge thinkers.

What we like: Projectified is produced by the Project Management Institute, a for-purpose professional membership organization for project management. You can trust the podcast's content to be accurate and in line with industry standards.

7. People and Projects Podcast

• Host: Andy Kaufman, PMP, PMI-ACP
• Length: 35-45 minutes
• Where to listen: Apple Podcasts and Spotify

This podcast focuses on the intersection of people and projects — where work gets done in the real world. Here you’ll learn management tips that can help your team stay on track and collaborate on big-ticket items.

What we like: If you want a fresh take on project management, this is the podcast for you. Host Andy Kaufman and his guests cover various topics, from skill development to surprising ways you already use project management in your daily life.

8. Project Management Paradise

• Host: Aaron Murphy, Project Manager
• Length: 20-30 minutes
• Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and Audible

This podcast delivers real project management tips and tricks from experts around the world. Host Aaron Murphy talks with business leaders, entrepreneurs, and project managers to offer thoughtful insights.

What we like: After each episode, you’ll walk away with solid guidance and understanding to help you conquer real-world challenges. That includes change management, shifting organizational behavior, and creating a project management style that aligns with your company’s culture.

Choosing the Right Podcast

If you’re looking to gain more actionable insights or expand your skills as a project manager, consider adding these podcasts to your rotation.

Both industry newcomers to long-standing project managers can learn something new from these shows. Plus, you’ll gather tips that can take your project management skills to the next level.

Posting Instagram content when your audience is most active on the app increases chances of engagement, brand awareness, referral traffic, and conversions. However, it's not always efficient to hover over your phone or laptop to post on Instagram at the perfect moment — so you'll need a way to schedule Instagram posts ahead of time.

This is where Instagram scheduling software comes into play.

Can you schedule Instagram posts?

Why You Should Schedule Your Instagram Posts

Instagram Scheduling Best Practices

Best Way to Schedule Instagram Posts

Tools for Scheduling Instagram Posts

HubSpot Social Media Management Software

Later

Tailwind

Buffer

Sked Social

Sprout Social

Loomly

How to Schedule Instagram Posts

Schedule Your Instagram Posts

Can you schedule Instagram posts?

Yes! If you're a content creator or business owner with access to Meta's Creator Studio, you can connect your Instagram account to Creator Studio to schedule posts.

If you don't have Creator Studio, Instagram's API lets users of marketing tools like HubSpot schedule Instagram posts in advance.

It's also worth mentioning that Instagram is testing a new in-app tool to schedule posts and Reels. In October 2022, a Meta spokesperson said, "We are testing the ability to schedule content with a percentage of our global community."

That same month, Twitter user @WFBrother posted a screenshot showing how the tool works.

However, the tool is still in the testing stage, so you'll need to rely on either Meta's Creator Studio or third-party social media scheduling software to schedule your content.

Why You Should Schedule Your Instagram Posts

There are many reasons you should get in the habit of scheduling your Instagram posts. One reason is that it saves valuable time and gives you the opportunity to plan and execute a comprehensive marketing strategy. Think about it — instead of scrambling to post content at the perfect time, you're able to schedule a string of compelling posts that include stories, Reels, carousels, polls, and more in advance.

You'll also have more time to interact with followers and reply to comments, which can build lasting relationships with customers and generate leads.

Instagram Scheduling Best Practices

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when scheduling posts to Instagram.

1. Schedule posts to go live when your audience is the most active.

Track how your posts perform at different times, and use that information to optimize your posting schedule. To get you started, here are some great posting times, according to Search Engine Journal:

• Monday: 6 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m.
• Tuesday: 8-10 a.m., 2 p.m.
• Wednesday: 9-11 a.m.
• Thursday: 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., 7 p.m.
• Friday: 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., 2-4 p.m.
• Saturday: 8-11 a.m.
• Sunday: 6-8 p.m.

2. Craft your captions with care.

If you're scheduling content ahead of time, there's no need to rush writing your caption. Take the time to figure out the right hashtag to use, the right accounts to tag (if any), and a compelling call to action.

3. Engage with your audience.

The time you save by scheduling posts can be used to connect with your audience, Block off time to reply to comments, and host polls. If your audience tags you in a story, post that story to your account.

Best Way to Schedule Instagram Posts

The simplest way to schedule Instagram posts will be via Meta's Creator Studio if you have access to it. To schedule posts via Creator Studio, do the following:

1. Connect your Instagram account to Creator Studio.
2. Click "Create Post."
3. If you have more than one Instagram account connected to the studio, click the account you want to post to.
4. Add a caption.
5. Click "Add Content" to select the video or photos you want to post.
6. Click "From File Upload" to upload new content, or "From Facebook Page" to post content you already shared to Facebook.
7. Click the arrow next to "Publish."
8. Select "Schedule."
9. Choose the date and time you want your content to post on Instagram.
10. Click "Schedule."

If you don't have Creator Studio, you can use plenty of excellent, user-friendly scheduling software. Here are some of your best options.

1. HubSpot Social Media Management Software

Price: $0/month (Free), $45/month (Starter), $800/month (Professional), $3,600/month (Enterprise)

With HubSpot's Social Media tool, which is part of HubSpot Marketing Hub, you can schedule and publish social posts to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. From within HubSpot, you can edit your post, schedule it, and add @mentions to tag other accounts and users.

Upload the image you want to share on Instagram to HubSpot, then drag and drop it into the post you're scheduling. You can preview the final post before it goes live to see what your visitors will see.

After you choose the date and time, your Instagram post will be shared and previewed. Tag it with a relevant HubSpot campaign, so all your social posts associated with a marketing campaign you're already running are organized.

Once you schedule your post, you can select "Schedule another" to plan another social post. There's an option to auto-copy and paste content from the post you just scheduled so you can plan similar posts for different dates, times, and platforms.

Lastly, if you're using HubSpot's social tool to schedule and publish across other platforms, target specific audience groups (for instance, you can target specific countries or languages on Facebook).

2. Later

Price: Free, $18/mo (Starter), $40 (Growth), $80 (Advanced)

Later is a social media post scheduler dedicated to Instagram. The platform includes a full social content calendar, drag-and-drop post planning, and the ability to publish automatically to your Instagram Business profile. In addition, the service's Linkin.bio feature allows you to link individual posts to specific product pages.

3. Tailwind

Price: Free, $12.99/mo (Pro), $19.99 (Advanced), $39.99 (Max)

Tailwind is a social media scheduler and innovative assistant platform specifically for Instagram and Pinterest. Using smart features like bulk image uploading and the built-in Hashtag Finder, the tool allows small businesses to personalize their Instagram posts and get them scheduled quickly.

The tool also allows you to visually plan and preview your Instagram post schedule and grid via a single dashboard your audience will see before posting.

4. Buffer

Price: Free, $6/mo (Pro), $65/mo (Essentials), $12/mo (Team), $120/mo (Agency)

Buffer allows you to schedule social media posts across six social networks: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. Buffer for Instagram makes it easy to manage and schedule your posts via a single dashboard.

There's an option to include hashtags in your Instagram post in the Comments section versus in the caption (to keep the post and caption as simple as possible). Using Buffer's social media analytics feature, you can also analyze your Instagram posts to determine what worked among your target audience.

In addition to a mobile app for iOS and Android, Buffer also offers an extension for your internet browser.

5. Sked Social

Price: $25/mo (Fundamentals), $75/mo (Essentials), $135/mo (Professional)

Sked Social offers an Instagram scheduling and auto-posting tool for Instagram posts and stories. Using the tool, you can plan to post your stories automatically, whether photo or video, so you never have to intervene or receive reminders to click "Post" again.

You can also schedule your Instagram posts via iOS or Android to upload content directly from your mobile device's camera roll.

6. Sprout Social

Price: $249/mo (Standard), $399/mo (Professional), $499/mo (Advanced)

Sprout Social is a social media management platform that's clear with six major social networks, including Instagram. It has a social media content calendar allowing you to schedule your social posts and measure engagements once live.

Easily upload the image you want to post on Instagram, add the caption and other Instagram post details (e.g., location), and then schedule it to go out at the date and time of your choosing.

The tool's social listening abilities also help you identify unique trends across your Instagram content and then apply these trends to the rest of your Instagram marketing strategy.

7. Loomly

Price: $26/mo (Base), $59/mo (Standard), $129/mo (Advanced), $269/mo (Premium), Request Quote (Enterprise)

Loomly is a brand success platform with content management and social media publishing and scheduling features. Schedule your social media posts in advance — there are automated scheduling and publishing options for various social platforms incl,uding Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google. Loomly also offers automated Instagram Ad (and Facebook Ad) publishing.

With the platform, you easily manage your organic and paid social media content — you can also get notifications (via email, Slack, and more) whenever one of your team members works on a piece of social content to make for easy team-wide collaboration. The tool provides social media post recommendations based on trends, events, holidays, and social platform best practices.

Next, let's dive into how to schedule Instagram posts for an Instagram Business page — for the sake of this post, we'll use HubSpot as our scheduling and publishing tool.

1. Ensure you have admin access to your Facebook Business Page.

Instagram and Facebook might be separate accounts to you personally, but businesses that want to automate their Instagram posting schedule will need to tether both accounts together. So, you'll need the username and password of your business's Facebook account to do this — in other words, head over to the Instagram Business landing page to set up your account if you don't already have one.

2. Switch to your Business profile on the Instagram mobile app and connect this account to Facebook.

If you have a personal Instagram account, you probably know you can manage more than one profile from the app — and the other profile is your business account (keep in mind you'll need an Instagram Business account to schedule Instagram posts in HubSpot).

To switch to your Instagram Business page from your page, navigate to your profile on your mobile device and tap the three dots in the upper-right corner of your screen. Then, in the next screen, select "Switch to Business Profile," as shown below:

Under "Settings," select "Linked Accounts." Here's where you can choose Facebook and link your two accounts together. You might be asked to "Log in With Facebook," at which point you'll enter your business account's username and password. Otherwise, select "Continue as [yourself]."

3. Open HubSpot and integrate your Instagram profile with the "Social" tool.

Now that your Instagram profile is anchored to Facebook, you can integrate it with your post scheduler. As mentioned, we will use HubSpot's Social tool for our purposes.

Open HubSpot, select "Settings" > "Marketing" > "Social" > "Connect Account" > "Facebook and Instagram."

Click the first option, "Facebook & Instagram," and follow the prompts to complete this step (which are listed here in greater detail).

4. Create your first social post for your Instagram account.

Once your Instagram account is integrated into HubSpot, you'll see an option to "Create social post" in your HubSpot dashboard. Click it, and you'll see icons for which social network you want to start with. Select the Instagram icon to compose your first post for your Instagram account.

5. Compose a message with your desired visual assets, captions, and hashtags.

Customize your Instagram post and upload an image using the landscape icons on the bottom-lefthand corner of the white text field that appears. Then, caption your image with the text, hashtags, and user mentions you'd like to post your photo with, as they should appear on Instagram.

6. Set the date and time of your Instagram post.

Above the photo you're posting, you'll see a field where you can add the date and time the date and time that your post will be scheduled to go live. Use this field to automatically set the date and time you want your post to go live on your Instagram profile.

7. Preview your post to make sure it looks right.

Any grammatical errors? Are all your intended hashtags included? Is the image successfully uploaded? Check to make sure, and you'll be ready to schedule.

8. Click "Schedule message."

Got any more Instagram posts planned? Draft them now and schedule all of them simultaneously — with HubSpot, you can schedule your social posts in bulk.

Once every post you want to schedule has been loaded into HubSpot, you can hit the "Schedule" button on the page.

Schedule Your Instagram Posts

Start scheduling your Instagram posts to make your workflow more efficient and to ensure the content you need to get in front of your audience does so in a timely fashion.

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

This post is a part of The Crisis of Disconnection, a thought leadership series examining the latest research and insights to uncover how businesses can meet their growth goals, even amidst unprecedented changes to the way we work.

If there’s a topline takeaway from the research that prompted us to call The Crisis of Disconnection by name, it’s this. The growth challenges you faced in the last decade won’t be the growth challenges you face in the next decade.

If you’ve been following along, we’re glad you’re back. If you’re just joining us now, we’re glad you’re here.

To recap, here are four things keeping the savviest leaders we know up at night:

• Businesses once in hyper-growth mode are now struggling to grow. One in three businesses are already citing “slowed growth” as a top challenge going forward.
• Painfully high expenses and increasing costs are leading businesses to re-evaluate their software spend, the tools in their tech stack, and how that impacts their bottom line
• Tried-and-true methods for generating demand are becoming less reliable and more expensive. Nearly two-thirds of businesses agree that sales engagement is struggling more now than pre-pandemic.
• 81% of businesses agree that COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way we live, work, and connect — and “the new normal” is still largely TBD.

You’ve seen the data. You’re tracking the trends. But how will The Crisis of Disconnection manifest in your business?

Disconnection in Context: Challenges for Go-to-Market Teams

Let’s take a closer look at the three overarching disconnects with material impact on scaling companies:

What’s not pictured, and adding a sense of urgency to it all? The macroeconomic fluctuations that seem here to stay. Oscillations in supply and demand, rumors about an impending recession, and decreased access to capital are causing leaders across industries and functions to re-evaluate how to invest in growth.

Let’s consider each core complexity — and its consequences.

1. Disconnected Data and Systems Leads to Decreased Efficiency and Value to Your Business

If having a streamlined tech stack with clean, connected data feels like an increasingly pressing priority, you’re one of many re-examining their CRM solutions (for good reason).

One in four businesses today say disconnected data and systems are among their chief concerns as they grow. And the ever-popular point solution approach isn’t without problems.

Consider the Impacts to Your People

Impact 1: Proliferating tools are creating complex, bloated tech stacks that are increasingly hard to use, integrate, and maintain.

The number of martech solutions is up 24% from 2020. Additionally, new sales productivity research shows:

• Sales reps use just 62% of their tech stack.
• Sales reps spend 41% of their average workday not selling, costing companies approximately 38% in revenue per quarter.
• 74% of CRM buyers feel their teams have to switch between too many tools to get the job done, and 76% are using 3 or more applications to manage their relationships with customers
• Only 27% of marketers say their marketing data is fully integrated with the tools they use, and 22% of them find it difficult to share data across teams.
• Marketers spend an average of 3.55 hours each week collecting, organizing, and analyzing marketing data from separate sources.
• Psychologists have found that switching gears and logging into disparate tools can eat up as much as 40% of an employee’s productive time.
• A lack of unified data can block progress for individual contributors and make reporting an all-day affair for managers.
• It’s harder for both individual contributors and team leads to deliver tangible ROI.

Impact 2: Disconnected systems lead to decentralized data, which causes teams to spend more time searching for answers and less time focusing on high-value activities.

Impact 3: Frequent context-switching results in productivity loss at every level.

Consider the Impacts to Your Bottom Line

According to our research, companies with less connected data & systems are seriously disappointed in the ROI of their tech stacks:

• Only 13% of businesses that have a mostly or entirely unintegrated tech stack report excellent ROI.
• Businesses that report worse connectedness of their data also report substantially worse ROI from their tech stacks.
• Businesses that use 11 or more point solutions see 2.5x higher total cost of ownership than those that use just one.

On the flip side, companies see greater ROI when data and systems are more connected and CRM tools are all on one platform:

But why does connection & integration of your tech stack make such a difference to ROI? To answer that question, let’s take a look at how ROI is calculated:

As you can see in the equation above, total cost of ownership is one of the major factors in ROI  — as TCO increases, ROI decreases, fast.

And, as we’ve learned in our research,  having more point solutions leads to significantly higher cost of ownership, primarily driven by the increased personnel costs associated with using multiple tools.

So, even if a business is getting the same gains from their tech stack, using too many point solutions is likely going to decrease their ROI compared to a company that has consolidated more of its tools on a single platform.

As you can see, streamlining your tech stack does more than reduce friction between your systems and data. It reduces your total cost of ownership. It makes you more likely to weather the volatility ahead, with 52% of businesses with excellent data connectedness reporting they feel well-equipped to grow and thrive, despite the current state of the economy. And it connects your sales, marketing, and service teams (the importance of which we’ll talk more about below).

2. Disconnected People Leads to Decreased Sense of Community and Satisfaction

As you may have guessed, disconnected systems don’t just lead to disconnected data — they also contribute to feelings of disconnection between teams.

At the risk of stating the obvious: the way many of us work took a 180 in 2020. No fewer than 80% of U.S. employees say the crisis materially affected their daily work lives. Within a year, Zoom generated a mere $4 billion in revenue (a 53% increase year-on-year), with meeting participants increasing by 2900%.  Many of us had to learn — and are still learning — how to collaborate digitally instead of in-person.

There have been some upsides (access to more diverse talent, time saved commuting, meetings attended in pajama pants), along with some challenges.

What does this mean? The playbook for attracting, supporting, and retaining employees is — you guessed it — changing.

Employees clearly crave connection and are more likely to feel dissatisfied without it. What’s equally true? Creating moments of connection is more challenging in an increasingly remote world run on siloed systems and partially accessible information. And as The Great Resignation is already showing, the consequences of ignoring how employees feel — inside and outside of work — won’t be insignificant.

3. Disconnected Customers Leads to Decreased Interactions and Opportunities to Delight

If you’re getting the sense that these disconnection challenges are compounding, you aren’t wrong. Disconnected systems, data, and people are all contributing to another problem — brands are facing more hurdles as they try to connect with their customer base.

Before we double-click on the data and what it means for you, here’s a high-level summary (with a spoiler: what worked then won’t work now):

In case you don’t want to take our word for it:

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is up. 49% of those who track CAC say it has increased in the past year.
• 42% of businesses cite increasing costs to reach prospects/customers as the main obstacle standing between them and continued growth.
• Organic growth is diminishing. The average SaaS blog grew -1.6% last year and Google takes more than 65% of clicks.
• More than 30% of marketers say that they are experiencing average-to-no returns on their digital marketing investments.
• 80% of marketers report that getting rid of cookies will have a mild to major impact on their advertising strategy, and just 36% of marketers overall feel completely ready for impending data privacy changes.
• Businesses have already spent an average of $1.3 million on General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance and are expected to spend $1.8 million more.

What does this mean for your business? It’s getting harder (read: less effective and more expensive) to reach potential customers. And if/when you do reach them, it’s getting harder to exceed their expectations (with fewer insights about their personal preferences than ever). Without a single source of truth about customers, it’s harder for teams to deliver personalized, connected customer experiences. Although 80% of marketers consider personalization the key to increasing revenue and enhancing customer experiences, HubSpot’s research shows that over half of marketers are missing critical data on their target audience that prevents them from delivering that personalized experience. 

So where does that leave today’s go-to-market teams?

Next Steps

So far, we’ve covered the “what” and “so what” associated with The Crisis of Disconnection.

In the final installment of this series, we’ll cover the most important question of all. Now what?

Stay tuned for our next post, and in the meantime, learn how HubSpot can help you connect all the dots.

Early this year, conversations surrounding an upcoming recession started making headlines. Then, we saw mass layoffs and hiring freezes happening, particularly in the tech world.

According to our 2023 Marketing Strategy Report, 48% of global marketers say the potential for an economic downturn or recession has affected their company’s hiring plans in 2022.

The report also suggests that this impact will continue into 2023. In this article, we’ll cover:

• How the Recession Has Impacted Hiring So Far
• How the Recession Will Impact Hiring in 2023
• Which Roles Remain Popular & Which Ones Have Lower Demand
• Which Companies and Industries Are Most Impacted

How The Recession Has Impacted Hiring So Far

Based on our report, we know that nearly half of marketers globally say the current economy has impacted their hiring plans for the year. The question is how.

The report suggests that marketers already struggle with hiring top talent, with 47% of respondents saying it’s one of their biggest challenges. More specifically, respondents say the biggest roadblocks are finding candidates with the right skill set and meeting salary expectations.

The recession has only exacerbated an existing issue. Here are some standout figures:

• 35% of respondents say they had to slow down or pause hiring efforts.
• 27% of respondents say their company had to fire or lay off employees.
• 26% of respondents say their company had to rescind offers made to prospective employees.

When asked in the Fall of 2022, “How long do you expect hiring efforts to be slowed or paused at your company?” 43% estimated four to six months while 27% said over seven months.

This indicates that many companies will be experiencing hiring freezes well into the new year.

It’s worth noting though that the recession hasn’t impacted all companies in the same way. The report shows that some companies actually increased hiring, according to 34% of marketers surveyed.

One interesting finding is that companies that describe their marketing strategy as effective are nearly 20% more likely to increase their hiring efforts in 2023.

How The Recession Will Impact Hiring in 2023

According to our report, 10% of marketers still anticipate struggling with hiring top talent in 2023. And 42% of respondents say the recession will affect their hiring plans next year.

How exactly? 35% say they will have to slow or pause hiring efforts. In addition, 24% of respondents say their companies plan to fire or lay off employees.

However, mirroring the 2022 outlook, many companies – 48% –plan on increasing hiring efforts, suggesting that not all industries are being impacted negatively by the economic downturn.

Which marketing roles will be impacted by a potential recession in 2023?

Every company weighs roles differently. Depending on their business goals, companies will place more importance on some roles versus others.

We were interested in finding out if there was a lot of overlap across industries with the roles they chose to invest in most or least in 2023.

Here’s what we found out: Two roles for which companies plan to decrease their recruitment efforts the most are: General marketing managers and acquisition marketing managers.

Given the economic climate, companies may be focused more on retention rather than acquisition, explaining the shift away from this role. As for the general marketing manager role, one theory is that companies rather invest in specialized roles that can offer quicker results.

Conversely, when asked about which roles they plan to increase their increase efforts, the top three were:

• SEO strategist
• Marketing data analyst
• Creative director

Which companies and industries will be most impacted?

We’ve mentioned throughout this article that no two companies are impacted the same way during an economic downturn.

Our report shows that companies in the Media and Entertainment industry are most likely to decrease hiring efforts in 2023, 13% more than other industries.

83% of respondents in that category say that the potential for an economic downturn or recession will lead to a decrease in hiring efforts in 2023. Among those surveyed, those working in government and ecommerce show the lowest potential for a decrease in hiring efforts.

Meanwhile, we’re seeing the highest numbers for increases in hiring efforts in these five industries:

• Defense and aeronautics
• Government
• eCommerce
• Chemicals and metals
• Advertising or marketing

There also seems to be a correlation between a company’s size and its hiring plans. According to our report, companies with large marketing teams (201 to 500 marketers) are 20% more likely to increase their hiring efforts in 2023.

There’s still so much unknown surrounding the current economy. However, our report suggests that many companies are taking a conservative approach to hiring in 2023 in preparation for difficult financial times.

Wouldn’t it be nice if customer data management were easy? Are you longing for a world where your contact’s email, conversion date, and who on your team spoke with them last are readily accessible?

If that’s the case, you’re not alone. Managing customer data can get messy, especially if your business uses multiple apps.

However, putting your customer data in order is easier than you think, even if it is in a state of chaos. In this post, you’ll learn how to keep your customer data organized, clean, and up-to-date across all your apps.

In this post, we'll cover:

• What is Customer Data Management?
• Benefits of Customer Data Management
• Where Customer Data Lives
• Best Practices of Customer Data Management
• Managing Customer Data: Data Types

Let's dive in.

Benefits of Customer Data Management

Customer data is one of the most valuable assets in your organization. Intelligent customer data management will improve your customer experience and ultimately help your business grow and increase revenue. See of biggest benefits of customer data management below.

1. Improved Customer Experience

Customers may interact with sales, marketing, support, admin, or billing when dealing with your business. A well-implemented customer data management strategy makes all your customer data transparent to all departments, allowing you to personalize customer interactions at every touch point.

In 2020, 87% of customers felt that brands need to put more effort into providing a consistent experience. CDM helps you do that.

2. Compliance

Depending on where you do business, compliance laws govern how customer data should be collected and used. An intelligent customer data management strategy will ensure that you remain compliant and avoid hefty fines.

3. Eliminating Data Silos

Data silos are customer data segments that are controlled or only visible to one department or business unit. Managing customer data facilitates data transparency and accessibility among all groups that need it. This benefits both the customer and your business.

4. Improved Audience Targeting

A seamless customer data management process is sure to make your marketing department smile. With all your customer data organized in one place, your team can make improved marketing decisions on ads and social media posts based on audience segments gleaned from your customer data.

5. Squeaky Clean Data

Establishing a precedent of customer data management benefits all your internal teams. Keeping the data your company frequently analyzes organized makes life easier for all your departments and improves your bottom line.

Where Customer Data Lives

Customer data may be stored across several different apps, including but not limited to your:

• CRM
• Customer support software
• Customer satisfaction survey platform
• Live chat
• Social media inboxes

If these systems are siloed or disconnected, you risk inconsistent data and poor customer experiences.

For the most seamless customer data management, your apps must seamlessly communicate data back and forth.

Best Practices for Customer Data Management

1. Create a single view of your customers and prospects.

“The number one thing you can do to set your organization up for success when it comes to managing customer data is to strive toward a single view of your customers and prospects (i.e., having a single, accurate record for each customer),” Duggan-Herd says.

Even if you have information coming from many different apps, your team should strive to create one place where you can see an aggregation of this customer data. To do so, you may need to invest in technology, including a CRM, customer data platform, or data management platform.

Implementing one of these solutions will allow you to “identify and resolve duplicate or incomplete records, and records with conflicting information,” Duggan-Herd explains. The ease of data management will make implementing a new software well worth the time.

2. Keep clean, accurate data in each app.

Your customer data is the sum of its parts. Therefore, it is crucial to keep the data in each app fresh and reliable. That means ensuring all records are up to date, consistent across apps, and free of errors or duplicates.

“One tip for ensuring customer data accuracy is to validate records as they come in,” suggests, Duggan-Herd. “A simple way to do this is by enforcing a CAPTCHA and implementing a confirmed opt-in process.”

Managing customer data is an ongoing process. You’ll need to perform regular quality checks to ensure your data is immaculate, giving your teams consistent access to valuable insights.

3. Use segmentation for clear organization.

Segmenting your customer data is the process of dividing your customer data into segments using common characteristics. Proper customer data management makes it simple to create customer segments and begin honing in on your customer personas.

Using contact management software or a CRM, you can store customer contact records with identifying information like name, email, company, region, etc. You can also create custom fields that fit your business needs and allow you to create customer segments.

For example, using your customer data, you can create a customer segment for contacts in the U.S. who have signed up within the previous six months. You can use this segmentation to target customers with personalized messaging that aligns with their needs and customer journey. Perhaps you want to message new customers in the U.S. with a discount deal for a premium add-on. Proper CDM and segmentation make that dream reality.

4. Sync data both ways.

Your apps must communicate customer data back and forth. If your apps can’t sync customer data, you’ll end up with data silos, which you know we aren’t a fan of. Some software offers built-in integrations that connect disparate apps and allow them to share data, which is pretty nice.

If you have two apps that don’t share a native integration, you can look to a trigger-action automation solution like Zapier, which acts as a middle-man between two apps. For example, you can set up a Zapier automation that triggers when a new contact joins your email list. Zapier will create a new contact in your CRM software with all the information gathered from the email sign-up.

However, our favorite solution is a two-way sync. A two-way sync solution mirrors the data between two apps and seamlessly updates customer data in one app when it is changed in another. We love this solution because it reduces the possibility of data disparity from an integration glitch or a Zapier trigger that failed to fire.

Two-way sync is the most reliable way to make your data readily accessible to all your teams across your entire app stack.

5. Keep it simple.

It’s always a good idea to keep things simple, and customer data management is no exception. Here’s what we mean.

• Standardize data organization. Consolidate your data fields as much as possible. For instance, having one property for “Industry” rather than overlapping properties for “Sector,” “Business type,” and “Industry.”
• Decide which data to sync. Rather than syncing everything, figure out the crucial, value-adding data that provides the most insight for your teams and sync that.
• Create transparent processes and documentation. For adding, editing, and viewing customer data to make life easy for you and your colleagues.

With a two-way data sync between the apps that hold your customer data, you can give your team access to up-to-date and correct customer data everywhere and provide a five-star customer experience.

Managing Customer Data: Data Types

Managing customer data is instrumental in keeping your records clean and creating positive, personalized customer experiences. Here are the types of data to consider when crafting your CDM strategy.

Identity Data

Identity data includes attributes that tell you who the customer is. This is typically information that a customer will submit to you via a form. That includes:

• Name.
• Email.
• Address.
• Phone Number.
• Date of Birth.
• Job Title.
• Annual Income.
• Martial Status.
• Education.
• Website visits.
• Emails opened.
• Customer support logs.
• Time spent on page.
• Products left in shopping cart.

Attribute Data

Attribute data gives a more specific look into the characteristics of your customers. That includes:

Behavioral Data

Behavioral data is gleaned from direct interactions with your customers via your website. Behavioral data is very important and can give insight into your customer's needs without them having to tell you explicitly. This data often includes:

Create a customer data management strategy.

The amount of customer data available to you can be overwhelming. You’ll want to define which data points are most valuable to you, instead of compiling every single data point into a hefty and difficult-to-analyze pool.

When creating your customer data management strategy, you’ll want to research what data is most critical to improving customer interaction and internal analysis. Start by focusing your efforts on that.

Soon, you’ll be on your way to gathering — and using — clean, complete data.

The holiday season can be a time of year when people are surrounded by family, friends, good food, and traditions. As a manager, you might be excited to get some much-needed rest and relaxation while also wondering how you’ll wrap up end-of-year projects alongside thoughts of celebrations. 

You don’t want to lose your stride with a few days off, but you might be worried that getting too aggressive about deadlines can leave you seeming like the Grinch. 

At HubSpot, a company that makes work culture a priority, our people managers are known for creatively and strategically hitting seasonal goals while still building team morale -- especially during the holiday season.

To help prevent your team from hitting the holiday slump, we’ve compiled advice from HubSpotters on how to keep teams on track while still embracing the holidays. 

How to Avoid a Holiday Slump

1. Break down goals into achievable targets, phases, or quotas.

People can have a lot on their minds during the holidays, and having to achieve a certain number of goals by the end of the year can seem daunting and overwhelming. 

To alleviate some stress that can arise during an end-of-year rush, split goals up into phases or steps. Your teams can check off smaller tasks that will contribute to achieving the larger goal, and as each step is completed, they’ll feel like they’ve succeeded and remain motivated to conquer the next phase.

“We all have end-of-year deadlines or goals — and at times — they can look very daunting. We’ve found it helpful to break them down into smaller targets,” says Tara Ryan, former Senior Sales Manager at HubSpot. 

With her sales team, Ryan says she uses monthly and weekly quotas to break down major goals: "Quotas are easier to digest when we break them down into '25% attainment by the end of week one,' '50% attainment by the end of week two,' '75% by week three', and then '100%+ by the end of the month.'"

"The process of breaking down goals allows us to measure our progress on a weekly basis and more chances for us to celebrate team wins," Ryan adds.

When you do set goals, involve your team. Their input will let you know what they’re hoping to accomplish, so you can set realistic goals as a group and discuss how to tackle possible roadblocks. 

“If I know we’re about to enter into a time where it’s easy to slow down, like the summer or holidays, I try to get my group together to brainstorm what we want to accomplish as a group and vote on one goal," says Caroline Ostrander, a Senior Manager on the Customer Onboarding team.

Like Ryan, Ostrander also embraces the idea of aiming for a limited number of reachable goals rather than trying to achieve everything all at once.

"One goal helps the team focus and prioritize when we might feel unmotivated. [After the vote], I look for one or two volunteers to lead the charge on the goal and find fun and creative ways to keep it top of mind,” Ostrander explains.

2. Prepare for winter weather hurdles with work-from-home protocols.

At HubSpot's Cambridge, MA headquarters, winter weather is familiar, and we understand how one big snowstorm can really knock us off our schedule. If you live in an area where winter weather can impact your workflow, staying ahead of this hurdle is essential. A great way to do this is to devise a winter protocol for your team. 

Larry Rodman, former Customer Support Manager, suggests asking your team members to take their laptops and work devices home with them if there's a possibility that your office might close during a storm.

"Always bring everything you need to work home [at the end of the work day; you never know what the weather will be on any given day," Rodman says.

If you live where winter weather isn’t an issue, it can still be beneficial to consider a work-from-home or hybrid model for the holiday season. It would give your employees more flexibility in how they work during a time when they may want to spend more time with loved ones, even if they do so while working.

The rise in popularity of remote work means that some of your employees might already be working from home or a hybrid model, so you can offer in-office employees the opportunity to take new flexibility during the holidays.

3. Encourage team members to take time off for the holidays.

Your employees have a life outside of work, so aim to encourage your team members to take time off for themselves during the holidays when they don’t work at all. 

"Be transparent and empathetic with your team. Make sure they are comfortable taking time off at the holidays," says Senior Director of Marketing Amanda Sibley. She encourages her team to share their off days on a shared calendar, but also clearly communicates expectations to ensure people don’t lose steam.

"I ask for 100% effort until they are off," Sibley says. "I often will say something like, 'It's really important to take time off, so I'm glad you all have chosen a week during the holidays! -- Until then, in order for us all to relax and enjoy family time, we need to be at 100%, so please focus until that time!"

Encouraging your employees to take time off also has proven psychological benefits. Studies show that it can make people more productive, and when people are removed from environments that they may associate with anxiety, their stress levels can lower. Employees who feel refreshed and less stressed are more likely to come back to work with a clear head, ready to start the year off on a positive note. 

4. Give employees a day or even a few hours for holiday errands.

Even with upcoming time off, people's minds can wander with thoughts of holiday errands and planning before upcoming celebrations. To help employees remain focused while at work, you can offer additional hours off to prep for the holidays ahead of time. 

"Give time for those who need it to handle the crazy stuff needed for the holidays," suggests Sibley. "What about a half-day in the middle of the week or in early December to do all their holiday shopping when the crowds are less?"

This tip can be helpful when paired with offering remote work options, as team members can take breaks from work while accomplishing separate tasks. For example, if employees prepare for an at-home celebration, they can take breaks to cross off items on their to-do lists and return to work with a clear head. 

5. Celebrate the holidays — and your team's accomplishments.

Lastly, embrace the holiday season, celebrate, and end your year on a high note. After all, you and your team have worked hard to achieve your annual goals. 

"Don’t pretend like the holidays aren’t happening. Celebrate with your team," encourages Senior Social Media Manager Kelly Hendrickson; "Knowing there is a specific time for fun, helps focus that holiday spirit."

End-of-year celebrations allow teams to bond, review the year’s accomplishments, and show gratitude for one another. The holidays can also be challenging for some people, so creating space to celebrate and spread cheer at work can be a welcome opportunity that boosts morale. 

Aside from general celebration, the most important goal of these events is to have fun and reward your teammates for a year of hard work. When planning an end-of-year meeting, Ryan suggests asking each of your team members to note one individual or group accomplishment that they’re most proud of from the past year. "This is a great chance to remind the team of all the wins you had together over the last 12 months," says Ryan.

Rodman also says he emphasizes team accomplishments at end-of-year celebrations, explaining that rewarding accomplishments can help to motivate your team even after they return from the holidays.

Get in the Holiday Spirit

It can be easy to forget how fun the holidays are when thinking about end-of-year deadlines. But, as we've seen from HubSpot managers above, getting in the holiday spirit will benefit your mood and your team. Don't be afraid to embrace the pleasantries of this time of year.