15 Businesses to Admire for Stellar Branding Consistency

When searching for a soul mate, you look for someone that's smart, funny, caring, but above all — consistent. Because if you're going to invest your life in a person, you want someone you can trust, right?

Falling in love with a brand isn't all that different. Brands pull us in with witty slogans and timely discounts, but that’s not the only reason we stick around. Think about it, inbound marketing is all about content and communication that people love. The key to being your leads' and customers’ soul mate, then, is providing brand consistency they can count on.

But how? What’s at the heart of brand consistency is your message, and marketing plays a huge role in that. In this post, we’ll dive into what branding consistency is, its importance, benefits, and share 15 businesses that have done a stellar job showing it.

The Importance of Branding Consistency

Branding consistency sets the stage for a business to gain and maintain credibility and trust. You have to position your brand and its content in a way that appeals to its target audience and carry that same messaging over time. After all, your customers are putting their trust in you, and like any relationship, you want the foundation to be dependable and consistent.

So, not only is this concept important in business strategy, but the benefits speak for themselves.

Benefits of Brand Consistency

Maintain customer expectations.

When creating marketing content, your team can share collateral that delivers the same visual cues from logo, color, and tone that won’t negatively impact customer perception. This standardization of branding let’s them know exactly what to expect every time they come across your business.

Align separate business units.

In creating a uniform brand identity, business teams create varying forms of content across departments that still ring true to clearly specified brand guidelines. While each team won’t be working on the same projects directly — the brand’s story will still shine through.

Establish a more visible, uniform identity.

Brands that are consistently presented are 3 to 4 times more likely to experience brand awareness and visibility. Just think about the iconic Nike swoosh, or Adidas’ signature stripes, these consistent visuals let customers know what brand a product comes from in the blink of an eye.

Now that we’ve gone through the importance and benefits of branding consistency, let’s look at some brands that have used it successfully.

Branding Consistency: 15 Brand Examples

1. GymIt

Fitness centers can be intimidating to the average person. GymIt gets it, and takes the intimidation out of the equation by talking to its clientele like real people. The Boston-based gym calls itself "hassle-free" and keeps working out simple.

One of the brand's slogans is "Get In, Work Out" — clean, to-the-point, and clever. To prove that GymIt doesn't cater to protein-shake, bodybuilder types, its marketing doesn't take itself too seriously, either. Below are some snapshots of GymIt's playful copy across social media, merchandise, and unintimidating website.

2. Dropbox

The cloud-based file sharing platform, Dropbox, is great at consistent design and personalization across channels.

You won’t find any Dropbox communication or platforms without its signature open, blue box logo nearby. This style is behind all of the brand’s designs, whether it’s a sleek homepage or a creative error page. Dropbox’s email marketing aligns with that fun, artsy messaging. See the screenshot below of some colorful collateral found across.

3. charity:water

This organization donates 100% of its donations to building water wells in Africa where women and children use yellow jerry cans to carry water back to their villages. charity:water's logo is a stylized jerry can and not only keeps the branding present across channels, but keeps the issue the charity is helping solve top of mind, as well.

While many traditional nonprofits stick to old-school marketing tactics, charity:water recognizes that in order to inspire people to support a cause, you need to have inspired marketing. The organization's birthday campaign has attracted supporters in fashion which charity:water uses to show how nonprofits can be trendy — using jerry cans in annual Charity Ball runways. This brand consistency makes it a leader in reinventing nonprofit marketing.

4. Naked Pizza

Naked Pizza — a revealing name for an honest brand. This business offers healthier pizza than the average chain by using only all-natural ingredients and a crust packed with grains and probiotics. Naked Pizza's promise of all-natural is enforced by its refreshing style and tone seen across its marketing assets.

Like GymIt, Naked Pizza suggests it doesn't take itself too seriously and that pizza can be guilt-free and fun. The brand is lovably sarcastic and keeps its design clean and appealing while communicating its delicious message.

5. Wells Fargo

You don't have to use conversational tones or playful designs to be a lovable brand. Wells Fargo, a leading bank worldwide, keeps its messaging traditional and old-school — in a good way!

The brand is committed to its core values, including ethics and putting customers first, and they communicate this consistently through font, colors, layout, and keeping its logo ever-present across channels. Its slogan "Together we'll go far" inspires copy that is rooted in family and building relationships.

6. World Wildlife Fund

This organization fights for a great cause with great marketing. The WWF's style and imagery create a mood across channels that forces you to reflect for a moment on how we treat our wildlife and ecosystems.

Below are three examples of how the brand communicates that same strong message in creative, thought-provoking ways. Its logo, print ad, and interactive piece all have a darkness to them through suggestive messaging or tone because of how serious the issue is.

7. Warby Parker

Warby Parker "creates boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point." The brand communicates this boutiquey vibe through all its promotions and marketing assets.

For example, Warby Parker offers a luxurious touch to prospective customers by sending five pairs of glasses to try on for free (top left). Attention to style is also evident across channels: its website (bottom left) is clean and easy to navigate. Even its annual report (bottom right) feels "classically crafted." The brand calls its style "vintage," and its Citizen's Circus event at SXSW was dripping with vintage touches from signage to tents.

8. Lush

The international handmade cosmetics company, Lush, believes in "making effective products from fresh organic fruits and vegetables," and in "happy people making happy soap." Lush stores, products, packaging, and employees (top right) all tell that story.

Lush’s commitment to natural, organic ingredients is totally aligned with how it displays its products (bottom left); Lush's soaps, powders, and shampoos sit in their raw form in-store until the cashier wraps the product up once it's purchased. Foregoing packaging oozes a natural vibe. Products that require packaging, like face masks (top left), don't hide the ingredients and encourage customers to recycle after use. All packaging also has a sticker on it with the face and name of the employee who packed it. Every piece of marketing collateral at Lush has a personal, no-frills approach.

9. Boloco

Boston-based burrito company, Boloco, pays attention to consistency in detail in its online and offline marketing. The brand's slogan is 'inspired burritos' and its menus, flyers, napkins, events, website, and other collateral all have a playful, hand-made touch that suggests the business is fueled by more than tortillas and guacamole. Boloco partnered with Life is Good by making a yummy Life is Good burrito with 50 cents of each purchase donated to the company's charity, Life is Good Playmakers; this partnership fits with Boloco's inspired brand perfectly.

Boloco keeps branding present by using a playful signature font. No matter the marketing channel, we go loco for Boloco's consistency.

10. Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Boston's Museum of Fine Arts promotes its brand throughout the city and under its own roof with such finesse in execution, that the brand's presence is always incredibly recognizable, yet still subtle. All MFA Boston marketing assets are easy to connect to the source.

The brand has a two-tone color palette on all collateral, with red being the MFA's signature color. Below are examples of its use of color, as well as its consistently minimalist design on an employee's apron, outdoor banners, website, and brochure. With a museum full of colorful exhibitions and impressive canvases, the MFA keeps its own branding simple but strong.

11. Intercom

Intercom is a web-based customer service platform. "Treating customers with respect will always be good for business," the brand says. "And we believe that making customers jump through hoops to try to get help is incredibly disrespectful." Looking at Intercom’s various forms of communication and marketing tactics, it's visually apparent how much it doesn’t want its customers to "jump through hoops."

The brand presents information in a clear, comprehensive way by using imagery instead of written explanations. After all, a picture says a thousand words. Intercom introduces its company with photos other content with simple graphic design. Enticing me with visuals definitely takes hoops out of the equation.

12. Innocent Drinks

Innocent Drinks is a playful smoothie and juice brand from England that keeps its innocent reputation strong with marketing that will make you feel like a kid again. The meta description reads: "hello, we're innocent and we're here to make it easy for people to do themselves some good (whilst making it taste nice too)." How cute is that?

Below are examples of more lovable approaches to branding like its Facebook game (top left), product images (bottom left), and inventive website navigation for the brand's annual event, Fruitstock. Innocent Drinks stays true to its personality in its tone and creative execution.

13. Zendesk

Zendesk is a cloud-based customer service software system that has built a charming brand through sleek, bright design. The "zen" in this company’s branding can be seen through its mellow yellow and natural color palette.

It’s important to communicate a consistent brand image to the world, but Zendesk recognizes that consistency comes from within as well. Its office carries the theme to keep the feeling strong within company walls. The brand’s signature green is used consistently across channels and compliments the brand’s identity.

14. Lululemon Athletica

Sportswear brands often promise that their products will make you a better athlete, but the process and hard work it takes to get there is sometimes forgotten. Lululemon Athletica, a yoga and sportswear brand, keeps the act of working out alive across its assets. The brand hosts free yoga classes in its stores, as well as public outdoor classes.

Its confirmation email (top left) for joining its mailing list is a large image of a woman doing yoga, and the brand's Twitter profile (top right) displays yoga mats waiting to be rolled out. The brand designs yoga clothing and gear, so why skip to the gratification of doing it when you can cultivate a feeling around the process?

15. ZocDoc

ZocDoc is an online service for finding and booking appointments with physicians in your area. The brand aims to improve access to healthcare, and it communicates the ease of the process with cartoon mascots across all of its marketing communication channels.

After all, cartoons make us feel like kids again, and boy, were things easy when we were kids. See ZocDoc's charming collateral on the website's personal account page.

Build Better Branding Consistency

Now that's soul mate material, right? A lot of these brands use playful, creative, and conversational tones, while others prefer more serious, thought-provoking approaches. Whatever the tone, be sure to keep it consistent across all channels to give your customers a brand they can count on.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in March 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

15 Businesses to Admire for Stellar Branding Consistency was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

What is a Brand Personality, According to Marketers Who've Developed Them

If  I could go out to dinner with any brand, I think I'd have to choose Trader Joe's.

Now, I know that may sound weird, but stay with me. Nike, as you know, would be too energetic, which would embarrass me — let's play it cool here, okay, Nike?

Apple, on the other hand, would be both sophisticated and a little pretentious, which would make me nervous.

And Timberland is just too outdoorsy and gritty. We wouldn't have much in common.

By comparison, Trader Joe's is unique, earthy, and a little playful. We could discuss its fantastic seasonal selections, like its Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce or Butternut Mac & Cheese Bites, and I would thank TJ (because we're at the nickname level by now) for its generous cheese prices.

While we all know I can't actually go out to dinner with Trader Joe's (or any brand, for that matter), I'm willing to bet you're able to picture what it would be like to hang out with your own favorite brand — or how a dinner with Peloton might differ from a dinner with Netflix.

That's the power of brand personality. It helps you relate to certain brands that mirror the characteristics you value most. And it also inspires you to connect with certain brands that demonstrate characteristics you hope to develop.

Here, let's explore why brand personality matters. Plus, how to create your own brand personality, examples of powerful brand personalities, and tricks of the trade from HubSpot's Brand Strategy team.

What is brand personality?

Simply put, a brand's personality is the set of human characteristics you attribute to that brand. Or, put another way — it's how you'd describe a brand if it were a person.

A brand's personality shines through in brand messaging, images, and overarching marketing campaigns.

Additionally, consistency is key. If your brand's personality differs on your company website compared to your social channels, it will be more difficult for consumers to learn who your brand is, and what it stands for.

As Ben Harmanus, EMEA's Head of Brand Marketing, puts it, "A brand's personality is a set of human traits that define a brand. These traits set one brand apart from others, and make it unique." 

Harmanus adds, "These characteristics should be chosen wisely, since they help build an emotional connection to a specific target group."

Harmanus told me, "Brand personality is the essential foundation for brand identity and brand marketing — and has a huge impact on the sales process."

To understand how brand personality infiltrates a brand's marketing materials, let's take a look at a few examples.

Brand Personality Examples

1. Nike 

Nike's marketing materials – from its slogan "Just Do It", to its mission statement "To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world — embody excitement, passion, and energy.

You know who Nike as-a-person would be: A passionate sports fan, an avid athlete, and someone who is innovative and forward-focused. Nike as-a-person is interested in the newest and best when it comes to wellness and fitness.

Consider how this plays out in Nike's marketing strategy. The caption of a recent Nike Instagram post begins, "No more waiting…"

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Nike (@nike)

The images and videos across Nike's website and social pages are colorful and fast-paced, with Olympic athletes running and Serena Williams swinging a racquet.

And if you watch a Nike ad on TV, you'll be shown the same personality — someone who is excited, active, and ready-to-go.

2. Chanel 

If you're looking for a brand personality that exemplifies sophistication, look no further than Chanel.

For starters, take a look at the brand's mission statement: "To be the Ultimate House of Luxury, defining style and creating desire, now and forever."

Additionally, let's consider their Instagram page – the Chanel team uses soft blues, light yellows, and plenty of black space to draw attention to one focal point.

Their minimalist, vintage theme effectively suggests a sophisticated brand personality.

You know who Chanel is — Chanel as-a-person is someone who cares deeply for fashion, is highly polished and never says the wrong thing, and is both refined and worldly.

3. REI 

There aren't many brands as polar opposite to Chanel as REI, so let's dive into their personality next.

REI is rugged, outdoorsy, and tough.

Their website's homepage currently reads, "Celebrate the power in you", and the About Us page says, "At Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) we believe a life outdoors is a life well-lived! We believe that it's in the wild, untamed and natural places that we find our best selves, so our purpose is to awaken a lifelong love of the outdoors, for all."

REI as-a-person is your "Earthy-crunchy" friend who enjoys camping, hiking, swimming — you name it, as long as it takes place outdoors. Because of their love for outdoors, REI is also dedicated and focused on the environment, and solely purchases sustainable products.

4. Volvo 

Volvo as-a-person is reliable, sturdy, and dependable. Volvo prides itself on "their years of leadership in automotive safety", and is disciplined, responsible, and principled.

Take a look at the following Volvo commercial, which highlights the safety of the cars above all else:

Additionally, if you take a look at Volvo's About Us page, you'll read statements like, "For nearly a century we have been making life easier, better and safer with cutting-edge technology", and "Volvo Cars is a brand for people who care about the world we live in and the people around us" — all of which suggests a personality of dependability.

While other car dealerships might focus on a car's fancy features, Volvo stays committed to one key value: Safety.

Dimensions of Brand Personality

In The Journal of Marketing Research, Jennifer Aaker outlines five dimensions of brand personality: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness.

These five pillars can be jumping-off points when identifying your own brand's personality.

However, there will be unique personality traits that fall under each broader dimension, and the more specific you can be when identifying which traits belong to your brand, the more authentic and unique your brand's personality will become.  

Let's explore some specific personality traits that fall under each dimension, now:

Traits that relate to sincerity:

• Wholesomeness
• Trustworthiness
• Honesty
• Authenticity
• Cheerfulness

Traits that relate to excitement:

• Passion
• Adventurousness
• Enthusiasm
• Boldness
• Imagination
• Daring

Traits that relate to competence:

• Intelligence
• Dependability
• Success
• Principled
• Conscientious

Traits that relate to sophistication:

• Elegance
• Composure
• Worldliness
• Confidence
• Tact

Traits that relate to ruggedness:

• Toughness
• Athletic
• Sturdy
• Outdoorsy
• Reliable

How to Create a Brand Personality        

Now that we've explored some examples and traits of brand personalities, you might be wondering how you can create your own brand personality.

Ultimately, you'll want to do this as early as possible. A brand personality can help guide your marketing team's decisions and ensure your entire team remains consistent across channels — and consistency is key for brand recognition and long-term customer loyalty.

Whether you're creating a personality for the first time or interested in re-vamping your existing brand personality, we've got you covered. Keep reading to learn the six steps you'll need to take to create a strong, lasting brand personality.

1. Figure out your values.

Like any real human being, values can shape who your brand is, the decisions your brand makes, and how your brand acts.

So you'll want to start by outlining your core values. What matters most to your brand? (Hint, hint: It should be whatever matters most to your target audience.)

Once you've identified your brand's values, write them out in a value statement. Your value statement will be the foundation of your brand's personality.

For instance, consider Life is Good's mission statement: "To spread the power of optimism." I'm willing to bet Life is Good's mission statement helps drive all marketing decisions — for instance, as a marketer for Life is Good, I'd want to ensure my Instagram captions or ad copy were positive and hopeful.

2. Use your audience as inspiration — since they already are who your brand should be.

REI's brand personality works because its target market is an audience of outdoors enthusiasts. The brand's personality would be entirely ineffective, on the other hand, if the brand was targeting office employees.

This is why it's vital you consider, first and foremost, your audience's preferences, behaviors, and expectations.

You'll want to conduct qualitative and quantitative research on your target audience to ensure you have a strong understanding of your buyer persona. 

To begin understanding your buyer persona, you'll want to ask questions like these:

• Does my audience care more about luxury, or affordability?
• Are they driven by emotions, or logic?
• When purchasing products, what matters most to them? Sustainability? Safety? Entertainment?
• What does my audience do in their free time?
• What do they care about?
• What do they like? What do they dislike?

The deeper you understand your audience, the easier it will be to construct your brand's personality. Your brand should reflect and reinforce who your buyer persona is — or who they want to be.

Chanel's brand personality, for instance, resonates so strongly with its audience because it reflects traits that matter to its audience, including luxury and sophistication. If Chanel was targeting an audience that cared more about affordability, then it wouldn't succeed.

3. Ask yourself questions as if your brand were a human.

Once you've constructed a loose outline for your brand's personality, you can refine it by asking yourself (and your team) questions as if your brand already were a person.

This might sound silly, but consider asking yourself:

• How does my brand act when they go to a party?
• What does my brand talk to its friends about?
• What excites my brand? What scares my brand?
• Why does my brand behave X way? What drives it?

It's critical you're able to describe, in great detail, who your brand is. This information doesn't have to be public-facing — in fact, it most likely won't be. Instead, this information will be used on the back-end so your marketing team can create materials that resonate with your audience and begin building strong brand loyalty. If done effectively, your audience will begin connecting to your brand without realizing why they feel as emotionally compelled as they do.

4. Create a brand style guide for your team.

Over time, your team will change. New people will join, others will leave. If you don't have strong guardrails that outline who your brand is … and who it isn't … you risk diluting the brand personality over time.

To combat this, ensure you create a brand style guide that outlines how the brand personality will display itself through your marketing materials. For instance, what font demonstrates your brand's personality? What about colors? Language, voice, tone? Visuals?

The more specific you can be with your brand style guide, the more likely you are to see consistency across channels. Additionally, you'll want to take the time to outline who your brand isn't. These guardrails will ensure your brand doesn't sound and act different on your social channels compared to your website.

As HubSpot's Global Head of Brand Marketing Amy Marino puts it, "A brand personality can inform everything from how you write marketing copy to how you design your website to where your brand shows up in real life."

Marino adds, "Developing a brand personality is an important element that can guide your company's brand marketing ... and ensure prospects and customers feel elements of continuity across every brand interaction."

5. Iterate.

Over time, as you conduct market research, you'll want to remain open to iterating on your personality if it no longer serves your audience or meets your audience's needs.

For instance, perhaps in market research you find audiences feel your brand is a little too aggressive. To fix this, you might soften your brand's personality and use more calming language across your channels.

With these tips in-mind, you're now well on your way to developing a strong, unique brand personality that works best for your brand. 

Ultimately, your brand's personality has a direct impact on how emotionally invested your consumers are in your business — and how willing they are to stick around for the long-haul. 

What is a Brand Personality, According to Marketers Who've Developed Them was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

The Top 5 B2C Marketing Trends of 2022 [New Data]

In 2022, 51% of B2C marketers plan to increase their marketing budget.

The question is where is that budget going? Will marketers reinvest in the same strategies or try new trends?

From influencer marketing to virtual events, there are so many efforts brands can focus on. Let's see what our latest research says about what worked well for marketers this year and where they plan to invest in 2022.

To understand what trends B2C marketers are leveraging in 2022, we surveyed 1,067 global marketing professionals working in B2B and B2C companies. Here's what we found.

1. Short-form video will be a priority.

Short-form video took off in early 2020 and shows no signs of slowing down.

Back then, TikTok was the number one place to go for short-form content. Today, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are also competing for users' attention.

This is good news for brands, as the short-form video trend content offered the second-highest ROI for B2C marketers in 2021, behind influencer marketing.

Despite coming in second for ROI, it's the trend marketers plan to invest in the most in 2022. The second surprising fact is that for many marketers, about 32%, 2022 will be their first time leveraging it.

Why now? Well, short-form video is such a key feature in social media today. And according to the data, social media takes the lead in marketing investments for businesses.

That's likely because, in 2022, there are three key goals brands have running marketing campaigns, according to the study:

• Increasing brand awareness (49.3%)
• Increasing revenue (43.3%)
• Advertising products (42.1%)

With social media, you can accomplish at least two out of three. Brand awareness was always the main benefit of using social media but things have evolved. Today, with so many platforms offering in-app shopping experiences and advanced ad formats, brands can meet more of their marketing goals.

2. Influencer marketing will still be a key lead/revenue driver.

For most B2C marketers, the power of influencers is clear.

In 2022, 61% of B2C marketers surveyed in the study plan to leverage it in 2022. In fact, it's the third-highest trend they plan to prioritize, behind short-form video content and inbound marketing.

This is because in 2021, it offered the ROI.

What might be different in the future is the type of influencer brands focus on. Historically, brands have focused on the biggest and most popular influencers to partner with.

However, some data suggest that micro-influencers with under 100K followers may be more effective.

While the verdict is still out on that, one thing is clear: Influencer marketing isn't going anywhere.

3. Audio content will take a front seat.

Data suggests that video is the leader when it comes to content marketing. However, audio is slowly creeping up into the mix.

According to the survey, only 19.1% of B2C marketers use podcasts or other audio content in their marketing. Of those who do use it, 37.4% find it to be one of their most effective trends.

Even though adoption was seemingly low in 2021, the data suggests that more B2C marketers will add audio content to their marketing efforts in the new year.

Roughly 43% of B2C marketers plan to increase their investment in podcasts in 2022 while 38.4 plan to keep it the same. Another interesting fun fact is that this particular piece of data is virtually the same for B2B marketers.

This suggests that across all industries, brands recognize the power of audio content.

4. Social responsibility will be more important.

Now more than ever, consumers want and expect brands to be more transparent and take a stand on social media.

In fact, a 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer survey revealed that many consumers see trust as a leading factor in their purchasing decisions.

In the past two years, particularly in the height of the COVID-19 crisis and calls for social justice, consumers have started holding brands more accountable. In 2022, brands will be addressing that demand.

Currently, only a third of B2C marketers surveyed find social responsibility to be an effective marketing trend. Despite that fact, 45% plan to increase their investment in 2022.

5. Brands will continue to apply inbound marketing strategies.

Inbound marketing is all about meeting consumers where they are. Instead of marketing efforts that push messaging out to consumers, this focuses on attracting them toward you.

Behind short-form video, inbound marketing is the top trend marketers will invest in next year.

In fact, over 80% of marketers plan to keep the same budget or add more for this strategy.

This is done by following the "Attract, Delight, Engage" model that leverages content marketing, SEO, marketing automation, social media, and more to nurture consumers at every stage of the buyer's journey.

There you have it – some of the top trends B2C marketers will invest in 2022. Between publishing regular video/audio content on social media and developing a strong inbound marketing strategy, marketers have a busy year ahead.

To keep up with the latest trends in marketing, download the 2021 HubSpot Not Another State of Marketing report. 

The Top 5 B2C Marketing Trends of 2022 [New Data] was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

The 14 Best WordPress Email Plugins in 2021

If your business has a blog, sending out an email newsletter is essential. Not only is it a simple way to distribute your content, but it can also help you better understand what type of content is resonating with your target audience so you can optimize your content strategy.

Beyond content distribution, an email newsletter can also help generate paying customers for your business. 31% of B2B marketers report that email newsletters are the best way to turn leads to customers, and 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers once converted.

So, you're cranking out content on your WordPress site, and you know you can grow your business through an email newsletter ... Wouldn't it be great if you could send this newsletter directly within WordPress?

With plugins, you can. Some of the most popular WordPress plugins available are for email marketing. With an email plugin, you can generate leads, segment your contacts, and nurture them into customers, all within WordPress.

To ensure you're able to use WordPress for all your content distribution and email marketing needs, we've made this list of the best WordPress email plugins.

1. HubSpot WordPress Plugin

Sure, the HubSpot WordPress Plugin includes forms and pop-ups, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. On top of the ability to develop forms and pop-ups with a simple drag-and-drop interface, HubSpot collects submissions from any form you have on your WordPress site and automatically adds those leads into your CRM, so you can begin nurturing them into loyal customers immediately.

The plugin includes a live chat tool, so you can begin engaging with site visitors, and even generate leads off of those conversations. You can also deploy bots to answer simple questions that your visitors have, ensuring that you’re supporting your website visitors even when your team is offline.

Once someone submits their information on one of your pop-ups, you can automate a simple kickback email to get in touch with that lead and deliver the content you promised them. You can also upgrade to a paid version of Marketing Hub to begin emailing those contacts right away.

Best for: We recommend the HubSpot WordPress Plugin for anyone. Between forms, pop-ups, live chat, and a fully integrated CRM, there's no better free email subscription plugin available for WordPress.

2. MailPoet

MailPoet is one of the most popular free newsletter plugins for WordPress. To manage your subscribers, you can easily import an existing list from your CRM or another marketing automation tool, or create forms and add them to your site using widgets. Plus, the drag-and-drop email editor lets you quickly create responsive emails that look great on any device or email service.

MailPoet is free for anyone with less than 1,000 subscribers but becomes more powerful upon upgrading. Premium users can see exactly which subscribers have opened an email and what links people are clicking on within your email, among a number of other advanced features.

Best for: Those who want a popular, free, and versatile email newsletter plugin for WordPress should try MailPoet and experiment with its subscriber management, email builder, and automation tools. Those with smaller lists can leverage premium features for free as well.

3. Newsletter

Newsletter is an email marketing tool built specifically for WordPress, and everything you need to get started is included. The plugin allows you to add a subscription form or pop-up to your site, compose emails in a drag-and-drop builder, segment your leads using multi-list targeting, and send newsletters to distribute your blog content.

Additionally, the tool has built-in reporting, so you can see exactly how your emails are performing. You can even automate newsletters to go out on a regular cadence to ensure you are consistently engaging with your subscribers. Newsletter also integrates with other tools, such as Mailgun and Spark Post, so you can optimize your email strategy based on your needs.

Best for: The Newsletter plugin is best for WordPress bloggers looking to automate their newsletters and track performance. It's another popular, well-received option that's worth trying out for free.

4. Sendinblue

Sendinblue offers cloud-based digital marketing tools to over 50,000 growing companies around the world, and its WordPress plugin brings the power of the platform directly into WordPress.

With the Sendinblue WordPress plugin, you can create forms to capture leads, manage lists of subscribers, create and send email marketing campaigns, and measure your success over time using the included reports. The plugin features a drag-and-drop email editor, and you're able to personalize components of your email to increase engagement with subscribers. The free version lets you send up to 300 emails per day.

The Sendinblue WordPress plugin also includes transactional email. Using the wp_mail function, you'll be able to send transactional emails using Sendinblue's SMTP. This feature is great for sending order confirmations or updating your customers on important changes to their accounts.

Best for: WordPress business owners in need of a simple but inclusive email marketing plugin will enjoy Sendinblue for its tools, support, and integration with its other advanced marketing tools. You can get decent mileage from the plugin for free before reaching your send limit.

5. Sumo

Sumo has over 60,000 active installations within WordPress — and for good reason. Beyond just pop-ups, welcome emails, and automated drip campaigns, they also have a number of other features to help you grow your business.

The plugin features a "share" button that you can add anywhere on your site, which allows your site visitors to easily share your content on social. The plugin also integrates directly with WooCommerce so you can create discounts and unique offers to increase your order value, and minimize the number of abandoned carts you have.

On top of all the plugin's features, Sumo offers free customer support, and even one-on-one onboarding for all customers (free and paid) to ensure you're getting the most out of the plugin.

Best for: Sumo works great for ecommerce websites and WooCommerce that run regular email campaigns. New businesses will appreciate the generous free version, which allows up to 10,000 emails per month and unlimited subscribers.

6. Email Subscribers & Newsletters

Email Subscribers & Newsletters is a plugin that lets you easily notify your subscribers when you have new blog content available. With it, you can add a subscription box to your site and get notified every time someone signs up for your newsletter. You can then notify your subscribers whenever a new post is published, or create a custom newsletter to share your content.

Email Subscribers & Newsletters is also serious about the health of your email lists. They offer double opt-in functionality so you can ensure that you're only reaching out to people interested in what your website has to offer. You have the option to add captchas to your subscription box to prevent bots from ruining your email lists. The tool offers list cleanup and spam testing services too.

Best for: Email Subscribers & Newsletters is best for bloggers who want a simple plugin to notify readers when a new blog post is published, along with some simple metrics and a custom newsletter option.

7. Subscribe2

Subscribe2 lets you send either simple notifications to your blog subscribers whenever you post new content, or a recurring digest of posts. Through the plugin, you can also exclude specific categories of posts from being included in your emails, or even exclude posts on an individual basis.

The tool lets you create simple plain text emails, or create custom HTML emails. You can also upgrade to its paid service (MailOptin) to send emails to your contact lists in Mailchimp, AWeber, or other email service providers.

Best for: Subscribe2 is another WordPress email plugin that's ideal for bloggers who want to send email alerts to subscribers, or to compile their most recent blog posts into a digest.

8. SendPress

SendPress is a simple, easy-to-use email newsletter plugin. With it, you can import contacts and content from your WordPress site directly into the plugin, making it easy to create a blog notification email.

SendPress features several styling and editing options so you can send professional emails without any coding skills. They also have a service called AutoCron, which will check your site on a regular schedule to make sure your scheduled emails are being sent.

Note that for features like advanced analytics, bounce handling, and campaign tracking through third-party software like Google Analytics, you'll need to upgrade to the paid version.

Best for: SendPress provides a simple email automation subscription for small WordPress sites that want to grow their audiences.

9. OptinMonster

The widely popular and powerful OptinMonster plugin, as the name suggests, helps you grow your WordPress email list and get more subscribers through a variety of pop-ups and static forms. The tool comes with a drag-and-drop editor that lets you build your form from scratch, or select from a pre-built template.

What sets OptinMonster apart from other plugins is its targeting options. Using exit intent technology, OptinMonster will deploy a pop-up based on when a user is getting ready to leave a page. The plugin also has page-level targeting options, so you can tailor your content offers to a visitor's location and behavior on your site. You can then use this information to tailor your email campaigns using any one of OptinMonster's many integrated email service providers.

Best for: Marketers who want to implement popups in their marketing strategies (especially for exit intents), and implement advanced tracking on their forms and email campaigns to drive conversions.

10. Thrive Leads

Like OptinMonster, Thrive Leads is focused on growing your subscriber list, and growing it fast. This tool includes a long list of pop-up types, including full-screen overlays and even multiple-choice forms. It also includes the targeting options that you'd expect out of an email subscription plugin.

Additionally, Thrive Leads offers A/B Testing so you can see whether a different design, or an entirely different content offer performs better — allowing you to greatly increase your conversion rates.

Best for: Thrive Leads is a comprehensive tool to help online businesses grow subscribers, increase conversions, and target the right visitors at the right time. If that's you, try it out. Also note that Thrive Leads is more of a form tool than anything else — email is just one part, and the plugin works best when integrated with another email tool.

11. WP Subscribe

WP Subscribe is built by MyThemeShop, a company that builds WordPress themes and plugins that are fast, reliable, look great on any site, and are SEO-friendly. WP Subscribe checks off all those boxes. They have optimized the code on the plugin to ensure that it loads fast, and doesn't slow down your site.

With WP subscribe, you can add your subscription form anywhere on your site, and feel rest-assured that it will be fully responsive to whatever screen size your site visitor is viewing your site on. The plugin is also compatible with several popular email service providers, such as AWeber and MailChimp, so you can begin leveraging your email lists immediately.

Best for: Use WP Subscribe to build custom forms and grow your email list — for anything else, you'll need to integrate with another email automation tool.

12. Ninja Forms

Ninja Forms has over one million installations on WordPress, making it one of the most popular form plugins available. Ninja has all the features you’d expect in your email subscription form builder, plus a few extra features that make it stand out. Namely, its acclaimed builder tool lets anyone make professional-looking forms without touching any code.

The plugin features several different anti-spam options, including Google’s reCAPTCHA, to ensure the validity of your form submissions. They also let you collect payments via integrations with PayPal Express, Stripe, and Elavon. The plugin integrates with a long list of the most popular mailing list tools, so you can start emailing your new leads right away.

Best for: WordPress users who need a reliable form builder tool to grow their email subscriber list should put Ninja Forms on the list — it's one of the leading options available, and it's flexible enough that you can use it for other cases beyond email signups.

13. Email Template Customizer for WooCommerce

The Email Template Customizer for WooCommerce plugin extends the functionality of the WooCommerce plugin by allowing you to customize the email template. Build out emails with a library of useful elements specific to WooCommerce, like order, billing, and shipping details.

Everything is drag-and-drop, and the plugin can be used by anyone who already knows WooCommerce. Thanks to the tool, sending transactional emails, order confirmations, and shipping confirmations. With the paid version, you can also recommend products in emails, give coupons, and send target emails based on orders that match certain criteria.

Best for: WooCommerce site owners should try Email Template Customizer for WooCommerce as a solution to build custom emails to customers.

14. WP Mail SMTP by WPForms

The developers behind the popular WPForms plugin have also created an email-specific plugin, WP Mail SMTP. This plugin aims to solve email deliverability issues by configuring WordPress to follow SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), the standard for sending emails, instead of PHPMailer, the WordPress default.

With over 2 million downloads to date, WP Mail SMTP has helped improve deliverability for many WordPress sites. It helps authenticate your emails to email clients, avoiding the spam folder or a failed delivery. The plugin works by reconfiguring the wp_mail() function to integrate with a credited SMTP provider.

If that sounds like gibberish, don’t worry — the plugin walks you through the process and provides documentation in case you’re stuck.

Best for: WordPress marketers who are experiencing email deliverability issues may consider trying this plugin.

Upgrade your WordPress emails.

It’s important to choose the plugin that works best for you. Whether you need a plugin that is highly customizable, or one that simply drives submissions so you can get your email newsletter off the ground, the options here provide a great starting point for you to explore as you consider how you can start building out your subscribers list.

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

The 14 Best WordPress Email Plugins in 2021 was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

iGaming Display Advertising Trends 2022

iGaming display advertising trends offer insight into what makes the industry tick. Indeed, 2021 and 2020 have seen brands adapt and change quicker than ever before, as external factors change customer habits.

And with the iGaming industry seeing growth around the world, competition for viewers is fierce. Indeed, it is estimated that the global online gambling market will increase 57 per cent from $59 billion (€48.7 billion) in 2020 to $92.9 billion in 2023 (€76.6 billion), then double again in 2026.

Therefore, we are proud to provide our unique insights into iGaming display advertising to help brands take advantage of this predicted growth.

 

Download our latest iGaming Display Advertising report to discover how your marketing team can get ahead of the competition and boost campaign performance.

 

What can I expect to discover from the report?

In our latest iGaming report we explore the stats and facts that are impacting display advertising campaigns in 2022 and beyond.

Our report offers analysis on the following topics:

• Increases and decreases in device ad views
• The benefits and coverage of video in display ads
• Data feed usage and the impact of Covid-19
• Key patterns and dates over 2020 and 2021
• The most popular iGaming display ad sizes
• Plus, how Euro 2020 impacted the industry

Three things you will gain from using this report:

Why adding a video to your display campaign pays-off

Display ads that contain a video perform better than ads without – this is a fact. We found that compared to the average display ad, the average CTR for a video ad has increased for the past three years. Thus if you are looking to boost engagement with your creatives, using a video is definitely worth an experiment.

Why data feeds and real-time updates are essential

Making the most of key dates and events is now more important than ever. What we have discovered is that CTR rises and falls with certain events – notably Euro 2020.
Delayed for a year, this European football competition saw the average uplift for ads featuring a data feed compared to those without during the tournament reach 21% and CTR for data feed increase by 28%. Therefore, combining your most potent strategies for key events is crucial!

Why having a flexible and powerful ad creator is key

In 2020 the busiest day for ad views across the industry was the 26th September. And this was an extraordinary day for sport, the world-over! This particular Saturday saw large esports events, the Stanley Cup finals in ice hockey, the basketball NBA finals, the French Open tennis finals, AFL final, as well as golfing Ryder Cup – as well countless football matches taking place, including the Premier League.

And with so many events and different viewers to cater for, having the ad tech to create and control a variety of different campaign creatives was key. Particularly, when in 2021 there were days with far more ad views!

A note on the data source for the report: All statistics featured in this blog and in the report are based on aggregated and anonymised Bannerflow customer data for the years 2019, 2020 and period January 2021 to August 2021. It offers insight into the patterns – and forces– driving iGaming display advertising.

The post iGaming Display Advertising Trends 2022 appeared first on Bannerflow.

iGaming Display Advertising Trends 2022 was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

29 TikTok Stats to Know in 2021

If you feel like the app TikTok came out of nowhere, you're not wrong.

Since launching in early 2018, TikTok's been covered by seemingly every major news publication and racked up millions of downloads globally.

Despite TikTok's major early success, the app still feels like a bit of a mystery, especially to marketers. In fact, until recently, its parent company, ByteDance, hasn't disclosed many metrics at all.

In TikTok's first year, all we really knew was that an odd-ball video app was going viral, topping global app store charts, and gaining a huge fanbase from Gen-Z.

 

But now, shortly after TikTok's first birthday, we know a lot more about it as sites like Digiday, AdWeek, and our own Marketing Blog regularly cover it.

Even if you still aren't quite sure what TikTok is, you've probably seen a video meme on social media that was created and published in the app first. Here's one for example of a TikTok post which went viral on Twitter:

Now THIS is a tiktok I could watch all day pic.twitter.com/u1dBkH2OAa

— 🌸 Alexandra Daniels 🌸 (@alexdanielsxo) July 11, 2019

When making decisions about your social strategy, you're probably more interested in numbers than virality as proof of an app's staying power.

As someone who's gotten sucked into the app, blogged multiple times about it, hearted hundreds of posts, and even made a few embarrassingly mature videos of my own, I'm fairly certain that this platform will stick around for quite some time. But, luckily, with mounting data on TikTok, you don't just have to take my word for it.

To help you make informed decisions about your strategy and whether TikTok is right for your brand, I've compiled a list of 28 interesting stats and facts to know before venturing on to the app.

29 TikTok Stats to Know in 2021

Userbase, Downloads, and Growth

Within TikTok's first year, it reportedly reached 500 million monthly active users. Wondering if this was just a fluke or a viral trend that will simmer down? Think again. According to TikTok and its company heads, the audience might be larger and more promising than we think.

• In September 2021, TikTok celebrated reaching 1 billion monthly active users. (TikTok)
• Musical.ly, a lip-syncing app which ByteDance purchased and merged with TikTok, reportedly had 100 million monthly active users when it was purchased by TikTok in 2018. (The Verge)
• Douyin, TikTok's original standalone app in China, had 300 million users at the time Musical.ly merged with TikTok. (The Verge)
• In 2020, TikTok was the most downloaded app globally (850 million downloads), followed by WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. (Apptopia)
• TikTok is the Top Free App in the Entertainment section of the Apple App Store. (Apple App Store)

Demographics

While TikTok's user base is dominated by Gen-Z in the United States, many millennials have adopted it around the world.

And, although it might feel like TikTok is huge in the U.S., the app's biggest audience actually comes from China, where the platform is called Douyin.

Here's a breakdown of TikTok's major demographic stats.

• 35% of TikTok's global audience is between the ages of 19 and 29, and 28% is under 18. (Business of Apps)
• As of December 2020, TikTok has 69.5 million monthly active users in the United States. (Statista)
• As of April 2021, 48% of U.S. adults between 18-29 use TikTok, compared to 20% of adults between 30-49 and 14% among 50-64 year olds. (Pew Research Center)
• One-quarter of Americans between 12 and 34 have used TikTok compared to 3% of adults aged 35+. (MarketingCharts)
• 51% of global TikTok users are male and 49% are female. (Hootsuite)
• TikTok is now available in more than 200 countries. (Oberlo)
• Over 22.2 million of TikTok's monthly active users are in Indonesia. (Statista)

User Behavior

TikTok is a fast-paced app. The second you log in, you see a video at the top of a feed that's algorithmically curated around your interests. If you enjoy the video you're watching, you can follow, comment, and like the content directly from the video post. If you're not loving what you see, you can keep swiping in an upward motion to immediately see more odd videos.

From my own experience, I've found that TikTok can easily cause you to spend more time than expected watching an endless stream of often comedic videos. Since these videos are usually between 15 seconds and one minute, it makes the app ideal for people who need quick entertainment on their morning commute or when they're bored at home.

Because of TikTok's quick pace and entertainment factor, the stats below aren't that surprising:

• The average user spends 89 minutes per day on the app, according to a leaked deck from TikTok. (Music Business Worldwide)
• As of September 2021, there are 14.43 million daily active users using the TikTok Android App and the average user spends 12.3 hours per month using it. (Statista, HootSuite)
• TikTok is one of the most downloaded apps in the Google Play Store. (Statista)
• Younger users aged 4-15 spend an average of 80 minutes per day on the app. (Qustodio)
• According to a leaked TikTok deck, the average user opens the app 19 times per day. (Music Business Worldwide)
• There are 30.8 million global DAU on the TikTok iOS app as of September 2021. (Statista)
• TikTok users on Android now spend more time watching content on the app than they do on YouTube. (App Annie)

Viral Trends and Influencers on TikTok

Like YouTube, Vine, Instagram, as well as other past and present video apps, TikTok has opened doors for influencers, comedians, meme creators, and even some brands. While it's still a bit too early to see how successful its influencers and trends will be in the long run, here are a few interesting tidbits:

• The most followed creator on TikTok is dancer Charli D’amelio with 123.5 million followers. Following close behind is Khabane Lame with 115 million. (Wikipedia)
• One of the earliest branded hashtag challenges was Guess' #InMyDenim challenge. According to TikTok, videos marked with this hashtag have received a grand total of 38.8 million views. (TikTok)
• Rapper Lil Nas X credits the success of his song "Old Town Road" to TikTok. The song was propelled to #1 on the Billboard Top 100 in 2019 after the artist uploaded it to TikTok. (BuzzFeed News)

Here's a compilation of TikTok's #CowboyChallenge where people wearing normal clothing cut to themselves in cowboy costumes to the song "Old Town Road."

Business, Revenue, and Competition

The launch of TikTok not only put its parent company, ByteDance, on the map, but it also resulted in competition from apps like Facebook, which launched a very similar app called Lasso shortly after TikTok went viral. While TikTok and ByteDance are less transparent about revenue and other major details, here's what we know:

• TikTok now offers five advertising tiers aimed at big brands. One of which, a branded hashtag challenge, reportedly costs $150,000 per day. (TikTok Pitch Deck Notes First Reported by Digiday)
• TikTok generated an estimated 1.9 billion in revenue in 2020. (Business of Apps)
• In October 2020, TikTok made $115 million on in-app purchases from users. (Sensor Tower)
• TikTok has a 4.9-star rating in the Apple App Store and 4.4 in the Google Play Store. (Apple App Store, Google Play Store)
• Bytedance, TikTok's parent company is valued at $75 million, making it the world's most valuable startup. (CBInsights)

The Mysteries of TikTok

Although TikTok is a top social platform and is ramping up its options for advertisers, it's still rather new. When a company or startup is new, it's not uncommon for leadership to hide early numbers, even when a brand is successful. In fact, we've seen this with other major companies like Snapchat and Netflix.

Despite the launch of TikTok For Business in mid 2020, there’s still a lot more to learn as TikTok’s global teams and ByteDance continue to remain hush-hush about major metrics. In the coming years, as TikTok continues to draw in more advertisers, it wouldn’t be surprising if we started to see more transparent information about the app and its user base. 

Where to Find TikTok Stats

In the meantime, If you want to learn more about TikTok, you can read up on its short history and early success in this post, or click here to find a how-to guide for using the app. In addition, you can discover important TikTok facts app on various websites: 

• Statista
• Business of Apps
• Global Web Index
• Pew Research Center
• eMarketer

Want to see what other businesses are doing on TikTok? Check out this roundup of brands on TikTok.

29 TikTok Stats to Know in 2021 was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns