How to Make an Instagram Business Account

Instagram is an undeniably powerful tool for businesses.

In fact, 63% of people say Instagram allows them to form meaningful connections with brands, and roughly 80% say Instagram helps them conduct research on a product and ultimately decide whether or not to make a purchase.

All of which is to say: If you're not using Instagram to reach new audiences, increase brand awareness, and ultimately grow sales, then you could be missing out.

In this post, we'll review how to make an Instagram business account, and the benefits of having one. Plus, how to switch back-and-forth between a business and personal account.

1. Download the Instagram app.

To get started, you'll need to download the Instagram app on your phone or go to the Instagram site.

If you don't already have an Instagram account, you can either download the app and click "Create New Account", or open the desktop version (www.Instagram.com) and follow the same steps:

2. Sign up.

Next, you'll fill out the form with your email address (make sure you choose a business email address), company name, username, and password.

You can also sign up with Facebook. If you already have a business Facebook account, this could be a good option.

It's important to note that your username should most likely be your company name, and your password should follow all recommended guidelines (include a number, special characters, etc.).

3. Switch from a personal account to a business account.

Now that you're set up with a profile, it's time to switch it to a business account.

To do so, go to your profile and click the three lines in the top right corner:

Then, click "Settings" in the navigation menu that appears:

Now, click "Account" from the Settings page:

Finally, click "Switch to Professional Account":

When you get to this point, you'll see another option to switch to a "Creator" account. Creator accounts are meant to be used by influencers, public figures, or content creators.

If you're a business that sells a product or service, then a business account is the right option.

4. Complete and customize your profile.

At this point, you're all set up with a business account, but you're not done yet.

Before you can start promoting your social media, you'll need to complete your profile:

To do this, choose a profile photo. Your profile image will typically be some variation of your logo so your audience can easily recognize it.

Next, you'll need to write your bio and fill out your company info. This will include your website, store hours, and contact information. This is information that prospects will be looking for, so make sure it’s clearly — and correctly — displayed on your profile.

5. Post some content.

Before you can promote your account, it's important to post a few images first. Perhaps you can write an introduction or hello post.

When you start interacting with people and following people, they'll likely visit your account. You want there to be something to see that explains who you are as a company.

6. Link your business Facebook page.

If you didn't choose to sign up with your business Facebook account, then it's time to link your account here.

This is an important step because you need to have a Facebook business page to use some of Instagram's business tools.

To link your account, click the three lines in the top right corner (like you did for step one). Then, click "Settings" and "Business."

Now, you can click "Connect a Facebook Page":

It's important to note — You'll need to be logged in to Facebook to do this.

7. Start following people.

Your profile is essentially ready to go. To get started on Instagram, invite your Facebook followers to follow you on Instagram.

You should also start following people to get the ball rolling. However, make sure that you're strategic. Follow pages that make sense for your brand such as:

• Relevant companies in your city or state.
• Informational pages that provide news on your industry.
• Influencers in your industry for influencer marketing opportunities.

8. Develop a strategy.

Starting your Instagram business account is just the beginning. Once you're all set with your page, it's time to learn how to use Instagram for marketing.

You'll want to think about the hashtags you'll use, the accounts you'll target, and who you'll engage with.

To get started, you can learn how to use Instagram for marketing with HubSpot Academy's Instagram Marketing Course.

Now, what if you have a creator account and you want to switch to a business account? Or what if you have a business account that you want to switch to personal? Or perhaps you have a personal account you want to switch to business?

To do this, follow the steps below.

1. Go to your profile.

The first step to switch your account is to go to your profile.

2. Tap the Settings cog.

Next, click the three lines in the top right corner.

Then, click "Settings":

3. Click Account and switch to a business profile.

Now, click "Account" and then "Switch to Business Profile."

Similarly, if you're a business page and want to switch to a personal account, this button will become "Switch to Personal Account."

No matter what account you have or what you want to switch it to, this is the process to go through.

Interestingly, you can also do this by just clicking on your profile, and clicking "Edit Profile."

Now at this point, you might be wondering, "Why do I need a business account?" Let's go over some of the top benefits of having a business account on Instagram.

1. Action Buttons

With an Instagram business account you can add action buttons to your profile, such as "Book an Appointment," "Make a Reservation," or "Get Tickets" depending on your needs.

In fact, plenty of scheduling software integrates with Instagram, so you can attach your Instagram business account to your scheduling software.

Additionally, you can add CTAs on your profile, including "Call" or "Email" so it's easier for your audience to get in touch with you.

2. Auto-Scheduling Posts

A major perk of having a business account is the ability to schedule posts in advance. This is helpful because you can implement and execute your strategy without needing to spend every day on the app.

3. Access to Analytics

With a business profile, you'll gain access to insights about your followers. You can see a demographic breakdown and how your audience interacts with your posts.

4. Ability to Manage Ads

This is one of the best features of Instagram business accounts.

You'll be able to promote posts and can easily select your audience, set a budget, and get rolling with advertising.

You can even work with influencers by directly promoting their branded content (if you're tagged as a business partner).

To get more in-depth, your Facebook account will need to be linked so you can use the Facebook Ads Manager.

Set Up Your Instagram Business Account Today

Getting started with Instagram marketing can be hugely beneficial for your company, and thankfully it’s an easy process. Watch your social presence grow overtime with tracked metrics and further your reach with your Instagram business account.

Editor's note: This article was originally published in April 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

How to Make an Instagram Business Account was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

The 9 Goals to Consider When Creating a Marketing Strategy

If someone asks you to list a few marketing goal examples, could you?

When many think of marketing, they go to the big flashy examples – like SuperBowl commercials and Spotify’s annual "Wrapped" campaigns. But the truth is, that’s likely the result of months of strategizing.

Before you can build your strategy though, you first need a clear goal. What does your business want to accomplish? Maybe you need more traffic to your website or perhaps you want to generate more leads.

If you need help figuring out what that is, we’ve got you covered.

A campaign without a clear goal is essentially a waste of money. Because you won’t know how to measure the impact or value of the work you’ve put in.

Goals are there to provide clarity, purpose, direction and vision. Whether personal or commercial, they are what lead to success for you, your department, and the business as a whole. Hitting your goal proves you're making an impact. We all want to feel like we're contributing, right?

Here, we're going to explore the major goals you should consider when creating and implementing a marketing strategy. These goals should help you achieve maximum results in 2022 and beyond.

1. Increase brand awareness.

In 2021, we surveyed over 1,000 global marketers – 48% of marketers surveyed said their primary goal when running marketing campaigns was increasing brand awareness.

Brand awareness is key to gaining customers because after all, if consumers don’t know you exist, how will they know what you have to offer?

Every brand has a personality — a human voice shaped by the tone you strike and the platforms you're using and the subjects or topics you're talking about. If your goal is to raise brand awareness, figuring out what that personality is and how that voice sounds is the place to start.

From there, here are some tactical steps:

• Tell a story – Consumers engage with brands they feel connected to and storytelling is an incredibly powerful tool to do it. To craft your narrative, think about your origin story and what adds humanity to your brand.
• Consider where your target buyers spend the most time – Online, this might look like a particular social network like Instagram or TikTok. It could also be a specific channel like email and podcasts. You want to meet your audience where they are
• Share and engage constantly – Once you know what story you want to tell and where your audience is, all that’s left is to engage with them. This can look like posting interesting content on social media, having a blog or guest blogging to share industry insights, and conducting polls.

You're more than a business that sells a product or service. As you have a positive impact on your audience, they'll likely turn into advocates of your brand, sharing your content and passing along their positive experiences to friends, family, and colleagues.

Top brand awareness tip: It's not all ‘me me me'. A conversation goes two ways, so don't forget to stop and listen to what the people you're trying so hard to reach are saying back to you. You never know — they might just have some valuable insights or great ideas.

How do you measure brand awareness?

Although brand awareness can be a hard metric to track and measure, you can review the effectiveness of your activities by looking at your quantitative metrics such as:

• Brand mentions, reach, follower count for social media
• Branded search volume, website traffic, backlinks for SEO

To learn more about increasing brand awareness, read this Ultimate Guide to Brand Awareness.

2. Generate high-quality leads.

Your sales department depends on a consistent stream of leads to nurture and turn into new customers.

You're not their only source of leads, but it's safe to say your colleagues over in sales are depending on you to convert leads into new contacts to which they can reach out.

27% of marketers surveyed in 2021 by HubSpot Blog Research said generating leads and traffic was the biggest challenge they faced in 2021. What’s more, 21% say they expect to meet that same challenge in 2022.

From tried-and-tested methods like on-page forms to innovative features like chatbots, there are many ways to drive marketing-qualified leads.

Here’s an example of a lead-gen strategy:

• A website visitor discovers your site through an ad and arrives at a landing page.
• They click on the call-to-action to receive a content offer, otherwise known as a lead magnet.
• To download the form, they must first fill out a form (known as a lead capture form).
• After filling out their name and email, they access the content offer download page.

This is followed by a nurturing strategy to guide the user down the sales funnel.

There are many ways to generate leads, including:

• Email newsletters
• Retargeting ads
• Content marketing
• Social media

If you’re having trouble driving leads, create a report of all the leads coming in and section out those who've been disqualified, and why. This can help refine your marketing processes and continuously improve the quality of leads coming in.

How do you measure high-quality leads?

Analyze trends across the leads who eventually turn into customers. Create goals and custom reports such as multi-touch revenue attribution reports, customize your dashboards, report on revenue, and more.

If you're looking for tools to create and track effective marketing goals for an entire marketing team, check out HubSpot's Marketing Hub.

3. Acquire new customers.

Gaining customers is key to expanding your reach and growing your business. Many companies struggle to build a sustainable strategy that will scale.

For instance, say your main customer acquisition play is by leveraging content marketing. Do you have a strong team to build out a style guide and content strategy then execute on it for your chosen channels?

Or say you use a freemium model, by giving consumers a taste of your product to attract and hopefully convert them to the paid version. Do you have a strong conversion strategy and a team that can focus on optimizations?

To build a strong marketing strategy with the goal of acquiring new customers, focus on leveraging sustainable and flexible tactics that will scale with your business.

How do you measure customer acquisition?

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• Total new customers
• Churn rate
• Product sign-ups

4. Increase website traffic.

In this digital age, getting strong traffic to your website is one of the major signs of a successful marketing strategy.

In fact, 54% of marketers surveyed in 2021 say web traffic is the most important metric when measuring the effectiveness of their content marketing efforts.

So, how do you accomplish this? Here are a few strategies:

• Increase your paid ad campaigns.
• Double down on your SEO efforts to increase your search engine ranking.
• Start a blog.
• Ensure all marketing channels circle back to your website.

How do you measure website traffic?

• Total sessions
• Total unique pageviews
• Average time spent on page
• Bounce rate
• Conversion by traffic source

5. Establish industry authority.

It doesn't matter what industry you find yourself in — being recognized as an expert in your field is fundamental for proving a high level of knowledge and credibility.

Not to be confused with brand awareness, thought leadership is about consumers recognizing your brand — and the people within your business — as among the best and most trustworthy in the industry.

On the other hand, brand awareness is more about making sure your brand is heard, seen, and recognized at all.

There are different ways to develop and maintain thought leadership. One of those methods is by publishing and sharing content that inspires your audience and speaks to their pain points.

Leveraging partner networks to ensure you're able to reach a larger audience and appear up-to-par with other industry leaders is another approach to thought leadership.

For instance, building an external community through outreach and guest blogging is great for working with other trusted and reputable brands in the industry to create valuable content.

As you build your thought leadership strategy, consistency becomes essential to maintaining it. Publishing and sharing your content consistently is important to continue to appear relevant and forward-thinking in your industry.

Alternatively, you might consider hosting a webinar or panel discussion with other major industry leaders.

How do you measure thought leadership?

Similar to brand awareness, thought leadership can be tricky to measure.

One way to do it is through media mentions. If your brand is mentioned often in relation to your industry, that’s a good indicator that you have a strong thought leadership program. A high branded search volume and a high number of backlinks can also be indicators of success.

To learn more about thought leadership, take a look at The Content Marketer's Guide to Thought Leadership.

6. Increase customer value.

The marketing conversation has moved well beyond simply generating new business. Today, it's more important than ever that you're delighting your existing customer base, keeping the people your business depends on happy and, whenever possible, helping them to promote you.

Delighted people won't just buy from you again — they'll also refer you to their friends and colleagues, too.

If your goal is to help retain and grow your existing customers, there's plenty you can be doing to achieve it:

• Get your customer data in order, from purchases to net promoter score.
• Build a loyalty program where customers can get early access to products and discounts.
• Launch a referral program.
• Share customer success stories.

How can you tell if you're increasing customer value?

You'll want to measure your upsell targets or retention targets to evaluate whether you're increasing customer value and loyalty over time.

Additionally, closely monitor what content you share with customers that influenced the most deals, or the last piece of content they interacted with before a deal closed. This will help you visualize which content is most valuable to your existing and new customers.

7. Boost brand engagement.

Brand engagement tells you that your audience is listening to you and enjoys your content. What’s better than that?

Boosting brand engagement won’t happen overnight. In fact, it can take months to see the impact of your efforts. However, when it does happen, you can see strong results on your reach and more importantly, your revenue.

Here are the steps you can take to do so:

1. Identify what your audience cares about.
2. Be consistent about sharing valuable content.
3. Encourage action by initiating conversation and inviting your audience to join.
4. Host giveaways and contests.
5. Personalize communications when possible.

What you’re doing through these steps is building a community. A loyal community will engage with your audience and better yet, they’ll spread the word to others.

How can you tell if you’re boosting brand engagement?

This will depend on the channel you’re checking and where on the funnel you’re focusing on. For instance, on social media, likes, shares, comments, and retweets are considered engagement.

With email, engagement will look like opens and clicks.

These are channels mostly used for top- to mid-funnel engagement. For customers, engagement metrics can be:

• Net promoter scores (NPS)
• Customer satisfaction score
• Referrals
• Average website session duration

8. Increase revenue.

According to 2021 HubSpot Blog Research data 43% of marketers surveyed say their primary goal when running marketing campaigns in 2021 was increasing revenue – making it the second highest goal behind brand awareness.

Marketing can play a huge role in increasing revenue as they can target consumers at every stage of the funnel.

Here are some marketing strategies you can use at every stage:

• Top of the funnel – Build a strong digital presence on social media and web, create content your audience cares about on the channels they consume, develop content offers to turn visitors into leads.
• Middle of the funnel – Identify signals that turn prospects into MQLs, automating lead nurturing emails, retargeting campaigns.
• Bottom of the funnel – Create tutorials, share product demos and customer success stories.
• After-purchase – Build a customer loyalty program.

Keep in mind that this list isn’t exhaustive but it can help you get started.

What are some metrics to track increasing revenue?

• Annual Recurring Revenue
• Average Revenue Per User
• Quota Attainment
• Win Rate

10. Improve internal brand.

Increasingly, marketing teams are also taking on responsibilities around internal communications and educating employees across the business on the tools and resources they need to succeed when selling or providing service to customers.

Do your colleagues understand your brand's target personas and what they need at their respective stage in the buyer's journey?

It's important to ensure all employees are given what they need in order to talk about the business with confidence to prospects and customers and become ambassadors for your brand.

How can you tell if you're empowering colleagues?

If you've delivered an internal newsletter, review its performance data to determine whether or not your colleagues across the company are actually opening it and clicking through the relevant resources contained within.

Alternatively, was your goal to educate the team about a new product or updated messaging?

A company-wide survey can take very little time to create and can provide you — and the rest of your team — with valuable feedback on your efforts.

By now, you should be well on your way to setting and achieving your own SMART marketing goals.

Remember, whichever goals you set for yourself and your team, they have to serve a purpose and benefit the business as a whole.

Whether that means generating high-quality leads for sales or stepping up your brand awareness game, you'll be ready to increase revenue and enable your business to grow better in no time.

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

The 9 Goals to Consider When Creating a Marketing Strategy was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

What Are Employability Skills?

Most jobs require specific skills to succeed, like knowing how to use social media scheduling tools if you’re going to work as a content creator.

However, most jobs require skills that aren’t always listed on a job application because you’re expected to have them no matter what, like communicating with your coworkers.

These skills, often called employability skills, are critical even if they’re not listed on a job application. Let’s go over what they are, how they apply to day-to-day activities, and how to improve upon them so you can succeed in every position you have.

 

As foundational skills, employability skills can be transferable to any position you hold, regardless of job type. For example, you need to communicate well regardless of your position level, whether you’re the C-Suite executive or newly-hired marketing intern.

Employability skills aren’t always listed as required skills on job applications because they are expected as a baseline, but employers and interviewers will still look for them during interviews and expect you to use them on the job.

Developing Employability Skills

You can develop employability skills without specific training through experiences at school, work, hobbies, and extracurricular activities. For example, you can develop public speaking skills from presentations given in class and collaboration skills from playing on a sports team in your free time.

Employability Skills Examples

Let’s go over some examples of employability skills.

• Communication: In all positions, you’ll need to communicate with your teammates and customers and be able to explain yourself clearly, both verbally and in writing.
• Collaboration: Employers want you to collaborate because teamwork is often a means by which a company can meet its goals. Collaboration also means being able to work well with others.
• Critical Thinking: This is your ability to analyze and understand the information in your workplace and act on it. This is a critical employability skill because you’ll always need to think logically about problems and situations that arise at work and come to a solution.
• Self-management: Employers want you to self-manage and meet deadlines and goals without significant guidance unless necessary. While there’s nothing wrong with asking for help, employers want to train you and have you be able to take on your everyday tasks.
• Adaptability: Adaptability is a critical employability skill because things can change quickly at work, and adjusting as necessary can be the difference between continuing business success or falling behind.
• Reliability: Employers want to know that they can trust you in all aspects of work, that you’re punctual and complete assignments, show up on time and that you can be consistent in your overall performance without strict guidance.
• Organization/Planning: Being organized and able to plan means you can adequately understand how to complete your assignments in a structured and timely manner. You can create schedules and stick to them to meet targets and deadlines.
• Leadership: Employers appreciate leadership skills because they want you to take charge when necessary, whether over your job performance or during team activities, or because you’re at a leadership level and manage other people.
• Willingness to learn: Being willing to learn is required for all jobs as you’re always expected to learn on the job, be open to learning on the job, and take on new tasks.
• Tech Savvy: A baseline ability to use technology in day-to-day job duties, anything from knowing how to send an email, conduct a query online, or use tools like Google Suite. Technological skills move out of essential employability skills when they are things like using different coding languages.

Improve Employability Skills

As mentioned above, employability skills aren’t taught. They come along with different experiences like working on a job and participating in hobbies. Working on improving your skills can typically be done in activities you may already be involved in. For example:

• If you want to improve your organization skills, you can organize events in your community.
• If you want to become a stronger leader, you can ask to shadow current leaders at your workplace to learn from their style or step up to the plate to lead new workplace activities.
• If you want to improve your technical skills, you can start leveraging different tools in your day-to-day life.
• If you want to be better at self-management, you can ask for more responsibility at work to help you learn about time management and organization.

When working to improve your employability skills, it may be helpful to plan out your progress in a checklist.

Employability Skills Checklist

An employability skills checklist will help you create an improvement plan to follow. You can select a specific skill you want to work on and outline the steps you’ll take to improve, a desired timeframe for the process, and resources that will help you get to your end goal.

Download This Template Here

Over To You

Developing employability skills isn’t a significant challenge, as we often develop them over time through life experiences. Use our checklist to take stock of the ones you have, and create plans to further develop those you think are lacking.

What Are Employability Skills? was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

27 Mission and Vision Statement Examples That Will Inspire Your Buyers

Think about the brands you purchase from over and over. Why do you choose to buy products and or services from them even when cheaper options exist?

Well, there's a good reason for it. The reason we stay loyal to brands is because of their values. The best brands combine physical, emotional, and logical elements into one exceptional customer (and employee) experience that you value as much as they do.

When your brand creates a genuine connection with customers and employees, they'll stay loyal to your company, thereby increasing your overall profitability. According to a Circular Board article, 74% of consumers say they’re loyal to a brand due to its product quality.

Building brand loyalty, like creating mission and vision statements, takes time. If you’re in a bit of a time crunch, use this table of contents to find precisely what you’re looking for to inspire the development of your company’s mission:

As a company grows, its objectives and goals may be reached, and in turn, they'll change. Therefore, mission statements should be revised as needed to reflect the business's new culture as previous goals are met.

Both mission and vision statements are often combined into one comprehensive "mission statement" to define the organization's reason for existing and its outlook for internal and external audiences — like employees, partners, board members, consumers, and shareholders.

The difference between mission and vision statements lies in the purpose they serve.

A mission statement is a literal quote stating what a brand or company is setting out to do. This lets the public know the product and service it provides, who it makes it for, and why it’s doing it. A vision statement is a brand looking toward the future and saying what it hopes to achieve through its mission statement. This is more conceptual, as it’s a glimpse into what the brand can become in the eyes of the consumer and the value it will bring in longevity.

In summary, the main differences between a mission and vision statement are:

• Mission statements describe the current purpose a company serves. The company's function, target audience, and key offerings are elements that are often mentioned in a mission statement.
• Vision statements are a look into a company’s future or what its overarching vision is. The same elements from the mission statement can be included in a vision statement, but they'll be described in the future tense.

Now that we know what they are, let’s dive into some useful examples of each across different industries.

Free Guide: 100 Mission Statement Templates & Examples

Need more examples to build your mission statement? Download our free overview of mission statements – complete with 100 templates and examples to help you develop a stand-out mission statement.

1. Life Is Good: To spread the power of optimism.

The Life is Good brand is about more than spreading optimism — although, with uplifting T-shirt slogans like "Seas The Day" and "Forecast: Mostly Sunny," it's hard not to crack a smile.

There are tons of T-shirt companies in the world, but Life is Good's mission sets itself apart with a mission statement that goes beyond fun clothing: to spread the power of optimism.

This mission is perhaps a little unexpected if you're not familiar with the company's public charity: How will a T-shirt company help spread optimism? Life is Good answers that question below the fold, where the mission is explained in more detail using a video and with links to the company’s community and the Life is Good Kids Foundation page. We really like how lofty yet specific this mission statement is — it's a hard-to-balance combination.

2. sweetgreen: To inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food.

Notice that sweetgreen's mission is positioned to align with your values — not just written as something the brand believes. We love the inclusive language used in its statement.

The language lets us know the company is all about connecting its growing network of farmers growing healthy, local ingredients with us — the customer — because we're the ones who want more locally grown, healthy food options.

The mission to connect people is what makes this statement so strong. And, that promise has gone beyond sweetgreen's website and walls of its food shops: The team has made strides in the communities where it's opened stores as well. Primarily, it provides education to young kids on healthy eating, fitness, sustainability, and where food comes from.

3. Patagonia: We’re in business to save our home planet.

Patagonia's mission statement spotlights the company’s commitment to help the environment and save the earth. The people behind the brand believe that among the most direct ways to limit ecological impacts is with goods that last for generations or can be recycled so the materials in them remain in use.

In the name of this cause, the company donates time, services, and at least 1% of its sales to hundreds of environmental groups worldwide.

If your company has a similar focus on growing your business and giving back, think about talking about both the benefit you bring to customers and the value you want to bring to a greater cause in your mission statement.

4. American Express: Become essential to our customers by providing differentiated products and services to help them achieve their aspirations.

Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.

— Simon Sinek (@simonsinek)

The tweet above is from Simon Sinek, and it's one that we repeat here at HubSpot all the time. American Express sets itself apart from other credit card companies in its list of values, with an ode to excellent customer service, which is something it’s famous for.

We especially love the emphasis on teamwork and supporting employees so that the people inside the organization can be in the best position to support their customers.

5. Warby Parker: To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.

This "objective" statement from Warby Parker uses words that reflect a young and daring personality: "rebellious," "revolutionary," "socially-conscious." In one sentence, the brand takes us back to the root of why it was founded while also revealing its vision for a better future.

The longer-form version of the mission reads: "We believe that buying glasses should be easy and fun. It should leave you happy and good-looking, with money in your pocket," which further shows how Warby Parker doesn't hold back on letting its unique personality shine through. Here, the mission statement's success all comes down to spot-on word choice.

6. InvisionApp: Question Assumptions. Think Deeply. Iterate as a Lifestyle. Details, Details. Design is Everywhere. Integrity.

These days, it can seem like every B2B company page looks the same — but InvisionApp has one of the cooler company pages I've seen. Scroll down to "Our Core Values," and hover over any of the icons, and you'll find a short-but-sweet piece of the overall company mission under each one.

We love the way the statements are laid out under each icon. Each description is brief, authentic, and business babble-free — which makes the folks at InvisionApp seem trustworthy and genuine.

7. Honest Tea: To create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages.

Honest Tea's mission statement begins with a simple punch line connoting its tea is real, pure, and therefore not full of artificial chemicals. The brand is speaking to an audience that's tired of finding ingredients in its tea that can't be pronounced and has been searching for a tea that's exactly what it says it is.

Not only does Honest Tea have a punny name, but it also centers its mission around the name. For some time, the company even published a Mission Report each year in an effort to be "transparent about our business practices and live up to our mission to seek to create and promote great-tasting, healthier, organic beverages."

8. IKEA: To offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them

The folks at IKEA dream big. The vision-based mission statement could have been one of beautiful, affordable furniture, but instead, it's to make everyday life better for its customers. It's a partnership: IKEA finds deals all over the world and buys in bulk, then we choose the furniture and pick it up at a self-service warehouse.

"Our business idea supports this vision ... so [that] as many people as possible will be able to afford them," the brand states.

Using words like "as many people as possible" makes a huge company like IKEA much more accessible and appealing to customers.

9. Nordstrom: To give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible.

When it comes to customer commitment, not many companies are as hyper-focused as Nordstrom is. Although clothing selection, quality, and value all have a place in the company's mission statement, it’s crystal clear that it’s all about the customer: "Nordstrom works relentlessly to give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible."

If you've ever shopped at a Nordstrom, you'll know the brand will uphold the high standard for customer service mentioned in its mission statement, as associates are always roaming the sales floors, asking customers whether they've been helped, and doing everything they can to make the shopping experience a memorable one.

10. Cradles to Crayons: Provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive – at home, at school, and at play.

Cradles to Crayons divided its mission and model into three sections that read like a game plan: The Need, The Mission, and The Model. The "rule of three" is a powerful rhetorical device called a tricolon that's usually used in speechwriting to help make an idea more memorable. A tricolon is a series of three parallel elements of roughly the same length — think "I came; I saw; I conquered."

11. Universal Health Services, Inc.: To provide superior quality healthcare services that: PATIENTS recommend to family and friends, PHYSICIANS prefer for their patients, PURCHASERS select for their clients, EMPLOYEES are proud of, and INVESTORS seek for long-term returns.

A company thrives when it pleases its customers, its employees, its partners, and its investors — and Universal Health Services endeavors to do just that, according to its mission statement. As a health care service, it specifically strives to please its patients, physicians, purchasers, employees, and investors. We love the emphasis on each facet of the organization by capitalizing the font and making it red for easy skimming.

12. JetBlue: To inspire humanity – both in the air and on the ground.

JetBlue's committed to its founding mission through lovable marketing, charitable partnerships, and influential programs — and we love the approachable language used to describe these endeavors. For example, the brand writes how it "set out in 2000 to bring humanity back to the skies."

For those of us who want to learn more about any of its specific efforts, JetBlue's provided details on the Soar With Reading program, its partnership with KaBOOM!, the JetBlue Foundation, environmental and social reporting, and so on. It breaks down all these initiatives really well with big headers, bullet points, pictures, and links to other web pages visitors can click to learn more. JetBlue also encourages visitors to volunteer or donate their TrueBlue points.

13. Workday: We aim for innovation not only in our development organization but also in the way we approach every aspect of our business.

Workday, a human resources (HR) task automation service, doesn't use its mission statement to highlight the features of its product or how it intends to help HR professionals improve in such-and-such a way.

Instead, the business takes a stance on the state of enterprise software in general: There's a lot of great tech out there. But at Workday, it revolves around the people. We love how confident yet kind this mission statement is. It observes the state of its industry — which Workday believes lacks a human touch — and builds company values around it.

14. Prezi: To reinvent how people share knowledge, tell stories, and inspire their audiences to act.

If you know Prezi, you know how engaging it can make your next business presentation look. According to its mission statement, the company's clever slide animations and three-dimensional experience aren't just superficial product features. With every decision Prezi makes, it's all about the story you tell and the audience that story affects.

15. Tesla: To accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.

A car company's punny use of the word "accelerate" is just one reason this mission statement sticks out. However, Tesla makes this list because of how its mission statement describes the industry.

It may be a car company, but Tesla's primary interest isn't just automobiles — it's promoting sustainable energy. And, sustainable energy still has a "long road" ahead of it (pun intended) — hence the world's "transition" into this market.

Ultimately, a mission statement that can admit to the industry's immaturity is exactly what gets customers to root for it — and Tesla does that nicely.

16. Invisible Children: To end violence and exploitation facing our world's most isolated and vulnerable communities.

Invisible Children is a non-profit that raises awareness around the violence affecting communities across Central Africa, and the company takes quite a confident tone in its mission.

The most valuable quality of this mission statement is that it has an end goal. Many companies' visions and missions are intentionally left open-ended so that the business might always be needed by the community. Invisible Children, on the other hand, wants to "end" the violence facing African families. It's an admirable mission that all businesses — not just nonprofits — can learn from when motivating customers.

17. TED: Spread ideas.

We've all seen TED Talks online before. Well, the company happens to have one of the most concise mission statements out there.

TED, which stands for "Technology Education and Design," has a two-word mission statement that shines through in every Talk you've seen the company publish on the internet. That mission statement: "Spread ideas." Sometimes, the best way to get an audience to remember you is to zoom out as far as your business's vision can go. What do you really care about? TED has recorded some of the most famous presentations globally, but in the grand scheme of things, all it wants is to spread ideas around to its viewers.

Now that we’ve gone over successful mission statements, what does a good vision statement look like? Check out some of the following company vision statements — and get inspired to write one for your brand.

1. Alzheimer's Association: A world without Alzheimer's disease.

The Alzheimer’s Association conducts global research and provides quality care and support to people with dementia. This vision statement looks into the future where people won’t have to battle this currently incurable disease. With the work that it's doing in the present, both employees and consumers can see how the organization achieves its vision by helping those in need.

2. Teach for America: One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.

Teach for America creates a network of leaders to provide equal education opportunities to children in need. This organization’s day-to-day work includes helping marginalized students receive the proper education they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Its vision statement is what it hopes to see through its efforts — a nation where no child is left behind.

3. Creative Commons: Realizing the full potential of the internet — universal access to research and education, full participation in culture — to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity.

This nonprofit’s vision statement is broad. It helps overcome legal obstacles to share knowledge and creativity around the world. By working closely with major institutions, its vision is an innovative internet that isn’t barred by paywalls.

4. Microsoft: We strive to create local opportunity, growth, and impact in every country around the world.

Microsoft is one of the most well-known technology companies in the world. It makes gadgets for work, play, and creative purposes on a worldwide scale, and its vision statement reflects that. Through its product offering and pricing, it can provide technology to anyone who needs it.

5. Australia Department of Health: Better health and wellbeing for all Australians, now and for future generations.

This government department has a clear vision for its country. Through health policies, programs, and regulations, it has the means to improve the healthcare of Australian citizens.

6. LinkedIn: Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.

LinkedIn is a professional networking service that gives people the opportunity to seek employment. Its vision statement intends to provide employees of every level a chance to get the job they need.

7. Disney: To be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.

Image Source

Disney’s vision statement goes beyond providing ordinary entertainment. It intends to tell stories and drive creativity that inspires future generations through its work. This is an exceptional vision statement because it goes beyond giving consumers programs to watch, but ones that excite and change the way people see them and the world around them.

8. Meta: Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.

Meta, formerly Meta, is a major social media platform with a concise vision statement. It provides a platform to stay in touch with loved ones and potentially connect to people around the world.

9. Southwest: To be the world's most loved, most efficient, and most profitable airline.

Southwest Airlines is an international airline that strives to serve its flyers with a smile. Its vision statement is unique because it sees itself not just excelling in profit but outstanding customer service, too. Its vision is possible through its strategy and can lead its employees to be at the level they work toward.

10. Dunkin': To be always the desired place for great coffee beverages and delicious complementary doughnuts & bakery products to enjoy with family and friends.

Notice the interesting use of the word "complementary" in this vision statement. No, the chain isn't envisioning giving out freebies in the future. Its vision goes beyond remaining a large coffee chain. Rather, the brand wants to be the consummate leader in the coffee and donut industry. It wants to become a place known for fun, food, and recreation.

Inspire Through Brand Values

Brand values play a much more significant role in customer loyalty than you think. Showing that your business understands its audience — and can appeal to them on an emotional level — could be the decision point for a customer’s next purchase. We hope you found some insight in this post that can help you brainstorm your inspiring vision and mission statements for your business.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

27 Mission and Vision Statement Examples That Will Inspire Your Buyers was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

Instagram Reels vs. TikTok vs. Snapchat: Which Should Businesses Use? [Marketing Professional Data]

Remember Vine? Despite its huge initial growth, the six-second looping video app was discontinued by Twitter in 2016 — only four years after its launch.

Since then, we've seen apps like Snapchat, Instagram’s Reels feature, and TikTok fill its void. They allow users to express their creativity with short mobile videos while attracting Gen Z and millennial audiences. They also feel more niche and non-traditional than older platforms, like Facebook or Twitter.

Snapchat, which launched in 2011, allows users to create video-based stories about their lives and send video or image-based messages to their friends. Unlike most other apps, Snapchat content expires either immediately or after 24 hours. This platform leads to users creating content that is more lighthearted on uncensored than other more public-facing platforms.

Meanwhile, TikTok, which launched in just 2017, is similar to Vine in that it allows users to create 10 to 60-second looping videos that can be seen on their profiles or can be algorithmically placed on feeds of users with similar interests or demographics.

Instagram Reels, launched in late 2020, is the platform's answer to TikTok. The similarities between the two are many — they both allow users to quickly create short-form videos and add filters, effects, and music. However, the most noticeable difference between the two is the length of videos. A Reel is capped at 60 seconds, whereas a TikTok video can reach 3 minutes.

At the moment, all three apps continue to grow. Instagram has 500 million daily users globally, closely followed by Snapchat with 306 million. Not to be outshined, TikTok hit a big milestone towards the end of 2021 — 1 billion daily users.

Despite each platform's growth, marketers in the social media realm are wondering, "Are any of these worth the hype? Or will they just become another Vine?"

It's no secret that short-form videos are dominating the social media landscape, and it doesn't appear to be slowing down. 31% of marketers currently leverage short-form video and 29% plan to leverage it for the first time in 2022. But where, exactly, do they plan to invest?

To learn more about the strength of these three apps, the HubSpot Blog surveyed 1,000+ marketers to find out where they're investing their time and money.

When asked which platforms marketers plan to increase their investment in this year, TikTok came out on top (62%), with Instagram following closely behind (54%).

But how do these apps fair for ROI? When asked which platform resulted in the biggest ROI in 2021, 18% of marketers responded with Instagram, earning a second place spot. Meanwhile, TikTok landed in fourth place at 12%. As for Snapchat, it didn't make the top five — but you shouldn't cross it off your list just yet (more on that later).

Below, I'll walk you through the ins and outs of TikTok, Reels, and Snapchat, their distinct differences, and the marketing opportunities that each app could provide you now and in the future.

Snapchat vs. TikTok: A Head-to-Head Comparison

User Base

Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok claim to have predominantly Gen-Z and millennial audiences. In fact, a recent study found that Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok were the platforms of choice for Gen Zer's.

According to 2019 data from Snapchat, 90% of 13 to 24-year-olds use Snapchat. Similarly, more than half of TikTok's global audience is under 34. Meanwhile, Instagram holds nearly equal sway with both Gen-Z and millennial audiences.

The three platforms also have incredibly global audiences. While Snapchat has a large number of users from India, TikTok has such a large user base in China that it has a Chinese version of its app called Douyin. As for Instagram, India and the United States hold the top spots as the countries with the highest number of Instagram users.

Platform and Features

Snapchat's format includes three main pages: a Friends page, the camera, and Discover. The Friends page shows a list of the user's friends where it allows them to open Snaps or see each user's Story. The other two pages are its camera and Snapchat Discover.

While the camera is pretty straightforward to visualize, here are screenshots of the Friends Page, Camera, and Discover:

Image Source

Discover is specifically for brands and publishers to post Stories. While the Friends page allows you to access Stories that have been filmed or created by friends natively in the app, Stories published by brands on the Discover page are often high quality and include graphic designs, edited imagery, animation, or production quality video. Here's a detailed post about how brands are leveraging Snapchat Discover.

TikTok also has a few central pages. One is a feed that allows people to see videos from their followers or that TikTok algorithms will think a user is interested in.

Image Source

Aside from the feed, users can click on the Search page to see both a search box and highlights of all the trending topics on TikTok. The other two major pages are the app's camera and the user's profile page.

Here's where Instagram Reels is different — while TikTok and Snapchat are standalone platforms, Instagram Reels is just one feature within the app.

Image Source

Instagram Reels has a few central pages — the camera, the feed, and the Explore page. When users record a Reel, they can share it with their friends on their private feed or, if they have a public account, make it available to the broader Instagram community through the Explore page.

Regardless, your Reels will live in a designated tab under your profile. You can also share your reel to your Story, close friends, or in a direct message.

Want to learn more about how to navigate and create posts on each app? Check out our guides on how to use Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram Reels.

Content on Each Platform

Snapchat is primarily an app for friend-to-friend content which includes text and video-based messages that people post to their daily Stories or send specifically to friends.

However, on the Discover area of the platform, marketers can create advertisements and Story editions with videos and graphics to promote their own products or services. Here's an example of a Story from Snapchat Discover that highlights a Los Angeles-based manicurist:

Since TikTok allows you to instantly publish public videos, the platform is great for both branded and non-branded content. Much of the content you see on TikTok is short, looping skits, mini-music videos, or vlog-styled clips.

Like Snapchat, Instagram Reels can be shared amongst friends or made public to the larger community. But in order for your Reel to go viral, you need to be picked for the Explore page. When this happens, you’ll receive a notification letting you know that your video has been selected. This can happen anywhere from immediately after posting to a few days after publishing.

Plus, with the integration of Shopping and Branded Content features, we’re seeing businesses use Reels as a tool to promote products and partner with influencers to create branded content.

Which platform is better for content marketing?

Each platform has its pros and cons for content marketers. Here's what you should keep in mind about each.

TikTok

If you're aiming to target Gen-Z and on an incredibly limited budget, TikTok's app might be worth experimenting on. Because of the way the app is formatted, users can more easily find your company page, follow you, or search for your content than they can on Snapchat. You can also further optimize videos with hashtags and keywords.

However, if you're looking for website traffic, or don't have time to experiment with TikTok, you'll want to hold off for now. The platform is still highly experimental and only allows certain brands to link their videos to web content.

Snapchat

On Snapchat, marketers will mainly thrive on the Discover page. While partnering with Snapchat to become an official Discover publisher might be inaccessible at the moment, you can still purchase ads on the platform that similarly allow you to tell users a visual Story about your product. These ads can even get high placement within Discover feeds.

One thing to note is that Snapchat Discover-based ads are much shorter than the Stories of Discover publishers. This means that if you want to create long-form Story content to highlight a product, service, or brand, you might want to try Instagram Reels or consider TikTok experimentation.

Aside from Discover, creating an individual account has not proven to be hugely beneficial for brands because users still have to friend them to see their content. Brands also can't add links to this content like they do with ads.

However, if you're looking to create short, bite-sized content for web traffic, conversions, or high placement on a social app that's popular with Gen Z or millennials, Snapchat's ad program still might be right for you because although the Stories you're allotted are shorter, you can still flex your creative muscles to quickly promote a product.

Instagram Reels

We like where Instagram Reels is going when it comes to branded content. With Branded Content Tags, influencers can disclose when they're creating branded content which increases transparency and makes it easier to create and share branded content.

Further, as Reels continue to earn its place on the app, we expect to see more video editing tools and insights.

User Behavior

Each of these apps have one primary goal: to keep users entertained on their respective platforms as long as possible. And, based on stats below, these applications do successfully keep users engaged.

Snapchat users spend an average of 26 minutes daily on the app and users create an average of 2.1 million Snaps per minute. Meanwhile, TikTok users spend an average of 52 minutes on the app daily as 90% of its user base logs in more than once a day. On average, Instagram users spend 53 minutes per day on the app — although we don't know how much of this time is spent on Reels specifically.

Although Snapchat is an app that encourages connecting with friends, more and more users are beginning to use it as a part of their shopping process. According to a 2019 Snapchat report, Snapchat users involve Snapchat in their buyer's journey 35% more than Twitter and 58% more than Facebook.

Instagram Reels is also involved in the buyer's journey. By integrating Shopping features, businesses and creators can tag products when they create a Reel, making them fully shoppable. When a viewer taps the “View Products” button, they can either buy, save, or learn more about the products.

Instagram Reels also integrates with Instagram Checkout — a feature that allows users to purchase products without leaving the app.

Image Source

When it comes to TikTok, there aren't many public stats related to advertising engagement just yet. However, brands have gone viral on the app, especially when creating hashtag challenges related to new product offerings. One example of this was Guess' #InMyDemin challenge. During the challenge, people posted videos of themselves in Guess' new denim clothing line. These TikTok videos then reportedly racked up a total of 3.8 million views.

As TikTok aims to gain more advertisers, you can probably expect to see more information coming soon about how users interact with advertisers.

Which user base is better for marketers?

While Gen Z is flocking to TikTok, there's a broader age group of both Gen Z and millennials on Snapchat and Instagram Reels.

Although users spend more time on TikTok and Instagram, they also use Snapchat as a utility app to connect with friends and log into it multiple times per day. This might mean that people see value in the app, other than entertainment, which is the pure mission of TikTok's platform.

Marketing Opportunities

Instagram Reels, Snapchat, and TikTok are trying to make their applications more enticing to advertisers. Here's a breakdown of each.

Snapchat

At this very moment, there are only two marketing options for brands on Snapchat and they're both more accessible to mid-sized or large companies than smaller businesses. The first, and seemingly most profitable, is advertising. Snapchat advertising has been seen to provide ROI related to both in-store and online store purchases.

Snapchat ads also allow you to present your ads in Snapchat's Discover, similarly to branded publishers. However, unlike Snapchat Discover publishers, you can link ads or paid mini-Stories to your website, which could be beneficial to your traffic or online conversions.

Posting Stories as a publisher on Snapchat Discover is the other option. However, to become a publisher, you need to have a specific contract with Snapchat rather than simply signing up online. You also need to create Story-styled, original content that really engages with users. Discover publishing is also meant to keep users in the app, meaning that you won't be able to place links into this type of content.

To learn more about how brands are leveraging both ads and Stories on Snapchat Discover, check out this blog post for a detailed list of examples and takeaways.

TikTok

TikTok only launched in 2017, but it's already expanding its advertising options. It's become a viable option for brands willing to get creative with their digital marketing. So much so, it launched TikTok for Business in 2021, allowing marketers to create and manage ad campaigns on the platform.

That said, TikTok ads come at a premium cost compared to other platforms. Reports from AdAge in late 2019 show that TikTok’s cost of advertising can be between $50,000 to $120,000 depending on the ad format and duration.

Although these costs are steep for small businesses, the good news is that there are many different ways to advertise on the platform besides its native paid advertising program.

Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels earns a gold star when it comes to marketing opportunities. Despite being criticized as a “TikTok copycat,” its rolled out numerous Shopping features that separate it from the pack.

Further, it may be more cost effective than TikTok. Creatopy, an ad design platform, published a case study comparing the performance between TikTok and Instagram Reels. It ran identical campaigns on both platforms — both had a total spend of $1,000 on each, the same video, ad copy, and landing page. They also targeted similar audiences.

The results were staggering — reach on Instagram Reels was almost double than on TikTok and impressions were almost triple. It cost them $2.60 to reach 1,000 people on Reels, compared to $5.03 on TikTok.

Of course, there are a lot of factors to consider when comparing two platforms, even when you use the same ad. It's also important to remember these apps are continuously updating their algorithms and features. This study could have very different results a few months from now.

Weighing Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram Reels

Although Snapchat is more mature, TikTok's newness makes it a great place for side experiments — especially when targeting Gen Z. Not only is content creation free on the app, but the platform is so new that nearly everything is experimental.

If your goal is to increase conversions and work with influencers, Instagram Reels is your best bet. Instagram is the platform of choice for influencer marketing, and its shopping and branded content features enable visitors to engage and convert without leaving the app.

That said, if you're more interested in marketing to professionals or those in B2B industries, table these platforms and focus on the more traditional social media networks.

Instagram Reels vs. TikTok vs. Snapchat: Which Should Businesses Use? [Marketing Professional Data] was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns