If you're reading this article, I probably don't need to tell you that video content accounts for over 74% of all online traffic, or that over five billion YouTube videos are watched every single day. You already know video is an important channel, and you're ready to start leveraging YouTube for your own business. I'm here to show you how to do it. This article will cover everything you need to know about creating a YouTube channel, so you can start uploading your own videos and growing your audience today. How to Make a YouTube Channel
Can't create a new channel?If you're seeing a "This action isn't allowed" message when you try to create your channel, you may be using an outdated version of the YouTube app. Here are your options to move forward:
How to Create a YouTube Channel
Creating a well-managed YouTube channel with consistent content can help businesses grow better, but doing it right is just as important. Here's how to do it step-by-step.
1. Sign in to your Google account.To watch, share, create, and comment on YouTube content, you'll need a Google account. Go to youtube.com and click "Sign In" in the upper right-hand corner. From there, you'll be taken to a Google sign-in page.
2. Create a new YouTube channel using your Google account.Once you're set up with and signed into your Google account, it's time to create a channel. Click your user icon in the upper right-hand corner. This represents both your Google account and you YouTube account (as YouTube is owned by Google). You'll see a drop-down menu, where you'll want to click "Settings." From there, you'll be taken to your account overview. Click "Create a new channel" under "Your channel." The first step is to create a Brand Account. It can be whatever name you want, and doesn't have to be the same name that you used to create your Google account -- but we do recommend that it reflects the brand the YouTube Channel will represent. After you enter the Brand Account name, you might be asked to verify the account via text message or voice call. If that happens, enter the code you receive from the option you choose. Once you've verified your Brand Account, you'll be taken to the dashboard for your channel. Now, it's time to start customizing it. 3. Navigate to the Customize Channel page.We'll start with the fundamental details about your channel. From your channel dashboard, click "Customize channel." From there, you'll be taken to the channel customization page. You'll notice three tabs: "Layout," "Branding," and "Basic info." These three tabs will help you optimize your channel for viewers. 4. Add Basic Info to your channel for discoverability.Start by clicking "Basic info." Here's where you'll enter some basic information about your channel, like the language your videos are in, as well as a description that helps people discover your channel when they enter search terms that describe what videos they're looking for. These keywords can include what your channel is about, the problems it helps solve, the people and products featured, your industry, and more. You'll also be able to add links to sites you want to share with your viewers. These links will be displayed over your banner image (more on this later) like so: 5. Upload branding elements to your channel.In addition to the descriptive details that you've added, there's another element of customization for a new YouTube channel: The visuals. Under the "Branding" tab, you'll be able to add your: Profile PictureAmong this channel art is your profile photo -- this is how YouTube users will identify the creator of a video when browsing video content. You'll see this image appear beneath YouTube videos on the play page, as shown below. YouTube recommends using a picture with dimensions of at least 98 x 98 pixels. Banner ImageThe banner image is a large banner displayed at the top of your channel page, and it's a big opportunity to convey your brand to your viewers. YouTube recommends using an image that's at least 2048 x 1152 px. Video WatermarkThe video watermark is displayed at the bottom right of every video you post (see below). You'll want to choose a logo that best represents you sized at 150 x 150 px. 6. Customize your more advanced layout options.Click the "Layout" tab.
7. Add videos and optimize them for search.To upload your first video to YouTube, click the "Create" button in the top-right corner and follow the prompts. Optimizing your channel for discoverability is just the beginning. Once you start adding videos, you'll want to optimize them for search, which in turn helps users discover your video. But this goes beyond giving your videos accurate, clear, and concise titles -- though that is important. Below, we describe some of the most important things to optimize on YouTube. (For a fully comprehensive post on YouTube SEO, visit this post.) TitleWhen we search for videos, one of the first things that our eyes are drawn to is the title. That's often what determines whether or not the viewer will click to watch your video, so the title should not only be compelling but also clear and concise. DescriptionThis should be limited to 1,000 characters -- and remember that your viewer came here to watch a video, not to read a lot of text. Plus, YouTube only displays the first two or three lines of text, which comes to about 100 characters, so front-load the description with the most important information. TagsUsing tags doesn’t just let viewers know what your video is about -- they inform YouTube, too, which uses tags "to understand the content and context of your video," according to Backlinko. That way, YouTube can associate your video with similar videos, which can broaden your content's reach. But approach with caution -- just as with your title, don't use misleading tags because they might get you more views -- in fact, Google might penalize you for that. CategoryChoosing a category is another way to group your video with similar content on YouTube -- but that might not be as simple as it sounds. YouTube's Creator Academy suggests that marketers "think about what is working well for each category" you're considering by answering questions like:
That's it -- you've officially not only created a YouTube channel but now also know how to optimize its content for discoverability. For more information on how to best leverage YouTube for marketing, check our entire collection of resources. Editor's note: This post was originally published in November 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. [Read More ...] from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-create-a-youtube-channel
0 Comments
Segmentation is not a new concept for marketers. We use segmentation to send personalized emails, create buyer-specific pricing models, and understand the behaviors of our most loyal customers. It is also a valuable tool for generating more leads on social media. While publishing more often and posting different types of content is great for generating engagement with your audiences, segmentation can bring additional benefits, like.... New to social media? Check out this featured resource: Social Media Certification Course This post will show you how you can apply the principles of segmentation to social media, outline the benefits it can bring to your business, and give you tips for accurately segmenting your social media audience. Segmentation is important because it increases your marketing success. When you know the key characteristics and desires of your target audience, you can become more focused with your brand messaging and create hyper-targeted advertisements that speak directly to your audience's interests. Then, when your advertisements are tailored to their interests, customers are more likely to interact with them and take further action. Let’s go over eight strategies for segmenting your social media audiences. 1. Understand your audience.Just as with any marketing strategy, understanding your target audience is the key to accurate, relevant social media segmentation. Without knowing who your customers are, what they want, and how they like to be marketed too, it will be challenging to devise other strategies to help you succeed in your process. To better get to know your audience, you can create buyer personas from your analytics and research data. Buyer personas are semi-fictional representations of your ideal customers that help you focus your time on qualified prospects, attract high-value customers, and create content that best speaks to their interests and desires. You can think of it like this: if the data you’ve collected shows you that Facebook brings you the most engagement, dig deeper into who your audience is on that platform and create a buyer persona that brings a more comprehensive understanding of who they are. These representations you’ve created directly relate to our next tip, as many social media platforms come with audience targeting tools that you can use to market specifically to your different segmented audiences. 2. Use native social media targeting tools.When most people think of social media segmentation, they think of paid targeting options. However, for low and high budget marketers alike, there are organic targeting options on different platforms that you can use to speak to your various audiences. For example, Facebook allows businesses to target their messages to users based on demographics, interests, and geographical location (as shown below). On LinkedIn, there are also built-in targeting tools that allow you to filter and segment by industry, company size, and much more (shown below). 3. Create audience groups.Social media is all about community. Building communities of people who share common interests is an easy way to segment your audience and gain valuable insights. You may decide to keep the group open (anyone can join) or closed (a moderator must approve new members), and there are advantages to each. Open groups enable you to gather information about how a more general audience feels about your brand. You can use this forum to have discussions and ask open-ended questions such as, “What are your biggest challenges?” or “What makes excellent customer service?” You can also test new ideas with your audience members or discover new content ideas that they would find interesting and relevant. The advantage here is that you will have a large group to bounce ideas off of. The disadvantage? They may not be as knowledgeable about your industry as you need. That's where closed groups can come in handy. You are approving each member's admission to the group, and you can cherry-pick the most qualified candidates. Maybe they're a group of customers whose opinions you value or a list of people who have attended an event you've hosted. Regardless of admission requirements, this can be a great way to get specific, helpful feedback from a group you trust — but you may not get as many responses as an open group discussion. Various social media platforms have group functionalities, specifically Facebook and LinkedIn. On Facebook, you can create a group that is relevant to your business and your target audience’s interests that can be public or private, as mentioned above. The same can be said for LinkedIn, but you should only opt to use it if your target audiences are professional-aged, business minded individuals. 4. Create audience lists.Most marketers are familiar with creating lists — we do that every time we send a new email campaign. But did you know you can use lists to have more productive social media conversations? Social networks like Facebook and Twitter allow users to create lists of friends, followers, people who have attended an event, and more. On Twitter, your lists can separate followers into specific categories, like where they are in their buyer’s journey. Whenever these people in your lists Tweet, you’ll be able to view them all within a specific channel to get an idea of what kinds of things they tweet about and what they enjoy. When you have this information, you can create better-targeted ads that speak to your segmented audience’s preferences. If you’re a HubSpot customer, the lists you use for your email can actually be one and the same as your social monitoring lists. You can set up a stream for each one of your buyer personas, such as a stream for leads who are talking about your brand, or customers in a certain industry. You’ll spend much less time trying to filter through the noise, and much more time having relevant, targeted conversations. 5. Post at different times of the day.As marketers, we know how important timing is to marketing — especially on social media. If you’ve created accurate, relevant buyer personas, you’ll likely realize that your followers are distributed throughout different geographic regions. This means that your followers in the central United States are going to bed while your followers in Australia are getting ready to wake up. Differentiating your publishing times allows you to generate engagement from a larger portion of your audience, as followers from all over the world have the opportunity to engage with your posts. An additional benefit to doing this is that you’ll have multiple posts out there for your target audience to see. You can think of it like this: if you post three times throughout the day for three different audience segments, each one of those segments can also see the posts meant for the other. Three more opportunities for them to interact with your content and three more chances to drive conversions. 6. Leverage multiple networks.As you master the various ways to segment your specific audiences, more people will be interested in connecting with you through social media. If you don’t already run multiple social media accounts, you may realize that one of the best ways to serve relevant content to specific audiences is to create several social media profiles, each with specific intent. For example, if you’re a clothing brand, your target audience is likely widely dispersed age-wise. While you may hope to reach all of them on one platform, you’re more likely to get your younger audiences (aged 10-19) on TikTok and your older audiences on Instagram. Additionally, within each of those different platforms, it’s also worth considering creating multiple accounts focused on various aspects of your business or the demands of your different audiences. At HubSpot, we maintain more than five different Twitter accounts to provide content relevant to each segment of our audience. For example, @HubSpotAcademy is a channel that marketers can use to learn how to be a better inbound marketer, while @HubSpotSupport is a channel that our customers can use to get help using the HubSpot platform. Both Twitter accounts are relevant to anyone interested in HubSpot, but they are most relevant to their particular segments. Keep in mind that each social media account should still serve a larger audience, so be sure to work on building your overall audience from one account before you try building out more. If you decide to start building out more accounts, be sure that people can easily differentiate their purpose (ex: customer support, marketing materials, your yearly event, etc.) — otherwise, you'll be creating more work for yourself. 7. Streamline your processes.Should you choose to leverage multiple platforms or simply just want to streamline your processes, there are various social media tools that can help you create and publish advertisements built for your segmented audiences. Falcon.io is one of those tools. It comes with an all-in-one social platform for creating paid and organic advertisements, managing customer engagement data from all your accounts, and even creating custom and lookalike audiences for further segmentation, as displayed by the image below. 8. Test your strategies.Although this tip is not directly related to grouping your audience, the success of your segmentation depends on how well you’ve created your groups. Using social media testing as a means of understanding how your content is performing among your target audiences is a way to know if you’ve accurately segmented your audience, and it can help you perfect your strategy. For example, say you’ve found your millennial audience to be most active on Instagram. You know that they’re there, so you can begin creating content for them. However, what if you want to better understand their preferences? Maybe you want to know whether they prefer Instagram Stories or Instagram Reels? Conducting an A/B test with both of these content types will help you better understand how to communicate with these segmented groups. Speak To Your Different Audience GroupsUnless you’re a very niche business, you likely have a large audience group. Within these audience groups, there are probably other distinct communities with different preferences and desires. It may be challenging to figure out how to tailor your message to individually speak to all of your diverse customers, but the eight tips mentioned above will help you carefully segment your social media audience for more relevant conversations — and eventually, more conversions. [Read More ...] from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/segment-social-media-audience Did you know that 78.4% of contest shares are done on Facebook? And that on average, 34% of new fans are acquired through a contest? Additionally, Facebook has over 2.7 billion monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2020. As a marketer, those stats are hard to ignore. Social media contests and giveaways are an excellent way to engage fans and acquire followers. However, running a contest requires a lot of planning. It isn't as easy as 1-2-3 or A-B-C. Today, let's review everything you need to know about running a Facebook giveaway. First, we'll dive into the rules. Then, we'll discuss how to get started with your own Facebook giveaway. Finally, we'll give you some ideas and examples to inspire your own contest. Facebook Giveaway RulesThe rules on Facebook giveaways are pretty simple. According to Facebook, if you run a Facebook giveaway, you must include the official rules, offer terms and eligibility requirements (such as age and residency restrictions), and compliance with applicable rules and regulations governing the promotion and all prizes offered (meaning registration and obtaining necessary regulatory approvals). Additionally, the copy needs to include a complete release of Facebook by each entrant and acknowledgment that the giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Facebook. You can run a giveaway on Pages, Groups, Events, or within apps. However, you cannot run a giveaway on a personal Facebook page. You also can't use personal friend connections as a part of the giveaway, meaning you can't have people share on their timeline to enter or share on a friend's timeline, or tag friends in the post to enter. Disclaimer: This blog post includes some information on legal issues surrounding internet marketing, but legal information is not the same as legal advice -- applying the law to a specific circumstance. We've conducted research to better ensure that our information is accurate and useful, but we insist that you talk to a lawyer if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is accurate. In a nutshell, you may not rely on this information as legal advice, nor as a recommendation or endorsement of any particular legal understanding, and you should instead see this post's info as for entertainment purposes only. Okay, now that the nitty-gritty is out of the way, let's get into the meat and potatoes of Facebook giveaways. 1. Set your objectives.The first thing you need to do before you run a giveaway on Facebook is to decide what the goal is. Your goal could be to increase brand awareness, collect email addresses, gain new followers, increase engagement, or drive traffic to your site. Once you know your goal, you can come up with the type of giveaway you want to run (more on this below). For example, if you want to gain new followers, you could run a photo vote contest, where users need to ask friends to like their photo in the contest. This will drive more people to your Facebook page, and hopefully, convince some of them to follow you. 2. Choose a prize that makes sense for your target audience.Once you know the type of contest you're going to run, it's time to choose a prize. Whatever prize you choose should make sense for your target audience and be something that they want. Choosing a $20 prize probably won't entice people to enter. In fact, the average value of a social media contest prize is $369. Also, generic prizes don't usually work as well. Try coming up with something specific that your audience would like. For instance, if you're a fitness influencer, you could run a Facebook giveaway with a workout bike as the prize. In this example, the prize makes sense considering the target audience of a fitness enthusiast. 3. Write the rules.Now, you need to come up with the rules. Set a time frame for your contest, choose an entry method, and decide on any eligibility requirements. Once you've decided on the rules and regulations, write them out. Don't forget to include all the information that Facebook requires. 4. Create your assets.At this point, you know what type of giveaway you're running, you've decided on the prize, and you've written the rules. All that's left to do before clicking "Post" is creating the assets. You'll need images, graphics, and a caption written. The assets should make it clear that you're running a giveaway and what the prize is. 5. Promote, promote, promote.Once you've posted your giveaway on Facebook, you need to promote it through several channels. Organic reach on Facebook has plummeted to 2% in recent years, so you can't just trust that your followers will even see the post. To promote your Facebook giveaway, you can use other social media platforms, write a blog post, create a video, and email your subscriber list. The more ways you can get it out the better. 6. Measure success.Now that your giveaway is over, and you've contacted the winner, and posted that the giveaway has closed, what do you do? It's time to measure the success of your campaign. You had a goal, and now you should look at a few key metrics to see if you succeeded. Some metrics to look at, depending on your goals:
1. Photo vote.A photo vote is a type of Facebook giveaway where you ask users to upload a photo. Then, you'll encourage people to vote on which photo is the best. This is a great way to acquire new followers because participants will ask their friends and family to go vote on their photo. 2. Comment to win.While you can't have tag friends or share posts on their personal page, you can still ask them to comment on your posts to win. These types of giveaways usually ask users to write a caption, fill in the blank, or answer some creative question. 3. Like to win.Similarly to the above, sometimes all you need to do is ask people to like the post. While you can't ask people to like your page, according to the Facebook rules, you can still have them like your posts. This is a really low barrier entry method that could be great for increasing engagement and brand awareness. Now, let's look at some Facebook giveaways in action. Facebook Giveaway Examples1. Loveline Golden RetrieversIn this Facebook giveaway, Loveline Golden Retrievers ask participants to send them a photo of their dog to be showcased in their annual calendar. Once users sent in the photos, they uploaded them to an album. The photos with the most likes won the contest. This is a classic photo vote contest with a prize clearly targeted to the audience. People with golden retrievers would love to have their pets showcased in a calendar (I mean, who wouldn't?). 2. BlingThis is another great example of a giveaway that's clearly targeted to the right audience. Presumably, most people who like a game page, like Bling, on Facebook, actually play the game. That's why a giveaway for free in-game points is a great idea. Additionally, this is a low barrier entry giveaway as well -- you only need to like the post and comment. Running a Facebook giveaway doesn't need to be a hassle. It can actually be a simple process if you follow our six-step guide. [Read More ...] from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/facebook-giveaway Let’s face it: A job search is, typically, anything but fun. It’s almost as if it carries its own five stages of grief. At first, there’s denial of its demoralizing nature. Then comes the anger over either radio silence or rejection from prospective employers. Of course, there’s bargaining -- “I promise to never complain about work again, if I can find a new job!” That’s often followed by depression and the idea that one is simply just unhireable. Then, there’s acceptance: “This is awful, but I have to keep trying, anyway.” But we have good news. It is possible to have a little fun with your job search -- and maybe even make yourself a better candidate in the process. The magic, it turns out, could be in your cover letter. It may be true that only 35% of recruiters admit that cover letters do not materially influence the hiring process for them, but that doesn't mean yours has to contribute to that statistic. In fact, it might be that cover letters are deemed insignificant because so few of them stand out. Here's an opportunity for you to exercise your creativity at the earliest stage of the recruitment process. Personalization, after all, goes beyond replacing the title and company name in each letter you send to recruiters. What does that look like in practice, and how can you make your cover letter stand out? We found six examples from job seekers who decided to do things a bit differently. Note: Some of these cover letters contain real company names and NSFW language that we've covered up. Best Cover Letter Examples1. The Cover Letter That Explains 'Why,' Not Just 'How'We’ve already covered the importance of addressing how you’ll best execute a certain role in your cover letter. But there’s another question you might want to answer: Why the heck do you want to work here? The Muse, a career guidance site, says that it’s often best to lead with the why -- especially if it makes a good story. We advise against blathering on and on, but a brief tale that illuminates your desire to work for that particular employer can really make you stand out. Source: The Muse Here’s another instance of the power of personalization. The author of this cover letter clearly has a passion for this prospective employer -- the Chicago Cubs -- and if she’s lying about it, well, that probably would eventually be revealed in an interview. Make sure your story is nonfiction, and relatable according to each job. While we love a good tale of childhood baseball games, an introduction like this one probably wouldn’t be fitting in a cover letter for, say, a software company. But a story of how the hours you spent playing with DOS games as a kid led to your passion for coding? Sure, we’d find that fitting. If you’re really passionate about a particular job opening, think about where that deep interest is rooted. Then, tell your hiring manager about it in a few sentences. 2. The 'We're Meant for Each Other' Cover LetterThis cover letter example is a special one because it was submitted to us here at HubSpot. What does the letter do well? It makes a connection with us before we've even met the letter's author. "Content Marketing Certified" indicates the applicant has taken the content marketing certification course in our HubSpot Academy (you can take the same course here). Our "records" indicate he/she did indeed give an interview with us before -- and was a HubSpot customer. The cover letter sang references to a relationship we didn't even know we had with the candidate. The letter ends with a charming pitch for why, despite him/her not getting hired previously, our interests complement each other this time around. (Yes, the applicant was hired). 3. The Cover Letter with H.E.A.R.T.HubSpot has a lot of H.E.A.R.T. -- Humble, Empathetic, Adaptable, Remarkable, Transparent. Our Culture Code is the foundation of the company's culture, the driving force behind our mission to help millions grow better, and serves as the scaffolding for our hiring practices. Recruiters at HubSpot look for applicants that demonstrate how they embody the Culture Code and job description, paying extra attention to cover letters that are super custom to HubSpot. In another HubSpot submission, a HubSpot applicant writes about how she found out about HubSpot, why she likes the company, and how her professional experience aligns with H.E.A.R.T. HubSpot's recruiting team was impressed with her dedication to the company and how she went beyond what was asked for by link her portfolio in her closing paragraph. Short Cover Letter Examples4. The Short-and-Sweet Cover LetterIn 2009, David Silverman penned an article for Harvard Business Review titled, “The Best Cover Letter I Ever Received.” That letter contained three complete sentences, as follows: Source: Harvard Business Review One might argue that this particular letter is less than outstanding. It’s brief, to say the least, and the author doesn’t go into a ton of detail about what makes him or her qualified for the job in question. But that’s what Silverman likes about it -- the fact that the applicant only included the pieces of information that would matter the most to the recipient. “The writer of this letter took the time to think through what would be relevant to me,” writes Silverman. “Instead of scattering lots of facts in hopes that one was relevant, the candidate offered up an opinion as to which experiences I should focus on.” When you apply for a job, start by determining two things:
The key here is research -- by looking into who you’ll be reporting to and learning more about that person’s leadership style, you’ll be better prepared to tailor your cover letter to focus on how you provide solutions for her. 5. The Short StoryBasha Coleman began her cover letter with a short story. The goal of this short story is two-fold:
You'll notice that her short story follows a typical narrative arc: It has a conflict/obstacle, a turning point, and a positive outcome, all created with a goal to emphasize a theme or point. In this case, Coleman is emphasizing her existing affinity with the brand and her triumphs within the program so that she can continue on her career path. 6. The Bare Bones Cover LetterIn today's job market, cover letters aren't always necessary. Even though many recruiters won't ask for or even read them, cover letters can still be effective and convey personality to a reader. Writing a strong cover letter can help you better convey your interest in the position and company. This template from The Balance Careers puts together the essential components of a short cover letter: excitement about the position, your qualifications, and a call-to-action for the recruiter to follow up with you. Combining these central aspects in a well-written, compelling narrative will go a long way in convincing readers to hire you. Source: The Balance Careers 7. The Breezy Follow-UpIn this cover letter, Amanda Edens is following the instructions the hiring manager gave by forwarding an email with resume and writing samples attached. Edens knows that the body of the email is prime real estate to get the hiring manager's attention, but she also doesn't want to overwhelm the recipient with too much information since a cover letter was not requested. This short cover letter is the result. You'll notice that she uses casual and breezy language to convey personality and enthusiasm, and she keeps her paragraphs succinct. Not only does Amanda provide links to relevant writing samples that are live on the web, but she also closes with a strong final paragraph that:
Creative Cover Letter Examples8. The Brutally Honest Cover LetterThen, there are the occasions when your future boss might appreciate honesty -- in its purest form. Livestream CEO Jesse Hertzberg, by his own admission, is one of those people, which might be why he called this example “the best cover letter” (which he received while he was with Squarespace): Source: Title Needed As Hertzberg says in the blog post elaborating on this excerpt -- it’s not appropriate for every job or company. But if you happen to be sure that the corporate culture of this prospective employer gets a kick out of a complete lack of filter, then there’s a chance that the hiring manager might appreciate your candor. “Remember that I'm reading these all day long,” Hertzberg writes. “You need to quickly convince me I should keep reading. You need to stand out.” 9. The Straw (Wo)man Cover LetterWhen I was in the throes of my own job search and reached one of the later stages, a friend said to me, “For the next job you apply for, you should just submit a picture of yourself a stick figure that somehow represents you working there.” Et voilà: I never did end up working for the recipient of this particular piece of art, but it did result in an interview. Again, be careful where you send a cover letter like this one -- if it doesn’t match the company’s culture, it might be interpreted as you not taking the opportunity seriously. Be sure to pair it with a little bit of explanatory text, too. For example, when I submitted this picture-as-a-cover letter, I also wrote, “Perhaps I took the ‘sense of humor’ alluded to in your job description a bit too seriously.” 10. The Overconfident Cover LetterI’ll admit that I considered leaving out this example. It’s rife with profanity, vanity, and arrogance. But maybe, in some settings, that’s the right way to do a cover letter. A few years ago, Huffington Post published this note as an example of how to “get noticed” and “get hired for your dream job”: Source: Huffington Post Here’s the thing: if the Aviary cited in this letter is the same Aviary I researched upon discovering it, then, well, I’m not sure this tone was the best approach. I read the company’s blog and looked at the careers site, and neither one indicates that the culture encourages this -- or lowercasing proper nouns like "Google," for which I personally cannot forgive the applicant... However, Aviary was acquired by Adobe in 2014, and this letter was written in 2011. So while it’s possible that the brand was a bit more relaxed at that time, we wouldn’t suggest submitting a letter with that tone to the company today. That’s not to say it would go unappreciated elsewhere -- Doug Kessler frequently discusses the marketers and brands that value colorful language, for example. The point is, this example further illustrates the importance of research. Make sure you understand the culture of the company to which you’re applying before you send a completely unfiltered cover letter -- if you don’t, there’s a good chance it’ll completely miss the mark. 11. The Interactive Cover LetterWhen designer Rachel McBee applied for a job with the Denver Broncos, she didn’t just write a personalized cover letter -- she designed an entire digital, interactive microsite: Source: Rachel McBee This cover letter -- if you can even call it that -- checks off all of the boxes we’ve discussed here in a remarkable way. It concisely addresses and organizes what many hiring managers hope to see in any cover letter: how her skills lend themselves to the role, why she wants the job, and how to contact her. She even includes a “traditional” body of text at the bottom, with a form that allows the reader to easily get in touch with her. Take CoverWe’d like to add another stage to the job search: experimentation. In today’s competitive landscape, it’s so easy to feel defeated, less-than-good-enough, or like giving up your job search. But don’t let the process become so monotonous. Have fun discovering the qualitative data we’ve discussed here -- then, have even more by getting creative with your cover letter composition. We certainly can’t guarantee that every prospective employer will respond positively -- or at all -- to even the most unique, compelling cover letter. But the one that’s right for you will. That’s why it’s important not to copy these examples. That defeats the purpose of personalization. So get creative. And, by the way -- we’re hiring. Editor's note: This post was originally published in October 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. [Read More ...] from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-cover-letter-examples Marketers spend a lot of time trying to nail down abstract concepts. They're tasked with turning brainstorming sessions and comments sourced during focus groups into campaigns that sum up everything about a brand's identity in a neat, tidy, and most importantly, interesting way. But what if a consumer could walk into a room and fully experience your brand with all their senses? Pop-up events offer just that -- the chance for consumers to get up close and personal with their favorite companies in a truly immersive setting. In this article, we'll cover:
Consumers love the lure of exclusivity, and brands love the unmatched opportunity for experimentation. Pop-Up Shop IdeasYour goals will dictate the type of pop-up experience you want to create and how you'll implement it. 1. Temporary Retail SpaceIf you're transitioning your business from online to brick-and-mortar, a pop-up shop is a way to simulate the retail experience and gain valuable insights into considerations such as operations and demand... without the risk of commitment and overhead. 2. One-Time EventEven if you're not testing the local retail market, an event-style pop-up where the press and public can attend can generate a ton of buzz for your brand. By leveraging the exclusivity of the occasion, you can use the event to pique interest. Make it a party! 3. Immersive ExperienceA physical space gives you the opportunity for customers to see, feel, and experience your brand. With that in mind, you can use your pop-up shop to provide a unique, immersive environment. That might mean interactive displays or other unexpected physical elements that add a wow factor. How to Do a Pop-Up ShopIt's an undertaking to pull off a successful pop-up, requiring a lot of planning, scouting, and marketing leading up to a launch. Here are the main steps you'll want to consider as you set up: 1. Evaluate your goals and select a theme.Are you testing the market for a more permanent location? Or are you generating buzz? Knowing your goals will help you determine what kind of space to look for, what type of pop-up shop to run (see above), what supplies to purchase, and how to market and operate it. 2. Scout for a location.Because your pop-up is temporary (to start, anyway), you don't have the benefit of word-of-mouth or brand/location recognition. That means you'll need to choose a location with plenty of foot traffic to maximize your impact. Good places to consider include:
You can also use services such as Peerspace or We Are Pop Up to scout locations. 3. Shop for fixtures and supplies.Once you know where you're setting up shop and how long you'll be there, you can plan your space. This includes purchasing fixtures such as shelving as well as any supplies/decor to pull off your theme. 4. Plan the launch and opening.Because your pop-up is a fleeting experience, you don't get the benefit of long-term clientele building. Its success hinges on the marketing leading up to the launch (more on that later) as well as the momentum earned on that day. For this reason, you'll want to give yourself enough lead time before the opening to generate interest and also create an experience that will get people talking. 4. Launch and enjoy.Remember, the purpose of a pop-up shop is connecting with your customers. Sure, it's all about your brand, but your brand is for them. Your intricate planning sets the stage for an incredible experience, but so does your interactions with them. Be prepared to provide a level of service that has your customers spreading the word, coming back, and remembering your brand once you've gone. 5. Analyze and determine what went well.Take a look at the foot traffic you got, the sales you made, the revenue you generated, and the social media engagement you received. What worked, and what didn't? What was your ROI? Is it worth opening a permanent shop or repeating the experience elsewhere? What would you do differently? Pop-Up Marketing1. Don't be afraid to do PR.The media will be your friend in getting the word out. Reach out to local publications to see if you can earn a feature and draft a press release to see if you can earn coverage. It may even be worthwhile to send exclusive invites to a few journalists for the date of your launch. 2. Reach out to local influencers and bloggers.Influencers and bloggers may have smaller reach than traditional media outlets, but their followings will likely be highly targeted and engaged. Find out how much promotion might be, and don't be afraid to offer perks! 3. Create an event on Facebook.Promote to your existing Facebook followers by creating a Facebook event and inviting them. This will spread awareness to your existing fans and increase the reach of your pop-up marketing efforts. 4. Advertise on Facebook.Facebook has advanced targeting options for audience type and geographical area, making it an ideal channel to spread the word to prospects who don't know you yet. Read more about how to create a Facebook ad. 5. Email your database.Tap into your existing customer base and let them know about your pop-up with email marketing. Your campaign will be even more successful if you can segment your database and target your customers in the area. 6. Leverage direct mail.One of the best ways to promote a local event is through direct mail campaigns to residents in the nearest zip codes. Mailers function as invites to the general public. You'll also be able to push the promotions you're running. 7. Generate buzz and FOMO with promotions.FOMO (fear of missing out) can motivate buyers to show up and engage. You can tap into this with exciting promotional strategies such as contests, freebies, discounts, and door-buster deals. 8. Put out signage.Signage will help you get the attention of nearby foot traffic, so invest in flyers, banners, and window clings that are attractive and catch the eyes of passers-by. To inspire your next branded experience, we've curated a list of these innovative and visually stunning pop-up events. 15 Examples of Next-Level Pop-Up Events1. COS Los AngelesExperimental architecture firm Snarkitecture was inspired by mirrored surfaces and simple silhouettes when designing this temporary retail space for LA-based fashion label COS. The folks at Snarkitecture transformed an empty industrial space into two identical, monochromatic rooms -- one white and one pale pink -- leaving the focus on two racks of minimal clothing. The reflected space "creates an unexpected and altered world for visitors to experience and share." Image Credit: Snarkitecture 2. BarkShop LiveShouldn't your dog be able to shop for his own toys? Bark & Co, the ecommerce company behind BarkBox, certainly thinks so. For one week in June 2016, the dog-centric retailer set up shop in Manhattan, inviting dogs and their owners to try out their squeaky, bouncy, and chewy offerings in-person. The lucky pups in attendance were fitted with RFID-enabled vests, which tracked the toys they played with the most. Owners were then able to view and purchase their dogs' favorite playthings directly from the event's custom mobile app. Video from Digiday 3. Glossier Summer Fridays ShowroomIn Summer 2015, online makeup and skincare brand Glossier styled a floor of its Manhattan headquarters as a temporary retail showroom -- the closest thing to stepping into its beautifully curated Instagram feed. The space offered Glossier products for sale, but as founder Emily Weiss explained, selling tubes of moisturizer and lip balm wasn't necessarily the pop-up's top priority. "It's not really just a store," Weiss said in an interview with Racked. "It's almost like this is a giant mood board for the company we're hoping to build." Created under the direction of set designer Marguerite Wade, the penthouse featured custom floral arrangements by Meta Flora and an installation by multi-media artist Grace Villamil. Image Credit: Glossier 4. Fast Food AidCreative directors Ikkyu and Junya Sato of Kaibutsu design studio noticed that young adults in Harajuku had a serious fast food problem -- and they decided to do something about it. To promote organic food chain Dohtonbori, they launched Fast Food Aid, a pharmacy-inspired vitamin pop-up that offers a selection of health supplements aimed at junk food lovers. And all it will cost you is a receipt from a fast food place. After a guilty indulgence, exchange your receipt for a customized bottle of supplements that will replenish the nutrients missed at your last meal. Each canister is aimed at a particular junk food -- ramen, pizza, hamburger, etc., -- to make sure your system gets what it needs. Although Dohtonbori isn't actually selling anything for profit at the shop, its been able to educate visitors about health and wellness, hopefully driving them to opt for healthier food options in the future -- like Dohtonbori's own restaurant. Image Credit: Fast Food Aid 5. Pantone CaféWhat does color taste like? If anyone knows the answer to that question, it's Pantone. The world's most well-known color company has been running a pop-up café in Monaco for the past two summers, selling a minimal menu of pastries, lunch options, coffees, and fresh juices -- all branded with Pantone's signature color swatches. So does this mean Pantone is permanently branching out into cuisine? Not quite. The seasonal eatery is perfect Instagram-bait, and it has successfully generated a ton of buzz in the press. It's a perfect example of a pop-up event enabling a company to take creative risks with its brand by stepping outside of its typical business model. Image Credit: Pantone Café 6. Real Life At WorkTo offer passersby a glimpse into its world, London-based ad agency Wieden+Kennedy invited graphic artist Emily Forgot to transform the front window of its office into an imaginative, cartoon-inspired pop-up workspace. Using exaggerated monochrome imagery, Forgot crafted a whimsical office scene from paper, complete with a typewriter and a clock that ran backward. For a few weeks, real agency employees took turns "working" in the window. The whole thing was then broadcast live via webcam on the agency's website for anyone who was curious enough to watch. The pop-up was a unique way for W+K to shrug off the stereotype of the ad agency that takes itself too seriously -- plus it was a creative chance for the team to engage with the community. Image Credit: Wieden + Kennedy London 7. FrütHow do you make inexpensive, packaged underwear appeal to high-end consumers? Just create a "luxury" lingerie pop-up with a fake, fancy-sounding name. CP+B Boulder helped client Fruit of the Loom open up an intentionally pretentious and ludicrously over-priced boutique for its underwear, complete with colorful intimates hanging from over-the-top tree displays. Früt sold only Fruit of the Loom undergarments, but shoppers who usually wouldn't deign to buy the brand were lured in by the high-end guise. Image Credit: Wieden+Kennedy London 8. Organic Valley Coffee ShopIn a clever shot aimed at the artisanal coffee movement, creative branding agency Humanaut opened up a pop-up cafe to promote its client Organic Valley's new coffee creamer. The temporary Manhattan storefront adhered to all of the typical hipster tropes -- a minimal logo featuring arrows and X's, modern glass mugs, and trendy sizes -- Lil Bit, Double, and Lotta. And they cast a real Organic Valley farmer as the shop's folksy proprietor. There was one catch: The shop only sold measured portions of half-and-half. You ordered your creamer at the counter from a barista and added your coffee separately. The spoof was a major success. Unperturbed by the irony, New Yorkers lined up to order shots of plain cream for $2 a pop. "No one had a problem paying $2 for a pour of organic half-and-half," said Humanaut's creative chief David Littlejohn. "In the end, the idea wasn't as crazy as we thought it was." Video Credit: Organic Valley 9. 5-Minute InternshipSolve, a Minneapolis-based creative agency, wanted to re-vamp its summer intern hiring process to attract recruits who can really think on their feet. So naturally, they created a portable, small-scale replica of their office -- complete with a receptionist-staffed micro lobby -- and set off on an epic college-campus road trip. Students at participating campuses were given a 5-minute challenge based on their area of interest -- and those who performed the best were invited to interview on the spot. The pop-up event tripled the amount of applications the agency received to its internship position. Image Credit: Adweek 10. The Picture HouseCapitalizing on the Instagram food photography craze, Birdseye opened up a temporary restaurant in London where diners could settle their bill with an Instagram post -- all they had to do was take a snap of their meal and add the hashtag #BirdsEyeInspirations. The event was a creative social media experiment that helped generate free publicity for the frozen food company's Inspirations line of products. Branding agency Slice was behind the world's first pay-by-picture pop up. Image Credit: Slice 11. The Period ShopFor one weekend, Kotex launched a pop-up in New York aimed at alleviating negativity and spreading love for women during their periods. The store, which was developed by ad agency Organic, featured ice cream, manicures, chocolate, comfy clothing, and Kotex U products for sale. Women were invited to browse the brightly colored offerings and share their experiences. And it was all for a good cause, too. Proceeds were donated to a women's homeless shelter. Image Credit: Adweek 12. Birchbox's TourPop-ups give online retailers the chance to show off their goods in person, interact directly with their fans, and take their brand to the next level. Birchbox -- which sells subscription boxes of curated beauty products -- went on a national tour in 2015, opening up temporary brick-and-mortar stores in multiple cities. In addition to selling beauty products, they offered manicures and astrology readings to entice beauty-lovers inside. Image Credit: Racked LA 13. Fendi Spring/Summer 2016 Flower ShopThe mobile flower shop that botanical designer Azuma Makoto created for Fendi is proof that not all pop-ups need to be large scale productions. The artist adorned a three-wheeled Italian vehicle with an intricate floral display and outfitted the side of the truck as an open storefront. The vendor/driver sold limited edition Fendi bags and vases of Makoto's floral arrangements to promote the fashion label's 2016 Spring/Summer collection. Image Credit: My Modern Met 14. ArnsdorfWhat's a designer to do when they're facing a tight budget? Experiment with creative materials. This pop-up retail space for Australian clothier Arnsdorf was created by using 154 pairs of neutral-colored pantyhose, and the effect is otherworldly. Image Credit: Fast Company 15. The PoundshopThis design collective is a recurring pop-up platform for artists to offer their goods for affordable prices. "The aim of The Poundshop is to spread design to a wider audience by making it accessible through price and engagement," the website explains. The pop-up shops are just as visually interesting as the art they sell. Image Credit: The Poundshop With a little planning and a lot of preparation, you can make a splash with a pop-up that delights your customers and spreads interest in your brand. Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. [Read More ...] from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/creative-pop-up-events Roses are red, violets are blue, Valentine's Day is coming ... and you didn't think this one through. If you're shopping for a marketer, picking out a gift can be even more intimidating. We love trends, creativity, but also practicality! So — do you go the creative and funny route, and buy us something that can help us in the office? Or, do you embrace a pop culture trend we've been raving about? With everyone's favorite "Hallmark holiday" right around the corner, we had a hunch that some of you might have forgotten to pick up something special for a friend, family member, or special someone who works in the marketing world. Rather than letting you default to a box of chocolates, we've come up with a list of creative, useful gifts that are sure to impress. Now, we'll be the first to admit that some of them are kind of nerdy ... but aren't we all a little nerdy, after all? We've accounted for all types of budgets by listing the gifts in ascending order by price. All the following items might not ship in time for the big day, but you can still use the following list as inspiration for a last-minute in-person shopping trip. Top 20 Nerdy Valentine's Day Gifts
20 Nerdy Valentine's Day Gifts for That Special Someone1. The Gift of NothingPrice: $1+ (from various websites)Just started a fling with someone and think a gag gift would be appropriate? Maybe you should give your special someone the gift of -- well -- nothing. Yes, this is an actual prop you can buy. There's even multiple video unboxings online. Check this one out: The best part? If this product actually does "something," you can return it for a full refund. 2. Heart Headphone SplitterPrice: $5.00This festive headphone splitter allows you to plug your headphones into one of the dual aux inputs, leaving the other open for a friend or special someone. The best part? It comes on a handy keychain so you can bring it with you everywhere. 3. Catnip Chocolate Covered StrawberriesPrice: $6.00+Now, I'm a dog person ... but I work closely enough with a few hardcore cat ladies to know that in order to win them over, you've got to win over their cat first. And these catnip chocolate-covered strawberries are sure to do the trick. 4. Cable LabelsPrice: $9.99Give the gift of organization this Valentine's Day with these adorable little "cord huggers." They cling onto wires to make it easy to sort through that tangled mess behind monitor or under your desk. 5. Seed MoneyPrice: $9.99For the pun-lover, I present to you: seed money. Cleverly disguised as change, these coins are minted from handmade paper embedded with seeds. Plant them, water them, and watch your investment grow. (Get it?) 6. Bluetooth BeaniePrice: $12.91This beanie will keep your head warm while keeping your ears happy. Thanks to the built-in microphone, your special someone can talk hands free for up to six hours. Pretty cool, right? 7. Snapchat Bitmoji MerchandisePrice: VariesIf you're friends with a millennial marketer, they've probably used Snapchat or at least have created a Bitmoji. If so, you can visit the merchandise store on the Snapchat app and purchase shirts, cups, or other products with you and your friend's Bitmojis on them. To do this, all you have to do is go into your Snapchat app, tap your face icon in the corner to get to your profile, then scroll down and press the "Shop Bitmoji Merch" button to see the available merchandise. Once you click on an item, you can select your friends emoji to have a picture of both of you appear on an item. 8. Chili Herb InfuserPrice: $13.70Enhance the flavor of your favorite soup or stew with this chili-shaped herb infuser. This reusable pepper holds all of your herbs together so that you don't have to worry about having a pesky piece of green stuff between your teeth. 9. Plant-o-GramPrice: $13.99Flowers are great, but why not opt for the gift that keeps on giving? Long after the petals on that overpriced bouquet of roses have shriveled up, this unique air plant will still be thriving. Plus, it comes in a festive package with a personalized message of up to 100 words. 10. Spicy HoneyPrice: $15.00Serving as the perfect blend of raw honey from independent beekeepers in the Hudson Valley and specially selected chili peppers, this sweet and spicy treat is sure to delight your valentine. 11. Sushi SlippersPrice: $15.99Nothing says I love you quite like faux fish for your feet. In all seriousness, this is the perfect gift for the sushi-lover in your life. And it's guaranteed to make them feel all warm and fuzzy ... at least from the ankle down. 12. Heart Beat Camera StrapPrice: $19.95Help your valentine keep their camera close to heart with this unique camera strap. Embroidered with a healthy heart rate design, this strap will remind your valentine just how much you care. 13. Potato ParcelsPrice: $20-$40Does your special someone love potatoes and weird gifts? There are a few services, one being Potato Parcel, that will allow you to put a message or an image of your face on a potato and send it to someone. While the price varies based on the content printed on the potato and the distance you send it, this is sure to be a memorably weird gift. Source: Potato Parcel 14. Star Wars Cookie JarPrice: $24.99Step 1: Buy the cookie jar. Step 2: Bake cookies. Step 3: Place cookies in the cookie jar. That's it. 15. LED Globe-ShapedPrice: $34.99This awesome speaker proves that there's more than one way to gift a cool rock on Valentine's Day. Perfect for the office or the great at parties, this gadget allows you to bring your favorite tunes wherever you find yourself. 16. Red Converse SneakersPrice: $35.00These iconic sneakers make the perfect gift for both men and women. Not only are they comfortable and durable, but the festive pop of color will add a little somethin' somethin' to any outfit. 17. FujiFilm Mini Instant Film CameraPrice: $49.96Give the gift of nostalgia with this instant color film camera. Simply point, shoot, and shake it like a Polaroid picture to preserve memories with your special someone. 18. Smart Water BottlePrice: $60.00Show your valentine how much you care by keeping them hydrated ... in a cool way. This Bluetooth water bottle from Hidrate Spark pairs with an app on your phone to track your water intake. The bottle will glow to remind you to drink more in order to hit your goal. 19. Canon Ivy Mini Photo PrinterPrice: $99.99The days of taking photos with filmed cameras and getting them developed in a dark room have come and gone. But our digital lifestyle doesn't mean we have to give up on print photography. In fact, there are a number of photo printers that allow you to connect your smartphone and print photos from your device. And, if you're shopping for a digital marketer, especially in the millennial generation, they probably have plenty of photos that they'd love to print out and treasure -- even after the endorphins of Instagram Likes have worn off. 20. Smart RingPrice: $125-$195Believe it or not, this fancy ring doubles as a really cool piece of technology. Integrated with over 80 apps on iOS and Android, users can set custom color and vibration patterns via the corresponding app to receive notifications through the ring. Think Like a Marketer When Buying For OneAs marketers, we love to create campaigns around buyer personas. We research out target prospect, what they're interested in, and create content that attempts to engage or delight them. If you're buying something for friend or loved one, think like a marketer. Take note of their interests, hobbies, and what you have in common to determine which gifts will be the most appropriate and interesting to them. Editor's note; This blog post was first published in February 2018, but was updated February 2021 for comprehensiveness and freshness. [Read More ...] from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/nerdy-valentines-day-gifts Did you know that 49% of global respondents say they're inclined to pay higher-than-average prices for products with high-quality/safety standards, which consumers often associate with strong sustainability practices? Additionally, consumers are willing to open their wallets for products that are organic (41%), made with sustainable materials (38%), or deliver on socially responsible claims (30%). In fact, the U.S. sustainability market is on track to reach $150 billion in 2021. That, in addition to it being better for the environment, is why several companies have gone or are going green in the future. As marketers, if you work at a green company, all the sustainable things your company does should be marketed. Today, let's learn more about green marketing, the best strategies to use, and some examples to inspire your own green marketing campaigns. With green marketing, the products are usually made in a sustainable way, do not contain toxic materials, are produced with recycled or renewable materials, don't have excessive packaging, and are designed to be recycled. When a company can make their products in a way that's eco-friendly, it shows that they're committed to sustainability and social responsibility. Plus, it helps with brand reputation. When you make your products in an environmentally friendly way, you can focus on green marketing to let everyone know that you're making an effort to help the environment. Also, this could save you money in packaging and energy usage in the long run. While many companies don't go green because the upfront cost is usually more expensive, they might not realize that it'll generate savings in the long run. However, it's important to note that you can't just market something as green if it's not. There are regulations and legal standards for green marketing. Speaking of, let's dive into the differences between green marketing and greenwashing. Greenwashing will ultimately be damaging to a company's reputation because consumers will find out that the company or products are not as green as they're promoting them to be. To be certain you're buying a green product, look for real certifications listed on the packaging. If you're a company and want to promote your sustainability, you need to get actual certification that you can place on your product and website. Once you have real certifications (and know that you're truly trying to help the environment instead of going green for profits), then you can use these strategies to help your green marketing efforts. Green Marketing Strategies1. Get certified.There are several third-party green business certifications that can help you market your sustainability practices. To get certified, research the different certifications, including Green America, Green Business Certification Inc., or Green Seal. Usually, you will need to meet a certain level of standards and send in an application. These certifications help substantiate your claims that you're a green business. 2. Advertise your green message.Once you have the certification and you're the real deal, it's time to get the word out. You can write blogs, post about going green on your social media, add the certification stickers to your website, etc. Promoting your sustainability efforts will help build your brand and customer loyalty from eco-conscious consumers. 3. Incorporate sustainability into your culture.Don't just fall into the green marketing trap without really committing to the cause. You should incorporate green practices into your company culture. Every employee should know that you want to make things as eco-friendly as possible. 4. Support eco-friendly programs and initiatives.When your company goes to donate to charity or support local programs and initiatives, make sure you choose ones that are green. It helps with your consistent brand message and it will support a cause you care about. 1. Go paperless.One of the environment's nemeses is paper. A great way to go green is to reduce the amount of paper that you use. Mike Volpe, CEO of Lola.com, says, "The response rate for most direct mail is 2%. That means that 98% of your direct mail is wasted. Plus, in addition to the environmental impact of the 50 pieces you send for every 1 lead, there is the impact of the trucks and other transportation used to move all that mail around. If your audience really cares about the environment, send them an email, and let them know that you are not using snail mail for marketing." 2. Don't forget about your giveaway prizes.If you're ever running a giveaway, you might forget that you're a green company and want to support eco-friendly products. That would be a mistake. The prizes you give away should also support your mission of going green. Volpe added, "If you want to engage with your market of environmentally conscious consumers, try changing your prizes to something they will actually care about. Perhaps a donation in their name to a global charity or purchase a parcel of rainforest to be protected in their name? If your market truly cares about the issue, this will be a great tool to provide more focus to your contest marketing efforts." 3. Make all your events green.If you're throwing a brand event, it needs to be sustainable. Robin Lickliter, a Chief Experience Officer at Brightest Sparks Marketing, says, "Consider LEED-certified buildings, provide incentives to use public transportation, and consider LED lighting." These are great ways to keep your brand green even when you want to throw an event. Green Marketing Examples1. StarbucksStarbucks is known as being a leader in sustainability. The company invests and donates money in several environmental programs. In fact, Starbucks committed over $140 million to the development of renewable energy sources. 2. PatagoniaPatagonia has made it known through green marketing that they support environmental activism. On their site, they say "We're part of a movement for change. From supporting youth fighting against oil drilling to suing the president, we take action on the most pressing environmental issues facing our world. Connect with environmental groups through Patagonia Action Works and take action to protect people and the planet." 3. Ben and Jerry'sBen and Jerry's actively markets the social issues that the company cares about through their website on their Values page. They regularly write blogs and discuss why it's important to commit to environmentally friendly business practices. With green marketing, you can let your target audience know that you care about the same issues they do. You can improve your brand reputation, while also investing and donating to a cause that you care about. [Read More ...] from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/green-marketing Creating a webinar is one of the best ways to engage with potential customers in an increasingly remote world. Since the rise of remote work, people rely on technology for education and social interaction more than ever. This means more Zoom meetings instead of in-person meetings, more walks to a home office instead of commutes to a high-rise, and of course, more webinars instead of live events. The B2B webinar platform BrightTalk reported a 76% increase in video, webinar, and virtual events uploaded to their platform from March to June 2020. From April 2019 to April 2020, ON24 saw a 167% increase in monthly usage of its webinar platform. If there was ever a time to create a webinar, it’s now. Are webinars dead?In a word: no. While webinars may seem outdated, especially compared to social media trends that emphasize brevity over substance, they have proven to be invaluable in the time of social distancing. It wasn’t always this way. A few years ago, we were afraid that webinars were a thing of the past. While nearly half of consumers reported wanting to see more videos in the future, we found that “Research content” and “Online courses,” both of which would fall under the webinar umbrella, ranked at the bottom. However, the majority of companies are moving toward a telecommuting model, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down. The new “working from home economy” guarantees that webinars remain a cornerstone of companies’ marketing and sales strategies. Because companies are turning to webinars to replace their live events, the market is experiencing an over-saturation. It’s even more difficult to make your virtual event stand out from the pack. Luckily, HubSpot and GoToWebinar teamed up to bring you the ultimate webinar planning kit that can help you create a compelling, effective webinar. Ready to host an online event that will engage potential customers and drive lead generation? Follow these steps to make a great webinar that works in 2021. 1. Brainstorm the right topic.Before you can get started on making your webinar, you'll have to decide the topic you want to speak about. The topic you choose should answer questions that your audience typically asks and preferably be highly specific. For example, if you're hosting a webinar on email marketing, you can choose to focus on subject lines in particular. Overall, your webinar should provide value to your audience. Think about your company as a whole and your unique value proposition. What topics are you an expert on? What topics can you provide value on? Consider choosing an educational topic, as this type of content performs really well. Align the topic with the goal of your sales team. A successful webinar hinges on sales and marketing alignment. If the marketing team creates content that isn’t helping their sales conversations, it won’t be a successful effort for driving high-quality leads to sales. Luckily, you have experts at your disposal for coming up with content ideas that will actually compliment and aid the sales conversation: the reps themselves. Instead of guessing what your sales team might want a webinar to be focused on, ask them. Get reps' buy-in for a webinar before you plan it. Set up a meeting to discover new content ideas and to find out what pain points they need to help solve. This will go a long way for ensuring sales' follow up with registrants is seamless once the webinar is over. 2. Choose a webinar format.When considering how to structure your webinar, you have countless options. Panel discussions, Q&A’s, single-speaker presentations, and interviews are the four most common types. Other formats include product demos and case studies. For panel discussions, you can invite industry experts to discuss a niche, current topic within your industry. For Q&A’s, you need only the product experts in your team to answer your customers’ questions. Interviews are also a great choice. You can either choose an industry expert or a current customer to interview them on their experience with your company. 3. Pick a webinar tool.There are many webinar hosting platforms you can use to create your webinar. Popular platforms include ClickMeeting, GoToWebinar, and Zoom. When you're researching a tool to use, consider your objectives. How many people do you think will attend? Do you need a tool that could allow over 1,000 attendees? How much does it cost? And how easy is it to use? These are questions that you should look into when deciding on what webinar tool to use. Additionally, you'll want to make sure the tool can handle the type of webinar you want to host — can it handle video chatting for panels or Q&A webinars? The right tool for you will depend on the overall objectives of your event. 4. Assign roles to your team members.After choosing the platform, you want to assign roles in your team. Typically, you’d need to choose four people: The organizer handles all facets of planning, from ideation to content creation. They are usually the primary contact in the webinar platform. The presenter is the subject matter expert, either on your team or in the industry, who’s going to present on the topic you’ve chosen. The moderator is required for panel discussions, but not for single-speaker presentations. This person will help stimulate conversation for panel participants. You can also assign a moderator if you expect to receive a lot of questions from attendees. Assistants are the team members who are at hand in case of a tech or another type of emergency. If there’s no sound, an assistant can step in to resolve this problem. Like moderators, assistants can also manage the chat box during the event. 5. Produce the content.Once you find a tool and you know the topic you want to present on, it’s time to create the content depending on the type of webinar you want to host. Will it be a PowerPoint and talking head presentation? Or perhaps you want to do a live panel Q&A? Either way, you'll have to produce the content and prepare for the big day. For example, if you're creating a PowerPoint, you'll need to create your slide deck. Make sure that the slides emphasize your points, but don't include a script. These slides should be visually appealing and include interesting graphics, such as images or GIFs. If you're hosting a discussion-style webinar, plan out your speakers, gather audience questions, and prepare any other questions you might have so you can prioritize your time during the webinar. 6. Select the right day and time.To select a time and date for your webinar, you'll want to consider where your audience lives. Use tools like Google Analytics to see where people are, so you can choose a convenient day and time zone. ON24 reports that Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days to host webinars, with 11 AM being the best time. Another popular time is 10 AM. Both are great for a wide range of time zones, and should avoid most commute times or work hours. Typically, these times avoid conflicts for the greatest number of people. However, if your audience is solely in the United States, then you wouldn't need to worry about global time zones. Instead, you can focus on planning a time when most people aren't commuting. For example, early afternoon or after work hours are generally good times. 7. Practice your webinar before the event.Practice is essential for a successful webinar. Many things can go wrong on the day of the event, but by preparing, you can avoid technological mishaps. Practicing can also help you get acquainted with the platform if you’ve never used it before. We highly encourage creating a fake event on your webinar platform. Publish it, send a link to another one of your team members, and practice as if it was a real webinar. Your team member would watch it as an attendee, which would tell you what the presentation looks like on the other end. 8. Promote your webinar.Now that you've done the backend work, it's time to ensure you have people who want to attend. To promote your webinar, you can create a landing page where people can sign up and then distribute and promote that link in several ways. For example, consider running ads through social media and search engines. Additionally, you'll want to use free promotion tactics — you can post on your own accounts, on your website, and send an email to your subscribers. It's important to use your own follower base to get people interested. Reminder emails are also helpful. Consider sending "Don't Miss Out" or "Seats Are Filling Up" emails as the day gets closer. And when people do sign up, you'll want to remind them leading up to the day. You should send them the webinar link about an hour before so it's top of mind, and they don't have to go looking for the link in their registration email. 9. Follow-up with your audience.Webinars are obviously a great sales opportunity, and you don't want people to leave your webinar and never think of you again. That's why you'll want to send them a thank you email and gather feedback from attendees so you can plan better webinars in the future. Remember that attendees generally like to have a recording. If you send them a link to the recording afterwards, they don't have to take fervent notes during the webinar. This also means you can send it to registrants who wanted to attend but weren't able to. Once you’ve come up with relevant content topics for your webinar and set up the event, it’s time to get that webinar in front of as many eyes as possible. With webinars, it’s not just about generating initial excitement; you have to build excitement and encourage engagement once the webinar goes live. 1. Set up a search-engine optimized landing page.The first step in your webinar promotion strategy is to create an optimized landing page that can organically jumpstart registrations. This landing page should have a target keyword in the title, a sign-up form, and optimized copy. Ideally, the form should integrate with your other marketing and sales tools, automatically turning registrants into contacts or prospects. 2. Promote your webinar to current subscribers and contacts via email.Now that you have a landing page to direct users to, it’s time to target your first attendees: people who already know about your company and customers who have engaged with you in the past. After sending a personalized email to your contacts, take the following steps:
3. Promote your webinar via LinkedIn and other social media platforms.LinkedIn is an excellent platform to promote webinars. Webinars are usually created for other businesses, and LinkedIn is the ultimate B2B marketing platform. LinkedIn now has an option for virtual events, which allows you to add the webinar access link. Registrants can also jumpstart discussions on the event page, giving you potential topics to address during the presentation or Q&A. You can also advertise the webinar through display ads on Google, Instagram, and Facebook, though we encourage keeping the bulk of your investment on LinkedIn. 4. Send reminder emails to registrants.Once you’ve gotten registrants, that doesn’t mean they’ll show up. After all, if you promote a webinar one to two weeks in advance, a portion of your registrants are likely to forget when the live date comes around. Remember to send out reminder emails the day before and day-of the live event to ensure a high live attendance rate. 5. Offer a certificate of completion, professional development hours, or continuing education credits.An easy way to entice registrations is to offer something in return. Certificates of completion, PDHs, and CEUs are credentials that attendees will want to receive after the webinar. This also entices people to stay until the end. Certificates of completion can be offered to virtually any professional. Industries such as engineering, architecture, software engineering, and marketing require professionals to continue their training after starting their careers. 6. Consider co-marketing the webinar.Try your hand at co-marketing. One of the best ways to get new expertise, generate interest for a piece of content, and expand the reach of a campaign is to run a co-marketed webinar. Instead of running a webinar with speakers internally, try working with another company that’s going after a similar buyer persona and bring their expertise into the conversation. Doing so creates more interesting content and gives you the opportunity to get your webinar in front of another company’s established audience. 7. Survey participants after the webinar.The only way to get better is to know how you can improve. By sending an after-event survey, you can refine your next webinar. Hosting a better event can help you confidently market it to prospects. In this survey, you can include a link to the next webinar that you’re hosting, driving registrations for that event. 8. Deliver necessary information to sales.A huge part of the pre- and post-webinar process is making sure the right information gets delivered to sales. That’s why GoToWebinar and HubSpot recommend creating one webinar hub that’s easily accessible by sales with the following information:
Once the webinar is done, however, it’s time to make sure the sales reps are ready to close those leads. Send a follow up email to your reps and include the following information:
Putting the extra effort in will go a long way toward making sure the webinar is a success from both a sales and marketing standpoint. Useful Webinar Creation TipsNot sure how to set your webinar apart from the rest? No worries. Single-speaker presentations are admittedly overdone. In a time when webinars are ubiquitous, it’s even more important to use different tactics to engage your viewers. Think about ways to mix up how the information in your webinar is presented. Here are some tips:
Webinars StatisticsAccording to ON24, 68% of marketers say webinars are one of the best ways to tie marketing activity to revenue. Webinars can also help generate quality leads. Why?
We know planning and promoting a webinar can be difficult if you've never done it before. That's why we've compiled a guide, template, and checklist for you to get your webinar off the ground — whether it's your first or fortieth. Click here to download the kit for free. It's All About AlignmentWebinars are seeing a timely resurgence. They’re not just an effective marketing tool; they’re also effective sales tools — but only if your sales team has the information, content, and tools to use them to move prospects down the funnel and close deals. Creating the kind of alignment you need to make this all a success isn’t easy. That’s why HubSpot and GotoWebinar made this ultimate guide for creating a successful webinar and included a checklist to guide you through pre, ongoing, and post webinar communications. Editor's note: This post was originally published in February 2018 and was updated in January 2021 for comprehensiveness. [Read More ...] from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/are-webinars-dead-how-to-make-a-webinar You've finally found time in your schedule to sit down and write a new blog post. But when you settle in, your hands hover over the keyboard. Nothing comes to mind. You stare at a blank screen in exasperation as the minutes slowly slip away. Whether you write for a living or as a hobby, you'll experience writer's block at some point. The first thing to do is realize you're not alone. Everyone hits a wall that's tough to work around. Sometimes all it takes to get started is a few terrible sentences, inspiring blog writing prompts, or a blogging course. The point is, you have to find a way to break the block and let the words flow again. As Maya Angelou said, "Nothing will work unless you do." 31 Blog Writing Prompts
So when you draw a blank, grab a fresh cup of coffee or tea and try your hand at blog writing prompts below. Choose one or two that stand out to you. Then, spend 10-15 minutes writing down whatever comes to mind. If you can't think of anything in the first 30 seconds, move onto another one. The goal is to find an idea that interests you enough to write about freely, without feeling pressured to be perfect. [Read More ...] from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/creative-writing-prompts-writers-block There's a whole lot to like about well-designed infographics: beautiful typography, succinct messaging, clever layouts, bold graphics. Not to mention that people follow directions 323% better with text and illustrations than without illustrations. As the fourth most used type of content marketing, infographics pop up all over the place — from social posts to whitepapers. But don't be fooled. They require just as much strategic thinking as a blog post or video. Yet, as this list of the best infographic examples shows, the effort is absolutely worthwhile. Adding them to your marketing strategy can increase web traffic by 12% and help you stay competitive in the B2B crowd, where 65% of marketers use infographics. Luckily, there are numerous resources to create beautiful infographics of your own. To help inspire your next visual creation, here are a handful of stunning branded infographics to kickstart your creativity. 9 of the Best Infographic Examples of 20201. How SMB sales teams are keeping up in 2020, by ZendeskWe all know 2020 led to massive changes in the way we work, buy, and enjoy leisure time. But this infographic by Zendesk hones in on a specific group (SMB sales teams) to show how they keep up with the times. Through research-backed data, clear visuals, and concise copy, the main point comes across crystal clear: Know customers' expectations to meet them where they are. This infographic does a good job following one theme from start to finish. Readers can answer "What's the point?" within the first few sentences — a best practice, according to CoSchedule. This helps focus your infographic, so you don't cram too much information or too many topics into one piece. Which is why Zendesk flowed from the research and stats to how SMB sales teams are adopting new technology to keep up. They even include the benefits of CRM technology, like a 52% increase in productivity from sales reps. Of course, the benefits align with the customer service software Zendesk offers, making the infographic a good sales tool for their own team. 2. Response to COVID-19, by the U.S Food and Drug AdministrationIt wouldn't be a 2020 round-up without mentioning the global pandemic that kept many of us at home for months. The bright spot? There are infographics galore educating people on how to properly wash their hands and social distance. The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also relied on this visual medium to share how their regulatory department addressed COVID-19. This infographic example made the list for several reasons. First, to show how infographics can be used to highlight impact, instead of sharing step-by-step instructions or research-oriented content. The impact of each action is organized into separate columns and given a distinct color to help your eyes track from top to bottom. While this flow breaks the typical left to right reading pattern, it's not distracting or difficult to follow. The healthcare worker graphics at the top of the page nods to those on the frontlines, the colors align with the brand, important numbers are easy to read, and the page isn't crowded with text. So the next time you need to explain the fruits of your labors to your boss, help win them over with an impact-driven infographic. 3. Content Marketing in Times of Uncertainty, by LinkedInIn uncertain times, more than eight out of 10 people want brands to act as a news source, foster a sense of community, and provide educational resources. Whew. As a content marketer, those are major expectations to live up to. LinkedIn realized the changing global landscape would alter customer expectations, and, as a result, content marketing strategies. So the team put together this handy infographic to help marketers focus on what matters most. This infographic example features a number of design elements from LinkedIn's current brand. The graphics adhere to their primary and complementary color scheme, include diverse characters, and relate to the work-from-home times. They also use color block banners to add visual interest and break up chunks of text. But my favorite part? The ruler graphic on how to measure ROI and show why your efforts are worthwhile. 4. Pianeta plastica, by Manuel Bortoletti for GEDI Gruppo“Che bello” is the first thought that comes to mind for this design. The stunning data visualizations, oceanic color scheme, and easy-to-understand layout let the visuals do the talking. Visme explains how an infographic follows this essential best practice if it makes sense with all of the text removed. That may seem impossible, but designer Manuel Bortoletti pulls it off with informative maps accompanied by clear keys and a bar graph that uses oil tankers to inform readers about how oil circulates the globe. Even with my incredibly limited Italian, I understand that the main point of the piece is to inform readers about the impact of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. And since this infographic was designed for the Italian media outlet GEDI Gruppo, it stays on-brand with a more formal editorial tone. 5. How to Properly Wear a Mask, by John Hopkins MedicineEducation is the crux of an infographic. And when you have mere seconds to capture people's increasingly narrow attention span, the information better be easy to learn. That's why one of the best infographic examples comes from John Hopkins Medicine. They designed an infographic to share tips on a crucial COVID-19 procedure: wearing a mask. Is covering your nose important? You bet. What about wearing a bandana as a mask? No way. Hopkins uses a combination of straightforward graphics and copy to make the do's and don'ts very clear. As a renowned medical institution, they have the experience and authority to educate people on this topic, so it's both fitting for their brand and helpful for everyone's health. A true win-win. 6. How to Be Productive While Working From Home, by bannersnackWorking from home isn't the pajama party many people (used to) imagine. As offices closed and thousands of people turned dining tables into home office spaces, bannersnack created this infographic to help its employees transition to a different way of working. As a freelancer who's been working remotely for the past five years, I found it full of practical tips and technology. Beyond basic elements like brand colors, bannersnack includes information people can immediately put to use. While it's easy to stay planted on your couch all day, they recommend finding multiple workspaces for different tasks. An inspirational spot for creative thinking, and another for deep work and crunched deadlines. Tips like this may seem small once you've been working remotely for a while, but for newcomers, it's one less thing you have to learn yourself while adjusting to a different routine. 7. 45 Slack Tricks That Will Impress Your Boss, by Net CreditA tool as powerful as Slack has many features most people will never use, yet this infographic makes it easy to look like the cool "Slack-er" at the company. Even if you've only mastered the /giphy shortcut until now. Net Credit starts with a handful of stats to inform readers and give an idea of Slack's scope. Who knew people spend 50 million hours on the platform in one week? I'm intrigued and want to keep reading. As you scroll down the graphic, you see a combination of direct headlines "Read Channel Highlight" followed by text instructions and visual cues. As a visual learner, I appreciate how these cues mirror the actual interface. Each section is organized to help you find what you're looking for, whether it's "#channel" or "message" tips. Finance may be Net Credit's bread and butter, but this infographic shows how their team is adaptable and helpful — exactly what you want in a financial partner. 8. The Sustainable Development Goals Report, by the United NationsInfographics are a great way to add visual flavor to otherwise dry content, like annual reports and whitepapers. What stands out in this infographic example is how it can be used as one visual or divided into 17 sections — one for each Sustainable Development Goal. This allows the content team to choose which type of content best fits the target audience. If the UN is speaking to organizations that empower women and girls, they can share the "Gender Equality'' graphic. But a non-profit that promotes all of the UN goals will likely be interested in the entire design. While a lot of information is packed into each graphic, it's never overwhelming. Each goal is clearly separate from the other with bold headers and distinct colors, which are also used to differentiate the goals across all of the UN's marketing efforts. 9. Tech's Bizarre Beginnings & Lucrative Pivots, by Visual CapitalistThe beauty of infographics? They can be used by dozens of industries for hundreds of different purposes. But the best ones are often unexpected. Take this graphic designed by Visual Capitalist. It reveals the wild origin stories of some of the biggest tech companies today. I personally had no idea YouTube began as a video dating site with the tagline "Tune In. Hook Up." As a growing online publication that focuses on data and technology news, Visual Capitalist's audience is likely interested in stories around company pivots that led to success. That information, coupled with a simple timeline structure, fun graphics, and hard-hitting metrics, make it tough to look away from this infographic. Plus, we all need reminders that it's not where you start, but where you're going. Now that your creativity is sparked, it's the perfect time to start creating your own infographics. If you're ready to jump into the design phase, learn how to make infographics in Powerpoint, check out these templates, or discover how to create an interactive infographic. If you're in the planning phase, begin by getting buy-in from your boss with these convincing infographic stats and conducting research that will make your infographic both informative and beautiful. [Read More ...] from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-infographics-2016 |
Joseph Ashley
Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as clam juice. Archives
February 2021
Categories |