Thursday, February 24, 2022

29 Free Resume Templates for Microsoft Word (& How to Make Your Own)

No matter what industry you work in (or your experience level in that industry), a plain, black-and-white resume written in Times New Roman font just doesn't quite cut it anymore.

But just because resumes have gotten more creative doesn’t mean you need special design software to make your application stand out. On the contrary, writing your resume in good old Microsoft Word is still the perfect way to develop your personal brand, while also communicating your experience and career goals.

→ Download Now: 12 Resume Templates [Free Download]

Read on to find out how to make your resume in word, then download one of these amazing resume templates that open directly in Microsoft Word.

free editable resume pdf template

Download 12 free, editable resume templates.

1. Open Microsoft Word on your computer.

If you have Microsoft Word installed on your computer, open the program and let it load for a moment. There will be a couple of helpful options waiting for you on the first screen, specifically for resume creation.

2. Select either "Basic Resume" or "Bold Resume" from the template menu.

Once you've launched MS Word, a window of templates will appear. Scroll down until you see the template options designed for resumes — there will be at least two of them. Double-click the one that suits your style and personal brand, but don't be too particular about design just yet ... you can customize these templates quite a bit.

3. Fill in your name and contact information at the top.

When your resume template opens, you'll see placeholder text for each line of your resume, starting with your first and last name at the top. Delete this header text and enter your name, as well as any contact information by which you want the recruiter to contact you.

4. Draft a brief summary of your experience and goals.

Use the first line below your name and contact info to describe who you are, what you do, and what you're looking for in your career.

5. Enter your school and latest education.

List any relevant degrees or certificates you received through schooling. You can safely exclude secondary education if you've graduated from an accredited college.

6. Describe each job you've held using the lines prompted on the template.

Your professional experience is frequently the most important section of your resume, so feel free to rank this section above your skills and education, depending on how many jobs you previously held.

7. List all relevant skills.

If you have experience in certain software, exercises, problem-solving, or management techniques, use them to populate your skills. Your resume's "Skills" section helps reveal what all of your previous jobs or related experiences have in common, based on what they taught you and what you provided them.

8. Describe any relevant accolades and accomplishments.

Finish out your resume with any personal accomplishments or accolades you think a hiring manager in your industry would appreciate. Although this section shouldn't include a Most Improved recognition from little league, for example, it should definitely include your Marketer of the Month award from your last position.

Next, let’s cover how to format your brand-new resume in Word.

How To Format a Resume in Word

When formatting a resume in Word, it’s important to know the right style. We’ll go over it piece by piece.

Set the Right Margins and Font Size

Your resume should contain one-inch margins on all sides. Most documents will automatically have one-inch margins, but it’s best to double-check or create them yourself. Here’s how to create one-inch margins for your resume:

  • Go to “Layout.”
  • Click “Margins.”
  • Click the “Normal” setting, where it states 1” on the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the document.

Lastly, make sure your font size is 12-pt. This font size is standard for most resumes. However, if you have a particularly long CV, you could potentially get away with an 11-pt font size to fit it all on one page.

Create Headers

You should separate each section (i.e., education, work experience) with a header.

Create a header in Word by selecting “Styles”. You can use “Header 1” for your first and last name at the top of the page. “Header 2” is great for the “Education” section, “Work Experience” section, and “Skills” section. Use “Header 3” for employer names and job titles, and use normal text to fill in the details of your accomplishments, skills, and educational background.

Create Dividers

If you want to visually divide your resume into different parts, you can create dividers to split up the information and make your resume more scannable. Here’s how to add dividers:

Go to “Insert”, select “Illustrations,” and then click “Shapes”. You can select “Lines” to draw a line in Word. Another shortcut to create dividers is pressing the “=”, “_”, or and “*” three times and hitting enter. These give a variation of dividers that can add dimension to your resume.

Create Bullet Points

The truth is, no hiring manager will read a paragraph of information, so we recommend using bullets instead to list your accomplishments and responsibilities underneath your job titles. When you open “Paragraph,” you’ll see a variation of bullet points you can use. Choose the one you like best.

Sometimes, you might not have time to create and format a resume from scratch. Plus, if you’re already employed full-time, it’s hard to find the time to apply to a new job opportunity, let alone update your resume to reflect your qualifications.

Luckily, there are numerous publishers out there who've created incredible resume templates for quick editing and formatting in Word.

You can also find resume templates directly in Word, which we’ll go over next.

To keep you from hunting the internet for resume templates that are both free and compatible with MS Word, we’ve listed some options below for you to customize with your own information right now. 

Some of them come with variations so you can pick your favorite design. A few of them cater specifically to marketers.

Free Resume Template Downloads for Word

1. Monogram Header Resume Template

resume templates for word: Monogram Header Resume

Download this template here.

We'll start with a simple one. This is a HubSpot exclusive resume template that is simple and clean with attractive monogrammed headers to call out each section of the resume. The rest of the design relies on a simple serif font for easy reading, which is a good thing considering that hiring managers only take 7.4 seconds to evaluate a resume. You want your experience section to be easily scannable.

Recommended For: Freelancers

This resume template is best for freelancers. The project section is great for showcasing the skills that would be most applicable for the industry the applicant wants to enter.

2. Maroon Sidebar Resume Template

resume templates for word: Maroon Sidebar Resume

Download this template here.

Pulling your more text-heavy information off to the side in an attractive color-blocked sidebar, this resume lets your experience stand for itself in white space at the top. It's also easily customizable with no difficult-to-manipulate tables or formatting. The sidebars are in movable text boxes that can even be removed if you wish.

Recommended For: College Graduates

This template is best for young professionals starting their career. This adjustable resume template can give you full customization options for your first resume.

3. Centered Bar Resume Template

resume templates for word: Centered Bar Resume

Download this template here.

This resume takes on a different look than most resumes, centered around a single bar. This makes the resume more visually striking, which could draw attention as hiring managers are evaluating candidates. It also puts emphasis on the objective with your chronological experience supporting it underneath. All of this is in an attractive serif font that is elegant and classy.

Recommended For: College Graduates

This template is great for college graduates to demonstrate their most recent accomplishments. The “Objective” section will help you showcase where you are trying to go in your career.

4. Bold Serif Resume Template

resume templates for word: Bold Serif Resume

Download this template here.

Speaking of serif font, this resume puts forward an element of grace and formality with its font choices. It's perfect for individuals who are looking for more organic color than the ones more typically found in resumes, and the colors are also easily changed in Microsoft Word's theme settings. It also includes a skill-level bar, adding a nice visual touch to the template.

Recommended For: College Students

This template is great for college students to demonstrate their internship experience. The volunteering section gives a rounded viewpoint of your accomplishments if you are just leaving college.

5. Modern Chronological Resume Template

resume templates for word: Modern chronological resume template

Download this template here.

This resume template is available from Microsoft itself, and it’s one of many free templates the company has prepared for those who depend on Microsoft Office tools to create content. Yes, it is written in Times New Roman — don’t freak out.

Designs like this can borrow an old-school typeface and still impress recruiters with a clean layout and subtle use of color. You can also change the font if you wish (and the same goes for every template in our list).

Recommended For: Developers

The “Skills” section is perfect for candidates in the tech industry. A candidate can showcase the languages they are fluent in and show a variety of accomplishments, successfully demonstrating their capabilities as they move into a new industry.

6. Digital Marketing Resume Template

resume templates for word: Digital marketing resume template

Download this template here.

The digital marketing resume below comes from our own collection of resume templates, all of which open directly in MS Word.

Coming with two pages total, this sheet holds a wealth of information and offers the perfect amount of style while maintaining professionalism. Mid-level marketers all the way up to CMOs can find this template valuable.

Recommended For: Mid-Level Marketers

In this resume template, mid-level marketers can effectively showcase a variety of their skills, as well as their portfolio and other media pieces.

7. Simple and Clean Resume Template

resume templates for word: Simple and clean resume template

Download this template here.

This template is the perfect balance of creative and modest — best for the professional who wants to seem casual, thoughtful, but not over the top.

Not only does it feature a space for a headshot on the top-left, but you can customize the color of that entire panel. Created by Zoki Design, the resume template also comes with a matching cover letter template.

Recommended For: Junior to Senior Executives

If you have years of professional experience behind you, it’s smart to showcase the bulk of them without making the resume look dense with information. This design allows junior and senior executives to illustrate their authority and expertise in a clean, streamlined package.

8. Black and White Resume Template

Black and white resume template

Download this template here.

The Black and White resume template below suits professionals who prefer using color and shading to add structure to their resume.

The black banner at the top contrasts the applicant's name nicely to help make him/her more memorable to recruiters. The gray banner just below the header is perfect for a summary or career objective — it makes one's goals known but doesn't overpower the experience listed below it.

Recommended For: Graphic Designers

If you’re a graphic designer, this is the resume to showcase your art. This template has a monochromatic color scheme, but if you are a designer, you can easily take it to the next level.

9. Urban Development Resume Template

resume templates for word: Civil engineer's resume template

Download this template here.

The illustration on the top-left of this template shows who the designers at Hloom had in mind for this resume: civil engineers. But because it’s a Word document, that graphic is easy to edit and replace with an image that represents your line of work. Are you an analytics buff? Design a clever bar or line graph icon and place it next to your name in blue (or whatever color you’d like!).

Recommended for: Civil Engineers

If you’re a civil engineer who wants to display your accomplishments, this is the template to use! There’s a section that lets you list all of your achievements and notable opportunities that made you grow as a civil engineer.

10. Email Marketing Resume Template

resume templates for word: Email marketing resume template with red header text

Download this template here.

Red color never fails to stick out on a sheet of paper, especially if it's included in small amounts. The resume template for email marketers, below, captures that balance.

In addition to the professional title in the top-righthand corner, this template also stands out with a thin sans-serif font, helping make a lot of text easier for a recruiter to digest and read through.

Recommended for: Email Marketers

If you are an email marketer who wants to highlight successes in your previous campaigns without boring the viewer with the details, this resume template is perfect for displaying bite-sized information.

11. Info Pop Resume Template

resume templates for word: Info Pop resume template

Download this template here.

This one, also from Hloom, gives you exactly what the name suggests: ample space for the info you need, with headers that pop just enough to get your employer’s attention.

Although the template fits a ton of text, its soft color palate prevents the document from seeming overwhelming.

Recommended For: Experienced Professionals

This resume gives a lot of information all at once, which is perfect for professionals with more than eight years of experience. The layout makes it easily scannable and easy for a recruiter to read.

12. Dark Resume Template

resume templates for word: Dark resume template with black background and yellow font

Download this template here.

Ironically, a dark background could be just the thing to ensure your resume doesn't fall into the black hole of resumes piled on the hiring manager's desk.

Using soft, yellow font, the resume template below inverts the usual color scheme of a resume without trying too hard to be creative.

Recommended For: C-Suite Executives

If you have years of experience in an executive position, this design has a bold and unique design that will separate you from the pack. What’s more, it has an area where you can list your achievements, relevant skills, and notable opportunities, allowing you to showcase your effectiveness as a leader.

13. Neat and Confident Resume Template

resume templates for word: Neat and Confident resume template

Download this template here.

Similar to the Simple and Clean template mentioned earlier, this resume design by Nowpixelse communicates a truly professional tone. The template’s muted colors work very well with the side panel layered over the top header.

Recommended For: Professionals in All Industries

Whether you’re just starting out in any industry or looking to change careers, this template is suitable to highlight your skills and qualifications to propel you to the next level.

14. Inbound Marketing Resume Template

resume templates for word: Inbound marketing template for interns and marketers

Download this template here.

Here's another resume template dedicated to the digital marketer. This sheet offers all the inbound marketing language you need to express your values as a passionate, brand-loyal professional.

Similar to a few other templates on this list, it also uses just a dash of vibrant color in the applicant's name at the top (where it matters most).

Recommended For: Communications and Marketing Candidates

This template is great for candidates moving into a communications or marketing role. Aside from its amazing visual appeal, this template creates a sense of connection with the reviewer by adding a personal touch.

15. Smart and Professional Resume Template

resume templates for word: Smart and Professional resume template

Download this template here.

This is another sharp template that offers a basic but confident design for any professional. The warm-colored panel on the right-hand side is pre-formatted for a written profile, where you can write a summary of your background or a form letter to each employer.

Just be sure to personalize this messaging to each new recipient so it works for the job you’re applying to. This template is available on Freesumes, and is free to users once they share the page to Facebook or Twitter.

Recommended For: Young Professionals

This resume is great for someone starting their career who needs a little guidance on how to best display notable experiences related to the job posting. Also, it is an editable template that can easily be personalized to appeal to the HR rep reading the resume.

16. Spick and Span Resume Template

resume templates for word: Spick and Span resume template with clean, bold typeface and professional headshot

Download this template here.

There isn't a better name for the template below. The Spick and Span resume might be the cleanest-looking sheet on this list.

It uses boldface, all-caps, and gray typeface to structure various headers of the document differently and maximize the hiring manager's reading experience. And all that minimalism makes the professional headshot at the top pop off the page.

Recommended For: Creatives, Designers, and Developers

Resumes that look like this can be the work sample. If you have a background in illustration or design, making your resume stand out will be a great nod to your future employer. Get creative with your resume’s design if you want to work in an illustrative industry.

17. Timeline-Style Resume Template

resume templates for word: Timeline-style resume template

Download this template here.

Similar to the Centered Bar resume earlier in the post, Hloom’s Timeline template is a super simple but creative way to tell your story.

You can convey your progression through various jobs you’ve held on one side of the vertical line, and more static elements of your background — such as skills and education — on the other.

Recommended For: Editors and Copywriters

This template has a sleek and clean look that places the focus on the highlights of your experience rather than on the minor details. If you have a background in editing or copywriting, this resume is the perfect way to showcase your skills in a concise and effective narrative … without the fluff!

18. Content Production Resume Template

resume templates for word: Content production resume template

Download this template here.

This basic resume template is suited for content producers at all stages in their career. By spreading out the header and "Skills" text horizontally, the resume below fits a lot of crucial information comfortably on one page (of course, it also comes with a second page if you need it).

Recommended For: Content Creators and Videographers

This resume will help content creators showcase their biggest projects and most notable accomplishments. It’s great for showing how your scope of work has increased over the years, solidifying your expertise in that field.

19. Fresh Resume Template

resume templates for word: fresh resume template

Download this template here.

This is perhaps the most imaginative of all the Word-based resume templates on this list — with both a skills meter and a comic headshot.

The template was designed by Venkata Naresh and comes with 12 different versions of the design you see below. Have you created a Bitmoji of yourself? Do you think your employer would find it creative? Match the template and add it as your photo.

Recommended For: Creative Artists or Digital Marketers

If you need a resume template that will showcase your artistic skills without being too casual or being too informal, this is perfect for you. You can also add in notes of your accomplishments, relevant skills, and qualifications for the job.

20. CV Resume Template

resume templates for word: Reverse two-column resume template

Download this template here.

The curriculum vitae-style resume below flips the typical two-column resume so the basic applicant information is listed across the right side, rather than the left.

Feel free to change the color of this sidebar in Microsoft Word if dark-red isn't your thing — the template can pull off any color you wish.

Recommended For: Graduate Candidates

If you are a graduate student entering the workforce, having a CV-style resume will demonstrate the depth of your knowledge first and showcase how your continued education will contribute to your future work environment.

21. Goldenrod Resume Template

resume templates for word: Goldenrod yellow resume template

Download this template here.

This template, also offered on Freesumes, dares to use yellow as the dominant color — but doesn’t sacrifice professionalism in the process.

The document anchors the education section to a thick, bright banner across the bottom, but you can likely change this to a skills section with some simple editing in Microsoft Word.

Recommended For: Architects

This clean-cut design represents a candidate who is all about precision. This template would serve candidates who have experience in architecture or construction.

22. Resume Template With Personal Endorsements

resume templates for word: Photographer's resume template

Download this template here.

This resume template has quite a flashy header — no photography pun intended — but it’s not just for photographers. What makes this resume unique is the space for references on the lower right-hand side.

Does your field need others to vouch for your experience? This resume gives you room for three solid recommendations.

Recommended For: Brand Marketers or Personal Influencers

If you work in branding or have a large social media following, you can demonstrate your ability to create a cohesive message with this resume template. Feel free to change the color scheme to suit your brand.

23. Creative Resume Template

resume templates for word: creative resume template

Download this template here.

This one was designed by the stationery experts at MOO and is offered for download by Microsoft. Simple but vibrant, this template hugs the text with an artistic header and footer — great for recent graduates who need to fill empty space on the page.

Recommended For: Photographers and Other Creatives

If you are a photographer who does freelance work, this is a great template to showcase your experience. This will give your hiring manager or client an excellent first impression because it showcases your creative ability without sacrificing the important elements — your accomplishments.

24. Modern Resume Template

resume templates for word: Modern Resume Template

Download this template here.

This resume embraces simplicity with a slight touch of color to make things a bit more interesting. It also nicely sections off Skills and Education notes from the Work History list.

With LiveCareer.com, you can generate a template with your basic information and then download it to add small details.

Recommended For: Young Professionals

This resume gives a modern twist on the resume. It’s perfect for those looking for a fresher look than the traditional resume.

25. Functional Resume Template

resume templates for word: functional resume template

Download this template here.

This NovoResume.com template is colorful and includes a place for your headshot which could make you look both interesting and confident to an employer.

Recommended For: Media Professionals

A colorful format like this one might be great for a media or advertising professional who wants to keep their job application visually memorable to prospective employers.

26. Elegant Resume Template

resume templates for word: elegant resume template

Download this template here.

If you're looking for simplicity and efficiency rather than something colorful, consider this Elegant Resume Template from Jofibo.

With Jofibo, you can select this or other similar templates on the website, enter your information, and then download it quickly and easily.

Recommended For: Marketing Candidates

If you are a mid-level marketing candidate, use this fun template to showcase all of your expertise and accomplishments. It’s an eye-catching template that displays your creativity and ability to engage.

27. Blue Corporate HR Resume Template

resume templates for word: corporate hr professional resume

Download this template here.

Canva, an easy-to-use design template website, offers a few great resume templates. One of them is this simple resume with a touch of color in the background.

Because of the color and image, it's pretty memorable. But, for those who prefer a more conservative resume look, this template is fairly simple.

Recommended For: Corporate Candidates

This template is great for senior executives and accomplished candidates moving into a high-rank position. This layout allows you to fit plenty of accomplishments, and the conservative look organizes the fullness of your career neatly.

28. Concept Resume

resume templates for word: Concept Resume Template

Download this template here.

This resume is perfect for displaying a clear timeline of your career history. It’s ideal for a seasoned professional who may have a lot of experience and wants to display it on one to two pages.

The template also allows you to highlight your competency level in various areas, giving the recruiter an easy way to spot your expertise.

Recommended For: Candidates in the Tech Industry

This resume is great for people in the technical space because it adds a touch of color and feels more compact, which will allow you to get right to the point about your key skills, certifications, and work experiences.

29. Cream and Green Resume Template

resume templates for word: Cream and Green Resume Template

Download or edit the resume template here.

This resume is also downloadable and editable on Canva. It was created for account executives but could also be great for graphic designers or people working in visual fields due to its unique, but still professional, color scheme.

Recommended For: Graphic Designers and Other Creatives

This colorful template gives designers and creatives the opportunity to showcase their talents on their resume. Utilize the colors as a basic layout, but feel free to use the resume’s design to showcase the way you would work on a future project. This would be a great reference point when you land an interview.

How to Save Your Resume

Remember, once you’ve finished personalizing your resume, you’re not ready to submit an application yet. To ensure your resume’s format stays the same for everyone who receives it, save the document as a PDF. Best case scenario? Even the hiring manager won’t believe your resume came from Word.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in 2018 but was updated in May 2020 for comprehensiveness.

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How Conversion Funnels Create a Better Customer Journey + How to Optimize Yours

Conversion funnels are a fundamental concept in sales. Personally, I like to visualize the funnel as that big scary slide you wanted to try as a kid. You saw your friends whizzing down, which sparked your interest. You watched how much fun they were having, doing your research. And then the benefits of having fun outweighed your fear, so you climbed up and flew down.

Customers take a similar journey through your company's conversion funnel when evaluating whether or not to buy from you. You have to pique their interest, build trust, and encourage them to take action.

Download Now: Free Customer Journey Map Templates

In this post, I'll explain what conversion funnels are and how they impact your customer journey. Then, you'll learn how to optimize your funnel to increase the number of people who make it to your conversion point at the bottom.

All leads begin at the top of the funnel. As they learn more about your business, they move down and get closer to purchasing your product or service. This conversion process is called a funnel because companies often have more leads than they do customers, making the top of the funnel a larger pool of people than the bottom.

Understanding how people flow through your conversion funnel is essential to being an effective marketer or salesperson because it helps you engage leads, answer questions about your business, and address concerns. It also lets you organize leads into categories and create customer touchpoints that can entice each group to convert.

That's why every funnel should be designed for how your customers buy, not how you sell. The focus is on providing such a great experience within the customer journey that you convince them to convert.

Before diving into the details of how to analyze and optimize your funnel, we need to talk about an important aspect of this process: the customer journey.

Customer Journey

The customer journey complements the conversion funnel, but it's not the same thing. Unlike the generalized, linear conversion funnel, customer journey maps show the individual and circuitous paths people take from the moment they discover your brand to the time they make a purchase.

Let's say you're a food blogger who sells cookbooks. Here's how your customers' journeys can differ.

  • Customer A sees and clicks on your banner ad, visits your blog, reads an article, signs up for your newsletter, gets a discount email, and purchases a cookbook.

  • Customer B sees your cookbook in a bookshop, buys it, makes the recipes, visits your blog, and subscribes to your newsletter.

The outcomes for Customer A and B are essentially the same, but the journeys and touchpoints are different. So if you know the different ways people enter your funnel, you can optimize for those entry points. That way, you can meet potential buyers where they are and entice them to convert.

That said, most funnels have similar points that ultimately lead to conversion. Let’s take a closer look at each stage of this process.

Conversion Funnel Stages

The top-middle-bottom funnel is a classic model used by sales teams, which focuses on sparking interest, informing potential customers, convincing them to purchase, and building loyalty so they become repeat buyers.

Traditional Conversion Funnel Stages

  • Top of the funnel (TOFU): This is the awareness phase. A potential customer enters the TOFU when they engage with your brand, oftentimes through your website, an ad, an email, or social media.

  • Middle of the funnel (MOFU): This is the consideration phase. The potential customer knows about your brand and engages with it in order to learn more. They may sign up for your email newsletter, follow you on social media, or download guides and templates.

  • Bottom of the funnel (BOFU): This is the conversion phase. A prospect is here right before they purchase, which means you've given them good information and relevant touchpoints. Help them convert by making it easy to purchase, offering a trial, outlining pricing, or sending a discount for their abandoned shopping cart.

Let’s see what this looks like visually in the examples below.

Conversion Funnel Examples

HubSpot started off with the traditional conversion funnel structure, using marketing efforts to serve as the top of the funnel. Those leads were then passed further down the funnel to the sales team.

While some conversion funnels are simple, others can be incredibly complex. There are several conversion models you can use to suit your business needs, ranging from a simple three-stage funnel for smaller operations to complex, multi-stage sales funnels for enterprise-level companies. Let’s explore some of the most common models.

Three-Stage Marketing Funnel

Conversion funnel example basic

  • Awareness: Get visitors to your website. Attract them with quality blog posts or through social media.

  • Consideration: Use that great content to entice your new visitors to sign up for your newsletter.

  • Conversion: Now that prospects are familiar with your brand, persuade them to make a purchase by offering a discount code for first-time buyers.

AIDA Funnel

Conversion funnel example AIDASometimes called a “purchase funnel,” the AIDA model expands on the basic three-stage structure.

  • Attention: In addition to blog posts and social media, you can use targeted ads to draw visitors to your website.

  • Interest: Pique the prospect’s interest in your product by showcasing the goods. Use case studies to show how your product has helped other businesses. Have notable press mentions? You’ll want to showcase those as well.

  • Desire: Your prospects like you, now you must make them want you. Gain their trust and create an emotional connection. Continue to serve them content that helps them visualize how your product would fit into their lives and why they need it.

  • Action: Now’s your chance to get them to convert. One way is to offer a free ebook, trial, or tool that’s only accessible if they fill out a form with their contact information. If your goal is to get them to purchase a product, you could give them a promotional offer to persuade them to buy.

The detail of your funnel depends on your sales process — the longer your sales cycle, the more complex your funnel. If you have a short sales cycle, your funnel tends to be simpler.

Think about how long it takes to sell $2,000 B2B software versus a $20 t-shirt. The software purchase usually requires months of sales calls, marketing materials, FAQs, and demos. Each of those is a specific point in your conversion funnel. But potential buyers may only need five minutes to figure out that the t-shirt is the right color and fit before purchasing. The touchpoints required here are taking it off the rack and trying it on.

To figure out how complex your funnel is, you can look at the data and perform an analysis. This will help you flush out each part of your customer journey to create a unique visual representation of your funnel.

Conversion Funnel Analysis

Funnels are full of barriers and friction. Analyzing your funnel helps you visualize the flow of potential customers across each point.

You can see key traffic sources and high-exit pages to get a feel for how people end up in each stage of the funnel.

It's also a way to discover barriers that cause people to leave a page before they convert. If you see a high drop-off rate on one page, for example, you'll know to prioritize that as you work toward optimizing your funnel.

To understand your funnel, follow these steps for in-depth analysis:

1. Look for high-traffic pages with high drop-off and conversion rates.

High-traffic pages hold a plethora of useful information. Not only are these the pages people see the most, but they're also where people decide to stay or go. Look at the pages where people drop off (aka leave) and where they convert (take your intended action). Some metrics to collect are:

2. Discover where your best customers come from.

Not all leads are the same. Some people drop off near the top of the funnel while others make it all the way down. That's why tracking leads is so important. When you know where your high-quality leads come from, you can analyze that touchpoint or channel to see what you're doing right. Ask yourself:

  • How is this touchpoint different from other touchpoints?
  • What information is resonating with people?
  • What are the barriers or friction (if any)?
  • How many steps do people have to go through before converting?

Identifying what you're doing right in your funnel is just as important as figuring out what you're doing wrong. If you need help digging into the data, check out these sales funnel tools or look into heatmap and session recording tools for information on how people navigate your pages.

3. Create an optimization plan.

After you figure out where people are dropping off and converting, it's time to make an optimization plan. This should include the goals you want to focus on (i.e., more leads, newsletter signups, demos, or software purchases).

Goals let you determine what you want from each touchpoint within your funnel so you can measure whether it's working or not.

After your funnel analysis, you'll have a list of priority touchpoints that need to be optimized. Make sure to focus on the areas with the biggest drop-off rates first.

Conversion Funnel Optimization

Every part of your conversion funnel can be optimized to increase the number of people who turn into customers. Think of conversation funnel optimization as finding out what motivates, blocks, and persuades people so you can give them the best experience possible on their unique journey.

To optimize effectively, you need to think about how to give each customer what they want at each phase of the funnel. Using the phases outlined above, here's what to consider at each step along the customer journey.

1. TOFU: Awareness

Issues at the top of your funnel? Take a look at how you attract new leads. Compare every channel that brings in customers (i.e., social media, search engines, your blog, and paid ads) to see which attracts the most people.

If you're unsure how customers found you, send out a survey to ask. Look for trends in how people find new brands and put more effort into your best channels. Just make sure you're attracting the people in your target audience.

2. MOFU: Consideration

Potential customers made it to the middle of your funnel, but it's your job to keep them moving toward the bottom.

If you're having trouble with this phase, look at how people learn about your business and engage with your site. Is it easy for people to navigate your site? Or sign up for your email list? Do you have relevant, rich content? Do you offer pricing and product information? Is it easy to get questions answered?

Depending on your barriers, consider these ideas for improvement:

  • Product videos and photos
  • FAQ page
  • Whitepapers, case studies, or blog posts
  • Filters and search options
  • Newsletter capture
  • Discounts
  • Check pages for loading speed and broken elements

3. BOFU: Conversion

As the final stop for potential buyers, this is the phase to turn them into customers. You should remove as much friction as possible and encourage people to take the final steps to convert.

Some ways to optimize this final part of your funnel is to make sure product or service pages are fully built out with interesting descriptions, videos, and photos. Consider your checkout process to see if people have issues with payments or abandoned carts. Make it simple for people to compare pricing and clearly outline all product features. You can also send specific BOFU emails or create ads to remind people of their desire to convert.

Think your job is done once a customer converts? Wrong. While you may have pulled a customer through your conversion funnel, there are plenty of opportunities to re-engage them. Not only is customer retention essential for growing your business, but it's five times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain a current customer.

So, once your customers make it through the funnel, invite them to sign up for a new webinar series, download additional templates, send promotions, join a loyalty club, or follow you on social media.

Conversion Funnels Shouldn’t Be Business Models

While conversion funnels are very effective for demonstrating the customer journey for a one-time purchase, they are not a substitute for creating a holistic business model. Relying on a funnel as your business model creates a lack of alignment between each stage of the customer experience.

HubSpot transitioned to thinking of the customer journey as less of a funnel and more of a flywheel — building more momentum as customers move through it.

With the flywheel model, the momentum of your happy customers is used to drive referrals and repeat sales. It’s not a linear beginning and end, but rather a continuous cycle that allows you to generate more business.

Tailor Your Funnel to the Customer

While the customer journey is more complex than my slide analogy, understanding how conversion funnels work can improve this flow. It can help you optimize your funnel, attract more leads, convert them to customers, and boost your bottom line. But all that requires reducing as much friction as possible.

Find what makes sense for your particular sales cycle and use your existing content and channels to stay in touch. Make sure customers value your business and want to come back because you never know who they'll introduce to the top of that funnel.

This article was originally published May 5, 2021, and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Apply for a job, keep track of important information, and prepare for an interview with the help of this free job seekers kit.


How Conversion Funnels Create a Better Customer Journey + How to Optimize Yours was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

SEO vs. PPC: When to Optimize and When to Pay for Traffic

If you're struggling to get the word out about your brand new business venture, you’re not alone. Like you, many business owners struggle to acquire customers in the beginning.Balancing the cost, maintenance, and results of a marketing campaign isn't easy. Most of the time, the solution to this problem is one of two marketing strategies: search engine optimization (SEO) or pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. But which method is suitable for you?

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In this article, we've explored what you can expect to achieve from each of these acquisition strategies. We’ve also provided some pros and cons of SEO and PPC strategies along with descriptive statistics and real-life examples to help you decide whether your business is best suited for SEO or PPC — or both.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization is the process of enhancing your website’s visibility to make it rank and gain organic traffic from search engines.

Just as you turn to your favorite search engines, such as Google or Bing, to look up a new marketing acronym or where to get good pizza, so do your consumers. When you invest in SEO, you're increasing the likelihood of your target audience finding you when they make a Google search for keywords related to your product or service. In fact, 61% of marketers say that SEO is a top inbound marketing factor for their business. But it's easier said than done.

Here's an example of SEO in action.

In the image below, Hubspot appears at the top of Google’s organic search engine results page (SERP) for the term “inbound marketing,” thanks to the SEO strategy we have in place.

SEO example of HubSpot ranking for "inbound" marketing"

The order of the results that appear on the search engine results page isn't arbitrary. Each search engine takes into account several ranking factors that influence where a webpage gets placed. The goal of an SEO strategy is to create web pages and content that work with the ranking factors of the search engine in order to rise within the SERP rankings.

Are there other search engines besides Google?

Most SEO strategies center around Google instead of others like Bing and Yahoo! because it holds 92.47% of the search engine market share. Because of this, you’ll need to learn about Google’s 200 ranking factors, technical SEO, link building, content creation, and so much more if you want to appear higher up on the search engine results page.

Pros of SEO

Here are some advantages of SEO:

1. SEO is cheaper in the long run.

Although SEO might cost time and money —to pay freelancers or agencies, and for SEO tools — it’s still cheaper than PPC in the long run.

When you create content that ranks and drives traffic to your website, you no longer have to keep spending money to make your target customers see it. And when these customers decide to click on your link, it comes at zero cost, unlike a PPC campaign where you pay per click.

Organic traffic is also very scalable and cost-effective.

2. You can target different funnel stages with SEO.

Not all of your audience is at the same stage of the sales funnel.

Some are just getting to know your brand at the top of the funnel. And others are already at the bottom of the funnel, ready to pull out their wallets.

With SEO, you can create different content types (blog posts, guides, case studies) that meet each segment of your audience exactly where they are in the sales funnel. This gives your site a better shot at getting visitors to the next step in the funnel each time they browse your content.

3. Search traffic is more stable.

Once you rank on Google, you can begin to plan for and predict free traffic to your website as long as you keep optimizing it.

Another advantage to keep in mind is that there is no off-and-on switch with SEO. With PPC marketing, your website stops appearing on search results once your marketing budget dries up. A great way to remember this difference is by thinking in terms of real estate: SEO is like owning your traffic whereas PPC is like renting it.

4. Organic listings build brand authority.

Appearing consistently on search results for keywords related to your products and services helps build trust and brand authority with your target audience.

It also signifies to Google that you’re an expert on that topic or subject. This can lead to more backlinks from other trusted sites which is a ranking factor that search engines favor strongly.

Cons of SEO

Here are some reasons why you might not love SEO:

1. Search engine algorithms change.

Search engines, especially Google, have changed their algorithms many times over the years. These changes mean that you’ll have to keep a close eye on your marketing strategy and organic results.

2. You’ll need to optimize your website regularly.

Your job doesn’t end when you get your website to rank for target keywords for one month. Over time, you’ll have to regularly optimize your content and web pages so that your site continues to rank.

Optimization might include refreshing old articles and removing old/expired links.

3. SEO takes time to show results.

If your website or domain is new, it’s unlikely that you’ll enjoy immediate results from SEO. The reason is that several factors affect how Google ranks websites — many of which won't be established within the first few weeks or months of launching your site.

2. It requires high-level skills and expertise.

If you’re not hiring a professional, make sure you understand your audience's goals and meet them with quality content in order to optimize your site properly for the search engines.

It’s undoubtedly time-consuming and overwhelming to run a business while taking technical SEO, writing, and link-building classes, but it can be done if you commit to using an SEO strategy to generate revenue.

What is PPC?

PPC, or pay-per-click, is a form of search engine marketing (SEM) where an advertiser pays a publisher (such as Google or Facebook) for each click someone makes on an ad. This model allows businesses to pay only when consumers interact with their ads. If you use PPC ads, you'll attract people who are interested in your offer and ready to convert.

You may have noticed that some of the top search results are tagged with an "Ad" marker, like the HelloFresh search results here. Example of PPC search result for "hellofresh"

PPC ads always appear alongside organic search results. Some businesses run these search ads for specific marketing campaigns that have a definite start and end date. Others bid on their own brand name as part of their overall marketing strategy — like HelloFresh. Either way, this method is mainly associated with search engines as advertisers bid on keywords that are relevant to their target markets.

The cost of PPC ads usually depends on your industry and the search volume of the keyword you’re targeting.

PPC advertising can help your business stay competitive in a crowded market and quickly get in front of their target consumers if you don’t have the domain authority to get your site ranking organically on search engines.

Pros of PPC

1. PPC offers quick results.

While it can take months to see results from your SEO strategy, it can take just a few hours to see results from your PPC campaign.

2. PPC ads appear above organic rankings.

When you run a PPC campaign for your target keyword, your website would appear first on the search engine result page. This ranking makes your audience notice you first before scrolling to see other results.

3. PPC allows you to pinpoint your target audience.

While setting up a PPC campaign, you get to choose who you want to target with your ads.

Do you want people from a specific geographic area? Or people of a particular age? Marital status? Or interest? If so, then you should use PPC.

3. You can quickly run A/B tests on a PPC ad.

With a PPC campaign, you can run two different ads simultaneously to measure the one that converts better.

All you’ll have to do is change some ad elements like the ad copy and allow them to run for a period. Depending on the performance, you can decide to either “kill” the Google ads or continue optimization to improve your results.

Cons of PPC

1. PPC ads are expensive.

Without money, you cannot run a PPC campaign.

You have to pay for every link that your audience clicks, meaning once your budget dries up, so does your traffic.

Also, a PPC ad can get even more expensive (as high as $40) when you’re in a competitive industry like legal or insurance.

2. Lower profit margins.

While a PPC campaign might bring short-term wins, it’ll usually result in lower profit margins. Because PPC is a “pay to play” system, your customer acquisition costs (CAC) would continue to get higher without a significant increase in the prices of your products and services.

3. PPC ads become stale after a while.

You have limited control over your paid ad because of the rule set by ad platforms like Google. As such, your copy might have similar wording to your competitors, which makes it easy for your audience to pass over quickly.

SEO is also more effective for local searches and can grow your online presence for longer. Pay-per-click (PPC), on the other hand, is an acquisition strategy that requires you to spend ad money to get your content in front of an audience when they search for specific keywords online.

SEO vs. PPC: Which is better?

Asking which is better between SEO and PPC is like asking whether it’s better to eat with a fork or spoon — it depends.

Serving pasta? Sure, I’d love a fork. Soup? I’d rather have a spoon.

In the same way, different situations exist where SEO is better than PPC and vice versa.

Let’s now look at some of these situations.

Use SEO if...

  • Your marketing budget is low.
  • You want to build your brand authority.
  • You’re looking to maximize your long-term return-on-investment (ROI).
  • You want to create content that reaches your audience at different stages of the sales funnel.

Use PPC if...

You’d get better results with PPC in situations where:

  • You want quick results.
  • Your product is novel or first-of-its-kind.
  • You’re promoting a time-sensitive offer, like a holiday sale.
  • You want to direct your audience to a sales or landing page.

How to Make SEO and PPC Work For You

Instead of choosing between SEO or PPC, why not combine the two strategies and make them work for you?

Here’s how you can get the best of both worlds.

1. Create retargeting ads.

Retargeting ads example featuring Birchbox

Image Source

Did someone visit your site, probably the pricing or check-out page, without buying?

You can easily use a retargeting ad to prompt these visitors, even after they’ve left your site, to come back and make a purchase.

2. Promote website content with social media ads.

social media ads example featuring dollar shave club

Image Source

While you want your content to rank organically, you can give it a quick boost by promoting it on social media.

Not only do these kinds of ads help with content distribution, but they could potentially help you acquire essential backlinks that’d boost your rankings.

Also, it’s going to be a shame not to promote your latest blog post, guide, report, or case study after spending hours creating it.

3. Collect data From ads to improve your SEO strategy.

PPC campaigns grant you access to a lot of data — keyword search volumes, keywords your competitors are bidding for, highest converting calls-to-action, and so on.

Aimed with all of this data, you’d be able to create better SEO strategies with less effort.

SEO vs. PPC Statistics

SEO

  • Google is responsible for over 92.47% of global web traffic.
  • 90.63% of online content gets zero traffic from Google, with only 0.21% getting over 1000 visits per month.
  • 35.18% of browser-based Google searches resulted in an organic link click in 2020.
  • 99.2% of website pages have less than 100 backlinks.
  • Google processes over 5.6 billion searches per day (or 2 trillion searches per year.)
  • 64% of marketers actively invest in SEO.

PPC

Final Thoughts

Whether you choose to go with SEO or PPC ultimately depends on your business situation. So take your time to evaluate the pros and cons of both SEO and PPC to see which is the right fit for you. And if possible, integrate the two strategies to see even more outstanding results for your business.

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

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

state of marketing


SEO vs. PPC: When to Optimize and When to Pay for Traffic was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

How to Run an Effective Vetting Process for Candidates in 2022

Imagine you're a hiring manager and put up an ad for a role. After a lengthy process, you hire someone you think is a great fit.

Except, reality sets in a few weeks later when you realize they were a bad hire and you have the start all over again. A robust vetting process would help you avoid this costly mistake.

However, it's not enough to come up with a process, you have to make sure it's inclusive, fair, and efficient. Let's show you how.

→ Click here to download our free guide to hiring and training a team of all-stars [Free Ebook].

Hiring the wrong employee can cost companies hundreds of thousands of dollars. Back in 2016, The U.S. Department of Labor estimated this cost was close to 30% of the former employee's first-year earnings.

Today, that figure could be even higher.

Undoubtedly, recruiting and hiring candidates is an expensive and time-consuming process. This is on top of figuring out which candidates are most qualified to succeed at your company for the long haul.

A vetting process should include a few critical elements. Let's cover how to run an effective vetting process that's efficient and free of bias as possible.

How long does the vetting process take?

The vetting process can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on what your process looks like, the seniority level for the role, and the industry.

For instance, a role at the Federal Bureau of Investigation likely has a much longer vetting process than one at a SaaS company. The FBI likely conducts in-depth background checks beyond a candidate's criminal background whereas a SaaS company may focus the bulk of its vetting process on technical proficiency.

Over time, your company will start compiling data on how long the process takes based on the factors mentioned above and build its strategy based on that.

1. Write an accurate job description.

Your vetting process will be easier start-to-finish if you take the time to write an accurate and compelling job description.

I spoke to Claire McCarthy, team lead in sales recruiting, who told me the job description can help both you and the candidate ensure a mutually beneficial fit from the start.

"We have pretty comprehensive job descriptions and we want candidates to take the time to read them and ensure the role is a good match for their background and skillset, as well as their long-term goals," she said.

McCarthy adds that it's valuable to focus on attributes when creating your job description.

"For instance, for a sales role, we might list 'customer-first mentality' as a requirement," she said.

In addition, craft your description to attract a wide pool of diverse applicants, since diverse teams perform better, and come up with more innovative ideas.

This is important because a Hewlett Packard internal report found that women historically won't apply for a job unless they meet all the qualifications, while most men will apply if they meet only 60% of them.

However, it doesn't only affect candidates from a gender perspective. Racism, ableism, and ageism can also impact the hiring process – and it all starts with your job description.

To do so, you can rely on tools like Textio, which help you identify and remove implicit and explicit biased language from your job description.

The goal is to use inclusive language that welcomes and attracts a diverse range of talent.

Take a look at the marketing job descriptions you should recruit and hire to have an all-star team.

2. Leverage software to review candidates' application materials.

A vetting process should allow you to filter out candidates who don't have the skills necessary to succeed in the role. To do this, start by vetting the applicant's resume, cover letter, and other application materials they've submitted for review.

Additionally, a vetting process can support your diversity and inclusion initiative by ensuring your HR team remains fair and unbiased when evaluating potential candidates.

For instance, you might implement a blind search system in which resumes are scanned by software, such as Greenhouse.

By ensuring your resumes are automatically sorted based on skill, you're circumventing some of the unintentional biases that might lead your HR employees to make unfair judgments.

3. Use video interviews prior to phone calls.

There are certain questions you can ask to decipher whether or not a candidate has the correct skills for the role.

You don't want your recruiters spending valuable time on phone calls when you can just as easily collect that information another way.

At HubSpot, our hiring process includes video interviews, in which candidates must answer a series of questions and submit their recorded responses. The caveat here is that they must answer each question within a minute and they won't know what the questions are ahead of time.

"We do this for high volume roles, and use the video interview as a qualifier for whether or not the candidate moves forward with a phone interview," said McCarthy.

Consider using video interviews to limit the amount of phone calls your HR team needs to make each day.

4. Evaluate candidates' qualifications using additional assessment tools.

To evaluate whether your candidate will succeed in the role, consider offering initial assessments.

As a HubSpot writer, I was asked to write a blog post from scratch using one of HubSpot's prompt topics before being invited for an interview. This makes sense – why waste your time, and your candidate's time, if they don't have the skills you're looking for?

From the candidate's perspective, it allows them to get a taste of what the role requires and show off why they're right for it.

You might consider offering role plays for customer-facing positions, case studies for functional roles, or coding assessments for engineering positions.

5. Trust the process.

The point of having a process is to ensure consistency and promote fairness.

This means across all tools and software you utilize just as much as the steps you follow.

Ultimately, a vetting process is only effective if it's consistent and replicable.

"A vetting process is about establishing a process at the beginning and sticking to it," said McCarthy. "Additionally, it's important to use a vetting process to operationalize how we review candidates and decide which ones are most qualified to move forward to next steps."

Using these five tactics will mitigate the time and money your HR team spends on recruitment in 2022 while ensuring you hire the best applicants – a win all around.

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

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How to Run an Effective Vetting Process for Candidates in 2022 was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

The Plain-English Guide to Conjoint Analysis

Sometimes, commercials really get me.

T-Mobile's Super Bowl commercial this year is a prime example — "What's for Dinner?" demonstrates the infuriating process of choosing what to do for dinner for a young couple, and it's gold.

The reason T-Mobile's ad was so relatable is because of their market research. They looked at what their target audiences wanted — including their thought processes, what informs their decisions, and the trade-offs they're willing to make for their products.

→ Download Now: Market Research Templates [Free Kit]

To accomplish all of these important factors in one go, many companies use conjoint analysis.

Think about buying a new phone. Attributes you might consider are color, size, and model. The reason phone companies include these specs in their marketing is due to research such as conjoint analysis.

Would consumers purchase this product or service if brought to market? That's the question conjoint analysis strives to answer. It's a quantitative measure in marketing research, meaning it measures numbers rather than open-ended questions. Questions on the phone company survey would include price points, color preference, and camera quality.

Surveys intended for conjoint analysis are formatted to reflect the buyer's journey.

For instance, notice in this example for televisions, the specs are the options and the consumer picks what best reflects their lifestyle:

conjoint analysis exampleImage Source

This direct method of giving consumers multiple profiles to then analyze is how conjoint analysis got its name. These answers are helpful when determining how to market a new product.

If answers on the phone company survey proved that their target audience of adults ages 18-25 wanted a green phone from $400-600 and a camera with portrait mode, advertisements can cater directly to that.

The conjoint analysis shows what consumers are willing to give up in order to get what they need. For instance, some might be willing to pay a little more money for a larger model of a phone if their preference is larger text.

Types of Conjoint Analysis

Choice-based conjoint (CBC) and Adaptive Conjoint Analysis (ACA) are the two main types of conjoint analysis.

Choice-based is the most common form because it asks consumers to mimic their buying habits. ACA is helpful for product design, offering more questions about specs of a product.

Choice-based conjoint analysis questions are usually presented in a "Would you rather?" format. For example, "Would you rather take a ride-share service to a location 10 minutes away for $13 or walk 30 minutes for free?" The marketer for the ride-share service could use answers from this question to think of the upsides to show off in different campaigns.

ACA leans towards a Likert-scale format (most likely to least likely) for its attribute-based questions. Respondents can base their preference on specs by showing how likely they are to buy a product with slight differences — for example, similar cars with different doors and manufacturers.

How To Do A Conjoint Analysis

To create a conjoint analysis, you'll first need to define a list of attributes about your product. Attributes are usually four to five items that describe your product or service. Consider color, size, price, and market-specific attributes, such as lenses if you're selling cameras.

Additionally, try to keep in mind your ideal respondents. Who do you want to answer your survey? A group of adult men? A group of working mothers? Identify your respondent base and ask specific questions catered to that target market.

The next step is to organize your questionnaire depending on the type of conjoint analysis you want to conduct. For instance, to run an adaptive conjoint analysis, you will present questions with a Likert-scale.

You can use a conjoint analysis tool to create and modify your survey. Then, you can distribute your questionnaire through multiple channels, including email, SMS, and social media.

For more ways to introduce product marketing into your company, check out our ultimate guide here.

Examples of Conjoint Analysis

Sawtooth Software offers a great example of conjoint analysis for a phone company:

conjoint analysis exampleImage Source

The analysis puts three different phone services next to each other. The horizontal column of the model identifies which service is offering a certain program, described by the vertical values. The bottom row shows a percent value of consumers' preferences.

QuestionPro offers this fun, interactive conjoint analysis template about retirement home options. The survey gives you a scenario and asks your course of action. For instance, it asks if you would sign a rental agreement for retirement home housing immediately, and considers specs like rent, meals, size, etc.

Conjoint analysis isn't limited to existing products. They're also very helpful for figuring out if a brand-new product is worth developing. For instance, if surveys show that audiences would be into the idea of an app that chooses clothes for consumers, that could be a new venture for clothing companies in the future.

Looking to create a conjoint analysis of your own? Check out our top four conjoint analysis tools below.

Conjoint Analysis Tools

1. Qualtrics

Conjoint Analysis from Qualtrics

Image Source

Qualtrics is an easy-to-use survey tool that offers comprehensive product insights. You can create, modify, distribute, and analyze a conjoint analysis in one place. All it takes is four steps — define your attributes, build and modify your questions in the survey editor, distribute the survey, and analyze the results. 

What We Like: Qualtrics goes beyond product insights — this powerful software also captures customer, brand, and employee experience insights.

Pro Tip: Leverage email to invite respondents to take your survey. With Qualtrics, you can embed a survey question directly in your email survey invite. 

2. Cojoint.ly

Conjoint Analysis from Conjoint.ly

Image Source

Conjoint.ly offers a complete toolbox for product and pricing research — including a Product Description test, an A/B test, and a Price Sensitivity test. You can also source your own respondents for your survey or buy quality-assured respondents from Conjoint.ly.

What We Like: Users can simply choose a tool that best fits their research question. These tools are organized under four main categories: pricing research, features and claims, range optimization, and concept testing.

Pro Tip: If you want to "try before you buy," you can use Conjoint.ly's Quick Feedback tool. For a small price, you get around 50 respondents to provide feedback within a 6-hour window.

3. 1000minds

Conjoint Analysis from 1000minds

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1000minds offers an adaptive conjoint analysis tool. Meaning, each time a choice is made, it adapts by formulating a new question to ask based on all previous choices. This makes the survey feel more like a conversation.

What We Like: We're impressed by the scalability of 1000minds. The tool allows you to include as many participants as you like, potentially in the thousands.

Pro Tip: You can use their conjoint analysis templates or build your own model from scratch. 

4. Q Research Software

Conjoint Analysis from Q Research Software

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Q is analysis software that is specifically designed by market researchers. Its conjoint analysis tool is ideal for choice-based analyses. Users can create experimental designs, analyze the data, and generate reports. 

What We Like: Q cuts through the grunt work with automation — including cleaning and formatting data, updating surveys, and producing reports.

Pro Tip: With just a few clicks, you can export any reports or visualizations from Q to PowerPoint and Excel.

A conjoint analysis requires a solid survey design and analysis, but the extra effort is often worth it. By going the extra mile, you can access insights into your audience's preferences and buying decisions — which is invaluable when determining how to market a new product or service.

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The Plain-English Guide to Conjoint Analysis was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns