On average, Facebook is home to 3 billion daily active users — from CEOs to students to companies. And while the community is clearly there, connecting with them from a marketing standpoint isn’t always easy.

For brands, posting on Facebook alone isn’t enough anymore, especially for ones just starting out. Sure, you can invest in promotional content to drive users to your Facebook Page and website, but this requires more than an ad budget: it requires strategy.

One way to get the most out of your Facebook ad strategy is to create optimized Facebook Ads targeted at the right audience. By leveraging optimized ads, you can better allocate your PPC budget and better promote your brand.

We’ll show you how to make a great ad to achieve these goals through the best Facebook ad examples and practices we’ve seen yet.

• Do Facebook Ads Work?
• Best Facebook Ad Examples
• How do Facebook Ads work?
• Facebook Ad Placements
• Facebook Ad Formats
• Facebook Ads Best Practices

So, what does optimized Facebook advertising actually look like? To gain some inspiration for your next Facebook ad campaign, take a look at our list of the best Facebook ad examples from across industries.

Featured Resource: 50 Amazing Facebook Ad Examples

See these best practices in action with our collection of 50 Facebook Ad Examples from real businesses that we admire.

1. SofaLush

Video Ad

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: The video in the ad clearly demonstrates how the product works. Also, the video opens with a pressure cooker that seemingly “disappears” during the course of the video. This Easter egg prompted a lot of engagement in the comments, which further improved the ad’s performance.
• It’s relevant: It’s relevant to me because I was recently looking for new couches. This product shows an alternative to replacing my couch, on the off-chance that I might want to get more mileage out of my existing couch before making a new purchase.
• It’s valuable: The “how-to” style of the video is meant to underscore the value proposition: making your existing furniture more stylish… without a lot of hassle.
• It has a solid call to action: The ad states that there are over 150 designs to choose from and has a button that prompts me to “shop now” and see if one of them would fit my style.

2. Lume Deodorant

Photo Ad

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: The vibrant, purple hues of the text, packaging, and background guide the user to the most important information on the ad like how Lume deodorant “Stops Odor BEFORE it starts.” The smiling model may showcase where you most commonly apply deodorant — your underarms — but the text makes a bold value statement that you can actually use it all over your body. This ad makes you feel better about a topic that doesn’t always feel so good — sweating — by making you feel confident in your antiperspirant protection.
• It’s relevant: I have been recently researching skincare products to begin a new regime. With this behavior cue, Lume knows that organic deodorant is better for skin but many brands fall short of being able to block odor, and some even cause rashes. This is also aluminum-free deodorant, an increasingly desirable option amongst consumers like their target audience.
• It’s valuable: Knowing where other organic deodorants fall short, Lume positions their brand without those drawbacks, and they do it in a clever and engaging way (the song).
• It has a clear call to action: The end of the photo ad prompts the user to click “Get Offer” so they claim their starter pack — a hassle-free proposition for consumers new to their products and unsure of where to start.

3. Kay Jewelers

Video Ad

This Facebook video ad from Kay Jewelers tells a quick but moving story — something Kay Jewelers is well-known for — using just a few seconds of your time. You don’t even need the sound on in the video above to know what’s happening and the message Kay is sending.

If you’re advertising a product with sentimental value, like Kay Jewelers, video ads are the way to go. Just be sure your video has a clear (and happy) ending — people view videos more passively on Facebook than they would on YouTube and don’t have time to interpret your ad if it’s too long or complex.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: Even though this is a video, I have a general idea of what I will be watching, thanks to the screen capture it started with. Additionally, I can understand the gist of this ad without playing with the sound on, which is important given that 85% of videos on Facebook are now viewed without sound.
• It’s relevant: It’s relevant to me because I was recently scouring jewelry websites, specifically for necklaces like the one in the ad.
• It’s valuable: Kay shows potential customers the value of purchasing with the help of the happy reaction from the woman receiving the gift in the ad. Plus, who doesn’t love dogs?
• It has a solid call to action: This ad is set up to drive Page Likes, which is an easy, one-click way for me to get more relevant content served up to me.

4. Monday.com

Photo Ad

Monday.com is a task-management tool that caters to multiple operating systems, both desktop, and mobile. But in the photo ad above, the company used its compatibility with Mac computers to remix its own logo in the original rainbow colors of the Apple brand.

For growing businesses like Monday.com, it’s a smart idea to pivot off the brand awareness of household names. By filling the Monday logo with Apple’s famous rainbow color-way, the ad above captures the attention of Mac users who’d recognize those vintage rainbow stripes anywhere (and could use a new task-management tool that works on their computer).

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: The rainbow colors filling the Monday logo are both eye-catching against the black background and familiar to any Mac user.
• It’s relevant: For Mac users, and those who need to organize their tasks on a regular basis, this ad is relevant to their lifestyle in more ways than one.
• It’s valuable: The ad calls attention to Monday’s compatibility with Mac computers, making the product’s user experience more valuable to Mac users as a result.
• It has a clear call to action: The “Learn More” CTA on the bottom-right of the ad is a clear invitation to find out more about this product’s usage on Apple hardware.

5. Amazon

Event Ad

This is how an event ad from Amazon looks in the News Feed on a desktop. This ad works well on a few different levels: A sample product is clearly displayed, the ad shows an impressive (but honest) rating of that product, and you know which event Amazon is promoting right away — Black Friday.

Ecommerce companies like Amazon use event ads to boost sales at specific points during the year, and Facebook event ads make this easy. When investing in event advertising, build a list of the holidays, shows, conferences, and awareness months your business cares about. That way, you know exactly which market campaigns line up with these occurrences and when to promote them on your Facebook Business Page.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: Not only is this image larger than the right column ad display, but it also uses warm colors, white space, and directional lines, which drew my eye toward the featured product.
• It’s relevant: As a cat mom, this offer is clearly tailored to my consumer needs.
• It includes an enticing value prop: Amazon has advertised a self-cleaning litter box here, which is of tremendous value for any cat owner. Additionally, it shared the strong customer ratings below an image of the product. (Social proof, anyone?)
• It has a clear call to action: Amazon instructs me to click on its ad today, after which point the deal for the litter box will presumably disappear. “Now” is strong CTA language that compels clicks.

6. NatureBox

Photo Ad

This photo ad by NatureBox features a creative point-of-view shot that is perfect for the angle at which you’d dive into the company’s various healthy snacks. The ad makes you imagine your next house party… I thought the peanuts spilling out onto the table was a nice touch.

In your next Facebook photo ad, play around with live-action photography and digital design in the same image. As you can see in the ad above, NatureBox was able to design a vibrant “free trial” icon right on top of an image that would’ve worked just as well on its own.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: The image shows you exactly what you’re getting, and it calls out the “free trial” CTA well.
• It’s relevant: Everyone likes to snack. In all seriousness, the person who saw this is a fan of several lifestyle subscription companies, which is what NatureBox is.
• It’s valuable: This ad is full of value. First, the “free trial” callout is the first thing your eyes go to when looking at the image. Second, it clearly mentions the healthy aspects of the goodies in its product.
• It has a clear call to action: NatureBox is asking you to try its free sample. It couldn’t be easier to know your next step.

7. Winc

Retargeting Ad

Here’s an example of a short and sweet (literally) retargeting ad from Winc (formerly known as Club W). This ad is displayed on the right column of Facebook specifically for users who browse wine-related content online. When your ad caters to people who you know would be interested, modeling the product the way Winc does above can be a home run for your brand.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: The visual is clear, simple, and appealing to all types of wine lovers wine-lovers.
• It’s relevant: This came up in my wine-obsessed colleague’s News Feed. Need I say more? Two thumbs up on relevance.
• It includes an enticing value prop: Three bottles for $19? What a steal. They also pull the viewer in with an additional value: a discount on their first order of wine.
• It has a strong call to action: The word “get” is strong call-to-action language, and it’s used twice here. A time limit on this offer would have made it even stronger.

8. Shutterfly

Multi-Product Ad

Here’s an example of a multi-product ad from Shutterfly, along with the additional images that are used in the ad. Each image has a different offer, to appeal to many different demographics in one ad.

In each image, the product being promoted is consistent in the look and feel of the Shutterfly brand — this is an important quality of ads that showcase more than one item and picture.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: This series of images leans on a consistent color palette, making it feel both cohesive and on-brand. (Including delicious-looking cupcakes doesn’t hurt either.)
• It’s relevant: The person who saw this loves taking photos of life events like graduations and creating sentimental gifts from these moments. Spot on, right?
• It’s valuable: There is a clear value for the user, 50% off each of the products being advertised. The sale details aren’t stated and it only alludes to a fastly approaching end date but this also encourages users to click through to the website in order to find this information. This ad also has an added level of value, it is showing the many different ways people can create grad cards and gifts using Shutterfly, in ways many may not be aware of.
• It has a clear call to action: I know I need to use this before February 17th when this deal expires, so I would be encouraged to take action right away.

9. MU Campus Dining

Reach Ad

This Facebook Reach ad from Mizzou Campus Dining promotes amenities at the University of Missouri, using two familiar logos and a marketplace that anyone on campus might recognize.

The ad copy beneath the image invites customers in “after the game” — a reference to campus life that helps Facebook users imagine when they might want to stop in for a sandwich.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: This image has college pride, a variety of salty and sweet treats, and a well-known logo to attract hungry college students.
• It’s relevant: This ad is likely only being shown to students on campus who are in its target audience. It also mentions the sports game that was going on at the time and plays to the student’s current needs: snacks and Subway sandwiches.
• It’s valuable: Mizzou Market is telling hungry college students that it has everything students need for the big game.
• It has a clear call to action: This ad has the option to show directions, making it extremely easy for a college student on the go to follow the walking directions to this market.

10. Boston Sports Clubs

Offer Ad

All consumers really need to see is the boxer pictured above to know what this ad by Boston Sports Clubs (BSC) is offering. The woman in the photo even looks like she’s staring at the text to her left, getting viewers to shift their attention to the promotion right away.

This Facebook Offers Ad makes it obvious what customers would be signing up for when they click the “Sign Up” CTA button below the picture. Offer ads can easily mislead viewers into pressing their CTA just to get them to click on it, but it ultimately doesn’t convert viewers into customers. BSC’s approach above is clear and upfront about what it’s offering throughout its conversion path.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: The featured photo uses bold colors and clear typography to draw my attention to the details of the offer, and the woman exercising gives me an idea of what I could gain from purchasing the offer.
• It’s relevant: I recently moved to Boston and have been searching for gyms in my area online, so this ad is highly relevant to my recent Facebook and search activity.
• It’s valuable: Paying $5 for a monthly gym membership is a great deal. Even though the price may increase in the future, the low price definitely makes me want to click.
• It has a clear call to action: The CTA emphasizes that the discount offer is limited and should be claimed quickly using the word “hurry” and telling me when the offer expires.

11. Allbirds

Video Ad

This video ad by Allbirds, a shoe maker, uses simplicity and whitespace to its advantage. The video only lasts nine seconds, but Allbirds demonstrates the product in a way that catches your attention and resonates with the individual wearer.

There’s a lot of ad content on Facebook, and when Facebook users scroll through their News Feeds, that content starts to blend together. Sometimes your best chance at sticking out on Facebook is by using subtle movements and details — like Allbirds did, above. Let every other video on Facebook be quick and flashy, and yours will be a breath of fresh air to your audience.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: The video has a clear focus on a subject, and that subject is engaging in a movement that means something: These shoes are comfy. I subconsciously started wiggling my own toes as I saw this ad for the first time.
• It’s relevant: I’m always interested in finding new shoes — I probably search or click on something related to footwear once a week. This ad feeds that interest in a unique way.
• It’s valuable: The opening quote above the video is reason enough for me to want to learn more about why these shoes are so comfortable. Allbirds also sweetens the deal with “free shipping,” “free returns,” and a note below the video that the product is “machine washable” — all without taking the focus away from the video itself.
• It has a clear call to action: If I want these shoes, there’s a “Shop Now” CTA button to the bottom-right of the ad, waiting for me to take a closer look at them.

12. The New York Times

Photo Ad

This photo ad by The New York Times is driving traffic to a written article with an intriguing illustration. The drawing literally depicts the article’s ideal audiences — working men and women raising children. For parents who are even a little interested in understanding burnout and mental health, this image (along with the statistically backed report in the headline) clearly shows a tired mom trying to catch some rest with her children.

When publishers advertise on Facebook, they need to connect with their audience through featured images that evoke emotion — if their main product is a reading experience; the photo they choose has to complement their written content perfectly. The New York Times’ ad above is an example of photo ads done right.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: This ad is emotionally impactful — if you have not been a tired, working parent then it is you’ve seen them, and that sight can make you feel immense compassion towards them. By including a visual that makes a user care enough about the ad to read it and click through, NYT is accomplishing the goal to which every ad aspires.
• It’s relevant: Especially, in the wake of COVID with parents simultaneously balancing work and personal life within the same space, the topic is incredibly relatable. This is an article I would personally be interested in reading, and it helps that the ad appears like a native post promoting an article in my News Feed.
• It includes an enticing value prop: The ad states that you can find help if you recognize the signs of parental burnout, which can feel like being tossed a life jacket — especially to the parents reading the report. This social proof makes you more likely to click and read the article.
• It has a clear call to action: This ad is dedicated to helping parents make sense of the signs and get help for their fatigue, so by encouraging parents to ”Learn More”, the call to action makes you want to click the article to finally find answers.

13. Tortuga Music Festival

Event Ad

Successful event ads have at least two important qualities: the event’s schedule and something to justify why people should attend. The event ad above for the Tortuga Music Festival accomplishes both of those things — it displays the date and time and the bands playing and shows you a picture of the amazing time you’ll have if you come.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual. The picture alone is worth a thousand words about how much fun this concert would be. Not only is it on the beach, it was also taken on a gorgeous day and the stage looks amazing. Also, it clearly represents what to expect during the event, and it catches the eye as someone scrolls through their News Feed. (The beautiful ocean water definitely helps.)
• It’s relevant. The person who saw this ad is a fan of Kenny Chesney and has been to his concerts before. They’re also originally from Florida, which is where this event takes place.
• It’s valuable. Since the image was taken on a beautiful day, it looks like an ideal place to be — especially to those of us viewing it from our office desks. It also clearly tells you the cost of the ticket so you know before you click. (This is also good for the advertiser: By including the price, the ad allows users to self-select based on whether they can afford the ticket. If they can’t afford it, they won’t click through, thus saving the advertiser money on unqualified clicks.)
• It has a clear call to action. The CTA is clear: “Buy.” The advertisers also add urgent wording with the title “Time is running out!”, encouraging you to purchase your ticket now before it’s too late.

14. Adrianna Papell

Retargeting Ad

Last week, I started shopping around for a bridesmaid dress for an upcoming wedding I’ll be in. Today, the ad above appeared in my News Feed.

Retargeting ads enable you to get in front of those viewers who are already looking for what you’re offering. This retargeting ad by Adrianna Papell doesn’t just show me what I’m on the market for — it excites me about how beautiful our own wedding party pictures will look on my friend’s big day.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual. The image gives me a good idea of what to expect from the designer’s website, and it definitely helps that the gowns are both unique and stunning. Talk about a showstopper.
• It’s relevant. The ad called out that I was already shopping for bridesmaid dresses, and what’s more, I had previously looked at dresses on this exact website, so this ad is highly relevant to my search.
• It’s valuable. The variety of dresses in the ad’s image and in the description make this website worth a visit for someone trying to find the perfect gown out of thousands of options.
• It has a clear call to action. The CTA is “Shop Now,” which encourages me to click to purchase the beautiful dresses in the ad’s image.

15. Bustle

Boosted Post

Here’s an example of a boosted post from Bustle, which promoted one of its articles on Facebook. Paying to “boost” a post you already posted organically to your Facebook Business Page can greatly benefit content that has mass appeal — versus a post that targets a specific segment of your audience. Bustle’s choice of a boosted post here falls into that first category.

From Amazon’s vibrant neon sign in the photo to the high number of examples included in the article (42, to be exact), Bustle’s boosted ad is sure to pique the interest of many Amazon and Bustle followers.

Why This Ad Works

• It’s visual: Lots of people are familiar with the Amazon Prime logo, but not in neon lights in a window display. It made me do a double-take while scrolling through Facebook.
• It’s relevant: As we’ve already learned from the earlier examples, I like shopping on Amazon and also read Bustle, so this article is a combination of those two behaviors.
• It’s valuable: “Brilliant” is a strong adjective to describe products, which makes me curious to learn more about purchasing them.
• It has a clear call to action: The ad entices me with information about useful and “brilliant” gadgets I can get delivered to my door within two days, which I’m happy to click to learn more about.

Facebook ads can be a great way to reach out to potential customers, but it’s important to make sure yours stands out from the rest. Creating a great ad is all about understanding your audience and what they want to see, these insights will show you how to leverage Facebook ads so that they work for you.

To invest in Facebook Ads effectively, you first need to know who your ads are directed toward. When creating a new ad on Facebook, you can create a new audience that includes many customizable characteristics. Among them are:

• Location.
• Age.
• Sex.
• Languages spoken.
• Interests and behaviors.
• Their connections to your other business-related pages on Facebook.

You can also create what’s called a Lookalike Audience, which permits Facebook to create an audience for you that best resembles a particular “source.” This source can include some or all the information listed above.

Facebook Ad Formats

After you define the audience you want your ads to reach, it’s time to choose the Facebook Ad format you think they’ll find most engaging from these eight options:

Format 1: Photo Ad

Photo Ads are still images that can help to promote a product or event you want to specifically call attention to. If you have a special promotion going on, for example, this ad format puts a crisp snapshot of your product or venue at the center of your ad.

For ads shown in a Facebook News Feed, the recommended image resolution is at least 1080 x 1080.

Format 2: Video Ad

Video Ads have a GIF or video as the centerpiece of the advertisement and can be used to demonstrate a product or event. Video Ads help you form deeper connections with your audience by aligning your brand with a type of content online users are quickly consuming more of (nearly 80% of all data consumed on mobile devices will be in video form by 2021, according to a Facebook study).

There are six types of video ads you can invest in on Facebook:

• Short Videos and GIFs
• Vertical Videos
• Instagram Stories
• Video Carousels
• Video Collections
• In-stream Videos

Format 3: Stories Ad

Stories Ads are a part of Facebook Stories, one of the newest content types rolled out by Facebook that allows users to post temporary clips and images of their day for their friends to see. This type of ad is fitted to the dimensions of a mobile device and can be played on both mobile and desktop.

As users browse their friends’ Stories, these ads can appear in the same format inside a stream of Stories. For this reason, it’s best to create Stories Ads that reflect the same candid and entertaining look and feel that people see from their friends. Stories Ads can be placed on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram.

Format 4: Messenger Ad

A Messenger Ad appears as a direct message in a user’s message list when they’re inside Facebook’s Messenger app. These ads allow you to interact with your audience, showing them offers you think they would like, and listen to their responses to better tailor your next message to their interests.

Let’s say your ad’s first message is “What product might you be interested in?” The user can then select from three different responses, triggering your ad to produce a more specific product offer directly in the message thread.

Format 5: Carousel Ad

Carousel Ads contain a series of images or videos that users can rotate through, all of them helping to describe a single product, service, or event the ad is promoting. Each Carousel Ad can contain up to 10 images or videos at a time and link to their own individual web pages. Because these ads carry so much media, according to Facebook, they’re ideal for:

• Endorsing multiple products.
• Promoting multiple features of the same product.
• Telling a story or sequence of events that unfold over the course of multiple pictures or videos.
• Explaining a process to potential customers.

Format 6: Slideshow Ad

Similar to Carousel Ads, explained above, Slideshow Ads segment your ad into individual images that users view one after another. The difference between these two ad formats is that Slideshow Ads only play images (not videos), and the ad compiles these images into a slideshow that plays automatically in the form of a video. According to Facebook, Carousel Ads are ideal for:

• Creating a video-like experience for users quickly and with a small budget.
• Advertisers who want to choose from a library of pre-created images and music (a unique perk of Facebook’s Slideshow Ad).
• Simplifying an otherwise complicated concept or process for potential customers.
• Reaching people who have slower internet connections (Slideshow Ads use five times less data than video ads on Facebook).

Format 7: Collection Ad

A Collection Ad allows advertisers to bring the buying process directly into Facebook, so potential customers can move from “discovery” to “purchase” more easily when they see a product they like. This ad format features a central image or video promoting a product, with a collection of four smaller images below it that viewers can click on to learn more about the product. There are four types of Collection Ads you can invest in:

• Instant Storefront: This ad is ideal for displaying multiple products as part of the same ad campaign, and driving traffic to each product’s respective product page.
• Instant Lookbook: This ad is ideal for demonstrating or modeling a product in various contexts for your audience.
• Instant Customer Acquisition: This ad is ideal for driving traffic to, and prompting them to take a specific action on, a product’s landing page.
• Instant Storytelling: This ad is ideal for telling a story about your brand or helping your audience learn more about the business.

Format 8: Playables

Playables cater specifically to app developers. This ad format allows your audience to watch, preview, and even play an abbreviated version of your new app directly from inside the ad.

So let’s take a look at the different ad placements that you can use to best position your brand promotion.

Facebook Ad Placements

After customizing your ad’s audience, you need to consider how the ad will look on both desktop and mobile. This ensures you design your ad for easy viewing no matter where it appears on Facebook. Here are three different places you can see your Facebook Ads show up:

Placement 1: Right Column

Image Source

This type of ad is the most traditional on Facebook, it appears on the right side of a user’s Facebook News Feed. This is the first type of advertising Facebook had, and it still exists today.

Although ads in the News Feed are likely to get higher engagement metrics due to its native advertising features, right column ads shouldn’t be forgotten. We often see less expensive clicks and conversions when using these ads. In order for a right column ad to be successful, it needs to be relevant, have a value proposition, a good visual, and have a call to action.

Placement 2: Desktop News Feed

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This type of ad appears directly in a user’s News Feed when they access Facebook on a desktop computer, and it looks more like native advertising. In our experience, these ads have a higher engagement rate than right column ads, but they can also be more expensive. These ads must follow organic Facebook posts’ best practices and be both engaging and visual.

Placement 3: Mobile News Feed

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Like the desktop News Feed ad, this type of ad appears in the user’s mobile News Feed and displays like an organic post from the people and Pages they follow.

Pro tip: When picking your ad placements, think about the best position to showcase the Facebook ad format you choose, as well as, the ad template you use to add color to your marketing vision.

Facebook Ad Templates

Facebook Ads can be used to accomplish a number of different goals for your business. Here are a few real ads that you can use as templates of inspiration when creating an ad that targets the same goal:

Video Product Demo Facebook Ad Template

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Video ads appear fairly large in the user’s News Feed and offer more engaging content than static posts. And with 8 billion video views being watched on Facebook every day, it serves as an interesting — and potentially profitable — ad type for marketers to try out.

How can you create your own video ad? First, understand Facebook video ad requirements including length and video size. We suggest keeping your video as short as possible, even though Facebook allows you to upload a much larger video. Create a video that displays your product or service, and upload it directly to the Facebook ads manager by following these instructions.

Photo Model Ad Template

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Another type of rich media advertising on Facebook is a post of an image. This is one of the most popular types of ads ever since Facebook began favoring visual content. The optimal size for News Feed photo ads is at least 1080 x 1080 pixels, otherwise, your image will get cropped. Adjust your image based on the target audience’s needs and by what will appeal to them the most.

Multi-product Ad Template

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Multi-product ads allow advertisers to showcase multiple products within one ad. Viewers can scroll through the images and click on individual links to each product. You can promote multiple of anything, not just products — like different blog posts, ebooks, or webinars. These ads can be created in the Facebook Power Editor.

Reach Ad Template

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Reach ads on Facebook are designed to grow your local awareness. They only work if your business has a physical location to which you’re trying to drive real foot traffic. If you fall into this category, locally targeted Facebook ads might be a great fit for you, as you can hyper-target on Facebook down to the mile.

If your business has an offer or event going on at your store, set up a few Facebook Reach ads that appear only to people within a short distance of your store. Have these ads appear a few days prior to the event and on mobile devices while the event is happening. You may want to reach some people the day of the event who happen to be in the area and check their Facebook accounts on their smartphones.

Special Offer Ad Template

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An offer ad is a form of Facebook advertising wherein a business can promote a discount on a product or service that can be redeemed on Facebook. The benefit of this? It eliminates one step in the buyer’s journey, which ultimately increases sales.

The offer ad has many benefits. First, it drives the user directly to the offer. The user claims it directly on Facebook, removing any added friction of needing to go to your website for the offer. You also can reach any type of audience that you want, as all the Facebook targeting options are possible.

Finally, you can include all the information needed for the user to decide if they want it or not, including the time period it is usable, the number of people who have already claimed it, and the exact amount the offer is. This will eliminate any unqualified clicks, which cost you money.

Event Ad Template

Event ads promote a specific event. The CTA on these ads usually sends users directly to the ticket purchase page, wherever that happens to be hosted.

Using this type of ad will help drive a targeted group of people to attend your event. These will show up in the News Feed of the specific audience you’ve chosen. Events are a big part of most businesses, but getting people to attend even a small event can be tricky. Promoting your event to a targeted specific audience on Facebook can help drive the right kind of attendees.

A good ad in this format will clearly show the benefit of attending the event: the price, dates, and a clear CTA to purchase a ticket.

Boosted Ad Template

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A boosted post is an organic Facebook post that was originally on the homepage of a company’s Facebook, and that later was boosted with advertising money.

This is different from the above ads because it’s not created in the Facebook Ads Manager. You can include more in the description, as there is no limit to word count on boosted posts like there is in ads. You can also have a link in the copy.

The cons? Boosted posts leave you fewer options for bidding, targeting, and pricing. You also cannot run any types of A/B tests because you’re promoting a post that has already been created; you’re not creating one from scratch.

Retargeting Ad Template

A retargeting ad promotes an ad to a specific list of previously identified people. Have you ever seen ads follow you across the internet after visiting a certain website? Then you’ve seen a retargeting ad.

Facebook has the same capability. An advertiser can advertise to a list of leads or customers by uploading a list of email addresses it already has into the Power Editor to make a custom audience. A good retargeting ad acknowledges that the brand knows you’re already interested in its product. (Because let’s face it… retargeting can be a little creepy.)

Now that we’ve covered the best ad examples, main formats, placement possibilities, and standard templates, let’s dig into ad best practices that help optimize your Facebook campaign.

6 Facebook Ads Best Practices

The key to making great Facebook ads is about understanding your audience and what they want to see. By creating a promotion that is relevant and attention-grabbing to your target audience, you’re more likely to see a return on your investment.

Despite all of the advantages that Facebook offers advertisers, seeing success with Facebook ads ultimately comes down to your strategy and how well you implement it.

1. The ads are targeted to a specific audience.

Audience quality is more important than size because, with Facebook advertising, the goal is engagement and/or conversions. Casting a wide net to individuals who are not your target audience will tank your relevance scores and give you bad data to work from.

The good news is that Facebook’s targeting capabilities are more robust than any other platform, including demographics, interests, location, and even behavior. That means you can get far more specific on who you want to see your ads. For example, you don’t have to settle for “women between ages 25 and 45” when you can target “women between ages 25 and 45 who like reading and whose favorite author is Suzanne Collins.” By getting granular, you end up excluding users who are not your target market, showing ads to only those who will find it most relevant and who are most likely to convert.

2. The ads are relevant to the audience.

Relevance is critical for success when using Facebook advertising. Remember, you are spending money when someone views or clicks on your ad (depending on the settings you use). If you’re showing ads that aren’t relevant to your target audience, you’re wasting your time and money and will likely not see success with any advertising.

Back in February 2015, Facebook launched a feature in the Facebook advertising platform that rates your ads and gives you a relevance score, similar to Ad Rank in Google Ads. The more relevant your ad image, ad copy, and destination page are to your audience, the higher your score is — and the more favorably Facebook will treat your ads.

3. The ads are visual.

Visual content is not only treated more favorably in the Facebook algorithm, but it’s also more likely to be shared and remembered than written content. The lesson for Facebook marketers? No matter what type of ad you create, your image needs to be visually appealing.

Check out this blog post for a detailed guide to image sizes for various ad units on Facebook along with some tips on posting visual content.

4. The ads’ visuals and copy are closely aligned.

Let’s say you’re running an ad for astrological jewelry. You’re targeting people who like astrology and whose birthday is coming up.

You could use a generic “buy a bracelet with your astrology sign” copy paired with an image/video of all the jewelry.

A better strategy, however, would be to target those whose birthdays are coming up and create a more specific ad targeting that astrological sign (e.g. “All you Geminis out there will love this” paired with a video of a specific Gemini product).

Aligning copy and visuals in a way that’s relevant to the targeted audience provides a feeling of personalization which increases the likelihood of engagement and/or conversion. You’ll also see better ad performance due to higher relevance scores.

5. The ads include an enticing value proposition.

A value proposition tells the reader why they should click on your ad to learn more about your product. How is your product or service different from any other? Why should the viewer click on your ad to see your website?

Your value proposition should be believable. For example, saying you have the greatest sandwiches in the world will not make people come to your business’s Page, but maybe offering 20% off will. Or, perhaps adding social proof will help — something like, “Sandwiches loved by over one million people every year! Come try yours today and get 20% off your order with this coupon.”

6. The ads have a clear call to action.

A beautiful and relevant ad is great, but without a CTA, your viewer might not know what to do next. Add a CTA like “Buy now and save X%,” or “Offer ends soon” and add a sense of urgency to your viewer. Your CTA should encourage people to click on your ad now.

Engage Your Target Audience with Ads That Make an Impact

The first step to reaching potential customers or retargeting your customers to bolster brand loyalty is by visually and expertly promoting your products and services where they can see them: on their Facebook News Feed. So draw inspiration from our list of the best Facebook ads we’ve seen to keep your promotions relevant to your target and visually impactful as you test different ad formats. With help from the Facebook Ads Manager platform, you can set these up with simple, step-by-step instructions so that instead of feeling overwhelmed, you have the peace of mind to get creative.

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Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness in June 2022.

Microsoft Excel lets you do more than simply create spreadsheets — you can also use the software to calculate key functions, such as the relationship between two variables. Known as the correlation coefficient, this metric is useful for measuring the impact of one operation on another to inform business operations.

Not confident in your Excel skills? No problem. Here’s how to calculate — and understand — the correlation coefficient in Excel.

A correlation coefficient of +1 indicates a “perfect positive correlation”, which means that as variable X increases, variable Y increases at the same rate. A correlation value of -1, meanwhile, is a “perfect negative correlation”, which means that as variable X increases, variable Y decreases at the same rate. Correlation analysis may also return results anywhere between -1 and +1, which indicates that variables change at similar but not identical rates.

Correlation values can help businesses evaluate the impact of specific actions on other actions. For example, companies may find that as spending on social media marketing increases, so does customer engagement, indicating that more spending might make sense.

Or they may find that specific advertising campaigns result in a correlated decrease of customer engagement, in turn suggesting the need for a reevaluation of current efforts. The discovery that variables do not correlate can also be valuable; while common sense might suggest that a new function or feature in your product would correlate with increased engagement, it might have no measurable impact. Correlation analysis allows companies to view this relationship (or lack thereof) and make sound strategic decisions.

So how do you calculate the correction coefficient in Excel? Simple! Follow these steps:

1. Open Excel.

Step one: Open Excel and start a new worksheet for your correlated variable data. Enter the data points of your first variable in column A and your second variable in column B. You can add additional variables as well in columns C, D, E, etc. — Excel will provide a correlation coefficient for each one.

In the example below, we’ve entered six rows of data in column A and six in column B.

2. Install the Analysis Toolpak.

Next up? If you don’t have it, install the Excel Analysis Toolpak.

Select “File”, then “Options,” and you’ll see this screen:

Select “Add-Ins” and then click on “Go”.

Now, check the box that says “Analysis ToolPak” and click “Ok”.

3. Select “Data” from the top bar menu.

Once you have the ToolPak installed, select “Data” from the top Excel bar menu. This provides you with a submenu that contains a variety of analysis options for your data.

4. Select “Data Analysis” in the top right-hand corner.

Now, look for “Data Analysis” in the top right-hand corner and click on it to get this screen:

5. Select Correlation.

Select Correlation from the menu and click “OK.”

6. Define your data range and output.

Now define your data range and output. You can simply left-click and drag your cursor across the data you want to select, and it will auto-populate in the Correlation box. Finally, select an output range for your correlation data — we’ve chosen A8. Then, click “Ok”.

7. Evaluate your correlation coefficient.

Your correlation results will now be displayed. In our example, values in column 1 and column 2 have a perfect negative correlation; as one goes up, the other goes down at the same rate.

The Excel Correlation Matrix

Excel correlation results are also known as an Excel correlation matrix. In the example above, our two columns of data produced a perfect correction matrix of 1 and -1. But what happens if we produce a correlation matrix with a less ideal data set?

Here’s our data:

And here’s the matrix:

Cell C4 in the matrix gives us the correlation between Column 3 and Column 2, which is a very weak 0.01025, while Column 1 and Column 3 yield a stronger negative correlation of -0.17851. By far the strongest correlation, however, is between Column 1 and Column 2 at -0.66891.

So what does this mean in practice? Let’s say we were examining the impact of specific actions on the efficacy of a social media campaign, where Column 1 represents the number of visitors who click through on social advertisements and Columns 2 and 3 represent two different marketing taglines. The correlation matrix shows a strong negative correlation between Columns 1 and 2, which suggests that the Column 2 version of the tagline significantly decreased overall user engagement, while Column 3 drove only a slight decrease.

Regularly creating Excel matrices can help companies better understand the impact of one variable on another and determine what (if any) negative or positive effects may exist.

The Excel Correlation Formula

If you prefer to enter the correlation formula yourself, that’s also an option. Here’s what it looks like:

X and Y are your measurements, ∑ is the sum, and the X and Y with the bars over them indicate the mean value of the measurements. You would calculate it as follows:

• Calculate the sum of variable X minus the mean of X.
• Calculate the sum of variable Y minus the mean of Y.
• Multiply those two results and set that number aside (this is the first result).
• Square the sum of X minus the mean of X. Square the sum of Y minus the mean of Y. Multiply those two numbers.
• Take the square root (this is the second result).
• Divide the first result by the second result.
• You get the correlation coefficient.

Easy, right? Yes and no. While plugging in the numbers isn’t complicated, it’s often more trouble than it’s worth to create and manage this formula. The built-in Excel Toolpak is often a simpler (and faster) way to pinpoint coefficients and discover key relationships.

Correlation ≠ Not Causation

No article about correlation is complete without a mention that it does not equal causation. In other words, just because two variables rise or fall together doesn’t mean that one variable is the cause of the other variable’s increase or decrease.

Consider a few very strange examples.

This image shows a near-perfect negative correlation between the number of pirates and the global average temperature — as pirates became more scarce, the average temperature increased.

The problem? While these two variables are correlated, there’s no causal link between the two; higher temperatures did not reduce the pirate population and fewer pirates did not cause global warming.

While correlation is a powerful tool, it only indicates the direction of increase or decrease between two variables — not the cause of this increase or decrease. To discover causal links, companies must increase or decrease one variable and observe the impact. For example, if correlation shows that customer engagement goes up with social media spending, it’s worth opting for a slight increase in spending followed by a measurement of results. If more spending leads directly to increased engagement, the link is both correlated and causal. If not, there may be one (or more) factors that underpin the increase of both variables.

Keeping Up with the Correlations

Excel correlations offer a solid starting point for marketing, sales, and spending strategy development, but they don’t tell the whole story. As a result, it’s worth using Excel’s built-in data analysis options to quickly evaluate the correlation between two variables and use this data as a jumping-off point for more in-depth analysis.

With the potential to increase your brand awareness and build a reputable brand being so high on Instagram, understanding how to use it is essential.

While there are various ways to market yourself or your business on Instagram, it’s impossible to do so without first understanding your Instagram engagement rate.

Discover below ways to increase your engagement rate and the industry benchmarks to measure yourself against.

• What is an Instagram engagement rate?
• Why does your Instagram engagement rate matter?
• What is the average Instagram engagement rate?
• How To Calculate Your Engagement Rate On Instagram
• How to Increase Your Instagram Engagement Rate

Why does your Instagram engagement rate matter?

Instagram engagement rates are significant because they measure an audience’s interest, brand relevance, and social authority.

Audience Interest

If your content appeals to your target audience, your engagement rate will be higher.

If you take the time to review your best-performing content — i.e., posts with the most likes, shares, saves, and comments — you’ll get a feel for what your users want to see.

It’s important to note high impressions may indicate that your content has been viewed a lot, but engagement is typically defined as concrete interactions with your posts.

Relevance

If you have a high engagement rate, it’s likely your audience sees you as a relevant source of information.

They may favor your content over competitors because your content sets you apart. However, if you have a high engagement rate now, will it stay the same in three months? Is it higher than it was last year?

If you aren’t monitoring your engagement rate and using it as a benchmark for relevance, your score can decline.

Social Authority

While you’ve probably already identified your target Instagram audience, it’s never bad to add new followers and fans to the list.

These new users will take notice of your engagement — your followers, likes, comments, etc. — to decide whether or not to follow you.

They’re likely to move on to your competitors if they notice your brand’s engagement, a.k.a. social authority is not strong.

What is the average Instagram engagement rate?

There is no one-size-fits-all definition of a “good” engagement rate. It can vary by industry, B2B vs. B2C, and a series of other factors.

However, Instagram does have higher engagement rates than other social media networks.

According to the HubSpot Instagram Engagement Report, posts on the platform generate 23% more engagement than Facebook, even though Facebook has 2x more monthly users.

If you want a numerical value to compare your score to, Rival IQ found that the median engagement rate across all industries is 0.064%, in a 2022 report.

The highest engagement levels are reported in the sporting industry (0.27%) and by influencers (0.23).

Because of this, it’s safe to assume that an engagement rate of around 1% is a good engagement rate.

If you’ve already run the numbers and found that your engagement rate is significantly lower than average, don’t fret. There’s room for improvement — but maintain a healthy perspective.

Assess how your engagement rate has changed over time and begin devising strategies to raise your score.

Start this process by calculating your engagement rate, outlined in the next section.

How To Calculate Your Engagement Rate On Instagram

There is debate among marketers on the best way to calculate your Instagram engagement rate, as different industries define success in different ways.

Your preferred method depends on your goals as a brand or influencer.

Calculating Instagram Engagement Rate for Brands

Calculating the Instagram engagement Rate for Influencers

Since sponsors often recruit influencers on Instagram based on their likes and follower count, their engagement rates incorporate these two factors.

Since this metric doesn’t require any personal data, it’s possible to compare your engagement rates to competitors.

No matter your engagement rate, there are always steps to be taken to raise your score.

1. Maintain consistent branding.

Maintaining consistency with your content is extremely important, and there are a variety of actions you can take to do so.

Firstly, your username should be similar or the same to your other social media usernames. For example, if your Twitter handle is @greenbookworm, your Instagram handle should be the same if it’s available (or something very similar).

You should also make sure that your content is visually consistent as well, and you should have a format that you use for all of your posts. Take a look at Nike’s Instagram, for example.

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Whenever they post content that includes typography, they use the same backgrounds and font. When they post photos, they’re high quality and use the same filter.

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There’s data to back this up — WebDam found that 60% of the best-performing brands on Instagram used the same filter every time they post.

2. Understand your audience.

You can’t begin creating content without knowing your intended audience. Developing Instagram personas is a helpful tool for increasing your engagement rate.

If you know who your followers are, creating content that they want makes them more likely to engage with you. Take the time to monitor your audience statistics, and update your personas accordingly.

You can use Instagram insights to get a demographic understanding of your followers. If you have an Instagram business account, navigate to the audience tab from the Insights menu.

From here, you can see the top locations your users are in, your users’ age ranges, and their gender. All this information will give you an understanding of your users.
If you’re a HubSpot user, you can utilize the Social Reports data to find these same insights.

Regardless of your target audience, your content needs to be accessible. Utilizing Instagram’s accessibility tools is crucial, and you can use it to add image alt text, subtitles, and captions to your content.

3. Post regularly.

Once you know your target audience, post content they’ll enjoy and do it regularly.

The number of times you post depends on your marketing strategy, but the average brand posts four to six times a week on social media, according to a 2021 HubSpot Blog survey.

Again, this metric is an average and it may not work for everyone.

Posting too much content can overwhelm your users, and they won’t hesitate to unfollow if their feed is clogged.

It’s also important to know the best times to post for your followers. Instagram insights will also tell you the best days and hours to post.

4. Create better captions.

Unless you’re @world_record_egg, who posted a photo of an egg with no caption that has generated over 12 million likes, you need to focus on your captions.

Use the brand voice you’ve developed to sound consistent and keep your intended audience in mind. You can create short captions that are serious or light-hearted.

You can also create longer captions that tell stories and take your users on a journey. Take the Instagram account @humansofny as an example. They regularly feature the personal stories of people around the world.

Hand-in-hand with writing better captions is using quality hashtags — Instagram was built on them, after all. It’s still the algorithm’s primary method of filtering through content. If you’re unfamiliar with hashtags, here’s a summary.

Captions can hold up to 30 hashtags per post, but there must be a balance.

Hashtag dumping, which is similar to keyword stuffing, may make the algorithm think you’re spamming for engagement, and you can be shadowbanned. The goal is to figure out what works for you and stick to it.

Your hashtags should be a mix of popular and specific, long-tailed keywords. For example, if you’re running an Instagram for your hotel, you’ll want to use common hashtags like #hotel and #travel.

However, those are also very broad, as a search for the #hotel tag has 31 million posts. Be more specific and targeted towards your needs, and maybe say #hotel, #travel, and #hotel + your hotel name + the name of the city you’re in. So, for example, #hotellisamiami.

You can discover the best hashtags to use by doing keyword research and categorizing those that work best for you and your brand. You may also want to consider coming up with a brand-specific hashtag that users can recognize as yours.

5. Engage with your followers.

After you post, engage with your followers. While Instagram has the ‘Turn off comments’ feature, opt to keep them on.

Reply to comments that your followers make. Maybe they’re asking questions or proclaiming their excitement for your product. Paula’s Choice, a beauty brand, is an excellent example of this.

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They regularly host Instagram Q&A’s, where users ask questions and they answer them on their Instagram stories.

They’re taking actions that they know will entice their audience into interacting with their Instagram content, which factors into engagement rates.

Engaging with your followers also entails sharing their content on your site, known as user-generated content (UGC). Surfing through your brand-specific hashtags can help you find users that are posting about you. You can screenshot their content to share on your story, and even post on your feed.

Your followers will be excited that you interact with them, as engagement may signify a personal relationship with your brand. Here’s an example of Paula’s Choice posting UGC.

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6. Engage with similar accounts.

There wouldn’t be a point to using Instagram if you’re not following and interacting with other accounts.

Using the platform to engage with accounts similar to yours is extremely important. If you’re a brand, this can mean partnering with influencers in the same industry.

If you share products with them, they’ll post content wearing your brands. If they tag you, their followers will see your account, and many may follow you — all of these metrics factor into your engagement rate.

Emma Chamberlain is a popular YouTuber, holding almost 10.4 million Instagram followers at only 19 years old. She regularly posts sponsored content, and her sponsors post her. She entices her followers to interact with those brands, and vice versa.

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7. Create mixed content.

When the app was first launched, all you could do was post photos. Now, there are five types of content posts supported on Instagram: photos, videos, Instagram TV (IGTV), Instagram Reels, and Instagram Stories.

It’s no longer enough to just post photos; you need to do all of it.

Videos

Zenith Media estimated that the average person would spend 84 minutes a day watching videos in 2020. That’s a significant amount of time spent watching videos, so use it to your advantage.

There are five video options within Instagram: Reels, IGTV, Story videos, Instagram Live, and video posts. You’ll need to decide which method is best for you, but a well-rounded Instagram strategy will include all. If people are watching content on your page, they’re spending more time on your site, factoring into your impressions rate.

If you’re a sports brand, post enticing videos of recognized athletes using your equipment to practice their sport.

Stories

Instagram Stories are essentially the same as Snapchat stories. HubSpot’s Instagram engagement report found 22% of users watched branded content Stories from a company, business, or brand more than once a week, and 36% liked, commented, or shared branded Stores.

You can take advantage of these numbers and use this feature to draw attention to your new posts by sharing them on your Story or simply posting Story exclusive content.

This feature can also be used to engage with your audience. Post quizzes and questions and make them shareable for other users. Stories can also be used to get feedback from customers, asking them to submit experiences with your products and services.

Circling back to influencer sponsorships, having them go live on your account via Instagram Live is a great strategy. Instagram Live’s can also be saved to your account, so new users can watch them even if they occurred three months before.

8. Use calls-to-action (CTAs).

A CTA is an image, line of text, hashtag, or swipe-up link that is meant to entice your audience to take action — hence the call to action.

The specific action you’re asking users to take should be decided based on your brand, service, or influencers’ needs. This may mean notifying them of a sale by including a swipe up link in your Instagram story, asking them to tag a friend in the comment section, or sharing links to partner-posted content.

While links to other sites don’t directly impact your Instagram engagement rate, they still require users to spend more time on your profile, and you can convert them into leads on other platforms. Here’s an example of National Geographic advertising a new product on their story using a swipe-up CTA.

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9. Track your statistics.

Why would you bother taking action to improve your engagement rate if you’re not taking the time to understand if it’s working? Tracking your progress is extremely important, and it should be something you focus on.

Trial and error is expected, and it should be used to inform your current and future strategies. Use your preferred CRM to find your most effective posts or pieces of content, and use the strategy employed in those for your next content posts.

After you’ve calculated your engagement rate for the first time, you should devise a timeline in which you’ll recalculate it again. Maybe you’ll set a goal of raising your score by .10% in a year, so you may plan to re-calculate the numbers every three months.

This can also help you understand what isn’t working — if your numbers haven’t budged, something needs to change.

All in all, Instagram engagement rate is a measure of how your audience interacts with your content. Your rate is an indication of your Instagram profiles’ social authority, relevancy, and audience interest.

If your content is good and your followers are engaging, your engagement rate will demonstrate that. When you spend time working on your engagement rate, you collect valuable data to inform your entire Instagram marketing strategy.

You should see your engagement rate as a benchmark for customer loyalty and satisfaction.

If your users like you, it’ll show.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Local search is powerful for small businesses: 46% of all Google searches are looking for local information. If your business isn’t optimized for local search, you could miss out on potential customers ready to shop in your area. In short, local SEO is critical if you want your business to stay relevant.

To help you optimize your business for local SEO, we’ve created a comprehensive guide covering local SEO tips and tools.

By the end of the guide, you’ll have a firm understanding on how to optimize your business to reach potential consumers who use local search to choose which products or services they’re going to buy.

Search engines rely on signals such as local content, social profile pages, links, and citations to provide the most relevant local results to the user to gather information for local search.

With local SEO, businesses can use this to position their products and services to local prospects and customers searching for them.

1. Optimize for Google My Business.

Google My Business has become the creme de la creme of local search. Since Google supports, verifies, and shares its own content generously, Google My Business is an ideal tool to help your business meet Google’s needs.

To ensure you’re optimized for Google My Business, you’ll want to:

1. Create and verify a Google My Business page.
2. Use Google Posts within your account.
3. Encourage your customers to share reviews online.
4. Respond authentically to reviews, specifying location. For example, “We appreciate your feedback on [product/service] in [city, state]. We value your input and look forward to working with you again. Thank you from the [full company name] team.”

If Google can verify your business as authentic, the search engine could potentially reward your business with a coveted sidebar space in Google’s local search.

Don’t just do this for the SEO, either. By having reviews and keeping your contact information and operating hours up-to-date, you’re improving the experience for potential customers to find you. Finding current data is essential to consumers, now more than ever, due to 2020’s disruption in consumer shopping behavior and business operation.

2. Engage on social media and add posts to Google My Business.

Google considers content shared on social media more important now than ever before.

Now that you’ve carved out a beautiful Google My Business page, share it on social media, further aligning social and search.

3. Ensure your name, address, and phone number are consistent online.

You’ve got to make it easy for people and search engines to find you, and to do this you have to set up your NAP.

What does NAP mean in local SEO?

The acronym, NAP, stands for the name, address, and phone number (with area code) of a business. Your NAP should be considered crawlable HTML text on your site for Google to display it better according to location-based search results.

Pro Tip: Avoid the common mistake of only including the NAP within an image — images can’t be crawled from search engines like HTML text.

The most common location for the NAP is in the footer or header of the site. Additionally, you should include your NAP on a “Contact Us” page, too.

4. Optimize online directories and citations.

For United States companies, these four map data aggregators provide many map data for Apple, Yelp, Bing, Google, Trip Advisor, and more:

• Express Update
• Neustar Localeze
• Foursquare
• Factual

Consistency is key: verify that your citations are consistent and complete across these four data aggregators.

Discrepancies like misspellings, abbreviations, lack of suite number, or wrong phone number can be problematic.

If Google can’t determine which information about your business is correct, it may not show your business at all in search results.

Pro Tip: Remove any duplicate listings you find in online directories. And while you’re at it, get a Chamber of Commerce membership in your community to gain an external inbound link specific to your area.

5. Perform a local SEO audit.

Once you have the fundamentals down, it may be tempting to put your foot on the brake. However, SEO is an ongoing and intuitive process. Instead of stopping there or simply making changes and seeing what sticks, it helps to perform a comprehensive audit to see where your website stands and what you need to work on to achieve your goals. A local SEO audit may include the following:

• Google My Business Audit – How does your Google My Business appear in the SERPs? Is the information accurate?
• Google Search Console Audit – Is your site crawlable? Does it have any errors that would hinder indexing?
• On-Page SEO Audit – Does your site accommodate all the on-page SEO elements that help ranking?
• Citation Audit – Are all of your citations correct in the top business directories?
• Competitor Analysis – How does your site match up with your competition’s? Are there any gaps that you need to close? How do you match up in terms of inbound links, content, design, and positioning?
• Website Audit – How well is your website performing?

6. Improve your internal linking structure.

Although external links pointing to your site are ideal (which I’ll discuss soon), adjusting your internal linking structure will also boost your SEO rankings.

Why does internal linking matter? It does the following:

• Supports website navigation
• Assists with information architecture and website hierarchy
• Distributes page authority and ranking power among pages

If you want to improve your internal linking structure but aren’t sure where to start, check out Kissmetrics’ The Seven Commandments of Internal Linking for Top-Notch SEO.

7. Optimize URL, title tags, headers, meta description, and content.

When it comes to content, every new blog post is a new indexed page for your site, a new page on which to target a geographic search phrase, and a new opportunity to get found in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Every time you write a piece of content, you need to optimize the content for search engines by using high-volume keywords in the URL, title, header, meta description, and body. If you’re having trouble coming up with geo-targeted content, consider highlighting customer success stories and case studies.

Pro Tip: The more specifications you add to these assets (especially for each location of your business), the better you’ll be able to optimize “near me” local searches.

8. Add location pages to your website.

If you have more than one brick-and-mortar location, create location pages. Location pages provide readers with your name, address, phone number, store hours, unique store descriptions, parking/transit information, promotions, and testimonials from happy customers.

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It’s also important you avoid duplicating content across multiple location pages. For single-location businesses, create a locally descriptive About Us page. You can even get bonus points if you add a Google Map to your website on your respective location page(s).

9. Create local content.

Google continues to get smarter, which means content creators can now write more for users and less to appease search engines. And while writing about general topics will attract a vast crowd, sometimes it’s more important to hone your focus and write about local or industry news to attract a local audience.

Be the local authority for your industry by promoting local industry gatherings, news, employees, and other educational content on your blog. Think of top-of-the-funnel content that goes beyond what your business sells.

For example, if you’re a local security company and trying to attract businesses new to the area, create a helpful resource to get these businesses well-acquainted with your city. A map of local service providers or a calendar of city-wide events could both provide value for your persona and contain highly relevant on-page local signals.

10. Ensure your website is mobile-friendly.

Local and mobile search go hand in hand (61% of all Google searches are performed on mobile).

Some of the most common ways people will use your site in a mobile environment are to look up reviews, find directions to your location, and search for contact information. In fact, “near me” searches on mobile have increased 250% since 2017.

Make it easy for your prospects and customers by making your site mobile-friendly.

11. Get inbound links with relevance and authority.

Inbound links are compelling opportunities to boost your local SEO — every inbound link tells Google you’re a legitimate company, and inbound links can also raise your domain authority. Here are a few ways to get inbound links:

• Sponsorships or Partnerships
• Guest Blog Posting
• Scholarships

Start with your network, including the Chamber of Commerce, business improvement districts, licensing bureaus, trade associations, resellers, vendors, manufacturers, and other affiliates.

Consider sponsoring a webinar or meet-up, hosting a community event, promoting something local you love, and building relationships with prominent people and influencers. Additionally, learn to feel comfortable reaching out to partners to see if they can feature you on their partner directory.

Also, being a guest blogger can help attract links. Positively talk to or about other people in your industry, and act as a resource provider for the community. If you’re an active participant in community conversations, the buzz around you grows in the form of inbound links, social media growth, and media coverage.

12. Participate in your local community.

The more you participate in the local community, the more digital PR you’ll receive. Partnering with a nonprofit on a campaign, having a volunteer day in your organization, sponsoring an event (even an online one!), or appearing in the local media as an authority in your industry are all ways to earn press, brand awareness, and inbound links.

For example, given that .edu links are the bee’s knees for domain authority, why not earn some links by featuring a scholarship in your geographic region? It should be relevant to your industry, send the right signals to your domain (given the backlinks from schools) and make you feel good, too! Moz built a solid guide on the steps to success for effective scholarship outreach.

Local SEO Tools

Now that we’ve covered how to optimize your business for local SEO, let’s explore some practical tools you can leverage to improve your ranking in the areas where it matters most.

1. Whitespark Local Citation Finder

Pricing: Small Business Plan; $25/month, Specialist Plan; $50/month, Agency Plan; $100/month, Enterprise Plan; $200/month

Image Source

A local citation is any online mention of a local business’s name, address, and phone number.

Citations matter because they help surface local businesses in online search, and when local businesses actively manage its sources to ensure data accuracy, it promotes trust in these online listings.

Whitespark knows this realm well — really well. Whitespark offers local listing management, recommends where to list your business, examines your competition, and robustly builds and monitors your citation growth for better local search rankings.

2. Screaming Frog

Pricing: Free Basic Version, Paid Version; $209/year

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This desktop program crawls websites’ links, images, CSS, script, and apps from an SEO perspective. Curious if you have any 404’s? Or wondering about missing meta descriptions or H1s? Screaming Frog will analyze up to 500 URLs for free and unlimited URL analysis in its paid version.

3. Moz Local

Pricing: Lite Plan; $14/month, Preferred Plan; $20/month, Elite Plan; $33/month

Less expensive than most of its counterparts, Moz Local will ensure your business listing has been verified on Google and Facebook and distribute your listing across the search ecosystem.

Additionally, Moz Local will collaborate with data aggregators to help push listings, ensuring your business gains visibility.

4. Arel=”noopener” target=”_blank” hrefs

Pricing: Lite Plan; $99/month, Standard Plan; $199/month, Advanced Plan; $399/month, Enterprise Plan; $999/month

Arel=”noopener” target=”_blank” hrefs helps with backlink checking, which is essential as these links (directed toward your website) indicate website authority.

Arel=”noopener” target=”_blank” hrefs also offers competitor analysis, keyword research, and insight into other websites’ anchor text when backlinking to your site.

5. Buzzstream

Pricing: Starter Plan; $24/month, Growth Plan; $124/month, Professional Plan; $299/month, Custom Plan; $999/month

BuzzStream facilitates earning local backlinks, which helps you identify and build relationships with local influencers by researching influencers, tracking conversations, and providing reporting insights into your outreach campaigns, team performance, and link placements.

6. BrightLocal

Pricing: Single Business Plan; $29/month, Multi Business Plan; $49/month, SEO Pro Plan; $79/month

BrightLocal is a comprehensive SEO tool suite built explicitly for local business marketing needs.

The tool can help you generate and monitor reviews on local sites, understand your local search performance, and analyze nearby competitors.

BrightLocal also offers client access and white-labeled reporting — making it a solid fit for agencies and brands alike.

Improve Your Business Visibility with Local SEO

Local SEO is an integral part of any SEO strategy for local businesses. Local SEO will help your audience find you when they search online if you have a storefront or service area. We hope you find this article helpful in your journey to gain brand recognition and authority on the net.

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

Duplicate data is the bane of spreadsheet solutions, especially at scale. Given the volume and variety of data now entered by teams, it’s possible that duplicate data in tools like Google Sheets may be relevant and necessary, or it could be a frustrating distraction from the primary purpose of spreadsheet efforts.

The potential problem raises a good question: How do you highlight duplicates in Google Sheets?

We’ve got you covered with a step-by-step look at how to highlight duplicates in Google Sheets, complete with images to make sure you’re on the right track when it comes to de-duplicating your data.

Highlighting Duplicate Data in Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a free, cloud-based alternative to proprietary spreadsheet programs and — no surprise, since it’s Google we’re dealing with — offers a host of great features to help streamline data entry, formatting, and calculations.

Google Sheets has all the familiar functions: File, Edit, View, Format, Data, Tools, etc. and makes it easy to quickly enter your data, add formulas for calculations, and discover key relationships. What Sheets doesn’t have, however, is an easy way to find and highlight duplicates.

While other spreadsheet tools, such as Excel, have built-in conditional formatting tools that can pinpoint duplicate data in your sheet, Google’s solution requires a little more manual effort.

Step-by-Step: How to Highlight Duplicates in Google Sheets (With Pictures)

So how do you automatically highlight duplicates in Google Sheets? While there’s no built-in tool for this purpose, you can leverage some built-in functions to highlight duplicate data.

Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Open your spreadsheet.

Step 2: Highlight the data you want to check.

Step 3: Under “Format”, select “Conditional Formatting.”

Step 4: Select “Custom formula is.”

Step 5: Enter the custom duplicate checking formula.

Step 6: Click “Done” to see the results.

Step 1: Open your spreadsheet.

First, head to Google Sheets and open the spreadsheet you want to check for duplicate data.

Step 2: Highlight the data you want to check.

Next, left-click and drag your cursor over the data you want to check to highlight it.

Step 3: Under “Format”, select “Conditional Formatting.”

Now, head to “Format” in the top menu row and select “Conditional Formatting”. You may get a notification that says “cell is not empty” — if so, click on it, and you should see this:

Step 4: Select “Custom formula is.”

Next, we need to create a custom formula. Under “Format cells if”, select the drop-down menu and scroll down to “Custom formula is”.

Step 5: Enter the custom duplicate checking formula.

To search for duplicate data, we need to enter the custom duplicate checking formula, which for our column of data looks like this:

=COUNTIF(A:A,A1)>1

This formula searches for any text string that appears more than once in our selected data set, and by default will highlight it in green. If you prefer a different color, click on the small paint pot icon in the formatting style bar and select the color you prefer.

Step 6: Click “Done” to see the results.

And voilà — we’ve highlighted the duplicate data in Google Sheets.

How to Highlight Duplicates in Multiple Rows and Columns

If you’ve got a larger data set to check, it’s also possible to highlight data duplicates in multiple columns or rows.

This starts the same way as the duplicate checking process above — the only difference is that you change the data range to include all the cells you want to compare.

In practice, this means entering an expanded data range in the Conditional format rules menu and the custom format box. Let’s use the example above as a starting point, but instead of just searching column A for duplicates, we’re going to search across three columns: A, B, and C, and also across rows 1-10.

When we enter our conditional format rules, Apply to Range becomes A1:C10 and our custom formula becomes:

=COUNTIF($A$2:G,Indirect(Address(Row(),Column(),)))>1

This will highlight all duplicates across all three columns and all 10 rows, making it easy to spot data doppelgangers:

Dealing With Duplicates in Duplicates in Google Sheets

Can you highlight duplicates in Google Sheets? Absolutely. While the process takes more effort than some other spreadsheet solutions, it’s easy to replicate once you’ve done it once or twice, and once you’re comfortable with the process you can scale up to find duplicates across rows, columns, and even much larger data sets.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of having a quality website for nonprofit organizations. All of an organization’s outreach, marketing, and ads need to drive an audience to take action like donating, finding out about services, or signing up for information.

An effective website allows these actions to happen quickly and seamlessly, making the path to conversion for any of these actions feel effortless.

On the other hand, subpar websites actually distract audiences from the goals you want them to accomplish, confusing visitors with navigation that obscures the most relevant information or overloading them with too many calls-to-action.

As digital marketing experts, we have a basic process we use as a guide when we start new nonprofit website projects, ensuring that the end product is clear, easy-to-use, and ultimately, effective.

Let’s dive in.

The 6 Phases of a Successful Nonprofit Website Project

1. Discovery

During the discovery phase, your project team will define its goals and understand existing strengths, opportunities for growth, and audiences.

Identify Your Goals

The first step in building a better website is recognizing that you need one, and determining goals for redesign efforts. Sometimes you can look at data to determine if your current site is meeting your expectations.

Understand Audiences

Tools such as Google Analytics can help you determine which actions or content are getting more or less traction with audiences to optimize accordingly. Implementing audience surveys can also provide insight into what parts of your website may be resonating better or worse with your key groups.

Evaluate Content

Sometimes the issue may have to do with the visual presentation of your brand elements –– your site may just need a general facelift or improved accessibility. Marketing agencies can help audit and review your current site in more detail to provide you with specific recommendations to guide and prioritize your goals for your new website.

Site Audit

In a full site redesign, research may be required as a first step to inform strategy and design. This might involve doing an in-depth audit of all of the existing content for your current site, as well as research and documentation about any other technical platforms (like CRM systems or fundraising platforms at your organization). This also might entail doing deeper research into your audience groups and mapping their specific needs at various stages of their journey interacting with your organization.

SEO Audit

An SEO audit is an important step to capture insights for your site rebuild, ensuring audiences can easily find it via search. An SEO audit involves taking an in-depth analysis of all the factors that affect a website’s visibility in search engines. Doing this audit gives complete insights into the website, overall traffic, and individual pages in regards to site health and overall domain authority.

Here are just a few things to consider during an SEO audit:

• Does your site support a breadcrumb structure?
• Does your navigation make sense?
• Is it easy for users to find important and relevant content on your site?
• Does the content reach the right audience and target important keywords?
• Is there correct metadata throughout the site? Title tags?
• Are there server errors on your site?

While these may seem like simple and mundane tasks, they are crucial steps in ensuring your site and brand increase organic visibility. Overall, completing this task can help assure that you are reaching your traffic goals and can make any changes necessary in the website redesign.

2. Strategy

Once your discovery is complete, you can move to your strategy phase. Here, you and your team will dive into planning how all of your content, including copy, images, videos, and any other assets, will be presented across the new website.

Content Strategy

Once you have a handle on who your audiences are, and how you’d like them to engage with your information, you can dive into your content strategy — or the way you’ll organize and develop content for visitors to engage with on your site. This might include revising your site map (otherwise known as a list of pages in a hierarchical order for your website), and navigation so content that’s relevant to a particular audience is grouped together, and in a way that will make it easy for them to find the right piece of content at the right point of their journey.

During your content strategy exploration, considering all stages of an audience’s user journey is critical. How are people new to your site engaging, and how can you make life easier for return visitors?

As a nonprofit, you’ll want to share different pieces of your story with new versus existing supporters — for instance, with new visitors, you can share background on your nonprofit, and with existing supporters, you can show them the impact and results of your nonprofit so they can see how their contributions matter.

Information Architecture

Once the overall content strategy is in place, you can start to solidify the role, or story, each individual page will play. Bringing the most important messages to the top, and allowing for less urgent pieces to cascade down the page, builds your loose information architecture that will help UXers and designers bring your story to life.

3. UX and Design

As you move into your user experience (UX) and design phase, you’ll bring all of your discovery and strategy to life with visuals. By keeping your audiences top of mind during this phase, you’ll be able to meet their needs in the most effective way possible.

User experience (UX) design comes next, often in the form of prototypes or wireframes, to provide visual structure for each page. Sometimes these wireframes also include notional copy, which are brief bits of text to indicate things like ‘Headline about our giving program goes here.’ This can be helpful to guide later copywriting efforts for site content.

Things get more interesting and fun as the new website’s visual and creative direction gets established. Designers can recommend a new visual approach to your brand elements, colors, fonts, and other style elements. When approved, this visual approach gets applied to page designs and layouts to arrive at finalized page designs.

4. Implementation

In your implementation phase, you’ll notice that the development processes vary a bit depending on the platform. As you and your team work through implementing your work, you’ll make some decisions that’ll impact how easy your site will be to maintain (through no/low-code platforms versus code-driven products).

Designs, requirements, specifications, and copy come together with development efforts to bring a new website to life. Today, organizations have a lot of great options to consider: No-code platforms such as Squarespace or Wix can make many parts of the development process so simple that developers aren’t needed and maintenance costs are greatly reduced, at the cost of some flexibility about what types of technical integrations they can work well with and how much customization can occur. 

Some solutions such as Hubspot’s CMS are tailored for HubSpot’s CRM tools and offer an out-of-the-box solution for organizations that want a powerful but easy-to-use interface. HubSpot offers more than two dozen themes for nonprofits to choose from, making customization and a sleek design and user experience available within minutes.

More development-intensive platforms like WordPress come with higher investment needed in the building process and long-term maintenance costs for things like plugins and hosting, but offer endless opportunities to realize a custom website vision.

5. Quality Assurance Testing

Once final content is entered or migrated into your new site, and an approach to blog posts and SEO considerations have been addressed, quality assurance (QA) testing can happen.

QA testing can check that the site presents well across all devices, meets accessibility standards, is optimized for speed, and is functioning according to requirements.

6. Accessibility

Creating a website that’s not only functional and well-organized but also accessible to all is becoming the standard. As nonprofit organizations, it’s even more important to be catering to all audiences, especially those you may be serving.

Remember that accessibility means accommodating for all disabilities, not just ones that are readily apparent. Over 13% of the U.S. population has a visual impairment. Making the mindful shift to ensuring your site is accessible consists of small changes, like using proper colors, H1/H2 tagging for screen readers, and providing alt text on all images and graphics. Checking these boxes goes a long way in helping everyone have a positive experience on your site.

Once your QA testing is complete, including your accessibility checks, you can make changes and find solutions, and then the site is ready for final approval to release.

Regardless of your platform, there are a few details (that are often forgotten) to always keep in mind.

Here are a few examples of great no-code and low-code nonprofit websites.

No-Code Nonprofit Website Examples

1. 50 States, 50 Grants

 It Gets Better: 50 States. 50 Grants. 5000 voices campaign was built using webflow. Although built on a template, the website still has great movement and engagement, and portrays a more custom website.

Issue Area: LGBTQIA+

Website Platform: Webflow

Website: https://www.50states50grants.com/ 

2. RiseUP Marketing Fellowship

RiseUP Marketing Fellowship is a purpose-driven marketing fellowship that works to increase diversity, access, and tangible social impact across the marketing and advertising industries.

Issue Area: Employment

Website Platform: Squarespace

Website: https://www.riseupfellows.com/

Code-driven Nonprofit Website Examples

1. OPS

OPS inspires, empowers, and connects a global community using high-impact films and visual storytelling to expose the most critical issues facing our planet.

Issue Area: Environment

Website Platform: WordPress

Website: https://www.opsociety.org/

2. Outward Bound USA

Outward Bound USA is the leading provider of outdoor education programs that allows young people to explore their personal potential, since 1962.

Issue Area: Education

Website Platform: WordPress

Website: https://www.outwardbound.org/

3. The Gerson Mission

The Gerson Institute’s mission is anchored in the education of food as medicine, reducing toxic exposure and creating a healthier world where Gerson Therapy is not just a viable option, but a pillar of treating chronic illness.

Issue Area: Health

Website Platform: WordPress

Website: https://gerson.org/

Common Nonprofit Website Pitfalls

1. Tracking and Conversions

All too often, organizations forget to transfer and/or set up their tracking on a new website. At the very least, make sure your Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics are published when the website is released.

Chances are with most website rebuilds, elements and forms on the website have shifted. Buttons may have changed colors or placements and new pages may have been added. Any custom event or conversion tracking on your existing website will need to be recreated for the next website so that you don’t lose out on any of your tracking.

There’s nothing worse than realizing a pixel isn’t firing correctly mid-campaign. Make sure you take the time to QA your site, test forms and buttons, and run reports the second the website is live.

2. SEO

Every company needs a strong marketing strategy, even nonprofits! However, most nonprofits don’t know or haven’t considered investing in search engine optimization (SEO) even though it can have one of the highest returns on investment.

How do you expect your supporters, volunteers, and advocates to find you if you don’t invest in your SEO and content strategy? Roughly, 53% of individuals say they always do research before they buy something to ensure they are making the best possible choice. This is no different for nonprofits.

Strong SEO is more vital for nonprofits than ever with the accelerated digital transformation due to COVID and the overall political climate within the United States. Many Americans are looking for ways to support organizations of specific social issues — highlighting the greater need for strong SEO.

3. Accessibility

According to the World Health Organization, one billion people — approximately 15% of the world’s population — live with some form of disability. And, roughly 75% of Americans with disabilities report using the internet on a daily basis.

It’s important to keep in mind accessibility in web design is best when planned ahead, but can be remedied in meaningful ways at any stage in a website’s lifecycle.

As mentioned above, there are small changes that can go a long way in helping everyone engage with your website, but a few of the most critical are as follows:

• Ensure the colors of your text/backgrounds are friendly for those experiencing visual disabilities, including color blindness
• When available, draft specific copy for alt texts on images and graphics to verbally describe what someone else would see
• This also helps with folks who use screen readers, having a voice to describe what they’re seeing adds context and color to their experience online
• Using the tab key to navigate your site to see how folks who are unable to mouse around will engage with your content can illuminate any areas where more work may need to be done.
• And lastly, checking for discrepancies between a mobile and desktop experience can be a great last pass to ensure you’re up to par with accessibility needs

Ultimately, a website redesign isn’t easy, but it’s a smart and lucrative business decision when it comes to helping your nonprofit reach new audiences and increase impact. A strong website is critical for any brand, but particularly vital for nonprofits that are goaled on reaching and inspiring interested audiences.

Many years ago, I waited hours in line after a concert to get a coveted Selena Gomez autograph.

After she signed my poster, I hung it up in my bedroom, where it felt like my most prized possession. Because, although plenty of other people had Selena’s autograph — no one had this specific one.

It was one-of-a-kind. And worth every penny I paid to attend the meet-and-greet.

And, although it may not seem like it at first, web3 technology — and how it will ultimately impact consumers — is actually very similar to my experience at the Selena Gomez concert.

Here, I spoke with three web3 experts to learn more about how web3 will impact the future of consumer trends.

But first … what is web3, anyway?

What is Web3?

If you’re unsure what web3 is, you’re not alone. HubSpot’s Blog Research recently found 51% of consumers don’t understand the concept of web3.

Before writing this post, I didn’t either.

We cover what web3 is in-depth in this post, but for a brief recap: web3, or the third-generation of the internet, is a vision of a more decentralized web that places the power in the hands of users instead of large tech companies like Google, Apple, and Netflix.

Web3 is built on blockchains using existing infrastructure with the goal of making the internet more accessible, private, and secure for users.

Anna Seacat, VP of Marketing and web3 Community at Proxy and Co-Founder of Glypta.org, says a major benefit of web3 is ownership over data.

As Seacat puts it, “Today, when we create content or submit personal data online, we’re handing over ownership to companies who can change, delete, or sell it. With web3, we own our data. You can mint content through a decentralized app, but that app can never change or remove it, because it’s yours forever, unless you decide to sell it.”

Essentially, it’s an evolution of the internet that will be supported by blockchain and hosted on servers owned by individuals and many organizations rather than a handful of corporations. This gives users the ability to vote over the web’s rules and regulations, rather than putting all power into the hands of those who own the servers (think: Democracy versus Monarchy).

At least, that’s the idea — although it’s still in early days of development, so it’s unknown whether reality will live up to these ideals.

But how does web3 relate, specifically, to consumers and e-commerce brands? Let’s explore that next.

How does web3 relate to consumers?

Web3 Will Provide a Foundation for Decentralized Finance

So … How does web3 relate to consumers? Well, in many ways, web3 is opening up new opportunities for how people will ultimately spend and sell.

In essence, web3 could become a strong foundation for a secure, protected digital economy.

For instance, one critical component of web3 is decentralized finance.

Decentralized finance, which uses the same blockchain technology used by cryptocurrencies, has a similar goal as web3 itself: Give people the power to control their own money through a digital wallet, rather than relying on major financial institutions and banks. (Similar to how web3 aims to give people the power to control their data, rather than relying on major tech corporations.)

Many brands already accept digital currencies from consumers. Microsoft, for instance, allows consumers to purchase products from the Windows Store with bitcoin; AT&T accepts cryptocurrency for bill payments; and even retailers like Overstock.com accepts bitcoin on its online site.

So decentralized finance could be the next leap towards encouraging more digital transactions by providing incentives for consumers to store their finances digitally.

Cryptocurrency, bitcoin, and a decentralized financial system are three components that could flourish on web3. But all three exist in much the same way the dollar does: as a fungible token. In other words, you can trade one dollar of bitcoin for another identical dollar of bitcoin. They are interchangeable.  

But there’s another major element of web3 that many brands are seeing value in, and it’s likely something you’ve already heard something about: NFTs.

More Consumers Will Begin Purchasing NFTs 

NFTs — or non-fungible tokens — are part of the Ethereum blockchain, and have exploded in growth over the past few years. In fact, investment bank Jefferies forecasts that NFTs will reach more than $35 billion in market value in 2022, and over $80 billion by 2025.

Many of us have seen the wild west of NFTs first-hand. A few examples come to mind, including a Tweet that sold for $2 million, a meme that sold for $590,000, and a bundle of monkey drawings that sold for over $24 million.  

But what does ‘buying’ any of these digital assets actually mean? Essentially, it means you purchase the digital certificate which verifies you’re the sole owner of the original. Consider it synonymous with owning the original Mona Lisa, versus purchasing a copy.

NFTs aren’t limited to digital artwork, however. NFTs can be a digital asset from any industry, including gaming, fashion, and even music.

The potential ramifications of NFTs are enormous. As consumers shift towards NFTs, major corporations like Google or Meta could see a decline in how many consumers use their shopping tools.

As Seacat puts it, “If NFTs are any indication of how marketing, shopping, and selling online will change, we’re in for true disruption. For instance, Google is not used for NFT shopping. Instead, consumers rely on gated apps and decentralized marketplaces — neither of which show up in traditional search engine results.”

Web3 Will Lead to More Trust Between Buyers and Sellers, and Reduced Prices

As previously mentioned, web3 will offer more security and control over personal data — which will directly impact a consumer’s sense of trust when making purchasing decisions. 

Jeremy Merrell Williams, CEO at Vyudu Inc and web3 and Blockchain Analyst, says web3 will greatly impact how consumer shop in the future. 

“For instance,” Williams says, “with blockchain technology, shoppers can directly connect with producers and retailers without having to go through intermediaries. This could lead to more trust between buyers and sellers, as well as lower prices due to reduced fees.”

He adds, “Web3-based marketplaces could also make it easier for consumers to find the best deals on products and services.”

Ultimately, with web3, you don’t need to put your trust — and data — into the hands of a third-party corporation. Given that 76% of consumers feel they don’t know what companies are doing with their data, this could ultimately lead to a renewed sense of trust between consumers and brands.

Some Consumers Will be Wary of Web3 Because of The Volatility of Crypto

Before we dive into how brands can leverage web3, let’s take a look at some consumer concerns when it comes to web3.

One major concern? The purchasing process is too confusing.

Seacat says, “Web3 doesn’t currently support the average consumer’s purchasing process. You have to take big gambles and go into what’s called a ‘rabbit hole’ to get education and onboarding.”

For this reason alone, Seacat and a team of women started a nonprofit, Glypta.org, to make web3 safer for women, especially those who are just getting started in the space. Seacat adds, “We shouldn’t have to risk thousands of dollars in a rabbit hole to be a part of web3.”

Additionally, digital currencies like cryptocurrencies have proven to be volatile, which dissuades many from investing in the first place. And since you can’t use U.S. dollars on web3, those who don’t feel confident purchasing cryptocurrencies are excluded from purchasing on web3.

Finally, there are some steep fees on web3, particularly when buying NFTs.

As Holly Shannon, producer of Culture Factor, a high-ranking NFT and emerging technologies podcast, told me, “The fees incurred when buying an NFT on the blockchain are high. They are referred to as ‘gas fees’. The use of crypto and the gas fees relative to a purchase are a major drawback at this time.”

Shannon adds, “The exercise to get a wallet that is unique to this framework is also cumbersome and full of friction. There are hot, warm, and cold wallets. There are secret codes and layers of authentication.”

Ultimately, we’re a long ways away from making web3 feel mainstream for consumers. But it’s still useful to consider: When consumers do begin joining web3, how can brands meet them there?

How Brands Can Leverage Web3

Brands Can Leverage NFTs to Build Direct-to-Consumer Relationships

In recent years, major brands have begun seeing the value in NFTs. Nike, for instance, has begun selling branded sneakers on Roblox, a virtual world, for fans’ avatars to wear as they play sports virtually. Those virtual sneakers, which won’t exist in real life, are an example of NFTs.

Meanwhile, in the fashion industry, Dolce & Gabbana set a record of nearly $6 million for a nine-piece collection of digital NFTs, including a “Glass Suit” that the auction winner’s avatar can wear in a metaverse.

Shannon says: “I believe the ability to prove ownership makes for a great opportunity. Let’s say you purchase a Hermés bag. By using an NFT that establishes the purchase on a blockchain, it creates a permanent record of that sale.”

Shannon adds, “Think of that NFT as a ticket or token that represents an asset — or your Hermés handbag. It authenticates your purchase as the original. Which, as an aside, makes a good case for reducing counterfeit sales. Additionally, it gives the brand an opportunity to have a direct relationship with the consumer.”

Ultimately, Shannon believes the power of NFTs for brands lies in this concept: Direct-to-consumer.

For instance, Shannon notes, Hermés could use NFTs to delight their customers with unlockable experiences.

Shannon posits, “Hermés could invite consumers to a fashion show, or send them a gift using NFTs. Alternatively, maybe a sports team uses NFTs to give fans a chance to meet their favorite players, or send SWAG directly to them. This merely scratches the surface of experiential marketing, but hopefully you can see the magic, too.”

Which leads me to my next, and hopefully last, Matrix-sounding buzzword: Metaverse.

Brands Can Engage with Consumers in the Metaverse

The metaverse is essentially a 3-D virtual reality (check out this post with a full run-down of the metaverse if you need a refresher), and it’s where many consumers will purchase and wear the digital items we’ve listed so far.

I’m willing to bet you’re thinking NFTs and the metaverse seem a little far-fetched for most consumers. (I’m not in the financial position to purchase a $2 million Tweet myself, anyway.)

But HubSpot’s Blog Research found it does, in fact, impact many consumers today. A few quick stats:

• Over half of those who have ever bought virtual currency/items have done so within the past three months. (Including 75% who bought cryptocurrency; 62% who bought virtual items like Fortnite skin; and 60% who bought NFTs.)
• 30% say more brands should have virtual stores in the metaverse.
• 34% of cryptocurrency owners have used crypto to make a purchase (other than using it to buy other crypto).
• 27% say they would be more likely to use a platform if they received virtual currency for using it.

As it turns out, consumers are interested in purchasing virtual products and services; and they’re interested in using virtual currencies to do so.

In many ways, this makes sense: Much of what we do nowadays exists online. We meet our partners online using dating apps; we make new friends via social communities like Facebook; and some of us even work entirely online, leveraging remote tools like Zoom to communicate with colleagues.

Web3 is an iteration that could, ideally, meet more consumers needs when it comes to data privacy, convenience, socialization, and entertainment.

And if your consumers are on web3, why wouldn’t you want to meet them there?

Video marketing is becoming more and more integral to a brand’s success. If you’re a marketer trying to craft the best video marketing strategy for your brand, it helps to know the top video marketing tactics brands are investing their time and money in.

Fortunately, the HubSpot Blog recently surveyed over 500 marketers across the globe about their video marketing tactics, what seems to be working, and which tactics are worth reconsidering.

Most Used Video Marketing Tactics

Here is a breakdown of the kinds of videos and platforms marketers are continuing to leverage and why:

Short-Form Video

In our survey, we found short-form video leads in usage with it being leveraged by 58% of marketers. Short-form videos also lead on ROI, engagement, and lead generation. Nearly half (46%) of marketers will plan to use short-form videos for the first time in 2022 and 36% will invest in short-form videos more than any other format.

These numbers aren’t surprising when you consider short-form videos are more likely to go viral, according to 47% of video marketers.

Long-Form Video

Long-form videos come in second when it comes to usage with 37% of marketers leveraging the format. This format also places second in terms of ROI, lead generation, and engagement. According to our survey, 36% of marketers plan to leverage long-form videos for the first time in 2022, and 18% will invest in the format more than any other kind of video.

The optimal length of a long-form video is between three to six minutes, according to 36% of marketers. Even platforms like TikTok are starting to embrace long-form videos, in fact, the app is now allowing 10-minute videos. This could be because long-form videos still receive significant engagement.

In our survey, we found 38% of long-form marketing videos have an average watch percentage between 41% and 60%. We also found 25% of long-form videos have an average watch time between 61% and 80%. Finally, 22% have an average watch time between 21% and 40%.

Video Marketing on Social Media

Social media is the top channel used to share marketing video, with it being used by 76% of marketers in our survey. It also has the biggest ROI by far, according to 67% of marketers who use it. Our survey revealed 66% of marketers also say it’s the most effective for generating leads. We also found 63% of marketers will use social media for the first time in 2022, and 61% will invest more in sharing videos on social media than any other channel.

Regarding specific social media platforms, Instagram is the top platform for ROI, lead generation, and engagement. According to our survey, 42% of marketers who don’t use Instagram for sharing videos will do so for the first time in 2022, and 24% will invest more into sharing videos on the platform than any other.

Facebook is also a common tool for marketers with 60% of those in our survey sharing videos on the platform. However, Facebook also comes in fourth place for ROI, engagement, and lead generation. We found 35% of marketers will invest in videos on Facebook for the first time in 2022.

Coming in second place in terms of engagement is TikTok, however, only 35% marketers share videos on the platform and 20% plan on doing so for the first time in 2022.

Video Marketing on YouTube

YouTube has the highest usage among marketers with 70% leveraging the platform. It will also see the most investment from video marketers in 2022. Over half the marketers who do not use YouTube will do so for the first time in 2022, according to our survey.

No matter which tactic you choose to leverage for your brand, it’s important to remember the most important factors when creating effective video content, according the marketers we surveyed are:

• Adequately promoting your video
• Capturing viewers’ attention in the first few seconds
• Keeping your videos short/concise

Least Used Video Marketing Tactics

Here are the platforms, formats, and concepts that seem to be losing steam among marketers.

Reddit, Tumblr, Twitch, Snapchat, and Pinterest

While social media plays a vital role in video marketing, not every platform ensures success. Marketers told us Reddit, Tumblr, Twitch, Snapchat, and Pinterest have not provided favorable ROI or engagement when it comes to marketing videos, therefore these platforms will likely see the least investment from video marketers in 2022.

Nostalgic Content and UGC

Despite the resurgence of TV shows, films, and music trends rooted in nostalgia, marketers say nostalgic content consistently underperforms in terms of engagement, ROI, and lead generation.

We found similar findings when we asked marketers about user-generated content (UGC). Our survey found just 19% of video marketers will leverage nostalgic content in 2022 for the first time and only 3% will use UGC.

Screen-Capture video

Screen-capture videos have the lowest ROI when compared to other video styles like live action and animation. They are also much less effective in generating leads and engagement, according to our survey. With that said, 52% of video marketers plan on leveraging screen-capture video for the first time in 2022, and 21% plan to invest in this video style more than any other.

Video content is continuing to gain importance as more and more platforms prioritize video sharing. Now that you know what investments are working for marketers—and which aren’t—you can begin brainstorming the best video marketing campaign that will ensure success for your brand.

Webinars, video campaigns, and social media posts are relatively new channels for marketers to reach their customers. But, your contemporary communication methods shouldn’t distract you from one of the oldest, yet most effective, strategies — email marketing. In fact, email ROI is an impressive $36 for every $1 spent. 

If you’re still hesitant, keep reading — we’ve cultivated a list of email marketing statistics for HubSpot to demonstrate just how powerful email can be. Here, you’ll find: 

• Email Marketing Stat Highlights for 2022
• General Email Marketing Statistics
• B2B Email Marketing Statistics
• Mobile Marketing Statistics
• B2C Email Marketing Statistics
• Email Marketing Demographics for 2022

General Email Marketing Statistics and Best Practices

• Email marketing is used by 1 in 2 media planners. It will continue to grow this year with 22% planning to leverage it for the first time.(HubSpot Blog Research, 2021)
• Email marketing revenue is estimated to reach almost 11 billion by the end of 2023. (Statista, 2021)

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• There are 4 billion daily email users. This number is expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025. (Statista, 2021)
• More than 306 billion emails are sent and received each day. (Statista, 2021)
• 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers. (Campaign Monitor, 2021)
• 37% of brands are increasing their email budget, and just 1.3% are making cuts. (Litmus, 2021)
• The most effective strategies for email marketing campaigns are subscriber segmentation (78%), message personalization (72%), and email automation campaigns (71%). (HubSpot Blog Research, 2021)
• 33% of marketers send weekly emails and 26% send emails multiple times per month. (Databox, 2022)

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• 63% of businesses reduce the frequency of emails send to subscribers based on their levels of engagement.  (Databox, 2022)
• 41.5% of brands say that email marketing is very critical to business success, compared to 78% in 2020. (Litmus, 2021)
• 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months. (Not Another State of Marketing, 2021)
• Globally, Fridays see the highest email open rates (nearly 19%), compared to the lowest open rates (17%) on Saturdays. (Campaign Monitor, 2021)
• 43% of marketers are changing how they measure email performance because of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection, and 24% aren’t making any changes for now. (Litmus, 2021)
• The most significant way that email marketers adapted to recent data privacy changes was by prioritizing different KPIs. (HubSpot Blog Research, 2021)
• The most effective email subject lines engage curiosity, include promotional offers, and are personalized to each recipient’s interests. (HubSpot Blog Research, 2021)

• QA, A/B, and spam testing your emails leads to higher ROI. Enjoy up to a 28% higher return when you put testing to work for your email program. (Litmus, 2022)

B2B Email Marketing Statistics

• 81% of B2B marketers say their most used form of content marketing is email newsletters. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)

• 64% of B2B marketers say their email marketing strategy was effective for meeting business goals in 2021. (HubSpot Blog Research, 2021)

• 15.8% of all emails go missing or have been caught by popular spam filters. (Email Tool Tester, 2022)
• B2B marketers say that new product and feature announcement marketing emails have the highest click-through rate. (HubSpot Blog Research, 2021)
• Automation is primarily used in email marketing to send triggered emails, for drip or nurture campaigns, and segmentation. (Litmus, 2021)

Mobile Marketing Statistics

• A majority of email views come from mobile devices (41%), followed by desktop (39%). (HubSpot Blog Research, 2021)

• Nearly 55% of global website traffic is generated from mobile devices, excluding tablets. (Statista, 2022)
• 46% of smartphone users prefer to receive communications from businesses via email. (Statista, 2021)
• Apple iPhone’s native email app has the highest market share, followed by Gmail. (Litmus Labs, 2022)
• Nearly 1 in 5 email campaigns is not optimized for mobile devices. (SuperOffice, 2020)
• Launching a mobile-responsive email design can increase unique mobile clicks by 15%. (MailChimp, 2021)
• 56% of marketers leverage mobile-friendly emails in their email marketing strategy. (HubSpot Blog Research, 2021)

B2C Email Marketing Statistics

• 87% of B2C marketers leverage automation as part of their email marketing strategy. (HubSpot Blog Research, 2021)

• 50% of people buy from marketing emails at least once per month. (Salecycle, 2022)

• Your audience will reward you with higher open and click rates if you don’t send more than five newsletters a week. (GetResponse, 2020)
• 60% of retail, e-commerce, and consumer goods and services companies are personalizing emails based on past purchases, versus 38% in 2019. (Litmus, 2020)
• More than 8 out of 10 people will open a welcome email, generating 4x as many opens and 10x as many clicks as other email types. (GetResponse, 2020)
• The single message autoresponder email had an astonishing 98% open rate and a 37% click-through rate. (GetResponse, 2020)
• Nearly 22% of all email campaigns are opened within the first hour of sending. (GetResponse, 2020)
• 15.8% of all emails go missing or have been caught by popular spam filters.  (Email Tool Tester, 2022)
• 59% of respondents say that marketing emails have influenced their purchases. (Salecycle, 2022)
• 64% of B2C marketers consider accessibility when creating their emails. (Pathwire, 2021)

Email Marketing Demographics 2021

• 99% of email users check their inbox every day, with some checking 20 times a day. Of those people, 58% of consumers check their email first thing in the morning. (OptinMonster, 2020) 84.3% of consumers say they check their emails at least once a day. (Pathwire, 2021)

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• 35% of survey respondents in the U.S. have two email addresses and 28% have over four.  (Statista, 2021)
• Consumers spend an average of 10 seconds reading brand emails. (Statista, 2021)

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• 40% of consumers say they have at least 50 unread emails in their inbox. (HubSpot, 2020)
• Email is the leading way consumers in the U.S. discover coupons from brands.  (Statista, 2021)
• Recognizing a sender is the most important factor in deciding to open an email, followed by actually having the time to read an email.  (Pathwire, 2021)
• The average bounce rate across all industries is 9.96%. 
  (Constant Contact, 2022)
• 59% of Millennials primarily use their smartphone to check email, while 67% of Generation Z scans their inbox on mobile. (Bluecore, 2021)
• 74% of Baby Boomers think email is the most personal channel to receive communications from brands, followed by 72% of Gen X, 64% of Millennials, and 60% of Gen Z. (Bluecore, 2021)
• The most significant steps marketers take to champion accessibility when creating their emails is writing short, descriptive subject lines, making links and buttons easy to see, and keeping paragraphs short and simple. (Pathwire, 2021)

Apply Your Email Knowledge

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

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

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