Yearly Archives: 2023

Email marketing remains one of the most effective tools for marketers, and you put a lot of energy into your email marketing strategy. So the last thing you want is to see your efforts result in low email engagement.

If you want to increase email engagement and get those coveted clicks on your CTA buttons, read on for 10 tips that will give your messages a boost.

Table of Contents

• What is email engagement?
• 10 Ways to Improve Email Engagement

What is email engagement?

Email engagement is the measurement of interactions your emails receive. These interactions are measured using certain email engagement metrics including open rate, click-through rate, subscribes and unsubscribes, and conversion rate.

Tracking your email engagement can help you understand whether or not your email marketing efforts are effective.

If your email isn’t reaching the goals you set, there are a few proven ways to increase your engagement rate.

10 Ways to Improve Email Engagement

1. Always send a welcome email.

The first email you send to a customer is usually a welcome email. The average open rate for a welcome email is 50%, which makes it much more effective than regular newsletters.

If we bear in mind that 76% of people expect a welcome email immediately after subscribing to your list, it’s clear that this email is an important message, so be sure to make the most of it.

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The email delivers a discount code that subscribers were promised in exchange for signing up, includes a beautiful picture, and keeps things super simple.

2. Optimize your subject lines.

Today, 47% of email recipients open emails based on the subject line. So yes, getting the subject line right is crucial.

But what makes a good subject line?

The best way to succeed is to leverage natural human tendencies such as:

• Curiosity
• FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
• Humor

This is a FOMO subject line, where the Alzheimer’s Association makes it clear that their impact will have twice as much impact — but only for a limited time.

3. Don’t neglect the pre-header text.

The pre-header text, or preview text, is the snippet of text that follows the email subject line when a reader views your email in the inbox. It’s shown beside the subject line and sender name.

These pre-header text examples from the lifestyle brand Quince offer a follow-up to the subject line and give subscribers even more reasons to open the email.

This snippet is valuable real estate that can make or break your email’s performance. But the message has to fit within limited character space to be effective.

The pre-header text can only contain 50-130 characters — even less if you want it to fit on mobile screens. Make sure your message is short and sweet, yet encourages people to open your email.

4. Prioritize your CTAs.

The way you write and design your CTAs, or calls to action, has a significant impact on email engagement and click-through rates.

As readers are so used to being prompted to take action, creativity is crucial to avoid being filtered out.

Experiment with everything from copy and design to placement and frequency. You’ll discover what kind of CTAs and buttons yield the best results from your particular target audience.

This message from wedding brand BHLDN uses compelling text to pull readers in. The CTA keeps it short and sweet, sealing the deal by offering a complimentary styling session.

5. Write casual, fun copy.

Write as you talk. Nobody appreciates large, dull, jargon-heavy chunks of text. Make it easy, fun, and rewarding to read your emails. And be ultra-clear about what next step you want the reader to take.

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Use active, positive language — and keep sentences concise. And, if appropriate, use humor; people like to smile.

This email copy from Surreal is creative, on-brand, and to the point:

6. Leverage your transactional emails.

After welcome emails, transactional emails have among the highest open rates of all email marketing messages at about 80%-85%. Yet, they rarely contain more information than that of the actual transaction. That means an opportunity for you.

A transactional email is any type of email that is based on an action a subscriber took. Transactional emails include:

• Order confirmation
• Password reset
• Abandoned cart

This order confirmation email from skincare Haoma takes an opportunity to remind customers of the impact of their order.

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By giving your transactional emails some extra love and attention, you will wow your customers in a way that many companies miss out on.

7. Conduct A/B testing.

If you’re sending emails, you should be doing A/B testing. You can test every element of your emails, from subject lines and preview tests to copy, images, design, and CTAs.

The more you test, the better you will get to know your target audience. And the better you know your audience, the more you will be able to engage them with your emails.

8. Make sure your email is mobile-responsive.

Most people open emails on their mobile devices. This means that if your emails aren’t mobile responsive, a large portion of them will be going to waste.

Mailchimp found that mobile-responsive email designs can increase click rates by 15%.

As more people continue to open and read emails on their phones, it’s essential to make sure that your design has as good or better UX on mobile as on desktop.

9. Personalize your emails for each recipient.

Customers appreciate personalized experiences. In fact, emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened. This is why tailoring your email marketing to the recipient is crucial.

For example, Bandsintown sends personalized emails with visual recaps of its users’ music activity from the past year.

This type of personalized content is not only a great way to re-engage users, but it also encourages social sharing and engagement within a community, multiplying the effect of your emails.

10. Segment your email marketing.

Segmenting your email list enables you to get the right message to the right buyer persona at the right time in their buyer journey. And that is crucial for increasing conversions.

To send segmented emails that are more likely to convert, first integrate your email and marketing software with your CRM and other sources of customer data.

This gives you a 360-degree view of your contacts everywhere, including your email marketing platform. It’s then easier than ever to send highly personalized emails based on your contacts’ groups, memberships, and other properties.

Better Data Means Better Email Engagement

Email communication is one of the most effective ways that you can reach out to customers and prospects. But keeping your emailing lists up to date and personalizing your content can be challenging.

That’s where integration steps in. Sync the contact databases across your app stack, so you’re always working with fully enriched, up-to-date, and relevant data.

With your CRM and email tool in sync, you can automatically send recent subscribers and leads to your email tool. You can also sync extra data for better segmentation of your marketing and nurturing campaigns.

At the same time, you can merge marketing qualified leads (MQLs) back to your CRM with updated data for sales to work with — all without overwriting existing data.

Welcome to HubSpot Marketing News! Tap in for campaign deep dives, the latest marketing industry news, and tried-and-true insights from HubSpot’s media team. 

Activewear subscription brand Fabletics is looking to cover a new market — clothing for medical professionals.

In February, the company launched its first line of medical scrubs, which it calls “The World’s First Activewear Scrubs Collection.” The collection launched with 12 pieces for all genders, as well as the ability to customize with embroidery.

In addition to creating a style quiz potential customers can take to find the items that will suit them best, Fabletics focused on a community-oriented launch.

The brand pledged to donate 25,000 pairs of scrubs to medical professionals across the U.S. and has tapped company spokesperson Kevin Hart to help distribute scrubs to an organization in Philadelphia.

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Why did an activewear brand start making medical scrubs?

The scrubs market is expected to be worth over $236 million by 2025, and Fabletics saw an opportunity to tap in.

Fabletics surveyed its two million subscribers (referred to as VIP members) and discovered 15% of them wore scrubs for work each day. Realizing there was demand from its existing group of customers for scrubs, the brand got to work.

During the development process, Fabletics got feedback and insights from over 6,500 professionals who wore scrubs to create the initial collection.

Since Fabletics announced the launch of the line on social media, feedback has been generally positive. Social media users have expressed excitement over being able to purchase scrubs from the brand, and have requested additional styles and colors.

Competitors in the direct-to-consumer scrubs market include FIGs and Jaanuu, both founded in 2013. The success of these brands showed clear demand for functional, fashion-forward scrubs.

Marketing Snippets

The latest marketing news and strategy insights.

Diversity efforts: how media companies are measuring on-screen diversity.

Podcast advertising: what a slowdown in the podcast industry could mean for advertisers.

New app alert: ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, launched a new lifestyle app called Lemon8.

YouTube is rolling out a new feature that dubs videos in multiple languages.

Oh, samples, the small gifts that help justify any Costco membership. You can get everything from a warmed pizza bite to a smoothie to hand lotion, all in one pass-through.

And don’t get me wrong, this strategy is an incredible tactic that can increase sales, in some cases, by as much as 2,000%. But there is much more to the sample marketing strategy than just enticing snacks and perks.

Product sampling marketing offers benefits to brick-and-mortar companies, online B2C and B2B brands, and everything in between. You can expand your reach, grow customer loyalty, and ultimately increase conversion and decrease churn rates. Sounds intriguing, right? Keep reading to learn how sampling marketing can help your company.

In this article, we will discuss:

• What Is Sampling Marketing — In More Detail

• Why Sampling Marketing Works

• Sampling Marketing Best Practices

• Sample Marketing Examples
  

This can manifest in a variety of forms, from Sephora’s free gifts with a purchase to HubSpot’s 14-day free trial.

Why Sampling Marketing Works

The strategy behind sampling marketing is rooted in psychology and behavioral economics. Giving a customer a glimpse of your offering can show them the benefits before they buy.

Here are three major benefits of sampling marketing backed by research.

1. Reciprocity

As Dan Ariely, the modern-day king of behavioral economics at Duke University says, “Reciprocity is a very, very strong instinct. If somebody does something for you, you really feel a rather surprisingly strong obligation to do something back for them.”

At Costco, the impact of this theory is clear. The graph below shows the direct translation from samples to purchases.

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This same theory stands true for the digital space as well. Giving a potential customer the ability to test out the service before committing creates the same sense of reciprocated obligation.

When they create a relationship with your brand, there is then a further incentive for them to complete the transaction, increasing the number of sales your brand can achieve. You can then build a lasting connection with users that will keep them coming back.

2. Customer Loyalty

Cornell University professor Miguel Gomez conducted a study about wine tastings.

Results showed that customers who enjoyed a tasting were 93% more likely to spend an extra $10 at the winery. They were also highly likely to buy from the business again in the future.

This study furthers the notion that a free sample not only encourages the first purchase but also it promotes a sense of loyalty toward the company.

Customer loyalty is an indispensable tool for growth. In fact, B2B companies with referrals experience a 70% higher conversion rate. This sense of trust will further your business’ customer retention and help you reach new customers alike.

3. Loss Aversion

Sampling marketing works because of our innate human physiological fear of loss, no matter the size. Esteemed of behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman, dedicated much of his studies to this notion and claims that “the concept of loss aversion is certainly the most significant contribution of psychology to behavioral economics.”

Here, when one receives a free trial or sample, they are made to feel as though they own that product. They become much more reluctant to lose it once it’s in their possession. According to Kahneman, the pain of losing is almost twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining.

Sampling Marketing Best Practices

How much do I give for free? How do I implement these free samples into my marketing strategy?

You’ll need to answer these age-old questions. But not to worry. These best practices can help you build the right sampling marketing strategy.

Find the sweet-spot quantity.

You have to find the sweet spot for your free offering. Don’t give too much, which would remove the customer’s need to purchase your product. Don’t give too little, or they won’t have the chance to try your offering thoroughly.

Databox found that over 40% of B2B SaaS companies have a free trial between 14-29 days.

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This timeline is often a sweet spot for software offerings. It’s long enough for users to see how the product can impact their bottom line. However, it’s not so long that users can accomplish everything before the trial is over.

Time-based models won’t work for physical products. For these goods, Shopify shares, “offer a sample that they can use at least two or three times … and customize your sample offering to fit the consumer profile.”

For example, an online news business may offer, on average, five articles a month before asking for a subscription payment.

Bolster new product launches.

The best way to spread the word about a new product is through the users themselves. Product sampling increases the number of users and sales while also promoting user-generated content marketing (UGC).

When these lucky users try out a product, they are more willing to review it and advertise it on their own due to their innate sense of reciprocity.

Today, 89% of shoppers check reviews before making a purchase. Get the word out about your new product through user-generated reviews to reap the benefits.

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Use feedback to inform product development.

What better way to understand how your product works for your user than to ask them directly? By giving them a sample of your product for free, with no strings attached, they can try out the product honestly.

Take this opportunity to gather genuine feedback, user reviews, and ratings.

Find ways to tap new markets.

Over 70% of customers look for perspectives that reflect their own, meaning you need to find ways to market to the specific target demographics.

Through product sampling marketing, you can get your foot in the door to these market segments by speaking to them in a relatable way with your UGC strategies.

Sample Marketing Examples

There are thousands of stellar examples to guide your product sampling journey. Here are three case studies to inspire you.

Warby Parker

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Warby Parker is a prime example of how sampling marketing allows the user to try before they buy. The modern, sleek, and trendy eyewear company allows you to choose any five frames to try on at your home for free.

Then, after five days, the customer can buy what makes them feel their best. The rest are shipped back (for free, of course).

After five days of wearing glasses that make me feel like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City, I wouldn’t want to return them either! Warby Parker uses product sampling marketing exactly how it was intended — giving me a taste of the life I could have, but then taking it away before I get too comfortable in my Bradshaw era.

What we love: The personalization of their free samples. Customers can find the perfect frame and then actually use them in practice before committing.

Spotify

If you are an Apple Music user, it’s okay. We all have that friend and still love them. However, I hate to admit it, but Spotify may have you beat in more than a few ways, such as its personalized interface and accessibility.

Yes, Spotify does have a free tier, but it is definitely not as used as their Premium model. That’s why Spotify offers all of its users a three-month free trial to experience all that Premium has in store.

This free trial really does work. In 2019, they had 217 million active users and 100 million subscribers — meaning a 46% conversion rate.

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What we love: Spotify’s three months get you hooked. You’ve made an investment in the app by cultivating playlists that, after three months, you can’t part with. Once you lose that advantage, you can’t go back to the free tier again — with advertisements, worsened audio quality, and no exclusive release access.

Zoom

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Whether COVID made you a Zoom fanatic or an avid Zoom hater, video conferencing is here to stay — and Zoom is at the forefront of that.

However, if you are just using a free personal account, you are limited to 40 minutes. Yesterday, I received an email to upgrade my account with the words: “Sick of the 40-minute limit? This holiday season, stay connected through it all — for free! Today only, claim your FREE MONTH of Zoom!”

What we love: Zoom uses seasons and holidays to target its promotions. The holiday season is a time when everyone wants to connect, and Zoom knows it. They are able to tug on our heartstrings and make us feel glad that they are making their service more accessible at a time when it is needed.

Making the Most of Samples

We’ve all made purchases after using a sample — whether that be Spotify, LinkedIn Premium, Costco, or Sephora. There are plenty of benefits to letting customers try a product, getting them hooked, then closing a sale.

Start small by offering samples of select products. Once you prove out your strategy, you can expand your sampling marketing.

Today, 27% of small businesses don’t have a website. In today’s digital world that’s a huge mistake. What’s holding them back? The top reasons are cost and lack of technical know-how.

In today’s digital world, having a business website isn’t an option — it’s a must. Luckily, there are many free website builders that make the process easy. We’ve compiled 17 of the best options. They offer robust functionality like SEO benefits, mobile optimization, and professional-looking templates.

 

These builders are the next best thing if you’re on a tight budget. Better yet? Most of the free website builders have paid options if you need additional features as your business grows.

The 17 Best Free Website Builders

Website Builder Features You Need

1. HubSpot Drag-and-Drop Website Builder

Get started with the drag-and-drop builder!

Designing a beautifully branded website doesn’t have to be complicated. If you’re taking the DIY route to create your own website and don’t have coding experience, consider HubSpot’s drag-and-drop website builder.

It comes with everything you need to build a website, including content management system (CMS) tools, themes and templates, security features, and a built-in content delivery network (CDN) to ensure pages load quickly.

It also connects easily with HubSpot CRM. That lets you integrate contact forms, live chat requests, and more. This website solution is ideal for businesses already using HubSpot’s CRM tool.

Core Features

• CMS tools
• Themes and templates
• Built-in security features
• Free SSL certificate
• Ability to connect to a custom domain

Advantages

• Personalization (thanks to HubSpot’s CRM)
• Security
• Responsive themes and templates

Disadvantages

• Multi-language blog functionality is still being implemented
• You’ll need to learn HuBL (HubSpot’s templating language) to build custom modules and coded templates

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. The premium CMS plans with additional features start at $23 a month when billed annually.

What we love: HubSpot’s website builder connects seamlessly with HubSpot CRM, allowing you to easily integrate your favorite marketing tools with your website.

Brands Using HubSpot

• Botkeeper
• ProArch
• Eternal Works

2. Wix

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With over 200 million users, Wix is one of the most popular free website builders. The easy-to-use, fully-hosted platform offers an easy drag-and-drop editor, an extensive collection of apps, and professional-looking templates.

Wix can even propose a design for your site using its Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) software, Editor X.

Core Features

• A drag-and-drop editor
• A large collection of apps and templates
• Analytics and reporting

Advantages

• Easy to use
• Large collection of apps and templates
• Optimized for mobile

Disadvantages

• The free version displays ads
• The premium plans are pricey when compared to others on this list
• The only way to change templates is by creating a new site and transferring your premium plan to it

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $16 a month when billed annually.

What we love: Wix’s ADI software can help you develop a fully functional website in no time. We like that the ADI software can suggest a website’s text, fonts, colors, and more.

Brands Using Wix

• Cotton’s Restaurant
• Cau Steakhouse
• P.S. & Co.

3. WordPress.com

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WordPress is the world’s most popular free website builder, with a 43% market share in the content management space. When building websites with WordPress, you have two options: WordPress.org and WordPress.com.

WordPress.org lets you download WordPress’s open-source software so you can build and customize a website to fit your needs. However, there are a few caveats.

Not only will you need a domain name and hosting before you get the website going (which comes at a cost), but you’ll also need to learn how to maintain and keep the website secure on your own.

In contrast, WordPress.com is much more beginner-friendly. It’s a fully-hosted free website-building service offered by Automattic that uses the WordPress framework to provide a smooth website creation experience.

The only downside is that the free version is far less customizable than WordPress.org. For instance, you can’t customize plugins, and domain names are limited to [yourname].wordpress.com.

Still, WordPress.com’s free version empowers you to create visually stunning websites, blogs, and landing pages using the Classic Editor or the powerful new Gutenberg block-based editor.

Besides that, you can add assets like contact forms, videos, and embedded content to WordPress pages using plugins, an add-on feature compatible with WordPress but usually managed by another company.

For example, HubSpot offers a WordPress marketing plugin that lets you capture contacts through WordPress and track them in HubSpot’s free CRM.

Core Features

• Large collection of themes and plugins
• Mobile-friendly and optimized for SEO
• Managed website hosting and security

Advantages

• Customizable
• Flexible
• Mobile and desktop apps available

Disadvantages

• The free version displays ads
• More limitations compared to WordPress.org
• Although intuitive, it’s more difficult to learn than other drag-and-drop builders

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $16 a month when billed annually.

What we love: WordPress.com easily integrates third-party apps and widgets, including HubSpot’s WordPress marketing plugin.

Brands Using WordPress.com

• Anytime Fitness Australia
• Activity Hero Blog
• Outsource School

4. Elementor Website Builder

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While WordPress makes site building beginner-friendly, WordPress page builders make refining your website and achieving your dream design easier.

Trusted by over 5,000,000 users, Elementor is a no-code drag-and-drop page builder that’s a great option for getting a customized WordPress site off the ground quickly. Choose from hundreds of mobile-optimized page templates without worrying about the underlying code.

Core Features

• Drag-and-drop builder
• Live editing
• A large library of mobile-responsive templates
• Multiple partners build templates and add-ons for Elementor (e.g., Astra)

Advantages

• Beginner-friendly
• Live editing
• Third-party integrations

Disadvantages

• Limited functionality on the free plan
• Compatibility issues with some plugins and themes

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $49 a year (without hosting).

What we love: With Elementor, you do not have to be a pro to edit your site. Live editing makes adding a quick update or changing your website a breeze.

Brands Using Elementor

• Itho Digital
• Australian Cosmetic Institute
• Children and War Foundation

5. Webnode

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With over 40 million users, Webnode is one of the more popular website builder tools for a good reason. It’s affordable, easy to use, and supports multilingual websites — up to 20 different languages.

Webnode is perfect for personal, professional, and small business websites, as it supports ecommerce stores.

Core Features

• Pre-designed templates
• Ecommerce support
• Mobile-ready

Advantages

• Multilingual support
• Mobile-responsive pages
• Backup and restore features

Disadvantages

• Webnode doesn’t come with a built-in app store, making it more complicated to add extra functionality to the website
• Limited customization options
• Limited blog and ecommerce functionality

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $3.90 a month when billed annually.

What we love: We appreciate Webnode supports multiple languages. This makes it possible to expand your strategy to include non-English speaking markets.

Brands Using Webnode

• We-Eatse
• 20 Something Lessons
• Craffox

6. Jimdo

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Founded in 2007, Jimdo is a German-based company that provides AI-powered website builder tools for independent small businesses. The builder, Dolphin, asks users questions and suggests designs based on their answers.

If you’re curious about what these AI-powered designs look like, Jimdo showcases a few examples on its page.

With 500 MB of space, you’ll likely have more than enough space to build your site, and it even provides HTTPS/SSL encryption, meaning your visitor’s information will be kept safe. Plus, you can integrate your site seamlessly with social media accounts.

Jimdo is also an excellent option for international companies because it lets you create mobile-optimized websites in over nine languages.

Core Features

• AI-powered website builder
• SSL encryption
• GDPR-compliant
• Mobile app available

Advantages

• Easy to use
• Mobile-responsive
• Fast load speeds

Disadvantages

• Limited range of available features
• Few design options

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $9 a month when billed annually.

What we love: We love Jimbo’s AI-powered website builder. The AI questionnaire and suggestions are helpful for users who may not know exactly what they want out of their website.

Brands Using Jimdo

• Curio Styles
• Living Ginger Designs
• Zaven Store

7. Mozello

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Mozello has all the basic features you need to build a website: a drag-and-drop editor, template library, and ecommerce functionality. One of the biggest selling points for Mozello is that the builder allows you to create a multilingual site for free.

You can check samples of websites built on Mozello on its portfolio page.

Core Features

• Drag-and-drop website builder
• Template library

Advantages

• Easy to use
• Support for multilingual websites
• Ecommerce functionality

Disadvantages

• The drag-and-drop builder isn’t as intuitive as some others on this list.
• Limited design customization
• The free version displays ads

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $8 a month when billed annually.

What we love: Mozello is an ecommerce-friendly website builder. Use Mozello to turn your website into a digital storefront.

Brands Using Mozello

• Catalyst
• Grandeg Design

8. Yola

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Founded in 2007, Yola is a free website builder built to eliminate the hassle of creating a website.

It comes with a drag-and-drop builder, hundreds of customizable and mobile-optimized templates, and pre-designed blocks that allow you to create all kinds of websites — even online shops.

Core Features

• A drag-and-drop website builder
• Free customizable templates
• Support for multilingual websites

Advantages

• Ecommerce features available
• Social selling features
• Mobile-optimized

Disadvantages

• No blogging feature
• The free version displays ads
• Navigation and design limitations

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $4 a month when billed annually.

What we love: We love that Yola takes the stress out of building a website. Yola features many customizable templates that make building a website a piece of cake.

Brands Using Yola

• Cali Tacos and More

9. Weebly

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Weebly is an open-source software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that offers web hosting, domain registration, web design, and ecommerce functions. Weebly is great for businesses and startups.

For a free website builder, Weebly’s particularly flexible. It’s compatible with every device and platform and easy to use.

Like Wix, Weebly has drag-and-drop functionality, an integrated CMS solution, and hand-coded HTML files. The in-house editor comes with SEO tools and Google Analytics.

Core Features

• Drag-and-drop editor
• Integrated CMS solution
• Free SSL certificate
• SEO tools
• Analytics and reporting

Advantages

• Helpful SEO resource tools
• Good selection of paid and free apps in the app center
• The free plan has ecommerce functionality

Disadvantages

• Limited choice of themes
• The free and basic paid plans display ads
• Limited SEO functionality

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $6 a month when billed annually.

What we love: Weebly features many helpful SEO tools and resources to get you started with an SEO strategy. Build upon Weebly’s SEO tools to boost your website rankings in Google and other search engines.

Brands Using Weebly

• Caribeans Coffee and Chocolate
• Kerlin BBQ
• Argyle Yarn Shop

10. Webflow

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While most of the other builders in this list are for people without a ton of coding knowledge, Webflow specifically targets advanced users, designers, and agencies that require a solution that gives them more design freedom than traditional website builders.

Although it’s a complex tool, Webflow tries to make it as easy as possible to get your business online. Webflow has a robust set of resources to help you — including blog posts, forums, and FAQ sections. You can also explore a library of websites built on Webflow that you can check for reference.

Core Features

• A drag-and-drop website builder
• Widgets to add features like maps and media
• Third-party integrations

Advantages

• Offers complete control over your site’s design
• Drag-and-drop what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) builder
• Responsive interface

Disadvantages

• After building a website on Webflow, you need to transfer it to a content management system
• Requires some knowledge of HTML and CSS to access full features
• It has a complex free and paid plan structure
• You need to sign up for both a Site and Workspace plan

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $12 a month when billed annually.

What we love: While we do love that many free website builders appeal to those without coding knowledge, we appreciate that Webflow targets more advanced users. Advanced users on Webflow can completely customize their web pages to their desired aesthetics.

Brands Using Webflow

• Michael Kors
• Craft.do
• Hologram.io

11. Ucraft

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Ucraft is one of the more advanced and generous website builders on the list. Like the others, it has a drag-and-drop editor, a good selection of templates, and supports ecommerce functionality.

However, Ucraft stands out because it lets you connect an existing custom domain name with its free plan. It also comes with an SSL certificate and unlimited storage. Ucraft’s portfolio page shows sample websites built by its clients.

Core Features

• A drag-and-drop editor
• Free hosting
• Ecommerce functionality

Advantages

• Allows you to connect an existing domain name for free
• Decent selection of free templates
• Includes SSL and unlimited storage on free plans

Disadvantages

• Sporadic loading issues and bugs
• It has a steeper learning curve than most website builders on this list

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $10 a month when billed annually.

What we love: We love Ucraft allows users to connect existing custom domains to its free plan. This will potentially save users money in the long run.

Brands Using Ucraft

• Yohji Yamamoto
• TES Models
• Kaffa

12. SITE123

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True to its name, SITE123 lets you build a website in as easy as one, two, and three steps. After setting it up with a one-click installation wizard, you can customize your SITE123 website with a free library of images, graphics, and templates.

Moreover, SITE123 offers web hosting, domain registration, and 250 MB of storage space, so you won’t feel pressured to switch to a paid plan.

Core Features

• Free hosting and domain
• Mobile-responsive design
• Free image and icons library

Advantages

• Easy to use
• Multilingual support
• 24/7 tech support

Disadvantages

• No drag-and-drop function
• Limited storage on the free plan
• Lacks advanced customization features

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $5.80 a month when billed annually.

What we love: SITE123 is truly a simple website builder. We love that this website builder is easy to use and appeals to users that want a website without all the extra bells and whistles.

Brands Using SITE123

• Chocolate Bunnie Events
• Better Living Nutrition

13. Strikingly

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Launched in 2012, Strikingly is one of the newer website builder tools on the list. It helps users build websites with no programming skills required. Strikingly sets itself apart from competitors by specializing in single-page websites such as portfolios, event pages, or landing pages.

The free plan includes unlimited free sites, a modest 5 GB monthly bandwidth, 500MB storage, and a branded domain.

Core Features

• A library of mobile-optimized templates
• Ecommerce tools
• Analytics

Advantages

• An affordable option for those who want to create multiple sites
• Best for creating single-page websites
• Responsive support team

Disadvantages

• No drag-and-drop function
• Limited SEO functionality

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $8 a month when billed annually.

What we love: Strikingly is a great option if you are looking to build a landing page for your product or service.

Brands Using Strikingly

• PackPoint
• Tile

14. GoDaddy

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While GoDaddy is a brand synonymous with affordable web hosting and domains, it’s expanded its offerings to include an all-in-one website builder tool for beginners and small business owners that have purchased hosting and domains.

The website builder is basic, but it has everything you need to build a functional website. That includes a drag-and-drop editor, simple and clean templates, an SSL certificate, and social media tools.

Core Features

• A drag-and-drop website builder
• Marketing and analytics dashboard
• 24/7 customer support

Advantages

• All-in-one solution
• Easy to use
• Mobile-optimized
• Fast page load speeds

Disadvantages

• Limited SEO features
• Limited app store features
• Having your own web hosting and domain carries an initial cost

Pricing: A limited free plan is available, and you can upgrade features at your own pace. Premium plans start at $9.99 a month when billed annually.

What we love: GoDaddy is the full package for those wishing to create a website. Not only does GoDaddy offer a website builder, but also domains and web hosting.

Brands Using GoDaddy

• Coco River Organics
• Women Working in Technology
• San Gabriel Valley Humane Society

15. Appy Pie Website

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Appy Pie’s website builder has a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to create well-designed, highly functional, and professional websites without any coding skills or programming knowledge.

All the websites created using Appy Pie website builder are lightweight, fast, and secure to ensure a better user experience and complete customer satisfaction. And since they consume low data, all Appy Pie websites can deliver content without any internet connectivity.

Appy Pie has a ton of ready-to-use templates, design themes, and a visual library to make it easy for users to develop websites at competitive prices.

In addition, the Appy Pie Website Builder also provides a rich library of frequently asked questions and video tutorials. You can easily tackle most of the issues without them having to call customer support.

Core Features

• A no-code website development tool
• Thousands of pre-built templates and designs
• Cross-platform accessibility

Advantages

• Scalability
• Reusability
• Integrability

Disadvantages

• No advanced settings for pro users
• Dependence on external services
• Closed development code

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. Premium plans start at $18 a month

What we love: Appy Pie provides users with many ready-to-use templates, designs, and a visual library. Using the templates and designs, users can create a website that stands out among the competition.

Brands Using Appy Pie Website

• Florida Business Incubator
• Mineral Clothing Boutique
• Tea Time Tactics

16. MailChimp

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MailChimp is no longer just an email marketing tool. Now, MailChimp is your one-stop shop for all things marketing, including building your free basic website.

If you’re familiar with MailChimp’s interface for email marketing, you might recognize the same interface functions in their website builder. MailChimp’s website builder features a drag-and-drop interface, meaning you can quickly design your website to match your preferred aesthetics.

Core Features

• A drag-and-drop editor
• SEO ready
• Email marketing integration

Advantages

• No ads on the free website plan
• Marketing tools
• Ready for ecommerce

Disadvantages:

• Limited free plan
• No ads on your website
• No templates on the free plan

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. The Standard Plan, recommended by MailChimp, starts at $20 a month.

What we love: Users of MailChimp’s email marketing service can easily integrate email marketing into the MailChimp website.

Brands Using MailChimp

• Lauren’s Latest
• Zen Habits
• Heath Ceramics

17. WebStarts

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Don’t let WebStarts’ somewhat odd homepage fool you. Webstarts is a promising, and more importantly free, website builder with plenty of live support to get you started.

WebStarts does not require the user to have any knowledge of coding or HTML experience. While there is a learning curve, its drag-and-drop interface allows users to create a website that is all their own.

This website builder comes with everything you’ll need to get your website up and running, including apps for form builders, calendars, music playlists, maps, SEO, and more.

Core Features

• Mobile ready
• Automatic domain setup
• Online store

Advantages

• Live customer support
• An unlimited number of websites
• Lots of templates to choose from

Disadvantages

• No access to third-party widgets
• Learning curve to use the editor
• No custom domain for the free plan

Pricing: A limited free plan is available. The Pro Plus Plan starts at $14 a month.

What we love: WebStart users do not have to build their website alone, especially if they have questions or need technical assistance. We appreciate WebStart offering live support to its customers.

Brands Using Appy Pie Website

• Double Spur Outfitters
• Putnam County Community Center
• David Lilly Bird Photography

Website Builder Features You Need

Choosing a website builder tool is easier when you know what you’re looking for. Here are 14 features to look out for.

1. Themes and Templates

Having an assortment of fully customizable themes and templates on the website builder’s theme marketplaces makes it easier for users to change their site’s look.

In that sense, website builders should have theme options that cater to specific niches so users don’t waste time creating new templates from scratch. For example, the website builders on our list have options for blogs, portfolios, ecommerce websites, and more.

Templates should be pre-structured and pre-populated with images, text, and other elements commonly found on websites. For example, every site needs a home page, about page, and contact page. All you need to do is pick one and replace the sample content with your own.

Themes and templates should be easy to customize — with multiple options for backgrounds, layouts, fonts, and colors.

2. Media (Video, Photo, Audio, and Graphics)

Solely having text on your website can be monotonous, so including different forms of media helps break up text and can help information stick. Fill out your website with highly engaging multimedia content and graphics to support vital information and engage users.

You can easily bring your website to life using visual aids and mediums like stock photos, vector images, background images, stock video footage, sound effects, and video editing templates. There are tons of websites that provide media resources that are free to use for content. Freepik is a well-known website that provides illustrations and images.

Many sites also incorporate icons into their sites like within the call-to-actions and resources sections. Flaticon is a great source of icons.

Using these resources will transform your website into something memorable and visually appealing, while also providing a user-friendly experience.

Some website builders offer more robust media capabilities, with multiple gallery layouts, customization options, and editing features.

3. WYSIWYG Editor

Besides an assortment of themes and templates, the best website builder tools make it easy for users to customize their websites with drag-and-drop tools and what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editors.

There’s no need to learn how to code when you can update your site in a few clicks. Simply drag and drop elements to the page and see the changes implemented to your website immediately.

4. Malware Scanning

Security is a top consideration when choosing a website builder.

Security features vary depending on the website builder tool you select, but consider it a keeper if it offers malware scanning. Automated malware scanning allows you to address threats before they progress into something catastrophic.

5. Web Application Firewall (WAF)

A web application firewall (WAF) is another must-have security feature.

WAFs sit between your web server and the internet to protect your website from common attacks. You’ll be able to avoid SQL injections and cross-site scripting (XSS) by filtering, monitoring, and blocking malicious traffic from entering the network.

WAFs can come in the form of software-as-a-service (SaaS), and you can customize them to meet your website’s unique needs.

6. Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Besides site security, you should also consider optimizing for page speed. After all, it affects everything from customer experience to conversions and revenue.

According to Portent, a site that loads in one second has a conversion rate 5x higher than a site that loads in 10 seconds.

There are many ways to improve page speed, and a content delivery network (CDN) is one way to do so. CDNs store heavy and static content on distributed servers located worldwide and load the cached content from a location nearest to the user to speed up its delivery.

7. Web Hosting

What good are website builders when they can’t get your website online?

Some solutions only offer website builder tools to make your site. You have to pay separately for web hosting services to get your site online.

The best website builders make it convenient to start websites by offering web hosting. Free website builders offer limited bandwidth and storage just for personal use. You can upgrade to shared, dedicated, or managed hosting for an additional fee.

8. Storage

Web hosting works by providing two services: bandwidth and disk space (or storage).

Most free website builders offer ample (limited) storage for a beginner site but require you to purchase additional storage should you need it.

9. Blogs

People often confuse websites and blogs with each other — they’re similar but not the same.

A blog is a type of website that contains information about different topics. They’re often updated with new articles or posts, while websites only receive updates when needed. In a nutshell, all blogs are websites, but not all websites are or have blogs.

Organizations build websites for different reasons: to sell, showcase a portfolio, or inform — and for those reasons, a blog can be helpful.

Blogs can help your website by:

• Increasing visibility through SEO.
• Generating new leads.
• Building trust and loyalty.
• Creating brand awareness.

Most free website builders come with basic blogging tools and post creation and comment management features.

10. SEO Capabilities

According to BrightEdge, 53% of traffic comes from organic search. If you want to bring in more traffic and views, your website needs to be search engine-optimized.

Most website builders help with technical SEO by offering free SSL certificates and supporting schema markup and XML sitemaps. They also support on-page SEO by allowing you to enter and modify URLs, meta tags, and image alt attributes.

11. Customer Support

While using website builder tools, you’ll likely run into a problem you can’t troubleshoot. That’s where customer support comes in.

Customer support assists you with anything you need help with — technical, sales, billing, payments, or experiences. Depending on the website builder, assistance can come in any (or a mix) of the following channels:

• FAQs.
• Chatbot support.
• Live support.
• A knowledge base.
• Video tutorials.

The best website builders keep a mix of channels and answer inquiries promptly.

12. Ecommerce Capabilities

Are you planning on selling physical or digital products in the future? Consider choosing a website builder with ecommerce capabilities.

There are dedicated ecommerce website builders, but these are often paid solutions with robust functionality such as apps for payment and shipping.

Free website builders often integrate with a third-party ecommerce application or support a simple built-in store.

13. Third-party Integrations

There’s nothing worse than realizing your existing tech stack doesn’t work with the website builder you chose. Thus, it’s crucial to consider whether a website builder allows third-party integrations.

Your website builder should integrate with external tools, such as email marketing, ecommerce, and social software.

14. Analytics and Reporting

Your website builder should also have an analytics and reporting function to measure important metrics like the site’s popular pages, bounce rate, average duration per visit, and more.

Alternatively, you can track your website metrics in an analytics and reporting tool. When you bring your web analytics together with other key funnel metrics like trials or activation rate onto a dashboard, you give everyone on your team the ability to explore your data and uncover insights.

Picking Your Website Builder

There you have it! Since most of these website builders are free, try out a couple if you’re unsure of the best fit. In particular, take note of what you really want to get out of your site to ensure your needs will be met by one of these builders.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in November 2018 but was updated in January 2023 for comprehensiveness.

 

If you’re a B2B marketer, chances are you’ve heard of “intent data” but may not understand what it’s all about or how to use it effectively. 

Indeed, if you’ve already been scoring prospects that visit your site, or have created lists of accounts that meet your ideal customer profile, until now it’s quite reasonable to assume that you’ve already been trying to identify those who want to buy from those who don’t.

In this post, we’ll provide a brief overview about intent data; specifically, what is the definition of intent data, why it has become such a hot topic, the types and sources of intent data, and how B2B marketers and salespeople are putting it to use.

What is the Definition of B2B Buyer Intent Data?

According to Gartner, “intent data is information that indicates prospects’ level of interest in a particular product or service online.”

This differentiates intent data from the other types of data that marketers collect and use when trying to reach and engage those who fit their ideal customer profile, such as job function or firmographic data including company size, industry or revenue.

These data points might illustrate the potential for a prospect or company to become a customer and whether they fall into a target audience—but they do nothing to show whether they are considering making a buying decision or when exactly they might begin the buying process.

By contrast, B2B buyer intent data tells marketers and sales reps which accounts are showing intent, which prospective buyers are actively researching online, and which pain points they are looking to solve based on their content consumption. These data insights revealing purchase intent can help sales teams and marketers to reach out at exactly the right time with relevant content meeting their needs.

Why Has Buyer Intent Data Become Such a Hot Topic for B2B Marketers?

The technology and data sources that marketing and sales teams have access to today would have been unthinkable just a decade ago.

In the past, it would have been impossible for a single marketer or sales rep to identify companies and create lists of thousands of potential customers from scratch. Likewise, it would have been impossible to create marketing campaigns that can reach these potential buyers in the space of a few hours.

However, while this has made today’s B2B marketers and sales professionals potentially far more effective, the overuse of data and technology for marketing and sales campaigns has created a huge amount of noise—both for buyers who have their inboxes swamped by irrelevant cold outreach, and the marketers and sales reps who are trying through data to identify prospects who are active buyers and which target accounts are actually in-market and have purchase intent.

With marketers and salespeople struggling to cut through the noise, identify in-market accounts and then successfully engage the right prospects, interest in buyer intent solutions has ballooned.

As highlighted in a previous NetLine post on buyer intent, data from Ahrefs shows that in the past five years, the number of web pages focused on intent data rose by 2,739.1%.

In short, B2B intent data provides the potential for sales and marketing teams to concentrate their efforts on those who are most likely to buy.

Furthermore, for those accounts and buyers who aren’t yet close to making a purchase decision—or might not have even started a buying cycle—marketers can ensure they see informational and top-of-funnel content, rather than sending them to sales when it is far too early. This leads to a better overall buying experience.

What are the Different Types and Sources of Buyer Intent Data?

The volume of data generated worldwide continues to grow massively. In fact, IDC estimates that by 2025, the size of the global “datasphere” will reach 175 exabytes—equivalent to 175 billion terabytes. To put this in perspective, IDC calculates that to download all this data using the average domestic connection speed in the United States of 25 Mb/s, it would take approximately 1.8 billion years!

Given that marketers are responsible for generating much of this raw data, it follows that marketers can potentially mine it for insights. For this, they would need to sift through it all, surface relevant information and separate out intent data from the rest.

But even though B2B marketers want to take advantage of this intent data, actually finding, structuring and using it is a huge challenge. To address this need, there are now many intent data providers that can analyze your company’s own data in addition to sourcing other intent signals from digital engagement across the web—just as NetLine uses the data from across its network to power products such as Audience Explorer.

Image caption: A screenshot of NetLine Audience Explorer showing content consumption, buyer research and the most active in-market companies with B2B buyers.

Intent data sources can be broken down into two main categories:

• Your internal data—everything from the clicks, behavioral signals and engagement collected by your marketing automation platform, to customer data and sales outreach data in your CRM.
• External data—this can include IP addresses used by companies from across the web, visits to vendor review websites, and the content consumed by users associated with companies (via IP address, cookies or other means). This information is most often aggregated at the account-level with the overall total engagement being assessed for intent signals.

As such, listing all the types of intent data would be nearly impossible, because any relevant data has the potential to identify intent. Just a few examples types of buyer intent data collected can include:

• Themes being researched based on content engagement data from media publishers;
• Topic searches and specific keywords that align with intent signals;
• Internal intent data about known contacts, qualified leads and lead generation efforts;
• Third-party data in your own systems added by data enrichment tools;
• The specific articles read by potential prospects in the buyer’s journey on your own website and properties—with bottom-of-funnel activity (such as reading pricing pages or downloading case studies) being used to identify readiness-to-buy;
• The accounts and target audiences that have engaged with your ad campaigns and account-based marketing programs;
• Sales data and opportunity data;
• Customer data;
• …and much, much more.

However, what you might recognize from the above list is that for much buyer intent data, the intent is assumed or inferred indirectly. This can potentially lead to accounts and buyers being flagged as “in-market” when actually they aren’t. Examples of such false intent might include:

• Lots of topic research on media publisher sites and web searches—when actually the person was an intern doing market research.
• Multiple visits to pricing pages or review sites—when that person was doing competitive research.
• A sudden jump in engagement with bottom-of-funnel and sales content—when that person was preparing for a job interview with your company.

For this reason, having a buyer tell you explicitly whether they are in-market or not will always be more accurate and powerful than simply inferring intent based on other information collected. That’s why NetLine adds questions about intent to the forms used across its content syndication network. The answers to these questions help to power its Intent Discovery capabilities.

What is the Difference Between First-Party and Third-Party Intent Data?

First-party intent data is the data that you or your company collect directly. This will include data from your own digital channels and systems, such as website visits and email engagement. 

This type of data typically covers a shorter timeline than third-party intent data and is more closely associated with activities taking place on your web properties or in your CRM—but it also includes proprietary, unique data that you might collect from properties that you do not own, such as on a download form for syndicated content or registrations for a partner webinar hosted by another company.

Third-party intent data refers to the data that isn’t directly sourced by you or your company. This will be data sourced from external sources, such as IP addresses associated with companies browsing the web or content being read on media publisher websites. 

This type of data typically covers a longer timeline and from buyers that have not yet engaged directly with your own web properties. It can be used to detect intent signals from a wider range of sources, with vendors often aggregating behavior into a single and easy-to-use intent score, or a summary list of topics and themes based on their browsing behavior.

Buyer-Level Intent Data Seems Like a Powerful Tool. So, How Are B2B Sales and Marketing Teams Putting Buyer Intent Data to Use?

We will cover exactly how B2B marketers and salespeople are putting intent data to use later in this series—and how you, your marketing team and your sales team can use intent data to accelerate the buyer journey and generate revenue.

For now, we’ll direct you back to our initial buyer-level intent blog post:

• Personalize dialogue in sales and marketing outreach;
• Tailor campaign and content messaging with both paid and inbound marketing efforts;
• Identify likely-to-buy accounts;
• Inform and augment content-centric lead generation campaign targets; and
• Possibly most important of all, focus on the “who” within key accounts to narrow down efforts onto the actual person and buyer showing intent.

Hope you’re eager to learn more about intent data and each of its iterations. We’ll certainly have quite a bit to share on the subject moving forward.

What problems and obstacles do you face as a project manager? For many, scope creep, poor communication, and task delays top the list.

To state the obvious, project management can be tricky. Without careful planning and strategizing, it can feel like you’re f working blind.

So, if you’re in a project management position, starting with the basics is your best bet. Here, we’ll break down projects into five phases to help you better understand what needs to be done and when.

The Project Management Lifecycle

The Five Stages of Project Management

Stage 1: Project Conception and Initiation

Stage 2: Project Planning

Stage 3: Project Execution

Stage 4: Project Monitoring & Controlling

Stage 5: Project Close

The future of project management is looking brighter than ever.

The Project Management Lifecycle

Regardless of size or scope, all projects follow a similar process. In project management, this process is called the lifecycle of a project.

A project lifecycle generally consists of four phases: initiation, planning, execution, and closure. Some project managers, however, add a fifth phase called monitoring and controlling.

The additional step can help managers keep the project on track and ensures that issues are identified and addressed promptly.

As a result, five-phase models are considered more agile and effective in helping projects succeed. In fact, the Project Management Institute (PMI) also promotes a five-phase lifecycle.

In the next section, we’ll take a closer look at each stage in the project management lifecycle.

The Five Stages of Project Management

Every successful project goes through the same five phases: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and controlling.

Stage 1: Project Conception and Initiation

Every project begins with conception and initiation. During this phase, an idea becomes a business plan, complete with goals, project charters, and stakeholders.

This is also when project teams come together—with the project manager—to build a broad roadmap for the project.

Teams should address a few questions at this stage, including:

• What is the purpose of this project?

• What are some potential obstacles?

• Who are the key stakeholders?

• Does it have a minimum or maximum budget?

• How long will this project take?

As part of this phase, the project sponsor (the person who requested the completion of the project) approves the budget and timeline.

Stage 2: Project Planning

Once you’ve defined the project on a broader level, it’s time to nail down the details.

During this phase, the project manager develops a detailed plan for executing, monitoring, and controlling the project. This typically starts with setting goals.

When defining the goals of a project, S.M.A.R.T. and CLEAR methodologies are the most popular.

The acronym S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. Using this framework ensures your goals are clearly defined, realistic, and achievable.

Let’s look at an example. A vague goal might be, “Develop an app that streamlines order fulfillment.” Using the S.M.A.R.T method, this goal would look something like, “Develop an application that reduces order fulfillment time by 20%.”

The acronym C.L.E.A.R. stands for Collaborative, Limited, Emotional, Acceptable, and Refined.

In this methodology, the project team works towards a goal that is specific and achievable within the project deadline and budget. Everyone should be passionate about achieving it, and it should relate to the overall project objectives.

The plan should also include milestones and deliverables so that everyone knows what needs to be done, who handles what, and when milestones must be completed. It also includes a breakdown of tasks, a timeline, a communication plan, a risk mitigation strategy, and a plan to deal with worst-case scenarios.

There are several ideologies you can employ to plan for this stage. By using agile project management, development resources are effectively used, and client needs are met.

As well as keeping everyone up-to-date on progress, it allows for quick and easy changes to be made. Agile project management makes it possible to manage software development projects more effectively and efficiently.

Stage 3: Project Execution

As soon as the planning phase is complete, it’s time to start implementing the plan. It’s here that the actual work gets done.

During this stage, project managers establish workflows, assign tasks to team members, and ensure that everyone is on track. They also keep stakeholders and teams in the loop as the project progresses.

With so many details to juggle, many project managers leverage collaboration tools like Asana, Trello, and HubSpot’s Project Management Software to track tasks, timelines, and budgets in one central location.

A well-designed project management tool will keep you on track and help you accomplish your goals. For a list of the best project management software, check out this helpful guide.

Stage 4: Project Monitoring & Controlling

Stage four usually runs concurrently with Stage three. After all, in order to monitor a project, it has to be running in the first place.

During this phase, the project manager works with their team to resolve any issues. This involves periodic reviews and updates of the plan to reflect changes in the scope of the project or in the availability of resources.

It’s also important to monitor progress against the plan and take corrective action when necessary. For instance, it may be necessary to revise the timeline to accommodate for unexpected delays or changes.

On top of that, project managers can monitor progress against key performance indicators (KPIs) or critical success factors (CSFs). For instance, you can measure if your project is on schedule and budget or if specific tasks are being completed.

Stage 5: Project Close

This is the last phase of the project management lifecycle. This is when you hand over the deliverables to the project sponsor for approval. During this phase, the team disbands and any contractual hires for the project will be terminated.

After closure, the project manager conducts a final review that documents the lessons learned from the project, as well as any necessary data that can be useful in the future.

Team members and stakeholders also discuss failures and successes during the presentation of the report. This helps to improve performance and productivity across the organization.

The future of project management is looking brighter than ever

Traditionally, project management was done with pen and paper or, at best, a spreadsheet. Because of the complexity of projects and the dispersion of the workforce, these methods have become ineffective.

Keeping track of progress and meeting deadlines requires a digital-first approach. HubSpot’s project management software is one tool that can definitely help with project management.

With this software, teams can streamline their workflows, track their progress, share documents, and manage their tasks.

On top of that, the HubSpot CRM platform enables you to easily integrate it with your other sales and marketing tools. This makes it easy to keep track of progress and ensures that everyone is on the same page.

Additionally, the software provides users with real-time insights into their workflows, enabling them to identify bottlenecks and adjust accordingly.

So, if you’ve been looking for ways to level up your project management, here’s your chance. Grab your project management template below to keep track of your team’s progress and streamline your workflows to increase efficiency.

Online advertising is booming.

But, when you’re launching digital campaigns, you want to be sure you’re maximizing your efforts — and your profits — by boosting your ad’s impression share. Your impression share tells you how well your ad is performing compared to its total potential audience, and boosting it can help increase engagement as well as profit. 

If you’re only engaging a small portion of your target audience, then analyzing your impression share is usually a good place to start. Increasing this value will help you propel ads to the top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) — and ultimately generate more engagement for your campaigns.

In this post, we’ll explain what impression share is as well as the different types that your marketing team can track during your online ad campaigns.

Each time your ad is displayed on a webpage, that’s counted as an impression. Ads have the potential for more impressions for different reasons, especially when they’re keyword-savvy, attractive, and relevant.

When you track impression share, you have a clear representation of how well your ad is performing and how you can improve it over time — particularly through keywords. While there are plenty of metrics that can track how well your ads are doing, impression share helps you identify the shortcomings of your ad so you can fix it and make it more engaging to your audience.

Read on to learn about the different types of impression share that your business can track to generate more engagement for its ad campaigns.

Types of Impression Share

Search Impression Share

Search impression share is your ad’s impression share on a search network. According to Google, a search network is “a group of search-related websites where your ads can appear,” including Google search results, Google apps such as Maps and Shopping, and on Google search partners’ websites. This metric divides the impressions that your ad receives by the number of impressions it could receive on the search network.

This metric is greatly impacted by budget. If you have a low daily budget on Google, your ad will no longer be shown once you hit your budget. This means your ad might be getting impressions, but it’s still missing out on more engagement because of this daily limit.

If you’re not looking to spend more on your campaign, another way to improve search impression share is to focus on the quality score, target, bid, and conversion rate of your ads. These metrics gauge the effectiveness of your ad and improving them will lead to more engagement.

Display Impression Share

Google defines its Display Network as a group of over two million websites, videos, and apps where ads can appear. Display Network sites reach up to 90% of internet users and can show your ads in a particular context, or to a specific audience.

With display campaigns, you can increase your ad placements to improve impression share, but you’ll need to adjust your budget to accommodate this increase as well. Or, you can decrease your number of placements to make your campaign more cost-effective, but this will reduce the frequency of your ad’s display. The best approach is testing the number of placements until you’ve reached a point where you’ve optimized impression share without going over your campaign’s budget.

Target Impression Share

Target impression share provides an automatic approach to bidding on ads. With this tool, you can set automated bids for your campaign, which gives your ad a better chance of reaching the top of the SERP. And, with a more prominent position on a search results page, your ad is likely to gain more impressions over time. 

Although impression share is only available per campaign, you can track target impression share for all of your campaigns at once. There are plenty of options for customizing it, too. For example, you can set it to bid for a certain section of the page — like the top half — or for certain times and places.

Adwords Impression Share

Wondering how to access your impression share data in Google Ads?

Once you’ve logged into your Ads account, just go to Campaigns > Columns > Modify Columns > Competitive Metrics > Impression Share, then click Save.

Image Source

Now, your impression share will appear in a table that you can download.

Exact Match Impression Share

Exact match impression share is just as it sounds. This metric compares the impressions your ad received compared to how many it was eligible to receive for searches that exactly match your keywords. You can use exact match impression share to hone in on your keywords and improve your ads.

Search Lost Impression Share

The “Search Lost Impression Share (budge)” column shows you the percentage of impressions that you’re missing out on because of your budget. A high percentage here may mean that investing in a larger budget could boost your advertising efforts and sales in the long-run.

The “Search Lost Impression Share (rank)” column shows you the number of impressions you’re losing based on a low rank. If this percentage is high, advertisers should consider how to boost rank through quality score and cost-per-click rates. Quality score evaluates your keywords’ past performances, ad relevance, landing page experience, and expected clickthrough rate.

Consider making adjustments to your campaign’s keywords and creative assets if your search lost impression share (rank) is high. A relevant ad with great keywords will rank higher on the SERP, which can lead to more impressions, clicks, and sales.

If you want to manually determine the impression share for an ad, below is a formula that can help you calculate it.

As Google explains, “Eligible impressions are estimated using many factors, including targeting settings, approval statuses, and quality.” Once the maximum number of impressions is determined, all you have to do is divide the number of impressions that the ad receives by the maximum number of impressions that Google decides it’s eligible for.

We can see how this formula is written in the example below. 

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We can also modify this formula to find the total number of impressions that our ad is eligible for. For instance, if we already know our impression share, we can reformat the formula to look more like this. 

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Impression Share Formula Example

Let’s say we created an ad and Google says there are 5,000 potential impressions available. After monitoring our ad’s performance for a month, we recorded about 4,000 impressions. This would mean that our impression share is 80% (4,000 recorded impressions / 5,000 available impressions =  80% impression share). 

Impression share is a handy metric for determining how well an ad campaign is doing and what your team can do to help it reach its full potential. By tracking impression share, you can automate bids, fine-tune your budget, and track keywords and quality score to reach your targeted audiences more often and generate greater brand awareness and profits.

For more ways to boost online ad engagement, read this list of helpful SEO tips.

Growing up, there was only one thing my mom knew how to do on the internet that I could never figure out — creating an email group.

What’s even more surprising is that I sent email blasts to my friends all the time, but I never asked my mom how to make an email group. I would just manually enter my friends’ email addresses into the recipients’ box. Gosh, I was such a rebel.

If you’ve gotten over your teen angst and don’t want to manually enter your family’s, friends, or coworkers’ email addresses every time you want to send an email to them, we’ve got you covered.

Check out our quick guide on creating a group in Gmail. Keep reading, or jump to the section you’re looking for:

• How to Create a Group in Gmail
• How to Create a Group Email in Gmail
• Gmail Group Email Quick Tips

1. Visit Google Contacts.

You can find Google Contacts in the middle of the bottom row of your Google Apps tab.

2. Under “Labels”, click “Create Label”.

3. Name your label.

4. Click “Contacts”, “Frequently contacted”, or “Directory.”

It’s likely you won’t have contacts saved in Google Contacts, but you can still access the email addresses of people you interact with regularly by clicking “Frequently contacted” or everyone who currently works at your company by clicking “Directory” on the left sidebar.

5. Select the contacts you want to include, then click the label icon at the top to add them to your new group.

6. Click “Apply.”

7. Head to your Gmail account.

8. Type your group’s name in the recipient’s box to send an email to your group.

Quick tip: Trying to send a marketing email? Take a look at HubSpot’s free email marketing software.

1. Open Gmail.

2. Click “Compose” in the top left-hand corner of your Gmail window to create a new email.

3. In the “To,” “CC,” or “BCC” section at the top of the “New Message” window, start typing your group name.

4. Select your group name from the pop-up list that will appear below.

5. Write a message to your group.

6. Proofread and click “Send” when your group email is complete.

How to Make a Group for Email

You know the steps for how to create a group in Gmail, but what makes an email group useful?

It’s common to use email groups to communicate with internal teams at work or to contact groups of sales contacts. But there are other ways to go about making a group for email.

First, you can segment your contacts based on their interests, like news updates, or by location. This can help you organize your email outreach for specific users. It also lets you avoid sending your contacts information that’s confusing or unnecessary.

Another approach is to create project-specific email groups. As the project comes together, you can add contacts to the group. This can help streamline communications as the project builds momentum. It also keeps team members who aren’t involved in a project from getting overwhelmed by project-specific emails.

As you begin to rely on group emails for your communications, remember to add new contacts to your groups early on. This way, they don’t miss any important emails that the rest of the group is seeing.

Gmail Group Email Quick Tips

1. Update your groups consistently.

Besides keeping up with new contacts, regular updates and list cleaning are essential. To start, use Merge & Fix to clean out any duplicate contacts.

Next, delete any outdated contacts. Then, clean up your contact names to remove typos, misspellings, and outdated names. Finally, add helpful details to your contact records. This might include department names, phone numbers, or time zones to make it easier for the group to connect.

Depending on the nature of your Gmail group, you may also want to create some guidelines for group communication. Google Groups have options for creating collaborative inboxes, posting policies, auto-replies, and member moderation.

2. Engage your group with a specific subject line.

Use a snappy subject line to engage and motivate your group. Because group emails can grow quickly, short, specific subject lines are best. If you’re looking for help, insights, or action, adding a deadline or open-ended question to your subject line can help you get results.

Check out these resources for more subject line tips:

• Email subject lines
• Sales email subject lines
• Improve your email subject lines
• Best subject lines

3. Write a great salutation to set expectations.

Salutations can be challenging in a group setting. Some feel too formal, while others could come off as too casual or offend members of the group. So, what’s the right salutation for your group?

To write the perfect salutation, start with your relationship with the group. If you’re close to everyone, a greeting like “Hi all” or “Hey team” works fine.

If your group is five people or less, you may want to add group members’ names to make it more personal. For example, “Hey Bonnie, Ed, Jamie, and Alana.”

For groups that you’re not as close to, salutations like “Greetings team” or “Hello (Group name)” are a good choice.

The right salutation also depends on the personality of your team. For example, fun salutations with relevant cultural references or in-jokes for the group can loop in new group members and create a sense of comfort and belonging. But if you’re addressing a professional group that doesn’t know each other well, a salutation like “Dear team” could be a better fit.

More resources:

• Dear Sir or Madam alternatives
• Email etiquette tips

4. Personalize for the group, not the individual.

Personalizing an email for someone you’re close to is pretty easy. But making a group email feel personal may take more effort.

Group personalization starts with a quick outline of what connects the people in the group. You can refine this with segmentation if you’re starting with a large group. Other qualities that can help you personalize include a list of shared qualities like:

• Behaviors, like showing up early
• Interests, like music, sports, or pop culture trends
• Habits, like keeping a to-do list

Use these details as you draft conversational copy, add jokes, or highlight different members of the group. These extra touches help make your group email feel like it’s meant for every person in the group.

More resources:

• Psychology personalization
• Email personalization examples
• Personalization statistics

5. Create group email sequences with workflows.

It’s tough to be the new person in a group. When you’re new, you’re not sure what you’ve missed or what other members of the group expect you to know. This can impact your feelings about sticking with and engaging in the group.

To keep anyone in your Gmail group from feeling left out, try adding a workflow. Workflows can automatically add each new member of your group to a series of actions or emails. You can decide how much, what, and when to send these communications.

For example, you can send an email with important links for the group or text new group members a reminder about meeting times or locations.

HubSpot customers: You can create group email sequences in Gmail with workflows.

6. Use BCC to cut down on excess emails.

A top frustration of group mail recipients is the dreaded “Reply all.” This function can be convenient. It can also flood email inboxes with a lot of distracting emails.

One way to avoid this issue in your email group is to use the BCC field for your group emails. This makes each group email feel like a personal email, so it can reduce reply to all messages. It also protects the privacy of the members of your group.

Using the CC field is another choice. This practice lets every email recipient know who else is in the email group and who is receiving the emails if they reply.

Use your knowledge of your email group preferences as you decide which choice is best.

7. Add clear labels to keep your groups organized.

Careful label naming is important, especially for groups that stick together for years. Label names should be succinct, but also specific and useful. Each label name should set an expectation and deliver on that promise.

As you write your labels, think about the different ways users might interpret a label. For example, a label that reads ‘Updates – Blog’ could contain:

• Updates to a company’s blog
• Updates for the blog team
• Updates to blog policies

If you’re not sure which, you may need to look closer at the members of the group. This confusion means extra time and effort and makes the email group less useful for everyone.

Labels like “Blog team updates,” “Blog policies,” or “Blog post updates” are quick to read, specific, and useful.

A few more ways to make sure you have great blog labels include:

• Check your spelling
• Check for correct punctuation
• Write from a new user’s point of view
• Use color-coding to highlight important groups

Use Gmail Groups to Save Time and Connect

Creating email groups keeps your favorite people from missing out on important information. It saves time and energy. And it helps you keep your contacts organized.

With this quick guide, you have everything you need to create great group vibes on Gmail and beyond. So, create your first group today. Start connecting.

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

With only six seconds to grab a recruiter’s attention, conventional wisdom might tell you to cut right to the chase when you write your resume. A lot of people say a resume objective just wastes precious space. But if you craft it in a way that highlights your qualifications, skills, and fit for a role, an objective can actually enhance your resume by giving recruiters a sneak peek of your background that prompts them to keep reading.

In this post we’ll teach you how to leverage a resume objective to your advantage as well as share some examples to help you craft your own.

Skip to:

• What’s a resume objective?
• When to use a resume objective
• Writing a resume objective
• Good resume objective examples

When to Use a Resume Objective

Including a resume objective, sometimes called a professional summary, in your resume gives the prospective employer a snapshot of your background and talent. They’re the perfect place to specify what you bring to the table for the role you are applying for. As a general rule, you should use a resume objective when you are targeting a specific position or are early in your career with little work experience.

Adding a resume objective is also especially helpful if you are changing careers or industries. It can give context to your transition and how your transferable skills are the perfect fit for the company, despite being new to the industry.

How to Write a Resume Objective

When recruiters read your resume, they want to know three things about you:

• Are you qualified for this job?
• Have you made an impact on your company in your current or previous roles?
• How will you make an impact on our company in this specific role?

If you can give them a clear and concise preview of these three answers within the first few lines of your resume, they’ll start thinking about your potential as an employee at their company. This’ll also give them a positive first impression of you and make them read the rest of your resume to confirm that you’re their best-fit candidate.

Pro tips:

• Keep it short: Objectives should be 1-3 sentences max.
• Be specific: Get specific about the role you are applying for, your skills, and how those skills and what impact those skills will have on the organization.
• Tailor it: Your resume objective should be tailored to fit the role or company you are applying to.

To show you how to craft a compelling resume objective at any stage of your career, we’ve provided some resume objective examples that anyone from a recent graduate to a proven professional can use. We’ll also break down the structure of each resume objective to give you a more concrete understanding of writing a gripping resume objective.

Good Resume Objective Examples

1. The Recent Graduate

Recent double major in English and Economics from Pomona College who has completed four content marketing internships in the MarTech space. Used creative and analytical skills to craft compelling content and refine content marketing strategies. Seeking a position as a Junior Growth Marketer to help HubSpot scale freemium marketing efforts and boost free product signups.

Structure:

Are you qualified for this job?

“Recent double major in English and Economics from Pomona College who has completed four content marketing internships in the MarTech space.”

How have you made an impact during your current or previous roles?

“Used creative and analytical skills to craft compelling content and refine content marketing strategies.”

How will you make an impact on our company in this specific role?

“Seeking a position as a Junior Growth Marketer to help HubSpot scale freemium marketing efforts and boost free product signups.”

2. The Ambitious Entry-Level Worker

Ambitious associate marketing manager with two years of experience strategizing and executing lead generation campaigns. Spearhead Sigstr’s co-marketing program and drove a 25% increase in program leads last year. Seeking a position as Marketing Manager of the Lead Optimization team at HubSpot to optimize blog lead generation strategy.

Structure:

Are you qualified for this job?

“Ambitious associate marketing manager with two years of experience strategizing and executing lead generation campaigns.”

How have you made an impact during your current or previous roles?

“Spearhead Sigstr’s co-marketing program and drove a 25% increase in program leads last year.”

How will you make an impact on our company in this specific role?

“Seeking a position as Marketing Manager of the Lead Optimization team at HubSpot to optimize blog lead generation strategy.”

3. The Career Switcher

Experienced journalist considering a career switch to content marketing. Spent five years digging up and breaking stories about business and technology for The Boston Globe. Hoping to apply my grasp of journalism and storytelling as a Staff Writer to strengthen HubSpot’s thought leadership in the MarTech space.

Structure:

Are you qualified for this job?

“Experienced journalist set on making a career switch to content marketing.”

How have you made an impact during your current or previous roles?

“Spent five years digging up and breaking stories about business and technology for The Boston Globe.”

How will you make an impact on our company in this specific role?

“Hoping to apply my grasp of journalism and storytelling as a Staff Writer to strengthen HubSpot’s thought leadership in the MarTech space.”

4. The Middle Manager Who Wants to Make it to the Top

Savvy marketing manager with five years of experience crafting social media videos, developing social video strategy, and optimizing social media advertising strategy. Lead Sprout Social’s social analytics team and doubled video views and cut CPM costs by 40% this year. Looking to join HubSpot as Director of Buzz to develop an overarching social media strategy that boosts views, engagement, and cuts costs.

Structure:

Are you qualified for this job?

“Savvy marketing manager with seven years of experience crafting social media videos, developing social video strategy, and optimizing social media advertising strategy.”

How have you made an impact during your current or previous roles?

“Lead Sprout Social’s social analytics team and doubled video views and cut CPM costs by 40% this year.

How will you make an impact on our company in this specific role?

“Looking to join HubSpot as Director of Buzz to develop an overarching social media strategy that boosts views, engagement, and cuts costs.”

5. The Proven Professional

Seasoned business operations and analytics veteran with an MBA and ten years of experience leading high-performing sales operations, marketing analytics, and business intelligence teams at Salesforce, Adobe, and Domo. Seeking to utilize my proven analytical, technical, and professional expertise to leverage data and drive crucial business decisions at HubSpot as Vice President of Business Intelligence.

Structure:

Are you qualified for this job?/How have you made an impact during your current or previous roles?

“Seasoned business operations and analytics veteran with an MBA and ten years of experience leading high-performing sales operations, marketing analytics, and business intelligence teams at Salesforce, Adobe, and Domo.”

How will you make an impact on our company in this specific role?

“Seeking to utilize my proven analytical, technical, and professional expertise to leverage data and drive crucial business decisions at HubSpot as Vice President of Business Intelligence.

General Resume Objective Examples

We’ve rounded up some of the best resume examples available to give you a bit of inspiration to get started writing your own. If you like more resume help, check out the best resume templates and grab the attention of recruiters.

Beginner Resume Objectives

1. Resume Lab

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In this sample objective from Resume Lab, the writer chooses to play up her academic achievements to account for a lack in work experience.

What we like:

The writer makes specific reference to awards she’s won and skills related to the role she is seeking. She then makes the connection to how those skills will transfer to the new role.

2. Live Career

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This mechanic objective is short and to the point, while still giving recruiters a bit of insight to their personality and skills (“Quick learner who thrives on challenges”).

What we like:

Since the author is relatively new to the field, they opted to shoot for an entry-level position, setting clear expectations for the recruiter.

3. Naukri

A certified Digital Marketer with a 6-month internship experience with XYZ agency. Excellent understanding of online marketing and an ability to help businesses boost their organic traffic as well as generate high quality leads through SEM Marketing. Looking for a relevant role.

This entry-level career objective from career advice blog Naukri uses past agency intership experience to demonstrate they can handle the new challenges of a full time role.

What we like:

Despite having a short work history (internship experience only), this applicant emphasizes their transferrable digital marketing skills. They also play up the contributions she made to the agency while interning.

4. Resume Builder

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While this is a profile and not a resume objective, it does a good job of hilighting this recent grad’s skills. You can take this format and adjust it to create a persuasive resume objective.

What we like:

While the applicant is new to the workforce, we like that the first sentence highlights that they already has some entry-level IT experience. The profile then goes on to list their transferrable skills.

5. Resume Example

A 4.0 GPA digital marketing graduate looking for an entry-level marketing position at a top agency like Speedex Marketing. Hardworking and motivated to gain experience in social media and content marketing. Currently managing my personal Instagram with 10k+ followers and increased Terny Jewelry’s Facebook page followers by 20% after working with them for three months.

This objective taken from a Resume Example template shows how to showcase work you’ve done on personal projects to make the case for why you should be hired.

What we like:

This recent grad does an excellent job of highlighting their marketing talents running their own brand, complete with data to back it up.

6. Hloom

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While this entry-level professional summary from Hloom isn’t an objective, it provides a good base to tailor it to the specific role you are applying for.

What we like:

This summary is really good at showing how their skills and actions in previous roles impacted the company. You can adopt this technique when writing your objective, getting specific about the results you delivered in previous roles and how you plan to deliver in the next.

7. Live Career

Looking to secure an entry-level Web UI Developer position with (company name) that will allow for the use of excellent user experience, technical and communication skills.

This short and sweet template from Live Career can easily be modified to craft yoru own objective. Just get more specific about what you bring to the table for the company you are applying to.

What we like:

A good resume objective doesn’t have to be wordy. If you can communicate your talents and intentions in one to two sentences, do it.

8. Resume Genius

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This objective from Resume Genius is a great teamplate for those pursuing a marketing role. you’ll just need to tailor it to your specific talents.

What we like:

Like previous examples, this objective is specific about the appliant’s experience and qualifications. It also focuses on outomes, which is a great way to demonstrate your qualifications for a role.

9. Springboard

As the daughter of small business owners, I’m really excited about the prospect of using my full-stack Python experience to further the Stripe mission of making payments accessible for companies of all sizes across the globe. I’ve built several projects in Django to scratch my own itch and I’d love to use that skill-set to start my software engineering career at Stripe.

This entry-level objective from Springboard demonstrates the effectiveness of adding a personal touch when relevant to the company you are applying to.

What we like:

This resume objective is so effective because it doesn’t just show off the applicant’s skills, but also her “why”. She’s passionate about helping small businesses succeed because her parents were small business owners — establishing a personal connection to Stripe’s mission.

10. Career Cloud

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While this objective from Career Cloud is only one sentence, it quickly sums up the applicant’s background and the role they are applying for.

What we like:

This is a good-one sentence template for how to format a brief resume objective for new grads. If possible, take it a step further and describe how your skills will benefit the company.

11. Resume.com

Recent major in Marketing and Advertising from Blue University where I completed two internships at Global United Agency. Able to use critical thinking and communication skills to attract customers and implement new strategies. Seeking employment as a marketing associate to help Aerial Agency’s overall marketing efforts.

This entry-level marketng resume objective from Resume.com provides a good foundation for those looking to play up their internship experience.

What we like:

This objectibe is specific, showcasing not one, but two internships with relevant experience while also not making the whole paragraph about themselves. It brings everything back to the company with the last sentence “to help Aerial Agency’s overall marketing efforts.”

Professional Resume Objectives

12. Beam Jobs

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This objective is clear and to the point, quickly outlining their experience and what skills they intend to apply to the new position.

What we like:

This objective is succint and shows that you can craft one that is both concise and effective.

13. Zippia

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This objective manages to list the applicant’s skills and how they’ll be applied in just one sentence.

What we like:

Like the brief resume objective example above, this one gets the job done in one sentence while stating specifically what they intend to complish in the role (increasing traffic and driving engagement).

14. Resume.io

Motivated human resources professional with a drive for serving as a dedicated support specialist and energetic team member. Adept in assisting with the recruitment of employees, as well as the management of existing employees. Experienced in managing employee and community outreach programs, and dedicated to working towards the mission of a company.

The customizable career objective above is written for a human resources professional, but can be adapted to suit your industry. Simply swap out the role and your skills to craft your own.

What we like:

While this example clearly calls out the applicant’s recruiting skills and experience creating programming, it also ties the focus back to the company mission. If using this as a template, you can easily replace the company’s mission statement and tie it back to your own skills.

15. Resume Companion

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This resume objective has a heavy focus on the applicant’s professional experience and how their skills will apply to the new role they are applying for.

What we like:

While we wouldn’t normally suggest adding degree information in your objective unless you’re a recent grad, in this case it works to emphasize the candidate is fluent in multiple languages.

16. Beam Jobs

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This resume objective does a great job of highlighting specifically what the applicant brings to the role in a concise way.

What we like:

While this is for a teaching role, you can apply the same level of specificity to your objective, emphasizing why you want the role and who benefits. In this case it’s cultivating student’s passion for a particular subject, but it can be applied to any industry you’re excited about making an impact in.

Sales Resume Objectives

17. Zety

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While the wording of this resume objective is a bit clunky, it can still serve as a template for your own with a few adjustments to tailor it to your industry.

What we like:

This resume objective places an emphasis on outcomes, which is great for any industry, but especially in sales. If you have a proven record of driving sales or similar impact, be sure to include it.

18. Resumeway

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If you’re stuck gettng started, use this template from Resumeway to make writing an objective a little easier. Be sure to have the data points you’d like to include ready beforehand.

What we like:

As we’ve mentioned previously, anytime you can provide data to back up your claims, do so.

19. Resume Genius

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Coming in longer than most on this list, this objective is all about skills and the positive outcomes they spearheaded.

Management Resume Objectives

This objective focuses on what the candidate can do for the company, rather than just being a list of accomplishments.

20. The Ladders

Seeking a data analytics supervisor position where I can apply my 7+ years of data science and business analytics skills and experience. I’m eager to improve business intelligence for Company XYZ in a leadership role.

This objective from the Ladders demonstrates how you can leverage your individual contributor experinece to make the case for a management position. The applicant isn’t shy to display enthusiam for the potential new role.

What we like:

This objective is quick to point out years of relevant experience at the start to build the foundation for why they are the right fit for the role. Then they drive the point home by disclosing what they intend to do once hired.

21. Interview Kickstart

With years of proven excellence, I’m looking for the challenging position of a director to be an active initiator of organizational success at MNO Inc. Prolonged experience in full-cycle project management, 6years of experience at multiple clients handling business operation management is ideal for the post in a mutually benefitting work culture to achieve company missions.

This is another quick-start template you can use to save time writing your objective. Simply swap out the default information for your own.

What we like:

This template is easily customizeable while providing a solid format to help you create a resume objective that clearly defines your potential impact if hired.

22. Top Resume

Editor with extensive writing and management experience looking to fill the position ofSenior Editorwith [company name], utilizing my time-management skills to ensure all projects meet deadlines and supervisory experience to effectively manage a team of writers and editors.

This template from Top Resume is perfect for editors or those applying for a similar role.

What we like:

This objective plays to the applicant’s strengths as well as honing in on qualities needed for the position (time management, meeting tight deadlines).

23. Resume Lab

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As we’ve previously discussed, getting specific about what you’ve accomplished and how you intend to help the company achieve its goals is key, especially when applying for a management position. This example shows the effectveness of providing data to back up your skills and accomplishments.

What we like:

We love the focus on tangible data and stats in this resume objective example. Use them whenever possible to make your case.

24. Tough Nickel

A highly recognized hotel management professional offering over ten years of enhancing organizations’ bottom lines through a customer-centric approach and excellent leadership and interpersonal skills. Seeking a challenging position as(specific role)in order to help grow(company)’s reputation as it continues to expand.

This template from Tough Nickel…will get your objective written in no time. It’s adaptable to any industry.

What we like:

This template emphasizes how you accomplished a particular goal, its impact, and what you intend to apply those skills in your next role.

Marketing Resume Objectives

25. Resume Companion

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If you’re early in your marketing career, with a few years of experience, you can use this resume objective for a bit of inspiration. If you have enough work experience to fill the page, you may want to omit the degree info in your draft.

What we like:

We like how this objective highlights two different sectors within the marketing umbrella — event and digital marketing. If you have similar dual, but relavent talents that would be beneficial in your new role, highlight them.

26. Naukri

A resourceful individual with a proven track record in implementing successful marketing strategies, boosting organic traffic, and improving search rankings seeks a position of Marketing Associate at ABC company to maximize brand awareness and revenue through integrated marketing communications.

This objective from career advice blog Naukri provides a good starting point for those applying for marketing associate or assistant roles.

What we like:

While this obective is vague enough to be tailored to your needs, the format with specifics about your skills and how you would apply them provide a good outline for how you should structure your own.

IT & Developer Resume Objectives

27. Interview Guys

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This brief but effective objective quickly highlights the applican’t most relevant skils and the impact they could potentially have in their new role.

What we like:

It’s easy to make a resume objective one-sided and all about yourself, but this one demonstrates that you can demonstrate your value to potential employers in a clear and concise way.

28. Resume Companion

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This is another resume objective example that demonstrates the power getting specific about your contributions and using numbers where appropriate to add context.

What we like:

In just a few sentences, this objective clearly conveys that this IT candidate has ample experience working on projects with large budgets. A recruiter would see this as a plus, if they are hiring for a large account as this person has already shown they are capable.

29. Evolution Coaching

Energetic, technical-minded professional seeking aposition as a (Software Engineer) at (Company Name) where knowledge of software development life cycles, a high technical aptitude, and unyielding commitment to work can effectively be utilized to contribute to the successful and profitable operation of the company.

This plug and play template from Evolution Coaching makes it easy for you to pop in your own accomplisments and contributions.

What we like:

Like other templates on this list, this one highlights the importance of including how your skills and attributes will benefit the company you are applying to. Always align yourself with the company’s goals.

30. Resume Giants

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This objective quickly hones in on the software and skills needed for the role, making it easy for recruiters to skim and want to know more details about your experience.

What we like:

This objective likely used keywords from the job description, a good strategy for signaling to recruiters that you have the skills they’re looking for.

Career Change Resume Objectives

31. Resume.io

Leading Fintech marketing professional, seeking to make a move up to Marketing Director after eight years of award-winning campaigns. MBA-educated social marketeer, who will deliver triple-digit audience growth and double-digit sales increases.

This objective from Resume.io conveys confidence. While everyone may not be able to pull this one off, if you can back up your claims, go for it.

What we like:

This objective is bold and gets very specific about the value the applicant can provide to the company. The employer can read it and know exactly the value can provide once hired.

32. University of Pennsylvania

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This objective makes the case for an inustry change by playing up the applicant’s transferrable skills.

What we like:

This objective is to the point and doesn’t try to disguise the industry swap with vague jargon. Instead it clearly states what the writer’s experience is and how they’ll apply it to their new pfrofession.

33. Career Contessa

Results-driven technology sales representative, seeking to use pipeline building and negotiation skills to increase revenue at XYZ healthcare company. Drove $2 million in sales revenue during FY20 and eager to increase the bottomline at XYZ company.

This career objective from Career Contessa is a great template to use if you’re applying for a similar role, but in a completely different field. In this case, it’s a sales position, but could be applied to any industry.

What we like:

Since the roles are similar, the writer was keen to play up their relevant experience and data-backed accomplishments. From there she succinctly expressed how she intends to increase revenue for the new company.

34. Federal Resume Guide

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Teachers have a bunch of transferrable skills they may not even know they have. From time managment and public speaking to dealing with the public, to conveying ideas and concepts clearly, they have so much to offer when those skills are applied to other industries.

What we like:

This objective was able to connect the applicant’s 15-year experience teaching history to why they’re a great candidate to be a museum curator. They can easily draw on their existing knowlege and people skills to be succcesful in the role.

35. Sweet CV

Successful engineer aiming to change professions and move into business management. Seeking a chance to use project management and leadership skills in a fresh context and use my eye for detail to drive growth in a technology start-up.

This objective from Sweet CV showcases an engineer making the case for a business managment position at a start-up, highlighting their most relevant skills.

What we like:

Again, it’s important to play up any related skills or background that will give you an advantage when switching to a new career. Since the applicant already has engineering experience and is seeking to work for a technology startup, their backround is a bonus.

36. Jobscan

Passionate sales representative with over 5 years of experience working with customers and selling software. Looking to leverage my proven skills in seeing our customers’ pain points and providing solutions to whatever I write as an aspiring Content Manager.

This example from Jobscan shows how you could structure an objective if you are trying to move positions within the same company. Working in customer service gives the applicant useful insight into their audience’s needs.

What we like:

This resume objective plays to the applicant’s strength (insider customer knowledge) to demonstrate why she’s the perfect candidate to write for them. This could greatly improve the company’s content since they will have a better understanding of their audience and how to solve for them.

Write a Resume Objective That Gets Noticed

Now that you know how and when to write a resume objective and checked out a few examples, it’s time to craft your own. Use the tested strategies above to make sure your resume stands out among the crowd.

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

Welcome to HubSpot Marketing News! Tap in for campaign deep dives, the latest marketing industry news, and tried-and-true insights from HubSpot’s media team. 

Having a verified account on social media was once seen as a point of notoriety or a status symbol.

Now, it’s a commodity that can be purchased.

Verifying social media accounts began on Twitter in 2009. Tony La Russa, then manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, filed a lawsuit against Twitter after a user created an impersonation account and shared insensitive tweets.

Though the suit was eventually dropped, it led Twitter to launch its Account Verification process giving verified accounts blue check marks as a symbol of authenticity for notable businesses or public figures. The goal was to make impersonation harder to achieve. Instagram followed suit and began verifying accounts in 2014.

In late 2022, Elon Musk announced a revamp of the Twitter Blue subscription program upping the price from $5 to $8 per month (or $11.99 per month through the app store) and offering subscribers a blue check mark among other features.

Earlier this month Meta announced a similar subscription called Meta Verified, offering users on Facebook and Instagram a blue check mark, increased visibility in the feed, and increased customer service support starting at $11.99 per month.

When these subscriptions were announced, pushback from users was immediate.

On one hand, there are security concerns at play. After the initial rollout of Twitter Blue verification, some users were able to create fake accounts that mimicked real brands, defeating the initial intent of verification.

Additionally, Twitter now only offers two-factor authentication to Twitter Blue subscribers, making accounts that aren’t paying less secure and more susceptible to being hacked.

Meanwhile, Instagram users who are already frustrated with the platform’s difficult-to reach-customer service in the event of a hack or other issues will likely need to pay to receive basic customer support.

In addition to security concerns, the introduction of these subscriptions solidifies these platforms as being spaces where you have to pay-to-play.

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With Meta Verified promising increased visibility on Facebook and Instagram for subscribers, users who are already frustrated with their lack of reach may be tempted to opt in so more people see their content.

What’s unclear is whether end-users will know whether or not the content they see is being served through the algorithms or if it’s being shown because an account paid for increased reach.

While this option may be appealing for content creators or small businesses who want to get in front of more people, it could be discouraging for everyday users who visit social media to see updates from their family and friends.

With the advertising challenges social media platforms have experienced over the past few years intensifying, it’s not surprising these companies are evolving to include paid subscription models to generate revenue. Whether verification and increased reach are the right features to offer is to be determined.

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