The 11 Best Cover Letter Examples: What They Got Right

Let’s face it: A job search is, typically, anything but fun.

It’s almost as if it carries its own five stages of grief. At first, there’s denial of its demoralizing nature. Then comes the anger over either radio silence or rejection from prospective employers. Of course, there’s bargaining -- “I promise to never complain about work again, if I can find a new job!”

That’s often followed by depression and the idea that one is simply just unhireable. Then, there’s acceptance: “This is awful, but I have to keep trying, anyway.”

But we have good news. It is possible to have a little fun with your job search -- and maybe even make yourself a better candidate in the process. The magic, it turns out, could be in your cover letter.

It may be true that only 35% of recruiters admit that cover letters do not materially influence the hiring process for them, but that doesn't mean yours has to contribute to that statistic. In fact, it might be that cover letters are deemed insignificant because so few of them stand out. Here's an opportunity for you to exercise your creativity at the earliest stage of the recruitment process.

Personalization, after all, goes beyond replacing the title and company name in each letter you send to recruiters.

What does that look like in practice, and how can you make your cover letter stand out? We found six examples from job seekers who decided to do things a bit differently.

Note: Some of these cover letters contain real company names and NSFW language that we've covered up.

Best Cover Letter Examples

1. The Cover Letter That Explains 'Why,' Not Just 'How'

We’ve already covered the importance of addressing how you’ll best execute a certain role in your cover letter. But there’s another question you might want to answer: Why the heck do you want to work here?

The Muse, a career guidance site, says that it’s often best to lead with the why -- especially if it makes a good story. We advise against blathering on and on, but a brief tale that illuminates your desire to work for that particular employer can really make you stand out.

Source: The Muse

Here’s another instance of the power of personalization. The author of this cover letter clearly has a passion for this prospective employer -- the Chicago Cubs -- and if she’s lying about it, well, that probably would eventually be revealed in an interview.

Make sure your story is nonfiction, and relatable according to each job. While we love a good tale of childhood baseball games, an introduction like this one probably wouldn’t be fitting in a cover letter for, say, a software company. But a story of how the hours you spent playing with DOS games as a kid led to your passion for coding? Sure, we’d find that fitting.

If you’re really passionate about a particular job opening, think about where that deep interest is rooted. Then, tell your hiring manager about it in a few sentences.

2. The 'We're Meant for Each Other' Cover Letter

This cover letter example is a special one because it was submitted to us here at HubSpot. What does the letter do well? It makes a connection with us before we've even met the letter's author.

"Content Marketing Certified" indicates the applicant has taken the content marketing certification course in our HubSpot Academy (you can take the same course here). Our "records" indicate he/she did indeed give an interview with us before -- and was a HubSpot customer. 

The cover letter sang references to a relationship we didn't even know we had with the candidate.

The letter ends with a charming pitch for why, despite him/her not getting hired previously, our interests complement each other this time around.

(Yes, the applicant was hired). 

3. The Cover Letter with H.E.A.R.T.

HubSpot has a lot of H.E.A.R.T. -- Humble, Empathetic, Adaptable, Remarkable, Transparent. Our Culture Code is the foundation of the company's culture, the driving force behind our mission to help millions grow better, and serves as the scaffolding for our hiring practices. Recruiters at HubSpot look for applicants that demonstrate how they embody the Culture Code and job description, paying extra attention to cover letters that are super custom to HubSpot.

In another HubSpot submission, a HubSpot applicant writes about how she found out about HubSpot, why she likes the company, and how her professional experience aligns with H.E.A.R.T.

HubSpot's recruiting team was impressed with her dedication to the company and how she went beyond what was asked for by link her portfolio in her closing paragraph.

Short Cover Letter Examples

4. The Short-and-Sweet Cover Letter

In 2009, David Silverman penned an article for Harvard Business Review titled, “The Best Cover Letter I Ever Received.” That letter contained three complete sentences, as follows:

Source: Harvard Business Review

One might argue that this particular letter is less than outstanding. It’s brief, to say the least, and the author doesn’t go into a ton of detail about what makes him or her qualified for the job in question. But that’s what Silverman likes about it -- the fact that the applicant only included the pieces of information that would matter the most to the recipient.

“The writer of this letter took the time to think through what would be relevant to me,” writes Silverman. “Instead of scattering lots of facts in hopes that one was relevant, the candidate offered up an opinion as to which experiences I should focus on.”

When you apply for a job, start by determining two things:

1. Who might oversee the role -- that’s often included in the description, under “reports to.” Address your letter to that individual.
2. Figure out what problems this role is meant to solve for that person. Then, concisely phrase in your cover letter how and why your experience can and will resolve those problems.

The key here is research -- by looking into who you’ll be reporting to and learning more about that person’s leadership style, you’ll be better prepared to tailor your cover letter to focus on how you provide solutions for her. 

5. The Short Story

Basha Coleman began her cover letter with a short story. The goal of this short story is two-fold:

1. Detail the experience she already has with the organization.
2. Stand out to the hiring team.

You'll notice that her short story follows a typical narrative arc: It has a conflict/obstacle, a turning point, and a positive outcome, all created with a goal to emphasize a theme or point. In this case, Coleman is emphasizing her existing affinity with the brand and her triumphs within the program so that she can continue on her career path.

6. The Bare Bones Cover Letter

In today's job market, cover letters aren't always necessary. Even though many recruiters won't ask for or even read them, cover letters can still be effective and convey personality to a reader. Writing a strong cover letter can help you better convey your interest in the position and company. 

This template from The Balance Careers puts together the essential components of a short cover letter: excitement about the position, your qualifications, and a call-to-action for the recruiter to follow up with you. Combining these central aspects in a well-written, compelling narrative will go a long way in convincing readers to hire you.

Source: The Balance Careers

7. The Breezy Follow-Up

In this cover letter, Amanda Edens is following the instructions the hiring manager gave by forwarding an email with resume and writing samples attached.

Edens knows that the body of the email is prime real estate to get the hiring manager's attention, but she also doesn't want to overwhelm the recipient with too much information since a cover letter was not requested. This short cover letter is the result. You'll notice that she uses casual and breezy language to convey personality and enthusiasm, and she keeps her paragraphs succinct.

Not only does Amanda provide links to relevant writing samples that are live on the web, but she also closes with a strong final paragraph that:

1. Summarizes the expertise she has relevant to the posting
2. Emphasizes that she doesn't want to simply get a job but rather help the organization accomplish their goals

Creative Cover Letter Examples

8. The Brutally Honest Cover Letter

Then, there are the occasions when your future boss might appreciate honesty -- in its purest form. Livestream CEO Jesse Hertzberg, by his own admission, is one of those people, which might be why he called this example “the best cover letter” (which he received while he was with Squarespace):

Source: Title Needed

As Hertzberg says in the blog post elaborating on this excerpt -- it’s not appropriate for every job or company. But if you happen to be sure that the corporate culture of this prospective employer gets a kick out of a complete lack of filter, then there’s a chance that the hiring manager might appreciate your candor.

“Remember that I'm reading these all day long,” Hertzberg writes. “You need to quickly convince me I should keep reading. You need to stand out.”

9. The Straw (Wo)man Cover Letter

When I was in the throes of my own job search and reached one of the later stages, a friend said to me, “For the next job you apply for, you should just submit a picture of yourself a stick figure that somehow represents you working there.”

Et voilà:

I never did end up working for the recipient of this particular piece of art, but it did result in an interview. Again, be careful where you send a cover letter like this one -- if it doesn’t match the company’s culture, it might be interpreted as you not taking the opportunity seriously.

Be sure to pair it with a little bit of explanatory text, too. For example, when I submitted this picture-as-a-cover letter, I also wrote, “Perhaps I took the ‘sense of humor’ alluded to in your job description a bit too seriously.”

10. The Overconfident Cover Letter

I’ll admit that I considered leaving out this example. It’s rife with profanity, vanity, and arrogance. But maybe, in some settings, that’s the right way to do a cover letter.

A few years ago, Huffington Post published this note as an example of how to “get noticed” and “get hired for your dream job”:

Source: Huffington Post

Here’s the thing: if the Aviary cited in this letter is the same Aviary I researched upon discovering it, then, well, I’m not sure this tone was the best approach. I read the company’s blog and looked at the careers site, and neither one indicates that the culture encourages this -- or lowercasing proper nouns like "Google," for which I personally cannot forgive the applicant...

However, Aviary was acquired by Adobe in 2014, and this letter was written in 2011. So while it’s possible that the brand was a bit more relaxed at that time, we wouldn’t suggest submitting a letter with that tone to the company today. That’s not to say it would go unappreciated elsewhere -- Doug Kessler frequently discusses the marketers and brands that value colorful language, for example.

The point is, this example further illustrates the importance of research. Make sure you understand the culture of the company to which you’re applying before you send a completely unfiltered cover letter -- if you don’t, there’s a good chance it’ll completely miss the mark.

11. The Interactive Cover Letter

When designer Rachel McBee applied for a job with the Denver Broncos, she didn’t just write a personalized cover letter -- she designed an entire digital, interactive microsite:

Source: Rachel McBee

This cover letter -- if you can even call it that -- checks off all of the boxes we’ve discussed here in a remarkable way. It concisely addresses and organizes what many hiring managers hope to see in any cover letter: how her skills lend themselves to the role, why she wants the job, and how to contact her.

She even includes a “traditional” body of text at the bottom, with a form that allows the reader to easily get in touch with her.

Take Cover

We’d like to add another stage to the job search: experimentation.

In today’s competitive landscape, it’s so easy to feel defeated, less-than-good-enough, or like giving up your job search. But don’t let the process become so monotonous. Have fun discovering the qualitative data we’ve discussed here -- then, have even more by getting creative with your cover letter composition.

We certainly can’t guarantee that every prospective employer will respond positively -- or at all -- to even the most unique, compelling cover letter. But the one that’s right for you will. That’s why it’s important not to copy these examples. That defeats the purpose of personalization.

So get creative. And, by the way -- we’re hiring.

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

The 11 Best Cover Letter Examples: What They Got Right was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

Everything You Need to Know About Green Marketing [Examples & Expert Tips]

Did you know that 49% of global respondents say they're inclined to pay higher-than-average prices for products with high-quality/safety standards, which consumers often associate with strong sustainability practices?

Additionally, consumers are willing to open their wallets for products that are organic (41%), made with sustainable materials (38%), or deliver on socially responsible claims (30%).

In fact, the U.S. sustainability market is on track to reach $150 billion in 2021.

That, in addition to it being better for the environment, is why several companies have gone or are going green in the future.

As marketers, if you work at a green company, all the sustainable things your company does should be marketed.

Today, let's learn more about green marketing, the best strategies to use, and some examples to inspire your own green marketing campaigns.

With green marketing, the products are usually made in a sustainable way, do not contain toxic materials, are produced with recycled or renewable materials, don't have excessive packaging, and are designed to be recycled.

When a company can make their products in a way that's eco-friendly, it shows that they're committed to sustainability and social responsibility. Plus, it helps with brand reputation. When you make your products in an environmentally friendly way, you can focus on green marketing to let everyone know that you're making an effort to help the environment.

Also, this could save you money in packaging and energy usage in the long run. While many companies don't go green because the upfront cost is usually more expensive, they might not realize that it'll generate savings in the long run.

However, it's important to note that you can't just market something as green if it's not. There are regulations and legal standards for green marketing.

Speaking of, let's dive into the differences between green marketing and greenwashing.

Greenwashing will ultimately be damaging to a company's reputation because consumers will find out that the company or products are not as green as they're promoting them to be.

To be certain you're buying a green product, look for real certifications listed on the packaging. If you're a company and want to promote your sustainability, you need to get actual certification that you can place on your product and website.

Once you have real certifications (and know that you're truly trying to help the environment instead of going green for profits), then you can use these strategies to help your green marketing efforts.

Green Marketing Strategies

1. Get certified.

There are several third-party green business certifications that can help you market your sustainability practices.

To get certified, research the different certifications, including Green America, Green Business Certification Inc., or Green Seal.

Usually, you will need to meet a certain level of standards and send in an application. These certifications help substantiate your claims that you're a green business.

2. Advertise your green message.

Once you have the certification and you're the real deal, it's time to get the word out. You can write blogs, post about going green on your social media, add the certification stickers to your website, etc.

Promoting your sustainability efforts will help build your brand and customer loyalty from eco-conscious consumers.

3. Incorporate sustainability into your culture.

Don't just fall into the green marketing trap without really committing to the cause. You should incorporate green practices into your company culture. Every employee should know that you want to make things as eco-friendly as possible.

4. Support eco-friendly programs and initiatives.

When your company goes to donate to charity or support local programs and initiatives, make sure you choose ones that are green. It helps with your consistent brand message and it will support a cause you care about.

1. Go paperless.

One of the environment's nemeses is paper. A great way to go green is to reduce the amount of paper that you use.

Mike Volpe, CEO of Lola.com, says, "The response rate for most direct mail is 2%. That means that 98% of your direct mail is wasted. Plus, in addition to the environmental impact of the 50 pieces you send for every 1 lead, there is the impact of the trucks and other transportation used to move all that mail around. If your audience really cares about the environment, send them an email, and let them know that you are not using snail mail for marketing."

2. Don't forget about your giveaway prizes.

If you're ever running a giveaway, you might forget that you're a green company and want to support eco-friendly products. That would be a mistake. The prizes you give away should also support your mission of going green.

Volpe added, "If you want to engage with your market of environmentally conscious consumers, try changing your prizes to something they will actually care about. Perhaps a donation in their name to a global charity or purchase a parcel of rainforest to be protected in their name? If your market truly cares about the issue, this will be a great tool to provide more focus to your contest marketing efforts."

3. Make all your events green.

If you're throwing a brand event, it needs to be sustainable.

Robin Lickliter, a Chief Experience Officer at Brightest Sparks Marketing, says, "Consider LEED-certified buildings, provide incentives to use public transportation, and consider LED lighting."

These are great ways to keep your brand green even when you want to throw an event.

Green Marketing Examples

1. Starbucks

Starbucks is known as being a leader in sustainability. The company invests and donates money in several environmental programs. In fact, Starbucks committed over $140 million to the development of renewable energy sources.

2. Patagonia

Patagonia has made it known through green marketing that they support environmental activism.

On their site, they say "We're part of a movement for change. From supporting youth fighting against oil drilling to suing the president, we take action on the most pressing environmental issues facing our world. Connect with environmental groups through Patagonia Action Works and take action to protect people and the planet."

3. Ben and Jerry's

Ben and Jerry's actively markets the social issues that the company cares about through their website on their Values page. They regularly write blogs and discuss why it's important to commit to environmentally friendly business practices.

With green marketing, you can let your target audience know that you care about the same issues they do. You can improve your brand reputation, while also investing and donating to a cause that you care about.

Everything You Need to Know About Green Marketing [Examples & Expert Tips] was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

9 of the Best Infographic Examples of 2020

There's a whole lot to like about well-designed infographics: beautiful typography, succinct messaging, clever layouts, bold graphics.

Not to mention that people follow directions 323% better with text and illustrations than without illustrations.

As the fourth most used type of content marketing, infographics pop up all over the place — from social posts to whitepapers. But don't be fooled. They require just as much strategic thinking as a blog post or video.

Yet, as this list of the best infographic examples shows, the effort is absolutely worthwhile. Adding them to your marketing strategy can increase web traffic by 12% and help you stay competitive in the B2B crowd, where 65% of marketers use infographics.

Luckily, there are numerous resources to create beautiful infographics of your own.

To help inspire your next visual creation, here are a handful of stunning branded infographics to kickstart your creativity.

9 of the Best Infographic Examples of 2020

1. How SMB sales teams are keeping up in 2020, by Zendesk

We all know 2020 led to massive changes in the way we work, buy, and enjoy leisure time. But this infographic by Zendesk hones in on a specific group (SMB sales teams) to show how they keep up with the times.

Through research-backed data, clear visuals, and concise copy, the main point comes across crystal clear: Know customers' expectations to meet them where they are.

This infographic does a good job following one theme from start to finish. Readers can answer "What's the point?" within the first few sentences — a best practice, according to CoSchedule.

This helps focus your infographic, so you don't cram too much information or too many topics into one piece. Which is why Zendesk flowed from the research and stats to how SMB sales teams are adopting new technology to keep up.

They even include the benefits of CRM technology, like a 52% increase in productivity from sales reps. Of course, the benefits align with the customer service software Zendesk offers, making the infographic a good sales tool for their own team.

2. Response to COVID-19, by the U.S Food and Drug Administration

It wouldn't be a 2020 round-up without mentioning the global pandemic that kept many of us at home for months. The bright spot? There are infographics galore educating people on how to properly wash their hands and social distance.

The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also relied on this visual medium to share how their regulatory department addressed COVID-19.

This infographic example made the list for several reasons. First, to show how infographics can be used to highlight impact, instead of sharing step-by-step instructions or research-oriented content.

The impact of each action is organized into separate columns and given a distinct color to help your eyes track from top to bottom. While this flow breaks the typical left to right reading pattern, it's not distracting or difficult to follow.

The healthcare worker graphics at the top of the page nods to those on the frontlines, the colors align with the brand, important numbers are easy to read, and the page isn't crowded with text.

So the next time you need to explain the fruits of your labors to your boss, help win them over with an impact-driven infographic.

3. Content Marketing in Times of Uncertainty, by LinkedIn

In uncertain times, more than eight out of 10 people want brands to act as a news source, foster a sense of community, and provide educational resources. Whew.

As a content marketer, those are major expectations to live up to. LinkedIn realized the changing global landscape would alter customer expectations, and, as a result, content marketing strategies. So the team put together this handy infographic to help marketers focus on what matters most.

This infographic example features a number of design elements from LinkedIn's current brand. The graphics adhere to their primary and complementary color scheme, include diverse characters, and relate to the work-from-home times.

They also use color block banners to add visual interest and break up chunks of text. But my favorite part? The ruler graphic on how to measure ROI and show why your efforts are worthwhile.

4. Pianeta plastica, by Manuel Bortoletti for GEDI Gruppo

“Che bello” is the first thought that comes to mind for this design. The stunning data visualizations, oceanic color scheme, and easy-to-understand layout let the visuals do the talking. Visme explains how an infographic follows this essential best practice if it makes sense with all of the text removed.

That may seem impossible, but designer Manuel Bortoletti pulls it off with informative maps accompanied by clear keys and a bar graph that uses oil tankers to inform readers about how oil circulates the globe.

Even with my incredibly limited Italian, I understand that the main point of the piece is to inform readers about the impact of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. And since this infographic was designed for the Italian media outlet GEDI Gruppo, it stays on-brand with a more formal editorial tone.

5. How to Properly Wear a Mask, by John Hopkins Medicine

Education is the crux of an infographic. And when you have mere seconds to capture people's increasingly narrow attention span, the information better be easy to learn.

That's why one of the best infographic examples comes from John Hopkins Medicine. They designed an infographic to share tips on a crucial COVID-19 procedure: wearing a mask.

Is covering your nose important? You bet. What about wearing a bandana as a mask? No way. Hopkins uses a combination of straightforward graphics and copy to make the do's and don'ts very clear.

As a renowned medical institution, they have the experience and authority to educate people on this topic, so it's both fitting for their brand and helpful for everyone's health. A true win-win.

6. How to Be Productive While Working From Home, by bannersnack

Working from home isn't the pajama party many people (used to) imagine. As offices closed and thousands of people turned dining tables into home office spaces, bannersnack created this infographic to help its employees transition to a different way of working. As a freelancer who's been working remotely for the past five years, I found it full of practical tips and technology.

Beyond basic elements like brand colors, bannersnack includes information people can immediately put to use. While it's easy to stay planted on your couch all day, they recommend finding multiple workspaces for different tasks. An inspirational spot for creative thinking, and another for deep work and crunched deadlines.

Tips like this may seem small once you've been working remotely for a while, but for newcomers, it's one less thing you have to learn yourself while adjusting to a different routine.

7. 45 Slack Tricks That Will Impress Your Boss, by Net Credit

A tool as powerful as Slack has many features most people will never use, yet this infographic makes it easy to look like the cool "Slack-er" at the company. Even if you've only mastered the /giphy shortcut until now.

Net Credit starts with a handful of stats to inform readers and give an idea of Slack's scope. Who knew people spend 50 million hours on the platform in one week? I'm intrigued and want to keep reading.

As you scroll down the graphic, you see a combination of direct headlines "Read Channel Highlight" followed by text instructions and visual cues. As a visual learner, I appreciate how these cues mirror the actual interface.

Each section is organized to help you find what you're looking for, whether it's "#channel" or "message" tips. Finance may be Net Credit's bread and butter, but this infographic shows how their team is adaptable and helpful — exactly what you want in a financial partner.

8. The Sustainable Development Goals Report, by the United Nations

Infographics are a great way to add visual flavor to otherwise dry content, like annual reports and whitepapers.

What stands out in this infographic example is how it can be used as one visual or divided into 17 sections — one for each Sustainable Development Goal. This allows the content team to choose which type of content best fits the target audience.

If the UN is speaking to organizations that empower women and girls, they can share the "Gender Equality'' graphic. But a non-profit that promotes all of the UN goals will likely be interested in the entire design.

While a lot of information is packed into each graphic, it's never overwhelming. Each goal is clearly separate from the other with bold headers and distinct colors, which are also used to differentiate the goals across all of the UN's marketing efforts.

9. Tech's Bizarre Beginnings & Lucrative Pivots, by Visual Capitalist

The beauty of infographics? They can be used by dozens of industries for hundreds of different purposes. But the best ones are often unexpected.

Take this graphic designed by Visual Capitalist. It reveals the wild origin stories of some of the biggest tech companies today. I personally had no idea YouTube began as a video dating site with the tagline "Tune In. Hook Up."

As a growing online publication that focuses on data and technology news, Visual Capitalist's audience is likely interested in stories around company pivots that led to success.

That information, coupled with a simple timeline structure, fun graphics, and hard-hitting metrics, make it tough to look away from this infographic. Plus, we all need reminders that it's not where you start, but where you're going.

Now that your creativity is sparked, it's the perfect time to start creating your own infographics. If you're ready to jump into the design phase, learn how to make infographics in Powerpoint, check out these templates, or discover how to create an interactive infographic.

If you're in the planning phase, begin by getting buy-in from your boss with these convincing infographic stats and conducting research that will make your infographic both informative and beautiful.

9 of the Best Infographic Examples of 2020 was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

31 Blog Writing Prompts to Break Your Writer's Block

You've finally found time in your schedule to sit down and write a new blog post. But when you settle in, your hands hover over the keyboard. Nothing comes to mind. You stare at a blank screen in exasperation as the minutes slowly slip away.

Whether you write for a living or as a hobby, you'll experience writer's block at some point. The first thing to do is realize you're not alone. Everyone hits a wall that's tough to work around. Sometimes all it takes to get started is a few terrible sentences, inspiring blog writing prompts, or a blogging course.

The point is, you have to find a way to break the block and let the words flow again. As Maya Angelou said, "Nothing will work unless you do."

31 Blog Writing Prompts

1. Write about values that matter to you.

2. Explain a problem in your industry and offer a solution.

3. Describe a time you were challenged and how you faced it.

4. Write about the idea of self-care and what it means to you.

5. Recount a tough lesson you've learned lately.

6. Tell a story about one of the following words: success, fulfillment, growth, achievement.

7. Write about how a mentor has changed your perspective.

8. Describe an event you remember from childhood and how it shaped your career.

9. Share a relationship that impacted you.

10. Write about the goals you'd like to work toward in the next five years.

11. Reveal a superpower you'd love to have and what you'd do with it.

12. Describe your definition of happiness.

13. Write about your opinion of the world.

14. Share a list of your best career tips.

15. Discuss how flaws can be seen as strengths.

16. Write about a time when you were incredibly happy or sad.

17. Share the most recent thing you've learned about yourself.

18. Choose three of your beliefs and why they matter to you.

19. Dive into life lessons you believe everyone can benefit from learning.

20. Describe your daily routines and how they impact you.

21. Imagine your own secret lair and explain what's inside.

22. Tell a story about achievement.

23. Describe the trip of a lifetime.

24. Share your ideal way to spend a favorite holiday.

25. Choose three photos with different scenes and create a story to tie them together.

26. Write about the ups and down of your first job.

27. Select a cause you're passionate about and explain why it matters.

28. Pick one of your dreams, and describe how you'd bring it to life.

29. Write about a person you admire.

30. Explain what makes you feel fragile or strong.

31. Write about something intangible: faith, magic, energy, power, or creativity.

So when you draw a blank, grab a fresh cup of coffee or tea and try your hand at blog writing prompts below. Choose one or two that stand out to you. Then, spend 10-15 minutes writing down whatever comes to mind.

