Category Archives: B2B

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Though Mike Tyson meant that literally, his wise words certainly hold true in marketing.

And no marketer gets punched in the mouth quite as often as those who deal with user-generated content.

Need convincing? Just search for videos about Celsius on TikTok. While the drink brand does tout ingredients that “burn calories,” many TikTokkers falsely claim the fitness beverage contains everything from Ozempic to cyanide and will give you luscious locks, sturdy nails, and an early grave.

So what’s a brand to do when UGC goes off the rails? Does a smart marketer fight back or roll with the punches?

Below, I cover some real-world examples of how brands have encountered controversial UGC and then pluck out some takeaways to learn from.

But first, let’s check out what’s at stake …

When UGC Attacks

Despite the old adage that “all publicity is good publicity,” there are a few different types of user-generated content that can potentially damage your brand — even if it sounds overwhelmingly positive.

Misinformation

This involves outright false claims about your product or service. Even when users are trying to promote your brand, these posts can be damaging.

Diving back into the Celsius case I noted above, the “fitness drink” became a lightning rod for false information last year when drinkers posted TikToks alleging it contained the weight-loss drug Ozempic.

At its peak, the term “Celsius drink Ozempic” reached a whopping 11.7 million searches on TikTok.

The trend got so out of hand that a spokesperson had to give a media tour to Fox and other outlets to state “Celsius products do not contain, and have never contained, Semaglutide (the generic name for Ozempic and Wegovy).”

Even though the videos might feel positive, they could very well turn off health-conscious consumers who believed the false claims that the drink snuck prescription medication into its recipe.

Should the marketing team have stepped in before it got that far? Or was it a message that needed to come from an official channel?

Misleading Content

And what about claims that are simply harmless stretches of truth instead of outright lies?

Again, we look to Celsius. TikTok’s second favorite claim about the drink is that it helps people quickly grow hair and nails. Though Celsius markets itself as a health drink — and some ingredients may be linked to hair and nail growth on their own — this is still just a rumor that is unproven by testing. A rumor that Celsius hasn’t spoken out on. But, should they?

The claims aren’t hurting anyone, they’re hard to falsify, and they’re promoting the brand, right?

Before you think of this hard-to-prove rumor as a win, remember that 80% of consumers say that UGC impacts purchasing decisions. If customers come to a brand on false grounds, they could feel misled by both UGC creators and a brand when unchecked claims aren’t true.

While a harmless claim might be a gray area, it poses an ethical and moral dilemma that brands should consider.

Negative UGC

While most UGC is geared toward the positive, in this case, the false claims are actively working against your product or service.

In the last few weeks, a health influencer with over 2 million Instagram followers claimed that Celsius contains poisonous cyanide. And not just any old cyanide, but cyanide derived from human waste. (A claim that has been debunked by PhD nutritionist Layne Norton if you don’t trust Celsius themselves.)

(Side note: If you’re on the Celsius social team and find yourself in Asheville, let me buy you a sympathy beer.)

While you may be tempted to jump in and squash these claims immediately, anything that may be considered slander or libel is best handled by your legal representation.

Hoaxes

Finally, in the case of a hoax, the creator tries to pass off the UGC as officially sourced content.

Way back when iOS8 was released (and dinosaurs roamed the Earth), pranksters shared an official-looking advertisement for a new feature called Apple Wave.

According to the fake ad, Wave gave your iPhone the ability to charge your battery “using any standard household microwave.”

(In case it needs to be said: Please don’t microwave your phone.)

This led to a double handful of social media posts showing the charred remains of iPhones.

Though the joke’s actual impact is unclear, Apple took it seriously enough to make multiple statements across various platforms, like Twitter.

Navigating User-Generated Chaos

Let’s rip this part off like a bandaid: There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for how and when to respond to off-course UGC.

Ultimately, a response (or lack thereof) greatly depends on what’s at stake for a brand and what’s being said. (Is it just your reputation on the line or a customer’s life?)

I’m not your PR or legal team and recommend that you consult trusted brand experts when and if the unthinkable happens.

But, here are a few takeaways we’ve gathered from brands who successfully navigated these scenarios:

• Prep a crisis communication plan. Despite Mike Tyson’s proverb, it’s helpful to have the skeleton of a plan ready to go. Who will handle the response? Who should be consulted? What channels will you use?

  With this in place, you can be ready for a scenario where your brand gets an influx of customer web chatter, press requests, or customer service inquiries due to UGC.

• Take a deep breath. Yeah, yeah. You’ve heard this before, but don’t just scroll to the next tip. Responding in anger or fear risks making the situation ten times worse.

  In a crisis, your first instincts will likely be emotional (which doesn’t always lead to the best response.) While timeliness is important, responding effectively is critical.

  Take a beat and consult your team or leaders in deciding the best next step.

• Don’t go on the attack. Even if you’re totally in the right. Even if they’ve insulted your mother. Even if the user is a total jerk.

  Attacking the user personally will never look good for your brand.

• Consider IF a response is even needed. If the UGC is coming from an obvious troll with 20 followers (mostly bots), responding will only bring attention to their message.

  However, if a harmful message goes viral, ignoring it won’t make it go away. In that case, work closely with your PR and legal teams to craft a plan.

• Have a goal in mind. Are you aiming to remind audiences of your brand values or are you just trying to correct false claims to re-earn trust?
• Explain the “Why” behind your response: Consider statements beginning with, “To reassure our customers …” or “We want you to feel safe with our products, so …”

Disclaimer: This blog post is not legal advice, nor an exhaustively proven public-relations guide for your company to use in times of marketing controversy or crisis. Instead, it provides background information to help you better understand the cons of user-generated content and how brands have been documented to respond to it in the past. Any legal or ethical commentary or similar information is not the same as legal or PR advice, where an attorney or public relations expert applies the law or public relations tactics to your specific circumstances. We insist that you consult an attorney and seasoned PR executives if you’d like advice on your interpretation of this information or its accuracy.

In a nutshell, you may not rely on this as legal advice, or as a recommendation of any particular legal understanding.

In 2022, I did the impossible — I had an Instagram Reel go viral. So far, it’s generated over 5.5 million views, 173K shares, 99.5k likes, and 14.6 bookmarks, but the number of new followers? Minimal.

Though it wasn’t my goal, the experience got me thinking about how to get more followers on Instagram. (I mean, if a meme that got the attention of Instagram exec Adam Mosseri won’t do it, what will?)

Between over 2 billion monthly active users and features like shoppable posts, Instagram is an app of opportunity for a variety of businesses.

But here’s the thing: Unless you’re a household name, growing a following is hard work. I’m here to help.

Let’s discuss some proven, actionable strategies to help you get more followers on Instagram, whether they be your first 1000 or next.

Types of Instagram Followers

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, it’s important to know what the Instagram landscape looks like today. In your growth journey, you’ll likely encounter these three main types of followers:

1. Fake Followers

Fake followers are usually bots or dummy accounts that inflate a follower count.

You can typically spot them by their lack of profile pictures, posts, followers, or spammy alpha-numeric usernames.

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Fake followers may make the follower count on your profile look good, but they don‘t engage. Engagement is a huge factor in Instagram’s algorithm (i.e., getting on the Explore feed and in “suggested posts”) and getting brand collaborations as a creator.

2. Ghost Followers

“Ghost” followers on Instagram are inactive users.

They’re like disengaged contacts on an email list. They‘re real, but again, they don’t interact with your content, so they do little more than skew your metrics.

3. Organic Followers

Lastly, we have organic followers. Organic followers are your real, active audience; those who visit your profile, engage with your content, and are potential customers.

Organic followers can cross many demographics, but pay close attention to the following:

• Customers: These are people who have made a purchase. They already know and like your brand so you want to know when you’re talking to one.
• Competitors: These are followers who are in the same industry or line of business as you. They’re likely following to keep an eye on what you’re doing.
• Influencers: Here, we’re referring to micro/nano influencers or creators with 10-75K followers. If relevant, these niche influencers can lead to useful partnerships and increased sales for your business.

Out of these three types of followers, organic followers are really the only ones you want. So, how can you get more of them?

Even if you’ve never tried your hand at Instagram marketing, or you don’t have a team of content creators, you can grow your Instagram account by focusing on a few key areas:

• Instagram Strategy

• Instagram Content Creation

• Engaging Instagram Followers

• Promoting Your Instagram Account

The first step is ensuring your profile is complete and ready to make the best first impression.

Optimizing Your Instagram Profile

An incomplete profile is a huge red flag to potential new followers on Instagram. Missing information can raise questions about why it’s missing which hurts your credibility (Remember what we said about fake followers?) .

Here are a few best practices to make sure your profile is complete and optimized for a good first impression:

Choose a clear username.

Your Instagram username (or handle) should be recognizable and easily searchable — like your business name. In the example below, the UK business The Journal Shop uses the intuitive handle @thejournalshop.

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If your business name is already taken, experiment with related alternatives (i.e., something that includes your business name plus a branded item or a catchphrase).

For example, Peloton uses @onepeloton, while the Australian activewear line Lorna Jane uses @lornajaneactive.

While, ideally, you want to claim your name, variations like this still make your brand recognizable.

Have an on-brand profile picture.

This should be a clear, high-quality picture of your face or logo if you’re a business. Again, you want people to easily recognize and identify you when they come across your posts.

Add details next to your name.

Not everyone does this, but the name field on your Instagram profile is additional real estate you can use to introduce yourself on the platform. Use any extra space here to add details about your business or what you offer.

For example, HubSpot could put “HubSpot | AI-Powered Customer Platform.”

Style blogger Sarah Ramondt Lennon adds “Amazon Fashion” to hers.

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And financial advisor Andrew Lokenauth uses his to promote his newsletter and website.

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Adding these little extra details to your name field tells people what you’re about right when they land on your profile and also frees up some space in your bio.

Share your value and personality in your bio.

Instagram only gives you 150 characters in your bio. Use them to tell people why they should follow you. Include who you are and what you do, but also a hint of personality.

Here are a few examples for inspiration:

• @cheekbonebeauty: “🧡 Indigenous Roots 🌱 Sustainable By Nature 🌎 B Corp Certified 🐰 Cruelty-Free 🐰 Cruelty-Free 🇨🇦 @sephoracanada 🇺🇸 @thirteenlune @jcpenney Founded by @cheekbonejenn”
• @oreo: “Playful moments from your favorite cookie.”
• @sahilbloom: “Exploring my curiosity and sharing what I learn along the way.”
• @CalifiaFarms: “⁣Because life’s too short for one type of milk. 🌱”
• @coragedolls: “Instilling cultural pride with products & stories that finally reflect her. #blackowned”

Add a LinkTree.

Ever heard the line “check out my link in bio“? You can add up to five links here, but I recommend using LinkTree to bypass the limit.

You can use your LinkTree to guide people to your website and other platforms, content, offers — anything really.

Here’s a peek at mine:

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Your bio link is your most direct play to get followers to take action, and it’s the only place you can have clickable links without paying. LinkTree helps you get the most out of it (and it’s free).

Establish your unique brand.

Have a brand color palette? How about a specific font or typeface?

Use these to develop a visual brand for all of the Instagram content you create.

Not only does it make your feed look more organized, cohesive, and professional, but it also gives visitors a way to recognize your content even out of context.

Writing coach @the.plottery accomplishes this on her feed by using similar typography, vectors, and shades of purple in all of her content.

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Note: Use our Instagram templates to create a consistent look and feel for your images.

You’ll also want to develop a consistent voice on Instagram; one that is cohesive with the rest of your brand and company culture.

The last thing you want to do is to be snappy and super casual on Instagram but formal and stoic everywhere else.

Once you’ve got your voice down, make sure it stays consistent and natural in your videos, captions, comments, and messages.

With your profile set up for success, I recommend having 15 or more existing posts before you actually start making a play for followers.

This way, when new people find you, they’ll see a full screen of content and get a better idea of what you offer.

If you haven’t already, download this social media content calendar template to help plan out your posts.

Here are some other resources that may help when filling it out:

• Free Instagram Business Templates
• What to Post on Instagram: Photo & Video Ideas to Spark Inspiration
• How to Plan Your Instagram Posts [+ Free Instagram Planning Templates]

Now, on to the good stuff.

Instagram Strategy Tips for Getting More Followers

1. Have a dedicated content creator/personality.

Yes, people may follow some brands on Instagram, but they are more likely to follow and engage with other people. (Why do you think influencer marketing is so effective?)

While you can certainly collaborate with influencers (more on that later), a smart way to get more followers without the extra cost is to have a dedicated creator or creators in your Instagram content.

Think of these personalities as your spokespeople. Having one or a small handful of spokespeople in your Instagram content gives followers someone human to recognize and connect with rather than simply a cold, faceless brand.

Take Auberth and Javi on HubSpot’s Instagram, for example:

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They both regularly appear in HubSpot’s Instagram content, delivering our messages and representing the brand. They also give followers a face to connect with when they see HubSpot in their feeds.

Find someone with experience and passion for Instagram to appear in your content. Someone who understands user behavior and will stay current on trends, new features, and updates to Reels and Instagram Shopping.

Do you have someone inexperienced who’s interested? Have them dip their toes into becoming a digital creator by getting an Instagram Marketing certification and experimenting with content creation templates.

Learn How to Increase Followers with HubSpot’s Free
Instagram Marketing Course

Pro Tip: Mine your existing team for creators.

No one knows your brand, product, or service better than your team members. If they are willing, ask them to appear in your Instagram content whether it be in images, videos, or even audio.

Consider creating a system for curating content from your team.

For instance, establish a specific email address for folks to submit photos, short videos, and memes. Or if your team shares a Box or Dropbox account, create a shared folder where people can upload their content.

Think about how your team communicates and make it easy for them to get involved.

2. Share educational content with Instagram carousels.

The best way to get more followers on Instagram is to offer value. In this case, education.

Instagram carousel posts actually have the highest engagement of all content on the platform (3x more than solo images), but they only account for about 19% of posts.

(Think we can blame Instagram’s 2022 video push for that.)

Think about what you can educate your audience on. Then, create a simple Instagram carousel post with an engaging title enticing users to click through to the next slide.

Grammarly does a great job of sharing educational carousels on its Instagram:

3. Be mindful of diversity and inclusion.

Instagram is a global platform that reaches people from all walks of life.

Thinking about diversity and inclusivity can help reach more of these people by looking past preconceived notions of gender, age, race, income, and sexuality to highlight how your product or service can offer value.

How do you do this? It comes back to focusing on common pain points and experiences, which are often universal regardless of topical traits.

Inclusive marketing challenges rigid ideas of who a brand’s buyers are and how their product is used to cast a wider net — one that may include demographics they may have never considered before.

Recently, I’ve been impressed by Urban Decay Cosmetics’ inclusive content on Instagram.

While, historically, many makeup brands have primarily targeted women and showcased conventional Western beauty standards, Urban Decay’s content features a wide range of individuals using their products.

This opens them up to many other markets (and followers) that may currently be ignored by their competitors.

4. Post consistently.

If you want people to follow you on Instagram, you have to give them something to follow. This means posting high-quality, relevant content regularly.

The easiest way to get into this habit is to commit to a posting schedule.

Having a set time on your calendar to post content on Instagram gives you a deadline to abide by, and it gives your audience a specific time to anticipate hearing from you.

Heck, they may even plan for it like I clear my schedule for new episodes of House of the Dragon at 9 PM ET on Sundays.

Ok, maybe your posts won’t ignite this kind of commitment, but having an Instagram schedule does set expectations. And expectations build a sense of reliability, community, and trust with your followers. But what time should you post?

Optimizing your schedule for your specific audience might take time and experimentation, but recent HubSpot research found the best times to post on Instagram to be 12-3 PM or 6-9 PM.

Friday is considered the best day for engagement, followed closely by Saturday and Sunday. The evening 6 PM-8:59 PM is frequently noted as having high engagement levels.

Experiment with these guidelines to see what works for your audience and persona. Your target persona can drastically impact your posting timing and frequency, especially if they are in a different time zone.

Download this free template for buyer personas, if you already have a few.

Pro Tip: Use a social media management tool to help maintain consistency.

Get Started with HubSpot’s Social Media Tool

You can always post manually, but scheduling your posts in advance can help plan ahead and save time. Here are more articles to help you choose the right tool and learn how to schedule Instagram posts:

• Best Social Media Management Tools
• Scheduling Instagram Posts: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
• When Is the Best Time to Post on Instagram?

You can also use a social media content calendar to plan your Instagram posts. Here are some resources you can use to jumpstart your Instagram content creation process:

• What to Post on Instagram: Photo & Video Ideas to Spark Inspiration
• Best Instagram Captions: Good, Cool, Funny, & Cute
• How to Plan Your Instagram Posts [+ Free Instagram Planning Templates]

5. Diversify your content mediums.

Do you typically only post static image content? Or just Instagram Reels?

If you want more Instagram followers, try diversifying the mediums on which you create and share.

Different people enjoy consuming information in different ways, so if you’re only creating one type of content you may be getting ignored by many in your target audience.

Your audience probably comes from different regions of the world, has different interests and hobbies, and likely has different careers.

Rather than post all-encompassing content that will satisfy all of your followers at once, conduct some research to separate them into smaller groups. Then, plan different posts to appeal to each subset of your audience.

Airbnb uses a healthy mix of short-form videos, Stories, single photos, carousels, and even graphics to diversify its feed and highlight offers in different ways:

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Pro Tip: Monitor Instagram Insights to know what’s working.

What type of content is actually getting engagement? With an Instagram business profile, you get access to Instagram Insights, which show you what content is generating the most views, likes, and followers.

Look at these regularly to understand what content you should create to make progress against your follower growth goals.

Instagram Content Creation Tips for Getting More Followers

6. Lean into trends and current events.

Instagram is a trendy place.

Finding relevant ways to incorporate trends, memes, and current events into your content is a great way to stay top of mind and get in front of new people there.

While known for its quirky original content, even Dollar Shave Club is not immune to memes. The razor company posted this playful image to capitalize on the hype surrounding Taylor Swift’s album “The Tortured Poet’s Department.”

They also create content around holidays, like this post from Father’s Day in the U.S.

Pay attention to what topics and formats earn your audience’s attention, and meet them there.

7. Create templates, filters, and “add yours” stickers.

Today, many Stories trends are centered around filters, but “Add Yours” stickers and “Add Yours” templates are gaining popularity as well.

If you’re an Instagram fan like me, you’ve likely seen a variety of “add yours” content making the rounds among your friends.

“Add Yours” are stickers with a short prompt for something users should post with the sticker in their Stories. The templates are typically interactive frames allowing users to insert a video or photo into them.

Everyone who views or uses the sticker can see who else has publicly used it and who created it.

Recently, I’ve seen many creators of these stickers, templates, and filters (i.e. Artist Ming Ted Chin) amassing large followings awaiting their next creation.

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It’s a fun, engaging way to start a conversation and reach new audiences. Why not create one related to your business?

For example, if I were Yelp, I’d create a sticker asking people to drop photos from their favorite ice cream shop. If I were Spotify, I’d tell folks to share the song they’re currently listening to (Possible with the “Add Yours” music sticker).

Create one of these elements and add it to your own story to get your followers to spread it to their own audiences.

8. Follow photography best practices.

On Instagram, post quality matters. A lot. Your X followers might forgive a few bad tweets, but a bad photo on Instagram is a big no-no.

Fortunately, you don’t have to be a professional to have a great Instagram feed. You simply need to get familiar with basic photography practices and photo editing apps.

Photography Best Practices

If your budget allows, investing in professional photography will elevate your profile. However, as a mobile app, people understand that much of your content may have been created on a mobile device.

In fact, lower production value can make your content look more human and relatable. That said, a smartphone will do, but follow these tips to give your photos a more finished look:

• Follow the rule of thirds.
• When all else fails, center your subject.
• Look for symmetry.
• Capture small details.
• Have light facing your subject.

Editing Photos Before You Post

Instagram has some basic editing capabilities, but oftentimes, they aren’t adequate at making visuals stand out. Most of your photos should go through at least one or two photo editing apps on your phone before you open them on Instagram. Some options include:

• Canva
• Photoshop Express
• VSCO Cam

 

9. Start a conversation with your captions and comments.

Captions are an essential part of your post. They give your content context, can humanize your brand, and offer additional value to your audience that makes them want to read, engage, and follow.

Using your captions to spark conversations can boost engagement, triggering the Instagram algorithm to show your content to more potential followers so give them the time and attention they deserve.

Here are a few things you might see in a winning Instagram caption:

• Personality
• Emojis
• Hashtags
• Questions

Personality

Many successful brands and influencers show personality or humor to connect with their audiences and attract followers.

Kelly Hendrickson, a Director of Social Media at G-P/Globalization Partners and HubSpot’s former Head of Brand Social, loves Netflix’s account for this.

“They have such a clear brand voice, and you laugh along with them. They’re in on the joke, just like one of your friends,” she says.

Netflix’s voice is casual, trendy, and humorous while still staying on brand. In the post above, the caption is just three words, but it makes you laugh and takes followers back to the Stranger Things scene shown in the post.

It’s a subtle, yet effective post, and it’s also a reminder of the entertainment value Netflix offers.

Emojis

An emoji is worth a thousand words.

Don’t believe me? Adobe’s 2022 Emoji Trend Report found that 50% of emoji users are more likely to respond to a message if it contains an emoji while 75% feel more connected to people who use emoji.

92% of U.S. emoji users also agree that emoji can communicate across language barriers.

So, if you’re still sleeping on using emojis in your content, it’s time to wake up.

Adding just a few relevant emojis can add even more personality to your posts and make your brand appear more relatable. Visually, they can also make your posts more noticeable on Instagram feeds and make your captions more digestible.

For example, my friends at Brown Girl Magazine often cleverly use emojis as bullet points to guide your eye and make their captions stand out.

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Get creative with it. Along with the items listed above, you’ll also want to include hashtags. (More on those shortly.)

Pro Tip: Ask for tags and shares.

Another way to trigger engagement from your followers is to add a playful call-to-action.

For example, you might write, “Double-tap if you find this funny,” or “Share your story in the comments.”

Writing something like “Tag a friend who does X” or “Share this with a friend who needs X,” helps your follower goal by getting your content in front of new people.

In the example below, we asked followers of the HubSpot Instagram account to drop a tip on measuring social media ROI in the comment section:

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Questions

The best way to get a response from people? Ask a question. Indo-Western fashion line HoliChic by Megha Rao used this strategy effectively when designing its new collection last year.

Need help writing your captions on Instagram? HubSpot’s Free AI Content Writer can help.

Pro tip: Comment and engage with others’ content.

Half the battle of gaining Instagram followers is getting seen. One way to increase visibility, even if your content isn’t hitting Explore pages or Suggested Posts, is to comment and engage on the posts of others.

Hit like. Share and tag other accounts in your Stories. Make comments on the posts of people you’d like to follow you (i.e., Influencers or potential customers) or content popular with those already following you.

Show your personality or start a conversation, and people will take notice (and be more likely to follow).

Engaging Instagram Followers

We’ve talked a lot about engagement, but let’s talk about how you can directly boost engagement.

10. Encourage and post user-generated content.

If I see a regular person talking about a product on Instagram, I’m more likely to believe them than if the brand account itself said the same thing. This is true for most consumers.

Posting user-generated content (UGC) is an effective way to use this in your marketing. UGC shows appreciation for existing customers and delivers social proof at the same time.

Photo editing app VSCO regularly shares content created by users on its Instagram profile.

This delights customers by giving them exposure on VSCO’s large platform and also highlights the value of the app in action.

11. Use Stories Stickers.

We already know Instagram Stories get eyes with their prime real estate at the top of the app’s home screen, but the benefits don’t stop there.

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With the ephemeral nature og Stories, brands get to share more casual, timely content that can show personality. And Instagram Stickers add a whole new dimension to engagement.

Use Instagram Story stickers to create more dynamic content and interact with your audience and potential followers in an entertaining way.

Instagram Stories Stickers currently include:

• Links: Use these to link to content outside of Instagram (i.e., Your website, an event page, or a product page)
• “Add Yours”: Use these to create a prompt viewers can use to build their own stories. As a bonus, these are often used long after your 24-hour story expires.
• Hashtags: Use these to draw more visual attention to your branded hashtag or another campaign you’re involved in.
• GIFs: Add visual fun to your Stories.
• Music: Add trending audio or popular music to your Stories.
• Emoji Polls: Use polls to gauge your audience’s opinion on something.
• Questions: Field questions from your audience or use them to gather short feedback/answers to your own.
• Quizzes: These are a fun way to test your audience’s knowledge or tease upcoming content.
• Countdowns: Use these to promote upcoming events or announcements. Audiences can click a button to be reminded.
• Donation Links: Request donations for your cause or one you care about.
• Shopping/Buy Now: Get sales!

Bonus: How Brands Can Use Instagram Stories

Still working on your Instagram Story strategy? Two things to keep in mind:

• Be authentic. Your grid is where content can be perfect and polished. Instagram Stories are for the raw, unscripted, and unretouched. Use them to share the other side of your brand that followers might not be able to see elsewhere.
• Go behind the scenes. These are by far our favorite types of content for ephemeral video sharing. Do you have a dog-friendly office? Is your team trying the latest challenge? Start filming to showcase the more human side of your brand.

  Show followers what goes into the planning of an event or the launch of a product, and make it fun. You can also use Stories to cultivate a brand loyalty program that only rewards people who check out your content.

Hartford Prints, an independent print shop from my home state of Connecticut does a wonderful job of both these points in its Stories. They regularly show behind-the-scenes and “day in the life” moments while incorporating elements like contests and stickers:

12. Go Live on Instagram Live

Instagram Live, allows you to film and broadcast real-time video on your Instagram profile from a mobile device.

It also lets viewers engage with you in real time by leaving emoji reactions, asking questions in the chat, or even requesting to join you directly.

This kind of one-on-one, candid interaction and engagement builds a personal relationship with your audience. It also gives you the chance to show people who you are and why they should follow you.

If your live content is good, people will also want to share it, giving your Instagram presence even greater reach.

What should you do on Instagram Live? You can host a virtual press conference, make announcements, and host a live Q&A session. Live allows you to have up to four accounts on one broadcast so you can host an interview.

 

13. Collaborate with influencers and creators

According to Matter Communication, 69% of consumers trust information from influencers, friends, and family, over brands. In other words, you need others to vouch for you.

Dive into which influencers, creators, or even other businesses your buyers follow. Are they relevant to your brand or offering?

If so, consider collaborating with them to get in front of new potential followers. This helps with discoverability, reach, and social proof.

Learn more about your options for influencer marketing.

Health and grooming brand Bevel does an admirable job with collaborations and UGC. Here, the brand posted a collaboration with entrepreneur Selvyster Brewster using and recommending their products to their 1.4M followers.

Collaborating with Brewster is a smart move.

Firstly, the product is designed with Black men in mind. Having Brewster, who is part of the brand’s target demographic and also a professional hairstylist, recommend the product serves as the social proof the brand wants.

Furthermore, part of Brewster’s audience will likely fall within Bevel’s target audience. It’s a perfect win-win.

14. Run a contest/giveaway

Another great way to expand your reach and gain followers is to run an Instagram contest or giveaway.

I mean, come on. Who doesn’t love winning free stuff?

Offering an entry to win a relevant prize in exchange for a follower and tagging a friend is common across Instagram these days. It’s also a highly effective way to get more followers.

The Freebie Guy uses this strategy regularly on his Instagram:

Source

Promotion Tips for Getting More Followers

15. Use relevant hashtags, geo-tags, etc.

Hashtags foster conversation. They unite posts on the same topics in one place so anyone from anywhere can find them and engage — even if they don’t know the creator.

Using relevant hashtags on Instagram is an easy but effective way to get in front of new followers.

Do some research to find the hashtags your audience is using. Start by navigating to the Explore tab and searching for a keyword related to your business or industry.

When you search for one hashtag, it shows you a list of related hashtags and the number of posts that already use them.

For example, when I search for #digitalmarketing on Instagram, relevant hashtags like #digitalmarketingagency, #digitalmarketingtips, and so on appear.

Once you build up a following, you can try creating your own hashtags — like your company name or a slogan that applies to your content. This is a great way to build up your brand on the platform and also foster user-generated content.

Similarly, tagging locations, brands, or personalities related to your content can grab their attention and get you in front of their audiences.

Pro Tip: Tag relevant users – but only if they already know you.

Another way to gain more followers on Instagram is to tag relevant users in your posts. Your posts will then show up in that person’s tagged posts, and they may even share the mention in their Stories.

This is also a great way to highlight creators or vendors your business collaborates with, like in the example from Therapy Stores below:

Source

Use this strategy sparingly. If the content you tag someone in is irrelevant or you’ve had no interaction with them previously, it can come off as spam.

16. Try Instagram promotions and ads.

So far, the methods we’ve mentioned are about growing organically — but organic growth takes time.

If you’re looking for rapid growth, Instagram promotions and ads may be the answer.

Instagram ads (using the comprehensive Facebook Ads network) let you get granular about the audience you want to reach and pay to get your content in front of them. You can use ads to generate leads or boost a high-performing post to earn more views.

Here are a few articles to get you started:

• The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Stories Ads
• A Step-by-Step Guide to Advertising on Instagram
• The Guide to Instagram Ad Costs
• Instagram Ad Specs & Sizes: an Updated Guide

Pro Tip: If you run a contest, consider putting some ad dollars behind it to maximize the opportunity.

17. Share your profile link externally.

You’re doing the most to get noticed on Instagram, but don’t forget to promote your presence off the platform as well.

Have a website? Newsletter? YouTube channel? Make sure you include a link to your Instagram on your other platforms and properties. If your brand has brick-and-mortar locations, put your handle on signs or business cards with a QR code.

Embed posts in your blogs and mention it in your email newsletter.

In this example, wine company The McBride Sisters encouraged their email subscribers to follow them on Instagram with a simple CTA: “Join the community.”

Have a feed on your website, and link to your profile on your other social networks. If people are already following you on another platform, it’s much more likely they’ll be open to following you on Instagram as well.

The first place you’ll want to make sure to add an Instagram badge is to your website, specifically on your “about us” page or footer, like HubSpot does below.

Pro Tip: A link to your Instagram profile is built into HubSpot’s free Email Signature generator. Give it a try for your emails.

Using AI to Get More Followers on Instagram

I know what you’re thinking, “Can AI just do this for me? AI does everything.”

To that, I say:

1. Why would you want it to? So many of the spam accounts and fake followers we talked about earlier are bots. They don’t work long-term.
2. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but no, it can’t.

Just like a hammer can’t build a house for you, artificial intelligence (AI) cannot just get you more followers on Instagram — at least not the real, organic followers you want. AI is simply a tool.

What AI can do is help you execute some of the strategies I shared more efficiently and effectively. For instance:

• Adobe Firefly or other AI image generators can help you create visuals to post.
• HubSpot’s Free AI Content Writer can help you write captions.
• AI video generators can help you create Reels.

There are also a number of automation tools that can help expedite your engagement as well.

ManyChat, for one, can be used to set up an automatic response to comments on your Instagram posts or to send a personal message when people use a specific word or phrase.

But even with these aids, it’s important to remember that increasing your Instagram following, like any social media success, comes back to human connection.

People turn to social media to stay connected with the people and brands they care about. They follow what they’re interested in, get value from, and want to support.

Building a real, emotional connection is the most effective and lasting way to build a following and that is something AI cannot currently provide.

Concerns about plagiarism, bias, and inconsistent quality also make a solid argument for treading lightly with AI when it comes to your Instagram strategy.

How Not to Increase Instagram Followers

AI aside, you may be tempted to take other shortcuts to get more followers on Instagram.

Trust me, these tactics often do more harm than good (read: decreased engagement, penalizations, or even bans.)

Let’s unpack a few ways not to increase your follower count.

Don’t buy Instagram followers.

Eager for opportunities, some users resort to buying followers on Instagram.

At its core, buying followers is unethical and in violation of Instagram’s community guidelines. This can damage your brand’s reputation by eroding trust.

Then, there are the tactical impacts of this approach.

Fake followers can‘t engage. And these accounts won’t like, comment, share, or repost your content. This lack of engagement sends a signal to the platform that your content isn’t interesting or useful to your followers.

While inflating your follower count, fake followers will erode metrics like:

• Organic reach
• Likes
• Comments

An inflated follower count will also make it tougher for you to measure the actual effects of social campaigns and strategies. Instead, focus on growing organic followers who are excited about your brand and content.

Don’t overuse hashtags.

Using too many hashtags in your Instagram captions can have a negative impact on your follower count for a few reasons:

• It can dilute the message or storytelling behind your post by distracting viewers from the core content and making your captions appear less clear and cohesive.
• It can attract an audience that is not genuinely interested in your posts. This can lead to low engagement and a high bounce rate, because those followers are unlikely to interact with your content or become loyal followers.
• It can make your posts look spammy or desperate for engagement. This can deter users from viewing or following your account, as it appears less authentic or professional.

Instead of casting a wide net with numerous hashtags, focus on using relevant and targeted hashtags that align with the content of your post.

This way, you are more likely to attract users who are genuinely interested in your niche and increase the chances of engagement and follower growth.

Don’t post low-quality or unoriginal content.

Your account is unlikely to attract new followers if you consistently share low-quality content or content that can be found elsewhere.

Users’ feeds are oversaturated with content, and posting sub-par or generic content does nothing to add value to those feeds.

By producing visually appealing, unique content that offers something valuable to your audience, you can enhance engagement, foster a positive perception of your brand, and truly earn more followers.

Earning Your Instagram Followers

If you want a large, engaged, lucrative Instagram following, you need to earn it.

Ultimately, it’s important to focus less on the number of followers you have and more on the quality of content you create.

When you put effort and time into creating engaging, informative, or inspirational content without worrying about “quick fixes” for boosts in followers, your followers will come naturally and happily.

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

Have you ever been on a time crunch to create social media content? Most of us have, especially when trying to hop on a trend before it passes. It’s a stressful position — but a social media calendar template can help.

Creating content right before the deadline risks overlooking important goals and making mistakes. Your content may have typos or fall short of the audience’s needs. You may even miss key holidays or events.

Now, what if I said you could minimize the risk? In this article, I’ll share the best social media calendar template options for marketers and some tips for getting the most out of them.

Why do I need a social media calendar template?

Flori Needle, a HubSpot Blog writer, was a social media manager before joining HubSpot. She focused on Instagram and struggled to create a schedule.

She shared with me, “I found myself creating Instagram posts last minute because I didn’t know how to plan my strategy in advance.”

After some testing, she developed a strategy, but she said having a plan before posting would’ve lessened her time spent on trial and error.

That’s why a social media content calendar is so helpful. You can keep track of deadlines, better manage your individual duties or content creation team, and create transparency with stakeholders.

Creating a great content calendar is more than just adding a few Instagram or LinkedIn post ideas to your Google calendar. Let’s explore the benefits of having a social media calendar.

1. Better Organization

A content calendar keeps you and your team organized, which is essential when managing multiple social media channels.

Rather than coming up with content ideas on the fly, you can plan your content around your organization’s needs. It can also provide more time for creating content about trending topics and upcoming holidays and events.

For instance, if your company has a big event coming up (like HubSpot’s INBOUND), a content calendar will help you strategize how to promote it in advance.

A social media calendar keeps everyone on your team informed on when content will be published. When you’re transparent about what’s going live, it can help avoid miscommunications and confusion.

Pro tip: I know good content ideas can’t always come on command — even if you set time aside specifically for this task. But a topic generator might be just enough to kickstart your creative juices.

Even better, you can take it a step further and use these topics to generate blog posts, which can be repurposed into a series of social media posts.

2. More Mindful Scalability

Another benefit to having a social media calendar is that it can help you scale your content production without overwhelming your marketing team.

By planning content in advance, you can pace production around your team’s bandwidth and other duties your department is responsible for.

Pro tip: As you scale, I recommend tracking post analytics to see how your content performs. Keeping an eye on your metrics will help you and your teams determine what content engages your audience the most.

3. Higher Quality Content

Lastly, using a social media calendar ensures your team has plenty of time to do their best work. Planning your posts in advance allows you to check your work for typos or mistakes while ensuring everything is on-brand and optimized.

Perfecting your social media content calendar shouldn’t feel like a chore.

Below, I’ll walk you through the essential components of any social media content calendar that will give you the foundation to organize your social media strategy at a tactical level.

Key

A key or legend is a section of a graphic that gives meaning to its symbols or colors. An easy-to-read key helps your stakeholders understand the information in your social media calendar

As long as your key is clear, just about anyone in your organization can view your social media content calendar and understand what’s happening on all platforms.

URLs and UTM Parameters

URLs and UTM parameters are similar, but they’re not the same. URLs are the links you want to share from your website (or another website if you are curating content) on your social media platforms.

A UTM parameter is an extension of your URL that is needed for data purposes. It’s a string of tracking code appended to the end of a URL, and it helps social media marketers track how well their posts drive traffic to their websites.

By tracking and analyzing UTM parameters, you’ll see what content meets your conversion goals and what drives the most engagement on social media platforms. You can use a UTM generator to make this process easier.

Date and Time

Including dates and times in your social media calendar is helpful for planning and for stakeholders who rely on your social media content.

Your social team can easily see when they should schedule posts (and continue with their workflow) while those outside the team can know when ti expect them.

Message

Transparency and context are invaluable when it comes to social media content calendars.

Giving a brief synopsis of the message or even sharing the caption for a post can go a long way in helping others understand what the intent of the post will be.

Pro tip: If you‘re adding content to your social media content calendar that isn’t finished, consider adding a short Loom video to give an overview of what the design will look like.

Campaign

It’s too late to start tracking metrics once your campaign is over. Instead, start tracking your social media campaigns in your content calendar.

You can make this prescriptive by having a dropdown list of predetermined campaign names. Or if your campaigns are few and far between, simply copy and paste the names next to the corresponding content.

Pro tip: Align your campaign name with the campaign section of your UTM parameter for seamless tracking.

Your social media content calendar will become just another spreadsheet without some imagery. Since much of your social media content will probably be visual, add a thumbnail-sized version of the image you’ll include in the published post.

Coupled with the message, stakeholders who view the calendar images will have a pretty good idea of what will be shared and when.

To make editing your images for each platform easier, check out this cheat sheet for ideal image dimensions on each platform.

Regardless of which social media calendar template you go with, here are a few steps to follow when using one.

To expedite the process of creating a social media content calendar, download this free template that’s ready for you to fill out.

1. Complete a social media audit across all platforms.

Before creating a social media content calendar, I recommend a complete social media audit.

Ask yourself questions like:

• Which social media platforms are you on?
• Which platforms are you not on, but your competitors are?
• Which platforms get the most versus least engagement?
• Which content formats do you use most often and least often?
• Which types of posts get the most versus least engagement?

Auditing your social media presence will help you decide how to move forward as you create your social media content calendar.

For instance, you may be on TikTok, but maybe it’s also the platform where you get the least engagement and even fewer leads. That may mean it’s time to de-prioritize TikTok from your lineup and invest more time in a better-fitting platform.

Spend some time perusing your social media analytics to answer these questions. It’s essential to back your conclusions with data instead of a gut instinct.

Pro tip: Our social media report template is an excellent way to keep track of your findings. It contains a variety of charts that will make it easy to organize and, in turn, review and analyze the data.

Download Now

Recommended Reads:

• How to Conduct A Social Media Audit
• How to Conduct a Twitter Audit of Your Account
• The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Analytics

2. Pick the top 3-5 social media platforms you’ll use.

Believe it or not, you don’t need to be on all the social media platforms to get a high social media ROI (return on investment).

Instead, you should focus on where your target audience is and the platforms with the highest ROI. This will save your team effort and time, resulting in a much more manageable social media content calendar.

I mean, imagine having to post on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Tumblr — that is… a lot.

Instead, choose the top three to five platforms that, based on your social media audit, yield the highest ROI for your business.

As you choose your platforms, you should also pay attention to trends and growing channels. Even if you’re a marketer at a small B2B business, it won’t hurt to test out a platform before all your competitors do.

If you’re a seasoned marketer or have a large team, you may find using all of the popular channels and even experimenting with a new one could benefit your goals.

However, if you‘re a team of one or your team is already stretched thin, it’s OK to start with a few social channels and work your way up to more.

Not sure where to start? Our Social Media Trends Report share insights and benchmarks you can start setting off.

Download Now

Recommended Reads:

• The 5 Types of Social Media and Pros & Cons of Each
• Which Social Media Channels See the Most ROI?
• Social Media Platforms Marketers Should Watch
• The Fastest Growing Social Media Platforms

Pro tip: Remember, every social channel is different. The content you post on each one should appeal to the platform’s layout and the users who use it. Cross-posting the same image and copy may be easy, but it’s not necessarily effective.

3. Choose your social media content formats and post types.

You’re now armed with your social media platforms to pursue, but what social media content types will you post?

Will you post mainly short-form videos, images, or text-based updates? Will you post informative, relatable, or funny content?

As always, we recommend using a mix of content types to maximize your ROI.

Plus, it will ensure that you’re serving content that serves different segments of your audience while increasing your reach.

For example, my mom is addicted to Instagram Reels.

I once took a peek at her screen time report and was astonished. But a majority of her generation spends the most time engaging with images, photos, and infographics.

Most businesses have outliers like my mom, so a diversified strategy helps you meet varied preferences.

Pro tip: Account for your team’s resources. If you have dedicated social media managers who can create content in-house, you have more leeway with your choices.

But if you only have a team of one, consider what is most realistic regarding content creation. Or try asking for a budget to hire a freelance content creator.

Recommended Reads:

• The Most Effective Types of Content on Social Media
• Social Media Content Ideas to Delight Customers

4. Create social media content templates, lazy hashtags, and lazy copy.

As you build out your content calendar (hopefully after downloading a free social media content calendar template!), remember that the purpose of your calendar is to make posting as easy and painless as possible.

In pursuit of that, take some time to create content templates, list the hashtags you’ll use most often, and even create “lazy” copy for you or your coworkers to use.

I find it helpful to store templates in an online bank, such as Google Drive or a tool like Canva, where I can quickly edit a template and adjust it to create a new post. Generally, you want to have various customizable image templates.

Featured Resource: 150+ Content Creation Templates

Download Now

Don’t forget to keep your most-used hashtags easily accessible for easy copying and pasting, along with lazy copy that only needs to be customized from post to post.

As you draft your templates, always keep your brand voice in mind. Whether you’re serious and corporate, or open and friendly, you want every post to embody your company’s branding.

Recommended Reads:

• 150+ Content Creation Templates
• Instagram Templates for Business
• YouTube Templates for Business
• Pinterest Templates for Business

Pro tip: Consider diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). Consumers care, more than ever, that brands support diversity and inclusion.

Ensure your content reflects and respects the values and experiences of your audience.

Moreover, the faces, voices, and stories you share on social networks should be representative of your audience and the larger community where your business operates.

This isn‘t something that can happen by accident, so you’ll want to plan for diversity and inclusion as you develop your content calendar.

If you’d like some guidance on creating diverse and inclusive content, check out our original research on the topic.

5. Fill in your social media holidays, events, and campaigns.

What is a social media content calendar that doesn’t show your forethought and planning?

Well, it’s still a content calendar — just not a very useful one. As you build out your social media content calendar, identify the holidays and events you’ll be participating in and note any future campaigns you may have planned.

If you’re attending an event or a conference, you should plan to broadcast that on your social media channels. If you’re doing a virtual event like a webinar, you should plan a series of posts around that, too.

Or if you’d like to create a holiday post or a paid social campaign — the possibilities are endless.

You should plan for each upcoming event with at least a month’s advance notice.

Pro tip: You don’t need to create a campaign for every single holiday. Most marketers in the U.S. plan for three main seasons: Winter/end-of-year holidays, Black Friday, and Halloween.

Recommended Reads:

• Social Media Holidays for Your Content Calendar
• Top Marketing Holidays of the Year, According to Marketer Data
• The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing Campaigns
• Social Media Campaign Ideas to Try

6. Determine a social media posting schedule.

It’s time to get into the most useful part of your content calendar: Determining your posting schedule. Your calendar should have a “Time” column that will allow you to proactively keep track of this information.

Different social media platforms require different posting times. You can easily fill in publish times by creating tabs for each platform or color-coding posts for different channels.

Consider also syncing publishing times to your calendar to get timely reminders.

We recently surveyed 1000+ social media marketers to get their take on the best times to post on social media.

Here’s a quick overview of the best times to post on each platform based on our findings:

• Instagram: 6 PM – 9 PM, 12 PM – 3 PM, and 3 PM – 6 PM
• Facebook: 6 PM – 9 PM and 12 PM – 3 PM
• X (formerly Twitter): 9 AM – 12 PM and 12 PM – 3 PM
• LinkedIn: 9 AM – 12 PM, 12 – 3 PM, or 3 – 6 PM
• YouTube: 6 PM – 9 PM
• TikTok: 6 PM – 9 PM, 3 PM – 6 PM, and 12 PM – 3 PM

But remember: there is no one-size-fits-all solution for posting times (sorry, wish I had better news).

For example, Sprout Social says the best time to post on Instagram is between 9 AM and 1 PM, and Hootsuite says 9 AM is the best time overall.

These differences don’t mean anyone is wrong; it just ties back to what I mentioned above about your audience: you should tailor the times you post content to your own business.

Pro tip: To determine your schedule, take a look at our research for each social media platform. This will give you a good sense of the best practices for posting. Then, compare that to the bandwidth on your team and the goals you want to achieve to come up with a schedule you can test.

The goal of a social media calendar is to create and publish a sustainable stream of content to your audience. It’s a marathon, not a race.

Recommended Reads:

• The Best Times to Post on Social Media
• How Often to Publish on Social Media for Business
• When Is the Best Time to Post on Instagram?
• Best Times to Post on YouTube
• Best Time to Post on LinkedIn
• When to Post on TikTok

7. Set up UTM tracking.

One of the most important parts of a social media calendar is actually the part you don’t see — tracking. And the easiest way to track how your social media content is performing is to use UTM parameters.

Yes, this is the second time I’ve mentioned UTM parameters, but for good reason. Can you imagine the nightmare of manually sorting through your campaign traffic to determine where each viewer came from or who engaged with your content?

$I don’t want to do that, and I’d imagine you don’t either.

UTM codes are simple to set up and use. Once you’ve implemented them for each link on your social media posts, you can review your social media content metrics.

Pro tip: Are you a professional or enterprise user of HubSpot Marketing Hub or Content Hub? Take advantage of the UTM builder natively available on the platform.

8. Schedule posts using a social media tool.

Publishing updates on multiple platforms, with different campaigns and holidays, at different times and days, can quickly get overwhelming.

I recommend integrating your social media calendar template with a social media management tool. (We’ll go through a few options shortly.)

This will help you schedule posts well before publication, limiting manual work.

Many tools allow you to cross-post across different social media channels. This can be useful, but, again, I recommend being cautious.

What might work on LinkedIn might not work on Facebook, and vice versa. Since each platform serves a specific audience segment, you want to ensure your posts are tailored to each one.

Pro tip: HubSpot’s social media management software allows you to schedule and publish posts to Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Instagram and it’s free for everyone. Try it out!

Recommended Reads:

• Best Social Media Management Tools
• Top Social Media Tools

9. Monitor your social media posts’ success metrics.

Once your social media posting schedule has matured and you have a backlog of posts to analyze, it’s time to delve deeply into your social media metrics. Learn what worked, what didn’t work, and what you should change moving forward.

Hopping from platform to platform and looking at their individual analytics dashboards can be a good place to start.

But as you continue scaling your marketing efforts, you should consider investing in social media analytics software to compile all of your engagement data for you.

Try HubSpot’s social media analytics software for free.

As you analyze your success, link it to your company’s bottom line.

How many leads did you earn? How many of those leads turned into sales? How much money did you spend on paid social media versus how much revenue did you generate?

Here’s a guide on measuring social media marketing ROI to help you answer these questions.

The bottom line: Know and align on your goals.

The first step to building your social media content calendar is identifying your goals, which will determine how often you post, who will be involved in the content creation process, and which channels you’ll want to use. Align your team on them.

If you’re not sure where to start with setting up your social media goals, we cover that here.

Pro tip: Create an analysis tracker in your calendar for stakeholders who want to stay abreast of how well your social media content is performing.

Add a tab that shows clicks, views, engagements, and other metrics you plan to track to deem your content a success. Tracking analytics can be as simple or detailed as your team prefers.

For a full list of metrics to track and tools to do it, take a look at this year’s Ultimate Guide to Social Media Analytics.

Recommended Reads:

• The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Analytics
• Best Social Media Analytics Tools for Marketers
• How to Create a Social Media Report

Now that you know how to use a social media calendar template, here are 10 of the best options for marketers.

Social Media Calendar Templates

1. HubSpot’s Free Social Media Content Calendar Template

If you don‘t have time to create your social media content calendar from scratch, start with HubSpot’s free social media content calendar template.

This calendar has everything you need to plan your social media content, coordinate campaigns, grow reach and engagement, scale posting schedule, and boost productivity.

Our template includes everything you need to scale your social media marketing efforts. You’ll gain access to:

• Social Media Content Schedule: See each of your individual posts and draft individual messages and images for each one.
• Monthly Planning Calendar: See your upcoming social posts for the month in a user-friendly, big-picture format.
• Content Repository: List out all of the content you’ll be sharing with your followers, from blog posts to offers to website pages.
• Platform-Specific Tabs: Plan out your updates for each specific platform, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more.

HubSpot Social Media Content Calendar Template Tutorial

In the following subsections, I’ll show you how to fill out each of the tabs in this template — Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Step 1: Review the “Monthly Planning Calendar” tab.

The “Monthly Planning Calendar” tab is a snapshot of your monthly social media campaigns. It‘ll help you coordinate with other stakeholders and keep all the moving parts in order. Here’s what it looks like:

There are three sections to note when you edit this template.

First, the color-coding key. Each color represents a type of content or campaign you might coordinate, like ebooks, webinars, blog posts, or product launches.

Though only some of these might be relevant to you, they’re just the beginning of what you may want to include here — so be sure to add and remove categories that align with your own types of content.

The other two sections to edit are the “Month” and “Year” at the top of the calendar and the cells below each day of the week.

In those cells, you should enter the type of content you‘ll be promoting that day and color-code it to align with the campaign it’s supporting.

Instead of deleting all the content in this spreadsheet each month, I recommend copying this worksheet twelve times over to have a separate sheet for each month.

(If that gets too overwhelming, you can always save those tabs as a separate workbook.)

Step 2: Populate your first social channel in the calendar.

Now, let‘s get to the social media content part of the calendar.

For the sake of this blog post, we’ll use X as an example, but these steps will work for each social channel tab in the template.

Let‘s say you want to add some tweets to your scheduling template.

Scroll over to the Twitter (X) Updates tab in the content calendar spreadsheet, where you’ll see this:

Day, Date, & Time

The first three columns, Day, Date, and Time, are there for your convenience.

If you choose to use a third-party app for pre-scheduling your tweets (like HubSpot’s Social Media Management Software), then these columns will be useful.

Message

Now, let‘s move over to the “Message” column. Here, input the copy you’d like to appear in your tweet. Bear in mind you should cap it at 217 characters to allow enough room for a link. (Read this blog post for a full character count guide.)

This spreadsheet will auto-calculate the number of characters you’ve entered to keep you on point, turning yellow and eventually red as you approach 240 characters.

I find this to be one of the most useful parts of the template because it helps you make edits in real-time. Plus,this ensures you’re being as clear and concise as possible in your captions (to the benefit of your audience).

Link

After you‘ve composed your tweet, paste the URL you’d like to include in your tweet in the Link column. Be sure to include UTM parameters so you’ll know whether these tweets are driving traffic and leads.

This is an important step to remember if you’d like to demonstrate ROI from social media. You can also use the Campaign column to add an associated campaign which helps with more detailed tracking and reporting.

Image

Finally, in the Image column, attach the tweet’s image (if you have one). For Twitter, we recommend images that are 1200 x 670 pixels.

(Click here for a full cheat sheet of social media image sizes.)

If you’re having trouble attaching your image to the spreadsheet, follow these steps:

Step 1: Click on the cell where you’d like to place your image.

Step 2: Click Insert in the top row, then click the Image button, and finally, click Image in cell to choose your image.

Step 3: In the Insert image window, choose the option your photo will come from. In this example, we uploaded an image from our computer.

Step 4: You’ll now see the image appear in the cell.

Pro tip: This process is just for organizational purposes. If you decide to upload the spreadsheet to your social media publishing software, it will not attach — you’ll have to do that manually.

If you’re a HubSpot customer, you can find details on how to bulk upload your Twitter content to the HubSpot Social Publishing Tool in the downloaded template.

2. HootSuite’s Social Media Posting Schedule Template

Another option is the social media posting schedule template from HootSuite.

This free template incorporates five popular platforms:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• X (still referred to as Twitter in the document)
• LinkedIn
• TikTok

However, it can be easily edited to add or remove items as needed as a Google Doc.

What I like: Besides helping you plan your social media publishing, this template includes a helpful “strategy” tab. This makes your goals and content plan easy to refer to as you work through the rest of the document.

It also has a tab dedicated to “evergreen content,” where you can house timeless pieces you can plug into your calendar at any time.

3. Sprout Social’s Social Media Calendar Template

Sprout Social’s social media calendar template is broken down into four weekly tabs and designed to be used per month.

Each tab has columns for key information, including:

• Copy
• Media
• Publish Date
• Network (has a dropdown with Facebook, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, TikTik, YouTube, and Pinterest)
• KPIs

What I like: Sprout Social’s platform gets granular about details that others ignore, such as collaborators and KPIs. This goes the extra mile to ensure all social media content is well-planned and working toward a goal. As a Google Doc, the template is also fully customizable.

4. ClickUp’s Social Media Posts Template

If you use ClickUp for your project management, this template may be the one for you.

ClickUp’s social post template lets you plan and organize your content and track its status throughout the creation process.

It includes fields for the assignee, due date, channel, and URL and can be viewed as a list, board, calendar, doc, or “embed.”

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What I like: From idea to publishing, the “card” style of ClickUp makes it easy to host and see everything related to your social media posts.

You can make comments, attach files, and tag different users so each card serves as a single source of truth for any questions related to that post.

5. SocialBee’s Social Media Content Calendar

SocialBee’s Social Media Content Calendar is another fully editable Google Doc on our list, but one of few that covers a full year.

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The calendar has a tab for every month and includes dozens of fun and unique post ideas.

What I like: SocialBee really goes above and beyond with making its social media calendar value. In addition to the post ideas in the monthly tabs, it also has a number of extra tabs full of post examples to help get marketers’ creative juices flowing.

The bonus post example tabs include: fun, educational, inspirational, promotional, and interactive — just to name a view.

6. Iconosquare’s Social Media Content Calendar

Social media analytics tool, Iconosquare, has created a social media content that helps teams plan for an entire quarter.

Unlike the other simple spreadsheets on our list, Iconosquare’s social media content calendar template comes as an actual calendar view. While handy, it can only be used in Notion or Google Calendar, limiting its audience.

What I like: Iconosquare’s calendar has many global celebrations and “fun” holidays (i.e. World Chocolate Day) pre-populated. This is a unique and effective way to spark and inspire ideas in users as they are planning their content.

7. Semrush’s Social Media Calendar

Semrush’s social media calendar is another built as an easy-to-edit spreadsheet.

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It provides all the information needed to schedule or publish a post:

• Channel
• Day, Date, and Time
• Post Topic/Type
• Copy
• Visual Type
• Visuals
• Link to Assets
• Status

It also includes color-coding that allows users to get an idea of what content is coming up at a glance.

What I like: I love that this covers a full calendar year, allowing marketers to jot down ideas or important dates as they come up. And that the first tab shows an example of a great social media content calendar which gives newer marketers something to aim for.

8. Later Free Social Media Content Calendar Template

Later’s free social media content calendar template is an editable spreadsheet that can be used to plan for a week.

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It includes a tab with instructions and resources to teach new users how to use the template successfully and also shares an example of a well-planned day.

What I like: While every brand on our list has education on social media marketing available on its website, Later makes its users’ lives easy by linking to those someone would need right in its template.

This is a small but smart move that dramatically improves the user experience.

9. Monday Social Media Content Template

Is Monday your digital planning tool of choice? If so, they’ve got a social media calendar template to add to your workflow.

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This template is built specifically for use in the Monday software and houses essential information like post copy, date and time of publish, and visual assets.

It also uses color coding to differentiate content categories making it easier to see and audit your content mix.

What I like: I’m a big fan of any tool that lets you see all the conversation surrounding a project in one place. With comments, user tags, and file uploads, Monday makes that possible.

10. Canva Social Media Calendar Template

Last but not least, if you don’t like any of the templates we shared, Canva makes it free and easy to create your own.

How do you get started? Try these weekly or monthly templates created by the team at Buffer, or navigate to Canva’s Calendar templates gallery and play around with making your own.

What I like: Canva is a Godsend when it comes to design and data presentation. I like this option because you get to customize the information included in your social media calendar as you like and give the design a little extra flair.

Don’t forget to interact with your followers.

Whether you use this spreadsheet to plan your content or upload it to a third-party app, you’ll still need to supplement these updates with on-the-fly content.

Breaking news hits? Whip up a quick update to share it with your network. Did someone in your network tweet something interesting? Give it a retweet with some commentary.

Got a fascinating comment on one of your updates? Respond with a “thank you” for their interaction.

Coming up with and scheduling your social media content in advance is a huge time-saver. But it should go without saying that you still need to monitor and add to your social presence throughout the day.

I encourage you to experiment with your social media publishing. This template provides publishing dates and times for each social network, but perhaps you need more or less.

If this is the case, you should adjust your social media publishing frequency as needed.

Now that you’ve got the ins and outs of a social media content calendar, download the one below for free and start planning your content.

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

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

Back in 2015, I worked for a medium-sized British software company. My job was to increase the number of leads we generated from our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts.

To help, I was handed around £5,000 and asked to create a few click-worthy Facebook ads.

Feeling a little short on inspiration, I Googled “best ads of all time.”

Here’s what I saw.

The “Think small.” ad is considered the best ad of the 20th century (Ad Age). It’s tremendous. It broke the norms for newspaper advertising with an overwhelming amount of white space that caught attention and challenged the industry norms, showcasing the car’s unusually small design as a benefit, not a drawback.

But it didn’t help me come up with a lead magnet Facebook ad. My ideas were lousy.

Turns out, staring at great ads didn’t help me create great ads.

Instead, I should have learned the psychology behind great ads, which can provide simple tips anyone can use to make an ad more effective.

In the eight years since, I’ve interviewed dozens of ad experts on Nudge and now have three scientifically proven tactics I use whenever I’m creating an ad.

So, time to stop staring at the Volkswagen, and instead try following this simple advice.

Scientifically Proven Tactics for Creating an Ad (With Examples)

1. Create scarcity.

Back in 2019, KFC Australia ran a promotion. Chips for $1 across Australia.

To promote the offer, KFC devised a giant Facebook experiment. They created 90 different promotional messages, including creative copy like:

The Colonel has never been so generous, chips for a dollar.

Loved from Perth to Brisbane. They’re just $1.

Australia’s favorite chips for just $1.

All 90 different variations were published on Facebook ads in one mammoth experiment to see which was most effective.

Each of the ads was shown to thousands of Aussies, and the KFC team measured how many clicks each individual ad received.

The ad that won was deceivingly simple. It read:

“Chips for $1. Limited to four per customer.”

Out of all 90 variations, this got the most clicks and drove the most sales. But why? KFC was limiting the promotion. KFC restricted the amount customers could buy.

So, why did it drive sales?

It’s due to scarcity.

By limiting the amount available, KFC made the chips seem like a scarce resource. We’re wired to prefer scarce resources over abundant resources.

When we read that the chips are limited to four per customer, we quickly assume the deal must be good — why else would KFC limit it?

This experiment shows that scarcity will often beat the most creative ad slogans.

So, with the ad you’re creating, try to add a bit of scarcity. Perhaps limit the amount a customer can buy. Maybe you should display low stock levels or a limited-time offer.

Do it ethically and truthfully and you’ll probably create a better ad.

2. Leave a letter out.

In a 2020 study by Leo Burnett, Mike Treharne, and Richard Shotton (cited in Richard’s book), participants were shown ads with brand names containing missing letters, for example, “HS_C.”

It was obvious to readers that the bank was HSBC, but by removing one letter, the ad became more engaging. And thus more effective.

Shotton, Treharne, and Burnett found that brand names with missing letters were 14% more memorable.

This is due to the generation effect.

By removing one of the letters from the brand name, the viewer is forced to think to find the answer.

It’s not hard. Everyone in the study knew that the bank was HSBC, but that extra bit of engagement made the ad more effective.

The charity Cancer Research UK has applied this exact principle in some of their ads.

They ran this major billboard campaign.

It takes viewers just a second to discover the answer is OBESITY. But that extra bit of engagement made the ad more memorable.

The American Red Cross has found a smart way to apply this same bias.

They removed the letters A, B, and O from their ad to highlight the need for those blood types and create a memorable ad.

The jumbled slogan forces the viewer to pay attention and makes the ad more effective.

In the lab, it’s shown to boost memorability.

And I reckon, it’s worth testing out yourself in your ads.

Try using incomplete brand names in your marketing materials, introduce quizzes or puzzles in your ad design, or test an interactive ad format that requires some form of user input.

It’s proven to make your ad more memorable.

Read more:

• What Makes an Ad Memorable?

3. Ask a question.

Rohini Ahluwalia and Robert Burnkrant in their 2004 study showed several hundred participants dozens of different ads.

Ahluwalia and Burnkrant wanted to see if certain types of language made for more effective advertising copy.

They found that ads with questions in the copy were rated 14% more favorably than ads without a question.

Simply adding a question mark made the ad more engaging.

The two researchers hypothesized that audiences feel more connected to an ad when it poses a question.

The questions engage the audience, making the ad more effective.

A few years back I tested this exact Nudge ad.

I ran two Reddit ads.

The first ad (the control) had no question attached.

It said, “Ditch boring business podcasts. Try Nudge.” Next to that copy, I put a few of my 5-star reviews.

The second ad was identical to the first, except, I added a question.

“Bored of boring business podcasts? Try Nudge.”

I found that Ahluwalia and Burnkrant’s finding was real.

The ad with the question was 17% more effective than the control ad.

It drove far more people to my podcast and resulted in many more listeners.

A 17% improvement from changing just two words and adding a question mark is impressive. It shows that questions engage viewers — and they make an ad more effective.

These three tips won’t help you create an award-winning ad. They won’t spark the same creativity behind Volkswagen’s “Think small.” campaign.

But they will improve your ads. And, they’re simple, actionable steps you can use on any ad to nudge it that bit closer to perfection.

This blog is part of Phill Agnew’s Marketing Cheat Sheet series where he reveals scientifically proven tips to help you improve your marketing. To learn more, listen to his podcast Nudge, a proud member of the HubSpot Podcast Network.

Graza. Fishwife. Brightland.

If you’ve never heard of them, just walk into a local specialty store — you’re guaranteed to spot some of these brands, with packaging so aesthetically pleasing they make you feel like walking inside an Instagram feed.

Gander helped build the Graza brand from scratch, an olive oil that comes in a squeeze bottle. Source: GoPuff

Marked by bright colors, bold fonts, and creative illustrations, this style of packaging is now moving beyond specialty stores and into big retail aisles.

“If you walk into almost every major retail chain grocery store in the US, there would be at least one product that we designed, if not two.”

That was Mike McVicar, co-founder of Gander, a Brooklyn-based design studio behind Graza, Magic Spoon, and a dozen of other “viral” brands.

I tracked him down after obsessing over Gander’s visual style, and asked him about the latest trends in packaging design.

Except he’s not a fan of following trends or virality — not surprising for a die-hard creative.

“We get all the time that our work is trendy and that we’ve set a certain visual tone with our work, but we don’t intentionally do that,” Mike confessed. “It can feel limiting and annoying sometimes.”

But he still shared his take on why we’re seeing this phenomenon.

The Design Pendulum

Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, good design wasn’t a priority for consumer packaged goods (CPG).

Packages with call-outs and stickers that scream “33% less fat” were the mainstream, a style that Mike endearingly described as “over the top, ugly, and kind of extra.”

When the 2010s rolled around, branding design went to the other extreme — the blanding trend.

Packages became minimalistic and generic, often featuring sans serif fonts and pastel colors.

And now with the rise of social shopping, many brands are catering to the dopamine-charged, color-forward Instagram aesthetic.

It’s also a renaissance of the Y2K style, with bold colors and playful textures.

“The pendulum has swung toward ‘it can be fun again!’” Mike said.

Big brands love this trend, too.

From Jell-O to 7UP, they’re redesigning to dial up the dopamine, and creating a visual identity that spreads fun and joy.

The Downside to A Trending Style

The problem with this trend? 

It has led some companies to prioritize “doing it for the ‘gram” when they come to Gander. 

“You find brands that just have very decorative design, or only feel interesting aesthetically. It won’t pay off for them in the long run, or even in the short run,” Mike said.

It’s problematic for brands to emulate what everyone else is doing, or recreating a trend, because:

• You’re assuming that someone else’s solution is your solution
• You’ll be easily replaceable
• You’re not focusing on communicating your own brand values and differentiation to customers

He also doesn’t believe the current dopamine packaging trend will stay for that much longer.

It’s a pendulum, after all. 

Differentiate Brands Through Design

Back in 2015, Gander worked on the rebranding for Banza, a pasta made from chickpeas.

Contrary to the popular style on the pasta aisle back then (think Barilla’s simplistic blue packaging), Gander went for a bright and expressive style. 

Source: Gander

Banza was one of the early brands to make a bold statement with packaging, which impacted the food industry as a whole. 

“Our ethos was to take an alternative food, and turn it into a brand that has subverted what was expected for gluten-free pasta,” Mike said.

And it worked.

Banza went from anonymity to one of the top pasta brands in the US. It’s now in 25k retail locations nationally, including Target, Walmart and Costco.

Since then, Gander’s helped many other CPG brands get on big retail shelves. Graza, whose design they helped build from scratch, hit $48m+ in revenue and can be found in 13k+ locations.

Looking back at their big wins, Mike gave three simple tips for any brand who want to stand out through design:

• Start with your story and history as a brand, instead of following trends blindly;
• Understand who your customer is, what kind of world they live in aesthetically, and what’s pleasing to them;
• Look at your competition, and see what opportunities align with your product and company that others aren’t doing yet.

What Else Is Trending in CPG Design?

As anti-trend as he is, Mike did get excited about one particular trend — the inclusion of “next-level delicious food photography” on packages.

The “bleh” to “yum” transformation. Source: AdWeek

You’d think it’s a no-brainer, but a decade ago, it wasn’t mainstream to put high-quality food photography on the packages.

“It never prints right, it doesn’t look that great, and the investment of creating something really good can be difficult for small brands,” Mike said.

But the tide has shifted.

Influenced by social media, younger consumers prefer packaging that actually stir up their appetite, and major food brands are trying to make their products look extra tasty.

Now that’s a trend we can all get behind. 

When considering who to learn from in the marketing space, one brand stands out: Liquid Death.

They’ve mastered the art of turning healthy beverages into a sought-after brand, making them ideal marketing mentors.

But they’ve done more than reinvent water — in many ways, they’ve reinvented marketing, as well.

I spoke with Greg Fass, Liquid Death’s VP of Marketing, to learn how he’s cultivated an anti-marketing approach, why some of his favorite campaigns involve Tony Hawk and Martha Stewart, and his belief that Liquid Death’s success comes down to understanding people aren’t “brainless consumers of products”.

How Liquid Death Wins at Anti-Marketing — And What You Can Learn from Them

1. Don’t overcomplicate your target audience.

Most target personas are awfully specific: “Marketing Melvin likes long walks on the beach, reading true-crime thrillers, watching videos on TikTok, and is interested in budget-friendly ways to grow his e-commerce startup.”

And there’s power in identifying a few key characteristics of your buyer – but it’s also inherently limiting.

Fass believes there are plenty of reasons why someone might connect with your brand.

For instance, Fass believes his target audience could be any of the following:

• Someone who likes entertainment and humor
• Someone who appreciates the sustainability angle (i.e. “bringing death to plastic”)
• Someone who acknowledges that Liquid Death is the reason their child is finally excited to drink water
• A sober-curious individual who wants to have a fun-looking drink while at a party
• People who like skulls

I’ll add one just for fun: Thirsty people.

Granted, water arguably has the biggest demographic of any product out there. But his point still holds true: Get too hyper-focused on building up your ‘target persona’ and you could be missing out on all the different reasons someone might connect with your brand first – and your product second.

2. People aren’t brainless consumers.

Here’s a fun fact: At Liquid Death, they don’t use the word consumer. Ever.

Instead, they have a team called “human insights”.

Fass is proud to work against the mindset that people are just “brainless consumers” whose sole purpose on Earth is to consume products. (Yep – that’s a direct quote.)

Instead, he says, “At Liquid Death, I’m proud that we think of our audiences as people. And when you think of them as humans, you understand they’ll get a piece of copy that isn’t straightforward, or jokes other brands are afraid to make. They’re intelligent, and have a sense of humor.”

It’s a philosophy that has served them well. Just consider the commercial where Martha Stewart is a serial killer chopping off hands to make candles — not exactly something that would go over well in a standard marketing pitch.

Liquid Death has done more than reinvent the better-for-you beverage category — they’ve reinvented marketing, as well.

Embracing their anti-marketing approach can help you discover fresh and novel ways of connecting better with, well, other humans.

3. People will buy your product if you can make them laugh.

A Liquid Death marketing meeting sounds like the beginning of a very odd joke: The lead singer of a punk band, an ex-Onion writer, a co-creator of adult cartoon Mr. Pickles, and a former competitive snowboarder all walk into a conference room. 

Fass says it resembles an SNL writers room more than a marketing department.

“We’re not just a brand that’s a funny brand,” Fass tells me. “We put out true comedy. That’s the bar for us. I’m proud to work on projects that compete with real entertainment that exists on the internet, because that’s why most people are on the internet in the first place. Not to buy a product.”

You’ve got to hand it to them: It’s not easy to create a hilarious ad for water or iced tea. But it works because Liquid Death’s content isn’t really about the product. The product is an aside to grandiosity and playfulness. That’s what they’re selling.

Like their recent campaign where a fan could win a $400K fighter jet along with six months of free hangar space (pilot not included); or Ozzy Ozbourne reminding youths not to snort Liquid Death’s new hydration powder.

For Fass, it’s simple: “When you can make someone laugh, they’re more likely to give your product a try.”

4. Don’t post if you don’t have anything worthwhile to say.

Fass hates the conventional wisdom that you should “always be posting.” For Fass, an obsession with quantity can very quickly diminish good content. 

At Liquid Death, they won’t post for two weeks if they don’t feel they have anything worthwhile to say.

“There’s celebrities and hilarious meme accounts on social media — that’s why people are on there,” he says, “The bar on social is very high. So you need to be competing at that highest level with everything you do.”

He also tells me he can’t believe when big brands push aside social as a “nice-to-have” or something for the interns to lead. 

“You should be putting your top brains in creative on social,” he fervently believes. “There’s a feeling like, ‘Well, it’s just social.’ At Liquid Death, social is a major priority for our entire brand and creative team.”

5. Humor comes down to tension.

Fass believes there’s a certain comedic science behind Liquid Death’s success, and it’s relatively simple: Tension.

In other words — two things that shouldn’t go together, but do.

Case-in-point: A healthy beverage with a skull on it; e.l.f. Cosmetics and black metal corpse paint; plush sea creature stuffed animals that have been heavily mutilated by single-use plastic.

You get my drift.

“What it comes down to is we have these ideas that other people would never try,” Fass says. “They’d think, ‘no way a client would ever approve of this’, or ‘our CEO will shut it down’. Those ideas never get to see the light of day — but at Liquid Death, we’ve created a culture where we celebrate those ideas and go forward with them.”

And you know,“ he adds with a grin, ”Sometimes we end up winning the internet that day.”

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

I’ve been an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant for seven years. My entry into this space was heavily influenced by my lifelong experiences as a frustrated consumer.

Several components of my identity make me different from what is often considered to be “mainstream.” And as a result, brands didn’t often serve me well because of the things that make me different.

Some Consumers Consistently Have Less Than Ideal Customer Experiences

I conducted a research study for a client in 2022 to understand how consumers of hotels and bed and breakfasts think about belonging.

Here’s what a few consumers who are part of underrepresented and underserved communities had to say about their subpar customer experiences:

• “People with food allergies and restrictions should have an opportunity to get everything that they paid for.”
• “I wish they realized that larger people want to travel and feel as though our money is as important as straight-sized individuals. Oftentimes, larger guests will find themselves with tiny towels, hard-to-reach items, not much space between furniture.”
• “I’ve stayed at numerous places where there was nothing to eat on the menu for me (vegan) and staff was not open to making adjustments.”
• “I need grab bars in the shower.”
• “People are allergic to feathers.”

This frustration doesn’t just exist for some hospitality industry consumers. It often impacts people across the board who are part of underrepresented communities. Historically, brands have done a poor job of serving these communities well.

A comprehensive study commissioned by beauty retailer Sephora showed that 2 out of 5, or 40%, of retail shoppers, have personally experienced unfair treatment based on their race or skin color.

Numerous studies show that women are subjected to the “pink tax,” where they are charged (and sometimes taxed, in the case of feminine care products) more for similar products such as razors, toys, and dry cleaning than men are.

One study showed women are charged 48% more for shampoo, even though the ingredients are similar. Another study showed that the pink tax costs women an extra $1,351 annually and more than $100,000 throughout a lifetime.

These less-than-ideal experiences for consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities lead to frustration and much lower conversions with the brands they have these substandard experiences with.

When people are frustrated or feel like they are treated like an afterthought, they don’t convert, don’t make repeat purchases, and don’t achieve success at the same rate as others.

In this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, I do a deep dive into factors that influence your customers’ success and conversions that you should be aware of so you can fix them.

There’s a simple solution to increase conversions throughout the customer experience you deliver for all the people you want to serve.

Eliminate identity-based friction.

Here’s how to do it.

How to Deliver Conversion-Boosting Customer Experiences

1. Acknowledge the many ways consumers can be different.

Differences are common.

From the standpoint of consumers who have the problem your brand solves, there are a myriad of identities and ways in which they can be different that will have an impact on the customer experience your brand delivers.

Take the time to go through an exercise evaluating all the different ways your ideal customer could be different.

Here’s a list of common dimensions of diversity that impact the way a consumer experiences your brand, and ultimately whether or not they convert.

Once you find the different identities of the consumers you want to serve, the next step is to understand how their needs differ.

This free customer journey map template from HubSpot can help you identify how the journeys of various consumers could differ based on their identities.

Simply acknowledging that not all the customers you serve have the same need helps you expand your way of operating.

For instance, say you own a hotel and did this exercise. If the results highlighted that some of your ideal customers will be allergic to feathers, you might make different choices about the type of bedding you offer. As a result, you could deliver a high-quality and safe experience for all your guests.

Taylor Loren is a marketer who recently launched a content marketing strategy playbook. I loved seeing a callout on her sales page highlighting that the course was built with neurodivergent brains in mind.

The product offering was made to deliver a more inclusive experience because Loren first identified that neurodivergent people are a part of her ideal customer base.

2. Don’t “other” people.

No one likes to feel othered, or like they aren’t part of a group because of their differences. I often remind clients that not everyone has a great relationship with what makes them different, so they often don’t want to be reminded of this when they’re trying to engage with a brand.

Remember, belonging is the goal. The more people feel like they belong with you, the higher your conversion rates will be.

When people feel cast aside or like they aren’t “normal” they are less likely to take action to continue engaging with a brand that makes them feel that way. People who feel othered are less likely to convert.

Instead of labeling things that may make some consumers feel frustrated or upset, enable customers to find what they need without making them feel like something is wrong with them.

Some retail brands have stopped ‘othering’ shoppers who need a larger size by eliminating the “plus-sized” label from the shopping experience.

Here’s an example of a brand using the plus-sized label in a way that ‘others’ people and delivers a substandard customer experience.

Here’s an example of a brand that allows shoppers to find what they need without ‘othering’ them, thus delivering a more positive customer experience that makes more people feel like they belong.

In this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, I explored the concept of “normal” and how marketers should use it to deliver remarkable customer experiences for all the people they serve.

3. Don’t force people to ‘raise their hands’ to acknowledge their differences.

I spoke at a conference earlier this year, and my session was just before lunchtime. After it was over, I went to the buffet lunch that was set up for the attendees and noticed there weren’t any labels on the food from a food allergy standpoint.

So, I went and asked one of the servers if they could let me know which items were safe, and a few minutes later, someone brought out a prepared plate from the chef full of gluten-free items, including dishes that weren’t included at the buffet.

When I sat down to eat it, the woman next to me heard me talking about my experience of having to wait to get gluten-free food. She told me she was also gluten-free for health reasons. However, she added that she opted to guess which foods in the buffet were gluten-free because she didn’t want to say anything.

It is important to recognize that not everyone who has an identity that makes them different wants to raise their hand and tell the world about the specific needs they have.

Here’s a clip in which famed producer Shonda Rhimes shares about a time when she decided against “raising her hand” to express her need for a special accommodation, even though it could negatively impact her safety.

When working to improve your conversions by eliminating identity-based friction in the customer experience you deliver, take the time to ensure that consumers don’t have to raise their hands to acknowledge their differences and get what they need from you.

Make it so that you’ve included a way for people to easily get their questions answered, get the accommodations they need, or self-identify what will work best for them in their experience without having to detail their personal information to a stranger.

During a research study I conducted for a client, one consumer explained that brands make her feel like she belongs “When I don’t have to ask for accommodation because they are already available.”

In this episode of the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, I walk you through my Inclusive Customer Experience Spectrum to help you identify how to deliver experiences that convert a higher number of customers.

Better Customer Experiences Lead to Higher Conversions

You can increase conversions for your brand. It results from delivering better customer experiences for all the people you serve, including those from underrepresented and underserved communities.

Start by identifying how the people you serve are different. Then, design experiences that make all of your ideal customers feel like they belong with your brand, no matter their identity.

As a new marketing assistant, I once created an email campaign for our biggest product launch. Despite spending hours crafting the seemingly “perfect” message, the next day’s analytics showed dismal open and click-through rates.

The problem? I had neglected the design, resulting in a cluttered mess with no clear call-to-action. This harsh wake-up call taught me that in email marketing, design is as crucial as content.

This experience set me on a path to mastering email design. I learned that effective emails require a balance of engaging copy and visually appealing design that guides readers to action.

In this blog post, I’ve explored email design best practices, covering everything from attention-grabbing subject lines to responsive design.

Why Email Design Matters

With email users expected to reach 4.7 billion by 2026, mastering email design is crucial for reaching and converting your target audience.

Email recipients often scan information and abandon emails that don‘t offer them value or simply appear to be too dense.

That’s why having great email design is so important — it’ll help you capture the attention of, and engage, your email recipients.

Your email design should be attention-grabbing, aesthetically-pleasing, and on-brand, among other things — let’s dive into those things next with these 13 best practices for email design.

1. Craft a strong subject line.

Your email subject line is the first thing anyone sees when you send them an email. It’s the brief statement that’s supposed to pique the interest of your recipients. It should capture their attention so they want to open your email and continue reading.

Here’s what a subject line looks like in your email inbox:

Here’s what a subject line looks like in your mobile device’s email inbox:

A great subject line will have these characteristics:

• Grab the attention of your readers in as few words as possible (remember: less is more).
• Provide value for the recipient that makes them want to open the email.
• Summarize what recipients are going to read and/ or see once they open the email.

2. Write an attention-grabbing pre-header.

Your email pre-header is a preview of what the email is about, similar to the meta description of a web page. It’s the second thing recipients see.

Rather than rewriting the first sentence of your email, you can customize the pre-header to provide an inside look into what your recipients are about to read in your message.

Here’s what a pre-header looks like in your email inbox:

Here’s what a pre-header looks like in your mobile device’s email inbox:

3. Be concise.

How many times throughout the day do you find yourself opening an email thinking, I can’t wait to sit down and take the next 5-10 minutes to really dive into this email from Business X!

If you’re anything like me, your answer is likely rarely or never.

Give email recipients the information they want and need from you without getting into the weeds. This will show them you value their time which has the potential to help you improve email subscriber retainment.

4. Keep your email on-brand.

When your email recipients open your message, they should know the email was sent from your company. Meaning your email should be branded.

To keep your email on-brand, consider using the following tactics:

• Use a tone in your emails that complements your other content and marketing materials (like your website and social media).
• Incorporate the same colors and fonts that you use in your other branding and marketing materials.
• Include your logo, a link to your website, links to your social media accounts, and calls-to-action (CTAs) that are relevant to your products or services. This is a great way to increase brand awareness while also boost conversions.

5. Use the layout to enhance your email’s user experience.

Nobody wants to read a cluttered and unorganized email — this makes recipients feel overwhelmed and can lead to increased abandonment.

Instead, organize your layout with user experience (UX) in mind — meaning, leave empty/white space and strategically place your written and visual content so it’s organized and easy to consume and navigate.

6. Personalize every email.

When you customize an email and tailor it to your recipient, it’ll feel more thoughtful, professional, and personal.

Email personalization also helps you humanize your brand. This touch helps you foster a relationship between your business and email recipients and boost retention rates.

Beyond just using a recipient’s name, personalization is a crucial aspect of email marketing. I asked Nura Busleiman, the head of email marketing operations for the lifecycle team at MarketerHire, how to go beyond using a recipient’s name:

“The most important thing is to understand where in the customer journey your lead is. If they are just getting to know you, they might need different information than someone who already bought your product or service.”

Busleiman’s advice highlights the importance of tailoring your email content to each recipient’s specific stage in the customer journey:

“Understanding their journey will lead you to better emails and results, of course. Your contact needs to understand why they are receiving that email at that moment and what they are expected to do.”

This level of personalization ensures that your emails are not only relevant but also provide clear value to the reader, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.

7. Incorporate unique visual content.

If recipients open an email and only see paragraphs of information, it’s likely going to be difficult to hold their attention and keep them interested in your message.

Rather, incorporate on-brand and engaging images, videos, GIFs, animations, etc. to break up the written content and create a memorable experience.

And speaking of incorporating creative and unique visual content in your emails, let’s talk emojis.

8. Don’t be afraid to use emojis. 🧡

At first, emojis may seem like an unnecessary or unprofessional addition to an email. While this may be a fair assumption, it’s actually untrue in a number of scenarios.

In fact, when you add emojis to your email subject line and/ or email copy, you can increase your open and click-through rates.

But remember: When using emojis for marketing purposes, make sure you know the meaning and connotation of the specific one(s) you incorporate. 😃

9. Use a responsive design.

A responsive design means your email changes format to fit the screen it’s being viewed on, whether it’s on a desktop, laptop, or mobile device. Recipients will be able to read your emails with ease no matter where or how they’re viewing them.

By incorporating a responsive design, you’ll be able to enhance UX and improve email retention across all devices.

10. Optimize your email with CTAs.

Calls-to-action (CTAs) are used to convert your email recipients. For instance, you can use a CTA to get recipients to follow you on social media, visit your website, chat with a sales rep, or become paying customers.

CTAs should be visible, enticing, and clearly show why they’re valuable to click. Additionally, you might choose to personalize your CTAs to tailor them towards specific recipients — this tactic has been proven to increase conversions.

11. Add an “unsubscribe” button.

Email marketing is highly effective as long as you’re providing relevant content to your recipients.

The unfortunate but true reality of email marketing is that your recipients and customers change over time — especially as your business grows and evolves. Therefore, your content may not always be relevant to certain audience members.

For this reason, allow your recipients to leave (or unsubscribe from your emails) on a good note so they can remember your business in a positive light — who knows, they may need your email content, products, or services again in the future.

To do this, simplify their lives with an easy-to-use and visible “unsubscribe” button.

In addition to offering a better experience for users, you’re actually required by law to add that unsubscribe button.

According to the Federal Trade Commission and CAN-SPAM Act, you’re legally required to include a “clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt-out of getting emails from you in the future.”

Meaning, that unsubscribe button isn’t an option.

(If you need some inspiration, check out these effective unsubscribe pages.)

12. A/B test your design.

Similar to most marketing efforts, email design is an iterative process. You might determine you need to make changes and updates to get the most out of your email design.

But what elements should you focus on when A/B testing? Here Busleiman shares her insights once more:

“Usually, CTAs placed above the fold (visible without scrolling) generally see higher click-through rates. What I do recommend anyway is to always try to talk as your audience talks, understand their customer journey, and show them images that they can find familiar. You can also A/B test attributes such as voice and tone. Don’t make assumptions, just experiments!”

Busleiman’s advice highlights several key areas for A/B testing:

1. CTA placement. Testing the position of your call-to-action, especially above the fold, can significantly improve click-through rates.
2. Language and tone. Experimenting with different ways of speaking to your audience can help you find the most effective communication style.
3. Imagery. Testing various images that resonate with your audience’s experiences can improve engagement.
4. Voice and tone. Even subtle changes in how you express your message can make a big difference.

Pro tip: Remember, the goal of A/B testing is to let data guide your decisions rather than relying on assumptions. By consistently testing these elements, you can continually refine your email design for maximum impact.

13. Design an email signature.

Great email signature design is another way you can establish a professional and personal feel over email.

Email signatures shouldn’t just include your name — they should contain other defining and memorable characteristics about you, your role, contact information, and company.

Here are some specifics you can include in your email signature:

• First and last name
• Contact information (and secondary contact information)
• Job Title / Role
• Company Name
• Link to your meeting calendar
• Social media links (e.g. LinkedIn profile)
• Pronouns
• Photo
• Industry disclaimer or legal requirements

Creating a professional email signature doesn’t have to be complicated. You can easily design one using HubSpot’s free email signature generator, which helps you incorporate all these elements seamlessly.

A great way to streamline the process of working on and incorporate all 13 of the above best practices is to use email design tools and software.

In fact, many of the best practices we reviewed will come up naturally while you’re designing, writing, and planning your messages with email design software.

While these best practices provide a solid foundation, sometimes seeing real-world examples can offer additional insights.

Take a look at our collection of innovative email newsletter designs for more ideas on how to apply these principles creatively.

Email Design Tools

There are a number of email design tools with a wide range of capabilities (some completely unrelated to email design!). Here are some popular examples.

1. HubSpot

HubSpot’s Email Marketing software allows you to create, design, personalize, and optimize all of your emails.

You don’t need any IT or coding knowledge, and you can easily customize mobile-friendly emails. The software allows you to A/B test emails to determine which designs work best.

Additionally, it includes an AI-generated email feature that can significantly enhance your productivity.

2. BEEPro

As a BEEPro user, you can design responsive emails in just minutes.

Smart design tools provide you with a quick way to format your emails and ensure your layout complements your content.

You can also customize and save various email design templates so your messaging and branding is consistent.

3. MailChimp

With over 100 templates offered, MailChimp allows you to customize your email design for your target audience.

If you’re someone who does have coding experience, and you want to take your design a step further, MailChimp offers you the ability to code your template too.

4. Stripo

Stripo requires no HTML knowledge to create and design professional email templates. All of their pre-made templates are responsive so readers can easily view them via any device.

You can also sync your current email service provider (ESP) with the software to access all of your email and contact information from a central location.

5. Chamaileon

As a collaborative email builder, Chamaileon gives you the ability to invite members of your team to collaborate on your designs.

The software ensures your emails will have a responsive design and automatically comes with over 100 pre-made templates to customize for specific recipients.

While these tools can help you create visually appealing emails, it’s also valuable to see how other successful companies are designing their emails. For inspiration and ideas, check out our curated list of effective email marketing examples.

These real-world examples can help you understand how to apply design principles and best practices to your own email campaigns.

Email Design Examples

Let’s take a look at some successful email designs to inspire your work.

HubSpot Marketing Blog

HubSpot used to send emails to Marketing Blog subscribers every day. These included a few blog marketing-related articles to read and learn from. If recipients chose, they could also subscribe to HubSpot’s Sales Blog and Service Blog emails.

The emails were branded so readers immediately know who the email is from and what it will include. To make the daily emails engaging and unique, they included previews of the articles and an occasional quiz.

Starbucks Rewards

Starbucks customers and members may have seen this email, or something similar, in their inbox before:

The email complements Starbucks’ marketing and branding, and there’s plenty of white space separating the written information from the engaging imagery. And the CTA that recipients can click on to activate the offer is clearly placed.

Vital Proteins Email Design

Although Vital Proteins’ email design contains many images and a lot of information, it’s neatly organized so it doesn’t feel overwhelming to recipients. The email’s colors, font, and visuals are on-brand and feature the company’s products.

There’s an obvious CTA that redirects recipients to their Instagram page — in turn, this type of CTA helps the company increase their follower count and brand awareness on the social platform.

Grow Better With Really Good Email Design

Email design is an art form that masterfully blends visual appeal, strategic planning, and psychological principles. It’s a crucial skill that deserves continuous refinement to achieve better results from your email marketing campaigns.

I’m particularly excited about the impact of personalization, which pushed me to explore creative ways to tailor emails beyond just using names.

For example, the potential of emojis to boost open rates challenged my preconceptions, and is something I’ll start experimenting with in subject lines.

Armed with these insights, you can now craft emails that not only reach your audience but also resonate deeply with them.

Remember, great email design is an ongoing process. As email continues to evolve, so too will design best practices. Stay curious, keep experimenting, and most importantly, always prioritize your audience’s experience.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in August 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Which AI tactics will keep your site relevant and engaging as website strategies shift from broad audience capture to hyper-personalization?

The days of designing websites solely for broad audience capture and search engine optimization are well behind us. The future now lies in hyper-personalization, where websites cater to the specific needs and preferences of each visitor.

AI is at the forefront of this transformation, providing advanced tools and insights to create more relevant and engaging websites based on individual user data.

While the sheer volume of AI technologies — and the speed at which they’re evolving — might feel overwhelming, it’s critical for marketing leaders to stay current with these advancements.

In our recent Marketing Against the Grain episode, Kieran and I discuss three high-impact AI strategies for optimizing your website, along with emerging tools and examples, to get you started today. Let’s dive in.

High-Impact AI Strategies for Optimizing Your Website

1. Integrate AI chat ASAP.

One essential (and obvious) strategy that many marketers still overlook is integrating AI chat. AI chatbots are key for curating a seamless user journey by giving users exactly what they need.

These bots don’t get annoyed, nor do they get offended. They guide impatient visitors around your site, answer questions, and personalize interactions, making it easy for users to find what they want, without the hassle of endless clicking.

During the episode, we explored the AI voice chatbot on Hume AI’s website. What stood out to us was how the chatbot effortlessly navigated us through the site based on our verbal requests — completely eliminating the need for typing or clicking.

“Why would I ever click through the pages when I can just start this anonymous conversation with a bot and have it do all the work for me?” says Kieran. “It’s like going into a high-end store and having someone immediately assist you.”

AI chat tools like Hume act as virtual concierges, streamlining the overall user journey by providing a direct pathway to the information they seek. This is crucial for optimizing your website, making it more intuitive, efficient, and ultimately, more satisfying for your users.

2. Lean into AI video experimentation.

AI video tools are game-changers for making your website more hyper-personalized and globally accessible.

Imagine greeting each visitor with a video in their native language or with a custom message tailored to their specific interests based on user data. This creates a better experience for everyone, whether they’re local — or halfway across the world.

Tools HeyGen and InfinityAI offer cutting-edge creative potential that you don’t want to miss out on. And while there’s still room for improvement, as a marketing leader, you should be experimenting and exploring these tools now.

As Sam Altman from OpenAI said during his interview with 20VC, there are two types of companies: those who are building for what AI can do today, and those building for what it will be able to do in the future.

Our advice: position your company in the latter category and start testing new video advancements now to stay ahead in the long term.

3. Improve multimodality with AI-generated audio.

Think about the best salesperson in your company — it’s often the founder. But founders lack the time to continuously create content for marketing campaigns, product releases, and sales initiatives.

This is where AI-generated audio comes in, providing a new level of authenticity and personalization for your website.

For example, AI audio tools like Character.AI or Delphi AI can replicate the voices of key figures like founders, celebrities, or influencers (with proper consent and licensing), delivering personalized messages or testimonials to your audience.

Additionally, AI-generated audio tools can streamline the creation of high-volume content like product demos, explainer videos, and personalized sales pitches, saving your creative team valuable time and resources.

“Websites are going to be much more multimodal in the future than they are now,” Kieran emphasizes. Integrating AI-generated audio is essential for future-proofing your website, making it more dynamic and aligning with shifting user expectations for a more immersive and interactive online experience.

To watch our entire discussion about website optimization in an era of AI, check out the full episode of Marketing Against the Grain below:

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

Business budgets are a source of truth for your income and expenses. That includes all the money you spend — from A/B testing your marketing campaigns to your monthly office rent.

In my roles, I’ve needed to create budgets for whole projects and smaller writing projects.

While organizing the numbers may sound difficult, I’ve found that using a business budget template makes the process simple. Plus, there are thousands of business budget templates for you to choose from.

In this article, I’ll share seven budget templates that can help organize your finances. But first, you’ll learn about different types of business budgets and how to create one.

Table of Contents

• What is a business budget?
• Types of Budgets for a Business
• How to Create a Business Budget
• How to Manage a Business Budget
• Why is a Budget Important for a Business?
• Best Free Business Budget Templates

The business budget follows a set template, which you can fill in with estimated revenues, plus any recurring or expected business expenses.

For example, say your business is planning a website redesign. You’d need to break down the costs by category: software, content and design, testing, and more.

Having a clear breakdown will help you estimate how much each category will cost and compare it with the actual costs.

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Business budgets aren’t one size fits all. In fact, there are many different types of budgets that serve various purposes.

Let’s dive into some commonly used budgets:

Master Budget

Think of a master budget as the superhero of budgets.

It brings together all the individual budgets from different parts of your company into one big, consolidated plan. It covers everything from sales and production to marketing and finances.

It includes details like projected revenues, expenses, and profitability for each department or business unit. It also considers important financial aspects like cash flow and capital expenditures. The budget even creates a balance sheet to show the organization’s financial position.

The master budget acts as a guide for decision-making, helps with strategic planning, and gives a clear picture of the overall financial health and performance of your company. It’s like the master plan that ties everything together and helps the organization move in the right direction.

Operating Budget

Your operating budget helps your company figure out how much money it expects to make and spend during a specific period, usually a year. It not only predicts the revenue your business will bring in but also outlines expenses it will need to cover, like salaries, rent, bills, and other operational costs.

By comparing your actual expenses and revenue to the budgeted amounts, your company can see how it’s performing and make adjustments if needed. It helps keep things in check, allowing your business to make wise financial decisions and stay on track with its goals.

Cash Budget

A cash budget estimates the cash inflows and outflows of your business over a specific period, typically a month, quarter, or year. It provides a detailed projection of cash sources and uses, including revenue, expenses, and financing activities.

The cash budget helps you effectively manage your cash flow, plan for cash shortages or surpluses, evaluate the need for external financing and make informed decisions about resource allocation.

By utilizing a cash budget, your business can ensure it has enough cash on hand to meet its financial obligations, navigate fluctuations, and seize growth opportunities.

Static Budget

A static budget is a financial plan that remains unchanged, regardless of actual sales or production volumes.

It’s typically created at the beginning of a budget period and doesn’t account for any fluctuations or changes in business conditions. It also assumes that all variables, such as sales, expenses, and production levels, will remain the same throughout the budget period.

While a static budget provides a baseline for comparison, it may not be realistic for businesses with fluctuating sales volumes or variable expenses.

Departmental Budget

A departmental budget focuses on the financial aspects of a specific department within your company, such as sales, marketing, or human resources.

When creating a departmental budget, you may look at revenue sources like departmental sales, grants, and other sources of income. On the expense side, you consider costs such as salaries, supplies, equipment, and any other expenses unique to that department.

The goal of a departmental budget is to help the department manage its finances wisely. It acts as a guide for making decisions and allocating resources effectively. By comparing the actual numbers to the budgeted amounts, department heads can see if they’re on track or if adjustments need to be made.

Capital Budget

A capital budget is all about planning for big investments in the long term. It focuses on deciding where to spend money on things like upgrading equipment, maintaining facilities, developing new products, and hiring new employees.

The budget looks at the costs of buying new stuff, upgrading existing things, and even considers depreciation, which is when something loses value over time. It also considers the return on investment, like how much money these investments might bring in or how they could save costs in the future.

The budget also looks at different ways to finance these investments, whether it‘s through loans, leases, or other options. It’s all about making smart decisions for the future, evaluating cash flow, and choosing investments that will help the company grow and succeed.

Labor Budget

A labor budget helps you plan and manage the costs related to your employees. It involves figuring out how much your business will spend on wages, salaries, benefits, and other labor-related expenses.

To create a labor budget, you‘ll need to consider factors like how much work needs to be done, how many folks you’ll need to get it done, and how much it’ll all cost. This can help your business forecast and control labor-related expenses and ensure adequate staffing levels.

By having a labor budget in place, your business can monitor and analyze your labor costs to make informed decisions and optimize your resources effectively.

Project Budget

A project budget is a financial plan for a specific project.

Let‘s say you have an exciting new project you want to tackle. A project budget helps you figure out how much money you’ll need and how it will be allocated. It covers everything from personnel to equipment and materials — basically, anything you’ll need to make the project happen.

By creating a project budget, you can make sure the project is doable from a financial standpoint. It helps you keep track of how much you planned to spend versus how much you actually spend as you go along.

That way, you have a clear idea of whether you’re staying on track or if there are any financial challenges that need attention.

How to Create a Business Budget

While creating a business budget can be straightforward, the process may be more complex for larger companies with multiple revenue streams and expenses.

No matter the size of your business, here are the basic steps to creating a business budget.

1. Gather financial data.

Before you create a business budget, it’s important to gather insights from your past financial data. By looking at income statements, expense reports, and sales data, you can spot trends, learn from past experiences, and see where you can make improvements.

Going through your financial history helps you paint an accurate picture of your income and expenses. So, when you start creating your budget, you can set achievable targets and make sure your estimates match what’s actually been happening in your business.

Besides past financials, consider new expenses. For instance, if your business is looking to try a new marketing channel, you’d need to document your goals for that channel. Afterward, walk backward to figure out how much you need to achieve those goals and include it in your budget.

2. Find a template or make a spreadsheet.

There are many free or paid budget templates online. You can start with an existing budget template. We list a few helpful templates below.

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You may also opt to make a spreadsheet with custom rows and columns based on your business.

3. Fill in revenues.

Once you have your template, start by listing all the sources of your business’ income. With a budget, you’re planning for the future, so you’ll also need to forecast revenue streams based on previous months or years.

For a new small business budget, you’ll rely on your market research to estimate early revenue for your company. If you’re trying out new channels, consider using industry benchmarks to gauge the revenue to expect.

When you estimate your revenue, you’re essentially figuring out how much money you have to work with. This helps you decide where to allocate your resources and which expenses you can fund.

4. Subtract fixed costs for the time period.

Fixed costs are the recurring costs you have during each month, quarter, or year. Examples include insurance, rent for office space, website hosting, and internet.

The key thing to remember about fixed costs is that they stay relatively stable, regardless of changes in business activity. Even if your sales decrease or production slows down, these costs remain the same.

However, it’s important to note that fixed costs can still change over the long term, such as when renegotiating lease agreements or adjusting employee salaries.

5. Consider variable costs.

Variable costs will change from time to time. Unlike fixed costs, variable costs increase or decrease as the level of production or sales changes.

Examples include raw materials needed to manufacture your products, packaging and shipping costs, utility bills, advertising costs, office supplies, and new software or technology.

You may always need to pay some variable costs, like utility bills. However, you can shift how much you spend toward other expenses, like advertising costs, when you have a lower-than-average estimated income.

6. Set aside time for business budget planning.

Unexpected expenses might come up, or you might want to save to expand your business. Either way, review your budget after including all expenses, fixed costs, and variable costs.

Once completed, you can determine how much money you can save. It’s wise to create multiple savings accounts. One should be used for emergencies. The other holds money that can be spent on the business to drive growth.

7. Conduct budget reviews.

Every budget requires periodic reviews. Regular reviews let you know what’s working and respond to changes in your financial outlook.

When doing a budget review, compare your estimated budget to your actual spend. This lets you know how to make better revenue and expense projections.

There is no rule stating when you should conduct your budget review. However, I’d recommend you do it monthly, quarterly, and yearly.

• Monthly reviews: Check your estimated versus actual spend. Look for items whose actual spend surpasses the estimated cost. Consider cost-cutting measures for such items when forecasting your expenses for the next month.
• Quarterly reviews: Use this review to identify month-over-month budget estimates and actual spend for three months. Use the insights to determine what you should spend less or more on and forecast better for the next quarter.
• Yearly reviews: This review lets you assess your projections for the year. If they were accurate, double down on it. If otherwise, reflect on what didn’t work and use what you’ve learned to make better long-term financial projections for the next year.

How to Manage a Business Budget

There are a few key components to managing a healthy business budget.

Budget Preparation

The process all starts with properly preparing and planning the budget at the beginning of each month, quarter, or year.

You can also create multiple budgets, some short-term and some long-term. During this stage, you will also set spending limits and create a system to regularly monitor the budget.

Budget Monitoring

In larger businesses, you might delegate budget tracking to multiple supervisors.

But even if you’re a one-person show, keep a close eye on your budget.

That means setting a time in your schedule each day or week to review the budget and track actual income and expenses. Be sure to compare the actual numbers to the estimates.

Budget Forecasting

With regular budget tracking, you always know how your business is doing.

Check in regularly to determine how you are doing in terms of revenue and where you have losses. Find where you can minimize expenses and how you can move more money into savings.

Why is a Budget Important for a Business?

A budget is crucial for businesses. Without one, you could easily be drowning in expenses or unexpected costs.

The business budget helps with several operations. You can use a business budget to keep track of your finances, save money to help you grow the business or pay bonuses in the future, and prepare for unexpected expenses or emergencies.

You can also review your budget to determine when to take the next leap for your business. For example, you might be dreaming of a larger office building or the latest software, but you want to make sure you have a healthy net revenue before you make the purchase.

Best Free Business Budget Templates

1. Marketing Budget Template

Best for: Companies executing multiple initiatives across several marketing channels

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Knowing how to manage a marketing budget can be a challenge, but with helpful free templates like this marketing budget template bundle, you can track everything from advertising expenses to events and more.

I like this bundle because it is comprehensive and has eight free business budget templates. There are templates for:

• Branding and creative budget.
• Product marketing budget.
• Paid advertising budget.
• Public relations budget.
• Web design budget.
• Content budget.
• Event budget.

The master budget template brings everything together and serves as your single source of truth. It consolidates the different budgets into a massive, company-wide budget sheet. Having a specific template for each initiative can help teams keep track of spending and plan for growth.

2. Project Budget Template

Best for: In-house teams seeking buy-in for complex projects

Every new project comes with expenses.

This free business budget template will help your team calculate the total cost once you enter your labor, material, and fixed costs. You can easily spot if you’re going over budget midway through a project so you can adjust.

This template is especially useful for small companies that are reporting budgets to clients and for in-house teams getting buy-in for complex projects.

3. Free Business Budget Template

Best for: Businesses of all types executing a minimal number of initiatives

Sometimes, you may need to document a simple budget for a few initiatives. In such cases, this free business budget template, which works in Google Sheets and Excel, may be ideal. I like the idea of Google Sheets because it lets others collaborate and comment on the budget.

These business budget templates feature cells for entering your expenses, category, and budget. Afterward, the spreadsheet uses the data to create your total estimated budget.

4. Small Business Budget Template

Best for: Small businesses and new startups

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For small businesses, it can be hard to find the time to draw up a budget, but it’s crucial to help keep the business in good health. This is why I like the budget template that Capterra created specifically for small businesses.

This business budget template works with Excel. I like this template because it helps you take inventory of your income and track your monthly expenses. The small business budget template from Capterra includes:

• Operating income.
• Non-operating income.
• Fixed cost.
• Variable cost.

The business expense section of the template is excellent for tracking employee expenses.

The business budget section of the template helps you track your estimated versus actual income. Over time, this information helps you predict the income to expect so you can plan your expenses and have the funds to execute.

To use the business budget template, start by inputting your estimated projections. Once you get the actual figures, input them, and the sheet will calculate the rest automatically.

For the business expense template, you simply input the description and associated cost to get the total cost.

5. Startup Budget Template

Best for: New business owners and startups

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Sometimes, you may not have previous numbers to rely on to create profit and expense estimates. Trust me, I have been there, and that’s where Gusto’s budget template helps.

If you are a startup, this budget template will help you draw up a budget before your business is officially on the market. You can track all the expenses you need to get your business up and running, estimate your first revenues, and determine where to pinch pennies.

Gusto’s business budget template has sections for entering:

• Expense.
• Expense category.
• Budget.
• Padding.
• Estimated budget.

6. Company Budget Template

Best for: Companies and small businesses with multiple departments

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If you want to keep track of every penny, use this template from TemplateLab to draw up a detailed budget. I like this template because it’s comprehensive, lists expenses like fixed costs, employee costs, and variable costs.

The expense analysis section of the template also includes pie and bar charts to show your expenditure visually. This business template is useful for small businesses that want to keep track of expenses in one document.

7. Administrative Budget Template

Best for: Companies and small businesses with multiple departments and vast tech stack

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If you operate your business in-office or work remotely with lots of tools, it may be helpful to keep track of your administrative budget separately.

I like this business budget template from Zapier because it lets you account for administrative expenses like:

• Rent.
• Depreciation.
• Insurance.
• Training and development.
• Communication.
• Marketing tools.
• Sales tools.
• Accounting fees.

Tracking these expenses separately helps you know if you’re overspending on certain elements of your business. It also lets you cut down on what you can do without and save some of your revenue.

Testing It Out

To show you how easy it is to use these templates, I’ll test out the marketing budget template.

Once you download the template, you’ll see the first sheet, showing you how to use it.

What I like about this template: Once I scroll through the sheet, there are populated figures, which I can easily replace. For instance, to enter my content budget, I just need to follow the instructions of filling in my projected expenses.

After each month, I can revisit the template to enter my actual expenses. This lets me know if my projections are right.

A nice inclusion in this template is the year-to-date summary, which continuously updates as I input or delete figures. The graph is also a brilliant touch, as it gives me a virtual overview of where I am spending more.

Following the same process, I can create a product marketing budget, paid advertising budget, public relations budget, etc.

When I finish these individual budgets, I can then populate my master marketing budget with insights from all initiatives. Easy peasy!

Create a business budget to help your company grow.

Making your first business budget can be daunting, especially if you have several revenue streams and expenses. Using a budget template can make getting started easy. And, once you get it set up, these templates are simple to replicate.

With little planning and regular monitoring, you can plan for the future of your business.

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