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I’ve been helping people create letters of recommendation for jobs they want, internships, promotions, and more, for over ten years. I’ve learned during this time that if you’re not selling yourself effectively, you won’t make a lasting impression.

A recommendation letter differs from a resume or a cover letter because it comes from someone who knows you well, so it should feel more personal.

Read further to discover how to write a letter of recommendation that will help you land the job or opportunity you’ve been dreaming of.

Table of Contents

• What is a letter of recommendation?
• Do I write my own letter of recommendation?
• How to Write a Letter of Recommendation [+ Free Template]
• Free Letter of Recommendation Template
• Letter of Recommendation Samples to Inspire You
• Tips for Creating Effective Letters of Recommendations
• How to Ask For a Letter of Recommendation

What is a letter of recommendation?

A letter of recommendation is a one to two-page description of your merits from someone who has a particular insight into your character, work ethic, projects you’ve completed, and more.

Typically, a letter of recommendation is written by someone who is an authority figure to you, such as a past employer or manager. This person should be able to recommend your professional work or academic experience.

Do I write my own letter of recommendation?

You might be thinking, “Wait, don’t I have my (boss, colleague, or friend) write a letter of recommendation for me? Why must I read this blog to create a letter of recommendation?”

You can, of course, ask them to write a letter of recommendation for you from scratch. But don’t be surprised if it takes them a really long time to write it. Even then, it may not meet your expectations.

There’s nothing wrong with giving the person you’re asking an outline, a list of your past achievements, or even a draft of a letter of recommendation.

In fact, it’s expected that you will give the writer an idea of what you want them to include in the letter of recommendation while still allowing them the creative freedom to add their spin.

They can adjust whatever the letter is to fit what they feel comfortable signing their name to, and you will save them a significant amount of time — meaning you get a better letter of recommendation faster.

How to Write a Letter of Recommendation

Whether you’re writing a letter of recommendation for a professional or academic opportunity, the basic elements are the same.

Start by including the date and recipient’s information, introducing the writer, describing the applicant and their performance, and signing off with the writer’s contact information.

A long relationship with the candidate or a deep familiarity with their work is an important element of writing a letter of recommendation.

When ideating which details of your professional relationship to include, ask yourself which projects they worked with you on, what strengths you admire in them, specific moments they came through for you, and what you’ll miss about working with them when they leave.

Remember, a letter of recommendation is more than just a list of their professional experience, that’s what a resume is for, as the writer you can give a hiring manager insight into the personality of the candidate and if they’d be a good fit for the role.

Check out this free letter of recommendation template to get started.

Letter of Recommendation Format

1. Date

Including a date is important for establishing the validity of a letter of recommendation.

Use the specific date that corresponds with the candidate’s last day at an organization or even some time after they worked with the writer of the letter of recommendation.

If you’re asking for a letter of recommendation from a coworker or boss while still employed, be sure to tread lightly as most employers won’t be thrilled to recommend you to a job when you’re leaving.

If you do trust that they are ok recommending you, despite leaving the company, go ahead and put that day’s date.

2. Recipient’s Information

Write out the name, position, and company of the person the letter of recommendation is going to. Or, if you’re not sure what companies you will be applying your letter of recommendation to, feel free to keep this section generic so you can fill it out later as opportunities arise.

3. Introductions

Introduce the writer of the letter of recommendation. Remember, use the first person (whether you’re the person writing the letter of recommendation, or the receiver creating a draft).

Go ahead and list their areas of expertise, education, current title, and anything else applicable. If the writer is a previous manager you’ll want to list their position, how long they’ve been at the company and their education. You should also say how long they’ve worked with or known you.

4. Performance and Qualifications

Use this section to talk about the commitment of the letter’s requester in your organization. You

can also mention their most notable traits, skills, and abilities through adjectives.

This section is the bulk of your letter and the most important part. Remember, your boss/coworker/friend can put their own spin on what you say in the letter, you’re just giving them an idea of what you’d like included.

Ask yourself these questions when writing this section:

1. How can I tell the story of my accomplishments?
2. What personal details need to be included?
3. What motivates me?
4. What challenges have I overcome?
5. What are my most relevant skills?
6. Why do I want to work at this company or apply to this school?
7. What makes me a good fit for this role?

Here’s an example of what answering these questions might look like:

“Jane Doe became my employee in 2016 after transferring from the Sales department. She is extremely motivated by sales-centric goals, employee satisfaction, and choosing tactics that deliver a high return on investment.

In my time working with Jane Doe, I’ve watched her tackle challenging projects, such as when our startup was bought out by a bigger brand.

She made sure each member of her team transitioned seamlessly while also still meeting her quarterly goals, an accomplishment that only one other team at the company achieved during this time.

Her background in sales has made her a friendly team player, a wise financial decision-maker, and an influential leader. She would be an excellent fit for any role that needs someone who is going to meet hard-to-reach targets, lead a team to excellence, and maintain organization.

In my time working with Jane Doe, I’ve often used her as my go-to-person because I know she is both reliable and hard-working.”

Don’t forget to write this section in the first person, and don’t be afraid to really sell yourself and your achievements!

If you’re not comfortable with being this specific, here’s an example that leaves space for the writer to put in their own thoughts.

“[NAME] became my employee in [YEAR] after transferring from [DEPARTMENT]. She is extremely motivated [ENTER PERSONAL QUALITIES].

In my time working with [NAME], I’ve watched her tackle challenging projects, such as [PAST PROJECT(S)]. [SENTENCE ABOUT WAS DONE WELL].

Their background in [ENTER BACKGROUND] has made them [FAVORABLE PERSONAL QUALITIES]. They would be an excellent fit for any role that needs [DESCRIPTION OF ROLE THEY’RE APPLYING FOR].

In my time working with [NAME], [DESCRIPTION OF HOW WE’VE WORKED TOGETHER IN PAST].”

5. Contact Information

Finally, you can close this letter wishing the applicant luck in their new professional stage. Most importantly, provide detailed contact information, as interviewers will need to confirm the information provided in this document.

How long should a letter of recommendation be?

Like a cover letter or a resume, a letter of recommendation should be about one page long. I’ve often erred on the side of shorter than longer because you really can say everything you need to in one page.

If you’re having a hard time whittling your letter of recommendation down to one page, consider asking a friend with writing experience to edit it down to the most important details, or even using AI tools to help you.

Free Letter of Recommendation Template

Writing your letters of recommendation from scratch can be time-consuming and difficult. Download your free recommendation template (pictured below) here as a Google Docs or Microsoft Word file.

Letter of Recommendation Samples to Inspire You

Now that you have the letter of recommendation template downloaded, you might be wondering where to start.

The free HubSpot letter of recommendation template gives you:

• Compatibility with Word or Google Docs
• Easily identifiable space to describe the abilities, attitudes, and skills of the person you are recommending by following the template structure
• The capability to edit the letter to align with your company’s corporate image
• Options to print or send the letter of recommendation in your desired format

Try filling out each blank part of the template with the applicable information. It will then begin to look something like this example:

Generic Employee Letter of Recommendation Sample

[New York City, April 15, 2024]

[Mr. James Big]

[Chief of Business Operations]

[VIC or Very Important Company]

To whom it may concern:

Please accept my warm greetings. As the CEO at Business International, it is a great pleasure for me to provide this employment reference letter for Jane Doe, who has served as Head of Sales.

She has worked at this company for five years. During that time, I have confirmed that Jane has the necessary experience to carry out her job to the highest standards of the company and with the values that I consider essential.

At Business International, Jane has shown interest and efficiency in the tasks of Head of Sales. Given our working relationship, I have observed that she is extremely motivated by sales-centric goals, employee satisfaction, and choosing tactics that deliver a high return on investment.

She made sure each member of her team transitioned seamlessly while also still meeting her quarterly goals, an accomplishment that only one other team at the company achieved during this time. Her background in sales has made her a friendly team player, a wise financial decision-maker, and an influential leader.

She would be an excellent fit for any role that needs someone who is going to meet hard-to-reach targets, lead a team to excellence, and maintain organization. In my time working with Jane Doe, I’ve often used her as my go-to girl because I know she is both reliable and hard-working.

It is for this reason that I highly recommend her to your company, as I have witnessed how the response to her assignments has added value and growth to our company, just as I am sure she will be able to contribute to the new organization where she will work.

This letter is extended at the request of Jane Doe for the purposes that best suit her.

Thank you,

[Rebecca Johnson]

[CEO]

[Business International]

[businessinternational.org / [email protected] / 123-456-7891]

This is a good starting point but still pretty generic, because when you read this letter of recommendation, you’re not super sure that the writer actually knows who it’s being sent to.

It feels more like a general recommendation of Jane, instead of someone who knows her very well recommending her for a specific job. It feels generic because it lacks important details about Jane’s performance and her work personality.

Let’s spice it up a bit. Here’s another sample that’s been adjusted to better describe Jane and what she does for the company:

Better Employee Letter of Recommendation Sample

[New York City, April 15, 2024]

[Mr. James Big]

[Chief of Business Operations]

[VIC or Very Important Company]

Mr. James Big,

As the CEO of Business International, it is a great pleasure to provide this employment reference letter for Jane Doe, who has worked for five years as Head of Sales at Business International.

I am thrilled to recommend Ms. Jane Doe to your organization. As you read further, you will find she will be a great asset to any organization looking for a high performing Head of Sales.

During our past five years, I’ve watched Jane flourish as she’s moved from a customer success manager into her role as Head of Sales, managing a team of twenty sales associates. About three years ago, our startup company was bought by Business International, and Jane took the transition in stride.

She led the way for her team during the transition by ensuring each team member onboarded their new role and tasks, worked with employees we gained during the transition, and even still met her quarterly sales goals. In fact, she was one of only two departments that still met their goals during the transition phase.

Jane’s background in sales has made her a friendly team player, a wise financial decision-maker, and an influential leader. I’ve often used Jane as my go-to girl because I know when I give her a task, she won’t just meet my expectations but will rather wow me with her ingenuity and creative problem-solving.

I’ve heard firsthand from Jane’s customers just how beloved and appreciated she is. One customer even raved about her persistence in solving a problem he had with billing.

Jane went above and beyond to ensure the customer’s problem was solved while also forging a strong relationship that has led to customer retention and referrals. Jane maintains a 95% customer retention rate, one of the highest at our company.

For this reason, I highly recommend her to your company. I am sure Jane will be able to contribute greatly to VIC, and I’m excited to watch her career trajectory.

Thank you,

[Rebecca Johnson]

[CEO]

[Business International]

[businessinternational.org / [email protected] / 123-456-7891]

Did you notice that this letter of recommendation felt a lot more personal?

It still uses the basic elements that every letter of recommendation should have, but there’s a lot more attention to detail, including storytelling and important statistics. When you write a letter of recommendation for yourself or someone else, include lots of details to avoid sounding generic.

Tips for Creating an Effective Letter of Recommendation

1. Use statistics.

Just like a resume, a letter of recommendation needs to quantify what you’ve accomplished. You offer proof of your performance and accomplishments by including at least one statistic in your letter.

Here are some possible stats you can include in your letter:

• Number of customers you’ve retained or onboarded
• Number of sales you’ve contributed to
• Any statistic you’ve improved upon (ex., improved SEO results by 11%)
• Number of projects you’ve completed over a set amount of time
• Dollar amount of influence you’ve created for the company
• Number of employees you’ve managed or trained

The possibilities for including statistics in your letter are endless. Try making a list of as many as possible and then narrow down which ones you think are most important and relevant to the position you’re applying for.

2. Be specific and simple.

Anyone can churn out a generic letter of recommendation that, upon further scrutiny, doesn’t really say a lot. The more specific you are in listing your accomplishments, the more you’ll avoid generic platitudes.

Hiring managers want to see that the writer of your letter of recommendation knows and understands you. If your letter of recommendation sounds generic, they might doubt how close you are and why you’d choose someone who doesn’t know your accomplishments to write your letter of recommendation.

When you’re working on being as specific as possible, you should also try to edit out any filler words that aren’t needed. It’s common for letters of recommendation to say the same thing more than once, but I’d limit mentioning something like a job title to only twice (with the exception of your name).

Consider reading your LOR out loud to identify which sentences should be cut.

3. Tell a compelling story.

If you’ve been a part of an organization for a while, you likely have an interesting story.

That story might be about how you went from one lower-ranking role to a higher-one, and it would include details about the hiring process, accomplishments that got you promoted, and how you’ve managed in that role since obtaining it.

Or, your story might be about a difficult project you completed, with details like deliverables you achieved, the impact you made, revenue goals reached, etc.

Check out HubSpot’s guide on storytelling to get a better idea of what story your letter of recommendation should tell.

4. Get personal.

Think about the person who will write and sign off on your recommendation letter.

What are some of your best memories with this person? Were there long lunches where you talked about shared interests, or meetings where they made you feel valued? Think about what their favorite memories with you might have been.

This is one section where you will definitely want to jog their memory to get a personal story or quality of yours that they appreciate. Feel free to list some of your favorite moments for them to reference if they so choose.

How to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation

If you want to get an employer to agree to write your letter of recommendation, you’ll want to follow a few basic steps.

Step 1: Assess your relationship.

You won’t want to ask just anyone to write you a letter of recommendation.

If you have multiple managers up the chain of command, choose the manager that has worked the closest with you unless your working relationship hasn’t always been smooth.

If you’re not completely sure that the person you’re asking has a high opinion of you, don’t ask them to write your letter of recommendation.

Some letters of recommendation have to be submitted anonymously to maintain integrity. You’d hate to ask someone for a letter of recommendation just for them to submit a weak or unfavorable letter.

Great candidates for writing your letter will have:

• A good working relationship with you
• A knowledge of your past accomplishments
• An understanding of your growth at the company
• A willingness to help you out by writing a compelling letter

Step 2: Write your own letter or create an outline.

While the Hubspot Free Letter of Recommendation Template is a great starting point, you won’t want to just send them the template and hope for the best.

Write your own example letter, or create an outline/list of information you want included. Before you even ask for a letter of recommendation, this step should be completed, so you can give them your example letter or outline at the very beginning to avoid wasting their time.

They’re also more likely to agree to write your letter of recommendation if they know they won’t be starting from scratch.

Step 3: Ask for your letter.

When you ask someone to write you a recommendation, you’re asking them to do you a favor. Return the favor by including a sweet treat, or gift, or taking them out to lunch when you ask for their help.

Be sure to let them know what kind of deadline you’re working with and ask if they’d like periodic reminders leading up to when you need the letter of recommendation.

Step 4: Write a thank you note.

This final step is optional, but I highly suggest you do it.

Once you’ve received your letter of recommendation, write a thank you note to your recommender. Include details about them that you admire.

Remember, there’s a good chance the hiring manager or school might reach out to your recommender to ask them more questions, so you’ll want to remain on good terms with them.

Using Your Letter of Recommendation

Now that you have your completed letter of recommendation, be sure to use it as much as possible. Jobs often only ask for a resume and a cover letter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also attach your letter of recommendation.

If a job limits your attachments, contact the hiring manager on LinkedIn and send over your letter of recommendation.

Creating a letter of recommendation might be a process that you repeat, especially if you’re applying for academic spots and positions, as they often require more than one.

Use this free template whenever you have to start over on a letter of recommendation. If you need multiple letters, consider having each address a unique aspect of your work or school experience.

Are you noticing your traffic from Google starting to go down? Algorithm updates in 2024 have shaken traditional SEO.

Recent Google algorithm updates are disrupting search engine optimization (SEO), shifting the focus from traditional tactics and long-tail informational queries. Founders and CMOs are now turning to content and community-driven strategies to boost engagement and visibility.

At HubSpot, we saw firsthand how these updates impacted previously high-performing articles and pages, leading to declining traffic, reduced visibility, and an urgent need for new, responsive marketing strategies.

As Kieran and I discuss in a recent episode of Marketing Against the Grain, creator-generated content has shown promising results in connecting businesses and their audiences in a way that SEO alone no longer can. These shifts not only signify a pivot in marketing logistics but also an evolution in how we engage with our customers and shape our brand presence cross-platform.

Marketing teams, founders, and CMOs are testing these new approaches to engage their audiences and improve their online visibility. But what’s working — and what’s just noise?

Here are 6 trends that Kieran and I are seeing on the rise in a post-SEO world.

Post-SEO Content and Influencer Trends

1. B2B Creators & Creator Channels

Even before the algorithm updates, marketing channels like Google search and paid ads were becoming less effective at driving exponential growth in traffic. Meanwhile, platforms favoring creators and indirect conversions, such as podcasts, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, are gaining traction. Why? “Because B2B is having its creator moment,” says Kieran.

Creator-focused channels prioritize personalities over brands, fostering person-to-person connections between customers and products or services. Particularly for B2B companies, integrating creator-led strategies — whether through influencer partnerships or hiring creators in-house — is now crucial.

2. Outbound Marketing and AI

We’re seeing a significant boom in outbound marketing and sales, which I believe will continue for the next three to five years while the internet recalibrates after the recent algorithm changes and new inbound channels emerge.

Therefore, to stay ahead, it’s becoming even more important to sharpen your sales and marketing team’s proficiency with AI tools. For example, AI can streamline prospecting efforts and personalize outreach, making it easier to identify and engage potential leads.

3. Video Content

“I see a world where YouTube maybe becomes Google’s core business long term,” says Kieran. And I absolutely agree, as video content is far harder to replicate and much more defensible from AI.

Kieran goes on to emphasize that pivoting towards “more difficult” content like video can offer marketing teams significant leverage. Why? Easier content strategies become less effective quickly because everyone adopts them. So while pivoting your strategy to invest in platforms like YouTube and partnerships with video creators may require more time and effort upfront, it can lead to lower costs per lead and higher engagement in the long run.

4. Product Differentiation

Adopting a strategy of being “different in every way” like James Dyson’s approach — which we discuss in further detail on the podcast — ensures that your product stands out. Differentiation is essential, especially as markets become more saturated and traditional strategies become commoditized.

I believe a product needs to be at least ten times more differentiated to succeed. Taking product differentiation to another level will be a core trademark of successful companies over the next five to ten years.

5. Community-Driven Platforms

Another significant result of the algorithm update is that community-driven sites like Reddit and Quora can have preferential search engine ranking over traditional informational articles, as these platforms are also difficult to replicate with large language models and artificial intelligence (AI).

For marketers, this means that previously high-ranking content may be outranked by a rich Reddit or Quora thread on the same topic. As a result, it’s becoming increasingly important for businesses to establish a presence on these community-aggregated sites to stay connected to users.

6. Founders as Creators

This last trend is a controversial take but I believe that if you are considering starting a company, you need to be a creator in that market for six to 18 months before starting that company.

Founders who build an audience using media channels such as YouTube, newsletters, and podcasts can create significant authority and trust within their industry. Building a strong personal brand early on helps founders get to know and engage their audience, fostering loyalty and trust even before the product hits the market.

Navigating the Post-SEO World

Adapting to recent shifts in SEO means aggressively rethinking your approach to running your business and marketing teams.

For an in-depth analysis on even more strategies, check out the full episode of Marketing Against the Grain below:

This blog series is in partnership with Marketing Against the Grain, the video podcast. It digs deeper into ideas shared by marketing leaders Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (SVP, Marketing at HubSpot) as they unpack growth strategies and learn from standout founders and peers.

Imagine you have hundreds of files in a folder labeled “Important Files.” Some of the files are named by date, some by subject, and some by author.

You have to sift through all of them to find a review of the new neighborhood pizza place. Without a consistent filename or organizational structure, you’re not going to find that review anytime soon.

That scenario illustrates the value of technical SEO, which I learned about while managing a project to rebuild a previous employer’s website from the ground up.

The original website didn’t have a consistent formula for creating new URLs — it was like a folder full of erratically named files — which made it hard for search engines to index and rank new pages.

Without an appropriate URL structure, implementing a keyword-based SEO strategy wouldn’t have done us much good. We needed a strategy that met us where we were.

I share this because it demonstrates two of the most important points in this nine-step guide to drafting an SEO proposal: 1. Know your potential client’s needs, and 2. Use clear, easy-to-understand language.

Table of Contents

• What is an SEO proposal?
• What to Include in an SEO Proposal
• The Future of SEO: Is AI Taking Over?

What is an SEO proposal?

When a potential client wants to level up their search engine optimization (SEO), you’ll need to draft a successful proposal to win their business.

I talked to half a dozen experts to create this SEO proposal template, which I encourage you to adapt to your own needs and clientele.

The experts represent a wide range of experience, including nonprofits, tech companies, small businesses, and large corporations.

Everybody handles SEO proposals a little differently, but there are some clear do’s and don’ts — including one piece of advice that every single expert mentioned.

1. Goals: Begin your proposal with a few key goals, which you’ll define based on technical research and getting to know your client and their needs.

Your job as an SEO professional, after a discovery call with the potential client, is to identify what problems you can solve for them. This usually begins with a website audit.

“I always start with an audit, because I can’t improve something if I don’t know what’s going on,” Merove Heifetz, founder and chief digital strategist of Acquisition Digital, tells me. “The audit is really foundational.”

Brent D. Payne, founder and CEO of Loud Interactive, shared a little bit about his audit process. He begins by looking at the client’s Google Search Console for current rankings and traffic. He also likes to get clients’ revenue models to see “how many dollars they typically get from a web visitor.”

Armed with this data, he spends several hours doing keyword research using tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush, and uses AI to organize keywords into categories and subcategories. The result is a massive spreadsheet — we’re talking 50,000 or 60,000 lines of data — that reveals strengths and opportunities.

You can also download HubSpot’s free keyword research template to help organize and analyze data collected during this step.

HubSpot’s own Head of EN Growth, Rory Hope, advises aligning your SEO strategy with your client’s business goals very early in the relationship. “It will allow you to plan the SEO roadmap more closely to those goals whenever possible,” he says.

Pro tip: The website audit is key, but don’t discount how fruitful a good conversation can be. Tory Gray, CEO and founder of The Gray Dot Company, says that “it’s really important to listen to the client.

What are they looking for? How can you give them what they need? Because if you can reflect that in the proposal and the work that you do, [you] will stand out.”

Hope agrees. “Focus entirely on the client, their business, and problems and pain points.”

Can AI do it for me?

It can certainly help! Many people in the SEO industry use AI to organize and interpret huge amounts of data gleaned during website audits and competitor research. This can be a huge time-saver when you’re defining goals.

It’s worth noting that a lot of seasoned professionals have invested in proprietary AI tools. Payne says that Loud Interactive spent three months programming one such tool — and it’s reduced a month’s worth of work to three hours.

2. Executive Summary: In a few sentences, lay out the broad strokes of your plan using jargon-free language.

“Describe the service [you’ll provide] in as broad, friendly, and approachable terms as possible,” says freelance marketing strategist Rachel Claff.

There’s plenty of time to get into the weeds; right now you just want to demonstrate that you understand the client’s goals and have a strategy for meeting them.

Claff suggests structuring your proposal like a funnel, with the broad services outlined at the top, and going into more detail in the scope and budget.

Pro tip: Use plain language. Every SEO expert I talked to, regardless of their specialty or industry, emphasized how important it is to leave the jargon at the door. Write like a human, be friendly, define acronyms and other industry terms, and be clear and concise.

Can AI do it for me?

As long as you’re prepared to edit out jargon or other unclear language, tools like ChatGPT can speed up this process.

3. Research and Analytics: Based on your research and website audit, provide a few key insights.

This one may be hard to hear if you love a good spreadsheet (I see you), but your proposal should contain just a few key insights.

Phillip Lunn, CEO and co-founder of West Loop SEO, says, “Don’t burden potential clients with terms and data that could be reserved for the person behind the computer doing the implementations.”

The goal of your proposal is for the potential client to become your client. They don’t need to see 20 pages of data — but they do need to trust that you’ve built an SEO roadmap that will achieve their business goals.

Pro tip: To avoid overwhelming a potential client, Payne doesn’t open with his 500-megabyte spreadsheet. He uses insights from the data to create 12-page Google Slides presentations, which are a lot more palatable for the layperson.

Can AI do it for me?

Almost certainly, depending on your comfort and experience with AI tools. It’s not a substitute for your own experience and insight, but it can speed up your research and analysis. As Payne puts it, “AI is an efficiency tool.”

4. Opportunities: What specific areas can you help your client achieve significant results?

Don’t underestimate the power of a case study to demonstrate the value of your work. Claff says that many clients are surprised by how quickly they see results, so using a previous success as an example is more persuasive than simply promising to “boost your SEO.”

Rory Hope says, “Demonstrate the value you‘ve achieved for other clients. Include quotes. And if you can’t share primary data, use a third-party tool like Ahrefs to show the visibility uplifts.”

Can AI do it for me?

If you’re using case studies from your own experience, you’re your own best resource. That doesn’t mean AI can’t help, especially if you have access to proprietary tools.

5. Trade-offs: Be crystal clear about the scope of your proposal, both in terms of what is included and what isn’t.

Tory Gray gave me a great example of what this can look like.

Her firm often works with nonprofits that want to avoid the word “charity,” but “they still want to show up [in searches] for ‘climate change charity’ or ‘water charity’ or whatever they focus on. So how do they do that?”

It’s a tricky question that she navigates through a lot of conversation with the client. Clients have different levels of comfort; one might be comfortable using the word “charity” in alt text that describes images, and another might want to avoid it altogether.

When Gray proposes solutions, she ensures that the client understands the trade-offs.

If your proposal includes “musts” and “nice-to-haves,” note these in your budget (step 8) to avoid scope creep.

Pro tip: “Be 100% above board and make sure [you’re] delivering the right information,” Gray says. And be humble: Gray also uses this as an opportunity for the potential client to correct her if there’s been any misunderstandings.

Can AI do it for me?

Your experience is one of the most valuable things you can bring into a client partnership. If you often work with clients with complex requests, use AI to help spark ideas, but rely on your own experience with similar challenges.

6. Expectations and Deliverables: In clear, plain language, lay out what you’ll need from your client and what they can expect from you.

What information will the client need to provide upfront, and on an ongoing basis? What aspects of the project require collaboration? What kinds of results should they expect to see?

Rory Hope puts it succinctly: “Outlining what SEO can and can’t achieve is very important for expectation management.” He suggests building this into your SEO roadmap by including organic traffic leads and revenue uplift projections next to each SEO priority.

Pro tip: Hope adds, “Clearly list out each deliverable that you’ll be completing for a client, both at the beginning during the audit phase, but also as an ongoing part of the strategy. Consider your key decision-maker, and use language that will appeal to that decision-maker.”

Rachel Claff stresses that a successful proposal hinges on listening to your client, and offers this example: “Pinpointing keywords is a collaboration between the two of you … If you ask [the client] for their optimal keywords, it’s not always going to match with what will actually get them the most return.”

Your client — let’s say it’s the new neighborhood pizza joint — may want their website to be on the first page of search results for “pizza.”

I used Ahrefs’ keywords explorer and found that “pizza” will be “super hard” to rank for, so I’d suggest an alternative to the client that will meet their goal of increasing foot traffic.

Image Source

Pro tip: Be specific and don’t promise what you can’t deliver. Phillip Lunn says that although his clients expect him to bring in more high-quality traffic, he likes to set more specific expectations based on the client’s current digital presence and the data he’s gleaned.

Can AI do it for me?

Every SEO expert I spoke with, even those who lean heavily on AI tools, emphasized the importance of getting to know your client. Expectations and deliverables are specific to each client, so tread carefully if you use AI.

7. Timeline: Because SEO isn’t a one-and-done proposition, include your recommendations for both the short- and long-term.

Some potential clients, especially if this is their first serious foray into SEO, may think that it’s something you do once.

But “the processes undertaken to gain organic traffic are slow and steady — because that’s really what organic traffic is,” Merove Heifetz says.

Your timeline should include your estimates for research, implementation, and maintenance.

Can AI do it for me?

If you have estimates for certain tasks, AI can definitely help you build a realistic timeline.

8. Budget: What can you reasonably accomplish within your client’s budget?

What do you charge, and what is your payment schedule? This is also a good place to revisit expectations to avoid falling prey to scope creep.

Rory Hope suggests including the number of hours your team will allocate to the project. “The more granular you can be, the better,” he says, “as it builds transparency” with the client.

Tory Gray adds a note of advice for people starting out in SEO: “Don’t be afraid to charge more. … Don’t undervalue yourself or the value you are bringing to this business — and how much money you are going to make them.”

Pro tip: Heifetz provides “specific recommendations and the level of priority for those recommendations.” Clients need different levels of support, so she also offers options: The client can implement strategies with her supervisory support, they can divvy up the work, or Heifetz’s team can handle all of it.

Can AI do it for me?

Just be sure you double-check its math.

9. CTA: What is the clear, simple next step your potential client needs to take to sign a contract with you?

The call to action should be the easiest, quickest step of your proposal: Tell your potential client how to become your actual client.

Can AI do it for me?

Sure it can, but do you really need it to? The call to action shouldn’t change much from proposal to proposal, so whether your potential client needs to click a button or reply to an email, let them know what the next step is.

The Future of SEO: Is AI Taking Over?

If you’re just getting started in the client-facing side of the SEO industry, you may feel the pressure of artificial intelligence closing in around you.

Our experts are resoundingly clear on this point: AI isn’t going to replace humans. “SEO isn’t dead or dying,” Merove Heifetz tells me. “It’s just changing.”

Brent D. Payne uses proprietary AI in his work, and he predicts a significant price reduction in the not-too-distant future, because AI makes it so easy to scale up. But he agrees: “I don’t think SEO will ever go away.”

It would say that. But our SEO experts agree.

Payne also points out, “People are slow to adopt new technologies. We were slow to trust the internet. We’ll be slow to trust AI.”

In the background of Payne’s Zoom window, I noticed an Apple Macintosh Classic, a model that was discontinued in the early 1990s. He said, “I like the juxtaposition to the AI work that we’re doing.

I think it shows how far we’ve managed to come over the past 30 years when it comes to society. And I want it to be a constant reminder that humanity will continue to evolve with technology.”

Using the SEO Proposal Template

Just as SEO differs based on a client’s goals, resources, and industry, so will your proposals.

Use our free SEO proposal template as a guideline, and adapt it for your own needs and clientele. You aren’t going to be replaced by robots anytime soon.

As the person sending the HubSpot marketing emails, I know the importance of crafting email sequences that nurture relationships, drive website visits, and encourage sales. I’ve learned the hard way that the types of emails you send significantly impact engagement.

With 87% of marketers planning to maintain or increase their investment in email marketing, it’s an excellent time to ensure you maximize your email ROI.

We wanted to dive deep into what marketers are doing right (and not so right), so we ran a study asking marketers about their results from different types of emails.

After several all-nighters reviewing the results, I’ve put together takeaways and tips to power your email marketing strategy.

Table of Contents:

• Types of Emails with the Highest Engagement
• Types of Emails with the Lowest Engagement
• Finding the Right Types of Emails for Your Marketing Strategy

But which of these marketing mail types get the most engagement, and which fall flat? Let’s dig into what our survey found.

4 Types of Emails With the Highest Engagement

The four types of marketing emails with the highest engagement are multimedia, basic, discount, and articles.

1. Multimedia Emails

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In our survey, 41% of marketers said that multimedia emails captured the highest engagement, making it the best email type on the list. People generally spend less than 10 seconds reading brand emails, so you need to catch their attention fast.

I like to use multimedia elements like videos, photos, GIFs, and interactive elements to grab my audience’s attention, and I’m not the only one.

Chad DeBolt, search marketing director at marketing agency Surchability, says, “Visual content is processed faster and can convey complex information succinctly. For instance, embedding a video tutorial in an email led to a 20% increase in click-through rates for one of our campaigns.”

When I use multimedia in welcome emails, it makes a strong first impression with new subscribers. I also use enticing graphics to ensure ongoing engagement with email newsletters and lead nurturing campaigns.

Why multimedia emails work:

• Visuals like images, videos, and GIFs quickly capture attention.
• Multimedia elements support more dynamic storytelling.
• Interactive elements encourage engagement.

2. Basic Emails

The word “basic” may sound boring to some, but in my experience, regular emails do well because they are familiar.

Almost everyone communicates with friends and family via email at some point, so basic emails get a cognitive read bias.

Other marketers see the same, with 38% finding that basic emails highlighting relevant links provide the highest engagement.

In sales campaigns, I find a series of emails with light imagery the most effective.

For example, this simple and clear email from YouTube quickly highlights the benefits of YouTube Premium, offers free introductory pricing, and leads up to a specific action without feeling overly promotional.

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Because they read like personal emails, these basic formats are a staple in most of my sales funnel automations where I want to follow up and build relationships with potential customers.

Why basic emails work:

• The lack of distractions makes it easier to bring focus to a call-to-action.
• Minimal use of brand imagery feels less promotional.
• A conversational style supports relationship-building.

3. Discount Emails

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Everyone loves to save, myself included, so I’m not surprised promotional emails with discounts made our top four list. In fact, for 32% of marketers, these emails are the number one email type for delivering engagement.

When I’m looking to drive sales, I find that promotional codes, sales announcements, and sending free resources can provide a nice boost or pull double duty and act as reengagement emails.

However, in my experience, discounts alone don’t guarantee high engagement. Greg Zakowicz, senior ecommerce expert at marketing automation firm Omnisend, recommends that marketers include value-adds, social proof, and product recommendations to increase the engagement of offer emails.

Zakowicz says, “By using customer data such as website browsing and purchase history, brands can automatically insert customer-specific recommended products into each email, increasing the likelihood they engage.”

I’ve also found that including the promotion or special offer in your email subject lines increases open rates.

Why discount emails work:

• Discounts can help convert new customers and re-engage inactive subscribers.
• Subscribers may search inboxes specifically for discounts.
• Limited-time offers increase urgency through fear of missing out (FOMO).

4. Article Emails

Article format emails are a newcomer to this list, with 24% of marketers listing them as their highest engagement message type.

They’re also a great email example of how information gets attention. Similar in theory to blog content marketing, the articles come across less as a sales email and more as a helpful friend.

I like that these emails provide value right away by including the original content in the email instead of making readers click through to a website.

And because these emails don’t ask for a purchase, I find them to be excellent lead-nurturing emails. Since there’s no click-through to track, it also simplifies my metrics tracking to open stats.

I particularly like this example from Bloomreach which dives right into a relevant topic for its ecommerce audience. They use the article to provide valuable content, gain credibility, and create relevance around their links so readers are more likely to engage.

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Why article emails work:

• Readers get value right away without having to go to a website.
• Thought leadership doesn’t come across as sales-y.
• Articles provide relevant content for in-text links.

4 Types of Emails With the Lowest Engagement

There’s no perfect marketing email, but some fall far short compared to the highest-performing marketing email types (and may even increase the dreaded unsubscribe rates).

Let’s dive into which types of emails received the least votes from marketers when asked about performance.

1. Product/Service Announcement Emails

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Only 21% of marketers say emails announcing new products yield the most engagement. These can be less effective because they’re more sales-y than other types, and if the product isn’t relevant to a subscriber, they’ll ignore the message in their inbox.

Personally, I see announcement emails as a balancing act. Generic product announcements without a hook are almost like cold calling. However, it can pay off if I lean into personalization and advanced segmentation to get the announcement to targeted customers.

For example, let’s say you own a pet store and want to announce a new line of cat food. If you divide your email list into segments based on pet type, you can pull lists of cat owners and dog owners. Then, email the cat owners only and increase your engagement chances.

Your shopping cart abandonment lists are also great resources for targeting customers. Use abandoned cart emails to increase engagement by highlighting products your subscribers have already viewed.

Be careful to avoid sending too many, though, as too many notifications of new messages can turn customers away.

How to improve results:

• Leverage behavior-based automation triggers, such as abandoned shopping carts.
• Use advanced segmentation for increased relevance.
• Personalize the subject line or body copy.

2. Industry Content Emails

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Except for specialized industries like aviation, most customers don’t care what’s happening in our world; they are more interested in the product and service. Only 16% of marketers get the most engagement from industry-topic emails.

In my experience, I find that they lack urgency compared to other messages in my inbox. I’m likely to move these to my “Read Later” folder and completely forget about them.

That said, I still like these types of emails as a low-stakes way to nurture leads or when I’m using my email marketing strategy to establish thought leadership. The key to leveraging these kinds of emails is to let your audience know how it helps them and tie it back to your products and services.

Offering an opt-in choice for industry-related emails can also help improve engagement with this type of email by letting customers self-target. I’ve seen this most commonly for news outlets and publication websites, like the Washington Post below, but it can work for ecommerce and B2B as well.

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How to improve results:

• Let readers choose to opt in for thought leadership newsletters.
• Tie the content back to an audience pain point or goal.

3. Emails Promoting Contests/Competitions

I admit this one surprised me when I was digging through the data. Only 16% of marketers said their highest engagement emails promoted contests and competitions.

The combined effort to enter and the expectation of low winning odds may be the culprit. Plus, if you’re sending these emails during peak work hours, there’s a good chance your subscribers have higher-priority tasks on their minds.

While these types of emails may not have the highest engagement rates, they can still be a fun way to encourage subscriber participation when used in moderation.

For example, I recently received an email from Canva challenging subscribers to design a galaxy using their new Text to Image feature.

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Instead of trying to sell people the new feature, Canva encourages people to try it out by using a fun competition. As a result, people who don’t have an immediate need or use for the feature now have a reason to explore it right away.

To get the most out of email contests and competitions, I integrate social media and user-generated content to encourage engagement in a fun way — especially for existing customers.

Asking people to post media with a contest hashtag is an excellent way to get people to engage and create user-generated content (UGC) for your brand.

How to improve results:

• Integrate social media so your audience can see others participating.
• Tie contests into relevant product or service features.
• Send these emails outside of work hours.

4. Event Announcements

Falling far behind the pack, today’s busy schedules make event announcements hard to sell. Only 10% of marketers say upcoming event announcements for conferences, live streams, and webinars get the most engagement.

In my experience, time crunch and lack of urgency work against this type of email. Unlike a discount email that lets your readers save money now, an event sign-up promises the benefit later and competes with other tasks on their schedule.

I like to focus on relevance and creating urgency to boost the engagement for these emails. For example, this event invitation from Figma leverages an early bird discount offer to add immediate value and put email subscribers on the clock, both of which encourage engagement.

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Figma reinforces benefits to the customer, like networking opportunities, access to major product announcements, and expert insights on hot topics, including AI.

How to improve results:

• Include words that create urgency in the subject line and body copy.
• Use early bird discounts to create an immediate value-add.
• Tie the event details to significant subscriber benefits.

Finding the Right Types of Emails for Your Marketing Strategy

My personal results fall right in line with what other marketers are saying in our survey. As I’ve learned, the types of messages you use in your email marketing campaign impact its overall engagement and ROI.

Effective email campaigns can help you drive more sales and convert new subscribers into loyal customers.

That said, the best results have come when I combine the most effective templates with relevant email content and tools such as personalization and segmentation.

Using our survey results and my insights can help you get a jump on the competition in inboxes.

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

Fact: In 2024, basically everyone is a content creator, but not everyone is a “content creator” — at least not in the sense we’re talking about here.

Content creators are members of the creator economy, committed to building and monetizing their personal brands and audiences.

With a reputation for offering flexibility, creative freedom, and low cost to entry, “content creator” can sound like a breezy dream job. But it’s far from easy, and those who succeed deserve their flowers.

Want to be one of them? Though I haven’t earned the title “content creator” personally, content is a pillar of my life. And I certainly know the tricks of the trade. Here’s what you need to know to become a content creator and some important truths to remember.

Table of Contents

• What is a content creator?
• How to Become a Content Creator
• Tips for Aspiring Content Creators

Truth #1: The creator economy is crowded.

According to our 2024 Consumer Trends Report, one in five consumers consider themselves content creators or influencers in some form. That number jumps to 45% when we zero in on Gen Z and Millennials. But what do they do exactly?

A content creator is someone who consistently creates content on a specific topic or for a particular audience. This content can be entertaining, helpful, or educational, written, visual, or auditory.

Now, I know. This seems like a vague “catch-all” definition. Under it, you could say “content creators” have existed for centuries.

But we’re not talking about traditional performers, artists, or media folks (i.e., journalists, comedians, photographers, videographers) here.

When we say “content creators” in 2024, we mean:

• Social Media Influencers: Individuals with large, engaged audiences who value their opinions on social media.
• Podcasters: Individuals who host podcasts. (Surprise!)
• Vloggers: Individuals who post videos of their daily lives or their unique perspectives online.
• Bloggers/Writers: Creators who publish long-form written content.
• User-Generated Content (UGC) Creators: Creators who create a variety of content focused on showcasing products or offerings by brands.

Sure, the media and artists can create content too. Just look at The Dancing Weatherman, Nick Kosir.

But the title “content creator” is really reserved for individuals who focus on creating content for their digital audience and generating income through sponsorships, affiliations, and collaborations. People like Mr. Beast.

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(I mean, I highly doubt the 207 million people Linktree found claiming to be content creators worldwide all fall into this bucket. True content creators are a totally different beast. Get it?)

We also don’t mean content marketers like myself.

Content Marketers vs Content Creators

Yes, both content marketers and creators produce content to reach audiences. But there are key differences.

Content creators tend to work for themselves. Their efforts go toward building their own brands and public personas as well as creating content primarily on social media. (More on that in the next section.)

Content marketers tend to work for others. They are professionals who implement various content marketing tactics to promote other products, brands, or offerings.

This may entail creating social media content. However, it also includes articles, videos, slide decks, infographics, podcasts, website pages, emails, ad copy, and white papers.

Interested in learning more about content marketing? Check out our free Content Marketing Certification in HubSpot Academy.

What types of content can a creator make?

The world is a content creator’s oyster when it comes to the types of content they can make, especially thanks to artificial intelligence (AI).

But the most common are blog posts, podcasts, or a mix of videos, photos, and graphics on social media.

The medium or type really depends on the creator, audience, platform, or even the subject matter. For example, take a “gamer.”

If a gamer showcases a new video game, their audience will likely want to see what the game looks like. They’ll want to see the graphics in action and hear feedback on what it’s like navigating and playing. Video is best suited to meet these needs.

With 10.8 followers, streamer KaiCenat posts videos like this frequently on Twitch.

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But of course, Twitch is not the best platform for every creator or content.

Where do content creators post their content?

Statistically speaking, Epidemic Sound found TikTok to be the top platform for generating income among creators, followed by YouTube. However, what platform works for you depends on your brand and audience.

Here are some of the most popular by creator type:

• Social Media Influencers: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LTK
• Podcasters: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, YouTube
• Vloggers: YouTube, TikTok, Twitch
• Bloggers/Writers: Personal websites, Substack, Medium, Patreon
• UGC Creators: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (but honestly, wherever the brand takes them)

Consider our gamer example again. Gamers typically share things like gameplay, reviews, and hacks. Knowing this, streaming on Twitch or posting videos to YouTube makes more sense than Instagram or a podcast.

On the other hand, a fashion blogger is probably turning to Instagram and an LTK page to enable their followers to shop most easily. Think creator Smita Patel.

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But that’s enough of the basics. Let’s get to the good stuff.

How to Become a Content Creator

Truth #2: Like all good things, becoming a skilled content creator will not happen overnight, and many people will never get there.

Being a content creator requires boundless dedication and, in an algorithm-driven world, sometimes a bit of luck. But with these steps, you’ll certainly put your best foot forward in achieving your goals.

Regardless of the specifics, there are some foundational steps to becoming a truly successful content creator. Here, I’ve broken the process down into eight steps.

1. Uncover your niche and audience.

If you’re considering becoming a content creator, you likely already have an idea of the topics you want to discuss or the audience you want to reach.

Maybe you have a background as a social media manager and want to share tips with small businesses and entrepreneurs. Or perhaps you paid off a ton of debt and want to share your personal finance tips with new college grads.

Creator Christine Buzan started her career in print media and marketing, assisting on fashion photoshoots. Today, she teaches nearly 800k followers on Instagram how to pose and look their best in photographs.

Whatever you choose to focus on will be your niche or positioning, and all the content you create should align. But don’t feel pressure to settle into a niche right away.

Content creator Vanessa Lau shares that you don’t necessarily need to have a niche as soon as you get started.

“If you are just starting out, I would say that experimenting with a broader niche and broader audience is going to help you accelerate the journey of finding that niche over time,” she shared on her YouTube channel.

“The mistake that I see a lot of aspiring content creators making is they stress so much about finding a niche to the point where they don’t create any content at all,” she said.

Translation: Put your ideas out into the world and see what hits and what doesn’t.

2. Develop your style and personal brand.

Ask yourself:

• How do you stand out?
• What makes your content different?
• How will it look and feel?
• What would make someone be able to recognize it even if it wasn’t on your platform?

Your brand is what makes your content unique and special. This could include the colors and fonts you use but also music, words, or taglines. It could also be your personal style of presenting information.

The creator who immediately comes to mind for me in this respect is Lilly Singh.

Lilly Singh first became a public name as YouTuber IISuperWomanII, sharing satirical skits and vlogs about growing up in a South Asian family.

But even as her career progressed beyond this niche — acting and producing films, authoring books, and being one of the first women ever to host a late-night talk show — her signature brand and humor remained.

The key to finding your style and personal brand like Lilly? Be yourself.

Content creator Erica Schneider has built a large following on X (formerly Twitter) by sharing writing and editing tips. These are common topics, but Schneider stands out by weaving her voice and personality into everything she shares.

She suggests creators show up as themselves too.

“Sounds simple, but it’s easy to lose your voice in a sea of templated tips,” she posted. “Let your personality out. Add your unique flare. Take a stance for or against something.”

Audiences may click on your content for the information, but they come back for the personality.

Pro Tip: Other creators’ styles can inspire you, but don’t copy them. Find something that genuinely resonates with your personality and let it shine through in your content.

And, remember, style can be anything. Don’t force humor or sarcasm just because “everyone else is doing it.” Do what you’re comfortable with, and you’ll find your audience quickly.

3. Determine your platform(s).

As we discussed earlier, there are dozens of platforms to post your content. But where will you find the most success?

When deciding which one(s) to focus on, consider three things: your niche, your audience, and your content format.

Niche

Some topics are more prevalent on particular platforms than others. Furthermore, some platforms are better suited to action (such as shopping) than others.

Consider your subject matter and the action someone would usually take after learning about it. Would they want to subscribe to know more? Would they want to buy something?

You’ll want where you post your content to make sense for what you’re talking about and your audience’s behavior.

Target Audience

Posting content is pointless if it’s not getting seen by the right people. You need to meet your target audience where they already are. Publish content where they hang out.

Say you’re targeting Gen Z. YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are the social media platforms they frequent the most. Trying to reach baby boomers? Turn to Facebook. Corporate executives? Maybe your platform is LinkedIn.

Dig deep into the nuances of your target audience and buyer persona to determine where they are actively visiting. This is the fastest and easiest way to get in front of them and build a following.

Content Format

Make sure the platform you choose is optimized for your preferred content format.

For instance, if your topic calls for long-form videos, YouTube is likely your best option over TikTok, which has a maximum duration of 30 minutes.

If you share primarily static graphics, then YouTube would make no sense. Opt for Instagram.

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4. Create a content calendar.

Next, sit down and make a list of the content you plan to publish.

Success as a content creator depends on consistency. You must regularly share content related to your niche to grow and maintain your audience and relevance. So, plan ahead.

Create a content calendar for as far into the future as you can. I recommend mapping out at least two weeks and having your content ready a week before publishing so you aren’t left scrambling at the last minute.

HubSpot has a social media calendar template to help you get started.

5. Invest in any necessary tools.

For most content creators, a smartphone is the only thing they need to get started. But, if you have the means, some additional tools can give your content that little extra something.

Visual content may mean investing in graphic design software (i.e., Canva or Adobe Illustrator) or video editing tools (like CapCut). Maybe it’s a ring light or a studio backdrop.

For copy, perhaps, it’s a pro subscription to Grammarly or, for podcasts, audio editing software like Descript.

Take some to think through what might be beneficial and get your toolbox together.

6. Create!

Now for the fun part — actually creating your content.

You’ve been waiting for this, so enjoy and give it your all.

Perfection is the enemy of productivity. So don’t let it stop you from getting content published.

Bloopers and mistakes are human, and people love creators who are human. So don’t be afraid if you fumble your words or forget a point. These little things can actually make content more engaging.

Plus, the sooner you ship content, the sooner you can start analyzing what works and what doesn’t.

7. Track performance and refine.

Hitting “post” or “publish” doesn’t mean you’re done with your content. Now you need to track its performance and use that information to guide future creations.

What posts got the most views, comments, likes, and shares? What wasn’t as popular? These insights help you know what to lean into in the future.

If you’re a HubSpot user, our free Marketing Analytics tools makes tracking many of these social metrics easy.

8. Create a portfolio.

Creating for the sake of creating is great, but if you can get paid for it, that’s even better. So, this last step is all about money.

Influencer Marketing Hub says one in ten influencers makes upwards of $100k a year.

How do they do this? Well, some platforms like YouTube will pay you for creating content when you’ve built a large enough audience and engagement. But if you’re not at the level yet, you need to establish brand deals or collaborations.

A brand deal can come in many forms:

• Sponsored Post or Ad: A brand pays you or offers a free product in exchange for a post about their product on your platform.
• UGC: A brand pays you to create a piece of content for them to use on their platforms or in ads.
• Affiliation or Partnership: You talk about a brand or product and get a commission if someone buys through your referral link.

(For a deeper dive, check out our article “Affiliate Marketing for Beginners: What You Need to Know.”)

Regardless of the arrangement, a portfolio is often the first step in making it happen.

When one of your creations performs well, or you’re simply proud of it, document it in a portfolio.

Having a collection of your best work makes it easier to pitch brands you would like to work with or simply share what kind of content someone can expect.

Pro Tip: Need help building an online portfolio? HubSpot’s Content Hub is a great free solution.

 

Once you get going, remember these tips to start leveling up your game as a content creator.

1. Stay true to your brand/niche.

Once you find your brand/niche, stay true to it.

Creating content on a topic or product that is completely irrelevant to your audience or area of expertise is not only ineffective but confusing.

The content you share should be a natural fit. You should be able to speak confidently about the topic or product and with genuine passion.

Success as a content creator is all about trust and authenticity. People follow creators and influencers because they feel connected and believe they have their best interests in mind.

If something you post is off-brand or simply going in for a hard sell, your audience won’t buy it — literally and figuratively. So, be strategic about the content you post and the deals you accept.

Popular productivity expert Ali Abdaal has done a great job of staying true to his niche.

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In this video, Abdaal shares 12 productivity tools, including messaging app Slack. As a Slack Partner, he includes an affiliate link in the video’s description, offering viewers a generous discount and earning him a commission.

Now, clearly, Adbaal benefits from talking about the tool. But because it is within his niche and gives his audience relevant value, that doesn’t matter.

2. Read content about your industry every day.

Creating great content that resonates with your target audience means staying current in your industry.

This sets them up nicely to understand what’s going on in the world and how that shapes their audience’s mindset. It also enables them to react quickly and get in on trending topics or memes to stay relevant.

The Marketing Millennials — a meme account beloved by myself and many of my teammates is a master of this. Take this post after the launch of Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poet’s Department.

Subscribe to newsletters, listen to podcasts, set up alerts, and read industry publications and blogs.

Also, ask your audience what they’re reading and watching these days and follow suit. By discovering where your audience spends time online, you can learn even more about the topics and types of content they’re drawn to.

3. Write on the regular.

As content thought leader and author Ann Handley says, “Everybody writes.”

Successful content creators understand the importance of exercising their writing muscles, even if they’re not bloggers or writers by focus.

Doing so helps flesh out ideas and identify nuggets that could come to fruition later. It is also needed for creating video scripts, podcast notes, and snappy post captions.

Get in the habit of writing by doing it daily or every other day. I‘m not saying you need to write a polished, 1500-word essay on an industry-relevant topic daily. Rather, set aside 10 or 15 minutes to jot down some thoughts and ideas.

Content creator Zak Sherman shared his daily writing routine, demonstrating that you don’t need to write essays to practice writing. Even sending an email can be an exercise in crafting your words and finding your voice.

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If you run into writer’s block (even the best of us do), leverage HubSpot’s Free AI Content Writer to get you going.

4. Study your audience.

Truth #3: Content creators are often at the mercy of their audience; sometimes, those needs and expectations can feel limiting.

But ultimately, your audience is why you have the platform and influence you do. You‘ll find new opportunities to help and create if you continuously listen to them.

One of the most important qualities of all successful content creators is that they know their audience inside and out. Keep a pulse on yours.

Tracking and analyzing specific metrics can help determine if your content resonates with your audience.

For instance, a high open rate tells you your subject line spoke to your subscribers if you have a newsletter. A high click-through rate lets you know that people wanted to know more about what you wrote about.

Look for key behaviors, interests, and trends and respond accordingly with your content.

If you’re still stuck, ask your audience directly. Tools like SurveyMonkey or even Instagram Polls and Question Stickers make it easy to reach an engaged audience.

The people who are genuinely invested in your content and brand will be more than happy to share feedback.

5. Curate other people’s content (when it makes sense to).

There’s no shortage of people curating content these days.

In fact, curation is built into most platforms in the form of “shares,” “retweets,” and “repost with your thoughts.”

But successful content creators know it’s not enough to simply republish relevant news as is. Sharing how the information is relevant to you is key.

Freelance writer and content creator Kat Boogaard offers a weekly newsletter to subscribers who want her tips and insights on freelancing. One section of the newsletter is dedicated to other relevant resources.

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Get in the habit of curating content when you have something valuable to add.

Now that you’ve started scouring the internet regularly for industry news, you probably have a wider depth of knowledge than you think.

6. Offer solutions, not just commentary.

While sharing your thoughts is important, don’t stop there.

The people consuming your content aren’t interested in just hearing you talk — at least not all the time. They come looking to satisfy specific needs. Provide actionable tips and walk them through the solutions you’re suggesting.

This is a tip Stylist Nina Walder regularly implements in her content.

Here, you’ll notice she verbally tells viewers to “save and follow for more tips.” She also includes steps to access her free course in the caption.

This is similar to what content marketers do when publishing an article and ending with a call-to-action to a relevant offer. We give readers value through the article content and provide them with direction on what to do next with the offer.

7. Understand your metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs).

I can’t lie to you: I don’t like metrics. I often try to run from them, but they catch up to me as they’re crucial to reaching any goal. That includes becoming a successful content creator.

Publishing content doesn‘t mean you’ll automatically catapult to fame. Rather, your audience and impact will hopefully improve and grow slowly.

Tracking KPIs is how you monitor that growth is happening and ensure that it does. Let me explain.

A KPI is a specific metric you’ve chosen to measure how well your content is doing against your goals. For example, if I want to reach more people on YouTube, my KPI may be channel subscribers. To reach my goal, I would:

1. See where my subscriber number sits currently.
2. Set a number and a date by which I would like to reach it.
3. Look at the subscriber number regularly (say weekly) to ensure my work is leading to that growth.

Some other KPIs that content creators might track include:

• Number of impressions or views
• Number of shares
• Number of comments
• Number of followers
• Click-through rate (if you have a link or call-to-action present)

Monitoring metrics can also help your plan and refine your content strategy.

8. Network at every opportunity.

Great content creators know they didn’t get where they are today alone. It’s also thanks to those who taught, inspired, and pushed them to think differently. They know that there is always more to learn and to be open to new ideas.

Networking forces you to do just that. It‘s a time to connect but also listen to outside points of view.

Never miss an opportunity to get in the room with fellow creators and learn from them. That means online (they aren’t called social networks for nothing) but also in person. Attend conferences, meet-ups, and workshops.

Have business cards or your QR codes handy to stay in touch. These connections can lead to learning and professional opportunities.

9. Question everything.

Great content creators are curious by nature; curious about their existing knowledge as well as the world around them. It’s these thoughts that lead to engaging content.

So, get in the habit of questioning the status quo.

Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to play devil’s advocate. Taking a less popular view on a topic can be difficult at first, but it helps you stand out and attract an audience who will be interested in what else you have to say.

Critical thinkers make great content creators.

‘Create’ Your Own Destiny

Truth #4: Not everyone has what it takes to be a content creator.

But don’t let this scare you.

Becoming a content creator essentially means becoming an entrepreneur, and the scale of your success is in your hands.

It takes confidence to put yourself out there, but humility is needed to recognize that you have to put the work in to stand out from the competition.

It takes originality, authenticity, fierce dedication, keen strategy, and a great deal of self-management, resilience, and organization.

Just know that being a successful content creator starts with passion.

If you are passionate about your niche and audience and the value or message you have to share with the world, the steps outlined above will be a breeze.

And more than anything, you’ll be in a prime position to launch a well-thought-out and fruitful content creation career.

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

Peggy, Lou, and Dawn are characters on Mad Men, the 60s period drama about one of Madison Avenue’s most prestigious, albeit fictional, advertising agencies. Peggy is one of the firm’s copywriters, responsible for writing (and pitching) ad copy. Lou is her boss, the creative director. Dawn, a secretary, keeps everyone organized.

The trio are meeting about a new account, a watch company called Accutron.

“Oh,” says Peggy. She’s looking at Lou. “You didn’t pick a tagline.”

“Sure, I did.” Lou looks at his secretary. “Dawn, what did I say?”

Dawn flips through her notes. “You said, ‘Just In Time To Be On Time.'”

“That wasn’t one of the choices—” Peggy interjects. “I think that was a digression.”

“How about ‘Accutron Is Accurate,’” Lou says. “That was one of the choices, I’m positive.”

Peggy lowers her chin. “I like ‘It’s Time For A Conversation,'” she says. She’s smiling, making eye contact. She’s selling now. “I think that one’s more finished.”

The director looks back at her. He’s peering over his glasses now. “And I think you’re putting me in the position of saying, I don’t care what you think.”

When you finish writing a tagline, it’s not done.

It’s not done until someone else reads it, nods, and says, “That’s the one.”

Indeed, every creative person is a salesperson, too. In copywriting — or any advertising discipline, for that matter — the powers that be must buy into your work, your idea or concept or turn of phrase.

“To sell work I could be proud of,” said art director George Lois, “I’ve had to rant, rave, threaten, shove, push, cajole, persuade, wheedle, exaggerate, flatter, manipulate, be obnoxious, be loud, occasionally lie, and always sell, passionately!”

That’s one approach, I guess. But what if you’re not in a position to “threaten” or “shove” or “push” your boss? Or, what if acting this way — aggressive and domineering — feels unnatural to you? Or uncomfortable? Or, erm … illegal? Then keep reading because this Mad Men scene provides some alternative advice, some timeless wisdom I, as a copywriter, wish I’d known sooner:

Chicago, 2014.

I feel nervous. I shake out my hands, take a breath, and knock on the door.

I hear my CEO’s muffled voice. “Come in.”

I crack the door and peek through the opening. “Hey, Rick,” I say. “I’m a bit early—”

Rick is looking at his monitor, typing. “No problem.” He looks up and smiles. “Early is good.” He slurps some coffee. “Come on in.” He puts the mug down with a thud. “Close the door.”

I purse my lips, nod, and step into his office, closing the door behind me. Rick gestures at one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat,” he says. I sit down. “How’s your first week going?”

I’m a copywriter, four days into my first role at Rick’s marketing agency. It’s a small, busy shop, specializing in lead-gen websites. I was hired on the back of my direct marketing experience and told I’d be focusing on writing conversion assets — landing pages, email campaigns, banner ads — but I could be tapped for other projects, too.

“Oh,” I say, “I love it here. Everybody’s been so welcoming.”

“Great to hear.” Rick crosses his arms and leans back. “I’ve got a project for you.”

“Sure.”

“I want you to write us a new tagline.”

He has some more coffee. “Or would it be a slogan?” He put the mug down. “I dunno.”

The difference is nuanced but taglines and slogans aren’t interchangeable. Basically, a tagline supports the goals of a business while a slogan supports the goals of a specific campaign. A tagline is a branding tool. A slogan is a marketing tool. A tagline should differentiate the brand — and it’s there for the long haul: could be years, or even decades. A slogan should express the campaign’s specific idea or message — and it has a shorter shelf life. A tagline is more or less perennial. A slogan will change with every campaign.

“I think a tagline,” I say. “If it’s for the business in general.”

“Yes, a tagline,” Rick says. “Can you bring me a few options by next week?” he asks. “Is that enough time?”

Writing a tagline doesn’t have to be complicated.

It can be. That is, you can make it so … but it can also be simple.

You can’t make it easy, unfortunately. It’s still creative work, fraught with decisions and self-doubt and, sometimes, agony. But having a process — a series of clear, reliable steps — can make it simple, less daunting.

For example, most taglines are synthesized expressions of either:

• A brand’s unique selling proposition, or USP, the claim or benefit nobody else can make, the thing that makes your product different, exclusive.
• A brand’s positioning statement, or PS, what you do for a specific market.

So, to write a tagline, simply start by writing out your PS or USP in as many words as necessary. Then, edit for brevity and concision: cut the word count in half once, twice, three times. Doing fine. Keep going until you’re left with a sentence, one line. Then, put down the ax. It’s time to finesse, to make your tagline attractive to the masses:

• Make it clear. No fancy jargon, please. Fancy words are usually big. And a big word will never impress The Reader as much as a big idea, clearly expressed. Good copy, first and foremost, is understood.
• Make it beneficial. During his career, copywriter John Caples tested thousands of headlines. “The best headlines appeal to people’s self-interest,” he said. So, act accordingly. Your tagline is the headline for your business. Tell folks what’s in it for them.
• Make it amusing. Puns, rhymes, wordplay, metaphors. These things are fun. People like fun. (We remember it, too.)

Done? Fantastic! Now, rinse and repeat. Go again, and again, and again. Quality comes from quantity because volume is illuminating: the more you write, the less precious and more objective you’ll be about each line, which is the point.

“The fewer ideas you have,” said screenwriter Scott Dikkers, “the more weight each idea holds in your mind.”

Indeed, as a copywriter, fetishizing one “darling” tag is counterproductive. Stifling your ideation prevents you from doing your best work. Instead, have many tags, many options. Don’t start with only three or four or five. There’s not enough there, not enough slack. You’ll be forced to settle. Better to start with 20 or even more — and pare down. The more you cut, the better. Eventually, you’ll start cutting ideas you actually like. This is the mark of true progress.

“Kill your darlings,” said Stephen King. “Kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart.”

Yes, kill your darlings. It’s the only way to produce your finest work, which is also the only work you should be putting in front of clients. If you’re asked to bring “a few options,” each one must be viable.

If you wouldn’t want an idea to get picked, don’t bring it to the table. I learned this the hard way:

“Next week is fine,” I tell Rick. “I’ll turn it around.”

A week later, I’m in his office again. This time, I have a handful of tags for him to review.

“Great work, Ed—” he says, flipping through the deck I created. “What’s your favorite?”

I had one, the clear winner in my opinion. “This,” I say without hesitation, pointing at the screen.

Rick’s face turns sour. “Eh,” he says, “I prefer this one.” He’s pointing somewhere else. “Let’s go with this one.”

I lower my chin. “I really like this one,” I say. I’m smiling, making eye contact. I’m selling now, explaining my decisions: the clarity of the message, the inclusion of a benefit, the creativity of the phrasing. “It’s gotta be this one,” I say, pointing at my option.

Rick looks back at me. He’s pursing his lips now. “Yeah,” he says, pointing at his option, “it’s this one for me.”

Murphy’s Law tells us, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”

Copywriter’s Law tells us something similar:

“Any idea that can be picked, will be picked.”

“Why would you put something in front of me that you don’t want me to pick?” says Lou.

“Because you told me to give you two ideas,” says Peggy.

Lou takes a beat. “You apparently only gave me one.”

The first step in any successful project is drawing up a game plan with a clear objective. It’s one of the reasons marketers love creative briefs.

A creative brief acts as a roadmap that takes a project from ideation to completion. It ensures the scope, timeline, key stakeholders, and purpose of the project are communicated clearly.

The creative brief is the single source of truth for everyone working on a project. If questions come up or tasks become unclear, the creative brief will steer things in the right direction.

The Purpose of a Creative Brief

Whether you’re a consultant pitching a creative brief to a client, or a project manager presenting a brief to your team, start by speaking with the project stakeholders.

These discussions will help you understand the company’s mission, project goals, and challenges your team faces. Then, you’ll have enough information to write a compelling brief that focuses on what’s really important to your company or client.

The idea of a creative brief sounds simple, but it can be hard to wrap a lot of important details into just a few pages. Therefore, a creative brief is typically comprised of eight sections that can fit on one to two pages.

How a Creative Brief Works

Creative briefs are pretty standard documents within just about every marketing, advertising, or design team.

For smaller projects that live in-house (like designs, templates, marketing assets, etc.) the brief is owned by the team who will be executing on the information in the brief.

This is usually the creative team, but this team can fall within the brand department or even live within marketing.

For more advanced, long-term projects that involve an agency, the creative brief is owned by the creative team or agency who will be executing the work.

This is because they’ll work closely with the stakeholders on the project to understand what is needed, plus they’ll bring their own expertise and competitive research to the brief that the internal team may not have access to.

These types of creative briefs aren’t rare, but they are created infrequently due to the nature of the projects they support. So for this post, we’ll focus mostly on the day-to-day creative briefs that you’re likely to use often. Here’s how they work.

Step 1. The teams who need assistance from the creative team will retrieve the creative brief template from a repository like OneDrive, Google Drive, or an online form.

Step 2. The team that is requesting the project will complete the brief according to their team’s needs and goals. The completion of the creative brief starts with the team requesting the project so that they can explain their vision and goals clearly to the creative team.

Step 3. From there, the brief is sent back to the creative team to review. They’ll be looking for timelines, resources, and budget requirements.

Step 4. If they have any questions, they’ll go back to the team who wrote the brief and finalize the details.

Step 5. After that, the project is kicked off, sometimes with the help of a project manager, who will check-in with stakeholders on the project and keep everything on schedule, within scope, and within budget.

Step 6. Once the project is complete, both teams will review the deliverables against the creative brief to ensure everything is completed correctly.

The format of every company’s creative brief might vary slightly to suit the needs of the project or client. Below is a simple outline that will be the foundation of your creative brief.

It includes the most important steps in the creative process and information that’ll be relevant to stakeholders involved in the project.

Once you’re fully informed and ready to write, use the following steps to draft yours. To make it even easier, I’ve included a fill-in-the-blank template in the last step.

1. Decide on a name for the project.

The first step in developing a creative brief is deciding on a project name. This might sound simple, but it’s one of the most critical components of a creative brief.

If you’re building a campaign around a brand new product or service, the campaign name will be the first time many members of your team will be introduced to it.

Referring to the campaign (and therefore product or service) by the correct name prevents the game of telephone from happening. Without a specific and clear campaign name, people will make up their own terminology which can alter the intent of the campaign.

To create a project or campaign name for your creative brief, keep it creative and brief. A few words or a short sentence should work just fine.

If you’re launching a product, identify what the call to action will be for the target audience, then center the name around that. Here are a few examples of fictional campaign names:

• The Search for Adventure Campaign- A scavenger hunt-themed amusement park.
• The Don’t Forget Your Memories Campaign – A photo frame company.
• The “What’s hotter than Pepperco hot sauce?” Campaign – A hot sauce brand.

2. Write about the brand and summarize the project’s background.

Another simple, yet essential section is the company background. If you work in an agency setting, this is non-negotiable as your team is likely handling several client campaigns at once.

However, if you’re developing a creative brief for an in-house project, you’ll still want to include this part. New hires on your team, freelancers, and vendors will appreciate the background that your internal team is already privy to.

The company background shouldn’t be a general history of the company or a copied and pasted paragraph from the about page. Instead, tailor this to the project at hand.

Set the scene with one or two sentences that sum up the brand’s mission. Follow this with a few sentences that give background on the brand and what led to the development of the project.

While some creatives have put this information all together in a quick paragraph, others separate it with headers like “Brand Statement” and “Background.”

Here are some questions to consider when writing a company background for your creative brief:

• Has the company launched a campaign like this before?
• Why is the company choosing to launch this campaign right now?
• What’s happening in the market and how will this campaign respond to it?

3. Highlight the project objective.

Here is where the creative brief gets more specific. The project objective should briefly explain the purpose of the project, the timeline, and the audience it’ll target. This can be done in a sentence or two, but you can get creative and stylize it in sections.

This part of the creative brief will be helpful in emphasizing why the project needs to happen. The goal aspects will help you and your team align on the project’s expectations.

If the company or client hasn’t identified any major challenges, you can focus this section on goals and objectives. Explain what a successful project looks like and how it will benefit the company.

Pro Tip: Writing a project objective is very similar to writing a goal, so take a look at this blog post for more detail on goal and objective writing.

Here’s an example of a sample creative brief for PayPal that offers separate sections for “The Problem” and “The Goal”:

4. Describe the target audience.

Next, it’s time to define the target audience for the project. This is the segment of your market that will directly benefit from the product or service being launched.

You can take audience segmentation a step further by identifying a primary and secondary audience. Doing so will give your team more freedom to explore creative ideas that might resonate with one group more than the other.

When crafting the target audience section, be sure to include the following:

• Demographics – Simple demographic information gives your team insight into exactly who the audience is. This includes data points like age, income, education, ethnicity, and occupation.
• Behaviors – Buying behaviors, trends, and other customer history make up the target audience behaviors. These provide important context to the creative brief because they explain where the customer is in their buyer journey.
• Psychographics – This is how the audience thinks and feels about your brand and the product or service you sell, in general.
• Geographics – Digital, physical, and hybrid campaigns will benefit from having geographics stated explicitly in the creative brief so that media buyers can price ad slots in each market.

Pro Tip: Your creative brief shouldn’t be too long, and this section can take up quite a bit of space. To make this section more digestible, consider using buyer personas.

Here’s how the sample brief for PayPal noted above thoughtfully explains a new product’s target audience:

5. Interpret the competitive landscape.

Knowing what your competitors are doing is advantageous for the whole team.

You can use competitive data to come up with ideas that haven’t been tried yet, learn from their failed projects, or build a project that improves on a strategy they’ve used in the past.

Include a quick list of competitors with similar product or service offerings.

Briefly list a few things your company has in common with them, how your brand has differentiated itself already, and a few areas where this project can help you get ahead.Get Your Free Templates

6. Prepare the key message.

The key message can be the most difficult part of the creative brief to develop because just about every stakeholder will have a different opinion of what it should be.

To get buy-in faster, try this simple trick. Ask yourself “We’re launching this project, so what?” The “so what?” is your key message. It explains why your target audience should stop what they’re doing and pay attention to your campaign.

The key message includes the pain point, what the audience’s experience might be like without the pain point, and the benefit they’ll receive as a result of your company’s solution.

This framework places the customer in the spotlight of the campaign. Instead of telling them what this product or service could do for them, it positions them as the main character in the journey from problem to solution.

7. Choose the key consumer benefit.

If you’re launching a new product, there are likely several features and benefits that the target audience will experience when they decide to purchase it. However, it’s very difficult to structure a campaign around several different features.

That’s why marketers and creatives use something called a key consumer benefit (KCB) in the creative brief to keep everyone aligned on the primary benefit being communicated.

To choose the right KCB, you’ll want to get input from the project stakeholders and rely on consumer data to guide the decision.

Pro Tip: Your KCB won’t always be the fanciest feature of your product. The benefit that solves the biggest problem for your audience is a great choice for the KCB.

8. Select an attitude.

The tone and voice of your campaign create the overall attitude and that should be consistent throughout every creative element that’s being developed.

Identifying a few adjectives that describe the attitude of the campaign can help copywriters draft copy that sends the correct message within the right context.

Graphic designers can use colors and techniques to portray the tone and voice as well.

In this section of the brief, you should also note the appropriate voice for your audience. While some audiences, like those in the business world, prefer more formal language, others might engage more with a casual, relatable tone.

To substantiate your decision to choose a particular brand voice and tone, you could write something like, “Our brand voice is a casual and carefree tone because it speaks to younger Gen-Z audiences.”

Pro tip: Use a thesaurus to find specific words that evoke nuanced emotions and attitudes for a hyper-targeted campaign.

9. Determine the best call to action.

Finally, your audience needs something to do once they see your campaign. The good thing about CTAs is that they don’t have to be physical actions.

A CTA could have a goal to change thoughts and perceptions about your brand which doesn’t require the audience to do anything at all.

Your creative brief might include several different CTAs, especially if you have a primary and secondary target audience. But it’s a good idea to have one primary CTA that drives the project objective we talked about earlier.

10. Draft the distribution plan.

When the project is done, you’ll need to make sure your audience actually sees it. List a few channels or platforms on which you plan to announce the launch, as well as any promotional content you plan to create.

When drafting this section, think about your target audience. Don’t waste time on a promotional strategy that they won’t see.

For example, if you’re promoting a project to Gen-Z, you’ll want to invest in social media rather than billboards or newspaper ads.

11. Share the creative brief with stakeholders.

Once you’ve drafted a creative brief, share it with the team you’ll be working with. You’ll also want to circulate it around the company via Slack, email, or presentations.

If you’re a consultant working outside of a client’s company, encourage your clients to share the brief internally.

As you or your clients spread awareness, you should be open to answering questions or taking feedback from colleagues in case they have any great ideas.

This strategy will improve team alignment, increase support of the project, and ensure that all of your colleagues are on the same page.

Follow Along with HubSpot’s Free Creative Brief Templates

 

Download Now

Creative Brief Templates

Having trouble with the flow and organization of your brief? Here are simple templates that could help. Copy and paste into a document and fill in the blanks. You can also add to the templates or adjust them as needed for your project.

Download More Creative Brief Templates

[Inset company or client logo at the top along with the project name.]

COMPANY BACKGROUND:

For ___ years, ______ [Brand Name] has been serving customers in the ____________ [group/job field/geographical area] with ____________________ [product or service].

[Brand Name] has made achievements including __________,__________, and ___________. We have also launched marketing campaigns that have touched on ____________,________, and ____________. With the launch of _________ [project name] they hope to ___________.

PROJECT OBJECTIVE:

With this project, the company aims to solve problems related to ____________________, while also expanding on ___________ and improving on _____________.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Our target audience is ____ [gender], in the age range of _ and _, and live areas like ____, _____, and ______. They enjoy _____, dislike ______, and might work in fields like _____, _____, and _____. They want more of ________ and their daily pain points include ________.

Their favorite products might include _______ and ______. They learn about these products through channels including ________, _________, and _______.

COMPETITORS:

Our three biggest competitors [are/will be] ________, ________, and _______. These competitors offer _____, ______, and ______. We are ahead of them in _____ and ______, but we are behind when it comes to product offerings like __________ and _________.

KEY MESSAGE:

The target audience is experiencing __________ [pain point], but with our newest project ___________, they’ll get to experience _________ [new experience without the pain point]. That’s what makes ______ [solution] an unrivaled solution within the market.

KEY CONSUMER BENEFIT:

________ [feature] is the best way for our target audience to experience _____ [benefit].

ATTITUDE:

[Include three to five adjectives that describe the tone and voice of the project.]

CALL TO ACTION:

When the target audience sees our campaign, they will [feel/think/do] _________.

DISTRIBUTION:

We will promote the launch on platforms and channels that our demographic regularly engages with. These will include ________, ________, and _______.

We will also release content including _______, _______, and ________ to gain attention from our audience and inform them of the project.

Below are a few messages we will use:

• _________________________________________________.
• _________________________________________________.
• _________________________________________________.

Here are more templates to consider:

1. Simple Campaign Creative Brief

2. Video Creative Brief

3. Simple Client Creative Brief

 

 

 

Types of Creative Briefs

Creative briefs serve several purposes in the communications field. Marketers, designers, and advertisers use them differently. Depending on your role, your team, and the project you’re working on, one might be more effective than the other. Below are some of the most common types of creative briefs used across industries today plus examples of what they might look like.

1. Marketing Creative Briefs

A marketing creative brief is most commonly used to bring campaigns to market. This type of creative brief can be used for both new and existing campaigns. Broad business goals and strategies to accomplish them are usually included in this type of creative brief. It’s also not uncommon to see revenue goals and a budget included in a marketing creative brief.

Simple Marketing Creative Brief Example

2. Product Design Creative Briefs

Product design creative briefs outline the go-to-market strategy for a new product or feature launch. Product marketers are responsible for developing this type of brief. Developed in conjunction with the product manager, the product design creative brief will describe the features and benefits of the product and how the audience will benefit from them. Unique features of this type of creative brief include product documentation and product descriptions.

Product Design Creative Brief Example

3. Advertising Agency Creative Briefs

Advertising agencies develop creative briefs often for the various clients they serve. These briefs are concise and include the client’s brand guidelines as well as the specific project guidelines. A budget may also be included in the brief so that all teams can make wise decisions about the tactics they recommend for the client. An account manager or supervisor develops the creative brief and shares it with client stakeholders before the agency begins working on the project.

Advertising Agency Creative Brief Example

Creative Brief Examples

1. Creative Request Template

For the day-to-day management of creative projects, using a creative request template in Asana acts as a dynamic take on a traditionally static creative brief. With a few tweaks to suit your business’s needs, this template flows through each stage of the project while specifying tasks, deliverables, and key points that need to be included in the project. Moreover, Asana provides several types of views that make this template easy to look at from a calendar view, list view, board view, and timeline view so you’ll always know the progress of your project in relation to the creative brief.

When to Use This Creative Brief:

This creative brief example is great for marketing, brand, creative, and design teams who handle a large backlog of projects with stakeholders on many different teams. Use this brief for both ad-hoc and regularly occurring projects.

2. Creative Brief Presentation Template

This creative brief example was designed by TemplateForest. It’s a visual-forward example of a brief that works well for long-term projects like building a business or refreshing a brand. This longer brief includes a variety of information from internal brand insights to an external competitive analysis.

When to Use This Creative Brief:

Use this creative brief when you’re partnering with a creative agency on bigger projects. They can use this layout to inspire a creative brief that fits the needs of your business.

3. Red Bull

Image source 

This creative brief is straightforward and simple. The only eye-catching visual is the use of the brand’s logo. However, all the necessary information is included. 

When to Use this Creative Brief

Use this kind of brief when you want a straightforward document detailing your brand’s longterm creative projects.

4. Quaker 

Image source

This Creative Brief by Quaker lays out the brand’s problem, plan, and guidelines and includes visually appealing graphics to drive home the brief’s point. 

When to Use this Creative Brief

A brief like the one above is most useful if your organization is embarking on a long-term project or if there’s a lot of information and data that needs to be conveyed in an understandable manner.

5. Graphic Design Creative Template 

Image source

This template is designed to allow graphic designers to gather important information from clients so that they designer can create a product that is aligned with the client’s vision.

When to Use this Creative Brief 

Briefs like this work best when working with clients on detailed projects. 

6. Nike Creative Brief

Image source

This creative brief example for Nike features all the crucial information a brief should include while utilizing the Nike logo and symbols to create visual interest. 

When to Use this Creative Brief 

A brief like this serves the same purpose as the Quaker brief. If you have a lot information to convey, including symbols and interesting colors will help the information stick out and remain top of mind. 

Streamline Projects with a Creative Brief

Scope creep happens to the best of us. Projects get bigger, stakeholders are added, and the objective of the project seems to morph as time goes on.

Streamline your next product launch or marketing and advertising campaign with a creative brief. As a result, you’ll find that your team is more aligned with the project’s goals.

We’ve even provided free creative brief templates to get you started — download them below.

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

Welcome to Trends, a weekly newsletter with the zestiest business trends and actionable insights for entrepreneurs.

So you’re cruising along on Instagram, and see an ad for a newsletter that grabs your attention.

You give the ad a click, and enter your email to subscribe.

That publisher has aced everything up until that point with:

• An enticing message on their ad
• Placed in front of you on the right platform
• A landing page that got you to convert

But after you click “subscribe”, something a little different happens…

SparkLoop’s co-registration widget. Tricky dicky.

This publisher (who you only know from the ad they served you moments ago) is recommending other newsletters.

All of the newsletters are pre-selected, and unless you read very carefully, you’re likely to hit the big pink box at the bottom of the screen and move on with your life.

But let’s look at the newsletters that were recommended:

• An AI healthcare newsletter 💊
• A travel deals newsletter ✈️
• A newsletter about the Greek real estate market 🇬🇷
• A newsletter for entrepreneurs 📈
• And a sports newsletter 🏈

Um. What. 

Moments later, your inbox looks like this.

Here’s what’s happening:

👉 The newsletter you wanted to subscribe to is getting paid by every newsletter they’re recommending, so long as you meet some “engagement” criteria (more on that later).

👉 At a minimum, they’re off-setting the ad spend they used to acquire you, but they might be earning more from recommendations than they’re spending on ads —

Which makes them profitable before you ever even receive a newsletter from them.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is “audience arbitrage”.

And it’s either the best or the worst trend to ever grab the newsletter industry, depending on who you talk to…

Arbitrage Is What Now?

If you’re not a securities trader, you may not know what arbitrage means, so let’s break this down.

In the case of securities (where arbitrage is a formidable strategy) it means simultaneously buying a security and selling it at a higher price.

Don’t worry. We’ll explain. Source: Tenor

But this concept extends to other commodities as well.

For instance, Ebay and Amazon have made retail arbitrage incredibly popular over the last decade. Here’s how it works:

• People run around town, buying up name-brand shit at liquidation / clearance sales.
• Then they sell it on Amazon at market price for a profit.

According to Andy Craig, Amazon expert and founder of AdHabit, “You can make good money. It can be a good side-hustle. But it’s not really a business.”

Now, thanks to co-registration tools like SparkLoop and Beehiiv’s newsletter recommendation widgets, the same thing is happening with newsletters.

And audiences are the commodity.

Here’s a visual aid to explain the process.

Does This Really Work?

Arthur Freydin, an e-comm growth expert and owner of Newsletter Blueprint, set out to do this with a totally automated newsletter — Today’s Workout.

Arthur uses a number of platforms, but his recipe boils down to:

1. Acquisition: Meta Ads
2. Monetization: SparkLoop (a newsletter referral platform)
3. Automation: Make.com (a no-code workflow platform)

After clicking on one of Arthur’s Meta ads, subscribers are:

👉 Funneled to a WordPress landing page.

👉 Monetized immediately upon signup with SparkLoop’s co-registration widget (this is the true audience arbitrage piece).

👉 And for good measure, they’re monetized three more times with offers by Uptick, ClickBank, and Amazon.

Holy mother of popups. Source: Today’s Workout onboarding flow.

But the true magic lies in how Arthur is able to send out an automated newsletter every day without touching a thing:

👉 Make.com generates a prompt for ChatGPT to write a “fitness workout of the day”.

👉 ChatGPT writes all of the content for that day’s post, and sends it back to Make.com.

👉 Make.com formats the content for a web post and an email newsletter, including SEO considerations.

👉 Then Make.com retrieves referral boosts (recommendations in the email for other newsletters) for placement in the email from SparkLoop via API so that day’s send can be monetized.

👉 Finally, Make.com automatically publishes the web version to WordPress (which is monetized via Google AdSense), and sends the newsletter version out to subscribers using MailerLite (which is monetized by SparkLoop).

Here’s how the whole thing looks:

Holy moly. Well crafted. 👏

This entire thing took Arthur about a week to set up. He’s netting ~$1.2k per month (~70% margin) — and he reckons if he took some more time to hone it, he could increase earnings 3X or more.

So What’s The Catch?

While audience arbitrage using co-registration seems like a no-brainer for newsletter monetization and growth, it comes with substantial risks.

Risk #1: Your Brand 

“Co-registration completely disregards the human experience,” announced Adam Ryan, former President of The Hustle, and co-founder of the community-centric media brand Workweek on stage at a recent conference…

…which was sponsored by SparkLoop. 😬

“Publications forget that their audiences are people.”

So if you’re trying to make a quick buck with a throwaway brand, it can work — as long as you keep your subscriber acquisition cost below your rate of monetization.

But if you’re trying to build trust with your audience, it’s probably not a good idea to group yourself in with a bunch of random newsletters chaotically crowding the inbox of your ideal subscriber (who you just spent time and money to strategically acquire).

Risk #2: Your Sender Health

While this is an issue for everyone, it especially impacts those who are using co-registration tools for growth as well as monetization.

When quick-moving or unassertive audiences accidentally sign up for six newsletters (when they only meant to sign up for one), they’re in for a heck of a surprise in their inbox.

And what happens when you start sending people a ton of unwanted emails?

Your sender health and deliverability goes to shit. 

Which means you might start landing in spam with the subscribers who genuinely want to hear from you, or with new rules that Google and Yahoo recently implemented, you could get shut out of inboxes completely.

“Proceed with extreme caution when it comes to co-registration tools like SparkLoop,” says Tyler Cook, email deliverability expert and founder of Hypermedia Marketing.

Risk #3: Opaque Engagement Reporting

When you’re monetizing your newsletter with co-registration platforms like Beehiiv and SparkLoop, you only get paid for a successful referral when the subscriber meets the engagement criteria set by the newsletter you’re recommending.

But those metrics often get incorrectly reported at the individual level, and there are a number of ever-evolving ways email service providers are protecting receiver data (a whole ‘nother topic…).

So it’s kinda like trusting a blindfolded accountant to do your books. They might get some of it right, but there’s really no way to know.

And for those in growth mode? Get ready for hoards of unqualified subscribers.

So while it’s definitely the newsletter strategy du jour, audience arbitrage may not have what it takes to survive.

Part of the reason I went into marketing is because I love creating. It’s also why the topic of the best AI for images intrigues me. 

I love writing (surprise), cooking, design, and photography. I also used to paint and sew. But thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), you no longer have to be a lifelong creative to turn an idea into a visual reality. 

AI image generators help anyone create visuals that are weird, wonderful, and … weirdly wonderful. (Remember the Willy Wonka debacle in Glasgow?)

But how exactly do they work and what’s the best AI image generator for marketers? I tested the top options for you. Here’s the scoop.

Table of Contents

• How do AI image generators work?
• How I Tested the Best AI for Images
• The Best AI Image Generators

How do AI image generators work? 

Plagiarism is a big concern with even the best AI image generators. And it makes sense considering the very nature of how they work. AI image generators create by reimagining things that already exist. They don’t copy. They borrow and recycle. 

How It Works:

1. The AI is “trained” on millions of existing images, descriptions, and captions available across the internet. This is how it “learns” what things look like and what they are called. 
2. When you enter a prompt into a tool, the AI reaches into its memory of those images and captions. 
3. The AI produces an image or selection of images it believes fit your prompt. 

Think of it like a contemporary singer sampling a song from a bygone era. They’ve made it their own, but pieces of the original are still there and recognizable. 

(Author’s note: Britney Spears’ Bollywood sample in “Toxic” will always be a work of art on its own, of course.) 

How I Tested the Best AI for Images

AI image generation can get pretty wild. You can create images in any style and of practically anything. 

For instance, I made one of “a photorealistic orange rabbit wearing a traditional Indian sari and playing an acoustic guitar” using Google’s Gemini. 

Then I asked for an electric guitar:

Why exactly? Well, as I’m sure many people justify their oddball AI creations: Because I could.

For the purpose of this article, I focused on a common marketing use case: creating an original image for a blog article.

I tested nine of the most popular AI image generators and evaluated them on their speed, ease of use, and image quality.

To fairly compare the options, I also eliminated variables by:

• Using the same prompt
• Requesting the same edit to the original prompt

I also ran each tool three times after each prompt, giving them a fair opportunity to deliver. Consider these my “trials.” This is science after all. 

The prompt: “Generate an image of a young marketing executive presenting information on a television screen in front of a small group of teammates”

The edit: Generate a photo-realistic image of a young marketing executive presenting information on a television screen in front of a small group of teammates.

Let’s get started. 

The Best AI Image Generators

1. Midjourney

Midjourney is considered one of the most powerful generative AI tools out there, so my expectations for its image generator were high. It focuses on creating artistic and stylized images and is popular for its high quality.

Pricing: $10-120 per month, depending on the plan. 

Test Results:

I’m used to the chatbot setup of ChatGPT, so Midjourney wasn’t what I expected. 

To create, you have to join the Midjourney Discord channel (similar to Slack). From there, you use keyboard commands within chats to have the Midjourney bot perform your desired tasks.

In this instance, I had to join a  “newbie” chat (there were several to choose from) and enter the command “/imagine” followed by my prompt. Then, the Midjourney bot processed my request (and sometimes those of others simultaneously.)

It delivered four images with each trial. 

From there, I could click numbered buttons underneath the images to get “upscales” (U) or variations (V) of a particular image. It isn’t entirely clear to a “newbie” what an upscale or variation means. 

Personally, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this process. Anyone in the chat can see your prompt and results and even download them for their own use. Your results could also quickly be buried by others, and you’d have to scroll up to find them. 

Speaking of results, they were quick but varied in quality. 

The AI delivered a variety of styles and included some diversity in its human subjects (no glaring issues with features), but it produced the same settings and poses in each option. 

Also, there was no clear way to edit the images created. I tried responding to the bot to no avail. 

My second prompt resulted in less photo-realistic images — even though I specified that’s what I wanted:

Overall, I have to say I was disappointed by Midjourney. Navigating was frustrating and didn’t produce the quality I expected from the hype.

Someone with more experience in Discord or prompting it might yield better results, but it didn’t win me over. 

What I like:

• Fast (images in under 60 seconds)
• Multiple images at once

What can be improved:

• User-friendliness
• Privacy
• Editing capabilities
• Image style variety
• Photo-realistic quality

Best For: Artistic endeavors, marketers with advanced technical knowledge, web developers, or those comfortable within Discord who can learn to navigate the nuances of prompts. 

2. DALL-E 3

Owned by OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT), DALL-E is a pioneer in image generation. 

DALL-E3, the latest iteration of the tech, is touted as highly advanced and is known for generating detailed depictions of text descriptions. This means users can create original images and modify existing ones based on text prompts.

Pricing: It is available to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Enterprise users, as well as developers through the API, starting at $20 per month.

Test Results:

Unlike most tools on our list, DALL-E3 generated only one image at a time. 

In a world where a search engine can find millions of pictures in seconds, this is highly limiting and, honestly, underwhelming. But the image quality was impressive. 

It showed detailed, realistic portrayals of people and had no visible difficulty replicating fingers or eyes, as we often see with AI. It also allows users to edit specific image details:

For example, I requested that the main subject of the image above shift to a woman of color and that the information on the television screen be changed to an Instagram profile. 

After editing, the photo wasn’t as seamless. You could see where the AI spliced in the new content and certainly did not use an Instagram profile, but I digress. 

As you may be able to guess from my requested edit, where DALL-E3 fell short was its lack of diversity and variety. 

After running two more trials with my initial prompt, the settings of the image stayed the same — a generic, corporate office, while main subject in all of the images looked very similar as well, and most noticeably, all White or European. 

While the results for the initial prompt were quite photo-realistic, I ran my second prompt. 

The results were consistent, and the diversity issue also remained. Out of curiosity, I ran one more test in a new chat window and found that all images were now of men, but again, they all appeared to be White or European. 

I was able to request changes to make the people in the image more racially diverse, but it took several tries. 

Stereotyping and bias are common concerns with AI image generators, and that may be an issue with DALL-E3. 

What I like:

• High-quality images (crisp, detailed)
• Realistic human depictions 
• Ability to edit image details

What could be better:

• Only one photo per prompt
• Lack of diversity without additional prompting
• Lack of variety in the setting
• Lack of control over specifications (dimensions, style, etc.) 

Best For: Brands that would benefit from ChatGPT’s greater AI abilities. In my opinion, the cost is not worth it just for image generation, especially considering some of the amazing free options in this list. 

Pro Tip: If you find yourself getting the same results with each regeneration, or requesting edits proves fruitless, try opening a new chat window. 

3. Microsoft Designer

Designer is an AI image generator from Microsoft. It’s positioned as a tool to help you “create social media posts, invitations, digital postcards, graphics, and more, all in a flash.” Many say it’s a Canva competitor, and I can see why. 

Designer uses DALL-E2 to generate images from text prompts, but you can also start with one of the built-in templates or tools. 

Its user-friendly templates include stickers, collages, greeting cards, and social media posts. Users can also perform everyday editing tasks like removing a background from an image. 

Pricing: Everyone gets 15 free generations per day, but this jumps to 100 with a Microsoft Copilot Pro membership for $20 per month. 

Test Results:

Coming from DALL-E3, I was immediately pleased to see Designer deliver four images with each run of my test prompt. I was also happy to see the diversity in gender, race, and even setting. 

Like DALL-E3, the Designer results were realistic from the start (with no face or feature issues), but most still had an illustrative stroke. 

Nevertheless, after running my second prompt, the results remained similar: 

Once I found an image I liked, Microsoft Designer let me download, copy, edit, or use it in another design on the platform:

What I like:

• Multiple images at once
• High-quality images (crisp, detailed)
• Accurate depictions of people
• Lots of diversity (both in people featured and in style/setting of image)

What could be better:

• All images are square by default
• “Photo-realistic” images still have an illustrative look 

Best For: Microsoft Designer is a great free option for almost anyone, but it’s especially valuable to teams looking for design flexibility or those heavily invested in social media. Microsoft Designer makes it easy to create graphics using its images. 

4. Adobe Firefly

Firefly is design giant Adobe’s answer to generative AI. It can generate art or photo-style images in four common aspect ratios (square, portrait, landscape, and widescreen), and it allows users to select or upload resources for reference.

Pricing: Free for 25 credits per month, but premium plans offer more credits starting at $4.99 per month. 

Test Results:

Honestly, Firefly immediately blew me away. 

Not only was it the fastest tool, but it also delivered four images in various styles, with a diverse group of subjects and some of the most photo-realistic results I’ve seen. 

The depictions of humans were mostly realistic, but as I ran my additional trials, I did spot flaws like missing faces or choppy cut-outs in the backgrounds.

Since Designer has a built-in option for photos, I deviated a bit from my experiment. I ran the initial prompt under the art filter to evaluate the differences.

Again, they were striking. The results were a mix of vectors and illustrations that employed bold colors, precise details, and visual depth for beautiful results.  

The platform also let me edit the images, generate more based on one I liked, and use any of the images in an Adobe Express design. 

What I like:

• Free
• Fast 
• Multiple images at once
• High-quality, photo-realistic images (crisp, detailed)
• Accurate depictions of people (mostly)
• Lots of diversity (both in people featured and in style/setting of image)
• Easy-to-use images in a design
• Edit specific details of images

What could be better:

• Have to inspect closely for flaws
• More image styles

Best For: Great option for anyone, especially as a free tool. Both the artistic and photo results are top-notch and easy to repurpose into design inside and outside of Adobe. 

5. Canva Magic Design

Canva’s AI image generator, Magic Design, brings the power of AI to the masses. You can use it to generate images, graphics, or videos in square, vertical, or horizontal aspect ratios, and you can choose from over 20 visual styles.

Pricing: All users get 10 free Magic Designs over their lifetime, but if you want more, varying usage limits are available in Pro, non-profit, and Education accounts, starting at $120/year. 

Test Results:

With the initial prompt, Canva delivered four graphic/illustrated images in each trial. Many figures were simple vectors without any defining features, reminiscent of 1990s clip art.

You can see the results of each trial circled in the same color. 

Upon entering my “photo-realistic” prompt, the results changed accordingly but left much to be desired. 

The AI appeared to struggle with recreating finer details like hands, fingers, eyes, and on-screen content.  

Nevertheless, if you find an image you like, you can easily use it in a new design within the Canva platform. 

What I Like: 

• Fast
• Easy to use
• Lots of visual styles
• Offers video

What could be better:

• Photo-realistic results
• Depictions of people
• Attention to detail

Best for: Those already investing in Canva Pro. This can be useful for art, vectors, or social media designs. 

6. Meta AI

Meta AI is a free intelligent assistant from the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The company claims the chatbot is “capable of complex reasoning, following instructions, visualizing ideas, and solving nuanced problems,” including generating images.

Pricing: Meta AI is free for all Facebook users.

Test Results:

Meta AI is set up as a chatbot, and upon entering my test prompt, I was floored. 

With each trial, Meta delivered four images — all vibrant, detailed, and in various settings. They also featured diverse groups of people. 

Looking closely at the faces, you can see some imperfections. But, for the most part, the images could easily be used in smaller sizes without any concern.

Meta AI also allows you to click into an image to request edits (though this will change the entire image, not just a part, like with DALL-E3).

Or you can animate the images with the click of a button.

What I like:

• Free
• Fast 
• Multiple images at once
• High-quality, photo-realistic images (crisp, detailed)
• Accurate depictions of people (mostly)
• Can animate results with the click of a button
• Lots of diversity (both in people featured and in style/setting of image)

What could be better:

• Specific edits
• Images are watermarked 

Best for: Small digital graphics for social media, eBooks, or otherwise. 

7. Gemini

Gemini, formerly Bard, was launched by Google in December 2023. Similar to competitor ChatGPT, Gemini responds to text prompts as a chatbot. 

However, taking a page out of the Google search engine playbook, it can natively understand images, audio, video, and code. In other words, you can upload a video and ask Gemini to summarize it.

Pricing: It’s free, but “For Business” accounts are available with Google Workspace. Gemini Advanced is also available with a Google One AI Premium plan for $19.99 per month. 

Test Results:

This test was short but not necessarily sweet.

After entering my test prompt, I was met with a message saying, “We are working to improve Gemini’s ability to generate images of people. We expect this feature to return soon and will notify you in release updates when it does.”

The ability to create images of people was removed in February 2024, noting that “some of the images generated are inaccurate or even offensive.” 

Understandably, Google took precautions by turning off the feature but, of course, that makes Gemini unusable in our marketing use case.

Gemini can still create images (A la my orange rabbit from earlier), but the instances are specific and cannot include human beings. 

What I like: 

• Easy to use 
• Free
• Images are high-quality

What could be better:

• On the slower end
• No depictions of people, not even animated

Best for: Creative, abstract, or illustrative images

 

8. Jasper Art 

Jasper is a platform trusted by over 100,000 leading brands and agencies, including Wayfair, Ulta, and MorningStar. 

Its AI image generator, Jasper Art (only available under Pro plans), promises users the perfect picture to match their messaging.

It offers high-resolution, 2,000-pixel images, royalty-free commercial use, and unlimited generations, all without a watermark.

Pricing: Jasper Art starts at $49 per month per seat or ($39 per month per seat with annual payment), but a 7-day free trial is available.

Test Results:

I learned you can start creating from scratch with “free form” or with a “template” which includes categories like food photography, ink art, news graphic, and storybook photography. 

In “free form,” Jasper Art allows you to refine your creation with a mood (i.e., calm, gloomy, or whimsical), medium (i.e., collage or ink), style (i.e., pop art or art deco), keyword (i.e., black & white or close-up), or language. 

For this experiment, however, I stuck to “free form” and left all of the refinements empty. 

Jasper delivered four images and took just a few seconds, but, to be honest, the results were lackluster. 

The “young executives” all appeared older and were men with lighter skin tones. Few women were in the photos, and if there were, they were in the background. This was consistent throughout my trials, so, like DALL-E3, I had concerns about AI bias. 

Furthermore, Jasper struggled with recreating features like hands and fingers. One image even appears to have an elf leg coming out of a man’s hip onto a table. 

Like other tools, Jasper’s results were photo-realistic, but to confirm, I reran the prompt using the keyword filter “photorealistic.” The results were unchanged. 

I also experimented with the styles (specifically pop art and acrylic paint) to see how the tool handled those.

Pop art was true to its name, but Jasper appeared to have difficulty with acrylic paint, delivering images that looked half vector and half photo-realistic. 

If you like an image, Jasper Art lets you download it in three different sizes, copy it to your clipboard, or share it to X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Reddit. 

What I like:

• Easy-to-use
• Multiple images at once 
• Offers templates
• Offers high-resolution downloads

What could be better:

• Difficulty recreating human features
• Lack of diversity 
• Concerns of bias 

Best For: Abstract or creative images. It’s worth playing around with, if you already pay for Jasper Pro, but wouldn’t pay just for Jasper Art.

Pro Tip: In “free form, ”Jasper AI offers to “enhance your prompt” with the click of a button. It expanded my prompt and passed the 400-character limit while allowing me to edit before generating my images. While I didn’t use this feature in the experiment, Jasper’s assumptions seemed to match the pictures it produced. 

Reviewing the more detailed prompts may give you more insight into the image it will create by default. 

9. Getimg.ai

While researching this article, I found Getimg.ai in a Reddit discussion. Redditors raved about it, so I had to see why. With a paid plan, it can generate photorealistic, artistic, or anime-style images, up to 10 at a time. 

Pricing: Free for 100 credits per month, or paid plans beginning at $12/month which unlock more credits and features.

Test Results:

Getimg.ai generates four images by default on a free plan, and it can deliver up to 10 with a premium plan. It’s also transparent about its speed, displaying how long it takes to generate each image. The images I created took under 30 seconds.

My immediate reaction: Zero diversity. Except for one or two subjects, everyone in the photos is a white man, and many of them look like they could be cousins, brothers, or even twins. 

In other words, Getimg.ai seems to use the same face repeatedly in one image. 

If this works for you, the tool lets you like, download, generate similar images, or use them in a design. With a paid plan, you can also convert the image into a video. 

As the tool defaults to photorealistic, I once again deviated from my test edit to run the prompt in other built-in styles.

“Anime” delivers some beautiful creative images that are very much in line with what you’d expect from the Japanese style. In contrast, “Artistic” is reminiscent of characters in a video game. I personally expected them to look more like paintings or illustrations.   

What I like:

• Generous free plan
• Easy to use
• Fast (and transparent about generation speed)
• Multiple images at once
• Can upload reference images and tell it what not to generate with a “negative prompt”
• Multiple aspect ratio options 

What could be better:

• Diversity (in demographics as well as the setting of the photo)

Best For: Creative or artistic images. Brands or marketers targeting younger audiences interested in Anime

Put the best to the test!

What you consider the best AI for creating images is subjective. In my opinion, many of the free tools have more to offer marketers than the paid ones. 

I was particularly impressed by Adobe Firefly. It delivers some of the most realistic photos and professional-looking artistic images on the list, and it allows you to edit specific details. 

For a marketer who is likely using an AI image generator to create an original image for content or a digital graphic, it more than gets the job done at no cost. On top of its creative prowess, it’s hard to top. 

A great graphic design portfolio doesn’t do the work for you, but as an ever-running marketing tool, it can change your life by reeling in new opportunities.

AI-generated design as well as online design platforms like Canva are impacting graphic design hiring, making your portfolio more important than ever before.

So whether you‘re a full-time graphic designer or dabbling in graphic design as a freelancer, it’s critical to create a tailored graphic design portfolio to showcase your work to potential clients.

To that end, I’ve created a list of over 20 impressive graphic design portfolios, instructions on how you can create your own, and tips to curate the perfect space for your unique work.

Table of Contents

• What is a graphic design portfolio?
• Graphic Design Portfolio Website Examples
• Where to Find Inspiration for Your Design Portfolio
• How to Make a Graphic Design Portfolio
• Graphic Design Portfolio Ideas
• Graphic Design Portfolio Tips

It’s important to note that while there’s definitely still a place for physical portfolios, graphic designer websites can really offer a host of advantages when done well.

With a decade in the floral design industry, I know from experience how quickly you can share your expertise and create a great impression with an online body of visual work at hand. Mine is simple and has ads on it, but the landing page represents my abilities in pavé design, wedding work, and high style.

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Whatever your design industry, a portfolio is essential for proving your skills. It’s also a chance to:

• Share your design process.
• Talk about design or industry specialties.
• Showcase your unique style.
• Demonstrate your range of design skills.

A graphic design portfolio, like a resume, will also include contact information. It may also feature case studies from past employers.

Why do graphic designers need a portfolio website?

Most portfolios are graphic designer websites now. Beyond just sharing your work, it’s a 24/7 branding opportunity that works while you sleep or hit the streets with your physical portfolio.

These websites also create ways to connect with clients, help graphic designers build communities, and share their work with potential fans around the world. In many ways, it’s a major advantage to get one set up, and you can start with any site builder from ContentHub to Wix.

What to Include in a Graphic Design Website

So what does a graphic design portfolio website need to include to stand out?

Your portfolio is much more than proving you know how to use Photoshop. Many graphic designers will include logos, typography, print design, or web design in their portfolios, too.

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Some of the best graphic design portfolios often also include:

• Motion graphics
• Video
• Original illustrations
• Animation
• Product design
• UX design
• Ad campaigns
• Storyboards
• Brand identity

As you’ll see below, the most powerful graphic designer portfolios balance personal vision with standout client samples.

Let’s look at some graphic design portfolio website examples to inspire and motivate your portfolio development. Whether you’re a traditional graphic designer or experimenting with new media, there’s something here for everyone.

1. Jessica Walsh

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The design industry is highly competitive. It takes eye-catching imagery and typographic finesse to create a portfolio that draws top clients like Apple, Benefit, and Levis.

This portfolio comes from a designer who’s been named one of Ad Age’s “Top 10 Visual Creatives,” among many other accolades. Currently a design professor, creative director, and head of creative agency &Walsh, this designer’s portfolio on Behance makes great design the focus.

Why I love this graphic designer’s website:

• Walsh’s approach to type is bright, graphic, and complex.
• Lush, colorful photography and illustrations.
• This graphic designer is an expert with negative space.
• Uses careful visual composition to draw the eye and make a statement.

2. Morag Myerscough

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Bright graphics, animations, and clean design make this an exceptional graphic design portfolio.

This approach is great for designers who lean into the art of design. It also works for designers who take on more experimental or site-specific projects.

Why I chose this graphic design portfolio:

• Myerscough’s aesthetic is unique and this image-focused site quickly communicates her style. I love that she was able to marry the site’s visual design with her own aesthetic.
• Short sections of copy connect her visual brand to her background, professional experience, and personal philosophy.
• The combination makes the site feel like it shows the whole designer, not just a visualization of the work she does for clients.

3. Heather Shaw

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This graphic design portfolio website includes samples of book and website designs, branding, and more. It’s good for designers who work in many different media but want to present a cohesive portfolio.

Why I chose this graphic design portfolio:

• Heather Shaw’s portfolio is super clear and easy to navigate.
• It shows a wide range of skills and approaches to solving client problems, but it’s also visually consistent when the variations could easily have been disjointed.
• The designer also uses text effectively to explain each project and to encourage further engagement with the work.

4. Mike Mills

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Mike Mills is a talented designer, artist, and filmmaker, known for his punk aesthetic and original style.

His portfolio is a reflection of his diverse interests and skills. The website offers a quick lesson in clean design, with easy-to-understand headers, professional photography, and crisp layout.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website:

• Mills has found a way to include samples of design that span from the 90s to today. This could easily feel disjointed or overwhelming. Instead, it’s a beautiful and cohesive portfolio with exceptional attention to detail.
• When you’re a design beginner creating your first graphic design portfolio, you quickly learn the importance of editing. A logo for your first-year graphic design class might have been your best work then. It shows that you know how to use Illustrator or other design software alternatives. But five years later, you have to ask — does that logo belong in a professional portfolio?
• As your body of graphic design work grows, you’ll find yourself making tough decisions about what to include, and just as important, what to leave out of your portfolio.

5. Mohamed Samir

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Samir’s work includes branding, typography, posters, and print design. So, this graphic design portfolio zeros in on a tight collection of award-winning designs.

This graphic design portfolio is on Behance. This makes it a good fit for graphic designers who want an online presence without designing their own website.

Why I love this graphic designer’s website:

• Besides the high quality of the design work, this portfolio shows a diverse range of approaches to typography and style.
• It also shows a consistent vision and passion for visual communication.
• The printed design work is also well-photographed. While the designer could have added a digital file instead, the photographs give you a better sense of the final polished design.

6. Gail Anderson

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Image quality matters. And if your portfolio pieces include a lot of detail, you may get stumped with your online portfolio design.

This graphic design portfolio website has a simple left-hand navigation.

So, with each click, you have a chance to see detailed posters, book covers, and more at a scale that shows how they look for print while also being easy to scroll on a mobile phone.

Why I chose this graphic design portfolio:

• Anderson’s work is smart and timeless. Each piece shows her dedication to the depth and value of design thinking, technical skill, and passion for design.
• The side navigation leaves lots of room to enjoy high-resolution images of her highly detailed works.

7. Gleb Kuznetsov

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Kuznetsov’s portfolio combines product design, user experience, and graphic design to create something entirely new.

This Dribble-hosted portfolio has over 50 images, which could be overwhelming. But they’re split into seven easy-to-understand projects.

This makes it a great graphic design portfolio example for designers who want to show long-term or complex projects.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website:

• From the images to his brief “About” statement, this designer makes his unique vision and personality part of the work and its presentation.

8. Stefan Sagmeister

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Sagmeister is a legend in the design world, and his website reflects the curiosity and power of the designer.

The home page features a grid of images with text that appears as you scroll over each image. With a click, you’re presented with images and/or videos that show the details of each project.

The site is a mix of collaborations, art projects, and more traditional design, like the corporate identity for the Jewish museum.

Why this is one of the best graphic design portfolio websites I’ve ever seen:

• This portfolio site doesn’t just show the quality and technical ability of the designer. It also gives any client working with Sagmeister a sense of what the design process might be like.
• The “answers” section of the site is full of useful advice for no matter where you are in your designer journey.

9. Lotte Niemenen

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Great designers often let the work do the talking. That’s certainly true here, with a streamlined graphic design portfolio that calls attention to client deliverables.

When text is present, it adds to the value of the work, like sharing what parts of the design process their team completed. This is a great portfolio format for designers doing graphic design work like:

• Logo design
• Branding
• Packaging
• Product design

Why I chose this graphic design portfolio:

• This group of work is simple and to the point. It also shows off a wide range of skills and tactics with a consistent vision.
• Be sure to take a closer look at the website navigation — it’s clean and exciting while adding to the functionality of the site.

10. Luke Choice (Velvet Spectrum)

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3D animation is an exciting design form that‘s growing in popularity. But if you’re a client who’s not in the market for an animated billboard, it may be difficult to figure out how you might use this creative form for your business.

This site is a great example of a portfolio that educates with simple text, graphics, and video. It gives both a quick look and a deep dive into how this designer approaches his art form.

Why I chose this graphic design portfolio:

• If you‘re doing something interesting and new, it may be a selling point. Truly new ideas can also challenge or frustrate people who don’t feel “in the know.” This means that your portfolio can‘t just sell your designs. It also needs to teach viewers about the new format you’re using and why you think it’s important.

11. Sophia Yeshi

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A clear header and tile design emphasize work samples from this powerful graphic designer. Major brands, including Google, Nike, and Comcast, use Yeshi’s unique illustrative voice to speak for their brands.

While the tiles emphasize the designer’s unique style, you can click on each tile to get the full details about each project. This is a great approach for designers who want to share the deeper story behind each project while still making the site easy to navigate.

Why I love this graphic designer’s website:

• A distinct style is important in graphic design. That said, it can be tough to show how many ways you can apply that distinct style in a business context.
• This website portfolio makes that point clear, while still making graphic design the focus.

12. Eduardo Nunes

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Designers often have a muse — someone or something that inspires and motivates them when the designing gets tough.

Sometimes that inspiration can serve as a starting point for your portfolio design, as it did for this design portfolio example.

The landing page starts with a quote from Ansel Adams, “There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.”

Then, using clean motion graphics and fresh design, Nunes points to a central theme, a philosophy that guides his design approach. This leads every site visitor on a journey through his portfolio.

Why I chose this graphic design portfolio:

• This portfolio shows intense work, focus, practice, and care.
• It‘s an excellent model for anyone who wants to show the world what they’re creating and why.

13. Stefanie Brüeckler

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This portfolio includes packaging design, illustration, and web design as well as graphic design and branding work. It’s one of my favorite graphic designer websites because it’s clean and easy to navigate.

This makes it a great example for designers who aren’t sure how to organize all the work they want to include in their portfolio.

Why I love this graphic designer website example:

• Brückler’s graphic design portfolio focuses on the tiniest of details to create an excellent user experience.
• From the simple page-loading animation to the thoughtful use of motion graphics, this designer hones in on the stunning details.
• It also shows a lot of different examples of work at a glance.

14. Chip Kidd

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Book cover designer Chip Kidd’s graphic design portfolio website uses lightbox-style pop-ups. Popups make it easier to focus on each book cover.

This is a smart way to narrow in on the visuals with a graphic design site while still making it easy to see all the work in one place.

Kidd uses a range of different styles for book covers, and it’s edited in a way that makes this range look natural and exciting instead of chaotic.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website:

• The dark background makes this graphic designer’s style pop.
• The simple side navigation gives users a quick path to learn more about the designer and his work.

15. Ryan Dean Sprague (Pavlov)

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This Texas designer‘s style is heavily influenced by music, so his portfolio features illustration and design work that’s bright, evocative, and fun.

This portfolio website shines because it keeps the UX and site structure super simple. This puts the focus on a tight curation of exciting design samples.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website:

• This graphic design portfolio is a vivid display of individuality that also shows clients how this designer can help them sell their product or brand.
• If you have a distinct illustration or design style, how “good” your work is may be the tough sell for your portfolio. Instead, you may need to focus on showing the client how you can do your best work for their needs.

16. Kim Dero

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Hands down, I think Kim Dero does a stellar job of making his website portfolio look yummy. It’s such a smart choice because it’s the perfect backdrop for his focus on food and beverage design.

Try the contact page — even the satellite dishes look juicy.

Why I love this graphic designer website example:

• Kim Dero takes full advantage of his international flair, leaning into a citrus and foliage aesthetic that carries through to teas, alcohols, and sugars on his Work page.
• He makes sure to highlight the smaller design details, such as the various mandalas, that could be looked over in larger product images so you can see them more closely.

17. Alex Trochut

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This graphic design portfolio is also a home for Trochut’s product design, animations, music, and NFTs.

It’s a great example for multimedia artists who want to present their work on a single website. It also works for creators with a big collection of work to show.

Why I love this graphic designer website example:

• The four-column layout of this site shows image thumbnails of varying sizes. Each column moves at a different pace as you scroll down the page.
• This motion feels dynamic and exciting and reinforces this designer’s original takes on color, type, and layouts.

18. Leandro Assis

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Sometimes a graphic design portfolio isn‘t just about a style — it’s about a vibe. This exceptional portfolio comes from designer Leandro Assis.

From brand identity to hand lettering to package design, this portfolio displays a wide range of design skills and original style.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website:

• This portfolio is enticing to the eyes. It’s fun, bright, and a little wild.
• What makes this portfolio excellent isn‘t just the quality of the work, it’s the experience. Fun icons, engaging UX, and lots of white space make this bold and playful site a pleasure to peruse.

19. Peter Tarka

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If you’re a self-taught graphic designer, you might have less guidance on where to start with your portfolio website. Look no further for inspiration than the interactive design portfolio for Peter Tarka.

Best known for captivating 3D motion graphics like the ones featured in the video below, Tarka started with a love of architecture and vector graphics that’s grown to a career working with top brands like Spotify, Google, and LG.

Why I love this designer’s website:

• The fewer clicks it takes to show people what you‘re doing the better. This site isn’t just low-click, it’s no-click.
• A simple scroll shows you the work, client, and completion date for 15 exceptional portfolio pieces.
• If you want to see more, a quick click at the top-right brings you to more work samples, links to other portfolio sites, and contact information.

20. Tobias van Schneider

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This graphic design portfolio website uses a range of type sizes and contrasts to emphasize the ideas it communicates. This is a great approach for entrepreneurial designers. It’s also smart for anyone who collaborates in their design work.

Why I love this graphic designer’s website:

• A sticky header and big blocks of color and text make this graphic designer website interesting to explore.
• This site also uses scale well. It combines big images with both big and small text to emphasize each client project.

21. Aries Moross

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There are many ways to play up a unique style, and this graphic design website highlights this designer’s recent work as well as a full project archive. This is a great example for designers who also do illustration.

Why I chose this graphic design portfolio:

• Moross uses space effectively on this site.
• It’s easy to get an immediate sense of the designer’s distinct style.
• The simple navigation helps users refine their search to target a specific type of work, like hand-drawn fonts or editorial design.

22. LingK

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LingK’s portfolio features their latest project while also showing other industry niches. The structure of the website helps prospective clients quickly decide if they want to work with this designer.

Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website:

• It can be tough to convey how campaign materials for a complex event, like a wedding or conference, work together.
• This designer effectively shows the breadth and depth of work for each project and makes it easy to see the value of each deliverable.

23. Nisha K. Sethi

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Sethi’s portfolio is simple and straightforward. It puts the spotlight on each design project. The “About” section also tells a clear story that encourages further questions and conversation.

It can be tempting to tell an audience everything on your website. But a great portfolio should offer enough samples to entice clients to reach out and learn more. You don’t want to add so much that it overwhelms. This website is a great example of offering just enough.

Why I love this graphic designer website example:

• This graphic design example combines hand-lettering, printmaking, and other media with digital design.
• While this designer works in a range of media, their portfolio shows a strong voice that is effective across many channels.

Where to Find Inspiration for Your Design Portfolio

Looking for more design portfolio inspo? Grab the Hubspot Design Lookbook (it’s a free download) for over 70 examples of incredible websites, landing pages, and blogs.

Then, explore this list of successful designers and design studios. They are all great design resources for your personal portfolio website. You may find a perfect model to emulate or smaller aspects you’d love to incorporate.

Paula Scher

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Paula Scher is one of the heavy hitters in graphic design, having shaped brandwork for Microsoft, Adobe, Tiffany & Co., Citibank, and the list goes on and on.

Her work is smart while still being accessible, and she likes to inhabit the space between fine art and pop culture. Her ability to make work that is both recognizable and bold have won her hundreds of awards in the industry.

Michael Bierut

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Michael Bierut lives on the academic side of great design and is currently a senior critic for graphic design at the Yale School of Art.

He has worked for such legendary brands as Mastercard, Saks 5th Avenue, The New York Times, and Princeton University. He served as the President of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) from 1988 to 1990, and later won the AIGA Medal itself in 2006.

Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv

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Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv specialize in trademark and identity, focused on idea-driven design since 1957.

They’ve created some of the best known trademarks around the world, such as the Animal Planet elephant above, the NBC peacock, The Warner Brothers shield, and National Geographic’s yellow rectangle.

Wolff Olins

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Wolff Olins is a global brand consultancy that has snagged the attention of a number of contemporary brands and delivered world-class branding.

Their clients include the growing social media giant TikTok as well as Uber, Instacart, and The Met. They are passionate about doing the best work of their lives, driving impact, and making a positive change in the world with their clients.

Milton Glaser

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Milton Glaser is the powerhouse mind behind the typeface of New York Magazine and the perennial I (Heart) NY campaign. Milton Glaser Inc. more recently contributed key artwork for the final season of Mad Men.

Since the 1970s, Glaser and his visionary crew have designed and illustrated over 300 posters for clients ranging from publishing to commercial products to civil enterprise.

David Carson

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David Carson is known for taking the rules and scattering them to the winds in pursuit of great design from the standpoint of, “Why not?”

In 2014 he was awarded the AIGA gold medal, and has an innovative approach of using typography as the art itself instead of just as writing.

He pulls inspiration from urban art forms such as graffiti and rap, and has worked with a seemingly endless array of clients from American Airlines to MTV and Prince to Xerox.

1. Curate your best work and show a wide breadth of skill.

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Lindsay Burke, a HubSpot poduct designer, emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity when it comes to curating a graphic design portfolio.

She says, “I recommend selecting your strongest projects and making these the primary focus of your portfolio website.”

Ideally, your portfolio will feature your sharpest, most impressive 10-20 designs — undoubtedly, someone pursuing your portfolio won‘t have the time to look at more, and if your first couple of projects are impressive enough, they shouldn’t need to.

But it‘s equally critical you show potential clients your versatility. If you’ve dabbled in logo design as well as video animation, it’s good to include both kinds of projects in your portfolio.

2. Choose the right platform to showcase your work.

Investing in a quality website with a custom domain URL will pay off in the long run by demonstrating your professionalism to potential clients.

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Having your own website helps you organize your portfolio to suit all your business needs — for instance, perhaps you’ll include Projects, About Me, and Contact sections so visitors can peruse your content and then contact you without ever leaving the site.

Take a look at this list of the best website builders if you need help choosing a platform for your portfolio.

3. Include a professional case study or client recommendations.

Lindsay Burke told me it’s incredibly valuable to write out a case study to complement any website visuals.

She says, “Through a written case study, your site visitors can get a sense of your project’s background, the problem you were aiming to solve through design, and the process you took to arrive at a final deliverable.”

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To cultivate a strong case study, consider including the background of the project, the problem, the process, your deliverable, and any next steps.

In the process section of your case study, Burke suggests including research, experience mapping, persona development, wire-framing, sketching, usability testing, and iteration.

Plus it will impress future clients if you can include recommendations from prior employers, which allows you to display a level of professionalism.

4. Integrate your personality.

As you can see in the examples in the above section, each portfolio is drastically different depending on the artist‘s unique style.

Someone checking out Tobias van Schneider’s portfolio will expect something vastly different from someone looking at LingK’s site.

Make sure your portfolio — including layout, background, and website title — reflects who you are as a designer.

5. Describe the creative process.

Each designer has a unique process when working with clients — and the sooner a potential client can learn about your process, the better.

It’s important you include context, so visitors can get a sense of how you handle challenges, and how your designs solve real-world problems.

Plus, including a description of your creative process can help a potential client figure out whether you’re capable of handling the scope of their project.

For instance, they might be unsure of your ability to handle graphic designs for mobile until they read how you single-handedly brainstormed and created the designs for another client’s mobile site. In this case, context is critical.

6. Show non-client work or side projects.

Amanda Chong, a former HubSpot designer, says, “Side projects are a great way to demonstrate your will to take initiative and your ability to balance multiple things at once. They’re also a great way to show some of the more experimental, creative ideas that you might not be able to show through your day-to-day work.”

If you‘re just starting out, it’s acceptable to include side projects or non-client work so potential customers can get a sense of your ability and style.

Consider incorporating school work, a logo you designed for your aunt’s company, or an internal design you created for your current company — ideally, your designs will negate any concerns potential clients have over your lack of career experience.

1. Help a local business or startup with its design and brand.

One of the easiest ways to begin building your client base is by contacting nonprofits or local businesses in your area.

Perhaps you think a local restaurant needs a new menu logo, or you want to help a gift shop with their online marketing materials.

Projects like these will help you better understand local marketing challenges and give you time to develop your skills in those areas. You never know what a pro-bono project could lead to next.

2. Create content for your own personal brand.

As you build personal brand content, take the time to make sure your marketing materials are cohesive and sleek.

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Design a unique logo for your brand. Next, start building your website, and add that same design across various materials, including your business card and resume.

This is also a great time to start a branded social media account, and to create posts that show off your design skills and interests.

Clients are more likely to work with you if they can see the type of high-quality work you’re able to create for yourself.

3. Redesign an existing website.

Don’t wait for your dream client to give you a call. Instead, create a complete website redesign for a well-known brand to prove your skills to future clients.

This is a well-known strategy already used by plenty of designers — just take a look at some of the impressive Behance mock-ups for brands like RyanAir.

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When I spoke to Amanda Chong about this tactic, she told me, “If you‘re creating mockups for established brands to use as part of your portfolio, it’s important to pair this with a case study or description of the process that helped you arrive at your proposed design.

Chong added, “Mockups are great at showing your visual design skills, but don’t necessarily demonstrate your ability to work in a real-world context, so you’ll want to take the time to explain how you would have approached it in a true business setting.”

4. Create graphic design materials for a made-up company.

If your designs are impressive enough, potential clients won’t care that you created them for a fictitious company. In fact, you could impress them with your innovation and creativity.

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Consider showing your skills by putting together a creative brief for a fake company, complete with wireframes and sketches. Other projects you can create for imaginary companies include:

• Branding
• Style guides
• Posters
• Billboards
• Social media ads
• Apparel graphics
• Wrapping paper
• Brochures and email newsletters
• Simple GIFs
• Animated infographics
• Trade show booths
• Branded wall art
• Pitch decks
• Book covers
• Packaging

In due time, real companies will take notice.

5. Design a logo for a brand you love.

Stick to the type of content you enjoy designing. If you’re particularly adept at making logos, and are often inspired by the logos used by real brands, consider designing an alternative logo for a brand you like.

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For example, take a look at these inspiring reimagined NFL logos. While these NFL teams probably won’t make the shift, they‘re great examples of the designers’ skills and creativity.

6. Create a stock theme for WordPress.

WordPress, a popular content management system, allows users to develop stock themes. Best of all, if your theme is approved, you can sell it as a premium theme for extra cash.

Begin by studying WordPress’s most popular themes, and consider how you can create an impressive alternative. Take a look at WordPress’s Theme Review Requirements and this overview of how to create a child theme to learn more.

7. Take part in a design challenge.

To get inspired, practice your skills, or interact with other designers in a community and build your portfolio at the same time, think about participating in a design challenge.

Design challenges can also help you uncover skills you didn’t know you had by forcing you to step outside your design comfort zone.

There are various daily, weekly, or monthly challenges that will send you prompts on things to design — for instance, try checking out the Daily UI Design Challenge or The Daily Logo Challenge.

You’ve done the work, and now you’re pulling together your graphic design portfolio. Try these tips to make your graphic design portfolio stand out.

1. Show your versatility.

A portfolio should show a range of different works, so you want to highlight what you can do. Some clients prefer a more streamlined look, while others are looking for more experimentation.

If you have clients from different industries, include some work from each industry. Then, edit your portfolio based on the kind of client you’re showing your portfolio to.

For example, if you’re meeting with a client in real estate, show work samples from similar industries.

You’ll also want to show anyone who sees your portfolio what you can do. So, if you create design logos, books, and motion graphics, include a little bit of everything in your portfolio.

2. Display your best work.

That said, try to limit your portfolio to your best work. Don’t include a piece in your portfolio just to show that you can do it.

The way that you edit your portfolio shows that you understand your strengths and know how to play them up. So, edit your portfolio to include only your best work.

If you’re great with one skill set but not as good with another, edit your portfolio to spotlight that skill. If possible, create portfolio pieces that show many skill sets at the same time.

For example, if you love hand lettering, a poster could emphasize your graphic design skills alongside this unique ability.

3. Include case studies.

I can’t say it enough: include case studies. They tell the illuminating story of how you get your clients to their goals: their ideas, your ideas, your suggestions and why, the compromises that worked, and how you completed the work.

Every client is unique and will teach you something new, so as you continue to work with different clients, build up a collection of these stories.

In other words ,they lay out in plain view what goes on in your big, beautiful brain to future clients.

Learn from my mistakes, and try not to throw anything away without documenting it. That page of thumbnails might not be much to look at on its own, but this kind of work in progress is a great way to show prospective clients how you solve problems.

When you present case studies in your portfolio, start with the initial problem your client approached you with. Next, show what the conversation and ideation process looked like over time.

As you pull your case study together, don’t forget to include the solution you delivered.

4. Make it clean and easy to navigate.

Design is about more than visual skills: it’s about communicating. So, the format of your portfolio — whether it’s printed or online — should be clear and simple to scan.

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This point is especially important for graphic designer websites. It can be tempting to build a website that shows off the latest trends or to add Easter eggs that people need to hunt for.

There’s a fine line between art and design, and those approaches can be super inspiring. But building a complex site can also mean that clients in a hurry could miss some of your best work.

For example, a graphic designer once sent his portfolio to a creative director friend of mine. They liked the designer’s drawing but didn’t see much of the graphic design or web work that he talked about in his resume.

With a little digging, they found a URL in one of the sketchbook drawings, and that URL led to his website.

This hide-and-seek process was cool, but it wasn’t clear or easy to navigate. This scenario could have been a missed opportunity for that designer.

5. Prominently display contact information.

If someone wants to talk to you, there are many places they can find you online.

But you want to make it easy for them. You don’t want to miss an important meeting because a client reached out to you with an email you don’t check anymore.

Most graphic designer websites have a contact page that has your contact information. Once you add this to your site, be sure to check that the links and forms are working.

6. Display your unique personality.

There are thousands of successful graphic designers out there, and you might be competing against some of them for your next client. So, the best tip for a great portfolio is to be yourself.

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Whether you have a feel for typography or are talented with color, show off the way that you see the world in your graphic design portfolio.

Think about every detail, and then execute to the best of your ability. Whether it’s the first version of your portfolio or the 200th, make it feel like something only you could create.

The Best Graphic Design Portfolios are Never Finished

You’ve learned about the value of a graphic design portfolio and checked out some of the best portfolio examples.

You read about how to create your portfolio, then you scanned some smart ideas to build on the graphic design work you’ve already completed.

So what’s next?

Even the best graphic design portfolios need constant updates. Keep in mind that while your first graphic design portfolio may be complete, portfolio building won’t ever really end.

What do you want to tackle for your next project? Social media to promote your new portfolio? A new resume or professional bio to attract clients? The possibilities are endless.

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