In 2021, Instagram reported over 500 million users viewed Stories. 

Since launching in 2016, the Stories feature alone has made Instagram more popular than other Story and mobile video platform competitors including Snapchat, TikTok, and its owner’s own platform: Facebook Stories.

 

Even if you’ve already published a handful of branded Stories, you still might want to up your game by making them even more engaging. After all, Stories can provide great benefits related to audience engagement, brand awareness, and even purchase-related conversions.

Despite the growing number of benefits that Instagram Stories offers brands, crafting good content still takes time, energy, and brainstorming. Even when you put your best efforts into creating a Story, you might still find that it falls flat, sees a high drop-off, or shows other signs of low engagement.

As you build your social media content strategy for 2022, you might be asking yourself, “What type of Instagram Story format do people actually engage with?”

In this post, I’ll highlight what consumers said about their favorite Instagram Story formats, the trends marketers are noticing, and show you examples along the way.

Which Formats Marketers Are Leveraging [HubSpot Blog Data]

The HubSpot Blog surveyed over 1,000 marketers to learn more about their marketing strategies in 2022. According to this survey, 78% of marketers leverage Instagram Stories in their roles. Of those who use Instagram Stories, 43% post on behalf of their brand multiple times per week. The marketers in this survey note audience viewership of Instagram Stories declines after four to six Instagram Story pages. 

According to the marketers we surveyed, here are the most common Instagram Story types subjects that result in the greatest ROI.

Content That Reflects Brand Values

Per the HubSpot Blog survey, 18% of marketers indicated Instagram Story content that reflected their brand’s values produced the greatest ROI. Considering 71% of consumers want to buy from brands that align with their personal values, this piece of data isn’t surprising. 

When companies are upfront about their core values related to topics such as diversity, inclusion, sustainability, and human rights, buyers are able to quickly determine a brand’s stance on a particular topic. 

Similarly, it’s important that consumers know why your brand exists, and how you can serve them. Regularly incorporating your company’s mission and vision into your content can also help your audience feel more connected to your brand.

Product-Focused Content

Consumers want to see your product in action! Whether it is through regular demonstrations by your team, user-generated content from other happy customers, or positive reviews, product-related content can deliver positive results. When crafting Instagram Stories, find creative ways to present your products that appeal to your audience. 

Interactive Content

On Instagram Stories, interactive frames have a specific call-to-action or way viewers can get involved from within the app. This often includes using Instagram’s Poll or Quiz sticker, inviting users to share a specific piece of content themselves, or a game. Here’s an example from @fentybeauty, who used Instagram’s slide feature to poll their audience.

Trendy Content

Trend-related content entails coverage of a recent cultural moment or news story. This type of content can range from informative (breaking news) to humorous (posting a meme related to a recent event). Trendy content is well-suited for Instagram Stories because of it is best consumed quickly and while relevant. Unlike a feed post that can take days to reach an audience, the 24-hour period an Instagram Story is live can be a great place to share content that is only relevant for a short period of time. 

Now that we know what content marketers are prioritizing in Instagram Stories, let’s look at what formats consumers prefer and engage with most often.

Which Format Consumers Are Actually Watching

While some brands and users post Stories focused purely on interactive features, others might post visual storytelling content such as short narratives or longer video stories that feel more like documentaries.

But, which one of the many Instagram Story formats is most intriguing to people? To get to the bottom of which Story style is most engaging, I surveyed 350 people using Lucid software to learn more about their favorite Story formats, sound preferences, and ideal Story length.

I asked consumers, “Which Instagram Story are you most likely to tap all the way through until the end?”

At this point, you may have your own predictions of how people might have voted. While research says that interactive stickers, such as Quizzes, Polls, or Questions are highly engaging, you might also be thinking about the times you’ve tapped through an influencer or brand’s behind-the-scenes videos via their Story. So which, ultimately did people choose?

Stories centered around Quiz or Poll stickers were one of the most popular formats with 15% of the votes. However, 35% of consumers actually prefer short narratives with a mix of photos, text, and videos.

Data Source: Lucid Software

Short Narrative Stories

Short narratives are basically articles translated for a more visual audience. They rely on brief paragraphs and bullet points of text, accompanied by related visuals, to tell a story in a few cohesive short slides. Here’s a great example of a short story that swipes up to a longer piece of web content from Harvard Business Review:

This strategy is a great way to get more eyes on your blog content without asking people to leave the Instagram app.

Aside from informing your audience of a topic related to your industry, you can also take a note from HBR and other publishers by using Stories as a traffic generator. In the example above, HBR — which has a verified account — has adapted a long-form article into a short Story and included the full post at the end as a swipe-up link.

With this tactic, the Instagram Story serves as a teaser as viewers who are very interested in the topic can swipe up to read more about it on HBR.org.

Quiz or Poll-Centered Stories

Another strong Story format uses Quiz or Poll stickers. Essentially, these Stories feel like they are just created to quiz the viewer by including the Quiz sticker on most pages, or brands can leverage Stories with polls primarily on each page to get their audience’s insights on a topic.

These Stories are intriguing and entertaining to viewers because it allows them to test themselves and learn about a new topic interactively, or vote in a poll and see what other audiences think about a certain topic or theme. Here’s an example of an interactive Story from HubSpot which centered around a Poll-styled quiz and revealed the answers at the end.

While you can also use an actual Quiz sticker, which will immediately tell viewers quiz questions, HubSpot’s strategy also works as it allows viewers to get a glimpse at what others guessed and see a rundown of the actual answers at the end. This might keep viewers engaged, entertained, and in the Story for longer if they know that there will be a payoff on the last page.

While fewer people voted for Stories centered around Question stickers, this feature could still be a great feature to experiment with as it can help you interact with and learn more about your audience in a more open-ended way that Polls.

Here’s an example of a Question sticker in a HubSpot Story. After this page, the Story went on to share the answers that viewers submitted.

Although open-ended questions seem like a great way to learn about and interact with your audience, keep in mind that viewers will need to take time to fill out answers rather than simply tapping on a Poll or Quiz sticker. This means that if your audience isn’t as interested in the topic or question, you might run into issues getting responses.

If you’d like to learn more about how to use and leverage the Instagram Questions sticker in your Stories, check out this helpful guide which includes examples of brands that used the feature successfully.

Demos and Tutorials

Brands can also leverage tutorials and demos, which was the fifth most popular Story style. This tactic might be especially helpful if you’re interested in ecommerce or purchase-related conversions as a growing number of people prefer to learn more about products via video. Here’s an example of a tutorial from Kylie Cosmetics, where CEO Kylie Jenner puts on a new lip liner from the brand.

Story formats that include demos or tutorials can be advantageous to brands because it allows them to show off how their products work. Additionally, if you have over 10,000 followers or are a verified user, you can link these Stories to your ecommerce site or a purchasing page for the products shown. This way, if a viewer is impressed by a tutorial or demo, they can simply swipe up to learn more about or purchase the product.

A Mix of Content

Because many people don’t have a preference or prefer a mix of multiple elements in Instagram Stories, be sure to add a bit of variation to your content strategy. For example, brainstorm ways to add interactive features, such as Quiz or Poll stickers to narratives, tutorials, or other types of Story content. This will add an extra layer of engaging content to a Story that might already be interesting to viewers.

Here’s an example of a Story from Starbucks that mixes in storytelling and interactive stickers to announce the return of a popular seasonal beverage:

Other Instagram Story Formats

When it came to the Story styles with lower rankings, consumers were actually less interested in behind-the-scenes content, mini-documentaries, and Stories that center around customer testimonials.

This might hint that marketers on these platforms might want to be thinking more creatively when launching content on Instagram Stories. Rather than just focusing on your product or customer testimonials, you might want to test out creating informative short narratives or interactive Stories that relate strongly to your brand. While this will engage Instagram audiences, it might also show off your company’s expertise in its industry.

While this poll deemed a few Story formats less engaging, I still encourage you to mix things up and experiment with some of these styles just in case they work for you. Here are a few to try.

Customer Testimonials

Although customer testimonials aren’t as interesting to consumers, this doesn’t mean that you should scratch them entirely. In fact, they’re still a commonly used tactic in many brands and industries, despite consumer preferences. For example, a number of companies, like Planet Fitness, have built their strategy around testimonials. Here’s an example:

In the above scenario, the customer testimonial strategy works for Planet Fitness because it helps gym prospects feel less intimidated and more motivated to take on physical fitness after seeing a customer’s success story.

Behind-the-Scenes Stories

No, behind-the-scenes Stories don’t necessarily talk about your product front and center, but they can give prospects an idea of what your company is like, the inner workings of your industry, and a look at the staff that customers could work with.

Behind-the-scenes videos allow you to show off how hardworking or relatable your business might be, which might make viewers feel more comfortable working with you.

One example of a brand that uses this technique is the NBA. The basketball league regularly shares videos of professional basketball players behind the scenes at games or celebrations. In the image below, they shared an Instagram Story video of basketball players taking a photo with the rapper Drake:

Mini-Documentaries

Like narrative-style Instagram content, mini-documentaries tell journalistic stories that are slightly more complex and primarily centered on video — like a documentary that you tap through.

These are often higher-quality and incredibly informative, so they are more prominently used by publishers such as National Geographic. Here’s just the beginning of a long documentary-styled Story where NatGeo visits NASA’s offices to uncover facts about the first moon landing:

If you’re a small to medium-sized business that’s just ramping up your Instagram strategy, you might want to stick to a short narrative Story, like the ones noted at the beginning of this post. These will allow you to similarly show a combination of videos, photos, and text without as much production time and effort. However, if you’re a content creator or feel like covering an event or newsworthy topic in your industry might boost brand awareness, you might want to experiment with this longer-form, in-depth visual storytelling style.

Ideal Story Length

For years, social media managers have been trying to determine how long the perfect Instagram Story should be. This has been such a major question that marketing blogs and publications have done further research on the matter.

If you’re a small to medium-sized business marketer, Story length is a valid thing to consider, especially if you have low time or resources. While you ideally want to engage people with low dropoff throughout your entire Story, you might not want to spend time making incredibly long pieces of content with multiple pages if you know people in your industry usually only tap through a small number of pages.

So, what exactly is a good Story length? To get some added insight on this, I surveyed the 350 consumers and asked them, “On average, how many pages of an Instagram Story will you tap through before swiping out?”

Before looking at the results, you might think “The ideal Story should be as short as possible,” simply because it’s content on a fast-paced social media platform. But, then, you might also remember that a number of publications, like Harvard Business Publishing and The Washington Post have leveraged Stories as a way to share long-form content.

So, which approach is right and which is wrong?’

It seems that there are solid themes in ideal Story length, however, there still might not be an ideal number of pages in this type of content.

According to the poll, 63% of consumers will tap through six pages or less, with 34% saying they tap through four to six pages on average. This data aligns with the feedback we got from marketers through our HubSpot Blog survey. However, more than one-third of consumers will tap through stories with more than seven pages, with 20% saying they’ll tap through 10 or more.

Data Source: Lucid Software

The results above are similar to research published by Buffer which noted that Stories made up of seven or fewer pages are the most engaging. However, the fact that a large chunk of Lucid respondents will watch beyond seven pages hints that you might not need to shrink down your content to ensure that it’s seen.

When determining the best Story length for your audience, we encourage you to consider the age group of your audience, the type of topics they engage with, and how fast-paced their lifestyles might be. If you have an idea for a great topic that your audience will love and is compatible with interactive Story features, you might be able to get away with a longer Story.

If you have a topic that you worry might feel dry or too complex to explain on Stories, you might want to format this as a smaller Story with a sticker linked to longer-form content. 

As you start posting regular Instagram Stories, you should also experiment with both long and short Stories. Then, look at the drop-off rate of each Story. If many people seem to drop out of one long story but not another, this might be due to the topic or the writing rather than the length. However, if people regularly drop out of your longer-form Stories around a certain page number, you might want to limit your Story content to that number of pages.

Telling an Engaging Visual Story

Regardless of what topic you’re publishing a Story about, or which format you decide on using, make sure it informs the audience about something they care about, provides entertainment value, and highlights your brand’s credibility in your industry.

If you’re unsure about how you can leverage Instagram Stories to better market your brand, it can be helpful to look at examples from similar companies in your industry. 

While YouTube is obviously the largest video hosting platform on the web, it might not be the best choice for every business.

There are other factors to consider when choosing a home for your video marketing — such as cost, tech support, and video and audio quality — to name a few. 

To help you find the best fit for your company’s unique needs, we compared YouTube directly against the smaller, more niche platform Vimeo across a number of factors. Read on to see the results, and decide for yourself.

Number of Users

Winner: YouTube

There’s no real competition here. YouTube commands an audience of over two billion monthly users — almost half of the entire internet-using population. Vimeo’s 230 million monthly viewers and 1.9 million paid subscribers seem insignificant in contrast. For maximum reach, choose YouTube.

Search Optimization

Winner: YouTube

YouTube leaves Vimeo in the dust here. YouTube is the second largest search engine on the internet, right after parent company Google. If you’re planning to create a video tailored to a specific search query, (e.g., how to pick a font for your website), your video belongs on YouTube. Not only will it appear in search results directly on YouTube, but Google also seems to favor videos from YouTube over those posted on other platforms.

Mobile

Winner: YouTube

70% of all YouTube views come from mobile, and the YouTube mobile app is absolutely dominating the mobile streaming space — outranking even formidable competitors like Netflix, Hulu, and Twitch.

Videos uploaded to Vimeo and YouTube are both optimized automatically for mobile, but YouTube offers more opportunities for mobile discovery and reach.

Cost

Winner: YouTube

YouTube is free — even for businesses. But you might be wondering if Vimeo is as well.

Is Vimeo free to use?

Vimeo operates on a tiered pricing model, ranging from a free basic plan to a $75/month package that includes unlimited live streaming.

Vimeo Pro vs YouTube

While Vimeo does have a free basic plan, it limits you to 500MB maximum storage per week.

If you’re okay with paying some money, you can get a Vimeo Pro plan. With Vimeo Pro, you’ll have access to support, advanced analytics, and professional privacy.

On the other hand, you can have unlimited storage for free on YouTube.

Support

Winner: Vimeo

With their paid packages, Vimeo offers several levels of technical support that could be a game-changer for businesses with little video expertise. YouTube offers plenty of free help documentation and access to a (rather crowded) support community. Still, if you’re seeking higher-touch, personalized support on-demand, a paid Vimeo account is the better option.

Storage

Winner: YouTube

YouTube offers unlimited, free storage for all accounts, while Vimeo charges for storage on a tiered basis. The basic, free Vimeo account option gives you 500MB of storage per week. With their highest level, $75/month package, you can store 7TB total with no weekly limits.

No Pre-Roll Ads

Winner: Vimeo

If you upload your videos to YouTube, there’s a good chance a pre-roll ad will play before it, which has the potential to deter some viewers from sticking around. Vimeo currently doesn’t allow ads, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be changing this policy anytime soon.

Running Ad Campaigns

Winner: YouTube

If you’re thinking of running your own ads on a video platform, you can’t beat YouTube (You also can’t purchase ad space on Vimeo, even if you wanted to, because they don’t allow it.)

YouTube offers an advanced, user-friendly ads platform, as well as personalized support from a “YouTube Advertising Expert” when you spend $10 a day on ads.

Community

Winner: Vimeo

User numbers don’t tell the entire story. With such a massive audience on YouTube, the environment is naturally more competitive. It’s easier for your video to get drowned out by thousands of others if you aren’t planning to feature it somewhere off YouTube. Vimeo’s smaller, more community-driven platform might be a better option if you’re hoping to tap into an existing creative niche, or get featured on their hand-curated staff picks page.

Advanced Privacy Options

Winner: Vimeo

Both YouTube and Vimeo give you the option to set videos to private or public (the default setting on YouTube is public), but Vimeo offers a handful of more nuanced, specific privacy options if that serves your interests. You can add a password protection option to videos, share a video only with people who follow your account, or even hide it from the Vimeo community — which could be useful if you plan on embedding the video on your website and want it to be viewable in only one place.

Customizable Player

Winner: Vimeo

Vimeo’s sleek embedded player offers a number of useful customization options that YouTube can’t match, including hex color customization and the ability to include a custom player logo (on Business and PRO accounts). Plus, when you change the default customization options on your account, all previously embedded videos will update to reflect the changes automatically, with no need to go back and tinker with any code.

Analytics

Winner: YouTube

YouTube takes the win here because all their analytics — ranging from basic statistics like views to more advanced options — are completely free. Vimeo also offers powerful analytics tools to evaluate performance, but you’ll have to pay to access everything but basic stats.

Video Quality

Winner: Vimeo

When it comes to video quality, Vimeo beats out YouTube. In a test done by Medium, Vimeo’s video quality was crisp, clean, and easier to read. On the other hand, the same video on YouTube was blurry, making it much harder to follow.

Audio Quality

Winner: Vimeo

Again, when it comes to quality, Vimeo comes out on top. Sound quality is higher on Vimeo because the platform supports 320Kbps. However, to enjoy higher-quality videos and audio, you’ll need to be subscribed to one of the paid plans.

Live Streaming

Winner: YouTube

Both Vimeo and YouTube have live streaming options, however, YouTube is the clear winner here because it’s free. Vimeo offers live streaming with a paid plan. However, with Vimeo, you can upload new versions of the video and keep on using the same URL and upload higher quality recorded versions of a live stream, which you can edit before posting.

Image Source

So which one should you choose?

It depends on what exactly you want to accomplish with your videos. If you’re looking for a creative community where you can connect with other video creators and gain some exposure in a specific niche, Vimeo is a better place to start sharing your content. If you have business goals that revolve heavily around search optimization and ads, YouTube is your best bet.

INBOUND is a key milestone for professionals in industries spanning across marketing, sales, customer success, revenue operations, and more.

For Women’s History Month, the INBOUND team is excited to highlight some of the most impactful quotes from the incredibly talented women who have graced our stages over the past 10 years.

Providing opportunities that go beyond having a seat at the table to actually having a voice is how we will continue to transform the future of business.

Let’s dive in. 

Sign Up to Speak at INBOUND 2022

15 Inspirational Quotes from Past INBOUND Women Speakers

1. “Fail is the F word for business. If failure is not an option, neither is success.” — Beth Comstock, Advisor & Author

2. “It is human emotion that drives all of our decision making. It’s what drives us to be our best selves.” — Bozoma St. John, Chief Marketing Officer, Netflix

3. “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.” — Brené Brown, Professor, Author, Podcast Host

4. “Maybe it’s not about getting the part. It’s about forging your own path through the wilderness. You chart a different course.” — Brit Marling, Actress

5. “I define talent in a particular way, I don’t look for polish as much as I look for promise.” — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Writer

6. “Ignorance, at this point, can only be willful.” — Emily Chang, Executive Producer, Bloomberg Technology 

7. “It is the quality of our relationships that determines the quality of our lives.”— Esther Perel, Psychotherapist

8. “Your best mentors are your peers, because you will rise together.” — Joanna Coles, Former Chief Content Officer, Hearst Magazines

9. “Nothing great has ever come out of a lot of easy days.” — Leila Janah, CEO of Samasource

10. “Don’t ask if your dream is crazy, ask if it’s crazy enough.” — Lena Waithe, Actress

11. “Time is the most important thing we have. Every minute of your life should be spent doing what you want to.” — Payal Kadakia, Entrepreneur 

12. “What’s the point of being a woman in power if you can’t help women in power?” — Shonda Rhimes, Television Producer, Screenwriter, Author

13. “You don’t have to lower your standards. There are people who share your values and have the skills to do the job well, you just need to take the time to look for them.” — Tarana Burke, American Activist 

14. “If I were to give one piece of business advice to my younger self it would be respect your workers and fight for change.” — Judith Heumann, American Disability Rights Activist 

15. “Start before you’re ready. No idea is ever going to be 100% perfect, the timing is never going to be 100% right, I’m a big believer that if you jump in and get started, you’ll find your way and if you start today, imagine where you could be in just one year.” — Sarah Paiji Yoo, Founder/CEO of Blueland

According to Hubspot Blog Research, 44% of marketers currently leverage TikTok.

As the short-form video platform continues to grow, some brands are struggling to figure out where they fit in. In fact, a 2022 report by InVideo shows that around 50% of brands like Google and IKEA still aren’t leveraging the platform.

In this article, we’ll cover the top TikTok trends at a brand marketing level, how to find trends on the platform, and tips for joining them.

Top TikTok Trends

1. More businesses are exploring the platform.

According to HubSpot Blog Research, TikTok is the number one platform marketers are increasing their investments in for 2022.

For a long time, businesses didn’t take TikTok seriously. They saw it as a platform for Gen-Z to make short, funny videos.

However, when its popularity (and user growth) peaked in 2020, businesses gave it a second look.

Today, marketers say it’s the fourth most effective social media platform behind Instagram, FB, and YouTube. That puts it ahead of established platforms like Twitter and Pinterest.

What makes TikTok special is its ability to build community. In fact, 78% of users agree that the best brands on TikTok are ones that work together with users, according to TikTok’s 2021 “What’s Next” report.

The report also found 67% of users feel inspired to shop even when they weren’t originally planning to.

Brands are starting to realize that while users may first go on the platform for funny videos, they stay for the authenticity and community building – which are great pillars for brand loyalty.

2. TikTok users are consuming less of other content.

What would you do with your audience’s undivided attention?

According to Kantar research, 46% of users engage with content on the platform without any other distractions.

More specifically, 41% of Gen Z TikTok users say they listen to fewer podcasts after joining TikTok and 33% say they watch less TV.

This is an incredible opportunity for social media marketers to capitalize on this attention to reel in their audience and drive more engagement.

3. Sounds are more important than hashtags.

On no other social media platform does sound play such a pivotal role.

88% of people on TikTok report that the sound on the platform is central to the overall app experience, according to TikTok’s “What’s Next” report.

The report also revealed that sounds saw 47% higher video view rates on 2021 from the “For You” page when compared to hashtags.

Furthermore, Invideo’s TikTok Brand Marketing Report found that 80% of the top videos had music, with upbeat songs being the most popular TikTok music choice by far.

With this in mind, brands should prioritize the use of sounds when posting on the platform. While hashtags are effective in helping you reach your target audience, choosing the right sound will likely be more effective.

How to Find TikTok Trends

1. The “Discover” Tab

One of the best ways to find trends on Tiktok is through the “Discover” tab.

On this tab, you can scroll through popular sounds, hashtags, and topics along with a preview of the top videos within the category.

You can also see how many videos fall within that category, which gives you an insight into which trends are rising and which ones have already blown up.

2. The “For You” Page

TikTok’s “For You” page is like Instagram’s Explore page. It looks different for every user based on the content they engage with the most.

With that said, it’s also where trending topics make their rounds.

If a video has hundreds of thousands of likes or views, it’s worth digging a bit to see if it’s related to a particular trend. Your first step should be checking the sound, located on the bottom left corner of the video.

Once you click on it, you’ll see the name of the song, the number of videos that use it, and scroll to see the videos that feature it. With all this information, you’ll know how popular a sound is and how other users are leveraging it.

3. The “Search” Tab

TikTok’s search tab is another great way to discover new trends.

Before you start typing in the search bar, TikTok auto-populates suggested searches based on trending topics.

All you have to do is then click on relevant searches and see what videos have been created surrounding these topics.

4. The #TrendAlert Hashtag

Now, let’s say you leverage all the strategies mentioned above and you’re still struggling to identify trends.

Well, there are a ton of users on TikTok who are already on top of it. All you have to do is follow them or the hashtag #TrendAlert.

@strategisewithcare
#socialmediamanageruk
#trendalert
#contentcreatortips
#smallbusinesstips_
#trendpredictions
#trendingnow
#tiktoktips
#trendalert2022
#contentideas
♬ original sound – Betelgeusethestar

As shown in the video, you can leverage this hashtag to discover new trends and how to use them.

How to Do TikTok Trends

1. Jump in early.

The thing about trends is that they come and go very quickly. If you don’t jump in early, you might miss the boat altogether.

So, as soon as you identify a TikTok trend you want to participate in, start brainstorming some ideas.

Keep in mind that you don’t need fancy videography to succeed on the platform. Often, all it takes is some creative thinking, good lighting, some lip-syncing skills, and a phone.

Authenticity is essential on a platform like TikTok. If you keep that at the forefront, your odds of success are that much higher.

2. Find a relatable angle.

On TikTok, you only have up to three minutes to make an impression but a good chunk of videos that go viral are 30 seconds or less.

This means you have a short ramp-up period to get viewers to stop and watch your video. One way to do this? Create relatable content.

@thelipbar I mean… it’s hard to resist our
#fastface makeup system 😍
#thelipbar
#easymakeup
#vegan
#vegancosmetics
#fyp
#foryou
♬ original sound – Makayla

Think about the challenges your audience faces on a day-to-day. That’s a great place to get inspiration from.

You can also get inspired by your competitors and the content they’re creating.

3. Know when to bow out.

Every day, there’s a new TikTok trend.

With this in mind, not every trend is worth joining in. This could be because it doesn’t align with your brand voice and values, or because you missed the boat.

Whatever the reason, avoid joining trends long after they’ve peaked. At that point, users may be over the trend and actively avoid it. It can also make your brand seem out of touch.

TikTok trends are always evolving. If you leverage the tools mentioned here, you can join the trends as they happen and reach an ever-growing audience.

According to HubSpot Blog Research, 14% of Instagram marketers report losing followers from 2020 to 2021.

If you’re a part of that 14%, you may be panicking trying to figure out what’s causing the decline.

Don’t fret – we’ve got you covered. Below, we’re covering the top reasons why brands lose followers on Instagram and how to regain them.

Why am I losing so many followers on Instagram?

1. You’re not posting often enough or posting too much.

When we surveyed Instagram marketers, 40% said that not posting enough is the number one reason why brands lose followers.

Meanwhile, 33% said posting too much can have the same impact.

When it comes to posting, it’s all about striking the right balance. You want to post enough to make sure you’re reaching your target audience and not disappearing in a sea of posts.

However, you don’t want to post too much that your audience is getting flooded with your posts all over their timeline.

Here are a few guidelines: First, post at least once a day on the platform – whether it’s on Instagram Stories, Reels, or in-feed. If you have to choose, Stories is probably the best option as marketers surveyed say it’s the second-best way to gain followers behind going live.

Second, share an in-feed post two to three times a week. You can increase this cadence based on how your audience responds but you probably shouldn’t lower it.

2. You’re being too sales-y.

The second most popular reason why your brand is losing followers is that your content is too focused on selling, according to 39% of Instagram marketers surveyed.

Our survey found that content centered around a brand’s products/services is leveraged by 39% of IG marketers and has the second-highest ROI.

However, if it’s the only type of content you post, you might alienate your audience.

Again, balance is the keyword here.

In addition to posts that highlight your products and/or services, you should also post content that:

• Reflects your brand values.
• Invites conversation.
• Builds community.

Another effective content strategy? Make your audience laugh.

Our survey revealed that funny content is the most effective for getting followers, shares, and engagement on Instagram.

3. You had bot followers.

If you purchased bot followers, you’ll be in for a rude awakening when they all disappear and your follower list tanks.

39% of Instagram marketers surveyed say this is the third most popular reason why brands lose followers.

While it’s tempting to buy bots to give the semblance of a strong follower base, this practice will only hurt you in the long run.

Instead, focus on building a follower list organically through a consistent posting schedule, sharing valuable content, following trends, and listening to your data.

It doesn’t have to take long either. Only 1% of marketers we surveyed say it took over a year to grow their followers by 1K. Most marketers (65%) said it took anywhere from one to six months.

And 13% actually did it in less than a month.

This is all to say that see this loss in followers as an opportunity to rebuild your Instagram page and get more reliable data on your audience.

4. You don’t have a consistent aesthetic and voice.

One thing audiences love is consistency.

Consistency in your branding and your creative assets is key in building strong brand recognition. In addition, consistency also helps build a visually appealing profile.

If a user visits your profile and every post looks like it was created by a different brand, they’ll have a hard time understanding what your brand is all about and choose to unfollow you.

Personally, if I’m scrolling and I notice a brand I don’t recognize on my timeline, I’ll visit their profile and if I don’t recognize their last few posts, I’ll likely unfollow them. I imagine many users behave the same way.

With this in mind, figure out what your brand identity and visual aesthetic are early on in your branding process.

From there, you can leverage tools like Canva to build a visual profile that stays consistent across all platforms.

5. Your audience has evolved and you’re not keeping up.

It would be so easy to market to our audiences if their interests and behaviors always stayed the same.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.

This requires marketers to stay on top of what attracts and retains their audiences. One of the most effective ways to do this is by relying on your data. What is it telling you?

Say you’re HubSpot and our feed consists of customer success stories, product highlights, company values, and industry trends.

Perhaps content surrounding industry trends used to perform very well but you’ve noticed a slow decline over the past six months. Perhaps your audience is not as interested in this content or the format in which it’s being presented.

Maybe if you used to leverage images, you should consider switching to video.

Your Instagram strategy should be steered by what your data is telling you. If you don’t use it, you will quickly lose touch with your audience and slowly see your follower list decrease.

Losing Instagram followers can be a scary reality to face. However, once you identify the reason behind the decline, you can address it and regain them.

Practicing good inbound marketing means sending emails to people who actually want to hear from you.

But oftentimes, your emails still end up getting lost in your customers’ inbox clutter — or worse, their spam folder. And then, when someone actually opens your email, they don’t actually click through.

You might think to yourself, “Ugh, I just can’t win.”

Don’t worry, I’ve got your back. Here are 23 tips that are perfect for small and growing businesses, but anyone can embrace right now to improve their emails’ open rates, clickthrough rates, and lead generation potential.

1. Do not buy email addresses.

I know what you’re thinking: In the early stages of an email marketing newsletter, you want to do whatever it takes to kickstart the campaign and get eyeballs on your business. I get it. Whatever options you see online, however, you should resist the urge to purchase an email list.

There are lots of ways to buy an email list, but none of them will actually benefit your campaign. Why? Since the owners of these email addresses didn’t explicitly agree to receive content from you, there’s no telling how interested they are — or if they’re even a fit for what you have to offer. A bought email list is also in violation of GDPR (we’ll talk more about this in just a minute).

Purchasing email lists is always a bad idea. Get more reasons why in this blog post.

2. Abide by CAN-SPAM rules.

CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing) is an act that was passed in 2003. Essentially, it’s a law that establishes the rules for commercial email and commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have a business stop emailing them, and outlines the penalties incurred for those who violate the law.

In order to be CAN-SPAM compliant, it’s important that your email messages follow these rules, which are available on the FTC’s website.

A few highlights:

• Include your valid physical postal address in every email you send out.
• Give recipients a clear and obvious way to opt out (i.e., unsubscribe) of every email you send. (HubSpot customers: Don’t worry — you can’t save an email template unless it includes this element.)
• Use clear “From,” “To,” and “Reply to” language that accurately reflects who you are.
• Avoid “no-reply” or similar sender names, which prevent recipients from opting out of an email newsletter if they’d like to.
• Avoid selling or transferring any email addresses to another list.

Note: Because I am not a lawyer, please do not construe the contents of this article as official legal advice. Check out the FTC’s website for extensive advice on this subject, and read this blog post for more tips on improving email deliverability.

3. Ensure your opt-in process complies with GDPR.

You’ve probably heard of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a new law enacted across Europe in May 2018 to better protect internet users’ personal data.

We don’t expect you to have this long piece of legislation memorized. However, if some of your email recipients live in Europe, there is one key guideline by which you should develop your email marketing campaigns:

When your website users land on a page that solicits their personal information, tradition might tell you to include a pre-checked box that opts the user into an email campaign so they can receive updates and special offers related to your business. Today, having this box pre-checked is in violation of GDPR. So, to comply with GDPR, make sure your European users and customers are given the clear option to opt into your email newsletter themselves — don’t make the decision for them.

This rule might sound like bad news for your email marketing campaign, but it can actually improve your open and clickthrough rates. Limiting your subscriber list to just those who specifically asked to join you will ensure only the most interested people are receiving your messages. This maximizes the chances that you’ll convert readers to qualified leads as a result of an email send.

4. Email new contacts within 24 hours.

It’s important to take advantage of the window of opportunity when your company or brand is at the top of your prospects’ minds. You can really get a pulse of what future engagement will look like by what people do when you email then within 24 hours of their subscribing to your newsletter, signing up for an offer, and so on. Plus, it’s a great opportunity for branding and setting expectations.

If you don’t have any automated email workflows set up, you’re likely missing out on some major opportunities to nurture and engage your existing contacts.

(HubSpot customers: Use HubSpot’s Workflows App to create personalized, automated email workflows that can get triggered in a number of different ways: when a contact gets added to a list, submits a form on your website, clicks a link in an email, views a page on your blog, clicks on one of your AdWords ads, or becomes a marketing qualified lead.)

5. Send your emails from a real person, not your company.

When you send email from a real person, your email open rate increases. Plain and simple. This is because — based on past tests we’ve conducted — recipients are typically more likely to trust a personalized sender name and email address than a generic one. People are so inundated with spam nowadays, they often hesitate to open email from unfamiliar senders — and they’re more likely to trust a personalized sender name and email address than a generic one.

At HubSpot, we found that that emails sent from “Maggie Georgieva, HubSpot” perform better in terms of open and clickthrough rate than emails sent from just “HubSpot.” So, it may be best to do this …

• Sender name: Paul Smith
• Sender email address: [email protected]

… instead of this:

• Sender name: Marketing Team
• Sender email address: [email protected]

(HubSpot customers: Click here to learn how to personalize the “From” name and email address.)

Note: Our tests showed personalization works, but we’ve also found that a combination of a person’s name and a company name together in the sender name works well, too. You’ve just got to A/B test what works best for your particular company, brand, and industry as well as what’s ideal based on to whom you’re sending emails.

6. Pre-set the preview text.

Email clients like the iPhone Mail app, Gmail, and Outlook will display the first few lines of text from the body of your email alongside the subject line. In other words, it’s a text preview of the content inside the email. The exact amount of text shown depends on the email client and user settings.

Use it to provide a short, to-the-point synopsis of what you’re offering — and keep it to 50 characters or less.

When you don’t set the preview text, the client will automatically pull from the body of your email, which not only looks messy, but is also a wasted opportunity to engage your audience. (HubSpot customers: Click here to learn how to set the preview text of your emails.)

7. Write clear and clickable subject lines.

Speaking of the subject line … your marketing emails have a lot to compete with in recipients’ inboxes. The best way to stand out is to write compelling, “can’t-help-but-click-on-this” subject lines.

To entice readers to click, be sure your subject lines:

• Are super clear and understandable.
• Are fewer than 50 characters so they don’t get cut off, particularly by mobile devices.
• Use language and messaging that your target buyer persona is familiar with and excited about.
• Include verbs and action-oriented language to create a sense of urgency and excitement.
• Include an exclusive value proposition (like 20% off an item or a free ebook) so people know what they’re getting.
• Avoid spam triggers like “Cash,” “Quote,” and “Save.”
• Are timely, if applicable. (One of my favorite subject lines came from Warby Parker and read: “Uh-oh, your prescription is expiring”.)
• Include their first names sometimes (it could increase clickthrough rates), or even add something about their specific location. (You’ll want to do this sparingly, like for your most important offers, rather than over-doing it and being repetitive or intrusive.)

Read this blog post for more tips on writing clickable, delightful subject lines.

8. Keep your emails concise.

Everyone’s busy and their inbox is already full. Why add to the problem with a longwinded email? People generally like short, concise emails better than long ones because concise emails have an obvious focus. Plus, when your users are scanning through all their emails in a short amount of time, they’re more likely to find the overall message before deciding to take any action.

Another reason to keep your emails short? Too much copy is actually a red flag for spam filters, too.

To keep your emails short and compelling, write your email like you were talking to someone in real life. If your email has to be on the long side, break it up into multiple paragraphs to provide visual breaks. This’ll make skimming it much easier on your reader. (Read this blog post on how to write compelling emails for more tips.)

Here’s a great example of a concise email:

9. Include one call-to-action button per email.

Remember when I said a lot of your email recipients will scan your email without reading all the copy? That’s why you want to have a clear call-to-action (CTA) button that’s easy to spot for even the quickest of email scanners. Without a CTA button, you won’t be calling on your recipients to take any action that actually benefits them — and the growth of your business.

You’ll want to place your CTA in a location where it’s easily visible and where it makes sense for someone to click on it. For example, you might put a CTA to download a free ebook in an email that describes new strategies for using your product.

Once you’ve determined where you want to put your CTA, it’s time to create the button itself. Click here to download 50 free CTA button templates to get you started. (HubSpot customers: Learn how to add CTA buttons to emails in HubSpot here.)

10. Add alt text to your CTA image.

Many email clients block images — including your CTA buttons — by default. That means a good chunk of your audience may not see your beautiful, optimized CTA. Instead, they see this:

When you set an image’s alt text, though, you let recipients who can’t view images in their email know exactly where to click to complete the action:

You can either edit the alt text in your email tool’s rich text editor (just right-click the image and edit away), or you can manually enter it in the HTML editor of your email tool like this:

<a href=”HTTP://YOURLINKHERE.COM“><img class=”alignCenter shadow” src=”YOUR CTA BUTTON IMAGE SOURCE HERE.JPG” alt-text=”YOUR ALT-TEXT GOES HERE“/></a>

11. Hyperlink your emails’ images.

Your ultimate goal in email marketing is to get people to click through to a web page. One way to increase the clickthrough rate without littering the copy with links is to hyperlink the images in your email to the webpage that corresponds with the content of the image.

If you’re inviting readers to download an ebook, for example, and you have a picture of the ebook included in the email, don’t just hyperlink the text next to the image telling people to “download it here.” Hyperlink the ebook’s picture, too. People are drawn to images much more commonly than text, and you want to give your email subscribers as many options to get your ebook as you can.

You can simply click on the image and then use your email tool’s “Insert/Edit Link” option, or you can link an image in the HTML editor using the following code:

<a href=”HTTP://YOURLINKHERE.COM“><img class=”alignCenter shadow” src=”YOUR IMAGE SOURCE HERE.JPG“/></a>

12. Include noticeable text links.

In general, it’s a good idea to link to your featured offer in multiple places in addition to the clear and focused call-to-action button. In addition to your main CTAs and images, consider including a noticeable text link (or two) when applicable, as having more links increases the opportunity for engagement.

13. Place at least one clickable item above the fold.

One way to make your emails more clickable? Place one or more of your clickable elements — whether it’s a CTA button, a text link, or a clickable image — near the beginning of your email.

This is especially useful for mobile users. Mobile tends to require a lot of scrolling, and sometimes squinting, pinching, and zooming. Giving a recipient something actionable that is seen upon opening can lead to more clicks in this environment.

14. Add alt text to all of your images.

Again, a lot of email clients out there block images by default. (Here’s the full list from Campaign Monitor.) In those cases, images won’t load unless the recipient clicks a button to show them or change their default settings.

Adding alt text to your email images helps recipients understand your message — even if they can’t see the images right away. (HubSpot customers: Click here to learn how to add alt text to your email images in HubSpot.)

You might consider making the language in your alt text actionable, such as “Click here to download the ultimate content creation kit.” Actionable alt text will essentially turn every linked image into another CTA. So, even if someone doesn’t see the snazzy GIF of my latest offer (or if they hover their mouse over an image that does show up), the alt text will beckon them to click.

15. Avoid background images.

This is especially important if your target buyers tend to use Outlook as an email client.

Microsoft Outlook doesn’t recognize background images, period. Given that Outlook is the fifth most-used email client with 7% of the market share — and that’s in total; your industry might have a lot more — it’s best to avoid using background images altogether.

Instead, use a background color and use images in other ways in your email, like Harry’s did in their email below:

Image Credit: Beautiful Email Newsletters

16. Add social sharing buttons.

Increasing the number of people who see your link will increase the number of people who click on it. So, be sure to extend the life of your email by adding social sharing buttons.

Many email tools will come with templates that have built-in social sharing buttons that make it easy — just fill in the destination URL and you’re good to go. If you don’t have built-in capabilities, here is a cheat sheet for easily creating your own social sharing buttons.

Important Note: If you want to increase clicks, you want to add sharing buttons, not follow buttons. The former will allow your email recipients to pass along the offer URL in your email to their followers. The latter will prompt them to Like, follow, or add your company social media channels.

17. Simplify sharing with ready-made tweets.

People are far more likely to take an action if you make it really, really easy for them. For recipients out there who are too lazy to tweet the wonderful content you sent them via email, you can make it easy for them by creating what we call a “lazy tweet.”

One simple way to do this? Using ClickToTweet, a free custom tweet link generator. First, go to ClickToTweet’s basic tweet generator. Then, type in your tweet, desired (trackable) destination URL, and hashtags:

Click “Generate New Link,” and then grab that link. Then you can link it to your Twitter sharing button. Or, if you’re segmenting your list by attributes such as “has Twitter” or “topic of recent conversion: social media” (you’ll need marketing intelligence software like HubSpot for this), you can even include it in your main email copy, like this:

18. Add an email forwarding option.

Another way to extend the clicks on your email beyond its shelf life is to prompt your audience to forward the offer. The folks at Litmus found that the most forwarded emails were 13X more likely than the typical email to include “Share With Your Network” calls-to-action. By including forward-to-a-friend (or social sharing links, as we discussed above), you put it in recipients’ minds to share.

You can add a little post-script to the end of your email copy, such as “Not responsible for your company’s social media? Feel free to forward this ebook to a friend or colleague using social media marketing.” Link the call-to-action to a pre-made email, complete with subject and body text. That way, all someone has to do is enter their associates’ email addresses and hit “Send.”

You can highlight text or an image and add the URL via your email tool’s rich text editor and then enter a mailto:? link. Here’s what this looks like:

mailto:?subject=Your%20subject%20here%20&body=Your%20email%20body%20text%20here.

You can also create this in your HTML editor. Here’s how to attach a mailto:? link to text:

<a href=”mailto:?subject=Your%20subject%20here%20&body=Your%20email%20body%20text%20here.”>
forward this ebook</a>.

And here’s how to attach your mailto:? link to an image, such as a sleek call-to-action button that says “Email This Offer”:

<a href=”mailto:?subject=Your%20subject%20here%20&body=Your%20email%20body%20text%20here.“><img class=”alignCenter shadow” src=”YOUR IMAGE SOURCE HERE.JPG” alt-text=”YOUR ALT-TEXT GOES HERE“/></a>

Just make sure you use the “%20” tag to separate words! Otherwise, your message willreadlikethis (not too appealing, right?).

19. Clean up the plain-text version of your emails.

Not every recipient is going to see the beautiful, HTML, rich-text version of your email. Some clients don’t support HTML-rich emails, while other times, a person may simply choose to only view messages in plain text.

When you don’t optimize the plain-text version of your email, this is what happens when someone views it:

Scary, isn’t it? I don’t think many people are going to bother to read through this garbled mess.

So, cut out the extra text, replace long tracking URLs with shortened ones, and keep the body simple. Taking the five extra minutes to optimize your email’s plain-text version could help you reach more of your target segment and keep you out of the spam folder.

Note: When you’re cleaning up your plain-text emails, don’t change the actual copy much at all or you’ll risk it getting marked as spam.

20. Optimize your emails for mobile users.

In Litmus’ analysis of over a billion email opens, they reported that 56% of opened emails were opened on mobile devices in April 2016. This figure represents an 8% increase in mobile opens in the past year.

“This represents a peak for mobile market share,” they wrote, “and the longest sustained growth we’ve seen after the holiday season.”

 

Image Credit: Litmus

As more and more people use their mobile devices to read email and surf the web, it’s more important than ever that marketers design their emails with mobile users in mind. Otherwise, their user base will be significantly affected.

How? Here’s a visual example of what happens when images aren’t optimized for mobile (first) versus when images are optimized for mobile (second):

Isn’t the second image a much better user experience?

Here are a few ways to optimize your emails for mobile devices:

• Reduce your images’ file sizes to make up for mobile devices’ generally slower download speeds. (HubSpot customers don’t need to worry about it — images uploaded to HubSpot’s software are automatically compressed. Otherwise, tools like TinyPNG will help you reduce file size.)
• Ensure the CTA buttons and links are larger than 45-57 pixels for the best user experience. Why? According to an MIT study, the average size of an adult index finger is 1.6-2 cm, which translates to 45-57 pixels on a mobile device.
• Invest in responsive email templates. Creating your own responsive template may be beyond your particular skill set or bandwidth. Sometimes, the most economical solution is to just license or buy email templates from the people who do it best.

HubSpot customers: HubSpot’s default email templates are all optimized for mobile using responsive design. To access these templates, create a new email and look for the responsive option in the “folders” drop-down in the top left.

21. Preview and test your emails before sending them.

When you’re finally ready to hit “Send” on your email, make a habit of double-checking one last time whether your emails look as good as you think they do. If your email marketing tool lets you, go ahead and preview what your email looks like in different email clients and devices that are popular with your audience.

(HubSpot customers: You can preview what your emails look like in 30+ email clients right in the HubSpot Email App, as well as preview what your emails will look like on any device — including desktop, tablet, or mobile devices. Click here to learn how.)

You should also send out a test version of your email before you send out the real deal to ensure it’s working properly for everyone on your email list. Start incorporating these as final steps in your email review process. (HubSpot customers: Learn how to test your emails here.)

22. Don’t be afraid to ‘clean up’ your contact list.

It’s tempting to keep every subscriber you win on an email campaign until they personally choose to opt out. But just because they haven’t opted out of an email newsletter doesn’t mean they’re still interested, and subscribers who have become inactive can kill your emails’ open and clickthrough rates.

To make sure you’re only sending emails to the people who want to read them, clean up your email list so that it excludes recipients who haven’t opened a certain amount of emails in the campaign’s recent history. This makes sure your emails’ open and clickthrough rates reflect only your most interested readers, allowing you to collect more effective data on what is and isn’t working in each email you send.

On top of that, a good email list cleaning service removes other email addresses that pose a risk to your inbox placement. “Invalid, abuse, and temporary emails will affect your sender reputation, so it’s best to weed them out,” says Liviu Tanase, CEO of ZeroBounce. “Your desire to grow your list is only natural, but you can’t afford to expand it at all costs. Emailing only valid and active addresses allows you to connect with people who care about your brand, and that’s what every email marketer wants,” Tanase adds.

(HubSpot customers: Lists that add and remove members based on their email behavior are called smart or “active” lists. Learn how to create them in HubSpot Academy.)

23. Monitor each email’s performance.

What’s working in your email campaign this month might not work quite as well next month, and it’s imperative that you check in on your emails’ open and clickthrough rates for opportunities to improve your copy (to do this, of course, you’ll need a tool to track your email analytics).

If after a month of email sends, for instance, you find 10 messages are getting double the engagement as the other 20, analyze them. What did you do differently in the higher performers? Was it the imagery? The subject line? Maybe you have more than one audience segment and one of them just isn’t as interested in your current email content.

Use your email performance data to run A/B tests that are designed to show you what your email recipients really want out of your newsletters, and steer into the trends that you see to make your email campaigns more desirable.

Email marketing can be tough at times — I’m right there with you. But by sending compelling offers to the right target segments and paying attention to the little details that go into an email, you can increase the opens clicks in your emails and generate more leads. (And learn more about which email marketing metrics to track — and how — here.)

Intent data is one of the hottest topics in the marketing world.

As COVID-19 forced us apart, employees dispersed from centralized offices, creating a new type of challenge for businesses: How do we reach buyers when they’re not gathered in one location?

Fortunately, we know the solution: Studying and understanding buyer-level intent data.

NetLine’s Intent Discovery capabilities package all of this data into actionable insights for B2B Marketing and Sales teams.

What is Intent Discovery?

NetLine’s Intent Discovery is a sales acceleration tool designed to capture first-party intent data at the buyer-level generated by the collective consumption behavior occurring across 13k+ pieces of gated content. 

Intent Discovery delivers actionable insights into your target accounts, providing Marketers with dramatic scale beyond the limitations of their own content—delivering first-party sourced intent-rich data to accelerate sales outcomes. 

Through Buyer-Level Intent Discovery, you can tap into our networks’ entire universe: 

• Access to each one of our 13k+ content assets
• 35,925,120 different ways of filtering buyers actively performing research
• Billions of data points
  

Answering the question of “who” a given prospect has long been an obstacle for Marketers. Sales, understandably, wants as much data as possible on each lead. However, getting this type of granular information has long been a challenge for Marketers. 

To better understand the kind of insights NetLine’s Intent Discovery delivers, let’s further define buyer-level intent.

What is Buyer-Level Intent?

Buyer-level intent, or buyer intent data, is the measure of an individual prospect’s readiness to make a purchase within a given timeframe. 

This measurement is based on a group of signals presented by a prospect over the course of their digital buying journey.

What’s the Difference Between Buyer-Level Intent and Company-Level Intent?

If buyer-level intent is based on an individual prospect’s readiness to make a purchase in a given timeframe (which it is), then company-level intent, or account-level intent, is the measurement of a group of prospects working within the same organization.

For years, we have had visibility into company-level intent data, thanks to IP address information and the social web. Today, there is a much greater emphasis on knowing who a buyer is versus knowing which company is interested. The reason for this shift is simple: Businesses don’t make decisions—people do.

Ahrefs reports that in the past five years web pages focused on intent data rose by 2,739.1%. Despite this staggering figure, the attention placed on buyer-level intent data dwarfs its parent topic, increasing 13,609.7% over the same time frame (and 1365.5% since March 2020).

Google Trends highlights this shift, as well, as searches for buyer intent have become far more frequent since March 2020. 

With the shift towards remote work, Sales teams aren’t interested in guessing which contact is interested in their products or services—and it’s on Marketing to deliver. 

How NetLine’s Always-On Intent Discovery Delivers Actionable Insights

NetLine’s Intent Discovery product features an Always-On segment that gives us visibility into the changing needs of a given customer profile. For this example, we analyzed responses from our Human Resources and Project Management segments to highlight the unparalleled insights Intent Discovery offers.

Human Resources

The majority of respondents (77.82%) were looking to make a decision regarding additional investment in HR-related software beyond the next 12 months. However, that still leaves more than 20% of an entire market that’s looking to make a buying decision in the next 12 months:

• When asked about which top HR priorities respondents were allocating resources towards, 34.8% said Performance Management, making respondents 56.8% more likely to say it was their top priority over the second most popular answer, Talent Management Systems. 
• Respondents in the Healthcare/Medical field were the most likely to state that Performance Management was their top priority (36.56%), which is essentially identical to the response rate of Senior Human Resources Directors in the same industry (36.55%), enough to make this group 5.1% more likely to prioritize Performance Management than any other Job Function, Job Level, and Industry combination. 
• Responses from professionals in the field of Agriculture and Education also highlight the benefits of knowing who isn’t in-market, as they were the least likely to respond to any of these questions. 

Project Management

Similar to the responses seen within our HR Intent campaign, most of the respondents (67.73%) were looking to make a decision regarding additional investment in HR-related software beyond the next 12 months. Unlike the HR respondents, however, there was a greater share of professionals looking to make additional investments within the next 12 months:

• So what were the top Project Management priorities respondents were allocating resources towards? Would it surprise you that 25.65% (including 38.9% of Agriculture professionals) said Project Planning was their top priority in Project Management? It certainly shouldn’t! 
  • Respondents were 300% more likely to select Project Planning as their top priority compared to Budgeting and Expense Reporting, the least popular choice. 
• 28.26% of respondents said Organizational Adoption was their top challenge when it came to managing and using Project Management Software, making this the top selection.
  • Senior Management professionals (represented mostly by the Non-Profit/Organizations, Information Technology, Finance, and Manufacturing trades) accounted for 32.9% of all responses. 
• 75% of C-Level professionals leading Information Technology organizations of 1,000 – 2,499 employees were 579% more likely to state that Project Planning was their organization’s top challenge in managing and using Project Management Software. 
• C-Level Information Technology professionals operating organizations of between 25 – 49 employees were the most likely to say their timeline for additional investment extended beyond the next 12 months—making them 77.42% more likely to make this statement compared to the rest of their Senior Management peers.

How to Follow-up on Intent-Rich Leads

Once you’ve added buyer-level intent data to your repertoire, understanding how to take the next step is critical. Remember: Intent Discovery is not a traditional lead generation vehicle. Instead, Intent Discovery is focused on delivering insights beyond first-party data captured from a client’s content. 

This means that Marketing and Sales teams need to be keenly aware of how to best utilize and leverage these insights for your (and your prospect’s) benefit.

How Marketing Can Best Put Buyer-Level Intent Insights to Use

Thanks to buyer-level intent data, Marketers have a multiplier to the intent use cases marketers know and love…only better. By knowing “Who” their target audiences and buyers are more completely now than ever before, Marketers have significant opportunities in front of them.

Here are a few:

Personalize Dialogue in Sales and Marketing Outreach
How often have you responded to an email that began with, “Hey COMPANY NAME,”? If the answer is any higher than zero times, I’d be stunned.

Buyer-level intent data allows you to go beyond company-level personalization and embrace the knowledge of truly knowing who is actively exhibiting intent within the account. ​While intent data is not exclusively the same as a lead, it should be treated with the same reverence

Tailor Campaign and Content Messaging
If you knew that a Project Marketing Manager was struggling with keeping their projects organized, you wouldn’t subject them to messaging that focused on an entirely different project management software solution.

Once you know about a prospect’s needs, you need to immediately pivot and consider the additional variables your prospect will need: What type of unique content is needed to move them closer to a buying decision? Who else is involved in the buying committee? Who is the ultimate decision-maker?

Identify Likely-to-Buy Accounts
Buyer-level intent information is chock full of data your Marketing and Sales colleagues can seize on. However, just because you have additional intent data at your disposal doesn’t automatically mean these are the best buyers for you.

Matrix buyer-level intent data against existing internal signals to identify which accounts are not only actively exhibiting first-party intent but also align with your core buying indicators.​

Inform and Augment Content-Centric Lead Generation Campaign Targets
Sometimes, no matter how hard we work on our content, it’s just not what our ideal buyers are looking for. 

As we learned in our 2022 State of B2B Content Consumption and Demand Report for Marketers, while eBooks are the most popular content format by registration volume, White Papers and Webinars registrations are far better at suggesting a buyer is preparing to make a purchase decision. By using Buyer-Level intent, you can close the loop on your content syndication campaigns and gain increased levels of refinement.

How Sales Can Best Put Buyer-Level Intent Insights to Use

Intent Discovery offers Sales organizations the ability to prioritize efforts based on responses captured vs. randomly tossing onto the pile. ​

Perhaps the best way Sales can leverage buyer-level intent data is by focusing on one word: Who.

Knowing “Who” you’re reaching out to certainly eliminates guesswork and therefore streamlines your engagement process. Intent Discovery exposes the “Who” within given accounts and, as we’ve shown in the examples above, simultaneously delivers real-time insights into their intent, pain points, and needs. Knowing “Who” is in-market is the ultimate ace in the hole for Sales professionals.

By acting upon these insights, Sales can fast-track its dialogue with prospects, ​much like a leading Revenue Growth Platform did.

When our client was looking to improve the success rates of their demos, they initially used NetLine’s leveraged lead gen offerings. However, by leveraging NetLine’s Always-On Buyer Level intent program to their online registration forms, registration and in-person demos rose dramatically, resulting in a 71% increase in demo attendance and a 20% lift in won business.

Seeing success from Intent Discovery means having process and personnel responsible for the duty of follow-up action after lead retrieval. The vendor was able to capitalize on signals real users were sharing across NetLine’s vast content library by having a member on their team actively following up with leads, When the platform found an ideal, in-market buyer, they were ready to seize the opportunity to engage and nurture their newest (and possibly best) lead.

Getting the Most Out of Buyer-Intent Data

Buyer-level intent data is one of the best resources B2B organizations now have at their disposal. By using it strategically, you can enhance your lead generation program and become the efficient machine you’ve always aspired to be. 

Remove the guesswork and find out “Who” your in-market buyers are by leveraging buyer-level intent data!

Adding a checkbox to your workbook may sound simple but it can expand the possibilities of what you can do in Excel.

From checklists to graphs, there’s so much you can do. However, it starts with the checkbox.

Learn everything you need to know about checkboxes below.

How to Insert a Checkbox in Excel

1. Add the developer tab to your Ribbon.

   

2. Navigate to the Developer tab and locate the “Checkbox” option.

   

3. Select the cell where you want to add the checkbox control then click the checkbox.

   

4. Right-click the checkbox to edit the text and adjust sizing.

   

To do this on Windows, click File > Options > Customize Ribbon. Then, select the Developer checkbox and click “save.” On IOS, click Excel > Preferences > Ribbon & Toolbar > Main Tabs. Then, select the Developer checkbox and save.

On Windows, there are a few extra steps to see the checkbox option. Under the Developer tab, click “Insert” and under “Form Controls,” click the checkbox icon.

Note: Currently, you cannot use checkboxes in the web version of Excel. If you upload a workbook with these controls, you’ll first have to disable them to start editing.

How to Format a Checkbox in Excel

1. Open up the format control.

   

2. Modify the value and cell link, then click “OK.”

   

To access it on Windows, right-click the checkbox and select “Format Control.” On IOS, navigate to the “Format” tab and select “Format Control.”

With value, there are three options:

• Unchecked – This displays a box that is unchecked and returns a “FALSE” statement.
• Checked – This displays a box that is checked and returns a “TRUE” statement.
• Mixed – This will leave the checkbox empty as neither a true or false statement until an action is taken.

As for the cell link, this contains the checkbox status (true or false) of the cell it’s referencing.

Now that you have those details down, you can start fully customizing your checkbox.

How to Delete A Checkbox in Excel

Deleting a checkbox in Excel is a simple two-step process:

1. Right-click the checkbox.
2. Click “delete” on your keyboard.

Large corporations and government agencies don’t shop around for the best contractors and freelancers the same way a SaaS company or a small business might.

Rather than relying on word of mouth, a quick Google search, or a Facebook ad, these organizations follow a procurement process that ensures fair business practices and quality results.

As a preliminary step in the procurement process, an RFI gives a company or organization the information it needs to move forward with an RFP and RFQ. But what exactly is an RFI and what does this acronym stand for?

RFIs are important because they reduce blind spots and empower your team to make better decisions. With more information at your disposal, you can understand the marketplace and get a better sense of the questions you’ll need to ask as you move forward in the procurement process.  

How does an RFI work?

Step 1: The buyer develops the RFI.

RFIs are written documents with the goal of collecting information from sellers. This information can be used to help buyers make a purchasing decision. The questions that are included in an RFI are specific and straightforward so that the sellers understand what the buyer is asking for.

Sellers can find an RFI on the company’s website, in databases like Procore, and government web pages like grants.gov.

Step 2: Sellers draft responses to the RFI.

Once a seller finds an RFI, they have a window of time specified by the buyer in which to complete it.

The information that is collected in the RFI is organized in such a way that it can be compared and contrasted against the information that other sellers submit.

Step 3: The buyer reviews all the sellers’ responses.

After the deadline for RFIs closes, the buyer reviews all of the responses submitted by the sellers. In this step, the buyer is looking for information about the companies, the products or services they offer, its history and background, and other factors that can impact how well the seller can deliver on the project.

Note: Price, budget, timeline, and other specific information aren’t covered in an RFI since it’s a part of step one in the overall procurement process.

Step 4: The buyer moves onto the next stage in the procurement process — the RFP.

After the buyer has determined which of the RFI submissions meets the preliminary qualifications for the project, they’ll move on to the next step in the process which is an RFP (Request for Proposal).

An RFI is the initial step a company takes to solicit information from potential sellers, as described above. Its main objective is to obtain information, not to make a final decision. Once the RFIs are submitted, the company will review them and shortlist the best options, armed with more insight. Then, they’ll send an RFP to that short list of sellers that satisfied the requirements of the RFI.

A Request for Proposal is a formal request for the selected vendors or sellers to respond to a specific contract opportunity. The document specifies the scope and price so potential sellers can put together a bid for the work.

These bids are then compared to understand each seller‘s strengths and weaknesses, and the best fit is chosen. RFPs are a decision document, so the questions are more targeted and specific.

After an RFP, the company may be contacted with an RFQ or Request for Quote that breaks down the project even further into specific cost structures and deliverables.

Request for Information Template

And RFI is similar to an RFP, but with less detail. Download the template below and use the short, one-page version of the request for proposal to draft your RFI. Once you’ve downloaded your free copy, follow along with the steps below to learn how to write an RFI.

Download Now

How to Write an RFI

Creating your first RFI can be overwhelming. What should you ask for? What information does the seller need to know? To help answer those questions, use this simple guide to get the most out of the RFI process.

1. Draft an overview or statement of need.

Outline your goals and objectives, along with some general information about your company. This section should be short and provide an overview of your project to someone with no background information.

2. Add context about your organization.

Including additional information about your organization can help the seller tailor their response to your needs. You may want to mention which department is leading the project, who your customers are, and what your company values are, among other things.

3. Finalize the details.

What problem are you looking to solve? What information do you need? Here’s where you can detail what you’re looking for. Include any additional information a seller might need to know to develop a thorough RFI response. That may include:

• Any necessary skills and credentials the respondent may need to be successful
• Timelines or general scope
• What you’re not looking for

4. Mention information about the process.

Explain how interested parties should respond to the RFI. Attach a response template if you have one, outline any deadlines, and note if and when you’ll reply to respondents after the RFIs have been gathered. You may want to mention any evaluation criteria you’ll use when creating the shortlist for RFPs.

Best Practices for RFI Documentation

The more thoughtful you are about your RFI document, the better quality responses you will get back. Instead of casually emailing a sales rep and asking for information, creating RFI documentation will ensure that you get exactly the information you need. In that document, be sure to:

• Clearly state the information you’re requesting.
• Be specific about how and when you want to receive seller responses.
• Keep an open mind so that sellers can provide additional information that they think is relevant.
• Be brief and respectful of the sellers’ time.

RFI Examples

Need more inspiration? Read through the following examples of RFIs for more ideas on what to include in yours. These three RFIs all come from different industries and have different needs, so they are a good overview of the options available to you.

1. U.S. General Services Administration

In 2021, the U.S. General Services Administration collaborated with the U.S. Department of Energy to issue an RFI supporting a project to reduce commercial building greenhouse gas emissions. The overall goal that the GSA and DOE were aiming to reach was net-zero carbon emissions within these buildings and the RFI focused on three specific areas that would allow this goal to be achieved.  Sellers who had technology to meet the requirements of this RFI were required to propose measurable success criteria across several categories.

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In addition to the RFI requirements on the webpage, the GSA and DOE hosted a webinar, provided an FAQ, and made the presentation slides from the webinar available on the webpage so that all sellers had access to the information they’d need to submit the best response.

What makes this RFI example stand out is that it’s kept up to date frequently. New information is added frequently. When the deadline is passed, that is notated clearly at the top of the RFI so sellers can move on to other requests that are accepting submissions. This is a great example of the best practice we mentioned earlier about respecting the sellers’ time when asking for RFI submissions.

2. NASA

When NASA retires parts of their space shuttles, they like to display them at museums or other educational institutions. To gauge interest and understand the potential options for an upcoming retired part, they opened up an RFI. Here’s a sample of the document:

“This RFI is being used to gather market research for NASA to make decisions regarding development of strategies for placement of Space Shuttle Orbiters and Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) for public display after conclusion of the SSP. NASA is seeking information from educational institutions, science museums, and other appropriate organizations about the community’s ability to acquire and display a Space Shuttle Orbiter after the vehicles are retired from flight status.”

We like this RFI example because it provides a straightforward overview of the purpose of the RFI, and outlines what NASA wants to learn from the process.

3. Government of Canada

Government websites are a great place to find RFI examples because they are required to make all procurement processes publicly available. The following example is from an RFI for financial planning software.

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The requirements section of this RFI is a great example of how to explain what you do and don’t need in the responses. While the government of Canada is looking for financial planning software, they will be keeping their CRM and data lake provider.

4. University of Ottawa

In the following RFI except, the University of Ottawa is looking for an ERP integration solution. What’s unique about this RFI is how they want to receive responses. Rather than collecting written responses or documents, the U of O is scheduling strategy discussions with suppliers. This is a unique way to gather information, but helpful when you don’t have enough knowledge in the area to put together a scope of work yet.

“The University of Ottawa (University) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to schedule strategy discussions (via a conference call) from interested Suppliers with experience in ERP Integrations.

The intent of these discussions is to obtain feedback from Suppliers to assist the University in developing a more accurate Scope of Work and overall approach for an upcoming Request For Proposal (RFP) for ERP Integration solutions.”  

Request for Success

Every RFI will be unique to your organization and the information you require. Use the template above as a guide to creating an RFI that will save you time in evaluating potential solutions.

With the right information being sent your way, all you need to do is read up! You’ll be well on your way to procuring the best solution for your team’s needs.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Think about the brands you purchase from over and over. Why do you choose to buy products and or services from them even when cheaper options exist?

Well, there’s a good reason for it — because of their values. The best brands combine physical, emotional, and logical elements into one exceptional customer (and employee) experience that you value as much as they do.

When your brand creates a genuine connection with customers and employees, they’ll stay loyal to your company, thereby increasing your overall profitability. But this type of success doesn’t happen overnight.

Building brand loyalty, like creating mission and vision statements, takes time. If you’re in a bit of a time crunch, use this table of contents to find precisely what you’re looking for to inspire the development of your company’s mission:

As a company grows, its objectives and goals may be reached, and in turn, they’ll change. Therefore, mission statements should be revised as needed to reflect the business’s new culture as previous goals are met.

But first, you have to understand how to write a proper mission statement to build off of as your company evolves.

1. Explain your company’s product or service offering.

You want prospects to understand what your company does in a literal sense. This means explaining your offering in basic, clear terms. Your explanation should answer the most basic questions like:

• Are you selling a product or service?
• Why would customers buy it?
• How does your offering solve for the customer?

Record your answers and focus on how your product or service brings value to your buyer personas, otherwise known as your target audience.

2. Identify the company’s core values.

Now, this is where you can start thinking bigger. You didn’t just make a product or service at random, you most likely were motivated by a set of core values.

Core values are deeply ingrained principles that guide a company’s actions. Take HubSpot’s culture code, HEART, for example:

• Humble
• Empathetic
• Adaptable
• Remarkable
• Transparent

These are principles that not only company employees respect, but are principles that our customers appreciate as well. By identifying core values that hold meaning on personal and organizational levels, you’ll have an appealing set to add to your mission statement.

3. Connect how your company’s offering aligns with your values.

So how can your company offering serve your core values? You need to draw a connection between the two in a way that makes sense to the public.

For example, if one of your core values is centered on innovation, you want to frame your product or service as pushing boundaries and explaining how it helps customers innovate their lives or business practices. Essentially, you’re taking the literal benefit of the offering and expanding it to serve a higher purpose.

4. Condense these statements into one.

A mission statement can be as short as a single sentence, or as long as a paragraph, but it’s meant to be a short summary of your company’s purpose. You need to state the what, who and why of your company:

• What: The company offering
• Who: Who you’re selling to
• Why: The core values you do it for

Once you have successfully conveyed your message, it’s time to refine and perfect your statement.

5. Make sure it’s clear, concise, and free of fluff.

Above all, your mission statement is a marketing asset that is meant to be clear, concise, and free of fluff. It should clearly outline the purpose of your company offering and demonstrate the common goals the company is working to achieve. You should also have other team members or advisors read the mission statement and make adjustments if needed according to their recommendation.

Both mission and vision statements are often combined into one comprehensive “mission statement” to define the organization’s reason for existing and its outlook for internal and external audiences — like employees, partners, board members, consumers, and shareholders.

The difference between mission and vision statements lies in the purpose they serve.

A mission statement is a literal quote stating what a brand or company is setting out to do. This lets the public know the product and service it provides, who it makes it for, and why it’s doing it. A vision statement is a brand looking toward the future and saying what it hopes to achieve through its mission statement. This is more conceptual, as it’s a glimpse into what the brand can become in the eyes of the consumer and the value it will bring in longevity.

In summary, the main differences between a mission and vision statement are:

• Mission statements describe the current purpose a company serves. The company’s function, target audience, and key offerings are elements that are often mentioned in a mission statement.
• Vision statements are a look into a company’s future or what its overarching vision is. The same elements from the mission statement can be included in a vision statement, but they’ll be described in the future tense.

Now that we know what they are, let’s dive into some useful examples of each across different industries.

Free Guide: 100 Mission Statement Templates & Examples

Need more examples to build your mission statement? Download our free overview of mission statements – complete with 100 templates and examples to help you develop a stand-out mission statement.

1. Life Is Good: To spread the power of optimism.

The Life is Good brand is about more than spreading optimism — although, with uplifting T-shirt slogans like “Seas The Day” and “Forecast: Mostly Sunny,” it’s hard not to crack a smile.

There are tons of T-shirt companies in the world, but Life is Good’s mission sets itself apart with a mission statement that goes beyond fun clothing: to spread the power of optimism.

This mission is perhaps a little unexpected if you’re not familiar with the company’s public charity: How will a T-shirt company help spread optimism? Life is Good answers that question below the fold, where the mission is explained in more detail using a video and with links to the company’s community and the Life is Good Kids Foundation page. We really like how lofty yet specific this mission statement is — it’s a hard-to-balance combination.

2. sweetgreen: To inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food.

Notice that sweetgreen’s mission is positioned to align with your values — not just written as something the brand believes. We love the inclusive language used in its statement.

The language lets us know the company is all about connecting its growing network of farmers growing healthy, local ingredients with us — the customer — because we’re the ones who want more locally grown, healthy food options.

The mission to connect people is what makes this statement so strong. And, that promise has gone beyond sweetgreen’s website and walls of its food shops: The team has made strides in the communities where it’s opened stores as well. Primarily, it provides education to young kids on healthy eating, fitness, sustainability, and where food comes from.

3. Patagonia: We’re in business to save our home planet.

Patagonia’s mission statement spotlights the company’s commitment to help the environment and save the earth. The people behind the brand believe that among the most direct ways to limit ecological impacts is with goods that last for generations or can be recycled so the materials in them remain in use.

In the name of this cause, the company donates time, services, and at least 1% of its sales to hundreds of environmental groups worldwide.

If your company has a similar focus on growing your business and giving back, think about talking about both the benefit you bring to customers and the value you want to bring to a greater cause in your mission statement.

4. American Express: Become essential to our customers by providing differentiated products and services to help them achieve their aspirations.

Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.

— Simon Sinek (@simonsinek)

The tweet above is from Simon Sinek, and it’s one that we repeat here at HubSpot all the time. American Express sets itself apart from other credit card companies in its list of values, with an ode to excellent customer service, which is something it’s famous for.

We especially love the emphasis on teamwork and supporting employees so that the people inside the organization can be in the best position to support their customers.

5. Warby Parker: To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.

This “objective” statement from Warby Parker uses words that reflect a young and daring personality: “rebellious,” “revolutionary,” “socially-conscious.” In one sentence, the brand takes us back to the root of why it was founded while also revealing its vision for a better future.

The longer-form version of the mission reads: “We believe that buying glasses should be easy and fun. It should leave you happy and good-looking, with money in your pocket,” which further shows how Warby Parker doesn’t hold back on letting its unique personality shine through. Here, the mission statement’s success all comes down to spot-on word choice.

6. InvisionApp: Question Assumptions. Think Deeply. Iterate as a Lifestyle. Details, Details. Design is Everywhere. Integrity.

These days, it can seem like every B2B company page looks the same — but InvisionApp has one of the cooler company pages I’ve seen. Scroll down to “Our Core Values,” and hover over any of the icons, and you’ll find a short-but-sweet piece of the overall company mission under each one.

We love the way the statements are laid out under each icon. Each description is brief, authentic, and business babble-free — which makes the folks at InvisionApp seem trustworthy and genuine.

7. Honest Tea: To create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages.

Honest Tea’s mission statement begins with a simple punch line connoting its tea is real, pure, and therefore not full of artificial chemicals. The brand is speaking to an audience that’s tired of finding ingredients in its tea that can’t be pronounced and has been searching for a tea that’s exactly what it says it is.

Not only does Honest Tea have a punny name, but it also centers its mission around the name. For some time, the company even published a Mission Report each year in an effort to be “transparent about our business practices and live up to our mission to seek to create and promote great-tasting, healthier, organic beverages.”

8. IKEA: To offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them

The folks at IKEA dream big. The vision-based mission statement could have been one of beautiful, affordable furniture, but instead, it’s to make everyday life better for its customers. It’s a partnership: IKEA finds deals all over the world and buys in bulk, then we choose the furniture and pick it up at a self-service warehouse.

“Our business idea supports this vision … so [that] as many people as possible will be able to afford them,” the brand states.

Using words like “as many people as possible” makes a huge company like IKEA much more accessible and appealing to customers.

9. Nordstrom: To give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible.

When it comes to customer commitment, not many companies are as hyper-focused as Nordstrom is. Although clothing selection, quality, and value all have a place in the company’s mission statement, it’s crystal clear that it’s all about the customer: “Nordstrom works relentlessly to give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible.”

If you’ve ever shopped at a Nordstrom, you’ll know the brand will uphold the high standard for customer service mentioned in its mission statement, as associates are always roaming the sales floors, asking customers whether they’ve been helped, and doing everything they can to make the shopping experience a memorable one.

10. Cradles to Crayons: Provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive – at home, at school, and at play.

Cradles to Crayons divided its mission and model into three sections that read like a game plan: The Need, The Mission, and The Model. The “rule of three” is a powerful rhetorical device called a tricolon that’s usually used in speechwriting to help make an idea more memorable. A tricolon is a series of three parallel elements of roughly the same length — think “I came; I saw; I conquered.”

11. Universal Health Services, Inc.: To provide superior quality healthcare services that: PATIENTS recommend to family and friends, PHYSICIANS prefer for their patients, PURCHASERS select for their clients, EMPLOYEES are proud of, and INVESTORS seek for long-term returns.

A company thrives when it pleases its customers, its employees, its partners, and its investors — and Universal Health Services endeavors to do just that, according to its mission statement. As a health care service, it specifically strives to please its patients, physicians, purchasers, employees, and investors. We love the emphasis on each facet of the organization by capitalizing the font and making it red for easy skimming.

12. JetBlue: To inspire humanity – both in the air and on the ground.

JetBlue’s committed to its founding mission through lovable marketing, charitable partnerships, and influential programs — and we love the approachable language used to describe these endeavors. For example, the brand writes how it “set out in 2000 to bring humanity back to the skies.”

For those of us who want to learn more about any of its specific efforts, JetBlue’s provided details on the Soar With Reading program, its partnership with KaBOOM!, the JetBlue Foundation, environmental and social reporting, and so on. It breaks down all these initiatives really well with big headers, bullet points, pictures, and links to other web pages visitors can click to learn more. JetBlue also encourages visitors to volunteer or donate their TrueBlue points.

13. Workday: We aim for innovation not only in our development organization but also in the way we approach every aspect of our business.

Workday, a human resources (HR) task automation service, doesn’t use its mission statement to highlight the features of its product or how it intends to help HR professionals improve in such-and-such a way.

Instead, the business takes a stance on the state of enterprise software in general: There’s a lot of great tech out there. But at Workday, it revolves around the people. We love how confident yet kind this mission statement is. It observes the state of its industry — which Workday believes lacks a human touch — and builds company values around it.

14. Prezi: To reinvent how people share knowledge, tell stories, and inspire their audiences to act.

If you know Prezi, you know how engaging it can make your next business presentation look. According to its mission statement, the company’s clever slide animations and three-dimensional experience aren’t just superficial product features. With every decision Prezi makes, it’s all about the story you tell and the audience that story affects.

15. Tesla: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

A car company’s punny use of the word “accelerate” is just one reason this mission statement sticks out. However, Tesla makes this list because of how its mission statement describes the industry.

It may be a car company, but Tesla’s primary interest isn’t just automobiles — it’s promoting sustainable energy. And, sustainable energy still has a “long road” ahead of it (pun intended) — hence the world’s “transition” into this market.

Ultimately, a mission statement that can admit to the industry’s immaturity is exactly what gets customers to root for it — and Tesla does that nicely.

16. Invisible Children: To end violence and exploitation facing our world’s most isolated and vulnerable communities.

Invisible Children is a non-profit that raises awareness around the violence affecting communities across Central Africa, and the company takes quite a confident tone in its mission.

The most valuable quality of this mission statement is that it has an end goal. Many companies’ visions and missions are intentionally left open-ended so that the business might always be needed by the community. Invisible Children, on the other hand, wants to “end” the violence facing African families. It’s an admirable mission that all businesses — not just nonprofits — can learn from when motivating customers.

17. TED: Spread ideas.

We’ve all seen TED Talks online before. Well, the company happens to have one of the most concise mission statements out there.

TED, which stands for “Technology Education and Design,” has a two-word mission statement that shines through in every Talk you’ve seen the company publish on the internet. That mission statement: “Spread ideas.” Sometimes, the best way to get an audience to remember you is to zoom out as far as your business’s vision can go. What do you really care about? TED has recorded some of the most famous presentations globally, but in the grand scheme of things, all it wants is to spread ideas around to its viewers.

Now that we’ve gone over successful mission statements, what does a good vision statement look like? Check out some of the following company vision statements — and get inspired to write one for your brand.

1. Alzheimer’s Association: A world without Alzheimer’s disease.

The Alzheimer’s Association conducts global research and provides quality care and support to people with dementia. This vision statement looks into the future where people won’t have to battle this currently incurable disease. With the work that it’s doing in the present, both employees and consumers can see how the organization achieves its vision by helping those in need.

2. Teach for America: One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.

Teach for America creates a network of leaders to provide equal education opportunities to children in need. This organization’s day-to-day work includes helping marginalized students receive the proper education they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Its vision statement is what it hopes to see through its efforts — a nation where no child is left behind.

3. Creative Commons: Realizing the full potential of the internet — universal access to research and education, full participation in culture — to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity.

This nonprofit’s vision statement is broad. It helps overcome legal obstacles to share knowledge and creativity around the world. By working closely with major institutions, its vision is an innovative internet that isn’t barred by paywalls.

4. Microsoft: We strive to create local opportunity, growth, and impact in every country around the world.

Microsoft is one of the most well-known technology companies in the world. It makes gadgets for work, play, and creative purposes on a worldwide scale, and its vision statement reflects that. Through its product offering and pricing, it can provide technology to anyone who needs it.

5. Australia Department of Health: Better health and wellbeing for all Australians, now and for future generations.

This government department has a clear vision for its country. Through health policies, programs, and regulations, it has the means to improve the healthcare of Australian citizens.

6. LinkedIn: Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.

LinkedIn is a professional networking service that gives people the opportunity to seek employment. Its vision statement intends to provide employees of every level a chance to get the job they need.

7. Disney: To be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.

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Disney’s vision statement goes beyond providing ordinary entertainment. It intends to tell stories and drive creativity that inspires future generations through its work. This is an exceptional vision statement because it goes beyond giving consumers programs to watch, but ones that excite and change the way people see them and the world around them.

8. Meta: Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is a major social media platform with a concise vision statement. It provides a platform to stay in touch with loved ones and potentially connect to people around the world.

9. Southwest: To be the world’s most loved, most efficient, and most profitable airline.

Southwest Airlines is an international airline that strives to serve its flyers with a smile. Its vision statement is unique because it sees itself not just excelling in profit but outstanding customer service, too. Its vision is possible through its strategy and can lead its employees to be at the level they work toward.

10. Dunkin’: To be always the desired place for great coffee beverages and delicious complementary doughnuts & bakery products to enjoy with family and friends.

Notice the interesting use of the word “complementary” in this vision statement. No, the chain isn’t envisioning giving out freebies in the future. Its vision goes beyond remaining a large coffee chain. Rather, the brand wants to be the consummate leader in the coffee and donut industry. It wants to become a place known for fun, food, and recreation.

Inspire Through Brand Values

Brand values play a much more significant role in customer loyalty than you think. Showing that your business understands its audience — and can appeal to them on an emotional level — could be the decision point for a customer’s next purchase. We hope you found some insight in this post that can help you brainstorm your inspiring vision and mission statements for your business.

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