If you can't think of anything in the first 30 seconds, move onto another one. The goal is to find an idea that interests you enough to write about freely, without feeling pressured to be perfect.

31 Blog Writing Prompts to Break Your Writer's Block was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

How to Create an Amazing Webinar in 2021

Creating a webinar is one of the best ways to engage with potential customers in an increasingly remote world. 

Since the rise of remote work, people rely on technology for education and social interaction more than ever. This means more Zoom meetings instead of in-person meetings, more walks to a home office instead of commutes to a high-rise, and of course, more webinars instead of live events.

The B2B webinar platform BrightTalk reported a 76% increase in video, webinar, and virtual events uploaded to their platform from March to June 2020. From April 2019 to April 2020, ON24 saw a 167% increase in monthly usage of its webinar platform. If there was ever a time to create a webinar, it’s now.

Are webinars dead?

In a word: no. While webinars may seem outdated, especially compared to social media trends that emphasize brevity over substance, they have proven to be invaluable in the time of social distancing.  

It wasn’t always this way. A few years ago, we were afraid that webinars were a thing of the past. While nearly half of consumers reported wanting to see more videos in the future, we found that “Research content” and “Online courses,” both of which would fall under the webinar umbrella, ranked at the bottom. 

However, the majority of companies are moving toward a telecommuting model, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down. The new “working from home economy” guarantees that webinars remain a cornerstone of companies’ marketing and sales strategies.

Because companies are turning to webinars to replace their live events, the market is experiencing an over-saturation. It’s even more difficult to make your virtual event stand out from the pack. Luckily, HubSpot and GoToWebinar teamed up to bring you the ultimate webinar planning kit that can help you create a compelling, effective webinar. 

Ready to host an online event that will engage potential customers and drive lead generation? Follow these steps to make a great webinar that works in 2021.

1. Brainstorm the right topic.

Before you can get started on making your webinar, you'll have to decide the topic you want to speak about.

The topic you choose should answer questions that your audience typically asks and preferably be highly specific. For example, if you're hosting a webinar on email marketing, you can choose to focus on subject lines in particular.

Overall, your webinar should provide value to your audience. Think about your company as a whole and your unique value proposition. What topics are you an expert on? What topics can you provide value on? Consider choosing an educational topic, as this type of content performs really well. 

Align the topic with the goal of your sales team. A successful webinar hinges on sales and marketing alignment. If the marketing team creates content that isn’t helping their sales conversations, it won’t be a successful effort for driving high-quality leads to sales.

Luckily, you have experts at your disposal for coming up with content ideas that will actually compliment and aid the sales conversation: the reps themselves.

Instead of guessing what your sales team might want a webinar to be focused on, ask them. Get reps' buy-in for a webinar before you plan it. Set up a meeting to discover new content ideas and to find out what pain points they need to help solve. This will go a long way for ensuring sales' follow up with registrants is seamless once the webinar is over.

2. Choose a webinar format. 

When considering how to structure your webinar, you have countless options. Panel discussions, Q&A’s, single-speaker presentations, and interviews are the four most common types. Other formats include product demos and case studies.

For panel discussions, you can invite industry experts to discuss a niche, current topic within your industry. 

For Q&A’s, you need only the product experts in your team to answer your customers’ questions. 

Interviews are also a great choice. You can either choose an industry expert or a current customer to interview them on their experience with your company. 

3. Pick a webinar tool.

There are many webinar hosting platforms you can use to create your webinar. Popular platforms include ClickMeeting, GoToWebinar, and Zoom. 

When you're researching a tool to use, consider your objectives. How many people do you think will attend? Do you need a tool that could allow over 1,000 attendees? How much does it cost? And how easy is it to use? These are questions that you should look into when deciding on what webinar tool to use.

Additionally, you'll want to make sure the tool can handle the type of webinar you want to host — can it handle video chatting for panels or Q&A webinars? The right tool for you will depend on the overall objectives of your event.

4. Assign roles to your team members. 

After choosing the platform, you want to assign roles in your team. Typically, you’d need to choose four people: 

The organizer handles all facets of planning, from ideation to content creation. They are usually the primary contact in the webinar platform. 

The presenter is the subject matter expert, either on your team or in the industry, who’s going to present on the topic you’ve chosen. 

The moderator is required for panel discussions, but not for single-speaker presentations. This person will help stimulate conversation for panel participants. You can also assign a moderator if you expect to receive a lot of questions from attendees. 

Assistants are the team members who are at hand in case of a tech or another type of emergency. If there’s no sound, an assistant can step in to resolve this problem. Like moderators, assistants can also manage the chat box during the event. 

5. Produce the content.

Once you find a tool and you know the topic you want to present on, it’s time to create the content depending on the type of webinar you want to host. Will it be a PowerPoint and talking head presentation? Or perhaps you want to do a live panel Q&A? Either way, you'll have to produce the content and prepare for the big day.

For example, if you're creating a PowerPoint, you'll need to create your slide deck. Make sure that the slides emphasize your points, but don't include a script. These slides should be visually appealing and include interesting graphics, such as images or GIFs.

If you're hosting a discussion-style webinar, plan out your speakers, gather audience questions, and prepare any other questions you might have so you can prioritize your time during the webinar.

6. Select the right day and time.

To select a time and date for your webinar, you'll want to consider where your audience lives. Use tools like Google Analytics to see where people are, so you can choose a convenient day and time zone.

ON24 reports that Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days to host webinars, with 11 AM being the best time. Another popular time is 10 AM. Both are great for a wide range of time zones, and should avoid most commute times or work hours. Typically, these times avoid conflicts for the greatest number of people.

However, if your audience is solely in the United States, then you wouldn't need to worry about global time zones. Instead, you can focus on planning a time when most people aren't commuting. For example, early afternoon or after work hours are generally good times.

7. Practice your webinar before the event. 

Practice is essential for a successful webinar. Many things can go wrong on the day of the event, but by preparing, you can avoid technological mishaps. 

Practicing can also help you get acquainted with the platform if you’ve never used it before.

We highly encourage creating a fake event on your webinar platform. Publish it, send a link to another one of your team members, and practice as if it was a real webinar. Your team member would watch it as an attendee, which would tell you what the presentation looks like on the other end. 

8. Promote your webinar.

Now that you've done the backend work, it's time to ensure you have people who want to attend.

To promote your webinar, you can create a landing page where people can sign up and then distribute and promote that link in several ways.

For example, consider running ads through social media and search engines. Additionally, you'll want to use free promotion tactics — you can post on your own accounts, on your website, and send an email to your subscribers. It's important to use your own follower base to get people interested.

Reminder emails are also helpful. Consider sending "Don't Miss Out" or "Seats Are Filling Up" emails as the day gets closer.

And when people do sign up, you'll want to remind them leading up to the day. You should send them the webinar link about an hour before so it's top of mind, and they don't have to go looking for the link in their registration email.

9. Follow-up with your audience.

Webinars are obviously a great sales opportunity, and you don't want people to leave your webinar and never think of you again.

That's why you'll want to send them a thank you email and gather feedback from attendees so you can plan better webinars in the future.

Remember that attendees generally like to have a recording. If you send them a link to the recording afterwards, they don't have to take fervent notes during the webinar. This also means you can send it to registrants who wanted to attend but weren't able to.

Once you’ve come up with relevant content topics for your webinar and set up the event, it’s time to get that webinar in front of as many eyes as possible. 

With webinars, it’s not just about generating initial excitement; you have to build excitement and encourage engagement once the webinar goes live.

1.  Set up a search-engine optimized landing page. 

The first step in your webinar promotion strategy is to create an optimized landing page that can organically jumpstart registrations. 

This landing page should have a target keyword in the title, a sign-up form, and optimized copy. Ideally, the form should integrate with your other marketing and sales tools, automatically turning registrants into contacts or prospects. 

2. Promote your webinar to current subscribers and contacts via email.  

Now that you have a landing page to direct users to, it’s time to target your first attendees: people who already know about your company and customers who have engaged with you in the past. 

After sending a personalized email to your contacts, take the following steps: 

• Create automated email reminders that will be sent to prospects who have been invited but not yet registered.

• Create manual email templates reps can send in their one-on-one communication with prospects.
• Set up an automated email to notify reps when one of their prospects has registered for your webinar. This will help them engage and close those prospects down the road.

3. Promote your webinar via LinkedIn and other social media platforms. 

LinkedIn is an excellent platform to promote webinars. Webinars are usually created for other businesses, and LinkedIn is the ultimate B2B marketing platform. 

LinkedIn now has an option for virtual events, which allows you to add the webinar access link. Registrants can also jumpstart discussions on the event page, giving you potential topics to address during the presentation or Q&A. 

You can also advertise the webinar through display ads on Google, Instagram, and Facebook, though we encourage keeping the bulk of your investment on LinkedIn. 

4. Send reminder emails to registrants.  

Once you’ve gotten registrants, that doesn’t mean they’ll show up. After all, if you promote a webinar one to two weeks in advance, a portion of your registrants are likely to forget when the live date comes around. 

Remember to send out reminder emails the day before and day-of the live event to ensure a high live attendance rate.

5. Offer a certificate of completion, professional development hours, or continuing education credits. 

An easy way to entice registrations is to offer something in return. Certificates of completion, PDHs, and CEUs are credentials that attendees will want to receive after the webinar. This also entices people to stay until the end. 

Certificates of completion can be offered to virtually any professional. Industries such as engineering, architecture, software engineering, and marketing require professionals to continue their training after starting their careers. 

6. Consider co-marketing the webinar. 

Try your hand at co-marketing. One of the best ways to get new expertise, generate interest for a piece of content, and expand the reach of a campaign is to run a co-marketed webinar. 

Instead of running a webinar with speakers internally, try working with another company that’s going after a similar buyer persona and bring their expertise into the conversation. 

Doing so creates more interesting content and gives you the opportunity to get your webinar in front of another company’s established audience.

7. Survey participants after the webinar. 

The only way to get better is to know how you can improve. By sending an after-event survey, you can refine your next webinar. Hosting a better event can help you confidently market it to prospects. 

In this survey, you can include a link to the next webinar that you’re hosting, driving registrations for that event. 

8. Deliver necessary information to sales.

A huge part of the pre- and post-webinar process is making sure the right information gets delivered to sales. That’s why GoToWebinar and HubSpot recommend creating one webinar hub that’s easily accessible by sales with the following information:

• On-demand recordings of all webinars.
• A calendar with past and future webinars.
• Documentation that details the webinars goals, title, target persona, funnel stage, key points, speakers and logistics.
• Promotional and follow-up emails.
• Collection of graphic and text CTAs sales reps can drop into their communications.
• Mechanism to collect suggestions from sales reps for new topic suggestions and general feedback.

Once the webinar is done, however, it’s time to make sure the sales reps are ready to close those leads. Send a follow up email to your reps and include the following information:

• Leads who registered
• Leads who attended
• Leads who registered but didn’t attend
• Leads who never registered
• New SQL leads from post-webinar lead scores
• Any other relevant webinar data
• Send email templates sales can use to send to leads based on their webinar behavior. Include other relevant content they can use to continue to nurture leads in the coming weeks.

Putting the extra effort in will go a long way toward making sure the webinar is a success from both a sales and marketing standpoint. 

Useful Webinar Creation Tips 

Not sure how to set your webinar apart from the rest? No worries.

Single-speaker presentations are admittedly overdone. In a time when webinars are ubiquitous, it’s even more important to use different tactics to engage your viewers.

Think about ways to mix up how the information in your webinar is presented. Here are some tips:

• Discussion-style webinars work really well. We’ve found that unscripted, discussion-style webinars to be quite effective at engaging our audience. In many of our live events, we’ve foregone the slides completely and instead brought two speakers together and had a host ask live questions on air. It’s effective for both encouraging Twitter participation via a hashtag and keeping the content conversational, but informative.
• Answer your customers’ questions throughout the event. Try building a webinar around your prospects' questions. Send a call for questions to be answered live on-air. This will help build engagement and excitement for what’s to come. Hopefully, the people asking questions will be more likely to show up day-of too.
• Engage prospects beforehand by adding interactive features in the webinar sign-up page. You can also use a landing page, like this, that includes a voting feature for people to upvote their top questions. This will also help you prioritize the material your audience is most interested in.

Webinars Statistics 

According to ON24, 68% of marketers say webinars are one of the best ways to tie marketing activity to revenue. Webinars can also help generate quality leads. Why?

• They are highly engaging. According to GoToWebinar, the average webinar attendee viewing time is 57 minutes.
• They work across the entire customer journey. From thought-leadership panel discussions to weekly live demos, webinars are a dynamic and effective way to move prospects down the funnel from awareness to closed deal and beyond.
• They generate high-quality leads for sales. Webinars come with a ton of information about your prospects that you can use to identify high-quality, sales-ready leads. With each webinar registrant, you can collect lead and engagement data that your sales team can use to initiate personalized outreach.
• They bring consumers to you for a variety of reasons. 27% of consumers watch a webinar that teaches them more about a passion or a hobby, while 24% reported watching webinars for the entertainment value. 18% of consumers watch webinars to further their knowledge about their profession. Nearly a quarter reported watching webinars for all of the above. 
• They give you the opportunity to teach something specific about your product or the industry. 30% of consumers report feeling more engaged when a webinar teaches them something new. And when it’s about your product, it’s safe to assume that they’re highly interested in converting. 
• They’re seeing an increase in attendee conversion. ON24 reported a 61% increase in registrant-to-attendee conversion in April 2020. In 2019, it was 55%.

We know planning and promoting a webinar can be difficult if you've never done it before. That's why we've compiled a guide, template, and checklist for you to get your webinar off the ground — whether it's your first or fortieth. Click here to download the kit for free.

It's All About Alignment

Webinars are seeing a timely resurgence. They’re not just an effective marketing tool; they’re also effective sales tools — but only if your sales team has the information, content, and tools to use them to move prospects down the funnel and close deals.

Creating the kind of alignment you need to make this all a success isn’t easy. That’s why HubSpot and GotoWebinar made this ultimate guide for creating a successful webinar and included a checklist to guide you through pre, ongoing, and post webinar communications.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in February 2018 and was updated in January 2021 for comprehensiveness.

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How to Sell Out Your Next Event [+Tips From INBOUND Marketers]

Ticket sales tip #1: Get John Legend to speak at your event. 

Just kidding.

Or not.

We really did invite John Legend to speak at one of our INBOUND events, but the truth is, you don’t need an A-lister to get people to attend. All of it comes down to planning — and part of that planning means driving ticket sales.

With online events being on the rise and remote work becoming the norm, it may seem easier than ever to reach a lot of people online. But the question remains the same. How do you get people to come to your event? 

We're going to share some of our secrets with you that helps us drive ticket sales for INBOUND every year. Ready to maximize the ROI for your next event?

1. Reward last year's attendees.

If you have an annual event, the first thing you should do is announce the event to last year's attendees. The people who came the year before may be your biggest supporters and are more likely to immediately purchase the tickets, even if you don't have all the details for the event hammered out quite yet. Show that you appreciate them by offering them a special discount for signing up early and quickly. 

And don’t worry about emailing each person manually. Rather, use an email marketing service to send a personalized email to your contacts and prospects. Aside from using options like MailChimp, Emma, or ConstantContact, you can also use Marketing Hub to reach out to previous attendees. 

2. Offer early bird pricing and sell tickets on a scarcity model.

Have at least two different types of pricing: early bird and regular. You can even have more than one type of early bird pricing to encourage people to buy before the prices increase. This sense of urgency will encourage people to buy sooner. 

Consider structuring early bird pricing with a table plugin on your event website. Our INBOUND marketers recommend highlighting the distinct difference between an early bird and regular ticket, making it irresistible for people to sign up. Add a date limit, too. 

Isabella Kirsch, INBOUND Marketing Manager, says, “We like to create urgency with the pricing structure to engage our audience early on. It’s important to know what you're relying on as your lever. In a waterfall structure, for example, registrants are aware of price change dates through calendar reminders from your email team. In a scarcity system, tickets run out based on allocated amounts per price tier.” 

Which one is most successful? 

“We've done a lot of testing with both models and found both can have success,” Isabella says. “If you are establishing an event, changing the price on certain dates is a nice route because customers can be prepared and are compelled to act before the price increases. If you're already getting a lot of buzz, the scarcity model gets people eager to buy early, since they don't know when the current price is going to run out!” 

3. Ask early registrants to write blog posts.

The people who register for your event first will be among your biggest supporters — that means they're also good candidates to write blog posts for you to help promote the conference. 

For our first INBOUND event ever, we had the first registrant write a blog post, and in the following year, we invited a previous attendee to write about their experience. Why? 

Instead of hearing from the HubSpot team why we thought our event was great, these posts let you hear why it's a can't-miss opportunity from actual attendees. Third-party endorsements will always carry more weight, and don’t forget the power of social proof. When we see other people are going to an event, we want to attend, too! 

Consider inviting them to write on places other than your blog. They can use outlets such as Medium, LinkedIn, and even their own company blog to write about their experience or expectations for the event.  

4. Don't just promote your conference; promote the location!

In-person events are on pause for now, but they’ll return in time. When you plan an in-person conference, remember that the event’s location is prime marketing material. 

People interested in your conference don't just want to hear about the event, they want to hear about the city where it will be hosted. Frankly, the location of conferences can be one of the biggest draw for potential attendees — it's kind of hard to say no to an event in a cool, beautiful city. 

Promote other attractions near your conference that may interest attendees. If you can get discounted rates to some of those attractions, that's even more of an incentive for people to attend your conference!

Holding the event online? We recommend offering local perks that can help people rediscover where they live. Consider partnering with local breweries, regional restaurant chains, or other attractions to offer discounts to your attendees. Alternatively, you can partner with social-distancing-friendly service providers such as GrubHub to offer a free meal delivery (either during the event or after). 

5. Get in touch with industry organizations to help promote.

In every industry, there are professional organizations who would be more than happy to help you promote your event. Get in touch with them, tell them about your event, provide email copy, and make it easy for them to promote on your behalf. This will help get your event in front of thousands of more qualified people that you wouldn't normally have access to. 

Other business-related organizations, such as chambers of commerce, will be happy to list your event for free, especially if you offer discounts to their members. Additional organizations to consider are regional, national, and international associations focused on a specific facet of your vertical. 

For HubSpot, one such organization would be the American Marketing Association, since one of our primary products is a marketing automation platform. 

Every organization will be different. Some will agree to post your event for free, while others might require you to become a member. Others might not have a calendar at all, and instead will encourage your conference to become a sponsor of their organization. This is a great way to promote the event to a wide range of professionals. It will also help you build backlinks to your event website, which will improve your SEO. 

6. Use LinkedIn for promotions targeted to your industry.

LinkedIn Company Pages, Events, and Groups are a great way to contact people in your industry who may be interested in your event. Take advantage of the ability to promote your event to thousands of relevant people in your industry, on a social network built for networking — you know, the reason people go to events. 

Creating an event page on LinkedIn also gives attendees the opportunity to post questions and network with each other. On groups related to your vertical, you can post periodically (but not too often) about this amazing event that you’re hosting. If you’d like your efforts to truly pay off, consider offering discounts to group members who share your post. 

7. Start contests within your company.

Don't forget about the giant network you have right within your office's four walls — your employees. Encourage them to promote your event to the leads and customers they talk to through some friendly competition. 

Incentivize ticket sales by offering prizes to whoever sells the most tickets (give everyone a unique discount code so you can track it!), or you could even reward a full team for working together to sell tickets.

Make it easy for your team to reach out to prospects by creating an email template that everyone can use. 

8. Consistently update social media accounts.

Social media accounts should have weekly updates with information about your conference, including links to the event's registration page. Give your network a compelling reason to attend your conference in those updates, and a link to the registration page to close the deal.

Consider posting quotes from your speakers, which will advertise the amazing people whom you’ve invited. Another fun thing to consider is engaging with pop culture through carefully chosen challenges and “memes.” A well-placed pop culture reference can help you look current. Again, choose these very carefully. We’d provide an example, but trends change so rapidly that it would look outdated within the week! 

9. Purchase paid ads on social media.

Leveraging your paid advertising options on social media is another way to target people in your industry. Use targeted ads to promote to your industry with links directly to the registration page. If you need help getting started, here is a guide for executing a Facebook ad campaign, and a guide for executing a LinkedIn ad campaign.

The cost for these ads is on a pay-per-click (PCC) basis, meaning that you’ll only be charged when people click. It’s therefore budget-friendly, and you can also easily take a look at key performance indicators (KPIs) such as sign-ups. To set up an ad, you’ll need a unique landing page with a form to sign up for the event and some great copy that will entice people to register. 

10. Leverage event sponsors for promotion.

Your sponsors will want to help you with promotion, because more attendees means more facetime with more people. But they're busy. Really busy. So the easier you make event promotion on them, the more likely it is they'll actually do it. Provide sponsors with templated email copy and discount codes so it's easy to promote to their lists.

If you don’t yet have event sponsors, it’s simple to find a few, especially if you offer something in return. First, be sure to set up a “Sponsorship” or “Partnership” page on your event website. Most potential sponsors will want to choose between different levels, and some would also prefer a custom sponsorship option. 

Being “visible” in front of five hundred people might not be enough for sponsors to join. Because it’s difficult to measure ROI on visibility alone, consider sprinkling more concrete perks such as a spot in your newsletter, a guest post on your company blog, and a backlink from the sponsorship page. Tip: Consider making this a do-follow link, too — if your sponsors are SEO-savvy, they’ll take a look at the structure of the link they’re getting. 

Here’s the way our INBOUND marketers do it: 

11. Sprinkle calls-to-action throughout your website.

Your homepage should have a promotion to your conference. Your login page (if you have one) should have a promotion to your conference. Your blog should have banners promoting your conference. 

If you're planning a huge event, most pages on your website should have links to your conference site, making it easy for anyone to find information about your event and register. Our tip: these calls-to-action should be bold, easy-to-find buttons in a color that’s difficult to miss.

And these CTAs shouldn’t be catch-all, either; rather, they should be targeted and highly tailored — especially for virtual events. An in-person experience allows attendees to pick and choose the talks they want to attend. Virtual events have a set schedule, meaning you must tailor the call-to-action and make your value proposition clear. 

“Marketing is human first,” says Andréa Hudson, HubSpot’s Senior Marketing Manager of Global Events.  “When we went virtual for INBOUND, leading with empathy was a huge part of our strategy. When you're responsible for scaling an industry event from 26K in-person to 70K+ digitally, it's extremely important to prioritize your value proposition and tailor that to your audience.” 

12. Issue different types of passes.

Some people may not be able to attend your whole event, whether they're unavailable for the full duration, can't be away from the office for so long, or can't swing the hotel costs. Issuing different types of passes helps accommodate those people and drive more ticket sales. 

Consider passes like a student pass, a keynote pass, or a premier pass. Other options include basic, plus, and pro passes. At our INBOUND event, we have two options: the Digital pass and the Content pass, which gives attendees additional access to more content and information. 

13. Promote the "fun stuff."

Anyone heard of Cyndi Lauper? Anyone? Announcing a headliner performer will drive a lot of ticket sales as well as get people excited for more than just the content you'll have during your conference sessions. 

But you don’t have to spend thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars inviting a headliner, either. If you’re in a highly specialized industry, consider inviting a prominent industry expert who will entice professionals to attend. 

You can also promote other fun stuff such as social activities. The main reason people attend conferences is for the beneficial content, sure, but promoting the parties and some of the nighttime activities definitely helps. I mean, who doesn't like to party?

For online events, you can host a digital happy hour where drinks are welcome. Other ideas include scheduling trivia games, Jeopardy games, and wellness sessions that can help attendees decompress between presentations. Online zumba lessons, anyone? 

14. Gamify the act of event promotion and ticket sales.

Host contests or games with your network to promote your conference and drive ticket sales. During your webinars, for example, you could take advantage of the large audience to promote the conference by giving away free tickets to whoever tweeted the most with your webinar hashtag. Everyone loves a little friendly competition, and you'll certainly love the free promotion of your event!

15. Ask your speakers to write blog posts promoting their sessions.

The success of an event all comes down to its content. Reach out to speakers and ask them to write guest blog posts that promote their sessions, and give a sneak preview of what they'll be discussing. 

It's a win-win — they get more attendees excited about their session, and you get free content (that your guest blogger will likely promote to their network) to drive ticket sales.

Virtual Event Marketing Tips 

Getting people to buy tickets is one thing. Getting them to be aware of the event in the first place is another (seriously, it’s hard!). 

This is especially difficult for digital events, which can’t rely on physical modes of marketing such as bus wrapping and event swag. Stickers, mugs, t-shirts, and bus wraps were previously excellent ways to promote events. 

In an increasingly remote environment, you’ll need to think of new ways to get the word out. For most companies, virtual events are the only choice. But don’t be discouraged: hosting a virtual event has tangible benefits over in-person conferences. “Unlike physical events, virtual events, such as live streams or webinars, enable your brand to gain awareness from international audiences,” says Pamela Bump, Manager of Audience Growth at HubSpot. 

Ready to reach a lot more people and get more registrations for your virtual event? Here are three easy promotion tips that you can implement right now. 

1. Create a unique event hashtag. 

Using a hashtag will stimulate conversations on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites. This hashtag can be used by everyone involved in your event — from speakers to sponsors to actual attendees. 

It’s up to you whether to include the year after the name of the event (#Event versus #Event20XX). We do like to include the year so that all posts relate specifically to that year’s sessions, speakers, and offerings. 

Your event should also have its own unique social media profiles. While we encourage you to promote the event through your company’s social media, consider making unique Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts for the conference. This will create a unique brand voice and give attendees an account to tag in their posts. It can also help you separate event-related news from company news. 

Image Source

2. Create an online community. 

Part of the reason people go to events is to network. Virtual events may seem exempt from this rule, because attendees are sitting in front of a screen rather than interacting in person. By creating an online community, you’re re-integrating this necessary element into your event. 

It’s free, too. Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, and Slack channels are all fantastic ways to put your attendees in front of each other. Even more, these groups make it easy for attendees to invite other professionals in their network, increasing awareness and driving registrations. 

Our INBOUND marketers take a community-first approach when promoting the event. We want to make sure that attendees know they’re not just a face in front of a screen, but a member of an international community. 

3. Create an email drip campaign. 

Drive more registrations with an email drip campaign that reminds your contacts to sign up for the event. For those who’ve already done business with you before, consider providing a unique discount code to thank them for their loyalty. 

The emails should align with email marketing best practices. Include a compelling subject line, a clear heading, a few lines of succinct copy, and an unmissable call-to-action. 

Hitting Attendance Goals for Virtual Events 

Every year, more than 25,000 people attend INBOUND. Our marketing campaigns are aggressive, but with good reason: we’re one hundred percent confident that this event will enrich attendees’ professional lives. We know they’ll walk away with valuable knowledge that can help them advance their careers. 

To hit attendance goals for your virtual event, you mustn’t be shy or humble. The value you bring to your attendees can’t be found elsewhere. That’s why you’re investing thousands upon thousands of dollars to create an event that educates, entertains, and provides value. 

We also can’t overstate the importance of using data to create varied campaigns that address different stages of the buyer’s journey. “Tactically, the marketing mix needs to be dynamic and impactful,” says Andréa Hudson. “There is no turn-key, blanketed approach in achieving a sell out. Digging into the data and making informed decisions based on that data is the only way to exceed your targets.”

Here are a few of our tips for hitting attendance goals at your next event.

1. Look into the KPIs of previous events you’ve held. 

To better market your event, you’ll want to know how your previous event marketing tactics fared. If you’ve held an event previously, take a look at the data so you can improve this next one. 

Some helpful historical data to look into would be: 

• Number of registrants 
• Number of attendees 
• Conversion rates on your event’s landing page
• Conversion rates in social ads 
• Email open and click-through-rates 
• Number of leads
• Generated revenue
• Individual session registrations 
• Session feedback

Based on the data you gather, you can make more sophisticated decisions about your landing page design, your social copy, and pricing strategy. 

2. Identify your target attendees and tailor the agenda to them. 

This is a really important step. If you know who you’re targeting the event to, you can create marketing campaigns that highlight the specific value you bring to them. As a result, you’ll get a higher number of registrations, better engagement, and higher attendance rates. 

Alternatively, you can create an agenda first, then identify the type of buyer who would be compelled to buy a ticket. You should identify both psychographic and demographic information of your target audience to better align your messaging. 

3. Create an event marketing plan. 

Now that you have your historical data and target buyers, it’s time to create a marketing plan. There will be four principal tenets: website, organic social, paid social, and email. 

On your company website, be sure to include consistent calls-to-action to visit the event website (preferably, it would take visitors straight to a landing page where they can sign up). 

On your event website, be sure to clarify your value proposition. For example, including a list of your speakers makes it clear that you’re committed to offering valuable content. 

Launch ads on the best social media platform for your industry (if it’s a B2B event, for example, you’d likely opt for LinkedIn). 

An email campaign is also crucial for providing event reminders and invites to buy tickets. 

4. Provide sneak previews of the content. 

Many of us love to know what we’re in for before making a purchasing decision. By providing sneak previews through email and social — and even on your website — you’re giving potential attendees a taste of what they’ll get if they purchase a ticket. 

Your speakers can film a “session trailer” telling more about the information they’ll share during their talks. One thing we do at INBOUND? We give access to notable content from previous years. That way, people can see the value they would get should they choose to attend. 

5. Provide on-demand recordings. 

Why? Some potential attendees may be too busy to attend a live virtual event, and if you only offer a live option, you’d be discouraging those who would prefer to watch the sessions on their own time. This would open up your event for more people and thus increase registrations. 

6. Give corporate discounts or group discounts. 

What better way to increase attendance than by inviting groups to purchase tickets? Many organizations buy passes for entire teams. Some companies take their entire workforce to events. This is a sure-fire way to sell tens and even hundreds of tickets at a time. 

7. Prioritize accessibility. 

Closed captioning, live sign language interpreters, and assistive technologies will make your event enticing to more registrants. Dedicate one or two team members who are ready to provide support should an attendee have a problem with accessibility or require accommodations. 

Be sure to also include a form on your website for accessibility requests, and provide written and visual materials ahead of time in widely-used file formats. Your accessibility initiatives should be driven by inclusive design principles. 

If you make your event inaccessible, you're ignoring a segment of your target audience. Don’t forget to advertise your options for accessibility, which would make it known to potential buyers that they will have the necessary accommodations to attend.  

Sell Out Your Next Event 

If we could leave you with one last tip, it would be to brag. Brag about your speakers, brag about your sessions, and brag about the amazing tools your attendees will walk away with after the event. After all, people are investing on a ticket. You want them to know they’ll receive a worthwhile return on their investment. 

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2012 and has been updated for comprehensiveness and accuracy.

How to Sell Out Your Next Event [+Tips From INBOUND Marketers] was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

The Future of Advertising [Expert Predictions & Data]

In a world of banner blindness, I'm sure you're concerned about the future of advertising. If you're in marketing, I'll bet it's one of your bigger concerns.

But it's a new dawn and it's a new day. And as technology and advertising continue to evolve, so will your strategies.

Below, let's dive into the future of digital, mobile, video, and TV advertising.

Future of Digital Advertising

Let's start out with some stats:

• 91% of respondents agree ads are more intrusive today compared to two to three years ago, and 87% agree there are more ads in general (HubSpot)
• 42% of consumers feel that ads across digital media are irrelevant to their needs, an increase of 10% since last quarter (RevJet)
• 73% of consumers dislike companies with repetitive messaging, representing a 15% increase in negative sentiment quarter over quarter (RevJet)
• 62% of companies have, or plan to have, an omni-channel marketing strategy (AdWeek)
• Conversion rates actually increase the more users see an ad within remarketing campaigns (WordStream)
• Nearly all ad buyers expect digital advertising to comprise more than 50 percent of their total marketing budget in two years (Accenture)
• Today, buyers and sellers on average use programmatic for only 17 percent of their inventory. Within two years, that will more than double (Accenture)
• Digital advertisers believe automation would have an impact on achieving their goals (Forrester)
• Consumers are are more likely to engage with brands that advertise beside legitimate content, are less likely to engage with brands that advertise next to false, objectionable or inflammatory content, would stop using a brand or product if they viewed the brand's advertising next to false, objectionable or inflammatory content, and believe that advertisers bear responsibility for ensuring their digital ads run beside trustworthy content (The Harris Poll)

So what does this mean for the future of digital advertising? Essentially, it means that ads continue to need to be personalized. Once you have the consent of your consumers to use their data, you need to use that data effectively so you can create the right ads.

Additionally, you shouldn't just focus on one area of advertising. You should have an omni-channel, multi-device approach.

When you're going back to the drawing board for your digital advertising strategies, remember that remarketing continues to be a good strategy to reach users and programmatic advertising is on the rise.

Now that we've looked at digital advertising as a whole, let's dive into more specifics. What will mobile advertising look like in the future?

Future of Mobile Advertising

Here are the stats:

• 85% of advertisers and 72% of publishers are currently utilizing programmatic advertising (IAB)
• Nearly 80% of programmatic ad spend will go to mobile—rather than desktop—ads (eMarketer)
• When asked to specify which mobile ad types were annoying, 73% said ads that pop over the entire screen were the worst (HubSpot)
• Mobile users value search ads compared to others likely because they're relevant to their information needs (HubSpot)
• Twitter ads are 11% more effective than TV ads during live events. (Twitter)
• In 2019, mobile advertising spending worldwide amounted to 189 billion U.S. dollars and it is expected to surpass 240 billion dollars by 2022 (Statista)
• Mobile advertising has been rapidly growing in the past couple of years, but it is expected to slow down to about 10.4 percent by the end of 2022 (Statista)

At the end of the day, programmatic mobile ad spend is increasing, as in-app ads dominate. Automation in mobile advertising will continue to rise as well.

Additionally, when it comes to mobile advertising, you might want to consider search ads instead of banner ads, since they create a better user experience.

Now, let's take a closer look at video advertising.

Future of Video Advertising

Let's look at the stats:

• Consumers do not find value in watching video ads if they don’t have to. 100% of respondents reported they will always skip ads when given the opportunity (RevJet)
• The pandemic has overwhelmingly increased the amount of online video people watch (Wyzowl)
• Marketers feel more positive about the return on investment offered by video than ever, as it continues to strongly influence traffic, leads, sales, and audience understanding (Wyzowl)
• 87% of video marketers reported that video gives them a positive ROI — a world away from the lowly 33% who felt that way in 2015 (Wyzowl)
• In 2019, video was the #1 form of media used in content strategy, overtaking blogs and infographics. (HubSpot)

Video remains to be one of the most powerful advertising tools. And it's continuing to rise, even in the face of the pandemic.

Before we sign off, let's review what the future of TV advertising looks like.

Future of TV Advertising

The stats:

• Programmatic TV will represent a third of global TB ad revenue (PwC)
• It is expected that TV advertising revenue in the United States will grow from 71 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 to 72 billion in 2023 (Statista)
• Global TV ad revenue is projected to increase from 173 billion U.S. dollars to 192 billion between 2018 and 2022 (Statista)

Even though TV advertising might seem like it would decline, it's actually projected to increase. However, it's important to note that the future of TV advertising is going to look programmatic.

Without a doubt, the future of advertising is going to look interesting, because as technology continues to evolve, so will our marketing strategies.

The Future of Advertising [Expert Predictions & Data] was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

The State of In-housing 2021: A strange and extraordinary year

2020 proved to be an extraordinary year for brands and the world alike – mainly for all the wrong reasons. However, like its people, European marketing remains resilient, with teams and brands adjusting, and in some cases flourishing under their new locked-down reality.

This year’s State of In-housing 2021 report from Bannerflow and Digiday, surveys over 200 senior marketers across Europe, at a pivotal moment in time. It charts the continued growth of in-housing, changing team structures, key enabling technologies – and the impact the pandemic has had on both in-house and traditional teams.

Indeed, in-housing marketing functions, and the agility to turn and pivot at the slightest moment, has never been more important. And it is no surprise that in-housing remains a popular choice for brands with almost three-quarters (73%) having moved at least part of their digital marketing in-house.

This year highlights within the report include:

1. The pandemic’s effect on creativity
2. How technology is impacting in-housing success
3. How in-house teams are growing – along with ROI
4. Why in-house marketing remains essential

1. The pandemic’s effect on creativity: 58% of in-house teams report an increase in creativity during the pandemic

Perhaps one of the most astonishing aspects of in-housing this year has been the continued increase in creativity levels within in-house teams. More than half of all marketers surveyed report creativity within their teams as having increased during the pandemic. And only 8% reported a decline in team creativity.

Indeed, here at Bannerflow – anecdotally, at least – we have come across a number of in-house teams who due to the pandemic are being more creative with their internal resources. Today, in-house marketing teams are not just working smarter but reacting to changing circumstances and are having to launch new campaigns in hours.

Creativity is key

Success or failure is very real in 2021, and just like in 2020’s report, creativity remains a key commodity. For example, we have discovered that two thirds of in-house marketing teams have either introduced or increased creative workshops.

In fact cross team collaboration is up according to 65% of marketers too. Undoubtedly creativity is seen as a key asset in overcoming the challenges presented by the pandemic. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the benefits and connections between creativity and in-housing.

 

 

2. How technology is impacting in-housing success: 54% of marketers are benefiting from greater collaboration

Connected to increases in creativity, is the value in-house teams are gaining from embracing different technologies. In previous years, marketing technology has been viewed as a key enabler of in-housing and 2021’s report enforces that. In fact, this year over half of all the marketing teams surveyed admit to benefiting from technology.

Not just that but improvements in production efficiency and simply using data in a better way are noted as having positive impacts across in-house teams. Indeed, the shift to remote working has seen the use of cloud-based software, such as CMPs, rise.

Taking control of data

Fascinatingly, 58% of marketers report that one impact of using technology is that they are now using more data than ever before. And with brands having to adapt messages within hours due to changing pandemic legislation, or provide the right offer, across a much broader range of customers – having instant access to as much transparent data as possible is essential.

However, not everything is rosey in regards to brands and having the right setups. For those brands who have found in-house creativity difficult, 44% perceive the main barrier to being successful as a lack of technology. Therefore, while many brands appear to benefit from the right in-house tech stack, it is clear that others do not. Getting digital transformation right, appears a key consideration when moving in-house.

 

 

3. How in-house teams are growing – along with ROI: 63% of report a positive change in ROI since in-housing

Once again, this year’s report has found that in-house teams are more able to maximise their bang for buck. In fact two-thirds of brands report a positive return on investment (ROI) from in-housing. A stat during these testing times that can not be easily dismissed.

Additionally, brands who have made the move to an in-house setup are seeing numerous benefits across marketing functions. As a result, businesses are developing and growing their in-house teams, despite the challenges of 2020.

No one size fits all

In fact, many in-housing 2021 brands have boosted headcount in the past year. According to our report, 63% of senior marketers have increased the size of their in-housing teams over the last 12 months. Yet, like previous years – all is not quite as it seems.

There is now a whole spectrum of different in-housing setups. These setups range from full in-house agencies to more traditional models, where marketing teams work closely with external agencies. However, it is the hybrid model that this year appears to be gaining traction, with its mix of the best of in-house and its use of specialised agencies. And you can read more about this topic in the report.

 

 

4. Why in-house marketing remains essential: 62% of respondents say in-housing enables efficient remote working

Without question, this year’s report provides a clear answer to the question as to whether in-housing is a passing trend or not. It’s here to stay – and it looks set to be a key part of business strategy in 2021, and beyond.

Indeed, as businesses face the prospect of more remote working in 2021, an in-house marketing setup appears one of the best ways to boost team collaboration. In fact, 62% of respondents say in-housing enables more efficient remote working; which given the circumstances many teams will find themselves under will prove invaluable.

The business case for in-housing

In-house marketing teams are also benefiting from upskilling staff. When speaking to us 66% of senior marketers report their teams have gained more internal skills since moving in-house. Not only does this enable brands to develop a much more versatile workforce but it is cost saving too. 58% of marketers report savings on external agency costs.

Finally, Johann Querne, Global Director of Growth Marketing at Twitter, offers a solid piece of advice for teams starting their in-house journey; he believes there is a balance to be found when in-housing: “There’s definitely a question of timing, a question of maturity and a question of commitment, because finding the right partners can be pretty expensive”. Indeed, the benefits are clear but making sure you select the right type of in-house model for your brand, and where you stand in your maturity journey, is essential for future success.

Read the full State of In-housing 2021 report now

2021 promises to be an extraordinary year in its own right. And judging from our survey, and interviews from brands at the forefront of European in-house marketing, in-housing looks set to have a key role to play for many organisations going forward. Additionally, the creativity and resilience offered by in-house working may offer many businesses a way of ensuring future success during these testing times.

However, big changes do not come without challenges. Knowing the biggest perceived barriers to in-housing and how to overcome them is crucial. Read the report now to learn how leading brands, such as Vodafone, TikTok, and Telefónica were able to go about committing to the digital transformation of their marketing operations.

The post The State of In-housing 2021: A strange and extraordinary year appeared first on Bannerflow.

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We are working with our customers on site to ke... was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns