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A sound content marketing strategy is one of the better ways a business can help shape its brand identity, garner interest from prospects, and retain an engaged audience. It lets you establish authority in your space, project legitimacy, and build trust between you and who you’re trying to reach.

As you can assume, it’s well worth understanding. But that’s easier said than done. Content marketing isn’t static. The landscape of the practice is constantly changing. It doesn’t look the same now as it did ten years ago, and in ten years it won’t look the same as it does now.

It’s a difficult topic to pin down — one with a fascinating past and an exciting future. Out of both genuine interest and forward-thinking practicality, it’s important to understand both where it’s been and where it’s going.

Here, we’ll get some perspective on both. We’re going to take a look at how content marketing has evolved in the past decade, and how it’s going to evolve in the next one according to expert predictions.

How Content Marketing Evolved in the Past Decade

Google changed the game.

In 2011, Google conducted its landmark Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) study. It found that 88% of shoppers use what’s known as a Zero Moment of Truth — a discovery and awareness stage in a buying cycle where a consumer researches a product before buying it. Google’s research also indicated that word of mouth was a definitive factor in swaying that moment.

The study provides a unique point of reference in the context of content marketing’s evolution. It captures the essence of how and why businesses needed to focus on content marketing at the beginning of the 2010s.

It was tacit evidence that companies’ stories were being told online — well beyond the control of their marketing departments — and it was in their best interest to help shape those conversations.

The ZMOT study highlighted the need for sound Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Ranking for relevant keywords on search engines became all but essential to bolstering a company’s online presence and holding up during consumers’ Zero Moments of Truth.

But that study wasn’t the only bombshell Google dropped in the early 2010s. Around the time the study came out, Google’s search ranking algorithm changed to discourage “keyword stuffing” — the practice of repetitively loading a webpage with specific keywords to try to sway search engine rankings.

The change represented what is still a continuous effort by Google to provide users with positive, helpful online experiences. And it did just that. The shift that set the stage for businesses to focus on producing more high-quality, meaningful content.

Social media rose.

But content marketing’s evolution wasn’t exclusively linked to search engines. Social media’s meteoric rise to prominence — one of the most disruptive trends in human history — also had a profound impact on the practice. As these platforms developed into mainstays of everyday life, they presented new challenges for content marketers.

As social media evolved, it popularized a different kind of content consumption than search engines. The difference boiled down to a matter of “pointed versus passive.”

Consumers use search engines to find content more pointedly. Generally speaking, when you use a search engine, you’re looking for a specific answer or a specific subject. Social media allowed users to consume content more passively on their preferred platforms. The content you see on your Facebook feed is finding its way to you — not the other way around.

That trend incentivized the creation of more shareable, attention-grabbing content that could easily be spread across social media channels.

In fact, as of 2021, social media is now the primary channel used by marketers, with over 80% of marketers using social media — by comparison, only roughly 40% use content marketing and SEO. 

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Video made a push.

Video also emerged as one of the prevailing content marketing mediums as the decade progressed, particularly among younger consumers.

As of 2021, roughly 70% of marketers say video is now their primary form of media used in their content strategies. 

Additionally, nearly nine out of ten people report wanting to see more videos from brands. 

Video is inherently engaging. Generally speaking, it’s easier to follow than blog posts, email newsletters, or ebooks. Gradually, audiences took to it more and more as the decade progressed. By the end of the 2010s, platforms like YouTube were central to the landscape of content marketing.

Obviously, content marketing underwent several shifts in the 2010s, but as I said at the beginning of this article, the practice isn’t — and will never be — static. There are still plenty of changes to come.

How Content Marketing Will Evolve in the Next Decade

Video content will continue to rule.

As I just mentioned, video was emerging as one of the most — if not the most — important mediums for content marketing at the end of this past decade. There’s no indication that that trend is stopping anytime soon.

In 2020, media uploads increased 80% year-over-year, demonstrating how the pandemic accelerated the popularity of video creation and consumption. 

And, as Canva’s B2B Head of Content Rachael Perry points out,
“Video content is positioned for massive growth now, especially as video-first social platforms like TikTok continue to rule.”

Perry says, “Almost everyone creates and absorbs visual content in today’s world, and video is a great way to bring your brand to life and build more personal connections with your audience.”

Perry adds, “Until now, video creation has been complex, but there are new tools making it easier. If you can understand what your audience truly needs, video can help you provide that value in a memorable way.”

All told, it looks like the exploration and expansion of video as the preeminent medium for content marketing is going to continue. The priority for marketers is going to be a matter of standing out.

That could mean emphasizing the quality of the content you produce — ensuring it’s enriching, well-crafted, and relevant to viewers. You could also try looking to emerging platforms like TikTok.

CEO & Co-Founder of Slidebean, Jose (Caya) Cayasso, told me he encourages brands to step outside the more traditional avenues of content marketing — blogging, email marketing, and SEO — to create “wider moats” around their content efforts. 

He says, “[At Slidebean] we decided to bet on YouTube, and it’s become our most significant source of revenue and brand awareness. Alternatively, companies like Morning Brew and Duolingo are killing it on TikTok — but requires us to reinvent ourselves constantly, and to break the status quo of typical corporate content.”

Cayasso adds, “You have to be incredibly clever and adaptable to succeed in video content — even more so if you’re a brand, versus an individual.”

No matter how individual producers and companies manage to innovate when it comes to video marketing, the medium is going to be a mainstay in the evolution of content marketing going forward.

Adjusting for mobile will be essential and present new opportunities.

According to Statista, global mobile data traffic in 2022 will be seven times larger than it was in 2017. Mobile device usage is increasing astronomically, and it’s in every content marketer’s best interest to keep pace with that trend.

In 2021, 61% of Google searches took place on a mobile device, and that trend is showing no signs of slowing down. Having a website optimized for mobile devices will be central to successful SEO efforts. And a lot of the content you create will need to fit that bill as well.

Blogs should be easily navigable on smartphones. Readily accessible video content that your audience can watch on mobile devices will be a big help as well. Prospects and customers will need to be able to get as much out of your mobile resources as your desktop ones.

This shift towards mobile will also present new opportunities through emerging kinds of media. More novel mobile technology — like virtual and augmented reality — will have a very real place in the future of content marketing.

As people continue to rely more on their mobile devices, content marketers will have to as well.

Successful content will be more empathetic, purposeful, and customer-first.

Google’s ranking algorithm aims to prioritize the content that will mean the most to searchers. Ideally, by Google’s standards, the first ranking search result for any keyword is the one that best addresses whatever users are searching for. And in all likelihood, they’ll keep tinkering with their process in pursuit of that interest.

While there’s no telling exactly how the algorithm might change going forward, one fact remains — marketers need to focus on high-quality content that will register with consumers. That means understanding your audience and putting considerable effort into how to reach them best.

As HubSpot Senior Content Strategist Amanda Zantal-Wiener puts it, “Where I’m starting to see content turning a corner is in the area of empathy. In the years to come, marketers are going to start creating more content that’s truly created in the mindset of putting themselves in the shoes of others — be it their customers, prospects, partners, or someone else within their audiences.”

She adds, “They’ll ask questions like, ‘What does my audience need from me right now? What can I create that’s truly going to help them?’ That’s going to become a requirement for marketers when they begin brainstorming content.”

Content marketing is trending towards audience enrichment as opposed to product promotion. If this shifting tide holds true, content marketing will continue to become more targeted, purposeful, and customer-centric as the practice evolves.

As Katelyn Seese, Content Strategist at Blue Frog, puts it, “Content marketing has the power to make real connections with your audience and educate them of the value of your brand beyond your services, products, or offerings. Consumers care much more today about the who and why of your brand rather than just what you do. Understanding who your audience is and why they need your brand is the key to creating meaningful content that truly resonates with your audience.”

Of course, content creation isn’t easy. Fortunately, Kim Giroux, Director of Marketing at Beautiful.ai, believes the future includes an increase in tools that should help your writers with content creation and design. 

Giroux told me, “Over the next decade, content creation will be automated with tools backed by artificial intelligence and natural language processing. Widespread adoption of such tools will give marketers the ability to create quality content in a fraction of the time. At the same time, integrations will simplify tech stacks and end-user experiences. Professionals will no longer need to understand complex tools, while workflows and team collaboration will be seamless.”

She adds, “With automation in content creation tools as the norm, designing or branding content such as presentations, infographics, blog posts and white-papers will be effortless.”

“The days of spending hours formatting and incorporating brand elements and design principles into every piece of content will be long gone. Smart technology will instantly create branded, visually appealing collateral, freeing up marketers’ brainpower to focus solely on the messaging and strategy behind a brand.”

Historical optimization will become increasingly important.

Basha Coleman, a Historical Optimization Marketing Manager at HubSpot, believes the future of content marketing will include an increased awareness and dedication to historical optimization.

She says, “As we enter an era where competitive content is appearing each minute, content teams will find it worthwhile to extract more value out of every minute spent on content development.”

Coleman adds, “That means existing material that is updated with new data and trends can compete with brand new content on the same topic, while spending less time and resources to produce it.”

If you don’t already, consider investing in a strong optimization strategy for 2022 and beyond. This will help you create consistently relevant and high-ranking content without constantly starting from scratch, and is a critical SEO tactic for maintaining authority in the SERPs. 

Marketers will use more interactive content on their websites.

Nowadays, consumers are interested in easily-digestible, interactive content. In fact, 45% of B2B buyers say interactive content is one of their top three preferred content types, and interactive content gets 2X more engagement than static content.

To serve your audience’s needs, consider how you might implement more interactive content, which breaks up long paragraphs of text and provides the viewer with an alternative method for consuming content. 

As VP of Marketing at Trusted Health Jill Callan puts it, “With average attention spans dwindling down to less than that of a goldfish, brands can no longer afford to have one-way conversations with their audience.”

Callan says, “Interactive content on your website or blog can help engage visitors and make complex information easy to digest.”

Callan adds, “At my company, Trusted Health, we’ve used this approach to engage our nursing audience with things like our Salary Calculator, which helps nurses get detailed salary and cost of living information for every state. The best part? Creating contextual user experiences needn’t suck up precious product or engineering resources.”

If you aren’t sure how to begin, you’re in luck. Callan shared with me three tips to kick-start your interactive content journey:

• Embed an ROI calculator on your website to show potential customers how you will save them money. An interactive tool immediately shows your product’s value versus relying on text-heavy copy to explain it.
• Crowd-source product innovation. Tap into your brand advocates and loyal customers to learn more about their pain points and product wishlist. Use those insights to inform a product roadmap.
• Create a quiz. Not only are quizzes a great way to engage visitors, they also give you a better understanding of your audience so you can create more targeted campaigns in the future.

Zero-party data will become the preferred option for collecting prospect and customer data.

The way we use cookies and other ad-tracking tools in the next decade will change dramatically. 

Marketers will need to continue prioritizing the security of their prospects and customers’ data, or risk losing their consumers’ trust. 

To do this, many marketers will switch from using first, second, or third-party data to using zero-party data, which is data collected voluntarily from customers in exchange for value. Zero-party data goes beyond email address or phone number, and instead can include personal context, interests, and preferences — in return, prospects and customers can expect a more personalized consumer experience. 

As Senior Director of Marketing at Microsoft Advertising John Cosley told me, “Zero-party data is the foundation for a relationship built on trust and a value exchange. For consumers, it holds the promise of a personalized and more relevant experience with brands. In return, brands and businesses receive better insight and a longer-term relationship.”

Using zero-party data enables you to create trust between your brand and its consumers, while also ensuring you’re delivering the most personalized content possible for your customers. As other types of data collection are phased out — including third-party cookies — you’ll see marketers shift to zero-party data in the next decade.

If there’s anything to take away from understanding the previous and upcoming evolutions of content marketing it’s this — don’t get too comfortable. New trends and challenges are always emerging, and it will always be in your best interest to stay abreast of them.

And above all else, focus on consistently creating high-quality content that your audience will always be able to get something out of.

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

Have you ever searched stock image websites and thought, None of these truly represent my brand?

It can be difficult to stand out using the same cheesy images as everyone else, but creating a unique brand character can help distance you from the pack.

A brand character, or mascot, is the visual representation and ambassador of your brand. They can be an illustration, inanimate object, a person, animal or any other character of your choosing.

This is different from brand personality, which refers to the emotional and behavior characteristics attributed to your brand that help you resonate with customers.

Below we’ll explore the benefits of using a brand character and how to create your own.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using a Brand Character

Brand characters can fulfill a variety of uses for your company. Here are some advantages of using them:

• Improve communication: Images can often convey feelings and communicate messages to your audience more quickly and efficiently than words. Some even aim to build an emotional connection with the viewer. It’s a popular strategy for marketing products to children like cereals and toys.
• Brand Recognition: Some characters are so ingrained in popular culture that they become inseparable from the brand, like Ronald McDonald or the M&M Spokescandies. Customers will be able to identify your product or service without the brand ever being mentioned.
• Viral marketing potential: If your brand character is catchy and compelling, there’s a chance it could take off on social media. Take Kroger’s Krojis characters, which spawned several memes and parody videos shortly after their launch.

The original commercial (pictured above) used Flo Rida’s song “Low” to advertise their “Lower Than Low” campaign. Soon people were making their own versions, like this one.

However, using a brand character may not be the best choice for every business. Here are some disadvantages:

• May not be a good fit for your business model: For some products like fitness equipment, makeup, or any product that is aimed at altering the customer’s physical appearance, using a brand character is less effective. Customers will want to see a real person in advertising materials as proof that it works.
• Brand disconnect: While good brand characters can help customers recognize your brand, a bad one can have the opposite effect. The character may be recognizable, but customers have no idea what your company does. In the worst case scenario, the character could be inflammatory, or not age well like the recent rebranding of Aunt Jemima pancake products.
• Could be expensive: If you’re not creating the brand logo in-house, hiring an outside designer or agency can be cost prohibitive, especially if your business is just starting out.

Once you’ve decided having a brand character will be beneficial, you can get started on the fun part — creating your own.

Creating a Brand Character of Your Own

Henneke Duistermaat, writer and creator of Enchanting Marketing, found it easiest to reflect her true brand image, connect with her audience, and make her business memorable by hand-drawing her brand character, Henrietta. Henrietta is a cartoon character who embodies Enchanting Marketing better than any stock photo could.

Take a look at the infographic below, featuring Henneke’s “alter ego” Henrietta, to find inspiration to create drawings for your business that will captivate and engage your audience.

While you may not opt to draw your own character like Henneke, you can adopt some of her thought process when creating your own. Think about:

• What problem are you trying to solve?
• How does that problem make your customers feel?
• What solution do you offer?
• What attributes do you want the character to convey?
• Where will you use this character? On the physical product, website design, or customer service chat box?

Brand Character Examples

Brand characters are not a one-size-fits-all marketing tool. You can choose cartoon characters like Henneke, anthropomorphized animals or objects, or even fictional people. If you’re stumped on where to start, we’ve pulled a variety of brand characters to get your creativity flowing.

1. Flo from Progressive

Flo is a great example of how effective a fictional person can be as a brand character. She’s highly recognizable and always communicates the perks of using Progressive over other insurance companies. Flo has more than 68,000 followers on Twitter, demonstrating the character’s reach beyond traditional commercials.

2. GEICO’s Gecko

Not to be left out, fellow insurance company GEICO’s quirky gecko character also has a following of their own. Is he Australian or British? No one knows for sure, but we do know we can save on car insurance by switching to GEICO because this gecko brand character is incredibly good at what he does. To play up the character’s popularity, GEICO even facilitates Q&As with him via social media, getting the public to engage with the brand in a fun way.

3. Reddit’s Snoo

Reddit’s Snoo alien character can be found throughout its website and even has its own thread. The genderless and colorless alien has come to not only represent the company, but also its target audience: everyone. Reddit appeals to everyone and serves as a forum where users from any background can share news, their hobbies, other types of content, and host discussions on just about any topic. It’s the internet’s hub for “everyday people” (plus aliens of course), and Snoo reflects that.

4. Twitter’s Larry the Bird

 

 

It seems fitting that a site named Twitter would choose a bird for its brand character. Larry the Bird was named after basketball great Larry Bird, as co-founder Biz Stone is a Celtics fan. While small, this little blue bird is synonymous with Twitter without having to see the brand name spelled out.

It’s versatile and used on not only website branding, but seamlessly tucked into the corner of every individual’s tweet. It’s ubiquitous but not obtrusive.

Including a Brand Character in Your Marketing Plan

Including a brand character into your marketing materials should be based on both market research and your target audience’s needs. They are meant to enhance the user experience and simplify communication between the brand and its customers.

This article was originally published August 17, 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

In an ideal world, marketers would have limitless budgets to invest in experimental initiatives and new programs. After all, the customer acquisition and retention landscape are evolving faster than ever. The challenge, however, is that marketing budgets are often limited around what’s proven to work — which tends to look different from company to company.

That’s why it’s so important to have access to industry data. By knowing where we stand against our peers and competitors, we’re better positioned to uncover areas of opportunity. This is especially important considering that 48% of marketers expect their marketing budget to increase in 2022.

In this post, we’ll discuss data-backed areas that marketers are focusing their investments in 2022.

What Marketing Leaders Are Investing in This Year

Protecting consumer privacy.

Consumers are increasingly concerned about their digital privacy and protecting their information. Given this, Think With Google says that marketers will need to increase their investments in privacy solutions and respecting peoples data choices in 2022.

This means that consumers want to know how you’re using their data for marketing purposes, and they want to be able to review and manage the way their data is used and opt-out if they want to.

When you collect information from consumers for different marketing activities, they also want to know you’re collecting it. Recent data from Google found that consumers are happy to provide their data to companies they trust, so long as they know how you will use it.

Podcasts and other audio opportunities. 

As of April 2021, there are over  2,000,000 podcast shows and over 48 million episodes. 

The demand for audio content has exploded, and Brands recognize this opportunity. In 2022, roughly43% of B2C marketers plan to increase their investment in podcasts in 2022, and the data is virtually the same for B2B marketers. 

Marketers are also leveraging other opportunities that have risen brands to leverage, likeClubhouse and Twitter Spaces, which offer audio-only opportunities where users can participate in voice conversations with others. 

Other platforms are looking into and testing creating similar options within their apps, like Instagram Live Rooms (also incorporates video). TechCrunch reported that LinkedIn is testing a similar feature as well. 

Social Responsibility and Diversity Marketing 

Early 2020 brought businesses to a reckoning, as increased attention to social justice issues was at the forefront of conversations during the first few months of the year. In addition, COVID-19 highlighted employees’ struggles in the workplace, and consumers care about how brands they buy from treat their employees. 

Almost two years later, these issues have remained extreme topics of interest for consumers worldwide, and they care more than ever about the stances businesses take on public issues, demanding change and awareness from brands on diversity, equity, and inclusion. One of the ways they want to see this represented in business is diversity marketing and commitment to social responsibility. 

Given this, 82% of marketers reported that they planned to continue investing the same amount or increasing their investments in social responsibility for 2022. 

It’s an effective practice for marketers to commit to, especially considering that people are more likely to consider a product after seeing an ad they think is diverse or inclusive, and 64% take action after seeing an ad they believe to be diverse and inclusive.

However, in the same vein, it’s even more critical that businesses are genuine about the diversity measures they take. Consumers can see through the fluff, and Edelman found that59% of consumers think that companies need to follow up on their statements on diversity with concrete action, or they risk being seen as exploitative and opportunist. Read this post to see examples of businesses that have exemplified the practice of inclusive marketing.

Permanent Social Media Content

You’re likely familiar withInstagram Stories, which are pieces of content on the platform that disappear after 24 hours unless saved as a highlight. 

While this type of content is valuable, marketers in 2022 will also be leaning into permanent social media content —HubSpot Blog data showed that 85% of marketers plan on increasing their investments or investing the same amount. 

Permanent social media content remains on your different profiles for users to return to over and over again or to discover for the first time when they follow you. This can be in-feed posts, videos, or anything that remains and can be viewed days later after being published. 

Influencer Marketing 

Influencer marketing used to be a trend, but as 86% of marketers plan to continue investing the same amount or increasing their investments, it’s now a commonplace marketing tactic. Its popularity is due to the fact that partnering with influencers is a worthwhile investment — the ROI for influencer marketing is $5.78.

In addition, many influencers are experts of the ins and outs of how their platforms work and the industries they operate in, so they know what performs best on their preferred platforms and how to best interact with their audiences.

When collaborating with influencers, marketers also benefit from exposure to their audiences, helping generate brand awareness with followers and generate social proof.

Short-form Videos

HubSpot Blog survey data shows that 89% of marketers plan to continue investing the same amount or increasing their short-form video content investments. 

As a refresher, short-form video is considered to be any video that is up to 2 minutes and 30 seconds in length. Marketers are likely increasing their investment because of trend culture, where it’s easy for a video to go viral and get shared among audiences over and over again. 

For example, TikTok only houses short-form videos up to three minutes in length. Many businesses that use the platform leverage it to inform audiences about their products quickly so that users can get started right away. 

Investing in Marketing Technology

60% of marketers reported that, in 2020, they were set to increase their marketing technology spend. A2021 HubSpot Blog poll of over 1,000 global marketers found that 70% of marketers already use marketing technology in their roles, and 33% plan to start in 2022. 

Marketing technology, often referred to as martech, is a term used to describe the software and technology used to attract and retain customers. Many martech tools help marketersautomate repetitive marketing tasks to save time, like sending an email or scheduling social media posts. As of 2021, there are more than 8000+ martech solutions for marketers to choose from to meet their automation needs.

Join other market leaders in leveraging these trends.

Although not an exhaustive list, marketers are focusing on and investing in the trends mentioned above for 2022. Understand how each one will affect your business, and join other marketers in these investments.

“Business is personal — it’s the most personal thing in the world.”

These are famous words by Michael Scott from the TV show, The Office. And although this quote conflicts with the universal belief that business isn’t personal, Michael’s point of view is perfect when learning about a business’s fixed costs — or those costs that don’t change as a company grows or shrinks.

To identify and calculate your business’s fixed costs, let’s start by looking at the ones you’re already paying in your personal life. Then, we’ll explain how a business manages its own fixed costs and review some common fixed cost examples.

Fixed costs are distinguished from variable costs, which do change as the company sells more or less of its product.

To better understand how fixed and variable costs differ, let’s use personal finances as an example. As a single adult, your expenses would normally include a monthly rent or mortgage, utility bill, car payment, healthcare, commuting costs, and groceries. If you have children, this can increase variable costs like groceries, gas expenses, and healthcare.

While your variable costs increase after starting a family, your mortgage payment, utility bill, commuting costs, and car payment don’t change for as long as you’re in the same home and car. These expenses are your fixed costs because you pay the same amount no matter what changes you make to your personal routine.

In keeping with this concept, let’s say a startup ecommerce business pays for warehouse space to manage its inventory, and 10 customer service employees to manage order inquiries. It suddenly signs a customer for a recurring order that requires another five paid customer service reps. While the startup’s payroll expenses go up, the fixed cost of a warehouse stays the same.

To get the full picture of what costs are associated with running your business, it’s important to understand the total fixed cost and average fixed cost.

Total Fixed Cost

The total fixed cost is the sum of all fixed costs that are necessary for running your business during a given period of time (such as monthly or annually).

Average Fixed Cost

Keep in mind you have to keep track of your business’s fixed costs differently than you would your own. This is where the average fixed cost comes into play.

Average fixed costs are the total fixed costs paid by a company, divided by the number of units of product the company is currently making. This tells you your fixed cost per unit, giving you a sense of how much the business is guaranteed to pay each time it produces a unit of your product — before factoring in the variable costs to actually produce it.

Let’s revisit the ecommerce startup example from earlier. Assume this business pays $5,000 per month for the warehouse space needed to manage its inventory and leases two forklifts for $800 a month each. And last month, they developed 50 units of product.

The warehouse and forklift costs remain unchanged regardless of how many products they sell, giving them a total fixed cost (TFC) of $5,000 + ($800 x 2), or $6,600. By dividing its TFC by 50 — the number of units the business produced last month — the company can see its average fixed cost per unit of product. This would be $6,600 ÷ 50, or $132 per unit.

How to Calculate Fixed Cost

To calculate fixed cost, follow these steps:

1. Identify your building rent, website cost, and similar monthly bills.
2. Consider future repeat expenses you’ll incur from equipment depreciation.
3. Isolate all of these fixed costs to the business.
4. Add up each of these costs for a total fixed cost (TFC).
5. Identify the number of product units created in one month.
6. Divide your TFC by the number of units created per month for an average fixed cost (AFC).

Fixed Cost Examples

So far, we’ve identified a handful of fixed cost examples since considering the costs we already pay as individuals. A home mortgage is to a lease on warehouse space, as a car payment is to a lease on a forklift.

But there are a number of fixed costs your business might incur that you rarely pay in your personal life. In fact, some variable costs to individuals are fixed costs to businesses. Here’s a master list of fixed costs for any developing company to keep in mind:

• Lease on office space: If you rent office space to serve as headquarters or employee workspace, these costs tend to be relatively stable.
• Utility bills: The cost of utility bills in company offices may fluctuate as seasons change, but it is generally not affected by business operations.
• Website hosting costs: When you register your website domain, you pay a small monthly cost that remains static despite the business you perform on that website.
• Ecommerce hosting platforms: Ecommerce platforms integrate with your website so you can conduct transactions with customers. They typically charge a low fixed cost per month.
• Lease on warehouse space: Warehouses are paid for the same way you’d pay rent on your office space. The cost is relatively stable but you may run into storage and capacity limits that can impact cost.
• Manufacturing equipment: The equipment you need to produce your product is yours once you buy it, but it will depreciate over its useful lifetime. Depreciation can become a fixed cost if you know when you’ll have to replace your equipment each year.
• Lease on trucks for shipment: If your company sells physical products, transportation may be a regular cost. Truck leases work the same way as a car payment, and will not charge differently depending on how many shipments you make.
• Small business loans: If you’re financing a new business with a bank loan, your loan payments won’t change with your business’s performance. They are fixed for as long as you have a balance to pay on that loan.
• Property tax: Your office space’s building manager might charge you property tax, a fixed cost for as long as your business is on the property.
• Health insurance: Health insurance costs might be a variable cost to an individual if they add or remove dependents from their policy, but to a business, the recurring costs to an insurer are fixed.

Calculating your fixed costs isn’t always the most fun part of growing your business. But knowing what they are, and when you’ll pay each one, gives you the peace of mind you need to serve and delight your customers.

Since its debut in 2016, live streaming video has exploded in popularity. In fact, 82% of people would prefer a live video over reading a social post. It offers the opportunity to forge a more authentic and valuable connection with audiences.

It’s no secret that livestreaming has taken off in a major way. In fact, the total number of hours watched on major streaming platforms grew 99% from 2019 to 2020. Facebook users have eagerly been taking advantage of the popularity of live streaming. Now, one in every five videos on Facebook is live.

In this post, we’ll walk through:

• How to broadcast on Facebook Live via your mobile device
• How to go live on Facebook from a desktop
• How to analyze your live video’s performance
• Tips and tricks for getting the most out of the platform

Facebook Live is a feature of Facebook that lets users livestream directly to the social network platform. Viewers can react, share, and comment during the stream. A recording of the video is also published to the page or profile so it can be watched again later.

Why are marketers getting so excited about Facebook Live? Because it’s a fun and fairly simple way for them to use the power of video to communicate their brand stories and build authentic relationships with fans and followers — in real-time.

However, for such a simple concept, Facebook Live has a lot of little nuances that marketers will need to learn if they want to get the most out of the platform. This guide will help you learn the best tricks that can make a big difference in how many people see your live broadcast, how they engage with it, and how it performs.

Facebook Live started as a mobile-only broadcasting feature, but now, Facebook Pages can broadcast from either mobile devices or desktop computers. We’ll go over how to broadcast from mobile and desktop devices in the sections below.

How to Use Facebook Live

Facebook Live videos are public, so viewers can watch on any device where they have access to Facebook but don’t need an account. Users can go live on Facebook from a profile, a Page, a group, or an event. Starting a livestream from the app versus a web browser will be a little different, check out the instructions for each below.

How to Go Live on Facebook From the Facebook App

Step 1: Go to the profile, Page, group, or event where you want to go live.

Step 2: Click What’s on your mind? if you’re on a profile and Create a post if you’re on a page. This should open the post options.

Step 3: Click Live video in the post options.

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Step 4: Tap where it says Tap to add a description to add information about the video.

Step 5: Use the buttons on the bottom to configure the settings and any features or tools you want to use during the stream.

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Step 6: Tap Start Live Video when you are ready.

How to Go Live on Facebook From a Web Browser

Step 1: On your Facebook homepage, you should see a Live or Live Video option. If you are on a profile, it will be under What’s on your mind? If you are on anything else, it will be under Create Post. The icon will look like one of these below.

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Step 2: Choose to simply Go live or to Create live video event.

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Step 3: Then, choose details for your video. These include a start time, a title and description, who to invite as a co-host, and various audio and video controls.

Step 4: Click Go Live in the bottom left corner when you are ready.

Facebook Live Tools

Facebook offers a lot of features for you to further connect with your audience during your broadcast. Utilizing these tools will help boost engagement and create the best possible experience for your viewers. You can mix and match them to serve your stream in the best way for your business.

• Live Polls: You can create a live poll beforehand to share when you go live. Then, you can see your audience’s responses in real-time during the stream.
• Featured Links: Adding one or multiple featured links to the stream to promote your website or other sources.
• Live in Stories: These allow you to share your streams directly to Facebook Stories to reach more of your audience.
• Live Comment Moderation: Manage the conversation that happens in the comments of your livestream. You can limit who is allowed to comment and how frequently with this feature. And, you can even choose a specific viewer to also moderate comments on your behalf.
• Front Row: This feature allows you to highlight your top fans in a special section of your stream. You can give them a special shoutout to show appreciation for them while you’re live.
• Badges: These are a measure of how much your fans are engaging with your content. Fans can earn badges by interacting with your content, whether it’s sending “Stars” or tuning in to your Facebook Live videos.
• Donations: Qualified pages in certain locations can add a “Donate” button to their live video. Nonprofits using Facebook’s payment platform don’t have to pay a fee, so they get 100% of the donations.
• Live With: This is a co-broadcasting feature that allows you to host your Facebook Live video with multiple guests.
• Live Shopping: If you have products for sale on Facebook, this feature allows you to add product listings to feature during your livestream.

For more help with going live on Facebook, check out this video! And don’t forget that a recording of the livestream is also published to the platform where you went live. Having that content is great because you can download and repurpose it for further use.

How to Analyze Your Live Video’s Performance

How to Access Video Analytics on a Facebook Business Page

Step 1: To get started analyzing your Facebook Live broadcasts, head to the Insights tab in the left-hand column of your brand’s Facebook page:

Step 2: Select the Videos section of your analytics.

Step 3: From there, scroll down to the Top Videos section and choose a video from that menu to look into. (Note: We didn’t have any videos posted to the page we used in this example. If you do have videos, you’ll see them appear here.)

Now, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty.

The performance analytics available for Facebook Live videos are similar to those of normal videos on Facebook, with some neat additions.

• For Pre-recorded videos: Facebook lets you analyze minutes viewed, unique viewers, video views, 10-second views, average % completion, and a breakdown of reactions, comments, and shares.
• For Facebook Live videos: Facebook lets you analyze all the metrics listed above, plus peak live viewers, total views, average watch time, people reached, and the demographics of who watched your video.

In addition to all of these static numbers, you can click into each metric to see how it changed over time when the video was live. For example, if we click into Peak Live Viewers, we’ll see this interactive graph of video viewers over time:

You can even see who your typical viewer was during your broadcast, based on their Facebook profile information:

Now that you’ve got the steps down, let’s get into some tips and tricks.

The last thing you’d want is to start a live video and then be lost. It’s live, so there are no do-overs or chances to start over. So, prepare yourself or your host as much as possible. Outline what the video will entail and follow the rest of the tips below. Also, check out these great examples of Facebook Live videos from various companies.

There are a lot of little things you can do to squeeze the most out of your Facebook Live videos.

1. Brush up on Facebook Live best practices.

Marketers have so much opportunity to reach a wider audience on Facebook Live, so it’s worth committing to learning how to run a Live effectively.

In our detailed Marketer’s Guide to Facebook Live, we cover essential best practices on how to plan, run, and analyze the results of a business-run Facebook Live. Download the ebook to brush up on these best practices.

2. Test out live video using the “Only me” privacy setting.

If you want to play around with live broadcasting without actually sharing it with anyone else, you can change the privacy setting so you’re the only one who can see it — just like with any other Facebook post.

To switch to Only me, look for the privacy settings. Then, you should see the options and be able to select Only me from this list below.

3. Space out live videos with other Facebook posts.

The art of the organic reach on Facebook has changed over time, but you can still take advantage of it. A big way to accomplish this is to maintain a mixture of regular Facebook posts and Facebook Live videos. The live videos are the major pull, as they tend to garner more engagement. So, spacing them out will maximize the organic reach of all of your posts.

4. Keep reintroducing yourself.

When you first start the video, take a minute to introduce yourself and what the video’s about. But keep in mind that when you first start live streaming, you may have zero people watching. Even a few seconds in, you could only have a handful of viewers. As people find your video on their News Feeds, they’ll join in — but that means you’ll want to reintroduce yourself a second, third, and even a fourth time to catch people up.

5. Make the video visually engaging.

You have to be visually engaging — not just at the very beginning of your broadcast (although that’ll be important for when folks view the video later), but throughout the video as more and more people join in.

The more visually engaging you can be, the more you can entice people to stick around. That means keeping the camera moving and not just sitting in one place.

Not only will you get more viewers this way, but you’ll also get your broadcast ranked higher in other people’s News Feeds. Facebook started monitoring signals of video engagement — like turning on the audio, switching to full-screen mode, or enabling high definition — interpreting that as users enjoying the video. As a result, they’ve tweaked the algorithm so videos that people engage with in these ways will appear higher up on the feed.

6. Make it spontaneous.

What makes a live video special? The spontaneous, interactive nature of it. People love the ability to interact, and they love the novelty of viewing someone in a live moment when anything could happen. In many ways, it’s the new reality TV.

These moments are what make live video special, and they’re exactly what differentiates it from scripted, edited, or otherwise pre-recorded videos. Embrace the platform. Banter is always, always good.

7. Don’t worry about mistakes or stutters.

Spontaneity works — even if your Facebook Live doesn’t go according to plan.

Let’s face it, we’re all human. And when humans and technology mix, there can sometimes be technical difficulties.

If you’re recording a live video, things might go wrong — your equipment could malfunction, you could lose your train of thought, or you could get photobombed by a random passerby. You can’t call “cut” if things happen — you have to roll with them and keep filming and talking.

The good news? These things help keep your broadcast human and real. If you wobble your phone while filming, laugh and call it out. If you forget what you were saying, make a joke. The key is to keep the broadcast like a fun conversation, so if mistakes happen, keep it light and keep the lines of communication open with your viewers.

For example, if you make a mistake during your Facebook Live, ask viewers to write in the comments if they’ve made the same mistake, too.

8. Encourage viewers to Like and share the video.

One of the primary ways Facebook’s algorithm ranks a post is by how many people Like and share it. The more people who Like and share your live broadcast, the more it’ll show up in people’s News Feeds.

But when people are watching a video, they may be more distracted from Liking and sharing it than they would a text or photo post. (That’s something the folks at Facebook noticed about video content early on, which is why they began monitoring other video engagement signals as well, like turning on the volume.)

9. Engage with commenters, and mention them by name.

The number of comments on your broadcast is another way to get Facebook to give it a higher relevancy score, making it more likely to show up on people’s News Feeds. So encourage your viewers to comment, and engage with people who are commenting by answering their questions and calling them out by name. Not only will it get more people to comment, but it’s also a fun way to include your viewers in the live experience, which could make them stick around longer.

Plus, your audience will be thrilled to hear you mention their name and answer their questions when you are live.

10. Have someone else watching and responding to comments from a desktop computer.

When you’re the one holding the camera for a Facebook Live video, it’s really hard to see the comments popping up on the mobile screen. If the comments are coming in fast, it’s especially easy to lose sight of them as they disappear below the fold. Plus, you’re probably occupied by recording and entertaining viewers.

Because of this, it’s always a good idea to have an additional person logged into the primary account to monitor the comments on a desktop computer. That way, they can take care of responding so the person recording the video can concentrate on creating a great experience.

11. Subtitle your broadcast in the comments section.

Your viewers may be tuning in and out to watch your video during the work day, or they might simply be watching your video without sound. Either way, periodically subtitling the video in the comments section is a great way to keep people engaged. This also allows people who are tuning in late to catch up on what’s going on.

12. Ask viewers to subscribe to Facebook Live notifications.

In addition to asking for Likes, shares, and comments, ask viewers to subscribe to live notifications. To do that, all viewers have to do is click the small, downward-facing arrow in the top right-hand corner of the live video post, and choose “Turn On Notifications.”

You can also ask them to Like your brand on Facebook, which will make it more likely that they’ll be notified of your next live broadcast.

13. Broadcast for at least 10 minutes.

As soon as you begin recording your live video, you’ll start slowly but surely showing up in people’s News Feeds. The longer you broadcast — especially as Likes, comments, and shares start coming in — the more likely people are to discover your video and share it with their friends.

Because timing is such an important factor for engagement in these live videos, we recommend that you go live for at least 10 minutes, although you can stay live for up to 90 minutes for a given video.

14. Say goodbye before ending your video.

Before you end your live broadcast, be sure to finish with a closing line, like “Thanks for watching” or “I’ll be going live again soon.”

15. Add a link to the description later.

Once you’ve finished the live broadcast, you can always go back and edit the description, change the privacy settings, or delete the video, just like you would any other post.

You can add a trackable link to the description in the post, which can direct future viewers to your live video series page, the site of whatever campaign you’re using the video to promote, or somewhere else.

We hope this has been a helpful guide. We’ll keep you posted with any new developments and tips for connecting with your audience in more cool ways.

Use Facebook Live to Its Full Potential

Social media may have been invented for fun, but it’s grown into an essential business tool. Facebook as a social network is especially valuable for the ways it lets you connect to an audience, and Facebook Live is a great extension of that. Use it to the benefit of your business as a way to promote your product, build brand awareness, or grow your audience.

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

The pivot table is one of Microsoft Excel’s most powerful — and intimidating — functions. Powerful because it can help you summarize and make sense of large data sets. Intimidating because you’re not exactly an Excel expert, and pivot tables have always had a reputation for being complicated.

The good news: Learning how to create a pivot table in Excel is much easier than you might’ve been led to believe.

But before we walk you through the process of creating one, let’s take a step back and make sure you understand exactly what a pivot table is, and why you might need to use one.

In other words, pivot tables extract meaning from that seemingly endless jumble of numbers on your screen. And more specifically, it lets you group your data in different ways so you can draw helpful conclusions more easily.

The “pivot” part of a pivot table stems from the fact that you can rotate (or pivot) the data in the table to view it from a different perspective. To be clear, you’re not adding to, subtracting from, or otherwise changing your data when you make a pivot. Instead, you’re simply reorganizing the data so you can reveal useful information from it.

What are pivot tables used for?

If you’re still feeling a bit confused about what pivot tables actually do, don’t worry. This is one of those technologies that are much easier to understand once you’ve seen it in action.

The purpose of pivot tables is to offer user-friendly ways to quickly summarize large amounts of data. They can be used to better understand, display, and analyze numerical data in detail — and can help identify and answer unanticipated questions surrounding it.

Here are seven hypothetical scenarios where a pivot table could be a solution:

1. Comparing sales totals of different products.

Say you have a worksheet that contains monthly sales data for three different products — product 1, product 2, and product 3 — and you want to figure out which of the three has been bringing in the most bucks. You could, of course, look through the worksheet and manually add the corresponding sales figure to a running total every time product 1 appears. You could then do the same for product 2, and product 3 until you have totals for all of them. Piece of cake, right?

Now, imagine your monthly sales worksheet has thousands and thousands of rows. Manually sorting through them all could take a lifetime. Using a pivot table, you can automatically aggregate all of the sales figures for product 1, product 2, and product 3 — and calculate their respective sums — in less than a minute.

2. Showing product sales as percentages of total sales.

Pivot tables naturally show the totals of each row or column when you create them. But that’s not the only figure you can automatically produce.

Let’s say you entered quarterly sales numbers for three separate products into an Excel sheet and turned this data into a pivot table. The table would automatically give you three totals at the bottom of each column — having added up each product’s quarterly sales. But what if you wanted to find the percentage these product sales contributed to all company sales, rather than just those products’ sales totals?

With a pivot table, you can configure each column to give you the column’s percentage of all three column totals, instead of just the column total. If three product sales totaled $200,000 in sales, for example, and the first product made $45,000, you can edit a pivot table to instead say this product contributed 22.5% of all company sales.

To show product sales as percentages of total sales in a pivot table, simply right-click the cell carrying a sales total and select Show Values As > % of Grand Total.

3. Combining duplicate data.

In this scenario, you’ve just completed a blog redesign and had to update a bunch of URLs. Unfortunately, your blog reporting software didn’t handle it very well and ended up splitting the “view” metrics for single posts between two different URLs. So in your spreadsheet, you have two separate instances of each individual blog post. To get accurate data, you need to combine the view totals for each of these duplicates.

That’s where the pivot table comes into play. Instead of having to manually search for and combine all the metrics from the duplicates, you can summarize your data (via pivot table) by blog post title, and voilà: the view metrics from those duplicate posts will be aggregated automatically.

4. Getting an employee headcount for separate departments.

Pivot tables are helpful for automatically calculating things that you can’t easily find in a basic Excel table. One of those things is counting rows that all have something in common.

If you have a list of employees in an Excel sheet, for instance, and next to the employees’ names are the respective departments they belong to, you can create a pivot table from this data that shows you each department name and the number of employees that belong to those departments. The pivot table effectively eliminates your task of sorting the Excel sheet by department name and counting each row manually.

5. Adding default values to empty cells.

Not every dataset you enter into Excel will populate every cell. If you’re waiting for new data to come in before entering it into Excel, you might have lots of empty cells that look confusing or need further explanation when showing this data to your manager. That’s where pivot tables come in.

You can easily customize a pivot table to fill empty cells with a default value, such as $0, or TBD (for “to be determined”). For large tables of data, being able to tag these cells quickly is a useful feature when many people are reviewing the same sheet.

To automatically format the empty cells of your pivot table, right-click your table and click PivotTable Options. In the window that appears, check the box labeled Empty Cells As and enter what you’d like displayed when a cell has no other value.

How to Create a Pivot Table

1. Enter your data into a range of rows and columns.
2. Sort your data by a specific attribute.
3. Highlight your cells to create your pivot table.
4. Drag and drop a field into the “Row Labels” area.
5. Drag and drop a field into the “Values” area.
6. Fine-tune your calculations.

Now that you have a better sense of what pivot tables can be used for, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how to actually create one.

Step 1. Enter your data into a range of rows and columns.

Every pivot table in Excel starts with a basic Excel table, where all your data is housed. To create this table, simply enter your values into a specific set of rows and columns. Use the topmost row or the topmost column to categorize your values by what they represent.

For example, to create an Excel table of blog post performance data, you might have a column listing each “Top Pages,” a column listing each URL’s “Clicks,” a column listing each post’s “Impressions,” and so on. (We’ll be using that example in the steps that follow.)

Step 2. Sort your data by a specific attribute.

When you have all the data you want entered into your Excel sheet, you’ll want to sort this data in some way so it’s easier to manage once you turn it into a pivot table.

To sort your data, click the Data tab in the top navigation bar and select the Sort icon underneath it. In the window that appears, you can opt to sort your data by any column you want and in any order.

For example, to sort your Excel sheet by “Views to Date,” select this column title under Column and then select whether you want to order your posts from smallest to largest, or from largest to smallest.

Select OK on the bottom-right of the Sort window, and you’ll successfully reorder each row of your Excel sheet by the number of views each blog post has received.

Step 3. Highlight your cells to create your pivot table.

Once you’ve entered data into your Excel worksheet, and sorted it to your liking, highlight the cells you’d like to summarize in a pivot table. Click Insert along the top navigation, and select the PivotTable icon. You can also click anywhere in your worksheet, select “PivotTable,” and manually enter the range of cells you’d like included in the PivotTable.

This will open an option box where, in addition to setting your cell range, you can select whether or not to launch this pivot table in a new worksheet or keep it in the existing worksheet. If you open a new sheet, you can navigate to and away from it at the bottom of your Excel workbook. Once you’ve chosen, click OK.

Alternatively, you can highlight your cells, select Recommended PivotTables to the right of the PivotTable icon, and open a pivot table with pre-set suggestions for how to organize each row and column.

Note: If you’re using an earlier version of Excel, “PivotTables” may be under Tables or Data along the top navigation, rather than “Insert.” In Google Sheets, you can create pivot tables from the Data dropdown along the top navigation.

Step 4. Drag and drop a field into the “Row Labels” area.

After you’ve completed Step 3, Excel will create a blank pivot table for you. Your next step is to drag and drop a field — labeled according to the names of the columns in your spreadsheet — into the Row Labels area. This will determine what unique identifier — blog post title, product name, and so on — the pivot table will organize your data by.

For example, let’s say you want to organize a bunch of blogging data by post title. To do that, you’d simply click and drag the “Top pages” field to the “Row Labels” area.

Note: Your pivot table may look different depending on which version of Excel you’re working with. However, the general principles remain the same.

Step 5. Drag and drop a field into the “Values” area.

Once you’ve established what you’re going to organize your data by, your next step is to add in some values by dragging a field into the Values area.

Sticking with the blogging data example, let’s say you want to summarize blog post views by title. To do this, you’d simply drag the “Views” field into the Values area.

Step 6. Fine-tune your calculations.

The sum of a particular value will be calculated by default, but you can easily change this to something like average, maximum, or minimum depending on what you want to calculate.

On a Mac, you can do this by clicking on the small i next to a value in the “Values” area, selecting the option you want, and clicking “OK.” Once you’ve made your selection, your pivot table will be updated accordingly.

If you’re using a PC, you’ll need to click on the small upside-down triangle next to your value and select Value Field Settings to access the menu.

When you’ve categorized your data to your liking, save your work and use it as you please.

Digging Deeper With Pivot Tables

You’ve now learned the basics of pivot table creation in Excel. With this understanding, you can figure out what you need from your pivot table and find the solutions you’re looking for.

For example, you may notice that the data in your pivot table isn’t sorted the way you’d like. If this is the case, Excel’s Sort function can help you out. Alternatively, you may need to incorporate data from another source into your reporting, in which case the VLOOKUP function could come in handy.

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

If you’re like a lot of people, you may be wondering how to use mobile marketing to generate leads for your business. For HubSpot users, the good news is that you have a head start — the HubSpot platform automatically creates a mobile version of your site for you.

But what should you do next? After you’ve got a mobile website, what mobile tools should you use to attract new customers to your business? QR codes are one of the easiest tools to get started with. You’re probably already familiar with QR codes, but if not, they’re the square barcodes like the one on this post that are being used by companies to drive prospects to their websites.

In doing research for our new book Go Mobile, Jeanne Hopkins and I took a deep dive into the most important mobile tools for small- to mid-sized businesses. There are plenty to choose from, but we’re going to focus on the most effective QR code uses to grow your business.

Who uses QR codes?

The short answer is anyone with a mobile phone. In addition to our keys and wallet, our phone is one of the few things we can’t leave the house without. Businesses have picked up on this and are constantly finding new ways to use QR codes to get us to engage with them, or make their processes smoother.

Uses of QR Codes in Everyday Life

While the concept of when to implement QR codes may be new, you’ve probably already gotten familiar with their use in local businesses you’ve visited. Here’s some instances where you’ve most likely encountered them:

• Public wifi network access
• Restaurant menus
• Instruction manuals
• Cashless payments
• Web promotions during live events
• Contact information and Linktrees

Later in this article, we’ll discuss the many other ways to use QR codes.But first, we’ll dig into how you can create your own QR codes.

How to Create Your Own QR Code Promotion

On the Go Mobile website, we used QR codes to provide clues for a nationwide scavenger hunt for four iPads hidden across the country. Visitors to the site could scan the QR codes to download the clues. To ensure that we captured leads from the promotion, we also provided the clues via email for anyone who filled out the form on the site. That way, we capture the lead information so we can re-market to that audience in the future.

Creating a QR code promotion is actually pretty simple. Here are the steps we followed when we created the promotion for our iPad nationwide scavenger hunt.

1. Create a Landing Page

First and foremost, you’ll need to create a mobile-optimized landing page. That means a landing page that is designed to be viewed on a smartphone screen. Keep things simple – for example, on a mobile landing page, forms should be kept to a few fields only. Most people don’t have the patience to fill out lengthy forms from a smartphone.

2. Create Your QR Code

Once you’ve created your landing page, copy the URL into a QR code generator. There are
plenty of QR code generators on the web, so just do a search for one. Paste your landing page URL into the QR code generator and, like magic, your QR code will be generated on the spot. This QR code is unique to you, so nobody in the world has another one just like it.

3. Add Your QR Code to Your Promotional Materials

Grab your QR code from the generator. On a PC, that means right-clicking it and saving it to your computer. (On a Mac, you can drag and drop.) Now that you have the QR code handy, add it to your promotional materials. That includes any printed materials or websites that are going to be part of the promotion.

4. Get the Word Out

There’s no point in launching a QR Code promotion if you’re not going to let the world know about it. So broadcast your message using your blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or any of the other social media tools at your disposal. The key part at this stage of the game is to let as many people know about the promotion as possible.

5. Stretch Out the Promotion

For our iPad Scavenger Hunt, we wanted as many people as possible to participate, so we’d upload a new QR code each day for several weeks. That way, our audience builds, and we’re able to create as much buzz around the promotion as possible.

How to Put QR Codes to Work for Your Business

There are a variety of ways you can use QR codes for your business, and new ones are cropping up every day. Here are some great ideas you can use below.

Common Uses of QR Codes

1. Websites: Add a QR code to the ‘Contact Us’ page on your website so visitors can download your contact information to their smartphones.
2. Business Cards: Add a QR code to the front or back of your business card so people can instantly download your contact information.
3. Webinars: Ready to make your webinars more engaging and fun? Then simply include a QR code as part of your presentation. It’s a terrific way to keep the audience engaged and involved.
4. LinkedIn and Facebook Pages: Want another way to stand out from everyone else? Add a QR code to your LinkedIn and Facebook pages to pull people into your website. It’s one of the best ways you can position yourself as a forward, innovative thinker.
5. In-Store Posters With Coupons: Want to provide instant coupons to people while they’re shopping? Then add a QR code that drives them through to a special discount that can be scanned at the register.
6. Dial a Phone Number: Want to encourage people to dial your number so they can order your product? Then give them a QR code to scan. If it’s set up properly, it will instantly dial your number on their phone and connect them with your sales center.

Creative Uses for QR Codes

1. Clothing and Merchandise: Ready to promote your product or service in an innovative way? Then add a QR code to a T-shirt that you give away to customers and prospects. Hija De Tu Madre (pictured above), a Latina fashion and accessories brand, cleverly placed a QR code on one of their shirt designs. It encourages viewers to “Scan for community y cultura,” enabling people to learn more about the brand and eventually convert them into new customers.
2. “Hello, My Name Is” Tags: You know those big red and white tags people wear at events with their names on them? If you put a QR code in place of your name, you’ll engage people and easily be able to strike up conversations.
3. Event Posters: Advertising an event? Upgrade your posters and fliers with a QR code passersby can easily scan. Have the code take them to your event page where they can view all pertinent details and buy tickets.
4. Outdoor Billboards:Be one of the first businesses in your market to run a giant QR code on a billboard for your business. In the example above, Cygames enlisted the help of 1,500 drones to form a giant QR code in the sky to celebrate the anniversary of one of their games.
5. Galleries and Museums: Make it easy for viewers to find out more about your work and upcoming projects. Putting a QR code next to artwork in place of text is a wonderful alternative to the standard description. Guests won’t have to crowd each other to read it, and they can take the information with them. If you’re selling at a gallery, it may also be worth it to enable payment through the QR code as well.
6. Product Packaging: If you sell a physical product, adding a QR code that tells the buyer more about your brand or the product itself can build connections and trust. If you sell food, consider using a QR code for the ingredient list, or maybe easy recipes to use the item in. For cosmetics, have QR codes that give more information on how the products were made, tested, and where ingredients were sourced.

Using QR Codes to Grow Your Business

There’s no real mystery to using QR codes to grow your business. All you have to do is generate the code, and drop it into your promotion. Be sure you test the campaign before you go public with it – people who scan your code expect things to work relatively smoothly the first time out of the gate. But other than that, running a QR code promotion is a snap.

A key point to remember about QR codes is that they’re simply a mechanism to engage prospects and customers. In other words, they’re not the end-game, so it’s up to you to figure out how to use them to capture the visitors you drive to your website as leads using landing pages.

Once your strategy is in place, using QR codes to grow your business is relatively simple. All you have to do is generate the code, and drop it into your promotion. Be sure you test the campaign before you go public with it — people who scan your code expect things to work relatively smoothly the first time out of the gate. Give them an experience that delights them and keeps them coming back for more.

This is a guest blog post written by Jamie Turner, founder and chief content officer of the 60 Second Marketer. In addition, Jamie is the co-author of the book Go Mobile, written with Jeanne Hopkins, VP of marketing @HubSpot. He is a regular guest on CNN and HLN on the topic of digital marketing and is a popular mobile marketing speaker at events and corporations around the globe.

This article was originally published in January 2012 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

With over 1 billion active users, Instagram is one of the best social media networks to advertise your business, reach new audiences, and grow brand awareness. So even if you aren’t active on the website yet, it’s never too late to adopt an Instagram strategy in your marketing plan.

If you’re ready to start sharing content through this channel, we’ve got you covered. Here, we’ve cultivated a quick-and-easy guide to posting on Instagram, to ensure you can begin attracting the attention of your audience with Instagram marketing.

Posting to Instagram consistently can help businesses find resonance with their audience and grow better, but doing it right is just as important. Here’s how to post to your Instagram account step-by-step.

Step 1. Tap the + icon at the top of your screen.

See that plus sign [+] in the image above? That’s your starting point. See that post from our culture account? That’s your endpoint. Click that plus sign and you’ll be ready for the next step, below.

Step 2. Choose a photo or video from your library or shoot one in the app.

Instagram will show you the photos already saved to your phone. Choose one of those to post. Alternatively, you can click on the camera icon to take a photo or video within the Instagram app itself, if you don’t already have an image you want to use.

Once you select and crop an image (or carousel of multiple images), click the arrow button in the top right corner of the app.

Step 3. Post multiple images on Instagram.

Do you have multiple photos and want to highlight them all? Instagram allows you to do this with its carousel feature.

As you go to tap a photo or video, first tap the icon just above your photos to the right that looks like stacked squares. Once you tap this, you’ll see a number on the corner of every image or video you tap. This number notes where the content will show up in the carousel.

Step 4. Crop the image.

You aren’t limited to just a square image on Instagram. You can actually share horizontal or vertical images as well. To get more of your image seen, pinch the screen of the photo you’ve selected on the Library screen.

However, while Instagram does allow vertical and horizontal options, the images still need to fit into some specific dimensions. So, you might still need to crop a tiny bit of your photo to get it to fit.

Step 5. Pick a filter.

Instagram offers 24 filters — scroll to the right to peruse your options, and click on one to preview how it will look on your photo.

By default, the filter will be applied by full strength. However, if you want to scale back the intensity of the filter, double click the filter tile once it’s been applied, and a scale selector will appear, allowing you to downplay the effect.

You can also tap the magic wand at the top of the screen to adjust the photo further.

(Take a look at our Ultimate Guide to Instagram Filters to learn more).

Step 6. Edit your photo.

You can also click “Edit” at the bottom right to adjust the image to your specifications.

Here are the editing options that come built into Instagram for you:

• Adjust – This helps subtly rotate the image along the center plane, giving it a tilt either to the left or right according to the linear scale at the bottom of the screen.
• Brightness – This helps lighten or darken the image. All you have to do is pull the selector to the left to darken or to the right to lighten.
• Contrast – This helps to increase or decrease the intensity of the image’s colors. Pull the selector to the left for less contrast (a dulling effect) or to the right for more contrast (a higher intensity effect).
• Structure – This helps to add an HD-like effect to the image, bringing out specific details in your photo. Drag the selector to the right to help the image “pop.”
• Warmth – This helps you adjust the temperature of the photo. Drag the selector to the left to increase cool tones in the image, or drag the selector to the right to increase the warm tones in the image.
• Saturation – This helps you adjust the saturation of the colors in your image. Drag the selector to the left to desaturate the image (all the way to the left if you want a monochrome look), or drag the selector to the right for extremely saturated colors.
• Color – This gives you a number of color options to overlay over your image for interesting color effects. Simply select your color choice and see how it changes the image in the preview box.
• Fade – This softens the intensity of the blacks in your image to create an “aged” photo effect. Simply drag the selector to the right for a higher degree of fade.
• Highlights – This helps you control the intensity of the highlights in your image. Dragging the selector to the left will darken the highlights in your image while dragging the selector to the right will lighten the highlights in your image.
• Shadows – This helps you control the intensity of the shadows in your image. Dragging the selector to the left will darken the shadows in your image while dragging the selector to the right will lighten the shadows in your image.
• Vignette – This darkens the corners of the image, leaving a circle shape in the center. Drag the selector all the way to the right for the most dramatic vignette.
• Tilt Shift – This helps blur the edges of the image in a radial or linear way, drawing focus to the details in the center of the image.
• Sharpen – This helps sharpen certain details of the image, bringing a more dramatic look to subtler elements in the photo.

Step 7. Type your caption.

Get creative and write a nice, interesting caption to go with your photo. Since text can help optimize your post in Instagram’s search, writing something can only benefit you.

Step 8. Use hashtags for post optimization.

With Instagram’s search feature, users can search by hashtags. So, you should make sure to write relevant hashtags in your caption. If someone does a search of a hashtag you placed in your caption, they might find your post as well as others that included the same one.

Step 9. Tag friends.

Want your friend or their followers to see a photo that you posted of the two of you? Tag them!

On the new post page, you can click “Tag People” to tag other Instagram accounts in your post. Alternatively, you can include their handle (or their username beginning with an @ symbol) in your caption.

Step 10. Add your location.

If you’re on a fun vacation or at a neat event and you don’t feel like including that information in your caption, you can mark where you are in another way. On the new post page, tap “Add Location” to put a location on your image (which makes it easier for people to find your post).

When you post an image or video with a location, it will show up between your name and the block of content on the feed.

Step 11. Play with emojis.

Emojis are fun and can make your caption more eye-catching. If you know of a few relevant emojis that could fit with your post, stick them in the caption area. For example, if you’re posting a vacation photo, you could include a palm tree 🌴 or a plane ✈️ to show you flew somewhere.

Here are the top Instagram emojis you can use:

1. ❤️
2. 😍
3. 😘
4. 😂
5. 😊
6. 😎
7. 💕
8. 😉
9. 💋
10. 👍

However, keep in mind that there’s a multitude of choices to add flair to your posts, from keeping it real 💯 to the cringe face 😬.

Be sure not to go overboard and post emojis just for the sake of posting them. If you post a bowling emoji along with a photo of a beach, that obviously won’t make sense to people. Similarly, if you post 20 emojis that loosely relate to a post, you might just annoy your followers or come off as desperate.

Step 12. Share the post on other social media platforms.

Finally, if you want to share your content on your other, connected social media sites (like Facebook or Twitter), simply slide the bar from the left to the right.

When you’re ready to post, click “Share” in the top right.

Instagram Saved Drafts

If you’re not ready to post right away, you can also save it to your Instagram Saved Drafts. Simply go back to the filtering and editing step, tap the back arrow in the top left, and select “Save Draft.”

Step 13. Edit the post.

Typos happen to everyone! If you just posted something and notice a glaring spelling error, don’t panic. Simply tap the three dots that appear on the right across from your name, then tap “Edit.”

Make the adjustments you see fit and save them so it reflects on your Instagram. Otherwise, your post is complete and live for everyone to see.

Grow Your Audience on Instagram Today

Now that you know how to post to Instagram, you can begin creating content for the platform and connecting with your audience. If you’re a business or brand, you’ll want a solid strategy for earning engagement and awareness.

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

If you use Instagram, you might have seen the phrase “link in bio” before.

This means that someone is directing people to go to their Instagram profile page and click the URL that’s in their bio. Driving people to these links often helps Instagram users generate traffic on different websites, like a YouTube channel or website landing page.

But the native linking option only allows businesses and creators to share one link in an Instagram bio, which can prove challenging if you want to share multiple links with your audience.

In this post, learn how Linktree is a solution to help you share multiple high-quality links with your followers and discover high-quality examples from brands already using the tool.

 

What is Linktree on Instagram?

On Instagram, a Linktree is a simple link in your bio that leads to a landing page containing multiple links to content relevant to your business, like your website, a video, or even an affiliate discount link.

You may be wondering why using this tool can make a difference on Instagram, and we’ll discuss this below.

Should you use Linktree for marketing on Instagram?

Linktree is helpful for marketing on Instagram because it helps you direct users to multiple different content offerings. So instead of only sharing, say, a link to your website, you can also link to your various social channels, your newest YouTube video, or a recent partnership you launched.

Another common use case on Instagram is if you run multiple campaigns on the platform at once, as your Linktree can contain links relevant to each of the different buyer personas you target.  

When considering leveraging Linktree on Instagram, the main factor to consider is that it helps you drive additional traffic to other high-impact sources. If you don’t use a Linktree, you’ll likely be updating your bio every time you want to direct users to a new piece of content, or you link to a website page where users can take additional action.

If driving traffic from Instagram is not a top priority for in-platform marketing, Linktree likely isn’t for you as it does require upkeep to ensure you don’t share so many links that users get overwhelmed by their choices.

If you want to leverage the tool in your Instagram strategy, let’s discuss how you can create one.

How to Create a Linktree for Instagram

1. Navigate to linktr.ee/, select the purple button that says Get Started For Free, and fill out the required contact information to create your account.

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2. Follow the on-screen prompts and enter the desired name for your Linktree and a business category that relates to what you offer.

3. Select your preferred business plan, Free or Pro.

The image below shows the differences between the tiers, the most significant being cost (free vs. $6 per month). The pro version also comes with additional customization options and advanced analytics for understanding how users interact with your links.

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4. After selecting your plan, you should land on the Links page, where there is a purple Add New Links button and a black Explore Links button.

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5. To begin adding links to your Linktree, you have two options:

Select Add New Link to add your first new link, and a card (as shown in the image below) will appear where you fill in the relevant Title and URL.

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Or, select Explore Link to view various link options that you can add depending on their content, such as music or video links.

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Regardless of the method you choose, your completed link should look similar to the image below.

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6. Once you’ve added all of your links, the icons at the bottom of the tiles allow you to make card-specific edits.

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If you have a free account, you can upload your own tile thumbnail, gate the link for specific audiences, and view the number of times your tile has been clicked.

With a pro account, you can take all of the free actions, in addition to highlighting specific links as priority links, scheduling when certain links go live, and accessing more in-depth analytics.

7. Add all the relevant links you’re hoping to include in your Linktree. Note that the creation tool shows live previews so you can see what your final product will look like as you work in the phone icon on the right-hand side of your screen, as shown in the image below.

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Once you’ve added all your links, you can begin customizations.

8. Select the Appearance tab on your screen’s top left-hand corner.

9. In the profile window, insert relevant information to the links you’re offering, including Profile Title, a brief bio, and a business-relevant image.

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10. In the themes window, select a Linktree theme that meets your preferences. The image below is an example of a customized Linktree.

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If you have a pro account, you can design your own theme, edit background colors, choose button shapes, and change fonts.

11. Under the settings tab on the top left header, you can further edit your Linktree and add support banners, ecommerce integrations, and social media icons to link to your other social profiles.

If you have a pro account, you can do everything previously mentioned in addition to adding mailing list integrations for email or SMS.

12. Once you’re satisfied with your Linktree and how it looks it’s time to put the link in your Instagram profile. 

How to Add Linktree to Instagram

There are multiple ways to add your Linktree link to your Instagram profile. The first way is to:

1. Within Linktree, select the Add Linktree to your socials button in the Share dropdown menu and click Instagram, as shown in the image below.

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2. You can simply select the Copy button and choose your URL, navigate to Instagram and click Edit Profile, and paste the link into the Website field in your Instagram profile. Or,

3. Click the Go to my Instagram button to be immediately taken to your profile and insert the link there.

Now that you know how to create your Linktree and add it to your Instagram profile let’s go over some examples from brands that already use Linktree on Instagram to meet their business needs.

Instagram Linktree Tips

• Choose relevant names for your links: You want to use a Linktree to easily send your customers to different sites, so ensuring you name each link in a way that clearly says what it’s linking to increases effectiveness.
• Use descriptions wisely: If you use descriptions in your Linktree, ensure that you use them wisely so users can clearly understand your links. Ensure that descriptions aren’t too long either, or you may lose audience attention.
• Only include the most relevant links: While it may be tempting to have as many links as possible, it’s best to only place the most relevant links in your Linktree, so users aren’t overwhelmed with options. For example, if you’re running a new campaign, consider only linking to that one and removing links from older campaigns.
• Use branded tools: if you have a Linktree pro account, use the custom branded tools that will help your users content your Linktree to your brand assets that they already know and recognize, like custom icons and color schemes.
• Continuously monitor your Linktree: Continuously monitor your Linktree to ensure it’s up to date with your current business offerings. This means removing irrelevant links that will distract from what you’re hoping to center and monitoring analytics to see if you need to make any changes to your Linktree strategy.

Instagram Linktree Examples

Black Owned Everything

Black Owned Everything is an online marketplace that champions Black-owned businesses and the products and services they sell. It uses a Linktree on its Instagram profile to call attention to its different offerings, as shown in the image below.

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Why We Like This:

Black Owned Everything’s Linktree is successful because it includes links that are clearly labeled for users to understand and find what they are looking for, and there are also very few links. As a result, viewers likely aren’t experiencing decision paralysis as they don’t need to put in additional effort to find what they are looking for.

Patsy’s

Patsy’s is a dessert business based out of Brooklyn, NY. It sells Caribbean rum cakes made from scratch and uses a Linktree to help profile browsers order their cakes and view recent collaborations.

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Why We Like This:

Patsy’s uses Linktree as a unique way to call user attention to a holiday ordering guide that walks users through the process of placing an order. While it could simply share this information in an Instagram post, users may not want to read a lengthy caption. Instead, Patsy’s can direct users to the link in its bio to quickly navigate to the ordering landing page.

Sean Garette 

Sean Garette is an esthetician that uses Instagram to share helpful content with their audience. They also have a branded Linktree in their bio where they share links to recent collaborations and partnership discount links.

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Why We Like This:

Sean Garrette shows us the value of using a Linktree to plug partnerships with other businesses.

You can always post about the partnerships you have on Instagram, but if they’re long-standing, people might forget they exist. You can place affiliate links in your Linktree to remind users that your partnerships are still running and, if you successfully drive users to your Linktree, all of your traffic will come across these links.

Golde 

Golde is a business that sells superfood and wellness products. It uses Instagram to provide educational content and product photos and has a branded Linktree in its Instagram bio.

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Why We Like This:

While Golde does have more links in its Linktree, users aren’t overwhelmed by choices because each link clearly states what it is, and the emojis provide additional explanations. If you have multiple links that you want to share with your users without overwhelming them, use Golde’s Linktree as inspiration.

TikTok

TikTok uses Instagram to call attention to trends, updates, and high-performing videos on the app. In addition, it has a branded Linktree in bio, which is pictured below.

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Why We Like This:

TikTok’s Linktree is a great inspiration because it drives users to critical actions related to the app: downloading the app, understanding trending moments and sounds, and contacting customer support. It also contains branded links in the footer of the Linktree that users can navigate to and easily understand where clicking will land them.

Should you choose to use Linktree, you’ll be able to share multiple high-impact links with your audience all at once, giving them more ways to interact with your business and become engaged in what you have to offer.

Imagine shopping at a grocery store that doesn’t have any signs pointing you in the right direction. Odds are you’d spend a lot of time wandering the aisles until you found what you needed.

People want a sense of direction when they’re shopping, and they want to see their options grouped together — whether that’s kitchen tools, breakfast cereals, or winter coats. One way to do this is with product categories.

Product category marketing helps your brand stand out among related items, so your company’s products wind up in the shopping cart — whether real or virtual.

Let’s explore product categories, how it differs from product classification, and see some examples in action.

Your distinct offerings and customer personas should guide the organization and grouping of your product categories.

For example, Dick’s Sporting Goods offers a variety of outdoor gear. To guide customers, they group products into interest-based categories, such as fishing, running, and climbing. For cosmetic brands, it also makes sense to organize categories by product type, such as makeup tools, eyeshadow pallets, and foundation.

Product category marketing amplifies why a company is the best choice within that group of products. Why should customers opt for your offering rather than your direct competitors?

Gaining brand recognition and appreciation across a product category means greater returns for your marketing efforts. When consumers have positive experiences with a specific product category it also builds brand trust, which often expands to other categories through the halo effect.

Product categories are sometimes confused with product classification. Both are organizational strategies and both help guide marketing decisions, but classifications are much broader (think convenience goods, shopping goods, and specialty goods).

Let’s take a look at nine product category marketing examples to inspire your own.

9 Product Category Marketing Examples

1. Fenty Beauty

Product category: High-end foundation makeup

Admittedly, it helps to have singer and business powerhouse Rihanna at the helm. But Fenty Beauty innovated the idea of foundation makeup “for all,” and its commitment to inclusivity made the brand an instant hit.

Beyond foundation, the Fenty Beauty Face products include bronzer, highlighter, powder, and concealer in shades that work for everyone. The launch was an industry transformer, with established brands expanding their foundation color lineup in response.

Why it works: Fenty’s success underlines a simple truth about today’s consumers: they are belief-driven. Increasingly, consumers want to see brands improve the world along with making a profit. Fenty aligns with this shift by keeping diversity and inclusion top of mind with its product offerings — and by featuring models across a spectrum of skin tones.

2. Orvis

Product category: Dog beds

This Vermont-based retailer has been a big name in fly-fishing and outdoor gear since 1856. But they’ve also carved out a product niche with dog gear — and dog beds in particular. The brand draws people who want comfortable dog beds for their furry pals in styles that enhance their home decor.

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The marketing images of dogs sleeping or lounging on Orvis beds is enough to inspire a nap. And its social feeds are chock full of irresistible images and videos of dogs, including puppies in a hammock.

Why it works: The company has built a loyal following with the fundamental belief that pets are significant members of the family. Orvis has made its site a resource for dog health and behavior topics, and they boast a variety of dog beds for dogs of all sizes, ages, and health issues.

3. Ikea

Product category: Bedding

Putting together their furniture may be a tough task, but at least Ikea supports your relaxation too. The marketing of their bedding shows off playful sheets and prints for the kids and a mix of bold designs and neutrals for adults. The bed linens product category is grouped under ‘home textiles’ together with curtains, quilts, pillows, and towels.

A playful Ikea ad campaign in the UK even featured bottled bedding and pillows, connecting the dots between a restful night’s sleep and health. In the current pandemic, the company marketed the idea that comfortable bedding was essential — especially when your bed is doubling as your office.

Why it works: By grouping a variety of products under one roof — Home Textiles — Ikea presents an opportunity to up-sell. After all, if you buy a new mattress, you may also need new bed sheets, pillows, and blankets.

4. Swarovski

Product category: Jewelry

For more than a century, Swarovski has put the sparkle in gowns, tiaras, jewelry, sculptures, and even luxury cars. For its jewelry product category, Swarovski puts luxury within reach with a mix of modern and classic crystal necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and watches.

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It sustains brand awareness with seasonal collections, collaborations with designers and celebrities, such as Karl Lagerfield and Penelope Cruz, and social media campaigns with influencers.

Why it works: Swarovski has taken its medium, crystal, to new heights with creative partnerships and continued innovation. It’s these efforts that keep the brand — and its products — fresh and exciting even after 125 years in business.

5. Target

Product category: Grocery essentials

Target is known for its positioning across product categories, including affordable fashion, electronics, and cleaning supplies. Though they’re grocery section is smaller than most supermarkets, they cover all of the ‘must-haves’ on any shopping list — from milk to salads to pasta.

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In 2019, Target added its own brand of grocery essentials with their Good & Gather line, which includes frozen berries, cereals, snack foods, and eggs. Their Instagram Stories showcase easy snack and meal ideas, and feature foodie influencers like TikTok and Instagram sensations Tabitha Browne and Lisa Lin.

Why it works: Target uses private labels and exclusive brands to its advantage. If you get hooked on a Target-exclusive product — like an item from their Good & Gather line — you can’t go anywhere else to buy it.

6. Dove

Product category: Skin care

Launched in 2004, Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign was far ahead of other brands in promoting body positivity and self-acceptance. Their ad campaigns for body lotions and soap have long featured women with a wide variety of body types and skin colors.

Rolls, wrinkles, cellulite, and stretch marks are all on proud and beautiful display across its social channels. Today, its skin care brand identity is synonymous with self-confidence, and Dove body lotions and soaps are frequent flyers on “best of” lists for affordable skin care.

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Why it works: In an industry that typically profits from consumers feeling unhappy with their appearance, Dove stands out with a marketing strategy that centers around self-confidence. Dove energizes its brand with a higher purpose that most women — their target audience — can get behind.

7. Michaels

Product category: Holiday and seasonal decor

The company known for DIY is also a go-to spot for holiday and seasonal decorating. Michaels stores transform every month or two with festive decor for spring, summer, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, July Fourth, Mardi Gras, and Pride Month.

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Michael’s also does an exceptional job engaging with the creative community. Most stores offer free classes, demos, and events that anyone can attend. During the pandemic, these classes went virtual, offering both adults and kids a creative outlet to explore at home. 

Why it works: Michael’s continues to find new ways to engage with new and existing customers — from festive in-store displays to free classes and demos. It positions itself as more than a supply store, but rather a source of fun and inspiration.

8. Patagonia

Product category: Eco-friendly outerwear

Patagonia’s tagline is “We’re in business to save our home planet” and the company’s marketing efforts lead with its commitment to sustainability across product lines. Its website urges consumers to “Buy Less” and prominently features a section of “Used Gear.”

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When you visit its Facebook or Instagram pages, you have to hunt a bit to find posts highlighting particular products. Instead, the feeds focus on pressing issues, such as environmental stewardship and fair labor practices.

Why it works: Patagonia effectively weaves its core values into its marketing messages. When you do need to purchase a new (or used) piece of outerwear, consumers know they are supporting a company actively minimizing its negative impacts.

9. Grove Collaborative

Product category: Green household cleaning supplies

Grove Collaborative is another company focused on sustainability. Its goal is to make it simple and affordable for people to choose green household products that are non-toxic, sustainable, and cruelty free.

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The company offers eco-friendly cleaning supplies, including concentrated soap and detergent refills and reusable glass bottles, which it sends out in recurring monthly shipments.

The company also shares ideas for holiday meals and decorating, and releases a monthly “Sustainability Snapshot” of their environmental impact, such as the number of single-use plastic bottles they keep out of land-fills.

Why it works: The company’s marketing reflects its minimalist ethos. Grove also uses social media, namely Instagram Stories, to attract new customers with product images, cleaning tips, and even humorous videos.

Each of these brands has clarified where their products fit in larger retail categories. This helps them market their distinct value to target customers and, ultimately, earn a greater market share within these product categories.