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Looking for website design examples? Your inspiration journey starts here.

Deciding to create a website for yourself or your business is a big decision, but all websites are a culmination of many small decisions. And the best-designed websites are made by those who take the time to craft a visual experience that feels on-brand and aligned with users’ expectations, while simultaneously incorporating elements to help it stand out.

It’s a big task, but luckily you don’t need to start completely from scratch. There are website builders and content management systems like CMS Hub that allow you to build out pages by simply dragging elements into place. Plus, there are thousands of amazing websites to reference for inspiration.

In this article, we’ll be sharing a few dozen of the best website designs we’ve ever seen to inspire yours. You can click the links below to jump to explore website designs, and we’ve also included a bonus section of designs that are just plain cool — so check them out, too!

• Best Website Designs to Inspire You in 2022
• Best Website Designs from 2022
• Best Website Designs from 2021
• Best Website Designs from 2020
• Best Website Designs from 2019
• Best Website Designs from 2018
• Best Website Designs from 2017
• Best Website Designs from 2016
• Best Website Designs from 2015 – 2014
• Where to Get Your Design Inspiration
• Website Design Inspiration Sources
• Website Design Ideas

From familiar corporations to small businesses, to international organizations, the following sites push the status quo on the web. Whether it’s the design aesthetic, usability, interactivity, sound design, or value that the site provides, each one is a masterpiece in its respective industry and something to aspire to.

Not surprisingly, many organizations exist to highlight these sites and the contributions they make to the web. To help surface some of the most inspirational designs, I gathered several award-winners that have made their way through several key awards organizations — including Red Dot, Awwwards, UX Awards, The Webby Awards, SiteInspire, Best Website Gallery, and FWA.

As you browse through the list, know that each site excels in its own way and seeks to serve a unique purpose. While one site may be an excellent example of visual design, another may be an excellent example of interactivity.

This means that not all of these sites may be “conversion machines” or blueprint ideas that you can easily copy over to your site. Rather, they’re great ways to gain some website design inspiration and see the cutting-edge marketing that’s happening in the different corners of the web.

Keep in mind that web designs are fluid and change often. Some of the designs in this list have changed since they were awarded, but we do our best to keep them up-to-date. We’re confident you’ll find a design here that sparks your creativity.

Read More: 77 Examples of Incredible Website Design

Download this free guide to see even more examples of website blog, homepage, and landing page designs.

Beautiful Award-Winning Websites

Best Website Designs from 2022

Hyer

Award: Website of the Month (2022), CSS Design Awards

Want to make a strong impression on your website visitors? Take a page out of Hyer’s book.

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This striking illustration of the airplane, as it slowly moves across the screen, is sure to grab website visitors’ attention.

This page has everything you need in an effective homepage: An image that tells a story but isn’t too distracting, use of white space, easy nav bar, a tagline or slogan, and a clear CTA.

It’s a clean design that’s free of any distractions and invites visitors to learn more about the brand.

Mubasic

Award: Website of the Day, August 10, 2022, Awwwards

Mubasic’s site isn’t just visually compelling, it’s dynamic. Mubasic is a catalog of high-quality music for children, and the website’s design decisions help it achieve a light-hearted, easygoing feel. The poppy color scheme and effective visual hierarchy contribute to this site’s design success, however, the real reason it shines is because of how the design feels authentic to the brand’s mission.

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The homepage easily allows you to explore the company’s offerings, and even features a Q&A section set up in a unique format. Images pop up as you scroll down the page, and toward the bottom, there’s the opportunity to get in touch with contact information and a new customer form template.

When you reach the bottom of the home page, there’s a menu that features anchors to allow you to jump to wherever on the page the information you’re seeking lives.

Digital Cover

Award: Website of the Day, July 31, 2022, Awwwards

Everything from the loading screen to the homepage of this France-based digital agency’s website is a visual homerun. When you arrive on this homepage, you’re immediately swept into the world of Digital Cover. This is achieved by a graphic that appears nearly three-dimensional popping up and welcoming you into the company’s orbit.

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Similar to the previous site, the animated nature of Digital Cover’s homepage adds intrigue and establishes this site as a candidate for best website design. With a simple swipe of a mouse pad you’re led to the company’s projects, or you can navigate to the clearly labeled menu in the top left corner. When you do, several options pop up.

From there, you are escorted to the page of your selection. The white lettering against the black background allows for the copy to pop. If you scroll to the bottom of any menu page, you’ll find contact information to get in touch with the agency, which is another strength of the design’s.

Best Website Designs from 2021

IBM’s The Harmonic State

Award: Site of the Month (July 2021), Awwwards

When you land on this IBM web page, it’s clear to see why the design won an award.

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The best way to describe the website is as an immersive experience. In fact, IBM uses both visual and auditory elements to draw the visitor in and keep them engaged.

When you first land on the web page, you’re prompted to put on headphones to get the full experience. Even if you skip this step, you’re drawn in by the interactive background that reacts as your mouse navigates on the page.

In addition, the page is well balanced with a large title that grabs your attention across from a small description with a bold blue CTA.

With a topic as complex as AI, IBM then uses visual storytelling to explain how its Watson tool works in the real world. Visitors can explore three stories through video game-like functions and learn more about the tool.

It’s a fun and effective way to get users engaged in a topic that can be complicated and dry.

Looking for more corporate website examples? Check out 25 Stunning Corporate Websites to Inspire Yours.

Superlist

Award: Site of the Month (April 2021), Awwwards

Superlist is a productivity app that helps teams and individuals change the way they work.

Too often, you land on a website and have to figure out what the brand is about. With Superlist, you know exactly what to expect as soon as you get to the homepage.

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The interactive homepage shows common work accessories, like headphones and keyboard with clear, to-the-point copy.

Superlist effectively uses white space to keep the focus on its copy. However, to facilitate navigation, they include a small button with an arrow icon to indicate that there’s more to see on the page once you scroll.

From there, the fun visuals continue – keeping you engaged as you learn more about the brand.

Best Website Designs from 2020

Swab the World

Award: Site of the Day (2020), Awwwards

Parallax, bold colors, and negative space shape the design and experience of Swab the World’s website. The organization brings awareness to stem cell donations. Their mission is to “Make sure every single patient finds their match. Period.” Photos of couples exhibiting love and emotions bring a human element to a historically complex and scientific process.

From a technical perspective, the design makes moving down the page feel natural, ensuring the readers reach each point of copy and every CTA on the homepage.

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Newest Americans

Award: Honorable Mention (2020), Awwwards

An organization with a responsibility as large as honoring past, present, and future migrating identities needs a beautiful and functional website to help spread the word. Newest Americans champion immigrant experiences in cities across the state of New Jersey. The website uses beautiful imagery of people, places, and items that represent this experience in a way that flows cohesively down the homepage, telling the story of this group of America’s newest citizens.

The website is both visually appealing and functional with a simple navigation menu, stories organized by photos, and a clean press page that puts the most recent articles front and center.

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Spotify Design

Award: Honorable Mention (2020), Awwwards

Spotify is known for its fair share of amazing feats, and its latest iteration of Spotify.Design is no different. Serving as the hub for all things visual and creative for Spotify, the music and podcast streaming giant gives listeners a look into the who, what, why, and how of what makes the app so sensational.

Bright colors, drop shadows, and smooth animations give this website character and depth. The flat geometric designs with abstract accents make albums and artists practically jump off of the screen.

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Looking for more design inspiration from microsites like this one? Read our post of the Best Microsite Examples We’ve Ever Seen.

Andy Warhol

Award: Honorable Mention (2020), Awwwards

Artist, film director, and producer Andy Warhol’s life is encapsulated in this splendidly designed website that captures his art style in a digital format. As you peruse the page, your cursor becomes a spotlight that converts every image you hover over into a negative image or inverses the colors of the text you’re reading.

The big, bold text makes a statement and emphasizes just how important copy is to website design. Subtle animations help pace the site and set the tone for each section as you peruse the home page.

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Human Interaction Company

Award: Corporate Website (2020), Red Dot

To see video done right, look no further than the Human Interaction Company. From the moment you click on the site, the experience is lightning fast. You’re dropped directly into the action — the why, what, and how of Human Interaction and exactly what the team does.

This Red Dot Design Award winner aims to bring the study of human interaction to the masses, and in the process, show us just how engaging it can be to learn about it. Don’t get discouraged by their award status though — none of the photos on this site are photoshopped, so it’s a practical example of building quality with the resources you have available.

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Garoa Skincare

Award: Site of the Day (2020), Awwwards

How do you transform the feeling of luxury and practicality into a website? Garoa Skincare provides a blueprint. Whether your product costs half the price of your closest competitor or twice the price, your site can bring a sense of extravagance to just about any product you sell.

High-quality visuals, typefaces that complement each other, and a balance of negative space with useful copy can bring a simplistic elegance to your website.

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Best Website Designs from 2019

1917: In the Trenches

Award: Awwwards’ Best Website of the Day (2019)

This website, made to promote the film 1917, lets you walk around the trenches and perform the same mission that the characters did in the film. You can also see their maps or access other tools.

This is a great example of a site that went above and beyond with interactivity as well as a site that leverages its content and prewritten storyline to market its film. This website won Site of the Day by Awwwards, which allows designers to vote and nominate great websites they see daily.

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The Octopus: A design blog by IDEO

Award: Business Blog/Website 2019 Webby award

IDEO, a global design company, won the Business Blog/Website 2019 Webby award for its Octopus blog, and for good reason. The blog features a sleek, black-and-white Octopus drawing as its homepage design, and uses yellow, black, and white to create a cohesive theme as you scroll.

If you hover over a blog post, the title is highlighted in yellow. If you hover over an image, the image is pulled towards you — two small features that make a big difference in terms of creating a unique and engaging user experience.

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Nomadic Tribe

Award: Awwwards’ Site of the Year nomination (2019)

This site, which was nominated for Awwards’ Site of the Year, is one of the more engaging sites I’ve seen.

The homepage immediately begins playing a stunning video featuring a man walking across a desert, followed by gorgeous landscape scenes and text like, “Are you lucky enough to call yourself an adventurer?”

The text throughout the website is playful, with colorful pinks and oranges and yellows, and the homepage is logically designed, with CTAs placed throughout that range in commitment-level from “Read More” to “Watch Now” and, finally, “Download the App”.

Ultimately, the website is beautifully designed with strong attention to detail, and tells a compelling story throughout.

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Diana Danieli

Award: Webby 2019

This 2019 Webby-winning site shows off imagery of art and architecture with either high contrast or heavy exposure. As a website visitor, you can click and drag your mouse to change the photos and variations. Each image shows a piece of work that highlights the artist who owns the website.

A cool plus about this website is its incorporation of audio and music. Clicking on certain buttons on the screenplays a piano note and truly immerses you in the Diana Danieli experience.

Want to see more personal websites? Check out our post on the Best Personal Websites.

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George Nakashima Woodworkers

Award: Webby 2019

This woodworking website emphasizes nature and care for the woodworking trade. It’s essentially a slideshow of beautiful forestry and farming images. As a new image comes on the screen, a new quote related to wood or trees also appears.

This is incredibly relaxing to the visitor and shows that the woodworkers recognize the beauty of trees and the environment. This website also won a Webbie in 2019.

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Best Website Designs from 2018

crypton.trading

Award: Site of the Day (4/3/2018), Awwwards

Meet crypton.trading, your robot accountant.

Crypton.trading is a trading hub for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, using artificial intelligence to predict changes in a currency’s value and identify key buying and selling opportunities. The website was rated high for its development and design, as it gradually explains more of the developer’s methods the further down visitors scroll.

This website makes tech-savvy visitors feel right at home the moment Crypton’s greeting appears across the homepage, one letter at a time.

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Southwest: Heart of Travel

Award: Best Visual Design – Aesthetic, 2018 Webby Awards

When Southwest Airlines wanted to prove that its customers were “more than just a dollar sign,” the company created a website where the design was assembled using the shapes of their customers’ flight paths.

The website, called Heart of Travel, even allows visitors to create their own artwork out of a trip they might plan on taking. In this way, Southwest’s website is a product of their most loyal passengers.

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Overflow

Award: Site of the Day (3/20/2018), Best Website Gallery

Overflow is a design tool that allows people and businesses to create story-like flow diagrams of their ideas so they’re easier for others to understand. Aside from this being just a good service, the Overflow website practices what it preaches: Along with vibrant red call-to-action buttons for downloading the tool, this website promotes its product the best way it knows how — using a flow diagram.

The website delivers this flow diagram in the form of a video. While embedded videos can look clunky sitting in the middle of a website’s other design elements, Overflow’s is perfectly placed and exactly what you’d want to see when landing on the site for the first time.

Check out our SaaS web design post for more inspiration.

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Frans Hals Museum

Award: Site of the Year (2018), Awwwards

It can be tough for a museum to present all of its artwork together on a cohesive website. That’s what makes the website of the Frans Hals Museum so impressive.

Located in the Netherlands, this museum has created a website that uses a combination of digital design elements and its own exhibits. This mixture helps visitors understand what they’ll see, when they can see it, and where else they can get a taste of what this museum has to offer.

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Best Website Designs from 2017

Simply Chocolate

Award: Site of the Year (2017), Awwwards

You’ll get a craving for chocolate just looking at this website — and in a way, that’s Simply Chocolate‘s website working as designed.

This appetizing website is that of a Denmark chocolate maker Simply Chocolate. Its website uses a variety of colors (and creative product names) to promote each chocolate bar. And as you scroll from one product to the next, they all seem to remain consistent in brand.

The three-dimensional appearance of each chocolate bar makes you feel like you can grab it off of your computer screen, while the “Add to Box” CTA to the top-left is ideally placed for users to select the products they want while browsing.

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NOWNESS

Award: Best Cultural Blog/Website, 2017 Webby Awards

NOWNESS is perhaps the coolest crowdsourced video blog on the internet. That was a mouthful…what does it all mean?

NOWNESS‘ crowdsourcing is part of what makes it an award-winner. This means most of its content comes from independent creatives — an increasingly popular way for businesses to publish content.

NOWNESS is also a video channel, meaning all of its blog content is in video format. Together, these qualities help make Nowness a captivating hub for the stories that brands everywhere strive to tell.

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Best Website Designs from 2016

Rainforest Guardians

Award: Best Activism Website, 2016 Webby Awards

Rainforest Guardians was one of the most immersive nonprofit websites of 2016. Seeking to build awareness around deforestation, the site allows users to “visit” the various villages, natives, and waterways that make up the Amazon Rainforest.

The site puts interactivity at the center of its user experience — a wise choice if your goal is to get people to connect with your cause and convert into volunteers.

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Protest Sportswear

Award: Site of the Year (2016), Awwwards

The Awwwards calls Protest Sportswear a “shoppable lookbook,” and that’s exactly what this site is. As a clothing outfitter, this company has reinvented the way they market its product: Rather than promoting garments of clothing, Protest Sportswear promotes “looks.”

This makes the company’s product the most appealing part of the website itself, using a collage of styles to design a homepage that changes as often as its customer’s styles do.

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The Teacher’s Guild

Award: Best Association Website, 2016 Webby Awards

The Teacher’s Guild is a professional community of educators that addresses some of the most critical challenges in education. What makes this website award-winning is how it balances diverse content types — programs, solutions, approaches, and collaborations — without overwhelming visitors.

Not only are the background visuals prominently placed, but they also use white space to emphasize the written calls to action at the center, as shown in the screenshot below.

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Best Website Designs from 2015 – 2014

Virgin America

Award: Most Significant Industry Evolution, 2014 UX Awards

In a world where airline websites are known to be riddled with major usability issues, Virgin America has one of the best websites that pushes usability, accessibility, and responsive design forward.

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Feed

Award: Site of the Day (6/6/2015), Awwwards

Not only is Feed an interesting concept, but it also has a stunning execution that challenges our understanding of what is possible on the web. Through a creative blend of animation and video, the site immerses users in an engaging experience.

As an atypical site, it contains several unique usability elements, including navigation that doubles as a scroll progress bar.

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ETQ

Award: Site of the Day (5/19/2015), Awwwards

ETQ takes a minimalist approach to ecommerce. Big, compelling visuals of their product lay against simple, flat backgrounds accompanied by strong typography that keeps the focus on exactly what the user came there to see: shoes.

Looking for more ecommerce website inspiration? Read our post of the Best Ecommerce Website Design Examples to Get Inspired.

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Mikiya Kobayashi

Award: Site of the Day (7/4/2015), Awwwards

Mikiya is a Product Designer with a minimalistic portfolio that showcases his work through strong photography and subtle animations. His full site was originally created in Japanese and then translated into English, helping demonstrate the international scalability of his design.

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Woven Magazine

Award: Site of the Day (4/4/2015), Best Website Gallery

Woven is an online publication that celebrates artists, crafters, and creators alike. Its website confirms that publications can (and should) have beautiful, engaging visuals with easy-to-read content. Free of distractions like pop-ups and intrusive ads, this site is all about the experience of the content itself.

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JOHO’s Bean

Award: FWA of the Day (8/7/2015), Favorite Website Awards

The website for JOHO’s Bean has incredible imagery, interactivity, storytelling, visual design, and most of all, sound engineering. These all come together to create a compelling, emotional, and engaging site that tells the story of a coffee bean’s journey.

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World of SWISS

Award: Best User Interface, 2015 Webby Awards

Another airline? Yep. SWISS airlines built an incredibly immersive site that tells the story of what it’s like to fly with them — and they did too great of a job to be ignored. Strong visuals and animations introduce the user to different sections of the site that are packed with information beyond the usual sales and marketing pitch.

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Other Cool Website Designs

Guillaume Tomasi

As a Photographer in Montreal, Guillaume Tomasi has built a portfolio that’s truly fit to house his unique and awe-inspiring photography. His surreal photo style is juxtaposed by his simple, flat, empty, and minimalistic portfolio design that places all of the focus on the work itself.

His unique series navigation coupled with art-gallery-inspired work introductions and perfect scrolling interactions yield an experience reminiscent of that of a real gallery.

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The District

This branding agency takes its imagery seriously, and it should — it handles all channels of media for its clients. The District’s website alone is a journey through some of the most beautiful artwork and photography you’ve ever seen.

These provocative tiles change rapidly as you explore the website, and the wackier they seem, the more interested you become in learning about their past work.

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Tej Chauhan

Tej Chauhan has turned impressionist artwork into a business model with this intriguing website. Each image on this product developer’s homepage slides out to cover the previous image, offering little context around the object you now see in front of you. But it’s that lack of context that makes you want to learn more.

Plus, the tagline, “Souvenirs of The Near Future,” suggests these objects are a part of their product line — and an opportunity for you to bring these innovative objects into your life.

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Want a similar look for your website? Check out the new CMS Hub theme collection on the Envato marketplace.

Amanda Martocchio Architecture

An architecture firm might not specialize in web development, but its website should still demonstrate its commitment to visually pleasing design. Amanda Martocchio took that to heart with this gorgeous website.

It’s no secret that Amanda Martocchio Architecture loves its work — each picture on the homepage of its website is an enchanting shot of the houses the company designs. The website labels every house you scroll through with the type of design that was intended, along with numerous angles to each building.

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Where to Get Your Design Inspiration

If you want some design inspo, the good news is that you can find it just about everywhere.

One of the best ways to get inspiration for design is through travel. When you visit new places, you’re forced to get out of your comfort zone and experience something foreign.

What makes design so interesting is that everyone sees it differently and so, there’s always more to discover.

Another way to get design inspiration IRL is through the media. Every day, we are inundated with visual content. We make decisions about what we like, what we don’t like, and continue on our day.

But what if you were more intentional about how you viewed those interactions? You could come out of it with valuable insights.

You also can’t forget to leverage design communities. From design conferences to Reddit forums, there are hundreds of groups out there that can offer inspiration as well as advice.

Now that we’ve covered some IRL design inspiration sources, let’s cover the digital ones.

Website Design Inspiration Sources

1. HubSpot’s Website Themes & Templates Marketplace

HubSpot’s Website Themes & Templates Marketplace (previously HubSpot Asset Marketplace) houses hundreds of website templates that you can sift through to get inspired for your own website.

The best part of the marketplace is that you can narrow down by industry and feature, allowing you to see the templates that are most relevant.

Once you find a template you like, you can view a live preview of the site to get a full experience then download it if you decide to use it.

2. Dribble

Dribble is where designers go to get inspired and to share their work. The website has everything from animation and branding to illustration and mobile.

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Once you navigate to the “Web Design” tab on the homepage, you can filter results by color scheme, editing software, timeframe, and tags.

Furthermore, if you find a designer whose work you like, you can save the design for future reference and follow their work to see other designs on their profile.

This is an incredible resource to use whether you’re starting from scratch or already have a solid plan in mind.

3. Bēhance

This is another digital platform full of creative inspiration to leverage ahead of your website design project.

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One of the best features on this site is the ability to filter by location. This allows you to see how designers in different regions differ in technique and style.

This can be particularly helpful if you are designing a website for a foreign, unfamiliar market. You can gain interesting insights by evaluating the decisions made by Behance designers.

4. Pttrns

Want to focus on mobile web design? Pttrns is the place to go.

This subscription-based platform allows you to gain access to thousands of mobile design templates and get advice from top designers all over the world.

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Additional features on this platform include:

• A favorites and collections folder to store your favorite designs.
• A studio to interact with other designers and get advice.
• A design guide to understand the strategy behind the designs.

Website Design Ideas

Now that you’ve seen a number of beautifully designed and award-winning platforms, keep these potential ideas in mind as you create your own. Here are a few suggestions we have to help you can create a site that could appear on our best website design inspiration list.

• Consider ways that you can make your website interactive, like the 1917 example.
• Make a website that emphasizes the mobile experience, even while it still has a good UX on desktops.
• Create a website that tells a story about your brand with photos, text, or video.
• If you can’t create a heavily interactive site, consider drawing in eyes with a site that presents a slideshow of your photos.
• Ensure your call-to-actions are easy to see and encourage visitors to continue exploring your site
• Keep navigation clean. Ensure your visitors always know how to get back to the homepage.
• Integrate your social media sites via social embed buttons, so site visitors can easily follow you on your various social channels.
• Keep each of your web pages consistent in design — including font, colors, images, and messaging.
• Test your website’s usability with a heat map, which will show you on which web pages your visitors are most likely to bounce.
• Include a live chat or chatbot to give visitors the option to engage with you directly on your website if they prefer live chat to phone calls. Live chat can automate functions for your sales and service reps and create a better communication experience for the customer.
• Get an SSL certificate to ensure your website is secure. SSL is part of Google’s search ranking algorithm, so an SSL certificate can help you rank higher in search.

Build a Beautiful Website for your Business

Now that you’ve perused our best website design inspiration, it’s time to get started creating your own site. You’d be surprised how easy designing a site is once you have a look and feel in mind.

Once you’re ready to start coding or dragging and dropping, you’ll have a beautiful website that your visitors will enjoy.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Despite their overwhelmingly bad reputation, popups are a useful tool, but high conversion potential is not worth sacrificing user experience. Luckily, with the right WordPress popup plugins, you can leverage the high-conversion potential of popups without driving users away.)

Before diving into the tools, let’s look at the features to determine if a plugin suits your needs.

What to look for in a WordPress Popup Plugin

Popup plugins offer many features — from customization to screen display locations and built-in analytics — but the most important features to watch out for are targeting and trigger options.

Targeting refers to where the popup will appear on your website and who it will be shown to. Popular ways to target users with popups include page-level targeting, geolocation, device, and traffic source.

Triggers are actions that a user needs to take for the popup to appear. Popular trigger options include page entrance, scroll depth, clicks, time on page, and exit intent.

Having a few popup forms on your WordPress website could boost your lead capturing game. A quick Google search shows that there are many tools to choose from. To help you sort through the clutter and find a tool that moves the needle for your team, we’ll take a look at 12 WordPress popup plugins you should consider below.

1. HubSpot WordPress Plugin

HubSpot’s plugin allows you to connect your WordPress website to your HubSpot account for seamless integration. Any changes made to your popups in your HubSpot portal will be automatically reflected on your WordPress website without any extra work on your part.

 

HubSpot’s popup tool is highly intuitive and easy to use. You are first prompted to select the type of popup you want (box, banner, or slide-in) and then taken to the customizer where you can edit the text, add an image and relevant form fields, and even design your own thank-you message at the end.

Every contact you capture is automatically added to your free HubSpot CRM account. You can also target users by simply typing in the URL of the page(s) you want your popup to show up on and choose whether you want it to be triggered by a 50% page scroll, exit intent, or time elapsed. And if users decide to dismiss your popup, you can choose when they will be exposed to it again.

All the features in this tool are free.

What We Like: Other than the obvious reason being that this is our plugin, we love it for all it offers for free. This is an all-in-one plugin that handles everything you need on WordPress. With popups, you can create or manage your pre-existing popups with little to no hassle.

2. OptinMonster

OptinMonster was one of the firsts to popularize the use of popup forms in the marketing space. Its drag-and-drop feature makes it highly easy to use. You can choose from a variety of pre-built templates or create your own popup from scratch. Their Canvas feature allows you to create any type of popup (not just forms!) with the use of custom HTML/CSS and WordPress shortcodes.

Small Success is another unique feature that lets you display different offers to people who have already converted on one of your popups so you won’t annoy your visitors by showing them forms they’ve already signed up for. You gain access to plenty of triggers, such as exit intent, time on page, user inactivity, clicks, as well as many advanced targeting options like new vs returning visitor, cookie, geolocation, device, adblock usage, and more.

The main drawback with this plugin is that there is no free version. Plans start at $9/month, but you will need to upgrade to a higher tier for the more advanced features like A/B testing and exit intent.

What We Like: This is the best option for easy customizability. You have drag-and-drop for design, different templates to work off of, or even the ability to design from scratch. You’ll easily be able to with any type of popup you want to make with this plugin.

3. Elementor Popups

Design stunning popups with the popular page builder plugin Elementor and their Popup Builder feature. Elementor Popups uses the same interface as the page builder, allowing you to apply the same widgets and styling options to your popups, like buttons, countdown timers, email opt-in forms, and more. Similarly to many of the other plugins, this one offers a variety of popup forms like fly-ins and full-screen overlays.

With more than 100 beautiful templates to choose from, this popup builder lets you create WordPress specific page targeting options (categories, tags, post formats, etc.) with several triggers to choose from, such as click, time, scroll, inactivity, and exit intent.

This plugin does not come with built-in analytics or A/B split testing. And while the Elementor page builder plugin is free to use, this popup builder is only available when you purchase the pro version, which costs $49 for one website, and up to $199 for unlimited sites.

What We Like: Elementor’s popup plugin is a great choice for premium designers. You won’t need any coding experience to create stunning popups for your users. This is another all-in-one plugin that helps you build

4. Sumo List Builder

Sumo is more than just a popup form builder. On top of growing your email list, this plugin also helps with your social media, link building, and site analytics. The app has a module called List Builder, which allows you to create popups. You can set you popups to show up according to traffic source or different triggers such as clicks, time on page, exit intent and scroll depth.

Though this plugin comes with a free version, only one template is available in the free tier and you’ll need to upgrade to remove the Sumo branding. Premium plans start at $29/month, which puts Sumo on the more expensive side compared to other popup plugins.

What We Like: This plugin is great for building your email list. You have an intuitive integration with email and e-commerce, making this the perfect plugin for anyone looking to grow their business through email marketing.

5. PopUp Domination

PopUp Domination is one of the oldest popup tools out there. However, this hasn’t stopped them from making the right updates to stay competitive on the market. Its visual interface still makes it fairly easy to customize one of the 100+ pre-built templates available.

This plugin lets you show your popup to different users based on time on page, user inactivity, exit intent, clicks, total time on website, and mouse hover. On top of page-level targeting, more advanced targeting options include geolocation, traffic source, and device.

PopUp Domination has a royalty rate pricing structure. Each tier grants you access to all the features: unlimited domains and popups, A/B testing, live chat support, and more. Instead of being charged to have access to more features, you’re charged based on the number of total views your popups get across all of your websites.

If you want to use your popups on many websites that have low traffic, PopUp Domination might be a good solution. However, this may not be the best option for you if you have very few sites with high traffic volumes.

What We Like: This plugin is great for beginners since you will have many resources to help you use the tool and a relatively low price for getting started. Once your website starts getting more subscribers, however, you might want to look toward pivoting toward a more price-friendly option for your popup ads.

6. MailOptin

MailOptin is a fast-growing popup plugin for WordPress. It converts your website visitors into email subscribers using different types of opt-in forms including popups, notification bars, inline or embedded forms, scroll boxes, slide-ins, sidebar forms etc.

It is intuitive and easy to you in part because it uses the WordPress Customizer that you already know and love. It ships with a ton of professionally designed and mobile responsive templates to choose from.

It includes a number of display triggers such as page-level targeting, exit intent, time on site, pageviews, scroll trigger, adblock and referral detection, device targeting, new versus returning visitors etc. And integrates with all major email marketing providers and CRMs including Hubspot.

MailOptin is freemium. You can try out the plugin for free by downloading the lite version on WordPress.org repository or purchase a premium license to unlock more powerful features and top-notch customer support.

What We Like: This popup plugin integrates well with WordPress since you work directly through WordPress customizer. This can be great for people familiar with WordPress and just want something that works.

7. Ninja Popups

Ninja Popups is one of CodeCanyon’s top selling plugins. For $24, you gain access to their drag-and-drop popup builder with over 70 templates and animation effects to choose from.

And if you want more than just forms, Ninja Popups lets you create all kinds of popups, such as video displays and social sharing boxes. Its anti-adblocker technology lets you show your popups even to visitors who use ad blockers. This plugin also offers page-level targeting, and trigger options include scroll depth, time on page, exit intent, and user inactivity.

Although there is no free version, at only $24, Ninja Popups offers some of the most creative freedom for the price.

What We Like: This plugin is effective and enables your creativity. Bypassing adblockers is especially helpful considering 2 in 5 people use adblock today.

8. Icegram

If you’re looking for a more native option, Icegram lets you create popups right from the WordPress dashboard, thought its text-based interface makes it slightly less user friendly than most. Icegram’s trigger options include time on page, exit intent, user inactivity, clicks, and time delay. Targeting options include page, user retargeting, device, and geolocation.

This plugin offers a fair amount of value for free, but to access more functionalities, you will want to upgrade. Premium plans start at $97/year.

What We Like: This plugin is another great choice for working directly through WordPress. If you can get past the text-based interface, this is a good option for those needing a simple popup ad solution.

9. Popup Maker

Popup Maker offers a lot of flexibility in terms of what you can build. In addition to opt-in forms, you can create cookie notices, video lightboxes, notification boxes, etc.

A big draw of this plugin is its WooCommerce integration, which lets you target users based on their shopping cart items, purchase data, and more. However, this plugin’s lack of a visual editor makes it less friendly to use.

You can use Popup Maker for free, but for more functionality, individual extensions can be purchased starting at $87 per year

What We Like: This plugin lets you tailor your website popup ads to your user. You also have a good set of basic options to work off of as mentioned. Popup Maker is another good choice for those who are familiar with WordPress and just want a simple way to add popups to their page. The extra benefit is being able to work off of consumer data.

10. Bloom Email Opt-Ins

Provided to you by the devs at Elegant Themes (authors of the popular Divi theme), Bloom comes with over 100 templates to customize and lets you create a variety of forms on top of popups, including widgets, inline boxes, and optin lockers which you can use for gated content. Along with basic page targeting, this plugin contains unique trigger options — for example, make a popup appear after a user has left a comment on your page or after a user has made a purchase.

Despite its high-quality templates and beautiful dashboard, Bloom lacks a lot of the advanced features other plugins offer like an exit intent trigger option, and it doesn’t have a visual customizer.

Because this plugin comes from Elegant Theme, you can only access it by purchasing an Elegant Theme subscription, which costs $89/year or $249 for lifetime support and updates. This subscription also gives you access to 87 premium themes and 2 other plugins. But if all you’re looking for is a popup plugin, this may not be worth the investment.

What We Like: Bloom Email Opt-ins is a great choice for people who need more than just a popup plugin. You can fully customize your website through this plugin, and that includes popup ads.

11. Popup Builder

Popup Builder lets you insert any type of content into your popups and create custom animation effects. It offers features like automatic closing, user retargeting, and time delay triggers, as well as integrations with email service providers MailChimp and AWeber.

While this plugin can be used for free, just like Popup Maker, you will need to purchase extensions for additional functionality. Individual extension prices vary between $5 and $15, but you can get the full bundle starting at $49/month.

What We Like: Popup builder is a good option for those wanting to make mobile-friendly popup ads. Its intuitive user experience lets you build great looking popups in seconds.

12. Poptin

Poptin is a free popup and form builder specially designed for marketers, website owners, and digital agencies. Its powerful conversion optimization features are effective in boosting email signups, reducing cart abandonment, increasing engagement, and improving your overall sales conversion rate. It has a variety of fully responsive and customizable popup and forms templates that you can utilize without the need for coding.

In a matter of minutes, you can create your lightbox popups, full-screen overlays, gamified popups, countdown popups, slide-ins, bars, widgets, email forms, and more. You can add different elements such as images, videos, icons, countdown timer, coupons, and even custom CSS. The best part is that you can Integrate it with HubSpot CRM and emailing software to experience a seamless lead generation funnel. Poptin also offers a wide range of smart triggers and targeting rules to better convert the most qualified leads and customers.

Poptin’s free plan already includes major tools and features like analytics, A/B testing, exit-intent trigger, unlimited popups, and forms, among others. If you want to get access to more advanced features, you can always upgrade to its paid plans which start at only $25 per month.

What We Like: This plugin gives you a lot of bang for your buck. While other plugins on this list charge you for access to analytics, this tool gives you all of that for free. Poptin is best for marketers looking to add popups and dive into the data behind what makes them effective.

Choose whichever plugin fits your needs the best.

There are endless options when it comes to WordPress popup tools.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to collect user information and convert leads, check out HubSpot’s free form popup WordPress plugin. Installing the plugin will automatically connect your demand capture tools to the free HubSpot CRM so you can easily create follow-up emails for people who have filled out your form, track their activity on your site, and manage your leads all in one place.

 

To inspire your audience to be loyal to your brand, you need to have a core message that focuses on your brand’s purpose and shows why your brand is worth following. To do this, you’ll need to craft a brand manifesto that expresses your brand’s values.

A compelling brand manifesto will appeal to your audience’s emotions and show the “why” behind your organization.

But how do you discover the “why” behind your organization? How do you connect with an audience and inspire them to follow you? Here’s what you as a marketer need to know about brand manifestos, how to craft one, and examples of successful brand manifestos.

What is a brand manifesto?

Why a Brand Manifesto is Important to Your Business

10 of the Best Brand Manifesto Examples

How to Write a Brand Manifesto

Start with ‘Why.’

Not only can it build a loyal customer base, but it can also attract top talent to your organization.

Why a Brand Manifesto is Important to Your Business

It’s not always enough to have quality products; consumers also care about a brand’s values. According to a 2022 study commissioned by Google Cloud, 82% of shoppers want a brand’s values to align with their own.

Furthermore, 75% of shoppers said they’ve parted ways with a brand over conflicting values.

A manifesto is an opportunity to assure your target audience that your values align with theirs, thus building trust and customer loyalty.

10 of the Best Brand Manifesto Examples

To give you some inspiration for your own brand manifesto, here are some examples to consider.

1. Poseidon Dive Systems

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Poseidon Dive System’s manifesto appeals to its audience thirst for curiosity, freedom, and adventure.

Essentially, the company’s manifesto gives the impression that its products are designed to help consumers on their journey to explore and deeper understand the ocean.

What We Like: The manifesto uses descriptive language like “beneath the sea” and “incredible creatures” to paint the picture of an underwater world worth exploring.

In doing so, the brand describes an enticing world and tells its audience that it’s products can take them there.

2. Under Armour

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Sportswear company Under Armour’s manifesto speaks to the competitiveness of athletes or anyone on their fitness journey. However, instead of insinuating its audience competes against others, the manifesto explains the brand’s goal is to help consumers compete against themselves.

The idea is to help consumers push their own limits and become the best version of themselves.

What We Like: The manifesto adds context to Under Armour’s simple motto — overachieve.

3. Nespresso

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Nespresso’s manifesto makes its clear the brand believes everyone, regardless of status, should be able to enjoy premium coffee. The manifesto includes all the right words to set the tone for the brand — “premium,” “fancy,” and “luxury.”

However, the brand quickly establishes you don’t need to break out your best suit and tie or be a coffee connoisseur to enjoy its product.

What We Like: The manifesto gives the impression that Nespresso products are luxurious yet affordable and makes Nespresso’s values clear — the company isn’t elitist. It believes everyone should have access to superb coffee.

4. Moleskine

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Moleskine’s manifesto captures the beauty and art of writing with phrases like “the solemn, thoughtful, and meditative gesture of the pen gelding across a blank page.”

Whether journaling, note-taking, or outlining — writing is a personal and artistic expression.

Highlighting this in its manifesto shows Moleskine is in tune with its audience.What

What We Like: Moleskine’s manifesto shows brand consistency. The company manufactures paper and writing products, and its manifesto reflects both its products and its consumers values.

5. KIA

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KIA’s manifesto doesn’t include much vivid imagery, but it lays out in plain language the company’s goal. KIA’s purpose is to deliver innovative products that are convenient and respects its consumers most valuable resource — their time.

What We Like: If you’re not one for flowery writing and overly descriptive language, this manifesto shows it’s possible to clarify your values with simple prose.

6. Nike

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Even though Nike endorses some of the biggest names in sports, like LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Serena Williams, it never boasts about how the best athletes in the world use its equipment.

Instead, Nike sticks to what has skyrocketed the brand to the top of the sports equipment industry — emotional resonance.

Nike wants people to understand that success doesn’t mean becoming the greatest of all time. It means you did everything possible to become the best possible version of yourself.

What We Like: Nike’s manifesto perfectly expresses the “why” behind its brand — to empower every athlete, regardless of their talent or ability, to reach their potential and achieve their greatness.

7. Fiat

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Fiat isn’t just selling a sleek, Italian car. It’s selling a lifestyle. In its brand manifesto, you get a glimpse of the life it wants to offer customers — a life they can live with burning passion and thrilling excitement.

However, Fiat doesn’t want its customers to live recklessly. It wants them to treasure the little things in life just as much as the big things.

So the “why” behind Fiat’s brand isn’t really changing its customers’ lifestyle — it’s changing their attitude toward life. And that’s a compelling mission to have.

What We Like: The manifesto appeals to an emotion — love. The words “love” and “passion” are used multiple times throughout its manifesto.

8. The North Face

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Most travel equipment brands focus on how its products can enable you to travel and explore your surroundings, which is engaging on the surface. But, in The North Face’s brand manifesto, it goes another layer deeper by diving into why we explore.

What We Like: By describing how exploring helps us understand ourselves better, The North Face’s purpose is crystal clear — it not only want to help us explore more and help us change for the better, lead more fulfilling lives, and cherish what we have.

9. Apple

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Steve Jobs’ bitter disdain for the status quo compelled him to shatter conventional wisdom whenever he could, driving such a significant wedge between him and his colleagues that they forced him out of the company he founded.

Despite all his controversy, though, Steve Jobs’ ability to think differently fueled Apple’s innovation and transformed it into the most valuable brand in the world.

Steve Jobs’ story is the driving force behind Apple’s purpose. If Apple can inspire people to think differently and challenge the status quo, it can help propel society forward and change the world — just like he did.

What We Like: Apple’s manifesto tells a story of misfits and the hurdles they have to overcome due to their differences. Storytelling is an excellent way to appeal to emotion.

10. Levi’s

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No one wants to coast through life. But, often, we drift away — and we don’t even notice it happening.

To help catch yourself settling in life before it’s too late, Levi’s crafted a brand manifesto overflowing with so much purpose that it could convince Eeoyre from Winnie-the-Pooh to make his mark on the world.

Levi’s manifesto encourages its audience to make the world a better better place and says all they need is their gut instinct and the clothes on their back to make that impact.

What We Like: Levi’s conveys a brand purpose almost anyone would passionately follow for the rest of their lives — don’t ever settle.

1. Identify your organization’s “why.”

Your brand’s purpose drives your entire brand manifesto. Without a clear and convincing purpose, your manifesto will seem like an inauthentic, emotionally manipulative sales pitch.

Your audience wants to know why they should care about you — and your product’s “best-in-class” features have never been a compelling enough reason to support a business.

To uncover your organization’s “why,” ask your founders why they started the company. What problem were they trying to solve? Why did it bug them so much? And why do they want to keep growing the company?

You’ll most likely find your organization’s purpose within those answers.

2. Write in second or third-person to place your audience into your story.

In each of the brand manifestos above, you’ll notice that the copy pulls you in by including the words “we” or “people.” That’s because Nike, Fiat, and The North Face all know audiences primarily cares about how the brands can help them.

Using pronouns like “you,” “we,” and “them” (when referring to a customer base) can engage people on a personal level and place them in the narrative the brands are crafting.

3. Describe how your brand’s purpose will improve people’s lives.

Most people aspire to transcend their current identities and lives. Self-actualization is a universal goal that almost everyone wants to achieve. And the smartest brand marketers understand this about the human condition.

For instance, did you notice how each of the brand manifestos above is a life mantra that can improve your life? Nike — define and meet your greatness. Fiat — enjoy life to the fullest. The North Face — never stop exploring. Apple — think differently and challenge the status quo. Levi’s — don’t ever settle in life.

By describing each brand’s purpose in a genuinely selfless fashion, each company’s brand manifesto can prompt audiences to imagine a future with the brand’s product or service bettering their lives.

Start with ‘Why.’

Your brand’s purpose is one of the most challenging things to pinpoint and communicate. But if you want to craft a compelling brand manifesto that will engage an audience and persuade them to support your brand, you must be able to convey the reason you exist and why anyone should care.

Only then will you be able to build the loyal following that every brand craves.

 

If you’re a fan of HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing Methodology, you probably understand the importance of customer success. In fact, 70% of businesses with growing revenue prioritize customer success as “very important.” So, if you want your business to succeed you must make sure your customers do, too.

By doing so, you can stack the odds in your favor, ensuring the leads you’re passing to your sales team are a good fit for your business through benefit segmentation. In this post, we’ll go over what benefit segmentation is, why you should use it, and where it can be seen in the real world.

How does benefit segmentation work? 

Since different customers will seek different benefits from your product, marketers need to put them in designated categories. To start, marketers list all of the benefits a customer may receive from using the product. This could be something like specific features, product quality, price, or top-tier customer support. From there, they can categorize customers based on the values and benefits they seek, with customers able to be placed into multiple categories. 

Segmentation can also be based on other criteria, like customer behavior or demographics.. For example, you may put those who are brand loyal in one category, and who are more price-conscious in another.

Why should you do benefit segmentation?

Benefit segmentation will help you gain a better understanding of the different needs of your customer base in addition to the following:

1. Benefit segmentation makes it easier for sales reps to convert leads into customers.

That’s because your marketing campaigns will attract customers who are better suited for your product or service. Since the campaigns are targeted to the people who need your business the most, your sales team should have an easier time closing deals.

2. Marketers and salespeople can use benefit segmentation to engage customers.

By identifying the key value that your business provides, your team will create more compelling marketing campaigns and sales pitches. They’ll know exactly how to differentiate your product or service to make it attractive to your target audience.

3. Benefit segmentation improves customer retention.

Converting leads that are a good fit for your organization will decrease your churn rate over time. Customers will be happy your product or service is fulfilling their needs and will be less likely to shop with your competitors.

Now that we understand what benefit segmentation is and why you should use it, let’s take a look at some real examples where this marketing technique helped businesses attract and close leads.

4. Benefit Segmentation aids brand positioning.

With the data benefit segmentation provides, marketers can use this information to their advantage when it comes to brand positioning. Once each customer segment is identified with corresponding benefits, marketers can create a brand position that aligns with the data findings. Benefit segmentation can also help you identify gaps in what your product offers vs. what customers want, which can serve as an impetus for creating new products.

Benefit Segmentation Examples

1. Samsung

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The cell phone has become one of the most fundamental products of modern technology. Almost everyone has a cell phone to get them through their day-to-day tasks. But, depending on who you are, how old you are, and where you’re from, your cell phone needs may differ dramatically from the next customer. Most of us need a cell phone, but often for a different reason. So, how do phone companies manage to fulfill these customer needs?

Samsung uses benefit segmentation to personalize ads for different target audiences. In the cell phone industry, age is a major determining factor of customer needs. As customers get older, what they need from their cell phone changes. It goes from fun features like cameras and apps to more practical benefits like battery life and security.

We can see this play out in the two advertisements pictured. The first one is aimed at a youthful audience and inspires them to “Do bigger things.” The phone comes with two cameras and lets the user draw on images using the included stylist.

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Compare this to the next ad where Samsung focuses on the practicality of the phone. Its tagline, “Designed for humans,” lets the reader know the phone is user-friendly and easy to set up. The phone is designed for optimal performance so that it never slows down no matter how many apps are running at once. This is particularly useful for an audience that may have a busy professional schedule and is working on multiple tasks at once.

Highlights:

• Samsung used its “Do bigger things” campaign to attract a younger audience by reeling them in with sleek new camera features.
• Conversely, the company was able to attract older users who may not be as tech or gear savvy with the tagline “Designed for humans,” implying the phone is user-friendly for all.

2. Ford

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Car companies often use benefit segmentation to position different types of vehicles. For example, we can look at Ford to see the difference in advertisement between its Ford Fusion and F-150 models.

The Ford Fusion is a practical, four-door sedan that’s described as “sophisticated” and “cool.” Ford recognizes that people who are interested in this car will value its style in addition to its performance and price. The company highlights this by using vibrant colors in its advertisement to compliment the car’s eye-popping design.

Now, compare that image to the image of the Ford F-150 below. The F-150 is a work truck designed for people who need a powerful, durable vehicle. Customers who are interested in the F-150 would value the truck’s impressive towing capacity and ability to navigate difficult terrain. That’s why the image below shows the truck towing a large piece of equipment with a tagline of “Built Ford Tough.”

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Highlights:

• Ford marketed the Fusion sedan to users who were more interested in having a practical, but stylish car to get around town.
• For the F-150, Ford used it’s “Built Ford Tough” campaign featuring the rugged outdoors to attract buyers looking for a durable, all-terrain truck that could handle the toughest jobs.

3. Airbnb

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Airbnb’s market segmentation is interesting because it has to account for two main target audiences: hosts and guests. Not only does the company have to find customers to book the rooms, but they must also attract welcoming hosts with desirable living spaces. This forces Airbnb to perform benefit segmentation to create ads that appeal to both guests and hosts.

In the example above, we can see how Airbnb uses benefit segmentation to attract hosts in New York City. New Yorkers have a lot of pride for their city and value companies sharing that passion. So, Airbnb created these subway ads to educate New Yorkers on why Airbnb is good for local business owners as well as community development.

We can compare that educational message to the inspirational one below. This ad is aimed at potential guests who are planning a future trip but haven’t made concrete travel plans. Airbnb capitalizes on this opportunity by creating a message that embraces uncertainty. Rather than pointing to a specific location, Airbnb makes the destination irrelevant and instead focuses on how the company will help, no matter where you go. This makes Airbnb look more trustworthy to customers who may be nervous about making a major financial decision.

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Highlights:

• To attract NYC hosts to use their service, Airbnb embarked on a campaign that tapped into the pride New Yorkers have for their city and local businesses.
• For guests, Airbnb established itself as a trustworthy accommodation option – no matter where they decided to crash – by using the uncertainty of the audience’s destination to its advantage.

4. Nike

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Nike offers a wide range of products to a variety of target audiences. It needs to use benefit segmentation to develop different marketing campaigns that appeal to each group of customers. The most notable example we can pull from Nike is its ads featuring tennis superstar, Serena Williams.

These ads are aimed at Nike’s female target audience, particularly at its youthful demographic. Nike understands that these customers value the athletic confidence they experience when wearing Nike products. That’s because Nike’s apparel is not only stylish but designed for elite performance. The company uses the tennis phenom, Serena Williams, as an icon to demonstrate how this added confidence can improve your athletic ability.

Highlights:

• Nike expertly leveraged it’s reputation for creating high-performance gear by using tennis star Serena Williams.
• Additionally, the brand was able to tap into youthful nostalgia and appeal to female buyers by using images of Williams as a youth to inspire their audience to greatness.

5. Hulu

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Amidst the “cord-cutting” phenomenon, Hulu has been able to position itself as a viable alternative to cable TV. Hulu’s users value convenience and efficiency and don’t want to spend money paying for television channels they never watch. So, the company has created an ad campaign that explains how Hulu users can save money while maintaining access to their favorite content.

In the ad above, we see how benefit segmentation influenced Hulu’s marketing campaign. For example, the copy highlights how users can view “current episodes” and “hit movies.” Since many cord-cutters worry about losing access to new content, this lets users know that Hulu’s content is updated so they’ll never miss a recent episode. That’s incredibly important for people who follow series like Game of Thrones, where it’s vital to watch the episode as soon as it airs.

Highlights:

• Hulu’s ad campaign assures potential cord-cutters they won’t miss current episodes of their favorite shows.
• Hulu found what was most important to their customers (missing their favorite shows) and then tailored their messaging to address their needs.

The Advantage of Using Benefit Segmentation

With benefit segmentation, you can organize your customers and leads based on the value you provide them. This ensures you’re attracting customers who will develop a strong relationship with your business over time. By pursuing these customers, your organization will improve lead acquisition and ensure customer success.

This article was originally published June 3, 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

 

If you regularly send PDF files over the internet, knowing how to edit PDF files quickly will make your life a lot easier.

PDF, short for portable document format, is a type of digital file that allows you to send content that is readable by other users regardless of what software they use to view the file. And in order for PDFs to adapt to various viewing platforms, the file’s text and images can’t easily be modified once packaged into a PDF.

But it’s not impossible.

Whether you use a Mac or Windows computer, there are tools available to you for editing the text and graphics within a document that has already been converted into a PDF. You can even do this online, as well as convert PDFs back into Microsoft Word documents to edit your content in its original, editable format.

Here are a few ways to edit a PDF using Adobe Acrobat, or one of several online editing tools available to you today, on a Mac or Windows computer.

Skip to:

• How to Edit a PDF
• How to Edit a PDF Online
• How to Edit a PDF for Free
• How to Edit a PDF on a Mac
• How to Edit a PDF With Windows
• How to Edit a PDF in Word

Note: These instructions apply to Acrobat X and Acrobat XI, Adobe’s 10th and 11th editions. Earlier Acrobat products require you to select “Edit Text & Images” under the “Tools” option on the far right of your top navigation. See Acrobat’s current editing pane below, with “Edit PDF” on the right:

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As you can see from the instructions above, you need to install the program, Adobe Acrobat. Don’t worry, it’s compatible with both Mac and Windows computers. However, not every version of Acrobat allows you to edit existing text once you open your document in this program.

Adobe categorizes its software under Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro. The company offers the following three editions in both product lines: Acrobat X, Acrobat XI, and Acrobat DC.

According to Adobe, the editions below allow for basic text and content editing, as well as the ability to export your document into Microsoft Word:

• Acrobat XI Standard
• Acrobat Standard DC
• Acrobat XI Pro
• Acrobat Pro DC

Acrobat Pro DC and Acrobat Standard DC offer a host of other editing capabilities that Acrobat XI does not offer — such as automatic spell-check, advanced photo editing, and editing from an iPad.

Although Acrobat is one of the most popular ways to edit PDF files, it’s not the only method. Read on to learn how to edit PDFs using other hardware and software beyond Adobe’s suite of products.

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The hassle of needing an expensive program like Adobe to edit such a common file type hasn’t gone unnoticed, and there are numerous online tools you can now use for free to edit your PDF. But that also means there isn’t one universal set of directions to edit on each website available to you.

Step 6 in the above instructions is literally based on a tool called Sejda, one of the few free websites (more on that later) out there that lets you edit existing text — as well as add new content on top of the original.

Another paid tool option is Smallpdf. With this tool, you can add new content as well as save PDFs to platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, and even Microsoft Word.

Most PDF editing websites equip you with a manual content eraser and new text/image boxes you can drag and drop anywhere on the page.

How to Edit a PDF for Free

Buying software simply for PDF editing may not be practical if you don’t need to use it regularly, so we’ve rounded up a few tools that will allow you to edit PDFs for free.

1. Sejeda

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Most other PDF editing websites equip you with just a manual content eraser and new text/image boxes you can drag and drop anywhere on the page.

Sejeda’s online pdf editor lets users fill out PDF forms, edit, and sign PDFs for free. You can even edit existing PDF text. Simply drag and drop them from your desktop or upload them from your computer or Google Docs files.

Sejeda offers encryption for safety and your files are permanently deleted once completed. Should you not want to use their online version, they have a desktop option.

2. PDFescape

PDFescape lets you add new content and start a new PDF from scratch. Edit PDFs, add annotations, create and edit basic forms, and share documents in one simple tool. You can even set up password-protected documents to limit who has access.

Like Sejeda, PDF escape also has a desktop version if you’d rather not edit online.

3. FormSwift

In addition to PDF editing, FormSwift allows users to edit Word documents and images. If you choose, you can also convert your PDF to a word document. Have a paper document you’d like to convert? They’ve got that covered too. Take a photo of the document on your mobile device and upload it to FormSwift to be converted to a PDF in seconds.

4.DocFly

With DocFly, you can edit three PDF files per month for free. Like the other tools on this list, you can opt to drag and drop your files into the online editor or upload them from your computer. With it, you can add custom text, change background colors, add images, or edit forms. Although the free feature is limited, it’s perfect for those who only occasionally need to edit PDFs.

How to Edit PDF Forms

All of the tools listed above allow users to edit PDF forms or create them from scratch. Simply upload your document from your computer, and use the chosen tool’s editing features to replace information, or fill out the form as needed.

The tool that suits your PDF will depend on what specifically you’re looking to edit and the file size of your document. For example, because Sejda can’t accept PDFs larger than 50 megabytes (MB), check the size of your document and identify an editing tool that is compatible with your PDF.

If you want to edit a PDF using just the features that come natively on a Mac computer, follow the steps above. Just be sure to repeat Steps 3 and 4 for each image you want to extract from your original PDF — this is a unique function to Mac computers, and each extraction will take a screenshot of your image, saved to your desktop.

Do you plan on editing PDFs regularly? The above steps might be a bit time-consuming. Behold, PDF Expert:

PDF Expert is a free downloadable program built for Macs that allows you to open and edit PDF content right from the original PDF. You don’t have to migrate your text to a new document and take image screenshots the way you would in the 10 steps above.

As with editing PDFs online, the option that’s best for you depends on how much editing you plan on doing.

How to Edit a PDF With Windows

Windows computers can’t extract images as easily as Mac computers can, so you might be more dependent on third-party software to edit PDFs with Windows.

Keep in mind Acrobat — as well as the online tools mentioned earlier — all work for Windows, so by now, you’ve already learned how to edit PDFs on a Windows operating system.

Want a free tool tailored specifically to Windows? May your thirst for exclusivity be quenched: You can also download PDF Viewer Plus, a program offered only in the Microsoft store. The app is free to download and works just as easily as PDF Expert does on Macs.

Based on the various approaches to editing a PDF throughout this guide, you can predict by now that there’s probably more than one way to edit your PDF in Microsoft Word. And you’re right.

The first way brings you back into Adobe Acrobat, where instead of editing your PDF within Acrobat, you’ll export the file into Word (make sure you have Word installed on your computer). Remember, as stated earlier in this article, you can only do this in Acrobat XI and Acrobat DC — using either Adobe’s Standard or Pro edition.

Another way is to explore an online PDF editor. One editor that also allows you to edit in Word we already mentioned: Smallpdf. In this version of Smallpdf, you’ll upload your document and follow the prompts on the website to convert into and save your PDF as a Word document. See an image of this process below:

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Then, you can open your file in Microsoft Word, make your desired edits, and save as a new PDF the same way you would in Steps 7 and 8 outlined above.

Editing PDF Documents Is Easy

Editing PDF documents shouldn’t slow down your workflow. With the variety of both paid and free versions of PDF editing tools, it’s now easier than ever to edit and share PDFs. Go now, and amend your PDF, no matter what your platform and editing needs might be.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in April 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Did you know you could schedule your Instagram posts in advance? Or optimize your bio to appear in the Explore tab?

There are countless lesser-known Instagram features, settings, hacks, and search options to help take your Instagram game to the next level. And we’ve compiled them all, here.

Whether you’re a recruiter looking to showcase company culture, a eCommerce marketer, or just an individual looking to use Instagram in the best ways possible, here are Instagram tips and features for you to use.

Note: Before getting started, make sure you’re operating on the latest version of Instagram. At the time of publishing this guide, the latest version is 273on iOS and on Android. Please also note that although this article might demonstrate each tip below using an iPhone or Android device, all items on this list are available for both operating systems and can be enjoyed using the same step-by-step instructions.

Table of Contents:

• Instagram Account Features
• Instagram Design Features
• Instagram Optimization Features
• Instagram Reels Features
• Instagram Stories Features
• Instagram User Preferences Features
• Instagram User Search Features

41 Hidden Instagram Hacks, Tips, and Features

Instagram Account Features

1. Add and manage multiple accounts from the same device.

Have a separate account for your dog? Don’t be embarrassed; stand by your puppy profile. In fact, whether it’s a pet account or a business account, you can add and manage this one right alongside your personal account.

Here’s how:

1. From your profile, tap the gear icon. To find this icon on an Android device, you’ll first need to tap the three horizontal lines to the top right of your screen.
2. Scroll to the very bottom and tap “Add Account.”
3. Add your other account by username and password, and you’re all set.

To toggle between both profiles, hold down your profile picture in the navigation bar to view all connected accounts.

2. See all the posts you’ve liked.

Ever wanted to see the post you’ve liked all in one place? All you have to do is go to your profile, click the three lines on the top right (on Android and iOS), tap “Your Activity,” tap “Interactions,” and then click “Likes.”

With this, you can see 300 of the last posts you’ve liked.

To un-like any posts you’ve Liked, simply go to the post and deselect the “heart” icon below it. Don’t worry — the user won’t be notified that you’ve un-Liked the post.

3. Hide, delete, or disable comments and likes on your posts.

Twitter may carry a more “anything goes” culture of commentary, but your Instagram is your domain — and it’s much easier to control who says what on your content. This is especially important if you manage a business account.

To Filter Comments by Keyword:

Navigate to Settings and tap “Privacy,” then “Hidden Words.” You can toggle “Hide comments” to filter general offensive words or click “Manage custom words and phrases for messages, comments, and posts” to add custom filters.

To Delete Comments:

Tap the speech bubble icon below the comment you’d like to delete, and swipe lightly to the left over this text. Select the garbage can icon that appears to delete this post. You can also do this to your own comments.

To Disable Comments Entirely:

To clarify, you can’t turn off comments across your entire profile; you can only disable them for individual posts.

To do so, start posting an image on which you’d like nobody to comment. When you reach the page to add a caption, tags, and location, tap “Advanced Settings” at the very bottom. This will open a screen where you can easily switch on an option labeled “Turn Off Commenting.”

4. Clear your Instagram search history.

To clear your Instagram search history (on Android and iOS), go to your profile, tap Settings, then “Your activity.” Tap “Recent searches” and click “Clear all.”

5. Add another Instagram account to your bio.

Perhaps your company has more than one Instagram account for different aspects of your brand. For instance, HubSpot has a verified HubSpot account, a HubSpot Life account, a HubSpot Academy account, and a HubSpot Partners account.

To draw awareness back to its main company page, then, HubSpot links to the @HubSpot account in its other account bios, like in @HubSpotLife’s account:

Fortunately, you have the option to include another Instagram account in your Instagram bio. To do so, simply type the “@” sign into your Bio, and then select the account you’d like to tag. Then, click “Done.”

6. Communicate with your audience using Instagram Broadcast channels.

Broadcast Channels is Instagram’s newest feature, and it is a messaging tool for creators to engage directly with a large group of followers.

Creators can share updates and behind-the-scenes content as text, video, voice notes, and images. Followers can’t send messages but can enjoy the content, react to content, and vote in polls.

As of February 2023, the feature is currently in Beta mode for U.S. creators only.

Instagram Design Features

7. Add special fonts to your bio.

Here’s an Instagram bio hack that can truly make your profile stand out. You can already add emojis to the bio beneath your profile photo, but your keyboard limits your creativity right there.

Using a couple of basic third-party websites, you can copy over some more special fonts not often found in the Instagram community. Here’s how.

To Add a Special Font to Your Bio via Mobile:

Add a new font to your Instagram bio via your mobile device using a website like LingoJam. Open the site on your phone, type your desired bio text in the lefthand text box, and you’ll see the same bio text in different typefaces appear on the right.

Carry your chosen font over to your Instagram bio by tapping it and selecting “Copy.” Then, open your Instagram app, navigate to your profile, select “Edit Profile,” tap the “Bio” section and paste your chosen font into the empty field.

To Add a Special Font to Your Bio on Desktop:

If you’re editing your Instagram profile on your laptop or desktop, Font Space has a library of fonts you can download and copy into your bio in seconds. To do so, Find a font you like and select “Download” beneath the font’s sample image, as shown below.

Downloading this font will open a folder on your desktop where you can pull a “.ttf” file that carries the various versions of this font. The file will look something like the screenshot below.

Once you have this font copied to your computer’s clipboard, open your internet browser and log onto Instagram.com. Select “Edit Profile” and paste your downloaded font into your bio field. You can then edit the sample text that came with your font to write your new bio as you see fit.

8. Add special characters to your bio.

Not only can you customize your bio with a special font, but you can also add atypical characters that distinguish you or your brand — but that you wouldn’t find on your smartphone’s normal keyboard. These include§,†, or even™ if your Instagram name features a trademarked product name.

To Add Special Characters From Mobile

Using your mobile device, install a free mobile app likeCharacter Pad, which catalogs nearly every character and symbol you might need but won’t find in the 26-letter English alphabet.

Open the app and find the character you want to add to your Instagram bio. In Character Pad, you’ll simply double-tap the picture of your chosen symbol to paste it into a text box, as shown below. Then, copy this character to your phone’s clipboard. (For our purposes, I double-tapped the half moon icon.)

Once you have your symbol copied to your clipboard, open Instagram, navigate to your bio, and tap “Edit Profile.”
Hold down your finger on the field of your bio you want to insert your special character until “Paste” appears as an option, as shown below. Tap “Paste” and then “Done” you’ll be all set.

To Add Special Characters From a PC

You can also insert special characters and symbols through Instagram’s web client on a desktop or laptop computer. The easiest way is to use Microsoft Word’s “Symbol” insertion icon, as shown below.

Select your desired symbol or character and copy it to your computer’s clipboard. Then, navigate to Instagram.com and follow the steps above to paste your character into a particular part of your bio.

You might be tempted to simply Google search the special character you want, and at times it might work just as well as the steps above. But keep in mind not all special characters you copy from the internet are “clean” when you paste them into Instagram — some of them might become corrupted or not show up correctly.

9. Reorder filters to set your favorite filters at the front.

If you use Instagram a lot, chances are, you have a few favorite go-to filters, and others you never touch. To make editing photos easier, you can reorder the filters in your editing window.

To reorder filters, add a new post and begin editing it. When you get to the filters page, hold down on a filter you’d like to move, and then drag it to your preferred location.

10. Use Instagram as a photo editor (without having to post anything).

Perhaps you love Instagram’s filters and editing capabilities, but aren’t quite ready to post the photo to your account — right now, or ever. To use Instagram as a photo editor without posting anything, all you need to do is publish a picture while your phone is on airplane mode.

First, be sure you have “Save Original Photo” turned on in your Instagram settings.

Next, follow the normal steps to post a photo to Instagram: Upload the photo, edit it, and press “Share.” An error message will appear saying the upload failed, but you’ll be able to find the edited image in your phone’s photo gallery.

11. Insert line breaks into your bio and captions.

When you write a caption in Instagram, you’ll see the keyboard doesn’t give you an option to press “Enter” or “Return.” The same is true for your bio. So how do all those people put line breaks in there?

It turns out that all you have to do is press the “123” key in the bottom left corner of the keyboard, and the “Return” key will appear on the bottom right.

I know this tip sounds simple, but a lot of people miss it — myself included, until a colleague clued me in. We’ve seen some elaborate solutions out there for hacking through this problem, like writing the caption copy in another app, then copying and pasting it into Instagram. Thankfully, it’s much simpler than that.

Instagram Optimization Features

12. Pin important content to the top of your Instagram Grid.

f you have an Instagram post that you want to call attention to, you can pin it to the top of your profile grid.

To do this, pick the Reel or image post you want to pin.In the top right corner of the post, tap the three dots and click “Pin to your profile.”

The post will now show up at the top of your grid.

This is a valuable tool to share ongoing partnerships with your followers, draw attention to popular content, and make sure new followers or browsers can immediately see the most important content you want to share with them.

13. Optimize your Instagram bio to appear in the Explore tab.

Your friends, family, and coworkers might be your first group of Instagram followers, but growing your audience takes more than the people who already know you. One key way to do this is to get your profile to appear in Instagram’s Explore page.

The Explore page, accessible using the magnifying glass icon shown above, is a browsing page that sorts the entire Instagram community by topic and keyword. These include “Fitness,” “Style,” “Science,” and more.

Hashtagging your posts with these words can expose your content to the people browsing these topics, but you can also use them in your Instagram name and bio to promote your profile.

If Jane Doe is a marketing consultant, for example, she might want to make her Instagram name “Jane Doe Marketing,” rather than simply “Jane Doe.” Then, in her bio, she can include all of her specialties, such as “SEO,” “blogging,” “email marketing,” etc.

14. Drive traffic to an external website.

One of the biggest frustrations people have with marketing on Instagram is that clickable URLs aren’t allowed anywhere except the single “website” box in your bio. If you put a URL in a photo caption it’ll appear as plain text, meaning users would have to painstakingly copy the URL, open a web browser, and paste or type it in there.

One sneaky way to get people to visit your Instagram profile, which is where that one clickable URL is allowed, is to use your photo captions to encourage people to visit your profile for a link. Then, update that URL frequently to point to your latest blog content, YouTube video, product, or offer.

Check out the example below from the food magazine Bon Appétit, where it includes a link in its bio that draws people to external Bon Appétit content.

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If you have a verified Instagram account, you can also add links to your Story. Read more about this feature here.

15. Sell products from Instagram using Shoppable Posts.

You might already know you can tag people in your Instagram posts as (or after) you post new content. Now, you can tag products — and direct your viewers to a product page to buy what they saw.

To Add an Instagram Business Account

You’ll need an Instagram Business account to publish shoppable posts. You can get one by selecting “Edit Profile” on your Instagram profile and tapping “Try Instagram Business Tools,” as shown below.

To Tag a Post With Products

Once you’ve launched an Instagram Business account, you’ll need to enable product tags to use them on a post that depicts a product. Navigate to your settings using the gear icon from your profile page, and select “Products.” Tap “Continue” and follow the prompts to connect a “product catalog” to your business profile.

With product tags enabled on your Instagram Business account, you can now upload new posts and tag your photo with products you find from your product catalog. Here’s what a shoppable post can look like:

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16. Create an auto-complete quick reply for standard responses.

Responding to user comments and questions is incredibly timely, but fortunately, there’s a hack to streamline the process and make it more efficient. (Note: This only works on Instagram Business accounts.)

You can simply create a one-to-two word phrase that can act as your shortcut to a longer standard response you might send often. To do this, click “Business” in your Settings, and then “Quick Replies” — or, click the three-dot chat bubble icon on bottom of screen, and then click “New Quick Reply”.

Add a shortcut you can enter for the response. For instance, you might type “returnpolicy” as the shortcut for a longer response, i.e.: “Hey there. We’re sorry you don’t love your purchase. Fortunately, we permit 30-day returns, no questions asked. Please send us your order confirmation number to get the process started.”

Once you’ve added a shortcut, you can either type the shortcut “returnpolicy” into the comment box when you want it to auto-generate, or you can tap the three-dot chat Quick Replies bubble icon at the bottom of your screen to choose from a response you’ve created. (Read more about Quick Replies here.)

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17. Pin your Instagram post to Pinterest.

Instagram doesn’t have a natural integration with many social networks (except Facebook, its parent company) for publishing Instagram posts to other social accounts.

But with respect to Pinterest, image-loving platforms stick together. Here’s a backdoor way to Pin your latest Instagram Story to Pinterest:

On the Instagram mobile app, tap a post to view it in full, then tap the three dots to the top-right of the image. Select “Copy Share URL” to attach the picture’s link to your clipboard.

Open the Pinterest mobile app — or download it; you’ll need it for this step — and navigate to your profile page. If you have the latest version of Pinterest downloaded, it might ask you as soon as you open the app if you’d like to produce the image from your clipboard.

If not, select the “+” icon to the top right to add a new pin, and you’ll see a menu of options where you can add your “Copied Link” to a new Pin or board on your profile.

Instagram Reels Features

18. Upload and browse video content on Instagram Reels.

Instagram Reels is one of the biggest new features of Instagram to date.

You can find Instagram Reels by opening the app and tapping the TV icon in the bottom navigation bar. You’ll land on a gallery of Reels to watch, including those from people you follow, trending videos, and the most popular creators on the app.

As you view more videos, the algorithm will adapt to your interests and show you Reels relevant to your likes. And naturally, the same goes for your target audience.

The Reels you create are visible on your Profile under the Reels icon. When you want to upload a new Reel, follow the steps to upload an image but click Reels instead.

19. Easily create Reels using the template feature.

Instagram’s native Reels template helps anyone quickly and easily make a Reel. To create a Reel using a template, you can either:

Find a Reel you like that someone has created, tap on the three dots on the bottom right corner of the real, tap “Use as template,” and follow the steps. Note that the only Reels you can use as a template have the Use as a template button.

Or,

Click on the Reels tab, swipe left to access the “Templates” option, and select the template you want to use. Then, follow the steps on screen.

20. Automatically add captions to your Reels and Stories.

The auto-caption feature automatically converts speech into captions for your Reels and Stories. This feature is incredibly important for increasing accessibility for your content and also for allowing people to consume your content without sound.

21. Remix Reels to engage with other users.

Remixing a Reel means creating one that includes content from someone else’s Reel. It’s a great way to engage with other users and create side-by-side interaction.

To Remix a real (on Android and iOS), tap the three dots on the Reel you want to remix. Tap “Remix” and choose whether to play your video side-by-side the original video or after it ends.

Next, record your Reel and share it to your profile.

If you remix a Reel using side-by-side video, you can mix the audio and add voiceovers, text, and stickers to your Reel and the original Reel.

If you remix a Reel and add your video after the original, you can’t change the audio from the original post, but you can adjust the volume level of the original Reel and add a voiceover.

22. Reply to a comment on your Reel with a Reel.

Instagram now allows people to create Reels to reply to comments on Reels. It’s an engaging way to interact with followers and build connections.

To do this (on Android and iOS), tap “Reply” underneath a comment and click the camera icon.

Record your Reel or upload a pre-recorded video from your camera roll.

Click on the comment sticker to update the background color or change its position in the frame.

Edit your Reel, then click “Share.”

Instagram Stories Features

23. Use Notes to share status updates.

Notes are 60-character max posts next to profile images in the messages inbox.

Notes will appear in your followers’ inboxes, and you can choose to share them with all of your followers or your selected Close Friends list. They last 24 hours, and Notes replies appear as DMs.

The new feature is a great way to share your timely thoughts, engage with people, and see what others are saying.

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24. Create a collection of saved posts.

In addition to being able to view all of the posts you’ve liked, Instagram also has an option to save or bookmark certain posts in collections that you create.

Start by going to your profile, and tapping the “Settings” icon at the top-right of your screen, and then select “Saved”:

Next, press the “+” button and name your new Collection.

Click “Next”, and select images from your “Saved” section.

To save photos for future collections, tap the bookmark icon below the post you want to add, as shown below:

Then, go back to your saved photos by following the previous steps.

You’ll see the photos you’ve saved — to add them to your Collection, select the Collection you want to add to, and tap “Add to Collection.” From there, you can add any of your saved photos.

25. Create Stories Highlights to show Stories for longer than a day.

Like in Snapchat, posts to your story only stick around for your followers to see for 24 hours. But sometimes, you have a story that deserves more daylight to be told.

That’s where Stories Highlights comes in, a feature by Instagram that allows you to save stories together in the same space on your profile page. If you ever wondered what that “New” button with the “+” icon was below your profile image, this explains it.

To make a Stories Highlight, tap this New option and select any number of past stories in your album:

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Then, give it a cover photo and a name to display as its own Instagram Story on your profile page. You can remove Stories Highlights at any time by tapping and holding down this story.

26. Reorder Instagram Stories highlights.

The Highlights on your Instagram feed act as your brand’s portfolio — you can use Highlights to demonstrate your company’s values, showcase new products or services, or categorize various topics you post about frequently.

For instance, The North Face uses its Highlights section to highlight various initiatives that are important to the brand, including a section labeled “Summit Series,” “Explore Fund,” “XPLR Pass,” “Pride,” and “Athletes.”

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Since a user can only see the first five highlights when they come across your profile, you’ll want to ensure your first highlights are the ones you’re most proud of. To do this, simply follow this trick:

1. Hold down the highlight you’d like moved to the front of this list and click “Edit Highlight” when the slide-up appears.

2. Next, find an image or video you’d like to add to the highlight. (Don’t worry — you’ll be able to delete this within 30 seconds, so you don’t need to choose one that will stay on the highlight.)

3. Click “Done” in the top right corner.

4. Now, your Highlight will be first in the list. To remove the image or video you just added, follow the above instructions and simply un-check the image you added. Your highlight will remain at the beginning of the Highlight reel.

27. Change your Instagram Highlights Icon without publishing it to your feed.

The image you choose for each Highlight should accurately depict what type of content users can expect to see if they tap the Highlight, so you’ll want to choose a compelling, engaging image.

However, if you have a design, logo, or image you’d like to use that isn’t in your Instagram feed, it’s still possible to make it the Highlight Icon.

To do this, click “Edit Highlight” (same as the step above):

Next, click “Edit Cover,” and scroll through your camera roll to find an image you like.

Once you choose an image from your camera roll, click “Done.” Your Highlight cover image is now an image you’ve never posted on your Instagram account:

28. Schedule posts in advance.

Instagram being a mobile app, you’re probably in a routine of taking photos and posting them to your Instagram Story on the fly. But, you can also pre-post them from your computer for a set day and time in the future.

This feature is available with a social media scheduling tool, as well as HubSpot if you have an Instagram business account. If you have this business profile, switch to it via the Instagram mobile app and follow the prompts to connect it to Facebook.

Depending on the social scheduling tool you use, you might not include this step. Once you’ve toggled to the right account, however, you’ll launch your scheduling tool, navigate to your current connected profiles, and see Instagram as an available integration.

29. Use ‘Type Mode’ to enhance your Instagram Stories.

Since its launch, Stories have become quite creative, and it takes more than a pretty filter to stand out to your audience. Enter “Type Mode,” an option similar to Snapchat that gives you the power to caption Stories that need extra context to resonate with someone. Here’s how to use it:

1. Open Instagram Stories by swiping right from your Instagram feed. This will launch your smartphone camera. Then, take a photo or video and press the “Aa” icon to the top-right of your screen, as shown below:

The “Aa” icon will open Type Mode, where you have eight fonts to choose from. Here’s what a sample Story looks like with Modern font:

30. Post content from other users to your Instagram Story.

Although Instagram Stories are a great way to give your content exposure on your followers’ homepages, you might not always have something Story-worthy. In those times, you can share an inspiring post from someone else through your Instagram Stories. Here’s how:

1. Find a post you want to share in your Instagram Stories and tap the paper airplane icon, as shown below.

Instagram Account: @Freddysusa

This icon will open a screen allowing you to send this post to specific followers, or add to your Story. Tap the latter option, as shown below.

Tapping this option will automatically turn the post into an Instagram Story, which you can edit and design to your liking the same way you would any other Instagram Story.

31. Share candid Stories with your followers.

Instagram Candid Stories lets you share in-the-moment updates with friends to let them know what you’re up to. A unique feature is that each Story is only visible to others who have posted their own Candid Stories.

To share a Candid Story, use the stories camera and select Candid Story, or wait for the daily Candid Story notification.

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Note that the Candid Story feature is not yet available to all users.

Instagram User Preferences Features

32. Mute Instagram notifications using Quiet Mode.

Quiet Mode turns off all app notifications and adds a badge to your profile, so people know you’re taking a break. When you turn Quiet Mode off, you’ll get a roundup of notifications of things you’ve missed.

To use Quiet Mode on Instagram, Navigate to your profile page. Click “Settings,” then “Notifications,” and then “Quiet mode.”

Toggle the “Quiet mode” button to enable it and turn it off when you’re ready to receive notifications again.

You can also set a designated time to trigger Quiet Mode every day, so you don’t have to remember to turn it off and on.

Quiet Mode is currently available in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

33. Create a Favorites list to see your favorite accounts first.

If you have favorite accounts on Instagram or friends whose content you want to see more often, you can select up to 50 accounts to add to your Favorites list.

You’ll see their posts higher up and more often in your Feed, and you can even swipe to a separate favorites-only feed to see what people are up to. Every Favorites feed is free of ads and suggested posts, and nobody else knows who you’ve added to the list.

To choose your favorites, tap the Instagram logo on the top left corner, and select your favorite accounts to add.

34. Get notifications when your favorite people post.

Never want to miss an Instagram post from your favorite influencers again? You can choose to get a notification every time a specific user posts a new photo. All you have to do is turn on notifications for each user individually.

To turn on these notifications, visit a user’s profile, click the bell icon in the upper right corner, and choose what type of post you want a notification for: Posts, Stories, Reels, Videos, or Live Videos.

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Want to turn post notifications off? Just follow the same steps. It’s important to note that you must enable notifications from the Instagram app in your phone’s settings — here’s how.

• To allow notifications on iPhone/iPad: Go to “Settings,” then “Notifications.” Choose “Instagram” and then turn on the setting to “Allow Notifications.”
• To allow notifications on Android: Go to “Settings,” then choose “Apps,” then “Instagram.” Select the option to show notifications.

35. Hide Photos You’ve Been Tagged In

When someone tags you in a photo or video on Instagram, it’s automatically added to your profile under “Photos of You,” unless you opt to add tagged photos manually (see the next tip).

To see the posts you’ve been tagged in, go to your own profile and click the person icon below your bio.

Next, click on an individual post (in your tagged photos) and click the three dots in the top right. Tap “Post options,” then tap “Remove me from post” or “Hide from my profile.”

The first removes your tag, and the second removes it from your tagged photos.

36. Adjust your settings to approve tagged photos before they show up in your profile.

As we mentioned in the previous step, when someone tags a photo or video of you on Instagram, it’s automatically added to your profile. But you can change your Instagram settings to enable manually selecting which photos you’re tagged in that show up on your profile.

To manually approve tagged posts, navigate to “Settings,” tap “Privacy,” “Posts,” then “Manually approve tags,” and toggle the on button. Now you’ll be notified when you’ve been tagged in a post, and you can approve it to show up on your profile.

37. Hide ads you don’t find relevant.

Instagram tries to show you ads that are interesting and relevant to you. You might see ads based on people you follow and things you Like on Instagram, or the third-party websites and apps you visit.

If you see sponsored posts you don’t find relevant, though, you can let Instagram know and slowly teach its algorithm what you like and don’t like to see.

To hide ads on Instagram, tap on the three dots to the right of a post labeled “Sponsored,” and choose “Hide ad.”

From there, it’ll ask you to share why you don’t want to see the ad anymore.

You can also opt out of seeing ads based on sites and apps off of Instagram and Facebook from your device’s settings. Note that even if you choose to opt out of seeing these types of ads, you’ll still see ads based on your Instagram and Facebook activity.

• To limit ad tracking on an iPhone/iPad: Go to “Settings” and choose “Privacy & Security,” then “Apple Advertising.” From there, choose the option to turn off personalized ads.
• To turn off interest-based ads on Android: Go to “Google Settings,” then “Ads.” From there, choose the option to “Turn off interest-based ads.”

38. Send photos privately to your friends.

Posting photos with all of your followers or with the public isn’t the only way to share content on Instagram. You can also share them with individual or multiple users, kind of like a Facebook message or group text message.

You can either send a new photo to friends, or send a photo that you or someone else has already posted.

To send a new photo privately, upload a photo and begin editing it, as you would when editing a new post. When you get to the “Share” page, tap the top where it automatically says “New Post,” but when prompted, select “Direct Message.” From there, you can pick and choose whom you’d like to send the photo to.

You can access your direct messages at any time by clicking the mailbox icon at the top right of your homepage.

To send an existing photo privately, start by opening the post you want to share — it can be your own or someone else’s, as long as the latter has a public account. Next, click the paper-airplane-like icon below the post, then select who you want to receive it when the “Send to” box appears.

User Search Features

39. Search Instagram users without an account.

As much as Instagram would like to see you ultimately create an account for yourself or your business, you can peruse the beautiful brands, people, and dogs that are waiting for you without an account to see if it’s worth signing up.

There are two ways to search for people on Instagram without logging in:

Entering a Username at the End of the Instagram URL

The first way to search users without an account is by using an Instagram username you already know, and adding it to the end of “www.instagram.com/.”

For example, if you were to start with our Instagram username — which is simply “HubSpot” — you can enter the following into your browser’s address bar: www.instagram.com/hubspot. This will bring you to our Instagram profile as well as the elusive search bar at the top of the page:

Once you’ve reached this page, you can use the search bar to the left of the “Sign Up” button to browse users who are already active on the platform.

Googling Them in an Instagram Site Search

A slightly “hackier” way of looking up users without an Instagram account of your own is to simply search their name in a Google site search. This means telling Google to only look up search terms on a website of your choice (in this case, Instagram).

To site search a user, open a Google search and type the following: “site:instagram.com [name of user].”

By keeping all the text prior to the brackets in your search bar, you can shuffle through names of people and businesses and Google will produce results that live only on Instagram. Here’s what a site search looks like for HubSpot, below. As you can see, Google produces our main profile, our culture-focused HubSpot Life profile, Instagram posts that include the #hubspot hashtag, and our HubSpot Academy Page.

40. Look through pictures without accidentally liking them.

It’s pretty easy to learn how to like something on Instagram — so easy, in fact, that people do it accidentally: It’s just a quick double tap of the photo once you’ve entered its full view.

The thing is, it’s so easy to do quickly by mistake.

So, here’s a quick Instagram cheat for you: To look through someone’s photos without “double-tap paranoia,” scroll through Instagram feeds with your phone set to airplane mode. Without internet access, you won’t be able to Like a photo, even if you accidentally double-tap it.

The pictures won’t load in the first place if you start on airplane mode, though. You’ll have to go to the feed first to load the posts, then turn on airplane mode, then start scrolling.

When you reach the end of the first rows of posts and want to load more, simply turn airplane mode off, let more load, and then turn it on again. Cumbersome? Maybe a little, but it could be worth the paranoia mitigation.

• To turn on airplane mode on an iPhone/iPad: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and click the airplane icon. Or, go to “Settings” and then “Wi-Fi,” and switch “Airplane Mode” on.
• To turn on airplane mode on an Android device: Swipe down from the top of the screen. Then, swipe from right to left until you see “Settings,” and then touch it. Touch “Airplane Mode” to turn it on.

41. Browse posts from certain locations.

One fun thing you can do on Instagram is browse photos and videos from a specific location, or taken near your current location. I like to do that when I’m planning a trip somewhere, or want to check out a new restaurant and scroll through the pictures taken there.

Here’s how to do both of these things.

To Browse Posts From at a Specific Location:

You can either search for a specific place, or you can click into a geotag on an existing photo.

To search for a specific place: Tap the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of your home screen, which will bring you to the general search page. Type in a place you’d like to search for, and you’ll see content most relevant to the place you searched, including the most popular Reels, accounts, audios, tagged photos, and locations.

How to Get Verified on Instagram

A verified badge (the blue check beside a celebrity or brand account name) tells users that you’re, in Instagram’s words, “the authentic presence of a notable public figure, celebrity, global brand or entity it represents”.

For instance, there are plenty of “Reese Witherspoon” fan pages on Instagram, but there’s only one real Reese Witherspoon account, as verified by the blue badge:

To request a verified badge, you must be a public figure, celebrity, or brand and meet certain requirements. If you’ve determined you fit Instagram’s criteria for verification, follow these steps to request a badge:

1. Go to your profile (the person icon in bottom left corner).
2. Tap the three lines in the top right corner.
3. Click “Settings,” “Account,” “Request Verification.”
4. Fill out the form, including username, Full Name, Document type (like government issued photo ID), Category, Country/Region, and Audience.
5. When you’ve filled out all form fields, click “Send.”

It’s important to note, you won’t necessarily receive a verified badge if you request one. Learn more about what happens after you request a verified badge.

Instagram Features & Hacks

I might be biased, but Instagram is one of the most fun (and visually appealing) social apps around. And now, with these tricks, you can use it to an even fuller extent.

Plus, many of these features can help to enhance your brand’s presence on Instagram. Now, you know how to use the app more efficiently, to make sure you’re only tagged in photos you want to appear on your profile, and have even more ways to engage with the people by whom you’d like to be discovered.

Consumer preferences are constantly evolving, which keeps things interesting.

To help you prepare your strategies to meet audience needs, this post will dive deep into our State of Consumer Trends Report findings on consumer preferences, discuss how marketers currently measure up to those preferences and outline what you can do to better meet consumer needs.

What types of content are memorable to consumers?

According to our Consumer Trends Survey, the most interesting and memorable content brands can share is funny content, relatable content, and content that reflects brand values.

1. Funny content

49% of consumers say that funny content is the most interesting and memorable.

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How Marketers Measure Up

According to our 2023 Social Media Marketing Report, 36% of marketers already share funny content on social media. Half of those already leveraging it plan to increase their investments in it in 2023 (speaking directly to consumer interests), and it’ll be the second most invested in content type in 2023.

What can marketers do?

Funny content can be anything from sending emails with a witty subject line or using a trending meme format and relating it to your business.

For example, McDonald’s made a Tweet saying, “it’s easier to get these snack wraps than it is to get tickets,” during the rush of people trying to get tickets to Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour. The snack wrap is no longer available on the menu, so it was a lighthearted and funny contribution to a timely global conversation.

Another valuable opportunity is to create funny video content, which is actually the most likely to go viral.

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2. Relatable content

36% of consumers say relatable content is the second most interesting and memorable content brands can share on social media. Almost 70% of consumers also say that social media content being authentic and relatable is more important than polished, high-quality content.

How Marketers Measure Up:

42% of marketers already share relatable content, and they say it is the second most effective type of content to share on social media.

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What can marketers do?

Relatable content reminds your audiences of their lives, experiences, and needs. To be relatable to your audience, you need to understand them. Who are they? What are their pain points? What are their preferences?

Knowing the ins and outs of who they help you create content that relates to them as individuals. Consumers also want to build relationships with their favorite brands, so feeling like they can relate to your business and your business’ story can foster the connection they’re looking for.

A great way to build relatability is content that expresses your brand values.

3. Content that reflects brand values.

Content that reflects your brand values is the third most interesting and memorable content to consumers. This makes sense as consumers, now more than ever, care about doing business with brands that share the same value systems and support the same causes that they do.

How Marketers Measure Up

30% of marketers are creating content that reflects their brand values, so there is room for improvement.

45% of marketers share this kind of content on social media, and 16% plan to leverage it for the first time in 2023. Of marketers that do share it, 89% plan to maintain or increase their investments in it and say it has the 5th highest ROI of any trend.

What can marketers do?

48% of U.S. adults say brands need to do more about social advocacy, and the most important issues are racial justice, climate change, and LGBTQ+ rights.

With this in mind, share your brand’s values on social media — let them know what you care about and what you do to take a stand. Consumers will know what you care for, and you’ll draw in people who share similar interests and can turn curious browsers into paying customers if they find they truly relate to you.

It’s essential to be genuine in these efforts, as consumers aren’t shy to call out brands that they feel are making empty promises or untrue statements.

What types of content do consumers prefer for learning about products and services?

When learning about products and their features, consumers prefer searching the internet, retail stores and word-of-mouth tied for second place, and television ads in third place. Gen Z is the only generation with a different first preference, which is learning about a product and its features through social media.

With this in mind, marketers can do things like

• Creating an effective SEO keyword strategy to reach users browsing the internet.
• Using high-quality images and visuals for in-store advertisements to attract visitor attention.
• Ask for customer reviews and make it easy for customers to leave reviews so they can learn from others’ opinions about your business.

Under this same question, learning about a product and its features on social media came in fourth place. Among consumers with this preference, they like feed posts, ads or sponsored content, and short-form videos (like TikToks or Reels).

However, splitting these preferences up by generation paints a different picture.

• Gen Z’s top preference for learning is short-form video, story posts, or from an influencer they follow.
• Millennials prefer short-form video, ads or sponsored content, and feed posts.
• Gen Xers prefer feed posts, online communities, and short-form video.
• Baby Boomers prefer ads or sponsored content, feed posts, and online communities.

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How do marketers measure up?

Here’s how marketers currently measure up to consumer preference:

• Marketers most often leverage short-form video as part of their social media strategies (58%) — third place in general overall, but especially important to Gen Z and Millennials.
• 1 in 4 marketers currently leverage influencer marketing, and 89% of marketers who currently use it will increase or maintain their investment — especially important to the second-place preference for ads and sponsored content and Gen Zs desire to learn from influencers.
• 20% of social media marketers post daily, 22% a few times a day, and 34% post several times a week, ensuring that their content is seen when people browse their feeds — feed posts are the top way consumers want to learn on social media.

What can marketers do?

Pay attention to the top three preferences for learning about products, and go from there.

• Consumers like to see feed posts, so create a consistent posting schedule to remain top of mind and increase the likelihood of your products being seen.
• Consumers want to see ads or sponsored content, so you can run ads on your social profiles like paid partnerships, influencer campaigns, or paid ads (like a Facebook News Feed ad).
• Consumers also want to see short-form videos, so create TikToks, YouTube Shorts, etc. — snackable content for any platform. (Wyzowl’s Video Marketing Report found that 93% of marketers say video increases user understanding, so it’ll pay off).

Also, be mindful of generational differences if your target audience is primarily part of a specific generation.

For example, if Gen Z and Millennials are your primary audiences, you could focus on short-form video and making a presence on platforms that cater to it. If your audience is Baby Boomers or Gen Xers, you could create online communities in the channels they’re already in to speak to their needs.

Data-Driven Marketers Stay Ahead of the Curve

Data-driven marketers will win in 2023, so compare the consumer preferences in this post against what your own business is doing, identify areas of opportunity, and solve for your customer.

This post originally appeared on HubSpot’s Sales Blog. To read more content like this, subscribe to Sales.

Once considered a social platform solely for networking, LinkedIn has proven itself invaluable for a wide range of other uses: marketing, recruiting, sales prospecting, hiring, and research, among others. There’s a lot you can do with LinkedIn, so getting up-to-speed on and nailing the basic functions is a worthwhile exercise in itself.

But little did you know the social media platform also contains a variety of secret capabilities that can make you that much more efficient and effective. I’ll give an example. Want to send a message to someone you’re not connected with, but you’re out of InMails? Here’s how:

Prospecting just got a whole lot easier — and that’s just the beginning.

In this SlideShare, we’ve collected 22 of the most useful — and hidden — hacks in LinkedIn, including:

• How to hide your connections from competitors
• How to get a tailored lead list delivered directly to your inbox weekly or daily
• How to find prospects you already have something in common with
• How to customize your connection request on a mobile device

Take a look to upgrade your LinkedIn status from pro to hacker. (And check out this post for the ultimate cheat sheet to mastering LinkedIn.)

Have any other LinkedIn hacks up your sleeve? Share them with us in the comments!

Do you take a good, hard look at your team’s marketing strategy every year?

You should. Without an annual marketing plan, things can get messy — and it’s nearly impossible to put a number on the budget you’ll need to secure for the projects, hiring, and outsourcing you’ll encounter over the course of a year if you don’t have a plan.

To make your plan’s creation easier, we’ve put together a list of what to include in your plan and a few different planning templates where you can easily fill in the blanks.

To start, let’s dive into how to create a marketing plan and then take a look at what a high-level marketing plan has inside.

In this article, we’re going to discuss:

• What a High-Level Marketing Plan Includes
• How to Create a Marketing Plan
• Marketing Plan Templates You Can Use
• Simplified Marketing Plan Template
• Plus — Social Media Plan Templates

Marketing Plan Outline

Download This Marketing Plan Outline for Free

The below marketing plan outline will help you create an effective plan that easily generates buy-in from stakeholders and effectively guides your marketing efforts.

Marketing plans can get quite granular to reflect the industry you’re in, whether you’re selling to consumers (B2C) or other businesses (B2B), and how big your digital presence is. Nonetheless, here are the elements every effective marketing plan includes:

1. Business Summary

In a marketing plan, your business summary is exactly what it sounds like: a summary of the organization. It’s essential to include this information so that all stakeholders, including your direct reports, learn about your company in detail before delving into the more strategic components of your plan. Even if you’re presenting this plan to people who’ve been in the company for a while, it doesn’t hurt to get everyone on the same page.

Most business summaries include:

• The company name

• Where it’s headquartered

• Its mission statement

Our marketing plan outline also includes information on marketing leadership, which is especially helpful for companies with large marketing teams.

2. SWOT Analysis

Your marketing plan’s business summary also includes a SWOT analysis, which stands for the business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It’s essential to include this information so you can create targeted strategies that help you capitalize on your strengths and improve upon your weaknesses.

However, be patient with your business’ SWOT analysis; you’ll write most of it as you conduct your market research and create your strategy. Feel free to come back to this section periodically, adjusting it as you discover more information about your own business and your competition.

3. Business Initiatives

The business initiatives element of a marketing plan helps you segment the various goals of your department. Be careful not to include big-picture company initiatives, which you’d normally find in a business plan. This section of your marketing plan should outline the projects that are specific to marketing. You’ll also describe the goals of those projects and how those goals will be measured.

Every initiative should follow the SMART method for goal-making. They should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

4. Customer Analysis

In this part of the marketing plan outline, you get plenty of space to share all the data you collected during your market research. If your company has already done a thorough market research study, this section of your marketing plan might be easier to put together. Either way, try to do your research before synthesizing it in a shareable document like this one.

Ultimately, this element of your marketing plan will help you describe the industry you’re selling to and your buyer persona. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional description of your ideal customer, focusing on traits like:

• Age

• Location

• Title

• Goals

• Personal challenges

• Pains

• Triggering event

5. Competitor Analysis

Including a competitive analysis is essential when creating a marketing plan. Your buyer persona has choices when it comes to solving their problems, choices in both the types of solutions they consider and the providers that can administer those solutions. In your market research, you should consider your competition, what they do well, and where the gaps are that you can potentially fill. This can include:

• Positioning

• Market share

• Offerings

• Pricing

Our marketing plan template includes space to list out the specific products you compete with, as well as other facets of the other company’s strategy, such as their blogging efforts or customer service reputation. Keep this part of your plan simple — your full competitive analysis should be done separately. Here are a few competitive analysis templates to get started.

6. Market Strategy

Your market strategy uses the information included in the above sections to describe how your company should approach the market. What will your business offer your buyer

personas that your competitors aren’t already offering them?

As you fill out the section, use the insights from your SWOT analysis, your competitive analysis, and your market research to create targeted, effective descriptions that will help you secure buy-in for your later tactics and strategies. For instance, if you found that one of your competitors employs stronger social media marketing strategies, you might add “We’ll post 3 times per week on our social media profiles” under “Promotion.”

In our full-length marketing plan outline, the market strategy section contains the “seven Ps of marketing” (or the “extended marketing mix”):

• Product

• Price

• Place

• Promotion

• People

• Process

• Physical Evidence

(You’ll learn more about these seven sub-components inside our free marketing plan template, which you can download below.)

7. Budget

Don’t mistake the marketing budget element of your plan with your product’s price or other company financials. Your budget describes how much money the business has allotted the marketing team to pursue the initiatives and goals outlined in the elements above.

Depending on how many individual expenses you have, you should consider itemizing this budget by what specifically you’ll spend your budget on. Example marketing expenses include:

• Outsourcing costs to a marketing agency and/or other providers

• Marketing software

• Paid promotions

• Events (those you’ll host and/or attend)

Knowing the budget and doing analysis on the marketing channels you want to invest in, you should be able to come up with a plan for how much budget to invest in which tactics based on expected ROI. From there, you’ll be able to come up with financial projections for the year. These won’t be 100% accurate but can help with executive planning.

Remember: Your marketing plan only includes a summary of the costs. We recommend keeping a separate document or Excel sheet to help you calculate your budget much more effectively. Here’s a marketing budget template to get started.

8. Marketing Channels

Your marketing plan should also include a list of your marketing channels. While your company might promote the product itself using certain ad space, your marketing channels are where you’ll publish the content that educates your buyers, generates leads, and spreads awareness of your brand.

If you publish (or intend to publish) on social media, this is the place to talk about it. Use the Marketing Channels section of your marketing plan to map out which social networks you want to launch a business page on, what you’ll use this social network for, and how you’ll measure your success on this network. Part of this section’s purpose is to prove to your superiors, both inside and outside the marketing department, that these channels will serve to grow the business.

Businesses with extensive social media presences might even consider elaborating on their social strategy in a separate social media plan template.

9. Marketing Technology

Last, but certainly not least, your marketing plan should include an overview of the tools you’ll include in your marketing technology (MarTech) stack. These are the tools that will help you achieve the goals you outlined in the previous sections. Since all types of marketing software usually need a generous investment from your company’s leadership, it’s essential to connect them to a potential ROI for your business.

For each tool, describe what exactly you’ll use it for, and be sure that it’s a strategy that you’ve mentioned elsewhere. For instance, we wouldn’t recommend listing an advertising management tool if you didn’t list “PPC Advertising” under “Marketing Channels.”

1. Conduct a situation analysis.

Before you can get started with your marketing plan, you have to know your current situation.

What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats? Conducting a basic SWOT analysis is the first step to creating a marketing plan.

Additionally, you should also have an understanding of the current market. How do you compare to your competitors? Doing a competitor analysis should help you with this step.

Think about how other products are better than yours. Plus, consider the gaps in a competitor’s approach. What are they missing? What can you offer that’ll give you a competitive advantage? Think about what sets you apart.

Answering questions like this should help you figure out what your customer wants, which brings us to step number two.

2. Define your target audience.

Once you better understand the market and your company’s situation, make sure you know who your target audience is.

If your company already has buyer personas, this step might just mean you have to refine your current personas.

If you don’t have a buyer persona, you should create one. To do this, you might have to conduct market research.

Your buyer persona should include demographic information such as age, gender, and income. However, it will also include psychographic information such as pain points and goals. What drives your audience? What problems do they have that your product or service can fix?

Once you have this information written out, it’ll help you define your goals, which brings us to step number three.

3. Write SMART goals.

My mother always used to tell me, “You can’t go somewhere unless you have a road map.” Now, for me, someone who’s geographically challenged, that was literal advice.

However, it can also be applied metaphorically to marketing. You can’t improve your ROI unless you know what your goals are.

After you’ve figured out your current situation and know your audience, you can begin to define your SMART goals.

SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. This means that all your goals should be specific and include a time frame for which you want to complete them.

For example, your goal could be to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in three months. Depending on your overall marketing goals, this should be relevant and attainable. Additionally, this goal is specific, measurable, and time-bound.

Before you start any tactic, you should write out your goals. Then, you can begin to analyze which tactics will help you achieve that goal. That brings us to step number four.

4. Analyze your tactics.

At this point, you’ve written down your goals based on your target audience and current situation.

Now, you have to figure out what tactics will help you achieve your goals. Plus, what are the right channels and action items to focus on?

For example, if your goal is to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in three months, your tactics might include hosting a giveaway, responding to every comment, and posting three times on Instagram per week.

Once you know your goals, brainstorming several tactics to achieve those goals should be easy.

However, while writing your tactics, you have to keep your budget in mind, which brings us to step number five.

5. Set your budget.

Before you can begin implementing any of the ideas that you’ve come up with in the steps above, you have to know your budget.

For example, your tactics might include social media advertising. However, if you don’t have the budget for that, then you might not be able to achieve your goals.

While you’re writing out your tactics, be sure to note an estimated budget. You can include the time it’ll take to complete each tactic in addition to the assets you might need to purchase, such as ad space.

Now that you know how to create your marketing plan, let’s dive into creating a marketing campaign outline that will help you reach the goals outlined plan.

Marketing Plan Timeline

Rolling out a new marketing plan is a big lift. To make sure things are running smoothly with all of your projects, you’ll want to create a timeline that maps out when each project is happening.

A marketing plan timeline allows your team to view all projects, campaigns, events, and other related tasks in one place — along with their deadlines. This ensures everyone on your team knows what’s due, when it’s due, and what’s up next in the pipeline. Typically these plans cover marketing efforts for the entire year, but some companies may operate on a bi-annual or quarterly basis.

Once you’ve completed your analysis, research, and set goals, it’s time to set deadlines for your assignments. From new blog posts and content initiatives to product launches, everything will need a deadline. Take into account any holidays or events taking place over the course of the year.

While setting deadlines for the entire year may seem daunting, start by estimating how long you think each task will take and set a deadline accordingly. Track the time it actually takes for you to complete similar types of projects. Once you’ve completed a few of them, you’ll have a better idea of how long each takes and will be able to set more accurate deadlines.

For each project, you’ll want to build in time for:

• Brainstorming: This is the first phase where your idea comes to life in a project outline. Decide what you want to achieve and which stakeholders need to be involved to meet your goal. Set a due date and set up any necessary meetings.
• Planning: This can include determining the project’s scope, figuring out how much budget will be allocated for it, finalizing deadlines and who is working on each task. Map out any campaigns needed for each project (social media, PR, sales promotions, landing pages, events, etc.).
• Execution: This third phase is all about your project launch. Decide on a date to launch and monitor the progress of the project. Set up a system for tracking metrics and KPIs.
• Analysis: In this final phase you will analyze all of your performance data to see whether or not your marketing efforts paid off. Did you meet your goals? Did you complete your projects on time and within budget?

All projects and their deadlines should be in a central location where your team can access them whether that’s a calendar like HubSpot’s tool, shared document, or project management tool.

One-Page Marketing Plan Template

As demonstrated above, a marketing plan can be a long document. When you want to share information with stakeholders or simply want an overview of your plan for quick reference, having a shorter version on hand can be helpful. A one-page marketing plan can be the solution, and we’ll discuss its elements below.

1. Business Summary

Include your company name, list the names of individuals responsible for enacting the different stages of your plan, and a brief mission statement.

Example

2. Business Initiatives

Include your company name, list the names of individuals responsible for enacting the different stages of your plan, and a brief mission statement.

Example

3. Target Market

Outline your target audience(s) that your efforts will reach. You can include a brief overview of your industry and buyer personas.

Example

4. Budget

This is an overview of the money you’ll spend to help you meet your marketing goals. Create a good estimate of how much you’ll spend on each facet of your marketing program.

Example

5. Marketing Channels

List the channels you’ll use to achieve your marketing goals. Describe why you’re using each channel and what you want to accomplish so everyone is on the same page.

Example

Free Marketing Plan Template [Word]

Now that you know what to include in your marketing plan, it’s time to grab your marketing plan template and see how best to organize the six elements explained above. The following marketing plan template opens directly in Microsoft Word, so you can edit each section as you see fit:

Download your marketing plan template here.

Marketing Campaign Template

Your marketing plan is a high-level view of the different marketing strategies you’ll use to meet your business objectives. A marketing campaign template is a focused plan that will help achieve those marketing goals.

A marketing campaign template should include the following key components:

• Goals and KPIs: Identify the end goal for each of the individual campaigns you’ll run and the metrics you will use to measure the results of your campaign when it ends. For example, conversion rates, sales, sign-ups, etc.
• Channels: Identify the different channels you’ll use to enact your marketing campaign to reach your audience. Maybe you run a social media campaign on Twitter to raise brand awareness or a direct mail campaign to notify your audience of upcoming sales.
• Budget: Identify the budget you’ll need to run your campaign and how it will be distributed, like the amount you’ll spend on creating content or ad placements in different areas. Having these numbers also helps you later on when you quantify the success of your campaign, like ROI.
• Content: Identify the type of content you’ll create and distribute during your campaigns—for example, blog posts, video ads, email newsletters, etc.
• Teams and DRIs: Identify the teams and people that will be part of enacting your marketing plan from start to finish, like those responsible for creating your marketing assets, budgets, or analyzing metrics once campaigns are complete.
• Design: Identify what your marketing campaigns will look like and how you’ll use design elements to attract your audience. It’s important to note that your design should directly relate to the purpose of your campaign.

Digital Marketing Plan Template

A digital marketing plan is similar to a marketing campaign plan, but, as the name suggests, it’s tailored to the campaigns that you run online. Let’s go over the key components of a digital marketing plan template to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

• Objectives: The goals for your digital marketing and what you’re hoping to accomplish, like driving more traffic to your website. Maybe you want to drive more traffic to your website, or
• Budget: Identify how much it will cost to run your digital marketing campaign and how the money will be distributed. For example, ad placement on different social media sites costs money, and so does creating your assets.
• Target audience: Which segments of your audience are you hoping to reach with this campaign? It’s essential to identify the audiences you want to reach with your digital marketing, as different channels house different audience segments.
• Channels: Identifies the channels that are central to your digital marketing campaign.
• Timeline: Explains the length of time your digital campaigns will run, from how long it should take to create your assets to the final day of the campaign.

Many people use social media in their digital campaigns, and below we’ll discuss some ideas you can use for inspiration.

Social Media Marketing Plan Templates

As marketing departments grow, so will their presence on social media. And as their social media presence grows, so will their need to measure, plan, and re-plan what types of content they want to publish across each network.

If you’re looking for a way to deepen your social media marketing strategy — even further than the marketing plan template above — the following collection of social media marketing plan templates is perfect for you:

Download 10 social media reporting templates here.

In the above collection of marketing plan templates, you’ll get to fill in the following contents (and more) to suit your company:

• Annual social media budget tracking
• Weekly social media themes
• Required social media image dimension key
• Pie chart on social media traffic sorted by platform
• Social media post calendar and publish time

Below, let’s review the social media reporting templates, and what you’ll find in each one.

1. Social Media Questions

This template lists out questions to help you decide which social media management platform you should use.

Once you know what social media tactics you’re going to implement in your marketing plan, it’s time to figure out what channels are right for you. This template will help you do that.

2. Facebook Live Schedule

If Facebook Live is one of the marketing tactics in your plan, this template will help you design an editorial calendar. With this template, you can organize what Facebook live’s you want to do and when.

Once you’ve decided on dates, you can color code your FB calendar and coordinate with your editorial calendar so everyone can see what lives are running in relation to other campaigns.

3. Instagram Post Log

Are you going to begin using Instagram regularly? Do you want to increase your following? With this template, you can organize your Instagram posts, so everyone on your team knows what posts are going live and when.

Additionally, you can organize your assets and campaigns on this doc. Use this doc to collaborate with your team on messaging, landing pages linked in your bio, and campaign rollout.

4. Paid Social Media Template

With this template, you can organize your annual and monthly budget for your paid social media calendar.

You’ll want to use this in conjunction with your marketing plan budget to make sure you are not overspending and funds are allocated appropriately.

5. Social Media Audit

Conducting a social media audit? You can use this template to help you gather the right analytics. Tracking the results of your marketing efforts is key to determining ROI.

Use this template to track each of your campaigns to determine what worked and what didn’t. From there, you can allocate funds for the strategies that deliver the results you want.

6. Social Media Editorial Calendar

With this template, you can organize your social media editorial calendar. For example, you can include social media posts for each platform, so your team knows what’s going live on any given day.

7. Social Media Image Sizes

With this template, your team can have the latest social media image sizes handy. This template includes image sizes for all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Having a resource like this readily available for your team ensures that everyone is on the same page regarding image sizes and prevents delays.

8. Social Media Marketing Proposal

With this template, you can create an entire social media marketing proposal. This will outline the social media goals, the scope of the work, and the tactics that you plan to implement.

Think of this proposal as more of a deep dive into the marketing channel section of your marketing plan.

9. Social Media Reporting Template

With this template, you’ll gain access to a slide deck that includes templates for social media reporting. If you plan to implement social media in your marketing plan, these reporting templates can help you track your progress.

If using the social media audit above, you can add all of your data here once it’s been collected.

10. Hashtag Holidays

If you’re going to lean into social media in your marketing plan, you can use hashtag holidays to generate ideas.

These holidays are a great way to fill out your social media publishing schedule. With this template, you’ll get a list of all the hashtag holidays for the year.

Once you’ve come up with content ideas, you can add them to your social media calendar.

Simple Marketing Plan Template

Of course, this type of planning takes a lot of time and effort. So if you’re strapped for time before the holidays, give our new Marketing Plan Generator a try.

This tool simplifies yearly planning by asking prompted questions to help guide your process. You’ll be asked to input information about:

Try our free Marketing Plan Generator here.

• Your annual marketing mission statement, which is what your marketing is focused on for the year.
• The strategy that you’ll take with your marketing throughout the year to accomplish your marketing goals.
• Three main marketing initiatives that you’ll focus on during the year (i.e., brand awareness or building a high-quality pipeline) metrics you’ll use to measure your success.
• Your target goals for those marketing initiatives like generating 100 leads per week.
• Marketing initiatives that are not aligned with your current strategy to stay focused on your goals and activities that will help you be successful.

Once you input all information, the tool will spit out a table (as shown in the image below) that you can use to guide your processes.

Pro Tip: If the tool doesn’t work, clear your browser’s cache or access it in incognito mode.

Start the Marketing Planning Process Today

The best way to set up your marketing plan for the year is to start with quick wins first, that way you can ramp up fast and set yourself (and your team) up to hit more challenging goals and take on more sophisticated projects by Q4. So, what do you say? Are you ready to give it a spin?

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

We’ve all been there. You click on a listicle that touts amazing insights and simple tips, only to be presented with worthless clickbait. Listicles often have a bad reputation for being low-quality and providing little value to their readers.

However, when done right, a listicle can get both clicks and share helpful insights. These well-written listicles can play an important role in your content strategy.

In fact, this post about listicles is primarily a list post itself. Here, we’re going to dive into what a listicle is, how to write a high-quality article, and listicle ideas to help you generate engaging content for your readers.

What is a listicle?

Simply put, a listicle is an article written in list format. Each list item will typically include a few sentences or multiple paragraphs to educate or delight readers. For example, you might read a fun listicle, like “The Top 10 Movies of 2020,” or a more informational one, like “7 Steps to Build a Website.”

1. Make sure your content makes sense in list format.

Before you begin writing your listicle, research to ensure your topic fits into a list format.

If you search for your intended keyword and find most marketers are creating “Ultimate Guides” on the topic, it’s better to avoid a listicle format.

For instance, perhaps you need to write about “Instagram Marketing.”

While you’d initially planned on titling the piece “10 Best Instagram Marketing Tips,” your research has uncovered plenty of other angles you’d like to include, such as “why Instagram marketing is important” and “how to create compelling content on Instagram.”

These sections might fit better in an “Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing” instead of a listicle.

If you choose to create a listicle, each list item must match the topic. To create a high-quality listicle, your content must be consistent and parallel.

If you’re writing a list of best practices, you should only have best practices in your list — sneaking examples will confuse your audience.

Remember: You can always create another listicle for examples later on.

2. Include valuable takeaways — no fluff!

The most significant indicator of a lousy list post is one that contains a ton of fluff and no tangible, valuable takeaways for the reader. Here’s an example of what we mean:

3 Ways to Improve Your Social Media Marketing

1. Be unique! Do something to stand out from your competitors.
2. Take risks. Try out-of-the-box ideas.
3. Measure results! Use your analytics to tell you what’s working.

What a fantastic list post! I’ve learned absolutely nothing. Of course, you should do all these things in your social media marketing. But it needs to tell you how to do them.

Your listicle should give readers more than just a list of things to do and expect them to figure out how to do them themselves. It should also include valuable content that tells readers how to do each step.

An excellent list post nixes the fluff and concretely explains each item in detail. Not every tip will be new to your reader.

However, if they walk away thinking, “Well, I already put numbers 3, 4, and 6 into practice, but I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on numbers 1, 2, and 5!” — then you’ve probably got yourself a high-quality list.

Some listicles are meant to be more fun, but you can still include valuable takeaways. For example, the “Top Ten Best Ads of 2020” can be primarily visual, but it’s still essential you include advice your readers can use to create better ads for themselves.

Featured Resource: Listicle Blog Post Template

3. Link to more in-depth information when necessary.

One of the ways you can add value is to direct readers to other resources when necessary.

Great list posts are comprehensive, so they can get long and unwieldy. If this is the case, consider pointing your readers to another place for more in-depth information.

For example, we recently wrote a list post entitled “Email Deliverability: 5 Quick & Effective Ways to Increase It.” The last tip in the list was “Check to see your emails’ legality” and mentioned GDPR, which could be a blog post in itself. In fact, it already is.

Giving our readers enough information for that section to be truly helpful would have involved copying and pasting the entirety of our GDPR post into our listicle. That wouldn’t have been the most beneficial choice (and also might’ve hurt our SEO).

Instead, we explained the tip in a moderate amount of detail and then directed readers to the other post where they could find more in-depth information if they needed it.

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Feel free to do this in your own listicles. If you have to link to an external resource because you haven’t written the post yourself — excellent.

You’ve just passed off some link love, and you also now have another article idea for your blogging backlog.

4. Explain list items using relatable examples.

Sometimes one of the best ways to adequately explain a point on your list is to use an example to support it. Of course, real examples are ideal, but sometimes even a hypothetical one works just as great.

When selecting or creating an example, keep it as relatable as possible to your readers. This can be tricky if your blog’s audience comprises a variety of readers from different industries or businesses (like ours). The key here is to keep your examples general so everyone can relate.

For instance, in HubSpot’s listicle “17 Fun (Not Cheesy) Ice Breaker Games Your Employees Will Enjoy,” item 24 (Two Truths and a Lie) needed clarification for readers who haven’t played the game before.

To illustrate the game, I provided a personal example using a hypothetical example:

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Ideally, most readers will find this example helpful for understanding the game’s premise and how it works. Plus, it makes the content more interesting to read.

5. Number your items.

This is an easy one. If you’re writing a listicle — especially when you use a number in the title of your list post — number your list items.

This is particularly important when you have a long list because readers want to gauge their progress as they’re reading through the list (i.e., “only halfway to go” or “I’m almost done!”).

Readers may also like to reference particular points on a list later or share them with others.

Being able to refer to a specific number rather than saying, “I think it’s near the bottom of the list” or “It’s the fourth bullet point down” is a much more user-friendly experience for your blog audience.

Make things easy for your readers.

6. Include an appropriate number of list items.

While talking about numbers, let’s clear up some misconceptions about them. Listicle writers believe you should choose a number before writing your list and ensure you have enough points to fit that number.

We disagree.

Sitting down and saying you’re going to write a list of 14 items makes no sense. What if only 11 solid, valuable items make up the list? Should you come up with three lower-quality items to achieve your goal of 14?

Just be comprehensive. For example, this very listicle how-to post includes ten steps for writing a listicle because that’s how many I thought were individually valuable and indicative of a high-quality list post for this particular subject.

Originally I had brainstormed 11, but as I started writing, I cut one out because it wasn’t that different from another point, and they could easily be represented as one.

As we mentioned before, listicles can quickly become unwieldy. So when you start drafting your listicle, decide how granular you want to make your topic. This will help make your list more manageable. The title you craft can also help you stay focused.

For example, if you work for a plumbing company and want to write a listicle about how you can unclog a drain. You might stick to “The Top 4 Ways to Unclog a Drain,” rather than writing a long list post covering “The 50 Different Ways to Unclog a Drain.”

Furthermore, conduct tests and research to glean some best practices for your list posts. An internal study of our blog revealed that posts for which the title indicated six items or fewer didn’t perform as well as when the title indicated the list contained seven or more items.

The lesson? While we sometimes still write lists posts containing six or fewer items, we don’t include the number in the title for those posts. We might try to title it “Why Every Marketer Needs a CRM” instead of “3 Reasons Every Marketer Needs a CRM.”

7. Use category buckets for longer lists.

When we published “34 Millennial Stats That Marketers Need to Know,” we broke up the statistics into five sections:

• “General Stats and Market Opportunities.”
• “Social Media & Digital Habits.”
• “Behaviors and Financial Factors.”
• “Education and Work.”
• And “Political and Societal Views.”
• If some of our readers don’t care about the average millennial’s financial situation, they can quickly scan the post and avoid that section. Perfect!

If some of our readers don’t care about the average millennial’s financial situation, they can quickly scan the post and avoid that section. Perfect!

If your listicle seems long or unruly, consider breaking it into subcategories to help readers scan for what they’re looking for and feel more relaxed at first glance.

8. Logically order each step.

Like any other post you write, your list should flow and tell a story. How you do this will depend on the subject and contents of your list, but here are some great organizational structures to choose from:

• Alphabetical (great for glossaries).
• Chronological (great for step-by-step guides).,
• Popularity/importance, like most to least or least to most (great for top 10/20/50 lists).

Another best practice is to emphasize your strongest points at the beginning, middle, and end of your list to keep readers engaged throughout the article.

When I sat down and brainstormed this list, it was just that — a brainstormed list. It was unorganized and all over the place. I rearranged the furniture once I’d identified all the points I wanted to include.

Sometimes your list points will practically arrange themselves (e.g., “5 Steps to Do X”), and sometimes there won’t be as obvious a story (e.g., “20 Ways to Do Y”). Just put the time into figuring it out and ordering your items as logically as possible.

9. Make sure your listicle is consistent.

I’m not as strict about this one as some listicle purists, but your listicle should have a consistent and parallel look. Failing to do so only confuses readers.

Here are some helpful guidelines to consider:

• Try to keep sections similar in length.
• Use the same header style to highlight your list items, and make sure they stand out.
• Make sure your list item headers are written in a parallel fashion (i.e., if it’s a list of action items, each should be led with a verb).
• Finally, use images and bullet points to break up text when appropriate.

10. Have a clear and catchy title.

As we mentioned at the beginning of this post, one of the reasons people have always loved listicles is because they know exactly what — and how much — they’ll get out of them.

There is no guesswork involved, and your expectations are very clear for your readers. Make sure your title epitomizes that.

A compelling listicle title should accomplish three things to entice readers actually to read the post:

1. Capture the readers’ attention
2. Clearly indicate the value or what the reader will learn
3. Suggest how much they will learn with a number.

For example, consider this post, “5 Steps to Create an Outstanding Marketing Plan [Free Templates].” Do you wonder what this post will be about? Not at all.

You know that you’ll learn how to create a marketing plan (in 5 steps), and you’ll have templates if you need help.

Listicle Examples

As marketers, we’re often tasked with writing about drier topics to educate our viewers and attract leads. A listicle can help the reader scan for the information they need and feel less overwhelmed by the amount of content.

Let’s explore a few examples to inspire you.

1. HubSpot’s “6 Secrets to Achieving Work-Life Balance, According to HubSpot Marketing Managers“

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This post from HubSpot explores how you can achieve work/life balance, so you can be your best self every day.

What we love: This post includes plenty of quotes from marketing managers explaining their secrets. Quotes are a great way to provide value to your readers.

2. Buzzfeed’s “24 Of The Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books Of 2023“

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When it comes to book reviews, Buzzfeed knows the right formula. The site creates listicles of both recent releases, as well as titles that will be hitting shelves soon.

What we love: Each item on this list includes a release date for the book, as well as a summary. The listicle also links to where readers can order the book.

3. Southern Living’s “Soups To Make Every Month Of 2023“

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When it comes to cooking, what’s in season changes every month. Southern Living blends the best of a cooking calendar and a listicle for this collection of soup recipes.

What we love: This list makes use of clever organization, ordering recipes by month. And with 12 recipes highlighted, this listicle is easy to digest.

4. UpgradedPoints’ “The 12 Best Websites for Booking Flights at the Cheapest Prices”

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UpgradedPoints created a listicle to help travelers save on their next vacation. This article gathers sites that offer flight discounts, including a list of pros and cons for each.

What we love: At the end of each list item, the author includes a “hot tip” that can help readers save even more. By using icons and distinct colors with this text, this tidbit draws readers in.

5. Polygon’s “The Best Super Bowl Commercials of 2023“

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Whether or not you watched the big game, everyone at the office will be talking about the commercials. Polygon gathers the ads everyone will be discussing in this article.

What we love: It’s not enough to describe the ad. People need to see it. This post breaks up chunks of text with videos of the ads themselves.

Now that we’ve explored some examples, let’s dive into some ideas you can use to create yours.

Listicle Ideas

Finally, let’s explore some listicle ideas to help your marketing team brainstorm highly engaging content for your readers.

We’ll explore a few more tactical pieces you might write for an ecommerce, B2C, or B2B company, but we’ll also dive into some fun, “trendier” ideas if you work for a publication looking to expand your reach.

Listicle Ideas For Ecommerce or B2C Companies

• 14 Essential Ways to Build a Timeless Wardrobe
• How to Apply Black Lipstick in Three Easy Steps
• 20 Things You’ll Need in Your First Apartment
• 13 Things You Should Know Before Buying a Sofa
• The 7 Best Sustainable Furniture Companies

Listicle Ideas For B2B Companies

• How to Choose a CRM in 4 Easy Steps
• The 11 Best Website Builders
• 5 Steps to Creating a Marketing Playbook
• 3 Steps to Create a Better About Us Page
• 7 Communication Channels Your Team Needs in 2023
• 12 Marketers Tell Us Their Favorite Marketing Campaigns of 2023

Listicle Ideas For Publications Looking to Trend Online

• How to Make These 3 Meals With Only 5 Ingredients
• 10 Cool Gadgets You’ll Definitely Need This Summer
• 7 Hilarious Videos Trending on YouTube Right Now
• How to Become an Entrepreneur, According to 11 Successful Ones
• If You’re a Leader, You Need to Accept Some Harsh Truths. These Seven CEOs Explain Why.

There you have it! Remember that listicles should serve the same purpose as any other marketing content — to attract the right audience to your products or services.

Sit down with your team and brainstorm challenges your readers might be facing, and then decide whether that challenge can be solved with a step-by-step guide or a list of tools (that includes yours).

Now, you’re well on your way to having more listicles in your content strategy. Happy planning!

Ecommerce conversion rates are the ultimate top-line metric for online store owners. With this data, you can see if the changes you make to your site positively or negatively impact how many visitors become customers.

Download Now: Ecommerce Conversion Rate Calculator

Although crucial, there’s often confusion around what’s considered a reasonable conversion rate. Before you evaluate if your ecommerce conversion rate is good or bad, you must evaluate how your performance measures against your industry’s standard.

In this article, you’ll learn the ins and outs of ecommerce conversion rates, conversion rate benchmarks across industries, and how you can improve your results. Let’s dig in.

For example, suppose 30 out of 1,000 visitors to your online shop made purchases.

To calculate your ecommerce CVR, take the total number of people who completed checkout (30) and divide that by the total number of site visitors in the same time frame (1,000). In this case, your ecommerce CVR would be 30/1000 = 0.03 = 3%.

Today, many ecommerce retailers sell across multiple platforms. You’ll need to aggregate your site visits and conversions in one place.

You can leverage a tracking spreadsheet or find a technology solution to keep a pulse on your performance across platforms.

We’ve put together a free ecommerce conversion rate tracker that you can download here, along with an ecommerce marketing and sales plan template in our Ecommerce Planning Kit.

Featured Resource: Ecommerce Conversion Rate Tracker

Why is your ecommerce conversion rate important?

Your ecommerce conversion rate is crucial to the success of your online shop.

For example, you could bring in 50,000 views per month to your website through ads. If the user experience on your website is poor or your product descriptions aren’t effectively communicating value, you might only end up with a small percentage of that traffic converting into customers.

Ecommerce CVR is also a valuable metric to track over time to see how the improvements you’re making to your website, product categorizations, product descriptions, checkout process, or any other aspects of your online store are actually impacting your business’s bottom line.

What’s a good ecommerce conversion rate?

Don’t compare your ecommerce CVR to an overall benchmark that aggregates CVRs across industries. CVRs vary wildly across ecommerce sectors. Try to find conversion rates for your category or industry to use as a benchmark.

Looking at numbers isn’t all you need to do. Conduct a cost-benefit analysis and ensure that you make more money than you spend by selling your products online. From there, focus your time on optimizing your site beyond where it currently stands.

If you have one category of items with an excellent conversion rate, you can also aim to bring all categories up to that standard. With that approach, you can count on the CVR benchmark reflecting your specific target persona, not anyone else’s.

If you’re starting from scratch, see below for industry-specific benchmarks backed by recent research.

Ecommerce Conversion Rate Benchmarks by Industry

The numbers below come from IRP Commerce, which constantly collects data across many industries and ShippyPro. The numbers were most recently updated in December 2022.

• Agriculture: 0.62% – 1.41%
• Arts and Crafts: 3.84% – 4.07%
• Baby and Child: 0.87% – 1.43%
• Cars and Motorcycling: 1.35% – 0.65%
• Electrical and Commercial Equipment: 2.49% – 1.31%
• Fashion, Clothing, and Accessories: 1.01% – 2.20%
• Food and Drink: 1.00% – 2.01%
• Health and Wellbeing: 1.87% – 4.20%
• Home Accessories and Giftware: 1.55% – 2.34%
• Kitchen and Home Appliances: 1.72% – 3.00%
• Pet Care: 2.53% – 2.20%
• Sports and Recreation: 1.18 – 1.62%

1. Put explainer videos on your product pages.

It can be challenging to get a sense of sizing, fit, and material quality from photos. Video tends to demonstrate more detail. Add videos that show your product from various angles and allow people to see them in action.

You’ll also want to account for the increasing number of people who prefer to consume video over text.

2. Give your visitors a clearer set of product images.

There’s nothing more frustrating than wanting to look at the small details of the item you’re considering buying online only to find out that you can’t zoom in.

Your ecommerce site should include images of your product from different angles and allow prospective buyers to zoom in on the product images. Doing so allows these potential customers to have a more accurate sense of your product before purchase.

3. Tighten your copy.

Ensure your product descriptions are grammatically correct, easy to understand, and properly structured. It’s vital to keep your ideal buyer in mind as you write your product description.

In some cases, retailers may have a couple of identical products that are differentiated only by size. While the product specifications should reflect the different product dimensions, it’s okay to leave the copy describing the product’s use as is.

On the other hand, if you’re selling something like body care products, you might write an entirely new copy to describe who each product is suitable for, the different sensory elements of the product, and the look and feel of each.

At a baseline, always include product measurements, material specifications, warranty information, and any other information that would be crucial for buying your product. With this information, you won’t lose a prospective customer who is wondering about a key detail.

4. Add a chat feature to your website.

You simply can’t answer every question that anyone will ever have in your product description. However, since you want to do everything you can to convince someone to buy your product while they’re already on your site, consider chat as another avenue.

Chat can be a powerful tool for bridging the gap between your product descriptions and the information an individual needs to buy.

Customers can ask questions about your brand, shipping policies, and anything else non-product-specific without leaving the web page of the product they’re close to buying.

5. Test different call-to-action (CTA) placements, options, and wording.

Altering your CTAs is a classic method of optimizing a website’s conversion rate. Switching up the copy within your CTAs, the options people have for the next place they can go, or the prominence of those CTAs can be low-effort, high-impact ways to encourage people to buy.

Studies have found that while the majority of CTA tests don’t produce statistically significant results, the ones that do create enormous impact, with on-page conversion lifts averaging 49%.

You won’t know what conversion rates you’ll see until you start experimenting with each little aspect of your site.

6. Add social proof with stellar customer reviews.

It’s becoming increasingly easy for companies with cheap, low-quality products to deliver comparable on-site experiences and images. This convinces buyers that their products are the same as the others in the market, just less expensive.

However, the one element that’s hard to fake is customer reviews. Allow your customers to leave reviews of your products to prove their quality. If you’ve got great reviews, consider moving them higher on the product pages. Social proof can positively impact prospective customers’ buying decisions.

If you don’t have a solution that allows customers to leave reviews automatically, collect quotes from people who’ve bought from you before. Add several to each of your product descriptions.

Remember that you can always run A/B tests by tweaking your testimonial’s design and placement. You’ll soon find out what works best.

7. Offer free shipping.

We’ll admit that offering free shipping isn’t the cheapest option. However, the ROI can be enormous. Many people choose to go to a local store when it’s significantly cheaper to drive 15 minutes than pay $5-10 for shipping.

Free shipping reduces the perceived barriers to ordering something online. That means that you likely end up with more people making purchases. The revenue from those additional customers may compensate for the losses incurred by paying for their shipping.

You can also set a minimum purchase amount before free shipping applies to an order. You’ll incentivize your customers to spend a little more on products to avoid paying the shipping costs.

8. Tweak your checkout process.

You can make dozens of small changes to the user experience of your checkout process. Two of our favorites are eliminating unnecessary fields and adding a progress bar.

While collecting additional information about your buyers during the checkout process is tempting, additional questions lengthen the amount of time it takes to buy. Many people might not be that patient.

Progress bars can have two advantages.

• First, they can reduce buyers’ concern that they don’t have the time to complete the checkout process at the moment.
• Second, they give people a sense of accomplishment after each step they’ve completed, building positive momentum toward completing their purchase.

9. Allow guest checkout.

Allowing people to create an account makes sense for repeat buyers. But if you require people to make an account to make their first purchase, you may lose potential customers. Additionally, some people are averse to saving personal information online.

Trustpilot reports that requiring account creation at checkout is the second-biggest reason why people abandon carts, coming in just below having to pay for shipping.

Those who become repeat buyers will create an account eventually if they feel comfortable saving their information. In the meantime, don’t add extra steps to the checkout process for people ready to buy.

10. Add additional payment options.

A study from the Merchant Payments Ecosystem revealed that 50% of consumers would end a transaction if they couldn’t find their preferred payment method.

Consider running a survey to understand your customers’ preferred payment methods and add the one that’s most convenient for them.

By meeting your customers where they are, you’re potentially removing a nuisance (i.e., walking to another room to get a different credit card) or a complete blocker (i.e., not having access to any of the available payment methods). You’ll also create an easier user experience.

Improve your conversion rates.

By tracking relevant website metrics, you can discover what your current conversion rate is.

Find the right tools to help optimize your conversion rate. Then, experiment to see what yields results.

A marketer’s job can feel never-ending, especially when you have multiple daily tasks and campaigns to manage independently. Whether you have to guide a team, communicate with customers, or run a campaign — your to-do list can be exhausting.

Fortunately, there’s a way to automate some of your tasks — bots!

Here’s a list of bot software you can use to automate parts of the marketing process, so you can spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time running your business.

Best Facebook Messenger Chatbots

Here are the best chatbots available for Facebook messenger.

1. Boletia

Boletia is a customer support tool that allows event planners to streamline their businesses. With Boletia, you can automate your ticket sales and make the purchasing process effortless for your customers.

The Facebook integration lets you buy and sell event tickets through Facebook Messenger.

Platforms: Messenger

Functions: Customer Support

Price: Free

Language: Spanish

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2. BrighterMonday Uganda

BrighterMonday is an online job search tool that helps jobseekers in Uganda find relevant local employment opportunities.

The BrighterMonday Messenger integration allows you to speed up your job search by asking the BrighterMonday chatbot on Messenger.

Platforms: Messenger

Functions: HR

Price: Free

Language: English

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3. Dashbot.io

Dashbot.io is a bot analytics platform that helps bot developers increase user engagement. Dashbot.io gathers information about your bot to help you create better, more discoverable bots.

The Dashbot.io chatbot is a conversational bot directory that allows you to discover unique bots you’ve never heard of via Facebook Messenger.

Platforms: Messenger, Slack, Kik, Web

Functions: Analytics

Price: Paid

Language: English

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4. Faqbot

Faqbot is an automated 24-hour customer and sales support bot for answering frequently asked questions. The few seconds it takes to set it up will allow Faqbot to help your customers while you get some rest.

The Facebook integration lets you turn your static FAQ page into a streamlined conversation via Facebook Messenger.

Platforms: Messenger

Functions: Customer Support

Price: Paid

Language: English

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5. GoHire

GoHire is an online recruitment and branding tool that streamlines hiring and outsourcing talent. GoHire makes managing candidates and scheduling interviews fast and simple – no paperwork or confusing spreadsheets.

The integrations allow you to communicate directly with recruiters and job candidates via Messenger, SMS, and web chat.

Platforms: Messenger, SMS, Web

Functions: HR

Price: Free

Language: English

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Best Discord Bot

This bot below is excellent for elevating your Discord activity. 

6. MEE6

MEE6 is a Discord bot that offers a suite of features to enhance your Discord server. With MEE6, you can stay on top of internet trends, create custom commands, automate processes, and more.

Platforms: Discord

Functions: Communication

Price: Free

Language: English

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Best Marketing Chat Bots

Need advice ahead of your next marketing campaign? Need a way to schedule your ads automatically? These bots can provide the solutions you need.

7. About Chatbots

About Chatbots is a community for chatbot developers on Facebook to share information. FB Messenger Chatbots is a great marketing tool for bot developers who want to promote their Messenger chatbot.

You can also connect with About Chatbots on Facebook to get regular updates via Messenger from the Facebook chatbot community.

Platforms: Messenger

Functions: Marketing

Price: Free

Language: English

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8. Opesta

Opesta is a Facebook Messenger program for building your marketing bots. Opesta is easy to use and has everything you need to generate leads, follow up and deliver your products, and you don’t need coding skills to make it work.

The Opesta Messenger integration allows you to build your marketing chatbot for Facebook Messenger.

Platforms: Messenger

Functions: Marketing

Price: Free

Language: English

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9. Revealbot

Reveal is a marketing automation tool for Facebook ads. Save time planning and scheduling your ads; provide the rules and let Reveal do all the work.

The Slack integration lets you get notifications and access your Instagram and Facebook campaigns in Slack.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: Marketing

Price: Free

Language: English

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10. Surveybot

Surveybot is a marketing tool for creating and distributing fun, informal surveys to your customers and audience. You don’t need any coding skills – anyone can use Surveybot.

All you have to do is let Surveychat guide you through the survey-building process via Facebook Messenger.

Platforms: Messenger

Functions: Marketing

Price: Paid

Language: English

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11. Brand24

Brand24 is a marketing app that lets you see what people say about your brand to take advantage of new sales opportunities. Charts and feeds are available for analysis of brand mentions.

The Slack integration saves you time and enhances collaboration by allowing you to quickly assign tasks to the right people so you can take care of issues before they become big problems.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: Marketing

Price: Paid

Language: English

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12. Brandfolder

Brandfolder is a digital brand asset management platform that lets you monitor how various brand assets are used. Having all your brand assets in one location makes it easier to manage them.

The Slack integration puts all brand asset activity in one channel for easy collaboration and monitoring.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: Marketing

Price: Free

Language: English

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13. Autopilot

Autopilot is an app that allows you to personalize and automate your customer experience, giving you more time to focus on other aspects of business without sacrificing customer satisfaction.

The Slack integration lets you automate messages to your team regarding your customer experience.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: Marketing

Price: Free

Language: English

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14. ChatKwik

ChatKwik is a conversational marketing software that works with Slack to keep customer conversations organized to serve your customers better. The Slack integration lets you directly chat with customers in your Slack channel.

It also lets you learn where new prospects come from and generate more leads.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: Marketing

Price: Free

Language: English

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15. Customer.io

Customer.io is a messaging automation tool that allows you to craft and easily send out awesome messages to your customers. From personalization to segmentation, Customer.io has any device you need to connect with your customers truly.

The Slack integration lets your team receive notifications about your customers’ activity.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: Marketing

Price: Free

Language: English

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16. GetResponse

GetResponse is a comprehensive online marketing platform that can streamline your online marketing efforts and help you grow your business.

The Slack integration lets you customize notifications for different marketing metrics and channels so that you stay ahead of the game.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: Marketing

Price: Free

Language: English

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Best HR Chat Bots

Managing a team can be difficult, so here are some bots that can help keep your team motivated and on track.

17. HeyTaco

Show your coworkers how much you appreciate them with HeyTaco. HeyTaco is a fun way to celebrate your team members and inspire productivity with friendly competition.

The Slack and Discord integrations allow you to give your team praise and recognition without leaving Slack or Discord.

Platforms: Slack, Microsoft Teams

Functions: Communication

Price: Paid

Language: English

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18. Breezy

Breezy HR streamlines hiring and onboarding new people to your team. Use Breezy HR to discover, vet, and hire candidates that suit your company’s culture without wasting time or getting lost in paperwork.

The Slack integration allows you to rate candidates, view available positions, and get HR updates in Slack.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Paid

Language: English

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19. Sage HR

Sage HR is an HR tool that automates attendance tracking and employee leave scheduling. Sage HR is convenient, straightforward, and fast. The Slack integration lets you track your team’s time off and absence requests via Slack.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Paid

Language: English

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20. Calamari

No more HR scheduling complications; Calamari is an HR tool that manages team attendance, sick days, vacations, and work-related travel.

It takes zero effort. The Calamari-Slack integration allows you to request time off, clock in, clock out and check presence without leaving Slack.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Free

Language: English, French, German, Polish, Spanish

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21. ChiefOnboarding

Give new hires a warm and comprehensive welcome to their new team with the ChiefOnboarding Slack app. ChiefOnboarding simplifies the onboarding experience and is a great help for new hires.

The Slack integration enables you to get reminders, tasks, and tips from ChiefOnboarding via Slack.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Paid

Language: English

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22. Fortay

Fortay is a new analytics Slack bot that helps you keep your team on track. Fortay uses AI to assess employee engagement and analyze team culture in real time. This integration lets you learn about your coworkers and make your team happy without leaving Slack.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Free

Language: English

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23. Icebreakers

Get to know your coworkers with Icebreakers, an HR chatbot for building team culture. Icebreakers is a fun and modern way to make your team comfortable and invigorated.

Installing Icebreakers only takes a few seconds, and then you can exchange enjoyable getting-to-know-you questions and answers with your Slack team.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Free

Language: English

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24. Karma

Make your workplace more fun and more productive with Karma. Karma is a team management and analytics bot that tracks your team’s accomplishments and performance while promoting friendly competition. The Slack integration lets you view your team performance stats and reward high-achieving coworkers.

Platforms: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Telegram

Functions: HR

Price: Paid

Language: English

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25. Zenefits

Zenefits is a comprehensive digital HR platform for small to medium-sized businesses. Zenefits streamlines weeks of accumulated repetitive administrative tasks and handles team requests for you. Zenefits is so friendly you might start thinking it’s a human.

The Slack integration allows you to enjoy the perks of Zenefits right in your Slack channel.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Paid

Language: English

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26. Charlie

Charlie is HR software that streamlines your HR processes by organizing employee data into one convenient location. Whether you need to track employee time off, quickly onboard new employees, or grow and develop your team, Charlie has all the necessary resources.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Free

Language: English

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27. Donut

Donut is an HR application that fosters trust among your team and onboarding new employees faster so everyone works better together. The Slack integration lets you sort pairings based on different customizable factors for optimal rapport-building.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Free

Language: English

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28. Duuoo

Duuoo is a performance management software that allows you to continuously manage employee performance so you can proactively address any issues that may arise. The Slack integration uses notifications to help you keep track of meetings and agreements in your Slack channel.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Free

Language: English

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29. Geekbot

Geekbot is a bot that allows you to have effective meetings without everyone being physically present. The Slack integration lets you stay updated quickly on the status of various tasks that different teams handle.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Paid

Language: English

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30. Koan

Koan is an application meant to help strengthen the bonds within your team. This app will help build your team with features like goal-setting and reflection.

The Slack integration lets you manage all your Koan data without leaving Slack and keep your team updated.

Platforms: Slack

Functions: HR

Price: Paid

Language: English

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You can focus on strategizing and executing your next marketing campaign by delegating certain tasks to automated bots. Maybe it isn’t such a scary idea to let the robots take over sometimes.

Artificial intelligence continues to be a hot topic within the marketing industry. The market for AI in marketing will likely grow to $107.5 billion by 2028, up from $15.84 billion in 2021.

As the technology’s role in marketing expands, you’ve probably heard the terms “deep learning” and “machine learning,” — but what do these terms mean? Here’s what marketers need to know about deep learning and machine learning.

What is Machine Learning?

3 Common Ways Marketers Use Machine Learning

What is Deep Learning?

3 Common Ways Marketers Use Deep Learning

The Difference Between Machine Learning and Deep Learning

An example of machine learning is speech recognition. Machine learning can translate speech into text; software applications can convert live voice and speech recordings into text files.

Voice search, voice dialing, and appliance control are all examples of machine learning in speech recognition.

So if you’ve ever listened to your favorite song by saying, “Alexa, play ____,” you can thank machine learning for the capability.

3 Common Ways Marketers Use Machine Learning

Here are some ways machine learning is often implemented in marketing strategies.

1. Predictive Recommendations

Predictive recommendation machines rely on data to predict what content or services a user would enjoy. A well-known example is Netflix’s AI system that recommends movies and shows based on what a user has already watched.

The AI reportedly saves Netflix $1 billion annually through decreased churn and higher retention.

2. Churn Prediction

Some companies use machine learning to predict when a customer is about to churn so the company can take action before the customer leaves.

They achieve this by examining demographics, past user actions, and other data to predict future behavior.

For example, if a customer’s behavior indicates they may end their subscription to a music stream. In that case, the service may offer an exclusive deal — such as a temporarily discounted subscription rate — to keep them from churning.

This type of machine learning helps companies keep high retention rates, which leads to increased revenue.

3. Lead Scoring

Leading scoring predicts which leads are likely to convert into customers. This form of machine learning helps sales teams avoid manually sorting and reviewing thousands of leads every month.

Teams can use a lead scoring model to automatically identify and prioritize the most promising, thus boosting productivity while reducing costs.

What is Deep Learning?

Deep learning is a discipline of machine learning that uses algorithms and data to mimic the human brain to train a model. This discipline uses neural networks to learn a specific task. 

The neural networks comprise interconnected neurons that process data in the human brain and computers.

3 Common Ways Marketers Use Deep Learning

Here are some ways marketers use deep learning in their strategies.

1. Segmentation

Deep learning models can find patterns in data to initiate advanced segmentation. This allows marketers to easily and quickly identify the target audience for a campaign and predict potential leads.

2. Hyper-personalization

Deep learning can develop personalization engines that help marketers streamline the process of delivering hyper-personalized content.

Examples of hyper-personalized materials are websites that show content that varies depending on who’s browsing or push notifications for customers who leave without making a purchase.

3. Predicting Customer Behavior

Marketers can use deep learning to predict a customer’s actions by tracking how they move through the brand’s website and how often they purchase.

In doing so, AI can tell companies which products and services are in demand and should be the focus of future campaigns.

The Difference Between Machine Learning and Deep Learning

Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence, while deep learning is a subset of machine learning.

Machine learning means computers learn from data using algorithms to learn and act without being programmed — in other words, without human intervention. And deep learning uses algorithms and neural networks to train a model.

The image below illustrates the relationship between artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning.

Machine learning can also train on smaller data sets, while deep learning requires large amounts of data.

Deep learning improves via its environment and by learning from past mistakes, but machine learning requires more human intervention to learn and correct itself.

Here are some other key differences between machine learning and deep learning:

• Machine learning requires shorter training but can result in lower accuracy.
• Deep learning requires higher training and results in higher accuracy.
• Machine learning makes straightforward, linear correlations.
• Deep learning makes complex, non-linear correlations.

As artificial intelligence further integrates into various industries and our daily lives, marketers must understand its basic principles and learn how to leverage it for their brands.

Both deep learning and machine learning will create new possibilities in marketing by streamlining tedious processes and predicting audience behavior.

AI can help marketers improve their strategies and ensure they’re always on trend with consumers.

Moving people to act is a challenging task. With just a few words, CTA copy needs to show that you see where your audience is coming from and empathize with their issues. That CTA (call-to-action) must also motivate them to move toward a solution.

If the CTA copy you craft doesn’t keep your visitors’ attention, it can hurt your click-through rate, lead conversions, and ultimately, sales.

So, a CTA needs to inspire, encourage, and coax a person into action, but not bore, scold, or distract. Clearly, writing CTAs is a tricky balance of skill, influence, and awareness. But how can you write the perfect CTA copy on your own?

Keep reading or skip to a section to learn:

• What is CTA copy?
• Real-Life Examples of CTA Copy YOU Should Copy
• How to Write CTA Copy That Converts

When marketers think about call-to-action (CTA) creation, the first thing many of them tend to focus on is design. And while CTA design is critical to initially drawing the attention of your visitors, it’s CTA copy that has to be compelling enough to get them clicking.

Bring your calls-to-action to life with HubSpot’s 28 Free CTA Templates. Simply add your own copy, adjust designs as needed, save as an image, and upload to your CMS.

Looking at CTA examples can also help when you’re writing. The following examples can inspire you and compel your visitors to click and convert.

Real-Life Examples of CTA Copy YOU Should Copy

1. HubSpot

HubSpot is all about growing better, and visitors quickly get that message from the call-to-action at the top of the page. Then, the copy outlines how HubSpot can help your business grow better.

The next CTA is highlighted with a button, “Start free or get a demo.” This gives you two different choices with a single click, meeting the needs of many different users with a single action.

2. Kate Spade

This compelling CTA asks readers to “treat yourself” and “shop self-gifting.” The contrast of traditional Valentine’s day terms like “romancing” and “heart” with a unique statement makes this CTA stand out. It also highlights a specific audience that’s often ignored on this holiday, inviting them to flip through and “make the moment all about you.”

3. KLM

The language of this call-to-action (“50,000 Bonus Miles online offer”) is written in a way that gives visitors context even if they skim over the copy listed below it. The bottom line of text uses punctuation and uppercase letters to emphasize urgency. It’s effective because it’s both specific and action-oriented.

4. Duolingo

The copy of the call-to-action button here is so descriptive that visitors can move immediately into action, either getting started or continuing to use the app. This straightforward CTA tells you exactly what this app does and why you want to use it. Remember — sometimes being to the point is all you need to drive conversions.

5. Eventbrite

The text outside the call-to-action button here serves to create an incentive. The best time to find an event is now, so there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t just go ahead and find one. While this app is best known for creating events online, this CTA shows that Eventbrite also invests in promoting events posted on the app, creating more reasons to use the platform.

6. American Red Cross

This is an inspirational CTA example. It starts by reminding each individual who visits the site of their potential impact with one phrase — “You Can Make a Difference.” Then, it outlines how a financial gift can help. This framework creates an experience that feels more inspiring and less transactional, while still supporting the goal of collecting donations.

7. AWS

In this example, the text above the call-to-action — “Start Building on AWS Today” — gives specific details about the action visitors will be taking if they click. It reveals the ‘how’ of “Get Started for Free” too, with detailed sections for builders and decision makers. This copy clearly sets expectations before conversion so visitors know exactly what they’ll get in return for their click.

8. GoTo

This CTA starts with “One solution. So many ways to stay connected.” It goes on to describe the value of their cloud phone system. Then GoTo uses CTA buttons to clarify exactly what visitors will get after their click(s): either “See Plans and Pricing” or “Get a Demo.” The lesson is simple, if your button text is short and simple, clarifying copy can give visitors an extra boost to click.

9. Fitbit

In this example, the CTA copy tackles the problem of decision overload. Some companies use a CTA to compare their products to a competitor, then offer their best product as the best choice. Instead, this CTA assumes that the issue isn’t whether to purchase from Fitbit, but which Fitbit product to buy.

The CTA copy calls out a problem in a friendly way — “Trouble choosing? We’ve got you covered.” Then, it offers an immediate solution — “Start the quiz.” While some customers have complicated problems, you can simplify by looking at your ideas from your customers’ perspective.

10. Turbo Tax

When a web page offers many different choices, you may need to display more than one CTA. Each CTA needs to be powerful by itself, conveying a compelling and targeted offer through both visuals and copy. In this example, the language of the calls-to-action here gives readers solid context around three distinct offers.

11. Secureworks

This call-to-action gives visitors enough information to take the next step without needing to give away much background information. This text is a teaser that tempts people to keep reading, making a subject that can sometimes seem boring (cybersecurity) more enticing.

12. On24

The main call-to-action in this example urges action. Then, the text above each follow-up CTA highlights details about each offer. This language offers clarity and sets expectations for the visitor, eliminating any guesswork.

13. Upwork

This CTA starts with a motivational message — “How work should work” — then shifts the focus to direct action. The CTA buttons offer two different ways to engage. First, a CTA that asks visitors to start using the platform for hiring. Next, a CTA for people who aren’t sure how to hire and may have a longer buyer journey before they start using the platform.

14. Citizen Group

Simple doesn’t mean boring. This example offers creative CTA copy that aligns with the voice of the organization. CTAs like “Building Citizen Brands,” “Connecting Through Culture,” and “Let the Work Speak” offer a clear idea of what visitors will find after clicking. At the same time, the tone and voice of each CTA feels unique to this brand and makes the act of clicking more exciting.

Check out this post for more clickable call-to-action examples.

CTA copy is often the shortest copy on the page, so to some, it can be mystifying that it’s often the copy that takes the longest to write. A call-to-action is like a bumblebee, with its big body and tiny wings. It carries a heavy load with just a few carefully chosen words.

To create a CTA that makes the most of every blog, landing page, email, and button, check out these tips.

1. Use active language.

Using active voice puts the reader in the center of the action. It also helps cut down on wordiness. An example of active voice is, “Jack eats cherries to stay fit.”

In contrast, passive voice talks about action in a more roundabout way. For example, “The cherries were eaten by Jack for fitness.”

A writing tool like Hemingway Editor can help you test your copy for active voice.

2. Make your message specific.

CTA copy needs to be original, eye-catching, and drive action. That is a lot of work for a small number of words. So, to meet conversion goals with your CTAs, be specific.

Specific copy focuses on a single focused topic. Then, it uses language that makes it easy to visualize both the problem at hand and how the CTA offer can help.

If you’re not sure whether your language is specific enough, ask a few friends or colleagues to quickly scan your copy. If they all come up with the same meaning, chances are your CTA copy is specific enough. But if your proofreaders come back with different ideas about your offer and meaning, you probably want to rewrite your CTA.

3. Short and simple copy is best.

CTA copy should be easy to scan and understand. People tend to scan when they read online, and CTAs should draw their eye and be quick to take in.

Positive language with simple word choices can also help you create more effective CTAs. Check out this post for more tips on how to write clickable copy.

4. Avoid cliches and trends.

If you’re not sure what to write for your CTA it can be tempting to mimic what competitors are doing or to add a familiar cliche. It’s easy to understand why you’d do this, but it may impact your conversions.

Cliches are easy to remember because you’ve heard them so many times. Jumping on what competitors are doing might make readers think your business lacks creativity.

These approaches to writing copy may give your CTAs meanings that you don’t intend. They’re also something your reader has seen or heard before, so they’re likely to skim over and ignore your call to action.

Instead, use your CTA to tell an authentic story or make an interesting point. This will spark curiosity, and make your reader more likely to engage.

5. Focus on practical value.

Online readers are often searching to solve a problem. And the most effective CTAs make it quick and easy to see that you are offering a solution to that problem.

There are many ways to entice a reader to take a desired action. But being direct can be surprisingly effective. You can often get readers to do what you want them to do by offering a practical solution to a specific problem.

More resources:

• Types of CTAs
• Call-to-action formulas

6. Connect your CTA to your other copy.

Context is essential when you’re building trust with a customer. For example, say you’re at a dog show. If you’re selling dog food, you have a good chance of making a sale. But if you sell cat food, you may not have as much luck. You might even draw negative attention.

CTA copy needs to align with its context too. If you’re writing a landing page for a product, the action you want users to take needs to match the intention that brought that person to the page. Then the CTA copy you write needs to combine the content of the landing page with that offer.

To do this, use phrases and emotional words that match the two pieces of content that you’re connecting with your CTA. Then, edit your copy to emphasize why that connection is useful to your reader.

This post offers more dos and don’ts for CTA copy.

7. Target a specific audience.

You might have a broad target audience. But CTA copy needs to connect with that audience at a particular moment in their journey to drive conversions.

It’s important to know who you’re speaking to. Is it a new visitor to your site arriving from a referral page? Is it a current customer who’s looking for answers? Or a lead hoping to take the next step toward a purchase?

Take some time to look at your content and offer from a target user’s perspective, then write a CTA that will connect to them at the right moment.

8. Test your CTAs for results.

While you can jump into a new CTA and gauge your results by looking at your conversion data, there’s a less risky way to try out new calls to action.

The most popular way to test CTA copy is with A/B testing. You can test CTA performance on different landing pages, with unique designs, or test different versions of CTA copy.

This testing approach isolates one variable at a time so that you can see how the copy of your CTA is impacting performance. Then you can make changes to optimize your CTAs.

Write Copy That Inspires People to Take Action

When it works a CTA can transform your buyer journey, drive conversions, and fuel business growth. But a lackluster CTA can damage your brand reputation, product sales, and more.

CTA copy is how you connect your marketing and sales content to the value your business offers. Writing this copy is both a craft and an art. It takes practice, research, and hours of effort to put together just the right message.

Use the tips and examples in this post to develop your CTA know-how. Then, track your results to refine your skills and keep learning.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2012 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

6. Use Twitter Moments.

When people arrive on your Facebook page, where do you think they’ll look first? It takes up almost a quarter of the screen on most desktop browsers. That’s right — it’s your Facebook cover photo.

The cover photo for your Facebook business page sets the tone for visitors. In this post, you’ll learn Facebook cover photo best practices with real-world examples of each tip we recommend.

To get started, let’s dive into Facebook cover photo dimensions.

The right image can signal that your page is an inviting community, not just a boring string of updates. Knowing how to create your Facebook cover photo is essential to the success of your page.

Sometimes called your Facebook banner, this graphic is one of the most noticeable parts of your page. You’ll want a crystal-clear image that accurately reflects the goals of your business. Having the correct dimensions makes all the difference.

Facebook sets specific dimensions for cover photos to create a standard look across all pages, no matter what device they’re viewed on. You’ll want to follow Facebook cover photo best practices and optimize for the correct dimensions.

Considering the Facebook cover photo dimensions above, balancing creativity with the platform’s requirements can be tough. Mobile and desktop screens have different requirements. These devices will display the same cover photo differently.

Here’s what to look for when optimizing your cover photo for mobile and desktop devices.

How do Facebook cover photos appear on mobile vs. desktop screens?

Mobile devices display a smaller version of the cover photo than a desktop screen. As you can see, there’s a lot of space around the perimeter of the photo that could be cut off when a visitor is viewing your photo on a mobile screen.

You’ll want to make sure that the most important part of your images isn’t cropped on mobile. Take this into consideration when you create your design.

Therefore, it’s best to place the important parts of your content in the green space. Doing this will ensure everyone can see your cover photo properly regardless of the device they use.

Here’s an example from HubSpot’s own Facebook cover photo. This is what our cover photo looks like on desktop:

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And this is what the cover photo looks like on mobile:

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Notice how the alignment and viewing area are different, but all the content is displayed in both.

Need help getting started? Below, you’ll find Facebook cover photo templates and best practices to guide you when designing your brand’s cover photo artwork.

1. Abide by Facebook’s cover photo guidelines.

It seems like a no-brainer, but following Facebook’s cover photo guidelines is the first step to keeping your page visible on the platform. I’d suggest reading through the full Page Guidelines, but here are a few important things to keep in mind for your Facebook cover photo:

• Your cover photo is public.
• Cover photos can’t be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on anyone else’s copyright.
• You can’t encourage people to upload your cover photo to their personal timelines.

If caught violating the above terms, Facebook could take action against your page. Your social presence is important. You’ll want to avoid any cover photo infractions at all costs.

Pro tip: Use images that you’ve taken of your products, opt for all text, or use stock photos you’ve licensed to avoid copyright infringement.

2. Make sure your Facebook cover photo is the right size.

As I mentioned earlier, the Facebook cover photo size is 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall for desktop screens, and 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall on mobile screens.

If you upload an image smaller than those dimensions, Facebook will stretch it to fit the space. If the image is larger, Facebook will have to cut it down and may only display a third of the image you designed.

Designing the perfect cover photo takes time. The last thing you want is for your hard work to be truncated or distorted.

If you want a no-hassle way to make sure your cover photos are the right size, download our pre-sized template for Facebook cover photos.

Download Facebook Cover Templates

3. Don’t worry about the “20% text” rule.

Back in 2013, Facebook removed all references to the 20% rule on text in cover photos, but that doesn’t mean you should use a lot of text in your design.

The previous rule stated that only 20% of a cover photo could display text. Although this rule might sound restrictive, its sentiment has merit — you want your visitors engaged with visuals, not a wall of text.

If you use text in your cover photo, keep it concise and let the imagery speak for itself. You can see how we struck this balance on HubSpot’s Facebook page below.

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For more cover photo inspiration, check out our Facebook page.

4. Give your cover image a focal point.

Think of your cover photo as the portion of your page that’s “above the fold.” If it’s distracting or confusing, people will be more likely to click off the page.

Many of the best Facebook cover photos include a focal point and a color scheme that aligns with the rest of the brand. Remember, your social media accounts are extensions of your business, and they should make a good first impression on visitors.

Great Facebook cover photos also have ample negative space to make the subject, the copy, and the elements unique to Facebook (like the call-to-action [CTA] button on Facebook business pages) stand out even more.

Here’s an example of good use of negative space from The New York Times:

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And here’s another example from social media management platform Sprout Social.

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5. Make sure your profile picture compliments your cover photo.

For businesses, profile pictures are completely separate from the cover photo. These two images will not overlap.

Keep this in mind when making your design. These images should have similar color schemes or contrasting patterns, while still following your brand’s guidelines.

Take a look at the Anthropology Facebook page below. The yellow in the profile picture stands out from the cover photo while complementing the overall color scheme.

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6. Draw attention to the action buttons on the bottom right.

In a few of the cover photo examples above, you may have noticed that the primary CTA buttons were different. HubSpot’s CTA button says “Send Message,” while Sprout Social’s says “Sign Up.”

Depending on your business, you can launch a page on Facebook with a unique CTA button to the bottom right of your cover photo. Take the placement of this button into consideration when designing your cover photo.

LinkedIn Learning does this in a subtle way below, placing the graphic of a person on a laptop over the “Sign Up” button, drawing your eye to that blue CTA.

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Note: While it might seem like a good idea to add directional cues like an arrow to get people to click on the CTA buttons, note that those CTA buttons don’t appear the same way on the mobile app. Instead opt for more subtle ways to highlight that button, like on the page above.

7. Right-align the objects in your cover photo.

Since your profile picture is on the left, you want to add some balance to your Facebook cover photo design by placing the focus of the image on the right.

Take a look at these cover photos. Which one looks more aesthetically pleasing?

Right-aligned focus.

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Left-aligned focus.

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Doesn’t the right-aligned cover photo look a lot better? In Samsung’s new cover photo, the biggest design elements (the profile picture, the text, and the two phones) are evenly spaced.

In Samsung’s old cover photo, your attention immediately goes to the left side of the Facebook page, causing you to miss the product’s name on the upper-right side.

Adding balance to a layout is a crucial element of design. This technique allows your cover photos to be more visually effective on mobile.

8. Keep mobile users in mind.

Statista reports that 98.5% of Facebook’s user base accesses the social network from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. That’s exactly why it’s so important to keep mobile users top-of-mind when designing your Facebook cover photo.

On mobile, a much smaller portion of the cover photo is visible. The right side is typically cut out entirely.

Let’s take a look at what Cisco’s Facebook page looks like on a desktop browser versus Facebook’s mobile app.

Desktop:

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Mobile:

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It’s important to note that the text in Cisco’s cover photo doesn’t appear in the mobile version. While right-aligned visual elements look great, be careful not to put important content so far to the right that it gets cut off when viewed on a mobile device.

9. Include a shortened link in your cover photo description that aligns with your page CTA.

If you want to use your cover photo to support a page CTA, ensure your cover photo description includes a text CTA and links to the same offer. This way, whenever people view your cover photo by itself, they can still access the link.

Here’s this practice in action on the Adobe Creative Cloud Facebook page.

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Pro tip: Shorten your links and add UTM codes to track the visitors who click the link in the description. Shortening and tracking features are available in HubSpot’s Marketing Hub and with tools like Bitly.

(If you want to learn more about how to write effective call-to-action copy for your cover photo description, download our free ebook on creating compelling CTAs.)

10. Pin a related post right below your Facebook cover image.

Pinning a post allows you to highlight a typical Facebook post at the top of your Timeline. It’s signified by a PINNED POST title on the top right of the post, like on Behance’s page below.

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You’ve already spent time aligning your Facebook page CTA, your cover photo design, and your cover photo description copy. You should also make sure to post about the same thing in your timeline and pin that post to reinforce the message.

That way, your visitors have one very clear call to action when they land on your page (albeit in several different locations) — which will give them more opportunities to convert.

Here’s how to pin a Facebook post:

• Publish the post to Facebook.
• Click the three dots on the top right corner of the post.
• Choose “Pin to Top of Page.”

 

Facebook Cover Photo Sizes that Work for Your Business

While creating a cover photo may feel simple, the image you choose has a huge image on prospects visiting your page. You want to put your best foot forward on Facebook, and your cover photo is the first thing visitors see.

An ill-fitting cover photo or video can look unprofessional and give the wrong impression about the quality of your offerings.

With the tips in this article, you have the information you need to create a Facebook cover photo that embodies your brand and engages users on the platform.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Web design is an important part of any marketer’s 2023 plan. Your website houses the information your customers need to learn about your product and make a purchase. Regularly updating your website with cutting-edge web design trends can help your business stand out in crowded cyberspace. 

Experimental navigation, scrolling effects, and kinetic typography are just a few ways you can level up your website. Check out the full list of trends that will dominate websites in 2023.

One major theme amongst these 2023 website design trends is motion, from scrolling effects to micro-animation. Check out this video which details some popular website design trends in 2023, and see for yourself what micro-animation and parallax scrolling look like.

1. Experimental Navigation

When we discuss experimental navigation, we’re talking about the navigation patterns that subvert the traditional, which is all-caps navigation on the top of the screen in a sans serif font.) Instead, experimental patterns move in a more creative direction, generating visual interest and guiding users to navigate the site in a specific manner.

Take Kim Kneipp’s portfolio site, for example. When you click the Menu button in the right corner of the homepage, a menu slides in from the bottom of the screen that looks like the table of contents in a book. Each page is numbered to suggest an order of reading. On the right side of your screen, the projects are numbered and categorized by type and color.

What we like: In 2023, you’re invited to turn your navigation into an extension of your website’s unique branding thanks to experimental navigation.

2. Scrolling Effects

Scrolling effects — animations triggered by scroll action — create more dynamic web experiences, which is why they’re arguably one of the most popular trending web design elements this year. These are increasingly used on interactive websites to intrigue readers to keep scrolling, signify a break in content, and create a three-dimensional experience.

Engineered Floors does just that, combining horizontal and vertical scrolling.

For example, when the user lands on the homepage, they see an image of what appears to be a chair on the right. As the user scrolls, this image zooms out to reveal a living room, which is gradually covered in carpet. This 3D experience is delightful and informative. 

What we like: Scrolling effects can stimulate visitors and encourage them to continue scrolling even below the fold.

3. Kinetic Typography

Kinetic typography — or moving text — is an animation technique that gained momentum in the 60s when feature films began using animated opening titles. You can use it for a similar purpose in website design to immediately grab the visitor’s attention once they land on the homepage.

You can also harness the power of kinetic typography to highlight important sections, guide the visitor as they scroll, and gradually reveal information, like on Arcadia.

What we like: Kinetic typography can delight visitors and help them digest your content. Plus, it’s visually attractive and engaging.

4. Drag Interaction

Gone are the days when users don’t have control over their experience on your website. Because drag interactions are designed to mimic an actual, physical action, they essentially allow visitors to pick up and move objects on the screen. This type of gesture interaction is gaining momentum with more websites. It’s an especially popular option if you have an ecommerce or portfolio site.

Take Robin Mastromarino’s portfolio site as an example. In addition to clicking on the controls of the homepage slider, you can drag and drop the different slides to browse his featured projects. The page transitions and animations are based on drag speed to give users a sense of control over these effects.

What we like: Drag interaction offers visitors a sense of customization and control over their experience on your site.

5. Structured Typography

More and more companies are using structured typography to headline their home pages. In a post-pandemic world, consumers crave structure and stability — both of which structured typography is reminiscent of. (Think: All capital letters and strong, solid shapes.)

Here’s an excellent example of how structured typography could look on your website. The Awwwards homepage reveals how much of an impression structured fonts can make.

What we like: Structured typography tells the visitors’ eyes precisely what they should be looking at.

6. Cinemagraphs

Motion is the name of the game in web design trends in 2023 — and cinemagraphics are no exception. Cinemagraphs, high-quality videos or GIFs that run on a smooth, continuous loop, have become popular to add movement and visual interest to otherwise static pages.

While full-screen loops were more popular in the past, this year you’ll see smaller animations sprinkled throughout complex layouts. The addition of these cinemagraphics draws the eye and helps your readers keep scrolling, like in this example from the design and technology studio Grafik.

What we like: Cinemagraphs can help draw the visitor’s eye around the page, even in the most complex layouts. 

7. Brutalism

Some designers opt for more eclectic, convention-defying structures to stand out in a sea of tidy, organized websites. While it can seem jarring at first, many popular brands are now incorporating brutalist elements. 

Brutalism emerged as a reaction to the increasing standardization of web design and is often characterized by stark, asymmetrical, nonconformist visuals, and a distinct lack of hierarchy and order. In other words, it’s hard to describe, but you know it when you see it — like the below example from Chrissie Abbott.

What we like: Brutalism prioritizes simplicity and functionality — pillars of the user experience.

8. Colorful Gradients

From Instagram to websites to advertisements and beyond, chances are you’ve seen your fair share of gradients in the last few years. Gradients have been all the rage lately, and 2023 is no exception. Last year, gradients were largely monochromatic. This year, they’re getting a makeover: Multi-colored gradients are in.

Check out this gorgeous and visually appealing example by ROSE Wrapped for gradient design inspiration. It pairs a colorful gradient with kinetic typography for the ultimate visual impact.

What we like: Gradients are visually exciting and, when used properly, not distracting.

9. Layering

Layering images, colors, shapes, animations, and other elements add depth and texture to a site that doesn’t have a lot of text. Below is a stylish example from the singer-songwriter SIRUP. 

What we like: Layering can help add depth to a site and tell the brand’s story. 

10. Text-Only

In 2023, web designers will be embracing minimalist design. Some are experimenting with cutting out images and prominent navigation sections altogether, relying on a few choice lines of straightforward text to inform visitors about their company.

Danish agency B14 uses the hero section of its homepage to describe its mission statement simply.

It’s a modern, uncluttered approach to presenting information that provides a stark contrast to its portfolio section, which uses cinemagraphs, hover animations, and an animated cursor effect. 

What we like: This minimalist approach ensures visitors only get the most essential information. 

11. Animated Illustrations

More companies are turning to illustrators and graphic artists to create bespoke illustrations for their websites because it’s one of the latest web design trends. “Illustration works well to convey more complex ideas that lifestyle photos aren’t always able to capture,” Kendra Pembroke, a Visual Designer at Red Ventures said.

These illustrations are often animated to add interactivity. For example, if you hover over one of the illustrations on the NewActon site (designed by Australian digital agency ED), the illustration and those in the surrounding area will wiggle. Then, only the illustration you’re hovering over will continue to move in a small circle. This design is also functional: each illustration represents one of the categories from the navigation menu on the right.

What we like: Animated illustrations help convey complex ideas and add some personality to a site. 

12. Ultra-minimalism

Taking classic minimalism to the extreme, some designers defy conventions of what a website needs to look like, displaying just the bare necessities. This trend, known as “ultra-minimalism,” can be great for the user experience and load times.

The site from designer Mathieu Boulet is centered around a few choice links to their social profiles and information.

What we like: Ultra-minimalism can positively impact the user experience and website performance.

13. Mixing Horizontal and Vertical Text

Freeing text from its usual horizontal alignment and placing it vertically on a page adds some refreshing dimension. Take this example from action sports video producers Prime Park Sessions, which combines horizontal and vertical text alignments on a minimal page.

What we like: Mixing horizontal and vertical text defies convention and can therefore delight and intrigue some users. 

14. Geometric Shapes and Patterns

Whimsical patterns and shapes are popping up more frequently on websites, adding some flair to a landscape otherwise ruled by flat and material design. Canadian design studio MSDS uses daring, patterned letters on their homepage.

What we like: Geometric shapes and patterns can direct visitors’ attention to certain products or CTAs.

15. 3D Design 

This year, website design is huge on creating an immersive experience for the site visitor. That’s why 3D artwork is gaining momentum.

The latest product from Adobe (3D Modeler) makes it easy for anyone to explore 3D design. The most industry-popular 3D modeler is Maya, but this takes some more expertise. Blender is also a great option as it is a free 3D design software tool. 

If you want to include a 3D design on your website but are overwhelmed by the scope of the project, there are lots of freelance 3D modelers on Fiverr and UpWork. Just check out some of the examples on Dribbble. 

This style has hints of Japanese Kawaii, a culture of cuteness that focuses on childlike objects and pastel coloring. 

What we like: Cute and playful, this design is both interesting to look at and will keep your customers on your page longer as their eyes explore all the elements. 

16. Overlapping Text and Images

Text that slightly overlaps accompanying images has become a popular effect for blogs and portfolios. Freelance art director and front-end developer Thibault Pailloux demonstrates how by placing overlapping text with a colorful underline beneath each title.

What we like: Overlapping text and images maximize space on the page. 

17. Broken Grids

While grids are arguably the most efficient way to display text and images, broken grids continue to make their way into mainstream sites and offer a change-up from the norm. Check out the website for HealHaus, for example. Its homepage features images and text blocks that overlap.

What we like: This convention-defying technique can make standard website pages or sections more interesting.  

18. Organic Shapes

Sharp edges are out, and curved lines are in. Organic shapes are set to dominate web design in 2023. “Organic shapes can help add some playfulness without affecting the way the information is displayed,” Pembroke said.

In the example below from Spring Invest, the organic shapes in the hero section are decorative and functional. The yellow dots act like a cursor, drawing the teardrops that form the company’s logo. These shapes add a moment of delight and help reinforce the brand’s identity and value proposition to “shape the future of commerce.”

What we like: Organic shapes add personality without distracting from the content. 

19. Web Textures

Web textures are background images that visually resemble a three-dimensional surface. When you use them right, you can use web textures to immerse visitors in your website by engaging tactile sense. Need proof? Just check out this example from the Color Of Change website — the background evokes a duct-tape-like texture.

What we like: Web textures draw attention to a particular section on a website.

20. Grid Lines

Grid lines began cropping up in 2022, and with good reason — they give site visitors a feeling of order and simplicity. Adding grid lines makes your website easier to digest while adding a modern, visually interesting aesthetic. On the Foundations for a Better Oregon website, grid lines are used to create a clear layout that looks futuristic.

What we like: This trend isn’t just visually engaging — it also gives your site a valuable sense of organization.

21. Y2K Inspired Design

The resurgence of the Y2K aesthetic that started in 2020 is here to stay for at least a bit longer. In 2023, you will see websites adding nods to the coveted Y2K style to evoke a sense of nostalgia. Even celebrities channel the aesthetic on their artist websites — look at singer and actress Olivia Rodrigo’s site for a healthy dose of inspiration.

What we like: This playful aesthetic doesn’t take itself too seriously.

22. Scrapbook Aesthetic

If you need more proof that website visitors are leaning into nostalgia, consider that the scrapbook aesthetic is coming back in 2023. But this isn’t the same scrapbook aesthetic we saw popular in the early 2010s when this web design trend emerged. Today’s scrapbook aesthetic is an updated, buzzy version. In some cases, like this Gucci website, it’s interactive.

What we like: You can now bring your scrapbook-style site to life.

23. Gamified Design

Gamified design is everywhere in 2023, making it one of the most prevalent website design trends this year. Gamification is an excellent idea because it adds an element of human emotion for visitors. For instance, when they arrive on your site, they have the experience of engaging with your content in a unique, memorable manner. This example by PrettyDamnQuick demonstrates exactly what we mean.

What we like: This playful trend is more than fun — it’s genius from a user engagement standpoint.

24. Emphasis on Product Photography

2023 is the year of product photography reigning supreme for ecommerce websites. From beauty companies to clothing brands and beyond, product photography will be front and center in 2023. This example from skincare brand BYOMA shows how impactful keeping your brand’s products centerstage can be.

What we like: Visitors don’t have to hunt down images of what you’re selling — they’re immersed in it from the moment they arrive on your website.

25. Pastel Colors

It is predicted that pastel colors will dominate 2023 website design. Pastels are bright, warm, and whimsical — a powerful reprieve from the bleakness of the early 2020s. This portfolio created by Cédric Pereira reveals exactly how visually impactful pastel colors can be.

What we like: Pastels add an element of levity to your website.

26. Minimal Vintage

In their report, InDesign Skills claims that minimal vintage will be an important graphic design element in 2023. Similar to minimalist styling in print design, minimal vintage focuses on a retro color palette and type style. 

Minimal vintage might not instantly look old-school. Rather, it subtly nods to different decades of yesteryear, such as this design from Deco Hause.

What we like: This trend invokes the nostalgic feeling of past advertisements.

27. Goofy Sans Serif Typography

Goofy sans serif typography is ideal for brands that want to show they are fun-loving and not too serious. This optimistic typeface is cartoon inspired with a touch of retro fun. 

When including Goofy sans serif typography in your content or on your website, be sure to let it be front and center, so it doesn’t have to compete with other elements. Gumroad’s font is bold and fun.

What we like: This font is a whimsical approach to clean lines and simplicity. 

28. Sci-Fi Inspired Design

With movies coming out this year such as Dune: Part Two, Rebel Moon, and Transformers: Rise of the Beast, there’s no doubt that sci-fi is going to have a moment in 2023. Sci-fi design is a nod to futurism, which is what we anticipate will happen. 

This is a trend that can both catch your viewer’s attention while also positioning your brand as firmly modern. Sci-fi-inspired design is especially useful for tech brands, as technology and science are key elements of this trend. 

Bright colors and metal tones can help you achieve this look, but don’t be afraid to add a hint of 80s retro to really seal the deal. Matt Romo’s design for the MROM bot hits the nail on the head. 

What we like: Sci-fi-inspired web and brand designs are not afraid of color and tech-related elements.

29. Natural and Organic Textures

Natural textures make a great background for a fun but simple font. Choose natural textures that relate to your industry and help your viewer envision your products. Just take Horizontal Design as an example. 

Natural textures can also position your company as eco-friendly or a business that cares about natural resources. 

What we like: Organic textures infuse your design with vivid tactile-ness and new life. 

Design Trends You Can Use on Your Website

Of course, you don’t need to incorporate all of these trends to build one of the best website designs in 2023— we doubt that’s even possible anyways. However, even adding a couple as prominent components or subtler details can improve your site’s UX significantly, leading to higher engagement, more CTA clicks, and a better outcome for your online business.

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