14 Examples of Experiential Marketing Campaigns That'll Give You Serious Event Envy

Work events are really hit or miss. Let's be honest: How many times have you found yourself anxiously fidgeting with a paper napkin in the corner of a stuffy networking happy hour?

Here's the thing: It's not the event itself that prevents you from coming back the following year. It's the experience you remember having. In this blog post, we'll look at some of the best experiences brands have ever offered their customers.

I have a big problem with generic trade shows and industry conferences. That's why I was not only relieved, but surprised and delighted, when I attended a holiday party that featured a live, interactive version of an arcade game.

An entire room had been curated to look like a video game setting, and people were dressed up as characters from it. There was a giant, real-life scoreboard, boppy electronic music, and best of all, there was no tedious small talk.

It wasn't just another tired work event ... it was an experience. And in our line of work, that sort of thing has a name: experiential marketing.

While a surprising number of people haven't heard of the concept, it's kind of a big deal -- there's an entire three-day summit dedicated to it, and 65% of brands that use it say that it positively correlates with sales.

But what is it, exactly? And how has it been used effectively? We found 14 of the coolest experiential marketing campaigns that really break down how it works, and how you can apply those lessons to grow your business.

Experiential marketing (also known as xm marketing, engagement marketing, event marketing, on the ground marketing, live marketing, or participation marketing), might sound a bit like event marketing, which makes sense -- experiential campaigns do tend to be event-centric. But there are also times when they have nothing to do with a specific event, as you'll see from the examples we picked.

When an engagement marketing campaign is event-centric, it's dedicated less to the type of event -- like a concert, festival, conference, etc. -- and more to interactions between the brand and the customer. (If you already have an event in the works, check out this guide to adding experiential elements to it.)

What do experiential marketers do?

An experiential marketer is in charge of creating and executing on the strategy for a client's live, interactive marketing campaigns or in-person events.

An experiential marketer's role is similar to a brand ambassador, event planner, or brand manager, and typically involves the following duties: 

• Brainstorm innovative experiential marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness, interact with the public, and create positive brand perception 
• Perform market research to understand what types of experiential marketing campaigns would perform best with a specific audience 
• Create events or live, interactive campaigns to help businesses effectively connect with its target audiences
• Lead events and take charge of logistics as it relates to event management 
• Track, analyze, and report on all experiential marketing campaign performance
• Work with cross-functional teams including brand, creative, digital, social, and public relations
• Travel to events as necessary to ensure vendor compliance and execution, sales support, and overall event success

Why Experiential Marketing Matters Today

According to Forbes, experiential marketing can bolster a lasting connection between customers and a brand. It can also allows you to collect vital data about participating consumers which can then help you improve your strategy. 

These campaigns can take an integrated approach. The primary purpose is to experience a brand in a tangible, offline way, but you'll still want an online dialogue around it.

When you consider that 49% of folks create mobile video at branded events -- 39% of which is shared on Twitter -- it makes sense to incorporate a digital element. A branded hashtag, for example, can get people talking about the experience.

1. Refinery29: 29Rooms

For about three years now, lifestyle brand Refinery29 has hosted the 29Rooms event: What it calls "an interactive funhouse of style, culture, & technology." As the name suggests, it consists of 29 individually branded and curated rooms -- and attendees can experience something different in each one. The rooms are designed and created with brand partners, who range from personalities like artists and musicians, to consumer-facing companies like Dunkin' Donuts, Dyson, and Cadillac.

Each year, 29Rooms has a different theme, with this year's being "Turn It Into Art." Attendees, it seems, are encouraged to enter each room and use the surroundings to create something -- one room, for instance, invites participants to put on punching gloves and hit punching bags that each produce a different sound when contacted to create a symphony of sorts. A truly hands-on experience, indeed.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Go nuts, but keep it on-brand. An experience should be memorable, but relevant to the people attending.
• Partner with creators like artists and musicians to create experiences, especially if they are recognizable within the region where you're trying to build or augment an audience.

2. Red Bull: Stratos

If you were online October 14, 2012, you probably came across a live stream of the "Stratos" jump.

Red Bull has been at the forefront of extreme sports coverage for almost as long as the brand has existed. But in 2012, the company brought its content marketing to new heights -- a world-record height, actually.

Affectionately named Stratos, Red Bull's superterrestrial marketing campaign featured Felix Baumgartner, a skydiver from Austria who partnered with Red Bull to set the world record for highest skydive.

That record: 128,000 feet, about 24 miles above Earth's surface. Gulp.

To pull off this amazing stunt, Red Bull housed Felix in a small communication capsule and sent him up to the stratosphere using a large helium-filled balloon. And what's truly remarkable is that his ascent and preparation to jump, alone, allowed him to break another record before landing safely back on Earth (spoiler alert): Red Bull streamed the entire event online, and saw the highest viewing traffic of any live stream ever broadcast on YouTube -- at just over 8 million viewers.

Want to see that experience again? Check out Red Bull's recap video below. I won't lie, I indulged in a rewatching as I wrote this article.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Don't underestimate the power of suspense when hosting an event your audience can own a piece of themselves. Being able to witness something new, and maybe a little scary, is such a personal experience. And the better the result, the longer your audience will remember and reminisce over it.
• Oh, and if you can put your brand in the record books while you're at it, that's pretty cool too.

3. Lean Cuisine: #WeighThis

It's disconcerting how many commercials today tell women to change something about themselves. Sitting on the couch and watching TV for just two minutes, I had already lost count of the number of times that message came up.

That's why it's so refreshing to see brands like Lean Cuisine, whose marketing used to center solely on weight loss, stray from diet-centric messaging. And its #WeighThis campaign is a great example of just that.

As part of the campaign, Lean Cuisine curated a gallery of "scales" in New York's Grand Central Station, and invited women to "weigh in." But here's the catch: The scales were actually small boards where women could write down how they really wanted to be weighed. And rather than focusing on their weight in pounds -- or anything pertaining to body image -- the women opted to be measured by things like being back in college at 55, caring for 200 homeless children each day, or being the sole provider to four sons.

What's particularly cool about this experience is that none of the participants actually interact with a Lean Cuisine product. No one was interrupted, asked to sample something, or stopped to answer questions. In fact, no one was really asked to do anything -- the display itself was enough to make people stop, observe, and then voluntarily interact.

Lean Cuisine figured out what message it wanted to send: "Sure, we make stuff that fits into a healthy lifestyle. But don't forget about your accomplishments. That matters more than the number on the scale." But instead of blatantly advertising that, it created an interactive experience around the message.

Still, the experience was clearly branded, to make sure people associated it with Lean Cuisine. The company's Twitter handle and a branded hashtag were featured on the display in large text, which made it easy for people to share the experience on social media. And that definitely paid off -- the entire #WeighThis campaign led to a 33% increase in positive brand perception, and earned a 6.5 million reach just during week one.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Don't interrupt -- especially if you're trying to grab someone's attention in New York City, like Lean Cuisine was. If you create an experience that provides value to the people who pass by it, they're more likely to participate.
• Figure out the message you really want to your brand to send -- that may or may not be directly tied to an actual product, and it might be something that your brand hasn't said before. Then, build an experience around it.

4. M&M: Flavor Rooms

If you've ever had a peanut M&M versus regular M&M debate, you know people can get passionate about candy. So, when M&M needed to choose its next flavor, the company chose to do so with an immersive pop-up in New York City. 

The experience included "flavor rooms", which were each complete with decor and fragrances unique to a certain flavor. The pop-up also included snack and drink lounges with M&M-themed cocktails — which, I'm willing to bet, we're great opportunities for M&M to appear on different attendees' social pages. 

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Takeaways for Marketers

• With every marketing campaign you launch, find the "fun" factor. It's easy to get caught up in how much your brand helps solve your customer's problem. But what about them, as people, would also bring them enjoyment?
• Consider how you might leverage your audience for key business decisions. If they're the ones who will be buying and using your product, they're also the ones best-equipped to tell you what's working, and what isn't. An experiential campaign is one good opportunity to connect directly with your consumers and create enjoyable experiences in which they can provide perspective. 

5. Benefit Cosmetics: 'A Lashtastic Virtual-Media Campaign' 

In today's digital-first world, a good experience doesn't have to be in-person. But traditionally, consumers still want to test out new makeup products before purchasing — which created a challenge for Benefit Cosmetics during the worldwide pandemic, in which most retail locations were closed. 

To draw attention to its new Magnet Extreme Lengthening Mascara, Benefit, working with Because Creative Experiences, chose to create an immersive experience in which users could collect tokens and exchange those tokens for discounts, mascaras, or virtual beauty consultations on Benefit's website. Best of all, they used Augmented Reality to create a fun, unique experience for their users. 

Here's how it worked: Once users signed into Benefit's Virtual Reality platform, they were asked to drop their location. Next, thanks to Augmented Reality, the prospects could use their phones to find tokens in their physical space. 

The campaign proved incredibly effective — including a conversion rate of over 50%, a CTR of 39.4%, and an average gamification dwell time of 2 minutes and 22 seconds. 

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Takeaways for Marketers: 

• Even adults love games. Consider how you might gamify your own experience and provide unique challenges or contests to drive engagement. In this case, the experience is fun whether or not a user purchases the product — which is key towards creating a good user experience. 
• If an in-person experience isn't feasible, get creative with technology, VR, or AR to create the next best thing. Nowadays, digital experiences can feel just as real as in-person. But to truly grab your audiences attention, you might need to think beyond traditional social campaigns.

6. Misereor: Charity Donation Billboard

When was the last time you used cash to pay for something?

Tough to remember, right? We're kind of a species of "mindless swipers" -- globally, an estimated 357 billion non-cash transactions are made each year. And knowing how often we whip out our cards, German relief NGO Misereor decided to put our bad habit to good use with its charitable giving billboard.

It was what they called SocialSwipe. Set up in airports, these digital posters would display images of some problems that Misereor works to resolve -- hunger was depicted with a loaf of bread, for example.

But the screen was equipped with a card reader, and when someone went to swipe a card -- for a small fee of 2€ -- the image moved to make it look like the card was cutting a slice of bread.

Even cooler? On the user's bank statement, there would be a thank-you note from Misereor, with a link to turn their one-time 2€ donation into a monthly one.

Needless to say, this experience required a lot of coordination -- with banks, airports, and a mobile payment platform. Because of that, the experience couldn't just be a one-time occurrence. The people who interacted with it were later reminded of it during a pretty common occurrence: receiving a bank statement.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Visually represent the impact of participating in the experience. People interacting with this display were shown exactly where their money was going -- like slicing bread for a hungry family. (Infographics work nicely here, too -- check out our templates.)
• Partner with another brand to create an even better experience. In this instance, Misereor worked with Stripe.com for the payment technology, and with financial institutions to get a branded message on users' bank statements. (And stay tuned -- we'll talk more about the value of co-branding here later.)
• Don't be afraid to nurture your leads. Even if you don't use something like a branded hashtag to integrate the experience with an online element, find a way to remind someone that they participated.

7. Lululemon: Proud & Present

To celebrate Pride Month, Lululemon worked with MKG to create an immersive, thoughtful experience that combined an engaging social media campaign with real-life community-centered events. 

First, the athletic brand asked its own employees and ambassadors to reflect on topics relevant to the LGBTQ+ community. The brand shared their responses via images and video on Lululemon's Instagram page throughout the month. 

Next, the brand created an art installation at Hudson River Park that reflected those same responses. This space, which stayed in the Park for two weeks, encouraged passersbys to read and reflect. That's not all, though — Lululemon also created a community-focused yoga practice in the same park, which aimed to raise money for The Trevor Project. 

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Takeaways for Marketers

• Consider how you might create a cohesive experience to unit your online and offline presence. In this case, Lululemon leveraged its social accounts to reach its 3.7 million followers, but then created a few special, in-person experiences to drive the point home for its New York-based community. 
• An experiential marketing campaign shouldn't just focus on selling a product or service — it oftentimes can, and should, focus on a larger issue. In this case, Lululemon's dedication to Pride Month increased brand awareness and loyalty.

8. Häagen-Dazs: Strawberries & Cream with Wimbledon

To draw attention to its new, limited-edition ice cream flavor Strawberries & Cream, Häagen-Dazs worked with Wonderland to create a GIF photo booth at the tennis championship Wimbledon. 

The booth included a swing (playfully alluding to tennis), which encouraged famous tennis players, models, and influencers to take pictures to post on social media — a good opportunity to collect user-generated content and expand their reach quickly. 

Naming itself "the official ice cream of Wimbledon", Häagen-Dazs created a commercial for the limited edition flavor, as well: 

Takeaways for Marketers 

•  Consider how you might create fun opportunities to encourage user-generated content. This doesn't have to break the bank, either — there are plenty of budget-friendly options to create small booths at business conferences that still embrace that Instagram-worthy look. 

9. Facebook: Facebook IQ Live

Facebook -- who also owns Instagram -- has always understood how much data it has on how people use these platforms. For that reason, it created the Facebook IQ Live experience.

For this experience, that data was used to curate live scenes that depicted the data. Among them was the IQ Mart: A "retail" setting that represented the online shopper's conversion path when using social media for buying decisions. There was also a quintessential Instagram cafe, chock full of millennial-esque photo opportunities and people snapping them -- latte art and all.

The campaign wasn't just memorable. It also proved to be really helpful -- 93% of attendees (and there were over 1500 of them) said that the experience provided them with valuable insights on how to use Facebook for business.

But what makes those insights so valuable? Momentum Worldwide, the agency behind Facebook IQ Live, puts it perfectly: "When we understand what matters to people ... we can be what matters to them." In other words, we can shape our messaging around the things that are important to our target audiences.

And by creating this experience, Facebook was able to accomplish that for its own brand. In creating this experience, it also created a positive brand perception for a few audiences -- including, for example, the people who might have been unsure of how to use the platform for business.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Build an experience for people who aren't sure about how they would use your product or service. Find ways for them to interact with your brand in a way that creatively spells out how it can benefit them.
• Bring your data to life. We love numbers, but creating a live installment that illustrates them can help people understand exactly what they mean. And since 65% of people think that live events help them understand a product, this setting is a great place to do it.

10. Zappos: "Google Cupcake Ambush"

To help promote its new photo app, Google took to the streets of Austin, Texas, with a cupcake truck in tow. But people didn't pay for the cupcakes with dollars -- instead, the only accepted currency was a photo taken with said app.

And really, what's better than a free-ish cupcake? We'll tell you what: A free-ish watch or pair of shoes.

That was the answer from Zappos, anyway. That's why the brand playfully "ambushed" Google's food truck experience with one of its own: A box-on-feet -- strategically placed right next to Google's setup, of course -- that, when fed a cupcake, would dispense a container with one of the aforementioned goodies.

In order to reap the rewards of the Zappos box, people had to have a cupcake. So while only one brand came away from the experience with an epic sugar high, both got plenty of exposure. And since 74% of consumers say a branded experience makes them more likely to buy the products being promoted, Google and Zappos both stood to gain new customers from this crowd.

But what we really like about this example is how much it shows the value of experiential co-branding. Because Google and Zappos pursue two different lines of business, they weren't sabotaging each other, but rather they were promoting each other (which is what happens when you pick the right co-marketer).

Takeaways for Marketers

• Use experiential marketing as a co-branding opportunity.
• Pick a partner with an audience that would be interested in your brand, but might otherwise be difficult to reach.
• Make sure your partner would benefit from your audience, too -- you want the experience to be a win-win-win: for you, your co-brand, and the consumer.
• When you do pick a marketing partner, build an experience that requires an "exchange" of each brand's product or service. That way, the audience is more likely to interact with both of you.

11. Docker: Docker Dash

Docker is a software platform that allows developers to make and run apps on different operating systems -- a technology known as "containerization." By some standards, it's not the sexiest product you can buy. By an enterprise's standards, it's not even the easiest product to understand. Enter: Docker Dash.

In partnership with Jack Morton, Docker used its developer conference, DockerCon 2017, to nurture its core enterprise market with a unique product demo called Docker Dash. What made it so unique? It wasn't a demo -- it was a game. And conference guests weren't guests -- they were players.

Docker Dash was a live video game-style simulation of Docker's application platform, and it recruited 5,000 of its enterprise attendees to create an app together by solving a series of fun challenges inside the game. Each challenge presented in Docker Dash allowed the "players" to engage a feature of Docker's product and ultimately complete their app. It was a fun, collaborative way to show enterprise software developers why Docker is invested in the containerization market and the value these people can get from Docker's product.

Docker Dash got the attention of more than 3.6 million people -- those who watched and posted about the event from social media, in addition to those who attended DockerCon in person.

Takeaways for Marketers

• Conference hosts thrive on attendees who network with one another. By creating opportunities for your attendees to collaborate and play together, you allow them to share their ideas -- making for more educated customers as a result.
• "Gamify" your brand. Give people the ability to play and compete for something, and you'll instill in them a sense of accomplishment that makes them more passionate about your industry.

12. Vans: House of Vans

Recently, Vans hosted House of Vans pop-up locations at skateparks within major cities like NYC and Chicago. This gave skateboarders a place to meet up, connect, listen to live music, and shred. 

Vans also used these skatepark-based popups to promote the launch of their new shoe line which honored David Bowie. 

With Vans being a leading shoe line of skateboarders, pop-ups in and near skateparks seem like a natural fit for an experiential marketing experience. 

Takeaways for Marketers

• Identify your audience's hobbies and embrace them. In the example above, Vans knew that they had a big skateboarding audience, so they crafted an event to reward them while intriguing other skateboarders.
• Similarly, if you know you have audiences based in certain locations, go to where they are for your experiential campaign. This will provide less friction and make your audiences feel like you are literally meeting them where they are.

13. Rick & Morty: Rickmobile

To promote the return of the animated Adult Swim series Rick & Morty, Cartoon Network sent a car around the country shaped like Rick, a main character and mischievous time-traveling grandfather on the show. By marketing primarily on social media, the company was able to get the campaign to go viral. 

People began following where the Rickmobile was via a live destination page on the adult swim site.

When the Rickmobile hit major cities, people flocked to it to take a picture with Rick's face and enter the mobile where they could purchase products related to the TV show.

Takeaways for Marketers

• It's okay to embrace social media to create anticipation and excitement around your pop-up or experience, just as Adult Swim and Cartoon Network did. 
• Embracing weirdness, like that of a giant cartoon head driving around the country, can be a helpful way to make your event shareable or intriguing -- even to people who might not follow the content or company that you're promoting.
• If you can work in product sales, consider it. In this example, the network not only promoted the television show, but it also sold products related to it. So, essentially, people directly paid for aspects of a large scale ad.

14. Coca-Cola: FIFA World Cup VR Experience

In Zurich, during the FIFA World Cup, Coca-Cola placed a VR experience in front of a train station. With the experience, you could stand in front of a screen and see a popular soccer player next to you. You could then practice a soccer move with the athlete or compete in your own mini soccer tournament.

Takeaways for Marketers

While VR isn't accessible to many marketers, this experience did have a few scaleable strategies associated with it.

• To give your attendees an experience of value, consider hosting an expert who can answer questions or give tips related to your marketing campaign.
• Embrace major events. If you know a city or area will be highly populated due to a game or another event, consider placing a pop-up there that somehow relates to that audience or the event itself.

Clearly, taking some very calculated risks worked out pretty well for these companies. So when it comes to creating an experience with your brand, don't be afraid to think outside of the box -- and don't be afraid to work together on it with someone else.

Invest some time into thinking about the ways people could interact with you, even if it seems a little nutty. If it's aligned with what you do and executed thoughtfully, people will be talking -- in the best way possible.

14 Examples of Experiential Marketing Campaigns That'll Give You Serious Event Envy was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

What Are Leadership Skills? [+ How To Get Them]

Influential leaders are a pillar of any organization.

They motivate employees, help them feel empowered in their skills, and, in turn, build strong teams that consistently meet business goals and contribute to overall business success.

Assuming a leadership role is often an end goal for many business people. If you’re hoping to get there one day and want to know how you can succeed, or you’re hoping to improve your skills, this post will explain what leadership skills are, outline how you can develop them, and learn how to display your skills on a resume to stand out amongst your competitors.

Leadership skills are essential for a business because they drive success. Strong leaders ensure that employees are equipped with the tools and resources to succeed, unify teams to create a culture of togetherness, and delegate and communicate responsibilities and wins to all involved stakeholders.

As an individual, leadership skills are important because they help you in all aspects of your career. You’ll know how to take ownership of your job responsibilities, communicate effectively, and work with others to reach a common goal. If you possess leadership skills but are not yet in a leadership role, demonstrating these skills will signal to employers that you can be a strong leader, which sets you apart from other applicants.

Examples of Leadership Skills

While not an exhaustive list, the skills below are examples of abilities that effective leaders have.

• Communication: A leader needs to communicate effectively and clearly with stakeholders, employees, and all involved teams. Additional skills that support effective communication are active listening, clarity, concision, and persuasion.
• Strategic thinking: Leaders must be strategic thinkers who can understand business goals and develop processes specifically to help meet them.
• People management: As leaders lead people, they must manage groups and help them succeed. People management skills can include communication, active listening, working collaboratively, team building, empathy, giving feedback, and delegating responsibility.
• Motivation: Leaders must be self-motivated when it comes to hitting targets and performing their job duties. You also must motivate your teams and help them feel empowered and able to achieve business goals. Commitment is a skill that strongly relates to motivation.
• Flexibility: Things can change quickly for a business, and leaders must be flexible and able to face changes in the market, employee turnover, or any issues that arise. Being able to think strategically is a skill that strongly relates to being flexible.
• Reliability: People look up to leaders, so they must be reliable. Your teams want to know and trust that you’re giving them the tools they need to succeed, and higher-ups want to trust that you will meet the goals set out for you. Additional skills related to reliability are trustworthiness, integrity, timeliness, and the ability to take the initiative.
• Ability to mentor and teach: One of the most important things for a leader to do is mentor and teach employees and help them develop their professional skills. Related skills include helpfulness, giving positive reinforcement, understanding employee differences, and providing constructive feedback.
• Decisiveness: Leaders must be able to confidently and decisively make informed decisions on critical business matters. Additional skills that support decisiveness are motivation, problem-solving, strategic thinking, and communication.
• Ability to give and receive feedback: People look to leaders for guidance, so it’s critical to be able to provide feedback to employees for their development and for you to be able to receive feedback from others.

Most Important Leadership Skills

Although various skills can make someone a successful leader, a few are more critical than others. We’ll discuss two of them below.

1. Communication

Edelman’s 2021 Trust Barometer found that employees ranked good communication as a critical skill for leaders. As such, communication is a vital leadership skill.

The skill relates to all aspects of your job performance, as you need to be able to communicate expectations to employees, delegate job duties, and provide feedback. You also need to communicate performance with stakeholders and higher-ups, so they understand the success of your processes.

A leader unable to effectively communicate will likely find themselves leading teams that are confused about expectations, unaware of their performance, and unsure about their day-to-day tasks. In addition, higher-ups will have difficulty understanding why you’re implementing your processes and how teams are performing concerning meeting targets.

2. Ability to Mentor and Teach

A key component of leadership is being able to lead.

This means mentoring teams, empowering them, and helping people develop the skills they need to succeed at their jobs. Dharmesh Shah, Founder and CTO of HubSpot, says that leadership isn’t necessarily dictated by a job title but how someone focuses on lifting up and empowering those around them.

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A leader that is a good mentor also creates an environment of trust and collaboration with their employees. This can make people feel more comfortable approaching you with questions or assistance when they need guidance.

Some additional skills that are strongly associated with being a good mentor and teacher are helpfulness, the ability to see different perspectives and level with your employees, patience, clear communication, and the ability to communicate instructions and provide actionable feedback.

How To Develop Leadership Skills

One of the best ways to develop leadership skills is through experience, whether it is on-the-job, external activities, or even in a position of leadership. Let’s go over some ways to develop these skills:

• Leverage resources like books, podcasts, and content from thought leaders and those with a history of leadership experience and a wealth of knowledge to share.
• Participate in courses, workshops, and training opportunities where experienced leaders teach leadership skills and share their expertise.
• Follow other leaders that you feel inspired by, study their practices, and implement some of their strategies into your day-to-day.
• Seek out leadership opportunities in all areas of your life. For example, if you’re part of a community group, consider taking a leadership role if the opportunity arises, or create a group and gain leadership experience through building it from the ground up.
• Recognize that it is a continuous process, and leaders are constantly learning and developing their skills. Therefore, be open to continuous learning, and seek out opportunities that allow you to build your skills.

How To Improve Leadership Skills

Whether you’re a seasoned leader or starting in your first leadership role, there is always room for improvement. Let’s go over some of the ways you can continue to build upon your leadership skills.

Have a mentor.

Having a mentor allows you to learn from someone that has more leadership experience than you. Some businesses have mentorship programs where you can shadow a leader at work and observe their practices, and bring their tips and tricks into your own day-to-day life. A mentor can also observe your performance and give you actionable feedback on how to improve.

Take the initiative.

It will be challenging to improve your skills if you’re not actively seeking opportunities to practice them. So, take the initiative in your current position and ask for additional responsibilities, or step into leadership roles as they become available.

For example, if your workplace creates a new employee group, offer to take the leadership role. You may feel a bit out of your comfort zone, but it will give you valuable hands-on experience that will help you perfect your skills. In addition, people you work with will likely be willing to provide feedback on your leadership, giving you additional growth opportunities.

Focus on specific skill areas.

If there are specific areas of leadership that you feel need improvement, focus on them. For example, you can request more responsibility in particular areas, so you have real-life practice with those skills.

Having a mentor can be helpful in this regard, as they can shadow you at work and monitor you to identify specific areas that may be causing you to struggle. For instance, if you’ve heard from employees that they’re sometimes confused about instructions, you may struggle with communication. A mentor could sit in on a conversation with a team member to get a sense of your conversation style and work with you to create a plan of action to improve.

Once you’ve worked to develop and improve your leadership skills, how do you share this when seeking out job opportunities? Your resume.

Leadership Skills on a Resume

Knowing how to leverage your leadership skills on a resume can be challenging. While you can certainly list the skills you have that make you a good leader, recruiters and hiring managers often want to see results that prove and support your abilities.

The most important thing to keep in mind when listing leadership skills on a resume is to ensure that you’re including skills relevant to the job description you’re applying for so it is explicitly clear to readers how you’ll succeed at the job.

Here are some ways to showcase your leadership skills on a resume:

1. List your skills.

The easiest thing to do is simply include a list of the leadership skills you have that are relevant to the role based on the job description. The image below is an example of a simple list of job-relevant skills on a resume.

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2. Demonstrate your leadership skills in action.

Another way to display your leadership skills on your resume is to show how you’ve used them to achieve results in your previous position. This can look like using quantifiable data and metrics that demonstrate how you’ve created success, and the image below is a great example of this.

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3. List awards and achievements.

Another way to showcase your leadership capabilities is to include a list of achievements, awards, or honors that you’ve received for being a strong leader. Here are two examples of what that could look like on a resume:

• Three-time recipient of [Your company name] Leadership Award.
• Nominated recipient of the Great Manager Award.

Everyone Can Be A Leader

There are no specifications as to who can and can’t become a leader — it’s possible for everyone. If you leverage the tips on this list to develop your own leadership abilities and actively seek out opportunities for growth, you’ll find yourself in a position to inspire others and help businesses succeed.

What Are Leadership Skills? [+ How To Get Them] was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

The Ultimate List of Email Marketing Stats for 2021

Nowadays, marketers put a lot of emphasis on webinars, video campaigns, and other new opportunities to reach their customers.

But your contemporary communication methods shouldn't distract you from one of the oldest and yet most effective messaging channels — email.

You might be wondering if email is still a worthwhile marketing strategy. Well, it is.

In fact, email generates $42 for every $1 spent, which is an astounding 4,200% ROI, making it one of the most effective options available.

If you're still hesitant, keep reading — we've cultivated a list of email marketing statistics for 2021 to demonstrate just how powerful email can be.

General Email Marketing Statistics and Best Practices

• The global e-mail marketing market was valued at $7.5 billion in 2020 and is projected to increase to $17.9 billion by 2027. (Statista, 2021)
• There are 4 billion daily email users. This number is expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025. (Statista, 2021)
• More than 306 billion emails are sent and received each day. (Statista, 2021)
• Active email accounts surpassed 5.6 billion in 2019. (Statista, 2019)
• 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers. (Campaign Monitor, 2021)
• More than 40% of marketers saw budget cuts to email since the pandemic. (Litmus, 2020)
• Across all industries, the average email open rate is 19.8%, the click-through rate is 11.3%, and the bounce rate is 9.4%. (Constant Contact, 2021)
• Marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue. (Campaign Monitor, 2019)
• 4 out of 5 marketers said they’d rather give up social media than email marketing. (Litmus, 2020)
• 35% of marketers send their customers 3-5 emails per week. (Not Another State of Marketing, 2020)
• 78% of marketers in 2020 said email is important to overall company success, compared to 71% in 2019. (Litmus, 2020)
• 78% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months (Not Another State of Marketing, 2020)
• 31% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)
• The U.S. spent over 350 million dollars on email advertising in 2019. (Statista, 2019)
• Brands that always include an A/B test in their emails generate an ROI of 48:1. (Litmus, 2019)
• Globally, Fridays see the highest email open rates (nearly 19%), compared to the lowest open rates (17%) on Saturdays. (Campaign Monitor, 2021)
• 66% of marketers believe artificial intelligence is a way to optimize email send times. (Statista, 2019)
• 23% of brands have already experimented with interactive elements in email, an additional 32% are planning on trying it soon. (Not Another State of Marketing, 2020)

B2B Email Marketing Statistics

• 81% of B2B marketers say their most used form of content marketing is email newsletters. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)
• 16% of all emails never make it into the inbox. (Email Tool Tester, 2019)
• On average, B2B companies send one email marketing campaign every 25 days. (SuperOffice, 2020)
• 31% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)
• 87% of B2B marketers say email is one of their top free organic distribution channels. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)
• 90% of content marketers say email engagement is the top metric they track to measure content performance. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)
• 89% of all B2B email campaigns are sent from a company name. (SuperOffice, 2020)
• The second-most common technology B2B organizations use to assist with content marketing is mail marketing software. Roughly 85% of marketers say they work with these tools. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)

Mobile Marketing Statistics

• Nearly 55% of global website traffic is generated from mobile devices, excluding tablets. (Statista, 2021)
• Apple iPhone's native email app has the highest market share, followed by Gmail. (Litmus Labs, 2021)
• Nearly 1 in 5 email campaigns is not optimized for mobile devices. (SuperOffice, 2020)
• Launching a mobile-responsive email design can increase unique mobile clicks by 15%. (MailChimp, 2019)
• Mobile-friendly email is the second most-used tactic email marketers to improve their performance. (HubSpot, 2020)
• 9.3% of email clicks come from tablets, rather than smartphones or computers. (MailChimp, 2019)
• Although people primarily check email on iPhone devices, Gmail is still the most-used email service, with more than 1.5 billion users (CNBC, 2019)

B2C Email Marketing Statistics

• Your audience will reward you with higher open and click rates if you don’t send more than five newsletters a week. (GetResponse, 2020)
• 60% of retail, e-commerce, and consumer goods and services companies are personalizing emails based on past purchases, versus 38% in 2019. (Litmus, 2020)
• More than 8 out of 10 people will open a welcome email, generating 4x as many opens and 10x as many clicks as other email types. (GetResponse, 2020)
• The single message autoresponder email had an astonishing 98% open rate and a 37% click-through rate. (GetResponse, 2020)
• Nearly 22% of all email campaigns are opened within the first hour of sending. (GetResponse, 2020)
• 45% of internet users avoid opening emails from unknown addresses. (Statista, 2019)

Email Marketing Demographics 2021

• 99% of email users check their inbox every day, with some checking 20 times a day. Of those people, 58% of consumers check their email first thing in the morning. (OptinMonster, 2020)
• 40% of consumers say they have at least 50 unread emails in their inbox. (HubSpot, 2020)
• Emails sent by independent artists, writers, and performers have the highest open rate at 34.4%, followed by education (34.1%) and travel and tourism (32.6%). (Constant Contact, 2021)
• On average, the highest email click-through rate goes to the Consulting services industry at 25%, with Administrative and Business Support services in second at 20%, and Home and Building services in third at nearly 19%. (Constant Contact, 2021)
• 26% of retail emails bounce, putting it well above the 9% average bounce rate for all industries. (Constant Contact, 2021)
• 20% of retail, e-commerce, and consumer goods and services companies are personalizing emails based on gender, race, ethnicity, versus 11% in 2019. (Litmus, 2020)
• 59% of Millennials primarily use their smartphone to check email, while 67% of Generation Z scans their inbox on mobile. (Bluecore, 2021)
• 74% of Baby Boomers think email is the most personal channel to receive communications from brands, followed by 72% of Gen X, 64% of Millennials, and 60% of Gen Z. (Bluecore, 2021)
• 91% of women in the US use email, compared to 89% of men. (Statista, 2019)
• Asian Americans are the most popular email users in the US (92%), followed by white users (91%), African American users (88%), Hispanic users (85%), and American Indian or Alaskan Native users (83%). (Statista, 2019)

Apply Your Email Knowledge

Many of the data points will help you make the case for investing more time and money into your email marketing strategy. While you can refer back to this post at any time, you can also start applying them to your next campaign.

Editor's Note: This blog post was originally published in March 2019, but was updated for comprehensiveness and freshness.

The Ultimate List of Email Marketing Stats for 2021 was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

How to Write a Marketing Resume Hiring Managers Will Notice [Free 2021 Templates + Samples]

It's ironic, but despite knowing how to sell products and services, so many marketers have a hard time selling themselves. It can often be difficult to turn the spotlight inward, but creating a standout resume is a skill all marketers need to perfect if they want to grow their career.

How to Write a Marketing Resume

If you're a marketer whose resume could use a little polish, don't worry. With just a few resources and some actionable tips from hiring managers themselves, we'll help you create a truly impressive marketing resume that's sure to stand out to recruiters.

1. Start with a template.

To make things easy and increase your effectiveness, don't start from scratch. Resume templates give you a starting place for layout and formatting as well as inspiration for what to include.

Featured Resource: 12 Free Resume Templates

Download 12 free designed, formatted, and customizable resume templates here. Take a look at them, and then use the advice below to customize your resume and make it rise above the rest in the stack.

Alternatively, there are resume builder tools out there that can help as well.

2. Know your target audience.

You never start a marketing campaign without knowing who you want to reach. That’s because once you know your target audience, it's easier for the other decisions to fall into place.

The same logic applies to your resume. If you know who will read it and what's important to them, you can shape your message accordingly. To do this, you need to think about the type of job and company you're hoping to work for.

Ask yourself questions like:

• Is the job purely in inbound marketing, or will it require both traditional and digital work?
• Will you be a specialist or a generalist?
• Who is the employer -- an agency with a buzzing digital marketing team in place already, or a small company looking to leverage the power of social media to grow their sales? Or maybe it's a marketing department within a large and established corporation?

Once you've outlined what's most important to the company and job you're applying for, you can carefully target your resume to them. You'll know what skills or traits to highlight, what keywords to use, and which parts of your background will be most interesting to the hiring manager. (For clues about which skills different marketing roles typically require, read this blog post on marketing job descriptions. You can borrow phrasing from those for your own resume.)

3. Define your unique value proposition.

You have a unique blend of skills, characteristics, and experiences that make you different from every marketer. To create a truly effective resume, you need to define exactly what this unique blend is -- we'll call this your value proposition.

To develop your own value proposition, think about what separates you from other marketers. Is it your in-depth knowledge of marketing analytics? Your ability to write irresistible headlines? Perhaps it's your talent for creating compelling videos? Or maybe you have an impressive record of using social media to drive sales growth? Whatever it is, you can use it to set your resume apart from the crowd.

To a large extent, your value proposition depends on the type of positions and companies you're targeting. Large and small companies often look for completely different skill sets, as do companies in different industries. So as you think about what makes you uniquely valuable, and how that aligns with the jobs you're applying to.

4. Describe impact, not features.

One of the oldest copywriting tricks in the book is FAB (features, advantages, benefits).

By selling benefits over features, you're better able to resonate with your audience because you're actually painting a picture of what life will be like with the product or service.

The same goes for your resume.

When writing your resume copy, summarizing your experience, or formulating your objective, don't simply rely on what you've done. Instead of creating a list of duties (features) under each role, outline your accomplishments (benefits). These provide a clearer picture of who they're hiring if they choose you.

For example, instead of "Monitored SEO campaigns," the following makes a much stronger statement: "Increased organic traffic by 56% in one quarter."

As a result, the hiring manager is challenged to wonder, "What would life look like if we benefitted from this impact?"

5. Determine your messaging strategy.

It’s crucial to determine your messaging strategy -- before you write a single word of your resume. That's what you do when you're running a marketing campaign, isn't it? Here are some of the things to think about:

• What is the best structure for your resume in order to highlight your value proposition?
• Which keywords will your ideal employer be looking for?
• How can you give real-world examples of your value proposition in action? (Think about campaigns you've run, social media successes, ideas you developed, etc.)
• What is the best layout and design to reinforce your message?

All these decisions should be made before you start writing, and they should all be made with your target audience in mind. That way you can be sure that when potential employers read your resume, it will immediately strike a chord.

If you want an example of great messaging in a resume, check out the example below. Look at the progression of roles and key accomplishments in those roles -- it tells the applicant's career story while also making them look exceptionally qualified.

6. Don't overcomplicate things.

Just like the marketing adage says, "A confused mind says no."

The best way to convey an idea is... simply. Even when the topic is complex.

With this in mind, consider what message you want to send and keep the copy clear and concise to support it.

Use the layout of your resume to help in this endeavor, and don't be afraid to trim any unnecessary bits.

7. Make sure your resume gets seen.

If you don't already have a connection at the company you're applying to, you'll most likely need to apply through a computer system. This process is what makes it so critical to upload it in a format that allows all recipients to read it as intended, like a PDF. That way, none of the original formatting or spacing is lost in translation, making it really yucky to read from a recruiter's perspective. Although they'll still have access to your resume, confusing formatting might distract them from the content.

Many common applications have similar save or export options that let you ultimately save as a PDF. The most common are Microsoft Word and iWork Pages:

• Microsoft Word: Choose File > Save as Adobe PDF
• iWork Pages: Choose File > Export to > PDF

Once you send in your resume, the computer service will do is scan it for relevant keywords that have been programmed in advance by the recruiter. Then, the system will either "pass" or "fail" you, depending on how many keywords and phrases are included in your resume that match what the recruiter's looking for.

Don't worry: Even if you "fail," it doesn't mean your resume won't ever get seen by a real human. But it doesn't look great, either -- so try to foresee which keywords the recruiter will be looking for by making a note of all of the skills you have that are relevant to the job description.

Keywords to include might be the names of the social media sites you use, analytics or CRM systems you know, and software programs or SAAS systems you’re familiar with. Make sure you've included these terms as seamlessly as possible throughout your resume (where relevant), and add any outliers at the very bottom under a "Technical Skills" or "Digital Marketing Skills" section.

9 Things Hiring Managers Are Looking For in Your Marketing Resume

Sure, computers may be used in the initial screening process, but it's humans -- with real feelings, pet peeves, hobbies, relationships, experiences, and backgrounds -- who are ultimately reading and evaluating our resumes.

They're also the ones who get annoyed when we don't put our employment record in chronological order; who just don't feel like reading paragraph-long job descriptions; and who get excited when you went to the same college as them. So to get a sense of what really matters on a marketing resume, I asked some hiring experts what they actually care about when they scan resumes, and here's the inside scoop on the tips they shared with me. (By the way, don't miss out on what they said about cover letters at the end.)

• Length
• Formatting
• Writing Quality
• Location
• College/Graduate School and Major/Concentration
• Companies and Titles
• Top Few Bullet Points in Each Section
• Dates of Employment
• Interests and Hobbies

1. Length

Limit your resumes to one page if you can. It takes hiring managers six seconds to decide whether they like your resume or not. If they do, they'll keep reading. If they don't... well, it's on to the next. So, chances are, they won't even get to page two.

In some cases, bleeding onto another page is OK, especially if you have a lot of really relevant experience. But if you have to do that, just don't exceed two pages. Remember, recruiters can always look at your LinkedIn profile for the full story. (Because you've completed your profile on LinkedIn, right?)

2. Formatting

Formatting speaks to the way candidates collect their thoughts and organize their ideas. As HubSpot's VP of Sales Productivity and Enablement Andrew Quinn explains it, "A candidate's resume is their ad to me. How are they structuring this ad so I get a clear picture of what they're capable of?"

There's a fine line, though, warns Marketing Team Operations & Strategy Manager Emily MacIntyre. "If you stray too far from normal formatting, it's hard to read and understand your resume. Don't get so creative that your resume becomes difficult to digest."

Below is an example resume with great formatting that's easy to read. If you like the format and want to use it as your own, you can find it among our free downloadable resume templates here.

The creatives among you might be asking, "What about infographic resumes?" Here's the general consensus: Don't make an infographic resume. Every hiring manager I spoke with advised sticking to the classic resume form instead of infographics or other formats.

"Infographic resumes are impossible to understand," says MacIntyre. "We appreciate creativity, except when it’s overkill and hard to follow. Keep it simple. Everyone appreciates a simple resume. If you're a designer, showcase your creativity with a cool portfolio website in addition to your simple resume."

Below is an example of a creative format that's still easy to read and understand. It was made using the Apple desktop app iWork Pages, which can be exported as a PDF so none of that beautiful formatting gets messed up in translation.

3. Writing Quality

Hiring managers throw away resumes with spelling errors -- but writing quality goes beyond just simple spelling mistakes. Writing and presenting data in meaningful ways is a critical skill for any position, from blogging to engineering.

Are the details you want hiring managers to know about you easy to consume? Do you use concise sentences to convey your performance and accomplishments? Are your verb tenses consistent (except for current positions)? Is your language overflowing with buzzwords, or does it sound natural? Are you making sure to use first-person without using "I" or "my"? (See #11 in this blog post to understand why that's not okay.)

"Formatting, spelling, syntax, and structure are all evidence of attention to detail," Quinn told me. "This is important for any job, but especially if you're applying to a job where attention to detail matters." If you're applying for a writing position, this is even more important.

4. Location

Hiring managers want to know if you'll need to relocate. If you already live near the company's office, great! If you would need to relocate, then it gets a little more complicated. Technically, hiring managers can't legally ask you directly where you live -- but omitting location will raise eyebrows. Even P.O. boxes are a little iffy.

If you do need to relocate, you should still include your current, out-of-town address on your resume, but be prepared to answer relocation status questions in an interview. If the company doesn't offer relocation packages, will you be able to afford taking the job and moving anyway? If not, you may be wasting time.

5. College/Graduate School and Major/Concentration

Which is more important: Where you went to school, or what you studied?

It depends on the job you’re applying for. In most cases, your degree should make sense for the role. Hiring managers are looking for the tie-in; what's relevant about what a candidate's done in school. That doesn't mean only marketing majors can apply to marketing jobs -- marketing teams might hire someone who came out of creative studies like liberal arts, graphic design, or writing. An engineering team, on the other hand, probably won't hire someone without a computer science degree.

It also depends on how successful you were at the school you attended. While there are some hiring managers who only give interviews to graduates of top-tier schools, most say it helps to go to a top-tier school, but it's certainly not a deal-breaker if you went to a lower-tier school or community college. A community college graduate with a 4.0 GPA could be more attractive than an Ivy League graduate with a 2.0.

Speaking of GPA -- when to take it off your resume is subjective. If your GPA was below a 3.0, consider removing it altogether. If it's higher than that, Quinn says, “The benchmark is five to seven years after graduation, which is when candidates tend have a solid track record of employment. If you did well in school but had lackluster job prospects following graduation because of, say, a bad economy, you could definitely leave it on longer.”

It goes both ways, he explained: "If you had great jobs and accomplishments following graduation but didn’t have a good GPA, consider removing your GPA earlier."

Three to five years after college or graduate school graduation, you can move your "Education" section to the bottom of your resume -- unless you connected with someone through an alumni network or if you know an executive there also went to your school.

Want to take your marketing education to the next level and make your resume even more appealing to potential employers? Become a certified inbound marketing professional with HubSpot's free marketing certification.

6. Companies and Titles

Hiring managers will look at where you've worked before (do they recognize the company names or know anyone who works there?) and your titles at those companies.

"If you're applying for a sales position at a software company like HubSpot, we're looking for experience selling software," David Fernandez, former Recruiting Team Lead at HubSpot, told me. "If you're applying for a services position, we're looking for customer-facing experience."

Yes, people tweak their titles at previous companies to more closely match the positions they're applying for. If you do this, your "new" title should be close enough to what you really did that if someone were to call and check a reference, they wouldn't be dumbfounded. Maybe "Clerk to the Surgical Waiting Room" becomes "Customer Service Clerk." Also, make sure to change your titles on LinkedIn, too -- hiring managers will check for consistency on LinkedIn, Fernandez said.

7. Top Few Bullet Points in Each Section

Each position you've had should be accompanied by no more than five to six bullet points. Remember, these hiring managers are scanning your resumes really quickly, so you want to make it easy for them to find and digest the relevant information by consolidating the most important points and putting them first. Paragraphs are a big no-no.

Luckily, you work in a profession where everything can be measured and analyzed, which means it's relatively easy to tell an impressive story of success. Think about all the ways your work can be quantified through hard data and then fill your resume with action-packed bullet points that convey the value you've added.

Focus on accomplishments first before responsibilities and duties. If you had a senior management role, include the number of people you managed. If you built a program from the ground up, call that out.

Also, include goals and metrics that hiring managers can use to compare you against other candidates, and make sure those metrics make sense so you don't confuse the hiring manager. Run the metrics by your mom. I'm serious. If they make sense to her, then they're all set. If not, then you weren't clear enough and you need to tweak the language.

Examples might be increasing social media engagement, improving SEO ROI, driving increased web traffic, reducing bounce rates, boosting landing page conversions, etc. Once you have a list of your results, choose the best four or five and turn these into bullet points like these:

• Drove 37% improvement in newsletter clickthrough rates by rewriting sales copy.
• Grew ecommerce sales 23% in just 6 months by redesigning and A/B testing all landing pages.

8. Dates of Employment

Hiring managers look for job hopping and large gaps in employment, which are both red flags. Job hopping is a sign of failure to commit, a quality no one wants at their company. A word of advice: You should try to stay at every job for at least a year, preferably two or more years. Otherwise, it's a red flag.

And if you took longer than six months off of work, MacIntyre suggests you explain the gap on your resume. If it's something like teaching or the Peace Corps that you can describe like a job, then you can insert it into your resume just as you would any other position:

If it's something like traveling abroad or taking time off for family or personal reasons, you can simply add it in italics of parenthesis. "Travelled abroad." "Took time off for family." "Took time off for personal reasons." Hiring managers just want to see a rational explanation -- that you were doing something productive with your time.

9. Interests and Hobbies

Whether you include interests and hobbies on your resume depends on the company and the job. If you're applying for a creative role, hobbies like photography and painting could be interesting to an employer. If you're hiring for an accounting role, then a hobby like skydiving wouldn't be good to include -- hiring managers might categorize you as a risk-taker, and do they really want a risk-taker managing their money?

"Think about the conclusions someone could draw from your hobbies relative to the role you're hiring for," Quinn advises. "Do they enhance or detract from the image you're trying to convey? If you know the culture embraces unique individuals that have a broad background and set of interests, then it could be useful information. But conservative organizations probably don't care what you do in your free time -- in fact, they could interpret outside hobbies as distractions."

Companies with cultures like HubSpot's want their employees to have some personality and invest in outside interests. So if you're applying to join that kind of culture, an "Interests" or "Hobbies" section could benefit you. "They're great conversation starters," says MacIntyre. "'You’re a skier? Me too! Which mountain do you go to?' It creates common ground for conversation and helps us assess culture fit."

Before including or omitting this section on your resume, gain some intelligence about the company’s environment and culture. (And check out HubSpot's culture code if you haven't already.)

Spend Less Time on These...

Personal Statements/Objectives

In fact, we recommend skipping these altogether. Frankly, they're irrelevant -- not to mention way too easy to screw up. I've spoken with HubSpot recruiters about numerous times where candidates put the name of another local company on there -- huge mistake.

Instead, replace it with a "Skills" or "Key Skills" section at the top of your resume, in column format, that highlights the top six to nine skills applicable to the role you’re applying for. Be sure to change these skills for each job and use the job description as a guideline.

Don't plagiarize the job description by any means, but you can pull out key phrases. For example, in the example below, one of the listed skills is "Deep understanding of the consumer lifecycle." That's because the job description asked for exactly that: a deep understanding of the consumer lifecycle and customer journey.

Pro Tip: Although you should leave this section off your resume, you should have something in the 'Summary' section of your LinkedIn profile. Focus this section on specific skills and achievements. It's a good place to put a link to your portfolio, blog, SlideShare presentations, or examples of work you've created like open-source code.

Use that space to talk about specific achievements from previous roles, awards you've won, or projects you've worked on. The information and skills on here should be applicable to where you’re headed in your career, not irrelevant past skills. (When I first heard this tip, I immediately took "emergency medicine" off of mine.)

Cover Letters

Cover letters vary in importance, depending on industry, and even on individual company. Here at HubSpot, we phased out requiring one -- and instead ask candidates thoughtful questions during our application and interview process. Many companies that require you to write a cover letter will read it, but they'll focus mostly on your resume.

With this in mind, include important details on your resume, like gaps in employment, rather than relying on your cover letter -- which may never get read -- to explain it. And reallocate those hours you plan to spend writing and perfecting your cover letter to writing and rewriting your resume. Your resume is the most important tool in the first stage of the application process, so spend a lot of time on it and ask multiple people to critique it.

Marketing Resume Examples

So here are some examples of marketer resumes done well:

1. Andrea Fitzgerald

Andrea Fitzgerald uses her page space effectively with listable items on the left and experience on the right. This gives the rest of the resume a little extra "skimmability" so hiring managers can easily find the information important to them.

She also summarizes her achievements in bite-sized sentences. This combined with the vertical format gives a lot of room to fully list out the depth of experience Fitzgerald has.

2. Sarah Casdorph

There's an old saying out there for keeping resumes to one page, but for marketers with extensive experience, the one page isn't always possible without compromising readability and design. At the same time, anything on the second page is at risk of being ignored.

Sarah Casdorph solves for this, putting top skills on the front page and pulling out "notable impacts" for each position. Not only is her two-pager easily navigable, but there's a clear trail of achievement.

3. Jess Johnson

Jess Johnson applied to HubSpot with this resume, tailored to the job and company branding. By taking this unique approach, her goal was to stand out from other applicants. While her resume wasn't the only factor in her landing the job, I imagine it gained a bit of attention. After all, a hiring manager is looking for applicants they can picture in the position.

4. Natalie Gullatt

Natalie Gullatt takes a more traditional approach with her resume, abandoning fancy frills in favor of hard-hitting copy. She expertly conveys her marketing impact with metrics (e.g. "decrease[d] costs by 61%" and "generated a $746k revenue pipeline") so that anyone considering her for the role can ask themselves: "What if she could do that for us too?"

It's Just Like Marketing

As a marketer, you have a talent for communication and a solid understanding of what makes people buy. The good news is that by applying this knowledge to your own resume, you can easily stand out from the crowd.

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

How to Write a Marketing Resume Hiring Managers Will Notice [Free 2021 Templates + Samples] was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

How to Strikethrough Text in Google Docs [FAQ]

Strikethrough text is like body language in your writing. It allows you to convey subtext or your true opinion about something, without explicitly expressing it:

If the guest post pitch doesn’t have a draft attached, I will put in the extra effort to permanently delete it from my inbox probably won’t respond.

It's also a great way to copyedit your content and the content of your peers, collaborate in a document, remind yourself of changes that had to be made (or need to be made) in a document, teach someone else who's working in the document, and more.

Below, we'll cover the simple steps involved in adding a strikethrough in your Google Doc manually as well as with an available shortcut.

How to Strikethrough on Google Docs

To leverage one of writing’s most popular tools on Google Docs, follow the instructions below:

1. Highlight the text you want to strikethrough.

2. Click the “Format” section in the header.

3. Hover over the “Text” button.

4. Select the “Strikethrough” button.

Strikethrough Shortcut on Google Docs

If you want to strikethrough text in a more efficient way, use the keyboard shortcut for it:

• On Mac, highlight your text and ⌘ + Shift + X.
• On PC, highlight your text and press Alt + Shift + 5.

Strikethrough Your Text In Google Docs

Striking through your text in Google Docs is easy — there's even a shortcut available to expedite the process. Start crossing out whatever you need to in your documents using the steps above.

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

How to Strikethrough Text in Google Docs [FAQ] was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

The Quick & Easy Guide to Fixing 504 Gateway Timeout Errors

If you've ever visited a website that served you an error page, you know how frustrating it is.

One of the worst things you can do as a brand is not meet your audience's needs and expectations. If your website visitors see an error page when they're looking for help or information, they could get frustrated and lose trust in your brand, permanently damaging your reputation.

The 504 Gateway Timeout Error is one type of error that can hurt the user experience in this way. To help you avoid losing brand sentiment and consumer trust, we’ve fleshed out exactly what this error means and what its most common causes and solutions are.

Here's how a 504 Gateway Timeout Error might appear in your user's browser:

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504 Errors Wording

The screenshot above depicts how a 504 Gateway Timeout Error appears in one server. Below are some other common ways a 504 error might appear, depending on the server, operating system, or browser you're using.

• In Google Chrome, a 504 error will appear as HTTP ERROR 504. This code will appear below a message that reads something like: “This site can’t be reached. _____ took too long to respond.”

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• In Windows-based programs, a 504 error will appear as ERROR 504, HTTP_STATUS_GATEWAY_TIMEOUT, or “The request was timed out waiting for a gateway message.” Here's how it may appear when using Excel:

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• During a Windows Update, a Gateway Timeout Error generates a 0x80244023 error code. The message will be: WU_E_PT_HTTP_STATUS_GATEWAY_TIMEOUT.

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• In other operating systems, web servers, or browsers, a 504 error may also result in the following message — although it’s less common: “The proxy server did not receive a timely response from the upstream server.” Here's a slight variation:

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So now we know how the 504 error is worded — but what does it mean exactly? Let's decode it below.

What does 504 gateway timeout mean?

When visiting a website, your server sends a request to another server where that site is hosted. This server — known as the "upstream server" — receives the request and responds with whatever resources are needed to load the website on your browser.

However, a 504 Gateway Timeout error means that your server didn't receive a quick enough response from the upstream server. Because its request timed out, your server is unable to load the web page and, ultimately, fulfill its role as a gateway — hence the name "Gateway Timeout" error.

You might be wondering what exactly causes the delay in the upstream server's response — and that's a good question. Let's address it below.

504 Gateway Timeout Causes

504 Gateway Timeout Errors are among the most frustrating HTTP status codes you can receive. They indicate what happened to your website, but they don’t tell you why it happened, making it challenging for you to pinpoint its cause and ultimately correct the issue.

Below are a few possibilities.

Server Connectivity Issues

Most websites live on multiple servers or third-party hosting providers. If your server is down for maintenance or any other reason, your website could serve visitors a 504 Gateway Timeout Error page.

DNS Changes

If you’ve recently changed servers or moved your website to a different IP address, it’ll make changes to your website’s DNS server. This could cause your website to serve its visitors a 504 Gateway Timeout Error page. Your website won’t be up and running until these DNS changes take full effect, which can take a few hours.

Faulty Firewall Configurations

Your firewall is your website’s gatekeeper, protecting your site from malicious visitors or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Sometimes, a faulty firewall configuration will cause your firewall to deem requests from a content delivery network as an attack on your server and reject them, resulting in a 504 Gateway Timeout Error.

Errors in Your Website's Code

If there’s a mistake in your website’s code, your server might not be able to correctly answer requests from a content delivery network.

Network Connectivity Errors

Since a 504 error is the result of a timeout during the processing of a request between servers, the problem likely lies with them — not the user's internet connection or device. However, if only one user reports seeing a 504 error on your site, it could have to do with their modem, router, or another device. or their internet connection.

Since there are multiple reasons why a 504 error might occur, it will ultimately be up to you to rule each one out until you find the true cause. Fortunately, there are five common and effective solutions for fixing most 504 Gateway Timeout Errors’ causes.

1. Look for server connectivity issues.

If your server is down for maintenance or any other reason, then your website will likely serve visitors a 504 Gateway Timeout Error page. The only way to troubleshoot this issue is to wait for your server to finish maintenance or fix the problem causing the error.

2. Check for any DNS changes.

If you’ve recently changed hosting providers or moved your website to a different IP address, then your website’s DNS server will need to be updated. These DNS changes take a few hours to process so in the meantime your website might serve visitors a 504 Gateway Timeout Error page. The only solution is to sit tight while these DNS changes take effect.

3. Sift through your logs.

If the problem is not your server's connection or DNS information, then check out your server logs. These logs provide details about your server’s health and status. Sifting through them may uncover other issues that could be causing a 504 error.

4. Fix faulty firewall configurations.

A faulty firewall configuration may be the reason behind your 504 Gateway Timeout Error. To rule it out as the cause, you can temporarily deactivate your firewall.

If your device runs on Windows, then navigate to your control panel and click Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & Threat Protection > Manage Settings. On this settings page, you can deactivate your firewall.

If your device runs on Mac OS, then simply navigate to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall to deactivate it.

Once you’ve deactivated your firewall, check to see if the 504 error is resolved. If it is, you can either reconfigure the settings of your existing antivirus program or switch to a new one.

If the error is not resolved, don’t forget to reactivate your firewall before moving onto the next step.

5. Comb through your website’s code to find bugs.

Comb through your code to find any bugs or copy your code into a development machine. It’ll perform a thorough debug process that will simulate the situation in which your 504 Gateway Timeout Error occurred and allow you to see the exact moment where things went wrong.

6. Contact your hosting provider.

Contacting your hosting provider should be a last resort. But if you’ve tried the steps above and are still seeing the 504 Gateway Timeout error, they may be able to solve the issue or provide valuable insight.

How 504 Gateway Timeout Errors Affect SEO

Fixing a 504 Gateway Timeout Error can take time — but it's well worth the effort considering how it can impact your site's technical SEO.

Like an HTTP 500 Internal Server Error, 503 error, or any other 5xx error, a 504 Gateway Timeout error prevents your website from loading. This not only hurts the user experience — it also hurts your SEO performance.

If a web crawler attempts to crawl one of your pages and is served a 504 error, then it can't crawl the page. If that page has already been indexed, then it might be lowered in the search engine results. Or it might be deindexed if the error persists.

Resolving the 504 Gateway Timeout Error

There’s no foolproof way to prevent 504 Gateway Timeout Errors on your site, but there are steps you can take to resolve them. By fixing this error as quickly as possible, you’ll ensure that visitors continue to have seamless experiences on your site and mitigate any negative impacts on your SEO.

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

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