Category Archives: B2B

Did you know that people retain 65% of the information they see, but only 10% of the information they hear?

Also, people follow directions 323% better with a combination of text and illustration than instructions without illustrations.

That’s why, as a marketer, it’s important to display information in a combination of visual and text, in an easy-to-consume way.

A great way to do that is through infographics.

If you’ve wanted to create and publish an infographic, you’ve come to the right place. I know you might be thinking, “I’m not a graphic designer” or “I’ve never made an infographic before.” But you’re not alone.

And that doesn’t mean it can’t be easy for you to learn.

In this post, we’ll take you through everything you need to know about infographics, from what they are to what kinds of infographics there are to how to promote an infographic once you’ve created it.

Table of Contents

• What is an infographic?
• Infographic Examples
• Infographic Dimensions
• Infographic Ideas and Topics
• Infographic Tips
• Infographic Templates
• How to Share an Infographic

Infographics typically use engaging visuals to quickly and clearly communicate what the graphic is about.

People use infographics because they can provide a quick overview of a topic, explain a complex process, and display data easily. Infographics are also great for comparing two opposing concepts or ideas.

As a marketer, you might’ve experienced the feeling of indecisiveness when you want to create a marketing asset for a campaign, but you’re not sure the best way to disseminate the information. Is your idea best suited to a blog post, YouTube video, or social media post? The great news is that for any medium, in any industry, you can use infographics in your marketing.

Infographic Examples

1. What is Guerilla Marketing, by Invite Referrals

Below is a great example of an infographic by Invite Referrals, which focuses on describing guerilla marketing. Instead of making a blog post or video, the company decided to explain, in detail, the concept of guerilla marketing in an infographic.

With an infographic, the information is easier to digest because it uses succinct copy and visuals to help get the point across.

Additionally, this infographic has a clear headline that communicates what it’s about, so readers can instantly tell what they’re going to get from reading it.

2. Small Business and Marketing, by SEO.com

This is another excellent example of an infographic because it uses a combination of data and visuals to give information on small business marketing.

The creator, SEO.com, also broke down the information into sections, so readers can easily scan the graphic and see what information they want quickly.

One of the ways this graphic excels is that it knows its buyer persona. SEO.com, a site to help marketers, made this infographic that directly targets small business owners and marketers.

3. Video Marketing, by Visual.ly

In this example, Visual.ly uses data and visuals to communicate why video marketing is important. Additionally, the company uses bright colors to attract attention. If someone is scrolling social media, the color and design might make them stop to see what the graphic is about. It pulls the reader in.

With an infographic, you can hook readers with the visual design and communicate an idea in a way that doesn’t take up too much of your audience’s time.

Again, the concise copy and visuals will help readers get interesting information right away. And this information is exactly what marketers might want to learn about.

4. Modern Marketer, by Get App

This is an excellent example of an infographic because it uses concise copy and engaging visuals to communicate information.

My favorite element of this infographic is how it’s visually easy to understand and you can see the hard and soft skills of being a modern marketer without needing to dive into the topics. This is a quick, easy-to-scan infographic, which is what marketers are looking for when they’re working.

5. Content Marketing, by Ditto Digital

Another great example of an infographic is by Ditto Digital. This infographic focuses on giving tips to content marketers. What I like about this example is that the copy is easier to read than a blog post on the same topic might be.

The copy is concise and the visual elements of headers and subheaders make it easier to read. Additionally, this is visually interesting and has several graphics to pull your attention.

Infographic Dimensions

So, now that you know what an infographic is and have seen some examples, you might be wondering how to get started with your own infographic.

Before you can jump into designing, it’s important to understand what size your infographic should be.

The answer is that it depends on where you’re going to promote it. Below are the most common places you might post an infographic with the recommended sizes:

• Facebook: 1200 x 628 pixels
• Pinterest: 600 x 900 pixels
• Website/Blog: 600 x 1800 pixels
• Twitter: 1200 x 675 pixels
• Instagram: 1080 x 1080 pixels
• LinkedIn: 1104 x 736 pixels

1. Comparison Infographics

A comparison infographic is an infographic that compares two ideas. Infographics are a great way to compare and contrast because you can visually see things side by side.

Below is an example of a comparison infographic which compares bad posture with good posture. Not only can you visually see the difference, but you can also read the copy which explains how posture can impact your health, feelings, communication, and appearance.

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2. Marketing Infographics

A marketing infographic is a graphic whose main purpose is to build awareness for a brand and boost engagement.

With a marketing infographic, you can showcase business achievements, deliver news, display a new product or service, improve a course with handouts, drive interest on social media, show data, present quotes, summarize key points in a blog post, and more. The options are honestly endless.

Really, infographics can be used for anything. Whenever you’re thinking about creating a marketing asset, consider whether an infographic will help prove your point.

3. Process Infographics

A process infographic simplifies and explains the steps of a process in primarily visual terms.

Generally, it illustrates what happens during each step or phase with an intuitive layout that’s easy for the viewer to follow from start to finish.

A well-designed process infographic makes the concept you want to share more accessible and saves you and the audience time.

Below is an example of a process infographic which explains the process of mechanical recycling.

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4. Timeline Infographics

A timeline infographic is a way to quickly communicate important information — from key dates in your company’s history to upcoming project milestones or predicted market trends.

This type of infographic is what you would use if you were planning a product launch for example. Or perhaps you want to communicate a timeline of your business achievements for your website.

Featured Resource: 8 Free Timeline Templates for Business

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5. Statistical Infographics

A statistical infographic is a graphic whose main purpose is to show data and research. Let’s say that your company has first-party data about your industry. What better way to communicate that than with an infographic?

Now that we know what types of infographics there are, let’s give you a few tips on the process of creating one.

1. Find resources.

Before you start creating your own infographics, look for resources that can help you. This is particularly helpful if you aren’t working with a graphic designer.

For example, you can use PowerPoint templates or Canva templates. In fact, there’s really no shortage of design resources — charts, reports, and infographics. And, depending on your budget and needs, there are a plethora of options available, all of which have their pros, with very few cons.

2. Target your buyer personas.

When we went through the examples above, you might’ve noticed that I commented on infographics that correctly targeted their audience. With any marketing asset, it won’t accomplish what you want if it’s not created for the correct buyer persona.

Don’t forget what the purpose of marketing is: to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time.

3. Keep it focused and simple.

Infographics are a great way to stay focused and use simple language to communicate a message.

The best messages are succinct and very specific to the audience. That’s why your infographics should be as focused and simple as possible.

As a marketer, it’s important to simplify your messaging whenever you can. Simple messages are easier to understand and retain.

4. Use visuals.

Of course, you can’t have a great infographic without visuals. In fact, the whole point of an infographic is to communicate a message with both text and visuals.

The goal of the visuals should be to hook the reader and make it easier to digest the information. And you don’t have to be a graphic designer to accomplish this.

In fact, you can use premade templates to make your life easier. Below let’s go over why templates are useful.

Infographic Templates

Infographics are a powerful tool for capturing the attention of your target audiences. In fact, businesses that publish infographics grow their traffic an average of 12% more than those that don’t.

The hard part, of course, is finding time and resources to create these infographics. That’s why HubSpot created fifteen fully customizable infographic templates that will give you the inspiration and foundation you need to build your own infographics right in PowerPoint or Illustrator.

Use these infographic templates to present data for your next meeting, promote an offer on social media, or in your next blog post. Visual information is becoming more and more popular — and now you have the resources to easily create this visual content.

Featured Resource: 15 Free Infographic Templates in Powerpoint (+5 Bonus Illustrator Templates)

Download Now for Free

1. Optimize your infographic for search engines.

Infographics don’t go viral by accident — even if you’ve got the best infographic in the world.

Instead, strategically promoting your infographic by identifying the right people and the right websites can get your infographic in front of thousands of people fast.

But before we do that, you’ll want to make sure to optimize your infographic for search engines. SEO won’t necessarily help your infographic go viral, but it’s extremely beneficial because it will help increase your search engine rankings (which means more free traffic to your website).

Check out this infographic by Backlinko to help guide you while you’re optimizing your infographic(s) for search engines:

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2. Find websites and blogs that share similar infographics.

For example, if I had just published an infographic on email marketing, I would go to Google at type in: “Email marketing infographic.” What you’re looking for are websites and blogs that have published similar infographics made by other people.

After you’ve got a decent list of websites that you think will be willing to share your infographic, it’s time for some email outreach. First, start by identifying the authors from each of the websites that published similar infographics. You can usually find the author’s name in the article’s byline:

Once you’ve got a list of authors, use a tool like Viola Norbert or ContentMarketer.io to find email addresses so you can start sending personalized emails.

If you want to learn how the pros do email outreach, check out this article from Brian Dean at Backlinko. Part of that case study highlights the “Pre-Outreach” and “Content Roadshow” strategies he used to generate buzz for his content.

For example, check out Emil’s 2-step approach to email outreach. Instead of doing what most people do and asking for a backlink or share right away (1-step approach) here’s what he did:

And because he wasn’t being pushy, he gets responses like this from people asking to send his content over (2-step approach):

See the difference?

Now I’ll be the first to admit that email outreach is not the most exciting part about infographic marketing — but it’s crucial if you want to get more eyeballs on your work.

Plus, the long-term benefits from the relationships you’ll build with influencers and bloggers will become invaluable down the road.

3. Share infographic with the right bloggers and influencers.

The best tool to find these influencers is BuzzSumo. Just type in a topic or copy/paste a specific link to pull up content that is sorted by number of social media shares.

For example, if I were doing an infographic on gardening, I’d type in “gardening infographic” into BuzzSumo. Next, I would go through the results one by one and click “View Sharers” on any infographics that are similar to mine:

This will give you a list of the people who have shared that infographic, which is helpful because you can sort by number of followers to identify influencers with a large number of followers who have shared infographics that are similar to yours.

Like in the last step, find their email address and start reaching out one-by-one. Aside from Viola Norbert and ContentMarketer.io, another clever way to find someone’s email address is to subscribe to their blog — the welcome email and all future emails should come from an address that you can respond to.

As an alternative, if you can’t find someone’s email address, you can always use Twitter to reach out publicly:

Sam Hurley has hundreds of thousands of followers but still responded and shared content from Brian Downard:

See how he used the same 2-step outreach approach like the email example from above? He asked if they wanted to see it and then sent the link afterward.

Not being pushy is the key to getting responses and getting your content shared. You might also consider sending a friendly “thank you” note after an influencer shares your content to strengthen the relationship:

4. Submit your infographic to infographic directories.

These directories are basically websites that curate infographics for other people to see. And they are the perfect place to get your infographic discovered by people who might want to share it on their website.

Trouble is, there are dozens of these directories out there, so instead of manually doing each one by yourself, I recommend using Fivver to pay someone to do it for you. You don’t need to have someone submit your content to 50+ directories — just stick with the people who only add it to the top 10-30 infographic directories.

5. Promote through all your digital marketing channels.

Once you’ve added your infographic to the right directories, share it through all of your marketing channels:

• Share with your email lists
• Schedule multiple social media posts
• Paid ads / remarketing ads
• Add links to infographic on relevant website pages
• Share with industry partners
• Send to influencers/bloggers who’ve shared your content in the past
• Share with any brand or person you mentioned in your content

Infographics are a valuable resource that marketers can use to communicate with their audience in an easy-to-understand way. Next time you’re coming up with content, consider if an infographic is a better way to communicate your message.

When I first started blogging, I had no idea how to structure my posts to rank for search engines, or even why it was important.

I just threw in bolded words and phrases that looked good and hoped to be randomly selected for the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Now I know there is a science to blog optimization, and what I was throwing into my blog posts to make them look professional was called header/heading tags — and are an important tool for comprehension and SEO.

Here’s a quick guide on header tags and what they’re used for:

• H1 — The title of a post. They’re usually keyword-centric, focused around the “big idea” of a page or post, and crafted to grab a reader’s attention.
• H2 — These are subheaders that classify the main points of your paragraphs and separate sections. Consider using semantic keywords related to the “big idea” in your H1 while also helping the reader easily find the sections they want to read.
• H3 — These are subsections that clarify the points made in the H2 further. Alternatively, they can be used in formatting lists or bullet points.
• H4 —These are subsections that clarify the points made in the H3 further. Alternatively, they can be used in formatting lists or bullet points.

The “H” in H1, H2, etc. officially stands for “heading element,” though the SEO community also commonly calls these tags “header tags.”

As you can guess from the guide above, the numeral indicates the hierarchal relationship between each one (with H1 being the most important, H2 being less important, and so on).

Here’s an example of how this hierarchal structure might manifest in a blog outline:

Now that you understand that header tags provide structure to a page, let’s talk about them with greater specificity, starting with the H1 tag. 

Don’t make the mistake of using header tags as nothing more than stylistic elements. After all, they are structural in nature. Think of the H1 as you would a book title. Usually, there’s only one title for a book, so there should only be one title for your page or post. 

In addition, H1 tags should always be at the top of your page before the rest of your content, just as the book title is on the outside cover before you dive into the text inside.

To illustrate, the header tag in the example below is the title, “The Ultimate Guide to Product Marketing in 2021.”

The title is designated as the H1 for the page using HTML code. This code might manifest in the web page’s source code like so:

See the Pen H1 Example 1 by Christina Perricone (@hubspot) on CodePen.

However, as we alluded to earlier, there are other heading tags that also help with creating the structure of a page.

How many header tags are supported by HTML?

HTML supports up to six header tags (H1-H6) for you to use to structure your page as needed. They can be stylized visually according to your brand, and with the exception of the H1, you can have as many of these tags on a page as you want. 

Your headers should stick to the theme of what you’re writing about because they can help the reader (and the search engines) find the main points within the content and guide them through the flow of the page. When you’re formatting, use your best judgment when breaking up sections.

Below is a screenshot of a HubSpot blog post with examples of header tags indicated with arrows:

As you can see, every header tag looks different visually, and each header tag is used for a new idea.

Now that you know a little more about what header tags are, let’s get into how they’re used for SEO.

Header Tags and SEO

You may think that header tags are inconsequential in the grand scheme of website-related things. However, header tags can help provide structure to a piece of content and call attention to the most important ideas, themes, and (in effect) 
keywords in that content. As a result, header tags hold weight with keyword relevancy and readability. 

Consider this: Google finds content to serve up to its users by crawling web pages. As it does so, it analyzes the text, images, and other elements it finds to understand what that page is about.

When you put text into a header tag, you’re signalling that this text is important, and Google will use these to determine the context of the page, which then helps Google serve up results that are relevant to searchers’ queries.

That’s why it’s important when using header tags to make sure they’re correctly matching a keyword intent. If a post’s H1 tag doesn’t have a keyword, or if you put irrelevant text in H2 and H3 tags, Google will have a harder time understanding a page. As a result, that page won’t rank as well as it could. 

To illustrate, let’s say your keyword is “eCommerce.” You’d want this to be reflected in your H1 tag, so a title like “The Guide to Starting an eCommerce Business” would be ideal. That would tell Google exactly how to send web browsers to your post.

Search engines also look at header tags within your post, so it’s good to keep those keyword-centric, as well. For instance, you might create some H2 sections surrounding popular long-tail keywords related to eCommerce, like “five steps for creating an eCommerce business” or “best social media tools for eCommerce.”

You don’t have to think of keywords by yourself, either — in fact, you can do some easy keyword research to help you out or look into keyword research tools like SEMRush or Ahrefs. Just make sure that your header tags are friendly to both humans and the search engine robots.

Headers also make pages easier to read. Sectioning off different parts of a webpage keeps information organized and broken up in a comprehensible way. This helps readers find information they’re looking for but also search engines which are scanning along, too.

If your sections aren’t making sense, your page might not rank. Think of the sections in this post — do you think they were broken up in a readable way?

How to Add Header Tags in HTML

Adding header tags in HTML is a fairly simple process. If you want to notate an H1, you would type in <h1> and </h1>, putting the H1 text in-between those two tags. This is the same method for any type of header tag.

For example, if your h1 was “The Guide to Starting eCommerce,” it would look like this:

See the Pen H1 Example 2 by Christina Perricone (@hubspot) on CodePen.

This will work for HTML4 or older. If you’re working with HTML5, you might have to use a slightly different line to get the same result. The change is to give a heads up to Google about what the H1 is:

See the Pen H1 Example 3 by Christina Perricone (@hubspot) on CodePen.

You can also include punctuation between the two tags. For instance, you might have:

See the Pen H3 Example 1 by Christina Perricone (@hubspot) on CodePen.

Remember, Google will scan the HTML of header tags to tell web browsers what your page is about, so it’s important to look them over and see if your headers in HTML are formatted correctly.

Some blogging platforms, like WordPress and HubSpot, have an option on the toolbar to create header tags, so every time you want to add one, you don’t have to dig into the source code or HTML to do so.

The next time you create a post for your website, see if adding relevant header tags affects SEO, and how your readers are comprehending information.

A good test I like to use is sending posts to a close family member who doesn’t know much about blogging or marketing. Using outsider feedback and asking if they can comprehend my writing before I publish helps me format posts so they’re understandable.

Because using headers can help with readability for your users as well as crawlability for search engines, there’s no reason not to use them when creating pages and posts. You may even see jumps in search engine rankings, traffic, and time on page.

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

Ask any professional athlete or business executive how they became successful, and they’ll tell you they mastered a process. By figuring out which of their habits led to success and which didn’t, they improved their efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity at work.

But implementing a process into a business, department, or even a team is a completely different animal than honing your own personal process. With so many moving parts, how do you track each aspect of your business’ process and how do you refine it?

Data flow diagrams provide a straightforward, efficient way for organizations to understand, perfect, and implement new processes or systems. They’re visual representations of your process or system, so they make it easy to understand and prune.

Before we dive into how data flow diagrams can help refine any of your business’ systems or processes, let’s go over what it exactly is.

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DFDs became popular in the 1970s and have maintained their widespread use by being easy to understand. Visually displaying how a process or system works can hold people’s attention and explain complex concepts better than blocks of text can, so DFDs are able to help almost anyone grasp a system’s or process’ logic and functions.

There are two types of DFDs — logical and physical. Logical diagrams display the theoretical process of moving information through a system, like where the data comes from, where it goes, how it changes, and where it ends up.

Physical diagrams show you the practical process of moving information through a system, like how your system’s specific software, hardware, files, employees, and customers influences its flow of information.

You can either use logical or physical diagrams to describe the same flow of information or you can use them in conjunction to understand a process or system on a more granular level. But, before you can use a DFD to understand your system or process’ flow of information, you need to know the standard notations or symbols used to describe it.

Data Flow Diagram Symbols

Data Flow Diagram symbols are standardized notations, like rectangles, circles, arrows, and short-text labels, that describe a system or process’ data flow direction, data inputs, data outputs, data storage points, and its various sub-processes.

There are four common methods of notation used in DFDs: Yourdon & De Marco, Gene & Sarson, SSADM and Unified. All use the same labels and similar shapes to represent the four main elements of a DFD — external entity, process, data store, and data flow.

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External Entity

An external entity, which are also known as terminators, sources, sinks, or actors, are an outside system or process that sends or receives data to and from the diagrammed system. They’re either the sources or destinations of information, so they’re usually placed on the diagram’s edges. External entity symbols are similar across models except for Unified, which uses a stick-figure drawing instead of a rectangle, circle, or square.

Process

Process is a procedure that manipulates the data and its flow by taking incoming data, changing it, and producing an output with it. A process can do this by performing computations and using logic to sort the data, or change its flow of direction. Processes usually start from the top left of the DFD and finish on the bottom right of the diagram.

Data Store

Data stores hold information for later use, like a file of documents that’s waiting to be processed. Data inputs flow through a process and then through a data store while data outputs flow out of a data store and then through a process.

Data Flow

Data flow is the path the system’s information takes from external entities through processes and data stores. With arrows and succinct labels, the DFD can show you the direction of the data flow.

Before you start mapping out data flow diagrams you need to follow four best practices to create a valid DFD.

1. Each process should have at least one input and one output.

2. Each data store should have at least one data flow in and data flow out.

3. A system’s stored data must go through a process.

4. All processes in a DFD must link to another process or data store.

Levels of Data Flow Diagrams

DFDs can range from simple overviews to complex, granular representations of a system or process with multiple levels, starting with level 0. The most common and intuitive DFDs are level 0 DFDs, also called context diagrams. They’re digestible, high-level overviews of the flow of information through a system or process, so almost anyone can understand it.

Level 0: Context Diagram

This DFD level focuses on high-level system processes or functions and the data sources that flow to or from them. Level 0 diagrams are designed to be simple, straightforward overviews of a process or system.

Level 1: Process Decomposition

While level 1 DFDs are still broad overviews of a system or process, they’re also more detailed — they break down the system’s single process node into subprocesses.

Level 2: Deeper Dives

The next level of DFDs dive even deeper into detail by breaking down each level 1 process into granular subprocesses.

Level3: Increasing Complexity

Level 3 and higher-numbered DFDs are uncommon. This is largely due to the amount of detail required, which defeats its original purpose of being easy to understand.

Data Flow Diagram Examples

Professionals in various industries, like software engineering, IT, ecommerce, and product management & design, can use DFDs to better understand, refine, or implement a new system or process.

But what does a data flow diagram look like in practice — and how does it help your business? Here are three examples to help contextualize DFD impact.

1. Level 0 DFD

 

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This Level 0 DFD provides a contextual map of a securities trading platform. Data flows in one direction from the customer service assistant and the broker to the platform, and in two directions from customers to the platform and back again.

2. Level 1 DFD

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This Level 1 DFD breaks down the customer process in more detail, expanding it to include account creation, cash withdrawals, and eventual securities transactions.

3. Level 2 DFD

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This Level 2 DFD decomposes the “Place Order” process to contextualize the steps required to place an order — either by a customer or by a broker. It even accounts for a third-party stock exchange center where transaction details are forwarded after an order is placed.

1. Select a system or process.

Begin by selecting a specific system or process you want to analyze. While any system or process can be turned into a DFD, the larger the process the more complicated the diagram and the more difficult it will be to contextualize. Wherever possible, start with a small function or process you’re looking to improve.

2. Categorize related business activities.

Next, categorize all activities related to this process into external entities, data flows, processes, and data stores.

Consider a restaurant food ordering system. Customers are external entities, the food ordering system is a process, and the interaction between customers and the system (which goes in both directions) is the flow. 

Also worth noting? The ordering system doubles as a data store, so for an SSADA model, this means drawing it as a rectangle with rounded corners with two horizontal lines inside to represent its dual function.

3. Draw a Context DFD.

Now it’s time to start drawing. DFDs can be created by hand, using free templates available online, or via browser extensions.

Begin with a simple, Level 0 DFD: Start with your process or system, then map all basic connections and flows.

4. Check your work.

Before diving into more complex DFDs, check the work you’ve already done to make sure it’s accurate and complete. If you’ve missed (or added) a process, entity, or flow, your next-level DFDs may not make sense and you may be forced to start over.

5. Create child diagrams.

For each process or system described in your Level 0 DFD, create a new child diagram with its own entities and flows. Eventually, you can use these child diagrams to connect processes together. 

6. Expand processes into Level 1 DFDs.

Using your child diagrams, you should map more in-depth connections between each process. In the case of our restaurant example, this could mean digging deeper into the food ordering system and its connection to suppliers, managers, customers, and kitchen staff.

7. Repeat as needed.

Each process — no matter how large or small — can be reimagined as a Level 0 context diagram and the cycle can begin again. Repeat these steps as needed to create as many DFDs as required, or break processes down further to develop Level 2, 3, etc. DFDs.

Perfecting Your Process

While there’s no such thing as a “perfect” data flow diagram, continued practice can help streamline the process and offer critical insight into what’s working, what isn’t and where your business can make improvements that offer the biggest impact.

Your best bet? Remember the rule: Keep it simple. Start with context, build out connected processes, and repeat as needed to map key connections, flows, and entities across your organization.

  

“He once ran a marathon because it was on his way. Sharks have a week dedicated to him. Mosquitoes refuse to bite him purely out of respect.”

Have you heard of him before? Yes, he’s “The Most Interesting Man in the World”— a fictional character that drinks Dos Equis beer and stars in the company’s viral commercials.

The commercials — which make me laugh every time — are part advertisement, part comedy skit and have a similar theme so fans always know when they’re watching a Dos Equis advertisement.

The company targets its audience of sophisticated beer drinkers in an engaging, creative, and humorous way through TV, social media, and YouTube. The unique campaign created fans around the world that helped spread it across multiple platforms, so much so that people even dress up as the commercial’s main character for Halloween. 

Dos Equis may not have been 100% sure that their campaign would take off the way it did, but they had a good idea about its potential popularity. 

Similarly, there is no guaranteed way to ensure your content goes viral, but there are certain steps you can take to give your marketing campaign the best chance at success.

 

Many marketers hope for a campaign to go viral — meaning it’s recognized, widely-accepted, and influential. But there’s no guaranteed formula. However, if you think about some of your favorite viral marketing campaigns, you’ll notice some common features. Marketers wanting to reach a bigger audience should keep these attributes in mind when creating their next campaign:

1. It appeals to a target audience.

A successful viral marketing campaign considers the target audience. For any campaign to go viral, it needs to resonate with the audience and make them feel so strongly about your content that they decide to share it with their family, friends, and followers.

Determine who your target audience is in the earliest stages of your campaign creation. To achieve this, ask questions such as: Who do I want to connect with? What content would they feel passionate about? What are their hopes, dreams, and values? Why would they care about my campaign? What will can I do to make them want to share my content with their social network?

2. It has a strong visual strategy.

Viral marketing campaigns require a visual strategy — this guides potential customers to understand your brand through the use of images.

A campaign should tell a story and that story is best told using visual elements that resonate with your audience. Your visual strategy needs to be compatible with your brand and target audience — it should be interesting, informative, and contain some element of intrigue, such as humor or hope.

3. It’s highly creative.

Think about your favorite viral marketing campaign. What sets it apart from others?

Marketing campaigns don’t go viral unless they have a unique, interesting, and innovative idea behind them — your campaign needs to be something new and attention-grabbing.

4. It has emotional appeal. 

Have you seen the Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign? It makes you feel frustrated, insecure, strong, and confident in just a few minutes.

Each commercial shows a person sitting behind a curtain describing their appearance while an artist — who cannot see them — draws their portrait. After the individual is done describing his or her features and the portrait is complete, the curtain is removed. The artist then draws a second portrait of the individual based off what they actually see.

After the second portrait is finished, the artist places the two drawings next to each other. As you can probably imagine, the portrait derived from the individual’s self-description is less attractive than what the artist draws in the second portrait.

In fact, in each video throughout the campaign, the portrait that the artist creates is a much brighter and more realistic depiction of the individual. This is a message about self-esteem and the beauty within all of us.

The campaign went viral because of its relatability and emotional appeal. You need to make your audience feel something — otherwise, why would they want to share your content?

5. It’s easy to share and promote.

Thanks to the internet and social media, sharing and promoting your content with the rest of the world is pretty simple. You don’t need huge sums of money to produce successful photo or video content that can be consumed by the greater population. 

For something to actually go viral, it needs to be shared over and over again. This means you and your company need to share the content first in as many places — and in as many ways — as possible. Then, you need to make it easy for your audience to share it as well.

Enable sharing, embedding, and downloading capabilities on all of your content so your viewers can tag their parents on Facebook, message their best friends on Instagram, or download your video so they can easily turn your content into a memorable GIF. Create calls-to-action or elements that encourage people to send it to their friends. 

Think about asking a celebrity to promote your content if an influencer would fit with your overall message and add value to your campaign. For example, viewers may find your insurance commercial more entertaining and share-worthy if Peyton Manning or Brad Paisley are singing.

6. It’s published at the right time.

You should also consider the date and time that you share your content. Marketers use major holidays — such as Christmas — as well as major events, like the presidential race and the Super Bowl, to their advantage.

More people are scrolling through their social media feeds, watching TV, and keeping up with current events during these times which causes marketers to spend more money on their campaigns. 

Similarly, anyone who uses a platform like Instagram knows what I’m talking about when I say the date and time of your posts matter.

For example, if you post on a Saturday at 8 p.m., most people are out at dinner, seeing a movie, or just hanging out with friends — meaning they are most likely not browsing their newsfeed … at least not as much as they do on Tuesdays. 

After all of this sharing and promoting, you need to wait and see whether or not people latch onto your content. If so, you could have created a viral campaign. If not, you may have to try again.

Read this blog to learn about the reasons why some older campaigns stand the test of time.

The Advantages of Viral Marketing Campaigns

Creating a viral marketing campaign isn’t an easy or predictable achievement. But if your campaign does go viral, it can mean thousands or even millions of new people being introduced to your brand and buying your products — money in the bank!

For example, the Dollar Shave Club’s campaign video went viral, which made them a household name. They were then acquired by Unilever for $1 billion — not bad.

Here are a few more advantages of producing viral content:

1. They can build your brand.

When a marketing campaign goes viral, your audience automatically learns about your company, products, services, and brand. This includes people who may not have ever heard about your company otherwise. This is how some small companies make their “big break” and how large companies stay relevant.

2. They don’t require a large budget.

Some of the most successful viral content is created on a low budget. These days, individuals and companies of any size can film high-quality video and take professional-looking photos all on an iPhone.

Many content creators, or people who simply upload a random video, have found themselves become famous almost overnight. It’s not about the resources and budget — it’s all about what catches the attention of the internet. Marketers don’t always need a large-scale production with a celebrity to make their campaign funny, surprising, relatable, or informational. 

Fun fact:Jonathan Goldsmith, the man behind the “Most Interesting Man in the World” commercials, had only done a few gigs prior getting his big break when the campaign went viral. 

3. They get your brand in front of a new (and larger) audience.

Campaigns are considered “viral” when they have a large reach. Companies may experience an increase in sales, greater engagement on social media, and a boost in conversation about their brand and products.

This is exactly what happened for Smart Water when they brought Jennifer Aniston on board for their campaign in 2012. The video has over 6 million views on YouTube, and their humorous campaigns have done so well with the public that Aniston was featured in them through 2017.

3 of the Most Famous Viral Campaigns

Now that we have reviewed the features of successful viral campaigns and how to launch one yourself, let’s dive into some of the most popular viral campaigns ever created.

Old Spice: “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”

Old Spice found that women are the ones to purchase men’s personal hygiene products, so they created an ad that spoke directly to this audience.

The “Old Spice Man” talks directly to the audience in a bold, confident, and humorous way. He tells women that anything is possible when your man uses Old Spice — all while he sails the ocean shirtless, turns sports tickets into diamonds, and rides a white horse on the beach.

This campaign went viral because … well … humor works. It was so successful that it even increased sales for the brand. The commercial has received over 55 million views on YouTube, won an Emmy for Outstanding Commercial at the Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Awards, and won the Film Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

ALS: “Ice Bucket Challenge”

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge began four years ago and was created to raise awareness for the debilitating disease. For the challenge, you had to pour ice cold water over your entire body and then nominate a friend to do the same. This became a movement that raised $115 million in the summer of 2014 alone. Because … who doesn’t want to watch a family member or friend pour freezing cold water on their head?

Celebrities from around the world started participating, challenging their famous friends, donating, and raising awareness. There was an Ice Bucket Challenge hashtag that gained popularity allowing for the videos to spread easily over multiple social media channels.

Most importantly — the challenge is fun and makes participants feel like a part of a bigger movement, which is why it remains relevant years later.

Always “#LikeAGirl”

This video became a major hit because it directly addressed how phrases that are so commonly used can be detrimental to someone’s self image and confidence. In the video, various men, women, and young boys are asked to “run like a girl” or “fight like a girl”. Then young girls are asked to do the same, with a very different approach: They show strength and confidence in their movements. 

It made viewers recognize how quickly we use female-oriented phrases as insults, and that doing something #LikeAGirl should be seen as inspiring and brave. 

The original TV commercial that came out in 2014 has over 65-million views on Youtube, and the hashtag — #LikeAGirl — remains popular today.

For more great examples of viral video marketing campaigns, check out this blog.

Conclusion

There is no roadmap for making your content “go viral.” You can review what has been successful in the past and try to emulate this, but ultimately, it’s about creating great content that connects with your audience and makes them want to share it. Do this, and you just might find that your brand is the one everyone is talking about. 

Over the past year, we’ve seen a shift in the way brands promote their products or services on social media. 

And, as social media popularity continues to grow — we reached over 3.6 billion social media users globally in 2020 — brands aren’t just wondering how they’ll engage huge social media audiences next year. They’re also asking, “What social media trends should I expect in this constantly changing landscape?”

To learn more about what brands can expect in 2021 and beyond, I spoke with HubSpot’s Social Media Manager Kelly Hendrickson and dug through research, including HubSpot and Talkwalker’s Social Media Trends Report.

Below, I’ve compiled nine expert or research-backed trends social media marketers should watch and leverage in 2021.

1. Brands will continue to take a “less is more” posting approach.

This year, many brands spent less time churning out social media posts and more time producing only content that felt thoughtful, valuable, and in-touch with the world around them.

According to Hendrickson, the trend of “less is more” is likely to continue in 2021. 

“COVID-19 had brands starting to ask a question they may have never asked themselves before: ‘Does my audience even want to hear from me right now?’,” Hendrickson says.

“I expect we’ll see brands being more thoughtful about when they post. This may even mean posting less — regardless of algorithms — because it’s the right thing to do,” Hendrickson explains. “There will also be more thoughtful ad buys and partnerships.”

For instance, take a look at Mented Cosmetics’ YouTube page. The brand ensures it’s thoughtful about when it posts new videos, and typically posts a new video only once per week.

This helps ensure Mented Cosmetics’ followers don’t feel bombarded with content too often, and keeps the sense of excitement when a new video is posted. 

2. Content value will beat production quality.

When many businesses were forced to go completely remote in 2020, social media and video marketing teams needed develop scalable production processes that could be done from home. 

When consumers still continued to engage with videos, live streams, and other social media content that was clearly made from home offices, marketers realized that content with lower production quality can still be engaging — if it provides value. 

“COVID19 forced many brands to get scrappy when it came to producing content, especially video work,” Hendrickson explains. “Without a production studio or tons of equipment available, production value became a bit more lo-fi and in the end, but also a bit more human.”

“The exciting thing for brands is that — generally — audiences loved it. If anything, they saw themselves more in the work,” Hendrickson adds. “They too were on Zoom, filming things with their phones, or stuck in their homes.”

Hendricks predicts that “we’ll see bare bones productions in 2021. But, audiences will continue to appreciate it.”

For instance, Airbnb’s YouTube advertisement, “Meet Dan”, is lower production quality — and for good reason. The more authentic behind-the-scenes feel adds to the humor it evokes, as we get a tour of Dan’s Airbnb space, complete with alpacas and segways. The brand made a wise decision in forsaking fancier video effects in favor of something much more real — more human. 

3. Conversational marketing will change its tone.

Conversational marketing isn’t new. In fact, most of the big brands we know and love allow you to connect with them via social media messaging channels at any time. 

But, in 2021, with more messaging channels than ever — and consumers needing more information to make a worthy investment —  the tone of digital conversations might change. 

For example, while past conversational marketing tactics centered around promotions and making sales as quickly as possible, 2021’s conversational marketers might be more focused on helping a user with something, educating them about a product, and nurturing them to conversion with a more thoughtful or empathic tone.

“Brands need to be more human on social media, inviting the world to your dinner table for a meaningful and engaging conversation,” says Aaron Kaufman, Director of Social Media at Square Enix in our Social Media Trends Report.

“You are your fan’s greatest fans and need to embody that no matter what social media channel you live on. Emote, respond, recognize, relate, be engaging. We’re not robots.”

For example, Asana recently posted a #TakeYourKidsToWorkDay inspired post on LinkedIn, along with a sweet message: “Sending much [love] to our parents & caregivers community!” The message has nothing to do with Asana’s products or services — instead, it focuses on making a connection with Asana’s audience on a deeper level. 

So, how will brands deal with more demand for thoughtful conversational marketing? A mix of AI tools and human interaction could help. 

A healthy combination of AI and human interaction could enable brands to run efficiently on social media while still giving consumers the authenticity they need to see to trust a brand and make a purchase. For example, a bot could handle quick message queries, while sales, service, or community management reps could respond to more complex questions and concerns. 

To learn more about scaling up your conversational marketing strategy, check out this guide to building a chatbot or learn how HubSpot increased qualified leads with by mixing human and bots in our conversational marketing.

4. Consumers will crave snackable content.

In 2020, we saw the rise of TikTok and Instagram Reels, continued engagement on Stories content from Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, and brands creating other short-form or “snackable” pieces content to educate consumers about their brand. 

As social media attention spans continue to shrink and more people scroll endlessly through feeds while bored at home, don’t expect snackable content to lose steam anytime soon. 

Take a look at McBride Sisters Collection’s recent tweet, showcasing a design that quickly summarizes which wine glass shapes you should use for various wine types — including white, dessert, and sparkling.

The image is easily digestible (or snackable), so the brand’s followers can quickly get value from the post without spending too much time looking at it. 

To learn more about four types of snackable content your brand should leverage next year, check out this helpful post. 

5. Video will continue to take center stage. 

Early in 2020, HubSpot’s Not Another State of Marketing Report found that video was the most commonly used marketing content — and the second most engaging content type on social media. 

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As major platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and LinkedIn increasingly amp up their video capabilities, marketers can expect high video consumption to continue and grow in coming years. 

6. More brands will go live.

In 2019, one in five Facebook videos were live. In May of that year, YouTube users cumulatively spent 284 hours watching live video.

In 2020, as many brands were forced to take conferences, events, and other marketing experiences online, it’s not shocking to think that 2020 live stream numbers could be higher. 

At the moment, many brands are using Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, and Twitter to live stream events, Q&As, tutorials and other types of content. These types of content keep your followers engaged with your brand by bringing an event they otherwise might not be able to attend directly to their screens.

For example, each year, INBOUND interviews some of its noteworthy speakers and guests in live INBOUND Studio episodes on Facebook. This allows followers who can’t join us to get live tips from experts. It also allows followers of interviewed experts to learn more about INBOUND and HubSpot.

To learn more about going live online, check out this guide to live streaming, as well as these tips for marketing your next virtual event. 

7. Social media platforms could double as shopping channels.

As many brands learned how to do business completely online, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok raced to develop more online business marketing solutions.

While TikTok and Snapchat expanded business marketing offerings in 2020, Facebook and Instagram actually brought shopping capabilities directly to their apps. 

With Facebook Shops, Instagram Shoppable posts, consumers can buy a product seen in a post without even leaving the app they’re on.

For instance, take a look at Pink Lily Boutique’s shoppable Instagram post. When you click on the image, you’ll see a few tags of each product the model is wearing — you can then click on the link to purchase immediately, all without leaving the app. 

For consumers, this adds convenience. For brands that couldn’t build their own ecommerce store, the online shopping tools noted above are providing new opportunities to effectively sell products online. 

8. Social media users will embrace gaming and VR.

In the last year, the number of social media users who identify as “gamers” increased by more than 10 million — or 32%. Our Social Media Trends Report reveals that the highest uptick in gamer identification happened in COVID-19’s heaviest lockdown months.

Now, with Facebook’s company, Oculus, launching new VR products, Twitch continuing to expand online game-streaming capabilities, and platforms like Snapchat launching mini-game apps, it’s clear that gamification and social media will continue to go hand in hand in 2021. 

As a small to medium-business marketer, gaming-related promotions might be inaccessible now, but with Facebook and other major platforms continuing to launch brand tools around their newest features — it’s not shocking to think that more social media in-game advertising opportunities could be possible in the future. 

Brands should keep an eye out for game-related promotions in 2021.

Wendy’s took advantage of the gaming world via Twitch in 2019 when the brand created an avatar for the popular game Fortnite to destroy freezers and showcase the brand’s commitment to fresh meat.

The marketing promotion earned 1.5 million minutes watched, and garnered an 119% increase in Wendy’s brand mentions across all platforms.

Even if advertorial game content becomes available to big brands but not smaller companies, marketers can still watch what bigger companies are doing and hit the ground running with fresh ideas if gamified promotion become more scalable.

9. Authenticity will be vital.

This year, consumers and brands faced a global pandemic, uncertain financial times, and a number of major events that paused nations in front of news channels.

Now, consumers need more than just great deals to trust, identify with, and invest in a brand. At this point, many brands have taken notice by embracing authenticity and their human side on social media.

For instance, Tipping Cow Ice Cream chose to forgo an ice cream post on New Years Eve to focus on something more important: The founders’ appreciation for their customers’ support, particularly during the challenging year of 2020. The post demonstrates authenticity and a sense of realness you can’t earn with only product-focused posts.

While some brands have spoken directly about their thoughts related to COVID-19 or other news items, others have shown authenticity by zoning on their customers through user-generated content or customer testimonials. 

When done authentically, both strategies can help brands gain trust from their audiences while boosting awareness as a company that cares about people.

“We will continue to see the growth in creators in the social media space. Influencers will continue to be present, but accountability, authenticity, and transparency will be the areas brands and companies will use to determine who to partner with, and who to pass on,” says Karen Freberg in our Social Media Trends Report.

“Empathy and advocacy will be elements that will be integrated within messages and purposes for creator campaigns. The days of ‘faking it till you make it’ without any experience other than having lots of followers are over.”

In 2021, expect authenticity to take center stage on social media as successful brands continue to build trust from their audiences.

How to Capitalize on 2021 Social Media Marketing Trends

Now that we’ve covered some of the most popular social media trends you’ll see in 2021, let’s recap steps you can take to leverage these trends to boost your own social activity. 

Here are a few steps your social team can take to leverage these trends, attract new audiences, and build a larger following:

• Leverage video whenever possible. People love video right now, especially live video content, which feels especially authentic. Test out live video channels like IGTV or Facebook Live to see how they perform. 
• Create relatable content. Don’t be afraid to show a different side to your brand. Highlight customer stories; talk about your company’s larger mission or purpose; give us a ‘day in the life’ of one of your employees. Go beyond your product or service to create a deeper connection with your audience.
• Use a conversational tone. Create social media captions like you’re speaking to a friend. Of course, you’ll want to stick to your brand’s voice, but play around with how you might converse with your audience through social channels. Consider asking your followers questions or telling stories to increase engagement levels. 
• Use design elements for snackable content. Test out memes, gifs, short videos, quick quizzes, fun infographics, etc. to figure out how you might attract, and hold, an audience’s attention even when they’re scrolling quickly through their feeds. 
• Quality over quantity. No need to post once a day. Audiences appreciate quality over quantity — consider how you might set up a schedule so you’re regularly posting content but not overposting. Use analytics to determine the right cadence for your own brand. 

Navigating Social Media in 2021

Today, the world around us is constantly changing. And, although we think we know what to expect with social media, this list of trends is likely not exhaustive of what we’ll see in 2021.

As a social media marketer, the best thing you can do is to continue to research trends, online consumer behaviors, and your team’s social media data to determine which trends or strategies to lean into or how to navigate unprecedented online scenarios. 

One great place to start doing this research could be our HubSpot and Talkwalker’s recent Social Media Trends Report.

Along with insights and quotes from social media experts, our Social Media Trends Report walks through all the major 2021 trend predictions to know about and data on how COVID-19 could impact social media marketing. To see the free report, click here or the banner below.

Serving as snackable — and often laughable — bits of visual content, GIFs help us accurately convey our thoughts and feelings when we’re limited to virtual communication.

The trouble is, finding the perfect GIF by hunting through Google Image Search or that desktop folder of your favorites can take way more time than it’s worth.

Finding the right GIF doesn’t have to be a lengthy process, you just have to know where to look. To help, we’ve collected 10 awesome websites below that’ll help you find what you’re looking for quickly, without forcing you to lower your GIF standards.

(Or, want to create your very own GIF? Check out this tutorial to learn how to make an animated GIF in Photoshop.)

Note: Some of these websites might feature GIFs that are NSFW.

1. GIPHY

This is my go-to resource for GIF hunting. Launched by Alex Chung and Jace Cooke, GIPHY started out as a search engine for GIFs. They’ve grown GIPHY significantly by partnering with brands, introducing integrations, creating browser extensions, and much more. (To catch up on all of their expansion efforts, check out GIPHY Labs.)

The best part? Navigating the database of GIFs couldn’t be easier: Users can browse categories — Adjectives, Music, Nature, Science, etc. — or seek out a specific word or phrase using the search functionality.

2. Reddit

Reddit is like the mothership for GIFs: The community boasts not one, but several impressive GIF-related subreddits. Here are a few noteworthy ones:

• /r/gifs/
• /r/reactiongifs
• /r/analogygifs
• /r/highqualitygifs
• /r/dancegifs

While all of the different, categorized options make it easy for you to find what you need, many of these subreddits commit to a series of guidelines to refine their entries even further. For example, while “reaction gifs” and “analogy gifs” may sound pretty similar, there’s actually a difference according to the /r/reactiongif’s wiki page. Allow me to demonstrate…

Reaction GIF

I don’t know about you but when I find out payday is coming up I react like:

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Analogy GIF

When I try answering emails before my coffee, I feel like:

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As explained on the /r/reactiongif’s wiki page, “A reaction gif is a physical or emotional response that is captured in a .gif which you can link in response to someone or something on the Internet. A gif which is a metaphorical reaction to something does not qualify as a reaction gif. Generally speaking, most posts that use the term “How I Feel When” are analogy gifs.”

3. Tumblr

Tumblr is a huge blogging platform where GIFs are made and shared like crazy. Bloggers on this platform do an excellent job of pairing relevant GIFs with relatable scenarios. There’s plenty of blogs dedicated to sharing funny GIFs daily, but my favorite ones to share on a Monday would be in hashtags like #work-memes #workfromhome and more.

For instance:

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We all know that feeling — right? (If not, then I must ask you, what’s it like to be perfect?)

Anyways, all you have to do is use the top search bar to lookup hashtags of the content you’re looking for, or follow some blog pages that are dedicated to uploading GIFs daily. GIFs featured on Tumblr are either handmade in Photoshop by the creators or sourced from different websites, and they’re pretty good about giving credit where credit is due.

4. Gfycat

Gfycat is another gallery with millions of GIFs to dive into. Not only is it one of the most popular GIF sites, but it has an easy Video-to-Gif creator tool to turn your favorite Twitter, Vimeo, and Twitch streams into your library of memes.

Navigate its selection of GIFs from the search bar or left menu, choosing from the latest “Trending” or “Explore” section to find different popular categories of GIFs or stickers.

And who would I be to share a site called “Gfycat” without an obligatory cat GIF?

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5. Tenor

Tenor is a great way to throw a relatable GIF into any conversation, whether on your PC or iPhone.

Having funny GIFs at your fingertips is a great way to share a quick laugh with your friends and family. All you have to do is type in how you’re feeling on your phone’s keyboard and Tenor will automatically start populating tons of GIFs. Perfect for putting in your conversation with cousin Katy who still gets a kick out of watching America’s Funniest Home Videos.

6. Reaction GIFs

This site serves up an appropriate GIF for just about anything you’re thinking. Depending on what you’re searching for, there are several different ways to uncover a perfect match.

One way is to use the dropdown menus on the right side of the site. These menus allow users to surface GIFs that match a specific feeling (tired, confused, proud, etc.) or answer (yes, no, undecided, etc.). For example, a search for “excited” might surface something like this:

Users also have the option to search by galleries or tags. Galleries are organized into categories such as “OMG,” “Dance Party,” and “LOL,” but there’s plenty more tags to explore.

7. GIFbin

Here’s another stellar resource for uncovering GIFs.

On GIFbin, users can filter thumbnails by “Newest,” “Top Rated,” and “Most Viewed,” or by tags. The interesting thing about GIFbin’s tag system is that they are categorized by both name and count.

While the names are pretty standard search terms — animals, babies, sports, etc. — the count feature allows you to easily uncover terms with the highest volume of available GIFs. Check it out:

Or if you’ve got too much free time on your hands like me, click through the rabbit hole— I mean— “random GIF” button for endless fun.

8. Imgur

Ah yes, Imgur, the Reddit of GIF sites without all the text threads.

Imgur is an image hosting site that shares an array of funny or cool GIFs. It’s library is a mix between new uploads and even some of my favorites from the 2010s.

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Search up any tags for all the funny movie edits, or whatever else you’re interested in via Imgur.

9. Imgflip

Imgflip is another extensive library of GIFs. There are a few ways to browse Imgflip content, as detailed on the website:

• Hot/Latest images on the homepage
• Use the Previous / Next / Random navigation on image pages
• Use the hotkeys as described on image pages
• Tag pages (such as cats)
• Meme pages such as Grumpy Cat, found on the meme templates page

If you like a little competition, you can create your own GIFs and earn a spot on the leaderboard. If your GIF gets upvoted enough, you can bask in the glory of making strangers on the internet laugh.

10. Gyazo

Last but not least, we have Gyazo. This website is a bit different from the others, but with this tool you can capture your PC screen (like a clip instead of a screenshot) and create GIFs out of them. Made to convert footage into GIFs quickly, it stores your library in your account, so you can link or download your favorite GIFs whenever you want.

As a different method to making your own GIFs, Gyazo makes it easy to create, store, and share your favorite GIFs with your favorite people.

For your viewing pleasure, enjoy some GIFception as I used Gyazo myself to make a GIF out of a video of someone using Gyazo to make a GIF.

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Why You Should Use GIFs in a Business Setting

On a more serious note, GIFs are another form of visual content that can be used for both fun, and strategically for marketing. For businesses, they can be a tool to demonstrate company culture and drive more engagement by appealing to customers looking for authenticity.

Internal Use

On an internal level, exchanging GIFs in conversation or including them throughout presentations can help break up the monotony of day-to-day business.

Adding some level of quirkiness in meetings or seminars can keep employees more engaged and satisfied than otherwise. Plus, it never hurts to share a quick laugh in the office, as long as you don’t get too carried away.

External Use

55% of B2C content creators say that creating or sharing visual content is a big priority for them presently. Similar to videos or live recordings, using GIFs to convey ideas in a business setting offers viewers visuals that are more stimulating than text-only content.

For instance, when people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retain 65% of the information three days later.

Also, using GIFs on social media accounts is a great way to catch the attention of potential customers. Whether it’s Instagram, Twitter, or a blogging platform, adding a visual like GIFs to your post can prove useful to a business.

The World is Your Image Library

There’s plenty of websites to choose from when it comes to finding some pretty cool GIFs. Whether you need to send one to your coworker’s birthday email chain, or make your brother, Trevor, laugh at the dinner table, we hope this list helps narrow down your search for the perfect GIF.

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

Troubleshooting a HTTP 500 internal server error is like solving a mystery.

You don’t know what exactly happened or why it happened — all you know is that something’s wrong and you need to fix it.

To guide you through the hassle of troubleshooting the dreaded HTTP 500 internal server error, let’s go over what it exactly means and its most common causes and solutions.

Potential Causes of a 500 Internal Server Error

A 500 internal server error is, as the name implies, a general problem with the website’s server. More than likely, this means there’s an issue or temporary glitch with the website’s programming. 

Some potential causes include: 

• Corrupted or broken .htaccess file 
• A permissions error
• Faulty third-party plugins or themes
• the PHP memory limit being exceeded

However, the difficulty with a 500 internal server error is it doesn’t immediately tell you what the problem is, or how to fix it. Let’s dive into a few potential solutions you can try to fix the issue.

How to Fix a 500 Internal Server Error

Fortunately, there are a few effective solutions for fixing most HTTP 500 Internal Server Errors. 

If You’re Trying to Load a Page with a 500 Internal Server Error

1. Refresh the page.

This might seem obvious, but if it’s a temporary loading issue, you might find success if you refresh the page. Before trying anything else in this list, reload the page and see what happens. 

2. Come back later.

Since the error is on the server-side, I’m willing to bet the website owners are working as quickly as possible to resolve the issue. Give it a few minutes or upwards of an hour or two, and then reload the URL and see if the development team has fixed the issue. 

3. Delete your browser’s cookies. 

If clearing the browser history doesn’t work, you might try deleting your browser’s cookies. If the cookies are associated with the error-prone webpage, deleting the cookies might help reload the page. 

4. Paste your URL into the website “Down for Everyone or Just Me.”

This URL should help you copy-and-paste the URL where you’re seeing the internal server error. If it’s a problem with the server, you’ll see a message that says, “It’s not just you! [URL] is down for everyone.” This should help assuage any concerns that it’s an issue with your own computer. 

If the 500 Internal Server Error is on Your Own Website 

1. Deactivate a plugin or theme. 

Newly activated plugin or themes might conflict with your current plugins or themes. Deactivate them one at a time to identify the exact plugins or themes causing the internal server error.

Alternatively, if you just upgraded your software, your current plugins or themes might not be compatible with the new upgrade. Deactivating plugins or themes one at a time until the error disappears is the best way to find the root cause of your problem.

2. Use a plugin like WP Debugging to identify the issue. 

If your site is hosted on WordPress, consider installing a plugin to help you identify the issue. This debugger plugin, for instance, helps you figure out exactly what’s wrong with your site, which will result in a speedier fix. 

To learn how to download the plugin, take a look at our post, How to Fix “is currently unable to handle this request” in WordPress [HTTP Error 500].

3. Ensure your PHP setup is configured correctly. 

If the issue is related to a PHP timeout, consider creating timeout rules or error handling in your script to resolve the issue. Here’s a full list of php.ini directives to configure your PHP setup.

Additionally, wrong permissions on a file or folder that has a script, like a PHP or CGI script, won’t allow the script to run. Check your permissions and make sure you set them correctly on your server.

4. Check the code for your site’s .htaccess file. 

Incorrect coding or improper structure with your .htaccess file could be the reason you’re seeing the 500 internal error. A .htaccess file helps you manage how long resources should be stored in a browser’s cache. Try editing the file if you’re seeing a 500 internal server error. 

Coding errors of an .htcaccess file and custom scripts can also cause an HTTP 500 internal server error.

5. Ensure your new software installed correctly. 

Check to see if your recently installed or upgraded software actually failed to install or upgrade. To refresh your software, check the vendor’s website for instructions.

Asking a Server Administrator for Help

If troubleshooting popular software problems or debugging server-side scripts doesn’t fix your HTTP 500 internal server error, you should read about the most common causes for this type of issue in your server’s documentation — an HTTP 500 internal server error can occur in different operating systems for a multitude of reasons.

You can also ask your server provider to access your error logs and find evidence for the root cause of your problem.

It’s our favorite time of the year: Report season.

For the past 5 years, we’ve been sharing first-party backed content consumption data from the previous 12 months (in this case 2020), providing B2B Marketers like you with the latest and greatest around the Who, What, When, Why, and How of Content Marketing.

Not only do we get to share an entire year’s worth of consumption data with the B2B industry, but we also get to sink our teeth into a brand new set of data points, trends, behaviors, and surprises. 

Given the many audibles this year caused us to call, we’re eager to share our findings with you.

Introducing the 2021 State of B2B Content Consumption and Demand Report for Marketers

Of course, it should be said plainly that 2020 was a very rough, abnormal year for the entire world. Naturally, there were going to be a lot more surprises in this year’s annual report compared to others. 

Therefore, it only makes sense to begin our analysis of NetLine’s 2021 Content Consumption Report with the #1 topic from the past year.

How COVID-19 Affected B2B Content Consumption

You cannot talk about 2020 without talking about COVID-19. No matter how hard we tried to uncover other major influences, (which, of course, are there in very small doses) each and every data point we unearthed and analyzed was tinged by it. 

As we mention in the title, the rush to learn more about the virus and the impact it would have on business lead to a 22% surge in overall content consumption. Data that we analyzed in How COVID-19 Continues to Impact B2B Content Consumption found that the total demand for B2B content rose by 49.8% in May—even filtering out Coronavirus content yielded a 41.6% increase during this time. B2B pros were hungry for information.

In the report, we further highlight this in The Elephant in the Room, where we focus on consumption between February 1 – September 30, 2020. We chose this period for two reasons:

• This is when the most interest in Coronavirus-related content was at its peak
• This is when many professionals were limiting their time outside of the home and the most municipal restrictions were in place

Given the nature of COVID and how society bunkered down, the biggest changes occurred around remote work, collaboration software and security, and everything to do with HR.

Overall, this period represented a rush by B2B professionals to consume information. The amount of content requested during this 8-month span equaled 83% of 2019’s total volume of consumption. Incredible.

During this time, 5 new industries entered the 10 Most Active Industry Audiences:

• Manufacturing
• Retail and Consumer Goods
• Service Industry
• Corporate Services
• Construction
  

Given the direct impact that these professions felt during the earliest days of The Pause, this is significant. These industries needed to learn how to cope with the new realities of what it took to survive and how to properly respond to the needs of their employees and clientele.

The New Equation for Content Marketing Success

COVID-19 did a number on the way humans interacted with the world. Now, more than one year in, we’ve noticed plenty of changes, specifically around how business behavior has evolved. 

Our research uncovered 3 core elements of what it will take to successfully create, market, and convert through B2B Content Marketing in 2021 and beyond: Security, Predictability, and Simplicity. 

The primary connector here is trust. While trust has always been a pillar of every business relationship, COVID underscored just how crucial it truly is. 

By focusing on these principles, businesses can structure themselves in ways that protect their ecosystems, be better able to anticipate what’s coming next and how they’ll fare, and reap the benefits of sweating the small stuff.

Does Time Still Matter in Content Marketing?

This is still one of the industry’s most favorite questions to ask. 

In 2019, Tuesdays and Wednesdays were the best times to reach B2B audiences. In 2020, with so many people working from home, with hours likely being quite flexible in most cases, you were basically just as likely to have someone requesting content on Monday as they were on Thursday. By two-tenths of a percentage point, Wednesdays were still the leader, but at this small margin of “victory”.

HR and IT Were the Most Requested Content Topics Overall

In past reports, there was one major data point that we realized was missing: What was being consumed. 

One of the major themes of 2020 as we noted in our COVID Impact Series was how businesses would adapt and evolve to the long-term realities of having so many, if not all, of their employees working remotely. All of this activity led directly to a surge in WFH content consumption, which accounted for 2.2% (roughly 100,000) of all registrations.

What we can glean from this information is that with so much happening in the U.S. specific to healthcare reform, insurance benefit alterations, and every other policy decision out of Washington, Human Resource teams have their work cut out for them. This won’t be changing in 2021, either, given the massive changes happening within the workforce thanks to COVID-19.

Webinars Ruled

With so many of us working virtually, the use of Webinars skyrocketed in 2020. By April of last year, ON24 reported that they’d observed a 333% increase in overall webinar attendance. By the time the year ended, audiences had consumed 249% more Webinar content than the year prior.

But what does all of this mean for the future of webinars as a viable content medium? Well, first of all, quite a bit.

The loss of face-to-face interactions accelerated digital experiences, meaning that Webinars became a major part of a Digital-First Marketing strategy. This prominence led webinars to become the 8th most requested content format of 2020, with overall registrations increasing by 49%.

On-Demand Webinars generated 36% more registrations than Live Webinars, indicating the longtail value in this format. B2B Marketers clearly saw the value Webinars have to offer, as NetLine observed a 103% increase in Webinars uploaded to our platform. 

While burnout is a real threat, Webinars aren’t slowing down in 2021. We expect to again see another bump in the world of Webinars when we publish the 2022 Report.

What Your Business Can Learn From The 2021 Content Consumption Report

The true answer here would be that it depends. But that would be both a lame and cowardly way of ending this announcement blog. 

What we believe B2B businesses and content marketers, specifically, can learn is that no matter how large or small your target audience, there is a sweet spot that you can occupy if you pay attention to the story the data wants to tell. 

If you’re a no-nonsense, data-minded marketer with a fearless determination to navigate the complicated content consumption ecosystem and drive lead gen success, especially in the midst of the strangest business outlook in modern history, look no further. Gain a competitive advantage with our 2021 State of B2B Content Consumption and Demand Report. Let this first-party data lend a strong helping hand in building and optimizing your strategy.

The 2021 State of B2B Content Consumption and Demand Report for Marketers is yours for free. We thoroughly hope you both learn from it and enjoy it.

When it comes to the final days before vacation, people tend to fall into one of two camps: 1) those who watch the clock incessantly, and 2) those who are so busy before they leave, they might even forget to put up an out-of-office (OOO) email message.

If you’re anything like I am, you probably fall into team two. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to get creative. But if you plan ahead, you might be able to craft some hilarity.

In this post, I’ll go over what an OOO message is and share some of the best examples I’ve found on Google, as well as a few from my coworkers).

Also known as “autoresponder emails,” out-of-office messages run the gamut. From funny, to clever, to snarky, this message can both show your personality and let senders know that, well, you’re out of office.

While you can keep it simple, you can also have some fun with it.

What should I put on my out-of-office message?

First things first: let’s go over the basics of an OOO email. In your away message, you typically include the following:

• A quick “I’m out of the office” phrase.
• The date or time range you’ll be out.
• Who to reach out to in case the sender needs immediate attention.
• A sign-off.

Putting it all together, your autoresponder would read something like:

“Hi there,

Thanks for your email. I’m currently out of office until mm/dd/yyyy. If you need help, email my colleague at [email protected].

Best,

[Name]”

But that sounds boring, right? Luckily, there are ways to spice up your OOO message by adding humor in just the right places.

If you’re feeling stuck, try our free OOO email generator to draft a message that perfectly captures who you are and where you’re going.

Featured Resource: OOO Email Generator

Create your OOO email by clicking here.

Out-of-Office Messages for Vacation

1. “I’ll email you back once I’ve defrosted.”

Most times, when people go on vacation, they travel to a warm, tropical place…

But some of us just aren’t as lucky. Or if we’re traveling during the winter and heading up north — well, we’re going to run into some snow, aren’t we?

While this may not prove so fortunate for us, we can use the poor weather for comedic relief. You can even include a screenshot of the weather forecast for a sense of realism. Not only will it give senders a chuckle, but it’ll also generate a certain amount of empathy — which is often the key to good content.

Example

Thanks for your message! I’m currently buried in snow and will get back to you once I’ve defrosted on January 2nd.

And if you think I’m lying…

Image Source

Gotta go, my fingers are frostbitten. If you really need me, either get a shovel and dig me out of here, or reach out to my colleague Anna — who’s not frozen under snow with frostbitten fingers — at [email protected]

2. “If found, contact someone other than me.”

If your email client allows it, you could always just use an image to express your out-office sentiment, like this one. After all, they say that a picture is worth a thousand words — and visual content is still essential to successful marketing.

In this image, you’re letting people know you’re OOO with a “Missing” notice on a milk carton. Genius. Just be careful — this sort of autoresponder is best for internal emails, not for autoresponders that get sent to prospects and clients.

3. “I’ll get back to you when I return to civilization.”

If you’re traveling to a remote, mountainous area, why not jab some fun at your lack of WiFi in your autoresponder? Plus, that makes it less likely that people will expect an immediate response or continue to email you after the first try.

Example

Hi there,

Sorry I missed you — I’m unable to get to my email right this second. Why? I’m on a backpacking trip, surviving on Spam, really good water, and trail mix. You should see the stars out here.

I’ll get back to you when I return to civilization. Or to an area with WiFi. Or to the office on May 10th. Whichever comes first.

If you need help right now, email my team at [email protected].

4. “If you need to reach me, travel to my homeland of Florida.”

When one of my colleagues went on vacation, he sent an out-of-office message that was both clever and smart. First, he sent the recipient on an imaginary scavenger hunt to “the highest peak of the tallest mountain.” He used humorous absurdity to make it clear that he would not be checking email while he was away.

Plus, he incorporated a delightful technique to let people know that if they really wanted him to read their emails, they should probably send them again after his return. Not only does that keep the sender accountable by saying, “If this is really important, you know when to reach me,” but it also helps him truly vacate his work while he’s away. And that’s hard to do.

Below is an example you can use for yourself.

Example

Hey!

I’m on vacation until July 18th. If you need to reach me, here’s what you’ll need to do:

• First, travel to my homeland of Florida.
• Climb to the highest peak of the tallest mountain.
• Find a rare flower (no specifics, of course… It’d be cheating).
• Put the flower back, because as the old hiking rule goes, “Leave everything as you found it.”

When you understand that flower, you’ll know to reach me. Trust me. You’ll know.

If your message requires a response faster than that, please email my manager at [email protected].

If you want to make sure your message gets a response ASAP when I return, please send it on July 18th. I recommend using one of our sales automation tools to schedule it now, while you’re thinking about it.

5. “I know I’m supposed to say that I’ll have limited access to email, but…”

Josh Kopelman’s vacation email is a classic example of taking a blunt approach at OOO messages.

Not only did Kopelman manage to turn his out-of-office message into an epic poem of sorts, but also, he actually went through the trouble of creating a delightfully snarky, vacation-specific email address for his recipients.

Giving the option to contact an email address containing “interruptyourvacation” provides two things — 1) A dose of humor, and 2) discouragement from actually doing what the name suggests. Plus, he prefaces it with a request for empathy, by explaining that he promised quality time to his family.

Sure, Kopelman is truthful about the fact that he’s on vacation, but he also lets the recipient know that he or she would be interrupting important family time if the first option is chosen. It states a point simply and uses humor to avoid making it sound like he wants the reader to feel guilty.

Below is an example you can use for yourself.

Example

Hi there,

You got this email immediately (classic autoresponder behavior), which means I’m out of office on vacation.

While I hypothetically could reach my email, while I hypothetically do have my phone on hand, and while I hypothetically do have access to WiFi, I’d rather enjoy time with my family. My kids are growing up at the speed of a supersonic jet, and if I blink one more time, they’ll be 35. And I’ll be 73. And I don’t want that.

If you still need to reach me, you can email [email protected]. Or you can email my assistant at [email protected]. They can point you in the right direction.

Looking forward to reconnecting once I’m back.

6. “Hi, I’m Troy McClure.”

When one of my colleagues is out of the office, he doesn’t mess around. In fact, he’s turned his auto-responses into a running series of commentary from fictional cartoon character Troy McClure.

Each time McClure makes an appearance in these out-of-office messages, he “speaks” on behalf of my colleague and alludes to the previous auto-responses in which he starred. It’s a mild form of self-deprecating humor — as if to say, “I know, I’m out of the office again” — made only funnier by the made-up teaser title included in the last line.

Don’t be afraid to use a pop cultural reference that the audience would recognize. Instead of bemoaning your absence, they’ll have something fun and familiar to laugh at.

Example

Image Source

Hi, I’m Troy McClure. You might remember me from such out-of-office messages as Avenge My Death if I Don’t Return from DMEXCO and Bye Now, I’m on an Absurdly Long Cycling Trip.

I’m here to talk to you about someone you know. Catalina Wong is out of office until September 27. She wanted me to let you know that she’ll get back to you after her return.

That’s all for now. Watch for me in the upcoming out-of-office message, It’s Not a Hangover, It’s Food Poisoning — I Swear! And be safe out there.

7. “The bad news is that I’m out of office. The good news is that I’m out of office.”

You can show just how thrilled you are about your vacation while still providing an apology (of sorts… not really).

Example

Hey there — I’ve got good and bad news for you. Let’s go with the bad first.

The bad news is that I’m out of office. The good news is that I’m out of office and enjoying elotes in Cancún.

If you can’t wait for a response, my colleague will be happy to take care of you. Just email them at [email protected].

I’ll be back on February 7th.

8. “I am currently out of the office and probably chilling on the beach. Enjoy your work week.”

That’s it. That’s all. Simple and to the point, this message will let people know that you can’t respond to messages.

That said, be careful with messages that are this curt. Make sure you’re familiar enough with your audience — and your boss, for that matter — to know that this sort of out-of-office message will be met with a snicker, and not with annoyance.

9. “Can you guess where I am?”

There’s a term that we like to use around here called “snowbirds,” which is used to describe those who once resided in the northern part of the U.S., only to flee to warmer parts of the country during the winter.

And although my colleague had mixed feelings about her own parents joining that population in Florida, she couldn’t be too upset when her dad suggested flying down from Boston for a Red Sox spring training game.

Naturally, she had to take the day off — and couldn’t let folks know with any old generic auto-response. Instead, she made a guessing game of it in her out-of-office email, which you can use for yourself, below.

Example

Hello there,

I’m currently out of the office, enjoying some peanuts and Cracker Jacks with my family. Can you guess where I am? That’s okay, you’re busy.

If your message is urgent, fear not — we’ll get it addressed. Try doing one of two things:

1. Send me an email at [email protected].
1. Just kidding. That’s not a real email address.
2. Reach out to my manager at [email protected] in my absence.

I’ll be back in the office on 7/19 and will happily respond then. Have a great weekend!

Holiday Out-of-Office Messages

10. “Holiday revelry and debauchery ahead. Proceed with caution (if you dare).”

When you’re out for the holidays, how can you express your thrill for the season without sounding, well, cheesy?

How about warning people of what’s to come? Take a look at an example you can use below.

Example

Hey there,

Careful. Holiday revelry and debauchery ahead. Proceed with caution (if you dare).

By which I mean to say: I’m on holiday, I’m definitely sunburnt, and I’m sorry I missed your email.

Don’t you worry: while I pretend to be Santa in front of my kids, my colleague, Hannah, will cover for me. Just email her at [email protected] if you need urgent assistance.

Take care, and don’t get too carried away with the sunbathing!

11. “Thank you so much for your email. I love it already.”

This holiday out-of-office email is definitely on theme, if not a little passive aggressive. If you’re getting emails during the holidays, why not treat everything you receive that season like the present it is, and send a thank you note?

My snarky colleague sure did in his out-of-office message below. We send thank-you letters in response to holiday gifts, so it’s only natural to expect the same gesture in our work inboxes …

Example

Hey there,

Thank you so much for your email. I love it already. It’s wrapped so nicely in its charming subject line that I just knew this message was going to be something special. Gifts like these just don’t come around every day.

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to return your message. As it’s the holiday season, I’m currently away from the office. When I return, I’ll give your email a good solid read and find that your request is exactly what I needed after all! But until then, I’m going to keep it in the inbox so it doesn’t get damaged and revisit it after the holidays are over.

Happy holidays!

12. “Die Hard Quiz.”

Check out this message from a HubSpot employee that certainly turns the tables on the email sender. Right when you thought you were the one requesting action, the recipient sent back an assignment — a fun one, at least.

While the sender waits for your response to their email, take the sting out of your absence by involving them in a holiday survey, like the one below.

Example

Sorry I missed you. I’ll be out of the office and slow to respond until after the break. While I have you, though, help settle an argument among my colleagues and me:

Die Hard Quiz

What was the best Die Hard movie?

• Die Hard 1: The Office Christmas Party Gone Wrong.
• Die Hard 2: Airport Conspiracy.
• Die Hard 3: Samuel L. Jackson. Enough said.
• Die Hard 4: Cyberthreat.
• Die Hard 5: You should probably not pick this one.
• Impossible! It’s like choosing a favorite child!

Submit

13. “Here are 10 things I’m thankful for.”

This email comes from another one of my colleagues. The purpose of this email is to intercept messages during Thanksgiving, and the way in which it does so is, well, with thankfulness.

The funny and charming email template below keeps the confidence of your colleagues with a list of things anyone who works in an office is thankful for. Of course, feel free to customize this list according to the quirks of your own workplace. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reveal them.

Example

Since I’m out of the office for the Thanksgiving weekend, I’ll respond to your email with a list of 10 things I’m thankful for:

1. Copiers that collate
2. Co-workers that brew more coffee when they empty the pot
3. Donuts on Mondays AND Fridays
4. When IT surprised me with a new laptop AND remembered to transfer my files
5. When You-Know-Who died at the end of book 7
6. Dry-erase boards that actually erase
7. The brave soul who cleaned out the refrigerator
8. When I’m early to an all-staff meeting and score a table near the door
9. HR finally sent a memo telling people to STOP clipping their nails at their desk
10. OOO autoresponders

Have a great Thanksgiving, and I’ll get back to you Monday.

14. “I’m busy watching Christmas movies. Catch ya later.”

There’s no shame in using Christmas to indulge in your childhood movie tastes, but there is shame in not sharing that adorable side of yourself when people are trying to reach you during the holidays.

So, take a lesson from @courtwhip, editor at PEDESTRIAN.TV, who wrote the above hilarious out-of-office email, fully stocked with mentions of the best movies from the 1990s. (By the way, “Splinter” is from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and as we all know, he loves pizza.)

Below is an example you could use for yourself. Well, it’s the same email.

Example

Oh hey, it’s Christmas, what are you doing emailing me?

I’m extremely busy watching Home Alone, Die Hard, and the 1994 Ninja Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Christmas Special on repeat until the new year.

I might stop for food and toilet breaks, I also might not.

Regardless of my general health and hygiene over the silly season, I’ll be back in the office on January 2.

Catch ya then, don’t forget to buy a pepperoni pizza for Splinter.

15. “Thank you for your consideration during this festive or not-festive time.”

Scared of offending a coworker who may or may not celebrate the holidays? Worry not — I’ve got the perfect email for you. If this OOO message does anything particularly well, it’s that it respects the differing views, religions, traditions, and opinions of your coworkers — while amusing so many others.

It’s also a great impersonation of a robot. So if that’s up your alley…

Example

Hello,

You’ve reached Michael Abioye’s inbox. This is a general notice informing you of Michael Abioye’s absence until January 2nd, 20XX. He is currently partaking in the traditions of a certain holiday, which may or may not be denominational or non-denominational. Example Company is in no way endorsing or not endorsing said holiday, nor encouraging or discouraging employees of all demographics to engage in celebratory activities. Thank you for your consideration during this festive or not-festive time.

Sincerely,

Management

Out-of-Office Messages When Working from Home

Working from home? Try these OOO messages to let people know you’re taking a break.

16. “I’ll get back to you once I’m back from my long-awaited trip to the fridge.”

If you’re taking a vacation and staying home, your clients or coworkers may still expect you to pop into the office and answer their email. Use this autoresponder to let them know you’re really not available — even if you’re bumming around on the couch.

Example

Hey,

Thanks for your email. I’m on vacation. On the couch. Eating chips. And bingeing Stranger Things for the eighth time (don’t tell anyone).

Unfortunately, I can’t answer your email (even though my office is three feet away). I’ll get back to you once I’m back from my long-awaited trip to the fridge. Bought tickets on TripAdvisor and everything.

I’ll be back in the office on the third and will get back to you then.

17. “Alexa, play Vacation by Dirty Heads.”

Do you own an Alexa? This might be the email for you.

Example

“Alexa, play Vacation by Dirty Heads.”

And… it’s playing in the background as I write this email. Guess what? I’m on vacation! And I do love my occupation.

Your email has been received and I’ll get back to you as soon as I get back to my home office. Now, how do I turn off this Alexa thing?

18. “The doorbell just rang. It’s the UPS driver. He’s loading me onto the truck.”

In this email, you’re a UPS package getting delivered to your vacation destination. Ah, I wish UPS offered this service.

Example

Hey — you’ve reached my inbox, but hold on, the doorbell just rang. It’s the UPS driver. He’s loading me onto the truck. Dang, it’s stuffy in this truck with all these boxes. He’s taking me down to… Oh! Florida! And now I’m on the beach. Thanks, UPS driver!

The UPS driver is scheduled to pick me back up on the eighth. He should deliver me back to the office by the ninth (assuming he’s not late like he was this time).

Don’t worry — I’ll wrap myself in bubble wrap so nothing breaks.

Funny OOO Messages Never Fail

Are you fully inspired by the creative out-of-office messages above? It’s time to write your own — your upcoming vacation depends on it. Try HubSpot’s OOO Email Generator if you’re feeling stuck, and remember, an out-of-office email doesn’t need to be boring. On the contrary, it should inform and entertain. You don’t want people hating on you because you took a much-needed break.

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

We’ve built HubSpot on the belief that you earn attention by being of value. That belief is at the very heart of HubSpot’s success; creating remarkable content is what makes a remarkable brand.

We’ve spent the past decade investing in educational content to help all kinds of business builders be successful. Marketing, sales, customer support, customer success, product, engineering, entrepreneurs are all helping to build and grow businesses. And, we’ve provided free education through our blogs, YouTube, Academy, and podcasts to help.

With nearly 114,000 customers now using HubSpot to scale their companies, our ambitions around content have only gotten bigger.

It’s why we’re excited to announce the launch of HubSpot’s Podcast Network, a new audio destination that is home to six great shows that represent a wide range of business topics and backgrounds. Together, this collection covers the scope and mastery every company needs to find success. The inaugural members of the network are:

• Entrepreneurs on Fire, which delivers the inspiration and strategies you need to fire up your entrepreneurial journey and create the life you’ve always dreamed of.
• Business Infrastructure, which provides solutions and real-life stories to owners and operators of fast-growing small businesses seeking practical tips for creating the operations and business infrastructure needed to grow a company.
• Being Boss, an exploration of not only what it means, but what it takes to be boss as a creative business owner, freelancer, or side-hustler.
• The MarTech Podcast, which tells stories of marketers who use technology to generate growth and achieve success by unearthing the successes and pitfalls of industry experts and the tools and tips that they’ve learned along the way.
• The Salesman Podcast, which helps sales professionals learn how to find buyers and win business in a modern, effective, and ethical way.
• My First Million, where the hosts brainstorm new business ideas based on trends and opportunities in the market, and share the stories of how companies made their first million.

Why a Podcast Network?

We believe the popularity of audio will continue to grow. It’s a media format that is continuing to evolve and get better.

Companies like Apple and Spotify are investing more in podcasts, and companies like Clubhouse are innovating in how we consume and connect around audio.

More and more people are listening to podcasts. In fact, more than 116 million people in the USA listen to podcasts monthly — that’s over 61% growth in under three years. Each week more Americans listen to a podcast than have Netflix accounts.

But, one common challenge for people is how to discover great podcasts, ones that can help them unlock their problems and provide them with the inspiration to do better. As the number of podcasts grows, how do you find the ones that are best for you?

HubSpot’s Podcast Network brings together the best-in-class business shows that educate and inspire — all in one place. It will help introduce people to new shows, episodes, and creators who can help unlock their next phase of growth.

The Podcast Network will help us to reach and serve millions of business builders, and we’re excited to keep adding new creators and shows so our audience can get the best content from whoever can serve them best.

What’s Next

We want to continue to be the premier source of education for business builders, but we also want to pair that education with stories that inspire.

We want to shine a light on the experts, brands, and leaders who’ve overcome their obstacles, disrupted their markets, and have remarkable things to say. We want to make sure our audience has the latest trends that matter to them and help them understand what those trends mean for their careers and businesses.

We want to ensure all business builders have the content they need in whatever medium they choose to consume it, whether it’s a blog post, newsletter, podcast, or video.

With the acquisition of the Hustle back in February, and by launching our podcast network, we’re working to ensure our audience gets the best content from HubSpot’s media team, and the creators who can educate and inspire them.

Learn more about the HubSpot Podcast Network here.