7 Best Link Shorteners for Business & Social (Free & Paid)

Trying to convince people to click on a long, jumbled link is almost as bad as a door-to-door salesman trying to sell people financial services.

If your audience sees a link they perceive to be spammy in one of your social media posts, they’ll do the digital equivalent of slamming the door in your face — scroll past it.

To avoid being perceived as spammy or sloppy when you have a legitimate link to share, check out our list of the best link shorteners that’ll turn your links into clean, consistent, and clickable URLs.

What are the benefits of using link shorteners?

Shortening your links makes them easier to share and track their performance. They’re an excellent choice for business owners, marketers, individuals, and anyone who’d like to post links that are easy to read and remember. 

URL shorteners benefit your brand in several ways:

Shortened links are more user-friendly.

When you post long links on social media, it can look like spam or deter users from clicking on something they don't recognize. In particular, adding tracking parameters (such as UTM codes) to your links can result in URLs that look long and confusing. Link shorteners can turn spammy-looking links into clear and user-friendly links.

You can track your links' analytics. 

Many link shorteners let you track your links' performance and analytics, which can help you understand which pieces of content perform best on specific platforms. Typically, you’ll be able to see the number of people who clicked on the link in a preset amount of time and where most of the clicks are coming from.

You can include shortened URLs in your social posts.  

Every social media network limits the number of characters you can include in your posts. Twitter and LinkedIn have the shortest character limits at 280 and 700 characters, respectively, so if you need to squeeze a link or an extra hashtag in one of your posts, link shorteners can help you stay within the limit.

Shortened links don’t need anchor text. 

Anchor text refers to the word or phrase that’s hyperlinked. Marketers use anchor text to optimize their link and ensure it indicates the content that the link leads to. If you’re adding an URL in a place where you can’t add anchor text (such as in a social post or social media bio), you can opt to shorten the link and include the keyword in the slug. 

Shortened URLs count as backlinks and improve your SEO. 

Because shortened URLs are essentially 301 redirects, they count as backlinks, because they’re still pointing to your website. Using a link shortening service improves your SEO because it gives you the ability to link to your blog posts and pages in more places. 

Convinced? Let’s take a look at the top link shorteners you can use. 

1. Bitly

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Bitly (sometimes referred to as Bit.ly) is a link shortener platform that features a comprehensive dashboard that displays your links’ performance metrics, such as click-through rates and channel stats. It also shows you the geographic information of the people clicking on your links. 

The tool also offers branded links and has integrations with social media management software (such as HubSpot) to help you seamlessly distribute your shortened links through your social media profiles.

Bitly’s free account offers up to 1,000 unbranded links and link reporting for 30 days, which is ideal for small businesses. Its enterprise plan lets you brand 10,000+ links a month and provides all the data and metrics mentioned above. This subscription tier is best for large businesses that want to brand and track every link in their marketing campaigns.

Best For 

Individuals and small to enterprise businesses. It offers the advantage of being free while also allowing you to add custom slugs, making it ideal for both general and business use.

Pros 

• Ability to shorten links without signing up
• 1,000 shortened links included in free version 
• Ability to add 50 custom slugs per month in a free subscription
• Good choice for getting started with link shorteners

Cons 

• You can only customize the slug once you sign up

Pricing: Free; $29/month (Basic); $199/month (Premium); Custom (Enterprise)

2. Bl.INK

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As one of the more robust link shorteners out there, Bl.INK offers smart branded links that contain relevant words and not just a random string of characters.

It also provides analytic reports that can track clicks by date, time, language, referrers, device, and location. The tool integrates with web analytic tools like Google Analytics and Adobe.

Bl.INK offers five subscription tiers. Starting at $48 per month, it prices its plans based on the number of links you’d like to create and track.

Best For 

Enterprise businesses with an established link shortening strategy. That way, you can use its wealth of features right away. 

Pros 

• Extensive list of features that are ideal for avid link shortening users 
• Cheapest subscription offers 10,000 links — triple of what Bitly offers in their lowest subscription
• Ability to bulk edit links 

Cons

• No option to shorten links without signing up
• It only tracks a limited number of clicks (starting at 7,500)

Pricing: $48/month (Expert+); $99/month (SMB); $299/month (Team); $599/month (Business); Custom (Enterprise)

3. Rebrandly

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Trusted by over 250,000 customers, Rebrandly is a link shortener platform that can brand your links, track their performance metrics, or integrate with over 50 other platforms to seamlessly distribute your links. 

With three plans for individuals and two plans for teams, Rebrandly offers link shortening solutions for small businesses that have a high potential for growth. For instance, its free plan offers 5,000 tracked clicks, 500 branded links, and 5 custom domain names, while its premium plan offers 150,000 branded links, 20 custom domain names, and 1,500,000 tracked clicks for $499 per month. 

Note, however, that some services, such as Bitly, offer unlimited tracked clicks. If you expect to receive a large number of clicks, consider using those services instead. 

Best For 

Small businesses that want to start building a link shortening strategy. Rebrandly’s starting price is low, but its features rival and even exceed those of its top competitors. 

Pros 

• Ability to shorten links without signing up
• Includes a UTM builder in the free version — Bitly and BLINK do not 
• Includes custom URL slugs in the free version 

Cons

• No unlimited tracked clicks available 

Pricing: Free;  $29/year (Starter); $69/year (Pro); $499/year (Premium); Custom (Enterprise)

4. Ow.ly

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Developed by the social media management platform Hootsuite, Ow.ly is a link shortener that’s included in every free Hootsuite account. With Ow.ly, you can distribute your links and track their performance metrics directly in the Hootsuite platform, which allows you to shorten every single link you post to all your social media profiles. Ow.ly is a great option for anyone who already uses Hootsuite as their social media management platform.

The one limitation of this tool is that there’s no information on the features that Ow.ly offers, including the number of tracked clicks. A UTM builder is available within the platform. 

Best For 

Current Hootsuite users or those who are interested in managing their social media presence using Hootsuite. The best part is that it’s free, making it a good choice if you’re just getting started with Hootsuite. 

Pros

• Integrated right in the Hootsuite platform 
• Ability to see link analytics alongside other social analytics 
• UTM builder available within the settings
• A natural choice for those who are using Hootsuite 

Cons  

• No option to shorten links without signing up
• Not a great choice for those who aren’t using Hootsuite; other options offer more robust features

Pricing: Free

5. Linktree

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Linktree isn’t strictly a URL shortening service. Rather, it’s a service where you add a list of links to a profile (like this one). Instead of listing all of the links you want to promote on every social post or profile, you add them to your Linktree. You then add the Linktree URL to your social bios.  

This tool is ideal for platforms such as Instagram, where you can add only one link to your profile. The best part is that Linktree offers a short and user-friendly URL structure (e.g. linktr.ee/yourname) so that it looks and feels like a shortened link. You won’t have to clutter your Instagram profile with a long and spammy-looking URL. 

It also offers analytics that allow you to see which links get clicked on the most and how much traffic your Linktree profile is getting. 

Best For

Avid Instagram users who want to keep all of their links in one place. It offers analytics as well, so you could potentially use it for business and marketing purposes.

Pros

• Allows you to keep unlimited links in one place 
• Short and user-friendly profile link is easy to remember 
• Best choice for Instagram users

Cons 

• Not a good fit if you’re trying to shorten individual links 
• Free version doesn’t allow you to see detailed analytics 
• Wouldn’t count as a backlink, while a traditional shortened link would 

Pricing: Free; $6/month (Pro); Custom (Enterprise)

6. TinyURL

TinyURL is a free link shortening platform that's perfect for users who want to shorten links every once in a while.

Using TinyURL is simple. All you have to do is go to TinyURL.com and follow the instructions. You can quickly fill in the link you want a short URL for and add a custom alias. If no one uses your alias, the link you will get will look something like "tinyurl.com/alias.” Once you fill in the URL information and press submit, you can rename, edit, and share the URL.

Don’t be tricked by the tool’s simplicity: It also allows you to track key metrics and analytics for your links after you sign up for a free account. Even if you only use it for a one-time project, you can track the success of the campaign with ease. The one limitation is that it only allows you to keep one active TinyURL at a time unless you upgrade to a paid subscription. 

Best For 

Hobbyists who want to shorten links only once in a while. Because of its emphasis on its plug-in-and-go link shortener, it’s a much better fit for you if you’re planning to trim one link at a time and use it for a short while. 

Pros 

• One of the easiest link shorteners in this list, with an emphasis in its plug-in-and-go tool 
• Includes analytics in case you want to track clicks and performance  
• Allows you to establish a custom slug right away — Bitly only lets you when you sign up 

Cons 

• Only allows you to keep one active TinyURL at a time on the free version

Pricing: Free; $9.99/month (Pro); $99/month (Bulk 100K)

7. Tiny.CC

Tiny.CC is another free link shortener that allows you to create temporary short links by simply pasting your long link into a text box and pressing Shorten. Like TinyURL, you can also customize the slug.

If you register or become a paid subscriber, you can have non-expiring links and edit URLs later. If you're a free user, the link will eventually expire and you cannot edit them once they're generated. While it’s the most limited tool in this list, it’s also the easiest to use. 

It has the added benefit of having a short domain name.  Consider the difference between “TinyURL.com/example” and “Tiny.CC/example.” While the character count might not be so different, the shortened URL from Tiny.CC looks a lot more concise and trim. 

Best For

Quick and easy one-time link shortening. If you’re interested in more robust features, you can upgrade to one of Tiny.CC’s premium plans.  

Pros

• The easiest link shortener in this list — simply plug in and go
• Ability to customize the slug without needing to sign in 
• Paid options start at a cheaper price point ($5 versus Rebrandly’s $29, as an example)
• Easy option for quick link shortening

Cons

• The free tool is much more limited in scope and features than other options 

Pricing: Free; $5/month (Basic); $25/month (Business); $44/month (Pro); Custom (Enterprise) 

After you master shortening your URLs, you might also want to look into a similar process of creating QR codes, which acts like a shortcut to your website — but from print materials instead. 

Navigating Link Shorteners

If you have to share a few ginormous links, there's no harm in shortening them because the process is quick and simple. Aside from being easier to look at, shortened links can also be helpful for print ads, physical signage, or places where you can't link to another site.

There is a handful of free or affordable link shortening websites out there. But you might be wondering which to choose. To help you, we'll leave you with a few quick tips. 

• If you don't use website analytics software, you might want to use a link-shortener that includes basic stats like page views and clicks to measure your traffic. 
• If you want to customize your link, choose a shortener that allows you to edit the URL slugs. All of the options on the list allow you to do that, but some, like Bitly, require you to sign up for an account first. 
• Branded shortened links look and perform better than unbranded shortened links. Rebrandly and Bitly are two of the best options to brand your shortened links. 
• Use Tiny.CC and TinyURL for quick link shortening. They don’t require you to sign up and allow you to edit the slug in one simple step. 
• You won’t be able to transfer a link from one link shortener to another, so choose one wisely. 
• If you’re looking for the cheapest premium option, Tiny.CC starts at $5 monthly and offers comparable features to more expensive options. 

Use an URL Shortener to Drive More Referral Traffic 

Link shorteners allow you to place a link on places with limited character count and space. By using a URL shortener, you can ensure your site is visible on all of the platforms you’re on, boosting referral traffic and increasing leads from your marketing efforts. 

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

7 Best Link Shorteners for Business & Social (Free & Paid) was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

How We Built the Strategy for Our New Flagship Podcast

You didn't think we'd launch a podcast network without a new HubSpot show, did you?

We're excited to announce our new flagship podcast, The Shake Up, featuring comedian Alexis Gay and Venture Capitalist Brianne Kimmel. It's produced by Senior Producer, Matthew Brown and brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network. 

The Shake Up offers business leaders unfiltered insights into companies that dared to be different. Alexis and Brianne talk with business leaders from disruptive companies like Square, Daily Harvest, and Nerdwallet about their investments and go-to-market strategies.

Sounds pretty cool, right? Well, now we're going to tell you how we did it, including:

1. Our planning process
2. Building the format of the show
3. The structure of a successful podcast team

Let's dive in.

How Can We Be Better and Different?

Once we know our business objective, audience, and budget we set out to put together a show concept that will resonate with our audience and help us hit our goals.

To do that, we needed to know what our audience is listening to today.

According to Chartable, there are over 8,334 branded podcasts on Apple Podcasts.

While we couldn't audit all of them (we're only human), we did want to understand the tactics used by the top podcasts in the business category. So, we did an audit.

We evaluated 20 high-performing business podcasts and gained five insights.

• Male Voices: 87% of the hosts were male.
• News & Commentary: 18 out of 20 podcasts provided commentary on industry news.
• Broadcast Communications: Very few shows used audience engagement tactics to connect the audience with the hosts.
• Business & Academic: The tone of the shows was lackluster and many used jargon.

This audit gave us the context to define our strategy.

How would our show be better and different?

• Diverse Voices: A commitment to diverse voices across hosts and guests.
• Research & Stories: Focusing editorially on relevant stories with added depth.
• Audience Engagement: Featuring our hosts and implementing tactics to engage the audience on social media.
• Business & Entertainment: We don't have to be boring and unfashionable to talk business.

These became our editorial guidelines for the rest of the show.

Deciding on the Show Format

Next, we set our show format.

There are a few common podcast formats that have the ability to grow an audience.

• Interview: A show type that brings on an expert guest for a Q&A.
• Chat Cast: A co-hosted format where hosts provide commentary and criticism on a variety of topics.
• Debate: A co-hosted format where hosts take one side of the argument. Debating the facts, figures, and opinions on a given topic.
• Narrative: A journalistic-style podcast that includes research, scripts, and a strong storyline.

After exploring various formats, we went with a hybrid format -- Chat Cast + Interview.

Bringing together the energy of a chat cast with the expertise of an interview.

Sample Episode topic: Why Is Every Company Suddenly A Media Company
Segment 1: The Context	In the opening segment, our co-hosts will provide context and talk through some fun facts and stats about the episode topic Ex.) HubSpot acquired The Hustle
Segment 2: The Debate / Discuss	In this segment, we'll give our hosts a series of questions on the topic and questions we are featuring for some off-the-cuff opinions on both. Ex.) Should more SaaS companies follow suit? What happens to media companies if all companies are media companies?
Segment 3: The Interview	In this segment, we'll bring on the business leader of the company/topic we are discussing to get the real story behind the decision and the other decisions that have made them successful. Ex.) Kipp Bodnar about the Hustle Acquisition

Finally, we had to figure out how we were going to make this thing.  

Your Podcast Team

To build a high-quality podcast, you need to invest in a team.

There are countless things that need to happen in the making of a show. We have broken down those responsibilities into eight core roles, but there are often teams of much more, and there are also teams of much less who are doing 3-4 jobs each:

1. Executive Producer — The showrunner. Head of operations, creates a vision for the overall show, leads pre-production through post-production, and manages the staff and logistics.
2. Senior Producer — Establishes content and narrative arc for each episode, writes and edits the scripts, coaches the host, manages the production calendar, research, prep; as well as produce interviews, tape edits, and does preliminary sound design.
3. Producer — Booking, research, interview prep, transcriptions, edits tape, creates outlines, and works on scripts.
4. Editor — Oversees the development of story ideas and gives critical feedback on story frameworks and scripts.
5. Host — Storyteller who shapes the show through their editorial decisions and personality. They prepare for interviews and write / edit scripts.
6. Managing Producer —New podcast development and builds management processes/paths necessary for a successful program.
7. Engineer —The first and final stop in the production process. Creates the soundscape for the show by editing and mastering audio to create a seamless listening experience.
8. Editorial Director — Shapes the vision and leads all planning and execution for podcasts. Drives the creative conception from ideation to execution. Collaborates with company leaders on distribution.

This list does not include the folks involved outside of podcast creation, including the creative team involved with making promotional assets, the person responsible for the communication plan of the show, and more.

Another layer of difficulty here is the decision of whether to build a team in-house or search for a podcast production agency that can fill these roles for you.

Resourcing was one of the biggest challenges in the creation of The Shake Up. We'll let you behind the scenes on some of our decisions:

1. Internal or external talent for hosts: A host will make or break a podcast. Simple as that. They can either draw an audience in or push them away. We had a very specific vision for the hosts of our show and for that reason, we chose to lead an external search for talent. We chose Alexis and Brianne because of their combination of dynamism and experience, among other things.
2. Hire a sound engineer or bring in an agency: Engineers perfect the sound of your show. Because of the quality of sound we wanted for this show, we decided to bring in an agency because of the heavy expertise of their team and the resources they have for the job.

We were also lucky enough to have a Senior Producer, Matthew Brown, on staff, who has won awards for previous shows like The Growth Show.

So if you're looking to invest in a team to create podcasts, use this list as a starting point to gain an understanding of the different moving parts, and carefully consider the decision of hiring for these roles, or bringing in some external help.

But the list is just a starting point, and if there's anything that we can recommend about podcast creation, it's the quote from Lao Tzu, “There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.” And your opponent, in this case, is the amount of work involved in creating a show.

Invest in the resources to do it right, and understand that it takes a village.

What Are You Waiting For?

Podcasts aren't a new medium, but they are having a moment.

• Spotify has heavily invested in the podcast portion of their platform, striking exclusive deals with podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience, and designing a total rehaul of the podcast UI.
• Statista predicts the industry will have a CAGR of 17%, reaching 164 million listeners in the US by 2023.
• Apple, not to be outdone, is making a bet on podcast subscriptions.

Will podcast marketing become as standard as content marketing? Will having a podcast become as ubiquitous as having a blog?

Time will tell, but it's clear that this is the “wave” that many podcasters predicted.

At HubSpot, we have chosen to invest heavily in media going forward, and podcasts are a large part of that strategy. The HubSpot Podcast Network and The Shake Up are the first parts of that.

If, after reading this, you choose to invest in building one, here is a checklist you should follow:

1. Define your audience and their problem.
2. Decide if a podcast is a good medium to provide a solution to that problem.
3. Audit the podcasts in your target space, figure out how you can be better and different.
4. Propose the theme and format of your show.
5. Build a podcast team: host, producer, sound engineer.
6. You're off to the races.

We are incredibly proud of the hard work that went into launching The Shake Up. Listen to it here on your favorite podcast platform.

How We Built the Strategy for Our New Flagship Podcast was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

6 top e-commerce display advertising ideas

The impact of Covid-19 has certainly highlighted the importance for retailers to have a strong e-commerce display advertising offering.

Offering frictionless, cross-platform shopping online has quickly become essential. This is where e-commerce display campaigns for your retail brand can step in to maximise your ROI.

A report from Catalyst Digital revealed that 66% of consumers choose retailers based on convenience. This need for convenient shopping experiences may have something to do with Primark’s revenue decline during the first lockdown in 2020. The retailer famously offers its customers no online shopping option – so with stores closed, there was no easy way to shop with them. As a result, Primark lost out on £800m – a revenue fall of 75%.

In this article, we’ll be looking at ways your brand can create e-commerce display ad campaigns that stand out from the crowd. We’ll focus on everything from automated production to personalisation and the use of live data feeds.

6 ways to create your best ever e-commerce display advertising campaign:

1. Automated production
2. Reuse and repurpose creative assets
3. Real-time updates to live ad campaigns
4. Personalise ads with dynamic creative optimisation
5. Create display and social ads simultaneously
6. Use of live and automatic data feeds

Looking to the future

The latest Adobe Digital Economy Index findings, highlighted by Forbes, revealed predictions of e-commerce sales reaching $4.2 trillion globally this year.

Looking ahead, Statista data projects that 2022 will see worldwide revenues for e-retail grow to $5.4 trillion.

Meanwhile, research discussed by Econsultancy also shows how consumer habits are likely to evolve as we emerge from the pandemic. Data collected by Mood Media from across the US, UK, France and China shows that ordering online to collect from a physical store was a popular option.

The projected numbers for e-commerce growth certainly show the importance of investing in this area – especially across channels and platforms.

However, it’s clear that some brands – such a Primark – are not set up for what the data suggests will likely be a busy autumn/winter 2021 for e-commerce sales.

As we move closer to the busy period leading up to Christmas, there are key dates in the retail calendar for you to consider targeting. Therefore, devising solutions and strategies for your brand’s e-commerce offering could prove vital. So let’s take a look at the role e-commerce display advertising could play for retail with everything from real-time updates to ads, personalised banners and more.

Struggling to create retail display ads at volume? Look no further than automated production

The e-commerce world is competitive, so having the ability to be a step ahead can make a real difference. All brands are continuously searching for ways to maximise ROI. An effective way to ensure this is to create best-in-class display advertising campaigns through the automated production of your e-commerce ads.

Many marketing teams may still be feeling the effects of pandemic furlough or even redundancy. Keeping pace with online retail leading up to a busy autumn/winter campaign can be a struggle without ways to automate your advertising efforts. Automated production can step in as an answer to these resource issues by helping you to make ads, at volume, in a matter of minutes.

Not only can you create thousands of e-commerce display ads at pace, but these assets also adjust automatically to be utilised across various platforms. Additionally, you can keep costs at a minimum as there’s less need to send work externally and instead you can create what you need in-house.

How Bannerflow Creative Studio can help

At Bannerflow, our Creative Studio is an ad creator that can assist with this. Whether you want to launch e-commerce display ads for your retail brand on social media or you’re looking for personalised banners, this advertising product can help. The great thing is that this can all be done from one location – then all you need to do is create a schedule and watch them launch.

Case study: Elko

Icelandic consumer electronics retailer and user of the Bannerflow solutions, Elko, won our summer advertising display campaign in 2019. This campaign is a fantastic example of how Rich Media can be used in e-commerce ads and shows how automation can step up your brand’s game.

 

The clever Rich Media slider created eye-catching, interactive e-commerce banners, which heightened engagement and increased click-through rates.

Digital Asset Manager at Elko, Guðrún Ósk Sigurjónsdóttir, explained how using the Bannerflow Creative Management Platform as a total solution and its products helps them:

“For us, it’s really easy to produce all the different sizes. We just make one banner and then scale it to the different sizes we need – without any of the repetitive design tasks! I would say we now create ads around 50% faster compared to before.”

Couldn’t use certain assets last year? Reuse and repurpose them

Covid-19 moved the goalposts for many businesses in many ways. This might have been due to the previously mentioned necessity for furlough stretching resources or having to shelve planned campaigns completely.

The latter became a huge problem for marketers last year. Marketing Week reported in April 2020 that 86% of marketing teams delayed or reviewed campaigns due to the pandemic.

Where are all those assets now? Incredible imagery and designs are available for use right now!

By reusing or repurposing what you already have, you’ll enjoy maximum value from these existing assets. Your pre-pandemic spend could essentially bear fruit more than a year later – bonus. This could also free up a little budget to work on and launch other e-commerce display advertising ideas you’ve had and take a step ahead of the competition.

Ever-changing offers? Update live ads in real-time

As we move closer to the autumn/winter shopping seasons, you’re likely to have changing offers as a retail brand, so your e-commerce display ads and campaigns need to keep pace.

In the lead up to the Christmas period, Black Friday is closely followed by Cyber Monday and this is when many consumers choose to do their festive gift buying. In fact, a staggering £2bn was spent on Christmas presents in the 2019 Black Friday sale while 70% of UK consumers said they planned to shop on the day in 2020.

Agility in real-time for e-commerce display advertising

Being able to stay ahead of the competition in the e-commerce landscape can rely on digital advertising agility through being able to update your display ads – live.

With Bannerflow, you can instantly adapt your offers to beat or match the competition – something that could be particularly helpful for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Using direct publishing and network integrations you can display all your most important latest offers, such as discount codes. Via the one platform, you’ll have a view on insights to make informed adjustments to help convert interest.

Not only this, but with Bannerflow’s Campaign Management capabilities your expert marketing team can also instantly edit published ads – in just a few clicks, across campaigns. So, when we use the Black Friday/Cyber Monday example – you can show an offer for the first campaign and then update it live for the next without having to republish.

Want to know how to create the perfect Black Friday campaign? Check out these eight steps and create e-commerce banners that get the maximum ROI on your Black Friday advertising efforts.

Want to get personal? Create e-commerce display advertising with dynamic creative optimisation (DCO)

It’s no secret that personalisation has now become the expectation. According to Instapage, 79% of retail consumers are more likely to interact with an offer if it correlates with previous engagements they’ve has with the brand.

Additionally, it frustrates 74% of customers when content on a website isn’t personalised. Without personalisation efforts in a competitive e-commerce landscape, consumers are likely to look elsewhere for products or services.

This is where DCO can step in to offer control of creating better ads, with increased relevance. An e-commerce display advertising campaign using DCO can target the right customers with the best quality creative.

What is DCO?

Dynamic Creative Optimisation, or DCO helps marketing teams to utilise HTML-5 ad placements in place of generic website content such as images and videos. These e-commerce ads change depending on the customer viewing them and this type of personalisation can be achieved at scale.

DCO utilises data appropriate to each returning user based on things such as behaviour and location. This process results in relevant, personalised content that speaks to each target audience.

Benefits of creating retail display ads with DCO

When you use a total solution such as Bannerflow’s Creative Management Platform (CMP) for your retail brand’s e-commerce display ads, you can expect the following benefits:

1. Personalisation possibilities
2. Complete control in real-time
3. Increased ROI
4. Heightened creativity
5. Ad placement relevancy

Case study: Bannerflow for the Tokyo Olympics

Bannerflow, along with Essence and Adform were nominated for an award for their efforts to drive users to sign up to the Olympic Channel to build momentum for the games.

Due to Covid-19, the 2020 Olympic Games was postponed to 2021, setting it a year apart from the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. The IOC launched a campaign to drive sign ups to the Olympic Channel to create a buzz around the events.

By using dynamic creative ads, the sign up targets were far exceeded – achieving 63% greater engagement levels than other, standard formats.

Budget headaches? Simultaneously create e-commerce Display and Social ads

Covid-19 has impacted businesses in various ways. It’s seen some reduce their staff numbers, some cut budgets and some close their doors altogether. Although, research discussed in CityAM shows that while advertising spend dropped to a record low last year, there are ways to save money.

By producing all of your e-commerce display advertising and social ads (Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram) using a cloud-based ad creator you can reduce costs.

Bannerflow’s Creative Studio can do just that. Using this powerful tool, you can create all your e-commerce ads in one place.

Thinking of branching out into digital out-of-home (DOOH) media too? Retail display ads for digital billboards or screens in locations such as shopping centres can also be created alongside your display and social ads in Creative Studio.

The great thing about intuitive creators, such as the Bannerflow tool, is that training isn’t an issue. Another cost saver. Design expertise is always preferable for the best results, but any member of your marketing team can create display and social ads to shine a light on your retail brand.

Stay on brand and on message across all platforms by producing your creatives in one place – and save money in the process.

Can in-housing help?

Leading consumer electronics retailer in the Nordic region, Elkjøp, made the in-house move and also uses Bannerflow for its ad creatives.

Marketing Technology Manager, Thomas Sourour, explains how in-housing and automation through Bannerflow’s solutions helps them become more efficient and saves costs:

“…in Denmark, Finland and Sweden we use the Bannerflow platform to produce display creatives. We always want to do more ourselves as the more we do the more control we have and the closer we get to our customers.

Producing display advertising more efficiently frees up time to focus on what really matters, and that is creating amazing experiences for our customers. Any money saved we focus back onto our customers, whether that is through better customer guarantees, or more creative campaigns.”

Want to be on the pulse this autumn/winter? Use live and automatic data feeds in ads

Throughout the autumn/winter period in the world of retail, deals and offers frequently change and there are many developments. To stay ahead of your competitors, it may pay to keep your customers in the know. You can do this with creative campaign management using live and automatic data feeds in advertising to update your e-commerce display ads.

Automatic data feeds can update your display ads with whatever you want, whenever you want with specific product offers. Live data feeds can amend your ads in real-time with information such as product stock inventories.

Both are perfect for the fast pace of both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You simply need to ensure the data feed informing your ads updates on a regular basis.

Conclusion

An effective advertising campaign featuring e-commerce display ads, banners, social and DOOH could be vital for your brand this busy retail season.

In a saturated market, impacted by the strains and stresses applied by Covid-19, being dynamic will be key. Customers expect personalisation, transparency and fast updates – without this, they’ll shop with a competitor.

Harnessing the power of a total solution such as Bannerflow’s Creative Management Platform and its products, getting ahead – in real-time and at scale – could be simple.

From automated production to updating live retail display ads and using DCO for personalisation, you could have the key to unlock e-commerce success this autumn/winter.

Interested to learn more and see if it could work for you? Book a demo with Bannerflow today and experience our platform in action.

 

The post 6 top e-commerce display advertising ideas appeared first on Bannerflow.

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20 Best 'Meet the Team' Pages We've Ever Seen

To a prospect seeking out a new service provider, the process can be a little overwhelming. It's easy to wonder: Who are the real people behind all the smoke and mirrors?

Adding a "Meet the Team" page or section to your website is an easy, effective way to give your business an accessible face. As one of your most important pages, it gives prospects an idea of who exactly they'll be working with, and shows potential employees that you're proud of the people on your team.

For some inspiration, see how these companies introduce visitors to their most important creative assets: their people.

Cool 'Meet the Team' Pages

1. Yokel Local

Yokel Local is a HubSpot Agency Partner that positions itself as an extension of its clients' marketing teams. For that reason, this agency showcases its staff to highlight the humans behind the brand.

What's pleasing about this particular page is the simplicity: The grid design provides a modern feel, and clicking on a face opens a box with more information about the team member, including their bio, credentials, and social profiles.

Why this works: Yokel Local doesn’t go overboard with its “Meet the Team” page, and it doesn’t need to — everything potential clients need to know is presented in a clean grid format. This way, it’s clear who’s behind the agency.

2. Philly Reps

As a contrast to more elaborate designs we’ll see later in this list, Philly Reps is another agency that takes a cleaner, more minimal approach to its team page. Members are presented in grayscale images that take up the majority of screen space for a nice consistent look and feel.

Below images are brief descriptions of each member. Notice how Philly Reps has made each description roughly the same length to maintain balance and alignment between grid elements. Most won’t notice this detail, but it results in a page with maximum readability.

Why this works: Large grayscale headshots of team members bring character and personality to the brand while maintaining visual consistency.

3. Digital Marmalade

Since most employee bios read a lot like a list of stats ("10 years in the industry ... 4 years at the company ... Managed 80 website redesign projects ... ") the folks at Digital Marmalade decided to have a little fun with the format.

Each employee at the London-based marketing agency has a trading card-style profile detailing their actual marketing accomplishments and personal facts, as well as their fictional superhero abilities. It's a quirky twist that gives visitors a colorful snapshot of the agency's team, highlighting both their impressive experience and friendly culture.

Why this works: Digital Marmalade balances its show of technical proficiency and fun with employee stats that list both skills and “superpowers.” Additionally, headshots are all similar in composition and background.

4. CloudHorizon

CloudHorizon is a mobile product development company. On its about page, it says, "Some of the more rewarding projects we have had the honour to be involved in, started with simple ideas and grew profitable businesses from the ground up."

With this in mind, CloudHorizon’s “Meet our team” section is a great way to illustrate that idea. When you hover over an image of a team member, their thumbnail flips to reveal a photo from their childhood with a small caption of what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Why this works: This clever idea highlights both the diversity of backgrounds that the CloudHorizon team brings, as well as the uniqueness of each member. It also provides a sense of friendly nostalgia to new visitors.

5. Bolden

Bolden's team bios are more conventional than some of the others on this list, but what they lack in invention they make up for in style.

Hovering over each team member's picture produces a darker alternative almost like an image negative, revealing the employee’s name along with an outfit change. This is a great example of a minimal, accessible "Meet the Team" page that manages to look cool and introduce the faces behind the agency without going over the top.

Why this works: Bolden implements a subtle but unique and effective hover effect for its team member cards for some extra visual flair. As a digital design agency, these small moments show capability.

6. Rock Kitchen Harris

Rock Kitchen Harris, a full-service agency, decided to skip the photos altogether and showcase the cartoon versions of their employees instead.

Each employee at the English agency had a custom caricature drawn up, and every single one has a different personality. While some employees opted for representations reminiscent of LinkedIn profile pictures, others got a little creative with it, dressing their cartoon selves up as Ewoks and other characters. Employees can also be easily filtered by specialty.

Why this works: The choice to make renderings of each employee brings a lot of character and personality to this agency’s website. Plus, it gives the chance for employees to have a bit of extra fun as well.

7. FCINQ

FCINQ, a creative studio, introduces us to their team with a collage of colorful bubbles.

Hovering over an employee's circle produces a zoomed-in effect, and clicking expands their headshot with their name and social profiles. The splashy setup is a stylish alternative to the expected rows of team photos and names.

Why this works: FCINQ’s team section is a nice departure from the standard grid layout while staying intuitive and informative.

8. Zulu Alpha Kilo

This Canadian agency presents its founding team with refreshing comedic flair. While many agency leaders choose to represent themselves with stoic business portraits, the three leaders of Zulu Alpha Kilo opted for playful photos and cheeky bios.

Here's an excerpt from the bio of Marcus Alpha -- the agency's "Ultra Chief Creative Director Officer":

Marcus has a reputation for pushing his creative teams further than any other creative director. He makes them work late nights, weekends and through holidays in pursuit of that one truly breakthrough creative idea. And when they’ve finally cracked it after weeks of grueling and thankless work, Marcus will triumphantly stand in front of the client and present it as an idea he had in the shower that morning instead.

Why this works: Zulu Alpha Kilo leverages humor with its portraits and text content to draw potential clients in search of a partner on the quirky side.

9. Stink Studios

We love this expertly color-coordinated slideshow of team members from Stink Studios. This creative agency has offices in five major cities around the world — including New York, Paris, and Berlin — but having a personable "Meet the Team" section helps give their business an accessible edge. They don't call themselves "a global company with a local feel" for nothing.

Why this works: The broken grid layout of this website’s team page is colorful, inviting, clean, and a touch playful as well.

10. CRUX

The video pros at the agency CRUX have crafted a truly captivating website that makes excellent use of their medium. The entire website is presented as a “video” inside an editing program; visitors can “play” the video by scrolling or via the timeline at the bottom of the screen.

When you reach the “About” section, each team member drifts into focus alongside a humorous description. This website is unlike anything we’ve seen before and establishes this team as unique, ambitious thinkers and creators.

Why this works: CRUX takes a one-of-a-kind approach to its team page (and its entire website) that cleverly combines visual features of a website with those of a video editing program.

11. Drexler

As one of the more artsy entries in this list, this "Meet the Team" section from Drexler is proof that you don't need a whole page devoted to introducing your employees — just a section can do the trick.

This simple but polished team member marquee appears down the homepage and plays with scrolling to reveal each team member’s portrait. The “hands-on” portrait aesthetic is certainly unique as well, creating a homepage that only this group could think up.

Why this works: Drexler utilizes scrolling to present team photos in a scanning pattern, complete with peculiar but captivating portraits.

12. Matchstic

As a branding agency, Matchstic knows the importance of identity, creativity, and individuality. Not only does its “Who We Are” section provide that identity by highlighting the human element of their brand, but it also shows their creative side. When you hover over each thumbnail, a goofy illustration is overlaid onto the photo.

In addition, the custom cursor, which only shows up on the About page, is a strong callback to the Matchstic brand, implying a kinetic energy that starts with the lighting of a match.

Why this works: Matchstic applies a cartoon-style hover effect to its employee portraits, implying fun, imagination, and creativity behind the otherwise straightforward profiles. The custom cursor is an extra, delightful touch.

13. Atlassian

Atlassian, a company behind many of the software solutions used in businesses worldwide, highlights photos of their team on their "people" page, interacting at the office and hard at work.

Below, they showcase their leadership team with colorful headshots that break out of colorful background boxes, similar to Matchstic. When you hover over, vector graphics appear relating to the individual's unique role.

In addition, a popup appears on click with social icons and a bio. What's particularly interesting is the option to download their headshot, some extra utility for media professionals.

Why this works: Atlassian’s people page is both professional and quirky, with useful features like bios, social media links, and an option to download headshots.

14. Heart Creative

Heart Creative presents its team members on its “about us” page, and hovering the cursor over portraits reveals some extra character behind each employee. Given the agency specializes in culinary endeavors, these alternate photos are usually food-related.

For some added navigational ease, users can sort cards by team. Selecting an option from the dropdown will show the relevant members. You have the option to visit each individual’s LinkedIn profile as well.

Why this works: Heart Creative lends a touch of fun to its “Meet the Team” section by displaying alternative portraits on mouseover. Each team member shows off what they love, which puts some extra personality behind the brand.

15. LiveChat

LiveChat, an AI customer service and chatbot solution, approached their team page in a completely different way. Instead of just listing out each team member's roles and experience, they created a photo for each team member that illustrates who they are in a conceptual, fun, and metaphorical way. Given the size of the company, this was quite the endeavor.

LiveChat’s approach is extremely effective for showcasing the uniqueness of their team, and it compels the website visitor to take the team to look at each picture and read each bio. This results in longer time on page, an important engagement metric.

Why this works: The LiveChat team page places enormous emphasis on each member’s personality and interests. It’s clear that LiveChat values everyone and knows the real strength of any business is the people.

16. Etsy

Many large companies forgo the traditional "Meet the Team" page because there are so many team members that it doesn't make sense to display them all. At Etsy, though, they acknowledge all the people that make the popular online marketplace possible with a tiled "people board" that scrolls for days.

Why this works: While impractical to provide bios of every team member, Etsy compromises with a collage of team portraits as a testament to the strength behind the company.

17. UWG

Digital content specialists UWG have created a stunning team page that’s as much about personality as it is about personnel. Team members are shown in lively portraits against solid backgrounds. Most images are squares, but the page occasionally breaks this pattern for some visual variety. For more information about a team member, you can click a portrait to open a modal.

Why this works: This team page is simple, yet bold and effective. Each portrait is packed with personality, and together the images form a vibrant collage. It’s the kind of “Meet the Team” page that makes you actually want to meet the team.

18. The Correspondent

The Correspondent is an organization that offers news without fear-mongering or financial gain. In true journalistic style, the site features each team member in a beautifully rendered cartoon style, providing an artistic feel to the page.

Clicking on each thumbnail leads the website visitor to a place where they can subscribe to that particular writer and view a feed of their pieces. Best of all, the individual's mission is displayed across the top and contact information in the sidebar.

Why this works: Sketch renderings of every team member lend to the publication aesthetic of The Correspondent. Readers can easily find a particular writer’s stories as well by clicking a card.

19. Bluleadz

What better way to convey the personality of your team than to display their favorite gifs on mouse hover? That's what digital marketing agency Bluleadz does. You can almost imagine these folks in the scenarios their gifs represent.

Another useful feature of this "Meet the Crew" page is the ability to filter Bluleadz employees by function. Each button at the bottom corresponds to a team and brings up the individuals who "make the magic happen" in that area of the business.

Why this works: Yet another way to add personality to a team page, Blueleadz includes a favorite gif for each team member. It’s fun, entertaining, and potentially converting.

20. Media Junction

Bold blocky pops of color? Yes, please. HubSpot Elite Agency Partner Media Junction displays their team thumbnails on solid backgrounds with vector shadows. Each photo is a little silly, and many of them bring their furry friends into the picture with them.

In addition, their leadership team's thumbnails are clickable so that you can read more about them and even send them a message for more information.

Why this works: Media Junction is afraid to show its playful side on the team page — images are colorful, inviting, and animated for a dash of style that keeps users on the page.

“Meet the Team” Page Best Practices

So, what can we learn from these exceptional examples? Here are some tips and design best practices that you can take away and apply to your own team page:

High-Quality Images

Most visitors will expect your team page to feature photos of your employees. Make sure these photos are high-quality and visually consistent (including dimensions). From there, you can add as much personality as you want. Or, you could try an illustrated alternative, as we saw in some examples above.

Employee Descriptions

At the very least, each member profile should include a photo, name, and job title. For more details, you might choose to add a short bio of each employee that outlines their role, experience, accomplishments, and interests. This is especially fitting for agencies that collaborate extensively and in-person with clients — you’ll want to build trust, and bios are a great way to get there.

Social Links

In addition to your employees’ names, titles, and bios, you might also choose to link to their social media profiles on your team page. While not necessary, this can help potential clients reach out to members through another preferred channel.

A LinkedIn profile link is likely enough, as you can be confident that employees will keep their posts professional on the site. However, link to other profiles (e.g., Twitter, Instagram) with caution, as you can’t be sure their conduct on these sites is company-appropriate.

Personality

Yes, simply saying “personality” may seem like a cop-out answer. We’re being intentionally vague here because each company will have its own approach to adding some extra character to their “Meet the Team” page. Depending on your brand, this might mean incorporating fun portraits, humorous descriptions, or eye-catching effects.

As we’ve seen, the best team pages inject personality in a way that aligns with their branding. Some pages lean formal but sneak in some fun elements, some are clearly aiming for humor, and others play it more serious. In all cases, the pages maintain a professional feel, even those that are funny.

You don’t need to go overboard here, but adding a little something extra can show your company is willing to go above and beyond for the best customer experience. It also helps your business stand out in the minds of users who might be wading through dozens of competing sites.

Show Off Your Team in Style

"Meet the Team" pages resonate because people like to buy from real people. The best practice is to determine what your brand stands for, then create a "Meet the Team" and About page that conveys that in the strongest possible way. Whether that’s going for an elaborate, eye-catching page or a simpler grid display, visitors will appreciate being able to put a face to your brand.

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

20 Best 'Meet the Team' Pages We've Ever Seen was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

10 of the Best Social Media Marketing Courses to Take Today

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a 7% rate of job growth is expected for marketing managers from 2019 to 2029.

To help stand out from your competition in the hiring process as well as feel entirely confident in your ability to perform in your social media role, you may want to take a social media course.

In this blog post, we'll cover some of the best social media marketing courses that are available today.

Best Social Media Marketing Courses

1. Social Media Certification

Price: Free

Platform: HubSpot Academy

HubSpot's Social Media Certification course is a robust program designed to help you attract customers and partners, and build brand loyalty. Because social media is the key to inbound marketing, this course ties in the two concepts seamlessly.

The course is flexible enough so that you can work on it on your time. It covers essential topics such as measuring ROI, extending reach, social media content creation, and social listening. You might also select to take specific lessons within the HubSpot Academy course — for instance, this one on Social Media Advertising.

Notable Takeaway: Learn how to create an inbound social media marketing strategy.

2. Fundamentals of Digital Marketing

Price: Free

Platform: Google Digital Garage

Google's social media certification has over 300,000 students and provides courses in social media, mobile marketing, SEO, and web optimization.

The courses explain paid and organic search and teach you how to develop search-engine-optimized web pages.

Learning how to optimize pages for search on a popular search engine (for free) sounds like a win-win. At the completion of the course, you'll receive a digital certificate you can add to your LinkedIn profile and resume.

Notable Takeaway: Better understand SEO and its relationship with digital marketing.

3. Social Ads 101

Price: Free

Platform: Wordstream

WordStream offers the necessary educational resources to develop a strong understanding of social media advertisements. This includes social media ads on a variety of platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Tik Tok, and LinkedIn.

There's also information about why and how to advertise on social media as well as education around best practices while advertising across these platforms.

Lastly, you'll learn about social media ad metrics and social shopping — this way, you can effectively track measure your success as well as target your audience when and where they're ready to make a purchase.

Notable Feature: Learn about social ads on the major platforms including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Tik Tok, and LinkedIn.

4. Social Media Training for Beginners

Price: Free

Platform: Constant Contact

Constant Contact is a great educational resource for beginners and those who are new to the world of social media marketing.

There are step-by-step instructions on how to create and maintain your social media presence across every major platform. This includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google My Business, YouTube, and Snapchat.

Notable Feature: Learn everything you need to get started in social media marketing.

5. Online Social Media Marketing Classes

Price: Free or paid (depending on the social media course)

Platform: Skillshare

On Skillshare, you can pick classes that suit your interests and save classes to refer to later. There's a variety of business topics you can take classes on.

As for social media marketing specifically, you can filter social media marketing classes by the time that they take to complete, whether they're free or premium, whether or not the topic is trending, and more.

Notable Takeaway: Select the specific social media marketing topic and lesson time that best suits your need.

6. Acadium Digital Marketing Course

Price: Free

Platform: Acadium

Acadium is an apprenticeship and mentorship program — there are a number of lessons within the Digital Marketing Course that you can take before, after, or during your apprenticeship.

The courses offered cover an array of digital marketing topics including but not limited to social media marketing, paid advertising, email marketing, SEO, and content marketing.

Notable Takeaway: Get a full understanding of digital marketing while working an apprenticeship in which you can develop real-world experience.

7. Social Media 101 Training

Price: $97

Platform: Boot Camp Digital

Digital Marketing 101 by Boot Camp Digital is an impactful, video-led training that takes you on a deep dive into the basics of digital marketing and using it for social media. This is beginner-level training and can be completed in six hours.

Boot Camp's clientele includes Nike, NASA, GE, and Georgia-Pacific, and the platform gives buyers unlimited access once purchased. It provides a digital marketing template, ROI information, benchmarking, and a bonus-free digital tools course.

Notable Takeaway: Learn about digital marketing and work through a comprehensive section on social media marketing and strategy.

8. Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, Social Media, and E-Commerce

Price: $585

Platform: Wharton, University of Pennsylvania

Wharton's course is considered an intermediate dive into the intersection of digital marketing, social media marketing, and ecommerce. It's a self-paced, six-week class that demands three hours of your time each week.

This course is structured specifically for marketing professionals, small business owners, and consumers who want to know social media techniques. You'll learn how to produce marketing campaigns that are effective for your business.

Notable Takeaway: Marketing course designed for professionals.

9. The Strategy of Content Marketing

Price: Enroll for free

Platform: University of California, Davis

In this online class offered by the University of California, Davis, you'll learn how to create a content marketing strategy and develop an understanding of the ecosystem surrounding that strategy. Ample time will also be spent working on strategic writing and framing.

The different types of content marketing will be reviewed along with how they’re integral to social media marketing.There are five weeks worth of material paired with videos, exercises, readings, and quizzes.

Notable Takeaway: Learn about the power of integrating your content marketing and social media marketing strategies.

10. Social Media Marketing Masterclass

Price: $149.99

Platform: Udemy

Rather than a complete level one course in social media, this offering, by Udemy is a Masterclass on the subject, uniquely centered around ethical digital marketing techniques.

You'll learn how to set up a powerful marketing strategy and a schedule that aligns with accomplishing business goals.

You'll also dive into how social media marketing integrates with your business, email marketing, and building an online community. This course can be completed in 20 hours, and gives you a certificate of completion at its end.

Notable Takeaway: Learn how to build a social media marketing strategy and schedule for your unique business.

Find Your Ideal Social Media Marketing Course

Social media marketing can be extremely powerful when done right — and understanding how to apply the most effective and up-to-date strategies will help you stand out from other social media marketers and strategists so you can propel your career.

So, identity the right course for your experience level, budget, and goals — then get started learning.

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

10 of the Best Social Media Marketing Courses to Take Today was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns