Category Archives: B2B

Would it be correct to assume a major part of your marketing strategy today is digital? Probably.

Consumers and businesses alike are almost always online and on the go – and you want to be able to reach them and observe their behavior where they spend their time.

But when you’re growing a business, this ever-changing digital landscape can quickly become an overwhelming one. With a number of other responsibilities and tasks that you need to do, how can you also efficiently create, fine-tune, and maintain an agile digital marketing strategy?

We’ve put together this guide about marketing strategies to help you improve your digital presence and grow better.

If you’re a small business and you’re unsure how to jumpstart your strategy, this digital marketing strategy template will help you get there. It includes actionable tips and templates to set you up for success.

Now back to this — are you confused about the difference between a marketing strategy and marketing tactics? We cover that below.

Marketing or not, there are three parts of any strategy:

1. A diagnosis of your challenge
2. A guiding policy for dealing with the challenge
3. A set of targeted actions that are necessary to accomplish the policy

Depending on the scale of your business, your marketing strategy may include several moving parts, each with different goals. With that said, working on your strategy can become daunting at times.

So, if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed about your marketing strategy, refer to these three steps to keep you focused on achieving your objectives.

To provide a better understanding of what they may entail, check out the following list of basic marketing strategies commonly utilized by teams across a range of industries.

Marketing Basics

• Publish a blog.
• Advertise on specific social media platforms (e.g. Facebook Ads or Instagram Ads).
• Offer free educational resources.
• Search engine optimize your digital content.
• Create a giveaway and/ or contest.
• Test different campaign types to determine what works best for your audience.
• Organize a webinar.
• Produce a podcast.
• Create an email campaign.

Now, let’s look at digital marketing strategy.

Similar to marketing strategies versus marketing tactics, “digital marketing strategy” and “digital marketing campaign” are also often interchanged. So, how do they differ?

We cover that in the following sections.

What is a digital marketing campaign?

Digital marketing campaigns are the building blocks and actions within your digital marketing strategy that move you toward a specific end goal.

For instance, if the overarching goal of your digital marketing strategy is to generate more leads through social media, you might run a digital marketing campaign on Twitter. You may share some of your business’s best-performing gated content on Twitter to generate more leads through the channel.

1. Build your buyer personas.

For any marketing strategy – digital or not – you need to know who you’re marketing to. The best digital marketing strategies are built upon detailed buyer personas, and your first step is to create them.

Organize your audience segments and make your marketing stronger with templates to build your buyer personas.

Buyer personas represent your ideal customer(s) and can be created by researching, surveying, and interviewing your business’s target audience.

It’s important to note that this information should be based upon real data whenever possible, as making assumptions about your audience can cause your marketing strategy to move in the wrong direction.

To get a rounded picture of your persona, your research pool should include a mixture of customers, prospects, and people outside your contacts database who align with your target audience.

But what kind of information should you gather for your own buyer persona(s) to inform your digital marketing strategy?

That depends on your business — it’s likely to vary depending on whether you’re B2B or B2C, or whether you sell a high-cost or low-cost product.

Here are some starting points that you can fine-tune and tailor to your particular business.

Quantitative and Demographic Information

• Location: Use web analytics tools to easily identify what location your website traffic is coming from.
• Age: Depending on your business, this may or may not be relevant information. But if it is, it’s best to gather this data by identifying trends in your existing prospect and contact database.
• Income: It’s best to gather sensitive information like personal income through persona research interviews, as people might be unwilling to share these details via online forms.
• Job Title: This is something you can get a rough idea of from your existing customer base and is most relevant for B2B companies.

Qualitative and Psychographic Information

• Goals: Depending on what challenge your product or service solves, you may already have a good idea of the goals of your buyer persona. Cement your assumptions by speaking to real customers and internal sales and customer service reps.
• Challenges: Speak to customers, sales and customer service reps, and any other customer-facing employees to get an idea of the common challenges your audience members face.
• Hobbies/Interests: Ask customers and those who align with your target audience about their hobbies and interests. If you’re a fashion brand, for example, it’s helpful to know if large segments of your audience are also interested in fitness and well-being to inform future content and partnerships.
• Priorities: Talk to customers and target audience members to find out what’s most important to them in relation to your business. For example, if you’re a B2B software company, knowing your audience values customer support over a competitive price point is very valuable information.

By combining all of these details, you’ll be able to create buyer personas that are accurate and highly valuable for your business.

2. Identify your goals and the digital marketing tools you’ll need.

Your marketing goals should always be tied back to the fundamental goals of your business.

For example, if your business’s goal is to increase online revenue by 20%, your marketing team’s goal might be to generate 50% more leads via the website than the previous year to contribute to that success.

Use a high-level marketing plan template to outline your annual marketing strategy, identify top priorities, and more.

Download the Template

Whatever your overarching digital marketing goal is, you must be able to measure the success of your strategy along the way with the right digital marketing tools.

For instance, the Reporting Dashboard in HubSpot brings all of your marketing and sales data into one place, so you can quickly determine what works and what doesn’t to improve your strategy for the future.

3. Evaluate your existing digital channels and assets.

When reviewing your existing digital marketing channels and assets to determine what to incorporate in your strategy, it’s helpful to first consider the big picture — this will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed or confused.

Gather what you have, and categorize each vehicle or asset in a spreadsheet, so you have a clear picture of your existing owned, earned, and paid media.

Owned, Earned, Paid Media Framework

To do this effectively, use the owned, earned, and paid media framework to categorize the digital “vehicles,” assets, or channels you’re already using and decide what’s a good fit for your strategy.

Owned Media

This refers to the digital assets your brand or company owns — whether that’s your website, social media profiles, blog content, or imagery. Owned channels are what your business has complete control over.

This can also include some off-site content you own that isn’t hosted on your website (e.g. a blog you publish on Medium).

Earned Media

Earned media refers to the exposure you earn through word-of-mouth marketing. Whether that’s content you’ve distributed on other websites (e.g. guest posts), PR work you’ve been doing, or the customer experience you’ve delivered. Earned media is the recognition you receive as a result of these efforts.

You can earn media by getting press mentions and positive reviews as well as by people sharing your content via their networks (e.g. social media channels).

Paid Media

Paid media refers to any vehicle or channel you spend money on to catch the attention of your buyer personas.

This includes things like Google AdWords, paid social media posts, native advertising (e.g. sponsored posts on other websites), or any other medium through which you pay in exchange for increased visibility.

Since you have a better grasp of what this framework entails, let’s look at an example.

Say you have an owned piece of content on a landing page on your website that’s been created to help you generate leads. You know you want to incorporate different parts of the framework rather than just working with owned, earned, or paid media alone.

To amplify the number of leads the content generates, you make an effort to ensure it’s shareable so your audience can distribute it via their social media profiles. In return, this will increase traffic to your landing page. This is the earned media component.

To support your content’s success, you might post about the content on your Facebook page and pay to have it seen by more people in your target audience.

This is how the three parts of the framework are able to work together — although, it’s not necessary for success. For instance, if your owned and earned media are already both successful, you might not need to invest in paid. So, evaluate the best solution to help you meet your goal, and then incorporate the channels that work best for your business into your digital marketing strategy.

Now you know what’s already being used, you can start to think about what to keep and what to cut.

Keep track of your paid media efforts with this free Paid Media Template.

Download the Template

4. Audit and plan your owned media campaigns.

At the heart of digital marketing is owned media — and it almost always comes in the form of content. That’s because nearly every message your brand broadcasts can be classified as content, whether it’s an About Us site page, product descriptions, blog posts, ebooks, infographics, podcasts, or social media posts.

Content helps convert your website visitors into leads and customers while improving your brand’s online presence. And when this content is search engine optimized (SEO), it can boost your search and organic traffic.

Whatever your digital marketing strategy goal is, you’ll want to incorporate owned content. To start, decide what content will help you reach your goals.

If your goal is to generate 50% more leads via the website than last year, your About Us page is most likely not going to be included in your strategy, unless that page has somehow been a lead-generation machine in the past.

Here’s a brief process you can follow to work out what owned content you need to meet your digital marketing strategy goals.

Audit your existing content.

Make a list of your existing owned content, and rank each item according to what has previously performed best in relation to your current goals.

For example, if your goal is lead generation, rank your content according to which pieces generated the most leads over the last year (such as a blog post, ebook, or site page).

The idea here is to figure out what’s currently working, and what’s not so that you can set yourself up for success when planning future content.

Identify gaps in your existing content.

Based on your buyer personas, identify any gaps in the content you have.

For example, if you’re a math tutoring company and know through research that a major challenge for your personas is finding effective ways to study, create some.

By looking at your content audit, you might discover that ebooks hosted on a certain type of landing page convert really well (better than webinars, for example).

In the case of this math tutoring company, you might make the decision to add an ebook about “how to make studying more effective” to your content creation plans.

Create a content creation plan.

Based on your findings and the gaps you’ve identified, make a content creation plan outlining the content that’s necessary to help you hit your goals.

This should include:

• A title
• Format
• A goal
• Promotional channels
• Why you’re creating the content
• The priority level of the content

This can be a simple spreadsheet, and should also include budget information if you’re planning to outsource the content creation, or a time estimate if you’re producing it yourself.

5. Audit and plan your earned media campaigns.

Evaluating your previous earned media against your current goals can help you get an idea of where to focus your time. Look at where your traffic and leads are coming from (if that’s your goal) and rank each earned media source from most effective to least effective.

You can obtain this information using tools like the Sources reports in HubSpot’s Traffic Analytics tool.

You may find a particular article you contributed to the industry press drove a lot of qualified traffic to your website, which boosted conversions. Or, you may discover LinkedIn is where you see most people sharing content, which increases traffic.

The idea is to build a picture of what types of earned media will help you reach your goals (and what won’t) based on historical data. However, if there’s something new you want to experiment with, don’t rule it out just because it’s never been done before.

6. Audit and plan your paid media campaigns.

This process involves much of the same process: You need to evaluate your existing paid media across each platform (e.g. Google AdWords, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to figure out what’s most likely to help you meet your current goals.

If you’ve spent a lot of money on AdWords and haven’t seen the results you’d hoped for, maybe it’s time to refine your approach, or scrap it altogether and focus on another platform that seems to be yielding better results.

Use this free guide for more on how to leverage AdWords for your digital marketing strategy.

By the end of the process, you should have a clear idea of which paid media platforms you want to continue using, and which (if any) you’d like to remove from your strategy.

7. Bring your digital marketing campaign together.

You’ve done the planning and the research, and you now have a solid vision of the elements that will make up your digital marketing strategy.

To review, here’s what you should have solidified so far:

• Clear profile(s) of your buyer persona(s)
• One or more digital marketing-specific goals
• An inventory of your existing owned, earned, and paid media
• An audit of your existing owned, earned, and paid media
• An owned content creation plan or wish list

Now it’s time to bring all of this together to form a cohesive marketing strategy document. Your strategy document should map out the series of actions you’re going to take to achieve your goals, based on your research up to this point.

Let’s discuss how our digital strategy template can help.

Digital Marketing Strategy Template

While a spreadsheet can be an efficient format for mapping your digital marketing strategy, that approach can quickly become messy and overwhelming.

To plan your strategy for the long-term – typically between six to 12 months out, you need a reliable digital marketing strategy document. But, where to start? With our free digital marketing plan template.

This template will walk you through your business summary and initiatives, help you build your target market and competitor information, and flesh out your marketing strategy — including your budget and specific channels and metrics.

Use this digital strategy template to build out your annual digital marketing strategy and tactics. By planning out these yearly plans, you can overlay when you and your team will be executing each action. For example:

• In January, you’ll start a blog that will be continually updated once a week, for the entire year.
• In March, you’ll launch a new ebook, accompanied by paid promotion.
• In July, you’ll prepare for your biggest business month — what do you hope to have observed at this point that will influence the content you produce to support it?
• In September, you’ll focus on earned media in the form of PR to drive additional traffic during the run-up.

This approach provides a structured timeline for your activity which will help communicate plans among colleagues.

Finally, here are some examples of digital marketing campaigns and their strategies to inspire you.

1. Béis: Paid Ad

Travel accessory brand, Béis, recently launched a social media campaign to announce feature updates to one of its products. And they did it in the best way: by showing instead of telling.

In a 34-second clip, the brand showed how their product performed before and how it performs now following some changes to the material.

This is a fantastic campaign as it not only highlights an improvement on a product but it also shows customers that the brand is constantly iterating and improving. Secondly, they make sure to include captions in the video to ensure that it’s accessible without sound.

2. Omsom: Social Media

Asian food brand Omsom leverages its TikTok profile to share behind-the-scenes content, recipes, and culturally relevant content.

In a recent video, the brand’s co-founder shared how it sources one of its key ingredients and how they chose the more difficult route to preserve the integrity of the food.

@weareomsom

here’s why we choose to make our lives harder as food founders! #business #sourcing

♬ original sound – Omsom

Here’s what Omsom did right: They highlighted their brand’s values while still building excitement around the product.

Sharing behind-the-scenes content is a great way to connect with your audience and share details that will simultaneously highlight your mission and/or values.

3. The General: Paid Advertising

After reports that consumers thought the brand was untrustworthy due to its low-budget ads, The General decided to revamp its entire marketing strategy.

In a commercial featuring basketball superstar, Shaq, the brand addressed the elephant in the room and introduced a new-and-improved look.

In addition, they also emphasize their credibility by mentioning how long they’ve been in business and how many people they’ve helped.

By addressing negative perceptions head-on, brands can not only change how consumers view them but also show that they are in tune with their target audience.

Grow Better With Marketing Strategies That Improve Your Digital Presence

Your strategy document will be very individual to your business, which is why it’s almost impossible for us to create a one-size-fits-all digital marketing strategy template.

Remember, the purpose of your strategy document is to map out the actions you’re going to take to achieve your goal over a period of time — as long as it communicates that, then you’ve nailed the basics of creating a digital strategy.

If you’re eager to build a truly effective strategy to help grow your business, check out our free collection of content marketing templates below.

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

Have you ever sat down at your desk first thing in the morning and spent a good 45 minutes browsing social media or getting lost in your inbox because you can’t focus on what you need to do? At the end of the day, you feel as if you’ve wasted 8 hours of your life that you’ll never get back.

On the other hand, have you ever sat down, opened your calendar app or a to-do list, and jumped right into work, knocking out task after task in a matter of minutes? When you shut your computer at the end of the day, you feel accomplished and know that you’ve done everything possible to move towards your professional goals.

What’s the difference between these two scenarios? A plan. Having your day (or week, or project) mapped out with a concrete action plan will help you feel more focused and accomplished in less time. When it comes to marketing, an action plan could mean the difference between a campaign that sizzles and a campaign that fizzles.

Now that you know there’s a way to ensure more days end with the satisfaction of work done well, let’s take a closer look at what these plans actually are and how they can benefit you.

What is an action plan?

An action plan is a proposed strategy for whatever you want to accomplish. It’s a clear, detailed list of all the steps you need to take to reach your goal, along with a proposed timeline of when you’ll complete each step or task.

Perhaps you’ve heard of action plans in the past, but never tried to create one of your own, Or maybe, this is a brand new concept to you and you’re pretty sure you just heard a choir of angels in the background.

What is the purpose of an action plan?

Action plans are designed to help you reach your goals faster. By breaking down projects into smaller steps, you can ensure that you:

• Meet your goal in a timely fashion
• Don’t skip a step
• Communicate effectively with team members
• Set reasonable expectations for what you can accomplish in a specific period of time

While they will vary in complexity, action plans are good for small projects, large projects, projects that you complete on your own, and projects that involve other team members or individuals outside of your organization.

Convinced you need action plans in your life? Good. Let’s take a look at the steps necessary to implement them.

How to Write an Action Plan

Action plans can be as simple or complex as they need to be. However, before you start writing out the steps to reach your goal, you’ll need to identify something very important… your goal, of course!

What is it that you’d like to accomplish? Is there a new campaign you need to prepare before a specific launch date? Maybe you’re teaming up with another business or a nonprofit for cross-promotion. Perhaps you’re looking to increase brand awareness through various channels.

Whatever your goals, get very clear on what it is you want, why it’s important, and when you need it done. You may wish to create a SMART Action Plan by incorporating SMART goals into it. SMART stands for: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. This framework helps you determine if your goals are realistic, identify what actions are needed to reach your goals, and defines what success looks like.

Once you’ve determined what you want to accomplish and when it will need to be done, it’s time to start devising your plan. Follow these easy steps to create your plan of action.

1. Use a template or tool to capture your action plan and share it with anyone who needs to be involved. (You’ll find some options in the next section)
2. Brainstorm. Consider all the steps that need to get done to complete your project. You may find it helpful to start with larger aspects of the project and then break those down into smaller tasks. No task is too small to be listed (let’s be honest, checking things off a to-do list feels amazing).
3. Delegate and assign responsibilities to team members. You don’t have to go it alone! Hopefully, you have a trustworthy team standing by to help complete tasks and inch you closer and closer to the finish line. This also allows you to identify what resources you need to achieve the goal.
4. Schedule due dates. If your project needs to be done by a specific day (which it should or it could stretch on indefinitely), then each task will have its own due date. Keep in mind that some tasks can be worked on at the same time, while others will require that a previous task has been finished before you can start the new one.
5. Set up alerts to keep yourself (and your team) on track. It’s very easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind and forget about a larger project looming in the distance. Use your scheduled due dates to set up reminders and pencil in time to work on specific tasks.
6. Track your progress and check in with your team. Your action plan may have looked top-notch when you wrote it, but as you work through it, you may discover that things need to change. If you see that you’re falling behind in the tasks, it may be time to re-evaluate and potentially tweak your action plan.
7. Celebrate. Completing a project is often cause for celebration, but don’t forget to review what worked and what didn’t for a smoother project next time.

Leadership action plans will not only help you achieve your goals, but will also help your team be clear on what they need to do, and feel accomplished once they’ve done it. They will also serve to identify any weak links in your organization.

Action plan Formats may differ depending on the needs of our specific project, however, as long as you include the goal, the steps, the people involved, and the due dates, you’ll have a solid plan to work with.

Action Plan Templates

When you’re ready to create an action plan, there’s no need to start from scratch. There are a number of templates and examples available that will provide the framework you need to devise your marketing strategy.

Below, is an action plan example for a 30-60-90 Day onboarding plan. This can always be tweaked to onboard individuals into a marketing position, or to create a marketing plan for your organization.

A marketing action plan may be as simple as this template:

Image Source

You can also use Hubspot’s Marketing Plan Generator to guide you along the way.

No matter how you do it, an action plan may take a little bit of time to create, however, you’ll save time, energy, and resources when you have a clear plan of action for your next project or campaign.

And just like that, another year is (almost) in the books. As marketers begin to map out their 2022 marketing plans, it’s the perfect time to dust off the crystal ball and predict what will shape the industry over the coming year.

There’s certainly a lot to consider — the continuing impact of the global pandemic, the massive shift to digital advertising, and the rise of platforms like TikTok — to name a few. Simply put, what worked for your marketing strategy in the past might not fly in 2022.

Ready to explore the future of marketing? Let’s look at all different types of advertising, and the 6 types brands are investing in this year.

1. Video Advertising

As marketers look for innovative ways to engage audiences, video has become an integral part of the conversation. Video advertising uses videos to promote products and services, educate or entertain consumers, and reach new audiences in an engaging way.

But let’s be honest — video isn’t a new, “up-and-coming” strategy. It’s here, and its impact is already undeniable. And with the popularity of video-related platforms like YouTube and TikTok, it remains a top priority for marketers.

2. Social Media Advertising

It’s hard to imagine any company successfully marketing its offerings today without a social media account. With over 4 billion people on social media, it’s easy to see why companies gravitate to this medium.

Social media advertising serves paid ads to your target audience on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Aside from its reach, it also offers a wealth of opportunities to boost brand awareness, generate and convert leads, and foster customer relationships.

Social media is also great for retargeting, which is the process of targeting audiences who have previously interacted with your website or social media. SharpSpring Ads is one retargeting platform that lets users recapture lost viewers by sending them targeted ads on Facebook, Twitter, and across the web.

3. Mobile Advertising

Digital advertising is all about meeting people where they are, and more often than not, they’re on their phones. In fact, as of July 2021, 56% of all web traffic came from mobile phones. If we jump back to 2011, this number was just over 6%.

Mobile advertising encompasses all forms of advertising on mobile devices — anything from banner ads and popups to SMS text messages. When done correctly, marketers can take their campaigns mobile to reach audiences exactly where they are.

4. Display Advertising

Display advertisements are mostly found along the top or sides of third-party websites. And due to their flashy style and placement, they aren’t exactly subtle. However, display ads can offer impressive reach, and they are easy to create and track in Google AdWords.

During a time where consumers want less intrusive ad experiences, it can be easy to write off display ads. Although it may take some trial-and-error, marketers can create effective displays ads while providing consumers a great experience. Plus, if the ads are enticing enough, they can build brand awareness and capture leads.

5. Print Advertising

When I think of print advertising, I picture the infamous poster of Rosie the Riveter, recruiting women for defense industries in World War II. While the ad industry has evolved since the 40s, print is still an effective and universally-used medium. It’s now migrated to the digital space, encompassing digital magazines, newspapers, and brochures, among others.

Unlike digital ads, print advertising is nearly impossible to track and analyze as accurately. However, many businesses have found innovative ways to incorporate print into digital ad campaigns.

6. Broadcast Advertising

Broadcast advertising uses TV and radio to promote products and services. TV ads, in particular, have a broad reach and can provide a more engaging, multi-sensory experience. But, these ads are expensive and the audience may avoid them (by clicking to another channel).

A cheaper alternative is radio, which plays spoken advertising spots between music and programs. It’s particularly powerful for local and regional advertising. But if you’re looking for national reach, podcast advertising is a similar method.

7. Native Advertising

Have you ever seen an advertisement on Instagram that looks exactly like a normal post from someone you’re following? That’s one example of native advertising.

Native ads often resemble the design, style, position, and functionality of the content around them. They’re undoubtedly harder to spot, but that’s actually a good thing. Because native ads naturally integrate with other content, they’re almost impossible to spot and skip — capturing three times more time and attention than other digital ads.

For example, you may run an ad campaign across TV, print, and social media to promote a new product launch. Regardless of the medium, the singular message is there — we have a new product, and we want you to know about it.

Types of Advertising Campaigns

Here are three main types of advertising campaigns:

1. Promotional Campaigns

Promotional campaigns focus on promoting products or services and building awareness in new markets or locations. In other words, the name of the game is customer acquisition. For example, you may run a Facebook campaign to promote an upcoming business event.

2. Engagement Campaigns

Engagement campaigns have a simple goal: provide enough value that people complete an action (make a purchase, sign up for an e-newsletter, download an eBook, etc.). It’s an excellent way to attract, retain, and, ultimately, convert leads and build brand awareness.

3. Advocacy or Retention Campaigns

We’ve all heard the statistic — it’s cheaper (and arguably easier) to retain customers than to convert new ones. This is why advocacy and retention campaigns are so important. These campaigns keep your business top-of-mind for your existing client white boosting repeat business long-term.

6 Types of Advertising Brands Are Investing In This Year

Ad spending in the US will surpass the $200 billion mark in 2022. Let’s find out where marketers are investing their time and money next year:

1. Short-Form Videos

Short-form videos are everywhere nowadays. In a 2021 HubSpot Blog poll of 1,000+ global marketing professionals, 85% of marketers ranked short-form videos as the most effective type of content in 2021. Additionally, 64% of marketers surveyed plan to invest their ad spend into video in 2022.

The popularity of short-form videos has continued to rise since the introduction of TikTok, and it has no signs of slowing down. Unlike its digital marketing counterparts, short-form video can create immersive experiences for users. They’re more “sticky,” shareable, and, in my opinion, way more addicting than other formats.

A variety of social media platforms have tried to emulate TikTok’s format. This creates a lot of ground for marketers to cover — from Stories on YouTube to Reels on Instagram. For marketers who have the budget for creating, producing, and editing video content — and the creativity to make engaging videos — the iron is hot for the striking.

2. TikTok and YouTube

Since short-form videos are skyrocketing in popularity, it only makes sense that video-sharing platforms are too.

Marketers are certainly setting their sights on YouTube and TikTok next year. In a 2021 HubSpot poll, 44% of marketers plan to leverage YouTube for the first time in 2022. And 61% of marketers plan to increase their investment in TikTok marketing in 2022.

When it comes to video marketing, YouTube has become the go-to destination for marketers. It now has over 1 billion active users, and is the second most popular website behind Google (which owns YouTube). All this to say, your audience is probably on there.

Then there’s TikTok. It’s climbed the ranks over the past few years, becoming the most downloaded app in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Not only is it the app of choice for Gen-Z’ers, but it’s also quickly growing in popularity among Millennials. The app has yet to plateau, so there’s still time to leverage it.

3. Live Video Streaming

Before the COVID pandemic, I’d never heard of Zoom. Now, I use the app a few times per week. Turns out I’m not alone — many marketers did experiments with live video in 2020 and realized its power as a customer acquisition and retention tool.

In terms of expenses, live video is typically more cost-effective than producing and editing an actual business video. Additionally, many social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have live video capabilities, presenting a great opportunity to expand your reach.

We predict live video streaming will become a default for marketers moving forward. Whether that means refining your presentation skill or learning to engage views on stream, marketers will need to keep a pulse on best practices and industry standards in this space.

4. Conversational Marketing

Conversational marketing and chatbots are becoming commonplace online. In 2021, 47% of marketers report using bots for marketing efforts, up from 45% the year before — and this trend isn’t slowing down.

Here’s why we’re hedging our bets on conversational marketing in 2022 — first, chatbots are now much easier to use and add to websites. Second, AI powers many of these tools — which significantly impact (and improve) the way we connect with customers and manage leads.

Marketers should expect to see AI powering a growing number of customer support, ad targeting, campaign management, and automation tools. This leads to our next trend…

5. Marketing Automation

Odds are, you have at least one marketing automation tool in your wheelhouse — and we predict this number will grow in the next year.

76% of companies in 2021 report using automation. Of those that don’t, 26% plan on adopting automation in 2022.

The trend is clear — marketers are turning to automation to make their life easier. For instance, AdStage offers automation for scheduling and tracking digital ads — which frees up valuable time for other tasks.

When nearly 90% of agencies say their marketing automation strategy is successful, it’s clear why it’s here to stay.

6. Hybrid Events

Hybrid events occur both in-person and “virtually” through a streaming platform.

Engagement is what distinguishes a hybrid event from, say, a Ted talk on YouTube. Hybrid events cater to both in-personal and online attendees by using technology to spark participation between them. Virtual attendees can typically still ask questions (if applicable) and engage with presentations with no issues.

A report found that 93% of event professionals plan to invest in virtual events post-pandemic. That’s a staggering number, and we predict it will continue to rise.

Final Thoughts

Marketers are always learning to evolve in a world where consumer preferences are ever-changing. As we inch closer to 2022, it’s important to revisit the past year, pinpoint areas for improvement in your advertising efforts, and leverage emerging trends and shifts.

You’ve heard it a million times, native advertising is one of the most immersive advertising experiences. But what exactly is native advertising, and why is it causing such a stir for brands, agencies, and publishers?

Native ads developed as a concept over 10 years ago and have a unique ability to evolve with media as it changes. They have since overtaken display ads as the most popular form of digital advertising.

Native advertising is a chance to put editorial expertise to work for advertisers and brands. It provides a more trusted and valuable, channel to reach readers as compared to banner or traditional display advertising.

In this article, we’ll cover why they’ve continued to grow in popularity and effectiveness and how you can incorporate them into your marketing strategy next quarter.

A small icon is also an indicator, often a small “s,” that if you click on it will indicate that the content is a paid ad. Google search results often include native ads in the form of listings that appear at the top or in the sidebar. The nature of native advertising is that it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb as the ad. So, the signs are often more subtle than traditional ads.

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Native Advertising vs. Content Marketing

The purpose of native advertising is to blend in and not disrupt the viewer’s experience with the given content and media. Native ads engage new audiences through a third-party with an established audience. It’s a method for distributing content, rather than the content itself. This might sound similar to content marketing, but the goal differs.

Content marketing is content that lives on your platforms, such as your website or social media pages. The purpose of this content is to build a following, grow a reader base, establish yourself as an industry expert, build trust with your audience, demonstrate credibility, increase engagement, improve sales, or all of the above.

1. Altran Engineering in the Financial Times

This native advertisement combines some of the best elements of digital advertising: video, a human interest story, and classy hi-tech with an Elon Musk connection.

Produced by the Altran engineering company, and published in the Industrial Tech section of the Financial Times, the above video, “Hyperloop: designing the future of transport?” tells the story of a group of students from the Technical University in Valencia, Spain who are competing in the 2018 Hyperloop Pod Competition run by Musk’s SpaceX company.

This native video ad has a palpable human component — the students and the Altran staff who are supporting them in the tough competition. This brings in its futuristic aspect — the best and the brightest working to design the fastest transport pod that will transform the future of transportation. And it’s presented as a news story, not as a promotion or ad for Altran or the SpaceX competition (although it’s actually promoting both).

What Stood Out

This video has a high production value, making it a high-quality native video ad. The compelling narrative it provides also strongly pulls viewers in and gives them a story they want to engage with.

2. Land Rover — A Mini Suspense/Action Movie

Land Rover uses diverse outstanding content marketing campaigns to promote its vehicles. These native content strategies are in full form in Land Rover’s Dragon Challenge video, shown above. It’s eye-catching, slick, and suspenseful. It’s everything a native campaign can and should be.

This nail-biting ad shows the world’s first attempt to scale the stairs leading to the Heaven’s Gate landmark in China — by vehicle. A specially fitted Range Rover SUV successfully drove up the 999 steps to Heaven’s Gate, at a frightening angle of 45 degrees.

What Stood Out

This native campaign perfectly captures the brand essence of Land Rover — daring, excellence, adventure, and ultimately, success. Promoted via social Land Rover’s networks, it’s much more than an ad. It’s a record-breaking event and a story of its own.

3. Eni Energy on CNN

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Here’s an example of graphic, luscious storytelling, ripe with green landscapes, promoted by oil and energy conglomerate Eni. It focuses on the Green River Project in the Niger Delta, an Eni development program for farming and livestock to improve the livelihoods of local communities. The campaign is promoted with native ads on CNN.com, linking back to the Green River Project. It’s a truly impressive example of native content.

The site is designed as a story, divided into three sections: Past, Present, and Future. The content is a mix of just about everything — text, imagery, audio, video, personal stories, animations, and illustrations. The complete look and feel is reflective of an environmental agency, rather than an oil company.

What Stood Out

In this native campaign, Eni succeeds in distancing itself from the criticisms faced by energy conglomerates. They also manage to create a brand image as a 21st-century social and environmental force for good, and a beacon of corporate responsibility.

4. Mercedes in The Washington Post

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This native campaign by Mercedes is an example of smooth, clean content designed to pique interest and engage the user. The campaign is called “The rise of the superhuman,” and it focuses on various technologies that are turning people into “superhumans,” such as robotic exoskeleton suits, virtual reality in medical settings, and the Mercedes Benz E-class series that integrates the new Intelligent Drive system.

The native content above is highly interactive, featuring quiz questions and hot spots the user can click to get more information. But one of the best things about this campaign is how it effortlessly creates a connection between Mercedes and the “superhuman.” It’s reminiscent of one of the oldest native examples, the “Penalty of Leadership” ad by Cadillac, which enhanced the Cadillac image as a prestigious leader. That simple print ad, published in 1915, is credited with reviving the Cadillac brand and boosting flagging sales that plagued the company at the time.

What Stood Out

The major draw of this native ad is the powerful connection it creates between the car and the concept of cutting-edge excellence. It establishes Mercedes as a company that is about more than just crafting cars.

5. Viral Meme on VentureBeat

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Nothing beats a viral meme in terms of sheer stickiness, and it’s a great way to promote brand awareness. Recently, during the famous “Laurel or Yanny?” dispute, we saw VentureBeat take advantage of the meme in native content to promote the upcoming Transform conference on artificial intelligence and analytics. How? By using an artificial intelligence (AI) device to settle the dilemma of Laurel versus Yanny, once and for all.

VentureBeat promoted an article that briefly describes how AI was used to determine whether the stated name was Laurel or Yanny. The native article discusses some of the problems that arose, and how the engineers had to adjust the algorithms to get an accurate result.

What Stood Out

Using a viral meme is a smart move because it capitalizes on a large audience that already exists. It’s attention-grabbing and exposes you to a wider pool of viewers.

6. Allbirds in The New York Times

Special articles in The New York Times focus on creating an experience, not just a story. This is a great opportunity for native advertising to come into play. This paid post, The View From Above: Why Our Future May Depend On the Fate of Birds, was placed online and sponsored by the shoe company Allbirds. This example was placed as an in-feed/in-content ad on the platform’s newsfeed.

The article is about how valuable birds are to our environment and the ways climate change is putting them at risk. Allbirds as a company has a major focus on sustainability, and, obviously, has “birds” in its name. The post’s beautiful animated graphics and soundtrack of bird sounds create an awesome experience for viewers that also promotes the company.

What Stood Out

The format of native advertising is at its best when the media can align with the brand. Allbirds being able to create an experience about sustainability promotes not just their product but also their priorities as a company.

7. Influencer Promotion on BBC.com

BBC Future is one of the BBC’s “storytelling” channels, which connects brands to audiences via sponsored stories. An interesting example is this BBC article, which purports to show the face of the “average American politician.”

In fact, this is achieved by using technology to perform “face averaging,” creating composite images of all American politicians to derive the average face.

This technology can lead to all kinds of research and suppositions about what the average politician represents, including gender, race, republican, and democrat — all hot topics in a highly politicized time period.

The article ends with a call-to-action (CTA) to learn more about face averaging with an online tutorial on OpenCV, an open-source computer vision software. The link leads to a website owned, not by a large corporation or software giant, but by an individual entrepreneur, programmer, and blogger: Satya Mallik.

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What Stood Out

In this example, we love how native advertising is accessible to small businesses and influencers, affording powerful promotion opportunities on premium websites like the BBC.

8. Colored Corn on Business Insider

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One of the best native tactics is creating a story. And if the story is visual and colorful, well, that’s a huge help. Take this example of native content promoted on Business Insider.

The example above looks and feels just like a regular Business Insider article. It’s about Glass Gem Corn, a multi-colored corn variety that became a public sensation in 2012. It’s the story of one man and his search for his Native American roots that led him to develop the colored corn. And in true Business Insider fashion, the story of the rainbow corn is retold in amazing, bold, eye-catching visuals.

The article contains links to buy the seeds online from Native/SEARCH, a not-for-profit conservation company that now owns the product. So what’s in effect a product sales page is presented as a remarkable, colorful news story.

What’s most interesting about this article is the disclaimer published by Business Insider: “This article was originally published in 2013 and has been updated because the story is timeless.” It just goes to show: Evergreen content promoted natively can truly be a long-term success story.

What Stood Out

Crafting a story that is fun, interesting, and promotional is a great way to format a native ad. This also has the benefit of being attached to a viral story, making it even more effective.

9. KPMG on Forbes

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Forbes’ BrandVoice is a platform for native advertising and sponsored content. Many brands have their own BrandVoice channels, such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, SAP, Deloitte, and even the government of Japan.

KPMG has taken its native content on Forbes to the next level, with a campaign called “The Great Rewrite.”

Big and bold (just like native advertising should be), The Great Rewrite focuses on different industries and how they are being “rewritten” in a post-innovation age. The campaign look and feel is grand and ultra-modern, yet easy to navigate.

What Stood Out

This native ad connects KPMG with the future of innovation, while continually adding new “chapters” about various sectors. Each chapter is packed with content, including video, featured articles, and content recommendations. This is a great example of a native campaign that, just like its title, is rewriting the rules of native in an ongoing, ever-growing, content-rich user experience.

10. Orbit Gum on CollegeHumor

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Videos make great native ads because the entertainment value makes it easy to blend into traditional media. “Dating Footnotes” presented by Orbit was released ahead of Valentine’s Day on the popular YouTube comedy channel CollegeHumor. It’s short, funny, and capitalized on the holiday of the time.

Orbit has a history of fun, memorable commercials, so a native ad like this fits perfectly into their branding. This native ad also blended well into the humor of the channel where it’s posted and was able to promote Orbit Gum’s products without feeling like a regular commercial.

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Humor and creativity go a long way when it comes to advertising. This, plus the real-world application of a product, like gum on a first date, makes for a memorable and effective native ad.

Native Ads Have Great Potential

These days, many native ads that we see online are truly spectacular. Some are eye-catching, others are original, and yet others offer inspiration for new ways to promote compelling content and capture mindshare.

The nine examples give a taste as to how native advertising is constantly advancing, pushing the boundaries of content and design to create new, unexpected online brand experiences.

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

Finding someone with the perfect combination of mentor traits is no simple task.

A good mentor is inspiring, yet accessible. They have the time to listen and also have their own successful career. They’re empathetic and give honest feedback.

With so many qualities to consider, it’s no wonder people feel overwhelmed when looking for a mentor.

The thing is, not all mentors have the same impact. Think about the ones you’ve had in your life so far. Some may have been amazing (lucky, you!) while others may have been more concerned about their problems and egos.

Finding a good mentor is important for building a successful career. Mentors can share which skills you need to get promoted, give tips for managing workplace relationships, and introduce you to their expansive network. The benefits are endless.

Now, you need to find someone who fits the bill. You may even be working to become a mentor yourself. Either way, we’ll walk through what a mentor is and which traits to look for so you recognize a great mentor when they cross your path.

What is a mentor?

A mentor is a trusted advisor who provides you with the tools, guidance, and feedback you need to succeed in your career. Almost anyone can be a mentor – a peer, a manager, a friend, a boss, a school alumnus, or a family member.

But a mentor isn’t an influencer or someone you only follow online. They need to be connected to your life and consistent enough to advise you over a period of time. That said, a mentorship relationship can last for years or a short period of time.

The longer you know a mentor, the more they get to know your learning style, personality, and long-term goals. This lets them share advice that’s more relevant to you and full of context. On the other hand, short mentor-mentee relationships are great for handling specific situations or challenges. For example, you may meet a mentor through an informational interview while job hunting. If all goes well, they might offer you a referral or connect you to the hiring manager.

Both short and long-term mentorships can help you grow and expand your network. Chances are, you’ll have both types of mentors throughout your career. As you look for your go-to people for career guidance, keep these top nine mentor traits in mind.

9 Qualities of a Good Mentor

1. Identifies Your Needs and Strengths

Everyone has unique strengths and weaknesses. A good mentor understands this and works to learn what makes their mentee tick.

While you likely have an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, it’s helpful to hear what someone else thinks. For example, I consider myself a strong communicator. But a few years back, one of my mentors recommended that I incorporate more empathy into my feedback.

My direct style wasn’t always the best approach. So before sending feedback, I’d ask my mentor to look over my points and make recommendations. In time, I learned how to share feedback that was more considerate, clear, and empathetic.

A great mentor knows how to build your weaknesses and expand your strengths so you fill in important skill gaps.

2. Shares Room for Improvement

It’s tough to give honest feedback. It requires incredible communication skills and a level of openness that not many people are comfortable spending time in.

That’s why a mentor who “finds ways for you to grow in areas inside and outside the workplace” is irreplaceable, said Ashlie Benson, Chief of Staff for Agricycle Global. This trait is what differentiates a mentor from a cheerleader.

A mentor knows your career progression, your desired path, and your strengths and weaknesses. They can see the gaps that need to be filled to achieve your goals. A cheerleader, on the other hand, is only there to offer encouragement.

While a mentor can be a cheerleader at times, their role is to make you better – not just make you feel better.

3. Gains Your Trust and Respect

A mentor is someone you can look up to. You respect them for their work, their ethos, and their unique personality.

You also may share information with them that you don’t share with anyone else, which is why they have to be trustworthy. For any mentor-mentee relationship to last – and be beneficial for both sides – you need to be able to have difficult conversations. This can include talking through issues that arise at work (such as salary negotiations, promotions, difficulties with a colleague or manager, quitting a job, or getting let go).

Trusting someone enough to share challenges takes time. So look for a mentor who respects this time and doesn’t push you to spill personal information right from the start. The goal is to build a relationship that’s open, respectful, and professional.

4. Expresses Empathy

Empathy is important for every working relationship, but it’s an essential quality for mentorship.

Mentors with high levels of emotional intelligence listen to and empathize with you. They understand that you’re human and make mistakes. And they make you feel comfortable talking about both the good and the bad things happening in your life.

That’s why it’s best to look for a mentor who understands that life happens, people get sick, and priorities change. They should be willing to show their humanity and offer guidance in a way that resonates with you as a person.

5. Has Relevant Knowledge and Skills

Of all the traits to look for in a mentor, this one usually matters most.

Mentors with relevant knowledge and skills have been in a similar position as you, so they can offer role or industry-specific advice as you navigate your career and achieve your goals.

I looked for a mentor with this specific quality when I started my own company. I didn’t have much experience negotiating contracts, managing budgets, or handling unpaid invoices. I needed guidance beyond Google.

Fortunately, I found Austin Adesso, who had been successfully running his creative agency Partners in Post for several years. His advice helped me learn to negotiate longer contracts and charge a competitive price for my work.

Find a mentor with the skills and experience you’d like to have, and rely on them for knowledge. Just remember that your journey is unique, so do what feels right for you when considering the tips they offer.

6. Listens and Reflects

It’s easy to hand out advice. But it takes skill to know whether or not that advice is great for the person you give it to.

Great mentors understand the importance of active listening and intentional guidance. They ask questions to figure out every angle of a situation before offering suggestions. Sometimes, they simply listen.

Mentors who can listen and reflect on the information they’re given often understand more about you as a person. They know your specific history and situation, so their suggestions are more relevant to you. One mentor of mine often lets me talk through issues without offering a single piece of advice. Instead, they ask questions to help me come to my own conclusions. This has developed my problem-solving skills, as well as my confidence in decision-making.

If you know someone who is a great listener and offers thoughtful advice, they may be a good mentor for you.

7. Invested in Your Growth and Development

Mentors help you grow both personally and professionally by sharing ways to improve and offering timely advice.

But what sets the best mentors apart is the ability to focus on your development as well as their own. Of course, you want a mentor who has been in your position and who can help you grow. If a mentor also puts time into developing themselves and breaking out of their comfort zones, you’ve found a gem.

These types of people often have their own mentors. They constantly work to improve themselves and are usually life-long learners. Not only do they pursue their own passions, but they also encourage your goals and creativity.

8. Strong Relationships and Networks

Not all mentors are older or more experienced than you. Personally, I have a mentor who is younger than me but with many more years of experience in a particular niche.

The one thing you do want to consider, despite age or experience, is your mentor’s relationships. Do they have a strong network? Are they connected to influential people in your industry? Are they willing to introduce you or recommend you for a role?

A good mentor has spent years developing solid relationships with people – and they’re willing to bring you into their close circle. This can help expand your network and open up opportunities you may not have had otherwise. One of my mentors, Meg Prater – a Senior Manager of Content at HubSpot – has connected me to a number of people when I’ve been looking for job recommendations or new business clients.

As in all relationships, mentorship isn’t one-sided. Mentors also look for mentees with strong networks to expand their professional connections. So put time into developing your relationships and growing your network. You never know who may be of interest to a mentor.

9. Ability to Devote Time to Mentorship

Many people have the traits to be good mentors but can’t devote the time it demands. A mentor-mentee relationship takes effort from both sides. Without dedication, it won’t work.

A good mentor should be willing to hop on a call, send a thoughtful email, or meet up for coffee. If they’re not, the relationships can quickly fizzle. Of course, there’s plenty of legwork the mentee has to do to keep the relationships strong. But the mentor must be able to offer support in exchange for the mentee’s efforts.

That said, there’s no predetermined amount of time for good mentorship. It depends on the people involved and the nature of the relationship. You might talk to a mentor once a quarter or meet up once a month for lunch. Some of your mentors may only be around for a short time, while others may be around for life. Ultimately, it’s up to you and your mentor to decide the cadence that works best.

Once you do find someone with these mentor traits who inspires you, work on developing a relationship with them, rather than asking them to be your mentor right away. In time, you won’t feel the pressure of asking them to be your mentor – you’ll simply be getting guidance from a friend.

Your LinkedIn profile is a place for you to build your professional brand, showcase your achievements and skills, share content with other professionals, and connect with colleagues, business partners, and potential employers.

People come across your profile in a variety of ways. They might be searching for employees at your company or in your industry, remember you from a conference and remind themselves about your work, or simply want to learn more about your accomplishments. No matter how or why they end up on your LinkedIn page, however, there’s a shared and simple goal: Your LinkedIn profile needs to capture — and keep — their attention.

So what makes a profile stand out? How do you get more recommendations? What features can help you enhance your profile? Our step-by-step guide can help you craft a (near) perfect LinkedIn profile.

How to Craft the Perfect LinkedIn Profile

What is the perfect LinkedIn profile? Ideally, it’s one that gets you noticed for all the right reasons and helps you achieve your goals – whether this means expanding your reach, finding new contacts, or getting a job offer.

And while true perfection isn’t possible, there are steps you can take to help your profile stand out. From simple things like making sure you’ve uploaded a great picture to more in-depth efforts such as creating a compelling headline and bio, you’ve got options when it comes to perfecting your profile.

Ready to make the most of your LinkedIn profile? Get as close to perfect as possible with these LinkedIn profile guidelines.

1. Upload a great profile picture.

First up? Upload a great profile picture. According to Senior Content Marketing Manager at LinkedIn, Jane Deehan, your profile picture should be recent, look like you and your face should take up around 60 percent of the total space. The goal here is to look like you normally look at work, in turn making it easier for prospective contacts who may have only met you virtually to recognize you from your profile picture.

2. Add your pronouns.

Pronouns are an important part of the remote and in-person work ecosystem, and by adding them up-front you can avoid any awkwardness later on. Whether it’s she/her, he/him, they/them or another combination that best fits your identity, including your pronouns is always worth it on your LinkedIn profile.

3. Set a background photo.

Along with your profile photo, you can also set a wider background photo that showcases a bit more about you. Here, it’s not as important that you (or your face) are in the shot, but you want to make it something that’s memorable and tells visitors more about you as a person. If you’re a freelancer working from home, for example, you might include a picture of you in your office hard at work. If you’re a professional fitness instructor, meanwhile, you might opt for an action shot of you in the gym.

4. Create a great headline.

Your headline can also help boost your profile impact. While this short description is often used for job titles, you can take it a step further by adding a bit more detail about your current role, what it means to you or what you’ve accomplished.

“Creative and passionate, results-driven go-getter that helps brands think outside the box.”

5. Cut the buzzwords.

These types of self-promotional sentences are common on LinkedIn, but they’re ultimately shallow. Full of buzzwords and jargon, they don’t offer any real insights into your accomplishments or professional connections — instead, they’re a generic rehashing of terms recruiters have seen hundreds of times before. Best bet? Cut the buzzwords. Instead, be clear and specific about your accomplishments.

6. Tell your story.

You’ve got a story to tell, and your LinkedIn summary lets you tell it however you want. And while some professionals simply use it as a way to list their recent job titles or most valuable skills, it’s got potential as a way to connect with prospective employers and colleagues by providing more information about who you are — what led you to your current job. Why? What are you looking for next?

7. Sync your profile.

It’s also worth syncing your profile with your email address book — though make sure you’ve got company permission if you’re using your assigned work email address. Equipped with this email data, LinkedIn can recommend connections that might share similar interests or offer endorsements for your skills, and since you get to vet all connections you’re always in control of who gets contacted.

8. Highlight Your Skills.

One of the most important parts of your LinkedIn profile is your skill list. The platform makes it easy to search and select skills that match your experience and expertise, but this comes with a word of caution: The sheer number of skills available on LinkedIn makes it easy to go overboard and inundate your profile with talents that are only tangentially related to current or prospective work. While highlighting your skills is critical, make sure they’re relevant.

9. Share relevant content.

Speaking of relevancy, profiles don’t exist in a vacuum. As a result, it’s worth sharing relevant content, such as thought leadership posts you’ve created yourself or those from industry influencers as part of your profile page. If potential connections find and click through on great content from your profile, they’re more likely to come back.

10. Stay connected.

It’s also a good idea to stay connected once your profile is up and running. Stop by for at least 15 minutes a week to see what you’ve missed, make comments on relevant stories and answer any messages.

11. Post new content.

Put simply? While a solid LinkedIn profile is a great start, it requires regular maintenance to perform over time.

Although LinkedIn is distinctly different from social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter, it still relies on content updates to keep things fresh and interesting. As a result, it’s worth posting new content — either material you’ve created on your own for public consumption or the work of other leaders in your industry that you find interesting.

12. Go public.

If you want connections to find you and recruiters to track you down, you need to make your profile public. It’s an easy process: Head to your LinkedIn page and click on the “Me” button under your profile picture at the top of the page, then select “View Profile”. Now, you’ll see an option for Edit Public Profile and URL — select this option and you can toggle your public profile status on and off, and control who can see your profile picture.

13. Keep your location updated.

It’s also worth keeping your location up-to-date to help connections and recruiters find you more easily. For example, let’s say your name is John Smith and you’re a software developer in Houston, Texas. When recruiters go looking for new talent, location is a key factor — including your location helps companies narrow their search more quickly and increases your chances of getting a message.

14. Get a custom URL.

While you’re on the Edit Profile and URL page, it’s worth customizing your URL to make finding your profile easier. When you join LinkedIn, you’ll typically be assigned a URL that contains parts of your first and last name along with a random string of numbers. Where possible, remove the numbers and make your URL your full first and last name. If this is taken, try adding a middle initial or the industry you work in.

15. Update your contact info.

In the example above, John Smith might change his assigned URL to something like www.linkedin.com/in/JohnSmith. If that’s not available, he might try JohnCSmith or JohnSmithSoftwareDev.

If your contact info is out of date, you may miss opportunities. While some recruiters and connections will use the built-in LinkedIn messaging platform, others prefer emails or phone calls. By keeping your information current, you increase the chances of getting connected.

16. Request recommendations.

Although skill endorsements are great to highlight your areas of expertise, recommendations take things to the next level with a personalized testimonial about time spent working together, projects completed or skills developed. Consider reaching out to close contacts for recommendations that are relevant to your current role — or next career goal.

17. Follow your interests.

LinkedIn serves a huge variety of professionals with a myriad of passions, meaning there’s something there for just about everyone. To ensure that you’re both engaging with the platform at large and connecting with the right people for your career and brand goals, it’s worth finding and following people who share similar interests. Even if they don’t directly align with your job role or prospective positions, cultivating a broad interest base can help boost the impact of your profile.

18. Spotlight your services.

Maybe you’re a freelance writer, software developer, or marketing guru. Maybe you have specialized certifications or training that sets you apart from the crowd. Your LinkedIn profile is a great place to highlight these services and let people know that you’re more than just your job — you’re a talented, interesting, and knowledgeable individual that brings significant value to any role.

19. Customize your invites.

While many connections occur organically on LinkedIn, there will be situations where you’ll want to reach out and make specific connections. For this to be effective, however, you need to create a customized invite that provides a snapshot of your profile highlights — who you are, what you do, and why it matters — along with a personalized message about why this connection matters to you. With so many users and so many requests, it’s important to stand out from the crowd.

20. Curate your network.

Big networks are great. Networks that are too big, however, can take focus away from the primary purpose of your profile: Connecting with like-minded and skilled individuals to expand your industry impact and potentially advance your career. The result? Make sure to occasionally curate your network so your profile remains aligned with your goals.

21. Make regular improvements.

Last but not least? Don’t let your profile sit idle for too long. In addition to regularly interacting with the site to make new posts and engage with new connections, it’s a good idea to regularly update your profile with new information about your current job or job-seeking status, new skills you’ve obtained, or projects you’ve completed. Not only does this demonstrate consistency, but it also shows that you’re continuing to grow and learn — something prospective employers or partners are always looking for.

Practice Makes (Almost) Perfect

The better your LinkedIn profile, the better your chances of connecting with thought leaders, capturing the attention of other professionals, and finding new growth opportunities. And while there’s no such thing as a “perfect” LinkedIn profile, you can get close to the mark with these tips.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in June 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Have you ever had to hype yourself up to send an email? Because, same.

There’s something that feels monumental about sending an email that you don’t always get with other forms of communication. And if you’re a non-native English speaker, that task can seem even more daunting.

This article will provide some helpful tips to help you improve the overall quality of your emails, no matter your perspective. Once you’ve applied these simple strategies to your writing, you should be able to confidently send emails to anyone and get rid of that post-send anxiety.

Let’s get started.

• How To Write An Effective Email
  • Have a compelling subject line.
  • Start with an appropriate greeting.
  • Have a strong attention grabber.
  • Keep your message short and concise.
  • Be consistent with your font.
  • Write a simple closing.
  • Schedule your emails.
  • Do a final spelling and grammar check.

• Email Writing Tips for International Teams

1. Have a compelling subject line.

Subject lines can make or break your email’s success. It’s often the deciding factor on whether someone will open your email.

Unfortunately, a lot of people struggle with this part.

Take a look at this example:

This particular subject line (real-life example by the way) is vague, indirect, and does not hint to me at all what the content of the email will be about.

The result? I might delete or ignore it altogether.

Here’s a better option:

It’s descriptive, specific, and tells me that this is an introduction.

Subject lines are especially important if you’re reaching out to someone for the first time. The recipient doesn’t know who you are, and can only judge you from your subject line.

Even if you’re sending emails internally at your company, it still pays to write a great subject line so your recipient has an idea of what to expect. Like any busy person, your teammates receive a ton of emails every day, and would certainly appreciate the extra effort of a descriptive subject line.

So, how do you write a good subject line?

Be clear, direct, and describe the content of your email. Don’t be afraid to take up the whole subject line. Here are some good examples of subject lines:

• [Action Required] Monthly Marketing Meeting
• FYI/Informational
• Request for [Insert here]
• [Reminder] Survey to Complete | Will Take 2 Minutes
• [Name] suggested I reach out to you
• I’m going to be in town next Tues – are you available?

If you’re sending a promotional email, avoid deceptive subject lines like:

• RE:
• FWD:
• Urgent
• Order confirmation
• Account Status

There’s no need to resort to sneaky tricks or clickbait titles just to induce an open. They make recipients feel cheated and tricked, according to a 2019 Litmus survey. You’ll lose trust and may end up in their junk mail as a result.

You want to associate positive feelings with your email, not anger and disappointment.

2. Start with an appropriate greeting.

To kick off the email, you should begin with an appropriate greeting. There are two components to the greeting: the salutation and the opening sentence.

The appropriate salutation actually depends on the situation. If you’re writing a formal email to a bank or government institution, it would be better to start off with “Dear [X].”

If you’re sending an email to someone you know, or work in a casual environment, then it is perfectly fine to go with a “Hi [name]” or “Hello [Name].”

There’s also “To Whom It May Concern,” when you’re sending an email to a group email and not sure who will be reading it.

One thing you want to avoid is using gendered and non-inclusive terms like “Hi guys” and “Mr./Ms/Mrs.” in your salutation.

To help you out, here is a list of salutations you can open in your emails:

• Dear [First Name]
• [Name]
• Good morning/afternoon
• Hi team
• Hey
• Hi there

3. Have a strong attention grabber.

Once you’ve gotten the salutation out of the way, it’s time to start your email.

While the subject line determines whether your email is opened, your opening sentence determines whether your email is read till the end.

If it’s an introduction, you can open with something you know will interest your recipient. You can find this out through a little research on their social media profiles. Perhaps they Tweeted something interesting or recently posted something on LinkedIn you can reference.

This will help you build rapport and show that you’re not sending a generic email to multiple people.

Of course, this is not necessary if you’re emailing a colleague or someone you know, but it is still important to establish some kind of context so that they know what’s happening.

With a colleague, start with the “why.”

No one has the time (and patience) to guess what an email is about. The sooner you answer the “why,” the faster you’ll capture their attention.

Quick tip: If you’re sending out sales emails and need inspiration of exactly what to say, take a look at HubSpot’s free email templates. With this tool, you can access a library of built-in templates designed for each stage of the customer journey.

4. Keep your message short and concise.

According to Statista, we send and receive roughly 319 billion emails a day worldwide.

This statistic makes one thing very clear: We spend a lot of time reading emails. And because of this, many people simply scan emails to get the essence of the message and move on to the next.

With this in mind, you want to optimize your email for readability and scannability. This will look like:

• Keeping paragraphs short.
• Adding bullet points.
• Using visuals to break up the text.

While you may feel like you need to tell them everything in one email, don’t.

No one is eagerly awaiting a three-page essay arriving in their inbox. Think about it this way: What’s the main takeaway from your email and is there a particular action you want your recipient to take?

From there, draft your email and when you re-read it, make sure every line you add is helping you meet this goal. If it’s not, remove it.

When you need to include a lot of information in an email, it’s probably better to suggest a phone call or a meeting instead. You can use this free meeting tool to schedule your meetings faster and avoid back-and-forth emails.

5. Be consistent with your font.

If I get an email like this, I’m immediately deleting or assuming it’s a scam.

Emails can be fun. You can add images, GIFs, and colors. However, there’s a way to do it that’s not too jarring or distracting.

This is an example of what not to do. There are several fonts used in the email, different font sizes along with different colors. As a result, the eye doesn’t know where to go and it’s a bit overwhelming.

Furthermore, the message gets lost, as your recipient is too distracted by all these elements fighting for their attention.

So, as a rule of thumb: Stick to one font. If you want to use a secondary one, use it sparingly. Follow the same rule for color.

If you’re using a non-English keyboard, your fonts may not show up properly on the other person’s device. Instead, use web-safe email fonts like:

• Arial
• Courier
• Georgia
• Helvetica
• Lucida Sans
• Tahoma
• Times New Roman
• Trebuchet MS
• Verdana

In fact, this is the exact list Gmail gives:

This will ensure that your recipient will receive your message in a regular font, regardless of device or operating system.

6. Write a simple closing.

Once you’re done with the content of your email, it’s time to close it off.

You don’t have to make it fancy – just keep your closing simple and straightforward.

So, nothing like this:

Instead, stick to the safe, proven closing lines and you should be good.

You can choose from some of the most common closing lines below:

• Sincerely
• Best regards
• Best
• Warm regards
• Warm wishes
• Kind regards
• Kind wishes
• Thank you
• Take care

7. Schedule your emails.

One 2020 survey by Sleep Advisor found that around 54% of Americans check their work email immediately after or within an hour of waking up.

Another study by Litmus on the State of Email Engagement in the United States in 2021 supports this. It reveals that the most popular time for reading emails is in the morning. Open rates start around 6 a.m. but usually peak between 9 a.m. and noon local time.

Given this information, you can follow one of two strategies: Send your email in the morning when you know they’re scrolling or wait for a less busy time.

On one hand, your email runs the risk of being buried if you send it in the morning. However, if you wait for a later time, your email may never get opened.

It takes trial and error to figure out what works best when emailing with your team.

If you’re writing an email to someone in another state or country, you also have to factor in time zones. Noon for you may be 7 p.m. for someone else. As such, keep in mind who your recipient is and when they would be most receptive to your email.

Pro-tip: You can use our free email scheduling tool to ensure that your emails are sent at the right time.

8. Do a final spelling and grammar check.

You’re almost there – don’t mess up at the last stretch.

Imagine spending time crafting a perfect message, only to be ignored because the email riddled with spelling and grammar errors.

Here’s how you avoid this: Once you finish drafting your email, copy and paste it into Microsoft Word or Google Docs to give it a quick grammar, phrasing, and spelling check.

Alternatively, you can also use free checkers like Grammarly to automate the process while you’re drafting.

Image Source

In addition, read the message out loud to make sure the sentences aren’t too long, sound clunky, or robotic. You want your email copy to sound human.

All of these tips help the reader focus on your message, not the other elements of your email.

Email Writing Tips for International Teams

Most people won’t tell you this, but crafting a good email begins even before you put down a single word. It starts with your mindset.

When you’re in the correct frame of mind, you’ll be able to write effective emails that communicate and persuade.

Sounds logical … but how do you enter the “correct frame of mind”? Well, there are two ways: Put yourself in the recipient’s shoes and write the way you talk.

More on that below.

Imagine receiving the email you’re writing.

Have you ever received an email that it was so incoherent you couldn’t even finish reading it, let alone even consider replying? Or included a completely irrelevant proposition?

Image Source

Ahrefs is an SEO tool, yet they received an email from a fishing company.

One of the biggest problems when it comes to email writing is the lack of empathy for the recipient. Ask yourself these questions:

• Why am I emailing this person?
• Is this the right person to contact, considering what I’m trying to achieve?
• Is my message clear and to the point?
• Would this be better discussed in a meeting?
• Does each line help or hurt my goal?

This is especially important when emailing someone new but still valuable when contacting a colleague.

Write like you talk.

If you’re not a native English speaker, it’s normal to feel like you should be more formal when it comes to your email writing.

However, this results in emails that are too formal, and come off as awkward or stiff. For example:

Native English speakers write more informally — their writing sounds like one person talking to another.

Here is a quick grammar tip that will always help you sound more native: Write in an active voice and avoid the passive voice.

An “active voice” shows that a subject is performing the verb’s action, e.g.: “Marilyn mailed the letter.”

In contrast, the “passive voice” shows that the verb is acted upon by the subject, e.g.: “The letter was mailed by Marilyn.”

Instead of writing “your feedback would be much appreciated”, try saying “I would appreciate your feedback.” Instead of writing “your request has been received”, try “I received your request.”

Notice how writing in an active voice sounds more human.

Writing an email shouldn’t be daunting. With these simple tips, you’ll make sure your email is effective every time.

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

Pop quiz: If you had to define product marketing right now, what would you say?

A lot of folks have difficulty answering this question, but it’s not your fault. Although product marketing is a prominent department across both B2B and B2C companies, it’s pretty hard to find a good definition of it anywhere — even on Google.

What makes it especially difficult is that it’s one of the few job functions that touches product, marketing, and sales. It all comes down to knowing the target customer and testing to find ways to learn more about them and how best to interact with them.

Product marketing doesn’t stop once the product has gone to market (if it did, well, product marketers at a one-product company wouldn’t have much to do after the product’s launch). The process of marketing a product as the final step is to ensure the right people are aware of the product. Those people who know how to use it, according to the needs and feedback of customers are being listened to over the product’s lifecycle.

Let’s talk about where to start in product marketing and what other aspects of your business can support this product as it grows.

A good way to begin brainstorming your campaign is through implementing inbound marketing methodology into your strategic plan. We mentioned before that product marketing is continual, and your approach should be the same. Inbound marketing is a strategy that focuses on attracting your audience and turning them into loyal customers that advocate for your product.

This is demonstrated in our “Attact, Engage, Delight” model below.

You can attract, engage, and delight your customers with other aspects of your business including strategies that identify your target audience, provide a clear positioning or marketing message, and countless other ideas. But in short, starting your product marketing plan with this model and an understanding of inbound methodology can set your business up for success.

Now that we have a sturdy foundation to build upon, let’s get into it.

What does a product marketing process look like before, during, and after a product is launched?

Product Marketing Starts With Your Customer

HubSpot’s early years faced a challenge that many small businesses face: product ambiguity. Except for the slight majority of people who perceived HubSpot as “marketing services” — which is indeed part of our product stack — our perception consisted of numerous other terms that our audience used to describe us.

This is a primary reason businesses implement a formal product marketing operation, and it starts with your buyer persona.

A great product means nothing if it doesn’t get the attention of the people who would benefit from it. So, who’s your audience for this product? How (and where) are you reaching them, and what’s the story you’re telling to present this product to them? When preparing to launch a product, working with the rest of your marketing team to identify your customer and develop the messaging is critical.

Seven Critical Steps of Product Marketing

When product marketers know exactly whom their product caters to, the marketing can begin. Here are seven things product marketers may do before, during, and after their product enters the market:

1. Product Research: A helpful and well-made product isn’t made in a vacuum, and it also isn’t marketed in one. In the weeks and months before a product launch, product marketers work with the product’s developers to test the product both internally and externally through controlled beta environments.

2. Product Story: Products are also brought to market in the form of a story. What problem does the product solve? Who’s facing this problem? How does it solve this problem? What does it do that competitors don’t?

3. Product-Focused Content: Product marketing’s next stop is at the desks of the content creators. Here, product marketers may create and A/B test various marketing copy, blog content, case studies, and landing pages on their website — all dedicated to describing the product.

4. Product Launch Plan: No product marketing team is complete without a written launch plan, spelling out every last stage of the marketing process and who’s responsible at each point.

5. Product Launch Meeting: When the product is launched, everyone involved meets the day it’s rolled out. Much like a rocket launch, this is the product marketer’s finest hour — it’s the climax of a product marketing campaign.

6. Community Engagement: As product marketing generates enough buzz around the product within the industry, it’s common for the marketing team to capitalize on what the market is saying about them. This includes reaching out to partners, influencers, and existing customers for commentary.

7. Sales Enablement: As a product is being prepared for the marketplace, the sales team is waiting in the wings to develop a sales strategy around this new business opportunity. It’s the product marketing team’s job to meet with sales staff before, during, and after the product is rolled out to the public. This ensures the messaging created for this product is consistent through to the first sales call.

With all of this in mind, you may be wondering what exactly a product marketer has to do to see these projects to completion. Let’s dive into it.

Product Marketer Job Description

A Product Marketer, or Product Marketing Manager, promotes products and their features to an organization’s target audience. Their duties include studying the company’s products, highlighting key features to attract customers and creating marketing campaigns for products.

Product Marketer Responsibilities

A product marketer’s main responsibility is to promote a product’s value to the target audience. This goal is achieved through a combination of strategy and ideation such as:

• Determining the mix of marketing content for creation and distribution
• Creating and managing budgets for marketing campaigns
• Working with content creators to make content that reflects the product and brand image
• Managing a calendar of content and creating the schedule

Product Marketer Salary

A product marketer, or product marketing manager’s salary in the United States varies greatly depending on the experience and tier. According to 2021 industry averages, the median salary of different tiers are as follows:

• Entry-Level Product Marketer or Product Marketing Assistant: $43,630
• Product Marketer or Product Marketing Manager: $111,890
• Director of Product Marketing: $166,928

Promote Your Product with a Plan

As you develop your product marketing team and strategy, think about how the elements above might take shape, and who you’ll need to work with to make it a success. Take these questions into consideration in your next great product marketing plan.

Building a website is an exercise of willpower. The bells and whistles of the design process are tempting to focus on, but compelling content is what makes a website work for your business.

There are few pieces of content on your website that are more compelling than your mission, vision, values, and team. And all of these elements are typically found on the About page of your website.

By the end of this post, you’ll have the latest best practices on crafting a stellar About Me and About Us page on your website that shares where you’ve been and where you’re headed. Use these links to jump ahead to each section:

• What makes a good About page?
• How to write an About page
• The Best About Us Page Templates and Examples
• The Best About Me Page Templates and Examples

Featured Resource: Our 29 Favorite ‘About Us’ Pages

Download the guide to review what we love about these amazing ‘About Us’ page examples, plus a few tips about how to make one of your own.

What makes a good About Us or About Me page?

A remarkable About page is genuine, approachable, and distinguished. It should give the visitor a glimpse into what working with you and your business might be like. You can include personal interests, stories, and photos that convey the unique story of your business.

Since About pages are creative and personal to you and your company, there are several ways to construct one, however, the process is generally the same. So, let’s create an About page one step by step.

It’s tough to establish one all-encompassing template for your About page — there are so many ways you can go about telling your company story. The good news is, there are some tried-and-true steps to get you started.

1. Establish a mission statement.

Your About page can and will be more comprehensive than a single mission statement, but to draw people in, you need to succinctly state your goal in the industry upfront. What is your business here to do? Why should your website visitors care? This information will give the reader something to remember about your company long after they leave your website.

2. Outline your company story.

Every business has a story to tell. Even if you’re running a start-up, you might not have a long history of changes and growth (yet), but it’s a nice touch to talk about how you got to where you are on the About page. So, isolate the milestones before your company’s founding, and use them to give readers some backstory on your current venture.

3. Reveal how you’ve evolved.

There’s no shame in admitting how your business strategy — or even your way of thinking — has changed since you began. In fact, these evolutions can improve the story you tell to website visitors.

About pages are perfect spaces to talk about where you started, how you’ve grown, and the ideals that have helped your organization mature. Use these moments to further your company story and show people that you’re always ready to change and adapt to the needs of your industry.

4. State your “aha!” moment.

Every good company was founded on an idea — something the current marketplace might not yet offer. What was your idea? Use this “Aha!” moment as a pivot point when telling your company story. What was a challenge you faced while developing your company? How did this challenge or discovery shape what you are today?

5. Explain who you serve.

As much as you want as many eyeballs on your About page as possible, you won’t do business with every single one of them. That’s why you must identify and mention your core customer. This lets your visitors know what your business is dedicated to helping them meet their needs and goals.

6. Explain what you’re offering them.

As you’re explaining who you serve, make it clear what it is you’re offering. Companies often generalize their products or services in the website copy, making it hard to understand what it is the customer is actually paying for. Sometimes, businesses are afraid that the literal explanations of their products aren’t interesting enough or will sound unappealing in writing. And that’s a fair concern.

However, investing just a sentence or two into telling your potential customers exactly what they’ll receive can keep them on your website for longer and get them interested in learning more.

7. Cite examples of clients you’ve served.

Got some loyal customers in your portfolio? Use your About page to let the world know who already trusts and benefits from your work. A great way to showcase this is through a case study.

Knowing about your company’s past successes can influence your prospects’ purchasing decisions because they will be able to envision their success in the success of your past customers.

8. Describe your values.

Customers want to be treated like human beings. For that to happen, they need to feel that they’re being served by human beings. When finishing your About page, describe who you are as a person or a team, and what your personal values are. What’s your company culture like? What bigger picture in life drives your business?

Keep in mind a secondary audience of your company’s About page consists of your future employees. This is another reason describing your personal values is a good idea — the key to your job candidates’ hearts is to show them you have one too.

About Us Page Template & Examples

About Us Template

You can create an About Us template for your company website fairly easily. Check out the standard About Us template below or use one of the done-for-you website templates that can be installed and customized in minutes.

Mission Statement – This describes the purpose of your business as it relates to the industry or market you serve.

Vision Statement – The future of your business is outlined in this section.

Values – Core values help the reader connect with you and your business on a personal level.

Target Market Summary – Your site visitors want to know that they’re in the right place and that your company can help them.

Brief Company History – In addition to piquing the interest of your target market, a brief company history can help the press talk about your business accurately.

Done-For-You About Us Page Templates

Copy is an important element of an About page. However, you’ll also want to keep user experience in mind as you showcase your brand story and identity to the world. Here are some of the top About Us and About Me page templates to use or draw inspiration from.

1. Touraza Template (WordPress)

If you want something with a little flavor, the Touraza template is a tasteful choice. With the “meet the team” section near the top, geometric designs, and striking typography, you’ll be able to showcase the humans behind your brand.

2. Logan Template (Shopify)

This template makes use of large images in a modern layout to break up the ample white space. The result: A clean and enjoyable reading experience. The top of the page puts the brand story (or other introductory text) first, supported by a large image that speaks for itself. The pops of color can be customized to your brand style, drawing emphasis to the most important elements you want to highlight.

3. Coax Template (WordPress)

The advantage of the Coax template is that it’s powered by Elementor, a page builder that makes customization easy. Even if you want to keep some of the defaults, though, this template is beautiful, letting the typography and copy take center stage. Ideal for a personal brand, you can choose to layout your content similarly to a resume with big subheads on the left and descriptive text on the right.

Best About Us Page Examples

1. Yellow Leaf Hammocks

When you have a great story about how your product or service was built to change lives, share it. The About Us page is a great place for it to live, too. Good stories humanize your brand, providing context and meaning for your product. What’s more, good stories are sticky — which means people are more likely to connect with them and pass them on.

Yellow Leaf Hammocks tells users about its product by describing how the hammocks empower artisan weavers and their families. The company breaks down different pieces of the story into sections that combine words and easily digestible graphics, painting a picture instead of big chunks of text. Yellow Leaf is clear about why its brand is different: “Not a Charity,” the page reads. And then: “This is the basis for a brighter future, built on a hand up, not a handout.”

Why this About Us page rocks:

Every company has a story to tell, so break out your storytelling skills from that random English class you took years ago and put them to work on your About Us page. Using descriptive and emotive copy and gorgeous graphics, an About Us page with a story works harder for your business than a generic one.

2. Eight Hour Day

People tend to think that About Us pages have to sound formal to gain credibility and trust. But most people find it easier to trust real human beings, rather than a description that sounds like it came from an automaton. It should always sound friendly and real.

Trying to sound too professional on your About Us page results in stiff, “safe” copy and design — the perfect way to make sure your company blends in with the masses. Instead, take inspiration from Eight Hour Day. This brand showcases the people behind the company and humanizes its brand.

Why this About Us page rocks:

Introducing the founders with inviting photos on this About Us page drives home the point that Nathan and Katie are — as they so astutely put it — “two individuals with a passion for creativity — creativity makes us happy.”

3. Apptopia

People want to know what your business does and how it can help them. After all, if people can’t figure out what you do, how will they know they need your product or service?

So, skip the industry lingo — that’s what Apptopia does on its About Us page. The startup’s simple but polished language effectively communicates the company’s offering while still allowing the Average Joe to understand it.

Why this About Us page rocks:

Apptopia uses short and punchy sentences to explain complex products and ideas in a way that isn’t patronizing. The copy on this About Us page leads with empathy.

4. Moz

Instead of following the classic About Us script and writing a few paragraphs about the company’s mission and origins, try something different — there are plenty of ways to make your brand more compelling to someone who doesn’t know about you.

Take Moz, for example. A lot has happened since it was founded in 2004, so the company chose to share those milestones using a fun, clean design that incorporates clear headers, concise blurbs, and little graphics to break up the text.

Why this About Us page rocks:

We especially love the humble references to how Moz received funding, how it switched its brand positioning — and most importantly, how it switched back to its original model. This speaks volumes to the value honesty and humbleness can play to your customers. Don’t be afraid to talk about your ups and downs; your customers will trust what you say that much more.

5. Yokel Local

Yokel Local does a few things well on its About Us page: The company spotlights its clients, its story and mission, and the team behind the brand. This last element is key because Yokel Local knows that its “vibe” wins over prospective clients. After all, when you hire an agency, you’re hiring its people. And people have personalities.

Why this About Us page rocks:

Because “Yokel Local” is a bit of a kooky name that gives people pause, the company pokes fun at it by providing the definition, which then leads into photos of the team at work (and at play), the agency’s story, its mission and values, and the people who make the magic happen. This magic is included all over the about page as its employees make goofy faces, wear ugly Christmas sweaters, and work/play hard.

6. Nike

Nike might seem like a company that’s too big to inspire smaller businesses. You might even wonder if Nike even still has an About Us page. As a matter of fact, it does, and it hasn’t forgotten the company’s roots.

Nike began on the campus of the University of Oregon by the hand of the college’s track coach, Bill Bowerman. And even though he no longer works at the company, one of his beloved quotes still brands the bottom of Nike’s About Us page below: “If you have a body, you are an athlete.”

This bold sentence, referenced by the asterisked “Athlete” in the words right above it, sheds important light on Nike’s audience. The brand may be big today, but Nike is all about the rising stars — whom the company depends on, according to the rest of its About Us page, to “expand human potential.”

Why this About Us page rocks:

Nike clearly knows its audience and makes their mission obvious to them as soon as they land on the About Us page. There’s no question that the visitor is in the right place and understands exactly what Nike has set out to do.

7. Bulldog Skincare

What’s the difference between “average” marketing and lovable marketing? It’s the difference between creating generic webpages that provide great information, but in a straightforward, black-and-white kind of way — versus creating webpages that provide great information and are infused with color, personality, and stay true to a company’s unique brand voice. When you create lovable marketing, you can start a movement of brand evangelists and advocates who will help you grow.

Where does this fit into a company’s About Us page? The folks at Bulldog, a men’s skincare company that was named for the colloquial “man’s best friend” — a dog — could have typed up a few paragraphs about where the brand came from and how it was one of the first in the space to redefine and eliminate stereotypes around men’s grooming. But that text alone would have been a bit, well, average.

Instead, the About Us page is pithy, colorful, and leads with an adorable bulldog — fitting the name and the brand. And it states the purpose of the products — to help customers from waking up with the (admittedly adorable) wrinkly face you see when you visit Bulldog’s website.

Why this About Us page rocks:

Bull Dog isn’t afraid to have fun with its brand. That bit of fun and humanity adds personality and humor that makes this About Us page anything but typical. It primes visitors for a story in a way that makes them immediately feel connected to Bull Dog’s mission and vision. That’s how you create memorable, lovable marketing.

8. Doomtree

One minute of video is worth 1.8 million words, according to Forrester Research’s Dr. James McQuivey. But what about audio and visual, too, all combined with a really cool story? Well, that’s one way to tell your story in an engaging way — through multimedia.

Doomtree is built on a bit of an innovative concept: That a group of talented artists can each have thriving solo careers, but can still come together on a regular basis to create great music. It’s not a band — it’s a crew. It’s an unconventional concept with an equally interesting backstory that “started as a mess of friends in Minneapolis, fooling around after school, trying to make music without reading the manual.” And as soon as you arrive on Doomtree’s About Us page, you’re greeted with big, bold photos of those friends.

Why this About Us page rocks:

As you scroll down, users are treated to even more interaction with the crew’s events and music tracks. That makes sense because it gives visitors an instant sample of Doomtree’s product.

9. Below the Fold

Below the Fold is a company committed to “sharing news stories you aren’t hearing anywhere else.” With that in mind, the big headline on the page introduces Below the Fold and what the company’s purpose is. Further down, you’ll find four core values, how the business generates revenue and more details about the team behind the scenes.

Why this About Us page rocks:

It gets straight to the point about what Below the Fold is, who it serves, and why it exists. The simple design lacks color, embellishments, and sensational imagery so the reader can focus on what the company has to say — a direct nod to the mission statement.

10. Ceros

Ceros’ About Us page is interactive and engaging. As you scroll, the images move across the page with punchy designs. Additionally, Ceros’ uses these images of its impressive, unique office space to further personalize the page.

Why this About Us page rocks:

Ceros keeps the text on the page short-and-sweet, with powerful statements like “We exist to unlock creativity”. The Culture section further demonstrates Ceros’ playful brand voice, with core values like “We wear our chicken suits”.

11. Marketive

Rarely have I seen a more powerful opening statement than the one Marketive uses in its About Us page: “Got a solid product? We tell your target audience that you exist.”

Additionally, Marketive’s About Us page displays original designs rather than photos to support the text, and the page is simply fun to scroll through. Marketive’s layout tells a story in itself — starting with what the company does, moving into which types of industries it serves and ending with the company’s earlier milestones.

Why this About Us page rocks:

The interactive milestone calendar at the bottom is especially impressive. It authentically represents some humble beginnings (including two unsuccessful startups that inspired present-day Marketive) and features a fun scroll element that highlights various dates throughout the calendar.

12. Sweet Loren’s

Start-to-finish, Sweet Loren’s About Us page is playful, engaging, and colorful. The page starts with a 60-second video and even incorporates cookie dough-scooping gifs. As you scroll, you’ll move through some of Sweet Loren’s impressive values, including inclusivity and refusing to compromise.

Why this About Us page rocks:

Sweet Loren’s yummy products are last on the page, ensuring you’re fully primed to purchase only after learning about Sweet Loren’s mission and differentiating factor: creating non-GMO, gluten-free, plant-based, and delicious cookie dough.

13. TalEx

TalEx has an interesting origin story, in which two women left a major recruiting firm to build their own and ended up landing AOL as a major client of theirs — which was previously their old employers’ client.

TalEx has since seen unprecedented growth at 4,900% in the three years since it began. You’ll learn all this and more on the company’s About Us page.

Why this About Us page rocks:

What makes the TalEx About page stand out is the company’s emphasis on social responsibility, which takes up nearly half the page and explains the company’s dedication to giving 5% of its net profit annually to various philanthropic organizations. People who visit the website will know that giving back and paying it forward are important to the people at TalEx.

14. SkinnyDipped

SkinnyDipped’s About Us page features a few sweet, polaroid images of the employees (including three of the co-founders as young children), and a moving nod to Josh Dickerson, a family friend whose death inspired the family to start the business.

This About Us page is well-written and inspiring — for instance, the page reads, “We decided to start a business … That it would be centered around food was obvious. For us—family, friends, food, and love are all tangled up.” By the time you finish reading the story (and the individual employee bios), you’ll be as impressed by SkinnyDipped’s brand values as you are by its delicious products.

15. LoveBug Probiotics

LoveBug Probiotics’ About Us page features an image of the founder’s four young children wearing “Chief Fun Officer”, “Chief Giggle Officer”, “Chief Silly Officer” and “Chief Humor Officer” t-shirts. I’ll admit — there aren’t many About Us pages with cuter introductions than that.

Why this About Us page rocks:

The page effectively includes all the information you’d need on the company to make an informed purchasing decision — including how the founder came up with the idea, her personal ties to the vision, the science behind her probiotics, and even an opportunity to find local stores that carry LoveBug probiotics.

Plus, while the products are science-backed, the About Us page doesn’t confuse visitors with difficult-to-understand facts: instead, the page is simple, straightforward, and helpful.

16. Brown and Coconut

Sometimes, simpler is better — as is the case with Brown and Coconut’s About Us page, which features a photo of the two co-founders alongside a few paragraphs of text, outlining the purpose and vision behind Brown and Coconut.

The opening sentence is incredibly relatable and draws the reader in: “After years of suffering from severe acne and frustrated by the lack of effectiveness and further damage they experienced with popular skincare products, Brown and Coconut founders and sisters, Letisha and Zeena Brown embarked on a journey to heal their skin from the inside out.”

Why this About Us page rocks:

Brown and Coconut’s About page uses no-fuss language to describe the business. Rather than ending with a CTA directing visitors to its products, the co-founders instead choose to include a CTA to follow the business on Instagram, promoting a more effective, long-term lead generation strategy that starts with brand awareness.

17. Kuno Creative

Kuno Creative’s About Us page effectively focuses on what makes the company different: its people. While the first paragraph describes the origin of the digital marketing agency, the majority of the page is taken up by black-and-white shots of all its employees along with descriptions of each member, like a modern-day yearbook.

Why this About Us page rocks:

The page looks sleek and clean, with plenty of white space and large blue lettering to draw attention without overwhelming visitors. If you’re unsure what you want to include in your About Us page, consider taking note of how Kuno Creative focuses on its people, rather than its product, in the About Us page — a great way to humanize your brand.

About Me Page Templates & Examples

About Me Template

About Me pages vary in detail, but most great pages include a few standard elements. Below is a template of the most common elements of an engaging About Me page:

Your Purpose – This describes your purpose for doing the work you do. What gets you out of bed each morning? Try using the Ikigai map for guidance here.

Vision Statement – Who are you and where are you headed? Believe it or not, people are looking to you for leadership in some way. Show them how you’re leading your life and what inspires you to move forward.

Personal Core Values – Personal core values help the reader connect with you and find common ground.

Brief Personal Statement – Whether you share your hobbies, family life, or fun facts, a brief personal summary helps the reader relate to you on a personal level.

Next, you’ll see these elements in action on the best About Me pages examples on the web today.

1. Joe Payton

About Us pages might encompass the values of more than one person or entity, but they’re no more important to the image of a business than your personal about page. Take Joe Payton’s About Me page, below.

Not only does Joe’s illustrative self-portrait give him a personal brand that customers will remember, but it also demonstrates his expertise as a designer and animator. His website visitors can learn not just what he does, but why he does it, in an easily digestible way.

Why this About Me page rocks:

Joe freely expresses his values as a creative professional succinctly on a well-organized page. He tells a story that guides the reader through each section of the page without having them scroll endlessly to the bottom of the page.

2. Kero One

Kero One is a hip-hop artist and DJ from San Francisco, and his About Me page carries a valuable lesson to personal brands who cater to more than one audience — especially if those audiences speak different languages.

Kero One’s story starts in his childhood, when he was six years old and first discovered a passion for hip-hop. Knowing how old and genuine his love for the genre is adds tremendous value to his own music in the eyes of his listeners.

Why this About Me page rocks:

While this entrepreneur’s childhood interests help to deepen his audience, the second screenshot below helps Kero One widen it. His About Me page first tells his story in English, then in Japanese, then in Korean, then in Chinese. Accommodating these Southeast Asian audiences makes his brand more inclusive of all the audiences he identifies with.

3. Aja Frost

Alright, we might be biased in highlighting this professional, as Aja is our very own Head of English SEO at HubSpot. Nonetheless, the ingenuity she brings to the company isn’t lost on her website’s About Me page.

Being a data-driven professional, Aja knows her clients are looking for more than her writing skills — they want to see how her content has performed. With that in mind, her About Me page tells a story of her career growth, which peaks — no pun intended — at an impressive line graph showing the result of an SEO strategy she implemented for the HubSpot Blog. (The graph’s sharp decline in September indicates when she stopped collecting data.)

Why this About Me page rocks:

Aja understands the value of being personable even in a digital space like an About Me page. She closes out her about page with a personal note on what she does in her spare time — a great way to humanize yourself in the eyes of your potential customers.

4. Madison Butler

Madison Butler is an HR change-maker “committed to deconstructing the status quo and rebuilding corporate America, one organization at a time.” She does this through her DEI work and her advocacy.

The About page, which doubles as the site’s homepage, calls this out at the very top in one bold statement: “I’m here to ensure organizations know how to make space for everyone.”

Why this About Me page rocks:

Madison’s About page is effective because it stays true to her mission while being simple, effective, and to the point. The second sentence in the headline, “You belong here.”, underscores the inclusivity of Butler’s mission and work. It’s even emphasized further where the phrase is repeated in the footer.

5. Sara Dietschy

This professional YouTube content creator has an eclectic collection of videos related to technology and cultureand expresses that diversity all over her About Me page.

In addition to the vibrant self-portrait at the top of the page, Sara’s first sentence tells you just how many people subscribe to her channel: 780,000. This is an important number to know for her potential video advertisers and collaborators who want to know how much exposure they’d get by working with her or advertising on her channel.

Why this About Me page rocks:

The colored tiles lining the page — starting with the red one, as shown below — do a terrific job segmenting her work by the types of projects she takes up and for whom she’s done them. This helps the reader navigate the page and understand what’s important for them to know.

6. ShaDrena

ShaDrena is a graphic artist whose mission is to “visually build creative rebellious brands beyond a logo.” She exemplifies this mission for her own brand on her About page.

In three sections — About, Bio, and Random Facts — the audience gets the full ShaDrena experience, which is more than just design. It’s also about voice and personality. As a self-described “creative hustler,” “rule-breaker,” and “designer of dope brands,” the language ShaDrena uses on her site comes across as edgy and authentic, a perfect way to make her copy mirror her personality.

Why this About Me page rocks:

ShaDrena’s About page is intriguing because it’s counterintuitive to what someone might expect from a graphic artist. Most of the content is presented in black, white, and gray which puts all the focus on the composition of her design.

7. Marc Ensign

This branding expert does two things incredibly well on his about page: He takes his work seriously without taking himself too seriously. Marketers know there’s value to keeping a casual tone in the content they create, but to attract customers, you need to prove you have discipline and integrity. This often proves to be a tough balance to get right.

Why this About Me page rocks:

Marc Ensign nails the balance between friendly and formal with a confident opening statement. This not only draws the reader in but also establishes Marc as a relatable partner to work with.

8. Miracle Inameti-Archibong

With an excellent design that emphasizes her copy, Miracle Inameti-Archibong’s site is a masterclass on how to do a one-page website well. The content is presented with large clear images, cool and bold colors, dynamic angles and blocks, and simple typography.

Why this About Me page rocks:

This structured design supports the story in Miracle’s About Me section, which spans over a decade but is laid out in just four sentences so that the reader understands her career span without being overwhelmed with too much information. That’s when she dives further into her expertise and the meat of the About section which is thoughtfully paired with testimonials on the right that provide social proof for it.

Tell the World All About You

We hope that creating an About Us page doesn’t seem like a daunting task. Take the best practices, templates, and examples you’ve seen so far, and have some fun with them. With a good story to tell, creative copy, humility, and digestible visuals, you’re on your way to an eye-catching user experience.

You’ll be standing out from a sea of About Us and About Me pages in no time. So, tell us, What makes you different? We’re eager to learn more… about you.

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